The Nation Newspaper

Category: Femi Orebe

  • President Muhammadu Buhari in retrospect

    President Muhammadu Buhari in retrospect

    Femi, you are an uncommon columnist with irreproachable integrity.

    You are your own man … that’s what your writings say, loud and clear – Akogun Tola Adeniyi, on my soon to be out Book: Simply a Citizen Journalist.

    Everything considered, President Buhari was a great Nigerian leader, indeed, a titan.

    As former President Ibrahim Babangida did not fail to mention  in his tribute to him at his passing, President Buhari was:”quiet yet resolute, principled yet humble, deeply patriotic, and fiercely loyal to Nigeria,” to which, according to IBB,”he gave his best”.

    I wish to commiserate with the people of Katsina state, the entire peoples of Nigeria, especially the immediate family of the late President and Commander- in – Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR.

    May the Almighty God grant him eternal rest.

    As a chronicler of events, and a trained historian to boot, I wrote copiously about President Buhari’s persona and government.

    I, therefore, not unexpectedly, had a torrid time trying to select three from my over fifty articles which dealt, in great detail, with his administration between 2015 and 2023.

    I will only plead with my editor to please grant me some extended space to put these 3 articles out for the reading public.

    In: ‘Is President Buhari Just Plain Unconcerned Whatever Happens to Nigeria or Nigerians’, of 3 January, 2021,  I wrote as follows:

    ” So much is wrong with Nigeria that I personally no longer  know  what to think or believe. Indeed, I no longer know what to write, having severally repeated myself on issues which, not only I, but even well known friends of President Buhari, the likes of the Emir of Katsina and His Eminence, the Sultan, have had cause to  speak about of recent concerning where the President has landed  Nigeria.

    Even as every organisation with the minutest connection to the North – Coalition of Northern Groups, the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, NEF, ACF etc –  now equates the minutest criticism  of the Buhari government to regime change,  it cannot but be heartwarming that the usually forthright NEF spokesperson,  Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, could still permit himself to say the following: “There are many grounds to question the competence and sensitivity of President Buhari’s administration. Even his most ardent supporters, if he has any, that is, will wish he has shown greater respect for inclusion and accountability of those he chooses to trust with power. The nation is paying a heavy price for mediocrity and ineffectiveness in key areas of decision-making under President Buhari”.

    With truisms like this, one would not mind  putting  up with the obsequiousness of Presidential spokespersons, and those other hangers on who are now so dim- witted they cannot offer the President some honest viewpoints even as Nigeria regresses daily under his watch.

    Read Also: FAAC shares highest allocation of N1.818tr in June

    I am presently so completely tanked out having written  a whole year too early, on the topic: Annus

    Horribilis on 29 December, 2019 which would have been most appropriate today, pandemic aside.

    Readers will, therefore, please forgive me as I go back all the way to my archives to fetch an article that not only encapsulates the times, but generated so much furore, and trended on social media for well over two weeks.

    Published, 15 December, 2019, ‘What Is Happening Mr President’, was also deliberately misinterpreted by those who either are mischief makers or who, because they do not understand the English language, permitted themselves to be easily lured into thinking that I was on an errand for a particular politician who they say had an axe to grind with the President. 

    I had  no alternative than to urge them to go and read my column from inception which, incidentally, went back to COMET, and so debuted long before The Nation.

    That article will now be edited for space constraint.

    Happy reading.

    For those who may not know, I have more than established my bona fides as a supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari. When he was not anywhere sure he would emerge the APC Presidential candidate for 2015, I  wrote about  him as follows: “Nigeria, in its current dire straits, needs Buhari more than he needs Nigeria”.

    This was repeated in a book by the late Prof Tam David West when he wrote: “Buhari: The Politics Of Age, October 14, 2014:”Nigeria, in its current dire straits needs Buhari more than he needs Nigeria.” -Femi Orebe,“The Nation On Sunday”, September 28, 2014 Page 18”.

    I write  that to show  not just  where I stand on the Nigerian political spectrum, but to let President Buhari  himself know that in asking what are bound to be absolutely uncomfortable questions, they are not coming from enemy territory, but from the tortured  soul of a supporter of his, who has been at the receiving end of those Nigerians who claim I was one of those who sold them ‘a pig in a poke and  the most tribalistic Nigerian President ever’.

    In fairness to the critics, I have  often personally wondered  as to how the President still manages to sleep, if he is able to, after he must have taken a hard look at how the North has come to so completely dominate the Nigerian public space under his watch  to the extent that one would be right to say Nigeria  is under a Northern stranglehold.

    Worse really, is the fact that this seeming internal colonialism shows no signs of remission as various stratagems are still ongoing; examples being the Water Bill currently at the National Assembly, as well as  the case of the Federal Commission on Nomadic Education, which though has failed, maximally  in its core function, given the number of out- of -school children in the North, but is now doing everything  to insinuate itself into  the contentious grazing reserves matter which is aimed at sexing up the country’s demographics in favour of the Fulani.

    As I wrote earlier, these views of your government are now being shared by core Northerners.

    But like  one time House of Reps member, Dr Junaid Mohammed,  U S- based, Farooq A. Kperogi, has  rightly  described your government as ‘Government Of Buhari’s Family, By His Family, And For His Family’.

    He wrote more: “Before he was sworn in as President in May 2015, Muhammadu Buhari, without prompting from anybody, publicly told his immediate and extended family members to stand back from his incoming government. He even warned that any family member who used his name to peddle influence would face dire consequences”. ”I was so impressed by this declaration that in my May 16, 2015 column titled “6 Reasons Why Incoming Buhari Government Fills Me with Hope,” I isolated it as one of the six reasons I thought Buhari’s administration would “represent a qualitative departure from the legalised banditry that has passed for governance in Nigeria for so long.” Specifically, he continued : “Buhari’s symbolic but nonetheless significant gestures like telling family members to steer clear of his government and telling aides to obey traffic laws inspire me. I remember the President saying all that and I was beside myself with joy. You would, indeed, have ridden a horse in my belly. But all those soon  dramatically changed that the First Lady had to cry out, protesting what she called a hijack of your government. I thought that was impossible”.

    The rout is complete.

