The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • The Omole Exposé: Nigeria’s reckoning with institutional failure

    The Omole Exposé: Nigeria’s reckoning with institutional failure

    Charles Omole’s newly launched book on the Muhammadu Buhari presidency titled  “Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari,”has detonated like a carefully placed charge beneath Nigeria’s political establishment. Though my ordered copy remains in transit, the reverberations from its revelations—and more tellingly, the reactions it has provoked—tell us everything we need to know about the fragility of our governance structures and the dangerous personalization of power that continues to plague this nation.

    The allegations and disclosures reportedly contained in Omole’s work have sent shockwaves through political circles, not merely because they are sensational, but because they apparently lay bare the fundamental dysfunction at the heart of recent Nigerian governance. The book’s reception, characterized by defensive outrage from some quarters and knowing nods from others, reveals a nation that has become dangerously accustomed to leadership opacity. What the reviews and public discourse since it’s launch demonstrate is that Nigeria remains trapped in a vicious cycle: we elevate individuals, even those not elected to positions of immense power, grant them near-imperial latitude, then express theatrical shock when we discover that unchecked authority has been exercised in ways contrary to the national interest.

    This pattern must end. The Omole book, whatever its ultimate historical verdict, serves as yet another clarion call for the structural transformation of Nigerian governance. We must transition from a system that allows individuals to set themselves up against the nation’s interest—whether through incompetence, malice, or the simple reality that power without institutional constraints inevitably corrupts—to one where robust institutions provide the guardrails in preventing such a concentration of power on individuals.

    The case for institutional deepening in Nigeria is not abstract theory; it is existential necessity. Consider what apparently transpired during the Buhari years: decisions made or deferred, appointments that privileged loyalty over competence, policy paralysis masked as integrity, and the concentration of power in informal networks rather than constitutional structures. These are not failings unique to one man or one administration—they are the predictable consequences of a system designed around personalities rather than processes.

    Strong institutions would have prevented many of the alleged missteps documented by Omole. An empowered civil service, insulated from political interference, does not wait for presidential whim to implement policy. An independent judiciary, properly resourced and respected, does not allow executive overreach to go unchallenged. A legislature conscious of its co-equal status does not rubber-stamp executive proposals or remain silent in the face of governance failures. A free press, protected by law and practice, does not wait for post-tenure exposés to reveal what should have been reported in real-time.

    Yet Nigeria’s institutions remain weak by design. We have created a hyper-presidency where success or failure hinges almost entirely on the character, capacity, and circle of whoever occupies Aso Rock. This is not governance; it is a lottery, in local parlance it is kalokalo and governance has become similar to a set of odds. And the Nigerian people, regardless of ethnicity, region, or religion, deserve better than to have their futures determined by chance.

    Which brings me to Nasir El-Rufai’s response to the Omole book—a response that, despite coming from a man I admire greatly for his intellect and administrative competence, fundamentally misunderstands the nature of democratic accountability.

    El-Rufai’s criticism of the book appears to rest on several premises, all of which deserve interrogation. The first seems to be that there is something inherently unseemly or disloyal about former insiders publishing accounts of their time in government. This is untenable. When Muhammadu Buhari—or any Nigerian—chooses to seek and accept the presidency, they voluntarily enter the public sphere in its most intense form. The office belongs to the people, not its temporary occupant. Everything done in that capacity, every decision made, every word spoken in official capacity, becomes part of the public record and subject to public scrutiny. This is not cruelty; it is democracy.

    Read Also: CBN asks banks to configure ATMs, POS terminals for foreign card transactions

    To suggest otherwise is to argue for a cult of silence that protects power from accountability. It is to claim that those who serve in government owe greater loyalty to their principal than to the Nigerian people who are the ultimate employers of every public servant. This is precisely the mentality that has enabled decades of unaccountable governance.

    El-Rufai’s second apparent premise—that such accounts are not balanced and that the book was meant to serve the interests of one faction against the other faction—is equally flawed. Nigeria cannot afford to wait for a village/ umunna / kindred  meeting of sorts between these factions before one can give his verdict, particularly when the consequences of governance failures are being lived in real-time by millions struggling with insecurity, economic hardship, and diminished opportunities. The urgent work of learning from our mistakes, of understanding what went wrong and why, cannot be postponed for the sake of seeking balance which may not occur on its own, it takes the efforts of persons like Professor Omole to do such and perhaps provoke the other side to air its own story.

    El-Rufai ought to have suggested that those with alternative accounts should write their own books.  The marketplace of ideas works best when multiple perspectives compete, when different participants in the same events offer their interpretations, and when the public can weigh competing narratives against available evidence. Omole has contributed to this marketplace; others, including El-Rufai, should do likewise rather than attempting to delegitimize the very act of bearing witness.

    But come to think of it, can Nigerians ask El Rufai if he sought this balanced point of view when he published his book the “ Accidental Public Servant” that is with barbs and the exposures the book exhibited? Haba Sir!!!

    Moreover, the Omole book, from all accounts, is not a simplistic character assassination of Buhari as a person or leader. It is, rather, an attempt to document what occurred during a consequential period in Nigerian history. That the buck stopped at Buhari’s desk is not Omole’s invention—it is the constitutional reality of presidential systems. If uncomfortable truths emerge from that documentation, the appropriate response is not to shoot the messenger but to grapple with the message.

    The fundamental issue revealed by this entire episode transcends Buhari, Omole, or El-Rufai. It is this: Nigeria will not progress significantly until we stop organizing our political life around the mythology of the strong man who will save us, and instead build institutions strong enough to constrain bad leaders and enable good ones. We need systems where competence is rewarded over connection, where merit trumps loyalty, where processes matter more than personalities.

    This means constitutional reforms that genuinely distribute power. It means judicial independence backed by budgetary autonomy. It means a professional civil service with security of tenure. It means a legislature that understands itself as a check on executive power, not an adjunct to it. It means transparent processes for appointments, procurement, and policy-making. It means protecting whistleblowers rather than persecuting them.

    Until we undertake this institutional reconstruction, we will remain trapped in an endless cycle: messianic expectations, inevitable disappointment, recriminatory revelations, then the search for the next savior. The Omole book is merely the latest chapter in this tragedy. Let it be a catalyst for the fundamental change we desperately need—the building of a republic that works regardless of who temporarily leads it.

    Merry Christmas my dear readers, may the joys and hopes cradled in the Christmas Story be ours as a nation and a people.

  • Opposition parties and fear of one-party state

    Opposition parties and fear of one-party state

    A spectral nightmare assails Nigeria’s opposition parties. They have become so befuddled by their own actions and inactions that they cannot explain where they are and where they want to go next. Their ordeal apparently arose from an inferiority complex, but they won’t admit it. They regularly conjure up the image of the polity lapsing into a one-party system. But they cannot justify their claim without indicting themselves. They depict the portrait of a ruling party that set out to ruin the opposition, but they forget that politics is like a football match. The result you get is determined by the tactics of the players and not the complaints about the rival team. The opposition parties have so far demonstrated tactlessness. They appear to prefer rancorous engagements to rational arrangements. They blame others for their immobile motions. They display an ego that emanates from the figment of hyperactive imagination; they brandish a yellow card – to the ruling party – out of sheer illusion of grandeur. Their persistent complaints have become their only weapon for blackmailing the ruling party.

