The Nation Newspaper

Category: Columnists

  • Anticlimax

    Anticlimax

    We have never had a leader like Muhammadu Buhari, and we may never have one like him again. He first stepped into the nation’s imagination as a soldier and exited as a soldier in some eyes and a soldier-statesman in some other eyes, as a bigot in some others. Some will continue to see him, though, as a man of mystery.

    Peter Enahoro, known as Peter Pan, and author of How To Be A Nigerian gave the first hint of his profile as a man of mystery when he interviewed him for his Africa Now magazine. He described him as “deceptively gentle.” Since Peter Pan’s characterization in the 1980’s, in his first time as leader, Buhari changed his image as a sublime chameleon in many ways.

     He was a military leader, civilian bureaucrat, fighter for democracy as revenge rather than as ideologue, a presidential candidate as a supposedly repented autocrat, a serial loser with a Lincolnian strain, a president who developed a cult and fanatical following who bowed on the street and drank unclean water in his name, a president who almost died in office but developed a health status that resembled a miracle before he bowed out.

     As a young man, my first introduction to the Katsina patriarch was when he was the General Officer Commanding (GOC) in Jos, and he asked the army to begin reading the Constitution to know their responsibility for the country.

    As a columnist for the Nigerian Tribune, Ebenezer Babatope warned Nigerians to look out for the man, hinting that he was not a man to take for granted.

    It was during the Shagari era, and Babatope warned that no one should be surprised if we woke up one morning and he would be behind the “good morning fellow Nigerians” accompanying a martial music.

     It happened, according to his prophetic clairvoyance, in December 1983, and Buhari, later that night, in a winsome face and beret, addressed the country as a military ruler. He cherished that number 1983.

    In 2006, when I placed a call to him for an interview, I used a colleague’s number. When we met at his suite at the Hilton, the first remark was whether I was the fellow whose number ended with 1983.

    He beamed from ear to ear with a touch of rare vanity. I said no to his disappointment.  He might have wanted to swap numbers.

    When I met him that morning, I mused on a lot of things about the man. He had not had his second time as leader. I had a belief in him that he had the discipline and aura to run Nigeria.

    As I had characterised him on this page and before I started writing for this newspaper, he would bring his spartan discipline to stanch the bleeding in the country. This was because as a military head of state he was a personage who loathed corruption, and wanted to bring the nation on the path of sanity.

    So, when he ran for president, even the first time, I thought he was good for politics. The problem with Nigeria was not only a lack of discipline, but a lack of imagination in governance.

     I thought Buhari would bring his spartan charm and blend it with men of thinking and energy on the front row while he ran the country as a czar of corruption and due process.

     And that was the anticlimax of having him at the helm. He would govern with a purifying shadow, a sort of secular priest with his aura both cheering and chastening.

    He became a president and ran it with a cabal of antediluvian ideas. With a man like Malami as attorney general espousing the idea of an old route grazing.

     He presided over a sometimes cranky and conservative government, dead of ideas.

     On the economy, he stood guard over a government that had no way to generate money except by printing and borrowing from China, among others. He gave us a debt of over N30 trillion in Ways and Means and several billions of dollars.

     He left the finances in chaos and the nation’s morale was at the nadir. In one word, Buhari should have saved the economy from the Jonathan era where the nation was in dire straits. Rather, he worsened the situation, and created an economy that had to be saved from itself.

    Buhari, in the end, turned out to be a man who looked after one man: Muhammadu Buhari. Nothing reflected this self-absorption more than when he was running for election. When in Ogun and Imo states, he asked voters to vote for him but vote their conscience on the governorship and other offices.

    He dithered on his successor. He told the world he was not interested but he tried to undercut the best man in his whole political career: Bola Tinubu.

     It was he who crafted an alliance that vaulted him to Aso Villa. Yet, he did not want him to succeed him. It was hypocritical that he did not even tell now President Tinubu that he did not want him as his successor.

    Rather he put his weight behind former Senate president Ahmad Lawan.

     It reflected his lack of integrity, and even blatant hypocrisy as a leader.

     He did not only support Lawan, he ran an election-period economy with currency and fuel scarcity that cast his APC in bad light and sought to undermine its candidate.

    In spite of accusations, he was unfazed and many saw those measures as choreographed to derail Tinubu’s presidential dreams.

     So besieged was he that he did the wrong thing by showing off his voter’s card as a mark of party loyalty.

    As military leader, he squeezed the economy in the name of enshrining a moral tone.

    In his time as civilian leader, he choked the economy and failed as a moral compass. He might have made the claim that he was a moral leader in his first time with his war against indiscipline.

     In retrospect, it was discipline without imagination or conscience. It was the same lack of imagination that throttled his way as a civilian president.

    It has turned out that Buhari loved himself too much to love Nigeria enough. He loved his faith too much to open his heart out of his prejudices.

    He visited Ibadan once as a fighter for the herdsmen, and it cast him as a bigot. He did not make much effort to defrock himself of such optics in the way he handled the herder crisis.

    In fact, the link between the herder crisis and the banditry became more potent in his time, and was soft on banditry. The bandits swaggered in the bushes and highways, and had full eight years to fatten and nurture the monsters in their souls.

    There is a belief that he did not want the bandits to be killed, so our murderers blossomed on the blood and treasures of society.

    When I was a student at Ife, I expected much from the man when he took over as military leader. It was on the cusp of a new year he took over as head of state, December 31, 1983. There was a parade on campus hailing the end of democracy.

    My throat joyed with songs that morning.  When the French revolution was born, William Wordsworth crooned, “Bliss it was that dawn to be alive. But to be young was very heaven.” As a youth, I felt like that. Just as the revolution became a bust, Buhari’s coming with Decrees two and four hammered Nigerians out of our comforts.

    When he wanted to be a civilian leader, I gave him a chance as a man of conscience. He failed. Buhari was a tease. He promised with an air of pious devotion. He did not deliver.

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     Yet, he had a charisma and cult following unmatched by any in our history. His was a charisma of suggestion. He was no demagogue, no performer.

    If one, his was a demagogue of body language: his ramrod carriage, his no-smile and smile, his soldierly bearing, his façade of severity and disdain for materialism. If no doer, he bequeaths an example of beguiling simplicity. He was known for no extravagance, cars, houses, money show. His was an extravagance of apparent austerity.

    He was loved by both cow and man. He did less for man than cow, but cows never had a way of gratitude known to man, except men like him, perhaps.

    He was a head of herders without herding. He was a soldier but did not quaff or indulge the pleasures of the flesh.

    He was a good soldier but preferred the love of his civilian followers. Danjuma once said he would want him as a chief of army staff rather than head of defence staff. He looked a force of character but he could not translate it to those he governed.

    His following knew he could do no wrong. He might have lost some of his mystique to his failures, but if he ran for election again today in a coalition that guaranteed just a few millions from the south, no one can bet against him.

    He is a testament to the futility of the crowd as a picture of wisdom. That is why we should be wary of man who, without clear vision, capture the imagination of the throng, a thing Elias Canetti warns about in his Nobel Prize-winning book, Crowds and Power.

    History may yet be kind to him in a few areas. As president, he worked, with Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, on infrastructure and redeemed his image by prioritising rail transportation.

    He lived a phenom and died a phenom. He was a hero to many, a man of unflinching tenacity. Even  in death, his foes have nothing but admiration, bordering on curious affection.

    Goodbye to a man among men

  • Cybercrime syndicates of foreigners

    Cybercrime syndicates of foreigners

    Nothing illustrates the mortal risk to Nigeria’s national security than the disclosure by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) of the successful prosecution and conviction of 146 foreign nationals out of the 194 arrested in the country last year for various financial crimes.

    Though heart-warming, the fact that such a high number of foreign cybercriminals operated within our shores, says a lot on the vulnerability of the country to external sabotage. Who knows the number of others that have been evading security detection and the incalculable harm their devious activities have wrought on the national economy?

    Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede said at the opening ceremony of the International Cybersecurity Conference in Abuja that the foreigners were arrested last year for various forms of financial crimes and activities inimical to the economic growth and development of the country.

     A majority of them were said to have posed as Nigerians with stolen identities to defraud unsuspecting individuals and institutions in the country while Nigerians are being accused wrongly for the crimes. The convicted foreigners would be made to serve their jail terms in the country before being repatriated to their home countries.

    It is good a thing the EFCC arraigned and secured the conviction of the 146 foreigners out of the 194 it arrested for sundry cybercrimes. The promptness of the arraignments and subsequent convictions will no doubt, send a clear message on the zero tolerance of the country to cybercrimes, especially those driven by foreigners.

    But the arrests and conviction of this high number of foreign criminals in just one year, highlights the pervasiveness of cybersecurity crimes in the country. In December 2024, the commission arrested 792 suspects for alleged involvement in cryptocurrency investment fraud and romance scam. This followed its sting operation in a seven-storey building in Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Subsequent profiling of the suspects showed that 148 Chinese, 40 Filipinos, and two Kharzartans were the brains behind the phoney fraud company which could easily be mistaken as the corporate headquarters of a major financial establishment. But behold, all that took place in that imposing edifice was nothing but cybercrime operations.

    The foreign syndicate used the facility to train their Nigerian accomplices on how to initiate romance and investment scams deploying their identities to that effect. It is not clear how long they operated in the building before being detected by the security agencies.

