The Nation Newspaper

Category: Columnists

  • FCCPC and corporate accountability

    FCCPC and corporate accountability

    In largely underdeveloped capitalist systems such as Nigeria with relatively low levels of institutionalization, weak judicial structures and processes as well as fragile law enforcement, the role of regulatory agencies established to mitigate the negative effects of the operations of market forces, check corporate abuse and irresponsibility and safeguard the interests of consumers and society at large is critical. The leading agency in Nigeria in this regard is the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), which was established through the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018 to facilitate fair, rule-guided business practices while protecting the interests of consumers.

    As lucidly expressed in its mandate statement, the FCCPC’s oversight function is “geared towards promoting competition within the Nigerian economy while preventing any practices that could lead to the abuse of market dominance or monopolies, all for the benefit of consumers. In addition, it investigates anti-competitive practices, including price fixing, bid rigging, market allocation, and the abuse of dominant market positions, for possible legal actions against the involved parties”. Central to its operations is addressing consumer complaints and grievances as regards perceived exploitative prices, substandard goods and services and imposing sanctions or taking legal action against persistent corporate infractions.

    Under its current Chief Executive Officer/Executive Vice Chairman, Mr Olatunji Bello, renowned journalist, editor, lawyer and administrator, who assumed office in June 2024, the FCCPC has significantly scaled up its activities aggressively holding corporate organizations to account while meticulously addressing consumer complaints and grievances. In the statement announcing his appointment, President Tinubu had mandated Tunji Bello to “ensure the holistic realization of the Commission’s mandate of protecting and promoting the interest and welfare of Nigerian consumers, and ensuring the adoption of measures to guarantee the safety and quality of goods and services”. The role of the FCCPC has acquired added significance against the background of the economic hardships attendant on the painful but inevitable economic reforms of the Tinubu administration particularly the removal of fuel subsidy and the merger of the parallel foreign exchange markets that had engendered high inflationary spirals that are only gradually beginning to recede.

    Citing high operational costs, corporate organizations in different sectors have increased their tariffs to the consternation of already hard hit consumers despite the fact that many of them continue to report high profit levels. In the telecommunications sector, for instance, there has been a 50 per cent hike in tariffs. In the electricity industry, the regulatory authorities approved an increase in tariff for Band A customers from N68 KWh to N225 KWh but which was later pegged at N209.50. Banks have increased the cost of transacting on Automated Teller Machines (ATM). The Nation newspaper columnist, Sanya Oni, recently cited the example of the private entertainment company, MultiChoice and its subsidiary,  DSTV, and their penchant for arbitrary and incessant price increases.

    In the words of Oni, “For instance, in May 2023, premium package subscribers were hit with a 51.23% increment from N16,200 to N24,500. Six months after, another major increment of 20.41% would follow, pushing the price to N29,500. Yet again, in another six months, that is, in May 2024, the service provider would be back with a new price of N37,000, a leap by another 25.42%; and the latest adjustment effective Saturday, March 1, taking the package to N44,500, a 21% increase – representing over 300% increase using 2015 as a base year”.

    The new resurgent and activist FCCPC, under Tunji Bello, has not been dormant in the face of seemingly whimsical price increases by various corporate organizations. Some of them, unused to having their excesses challenged, have pushed back, outrightly flouting the regulatory agency’s directives or engaging it in legal duels.

    For instance, on Thursday, February 27, the FCCPC directed MultiChoice Nigeria not to effect any new price increases as it had announced until the conclusion of the Commission’s ongoing investigation into the proposed price hikes. It had earlier directed the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr John Ugbe, to appear before its investigative hearing to justify the envisaged increases. The FCCPC had stated that “Pursuant to this, MultiChoice is expressly instructed to maintain the existing price structure as of February 27, 2025, pending the Commission’s review and final determination on the matter. Maintaining the status quo on pricing is essential to prevent any potential consumer harm during this period”. However, in a reckless display of the highest disregard and contempt for not just the regulatory authority but Nigeria’s legal system, MultiChoice Nigeria proceeded with its price increase on March 1, 2025.

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    Consequently, on March 5, the FCCPC instituted legal proceedings against MultiChoice Nigeria and its Chief Executive Officer, John Ugbe, “for violating regulatory directives, obstructing an ongoing inquiry and engaging in conduct deemed violations of the provisions of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPC). According to the FCCPC, “By disregarding the FCCPC’S directive and implementing the price hikes before appearing before the Commission’s investigative hearing on March 6, 2025, MultiChoice has not only flouted regulatory processes but also demonstrated a pattern of conduct that undermines consumer rights and fair competition”.  In any self-respecting country,  there should certainly be severe consequences for such contemptuous impunity especially by a foreign entity.

    Earlier, a shareholder of MTN Nigeria who is also a legal practitioner, Emeka Nnubia, had instituted legal proceedings against the FCCPC seeking to halt the regulatory agency’s investigation into suspected potential anti-competitive practices by the MTN. Nnubia contended that the FCCPC’s request for information from MTN violated data protection laws and that regulatory authority over MTN resided with the National Communications Commission (NCC) and not the FCCPC. In his ruling on February 7, 2025, Justice F.N. Ogazi, of the Federal High Court in Lagos, affirmed the statutory authority of the FCCPC to regulate competition and consumer protection across all sectors of the economy and that the regulatory agency’s request for information from MTN did not violate any data protection laws but was undertaken within its statutory powers.

    When the NCC approved a 50% adjustment in telecommunications tariffs, the FCCPC warned that “Issues such as network congestion, dropped calls, inconsistent Internet speeds, unusual data depletion, and poor customer service have remained prevalent concerns. It is, therefore, crucial that tariff adjustments directly translate into demonstrable and tangible service enhancements for consumers.”. The FCCPC took on the Ikeja and Eko electricity distribution companies (IKEDC and EKEDC) when they contemplated charging consumers for the cost of replacing ‘obsolete’ meters insisting that the Discos must comply with the order by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) that “meter replacements must be prompt, without disrupting service and at no cost to the consumer; and ensuring that consumers are not subjected to estimated billing due to delayed installations”.

    The FCCPC had also, at various times, engaged other corporate giants like Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB) and Air Peace on alleged violations of consumer rights. It is certainly a new and welcome season of ensuring corporate accountability in Nigeria in the best interest of consumers and society at large.

  • Challenges to peace-building

    Challenges to peace-building

    Sultan

    The words of elders are words of wisdom. If they do not materialise in the morning they will surely materialise in the evening”.

    The above quotation is a Yoruba axiom that can only be faulted at one’s own peril. Now that reasoning seems to be finding its wayback to Nigeria’s base of power especially in respect of insecurity problem and its possible solution, it becomes necessary to take a realistic recourse to that adage.

    The news that President Goodluck Jonathan belatedly met with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja last Wednesday to discuss the way out of the Boko Haram insurgency problem is a confirmation of that adage. Hitherto, sheer ego and whim of powerhad prevented that meeting even when sensible advice and suggestions were offered to the government by well-meaning

    Nigerians. Among such advice was that of His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar the Sultan of Sokoto.

    Voice of Reason

    As far back as October 3, 2011, the Sultan of Sokoto and President- General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), had delivered a lecture entitled ‘Islam and Peace Building in West Africa’ at Harvard University. When the lecture was published in this column a few weeks thereafter, it was re-entitled ‘A Voice from Harvard’. In the 33 page lecture, His Eminence enumerated the

    causes and effects of violent crises in the West African sub region with particular reference to Nigeria. He blamed such crises on three major issues: (1) political struggle for supremacy between the elite and the poor masses (2) bad governance on the part of the ruling class and (3) primordial ethno-religious sentiments. The most prominent of these three issues is bad governance which engenders corruption, joblessness, poverty, exploitation, suspicion and general

    bitterness in the land. Three years after that lecture, Nigeria is still in rigmarole searching for a possible oasis in a self-inflicted wilddesert.

