The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Bad times for bandits as Trump’s example catches on

    Bad times for bandits as Trump’s example catches on

    These, surely, are not the best of times for bandits, terrorists and other heartless anti-social elements who for years have made life unbearable for innocent Nigerians in Borno, Yobe, Katsina, Adamawa, Niger, Benue, Kogi, Kwara and other parts of the country. Their cup is full and the security agencies, aided by unprecedented support from America, are poised to return their ‘favours’ in the same measure as they had dished out to hapless citizens. They gave no quarter in the execution of their evil agenda and would get none from the military.

    From Sokoto and Niger to Kogi and Kwara states, the marauding beasts are finally feeling the heat. Their camps are in disarray from ground and air offensives launched by security agents. If the age-long submission of famous physicist Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion was previously lost on them, they must by now have embraced the reality that every action must necessarily provoke an equal and opposite reaction.

    In the perspective of a patriot, the optics from the nation’s security situation in recent weeks can hardly be more gratifying. It all began with American President Donald Trump’s famous social media post in which he threatened that American forces would invade Nigeria “gun-a-blazing” to end what he called genocide against the Christian population. While the debate raged on his flawed claim that only Christians were being killed by terrorists and bandits, the American President made good his threat in the night of December 25 last year with the launch of precision strikes on terrorist camps in Sokoto State. The American President would later announce the gesture as his Christmas gift to bandits who a few days earlier had vowed to make Christmas a moment of grief for the hapless Christian population.

    Trump’s action became a shot in the arm for the nation’s security agents who have since taken the fight to the terrorists in their enclaves in Borno, Kogi, Kwara, Niger and elsewhere. In Kogi State, for instance, the residents could heave a sigh of relief for the first time in many months after a recent invasion of some forests in the state where Ayere and Obajana, two previously obscure communities, suddenly became household names on account of their notoriety as hotspots for kidnapping. The two communities, which are gateways between the northern and southern parts of the country, had become nightmares for travellers.

    READ ALSO: How to budget for 2026

    A day hardly passed without a heart-rending story of commuters waylaid by dare-devil bandits who goaded them into the bush and subjected them to untold torture while also demanding as ransoms from their anxious relations sums huge enough to build a modern stadium. In a particularly pathetic instance, the bandits abducted a nursing mother from a passenger bus on her way from Lagos to Abuja, forcing her to leave her teething baby in the commercial bus they were travelling while they marched her and other travellers into the bush.

    The foregoing considered, it is difficult not to be excited by the will Kogi State Governor Ahmed Ododo has demonstrated in the fight against banditry in the state. Announcing government’s breakthrough in a press statement, the Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Hon. Kingsley Fanwo, attributed the success of the sustained war against banditry and terrorism in the state to series of highly successful precision operations carried out by coordinated joint security forces including the Nigeria Army, the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Air Force, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) with support from the Nigeria Police Force.

    He said: “The coordinated strikes and ground battle led to the destruction of several bandits’ camps, the dismantling of their criminal networks and the neutralization of many criminals with several others sustaining varying degrees of injuries. Initial feedback from affected communities has shown renewed confidence in the capacity and commitment of our security forces to decisively end banditry and kidnapping, not only in Kogi State but across the country.”

    Besides Kogi, there have been reports of precision air interdiction operations in Zamfara State, striking Turba Hill and Kachala Dogo Sule’s camp in Tsafe Local Government Area, which, according to the Director of Public Relations and Information of NAF, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, engaged multiple active structures, “triggering intense fires that destroyed bandits’ facilities, neutralized many of them and crippled the group’s IED production and deployment capacity. In Sokoto, troops of the Lakurawa terrorist group are being forced to migrate towards Niger Republic as the heat from air strikes becomes unbearable.

    Unfortunately the security agents have not only the bandits and terrorists to contend with but also the army of cynics who see nothing in the successes being recorded against the anti-social elements. The cynical reactions, especially on the social media, are such that leave one wondering who their authors are supporting between terrorists and the nation. In extreme cases, many of them serve as informants to bandits and even supplied food, fuel and weapons to them in their hideouts. Even the traditional media is complicit in many cases. They gleefully report every incident of killing or kidnapping by terrorists but look away when security agents turn the table.

    But whether they like it or not, Nigeria is winning the war against banditry and terrorism. Only last week, Nigeria took delivery of new weapons from America; a reassuring development after Trump’s pledge to work with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for an end to the dare-devil groups.

  • IBEDC: When will this pain be over?

    IBEDC: When will this pain be over?

    The title of this commentary reflects a question asked wherever people gather – on buses, in bars, and at parties. Modern life revolves around the reliable provision of electricity, water and mass transit. Without power, the simple task of pumping water becomes nightmarish; relying on handheld pumps is a physically exhausting struggle.

    Dealing with our so-called electricity distribution companies is like living through a series of ‘tales of the unexpected’. It is a tragicomedy of the highest order! Many have endured the harrowing frustration of failing to load prepaid meters for days, even after payments have been cleared on their apps. And when the credit finally loads, there is zero guarantee that the power will actually follow. It is utterly ridiculous!

    In effect, the consumer is forced to ‘gift’ these companies with interest-free loans for services they may never see. Unlike almost any other industry, these firms enjoy the luxury of idling on hundreds of millions in ‘prepaid’ funds while the customer is left unserved. The chance to squeeze easy profits out of these idle, trapped funds is irresistibly mouthwatering. Any business handed such an unusual windfall should, by all rights, be running at peak efficiency.

    To put it in context, no one pays for goods at a supermarket or fuel at a station only to return a month later to finally collect what they bought. Yet, this is the ‘Eldorado’ these power companies enjoy – a dream scenario that any other business would kill for.

    The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) is having a field day, acting with the typical arrogance of a monopoly that knows its customers have nowhere else to go. Right now, the consumer is holding the short end of the stick, forced to grin and bear it simply because Nigeria lacks the kind of small-claims courts that Margaret Thatcher so famously championed in the UK.

    A court like that would finally give ‘David’ – the everyday consumer – the stones to take on the Goliath of monopoly power. Under that system, the state actually backs the little guy with legal aid, trials are wrapped up in weeks, and justice is swift. With the threat of heavy punitive damages hanging over their heads, these high-and-mighty firms would quickly realize that pocketing money for services they don’t deliver is a gamble they can no longer afford to take.

    If, for instance, hundreds of consumers were to file individual claims or join forces in a massive class-action suit, IBEDC could find itself facing crippling liabilities that would threaten its very survival. Sadly, only Lagos and perhaps one or two other states have bothered to set up these small-claims courts. We don’t yet know how effective they’ve truly been, but their very existence is a hard-won victory for the everyday person. Every state in Nigeria must follow suit. It is the only way to finally put these broken monopolies and cartels under the microscope and hold them to account.

    READ ALSO: FULL LIST: Fully funded scholarships for Nigerian students in 2026

    In a country like Nigeria, where institutions are often weak, inept, or outright corrupt, taking on Goliath is a Herculean task. The average consumer simply doesn’t have the funds or the legal aid to survive a judicial process that can drag on for fifteen or twenty years. He or she is up against a behemoth with the cash flow to hire the priciest lawyers – experts who know every trick in the book to keep a case stuck in court for decades. It is a system that breaks the faint of heart and, frankly, is a total waste of time.