     I am aware that the First Lady  had once observed that you do not know many of  those working in your government,  but that notwithstanding, I think it is necessary I remind  your Excellency, that Nigeria presently has no less than 250 ethnic groups’, divided into  6 geo – political zones . Under no circumstances should these things happen as they are  totally unconscionable and a matter of great discomfort  for those of us still supporting you in this part of the country. It is extremely nauseating  that a part can so horribly dominate the rest when those others are no slaves.

    No genuine supporter of yours in the South can be happy, or roll out the drums for this state of affairs  as they are  not only unthinkable, but totally ungodly. It is  even worse, given Nigeria’s current realities of mass poverty and unremitting insecurity.

    Unfortunately, Nigerians are not hearing a word from APC leaders in other parts of the country who toiled with you in forming the party on which  you rode to power, thus heedlessly, and selfishly, disappointing those they led to  the party.

    Whatever you can do to correct these ungodly acts will be of great help, not only to your party, as it will  molify the people somewhat,  and most probably, secure a positive legacy for you.

    Otherwise all  your  contributions to Nigeria, at this extremely difficult time, may come to naught, which I pray, God forbid”.

    The second selected article is:’President Buhari’s 2nd Term: Where WillI The Votes Come From’ dated  17 September, 2017. 

    It reads:”When on Sunday, 17 September, 2017 I wrote the article below, my intention was to rouse President Mohammadu Buhari, free him from the suffocating grip of a mafia whose mindset is cast in the 17th century, and wake him up to the reality that he is President of  a multi- ethnic, multi-religious and, a culturally diverse country of  over 200 million people. That those hopes have largely been dashed became  obvious to me after the totally unconscionable appointment of a Northerner to replace the former Yoruba Director – General of the National Intelligence Agency, thus completing the banality of Northerners’ complete control of the Nigerian security apparatti, the effect  of which we now see in the shambolic way the security agencies are treating the murderous Fulani herdsmen.

    If the article was advisory then, things have so degenerated now that if APC is to have any hope of victory in 2019 , the Buhari government must be rescued from that un-elected cabal.

    “My prayer had always been that God will restore President Muhammadu Buhari to perfect health, to  such an extent his health will not even be an issue in the 2019 elections.

    That prayer has largely been answered in the affirmative.The question to now  ask is: where will the votes come from to earn him a second term? To answer that question, let us examine the man and his government.

    Relying exclusively on what I knew of contestant Muhammadu Buhari up until 2014/15, and seeing how then President Goodluck Jonathan had firmly enthroned systemic corruption in the country, I wrote  shortly before the APC primaries of December, 2015, that Nigeria needed Buhari more than he needed her.

     But can I, in all honesty, say that today? 

    President Buhari showed very early in his administration that he was not going to be his own man when, in what many saw as a dig at Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a man who gave a leg and an arm for his victory, he said he was for nobody, but for all, as if  anybody said  he should be beholden to Tinubu.

    By the time he ended his ‘search’ for his ministers – some 6 months after – his relations, and assorted Hausa/ Fulani/Kanuris, to the near  total exclusion of Nigerians from other ethnic groups, have taken over the government. That the country’s entire security architecture is in the hands of Northerners must have been the icing on the cake.

    If that was resented in the Southwest which had been crucial to his election, what about the North Central geopolitical zone which the progressives won for the very first time ever?

    Political pragmatism should have informed the President to encourage the party to cede the senate Presidency to the nPDP after CPC and APC had taken the Presidency and the Vice presidency, respectively. That is how, very easily, the extremely polarising executive –legislative face off  which has since haunted the party, and the government, could have been avoided. The President did no such thing. Today, the National Assembly is controlled by the ruling party only in name.

    How then have these avoidable missteps affected President Buhari in the performance of his duties, and how, in turn, will they affect election 2019?

    The President has recorded considerable achievement in the discharge of his promises to the electorate on anti corruption and the fight against the all pervading insecurity he inherited from President Jonathan, even though some critical, but avoidable, challenges remain. While inter agency squabbles have significantly hampered the anti corruption war, despite EFCC’s  successes, the judiciary has been most unhelpful, with some judges, despite ACJA, still granting unreasonably long adjournments, and giving rulings that show they don’t care a hoot if Nigeria goes to the dogs.

    The judiciary, especially some judges and a few, quite identifiable members of the senior bar, have constituted themselves into a bulwark of support for corruption’s ferocious fight back.

    Similar mitigating challenges also trail the war against insecurity, especially Boko Haram which remains not only a potent enemy of state, but one on which so much money is being  wasted.

    Kidnappings, armed robberies, serial killings etc continue to  be the bane of every Nigerian citizen. Cost of living is high just as youth employment gnaws at the heart of most parents.”

    All these should tell President Buhari he has his job cut out for him from now on.

    Nor can a resurgent PDP, which is already stoking the embers of citizen’s malcontent, be taken for granted. In this respect, President Buhari must realise that Nigerians have very short memories. Yes, PDP is a party of buccaneers, yes they stole the country blind, yes, they literally turned the country into Somali and Southern Sudan combined, but hey, if Nigerians are still this hungry by 2019, the electorate will not remember that it was President Jonathan who turned the CBN to an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) and got, on his instructions, a 2.1Billion dollars earmarked for the military completely incinerated by his acolytes.

    How has the Buhari government fared on such key subjects as Education, top posts of which are also dominated by the North, Healthcare delivery, Housing, road infrastructure etc? Why so many strike in our institutions of higher learning and how come labour has become so unduly restive?” 

    When the above was written, the  Benue genocide and the Taraba bloodletting were  still aeons away. Police men have not yet become game for Fulani herdsmen, with our security agencies looking askance. An arrogant, Emirs -backing, miyetti Allah, confident the government would never lift a finger to check its murderous excesses, was still talking largely in whispers. Not now, when they are in the open, killing and maiming; burning villages and farmsteads, and telling state governments what laws they can, and cannot enact.

    Happily, President Buhari still has  some time, though not much, on his hands, to rouse himself, re brand, restrategise, and begin to run an inclusive government. He must ensure that these murderous killers are brought to justice, as killers must  get their comeuppance; albeit, through the  due process of law.

    The President must wean himself off his excessive ethnicity. It is as unjust, as it is unexplainable in a multi-ethnic society. He must see every part of the country, especially the thoroughly shortchanged Southeast, as deserving of fairness and equity”.

    Finally, the third article, captioned as ‘When Is a Failed State’ of 6 August, 2021.