    For the benefit of those who did not read it at that time the lecture is being brought here again because of its relevance and the possible solution it may proffer to the multifaceted problems confronting Nigeria. An excerpt from the lecture is as follows: Impression

    “….Many people (outside our country) consider Nigeria as a theatre of absurd conflicts and interminable crises.  They may be justified in holding this view; with the Jos crises festering for years, with post-election violence and suicide – bombings, it is difficult to think otherwise.  When we consider Nigeria’s population of more than 150 million, half the population of West Africa, its over 250 ethnic and language groups, its regional and geo-political configurations, its landmass and its diversity in religion and culture, we may be constrained to reach different conclusions. Nigeria may, after all, be a paragon of stability which, as God Almighty has willed, shall undergo all the trials allotted it early enough in its national history.

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    But in all fairness, systemic ethno-political and religious crises, like the ones we witnessed in recent years or are witnessing currently, do not have a long history in Nigeria.  They all began in the late 1980s, following the intense competition for power and influence especially among the western educated elite; the Kafanchan crisis of 1987, in Southern Kaduna, was quickly followed by the Zangon Kataf and other crises; all in the same vicinity.  The democratic dispensation, which began in 1999 also came with its own set of problems, the most visible being the Shari’ah crisis and the first Jos crisis which led to the declaration of state of emergency in Plateau State.

    Primacy of Politics But these crises, varied as they were, reveal the multi-dimensional

    nature of Nigeria as a political entity. We witness the primacy of politics in almost all these conflicts.  In the struggle for power and

    political supremacy as politicians exercise no restraint in aggravating the socio-religious and ethnic cleavages, which characterise the geo-politics of the Nigerian state.  It should not be forgotten that the second Jos crisis of November 2008 was also ignited by a botched Chairmanship election in Jos North Local Government.

    The second dimension to these crises, especially in Kaduna and Plateau States, is the indigene/settler dichotomy, which is yet to be

    addressed properly by the Nigerian state.  Many ethnic groups in these conflict areas see the other ethnic groups as foreigners who should not enjoy the full rights of bona fide residents.  Most of these disenfranchised Nigerians also happen to be Muslims.  However, those who oppose this dichotomy argue that these so-called settlers had spent more than two hundred years in the areas they reside. 

    Moreover, as Nigerian citizens, they have the full right to reside wherever they wish and pursue their legitimate business without let or hindrance.

    After all, they cannot be settlers in their own country.

    The third dimension of Nigeria’s ethno-religious crises is their potential to become a systematic national crisis.  When a person is

    killed in any of the areas of conflict, his co-religionists, especially in the cities react violently and begin to kill anyone they think is

    related to the killer(s).  This often triggers further reprisals from other parts of the country where victims come from.  It took a lot of

    effort by the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) which I co-chair, and other state authorities, to treat each crisis independently

    and reduce the risk of systemic reprisals.

    The fourth dimension of Nigeria’s crises is poor leadership and the bad governance usually associated with its management.  Many of those charged with authority in the states where these conflicts occur are also parties to the crises.  They make feeble efforts to control the violence and do so only when much of the damage has been done…

    “….The issue of poor leadership and bad governance also explains how the Boko Haram movement has been able to transform itself from a small Hijrah group in Yobe State, escaping from the uncertainties and contradictions of the Nigerian state, to a militant movement able to wreak havoc and destruction once provoked. 

    Those in authority were prepared to court the leaders of this group when it suited them and to trample on them like flies when they

    were no longer useful…However, the recent bombing of the United Nations Office in Abuja has introduced an international dimension to terrorist’s activities, a development, which is hitherto entirely new to Nigeria.

    The promise of dialogue “….When I became the Sultan of Sokoto in November 2006, some of the major problems I found on ground were the after-effects of the riots, especially in Kaduna, Jos and some parts of the North East as well as a disturbing atmosphere of mistrust, fear and hostility, especially between the leaderships of Nigeria’s two major religions: Islam and Christianity.

    To resolve these knotty issues, we chose the

    path of positive engagement, which we thought would engender

    meaningful discourse, improve communication and understanding

    and change the dynamics of our operating environment to that of

    trust and confidence…

    Role of NIREC

    “….The Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) provided the

    right platform for this engagement. The Council, itself a product of

    Nigeria’s ethno-religious crises, was composed of 25 members each

    from the two religions and co-chaired by myself, in my capacity as

    the President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic

    Affairs, and the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria

    (CAN). The approach of NIREC was simple and practical. Firstly,

    we affirmed the sanctity of human life, Muslim and Christian, and

    insisted that anybody who takes the law into his hands, regardless of

    the circumstances, must bear the full legal consequences of his

    action.

    You cannot believe it, but despite the frequency of these

    disturbances, only a few people have ever been punished for

    perpetrating any act of violence. The masterminds go scot-free.

    Secondly, while appreciating the fact that we are required to look

    after the interest of our co-religionists, we must pay attention to the

    other dimensions of our conflicts. As many were preparing to

    declare a religious war in Jos, for example, we laboured hard to

    draw attention to the other dimensions of the crisis. It was a conflict

    between Muslims and Christians quite alright, but it was not a

    conflict between Islam and Christianity. When Nigeria’s President

    called for a parley among stakeholders, we made bold to declare the

    Jos crisis a political crisis. Thirdly, we adopted a tactical approach

    to conflict resolution. Whenever, there is a break-out of violence, we

    work together to restore law and order and ask the quarrelsome

    questions later. We take this approach to minimise loss of life and to

    ensure that the crisis is contained in the primary area it occurred.

    Also, we devised a quarterly meeting schedule that took us to all

    parts of the country. It was heartening to many to see us working

    together and preaching peaceful co-existence and religious harmony

    even in areas, which never registered an ethno-religious conflict.

    Recommendation

    I must point out that it was also our view that inter-faith action

    should transcend conflict resolution. For it to be effective, it must

    affect the life of the common man. NIREC floated the Nigeria Inter-

    Faith Action Association (NIFAA) to take up this challenge and

    NIFAA has been very active in the control of the dreaded tropical

    disease: Malaria. We also find that we must act together to address

    issues related to electoral reform, good governance and anti-

    corruption. I am also glad to state that the goodwill and

    understanding which these activities were able to generate, have

    given impetus to the development of inter-faith dialogue to a new

    level. I always remember, with happiness, the seminar organised by

    the CAN in April 2010, on ‘Knowing Your Muslim Neighbour’,

    where I presented a paper on the topic. The Nigerian Supreme

    Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) gracefully reciprocated by

    inviting CAN members to its formal meeting in Kaduna, where the

    CAN representative gave a lecture on Islam in the eyes of a

    Christian and both Muslim and Christian scholars, gave inspiring

    responses on the scriptural basis of mutual co-existence. Despite

    serious setbacks in recent months, many of us remain committed to

    this positive engagement and to the promise that dialogue offers the

    resolution to Nigeria’s ethno-religious crises.

    Looking ahead

    ‘’…Understanding the multifarious nature of Nigeria’s ethno-

    religious crises should strengthen our resolve and determination to

    deploy all the energies and resources at our disposal to see to their

    resolution.  Our inability and reluctance to take meaningful action

    go to challenge not only our common humanity but also our self-

    worth.  It is, therefore, important for us to appreciate, first and

    foremost, the importance of consensus building within the polity,

    with a view to ameliorating the current state of political polarization

    in it.  The Nigerian political class must be able to speak and

    understand one another as well as to develop a minimum national

    agenda to chart the way forward.  The political class must also be

    able to open dialogue on a variety of national issues, including the

    perennial problem of power rotation and willingly enter into

    agreements that they can honour with dignity….

