The Nation Newspaper

Category: Barometer

  • Netherlands and the Benin Bronzes

    Netherlands and the Benin Bronzes

    Last Tuesday, The Netherlands signed an agreement with Nigeria to return some 119 Benin Bronzes looted in 1897 when the British sacked the Kingdom of Benin in present day Nigeria. Some of the artefacts – figurines, tusks, sculptures of Benin’s rulers, and an ivory mask made between the 15th and 19th Centuries – ended up in Dutch Museums. In the agreement signed to return the over 100 items, there was no reference to their being stolen. It is, however, reassuring that after more than a century, the priceless materials are being returned to Nigeria. About three years ago, Germany became the first European country to return some 20 looted Benin Bronzes to Nigeria.

    Britain has over 900 looted Nigerian artefacts it has continued to retain, citing some unjustifiable excuses. It is shocking how any country in the 21st century, let alone Britain, can defend stealing under any guise, whether by Empire or by pirates and soldiers of fortune. They may fear that the artefacts will not be treated with the same sophistication and aplomb they are capable of, but nothing justifies the crime of looting or rationalises the argument that the original owners could not be trusted to handle such priceless items with care? Indeed, inexplicably, Britain last April returned some 20 artefacts looted from Ghana in 1874 and 1896 on the condition that the deal would be a long-term loan to Ghana, the original owners. Nigeria will not agree to any such loan deal should it ever be contemplated.

    Read Also: Netherlands to return 119 looted Benin bronzes to Nigeria

    By returning looted artefacts, Netherlands and Germany are coming to terms with their dark colonial past. Until Britain is named and shamed, they will continue to hide behind a nebulous British Museum Act of 1963 that forbids the return of stolen artefacts except in special circumstances to perpetuate centuries-old crime. It is time Nigeria pressed harder to get its looted artefacts back. There is no justification for any country to hold on to property stolen from another country. Had the shoe been on the other foot, Britain would have raised hell to get its property back.

  • Tinubu on el-Rufai at 65

    Tinubu on el-Rufai at 65

    There will be no immediate thaw in the strained relationship between President Bola Tinubu and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai. Both seem to have crossed the Rubicon when the latter was unable to pin down a place in the federal executive council in 2023. He had been promised a role in government even before the campaigns began, and despite his denial, he looked forward to holding a cabinet position. The rather open manner he seemed to have been rebuffed has led him to the conclusion that they offered him a sword rather than a dove. He has since taken up the gauntlet.

    Last week Mallam el-Rufai turned 65. He is a lucky man, for he is still strong and mentally sharp. He has been in public service since 1998, culminating in the governorship of Kaduna State in 2015, serving two terms. Falling out with the president, of course over his cabinet position rejection, has not prevented his being recognised as a patriot. In the birthday tribute authorised by President Tinubu, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said: “Mallam El-Rufai is an administrator, scholar, and politician. He is a founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and highly regarded for his resourcefulness and brilliance. He served as governor of Kaduna State for eight years, and prior to elective office, he had served as Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from 2003 to 2007. President Tinubu celebrates Mallam El-Rufai on this occasion and commends his endeavours for democracy; his meritorious service to the nation, and mentorship of the younger generation. The President acknowledges Mallam El-Rufai’s role in the dialogues leading up to the formation of the APC and his contributions to the success of the party in the three consecutive elections of 2015, 2019, and 2023.”

    There was nothing the president said about Mallam el-Rufai that was unmerited. The former Kaduna governor’s character may often fail him, especially as he dissembles in the face of repeated challenges and provocations, but his intellect as a first-class scholar remains intact. He may not be adept at building consensuses or standing firm on principles, and may sometimes abridge rules and regulations with the fanaticism of an entitled man and politician, but no assignment has mystified him or proved too much for his comprehension. He has problem with the concept of loyalty, but there is no question that when he is with whoever is his leader at any point in time, he gives his all. His fickleness does not vitiate his humongous capacity for hard work. Once you understand him and accommodate his strengths and limitations, you can always get him to give his best, and that best can be very satisfying to all parties involved.