    But the fact that such imposing edifice employing so many Nigerians and located at the heart of Nigeria’s commercial centre, could be deployed for criminal activity, illustrates most poignantly the porosity of our national environment. In saner climes, it will be nigh impossible for foreigners to set up a phoney company in that manner, employ many of its nationals without someone raising an eyebrow.

    Even then, with the burgeoning high unemployment rate in the country, those lucky to secure jobs with the cybercrime company may not see the compunction to report them to the law enforcement agencies which may come with job loss. That is part of the uncanny contradiction. It is also possible that some of the Nigerian employee may not even understand the real nature of the business they were employed to carry out. 

    Another syndicate of fraudsters specialising on hotel review scam targeting mostly victims in the United Kingdom, (UK) was busted at Abudu Garba Street, Gudu within the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Abuja. Of the 105 suspects apprehended, four were Chinese while the rest Nigerians. 100 compact workstations were recovered from the Chinese who employed computer savvy Nigerians to work for them usually as customer service representatives.

    Their modus operandi is to train the Nigerians to work on prepared templates of criminality online. The foreign bosses give fake identities and assign foreign names to their Nigerian employees through which they chat with foreigners making false representations to them. When once the criminal business is about to be consummated, the Chinese takes over the discussions and shuts off the Nigerian employees to deny them knowledge of the eventual sum scammed.

    These are the high-profile foreign cybercrime financial syndicates smashed by the EFCC. There are many other arrests and smashing of cyber criminals across the country both of foreign and local hue. But as key to the war against sundry cybercrimes as the arrest and prosecution of offenders is, the objective factors that predispose Nigeria as safe haven for foreign-led criminal rings are issues to consider.

    A total of 5,049 cybercriminal domains and networks were taken down by the Cyber Hawks unit of the Nigerian Police in 2024 alongside arrests and seizures of electronic devices deployed for the crimes. The war against cybercrimes is no doubt, a huge challenge given its sophistication.

    Increasing reliance on technology, interconnected systems including the ease of access to cybercrime tolls and marketplaces are some of the factors that incubate cybercrimes. There is additionally the lucrative nature of cybercriminal activities.

     In the face of the lure of cybercrimes, Nigeria’s weak regulatory framework, widespread digital fraud and economic instability serve as fertile grounds for foreign-led cybercrime syndicates to take root. This is evident in the number of arrests and convictions, the relative ease with which such syndicates operate and evade the prying eyes of the security architecture.

    But how do these criminally-minded foreigners get into the country? That is the big question the relevant authorities charged with the duty of visa approvals must provide. Before then, the high number of foreign citizens involved in cybercrimes speaks eloquently of glaring loopholes and inadequacies in the processes preceding visa issuance.

    This calls for total overhaul of the visa issuing regulations by our embassies and high commission especially for citizens of countries that feature more prominently in cybercrimes within our shores. It is apparent that many of the foreigners found culpable in cybercrimes have no business being granted entry into the country in the first place.

    Besides, the yawning absence of a cybersecurity centre with the capacity to detect and promptly respond to cybercrime attacks in the face of the spreading scourge has not helped matters. It has become imperative for the relevant agencies to respond to the exigencies of the changing environment to stave off the easy resort of foreigners to cybercrimes while in the country.

    EFCC chairman, Olukoyede spoke along this line when he said “foreigners are taking advantage of the nation’s reputation as haven of frauds to establish a foothold here to disguise their atrocious criminal enterprise”. But he was quick to add that the EFCC through its operations has shown that there is no hiding place for foreign criminals in the country.

    Even as efforts are made to stamp out foreign-led cybercrime syndicates, the country faces the additional danger of the criminal technology they have transferred to our nationals. Our nationals trained by them still pose serious threat to economic and financial stability.

    A recent report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned that Chinese and Southeast Asia cybercrime rings have increasingly migrated operations to African countries including Nigeria following law enforcement crackdowns in their home countries.

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    UNODC’s acting Southeast Asia representative, Benedict Hofmann said, “The networks spread like cancer. They relocate, build and continue to exploit institutional weaknesses wherever they can”. Statistics from various sources in the country corroborate the enormity of cybersecurity crimes and attacks.

    According to Nigerian Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS), businesses in the country face an average of 2,560 cyberattacks each week. Its Managing Director, Haruna Jalo-Waziri said at a 2024 cybersecurity conference in Abuja that the threat posed by the menace underscored the urgent need for robust cybersecurity measures especially with the 45 per cent increase in ransom wave attacks globally.

    All these highlight the top priority the government should place on cybersecurity because of its effects on economic stability and public trust.  Foreigners are quickly exploiting the weaknesses of our regulatory framework to sabotage the national economy. We must quickly stop that ruinous trend.

    But then, Nigerian landlords who rent their buildings to phoney cybercrime companies should be made to face severe consequences to serve as deterrent to others. It is a huge scandal that a foreign-led cybercrime company could rent a seven-storey building in the heart of Lagos, employ hundreds of Nigerians and operate with impunity before it was unmasked.

  • NDDC: Covering up corruption

    NDDC: Covering up corruption

    Controversy about an unreleased forensic audit report marred the 25th anniversary celebration of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).  Interestingly, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike had drawn attention to the yet-to-be-released report while making corruption-related allegations against the wife of a former minister of transportation under the Muhammadu Buhari administration, Rotimi Amaechi. He claimed she was linked to a company that allegedly received N4bn monthly from the NDDC supposedly for training women in the Niger Delta—totalling N48bn per year.  

    Wike, who spoke in a television interview on July 4, also alleged that implicated individuals in the previous administration blocked the report’s release. He urged President Bola Tinubu to “help Nigerians” by releasing the report.

    As if on cue, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), in a letter dated July 5, demanded that President Tinubu should order an investigation of the alleged blocking of the report’s release, stating, “your government has a constitutional responsibility to publish it and act upon its recommendations.” SERAP argued that “The continued failure to publish the audit report undermines public trust and confidence, particularly of victims of corruption in the Niger Delta who have waited far too long for justice and accountability.”

    The non-governmental and non-profit organisation, founded in Nigeria in 2004, “aims to use human rights law to encourage the government and others to address developmental and human rights challenges such as corruption, poverty, inequality and discrimination.”

    When ex-President Buhari, in October 2019, ordered a forensic audit of the agency’s operations from 2001 to 2019, the move suggested that his administration’s anti-corruption campaign had finally reached the NDDC. 

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    At the time, the Federal Government had lamented the “uncompleted and unverified development projects” in the region “in spite of the huge resources made available to uplift the living standards of the citizens.”

     The government had said there were “over 13,777 projects, the execution of which is substantially compromised,” even though the commission got “approximately N6tn” from “budgetary allocation” and “income from statutory and non-statutory sources,” from 2001 to 2019.

    The audit was reported to have started in April 2020.  The Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a contract of N318m for the engagement of a lead consultant for the audit. It was curious that the exercise took well over a year.

    After a long delay, the Federal Government received the NDDC forensic audit report in September 2021. According to reports, among the recommendations, presented by the Lead Forensic Auditor, Tabir Ahmed, was that the NDDC should be made to operate within the limits of its annual budget and ensure that only projects budgeted for are awarded each fiscal year.

    The audit report also recommended that mobilisation payment be abolished, and the agency should employ project consultants to ensure accurate supervision and valuation of projects. Additionally, the report recommended that the agency should adopt a standard for costing contracts with appropriate profit margins.

     The Federal Government had said it “will apply the law to remedy the deficiencies outlined in the audit report as appropriate.” The government added: “This will include but not be limited to the initiation of criminal investigations, prosecution, recovery of funds not properly utilised for the public purposes for which they were meant for amongst others.” The goal is to improve the standard of living of the people of the Niger Delta “through the provision of adequate infrastructural and socio-economic development,” the government said.

    Four years later, it is unsurprising that the non-release and non-implementation of the audit report is an explosive issue.  After the tough talk of the Buhari administration, there is no sign that the Federal Government meant what it said.  It is unclear whether the delay in implementing the report is because those implicated in the underdevelopment of the Niger Delta are trying to prevent the government from taking action against them.

    The Tinubu administration needs to demonstrate that it is against the region’s underdevelopment by implementing the report.  There is no doubt that the NDDC, established in 2000 by the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, has failed to develop the Niger Delta as expected.   Ironically, it is supposed to be a development agency, but has been identified as a major agent of underdevelopment in the oil-rich region. 

     For instance, SERAP’s letter said “The missing N6 trillion and over 13,000 abandoned projects in the Niger Delta have continued to have a negative impact on the human rights of Nigerians, undermining their access to basic public goods and services, such as education, healthcare, and regular and uninterrupted electricity supply.”

    The first commercial oil discovery in the country happened in Oloibiri in present-day Bayelsa State, in 1956; and the first oil field began production in 1958. More than six decades later, the story of underdevelopment in the Niger Delta is a continuing story.  Nigeria is a major producer of oil in Africa and the world. It is inexcusable that many communities in the region that produces the country’s oil wealth reflect not only a lack of prosperity but also perplexing poverty.

    Significantly, at an event to mark NDDC’s landmark 25th anniversary in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on July 12, the Director of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, noted that “Over N7tn has been sunk into the NDDC since inception. How many solid roads have you built? The Niger Delta still ranks low on human development. A lot needs to be done to meet the aspirations of the people.”