    Governance

    “….Also, governance, at all levels, must translate into tangible

    benefits for all Nigerians, regardless of their ethnic and religious

    affiliation.  Nigeria has the resources to make life more pleasant for

    its people.  It is equally imperative to address the poverty problem

    as well as the needs of the youth population both in all the geo-

    political areas of the country.  In a situation where over 50 per cent

    of our population is jobless at less than 19 years of age, we are

    definitely sitting on a time bomb much deadlier than that of Boko

    Haram unless we take urgent action to defuse it….

    “….Furthermore, there should be renewed determination to address

    both the Jos and Boko Haram sectarian crises.  The Federal

    Government must take seriously its security responsibilities and

    effectively contain these crises.  But beyond that, a genuine dialogue

    must be initiated, to begin healing festering wounds and to bring

    genuine understanding and reconciliation amongst the entire people

    of Plateau State and beyond.  The social dimension of the Boko

    Haram cannot also be resolved by the mere use of force.  This is the

    reason why I have consistently suggested dialogue and education to

    counteract its message, especially those aspects dealing with modern

    education.

    Millions of Muslim pupils are already outside the school system.

    Millions more will definitely follow if urgent intervention is not

    undertaken to enlighten the younger generations.  And the question

    I have always asked is What kind of society can we build in the

    21st century when our youth turn their back on science and

    technology and are unable to produce the next generation of

    doctors, engineers and other specialisations necessary for sustaining

    the socio-economic development of the society?….

    Conclusion

    “….Finally, we should not neglect the impact of the international

    environment on Nigeria’s ethno-religious crises.  Happenings in the

    United States, Iraq, Afghanistan, Norway, Netherlands, the United

    Kingdom and France are as current and relevant as events in Jos,

    Maiduguri and Abuja. We must preach international tolerance and

    moderation. The fight against extremist groups should never be

    perverted to become a fight against Islam and its doctrines.  We

    should all remember that in the final analysis, it is not what the

    perpetrators of violence do that really counts.  It is the actions we

    take, individually and collectively, that would (eventually) shape the

    fate of humanity….”

    Now, with this new development, in which a volunteer for

    negotiation is being granted governmental authority, the hope of

    redeeming Nigeria from impending disintegration may be rekindled if

    the motive is not political especially with the 2015 elections becoming

    fast-approaching.

  • When the grim ripper struck three times

    When the grim ripper struck three times

    In the last few weeks, highly significant people passed on to eternity in Nigeria. They are namely Victor Omololu Olunloyo a mathematician, politician and an engineer all wrapped up in one person, and  Kabiyesi Kayode Adetona, the Awujale of Ijebu land and a first class traditional  ruler, and Muhammadu Buhari, a military and political leader of Nigeria. In the various spheres of our national lives, these people made serious impacts on the history and politics.

    Olunloyo was easily one of the greatest intellectual geniuses this country has produced particularly in the area of mathematical engineering. Although he was distracted from his calling and misdirected his efforts into politics, and it is here that he is well known. He was born in Ibadan in 1935 to the family of  Vincent Horatio Sowemimo Olunloyo, one of the earliest Christians in Ibadan who had worked with the pioneers of Christianity in Ibadan the Reverend  Henri and Mrs  Anna Hinderer and who became not only an early convert to the Christian religion but also to western education. After having had a stint in the West African Frontier Force, he married Alhaja Abebi who bore him five children, with Omololu being the oldest.  Horatio unfortunately died at an early age of 43 in 1948 the very year his son gained admission in to the well-known Government College, Ibadan popularly known as GCI, which he attended on scholarship from 1948 to 1953. He did not do extremely well until his second year from when he always led his class made of distinguished people like the late Professor Olujimi Akinkugbe, a distinguished medical professor at the University of Ibadan, Professor Oluwole Soyinka, a Nobel laureate in literature, Professor Suleiman Lagundoye, another medical guru at the University of Ibadan and Dr. Olalekan Are who  was a distinguished  agricultural scientist and philanthropist.

    Olunloyo later distinguished himself in the universities of Saint Andrews, Dundee and Cambridge with degrees in Mathematics and Engineering before returning to the premier university Ibadan to lecture in the Department of Mathematics. In a citation, his Head of Department said about him: “… he graduated with B.Sc. (General Engineering- civil and mechanical engineering) in June 1957 having notable first in first class in theory of structures and all mechanical subjects and first class in mechanical design.) He completed his PhD in mathematics in two years”. Olunloyo did not have time to settle down in academia before the Dr Koyejo Majekodunmi  who was the administrator of Western Region appointed him in 1962 as commissioner in his administration.  The Majekodunmi administration was set up by the federal government headed by Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa to replace the Akintola government following the Action Group crisis of 1961 to 1962. He was appointed Commissioner of Economic development when he was just about settling down as a serious academic. The army took over power in Nigeria in 1966 when he had hardly returned to his post as a senior lecturer in Mathematics in the University of Ife, Ibadan campus; he was again appointed the Commissioner for Local Government under the regime of Colonel Adeyinka Adebayo. Whether by design or fate, Omololu’s academic trajectory seemed to be doomed without the fulfilment of earning a chair which is the desire of most academics.

    He was particularly effective as local government commissioner at a time of crisis in Western Nigeria culminating in the seamless appointment of Kabiyesi Lamidi Layiwola Adeyemi III as Alaafin of Oyo in 1971. He also held the position of Rector of Ibadan Polytechnic, chairman, Western Nigeria Housing Commission before becoming Executive Secretary of the National Polytechnics and Technical Commission. He is better known for his brief time as governor of Oyo State for two months from October to December 1983 having defeated the incumbent Bola Ige, a competent administrator, legal luminary and public orator in a much controversial election marred by allegations of rampant rigging.

    It is sad that for all his intellectual gift, Victor Omololu Olunloyo’s gubernatorial ascendancy was terminated by a coup d’état led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari in December 1983 which ended the regime of Aliyu Shehu Shagari’s headship of the federal government.

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    Buhari led the government of Nigeria from 1983 to 1985. The coming of his first headship of the federal government was popular because the preceding administration was marred with massive corruption, maladministration, inefficiency and complete neglect of agriculture for corrupt importation of rice from all over the world. Buhari was forced to ban all imports and to begin rationing imports licences and strictly enforcing a  regime of discipline at every area of our national life including queuing up to buy so-called essential goods like cement, rice, sugar and to board public transport where and when available. Drug trafficking was suppressed by public executions of those caught. The  public went for the stifling discipline including soldiers caning in public, those who were guilty of indiscipline until sudden change of the national currency and accusations of corruption in the exchange of old currency notes for new involving an emir whose  military officer son facilitated smuggling of millions of old Naira notes from outside the country. Even though the officer was cashiered off from the army, the incident derogated from the claim of uprightness of the regime. When in 1985 Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida overthrew the strict regime of Mai Gaskiya (upright leader), no one wept for it. The reaction was “good bye to bad rubbish “.

    When in old age and apparently bad health Buhari in his fourth attempt at becoming an elected president was elected president in 2015 and remained in power till 2023, he was a shade of his former self. He spent months going to Britain for health reasons. In one of his trips, he told a British prime minister that Nigeria was hopelessly corrupt as if he was talking about a strange country somewhere in another distant country. He was absolutely not in charge of his government and smart ministers stole and stole under him. Two examples will suffice: the governor of the Central bank of Nigeria, CBN, suddenly decided to succeed him as president and bought several cars, branded them with his photo and launched a campaign for president while still the central bank governor and nobody, not the president called him to order until there was an outcry against this violation of the law that the man involved decided to call his mad journey into infamy a day. A minister of aviation under Buhari decided to launch a new national airline despite the corruption that had marred earlier efforts. He allocated billions of Naira for this purpose. He suborned Ethiopian Airlines to paint one of its planes in Nigerian colours and brought it to Nigeria for show. When the public began shouting about the deception, the minister let the show end without accounting for the billions already spent. When this was pointed out to President Muhammadu Buhari, his retort was always that the Nigerian public should go after those adjudged as corrupt in his government.