    In the past few months, shorn of the friendship of political associates and thirsty for the warmth of praise and recognition by notable political leaders, Mallam el-Rufai sallied back into the camp of former vice president Atiku Abubakar. A few days ago, he was in company with the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate and others when they paid a condolence visit to the family of Edwin Clark, statesman and former Information minister and Ijaw leader, in Abuja. Making prefatory remarks during the visit, Mallam el-Rufai jumped unbelievably to the defence of the former vice president, whom he rhapsodised as a misunderstood leader. “Nobody gives Vice President Atiku Abubakar the credit for leading economic policy-making under the Obasanjo administration. Many of the things that we did…were under his leadership,” said the former governor. It is unclear why he had to make that rhetorical detour at a condolence visit, but that is vintage Mallam el-Rufai. He has begun a new round of blandishments whose end no can guess.

    Read Also: Tinubu flags-off reconstruction of Lagos-Ibadan-Sagamu Expressway

    It is, however, remarkable that whether the former Kaduna governor feels estranged or not, the president’s opinion of his co-labourer in the founding of the APC has not been substantially affected by any political misunderstanding. In addition to attesting to the competence of political foes and allies, hopefully, the day will also come when sitting presidents will publicly, routinely and positively attest to the character of a political ally or political enemy. Nigerians may have settled for the humdrum of applauding politicians’ work and experience, as their elite did at the launch of Ibrahim Babangida’s autobiography ‘A journey in Service’ last week. The country may, however, be yearning for radical change. After all, as everybody knows, and going by the hypocrisy that attends public functions, no one who gives a tribute will take the liberty of denouncing the character of the host.

  • PDP’s war without end

    PDP’s war without end

    Having lost three electoral wars in a row, and having had to contend with fierce internecine wars to seize control of the ‘commanding heights’ of the party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders may now also seem to have postponed the definitive ‘war to end all wars’ that should ready it for the fateful and defining 2027 electoral war. The party has not produced a philosopher of repute or a lodestar to help chart and define its future, but if it continues to lack such resources in the months ahead, it could lose the 2027 badly and fracture irreparably. It is not certain that they sense the foreboding stalking their future, but as sure as day follows night, unmitigated disaster awaits them if they do not close ranks and fight as one man.

    The problem with the PDP is that its leaders seem intrinsically incapable of fighting as one man. The party is populated by too many strongmen, politicians and adventurers pulling the party in different directions all at once. They have former vice president Atiku Abubakar and his petulant crowd; they have former Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike and his redoubtable political family of intransigents; and they have the viceregal layer of battle-hardened veterans who swarm the second ladder of the party, men like party chairman Iliya Damagum, Board of Trustees chairman Adolphus Wabara, repentant and Janus-faced defector Peter Obi, and a host of other eager dupes and wannabees. Most times, the battle lines are faintly drawn or altogether invisible. But at some epiphanic moments, the shape of the frontlines becomes visible, with Alhaji Atiku at daggers drawn with Mr Wike, the garlanded Federal Capital City (FCT) minister.

    Last week, the frontlines shifted back to the courts. There, Sunday Ude-Okoye, a former national youth leader, was affirmed as the PDP national secretary, a declaration spontaneously sanctioned by the party’s BoT to whom the development was a welcome relief from months of political tedium and anguish. In return, Mr Wike’s allies in the BoT chairman’s state of Abia simply gouged the eyes of the party by suspending Mr Wabara, ostensibly for endorsing the state’s governor, Alex Otti of the Labour Party (LP), for a second term barely five months into his first term, an act they summed up as anti-party. Underneath, however, suggested many observers and party apparatchiks, the suspension of the BoT chairman at the state level, which they hoped to escalate to the national level perhaps through the courts, was due to his concomitant affirmation of Mr Ude-Okoye of the Atiku camp as party secretary in place of Samuel Anyanwu of the Wike camp. Justifying Mr Wabara’s suspension, Abia State PDP chairman deadpanned: “If you are in this party, be ready to stand for it, work for it and defend it. We do not need passengers, we need partners in progress.” Almost immediately, however, the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), citing the constitution, voided the suspension, describing it as impertinent.