    I wrote therein as follows:”The more I look at Nigeria, the more agonised I become. This gets worse when I look at her trajectory since 2015, a year Nigerians had believed would be the very beginning of our redemption from PDP’s 16 -year stranglehold – 1999 – 2015. How wrong this has proved?

    The Economist of London writes:”Nigeria now confronts six or more internal insurrections. Her inability to provide peace and stability to its citizenry has tipped the hitherto, very weak state, into failure”.

    The question that then arises is: were Nigerians wrong in 2015 when, on the election of President Muhammadu Buhari, they started to smell redemption from the quagmire which 16 years of the PDP threw them into?

    My answer would, undoutedly,  be that Nigerians had more than enough reasons to believe that given President Buhari’s incandescent personal integrity, his experience in government and the many years he tried to be voted president, Nigerians were not wrong.

    Yet, Nigeria is where it is today. 

    Why?

    The Economist touched on this very germane question when it wrote further: “A country plagued by acute corruption problems, and with the unremitted crude oil revenue scandal of 2014 still fresh in the people’s minds, many were eager for a change; the type never seen before. Here, after all, was a retired army general, one already experienced in governance, with a great strength of will, and supremely considered tough enough to take on the nation’s cabal of hardened criminals. He, indeed, had promised, during the campaigns, to appoint only technocrats to head the country’s departments and to see off the Boko Haram insurgency. For a nation lacking basic amenities such as power,  despite its huge energy resources, the choice could, in fact, not have been easier. To most Nigerians, therefore,  General  Buhari, with all his integrity was the man for the moment”.

    Nor was the Economist alone, as yours truly was sanguine enough to have earlier written, on these pages, that Nigeria needed candidate Buhari more than the obverse.

    As the Economist did not fail to mention, disappointment was not long in coming, adding that in “less than a year of his assumption of office, the economy which had  grown at an average rate of 7%  between 2011-2014, had plummeted into recession. He had taken 6 months to appoint a cabinet and far more to appoint heads of agencies and boards, just as he increased import duties on the most basic of commodities in a bid to raise government revenue”.

    Worse, however, was the unbelievable insularity that underpinned his appointments. His cabinet was presumably inferior, in the decision making process, to the  more powerful, thoroughly shadowy kitchen cabinet of alleged blood relations, and those loyal  friends and allies of his long political odyssey, irrespective of their individual competences, beyond hegemonic ties. In consequence of all these, the Economist went on, “the country’s currency lost 70% of its value, unemployment rose from 6.5 to 26%, commodity prices tripled across many quarters and the state-regulated premium motor spirit prices were hiked by 67%. Today the Naira exchanges for more than 500 to one dollar”.

    Nigerians, out of respect for  the president, could still have borne their increasing poverty with equanimity. After all,  Nigeria has been categorised as the poverty capital of the world. But the indescribable insecurity  changed all that.

    In every part of the country, you are  no longer  safe on farms, highways, forests, schools, but worst of  all, in your own homes, from where you or your children can be summarily  plucked, with the government hardly batting an eyelid.

     Even when hordes of literal sucklings, pupils aged below 10 years, were kidnapped from their schools in the North , the government still managed to feign complete ignorance leaving the parents to face the ordeal.

    Today in Kaduna, Zamfara and Niger states, like any state at all, I am not sure any parent sending a child to school in the morning can say with any certainty that the child would return home. Between Boko Haram and bandits, schools have truly become ‘haram’.

    While the meddlesome Sheik Gumi, and his entourage could make tourist -like soree’s to bandits’ hideouts,  kidnapped children could still spend days upon days – one was 55 days – and men and women of our security forces would be forbidden from attacking the rogue, non state actors. It has, in fact, been reported that bandits, some of who recently  shot down a fighter jet, do have more sophisticated weapons than our security forces. Is the Economist not correct about our status as a failed state when  bandits could shoot down a fighter jet, and hold their kidnapped victims for as long as they choose? What exactly stops the government from declaring a fullscale war on them or, j in the alternative, seek external help? Is it correct to assert that religion and ethnic consaingunity are behind government’s failure to tame insecurity?

    There is also the question of the ease with which Fulani herdsmen literally live above the law, maiming, killing and kidnapping at will.

    Let us now end this article with the views of Dr Hakeem Baba – Ahmed, the NEF spokesperson, as he expressed them in an expansive interview with The Nation newspaper of Saturday, 31 July, 2021.

    Question: “On a final note, despite all the criticism, are there any positives you see in six years of the Buhari administration?

    Dr Baba- Hamed: “No! And I say that with a lot of regret. If there were, I would  say so. I was among the tiny group of people who contributed to putting this man in power, and there were huge expectations.We genuinely believed that President Buhari would  fix  security, the economy and tackle corruption; that he would give this country a new lease of life, show leadership and be different from Jonathan’s PDP administration”.

    “We had very high hopes, particularly those of us in the North who were at the receiving end of Boko Haram insurgency at that time.We didn’t see any of those things. We have seen decline in the quality of leadership, we have seen decline in security, we have seen decline in the economy. If today I tell you, there are families in the northern part of the country in the rural North, which grows its own food and eat it, families that eat one meal a day, people will find that unbelievable, but it is the truth. If I tell you that there are women in some villages in parts of the North who sleep on trees at night because they are afraid that bandits will come in the night to take them away, people may not find that believable, it is the truth. If I tell you children leave home for  school and their parents are not sure whether they will come back and that a large number of parents are removing their children from school in the north which desperately needs children, particularly the girl child, to stay in school, some people will say that is not true. But, it is the truth.That is the reality we live in. If I tell you there are communities in the South that Northerners cannot go to, some  people will say it is not true, but the reality is that it is true. That is what the six years of Buhari administration has done to Nigeria”.

    “It gives no pleasure, believe me honestly, I wish  he  has done the opposite, so that, I can be proud and say thank God, all the efforts we had put in 2003, 2004, 2005 has borne fruits, that we have shown that we can actually produce a good leader that would make a difference, but he has failed to do this and my major concern now is that, I am worried that  the same administration is working to put another administration in power and the PDP is not any better. PDP just wants to wrestle power from President Buhari and do exactly what Buhari is doing, that is the tragedy for this country”.

    There you have it dear readers. But unlike Dr Baba – Hamed, do not judge President Buhari.

    Allow History to do that.