    I wish Buhari had not come back as a civilian ruler and just kept his record as a disciplined military ruler; history would have been fair to him. The accusations by Abubakar Sola Saraki of malfeasance in the petroleum ministry when he headed that ministry would have remained an unproven allegation designed to blemish a clean record.

    The third man in the trio of the national loss is Kabiyesi Adetona, the recently departed Awujale of Ijebu land. By any standards, the Awujale Adetona had a great reign and was loved by his people until the end. Those who now malign him because his family did not allow him in death to be buried in the traditional way of course have a point. It is my plea that they let the great Oba rest in peace and do an analysis of the total contribution of the man to governance. It was during his reign that a magnificent palace was built by the Ijebu people for their king. A flourishing university exists now in Ago Iwoye in Ijebu land and the departed Oba endowed a chair there worth millions for a professorship in public governance.

    The national image and weight of the Awujale wherever it leans in the past has had meaning. He leaned on the two political parties now APC to come together in ushering the reign of Buhari as president. He cannot however be blamed for lack of performance of the government. His role was the facilitation of national unity. At critical times in the history of our country, when we were under Abacha tyranny and when everybody kept quiet in the face of tyranny, when the number two in government was going to be executed accused of involvement in a phantom coup d’état, it was only the Awujale who spoke for his Ijebu son. Wherever the Ijebu interest was involved, he spoke for them and believed that there was no conflict between Ijebu patriotism and Nigerian nationalism.

    In their different ways, the death of these great patriots constitutes an irreparable loss to Nigeria. Of course they did not die in harness, because they were all old and tired, but their collective wisdom was a repository which Nigeria could have continued to benefit from.

  • Natasha: Sound and fury…

    Natasha: Sound and fury…

    Since the July 4 decision of the Federal High Court on the famous Natasha case, the plaintiff and her enablers have been treating the public to all kinds of drama over what the judge said and did not say. On the day of the verdict, the social media, which is known more for its sensationalism and recklessness in the way it treats sensitive and even, non-sensitive issues, reported that Justice Binta Nyako had ordered that Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan be recalled from her six-month suspension.

    Did the court really say that? We will answer the question presently. As Natasha wanted, the story trended on social media, a space where she is comfortable fighting her suspension battles, rather than laying the cards on the table. The traditional media too did not help matters in reporting the verdict. The story was slanted to put in the court’s mouth what it did not say. The certified true copy (CTC) of the verdict has put the lie to these reports.

    Natasha is wittingly using the media to fight her battle. She knows the power of the media, and she is exploiting it, especially the online platforms, to paint herself as a victim in a family dispute of sorts, which could have been settled internally within the Senate without too much fuss. But Natasha will not be Natasha without the gra gra and the showboating that have become her stock in trade. Honestly, I do not have anything against Natasha. I like her guts as a woman who is ready to stand up for her rights and speak her mind, any time, any day.

    But she needs to tone down the drama. Theatrics will never help her case, particularly in a judicial dispute where everything is black and white. There is nothing hidden in a court matter. The cards are usually face up, as the facts are there –  for all to see. She did no wrong by going to court in anticipation of a breach of her fundamental right, as held by Justice Nyako. But, without mincing words, she and her enablers made the wrong move by trying to colour the verdict to favour her. That was patently wrong. No litigant can ever colour a judgment in order to change its content to suit his or her wish because court proceedings, like the hansard of parliament, are well kept.

    If these documents are doctored, it means that something untoward must have happened inhouse. As the Yoruba will say: ejo l’owo ‘nu (someone has tampered with the records). Justice Nyako was clear and unambiguous in her pronouncement in the 33-page judgment in the Natasha case, which was well reviewed by our Abuja Bureau Deputy Chief Eric Ikhilae on the Law pages of this paper on Tuesday. The judge was careful in her use of words. She could not understand why the Senate who sits for 181 legislative days  would suspend a member for 180 days.

    To her, “to make a law that has no end is excessive”. She was referring to the Senate Rules that allow the upper chamber to suspend a senator for as long as it wishes. But she could not do anything about it because her hands are tied under the doctrine of separation of powers – that is to say the court cannot interfere in the work of the legislature – except there is a breach or anticipatory breach of a person’s fundamental right. The court made its position clear on page 31 of the judgment. Justice Nyako held that it was not the intention of the Constitution that a senator be suspended ad infinitum (forever).

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    She refrained from making any order, citing the principle of separation of powers, and chose to appeal to the conscience of the Senate to forgive Natasha. She held: “I am of the opinion that the Senate has the power to review…the Senate Rules and even amend Section 14 (2) of the Legislative Houses (Powers & Privileges) Act for being over reaching. The Senate has the power to and I believe should recall the plaintiff and allow her to same time, represent the people who sent her there to represent them”. In law, this is not an order, but an opinion, which a judge can digress and make in the course of delivering a judgment.

    It is called obiter dictum (‘something  said in passing’) and the ninth edition of Black’s Law Dictionary defines it as: “a comment made while delivering a judicial opinion, but one that is unnecessary to the decision in the case and therefore not precedential (although it may be considered persuasive)”. So, if the Senate is persuaded enough by the opinion, it may recall Natasha, but if not, the heavens will not fall if it does not recall her. The court did not compel the Senate to recall her. As a lawyer, she knows what to do to end this matter. It is not by trying to force her way back into the National Assembly Complex with her enablers and a motley crowd in tow, as they attempted to do on Tuesday. Enough of the drama!

    Natasha knows that the court did not order her recall. She is deliberately raising the political temperature by resorting to self help to enforce, mind you an opinion, which is different from an order, which Black’s Law Dictionary describes as “a written direction or command delivered by a judge”. Ironically, the orders the court made were all against her for contempt. For now, Natasha should cut the drama and allow the matter to run its course at the appellate courts, where she and Akpabio have headed for. This is the right thing to do.

    She should concentrate on her appeal and stop this shenanigan of trying to come through the back door to get what the court did not give her in the first place. It will not work. It is an  action full of sound and fury signifying nothing, apologies to Shakespeare.

  • Scapegoat republic

    Scapegoat republic

    As foreseen, Nigerians bared their hearts, graveside of Muhammadu Buhari.

    The polity became loud with folk unrestrained in grief and brazen in triumphal gloating. A curious theatre unfurled across the Nigerian mindscape as digital timelines and comment threads became moral coliseums. The dead had barely stiffened, yet the young and old, educated and illiterate, privileged and underdog, rushed to spit on his memory.

    Some truly mourned. While a defiant mob crooned: “You can’t tell us how to respond to his death.” And so doing, resorted to arrant mockery, dancing on the grave of the dead with shoes muddied in their own complicity.

    Of particular note was a senior investigative j0urnalist; this self-glorifying grandma was unexpectedly loud with venom, relishing the death of the former President. Things, however, got to a head when she accused him of corruption. Promptly, a younger female colleague, retorted:“You lack the moral right to talk ma…You, who extorted an impoverished and blind, elderly man of N30,000 in May 2015, before reporting an injustice done to him. President Buhari was never corrupt. You are the corrupt one ma.”

    Livid, the senior journalist attacked her for being “too disrespectful” even as she gaslighted her claim. She did not consider her bribe-taking as a moral baggage. And she will “never reveal her private dossier” on Buhari’s alleged corruption for “security reasons.”

    Many castigated the younger journalist saying she “wouldn’t go far in the profession” for daring to disrespect a senior journalist. The same senior journalist who maligned a late President, without evidence, for sport.

    Let’s say we are all just broken inside – unable to distinguish fabricated contempt from merited disdain. Let’s say the villainy in us thrive on the victimhood of others, especially folk we have been taught to hate. Let’s say victimhood and villainy are simply abstract labels we feverishly impose on those we’d love to suffer for our enjoyment.