    Read Also: Tinubu will commission several FCT projects in May – Wike

    The Atiku camp hopes that with Mr Ude-Okoye in place, it presents them a toehold in the administrative organ of the party, which is at the moment controlled by the Wike camp’s Ambassador Damagum. A battle royale may soon break out. The war front will henceforth continue to oscillate between the courts and the secretariat, and the jousting will retain its fearsome intensity. The Atiku camp will also be relentless, and the Wike camp will be unflagging. Neither side will give up easily, with the courts providing nothing more than corrosive intermissions. On the sidelines, aggressive efforts will be made to see whether one merger or the other could be cobbled, as three electoral defeats in a row have demonstrated that no single party acting alone, not even the former PDP behemoth, can unseat the ruling APC. The merger talks are for now opaque and indeterminate, with no precise idea of what they hope to birth couched in clear terms or altruistic leaders stepping forward to show just how much they are prepared to sacrifice for the common cause. For now, sadly, they seem all propelled by the single-minded desire to recapture power at the centre and to board the gravy train. Worse, none of the proponents of the merger has an idea what the merger would look like, whether it would be an expanded PDP or a mélange of desperate parties masquerading as special purpose vehicles available for hire and all kinds of political harlotry.

    What is absolutely clear is that the PDP does not have time on its hands. Its leaders believe they are doing their uttermost to brew a vintage, but every political vintner of modest capacity in Nigeria suspects that PDP leaders are engaged in short-circuiting the process of building a great party or rebuilding a damaged party. The rebuilding will, however, not begin in earnest until the rage and disgust of angry party leaders and members are mollified, starting with Mr Wike who sustained the party when its renascent leaders played the harlot in previous years. Mollifying Mr Wike, however, is a bridge too far. Going by how bitterly some PDP leaders have tried to undercut him in Rivers, including the previously mendicant Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, not to say the unprincipled Alhaji Atiku, placating Mr Wike may be both theoretically and practically impossible. After all, the FCT minister has found rest in the cabinet of President Bola Tinubu, where he is untroubled by superficial and rancorous politicians.

    Except a number of seismic juridical shifts occur, the stalemate in the PDP may in fact become calcified, and along with it, the endless internal war. Should they lose again in 2027 by a significant margin at the state, presidential and legislative levels, the party may become extinct.

  • Gowon and misplaced ECOWAS optimism

    Gowon and misplaced ECOWAS optimism

    Former military head of state Yakubu Gowon has once again reiterated his belief in the survival of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) formed in May 1975 about two months before he was toppled. Considered one of the main inspirations behind the organisation, he is right to feel nostalgic about a sub-regional orgnaisation he could rightly claim to be his baby.

    Speaking in Abuja at a roundtable organised by the Gusau Institute, a think tank, Gen. Gowon insisted that ECOWAS would survive its present schisms, especially the disaffection caused by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger which have, on account of military usurpation of democracy in those countries, broken away from the sub-regional body to form the Alliance of Sahel States. The former head of state suggested that ECOWAS should keep its doors open, continue to relate with the three countries, and hope they would return to the organisation.

    Read Also: Nigeria’s first lady gets elected into OAFLAD’s steering committee

    That return is, however, unlikely to occur under the leadership of the three military dictators still inebriated by their breakaway from France and their defiance against ECOWAS imposition of sanctions and threat of force to reinstate democracy. All ECOWAS needs to do is to rethink and reposition the sub-regional body to fulfill the mandate of its founding. They should not be burdened or feel agitated by the breakaway countries. Nothing says ECOWAS should remain 15 members. They can be fewer and yet pack a bigger punch if West African leaders produce the imagination needed to vivify the organisation.