    At the same ceremony, President Tinubu, represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, described the Niger Delta as “the goose that lays the golden egg,” stating he had directed the NDDC “to complete and deliver abandoned critical projects” and “continue to prioritise human capital development.”

    It is puzzling that the Federal Government has not addressed the question of non-release and non-implementation of the NDDC forensic audit report, which is an issue of public interest. The government must not pretend to be unaware of the issue. It may be accused of covering up corruption. 

    In the context of releasing and implementing the audit report, the Federal Government must prosecute corruption suspects and recover the proceeds of corruption not only to ensure justice but also to achieve deterrence.

  • Dane guns vs. AK-47

    Dane guns vs. AK-47

    This apparent mismatch is Gov. Alia’s own way of capturing the herders/farmers crisis in Benue

    When the Samuel Ortom administration began the implementation of the Anti-Open Grazing Law in Benue State in November 2017, many people had thought that was going to give them some respite given what they had gone through in the hands of killer herdsmen in the state. The law was signed by the governor in May of the year. It prohibits open rearing and grazing of livestock in the state, as well as provides for the establishment of ranches. The aim was to minimise clashes between farmers and herders.

    About eight years down the line, the respite hoped for by the enactment of the law has not materialised. Indeed, Benue State appears marked out for attacks by the herdsmen who had forced people in the state to organise several emergency mass burials arising from casualties during farmer/herders clashes.

    Governor Ortom was said to have faithfully implemented the law. However, his successor, Hyacinth Alia, under whose watch the anti-open grazing law had reportedly witnessed some relaxation in its implementation, is now feeling the heat.

    Recently, a group, Benue Advocacy Network, has had to raise the poser as to why insecurity persists, especially in the rural communities in the state, despite the existence of the anti-grazing law. In a statement signed by its president, Enoch Ortese, the group requested the governor to address the concerns of the people regarding governance, transparency and security.

    The group is also worried by the continual rise in the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) across the state, contrary to the governor’s campaign promise to return the IDPs to their ancestral homes within the first 100 days of office.

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    There were other allegations levelled against the state government by the group which also requested the government to publish financial receipts and expenditures, with details of contract awards, and why local governments in the state have not started to enjoy immunity.

    “Instead of fulfilling his promise to return IDPs to their ancestral homes within the first 100 days of his administration, the governor has constructed additional camps and tents for the displaced people.

    “We demand an explanation for this approach and a clear plan for the safe and sustainable return of the IDPs,” the group stated.

    The group obviously carries some weight because the government could not be silent to its requests.

    But I am not so much interested in the financial details even if I have to commend the group for doing what many people are not doing in their respective states. They are not asking their governors any question, even as the allocations they are now receiving have more than doubled in some cases.

    I appear more interested in the governor’s answer concerning the increasing killing of innocent people by some herdsmen in the state.

    According to Gov. Alia, the Benue State Protection Guards set up to implement the anti-grazing law cannot match the herders weapon-for-weapon. Whereas the guards are only permitted to carry Dane guns, the herders’ militias brazenly wield AK-47 and AK-49 rifles.

    The governor, who spoke through his chief press secretary, Kula Tersoo, said “The governor has been very open about the problem of implementing the anti-open grazing law, because the enforcers, the state Civil Protection Guards, are not permitted to bear arms except licensed guns.

    “But the unfortunate development is that these herdsmen are being protected by their militias who carry AK-47 and AK-49, even while grazing their cattle.

    “You can try and find out the number of mobile police that had been killed by these herders’ militias, even though they are well trained to confront enemies.

    “So, if MOPOL could not arrest these armed herders, is it the State Protection Guards who don’t have access to sophisticated weapons that will do?”

    This is a serious matter. The matter is worsened by the fact that, according to the governor, even when the civil protection guards try to confront the herders, they sometimes flee to neighbouring Nasarawa State where there is no anti-grazing law. This probably explains why the governor wants the law to be a national matter.

    I am disturbed because this is not the first time that people have accused herders of going about with sophisticated weapons. I am not speaking for Gov. Alia, but I am particularly worried because this kind of thing is happening in the 21st century Nigeria. Where did the herders get militias that carry such sophisticated weapons from? Where do they get the arms? Are they licensed to carry such arms?

    I have heard the argument before that because of their itinerant nature in bushes and forests, they need such protection against cattle rustlers and others who might want to disturb their operations.

    Indeed, Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, is one such person. But the director of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Professor Ishaq Akintola, gave an appropriate response to Mohammed’s submission: “Bala Mohammed should not try to pull the wool over our faces. Is it not those arms herders use to intimidate farmers in Zamfara, Kebbi, Kaduna, Enugu, Ibadan, etc? Is it not the same arms they use to kidnap and rape? No herder has the right to carry dangerous weapons like AK-47. Are they going to war?”

    And, as he added, if we do not address the crisis frontally, we may be inviting food crisis because that is what to expect when the fear of armed herdsmen has to be the beginning of wisdom for farmers.

    “Farms are being deserted in the North East, North West, North Central, South West and South South. We have sent an invitation to famine and I pray the invitation will not be honoured. There may be famine very soon if the situation is not urgently addressed. A practice that threatens food production nationwide has to stop.”

    I don’t have problem with people trying to protect themselves from bandits and other criminal elements. But the pertinent questions I asked above deserve to be answered, otherwise, it would only be a matter of time for other Nigerians to carry their own arms, also ostensibly in self-defence.

    Obviously too, it is the owners of the cows (and not the herders that go about with the animals) that provide the herders with the sophisticated rifles. It therefore would not be a bad idea for rich farmers to reciprocate same by also providing the hands on their farms with weapons.

    As the MURIC boss noted, it has now become obvious that most of these herders carry the arms not only for purposes of self-defence but to harass other Nigerians out of their own legitimate businesses or even homelands.

    This is what has been playing out in seven parts of the country where herders/farmers clashes are more pronounced.

    As recently as April, this year, no fewer than 50 communities across five local government areas in Benue State were said to have been sacked by armed herdsmen, according to the Benue State Emergency Management Agency. These included Sengev, Gbaange/Tongov, Saav, Mbapupuu/Tswarev, Mbabuande Kyaav, Mbapa, Tsambe/Mbesev, Sengev/Yengev, Merkyegh, Nyamshi, Tijime, Tyough Ater, and Njaha, where herders were said to have settled comfortably with their cows. “Our community has been abandoned for years due to repeated attacks. Public facilities like markets, healthcare centres, and schools have all been destroyed,” a retired comptroller of prisons and President of Mdzou U Tiv Worldwide, Iorbee Ihagh, lamented the destruction of entire communities in the Moon ward of Kwande local government area where he hails from.

    Yet, Benue is not the only state in Nigeria where this has happened. In 2001, about 102 communities were said to have been sacked and renamed by herdsmen in Plateau State. According to the son of the first Gbong Gwom of Jos and spokesperson for Southern Middle Belt Alliance, SAMBA, Prince Rwang Pam Jr., in an interview in 2001, security agents knew they were occupying their homes, and that children and women who ran into schools when the rampaging herders arrived were trailed and killed, even as elections were held in the ‘captured’ territories.

    However, since Benue State has provision for ranching, the state government should go ahead to see that it works. It must ensure that its law mandating the establishment of ranches is enforced. Here, one would however remember the dangers in this, especially with the fight between the herders and farmers not being one among equals. As Akintola said, “Anybody with a loaded pistol has the power of life or death over his neighbour unless he is a law enforcement agent protecting the citizens. It is a different picture entirely when herders bear arms openly.”

    A situation where nomads still go about with sophisticated and probably unlicensed arms would seem to suggest that they are not yet ready to embrace modernity. They must be made to embrace ranching as the modern way to do their business. Even their cows would thank them for this. The Federal Ministry of Livestock Development and agencies of government responsible for advocacy should not just initiate enlightenment campaign to make the herders accept ranching as the way to go; they must sustain the campaign until the import sinks in the heads of the herders.

    Nobody has a monopoly of breaking laws or treating same with levity. This is why the respective governments at state or federal level must ensure they stop giving the impression that they support carrying of illegal arms by murderous herdsmen while this is forbidden for farmers.

    We do not have to wait for the natural consequence of everyone carrying  illegal sophisticated arms for self-protection against bandits and murderers who masquerade as herdsmen before doing the rightful.

  • The rise, rise and rise of capitalism (XXVII)

    The rise, rise and rise of capitalism (XXVII)

    The world after the Second World War was essentially a bipolar one with the USA and other recognised capitalist countries in bitter opposition to the Soviet Union and other countries within her orbit. It was Winston Churchill, the wartime British Prime Minister who coined the phrase, ‘iron curtain’ which showed quite graphically the steely or even bloody divide between the capitalist west and the communist East in European affairs. That division was quite clear in Europe but far from being explicit in other parts of the world. By 1949 the Chinese Communist Party had fought her way to power in Beijing but apart from their shared ideology, China was not a true satellite of the Soviet Union as there were areas of contention between the two communist giants. The two antagonistic ideological groups were soon at each other’s throat over Korea.