    This is exactly why monopolies like the IBEDC don’t bother themselves with the fact that they are meting out such blatant injustice to people who have already paid for services they never receive. What we are seeing is a clear, painful confirmation: the entire electricity ‘privatization’ remains a catastrophic policy failure!

    Take Australia, where the debate keeps circling back to public ownership as the only way to ‘reboot’ a broken system. You don’t just flip a switch; it takes years of gutting the rot from the inside before any kind of private market can actually function. In Nigeria, however, that kind of disciplined turnaround feels like a pipe dream, for reasons we all know too well! The political will to act for the people – or the consumer – is nowhere to be found.

    This means the radical surgery needed to save the patient is simply not on the table. Instead, the country will keep stumbling over obstacles to real growth and job creation, held back by an electricity framework that is as incompetent as it is laughably inept. No amount of foreign investment can help a nation achieve true progress under such conditions.

    While the Federal Government has made commendable strides in stabilizing the macro-economy, it must now pause and face the rot in our electricity market. It must summon the courage for the brutal, inescapable surgery the system requires. It is better late than never!

    Electricity providers also subject consumers to unfair billing practices through crumbling grid maintenance and sheer operational sloppiness, leaving us to suffer through frequent, soul-crushing blackouts. In a cruel twist, we – the consumers – end up paying for this unreliability through our tariffs, effectively subsidizing the provider’s own failure to deliver the power they promised and we paid for. Worse still, these providers pass the bill for their own waste directly to us.

    Whether it’s the cost of running ancient, gasping power plants or the massive amounts of electricity lost through leaky, broken transmission lines, the consumer picks up the tab through opaque regulatory loopholes. These losses – where energy literally evaporates before it even reaches your door – become a hidden tax on every monthly bill. It is a scandalous arrangement: the Nigerian customer is forced to pay for ‘ghost’ energy they never actually touched, saw, or consumed.

    This exploitation isn’t an isolated incident; it is a nationwide epidemic that raises ugly questions. Why isn’t IBEDC issuing official receipts for the massive sums squeezed out of communities under the guise of ‘replacing’ equipment? Are these levies even recorded for auditors to see? We don’t see this nonsense in the telecoms sector. MTN, Airtel, and Glo face constant vandalism, often in remote and dangerous areas. Yet, has anyone ever seen a telecom giant text customers in Ijebu-Jesa, Kontagora, or Umudike asking for contributions to fix a vandalized base station? Of course not. So why does IBEDC get a pass?

    Why are consumers forced to pay for fixed assets like transformers and cables – items that belong to the company, not the people? When communities bow to these demands, they are essentially ‘gifting’ infrastructure to a private firm. They are paying for the very tools the company will use to bill them later. It is a blatant double-taxation on the poor that has no place in a civilized economy.

    This isn’t just a grievance; it’s a practice that raises grave questions about regulatory compliance and consumer exploitation. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must be granted a federal mandate to forensically audit community levies collected over the last five years.

    When audits do occur, the paper trail for these unrecorded contributions remains suspiciously opaque. No reputable firm would gamble its global standing on such murky financial channels. If a functional state truly exists in Nigeria, the regulators – and mutatis mutandis, Parliament and the police – should have demanded answers years ago.

    May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us peace in Nigeria!

  • In memoriam: Chief Charles Amilo (1945-2021)

    In memoriam: Chief Charles Amilo (1945-2021)

    December the 31st last year would make it 4 years since the demise of Chief Charles Amilo,  a one time Commissioner for Information in Anambra and also a member of the Old Anambra State House of Assembly during the Second Republic.

    I have thus come to celebrate this man, — to extol the virtues of a man who was no mere mortal, but a titan among men, one of the last of a dying breed. Even in death, even in the cold embrace of the earth, Udobodo remains a towering model for generations yet unborn.

    In Amilo’s death four years ago, Anambra and the SouthEast region did lose more than a politician; we lost a scholar, an encyclopedia of knowledge,a voice for NdiIgbo, a champion of the Igbo culture and one of the finest image makers our state has ever produced. In an age increasingly characterized by mediocrity and opportunism, Amilo stood as a colossus of principle, intellect, and unwavering loyalty—qualities that have become almost extinct in our contemporary political landscape.

    Born in 1945, Chief Amilo’s journey began like that of many young lads in Eastern Nigeria, navigating his primary and secondary education during a transformative period in our nation’s history. But it quickly became apparent that this was no ordinary child. His brilliance shone through early, a harbinger of the intellectual giant he would become. From 1967 to 1974, during some of the most turbulent years in Nigerian history—years that saw the devastating Civil War tear our nation apart—Amilo pursued his undergraduate studies at the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he obtained a degree in Microbiology. That he completed this academic journey during such chaos speaks volumes about his determination and focus.

    READ ALSO; FUNKE AKINDELE: Undisputed queen of Nigerian Box Office

    But the golden fleece of knowledge beckoned further. Like the ancient Greek hero Jason, Amilo ventured abroad in search of greater enlightenment, obtaining his Master’s Degree from Rutgers University between 1976 and 1978. This international exposure would later inform his cosmopolitan outlook and deepen his understanding of governance and development, tools he would deploy effectively in service to his beloved Anambra State.

    What set Chief Amilo apart, however, was not merely his formal education but his insatiable appetite for knowledge and his remarkable gift for retention and recall. He was, in the truest sense, an encyclopedia of knowledge—a living library of Nigerian history and politics. To sit with Udobodo was to embark on a journey through time, to relive the intrigues and triumphs of Nigeria’s political evolution. He could summon history at his beck and call, weaving narratives with such vivid detail that the past became present.

    I remember vividly the numerous occasions when he would regale us with stories of the First Republic’s politics—tales of the alliance between the NCNC and the Action Group that formed the United Progressives Grand Alliance (UPGA), accounts of political maneuvering that shaped the destiny of regions and peoples, and poignant recollections of the Civil War that redefined our nation. These were not dry academic recitations; they were living testimonies delivered with passion, nuance, and the authority of someone who had lived through those times and understood their profound implications.

     What made Udobodo stand out in his numerous interactions and exchanges remarkable was not just the passion with which Udobodo defended his positions, but the depth of knowledge, the command of facts, and the intellectual honesty he always brought to the debate. This earned him the respect of all, even those who disagreed with him could not help but admire his intellectual finesse.

    Perhaps the most defining characteristic of Chief Charles Amilo was his unwavering loyalty to causes he believed in and to people he called friends. In our current political dispensation, where loyalty is a commodity bought and sold in the marketplace of political convenience, where today’s ally becomes tomorrow’s enemy based solely on calculations of personal advantage, Udobodo’s steadfastness shines like a beacon in the darkness.

    Amilo’s loyalty was not the transactional kind we see so prevalently today—loyalty only to those who occupy offices, who control resources, who can offer immediate patronage. No, Udobodo’s loyalty ran deeper, rooted in principle and genuine human connection. He stuck with his convictions and with his friends, both young and old, through seasons of plenty and seasons of drought, through times of political favor and times of political wilderness.