  • Between Trump and Nigeria

    Between Trump and Nigeria

    In less than three weeks, United States President Donald Trump has shown the world how not to take leadership for granted. Often the easier part is electing a new president, especially in the wake of difficult and sometimes convoluted social, political and economic challenges. Ensuring that a country does not shoot itself in the foot or cut its nose to spite its face is most times the harder part. In last year’s November elections, the US managed to both shoot itself in the foot and cut its nose to spite its face. If it were possible to sever any other part of the body, they would have done it to achieve their electoral goals.

    Nigerians used to think they were more adept than most other countries at destroying their metaphorical anatomy to ventilate their political anger. Now, with wry wit, they must begin to appreciate that that folly is fairly universal, and that in fact, Nigeria’s case may not be as bad or hopeless as they had imagined. Yes, in 1966, they broke out in a paroxysm of excitement when they welcomed the military into government in the expectation that order would be restored and peace imposed after the convulsive elections of 1964/1965. There was no way they would know that they were setting themselves up for a civil war barely a year after the coup or for decades of debilitating military dictatorships.

    Most countries seldom learn from history. After the disputed elections of 1983 in the Second Republic, Nigerians widely advocated for a coup d’etat. They got their wish, their noses and feet severed by their foolishness and amnesia. If anyone had told them the coup would produce a succession of devious and incompetent military dictators, culminating in the blood-soaked and extremely larcenous administration of General Sani Abacha, they would have condemned the fantasy as surreal literature. And when they gleefully aborted the electoral victory of Moshood Kashimawo Abiola in 1993, and as some alleged, murdered him, there was certainly no way they would know that the manipulation would engineer the return of the excitable Olusegun Obasanjo, the lethargic Umaru Yar’Adua, the overwhelmed Goodluck Jonathan, and the dour and sulking Muhammadu Buhari who thrice sought electoral absolution for his tragic military administration.

    To reiterate their ownership of the US, white America reelected President Trump, this time with a dominant and unassailable Electoral College and popular vote margins catalysed by dazed Hispanics, myopic Muslims angry over Gaza, impressionable Blacks, evangelicals, countryside yokels, and all manner of voting groups yearning for political and economic anachronisms. But weeks into his presidency, he has all but wiped the grin off the faces of his supporters. They adored his tough rhetoric on tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, but he has disgracefully walked the policy back, leaving only China. They do not seem to mind his gung-ho determination to take Greenland by force, but they must now contend with the unprecedented opposition of Denmark and France. His hysteria over Panama Canal gratified their prejudices, but he has declared under his breath that he would settle for Panama merely reducing the influence of China in the running of the canal. Much of the Muslim world which privately wondered whether his presidency would not in fact be more tolerable than that of his predecessor, Joe Biden, are now disillusioned hearing his heresy on depopulating and rebuilding Gaza under US control.

    Read Also: Trump signs order barring trans athletes from women’s sports

    In three crazy weeks, Mr Trump has shown that other than technological and military supremacy, the US and indeed nearly all developed countries are as ordinary as they can get. Germany, after all, produced the sociopathic Adolf Hitler in the last century, far more bloodthirsty than Uganda’s Idi Amin. And beside Mr Trump, some of the most vilified African leaders such as Muammer Ghaddafi, Mengistu Haile Mariam, Robert Mugabe, Sani Abacha, Mobutu Sese Seko, Jean Bedel Bokassa are far more predictable, and far less vain and inconsiderate. It must horrify many Americans that their president now suffers the indignity of being compared to Africa’s and Asia’s badly vilified leaders. China’s Mao Zedong and Soviet Union’s Josef Stalin might be sociopathic, but compared with the increasingly fatalistic and unremittingly inconsiderate Mr Trump, they seem blasé, predictable, even intelligent and visionary.