    At the end of WW II, the Korean peninsular was boiling over with tension. For the previous thirty-five years, Korea had been a much abused Japanese colony, part which had been liberated by Russian troops at the tail end of the war. Indeed it was the entry of the Soviets in the war against Japan that finally and quite definitely convinced the Japanese to furl their fighting standards and surrender to the Americans. At the time of the surrender, the Russians occupied the area north of the thirty-eighth parallel thus creating two Koreas, North and South. Each side was determined to claim the whole peninsular for itself but in the end, this only created a stalemate between a communist North and a capitalist South, a division that still exists after all the time that has elapsed and all the lives that have been wasted. The problem in Korea led to a nasty little war with the United States fighting to establish a capitalist state in the South and the communists backing the forces from the North.

    With material and diplomatic support from the Soviet Union,  the Chinese on the northern border, sent troops into the peninsular to help the communist forces, led by Kim Il Sung, to capture Seoul and establish communist rule throughout Korea. Seoul was on the verge of falling to the communists when the USA, in the absence of the Soviet Union at the Security Council managed to engineer a United Nation resolution to intervene in the conflict on the side of the beleaguered south. The US at the head of a coalition of more than twenty nations under the blue UN flag but, contributing about 90% of men and materials, entered the war on the side of South Korea. At the end of three years of blood letting however, each side was still left with what they had at the beginning. The newly elected President of the USA, Dwight Eisenhower, was fully committed to ending what was turning out to be sterile engagement and signed an armistice which brought an end to the fighting. More than seventy years later no peace treaty has been signed and Korea remains bitterly divided between communism and capitalism with the most heavily militarized border the world has ever seen between them.

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    Korea became a symbol of the Cold War which raged between the USA and her allies on one side and the Soviet block on the other until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992. It started because the incumbent American President, Harry Truman was determined not to yield an inch of ground to any communist advance anywhere in the world. All throughout that period, the two sides glared at each other with murderous intent from the top of huge piles of nuclear weapons. Each side was fully conscious of mutual assured destruction (MAD) which guaranteed that no side was mad enough to provoke the launch of any of those terrible weapons.

    At the end of the Second World War, the only industrialised country of note was the USA. All the countries in Europe had their industrial capacity reduced to virtually nothing. The Germans had bombed British industry to rubble and had done the same to France whilst the allies had pounded German industry to dust and the Russians had lost whatever they had before to Operation Barbarossa. And the USA did not waste any moment or opportunity to consolidate her position as the leading, or rather, the only industrial country standing. The USA was now in a position to rule the world and her businessmen took full advantage of the situation. The largest American companies; her oil giants, Coca cola, Pepsi, Kodak, Xerox,  Ford, General Motors, United Fruit, Boeing, to mention only a few in no particular order became what came to be known as multinational companies with business interests in all parts of the world outside the communist block. The war was hardly over when USA instigated the formation of the United Nations Organisation which within the first few years of its existence had been used as cover for American interests in Korean. Naturally, it had its headquarters in New York. Even before the war ended, the Allied powers had met to set up what the world has come to be known as the Bretton Woods institutions; the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank which have since then held a tight, some would say, a choking grip on the administration of what passed for the global economy. As if that was not bad enough, the USA had a finger in practically every political pie that was named in any part of the world.

    Perhaps no part of the world suffered from the fall outs of American dominance more than the countries of Latin America, her close neighbours in the Western Hemisphere. The USA by way of the Monroe doctrine as far back as 1823 had declared hegemony over all of the countries in the Western Hemisphere. It was not until the closing years of the nineteenth century that she was able to lay claim to her promise of dominance in that region. This was when she deprived Spain of her colonies in Cuba and Puetro Rico. Since that time, the USA has treated the countries around her with something close to disdain. The quality of the association of these countries to the USA has led to the coinage of the term banana republic to the countries in that region. This is because they were ruled at the behest of US corporations who ran large fruit farms at great profit, a situation which even charitable analysts would  describe as exploitation. As part of this situation, governments which were not compliant to the wishes of Uncle Sam were soon kicked out of office through the machinations of the almighty CIA, the enforcer arm of the USA government. For many years virtually all the governments of the countries of Central and South America existed at the behest of the US government. The most egregious example of this concerned Chile. In 1973, the people elected the avowedly socialist  Salvador Allende as the President of Chile. The government of the USA reacted as if it had been stung by a particularly vicious wasp. In next to no time, the CIA had engineered a bloody coup during which Allende was assassinated to kick off a very bloody episode in Chilean history and gave the sobriquet of Butcher to Augusto Pinochet, the perpetrator of that outrage. Another example of US pestilence is when Reagan invaded the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada ostensibly because the legitimate socialist leaning government was building an airport with runways long enough to be used by military air craft. The real reason why the marines were sent into Grenada with a population short of two hundred thousand souls was the political colouration of the Grenadian government. The American government was and even now is determined to keep any form of socialism out of the Western Hemisphere. It is a case of protecting the sanctity of the two century old Monroe doctrine by any means necessary.

    As for the rest of the world, the USA was determined to keep the communists at bay. This was the reason why Truman involved the US military in Korea so many thousand miles away. Before her involvement in the Second World War, the US had kept herself strictly in isolation from the rest of the world. After it and in the face of competition with communism, the US suddenly discovered her new mission which was to save the world from the perils of communism and become the leader of the so called free world. She began to demonstrate what she advertised as American exceptionalism and began to bumble her way around the world displaying traits of what Graham Green described as the ugly American in his novel of that title. In one word, America, in her thoughtless effort to defend the rise and rise of capitalism became a danger to herself and the rest of the world. It was in doing this that she stumbled into the war in Vietnam and became bogged down in what has turned out to be a political, diplomatic and military quagmire which on the long run has erased what she has described as her manifest destiny, a belief which like the faith based on the unsinkable quality of the Titanic drove that magnificent ship straight down to the bottom of the freezing Atlantic.

    All throughout this period, the factories in America were working full blast to create impressive wealth for her people, to the envy of people in other countries. To live in America was to fulfil the dream of life written in large letters. Capable people found their way stateside to be part of this dream  which appeared to be unending in a stream of self fulfilling prophecies. And throughout the US, the people descended into a frenzy of consumption which guaranteed that a country which contained just 4% of the global population had the capacity to consume 25% of global goods production. The dizzy rise of capitalism could not be sweeter.

  • Tinubu’s Rio call: balancing the world from Global South

    Tinubu’s Rio call: balancing the world from Global South

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s week in Brazil may have been light on engagements, but it resonated with the weight of a statesman’s voice calling for a new order—a restructured, fairer world where the Global South is no longer confined to the sidelines of power and prosperity. With only one public engagement during the just-concluded 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the Nigerian leader nevertheless delivered a bold and unequivocal message: the time has come to dismantle exploitative structures and rebuild global governance, finance, and healthcare systems on the foundation of equity, justice, and sustainability.

    Tinubu’s week in Brazil began with his arrival on Friday, July 4, at the Galeao Air Force Base in Rio de Janeiro. Welcomed with the ceremony befitting a head of state, he was received by Brazil’s Deputy Ministers for Africa and Trade Promotion. While he did hold a bilateral meeting with his host, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on Saturday—discussing mutually beneficial cooperation between Nigeria and Brazil—that engagement fell outside the window of the current reporting week. The highlight of his visit, and indeed the sole official activity within the week under review, was his address to the BRICS Summit plenary session on Sunday, July 6.

    Yet, that single speech stood out for its substance, timing, and the broader geopolitical context in which it was delivered. Against the backdrop of growing global discontent with entrenched inequities, Tinubu’s speech was not just another polite diplomatic note—it was a resounding call for a new era in global relations. Standing before leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and other new partner countries including Kazakhstan, Cuba, and Malaysia, Tinubu held nothing back.

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    “Nigeria associates with what I have heard today and all that has happened in BRICS,” he declared, pointing directly to the urgent need for “financial restructuring and reevaluation of the global structure.” These were not vague words. They were a direct challenge to the prevailing architecture of international relations, one historically tilted to favour the industrialised North at the expense of resource-rich yet development-constrained nations of the South.

    In an era where even old alliances are showing cracks—exacerbated by the unilateralism of figures like the U.S. President Donald Trump and the increasingly erratic behaviour of supposed global moral leaders—Tinubu’s remarks tapped into a widely held sentiment across the developing world. The president’s call for recalibration is coming at a time when trust in the fairness of the current global order is rapidly eroding. The once-revered structures of diplomacy, trade, and development finance are now viewed with suspicion, seen more as instruments of control than vehicles for cooperation.

    For President Tinubu, the BRICS platform—now broadened to include Nigeria and other like-minded emerging economies—is not just another multilateral engagement. It represents a genuine opportunity for countries of the Global South to define their future on their own terms. He stressed that BRICS must evolve from a bloc of emerging economies into “a beacon for emerging solutions rooted in solidarity, self-reliance, sustainability, and shared prosperity.” This powerful framing underscores Tinubu’s vision of multilateralism as a tool for liberation, not dependency.

    Environmental and social justice have long been central to Tinubu’s international messaging. He has consistently championed the cause of climate equity, reminding the global community that Africa—despite contributing the least to global emissions—is suffering the most from its effects. At the BRICS Summit, he reiterated this point forcefully, calling attention to the irony that the continent most ravaged by climate change is also the least responsible for it.