    Buhari was no saint. He was deemed austere, aloof. Sometimes, embarrassingly so. His administration superintended economic hardship, insecurity, a failing Naira, and the growing sense that Nigeria was slipping into institutional twilight. But to declare him the sole architect of Nigeria’s ruin is dishonest and cowardly.Much of what Nigerians blamed Buhari for—terror, infrastructure rot, deaths in hospitals, epileptic power supply, failing education—are neither the doing nor undoing of one man. Yet, at his death, the very people who helped build that flawed system brandished hashtags like flaming pitchforks, declaring their disdain for Buhari.

    Some called it speaking truth to power. But I call it performative rage. The self-proclaimed truth-tellers of social media recalled their pain under Buhari’s reign with poetic indignation. “We were in hell,” they cried, “and no one can tell us not to curse him in death!”

    What we witnessed wasn’t righteous anger, but a morbid exhibitionism; a dark joy over the demise of a man already diminished by time and illness. Their statements were phrased as bravery. But what I saw was the insecurity of a generation addicted to performance;  products of a culture that mistakes loudness for honesty, and vulgarity for courage.

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     Buhari wasn’t perfect. Neither was he a miracle. He was a man, fallible and finite, working with the implements available in the toolbox of a severely broken state. His government did not descend from outer space. It was born of our choices, our ideologies, our tribe-first, truth-last tendencies. And even now, long after his demise, we continue to mask our complicity behind critique.

    Perhaps because Buhari did not die a man. He died an effigy, scorched by the flames of national disillusionment. He was once the Apollo of our republic, fashioned into a figure of marble discipline and anti-corruption rage. The general returned, many thought, to drive out the Dionysian chaos of excess and impunity. He was the god we made in our hunger for form and order. When the sculpture cracked, and the wind of national suffering exposed the clay beneath the marble, we turned on him with a sculptor’s fury, and smashed our idol to pieces.

    Buhari did not ask for worship; we gave it freely. Then we withheld it cruelly. He was blamed for everything and praised for nothing. An all-powerful figure in our collective myth, omnipresent in failure, absent in success. We called him tyrant when we meant disciplinarian; we called him deaf when he did not echo our contradictions. We hated him as a god we could not command, not as a mortal with limitations. He became a totem that failed to perform magic.

    Those who will not mourn Buhari seek to punish him for not being a better version of who they are. But to blame Buhari alone for Nigeria’s rot is to mistake the statue for the temple. Every failing we heap upon his name is the fault of a million faceless hands. A woman dies in childbirth because the diesel meant to power the theatre generator was sold in the black market by hospital staff, and anesthesiologists were never employed because some hospital board member diverted their salary into his wife’s boutique.

    Death by terrorism, also, was often blamed on “Buhari’s failure” while we conveniently ignore how billions earmarked for defense vanish yearly in a maze of kickbacks and inflated contracts. Who exposes how state governors divert security votes, or how military generals and police chiefs profit from the chaos they are paid to contain? The rise of terror comprise a federal calamity and system-wide rot, from the state capital to the village checkpoint.

     Why blame Buhari for our collective inability to build a society that works? In mocking him, we seek to mask our own failures. Even  the mythical Greek gods, for all their fabled hauteur, never suffered such graceless vilification.

     Buhari’s silence was his boundary. His distance was his restraint. His refusal to seduce us with false eloquence was the very reason we once loved him. And now, it is why many revile him. It’s about time we looked inwards and stop pretending that each leader is our redeemer or our ruin. We must equally begin to hold accountable the desks and counters of every office where public trust is betrayed. We must teach our children to ask better questions, not just recite better slogans. Democracy is not a spectator sport. It demands participation, vigilance, and sacrifice.

     Nigeria’s problems, certainly, has many faces. Some smile at us in our mirrors every morning. Some sign contracts, forge receipts, sell hospital drugs, and vote for the highest bidder. The question is not whether Buhari failed us. It is whether we, as a people, ever gave him, and indeed, any leader, a working system to govern.

     The real demons walk among us: driving our ambulances late, hoarding power cables, doctoring school records, falsifying election results, stealing medical supplies, inflating military contracts, and forging government receipts. These are our anomalies and they are citizens. Until we confront them, Buhari will die again and again in different faces and different names.

    Yet, we must learn to treat our dead with dignity. Whether we liked Buhari or loathed him, his death is a national moment. A chance to reflect, not gloat. We owe ourselves the maturity of measured silence, the courage of critical introspection, and the grace to grieve, even when the deceased did not meet our expectations.

    For in the end, how we treat our dead says less about them and more about us.

    And right now, we are not looking very well.

  • 2025-27: Don’t waste 20 months!

    2025-27: Don’t waste 20 months!

    The needless, selfish, calculating, shortsighted, diversionary, derisive but definitely carefully  orchestrated earthquake upheaval and tsunami turmoil in the political landscape throw up many obstacles on the formerly anticipated smooth road to the 2027 election and the ‘traditionally agreed’ cyclical double term amounting to eight years for southern power. Compounded by the death of former president, Muhammadu Buhari, commanding 7-12million votes it, has brought the 2027 election into sharp focus. It is already negatively impacting politics, political alignments and especially political performance and political planning.

    Disgracefully, many politicians want Nigeria to stop and to suddenly appear in 2027. They behave as if the entire remaining five months of 2025 and 12 months of 2026 governance year and two or three months of 2027 do not matter. But that intervening time is real time. It is almost 20 months. Nigerian cannot lose or waste 20 months to political inertia. Twenty months is an instant in the life of a politician. But that real time is 20 months of real lives of the 160million Nigerians in urgent need of positive infrastructure impact by the current already voted in governance structures at federal, state and LGA.

    Incumbent politicians, contractors and civil servants must become razor-focused on the 20-month welfare of the entire population which includes the electorate that voted for them in 2023 and also all living Nigerians be they potential voters or not.  This time before the actual election must not be abandoned to campaigns with zero delivery politics.

    The 2027 electorate, including most of those reading this article and several million additional 18-22 year olds, ‘2027 FIRST TIME VOTERS’ who are currently growing into the 18+electoral population, will be faced with ‘the usual’ deceptions, bribery and corruption of fact and fictional claims and denials, and pressures  up to and on the day of the election in 2027.

    What a wonderful thing it would be if we could offer our new young voters an honest @abiola standard 2027 election and of course a non-Babangida annulled result. But before then, we the people must not allow the political class to take their eye off the ‘Good Governance’ part of their contract with the people. The electorate will not and must not tolerate neglect of ‘good governance’ by those we have elected in 2023 who have our vote, our mandate and our money to do the ‘2023-2027job’.  If they fail, they should be put to the test and if confirmed to be found wanting, removed at the next election 2027 regardless of their political party to make way for others more willing to serve a full uninterrupted four years and not truncated in 2030 for a repeat performance of the ongoing 20 month pre-2027 campaign.

    For years Nigeria has routinely ‘lost a year to irresponsible pre-election politics’ causing government paralysis every four years. We must immediately combat this risk of 160million Fellow Nigerians losing 20 months of Good Governance in this election cycle. In order to force  the current set of  politicians at federal, state and LGA to fulfill their mandated responsibility, for which, we tend to forget, they volunteered it would pay all the governments at federal, state and LGA to begin to PUBLISH WEEKLY OR CERTAINLY MONTHLY REPORTS in all areas of public/ people, public/politician interface. The NGOs which specialize in governance monitoring, naming and shaming, evaluation reports, must redouble their efforts and widen their efforts and the publicity during these 20 months pre-2027 to ensure Nigeria and Nigerians are at last given the best possible ‘Political Service Delivery’ and ‘Good Governance’ available.

    This will take a greater sense of responsibility and commitment to Fellow Nigerians and Good Governance on the part of the current incumbent political office holders, their advisers -special and ordinary, the surrounding civil service, regardless of political party.

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    No political party has delivered anything close to the needs of the people when compared to what they collectively consume as ‘politics management fee’-the huge cost today of political service delivery by the presidency, NASS-Senate and Reps, the cost of minsters, special advisers, ministries etcetera.