    Erratum

    Dr John Kayode Fayemi’s 60th birthday was on February 9, 1965.

    Apologies for wrong date quoted in last week article.

  • Ekiti politicians and chicanery

    Ekiti politicians and chicanery

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

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

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

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

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

    READ ALSO: 10 African countries without an operational national airline

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

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

     contestants.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    But for where?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Peter Obi: The archetypical Nigerian opposition politician

    Peter Obi: The archetypical Nigerian opposition politician

    While we appreciate the enthusiasm with which Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has delivered his acceptance speech as Interim National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), we must urgently and firmly reject the premise and process behind this appointment — an appointment that lacks due process, transparency, and the broad-based legitimacy expected in a democratic political party”.

    “Ironically, the speech talks about internal democracy, ideological discipline, and inclusiveness—yet the very process by which he emerged contradicts every word he  spoke. Democracy cannot begin with imposition. The ADC must not become another replica of the broken parties we seek to replace -Dr. Musa Isa Matara IQAM

    National Publicity Secretary, ADC (Original).

    Here they come again.

    A leopard cannot change its skin.

    “I promise I will not leave APGA.

    Not only that I will not leave, I will die in APGA” — the ever unreliable Peter Obi in 2010.

    I now ask: can a group of mostly political Almajiris, described

    humorously, as internally displaced persons fighting for relevance by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, come from nowhere, and whimsically grab a fully functioning, INEC – certified political party?

    Are there no longer laws in Nigeria, or is it an affirmation of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s  allegation concerning their leaders’ belief that “trust in money can buy him his way on any, or all issues”?

    Last week on this column I presented, not only what political opposition currently looks like in our country, I equally sketched what a serious and responsible opposition should aspire to be; at least not a demonstration of desperation and lawlessness  as we saw displayed in the manner some oligarchs sought to capture ADC.

    No, not in a country of laws even if they individually equate to a Central Bank.

    Today I venture a little further into what a responsible opposition politician, not the group, should aspire to be – not look like. Whichever of those currently parading as opposition leaders but whose past does not reflect Nigerians’ wishes should simply be given a wide berth.

    Mr Peter Obi, who as Presidential candidate of the Labour party in the 2023 election cycle, placed a distant third, in spite of his unrestrained weaponisation of both ethnicity and religion in his campaign, will be our specimen of what an opposition leader, and ipso facto, a probable future Nigerian President, should not be.

    In the same manner they believe they had captured ADC – no process, no rules – Peter Obi has declared, apriori, that he will contest the 2027 Presidential election, come rain, come shine.

    This is in spite of the loud presence in the same opposition of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the sedentary politician, and perennial  Presidential candidate, who is dumping PDP for no other reason than that he cannot wangle his way to becoming its candidate again as there aren’t enough Hausa/Fulani contestants in the ADC, this time around, to bulldoze as they did Aminu Tambuwal in the PDP in ’23.

    Nor is Obi unaware of the efette presence of Rotimi Amaechi, the ‘Mr am hungry’, and a fellow Southerner who considers himself the President- in- waiting.

    That exactly is how self – conceited these opposition politicians are which makes it doubly obvious that a collision of their altars is as sure as day follows the night.

    It’s only a question of time.

    Festus Keyamo, the Aviation Minister, however, put this in better perspective when he implied that in swearing to contest, Obi was telling Atiku that he understands his( Atiku’s) game plan.

    Wrote Keyamo:”This is just Atiku’s faction of PDP in desperate search for the 2027 Presidential ticket – nothing more, nothing less.

    The person who the old, cunning guards want to take for a ride in all of this is Peter Obi. They want his votes, but don’t want to give him their Presidential ticket because this is Atiku’s show, simpliciter.

    That is why David Mark is the interim Chairman”.  

    Apparently the crafty old man had this all worked out in his mind when he recently went to Osun state, publicly disdained the state governor, of his then own PDP,  but enthusiastically romanced Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola who he must have promised the Secretaryship of whichever party they were hopping into, in the belief that with Aregbesola and the wily David Mark holding the two key positions, his Presidential candidacy was as good as made.

    In making Obi our sample we are also guided by the following words of his: “My past speaks loudly for me”.

    Indeed!

    But how will Obi, by bringing his past into the equation, not know that he has technically self disqualified?

    Or has he forgotten his promise, among many others, never to leave APGA which he not only subsequently ditched to become a political  vagrant, hopping from APGA to PDP, then to Labour and now to God knows what party since ADC stakeholders have promised to fight them to the hilt.

    Many statements by Peter Obi have sparked controversy.

    He has, in fact, been severally accused of lying, insisting that his claims are, most times, unfounded and lack evidence. He often makes claims that are not supported by facts. He also exaggerates or distorts facts to suit his narrative. He obfuscates, making claims without providing evidence to back them up.

    For instance, he is in the habit of claiming that a particular policy or action has had a certain impact without providing data or statistics to support his assertion, even while he loves to dish out fake statistics.

    His claim of making Anambra state number one in Education in Nigeria, for instance, has been amply discredited.

    As is his wont, Peter Obi is already out whining his Obidients as well as those who will file behind him for ethnic and religious reasons.

    He has not only sworn  he wouldd contest the 2027 presidential election, he pledged to serve only one term if elected and promised to restore national stability within two years.

    Here you see Obi’s crass ambition and selfishness in bold relief – an Igbo Presidential candidate promising to serve for only one term even when his people have, like forever, craves for that number one position in the country.

    I expect Igbos to see through this coy man.

    And if we may ask, what exactly does he mean by restoring national stability, which he hopes to do in two years?

    Pray, where is this miracle worker whose miniscule political party, the Labour party, has been roiling in crises for as long as Nigerians can remember?

    In his address to his supporters during a live X Space interaction he also dismissed reports suggesting a joint ticket with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. He had to say that because he knows that the former Vice President is already a dead weight and failed politician. But believe Obi on  any of these things and you would believe anything.

    Recall his campaign promise to remove fuel subsidy on Day One, as President, and how he began to rant, whine and obfuscate after seeing the inescapable challenges consequent on Prident Tinubu’s removal of subsidy. Meanwhile had Tinubu not done so the way he did, these ethnicity – suffused people would have ensured they deployed Ajaero, and his NLC, to make it a mission impossible, not minding the draw back that would have meant for Nigeria.