    Before he clocks two or three months in office, Mr Trump will have alienated most of his friends and allies, made a fool of himself, demystified the US, and if left unchecked, plunged the world economy into a crisis, if not another depression. There is simply no sense in him at all, and no method even to his madness. Nigeria’s Gen Abacha might be a thoroughbred thief and a callous leader, but he was sensible enough to let the economy be handled by experts. President Buhari might be insensitive and a closet Fulani irredentist, but he was smart enough to often keep his mouth shut to the point of being reclusive. Gen Badamasi Babangida might be devious and greedy, but he genuinely, if mistakenly, believed his experimentations would birth Utopia under his administration.

    It is a modern tragedy that in the 21st Century, and after more than 250 years of running a democracy anchored on one of the world’s most profound constitutions, the US has produced the mesmerisingly ungifted Mr Trump, a man so destitute of leadership ability that it is baffling a great political party like the Republican Party nominated him, and an even greater country saddled him with the onerous task of ‘leading’ the world. Nigerians, nay Africans, should take consolation in the fact that in no part of their chequered history had they managed to produce a leader so unworthy of the throne, so incapable of elementary reasoning, and so overwrought by emotions.

  • The demolished Anambra ‘hotel’ saga

    The demolished Anambra ‘hotel’ saga

    In late January, the new Anambra State security outfit, Agunechemba, reportedly acting on a tip off, raided Udoka Golden Point Hotel and Suites, more popularly known as La Cruise Hotel, located along the Onitsha-Owerri Road, in Idemili South local government area. The premises allegedly doubled as hospitality facility and kidnappers’ den. It also reportedly contained 30 graves, though, surprisingly, no one in government could say whether corpses were recovered. It was, therefore, not out of place when a resident of the area said the so-called graves were actually partitionings for fish ponds.

    But government sources disclosed that “graves were found on the ground floor of the hotel and some military camouflage and some arms cartridges of guns and so on were also found. Quite a number of incriminating items were also found there.” But another government source said the ‘graves’ were found on the last floor. Apart from the shocking lack of harmonisation of official statements, not to say the confusion over whether the ‘graves’ were found on the ‘last’ or ‘ground’ floor, it is dismaying that the government rushed into demolishing the building simply because the state’s Homeland Security law permits the demolition. Was the demolition ordered by the courts, and were the owners of the premises availed the opportunity of defending themselves?

    Read Also: Anambra 2025: It’s game over for Soludo, APGA -Ganduje, APC NWC

    The hotel sponsors may very well be guilty of what has been publicly alleged against them, but only the courts can say so, and only the courts can sanction demolition. Given the obscene haste with which the discovery and demolition were done, it is unlikely due process was followed. And if due process was followed, then the justice system in Anambra is damned. What is worse is that the government spokesman could not even confirm what were found in the building, an indication that investigation had not been concluded. Precious evidence may have been destroyed in the rush to sensationalise a supposedly serious crime. If the owners of the presumed hotel cannot be found, Nigerians may never know the full scale of the ‘crime’ allegedly committed in that demolished building, whether just kidnapping for ransom or ritual killings, or worse.       

  • The Afe Babalola/Dele Farotimi saga

    The Afe Babalola/Dele Farotimi saga

    Early last week, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi II, led five other traditional rulers in the Southwest to placate Afe Babalola, legal icon and educationist par excellence, over his disagreement with activist Dele Farotimi whose new book allegedly slandered the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti. After stalling for weeks, and after withstanding the interventions of former president Olusegun Obasanjo and a few other highly placed Nigerians, Chief Babalola announced that he could not turn deaf ears to the obas’ pleas. He announced an end to the litigation against Mr Farotimi.