    Nigeria cannot continue to carry on its head, a calabash of the greedy needs Nigeria’s political class. The political calabash is so heavy it is crushing Nigeria’s neck bones and spine and reducing our performance. Nigeria exemplifies the fact than no country can grow if political class values itself so highly above the citizenry. We do not need to catalogue the woes that have faced and are still facing Nigerians in daily life. They are summarized in the poor supply of power, water, health, education, security, shelter everywhere.

    If all the money corruptly diverted and ‘corruptly overpaid’ to politicians as salaries, allowances and unearned pensions had been used directly on the citizenry, many of these problems would have been solved just like in many other countries.

    Ask yourself – ‘Why are our standard targets ‘Minimal Standards?’ No country can grow if it uses ‘minimum standards’ as its goal, because goals are usually never met. That is why doing nothing passes for doing something in Nigeria. So politicians have failed us even before we set out to succeed. We must ask ourselves what do governments actually do well and what will they do between now and 2027? They are very good at getting hyper-paid for undelivered services. Come 2027 politicians must campaign for and we must vote to markedly reduce political overheads.

  • Ways to retail information

    Ways to retail information

    No one doubts that effective communication between the government and the governed encourages public knowledge of government policies, programmes, and projects; builds trust in government; fosters transparency and accountability; and even encourages public participation. The more the citizens know about government policies and their rationale, the less bitter they are likely to be at their consequences, and the more they are able to recognise and dismiss distortions and misrepresentations.

    There are various channels of communication available to the government, including (1) regular briefings, press releases, and official statements; (2) print and electronic media (newspapers, radio, and television); (3) new media and other digital platforms (social media, government websites, mobile apps, and email); and (4) direct engagement with the public, such as (a) town hall meetings and (b) community outreach—engagements with specific communities through events and workshops, and (c) public consultations—surveys, opinion polls, and public hearings.

    I pointed out last week that, at present, much of government information circulates only among a fraction of Nigeria’s literate population, because the government has limited its options to (1), (2), and part of (3) above. This leaves the masses, especially rural dwellers, at risk of consuming distorted information, or no information at all, about government policies, programmes, and projects (Time for the government to retail information, The Nation, July 17, 2025). The major reason for this omission is lack of direct public engagement—option (4), discussed further below.

    But, first, let’s review how the government has been using options (1), (2) and (3). Regarding (1), yes, there are occasional press releases and official statements, but briefings are very rare, being limited to presidential speeches on special occasions. There needs to be weekly or biweekly verbal briefings by the President’s spokesperson, to the press somewhere in Aso Villa. Such briefings should be limited to current issues or problems and outline the President’s responses to them. For example, Mr. Sunday Dare’s essay on the President’s midterm achievements could be summarised as one briefing, while also being published in newspapers (see his Tinubu’s midterm: From reforms to recovery, ThisDay, May 29, 2025). The briefings will create soundbites on radio and TV, while being amplified by pundits. More importantly, the verbal briefings would give reporters the opportunity to ask questions, which could elicit explanations and illustrations from the spokesperson. They are also useful in avoiding presidential delay in responding to topical issues. For effectiveness, the relevant Minister could be on hand to answer specific questions within his or her portfolio. Such briefings, of course, presuppose that the spokesperson has the ear and mind of the President and can also read his “body language”.

    The government’s presence online, on social media, and the airwaves is limited and mostly reactionary. As I pointed out last week, even occasional proactive posts on social media are overwhelmed by opposition views. The President’s new media team has work to do in this regard. At the moment, it is as if there is no social media team at all. Perhaps the Director of New Media and Corporate Services at the party Secretariat, who is a mobiliser and social media guru, should be drafted immediately.

    However, the most important gap in the government’s information management is the lack of public engagement as in option (4). No town hall meetings. No community outreach programmes. No public consultations, for example via surveys, opinion polls, and public hearings. These are tools that  It must also be realised that ours is not a one size-fits-all country. Rather, it is divided along regional, ethnic, religious, and language lines. Besides, more than a third of the population is illiterate and nearly 70 percent is poor. As a result, government information must be tailored for various publics from the heart of the bustling urban areas to the rural hinterlands.

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    Reaching the various publics will involve local party leaders and community organisers, using local languages to explain what the government has done, what it is doing now, and what it plans to do over the next two years. The government’s policies on subsidy and exchange rate as well as their consequences and remedies need to be explained. The leader of the Tinubu Mandate Group in Ondo state, Chief Femi Bakare, embarked on such a project about two weeks ago. Canvassers were chosen from each ward to go back home and talk to their people about the President’s policies and programmes in their local dialects. This is the kind of community outreach that President Barrack Obama of the United States (himself a community organiser) used to salutary effect during his presidency.

    It is high time President Tinubu embarked on town hall meetings, at least one in each zone to explain the need for his policies, why costs have been high, how and why they are now coming down, and so on. The experiences of other countries in comparable situation could be recalled for emphasis. Rescue and renewal should be key themes. It is like the country was so sick that it fainted. The President came in as the doctor, who revived the now very lean country. Like every sick person, it will take some time to heal. The country is now on the path of recovery. Fortunately, we have now reached a turning point. International organisations and media as well as local newspapers are now reporting on the gradual recovery. Interest rates are down. Petrol price is down. There are no more queues at fuel stations. Food costs are coming down. When the new harvest season kicks in, further reductions in food prices should be expected. We are getting more hours of electricity. Bottomline: the economic signs are good. The economy is bouncing back.

    The truth is that some folks want to see and feel the President. He should not wait till election time before coming out. Fortunately, as President, he can move around the country, selling his programmes, without necessarily campaigning. That has been the practice in the United States, especially since President Bill Clinton. It is time we adopted good practice that works.

  • Why Nigeria’s political alliances rarely work

    Why Nigeria’s political alliances rarely work

    Every election season brings with it a familiar spectacle: hurried press conferences, tight handshakes, and grinning political heavyweights announcing yet another ‘historic alliance.’ The mood is often triumphant, the language dramatic, ‘a new dawn,’ they say, or ‘a coalition to rescue Nigeria.’

    But those who have followed our politics for any length of time know that these alliances are little more than stopgap arrangements. They are formed not out of ideological conviction, but out of necessity.

    We are told alliances represent a maturing democracy; that politicians are learning to collaborate, to compromise. But the truth is far less noble. These arrangements are not symbols of strength; they are confessions of weakness. Over the last one year, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar repeatedly warned the opposition that their only chance against President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was to pool resources.

    Time and again, these groupings collapse under the weight of their own contradictions. Yet they keep coming back, like a recurring fever. Why? Because our politics remains transactional, not transformational. The goal is not to build something enduring – it is simply to seize power, by any means necessary.

    There’s recurring failure, not because alliances are inherently bad, but here in Nigeria, they are never rooted in shared purpose. They are marriages of convenience, and like most such unions, they rarely end well.

    To understand the failure of political alliances in Nigeria, one must begin from the First Republic. In the years leading up to independence, regional and ethnic loyalties took precedence over any sense of national cohesion. The three dominant political parties – Northern People’s Congress (NPC), National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), and Action Group (AG) – each drew their strength from specific regions and ethnic blocs. NPC was rooted in the Hausa-Fulani North, NCNC found its base in the Igbo-dominated East, while AG was primarily strong in the West.

    The political alliances of that era were more like tactical ceasefires than genuine partnerships. For example, after the 1959 federal elections, the NPC formed a coalition government with the NCNC. On paper, this seemed like a promising national partnership. In reality, it was a power-sharing deal forged by mutual suspicion and necessity, not by shared vision. The alliance was fraught with mistrust, and the ideological differences between the parties were never reconciled. Within a few years, the centre could no longer hold.

    The Action Group, meanwhile, was isolated from the central government and mired in internal crises. Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s imprisonment and the eventual declaration of a state of emergency in the Western Region only deepened the political fault lines. Regionalism continued to fester, and what little remained of national cohesion quickly disintegrated.