    But Tinubu’s address went further. He brought a generational lens to the table, highlighting that in Nigeria, “70 percent of the population are youths.” In this context, he argued, global strategies must speak to the aspirations and anxieties of the young. For a continent where the youth demographic is exploding, and where unemployment, climate vulnerability, and healthcare gaps remain pressing challenges, Tinubu’s message was not just timely—it was necessary.

    “We must be the architects of a future that addresses the specific needs and concerns of youths,” he insisted. This assertion was more than rhetorical. It reflected a philosophical stance that sees inclusion not just as a moral imperative, but as a practical strategy for sustainable development. A system that excludes three-quarters of the world’s population from decision-making—while pretending to act in their best interest—cannot endure.

    In advocating for “bold, homegrown steps,” President Tinubu also showcased Nigeria’s domestic efforts. These include accelerating renewable energy adoption, mainstreaming climate action, promoting nature-based solutions, and expanding healthcare access. “We are taking bold steps to accelerate renewable energy, mainstream climate action, strengthen urban resilience, and expand healthcare access,” he said, affirming that Nigeria is not merely a recipient of aid or policy prescriptions, but an active agent of change.

    His push for South-South cooperation aligns neatly with Nigeria’s new status as a BRICS partner country, a development announced by Brazil during its pro tempore presidency of the bloc earlier in the year. This milestone not only elevates Nigeria’s diplomatic standing but also symbolises a broader shift towards diversified global engagements, less dependent on traditional Western partners and more in tune with the realities and opportunities within the Global South.

    In fact, Tinubu’s presence in Rio also reflects a strategic move to recalibrate Nigeria’s foreign policy orientation. By aligning more closely with BRICS—a bloc that already represents over 40% of the world’s population and a growing share of global GDP—Nigeria is betting on a future in which influence is no longer monopolised by a few but shared among many. This diversification is both pragmatic and visionary, rooted in the understanding that economic resilience and political sovereignty go hand in hand.

    During the summit, Tinubu also addressed healthcare disparities, calling attention to the threat of non-communicable diseases and the need to strengthen the global health system. Once again, he advocated for shared solutions anchored in mutual respect and responsibility. “As we approach COP-30 and look to strengthen the global health system, we believe BRICS must not only be a bloc for emerging economies but also a beacon for emerging solutions,” he stressed.

    What gives his voice further credence is the weight of Nigeria’s demographic and economic profile. As the most populous country in Africa and one of its largest economies, Nigeria’s entry into BRICS carries symbolic and substantive significance. It sends a message that Africa cannot be ignored in global deliberations—not when it holds the youngest population, vast mineral wealth, and immense potential for growth.

    Offshore, Yet Steady—Tinubu Keeps the Wheels Turning from Rio

    Even while offshore for the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, President Tinubu ensured that the machinery of governance at home did not lose pace. It was, by all accounts, a quiet week in terms of high-octane engagements—his only major public appearance being the Sunday plenary session at the BRICS Summit—but there was nothing static about his leadership. From his intervention on the global stage to calibrated domestic presence through carefully delegated representation, the President once again demonstrated that leadership, when steady and strategic, can transcend geography.

    Back home, key moments in national life did not go unattended. On Monday, the President mourned the passing of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, who died at the age of 90. In a heartfelt condolence message, President Tinubu described the late monarch as “a symbol of peace, wisdom, and continuity,” reflecting on a life that influenced not just the cultural soul of Ibadan but also its civic progress. Even from across the Atlantic, the President’s voice found its way into the national conversation, offering solace and statesmanship in a moment of loss.

    Midweek, the President was again present—this time through his lieutenants. Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, stood in for him at the public presentation of a new book by former presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja. The symbolic presence of the SGF at the occasion was a subtle nod to Tinubu’s appreciation of institutional memory and the importance of narrative in shaping democratic evolution.

    While President Tinubu’s physical engagements were limited due to his commitments in Brazil, his hand remained firmly on the wheel. His Vice President, Kashim Shettima, continued leading in-country activities, ensuring executive continuity and coordination. It is a style of governance that prioritizes delegation without detachment—leadership that remains engaged, even at a distance.

    The President’s light schedule in Brazil, limited to his participation at the summit and the preceding bilateral meeting, may seem modest on the surface. But in diplomacy, substance often trumps quantity. The singularity of his message, the gravity of his tone, and the political clarity with which he spoke were enough to shape headlines and frame discussions about the summit’s outcomes.

    In many ways, this trip was emblematic of Tinubu’s emerging role on the global stage—a role defined not by ceremonial fanfare but by consistent advocacy for justice, fairness, and inclusive development. His Rio address added yet another layer to a growing portfolio of international interventions where Nigeria is no longer pleading to be heard, but insisting on a seat at the table—and sometimes, building a new table altogether.

    It was, by all accounts, a quiet week in terms of activities. But in the solemn halls of the BRICS Summit, Nigeria’s president made a loud statement. One that echoed across continents. One that insisted on dignity for the Global South. One that demanded a world order founded not on dominance, but on dialogue.

    And if the world was listening—truly listening—it would have heard more than a speech. It would have heard a call to action.

  • Wike’s PDP

    Wike’s PDP

    The case of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the current Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, evokes deep thought. The PDP had been appreciably damaged by its loss in the 2015 presidential election. Like fair weather friends, many stalwarts of the party who had benefited immensely from the party abandoned it. In fact, in a most unkind manner, one of the foremost beneficiaries of the PDP made a public show of destroying his party membership card. Some others who were not so negatively dramatic displayed betraying indifference. At the peak of the party’s tribulation, some suggested that it should change its name to renew its public appeal.

    But there were people who did not give up on the PDP. Foremost among these loyalists of the party was Nyesom Wike, especially during his tenure as the Governor of Rivers State. He provided requisite funding and associated support and breathed life back into the PDP. Then those who wouldn’t touch the party with a long pole or kept what they imagined was a safe distance from the party started to fly back to it like moth towards light. And they returned with renewed predation and the attempt to sideline those who had stayed loyal to the party in its most trying times.

    Nyesom Wike was one of the most prominent of the PDP stalwarts who suffered the conspiracy. Based on the belief that with the All Progressives Congress (APC) President Muhammadu Buhari, who is a northerner, about to end his 8-year tenure in 2015, it was expected that a southerner would be presented by the party. So, Wike showed interest in contesting the presidential primaries of the PDP towards the 2023 general elections. The popular belief at the time was that he was well-paced to emerge as the party’s candidate for the election. But that did not come to be. It was reported that last minute ethno-regional and political manoeuvres and manipulation accounted for his loss.

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    There were also proposals that Wike be nominated as the Vice-Presidential candidate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who won the PDP primary. This too did not materialise. And the question of undermining the zoning formula which was believed should have favoured the South arose. In line with this belief, Wike declared that he would only support a southerner for the presidency in 2023. Incidentally, the most prospective southerner at the time was Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC. So, Wike supported him in the presidential election, while simultaneously working for the victory of the PDP at the State House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate and Governorship elections in Rivers State.

    Wike’s support for President Tinubu during the elections and his subsequent appointment by the President as the Minister of the FCT has made him prone to accusations of anti-party activities by some members of the PDP and certain members of the national elite, especially some sections of the Nigerian media. But Wike has robustly defended himself against this accusation. In fact, when Seun Okinbaloye, in a 30 August, 2023 Channels TV interview, asked him, “Governor Wike, you are a PDP member in an APC government. Is that right?”, Wike replied: “Governance is not about party. Party is a vehicle that conveys you. … I’m a PDP member … unrepentable.”

    Wike also cited a precedent: “Remember Obasanjo and Atiku, President and Vice President in this country in 1999, … took late Bola Ige, who was an AD [Alliance for Democracy] member not just to become a Minister of Power, but [also] Attorney-General, No. 1 Minister of the country, … because Obasanjo and Atiku believed that he could contribute in these areas. … I never hid my intention. As a PDP member, I came out and [said] I’m going to support equity, fairness and justice. Did I not say so? Did we not say that you cannot as a party, if you mean well for this country, continue with the line you are going, [which] means that we [Southerners] don’t have a place in the party? … So, what is new now about anybody talking about I’m serving APC [while] in PDP.”

    Wike explained further: “I was in PDP; I supported Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Yes, did I hide it? … I’m not here to work for a party. I’m here to support the President who has confidence in me to help him to deliver the renewed hope, and I owe nobody any apologies at all, at all. I was in PDP, I worked for Ahmed Tinubu to be President of Nigeria. In fact, … if people have forgotten history, in the South-east and South-south, there’s no … state the President won, except Rivers State. … We came out to say it earlier that we were going to support a southerner to be president.”

    With respect to getting the approval of the leadership of the PDP before taking up the President’s offer of a ministerial position to him in an APC-controlled government, Wike said: “I respect the party. I wrote to the National Chairman and his people that this is the offer made to me by the President. Did they say they told me not to accept? I wrote a letter to the Zonal Chairman of my party. … They said, ‘Accept it. It’s a call for duty.’ I wrote to the State Chairman of my party. He said, ‘Accept it.’ I wrote to my Governor. He said, ‘Accept it.’”