    Instead of coming together to present a formidable front, opposition parties are already accusing the governing party of rigging the 2027 general election, which has not been conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    APC is expanding its coast because it is utilising the opportunities at its disposal very well. It is building on the antecedents of the legacy parties that fused in 2014 and succeeded in managing their internal cleavages. The wisdom that permitted APC chieftains to resolve to stay and survive together is grossly lacking in their rivals.

    In a heterogeneous country like Nigeria, having a one-party state can only be a product of daydreaming. But what cannot be ruled out is the dominance of one party that has done its homework accurately under a dynamic leader. Yet, this is not final. No particular party can dominate the polity forever.

    Nigeria can only officially become a one-party state if the Constitution prescribes it. That possibility is highly remote in a highly diversified nation-state where freedom of association and assembly can never be outlawed.

    Like the party in power, the opposition parties swim in an ideological vacuum, without clear, unambiguous, coherent beliefs and guiding principles. The sole motivation is floating a vehicle that can catapult their leading lights to power. The link between ideological doctrine and corresponding governance focus is lost.

    Read Also: Let’s focus on good governance, not one-party state, APC Women Leader urges Nigerians

    Since there is no unifying idea, individual opposition parties work at cross-purposes, oblivious of the fact that there is strength in unity and cohesion.

    Under the current presidential system, the 1999 Constitution (as amended) guarantees a multi-party system, which fundamentally satisfies the criteria of diversity, representation and inclusivity. The prevailing political order reflects the plural nature of Nigeria’s society and accommodates diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural groups, thereby offering platforms for varied interests.

    Currently, 18 political parties are on the register of the umpire. In September, 14 political associations that applied for registration as political parties were shortlisted for vetting.

    Five of the pre-existing 18 parties – the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP), the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) – are potentially strong. The fifth party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), only operates in a region, the Southeast, with Anambra State as its undisputed and permanent stronghold. It should be noted that the ADC qualifies to be among the Big Five because of the Atiku Abubakar factor, although the borrowed platform is surprisingly not waxing stronger.

    In the second category are three parties – Accord (A), often used and dumped, but now adopted for next year’s governorship poll by desperate Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke; the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which is increasingly being popularised by the wealthy lawyer and businessman, Adebayo Adewole; the Young Progressive Party (YPP), which was orphaned by the exit of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah; and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), which is always praying for adoption by aggrieved defectors from the major parties.

    Other platforms, largely considered as mushroom parties, are the Action Alliance (AA), African Action Congress (AAC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Boot Party (BP), National Rescue Movement (NRM), and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP). On poll days, their presidential candidates are like spectators.

    Both the ruling and opposition parties face similar challenges in varying degrees. The only difference is their diverse responses to the problems, their leadership, the place of the crisis resolution mechanism, and how they are playing their roles as political parties.

    While the ruling party is expected to monitor the government it has midwifed to ensure that it delivers on its cardinal campaign promises and never sleeps on guard, the role of the opposition is to offer constructive criticisms and provide robust checks and balances to the ruling party and the government. So far, the role of opposition in democracy has not been effectively felt.

    Also, both the ruling and opposition parties face the constraints of internal division and external pressures. But while the ruling party, being the controller of power and resources under a strong and dynamic leadership, can easily exert influence on its members, resist external pressures, insist on party supremacy, enforce discipline and whip erring members to line, members of the opposition parties, already left in the cold outside the power calculus, are easily uncontrollable, especially when their national leaderships are disputed or when they become the source of division, destabilisation and discord.

    Individually, the scattered opposition platforms are in disarray, aptly bogged down by infighting. Their inability to put their houses in order cannot be the fault of the ruling. The intra-party crisis has led to fragmentation, particularly in the main opposition party, the PDP, the LP and the NNPP, which persistently suffer from avoidable leadership tussles, factionalisation and futile reconciliation.

    The PDP spends more time in court than on the mobilisation field. Tragedy has hit the platform, decimating the fold with the exit of the Atiku camp. Even those left behind cannot close ranks. While a section wants to keep the platform as a proper opposition party, a section is actually pushing for a deal with the ruling party.

    Leadership is a bone of contention in the PDP. Only the court can interpret the lingo of its Babel. The party is polarised; neither the Wike camp or the Turaki group can accurately predict where the pendulum will swing. That is why key chieftains, including the governors, are jumping from what has become a sinking ship.

    Defections are not peculiar to the PDP. It cut across the opposition community. In their cross-carpeting desperation, the chieftains are not learning the tactics and strategies for survival, which are the legacies of the former Opposition Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is now the President. As a party leader, he made patriotic sacrifices, deployed resources, and served as a bridge builder, manager of crisis and symbol of the organisation.

    In those 16 years of the PDP hegemony, the party had 28 governors. As people defected from the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to the PDP, those in the opposition went to the drawing board to strategise. By dint of hard work and courageous moves, they aborted the prolonged and planned permanent dominance of the polity by the PDP, which boasted that it would rule Nigeria for the next 60 years.

    Unlike Asiwaju Tinubu and his compatriots, today’s opposition figures tend to prioritise personal advancement, financial incentives, and the “lure of political relevance” over ideological alliance, sacrifice and commitment to broad goals of salvaging the country.

    Also, the opposition cannot stir meaningful debates on government policies and programmes because they cannot really approach voters with alternatives that can elicit public confidence. Their indulgence in personality attacks and a campaign of calumny, instead of showcasing their programmes, accounts for their low popularity rating. Although Nigeria is going through challenging times, the opposition cannot boldly say that the government of the day is not working hard to reposition the critical sectors through its bold socio-economic reforms.

    Neither is the opposition’s recourse to wiping emotions capable of yielding sufficient political capital. While the PDP and other smaller parties have accused the ruling party of deploying the anti-graft agencies to intimidate, witch-hunt and oppress their members so that they can defect, it is evident that the allegation is unfounded. This is because the suspects, irrespective of political leanings, are being investigated and prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

    Opposition in Nigeria is becoming a sort of window dressing. Their tactics are becoming crude, with key figures making wild appeals to ethnicity and religion. This is injurious to the cause of nation-building and harmony. After months of planning for a coalition movement, the structure has not arrived. The PDP, LP, NNPP and ADC cannot jettison their differences, despite knowing that they cannot individually compete for presidential power with the APC and triumph.

    Can Atiku make a sacrifice, like Tinubu did when he sacrificed his vice presidential ambition in 2015? Can he step down? Also, can Peter Obi dump his presidential bid and pair with Atiku as the running mate? Can there be a compromise?