    A clear and powerful example of this rare virtue was his relationship with former Governor Chris Ngige. After Ngige left office, as is typical in our clime, a huge majority of his lieutenants scattered like leaves in the wind, seeking new camps, new patrons, new sources of political sustenance. The exodus was both swift and comprehensive. But Udobodo, true to character, stuck with Ngige. He remained loyal despite the invitations  he received from many politicians and sweet offers, Udobodo stuck to his guns despite the potential costs to his own political fortunes.

    This principled stand makes Chief Amilo a shining example to our youth and a rebuke to our generation. In an era where politicians switch parties at speeds faster than light, where allegiances shift with the political winds, where yesterday’s solemn oath becomes today’s forgotten promise, Udobodo stood like Hercules, unmoved by the temptations of expediency. His loyalty was not naive; it was informed by a moral compass that many of us have misplaced or deliberately abandoned.

    As Commissioner for Information in Anambra State, Chief Amilo brought to bear his vast knowledge, his communication skills, and his deep understanding of our state’s identity and aspirations. He was not merely a government spokesperson; he was an image maker in the truest sense, someone who understood that the story of a people is as important as their material development, that how we are perceived shapes how we perceive ourselves.

    Today, as we remember the passing of this great son of Anambra, we must also celebrate the legacy he has left us. Chief Charles Amilo has shown us that it is possible to navigate the treacherous waters of Nigerian politics without losing one’s soul, that loyalty and principle need not be casualties of political ambition, that knowledge and intellectual depth remain invaluable currencies even in an age that often seems to value neither.

    Udobodo may lie in the cold ground, but his example remains warm and vital. He was indeed one of the last titans, and we are diminished by his passing. Yet, if we honor his memory by emulating even a fraction of his loyalty, his intellectual curiosity, and his principled engagement with our world, then Chief Charles Amilo will never truly die. He will live on in every young person who chooses principle over expediency, knowledge over ignorance, loyalty over opportunism.

    Keep resting Udobodo, Anambra salutes you. History will remember you. We will not forget.

  • Challenges before new ambassadors

    Challenges before new ambassadors

    Contemporary diplomatic duty is not a tea party. It does not carry the same colouration as the usual job for the boys. It is a very serious and highly sensitive business. It requires deftness, wisdom, manoeuvring, understanding, calculations, and swiftness. In many situations, every minute counts.

    In a world where might befuddles rationality and propels the “powerful” to trample on small nations’ rights, diplomacy must be deployed to navigate through the times of turbulence to avoid casualties and regrets. Ambassadors reflect the power, integrity, and dignity of their countries and the readiness to maintain visibility in the comity of nations as well as retain a compelling relevance in global affairs.

    It is a special honour for a citizen to be chosen from the crowd to represent his or her country in another country as an ambassador.

    Their Excellences are like the president of the country in their places of assignment, either as careerists or non-career high commissioners.

    As the highest-ranking diplomat in another nation, the ambassador acts as the primary link in promoting political, economic, and cultural ties. He represents the home government’s interests, protects its citizens abroad, and reports on the host country’s situation to inform foreign policy decisions. The ambassador manages the embassy, oversees government personnel, and works to build strong bilateral relations through negotiation and cultural exchange.

    As a political representative, the ambassador is the communicator of official positions and reactions, whose primary assignment is to maintain dialogue with the authorities of the host country. Citizens run to him for rights and welfare protection, particularly during emergencies.

    The countries of the world look for prosperity. This imposes on the chief diplomat the task of economic diplomacy, which involves the promotion of trade and investment, the discovery and creation of business opportunities between his country and the host country.

    The ambassador is not expected to be a sleeping official. He should be a researcher who is adept at information gathering and analysis, using the correct tools. The information about the host nation’s socio-economic and political developments can be used to advise the home government in reshaping foreign relations.

    The promotion of friendliness is key. Countries can become allies, not through military and economic cooperation alone, but also through sheer educational initiatives and cultural exchange to foster mutual goodwill and understanding.

    To underscore his status in the world, the ambassador enjoys diplomatic immunity, and he is protected by international law. Other countries listen when he speaks because his words carry the seal, weight and power of the home government. He is not only the official spokesperson but also a world leader in his own right, saddled with the responsibility of standing in the gap, leading a diplomatic mission and acting as a point of contact for international organisations and other foreign officials.

    Read Also: Renewed Hope Ambassadors extend Christmas greetings to Oyo residents

    Eminent politician, Dr. Eniola Ajayi, who was once Ekiti State Education Commissioner and later Nigeria’s Ambassador to The Netherlands, with concurrent accreditation to Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2021 – 2023), summarised the scope of diplomatic duties under four broad headlines: inclusion, investment drive, image building and innovation. She catalogued her experience in a book: ‘Mastering Diplomacy: Essential Guide to International Relations,’ which offers better insights into the challenges of foreign relations and ambassadorial postings.

    As the recently appointed 69 envoys prepare to go to their stations, it is important, apart from the training or seminar being organised for them, to learn from the experience of those before them.

    Four categories of ambassadors will be posted to different countries by the President, either as career or non-career envoys. The first are tested hands, experts and professionals. The second are reputable individuals, like Chief Simeon Adebo and Dr. Christopher Kolade, both of the old dispensation. The third are politicians who are being rewarded or compensated for previous political works. The fourth are a few hustlers, attention-seeking folks who need postings for relevance and enjoyment.

    Ajayi, who spoke on a national television programme, comes across as a diplomacy tutor. She stressed the value of preparation, which greatly enhances learning and coping as an accidental nominee, without the requisite knowledge about the journey.

    In her view, the President has the right – the prerogative – to appoint anybody to, first and foremost, represent him and the larger country, although screening by the Senate is constitutionally required. Equity also demands that the list is representative of the country’s diversity because talents abound across the 36 states. Any glaring case of marginalisation, therefore, is antithetical to democratic inclusion.

    However, the personal life and quality of nominees matter a lot because in their letters of appointment, it is stated that the person has been found worthy in character and given authority to execute their mission as Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

    The delay in the appointment of ambassadors can create a void, as underscored by the recent misunderstanding of the security situation in Nigeria by the United States. Ajayi said the truth is that a lot of problems could have been averted if Nigeria had an ambassador in the country. Although there are other officials at the embassy, they lack the accreditation, authorisation and competence to represent Nigeria because of the shortfall in ranking. The implication is that these officials may not be invited to places where they can play ambassadorial roles.

    For those criticising the list of nominees, Ajayi offers some significant insights. Many factors were taken into consideration, ranging from the particular needs of different countries to Nigeria’s expectations and antecedents, as well as the pedigree of the nominees. For example, the military background of nominees may be a factor. Only a Christian could be sent as an envoy to the Vatican and a Muslim to Saudi Arabia, in trying to meet the criteria of sensitivity and sensibility.

    Education, scholarship, public status and past meritorious service to the nation may be responsible for nominating former presidents, Generals and ex-Supreme Court judges for the job.

    Ajayi noted that there are diverse levels of postings. Career diplomats and highly knowledgeable people are usually sent to places of multilateral engagement, like the United Nations, the European Union, and major countries, where skills and competence are needed for the initiation and implementation of agreements.

    This is why orientation programmes usually precede postings. This is also the reason, as Ajayi explained, a Station Charter is given to each ambassador so that he or she would know what is expected in the country of assignment, for the promotion of cordial relations, robust representation and trade improvement.