    Wike also disclosed: “This government wrote to all the governors of PDP and APC to nominate people for appointments … and … PDP governors nominated people for appointment. … I challenge anybody, anybody, anybody who is the governor of PDP that said he never wrote any letter to this government for so-so people to be appointed under this government. Has anybody come to challenge me?” To underscore the veracity of his claim, he dared any governor who could do so to counter the claim. It is uncertain whether any PDP governor has taken up this challenge.

    Those who have been castigating the PDP for indulgence in relation to the party’s seeming inability to discipline or expel Wike from the PDP for accepting a position in an APC government and declaring his intention to support President Tinubu’s second term election in 2027, while still being a member of the PDP, thus appear to be oblivious of the real state of affairs of the party. In fact, to Okinbaloye’s question, “Are you afraid that your party might move against you and expel you?”, Wike replied: “No. Who’s the party?” To this question, Okinbaloye replied: “The PDP.” And Wike asked: “Who are the PDP people?” Okinbaloye responded: “The Executives of the party, the NEC [National Executive Committee] of the party.”

    Then Wike remarked: “How can anybody talk about expelling me, [in] a state that brought a state governor, a state that brought three Senators, a state that produced 32 House of Assembly members, a state that produced 11 out of 13 House of Reps members.” He also asked: “Who are these people coming to say they would discipline me? Discipline who? Discipline who?” He further boasted: “I have not seen that person, with all due respect, who would do it. … Nobody would do it. … I should be the one calling for the discipline of these people who violated the party constitution … in the way that the party said there must be rotation.”

    Meanwhile, some prominent members of the PDP declared that they were committed to stopping President Tinubu from getting a second term in office, but, in a defeatist way, said that the PDP could not achieve that goal alone. So, they decided to defect from the PDP and form a new party or move to an existing one. These PDP members have been working in collaboration with some disaffected members of the APC and some members of the Labour Party (LP). Recently, the coalition against President Tinubu decided to join the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The defection of the PDP members of the coalition has further created a challenge to Wike and his allies to see that the PDP does not die.

    In fact, one of the erstwhile vocal promoters of the PDP who is enamoured of the coalition, Dele Momodu, said: “There is only one major stakeholder in PDP and that is Nyesom Wike.” Momodu said that Wike had insulted and alienated key figures in the party. Momodu also declared: “Without any doubt, people are leaving the carcass of PDP to Wike and his cronies.” Wike also said about members of the coalition: “The buccaneers and vampires – We have sent them parking.”

    In the PDP, there have been those who have manifested the inconstant, nectar-seeking butterfly syndrome and who, like rolling stones, have gathered no moss. Then there have been migratory political birds who usually have not been making any significant political appearance until the approach of elections. Moreover, there have been political hibernators who have withdrawn from the political scene to save themselves from the exertions which constantly nurturing the party can require. In addition, there have been what may be called ‘transitional politicians’ whose souls, as some PDP leaders have put it, have left the party with only their bodies remaining in it.

    These categories of PDP members have provided a backdrop for politicians like Nyesom Wike who, once the curtains of stereotypes are drawn, reveal them as having been the true pillars of the party. In the circumstance, the PDP needs revaluation, reformation and regeneration.

  • Anambra 2025: Why Ukachukwu, Ekwunife could disrupt APGA’s hold on power

    Anambra 2025: Why Ukachukwu, Ekwunife could disrupt APGA’s hold on power

    As Anambrarians prepare for a season of electioneering there is every reason that the political landscape in Anambra State is set for a potentially seismic shift as Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu and Senator Uche Ekwunife throw the gauntlet at the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)  deploying their combined political credentials, strategic positioning, and timing suggest they could mount the most credible challenge to APGA’s dominance in recent years.

    Senator Uche Ekwunife brings to this partnership a wealth of legislative experience that few politicians in Anambra can match. Having served in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, where she performed impeccably well and understands the intricacies of governance at the federal level and the experience gives her unique insight into how federal resources can be channeled to benefit the state – something that could prove crucial in an era where federal allocation and intervention programs are increasingly important for state development.

    Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, on the other hand represents a threshold of new ideas with deep roots in Anambra’s grassroots . His background as a businessman provides him with a connect to the business community which is a very large constituency in the state. His business acumen offers a different perspective on economic development one that is welfarist in nature, similar to the policies of the likes of M.I Okpara.

    Both leaders bring significant credentials to the table. Senator Ekwunife’s legislative background and Prince Ukachukwu’s entrepreneurial experience provide them with practical knowledge of what it takes to create jobs and drive economic growth. In a state where unemployment and underemployment remain significant challenges, their combined business networks could attract investment and create opportunities that government alone cannot provide.

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    Together, they present a balanced ticket that combines experience with innovation, tradition with modernity.

    One of the most compelling aspects of this political partnership is how it transcends traditional party boundaries. If these two leaders can successfully unite different political factions and parties behind a common vision, they would create a formidable coalition that APGA would find difficult to counter. This kind of broad-based alliance has historically proven effective in Nigerian politics, where personal relationships and cross-party cooperation often matter more than strict party loyalty.

    The ability to bring together diverse political interests suggests strong negotiation skills and political maturity – qualities that voters often look for in leaders who promise to unite rather than divide. This contrasts sharply with the sometimes insular nature of single-party governance that has characterized APGA’s rule.

    Their understanding of both local and national economic dynamics positions them well to develop policies that can compete with APGA’s dismal record.

    In contrast, despite  APGA’s newfound desire for a relationship with federal authorities, the state’s ability to maximize federal benefits has been below par. A leadership team with proven federal connections could unlock resources and opportunities that have been difficult to access under the current arrangement.

    After years in power, APGA faces the natural challenges that come with incumbency. Voter fatigue, accumulated grievances, and the desire for change are common factors that opposition candidates can exploit. The state’s exploitative nature where traders and petty businesses have been repeatedly taxed to stupor and where operatives of the state such as his anti touting squad aka Ndi Aka Odo( People with pestles) have become beasts bearing brutality to the common folk, harassing and extorting hapless innocent citizens.

    Governor Soludo seems to have lost his footing as governor, his projects since inception seem to be more cosmetic than development driven. For example, the funds used for the completion of the Government House Anambra now renamed “Light House” would have been enough to gift Anambra 3 power plants, can we imagine the possibilities of a power plant per senatorial district? Can we imagine the solution to our power conundrum and the leapfrogging of our society from a commercial to an industrial giant, competing with states like Lagos and Rivers, positioning Anambra to becoming perhaps the first 20 economies in Africa?

    So when the state government begins to celebrate such and other sugar candy land like projects like Anambra Solution Fun City in a state like Anambra in which a 30 percent of its youth population are unemployed and another 30 percent are underemployed, one wonders if this was the same man the state voted for In the 2021 elections.

    Even its narrative on security following the emergence of its security outfit, Udo Ga Achi appears shaky as the state has continued to be at the receiving end of criminals with the government looking more helpless whilst prominent citizens have reportedly abandoned the state whilst the ordinary citizen has resorted to self sustaining techniques to protect themselves and their loved ones.

     The candidature of Prince Ukachukwu and Senator Ekwunife are well-positioned to present themselves as agents of renewal who will address the shortcomings of the current administration while building on its limited successes.

    Their combined profile allows them to appeal to different segments of the electorate – from business communities seeking economic reform to traditional constituencies looking for respected leadership, and from federal stakeholders wanting better integration to local communities seeking more responsive governance.

    The success of this partnership will largely depend on their ability to build a unified campaign organization and maintain cohesion among their diverse supporters. If they can successfully merge their respective political structures and create an efficient campaign machine, they would pose a serious organizational challenge to APGA’s established political network.

    Their combined resources, experience, and networks provide the foundation for such organization, but the execution will be crucial. The ability to coordinate effectively across different constituencies and maintain message discipline will determine whether their potential translates into electoral success.

    Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu and Senator Uche Ekwunife represent more than just another opposition challenge to APGA. Their political antecedents and appeal to the grassroots as well as other constituencies both formal and informal creates a unique political proposition that addresses many of the perceived weaknesses in the current system.

    While APGA retains the advantages of incumbency and established governance structures, this partnership presents the kind of comprehensive alternative that could genuinely disrupt the political status quo. Their success will depend on their ability to maintain unity, execute effective campaigns, and convince voters that change is both necessary and achievable.

    The political dynamics they bring to the table suggest that APGA will need to significantly up its game to maintain its hold on power. Whether this translates into electoral victory remains to be seen, but their candidature certainly represents the most formidable challenge APGA has faced in recent political cycles.

  • Ekiti politicians and chicanery

    Ekiti politicians and chicanery

    Chicanery is defined as ‘the use of deception or subterfuge to achieve one’s purpose’. Ordinarily, resorting to chicanery should be beyond the remit of any Ekiti politician, a supposedly proud son / daughter of  our ILE IYI, ILE EYE – Land of Honour – who should, ipso facto, be considered an Omoluabi.

    Unfortunately, old habits die hard, if they ever die at all.

    I have written my fingers sore on these pages about Ekiti’s traditionally toxic  politics, reminding our politicians of how this has bludgeoned the state and retarded its economic development for ages.

    The unfortunate recrudescence of this  acidic and enervating politics, therefore,  is one thing many thought we have now outgrown especially with the tremendous effort of  incumbent governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji towards achieving overall peace in the state, an effort which has resulted in an unprecented level of mutual understanding, even camaraderie, amongst leading politicians in the state. Oyebanji has been commended, across board, for this by friends and foes alike.