    Before concluding this essay, something tells me I should ask their brand new interim Chairman, Senator David Mark, some things about telephones. Are they still for the poor as he once hollered in his glory days as minister? And since Obi wants to be judged by his past, what of Mark?

    How does he see his role in the June 12 saga and the struggle for the survival of democracy in Nigeria?Does he feel now, in retrospect, that his serving as a two- term Senate President in a Democratic Republic of Nigeria was haram?

    Although you hardly know where exactly former President Obasanjo stands on issues these days besides his anti- Tinubu rhetoric, he has done Nigerians the favour of sufficiently warning us about the duo of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Nasir El Rufai, two other leading opposition titans.

    Above are some of the gerontocrats now feverishly doing their  damnedest, to once again take Nigerians back to the slave camp.

    But God forbid.

  • 2027: Disjointed opposition will only further solidify Tinubu’s chances

    2027: Disjointed opposition will only further solidify Tinubu’s chances

    That there is a cloud of confusion over the future of the opposition being championed by the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and ex-Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai should not be a surprise to any close watcher of Nigerian politics.

    Let’s briefly see what their boss, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, thinks of the two lodestars.

    In MY WATCH, Obasanjo wrote about Atiku, inter alia, as follows:”What I did not know, which came out glaringly later, was his propensity to corruption, his tendency to disloyalty, his inability to say and stick to the truth all the time,a propensity for poor judgment,  his lack of transparency, his trust in money to buy his way out on all issues and his readiness to sacrifice morality, integrity, propriety truth and national interest for self and selfish interest”.

    And of El Rufai, the former President wrote:

    “Very early in my interaction with him, I appreciated his talent. At the same time, I recognised his weaknesses; the worst being his inability to be loyal to anybody or any issue consistently for long, but only to Nasir el-Rufai.

    He lied brazenly, which he did to me, against his colleagues and so-called friends…”.

    Can Nigerians then seriously expect anything worthwhile  from these two gentlemen?

    But then a serious and responsible opposition is a sine qua non in a democracy.

    Because of that, and for the sake of Nigeria, this piece will not only show a true picture of what currenty goes for opposition in Nigeria, but also indicate what manner of opposition is required.

    The Nigerian political landscape is marked by a complex web of alliances, rivalries, and power struggle. With the emergence of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, the opposition has found itself at the crossroads. A disjointed opposition, characterized by infighting, lack of cohesion, and unclear ideological direction, can only further solidify Tinubu’s chances of consolidating power.

    One of the primary challenges facing the opposition is the lack of a unified front. With multiple parties and factions vying for influence, the opposition has struggled to present a cohesive message and challenge the present administration effectively. This disunity has allowed Tinubu to exploit the divisions and capitalise on their weaknesses.

    Another factor contributing to the opposition’s disjointedness is the absence of a clear ideological direction. Many opposition parties and leaders seem more focused on personal ambition and power struggle than on articulating a distinct vision for the country.

    This lack of ideological clarity makes it difficult for the opposition to differentiate itself from Tinubu’s administration and mobilise support from the masses.

    READ ALSO: Again, the Fubara-Wike rapprochement

    Furthermore, the opposition’s internal conflicts and power struggle have led to a lack of effective leadership. With multiple leaders vying for prominence, the opposition has struggled to present a unified and compelling narrative that can challenge the present administration. This leadership vacuum has allowed President Tinubu to dictate the terms of the debate and shape the national agenda.

    The disjointed nature of the opposition has also made it easier for the administration to co-opt and neutralise potential challengers.

    Moreover, the opposition’s failure to engage in effective grassroots mobilisation has limited its ability to build a broad-based movement that can challenge the incumbent.

    By focusing on elite-level politics and neglecting the needs and concerns of ordinary Nigerians beyond ‘ebi n pa wa’, the opposition has ceded the initiative to the President who has been able to use state resources and machinery to consolidate power.

    The consequences of a disjointed opposition are far-reaching. Without a united and effective opposition, the administration may feel emboldened to push through its agenda without adequate checks and balances. This could lead to an erosion of democratic institutions, human rights abuses, and policies that favor the ruling party’s interests over those of the broader population.

    In addition, a disjointed opposition may struggle to hold the administration accountable for its actions. Without a strong and united opposition, there may be limited scrutiny of government policies and decisions, allowing corruption and inefficiency to thrive.

    To change this narrative, the opposition needs to undergo a fundamental transformation.

    This requires a renewed focus on building a united front, articulating a clear ideological direction, and engaging in effective grassroots mobilization.

    But a coterie of atiku, El Rufai, Rotimi Amaechi etc has been unable to do this because they all must be President, or Vice President, even those who have contested for more than five times just because Marabouts said so.

    A serious opposition must prioritise leadership development, identify and support leaders who can inspire and mobilise the masses.

    Also opposition needs to rethink its strategy and tactics.  This requires engaging with ordinary Nigerians, listening to their concerns, and developing policies that address their needs.

    Ultimately, the fate of Nigeria’s democracy depends on the ability of the opposition to regroup, recharge, and present a united front.

    By doing so, the opposition can ensure that power is held accountable, democratic institutions are strengthened, and the interests of all Nigerians are represented even if it won’t win elections yet. If the opposition fails to rise to this challenge, it will only solidify President Tinubu’s chances and make his re- election a walk in the park which an election in a democracy should, ordinarily, not be.

  • Nigeria: Internal sabotage and rise in insecurity

    Nigeria: Internal sabotage and rise in insecurity

    Some military personnel have been betraying the army by leaking vital information to bandits”.

    “This is one killing too many. From here, I am going to see my commanders. We need to change our strategy, look inward, and see how we can address this. We can’t do it alone without the state; we need everybody to be part of it”.

     “If you see the pattern of killings and slaughtering, it means there is an insider. As we were going round, it became obvious that the killing and burnings were targeted. I have discussed with the community and traditional rulers as well as clan heads for us to work in synergy. There have been issues of trust, but we are going to work on it” – Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, speaking during a visit to Yelwata to assess the destruction caused by last Saturday’s attack in Benue State during which more than 100 persons were slaughtered.

    “Operation Hadin Kai announces the  arrest of 15 policemen and 18 soldiers under suspicion of selling weapons to terrorists.

    Another 8 civilians were arrested  including a traditional ruler. Among the notable arrests is the armourer for the 7th Division who has been engaging in this act since 2018 and had N45 million in his bank account. Another police inspector has N135 million passing through his bank account while a soldier of the 3 div Ordnance Corps has some whooping N34 million in his.