    The understanding of the Nigerian foreign policy, which is Afrocentrism and non-alignment, is also crucial. It has not changed over time. Ajayi said: “We (Nigeria) don’t carry baggage; we are friends of all, enemy to none.” Nigeria does not take sides, and intelligent and informed positions are taken, based on diplomacy, which is the application of tact and reason.

    Ambassadorial responsibilities are huge to bear. Paucity pf funds could hinder effective performance. Ajayi acknowledged that this is true of many missions. To overcome the constraints, she called for a sort of staff reduction instead of spending a humongous amount on administrative attaches. The funding in the budget is not in dollars but in Naira. To facilitate easy access, the former ambassador said the funding should be from the first line charge.

    Foreign relations are costly, but it is more costly to ignore them. Demonstrating the imperative of diplomatic tact and speed, Ajayi recalled how a row nearly broke out over a boy who hid an explosive in his pants, which was discovered inside the aircraft. The Nigerian diplomat rose swiftly and explained to the country of assignment that it was a one-off case and that the boy’s father had earlier reported his suspicion to the police.

    The new ambassadors can tap from the experience, knowledge and skills of accomplished ambassadors, like Ajayi did when she contacted Ambassador Ayo Olukanmi, who instantly recommended to her a book by the late Ambassador Olusola Sanu. In her testimony, as a lifelong learner, she also learnt about diplomatic etiquette from the wife of former Ekiti State Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi.

    As she did in the Netherlands, the new ambassadors are to organise receptions for all their counterparts from other countries after presenting their letters of credence.

    Most importantly, the quest for prosperity in the contemporary world imposes on ambassadors the task of attracting investment by “making sure that what should come to Nigeria comes, and the country is also able to put its goods abroad for sale”.

    These days, investment is the major target of diplomacy. It is central to the economic survival of nations.

    Nigerian citizens abroad should feel the impact of the ambassadors through inclusion and accessibility. In promoting the image of the country, they may need to emulate the style of Ajayi, who set up a vibrant website and a beautiful social media handle.

    Ajayi’s final advice on innovative diplomacy: “In your service delivery, in your representation, you must be robust. You should be prepared to deliver with dignity, respect, humility, a beautiful smile, and you will be accomplished.”

  • A very innovative mobilisation

    A very innovative mobilisation

    Strategy meetings are peculiar to political parties and their leaders. It was in one of such secret meetings that some unexpected feedback was brought by a concerned chieftain in one of the Southern states.

    The sad news was about voter fatigue, leading to aloofness to the ongoing party membership registration. Despite radio jingles, television advertisements and appeals to members, turnout remained low.

    Seized by anxiety, the party chairman decided to find out the reason for the unusual dwindling interest. He informed the elders who, in their wisdom, advised him to place suggestion boxes in many wards

    The startling revelations were confounding. The masses of the party ventilated their grievances in the boxes, warning of dire consequences if leaders refuse to harken to the voice of distress.

    Complaints at meetings with the ordinary party folks followed a similar trend.

    Have the higher ups not been telling our leaders at home to wet the ground, one queried. Without waiting for a response, he asked further: “why is the ground still dry?”

    Read Also: Hashim’s supporters’ group strengthens mobilisation, rallies support in Kaduna

    Another member, a youth, who frowned, asked: “You put all your children in councils. One hundred days have passed. Our own appointments for crumbs are still hanging. Why?”

    Another member, a woman, said: “We are only working for you and your children. We only see your face down during elections. After that, your face is up. Why? So, settle us.”

    Before dispersing the stakeholders’ meeting, party executives tried to wet the ground. They did not go empty handed. Many got 10kg bag of rice. Others received vegetable oil, garri and beans. Some smiled home with little cash.

    The next meeting was fuller. Research had been conducted and the outcome known.

    Confident of appeasement, the same carrot was doled out, with a greater demand for mobilisation towards the membership registration.

    The party now came up with a novelty: a huge cash prize for the ward and local government that recorded the highest number of registered party members. It went viral in the wards: ‘Cash for registration, I will partake.’

    So, the mobilisation, and indeed the registration, became competitive. Problem solved!

  • Remarkable strides in solid minerals sector

    Remarkable strides in solid minerals sector

    The continuing easing of the biting inflationary spirals in the prices of essential needs caused by the removal of fuel subsidy by the President Bola Tinubu administration. The noticeable increase in food productivity despite persisting insecurity constraints. The sustained positive outlook in the country’s surplus trade balances across successive quarters. The maintenance of a stable exchange rate with the Naira even gradually strengthening through the deft monetary policy. The renewed investor interest and confidence in the country’s economic potentials as reflected in the resurgence of the Nigerian stock market. The considerable amplification of the country’s foreign reserves compared to its parlous state as at May 2003. All these are responsible for the emergent consensus among experts that the far-reaching economic reforms of the administration are gradually yielding the desired results.

    Of course, there is still a considerable path to tread before positive statistical aggregates begin to reflect in the quality of life of the vast majority of citizens. The central goals of the economic reforms are to restructure and diversify the economy, significantly enhance domestic productivity, reduce food, technology and other forms of dependency, boost raw materials self-reliance and enhance accelerated industrialization, actualize revenue generating capacities to fund the radical expansion and modernization of infrastructure as well as provision of qualitative but affordable social services including education, healthcare, potable water, efficient transportation as well as sufficient power supply among others.

    In the final analysis, the ultimate verdict on the fundamental reforms of the Tinubu administration will depend on the level of performance of Ministries, Departments and Agencies that touch on the lives of millions of ordinary Nigerians, such as agriculture, rural development, education, healthcare, livestock production, poverty alleviation, trade and industry, transportation, as well as roads and infrastructure. But no less critical in this regard is the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, whose revenue- generating potentials remained largely dormant until the advent of the current administration.

    Experts have, over the years, noted that the excessive reliance on revenues from crude oil sales and the lack of investment in developing the myriad of solid minerals that dot vast swathes of the Nigerian geographical space have been factors in the persistent deepening of underdevelopment and poverty in post-colonial Nigeria. In the current dispensation, this narrative of neglect and marginalisation of such a critical sector is slowly but steadily changing. Even then, it is still ‘morning yet on creation day’ even though the portents are quite promising.

    The foremost expert on the political economy of solid minerals and underdevelopment in Nigeria, Professor Chibuzo Nwoke, has exhaustively documented the country’s treasure trove of assorted solid minerals spread in diverse locations. He classified them into seven broad categories, namely building and construction industry minerals; fuel minerals; steel industry minerals; non-ferrous minerals; industrial and manufacturing minerals; strategic minerals and precious metals and gemstones. The significance and spread of these minerals underscore the indispensable role of solid minerals in the quest for accelerated industrialisation and modernisation of Nigeria.

    As an online medium puts it to illustrate how vital solid minerals are to national development, “Tin, Lead, and Zinc are essential base metals used in various industries, from manufacturing to construction. These are the building blocks of modern infrastructure. Iron ore is a key ingredient in steel production, vital for infrastructure development and industrial growth. This is the backbone of industrialisation. And in the words of Professor Nwoke, “Before the so-called oil boom era in the Nigerian economy, tin mining was the major source of revenue and foreign exchange for the country, which, for a long time, was among the top six producers of both tin and columbite in the world. But more recently, mostly because of the concentration on oil, the importance of tin and other minerals has declined in the Nigerian economy.”