    By the mid-1960s, Nigeria had descended into chaos. The 1966 military coup – triggered in part by the failure of political leaders to manage alliances and ethnic rivalries – signalled the collapse of the First Republic. The alliances that were supposed to unite Nigeria had instead hastened its disintegration.

    When Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1979, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), which emerged as the ruling party, entered into an alliance with the Nigerian People’s Party (NPP), led by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. This was meant to present a national front, but it quickly devolved into another transactional arrangement. The alliance collapsed within two years, marred by accusations of betrayal and marginalisation.

    Opposition parties like the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), led by Awolowo, offered a more ideologically coherent vision, but lacked national reach and viable allies. Once again, alliances failed to deliver any lasting unity or reform.

    The Third Republic, orchestrated by General Ibrahim Babangida, introduced two government-created parties—the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Convention (NRC). This was an artificial alliance structure, an attempt to engineer na                                                                                                                                                tional consensus. But while the parties had ideological labels, in practice, they were filled with the same recycled elites.

    The most meaningful alliance of that era – the nationwide support for Chief MKO Abiola – was not elite-driven. It came from ordinary Nigerians across ethnic and religious lines. But when Abiola won the 1993 election, it was annulled. That fragile, people-powered alliance was destroyed by the military, and with it, the last vestige of hope for a genuine national coalition.

    When civilian rule returned in 1999, it was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that dominated the scene. The party functioned as a coalition of convenience – a “big tent” that brought together retired generals, political godfathers, and regional power brokers. It offered no ideological clarity but plenty of access to federal power. Zoning arrangements were designed to manage tensions, not resolve them.

    But like all alliances in Nigeria, PDP’s cohesion was surface-level. Behind the scenes, factions jostled for power, and internal betrayals were common. By 2013, the party’s internal contradictions led to a fatal fracture.

    Enter APC – a mega-alliance built from the merger of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP, a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and disgruntled PDP defectors. It was hailed as a political masterstroke. But once again, this alliance was a tent that housed awkward bedfellows who had little in common beyond the termination of PDP rule.

    After APC won power in 2015, its internal contradictions exploded. Power blocs fought over appointments and influence. Bukola Saraki and the ‘New PDP’ wing revolted against the party’s leadership arrangements in the National Assembly. Joining forces with the main opposition, the former Kwara State governor was successfully installed as Senate President in a humiliating chapter for the new ruling party.

    Today, many of those PDP elements have since returned home or drifted to the latest ‘coalition’ – African Democratic Congress (ADC). This new contraption is not known for its ideological stripes but for their desperate desire to unseat President Bola Tinubu.

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    These alliances always fall apart for a host of reasons. For one, they are never built to last.

    Personal ambition trumps collective vision. Everyone in the alliance wants to be president – or at least kingmaker. Once the power-sharing deals start breaking down, so does the alliance. There’s already talk of ADC being ex-VP Atiku last hope of becoming president. For their part, supporters of Peter Obi insist that their man be handed the ticket.

    Ethnic and regional distrust runs deep. Alliances in Nigeria are fragile truces between suspicious partners. Each region watches the other, expecting betrayal. There have been reports that the plot to create ADC began barely six months into Tinubu’s tenure. Shorn of all pretension, this new coalition was largely born of the frustrations of a section of the Northern political elite with the Tinubu administration.

    Early in its life it was already facing resistance from a so-called League of Northern Democrats – which has since dissolved into the bowels of ADC. Scratch the surface and you’ll find that the only place where the party is gaining traction is above the Niger. 

    There is no ideology. Nigerian parties do not disagree on principles – they just disagree on whose turn it is to ‘chop.’ Without a common vision, there is nothing to hold an alliance together.

    Alliances are election tools, not governance plans. Once power is secured, the glue melts. Positions are fought over, factions splinter, and voters are forgotten.

    Still, alliances remain a staple of Nigerian politics. Why? They are a signal of desperation. When a politician can’t win alone, they form an alliance. It’s not a power move; it’s a survival tactic.

    Political alliances in Nigeria are not instruments of national progress – they are tools of political survival. They rarely work, because they were never built to work. They are formed in panic, driven by ambition, and destroyed by greed.

    Until our politics is grounded in ideology, integrity, and genuine accountability, alliances will remain what they have always been: a mirage sold to a weary public every four years. Let’s stop being impressed by coalitions formed in hotel ballrooms. Let us stop mistaking handshakes for hope.

  • Pilgrims to Daura

    Pilgrims to Daura

    This writer believes there is a good time to die especially if one is to judge worldly. After all, Shakespeare in Julius Caesar, said “when beggars die, there are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.” No doubt, the political firmament blazed forth at the passage of former President Muhammadu Buhari. And like the biblical wise men who saw the stars and went in search of the new king, politicians have been journeying to Daura, Katsina State, to pay homage at the grave of Buhari.

    Of course, while Buhari had his genuine followers, many of the pilgrims detested him while he lived. The former president would be full of mirth as erstwhile political foes and friends turn to Daura for political gains. Even known former foes pretend as if they have lost someone so dearest to them. For Buhari’s genuine friends, “this passion, and the death of a friend, would go near to make a man look sad,” as Shakespeare said in his Midsummer Night’s Dream.

    If Buhari had lived two more years beyond the 2027 general elections, it is doubtful if he would have gotten the kind of eulogy that followed his death, whether from the state or private individuals. But with the 2027 general elections starring politicians in the eyes, potential candidates are trying to outdo each other in positioning themselves to reap from the famed 12 million voters Buhari left to mourn him. No doubt, those who rode on the back of Buhari to state power in the past would wish he live a little longer.  

    The governor of Katsina State, Dikko Umar Radda, wept openly, at the state funeral. We will never know whether he was so sad over the death of the man who influenced his electoral success in 2023, or his anguish is magnified by the fears of the 2027 re-election battles. Of course, the tribe of former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, looked the most pitiable of the pilgrims. Apart from the presidential election in 2015, when circumstances forced Atiku to fight together with Buhari, after failing at the All Progressive Congress (APC), party primary, he has always been in the opposing camp against the man.

    Yet, since the death of Buhari, the former vice president has been acting as a pretender to the political throne left behind by him. Despite all the pretences, Atiku and Buhari are not hewed from the same type of wood. In that same corner, is the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el Rufai, who after riding on the back of Buhari at two successful governorship elections, fell out with the man in the run up to the 2023 general elections. El Rufai, who spectacularly betrayed all his former masters, including Atiku, whom he followes about, is another pretender to the throne of Buhari. Ever querulous, El Rufai, called Buhari’s presidency a failure, but since the man’s sudden death, he has given the impression that he has always been Buhari’s best man.  

    The pilgrimage to Daura since the burial of Buhari became even more urgent since President Bola Tinubu was able to outflank Atiku and his men during the burial. With the former president, a beneficiary of a state burial personally overseen by President Tinubu, Atiku and his men were practically denied the opportunity to grandstand at the burial of a man they never agreed with politically, but were hoping to gain from his death. Like many others, they watched as outsiders.

    That development may have informed the three-day pilgrimage offensive Atiku and his men performed to gain some mileage in the media. But how the Atiku tag team would convince the northern talakawas that they are from the same chink as Buhari, who they regarded as the honest one, Mai Gaskiya, remains to be seen. For until Buhari’s death made Atiku his follower, they never shared similar world view. While Atiku retired from the Nigerian customs in stupendous wealth, Buhari retired poor from the army, despite being a former governor of North-eastern State, from 1975 to 1976, and Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources, from 1976 to 1978.

    While Atiku has ran unsuccessfully for the president of Nigeria in 2007, 2011, 2019 and 2023, each as a candidate of a major political party from his private financial war chest, Buhari was propelled with resources, which can be regarded as other peoples’ money. While Buhari was originally hated by the northern power elite, because he was opposed to their ways and means, Atiku, a top wheeler-dealer amongst that elite is despised by the talakawas. While Buhari was at home in company of the ordinary northerner, Atiku one of their masters, is a contributor to their state of affairs.