    This further shows how the strength of terrorist groups like ISWAP lies in how they embed in the local space and infiltrate circles as deep as inside the armory of the 7th Division just as it highlights how this war isn’t against only an armed group but against a whole network” – Joe Igbokwe on Face book.

    From 2018? This puts not only the competence, but the supervisory capabilities of the Nigerian military, into great doubt.

    READ ALSO: How we survived herdsmen attack that claimed 200 lives in Benue community – Residents

    If the above incidents are recent, not so internal sabotage itself within the military and members of the communities where Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen terrorists – both desirous of forcefully turning Nigeria to an Islamic state –  operate.

    That is to say that it is not new and failure to ‘kill’ it must be considered a function of successive Nigerian government’s eternal fear of the powers that be in the North, a fear that stopped even the Buhari government from prosecuting proven sponsors of terrorism; felons who were tried and convicted in the UAE.

    It is doubtful if the present government  would improve on that to stop these untouchable enemies of state once and for all. But Nigeria will only be joking with its security as long as this infernal fear lingers.

    Internal sabotage within the military and those powerful forces who want to see Nigeria forcefully turned to an Islamic country go far back in their audacity.

    As reported by the Vanguard newspaper of as far back as 11 October, 2014 an Army colonel and 10 officers set Nigerian tankers ablaze to pave way for Boko Haram terrorists.

    According to the report, the Army colonel, some junior officers and soldiers who were taking part in the military offensive to reclaim communities taken over by Boko Haram  in Adamawa State, were arrested for sabotage.

    Top military sources said that the colonel (a Muslim) who was commanding a team of three Armoured Personnel Carriers, APC’s, with the capability to fire up to a range of 1.5kilometres or  more had, rather than pursue the terrorists, deliberately set the APC’s on fire before running away with his team.

    Saturday Vanguard gathered that the Army authorities were outraged over the development and ordered their arrest .

    Narrating how the embarrassing incident occurred, a source who was privy to the development noted that until the incident, the Special Forces of the Nigerian Army which commenced the putsch to rout Boko Haram terrorists from Bazza, Michika, Gulak and Madagali and had inflicted heavy casualties on the terrorists up until Gulak.

    When informed that the terrorists were approaching his team in six Toyota Hilux Pick Up vans from the Madagali axis, the colonel,  rather than blast, and take out the terrorists in their pick-up vans, ordered his soldiers to jump out of the APC’s and set the armoured tanks on fire, not  knowing he was being monitored.

    They subsequently ran into the bush, claiming they were overpowered by a better armed group of Boko Haram.

    This led to the disclosure by the top hierarchy of the military that there are so many fifth columnists in the military working against the country’s determination to flush out Boko Haram.

    The truth is that many of them are deliberately sabotaging Nigeria and making the insurgents look formidable for reasons that cannot be explained.

    Some of them appear sympathetic to the insurgents”.

    You hardly hear them being given appropriate punishment for their acts of treason.

    This, of course, can be explained.

    They are, unpatriotically, turning against the country of their birth largely for monetary and consanguinity reasons. That is, for  ethnic and religious reasons.

    For these reasons, some military officers, soldiers and  huge parts of the local populace share the same affinity with the terrorists whose primary intent is to see Sharia being forcefully enforced all over Nigeria.

    As a result of this  together with some other reasons which I shall briefly discuss, the lacerating, economically ruinous war against insecurity, which began in Nigeria over a decade ago, despite the yeoman’s, even gargantuan, effort of our gallant soldiers, many of who have paid the ultimate price, is not, anywhere near where it should be and is likely to have a much longer shelf life in spite of promises to the contrary.

    How are we even sure some powerful forces in the North are not on the payroll of the United States which former Secretary of state, Hillary Clinton recently said started Boko Haram, and probably still funds it – not minding the changes in parties in government in America since then as they always plan longterm.

    Has the Nigerian government examined this possibility even as General Musa said that captured Boko Haram elements are always found with wads of dollars?

    Consequentially, the alarming rise in insecurity in recent times, which accounted for over 300 deaths in both Plateau and Benue states in less than two months, has become a major concern for  government and citizens alike.

    Despite all governmental effort, the country continues to grapple, uneasily, with unspeakable banditry, kidnapping, and needless killings like Nigeria wants to ape Gaza.

    There is no doubt, whatever, that internal sabotage is a major contributory factor to Nigeria’s bleeding and, therefore, equally a factor in the sudden rise in insecurity which has made life in Nigeria effete, brutish and short, especially in Northern Nigeria where people now get killed needlessly because some landless, and homeless, people must now grab ancestral lands, change the names and banish the owners from there, mostly with the Nigerian government and security services looking unconcerned.

    I saw and wrote about all these years ago when total strangers, foreigners indeed, were being trucked and deposited round all over Nigeria even at a time President Buhari forebade interstate travels.

    There are, of course, other contributing factors to the multi – pronged internal dislocation one of which is corruption manifesting as   embezzlement of funds meant for military operations,  sale of arms and ammunition to enemies of state and collection of bribes from civilian agents of terrorists in exchange for intelligence.

    Lack of internal coordination  between the different military  agencies, a problem President Buhari grappled with throughout his tenure is another which

    terrorists can easily exploit to launch attacks on vulnerable targets.

    Also, there have been reports of some military personnel colluding with terrorists and bandits. This can take the form of providing intelligence about operations to terror groups, allowing them to escape or, indeed, participating directly in their operations.

    The negative impact of all these on the Nigerian military’s efforts to address insecurity cannot be overstated.

    When military personnel are compromised, it undermines the effectiveness of security operations and puts the lives of stakeholders at risk. It erodes trust in the military and can lead to a breakdown in the relationship between the security forces and the people they are meant to protect.

    To meaningfully address internal sabotage the  military must take a multi-faceted approach.

    First, there needs to be a quick, thorough, and unbiased investigation of any allegation of corruption. Action must be swift and decisive against the guilty.

    The military must improve its internal mechanisms for transparency  and accountability.

    It must prioritize building trust with the local communities which is usually a trove of much needed intelligence.

    This it can achieve through community engagement initiatives like outreach programmes and civic activities.

    By building trust with local communities, the military can gather intelligence and gain the cooperation of civilians in its efforts to address insecurity.