    He continued, “A poor mono-cultural Third World country like Nigeria cannot, however, afford to ignore the solid minerals sector of its economy because the long term well-being of the country may very well depend upon the nationalist management of its mineral potentials. Investigations from the Ministry of Mines reveal that there are potentials in Nigeria’s minerals sector that, if judiciously worked, could provide the needed precondition for a future of industrialisation.”

    More than at any other time since the commencement of the Fourth Republic in 1999, a concerted effort had been sustained over the last two and a half years to lay the foundation for the transformation of the solid minerals sector into the backbone for the realisation of the goals of rapid industrialisation and accelerated development.

    Read Also: Kwankwaso seeks compensation as Kano Assembly endorses Yusuf’s defection plan

    As I wrote in this space on Saturday, June 8, 2024, titled ‘Alake, solid minerals and national development,’ “Dr Oladele Alake is serving as Minister of Solid Minerals Development at a critical transitional phase in the evolution of the Nigerian economy. Not only has the price of crude oil plummeted calamitously in the international market, but many countries are moving away from dependence on fossil fuels for cheaper and safer sources of energy. Many experts assert that the golden age of oil is over and that current reserves of the commodity have a limited lifespan. Alake thus has his work cut out for him. His challenge is to lay the foundation for solid minerals, with which the country is munificently blessed, to become the future major revenue earner for Nigeria.”

    On assumption of office, the Minister identified eight priority minerals for immediate action and attention. This was obviously for the specificity of purpose as well as to ensure judicious utilisation of scarce resources to achieve concrete and measurable goals as regards minerals of the highest potential. The targeted eight priority minerals are gold, baryte, iron-ore, lead/zinc, coal, limestone, bitumen and lithium. As I wrote in the earlier piece, “His energies are thus centred on undertaking regulatory reforms to restore investor confidence and renewed global interest in these priority solid mineral resources without necessarily eschewing interest and investment in scores of other minerals with which the country is blessed.”

    It is significant that over the years, experts have identified a lack of adequate information on the variety and depth of the country’s solid minerals endowment as a key factor in the continued underdevelopment of the sector to the detriment of national progress and transformation. The entering into an agreement by the Ministry of Solid Minerals with a German firm, Geo Scan Gmbn through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to generate critical data on the eight priority minerals and their deposits thus marks a notable milestone in the evolution of the sector. Towards this end, sophisticated technology has been deployed with the capacity of exploring mineral resources up to 10,000 meters underground.

    In a related vein, the Ministry has worked in concert with the World Bank to conduct aeromagnetic surveys across the country for more accurate and reliable data on mineral spread and deposits to enable investors make more informed investment decisions. As the Minister noted at the 2024 Mines and Mining Conference in London, “The country’s geographical bounty encompasses over 44 distinct mineral types, found in exploitable quantities across more than 500 locations.” This expansive solid minerals endowment has also spurred Dr Alake to take defining and decisive steps to tackle the widespread incidence of criminality and violence associated with illegal mining in the largely ungoverned spaces where substantial quantities of solid minerals deposits are located.

    The unveiling on March 22, 2024, of the 2,200-strong Mines Marshall Corp drawn from officers and men of the National Security and Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC) marked the most elaborate effort in the history of the ministry to restore sanity and legality to the mining of solid minerals in Nigeria. With the Corps’ command and control centre located in the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, the Mines Marshal Corps is functional in all mining sites across diverse states, where it executes its mandate to smoke out, thwart and apprehend illegal miners and other violators of the country’s mining laws in the interest of Justice.

    Nothing illustrates better the efficacy of the reforms vigorously undertaken over the last two years by Alake in the solid minerals sector than the quantum leap in the ministry’s financial contributions to the national coffers under his leadership. For 2023, the Ministry of Solid Minerals generated approximately N16 billion in revenue, and this amount rose to N38 billion in 2024. Between January and November 2025, the revenue generated by the ministry had hit N63.92 billion within 11 months, and the Ministry is optimistic that the total revenue figure for 2025 will exceed the N70 billion mark. This represents a growth rate of over 337% from the 2023 figure of N16 billion.

    This astronomical increase in the Ministry’s revenue performance has been attributed to such reform initiatives as the revocation of dormant mining licences by the Minister, the drastic tackling of illegal mining through the Mining Marshalls Corp and initiatives aimed at enhancing local value addition before export of solid minerals, as well as attracting foreign investment. Shortly after resumption of office, the Minister announced the revocation of 1,633 mining licences due to default in the payment of their stipulated annual service fees. The affected entities had exceeded their deadlines to offset their debts as demanded by the Mining Cadastral Office, and they retrieved their licenses only after defraying their debts.

    The digitisation of mining license applications has enabled online mining license processing, thereby increasing transparency and accountability with positive revenue generation implications. While a substantial amount of about N1 trillion was allocated for mineral exploration to bridge data gaps, over 300 artisanal mining cooperatives were formalized and these in turn stimulated better effectiveness, efficiency and organisational dynamism in the ministry. In the same vein, the launch of the Nigeria Minerals Decision Support System (NMRDSS) has improved access to geological data and the attraction of investors. Also noteworthy are the MOUs entered into with reputable firms in the United Kingdom and Australia for the training of Nigerian mining professionals on modern mining technology and practices.

    In an address to a mining conference organized by the Nigerian Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies ( NIPSS), Alake had unequivocally declared that “My objective as the Minister is to work to ensure that Nigeria becomes a global mining destination for the first time in history and we are working to make this happen by alleviating bottlenecks and addressing salient challenges that have plagued the sector for decades”. The election of Alake as Chairman of the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) in 2024 reflects the Ministry’s active participation on the global terrain, the amplification of its influence and the positive ramifications for the attraction of foreign investment and consequently enhanced financial viability.

    From all indications, the Ministry is not resting on its oars as its leadership believes that the strides taken so far, though by all means remarkable, represent a minuscule portion of the potentials of the sector and the far greater heights it is still possible to attain.

  • Dying Elephant’s last kick

    Dying Elephant’s last kick

    Most superstars are brats. Yet, it is important to stress also that no rich man’s kid plays the beautiful game – soccer, which has consistently served as the vehicle for kids of poor people to change the peasant lifestyle of their families with wealth generated with their God-given talent.

    Victor Osimhen should be told by handlers that he needs to learn to be patient in his interactions with people. He should realise that as brand ambassador to many thriving business concerns, a lot is expected of him. He should be found worthy in character and learning, even if he isn’t a graduate yet. No business concern would love to identify its brands, goods and services with an ambassador who would pour odium on their brands through needless controversies.

    Sadly, players in the team have confirmed Osimhen’s unruly conduct severally in training with the coaches and even NFF, NSC chiefs papering over the issue, as if Osimhen is untouchable. Pity! The consequence of recruiting Lilliputian coaches.

    ”You people are just overreacting. Osimhen is like that even in training; so it’s nothing new to the rest of the team. It’s in his nature to be that explosive but it’s nothing serious”, a player in the team said.