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    Again, while Atiku is reputed to have enriched himself while in government, and stands accused of corruption by his former boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo, Buhari is acclaimed by those he has worked with as being honest and incorruptible. While after serving in several public capacities, as head of state, and president for eight years, Buhari lived austere and frugal, Atiku, after serving in customs and as vice president, is reputedly so wealthy with uncountable private assets. So, it would be a herculean task, for Atiku to inherit the Buhari political persona.

    But the pilgrimage to Daura would continue for some time to come. We will see many followers of Buhari lie that before he travelled to London for the last time, he had prayed and laid hand on them, as the potential successor to his throne. Some would even swear, that he had told them to continue his work, in one form or another. Others would claim that they were told to protect the interest of the north which Buhari loved so much. Some would lie that they provided resources for the political advancement of the late leader.

    Those who have sinned and come short while in government would easily claim that they are being prosecuted because of their love for Buhari, whenever they are called to answer for their sins. Some when asked to render account, would claim that their unlawful conducts were sanctioned by the leader. A few may even claim that the monies they stole were given to the man to keep. In the days ahead, his followers, many of them fake, would want to hide under his babaringa, to save themselves from answering for their delinquencies while in office.

    The days ahead indeed would be interesting as the scramble to fill the void created by Buhari begins in earnest. Would Atiku and his political ensemble be able to take the prize and run away with it, or would the several potentates carve up the political kingdom left by Buhari into small fiefdoms and rule happily thereafter? President Tinubu and his followers should be on the watch out.

  • Nigeria’s Abiku refineries

    Nigeria’s Abiku refineries

    The news, far away in the Austrian capital of Vienna couldn’t have surprised any Nigerian that has paid more than fleeting attention to the woes routinely visited on the hapless country by Nigeria’s perennially delinquent entity – the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). Whether in its old drab colours of opacity and sleaze, or its mutation into everything that a supposedly retooled business entity should never aspire, you are guaranteed that nothing good or exciting ever comes out of its quarters.

    A little while back, precisely two months ago, Nigerians woke up to the news that the refinery, just refurbished six months prior, and one which had gulped $1.5 billion in hard-to-get forex, has been shut down for ‘maintenance’. The public notice, by Olufemi Soneye, the then chief corporate communications officer of the company had read: “The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) wishes to inform the general public that the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) will undergo a planned maintenance shutdown. This scheduled maintenance and sustainability assessment will commence on May 24, 2025.

    “We are working closely with all relevant stakeholders, including the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), to ensure the maintenance and assessment activities are carried out efficiently and transparently,” so went the notice to a bewildered nation.

    Although nothing in the statement suggested any timeline for the maintenance, this week, Thursday July 24 makes it exactly two months since the refinery was shut down. If Nigerians had assumed that the abrupt maintenance, which some newspapers actually reported would take 30 days, was ‘routine’, the rather interminable silence ever since, and subsequent developments may have hinted at the manifestation of the old plague in the behemoth, in its full malignancy.

    Between May 24 and Ojulari’s Vienna outing of last week, the pieces, may finally be coming together. A month after the shutdown, operatives of the EFCC reportedly arrested a former Chief Financial Officer of the NNPC, Umar Isa. This was said to be in connection with an alleged $7.2bn fraud linked to the rehabilitation of the three refineries in Kaduna, Warri, and Port Harcourt. At stake was the $1,559,239,084.36 allocated to the Port Harcourt refinery, $740,669,600 released for the Kaduna refinery, and $656,963,938 approved for the Warri refinery.

    As reported by Punch: “All key officials involved in the maintenance and other major NNPCL projects are also under investigation for alleged abuse of office, corruption, diversion of public funds, and kickbacks from contractors”. Former Managing Director of the Warri Refinery, Jimoh Olasunkanmi, was also among those arrested.

    And just like the old African fable about the witch said to have cried all night only for the dawn to herald the death of the baby of the house, Bayo Ojulari, the NNPCL helmsman would appear to be at his wits end to find matching words to what is going on!

    Here is what he told Bloomberg at the 9th OPEC International Seminar in Vienna, Austria on the state of the refineries: “So refineries, we made quite a lot of investment over the last several years and brought in a lot of technologies. We’ve been challenged. Some of those technologies have not worked as we expected so far. But also, as you know, when you’re refining a very old refinery that has been abandoned for some time, what we’re finding is that it’s becoming a little bit more complicated,” he was quoted to have said.

    “But what we’re saying is that sale is not out of the question. All the options are on the table, to be frank, but that decision will be based on the outcome of the reviews we’re doing now”.

    I believe I know what NNPCL-GMD Ojulari stopped short of saying. While he may not have declared the process, from design to execution, as being incurably bad – particularly the idea of retrofitting the old, antiquated 60,000 barrels per day refinery for what would at best deliver 90 percent performance at the optimum level – he nonetheless left no doubts about his conviction that the entire idea could only have made political, certainly not, business sense!

    And while he was also not categorical on the way to go, he also somewhat implied that the entire $1.5 billion may have gone down the drain considering the nigh impossibility of realising anything near that figure in sales value. 

    Note his allusion to an implied bad investment decision; his retort about the flawed technologies in place and by extension the fatal admission to what is already deemed, an ill-thought out process. Never mind the implied joke that the country should not only write them off as scraps and so move on with whatever terms of sale the auctioneers might deem to be comfortable with, (after it is merely another line item in the criminal schemes that the country has been serially afflicted with) – which was what those behind them intended, anyway; it was, for him, sufficient to put all the cards on the table for all Nigerians to see!

    Uncomfortable as it is, the issue seems unlikely to go away. By this I mean the question of the future of the four refineries. At this time, the signs, even to the most incurable optimist, must be deeply unsettling, more so, with the latest revelations by Ojulari. While the focus at this time is on the old refinery in Port Harcourt, the auguries would appear to be the same for the other Port Harcourt refinery as they are of the other two in Warri and Kaduna.

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    Yet again, we are being reminded of the folly of 2007. Then, Nigerians, supposedly for the love of country, rejected the sale of the refineries in Port Harcourt and Kaduna to Bluestar Consortium put up by businessmen Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola. Whereas the argument was that the process was flawed, in reality, it turned out that Nigerians would rather hold on to their beloved but utterly useless ‘patrimony’ even when such had long lost its rationale as a going concern. Now, we are back to learning the hard way, the fine lines between hard business decisions and hollow nationalist effusions! 

    Only last week, a colleague wanted my view on what I believe should be the way forward. I thought the answer was simple enough: Selling the contraptions remains the way to go! As it was in 2007, so it is even today. It is even more pressing now that Nigerians – unlike what they were led to believe years back – no longer harbour any worries about whether the fuel being discharged at the pumps is Dangote’s or NNPCL’s petrol!

    Here’s hoping that the usual quarters would spare Nigerians their hollow, noxious and uneducated computations of what the value of the refineries should be! As yours truly is wont to say, only the investors, as against our hordes of arm-chair valuation experts, understand the meaning of values in any real sense!  After all, you can’t, for the pain of refurbishing your old Toyota Camry insist on selling it as new only because the engine, tyres, suspension and other critical components are supposed to be brand new!

    But that should not come without proper accounting for the money spent and the value delivered. At this time, Nigerians and relevant agencies should be asking Maire Tecnimont SpA and the NNPCL, hard questions about the terms of the contracts and what has been delivered. Are there protection clauses or implied warrantees on which the NNPCL could draw upon? Old or not, it is unimaginable that a thoroughly refurbished refinery will break down after barely six months of use. The same question obviously applies to Daewoo Engineering & Construction Nigeria Limited, the contractor in charge of Warri and Kaduna refineries. Or are we dealing with another Process & Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID) here?