    There is no chance for a one-party system in Nigeria. But there could be a dominant party at a given time. PDP is a brand and to bounce back, its leaders should return to the drawing board to re-strategise.

     The opposition has a lot to learn from the ruling party in coordinating its vision, tactics, crisis resolution, reconciliation, and leadership.

    Planning and winning an election does not start and end with ranting. It is a long race. It requires focus. It needs resources – men, money, and materials. It is like trying to build a factory. All hands must be on deck. Any political party that intends to be a long-time player in the Nigerian political system must understand the vastness and dynamics of the system. It must then deploy the right resources through the right people to get the right results, even though the results may not come immediately.

    Today’s opposition parties need to return to the classroom and learn from the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The Leader of Opposition in the First and Second Republics made his parties the darlings of the people. Despite the failure of the Action Group (AG) to occupy the federal seat in the First Republic, and the near success of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) to win the 1983 election, Awo’s parties etched the opposition leader’s name in the hearts of modern history.

    The achievements of the AG in the defunct Western Region have remained unparalleled. Also, the success of the UPN in the Southwest, and later Bendel and Kwara states, during the short-lived Second Republic showed how a strong opposition party should operate.

    Between 1999 and 2003, AD was in power in the six Southwest states. The governors -Tinubu (Lagos), Lam Adesina (Oyo), Olusegun Osoba (Ogun), Bisi Akande (Osun), Adebayo Adefarati (Ondo), and Niyi Adebayo (Ekiti) – did their best. When EFCC was on the trail of their counterparts in other regions, they walked freely on the streets. Also, they never defected. They were consistent. Unfortunately, the current opposition parties are not focused on rendering services to the people. Their leaders are after what to pocket and live like emperors at the expense of the masses. This is why the federal seat is their main target.

    None of the current opposition parties can point at any programme that matches, much less surpasses, any Federal Government’s programmes. The UPN’s Four Cardinal Programmes remain unique till today. Why can’t the opposition parties adopt at least two of them in their states?   

    It is not too late for the opposition parties to redirect their steps.

    The general election is about a year away. A serious opposition party that is not out for the filthy lucre would utilise the months ahead to enunciate several programmes to uplift the people. Making noise about the ruling party will not stir the electorate to vote against a government that has done far better than all the other governments in the last 26 years. The cacophony about an imminent one-party state cannot sway the electorate. Only a performing opposition can make the voters change their minds.  

  • Life in the opposition wilderness

    Life in the opposition wilderness

    These are not the best of times for opposition parties in Nigeria. On paper there are scores of them registered with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). In reality, only a handful of them exist with realistic chance of success at the polls.

    Today, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) controls 28 governorships and seems to be casually targeting the 32 once held by the once-upon-a-time mighty Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Incidentally, this force of nature that at some point boasted it would govern the country for 60 years is now a shell of itself.

    Aside battling fragmentation which further enfeebles it in its bid to return to power anytime soon, opposition parties and their most prominent leaders are fighting for scraps looking for what to hurl at the ruling party. Bad news and statistics are good news for them. Unfortunately, they’ve not had much to work with in this area.

    After United States President, Donald Trump, labelled Nigeria ‘a disgraced country’, threatening to storm our shores with ‘guns blazing’, there was jubilation in certain quarters. Visions of US marines dropping on the roof at Aso Rock to effect regime change had some people in ecstasy. Alas, it was just a fleeting dream!

    Read Also: APC not behind crises ravaging opposition parties, says IPAC deputy chair

    What followed was swift engagement with Washington by the government. After the recent fact-finding visit by the American congressional delegation, every dream about bombs dropping from the sky disappeared in the unappealing diplomatic talk.

    Even the rash of suspicious mass abductions which looked like a reprise of the final days of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s hapless regime, have petered out as the Nigeria Army fanned out ‘guns-a-blazing’ across the land.

    It’s Christmas time and the trademark fuel queues are nowhere to be found. Food prices are crashing. The president just decisively dealt with necessary personnel changes that were potentially distracting for his government, and raw material for a thousand opposition press releases. Tinubu looks increasingly presidential, his would-be usurpers increasingly frustrated with feeding on scraps.   

  • From farm to freight: Ekiti’s agro-allied cargo advance

    From farm to freight: Ekiti’s agro-allied cargo advance

    It was a privilege to witness the commissioning of the Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport last week. It was a momentous, uplifting occasion – truly an experience of being part of history in the making, for reasons that go far beyond the tarmac. Key for me is that Ekiti is finally ready to become a logistical hub for the region.

    What was witnessed on December 10, 2025, in Ekiti State, when Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji (BAO) inaugurated the N49.77 billion airport, was a reconfirmation. It reconfirmed that a deliberate economic programme is essential to achieving economic prosperity in the near term.

    For historical accuracy, former Governor Kayode Fayemi’s foresight in initiating the project must be commended, but in a country riddled with childlike rivalries and repudiations, Oyebanji has shown great maturity and tactical élan by seeing this initiative to fruition. This should be a sobering lesson for all.

    The cargo airport is not just another vanity of the type condemned by the French Agronomist and later politician, René Dumont, in his 1962 groundbreaking seminal work, False Start in Africa. The present Ekiti State Government has clearly heeded the advice (largely ignored by others) that the essence of development must be to achieve consistent, self-sustaining growth with development as opposed to ‘growth without development’.

    Ekiti Cargo Airport is not a prestige project. It is the core of a plan to achieve sustainability in Ekiti. Its essence is to have a transformative impact as the state develops its agro-industrial potential. This will create a synergy that will shift its agriculture from large subsistence into commercial farming. The airport will then act as the fulcrum of its transformation into a much-needed, increasingly export-oriented ecosystem. The verdict of history, when economic historians will dispassionately write it in 50 or so years’ time, will give deserved plaudits to the foresighted governor’s efforts.

    Read Also: Ekiti government presents N1b cheques to farmers

    As an economic zone, the new airport will give the credit risk analyst used by potential investors the data needed to advise that Ekiti deserves an investment opportunity. It will also have a significant influence on inducing inward-bound investments into the state for a host of agricultural and agro-processing ventures.

    In today’s economic world, logistics and data interwoven drive an economy. The new airport will combine both attributes into a critical mass for an advanced thrust for the Ekiti economy. The result will be reinvigorating. In the next five years, the anticipated inflow of investments will be massive, with the airport acting as a logistics base that will have a ripple effect across, at least, four states in the South West and, perhaps, as far as Edo and Delta States.

    Ekiti State Government itself might be cautiously playing down the cargo airport’s effects. To maximize this impact, the administration should establish an Ekiti State Commodities Exchange, with the long-term goal of transitioning it into a publicly quoted entity. A public-private partnership (PPP), similar to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) framework, provides the ideal blueprint for this transition.