    Finally, the military needs to improve its operational effectiveness. This can be achieved through training, capacity-building, as well as the acquisition of modern equipment and technology.

    By reining in internal sabotage, ensuring accountability, giving pride of place to community engagement and operational improvement, the military can maximally deal with the hydra- headed insurgency problems currently   tormenting us all.

  • The Igbo lie is blown: Ministry of Education denies responsibility for distorted instructional materials

    The Igbo lie is blown: Ministry of Education denies responsibility for distorted instructional materials

    In ‘The Igbo: People, History and Worldview’ by Dons Eze & Chinedu Ochinanwata, they go even further, claiming that the Yoruba monarchy is built on Igbo spiritual systems, that Oduduwa overthrew a peaceful Igbo order, and that modern Ife is a hybrid of stolen identity”.

    Published on this column on Sunday, 8 June, 2025 was my article titled:’Hagiography: Igbos Deliberately Distorting Yoruba History’.

    Partly in reaction to it and also because some concerned Yoruba individuals and groups were already pondering  the next line of action regarding this falsification of their history by persons whose ‘god’ is money, and would, therefore, do anything – legal and illegal – to look for it – petitions had gone to, not only the Federal Ministry of Education but as far as to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu because, as one of the groups put it, to allow these scammers continue unchecked is to “allow false ethnic narratives in our education system, endanger national unity, undermine cultural integrity, and misinform future generations.

    Also, they wrote: “if this distortion is not corrected, millions of Nigerian students, especially Yoruba children, will grow up believing a lie about their ancestral identity”.

    Kudos to the Honourable  Minister who, I am aware, proactively went to work, tasking ministry officials to quickly unravel the circumstances surrounding the alleged NERDC approval being claimed by the authors.

    In particular he  wanted them to confirm whether the two books  were truly presented to the NERDC for review and  recommendation, which year they were presented and who the reviewers of the books are. He also wanted

    confirmation as to whether NERDC actually recommended the books for publication.

    If truly, and genuinely it did, he recommended  that an appropriate machinery be set up to thoroughly investigate all the circumstances surrounding the publication of the books.

    These done, a report was made to the minister presumably on whose authority the ministry, this past week, made the following public announcement:

    “The attention of the Federal Ministry of Education has been drawn to a petition titled: “Petition to Defend Yoruba History from Ethnic Distortion in Nigerian Textbooks” submitted by the Concerned Citizens of Yoruba Origin and Supporters of Truth, through its National Chairman, Otunba Abayomi Odunowo.

    The petition raises concerns over alleged historical inaccuracies in a history textbook authored by Tony and Ijeoma Duru, and published by Tones Publishers. The publication is said to contain claims regarding the founding of Ile-Ife that have been described as misleading and potentially harmful to national unity.

    Read Also: Lagos education district III hosts sports festival

    The Ministry wishes to clarify that the said textbook was not authored, commissioned, or approved by the Federal Ministry of Education. It is not among the instructional materials approved for use in public basic education institutions across the country, and the Ministry is not in any way affiliated with the publication.

    The Ministry appreciates the vigilance and concern of stakeholders regarding the potential of such content to misinform learners and provoke ethnic tension.

    While these concerns are valid, it is important to note that the Ministry is not responsible for materials that fall outside its regulatory framework.

    Instructional materials officially endorsed by the Ministry are carefully curated to meet national education standards. They are developed to support effective learning in public schools, promote literacy, and ensure inclusive, equitable access to quality education throughout Nigeria.

    The ministry will work with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and other agencies to investigate, ensure fair and timely resolution of the issue.

    Nevertheless, given the sensitivity of the matter and its implications for education, cultural identity, and national cohesion, the Ministry will work closely with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and other relevant agencies to thoroughly investigate the issue.

    All necessary steps will be taken to address the anomalies identified and to ensure a fair and timely resolution that respects historical truth and promotes unity.

    The Federal Ministry of Education remains fully committed to providing quality, inclusive, and culturally respectful education that fosters peace, understanding, and national development”.

    Some questions then arise following that clear and authoritative statement from the Ministry of Education, the only authority that could have given approval for the books’ publication and without which approval, the books can be described only as a hatched job which should be completely incinerated to obliterate its memory.

    But then why are a particular group of Nigerians so infernally given to perpetuating fraud? What exactly drives their inordinate quest after money for which they would do anything, killing inclusive?

    Must they continue to shame Nigeria all over the world? And what exactly would they not do to make money if they could  turn hagiography into a source of money making, seeing it requires intellectual imput far beyond the mundane requirements of making a 4- 1 – 9 hit?

    But the million dollar question is: must these people, forever, have an eye for anything, and everything, Yoruba?

    Igbos are a uniquely talented, brilliant and industrious people.

    This they have demonstrated here in Nigeria and internationally where they rank amongst the most prodigiously brilliant scholars holding down professorships in many prestigious Universities worldwide but, especially in the U.S.

    Back home they own the most industrialised part of Nigeria.

    But for God’s sake, why would a people so gifted, so talented be equally damn fiendishly avaricious they are never content with all they have?

    Why is there no single effort by any group of Igbos themselves, however miniscule, criticising these their negative proclivities? Why do we never see any concerted effort by Igbos themselves against the bad among them?

    Not even against the Unknown Gun Men tormenting them, paralysing not only their economy but the social life of the entire Southeast region?

    Instead, behaving like a horde, you would find even the most educated Igbo defend his kinsman, no matter the gravity of the offence committed.

    More than the generality of Nigerians, Igbos need a Regional Orientation Agency(ROA).

    They believe they are not much loved by other Nigerians.

    If this categorical assertion is true, Igbos would have only themselves to blame.

    Scattered thin, everywhere all over the country, Igbos must have a rethink over many of the things they do, or casually take for granted, among them: the erroneous belief that because they have the financial resources, from sources known and unknown to buy physical properties, they can purchase  the possibility of ruling over places where they are only, at best,  aliens.

    Without a doubt this write up will be met with some acerbic diatribes by those who hate to hear the truth.

    But then I say: they are welcome 

  • Hagiography: Igbos deliberately distorting Yoruba history

    Hagiography: Igbos deliberately distorting Yoruba history

    What happened to all their previous claims? Before now, Igbos claimed that their ancestral origin was Nri where their mythical ancestral father, Eri, descended from with a chain many a millennia ago.