    That said, I am not in any way, suggesting that the next election in the state should, therefore, be a walk in the park for the governor or that those seeking to contest against him should be overawed, and look askance, while he ruled the roost. Far from it.

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    I least expected, however, that such opponents could, so soon, become as creatively mischievous as they are already proving to be with their outright lies against the governor.

    Any Ekiti citizen, if he or she so wished, has the inalienable right to seek to govern the state. All he will have to show is his track record and his plan for the advancement of the state but certainly not one built on eggregiously running down the other

     contestants.

    It can bear repetition again that old habits die hard especially the obnoxious politicking that has characterised Ekiti since 2003.

    Since that  date it has been ‘roforofo’ all the way, and as an observer – participant in the politics of the state  myself, I have witnessed all this, first hand, but did not remain silent, having always warned, on these pages, against our unhelpful, negative politics.

    For example, in an article I captioned: Ekiti 22: Must Our Politicians Always Fight to The Death, dated 13 February, 2022, I wrote, inter alia:”Thematically, since the totally unexpected defeat, after only his  first term, of the Omoluabi governor, Otunba Niyi Adebayo in 2003, as if Ekiti is under a curse, successive governorship elections in the state  has  been something of a fight to the death among both qualified, as well as totally unimaginable, Ekiti wannabe governors. Most astonishing is the  fact that the protagonists of this

    odious reality have always been young politicians who you would, otherwise, have described, at the particular time, as youths who would  lay the foundation for a glorious Ekiti future.Incidentally, one way or the other, some of them did find their way to the governorship seat but were buffeted by intractable  inter – party squabbles which ensured that whatever little they managed to achieve in office, could very well have  been quadrupled have they emerged under different circumstances.

    This descent into anarchy has remained with us  ever since, to our eternal shame.

    For instance, For almost the entirety of Governor Segun Oni’s tenure, not only was the state House  of Assembly equally divided between the two main political parties, the legislature hardly achieved anything tangible  – indeed a mere confirmation of the list of state commissioners – a routine affair- could not be done peacefully and,  the governor, being in court defending his victory, could do pretty little until the Appeal Court, sitting in Ilorin, Kwara state, voided his election on 15 October, 2010.

    All these would not have happened had total strangers like former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Bode George not, like  meteors,  suddenly appeared and insinuated themselves into the  state’s politics. That was way back  2003 when they overawed the almost faultless campaign of Chief  S. K Babalola, a highly regarded Ekiti elder and gentleman, thereby effectively muddling up Ekiti  politics, like forever”.

    That is when the rain started beating us in the state.

    With BAO’s Omoluabi politics, which some opponents have chosen to describe derogatively, but one that has not only brought commendable peace, and eventuated in ALL FORMER GOVERNORS of the state, from different political parties, endorsing him ahead of the 2026 election, one had expected that common sense would prevail in the campaigns towards the 2026 election.

    But for where?

    There are, already more than enough evidence to show that some candidates would go far beyond the boarders of decency in their own campaigns of calumny.

     I actually pity whoever, whether at the APC primaries,  or in the other parties, who would have to face this BAO PHENOMENON – so called because governor Oyebanji now transcends political parties in the state -at the election proper.

    Oyebanji will sure  end up winning the election in a landslide far more massive than he did in ’22.

    The opposition started off their campaign of calumny by trying to pooh – pooh Oyebanji’s politics aimed at restoring measurable peace – which they called names -but through which he won the admiration of not only other parties’ leaders,  former governors inclusive, and also a good majority of the citizenry.

    Unknown to his detractors and their sympathisers, Oyebanji is not a stranger to Ekiti’s   adversarial politics and its consequences on the state since he came a long way.

    Still in his 20’s, and as a young staff of the state’s only University, BAO had been picked by the redoubtable Chief Deji Fasuan as Secretary to the Committee for the creation of Ekiti state. From that highly strategic position, at such a tender age, he would go on to serve as Chief of Staff to the state’s inaugural governor, Otunba Niyi Adebayo just as he would later work in the government of governor Kayode Fayemi, first as commissioner in several ministries, capping it all as Secretary to the  State Government.

    As I have tried to show in this piece, all these were very tumultuous times and Oyebanji would have made a complete mess of his education if he had not learnt, as well as internalised, how exactly disruptive and negatively impactful on Ekiti’s socio – economic development all these were.

    I, therefore, cannot  blame some contestants who, coming back home, this late hour to contest against such a titan of Ekiti politics do not know how or where to start. They should take heart as they will surely have their time; only it won’t be in 2026.

    The most odious, and the latest of the anti- Oyebanji propaganda is the odious but simplistic one, currently circulating.

    It is a double-edged allegation aimed at both his predecessor, Dr John Kayode Fayemi, and  himself.

    This is the wicked allegation that on a future date they failed to indicate, former Governor Fayemi would come and lead, like they are kindergartens, the incumbent governor, other leading APC chieftains in the state, including the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, legislators of both the state and National Assembly, as well as very senior members of the party including  a former Deputy governor, as if these people have no minds of their own, into an ADC which, with the legal jeopardy it has run itself into, may actually never emerge as the final haven of this opposition of strange bed fellows joined together by the sole reason of their animus against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who walloped their leading lights in the 2023 Presidential election, a fate that awaits them, come 2027.

    The perpetrators of this sick joke are thinking of achieving two things: one, pull apart President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Fayemi who, unknown to them, have between them a far more robust mutual respect and understanding than they can ever think of.

    This is not new; rather it has been the intention of some people who just couldn’t understand the basis of  Kayode’s staying power.

    The reason for that, apart from Fayemi being a scholar and

    thinker, is his ability to, and habit of saying things as they are; never quibbling.

    For instance in his key note address to the Southwest All Progressives Congress (APC) Assembly, held  in  Lagos in October, ’24, he  said the following:

    “While we can be proud of the road we have travelled since 2015, we cannot afford to rest on our laurels as a party or be complacent about anything. It is imperative that we openly and honestly acknowledge current challenges and develop a coherent and comprehensive plan that can enable us to confront them.This we must do by resolutely learning lessons of experience. We should also be ready to mobilise ourselves for the urgent and necessary task of rebuilding the hope of our compatriots both in Project Nigeria and in our ability as a party committed to leading the charge against underdevelopment, disunity, and insecurity”.

    While some in the party may have read that as being critical of the government, President Tinubu, like the immortal Awo who appreciated that kind of candour in his lieutenants, must have given Fayemi a thumbs up, rather than be offended or crossed with him.

    Besides that, the President has had Fayemi as a protege around him for so long that he  cannot now be hoodwinked, or be easily persuaded to detest him as many would have wished.  Knowing his ability all the way from their pro- democracy days, through the formative days of the APC when  Fayemi was in charge of policy formulation but especially his deft handling of the party’s primary election where some contestants would have believed in money buying them the diadem. 

    A highly strategic and very experienced politician, President Tinubu would have known that if Fayemi were in the ADC, he would be nowhere other than at the head of the party’s Think Tank,  meaning that the party would not be facing any imminent legal difficulties as he would have thought through it all.

    These are no conjectures and as God would have it, the President confirmed these views in his message to Fayemi on his 60th birthday in May 2024 when he said the following among other things:”During the challenging General Sani Abacha era, civil rights and pro-democracy activists, especially those in exile, had to rely on their ingenuity to survive. Kayode’s brilliance, commitment, and strategic skills were invaluable to our cause”.

    That was at a time some little minds would think the President was annoyed with Fayemi over the 2023 Presidential election at which he contested before withdrawing for the President.

    This uncanny perspicacity is one  of the things that will, forever, make  President Tinubu an exemplar.

    The Lilliputian propagandists who alleged that Fayemi would be leading  governor Oyebanji

    in to the ADC are also trying their hardest to ensnare a governor they don’t know how to rationally tackle. They don’t even know where to begin. In the first place, they appear ignorant of the saying that all politics is local.

    Do they, in their widest imagination, think that  Fayemi and Oyebanji can that easily forget all they did, alongside other party leaders, to make APC the darling political party in the state or won’t they have to be ‘ad idem’ before they can agree to jump into an uncharted  ADC  which will, very soon, split down the middle because of the ambitions of the perennial Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi who has, infact, already sworn  to contest on that same party platform which, unknown to him, appears arranged, from the word go for Atiku, the annoited Northern candidate. Anyway, out of the fear of the North, Obi has, without being asked, promised to serve for only 4 years even while Ndigbo had, like forever, craved a Presidency without a diminution of the 8 years constitutionally prescribed.

    How popular, for instance, do these opposite men think BAO is, in the state, that he would go jump into the ADC inferno? What on earth do they think will make Fayemi,  and a genteel Oyebanji comfortable amongst the coterie of yesterday men congregating in the ADC?

    Do they, in their lives, think Oyebanji can so whimsically throw away the peoples’ love, and certain victory, .by jumping into the same boat with the El Rufai’s of this world?

    God forbid bad thing as we say in our neck of wood.

    Why wont they know that a thoroughbred, and easy going governor Oyebanji would rather remain in the APC to face whatever comes – victory of course – than jump into  ADC?