    A commodities exchange will act as the feeder, guaranteeing continuous and growing output into the cargo airport, thereby maximizing its potential. The commodities exchange will modernize agriculture by providing the much-needed guaranteed minimum farm gate prices, which will in turn lead to higher productivity output and a bourgeoning revenue base for the state. Guaranteed output levels will, as we have seen, in particular, India and Malaysia, induce investments in agro-processing and distribution, which will continuously feed activity in the cargo airport. Done properly, out of obscurity, the Ekiti cargo airport could – and should – become a foremost logistics base for much of the South West.

    The Ekiti State Government must therefore exploit the synergy involved in this project. Adeptly handled, it will transform Federal allocations to the state into a reserve for the protection of future generations and strictly to develop the social and physical infrastructure. Within years, the state’s ever-increasing internally generated revenue (IGR), with the cargo airport acting as the engine room, will cater for all expenditures. It will still have a surplus to invest in the social and physical infrastructure, in conjunction with Federal allocations.

    Oyebanji, in our considered opinion, is doing what development economists have been advocating for over seventy years, that economic development is not about ego-serving, vanity projects but about investing in a project such as the Ekiti State cargo airport which will act as the engine room for the overall, self-sustaining development. With presidential approval for the extension of the railway line from Osogbo to Ado‑Ekiti and the reconstruction of the Itawure‑Aramoko‑Iyin‑Ado‑Ekiti Road, it is evident that Ekiti, under BAO’s leadership, has only glimpsed the horizon.

  • Oládèjo Afoláyan: A national treasure at 71

    Oládèjo Afoláyan: A national treasure at 71

    On December 15, 2025, Professor Michael Oládèjo Afoláyan celebrated his seventy-first year on the Planet Earth.

    No doubt about it, Afoláyan has led a life of profound meaning, a life defined by discipline and a steadfast commitment to the “straight and narrow”. His sterling contributions to linguistics and education are not merely academic milestones, they are essential blueprints for Nigeria’s national development.

    Born in the cocoa-growing community of Oke-Awo, Aba Irosi – fifteen miles east of Ile-Ife – Afoláyan remains deeply defined by his roots. The eighth of eleven children born to James Ogunremi and Abigail Adenihun Afoláyan, he was raised in the rich tradition of his father, a farmer and the village Head Hunter. This dual heritage of terrestrial labour and intellectual curiosity remains his bedrock.

    Afoláyan was educated early in life through indigenous Yoruba worldview at the feet of village elders before attending the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Yale University. In a remarkable feat of academic continuity, he eventually taught at every institution where he once studied.

    Read Also: NCAA certifies Kano, Port Harcourt International Airports

    After a distinguished forty-year career teaching Yoruba, Linguistics, and Anthropology, he retired as a Professor of Education and Linguistics from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. His administrative expertise further led him to the Illinois Board of Higher Education, where he served as Assistant Director overseeing 613 degree-awarding institutions.

    Currently, as an independent scholar and President of M & P Educational Consulting International, the erudite professor shuttles between Osogbo, Nigeria, and Springfield, Illinois, with his wife, Dr. Precious Afoláyan. His recent 350-page translation of Joseph Odumosu’s Iwe Iwosan (Book of Healing) reflects his enduring commitment to cultural preservation.

    More importantly, in this era of global educational tide turning back toward the mother tongue, events have shown that students absorb complex concepts more deeply when taught in their native language. Indeed, this makes Afoláyan’s expertise more relevant now than when he first entered the profession. In the age of Artificial Intelligence and Coding, the ability to teach Mathematics and STEM subjects through initial deductions in the mother tongue is no longer a luxury, it is a competitive necessity.

    Whereas it’s a strategy that has propelled countries like India and China to the forefront of global innovation, one of Nigeria’s historical missteps was failing to introduce Science and Technology in indigenous languages. So, while Afoláyan may be retired, his intellect must not be allowed to ‘tire’. Instead, the government should bestow upon him one of the highest national honours and enlist him as a Special Adviser, Consultant, or Roving Ambassador.

    Language is the decisive battleground of the next century. Nigeria must deploy its finest ‘generals,’ like Afoláyan, to lead the charge. This involves embedding mother-tongue instruction into the foundational first six years of schooling across all levels of government. Anything less would be a national tragedy.

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

  • What irks Nasir el-Rufai?

    What irks Nasir el-Rufai?

    Reacting to this week’s launch of a new book on the life, times and legacy of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, former federal Minister and two-term governor of Kaduna State from 2015 to 2023, Nasir el-Rufai, appealed to Nigerians to let the former President “rest in peace”. Expectedly, a major book on a man like Buhari, who served first as military Head of State after the collapse of the Second Republic in December 1983 and was elected President for eight years after three unsuccessful bids for the position in 2003, 2007 and 2011, is bound to generate a lot of interest and controversies. This is moreso because Buhari was an enigma for the better part of his private and public life and, like most great leaders, was as intensely admired by his supporters as he was derided with equal passion by his traducers.

    Titled ‘From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari’, and written by Dr Charles Omole, Director-General of the Institute for Police and Security Policy Research, the book gives insider details on such issues as Buhari’s position on the choice of his successor in the run up to the 2023 presidential election, how the plot to impose former Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, as presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) failed or the late President’s management and leadership style.

    From media reports of the contents of the book, the author’s research involved detailed interviews with close family relations of Buhari such as his widow, Aisha Buhari, and some of those who worked closely with him as President such as former Director-General of the Department of State Security (DSS), Yusuf Bichi, former Inspectors-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu and Usman Alkali Baba, and former Chief Security Officer to Buhari, Abubakar Idris, among others. Surely, these are people who are in a position to speak authoritatively on the subject of the book, even though their account of events and interpretation of issues will naturally be coloured by their subjective value-preferences.

    Read Also: Buying Range Rover Sport was my biggest financial mistake – Zicsaloma

    Although el-Rufai admits that he has not yet read the 600-page book, he cautioned against the “selective revelations” about a man who is no longer alive to give his own account, stressing that “Explaining the thoughts and motivations of a complex leader through selective anecdotes risks distorting, rather than preserving his legacy.” One would have thought that the stormy petrel should have at least read portions of the book before making magisterial pronouncements on the content, especially when he admitted that “it is possible that some media reports lack context.”

    Nevertheless, he felt confident enough on the basis of perfunctory media reportage to conclude that “many of the so-called revelations attributed to the late President appear one-sided and unfair”. el-Rufai is himself a published author. His reminiscences on his not-uneventful public life, titled ‘The Accidental Public Servant’, generated considerable media attention when published in 2013 and understandably attracted its fair share of controversies.

    Rather than calling on potential authors on the life of Buhari to perhaps exercise self-censorship to allow his soul to ‘rest in peace’, el-Rufai should avail the reading public of his own insider account of the public life and leadership style of a man he was privileged to observe and work with at close quarters. He undoubtedly has the ability to deliver a compelling read in this regard, which will, nevertheless, most certainly elicit its own controversies, disagreements, debates and rebuttals.