    ”As a new player in the team, the other senior players told us about similar incidents in the past which was amicably resolved. To you people outside it’s a big issue, but here we see it as normal because it happens almost every time”, he stated.

    What Osimhen did to Lookman was despicable for a team mate who was his successor to the Africa Footballer of the Year diadem. Osimhen needs to be reminded that Lookman won the U-17 World Cup playing for England. He also won the U-20 World Cup playing for England. One therefore, can’t see what would have driven Osimhen to disrespect Lookman. This is certainly the dying Elephant’s last kick. Osimhen humiliated Finidi George and got away with it based on the emotional attachment Nigerians had towards Osimhen, which wasn’t fair. Finidi was a critical player for the Super Eagles, scoring goals with aplomb and providing assists to mates to score goals. Finidi belongs to the league of Super Eagles’ stars who scored goals for Nigeria at the senior World Cup, a competition Osimhen hasn’t participated in. Finidi has won the AFCON title, Osimhen hasn’t. Finidi won the UEFA Champions League crown with Ajax FC of Holland, Osimhen hasn’t. Why the NFF and indeed the NSC chieftains belittled Finidi before Osimhen is the Karma which has haunted the Edo-born striker to Morocco. Osimhen’s foolery towards Lookman can be likened to the dying Elephant’s last kick. Indeed, his bus stop. Who cares if he doesn’t play for Nigeria again?

    If the Eagles’ outings have been spectacular, it has been largely due to Alex Iwobi’s immaculate defence splitting passes and the sparkling manner he has marshalled the team, with the strikers the biggest benefactor. So, a badly behaved Osimhen must be told categorically that successes in football matches rests solely with good team work.

    Read Also: Shettima reaffirms FG’s resolve to empower military

    Mention must be made about the swiftness in curtailing what could have broken the team to pieces as exhibited by the NFF and NSC chiefs in Morocco. The damage control was top notch, although the social media feasted on it maximally, which may have jolted our sports administrators to act decisively.

    The team’s administrator, Dayo Enebi, informed the international media in Morocco on Tuesday that: “There is no problem whatsoever in our camp. Whatever people saw as a crisis between two brothers was easily resolved a couple of hours later. All is good and we are presently at training,”

    Osimhen was seen making gestures to fellow forward Ademola Lookman just before a corner kick, and conjectures of various complexions have followed in the legacy and digital media. Osimhen netted a brace in the encounter to move to 34 goals in 50 matches for Nigeria – only three less than the Nigeria senior record of 37 goals by ‘Goalsfather’ Rashidi Yekini (of blessed memory).

    Ademola Lookman, who had two goals and two assists before the match, having played in the games against Tanzania and Tunisia while sitting out the encounter with Uganda, added another goal and three exquisite assists on Monday night.

    It is true that such high profile shows of shame abound in the game globally, but it shouldn’t involve our best exports to the European leagues. Osimhen and Lookman are previous African Footballer of the Year award winners who should be emulated not despised in the media.  Indeed, Osimhen can’t be pampered to be right in his altacations. Otherwise, he would find himself standing alone on the pitch without team mates to play with. No man is infallible.

    Osimhen should note that the lifespan of athletes in their sport is between five years and 10 years, injuries permitting. It simply means Osimhen should learn to control his quick temper. There is life to live after football. He won’t say he isn’t  aware of the business angle in retirement for great achievers like him, such as being used as a brand ambassador for their goods and services across the world.

    What has impressed me so far is Osimhen’s post-match stoic silence over the issues surrounding the game. Equally impressive has been Lookman’s constant description of Osimhen as his brother; this shows clearly how well he has acculturated playing the game. Lookman in all the press meetings listens attentively before he blows the media away with his informed responses.

    I, therefore, won’t dwell on this matter but wait until today at 5pm to see how well both of them would play against the Algerians inside the 45,000-capacity Grand Stade de Marrakech on Saturday, in the third quarter-final match of the ongoing 35th Africa Cup of Nations finals. Incidentally, when Morocco hosted the AFCON in 1988 (the only previous championship the North African Kingdom staged), Cameroon clashed with Morocco in the first semi-final while Nigeria and Algeria clashed in the second semi-final. The quartet are now repeating history at the quarter-final stage.

    Thirty-eight years ago, Nigeria edged Algeria in a marathon penalty shootout after regulation and extra time ended 1-1, while Cameroon edged hosts Morocco to set up a Nigeria-Cameroon Final. The Indomitable Lions won that controversial Final 1-0. This time around the two countries would meet in the semi-final – Nigeria versus Cameroon – I’m salivating already.

    Yes, why are we so blessed. Why do our sports administrators find it difficult to learn from past experiences – in this case the issue of not paying our players what was promised them.

    “The NFF, the Sports Commission, the Presidency, the Minister of Finance, and the CBN are all involved.

    Fundamentally, the money for this AFCON is approved and being processed through the right channels. It’s a matter of timing,” the Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Shehu Dikko said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.

    “Let me give you the timelines of how the issues work. First and foremost, I must tell you that Mr. President, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, duly approved the special budget for the AFCON as far back as November 14, 2025,” he said.

    “But approving the money is different from getting the money out. It takes time for the money to be processed through Finance, the Office of the Accountant General, and the CBN.”

    When would we overcome these bureaucratic bottlenecks to save us the international disgrace of our players refusing to train or threatening not to travel to competition venue because of unfufilled promises to them?

  • Benjamin Kalu, Alex Otti and Abia 2027

    Benjamin Kalu, Alex Otti and Abia 2027

    The political landscape of Abia State has been charged with tension following recent exchanges between Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, and Governor Alex Otti. What ought to have been a straightforward political conversation has devolved into an unnecessary conflagration, revealing the temperament and character of those involved.

     Kalu, keen to bridge the SouthEast to the Centre, had repeatedly invited Governor Otti to join the All Progressives Congress, an act that is nothing short of a brotherly gesture—an olive branch extended from one son of Abia to another. It is a call rooted in pragmatism and the desire to see Abia State fully aligned with the progressive agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. Yet, rather than receiving this overture with the dignity and grace expected of a state executive, Governor Otti has chosen to respond harshly and through proxies, commissioning what can only be described as a platoon of attack dogs to savage the reputation of the Deputy Speaker.

    Such a “tigbue zogbue’’ response is as telling as it is disappointing. For a governor who publicly claims to be unperturbed by Kalu’s looming stature and challenge, Otti’s actions betray a man deeply threatened by the person of the Deputy Speaker, readers would do well to recall that in the early days of Kalu’s ambition to run for the Office of Speaker and then Deputy Speaker, he preferred supporting a candidate from another state, deeming Kalu’s ambition as a threat to his tenure as governor and such histrionics have continued to dictate his relationship with Kalu.

     Now, if Kalu’s invitation was indeed inconsequential, why the orchestrated campaign of vilification? Why deploy state resources and youth groups to attack a federal legislator whose only crime was extending a political invitation?

    The Deputy Speaker has every right to make such overtures. Politics, after all, is about building coalitions and expanding one’s political tent. Kalu’s invitation was consistent with the APC’s national agenda of bringing progressive-minded leaders into its fold. Governor Otti, exercising his constitutional right, could have simply and politely declined. He could have issued a statement affirming his commitment to the Labour Party while thanking the Deputy Speaker for his consideration. Instead, he has chosen the path of petty politics—mobilizing attack machinery funded, suspiciously, by Abia taxpayers’ money to diminish a man who has brought unprecedented glamour and prestige not only to Abia to the Southeast region.