    But that was as clear as Nigerians could possibly have of the case. Too many questions were, however, left unanswered. One of the reasons for the legal icon’s intransigence was the refusal of Mr Farotimi to apologise and withdraw the book from circulation. In this latest instance, there is no indication of any apologies or book withdrawal. Without book withdrawal, which would imply the repudiation of its contents, whatever the author wrote would stand as uncontroverted for all time, also suggesting that the contents will be held to be true.

    Read Also: Alausa, Afe Babalola, scientists, others for confab

    Uncharacteristically too, Mr Farotimi, who had earlier insisted he was not going to apologies, and had indeed not sent anyone to beg on his behalf, has kept mum. So, what does he think of the case? Is he standing pat or caving in? And at whose instance did the monarchs, all six of them or so, travel to Ado Ekiti to beg Chief Babalola? Such high-powered subversion of litigation is uncommon, especially in a highly litigious society like Nigeria.

    Finally, what will happen to the other litigants and non-litigants whose reputations have been allegedly injured in the book, including nearly all the eminent jurists, up to the Supreme Court, who received dishonourable mention? Would the traditional rulers rely on Chief Babalola to also importune the offended lawyers and jurists simply because his fury had been conciliated? Mr Farotimi has been loquacious and bold; might he be persuaded to speak up and shed light on these mysteries? Whatever happens, it does not seem Nigerians have heard the last of both the case and the vexatious book.

  • Between Obasanjo and Orunmila

    Between Obasanjo and Orunmila

    Speaking at a luncheon in Abeokuta recently, former president Olusegun Obasanjo lamented the relegation of traditional beliefs and values in the face of so-called modernism. He went on to angrily denounce those who promote Western cultures to the detriment of Africa’s rich and authentic cultural heritage. It is hard to fault him or get riled by his trenchancy or desperation. His politics may be faulted, and his social views suspect, but when it comes to Africa’s cultural heritage, Chief Obasanjo has often been incomparable, and his avid promotions unexampled.

    “I am a Christian; I have been to two churches today, but whoever says Ifa Orunmila is nothing must be a bloody fool because Orunmila has been with us before the advent of Christianity or Islam,” he said without any equivocation. “Culture is the totality of who we are, unfortunately, we have relegated some of our culture to the background, our food, our language, our dress and so on. They even say Yoruba is vernacular; that is not right, Yoruba is Yoruba, it is the authentic and we must learn to celebrate what belongs to us because that’s the authentic.”

    If his thesis is not patiently examined, it would be erroneously surmised that he was by his remarks promoting syncretism or polytheism. Privately, he has been quite discrete in his religious observances, with many analysts quite unable to determine just how expertly and deliberately he draws a line between his public show of Christianity and his respect and almost total reverence for traditional African beliefs. As president between 1999 and 2007, he was unapologetic about his Christian faith, even going as far as correcting the calculated refusal by his predecessors to erect a church building at the presidential Villa when a mosque had been erected long before his assumption of office. But whether despite all this he lets his respect for traditional African beliefs lead to some form of abjuration of his Christian precepts is difficult to say.

    It is not clear why the mere disparagement or seeming repudiation of traditional beliefs provoked his fierce anger, why he considered those who denigrate Ifa Orunmila as bloody fools, or why he laid emphasis on the order of precedence between Christianity and Ifa. But overall, he seemed to insinuate that his Christianity has been a logical progression from conventional wisdom which frowns at anyone but a Christian or Muslim at the State House, not too different from the American experience which for a long time precluded Catholics from the White House. It may never be known what really goes on in Chief Obasanjo’s mind. The country must, therefore, satisfy itself with the public convictions and statements of the former president. He says he is Christian, and had been to two churches on the luncheon day in question. Going by his public statements and his precedence, it must be assumed that he is indeed a Christian. And who is anybody to judge anyway.