    But what actuated this latest intervention by el-Rufai in a statement with regard to the Buhari book launch? It certainly was no high-minded concern for the accuracy of the narratives about the late President or the need to preserve the sanctity of his legacy. No, what was at play was obviously his persisting bitterness and fury against the Tinubu administration, which apparently committed the unpardonable sin of acceding to the security report that declared el-Rufai unfit for ministerial appointment, leading to his exclusion from the current Federal Executive Council.

    Thus, apart from making baseless insinuations about the venue of the book launch, which was the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, el-Rufai asserted that “More troubling was the presence of long-time critics of Buhari, some of whom now hold high office, delivering glowing, but clearly faked tributes. These are individuals who once blamed his administration for nearly every challenge facing Nigeria, but who now appear eager to revise history—perhaps to deflect responsibility for present failures.”

    President Bola Tinubu was one of those who paid fulsome tribute to his predecessor at the book launch, but this can certainly not be credibly described as ‘faked tributes’. Throughout Buhari’s eight years as President, Tinubu never once criticised his administration in public, even when many leaders and groups in the Southwest were vehement in their denunciation of the latter’s politics, policies and leadership style. During the campaigns for the 2023 presidential election, President Tinubu severally stated that he would continue with Buhari’s legacies, eliciting furious reactions from caustic critics of the former President.

    And since he stepped into Buhari’s shoes as President in May 2023, Tinubu has pursued his government’s reforms with singleness of resolve while studiously refusing to dissipate energy on distracting criticisms of his predecessor’s administration. He has publicly stated that the government is a continuum, and he had naturally inherited both assets and liabilities from the previous government.

    What exactly irks el-Rufai about President Tinubu paying glowing tribute to Buhari at the book launch or the event taking place at the State House Conference Centre? After all, was Buhari not a former President elected on the platform of the ruling APC? Obviously, el-Rufai ‘s calculation, along with many other no less bitter members of Buhari’s defunct Congress of Progressive Change (CPC), one of the legacy parties that merged to form the APC, was that they would inherit the consistent bank of the late President’s 12 million northern votes following his demise.

    It did not matter that they never displayed the asceticism, frugality, modesty and commitment to the northern talakawa that earned Buhari his unprecedented grassroots support in the region despite his meagre material means. They thus are irked by the emotional and unprecedentedly grand and glorious state burial that Tinubu accorded his predecessor to the obvious approbation and approval of Buhari’s teeming support base in the North. This is also their grouse with the President’s continuing to honour Buhari’s memory with his presence and generous appreciation of the latter at the book launch.

    Unsurprisingly, el-Rufai declares that “It was also unsettling to see individuals celebrating Buhari in death who had neither his trust nor his respect in life. President Buhari was a principled man who did not easily forget personal or political disrespect, and he made his preferences clear to those around him. Unfortunately for the former Kaduna State governor and his fellow travellers, Tinubu is the sitting President, and he enjoys the support of members of his predecessor’s family and a significant number of leading members of his larger political family.

    Nasir’s wrath and frustration will most likely grow more incendiary over the next few weeks and months especially as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) continues in its failure to gain momentum, the ruling APC systematically utilizes its incumbency to strengthen its political grip nationwide, the President’s economic reforms increasingly yield more fruits with positive impacts on living standards and the former Kaduna State governor’s influence and acceptance in the state he presided over for eight years persists in its downward trajectory.

    We can therefore expect increasingly combustible radio and television interviews as well as explosive social media outbursts by the diminutive mobile time bomb dangling delicately on the fragile fringes of treason.

    Last week, we examined a write-up purportedly written by one Mohammed Bello Doka titled ‘Is Tinubu waging a war against the Muslim North?’ shared by el-Rufai on his Facebook page. By disseminating the inciting and deliberately provocative article, el-Rufai openly identified with the extremist views of the writer. The piece sought to instigate the Muslim North against the Tinubu administration by falsely claiming that Muslim public officials were being purged because of their religion and replaced by Northern Christians. It tried to whip up hostility against Middle Belt Christians by far Northern Muslims.

    Mohammed Doka reiterated a false allegation repeated severally on national television by el-Rufai that the Tinubu administration was paying huge sums of money in negotiations with bandits, even after this claim had been vehemently denied by the security agencies, and el-Rufai has provided no proof of his allegation. Again, the piece claimed that the Tinubu administration is indifferent to the insecurity in the North and that the cost of one road in Lagos exceeds the security votes of all northern states combined. Again, no attempt was made to provide empirical validation for this wild assertion.

    Yet, the security agencies have made no efforts to invite both Mohammed Doka and el-Rufai to offer proof of such utterly false and potentially destabilising information being brazenly peddled, which will encourage their persistence on this reckless path with dangerous implications for national harmony, stability and unity.

    Other dangerous claims in the post shared by el-Rufai is that insecurity is being deliberately encouraged in the North to discourage significant turnout of voters in the region in 2027; that Northern Muslims occupying public office in the Tinubu administration are complicit in ‘betraying’ the North and Islam; and that Northern Muslims in the administration are being marginalized and intimidated and Christians favoured to placate President Donald Trump.

    By sharing this article, which is obviously the product of a deranged extremist religious mind, el-Rufai confirms the notorious reputation he acquired as governor of Kaduna State for eight years- that of a closet unhinged Ayatollah difficult to distinguish in temperament and outlook from forest bandits and terrorists. But why does it appear that the country’s security agencies see nothing and hear nothing and are so inexplicably paralysed to curb the reckless hubris of the el-Rufais of this world?

  • Let’s win on the pitch

    Let’s win on the pitch

    Now we know who to blame whenever the story breaks in the media that Super Eagles manager, Eric Chelle’s wages are in arrears as we have it till date. The chairman of the NSC told Arise TV on Monday that: “The NSC has been paying the salaries of Eric Chelle (Super Eagles coach) on behalf of the NFF even though we’re not a party to the contract.” “This is part of our support to the NFF.”

    The chairman’s response on television gave the impression that his commission was doing the NFF a favour, as if it isn’t part of his commission’s duties to ensure that things are done seamlessly. The failure of the commission to pay Chelle his wages promptly amounts to failure of leadership. He ought to humble himself by apologising to Nigerians for this administrative blunder.

    How the chairman has forgotten so quickly that he once held court at the NFF beats pundits hollow. Indeed, his comments on this tardy payment of Eagles manager’s wages are legendary. And they litter the internet as it never forgets. I thought the chairman ought to have given NFF the responsibility to pay Chelle his wages for such an action to be in sync with his views on the matter when he was an NFF chieftain. The chairman should take responsibility for the failure to pay the coach. After all, he was virtually the one who led the photo ops during the tactician’s unveiling at the Dankaro House in Abuja. Need I forget the celebrations involving the NSC’s top echelon and NFF bigwigs in England when Nigeria won the Unity Cup by beating Jamaica in the final game? 