    Since his emergence as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu has been a beacon of hope for the Igbo nation. He has restored dignity to Southeast representation at the federal level, ensuring that the voice of Ndigbo is heard in the corridors of power. His legislative achievements, his advocacy for Southeast development, and his strategic positioning within the national political framework have elevated not just his profile but that of the entire region. Perhaps, it is this success, this elevation, that seems to unsettle Governor Otti.

    Read Also: Benjamin Kalu’s failed ‘Indigeneship’ Bill

    One must also examine Governor Otti’s political trajectory to understand the irony of his current posturing. This is a man who has sought the governorship of Abia State on three different occasions, under three different political platforms—APGA, APC( When this failed he returned back to APGA in 2019), and finally, the Labour Party. Seemingly, his political journey is a testament to opportunism rather than ideological consistency. When APGA did not serve his purpose, he moved to APC. When APC proved difficult,he pole vaulted  back to APGA and then to the Labour Party. Now, as governor, he wishes to lecture others about party loyalty and principle.

    Otti’s political chicanery is transparent to discerning observers. He is currently engaged in a delicate balancing act—attempting a sort of Ribbentrop/ Molotov rapprochement with President Tinubu and the federal government while remaining safely ensconced within the Labour Party. This is politics at its most cynical. If Governor Otti were truly committed to the Labour Party and its ideals, why is he not in active collaboration with Peter Obi, whose presidential campaign created the political tsunami that swept him into office in 2023? Where is the solidarity with the man whose popularity gave him the gubernatorial seat he now occupies?

    The answer is simple: Otti is hedging his bets. He knows that the LP may appear as a lesser evil to the rampaging APC machinery than the ADC. He knows that antagonizing the Tinubu administration would be detrimental to his governance agenda. So he plays both sides—courting federal favor while maintaining his Labour Party membership as insurance. This duplicity is precisely what Deputy Speaker Kalu is resisting.

    For Benjamin Kalu, politics is not a game of deception. It is about clear positions and principled stands. His philosophy is straightforward: you are either with President Tinubu and the progressive agenda of the APC, or you are against it. There is no middle ground, no room for political gymnastics. This clarity of purpose is what Nigeria needs—leaders who state their positions clearly and stand by them.

    The question Abia citizens must ask themselves is this: Who truly has their interests at heart? Is it a governor who burns through taxpayers’ money to fund political attacks against a federal legislator who is working to bring development to the state? Or is it a Deputy Speaker who, despite the attacks, continues to advocate for Abia and the Southeast at the highest levels of government?

    Governor Otti’s charade is wearing thin. His pretense at being above the fray while simultaneously orchestrating attacks through youth groups fools no one. His attempt to maintain plausible deniability while his surrogates do the dirty work is a strategy as old as politics itself, but it is unbecoming of a state governor.

    As Abia looks toward 2027, citizens must evaluate leadership not by rhetoric but by character. They must assess who has consistently delivered, who has brought honor to the state, and who has the vision and federal connections to drive sustainable development. On these metrics, Benjamin Kalu stands head and shoulders above the political fray.

    The Deputy Speaker’s invitation to Governor Otti was an opportunity for unity, for Abia to speak with one voice at the federal level. Otti’s response—through attack dogs rather than dialogue—reveals a leader more concerned with protecting his political turf than advancing the collective interest of Abia people.

    History will judge both men by their actions during this period. One has chosen the path of statesmanship, elevation, and regional advocacy. The other has chosen attack politics, duplicity, and opportunism. The people of Abia are watching, and they will remember.

  • Obi and his 2027 calculations

    Obi and his 2027 calculations

    Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra State and serial defector, has jumped ship again.

    He has deserted the Labour Party (LP), which rescued him, gave him a refuge and offered him a platform to contest the 2023 presidential poll.

    His new abode is the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Siamese half of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on which platform he paired with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as presidential running mate during the 2019 poll.

    Obi has been involved in the coalition talks from the beginning. But he may have delayed his official declaration in anticipation of a concession. After the defection, the question is: what next? Will Atiku jettison his long-standing presidential ambition and step down for him during the national convention of the party?

    If Atiku steps down, it means the prediction of the marabouts that he will one day rule Nigeria is false. If the Adamawa-born politician comes down from that Olympian height to now become the sponsor of a running mate – a mere spare tyre – to Obi, it is not a good crowning of an illustrious political career.

    Has Obi agreed to serve as the running mate to Atiku in 2027? Will that not be contradictory to his boasting that he never travelled round the world to learn governance just to become a vice president, a footnote or an addendum?

    Is Obi now ready, after a careful self-reassessment, to eat the humble pie and accept being the running mate again in 2027, when Atiku will be 81, with an intention to succeed him later, if he wins the poll?

    READ ALSO; Guru Maharaj Ji predicts Tinubu, APC’s victory in 2027

    Has the ADC made any pronouncement on zoning or rotation to either the North or South in the next general election?

    Have Atiku and Obi agreed to step down to allow another person, from the North or South, to run, with the two veteran contenders joining hands to build support for the candidate, in the spirit of national sacrifice?

    What is the joker?

    Obi has something going for him. Although he lost the 2023 poll, it was a historic outing for him. After borrowing the LP, he threw his hat in the ring a few months before the election and scored over six million votes, trailing Atiku’s over seven million votes and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s over eight million votes.

    At Enugu, capital of Enugu State and political headquarters of the Southeast, the former Anambra State governor tried to showcase the relic of his personal structure. Typical of an ethnic champion, Obi attempted to regionalise his new party, the ADC. The Enugu gathering was largely an Igbo affair, with few chieftains from other regions as spectators. But his supporters rationalised the ethnic outing, saying that charity begins at home.

    Those who attended the defection were in two categories. The first category comprised the Atiku gang of Southeast origin, the same old faces of aggrieved co-travellers and former men of power now smelling the aroma of power from afar. The second category had Obi’s followers from the LP, who had hibernated in the party with him for three years.

    Apart from few negligible federal legislators who defected along with him, those keeping Obi company are spent forces who have lost mobilisation prowess. Whether or not Obi, who ditched Atiku after the 2019 general election, could be trusted by associates of the former Vice President now in ADC would have to be ascertained.

    Obi’s speech at the defection event was unimpressive. It was a mere rambling that lacked coherence. It was devoid of substance, focus, depth and clarity. It smacked of self-glorification. His remarks showed that the charm that endeared him to many has faded.

    Expectedly, the APC government came under attack. But no alternative programme was articulated. Obi said he had read new books on Indonesia and Malaysia, and promised to implement the theories he came across in the books written by some scholars.

    His departure from LP underscored his lack of leadership ability to rebuild and put the house in order. He left behind a party in tatters, factionalised, polarised, used and dumped. That Obi could not resolve the protracted crisis soiled his profile. It queries his capacity to broker effective reconciliation at a critical moment in the party’s journey. He appears to be concerned about his personal ambition and not the collective survival of the party. It is ironic that a man who could not foster unity in a small party like the LP is promising to promote the unity of Nigeria.