    Read Also: Obasanjo, Service chiefs, Odu’a Board, others visit Makinde

    Chief Obasanjo is, however, correct to say that the essence of a people is the totality of their culture, and even more correct to denounce any reference to a people’s language as vernacular. These are all unfortunate indications of the Eurocentric interpretation of African history. But the former president was unable to offer any analysis on the dynamism of culture, one that sees a previously Muslim or pagan country or empire transforming into Christianity, and vice versa. The histories of Rome, the Maghreb, and Ottoman Empire copiously illustrate these dynamic transformations. Europe before the advent of Christianity was encased in various forms of religious practices. Today, the continent is largely Christian. Human history is not static; so, too, religion.

    Instead of angry denunciations, it would have been far better and more productive had Chief Obasanjo anchored his otherwise sound arguments on the need to treat Nigeria’s religious diversity with the respect enunciated in the Nigerian constitution. Had he vigorously defended the constitutional provision that enshrines Nigerian secularism, and opposed with all vehemence the efforts by some states to impose state religion, his conclusions would have been unassailable. But typical of his frequent hyperboles, he took the route of making direct comparisons between the religions and dismissing anyone who diminishes another religion as a ‘bloody fool’. He should have spared his fierce anger for the law enforcement agents in many northern states, including Kwara, who abet the open and embarrassing mistreatment of other religions in a misguided contravention of the constitution and national cultures. What remains is how Nigeria, and indeed other African nations caught in the same web, should preserve the sanctity of their new religions, while at the same time treasuring their traditions and cultures and ensuring they do not die. Chief Obasanjo was obviously overwhelmed by that dilemma; no true African, including the largely Pentecostal Nigerians, is immune from that conflict of interest.

  • The Meranda revolution

    The Meranda revolution

    Two Mondays ago, the curtains were drawn on the political career of Hon Mudashiru Obasa. By the time of his impeachment on January 13, he was nearly two years into his third term as Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, having been elected speaker first in 2015. By the time of his impeachment, too, he had no lawmaker or any godfather left in his corner. He had alienated everyone alienable: the governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), which is the highest decision-making organ of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and most portentously of all, his colleagues in the legislature. He had no friends left, and it is doubtful whether he even had any admirers left, except a few roughnecks. Hon Mojisola Meranda, who was elected speaker in his stead, was the immediate beneficiary of the legislative putsch. But it was clear she did not lead the revolt, nor had the capacity to inspire its ideological direction were such required for its success.

    So, by and large, Lagos has in its hands the Meranda revolution, an opportunistic movement that capitalised audaciously on the numberless misdeeds of Hon Obasa, barely a month and some few weeks after he in turn led some sort of a second revolt against the governor. In 2023, he had got the assembly to turn down some 17 of Mr Sanwo-Olu’s 39 nominees for the state cabinet. And last November, he got his colleagues decked out melodramatically like the Cosa Nostra, as they humiliated the governor before and during the 2025 Budget presentation. At the same occasion, he embarked on a lengthy harangue of the governor and other dissenters. His cup full, and the GAC and just about everybody else livid, the powers that be kicked Hon Obasa out during his vacation in the United States (US). He will of course return, but only as a floor member of the legislature, considerably deflated and chastened. The manner of his rancorous politics and open animosity to the governor unfortunately set the stage for the colour and texture of the Meranda revolution.

    Having taken the oath of office, and following the ‘gross misconduct’ of the disfavoured former speaker, Hon Meranda, the new speaker, soon embarked on visits to the power centres of Lagos, beginning with the powerful GAC, and following up with a courtesy call on Mr Sanwo-Olu. A day after the putsch, she and the assembly’s principal officers met with the GAC at the State House, Marina, ostensibly to brief them about the Obasa impeachment, and to secure their blessings. Emerging from the meeting later, she claimed to have received the needed endorsement. Last Monday, she and the principal officers finally visited the governor at the Lagos House, Ikeja, where she called for the alignment of the two arms of government, the executive and the legislature. The governor could not agree more on the need for alignment and rebalancing of the relationship of the two arms.