    Curiously, one thought the issue of Nigeria missing out on getting one of the tickets to the World Cup was over until the news where NFF’s General Secretary Sanusi raised hopes about a likely third lifeline for the Super Eagles to the 2026 World Cup. Sanusi sounded like a qualified lawyer when he confirmed the petition has been lodged and that Nigeria is awaiting FIFA’s decision.

    “The Congolese rules say you cannot have dual citizenship,” Sanusi told reporters. “Wan-Bissaka has a European passport; some have French passports. The rules are very clear, and we have submitted our petition.”

    FIFA is reviewing Nigeria’s World Cup petition, but DR Congo have fired back, telling the Super Eagles to “focus on AFCON.”

    He added that FIFA’s approval was based on documents provided by the Congolese authorities.

    “As far as FIFA is concerned, once you have the passport of your country, you are eligible. That’s why they were cleared,” Sanusi said. “But our concern is that FIFA may have been deceived into clearing them.”

    ”Under DR Congo’s constitution, nationality can only be acquired through specific state-approved processes, including naturalisation, marriage, adoption or formal option, and the country does not generally permit dual citizenship. Nigeria argues that if those procedures were not followed, sporting eligibility could collapse,” he enthused further.

    FIFA has the power to act if fraud or falsification of documents is proven, including withdrawing eligibility, imposing bans, forfeiting matches or expelling teams from competitions. But a word of caution is necessary here for Nigeria, considering how we have gotten to the point where sanctions to offenders pushed us into the playoffs in Africa which we fluffed by losing on penalties to DR Congo.

    Read Also: Peller apologises to Nigerians after failed suicide attempt

    A dangerous precedent would have been set if Nigeria displaces DR Congo at this stage. I hope we won’t start making false claims of FIFA being racists, if we get edged out by default like it happened to Burkina Faso, following the points deductions against South Africa and Eritrea’s late withdrawal from the qualification matches. It would be more dignifying for Nigeria to qualify for the World Cup based on her exploits on the field of play, not through boardroom points.

    Of course, DR Congo’s Director of Football, Hérita Ilunga, reacted sharply to Nigeria’s complaint, insisting FIFA operates on sporting nationality rather than domestic law.

    “FIFA does not operate based on legal nationality, but on sporting nationality,” Ilunga said. “If that is the case, I advise you, my dear Naija, my BBC brothers, to focus instead on the AFCON.”

    Hmmmmm! What is the matter with our sports administrators? Don’t they have shame? Do they intend to prepare a one player (Victor Osimhen) strong squad to the 2026 World Cup by default? Please somebody in government should tell those pushing for another boardroom summersault to catapult Nigeria into the World Cup next year to be co-hosted by Mexico, Canada and the United States to stop it. Nigeria shouldn’t be perceived as sore losers. After all, we have a chance to right the wrongs of our World Cup failures by lifting the Africa Cup of Nations diadem in Morocco on January 18, 2026.

    Must Nigeria qualify to play at the Mundial via the backdoor? Is playing at the World Cup Nigeria’s birthright? Which of FIFA’s rules would DF Congo have infringed to merit an ouster at the boardroom? Who determines eligibility at the World Cup? FIFA or the country concerned, in this case DR Congo? How much of a country’s constitution is important for eligibility as enshrined in FIFA’s rules?

    One is excited over the fact that there are deliberate attempts to reinvent the Super Eagles with younger players whose ages won’t be debatable. Unfortunately, the new boys are mostly Nigeria-born. But the significant thing would be how well they would fit into the spine of the team (Stanley Nwabali, Calvin Bassey, Ola Aina, Wilfred Ndidi, Alex Iwobi, Samuel Chukwueze, Ademola Lookman and Osimhen) to give us the desired results.

    One has been very impressed with the way the boys reported to camp in Cairo. They had the numbers to train and it rubbed off on how they played in the friendly. One isn’t, however, happy with the way Osimhen reports to the team’s camp. Osimhen is looking like the next monster we are grooming with penchant for coming late to the camp.

    The painful thing about Osimhen’s lateness is that he advertises his exit from his Turkish side with videos suggesting that he is leaving the stadium straight to the airport to board the aircraft. Sadly, he reports to camp late, leaving this writer in awe as he is welcomed to camp with no sanctions. It is absolutely unacceptable for Osimhen to report to the Cairo camp 24 hours to the team’s departure from the Egyptian capital.

    As an elite player in the squad, he should lead by example, not creating the impression that he is untouchable. His lateness to camp affects the team’s preparations for competitions. Osimhen should know that he is the pivot of the team and must, therefore, report early. One was pleased watching the team play comfortably the 3-5-2 formation before switching to the 4-4-2 style of play.

    My angst with Chelle is his penchant for openly disagreeing with referees’ calls. Chelle was shown a yellow card for dissent towards end of the match by the referee. One only hopes he doesn’t get the red card flashed at him leading to exit from the bench. This definitely would jeopardise Nigerians’ dream of lifting the trophy. The Eagles mustn’t spoil Nigerians’ Christmas and New Year with sloppy performances.

    The Eagles must change from being spoilers to clear winners on the pitch, not at the boardroom.

  • TY Danjuma at 88: Legacy of service and unanswered questions

    TY Danjuma at 88: Legacy of service and unanswered questions

    As General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma marks his 88th birthday, Nigeria pauses to acknowledge a figure whose life has been inextricably woven into the fabric of the nation’s military and political history. He is, by any measure, a tested soldier and statesman in every right, having served this country on the battlefield, as Chief of Army Staff and later as Minister of Defence under the Obasanjo administration. His trajectory from the barracks to the corridors of power represents a significant chapter in Nigeria’s post-independence story.

    Danjuma’s military career was distinguished by his rise through the ranks during some of Nigeria’s most turbulent periods. As Chief of Army Staff, he commanded respect and wielded considerable influence over the nation’s security architecture. His later appointment as Minister of Defence under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s civilian administration demonstrated a continuity of confidence in his strategic acumen and leadership capabilities. These positions placed him at the epicenter of a number of critical decisions that have helped shape Nigeria’s military doctrine and defense policy.

    It must be acknowledged that General Danjuma has not done badly as a civilian either. He belongs to that class of military officers who benefited immensely from the benevolence the Nigerian nation availed them—opportunities in business, oil blocks, and unhindered  access to the commanding heights of the economy. His post-military success in the private sector, particularly in the oil and gas industry, has made him one of Nigeria’s wealthiest citizens. The transition from military general to business mogul is a path well-trodden by his generation of officers, and Danjuma navigated it with remarkable success.

    Yet, as we celebrate longevity and acknowledge service, posterity will always ask questions. History as a master of the times demands accountability, and time’s passage does not erase the weight of certain events that continue to cast long shadows over personalities and their distinguished careers.