    Finally, whoever these people are, and in whichever party they are , be it APC, ADC or the atrophy-ing PDP should better concentrate their efforts on telling the people how they intend to govern Ekiti better than governor Oyebanji whose government has not only engendered undeniable peace throughout the entire land, but has also been quite impactful on all fronts.

  • Hegemony, national decline and anomie

    Hegemony, national decline and anomie

    Several readers of this column have been asking the columnist to comment on current political developments in the country, particularly the gathering of the tribe of the discontented and disaffected under the aegis of the perennially mercantilist and irresponsible party known as ADC. This is a cartel of political courtesans willing to submit and surrender its flag to anybody provided the price is right. The first impulse is to dismiss the whole caucus, minus one or two misguided idealists such as our friend and beloved aburo, Rauf Aregbesola, as a stellar assemblage of crooks, conmen and compulsive carpetbaggers. But that will be sheer emotive diatribe, not in keeping with the stated ethos of this column to always historicize, that is to look analytically at matters arising and view things from a deeper historical perspective.

     Consequently, this column will not join in the demonization and stigmatization of Rauf Aregbesola. It offends the deep cannons and ethos of Yoruba Omoluabi culture to pour public scorn and invectives on a person with whom you have shared deep fraternal bonding.  A quirky, cerebral and intensely competitive fellow, Rauf loves to argue and contend at the highest dialectical level. An early sticking point was how to wean Rauf off his romantic idealization of the eponymous Soviet worker and his insistence on transposing this mythical personage to the Osun subsoil. As a person on ground, one had impressed it on the then governor that unlike his idealized Soviet worker with his promethean feats of endurance and self-denial in the service of a greater cause, the Osun people are joyous royalist regicides who brook no nonsense from any overreaching ruler.

      Under any draconian rule, they will chafe first in polite disavowal before embarking on a wholesale rebellion. This insistence on ramming unpalatable choices down the throat of a fiercely independent and freedom loving people has led to a political catastrophe in the state. When news of his political rebellion against his boss and benefactor began filtering out, God knows how many times one remonstrated with the erstwhile governor now minister which included two private trips to Abuja. On one occasion on a major Muslim holiday, the two of us were huddled together in his Abuja home in fierce contention for about four days. Alas, it was all to no avail as one of the greatest mobilisers of his generation appears to have crossed the Rubicon. We do not know what his former master knows, being a master gamesman in this deadly political polo, rumours swirled around that his boy had succumbed to combination of Fulani tira and even more potent political treachery.

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     This lethal potion is normally administered on notable Yoruba politicians who are stranded by choice, feeding them with the illusion that as better Muslims and more competent administrators, they are more acceptable choices than their leaders where it mattered most. At the tail end of the Second Republic, the rumour was rife that a famous disciple and aspiring clone of Chief Awolowo was about to succumb to the deadly diet before the military intervened. But he was to meet his comeuppance in not too dissimilar circumstances exactly ten years after.

      This is the stuff of another epic tragedy being enacted before our very eyes. It is not that a leader cannot or must never be deposed. But apex followership in a fraught multi-ethnic nation demands its own obligations, visionary sacrifices and political savvy. As we have seen in the Awolowo and Abiola saga, the Yoruba people have developed a sense of permanent siege in the roiling postcolonial coliseum that Nigeria has become and no matter the failings and the vulnerabilities of their subsisting arrowhead, the people never forget or forgive leaders who desert the trenches, particularly if they do not represent a clearer pathway to freedom and emancipation from the hell that is Nigeria. According to a Yoruba proverb, it is the stick at hand that one must use in killing or warding off a menacing snake. Unfortunate as it is for a nation aspiring to an organic cohesion of values, the ethnicization of politics among Nigeria’s major nationalities is a reflection of our badly skewed federal arrangement. In the absence of a pan-Nigerian avatar, the ethnic menagerie will survive until competing and countervailing ethnicities exhaust themselves either within the current nation space or without it.

      Before moving to the broader historical sweep, this is the political and sociological context to view current political developments, particularly the gale of defections and the berthing of notable refugees and other wayfarers in ADC. It has been said that Nigeria is a country of one major drama per day. But a lot of this is unproductive drama enacted for the entertainment of bemused and bewildered masses and spectators alike. Before now, it was the threat of a one-party state that had preoccupied the political imagination of the average Nigerian. The dramatic emergence of the ADC coalitionists suddenly changed all that jolting the ruling party out of its lethargic and self-absorbed complacency. Some APC topnotches were beginning to sound like the APP decamp who famously proclaimed a sixty year Reich for the PDP. This is what the lack of a viable opposition does to dominant political parties.

      In a sense then, there is a ring of inevitability about the emergence and structuring of the ADC. The problem with a murky pool is that it can only throw up muck. With the badly wounded PDP heaving in terminal trauma, there was bound to be some consequences. As this column has noted several times, Nigeria is too volatile, too combustible to naturalize a one-party state. But if there is some inevitability about the emergence of the ADC as a behemoth umbrella, there is also something eerily unsettling about the lack of freshness and originality in its form and format, its obsession at this early stage with post and preferment and the startling absence of any emancipatory zeal and vigour.

      You cannot give what you don’t have. It is a combination of farce and tragedy. This is the surviving rump of a supplanted post-military hegemonic coalition exhausting its historic and political possibilities in full public glare. It is a measure of how far its putative leader, Brigadier David Alechenu Mark, himself has journeyed down the road to political infamy. Forty two years ago Mark’s name travelled round informed circuits as the mastermind of a looming putsch by radically disaffected junior officers who were bent on terminating the mess and embarrassment the Second Republic had become. That was before their conservative seniors stepped in to preserve the dominant ethos.  Now, he is heading a conservative gathering of political desperadoes after his antidemocratic hell-raising during the June 12 debacle. 

       Political hegemonies are made of sterner stuff. It has never been a pounded yam and bush meat party. There are rumours however that acutely aware of its electoral deficits, its unpopularity with the wider masses and its lack of strategic and organizational acumen, the ADC innermost caucus are not actually gunning for an outright victory but seeking for a massive disruption of the electoral process which will eventuate in anomie and a total breakdown of law and order in the country. They will be hoping that their anti-democratic exertions will feed on and in turn be fueled by the rising wave of insecurity in the nation, the growing political discontent among segments of the elite whose federal feeding bottle has been taken away and the undeniable apocalyptic hunger in the land. It will be left to economic historians of the future to determine how measures taken to boost the economy and to reprieve the nation from certain fiscal collapse could also engender catastrophic political consequences in an ethnically polarized nation with contrasting and countervailing modes of production. This is where President Tinubu will face his stiffest political test in the coming months as elections almost two years away begin to assume a disproportionate centrality in the affairs of the nation. A famished soul is the devil’s ultimate play station. As far as the generalized masses of impoverished people are concerned, all the number-crunching about economic growth and promising indices of recovery are nothing but elite games of figures without any direct relevance to their parlous condition.

    Hegemony is structured domination over a period of time by a group, a people, a party or an organization. The domination is often so complete and “natural” that it rarely resorts to force, violence or coercion to impose its order and authority. The bane and tragedy of post-independence politics in Nigeria is that those who have shown themselves to be masters of hegemonic domination have not shown the same mastery in nation-growing or inclusive and egalitarian development. Hence the constant slide into decline and anomie as seen in the First, Second and Third Republics.

     Among the first crop of leaders thrown up in postcolonial Nigeria, the late Ahmadu Bello remains in a class of his own. He was a master of hegemonic politics. Through sheer heft of number, he was able to bluff his way and browbeat the other two regional rivals into substantial compliance. Through strategic gaming and brilliant bridge-building, he managed to weld a disparate and amorphous region into substantial cohesion turning it in the process to a forbidding and formidable threat to genuine federalism. But he was no visionary national avatar. His was not a pan-Nigerian vision of an all-inclusive economic growth and egalitarian emancipation but a northern-based subordination of modern citizenship to feudal subjecthood. Towards the end of it all with the Tiv forcibly subdued, with the west in conflagration and the east chafing from coerced cohabitation, the nation was sliding into anomie and it was left to Igbo artillery to break the political deadlock with ruinous consequences. With no lesson learnt, the Second Republic was upended by soldiers after economic and political profligacy buoyed by a sense of feudal entitlement pushed the nation in the direction of anarchy and chaos.

      Discounting the aborted Third Republic which summarily imploded as a result of military overreach based on a narrow and circumscribed regional ethos, it is now obvious that if care is not taken the Fourth Republic faces very much the same grim prospects. The fraught and contradictory ensemble of strange bedfellows which produced the APC has been fraying at the edges since the advent of General Buhari and his divisive proclivities. But they often manage to patch things up.  However, the gathering clouds this time around appear very portentous. Tinubu is a dogged fighter; a heavyweight bruiser in the classic American tradition. But it is not clear whether in the shifty and treacherous quicksand of Nigerian politics, he has managed to stitch and cobble together a sturdy hegemonic coalition which can withstand adversarial pressures.

     In a sense, it is beginning to feel as if we are back in the First Republic but with reverse dynamics. In the First Republic, a hegemonic project of political domination without an agenda for an all-inclusive national development and genuine elite harmony led to a fiasco. This time around, a push for an all-inclusive economic transformation of the nation relying on an artificial elite integration may well backfire on all of us. The historical process with its underlying morbidities often transcends individual actors however important or self-important. We must hope for inclement weather.