    Read Also: Obasa, Lagos Assembly differ over his impeachment

    It was important that the Meranda revolution abandoned the legislative belligerence of the past few years under the insufferable speaker who strangely began to see both the executive arm and his colleagues as minions to be ridden roughshod over. But, surely, there are better, cleverer and more mature ways of carrying out the same mission of resetting relationships. The visits, though clearly well-intentioned, should have come a little later than they did, and should have been called in different circumstances. The party, of which the GAC and the governor are members, should have been made to call a high-powered meeting to be attended by all the relevant officials. At the meeting, pledges would have been made without any condescension or airs, and key leaders prompted to make soothing and placatory remarks after a closed-door session.

    Unfortunately, by visiting the governor and meeting with the GAC, Hon Meranda and her team gave the impression of eager subordination to the powers that be, even if that was not her intention. Hon Obasa turned the legislature into an opposition army within an army, and managed in a subtle, if not actually sublime, manner to beguile the public into viewing the assembly as a model, independent and bold legislature. He overplayed his hand, partly because he lacked the subtlety, depth, altruism and most importantly character to inspire and lead an independent and courageous assembly. He saw himself transcending the legislature itself as well as every other organ of government in the state, not to say every other party leader, while in the same breath indulging in Levantine luxury fit only for a monarch – all this in a democracy. It is understandable that Hon Meranda wishes to repudiate such hubristic aloofness, but she has been unable in her first few giddy weeks since the putsch to dispel the impression that she is ingratiating.

    Hon Obasa was too big to need political tacticians and bold and brilliant advisers; Hon Meranda, given her suspect and awkward visits so far, clearly needs even more brilliant and bolder tacticians and advisers than her predecessor. It is important that the Lagos House of Assembly should be the pacesetter in Nigeria in the midst of a depressing field of spineless Houses of Assembly all over the country. Hon Obasa couldn’t give what he didn’t have; it remains to be seen what stuff Hon Meranda is made of. Indications so far are that she may enact many more awkward moments ahead. Yet, even in a legislature dominated by one party, it should still be possible for a farsighted speaker and competent principal officers to lead the Assembly with firmness, even-handedness and fairness in such a way as to raise legislative standards in Lagos and make it nonpareil.

  • Israeli-Hamas ceasefire deal

    Israeli-Hamas ceasefire deal

    In the end, the ceasefire deal entered into by Israel and Hamas was nothing but a hostage deal. It had been in the offing since last May, but it was not consummated until last Sunday, a day before President Donald Trump, who had threatened ‘all hell to pay’ should a deal be wanting, was sworn in as the 47th US president. The hostage deal was essentially, in tone and content, the one presented by the Joe Biden administration, and it is a three-phase deal, with the last two phases yet to be negotiated. The combatants will be lucky to pass the first phase which involves the release of hostages (One Israeli civilian hostage for 30 Palestinians, and one female Israeli soldier for 50 Palestinians) and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from parts of Gaza.

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    Given the tentativeness of the deal and the fragility of the Israeli parliamentary coalition, the combatants will be lucky to get to or surpass the second phase that deals with the release of more hostages, negotiation of a peace deal, and complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. The ceasefire deal, as tentative as it is, is guaranteed by Egypt and Qatar. What is clear so far is that the scale of destruction brought upon Gaza has not debarred Hamas from recouping its personnel losses, and may even be loth to give up power over the strip. But it lost almost its entire leadership, not to talk of Gaza’s infrastructure. Israel clearly won the war against Iran and its proxies, dealing devastating blows to them from which they will need many years to recover. While Hezbollah lost its nerves (as well as its entire leadership) for being unable to bear the Gaza scale of destruction on Lebanon without risking revolt against its influence, Iran’s regional agenda was dealt mortal blows, and the Middle East changed substantially in ways difficult to remake quickly.