    READ ALSO: Dominant APC waits with bated breath

    One cannot discuss General Danjuma’s military career without confronting his roles in a number of events beginning from the tragic happenings of July 1966. As a young officer and coup plotter, he was deeply involved in the counter-coup that led to the deaths of his Supreme Commander, General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, and the Western Region’s Military Governor, Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi as well as brother officers and civilians who were slaughtered for the January 15th coup. The circumstances of their deaths in Ibadan remain one of the darkest moments in Nigerian military history despite Danjuma ‘s “akuko na egwu” story of losing control over the troops he commanded.

     While the complexities of that period—ethnic tensions, political instability, and institutional fragmentation—provide context, they do not erase the fundamental questions about loyalty, command structure, and the sanctity of military hierarchy. What conversations can occur in the quiet moments when one reflects on the death of a commander under one’s watch? The coup (July,1966) may have been justified, Ironsi’s delay in punishing the January boys as well as his push towards a unitary system of government did raise fears, but the senseless killings pushed the country into a series of pogroms and a civil war which still stokes tensions even to this very day. What is more alarming is that the government which Danjuma did help entrench became more unitary than Ironsi would ever imagine, conferring an unfair advantage on a section of the country over others.

    The allegations surrounding the February 1977 invasion of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s Kalakuta Republic also demand examination. The brutal assault on the commune, which resulted in the burning of the property and the fatal injuries that led to the death of Fela’s mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, represented state violence against a citizen whose primary offense was speaking truth to power through music. While various military figures have been implicated in this atrocity, Danjuma’s position in the military hierarchy at the time has led to persistent questions about his knowledge of or involvement in the operation.  The Nigerian state’s failure to properly investigate and prosecute those responsible remains a stain on our collective conscience.

    More recently, during his tenure as Minister of Defence, the military operations in Odi, Bayelsa State, in 1999, and Zaki Biam, Benue State, in 2001, raised profound questions about proportionality and the rules of engagement. The Odi operation, in particular, resulted in widespread destruction and civilian casualties that human rights organizations documented extensively. The Zaki Biam invasion similarly left communities devastated. While both operations were officially responses to security challenges—the killing of security personnel—the scale of the military response and the civilian toll have been subjects of intense criticism. As the Minister overseeing these operations, General Danjuma bears a measure of responsibility for the decisions made and their devastating consequences.

    These are not mere historical footnotes. They represent moments when the instruments of state power were deployed in ways that many Nigerians believe crossed the line from necessary force to excessive violence, from maintaining order to inflicting collective punishment.

    As General Danjuma enters his 88th year, one must wonder: Is he happy with the state of Nigeria today? Does he look at the country—with its persistent insecurity, its fractured unity, its struggling institutions—and feel satisfaction with the foundations he helped entrench? The Nigeria of today bears the imprint of decisions made by his generation of military and political leaders. The normalization of military intervention in politics, the weakening of democratic institutions, the entrenchment of corruption, the erosion of meritocracy—these are legacies that those who wielded power must reckon with.

    In his later years, General Danjuma has at times spoken candidly about Nigeria’s challenges, even controversially urging Nigerians to defend themselves against security threats. These interventions suggest a man perhaps grappling with the distance between the Nigeria that might have been and the Nigeria that is and his roles in helping create such. Yet, candor in twilight does not erase responsibility for decisions made at noon.

    As we mark this milestone birthday, we honor General Danjuma’s service to the nation while acknowledging that true statesmanship requires accounting. The questions posed by history are not indictments alone but invitations to reflection, to truth-telling, and perhaps to reconciliation. For a man who has lived through so much of Nigeria’s story, who has shaped it in profound ways, the ultimate measure of his legacy will be determined not by the positions he held or the wealth he accumulated, but by how honestly he engages with the full weight of his actions and their consequences for millions of Nigerians.

    Happy 88th birthday, General. May the years ahead bring wisdom, peace, and the courage to speak fully to history.

  • North’s response to security emergency

    North’s response to security emergency

    The North has slipped into its darkest period. It faces an existential threat, with no end in sight to the mortal danger. The magnitude of the crisis is proportional to its geographical vastness.

    The regional challenge is Nigeria’s problem. It has also sent the wrong signal to the international community, denting the image of Nigeria.

    Towns and villages are in panic. Schools are attacked and pupils and teachers are taken into captivity. Churches are unsafe. Palaces are invaded and monarchs also abducted. Socio-economic activities are disrupted.

    Who are these troublers of the peace?

    The man who saw tomorrow, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, introduced free education and non-discriminating scholarship scheme in the old Western Region. He warned the feudal lords and aristocrats up the River Niger that neglected children would not allow those of the powerful to have rest of mind. Was the late sage not right, after all? Has his prediction not come true?

    Awolowo envisioned a Nigeria that would become truly independent through comprehensive economic policies, free education for all, massive industrialisation, and an unbiased protection of the rights of minority groups.

    Even though it was obvious that the one who wanted to gift a cloth was himself well dressed, the “powerful” elite of the North resisted his plans. While the Western Region leapfrogged in several developmental areas, the North was all motion without movement. Its masses were mostly uneducated.

    In the region, education was like a privilege, not a right, as Awolowo advocated. It was not too surprising that some people came up in the North to declare that education is sacrilege. The proponents of such horrendous ignorance might have found allies from outside the country, foreign enemies who wanted to destroy the nation’s peace and development. Yes, they exist. A nation does not wage a war against itself without the help of external forces that cash in on the weaknesses of the people within.

    A lot of people are oblivious that many developed countries envy Nigeria so much that they are always unhappy to see it make progress. The major reason is that they fear Nigeria would become Africa’s power house that would prevent the external manipulators from getting whatever they want from the continent at the detriment of the people. There are also the economic factors. Many other countries covet Nigeria’s array of rare minerals for their own development. They find it cheaper to use mercenaries to steal the resources than tread the legal business route. The foreign manipulators have designed – and continue to design – destabilising agenda for Nigeria to always writhe in crises.

    There are also concerns about spies and collaborators within communities. There are also concerns about limited intelligence gathering. Yet, bandits still have their way in some areas, despite the fact that the communities and security agencies have prior knowledge of impending onslaughts by the agents of the devil.

    Vocal voices in the North seem to have a different perceptive about the war against banditry. Why are they pacifying bandits? Why are they calling for negotiations with terrorists? Why ask for budgetary allocations to them? What is the basis for suggesting amnesty for terror gangs?

    Those advocating amnesty for bandits argue that terrorists deserve the same gesture given to the Southsouth agitators. But the argument is weak because their struggles and styles are not the same. Niger Delta militants only focus on economic sabotage, destroying oil pipelines and other facilities. They never kidnapped for ransom. They never attacked communities, schools, churches, mosques, and soft targets. The militants were identifiable and their leaders are known. Their agitations were clear: spend part of the money made fom the oil in the region to develop it, and stop environmental degradation.