    The is no alignment of ideas. Ideology has long been discarded in Nigerian politics. The motivation for the retracing of steps is interest. Whether or not a clash of interests will occur with the passage of time depends on Obi’s permutations, which drove him to the desperate coalition, which the All Progressives Congress (APC) has described as a schism of chaos.

    Obi left the LP in distress and confusion, which the Julius Abure faction attributed to his style.

    The faction, which apologised to Nigerians for giving him the 2023 ticket, said the former governor would not be missed. This may not be true because between 2023 and 2025, Obi was the main issue in the party, its leadership crisis notwithstanding.

    The details of the pact that became the driving force for Obi are unknown. Atiku has been chasing the presidency, like a shadow chaser, since the 1993 Jos convention of the Social Democratic Party (PDP). In this dispensation, the former vice president has tried his luck six more times – in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2023 – but without success. Is the Wazirin Adamawa now fatigued or poll weary?

    The general feeling is that ADC was borrowed from the original owners for the purpose of realising Atiku’s aspiration. That is why many people believe that ADC is the Atiku Democratic Congress. Is Atiku being persuaded to step down and concede the space to Obi to fly the ticket of ADC in the next general election, while regressing into a status of a dignified onlooker or godfather?

    Obi said he decided to team up with ADC in the interest of national unity. Observers were taken aback that the politician who campaigned on ethno-religious platform in 2023 has suddenly turned around to project himself as an advocate of unity.

    He goes down in history as a politically unstable and electorally inconsistent actor, whose hallmark is desperation. From being an All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governor, through his struggle to occupy the number two position as a PDP chieftain, to an LP presidential candidate and now an ADC stalwart, the political roaming in circles is complete.

    Obi, like Atiku, lacks the pedigree of a party builder. For a politician who miraculously got over six million votes to fail to build on that novel score and momentum speaks volumes about a deficiency in self-awareness.

    That shortfall in perception and dearth of knowledge predisposed him to seeking a rented apartment in ADC when he had the chance to erect an edifice in LP, where he ultimately drew the ire of chieftains as a deserter.

    The protracted leadership squabble in the LP was a major test he failed woefully. How would someone who cannot fix his party promise to fix Nigeria, a country of over 200 million heterogeneous people?

    But that was also among those inadequacies, apart from the lack of political patience and sound strategy that created a hollow in the career of Atiku and other politicians who inherited the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) from their leader, the late Tafidan Katsina, Major-General Shehu Yar’Adua, only to allow it to collapse irredeemably. The PDM, a formidable platform, went with the wind because the supposedly arrowheads could not properly invest in its survival. Like Obi, Atiku’s motive is just ambition, and nothing more.

    Obi is taking his ‘Obedient’ followers to the ADC. They cannot transform into core party men and women. Since he is only interested in the party’s ticket and not the party itself, the challenge of harmonisation of party structures may not arise. That may be why it is convenient for him to abandon those who actively supported him, particularly the members of the National Caretaker Committee, led by Senator Esther Nenadi-Usman, and the lone LP governor, Alex Otti of Abia State, who has refused to defect along with him.

    Where does the defection leave Abure and Nenadi-Usman? Is that the end of LP? Will the factions fight on?

    Neither is any cogent consideration accorded the interest of Obi’s 2023 running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, who has been his loyal envoy to both the LP and the ADC.

    But has Obi been assured of the ticket? He is not known for participating in a competitive presidential primary. He only targets a political party that will hand over the ticket to him without stress. It is noteworthy that ADC’s Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi said recently that there was no guarantee about an anointed candidate. He also said there was no discussion about how the candidate would be chosen. Judging by Atiku’s antecedents, the fate of the ADC presidential candidate would be determined at the primary.

    What is the position of ADC on zoning? If the party zones its presidential ticket to the North, would there not be an uproar in the South because the zone deserves eight years?

    If it is zoned to the South, would the North be comfortable with another eight years for the South, after President Tinubu’s first term of four years? The North is conscious of the fact that the promise of a single term is a fallacy. Would the North not show preference for another four years for President Tinubu instead of conceding eight more years?

    But how intact is Obi’s support base? The argument is that if Obi’s six million and Atiku’s seven million are combined, they will surpass President Tinubu’s eight million. That was in 2023. Are the dynamics not different today as Nigeria gazes at 2027? Introspectively, in 2019, when Atiku and Obi paired in the PDP, did they defeat the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket of the APC?

    The only implication, for now, of Obi’s defection is that the presidential election may strictly be a three-horse race with President Tinubu of APC and flagbearers of the ADC and PDP slugging it out on poll day.

  • Tax mischief

    Tax mischief

    Against all odds, President Bola Tinubu’s much heralded tax reforms have come into force.

    The new acts are supposed to ensure uniformity in tax revenue administration across Nigeria, eliminate double taxation, use taxation to encourage private sector investment in critical industries and boost disposable incomes through targeted tax exemptions.

    The poorest in society are expected to be winners under the new arrangement. Individuals earning below the minimum wage are exempted from the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax. Similarly, small businesses with annual turnovers of N50 million or less would be excused from paying taxes.

    The new laws reduce corporate income tax rate from 30% to 25% over the next two years as a way of alleviating financial pressures on businesses and foster investment.

    From the very start the legislations have been greeted with intense suspicion, especially up North.

    Most people who have taken the trouble to read through the legislations or even familiarise themselves with summaries, admit that while not perfect, the bills are a massive improvement on what we currently have. Of course, they challenge states which are currently content with heading to Abuja for the monthly handout from FAAC, to do more about boosting economic activity in their domains.

    READ ALSO; Why I walked away as Finance Minister – Kemi Adeosun

    But, surely, no one can quarrel with tax exemptions for the poorest of the poor, or cuts for struggling families. Fair minded persons cannot be against reducing the taxation burdens on MSMES and other companies.

    What is most exhausting is that, in typical Nigerian fashion, what should be discourse about the economic wellbeing of citizens has been reduced to a political shouting match about plots to disadvantage one region or the other.

    Some of the most hysterical voices have been those who don’t even know what the new laws contain, but are content to recycle ignorant posts on social media.

    Others have even taken their mischief-making a notch higher. For instance, the story is told of how some months back farmers in parts of the North were misinformed that if they produced four baskets of onions or tomatoes, the government would take one of those baskets as tax! That is to say 25% of their produce.

    This caused quite a flap. In no time, clerics were already preaching inflammatory anti-government sermons about the supposedly evil new tax burden in their mosques on Fridays.

    Informed about the dangerous information being spread by these unknown individuals whose only goal was to torpedo the new legislation, some members of the Presidential Tax Committee quickly engaged influential clerics and stakeholders from the region in a town hall of sorts.

    By the time the engagement was halfway through, they had managed to calm inflamed emotions with proper information about what the new laws were about and what they were not. The bemused clerics kept glancing at each other in confusion because what they hearing wasn’t what they were told.

    Opponents of tax reforms got second wind because of the so-called alterations in the gazetted laws. But those who make these claims haven’t been able to show what was changed and for what purpose.

    The deliberate injection of falsehoods and innuendoes into what should be a sober conversation just speaks to the hidden agenda of these forces.