    If negotiators or intermediaries between the Boko Haram sect and the government or families of kidnapped victims are known – because they conduct negotiations with them – then, is the problem not half-solved? Why is it difficult to arrest many of the terrorists and bring them to justice since the negotiators know the hiding places of the terror gangs in the tick forests to the extent that, in the view of some top people, can withstand bombing?

    Observers, therefore, ask: is the North ready to fight and win the terror war? If the bloc geo-political zones of the Northwest, the Northeast, and the Northcentral really wanted to liberate their people from insurgency, would their leaders continue to fold their arms?

    Read Also: Tinubu unveils new security, economic blueprint to harness Nigeria’s marine wealth

    It is important, first and foremost, for Northern leaders, the elite, the traditional rulers, religious icons, intellectuals, the mafias of Kaduna, Kano, and Sokoto, youths, and the residents to collectively resolve to say NO to the current nonsense.

    Regional response to the security emergency is critical to halting insurgency, which has become financially profitable to the perpetrators. It is evident that the North is waging a war against itself because there is no evidence that the terrorists are from the southern part of the country.

    Violent extremism in the North is not new. Zango Kataf riots and Maitasine uprising left in their wake unimaginable death tolls that called to question the value placed on the human life and peaceful co-existence.

    Insurgency has been variously linked with poverty, unemployment, squalor, and neglect. Those who hold this view draw attention to the fact that kinetic operations without the human approach are grossly insufficient for resolving the complex issues.

    While there could be some truths in these attributions, they also raise some questions. Who has marginalised or neglected the North that had dominated the national leadership for the greater part of 65 years of Nigeria’s nationhood?

    Also, judging by the sophisticated weapons in the hands of these “poor and jobless” terrorists and how the abductees are kept for days and sustained, sometimes by food items, medical aids and even midwives in some areas, it would be realised that sponsors of terror gangs are wealthy people.

    In the North, Islamisation should not be a clear danger to the vast and diverse communities, if there is a consciousness that the religious rights of those who choose to differ should be upheld with great understanding. This would be a factor in the creation of an atmosphere of mutual tolerance and peaceful coexistence.

    But religion seems to be out of place in some instances as the tools of insurgency in the ravaged areas are not associated with religious discrimination. This is because Muslims, Christians, and even pagans are targets.

    Governors can play their role in creatively securing their states by deploying resources, which have now increased due to the huge sum accruing to the states from the Federation Account.

    Today, the Southwest regional outfit, Amotekun, is the legacy of the late Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), former governor of Ondo State, who mobilised his colleagues in the region to beef up security in Yoruba land.

    In Oyo State, Governor Seyi Makinde has managed to solve the farmer-herder crisis. The porous boundaries are an issue which he has also been tackling through the proper deployment of security agencies. Also, former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose mobilised to ward off the threats.

    It took northern governors a while to collectively respond to the security threats in their region, despite the fact that more northerners are the victims of horror. But it was not until their Southwest counterparts rose to the occasion that they woke up from their slumber. Southern governors are taking pre-emptive measures; Northern governors are searching for a cure.

    Acknowledging that the region is facing a critical hazard and risk, the northern governors realised that the escape route is thin. Unlike some northern icons trying to bully the Federal Government and attack President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the rising violence, the Southwest governors embraced the reality that the anti-terror war is a collective responsibility that must involve the Federal Government, sub-national units, security agencies, and community resources.

    The governors of the North have called for the suspension of mining in the North. Why? The mining activities are clearly illegal. It is not peculiar to Nigeria. Indeed, there appears to be a relationship between unauthorised mining and terrorist financing, which can only be ignored at national peril.

    President Tinubu had once observed that the resources from illegal mining were being hijacked by terrorist groups in exchange for foreign cash, which was used to buy arms and ammunition. Thus, apart from kidnapping fellow bengs, huge resources are also kidnapped or captured, and billions of dollars that governments should use to fund education, health care, and other social services are exploited by terrorists to buy weapons and perpetuate violence against the people.

    Whistleblowers of northern origin should come to the rescue. They owe the region a candid duty of intelligence gathering in assisting security agencies to arrest and prosecute the public enemies.

    Northern states should brace up for state police. It is critical to security at the state and local government levels.

    How would it be funded? The governors should anticipate an imminent legislative amendment that will pave the way for the multi-layer policing structure. Governors now give more money to do that. It should be borne in mind that state police would be corrupt if it is not well funded, like the current national policing structure.

    Training is key. It takes time to wean the proposed state police for the purpose of filling the security void at the state level.

    How could this be done to meet the requirements of the security emergency?

    Northern elite must stand before the mirror and do an honest self-assessment. What do they want the region to look like in the next five to 10 years, judging by all that has happened in the last 10 years? Will life be better or get worse? Will there be pervasive peace or increased instability? A stitch in time saves nine.

    While many northerners have been running away from their homes to other places considered safer, the criminals who terrorise the region multiply. The known allies of the terrorists, some of whom have been named and shamed outside Nigeria behave like untouchables. Many of them pretend to be religious leaders, but the insignia on their character clearly spells Satanism. The North must urgently embrace developmental religion and fight destructive practices. The latter has never given the region a good name. Across the world, nations with majority Muslims have low rates of corruption and poverty. The North should ask why the situation is different across the region. It is time to make amends. Actions speak louder than words.

  • Sympathy for IDPs

    Sympathy for IDPs

    One of the most cutting taunts in Nigerian politics right now is to be referred to as an Internally Displaced Politician (IDP). That is the tag that has been hung around the necks of some of the leading lights of the opposition African Democratic congress (ADC).

    Among the most prominent of this new species is former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who left the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with so much hype, but is yet to formally join the over-inflated platform that we were all told was going to topple the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and send President Bola Tinubu back to Lagos in a hurry.

    In this group belongs the fire-spitting former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, who regular bulletins on X have somehow lost their earlier menace. Now he mournfully bewails the calamity that awaits Nigerian democracy if the president is allowed to cruise to victory in two years’ time.

    In the meantime, he’s floating around in political purgatory – somewhere between the Social Democratic Party (SDP) where he has received an icy welcome and his ADC promised land, trying to conjure some sort of magic potion that would banish Tinubu and deliver him from irrelevance.

    Read Also: Tinubu unveils new security, economic blueprint to harness Nigeria’s marine wealth

    Part of this band is a certain Rotimi Amaechi, one-time Minister of Transportation who briefly flirted with something called the All Democratic Alliance (ADA). It was a brief and spectacular flop. The former governor of Rivers State who still fancies himself something of a political lion has been huffing and puffing – wondering why Nigerians haven’t revolted against the government of the day.

    When that trick didn’t work he began moaning about hunger. Again, not too many were sympathetic given his ample midriff.

    And then there’s Peter Obi who seems to be doing his level best not to jump into the ADC bed and whilst still pretending to be a member of the troubled Labour Party (LP).

    You really have to feel for the politically homeless are they trun round and round in circles not having the courage of their convictions but always willing to believe that their accommodation problems are caused by the all-powerful occupant of Aso Rock – and not by their own dithering.