    At some other time, they claimed they originated from somewhere around the Rivers Niger and  Benue confluence. They are known to have, at other times, claimed both Benin  and  Egypt as their originat. Even until now they claim to be Jews, have their roots in Israel and, therefore, among the ten lost tribes of Israel” – Olukoya Dele Ogunfowora

    So who truly are the Igbos and where do they come from?

    They may soon claim to have originated from River Limpopo.

    Igbos have a long line of witheringly brilliant History scholars, among them the likes of Professors Kenneth Dike and Adiele Afigbo both of the Ibadan School of History, representing the old generation while, amongst the new are Professors Elizabeth Isichei,  Okoro Ijoma and Nnolue Emenanjo.

    These eminent historians are well regarded in, and outside Nigeria, having made significant contributions to the study of History, particularly to the study of Igbo and African history and their work continues to be highly influential in the academic community.

    But brilliant as they are, and despite the seminal work they have done on the History of their people, not one of them claimed that Igbos founded Ile -Ife. Unfortunately, this cannot be said of some Igbo charlatans now revelling in historical vandalism.

    More surpring is the fact that these ones did not limit themselves  to verbal diarrhoea as in when some Igbos say ‘Lagos is no man’s land’. Instead, they have attempted to cast this lie in stone by publishing it in  school text books.

    Let’s now see how a trending WhatsApp post exposed their blasphemy:

    “Yoruba history is under siege, not by ignorance, but by a calculated ethnic agenda. A false claim is being pushed, namely, that the Igbo people founded Ile-Ife and were later chased

    out by Oduduwa. It’s not on Facebook but in school textbooks.

    It is in ‘Standard History Studies for JSS 1–3’, by Tony Duru & Ijeoma Duru, allegedly approved by NERDC where

    students are being taught that Ife was originally occupied by Igbos until they were “invaded” by Oduduwa, thus foolishly accepting, for once, that these ‘Jews’ – or are they no longer Jews – were at a time not only conquered, but banished by the Yorubas.

    Do they know what they are saying?

    And was this before, or after they became Jews?

    In ‘The Igbo: People, History and Worldview’ by Dons Eze & Chinedu Ochinanwata, they go even further, claiming that the Yoruba monarchy is built on Igbo spiritual systems, that Oduduwa overthrew a peaceful Igbo order, and that modern Ife is a hybrid of stolen identity.

    Which of these their spiritual systems can they name?

    Let it be said clearly:Ile-Ife is the cradle of Yoruba civilization. It was not founded by any Igbo. It was neither inherited nor conquered. And no amount of fiction can change that”.

    There is no archaeological, linguistic, cultural, or oral record, Yoruba or foreign, that supports this  heresy. What we have here is a disturbing weaponisation of their usual fraudulent pecadiloes.

    And NERDC – the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, the Head of

    whose Book Development Centre is, unsurprisingly IGBO, must be held  accountable as an accomplice. would have since been afoot.

    But we owe it a duty to make these conspiratorial ignoramuses unlearn what they are not only regurgitating, but are deliberately trying to force down the throat of younger generations of Nigerians.

    I now proceed to educate them by pressing into service, the most authoritative historian of the Yoruba people, namely, Prof Banji Akintoye, via his 498 – page book: ‘A History of The Yoruba People’.  

    Full disclosure: Prof Akintoye is my life teacher; he was my teacher at Christ’s School, Ado – Ekiti in the early ’60’s and taught me History at the Great University of Ife, Ile -Ife, same decade.

    In ‘A history of the Yoruba People’, Professor Akintoye deployed four decades of  historiography research with current interpretation and analyses to present the most complete and authoritative Yoruba history since Samuel Johnson’s work in the early twentieth century.

    Therein, he traced the origins of the Yoruba from its earliest, legendary and mythical beginnings, to the development of early Yoruba society, the revolution and early primacy of Ife from the tenth to the fifteenth century, the founding of Yoruba kingdoms and the power of frontiers as well as to the rise and fall of Oyo Empire.

    I write here of Professor Akintoye’s stupendous, Magnum Opus, a highly definitive story of the Yorubas.

    Read Also: Fire guts hotel with over 480 Nigerian pilgrims in Mecca

    Yet, not once was reference made to Igbos as inhabitants of Ife at any point in time except when reference was made, tangentially, to some external aggressors called  Igbo – Igbo who never one day inhabited or lived in Ife.

    These external aggressors have  since been positively identified as the Ugbo people for which reason Ugbos, a sect of the same Yoruba race – and not some wayfarers, forever laying claim to what does not belong to them – have not stopped asserting that they were the original inhabitants of Ife.

    That was the story they heard from a highly placed Yoruba Monarch, misrepresented and weaponised, to claim that they were expelled from Ife by the legendary Oduduwa.

    No historian (before these perennial trouble makers). – archaeologist, anthropologist, or linguist, Nigerian or foreign, has ever claimed, talk less of presenting credible evidence, that Igbos founded or ruled Ile-Ife.

    A History of the Yoruba People traced a long history of internecine turmoil and wars in, and around, Ife but  they were between well known, and named, Yoruba individuals, among them:Oduduwa, Obatala, Oreluere and Obameri to mention a few.

    Professor Akintoye also wrote as follows on the Igbo – Igbo, the external aggressors:”Concerning the attacks from Igbo- Igbo, a tale exists in Yoruba folklore about one of a LATER King’s wife named Moremi.

    According to this tale, which various generations of Yoruba people have amplified and even set to song, this beautiful woman, having determined that the Igbo raids had to stop, deliberately let herself be captured and taken to Igbo – Igbo. While there, she became a wife to their leader and was therefore able to learn all the secrets of the planning and execution of their raids on Ile- Ife.

    She subsequently escaped and returned home and the information she brought enabled her husband( said to be the Oni Obalufon) to defeat the Igbo- Igbo and end their raids. Most of the people at Igbo – Igbo ultimately returned to live in Ile – Ife”.

    He continued:”The most touching part of this tale is that this woman, in preparation for her adventure, had asked protection from the spirit of a local stream, and pledged that if she succeeded in her adventure, she would sacrifice her only son to the spirit.

    And when she returned alive and the Igbo raids were decisively brought to an end, she did take the painful step of sacrificing her only son”.

    Now that a Petition to Defend Yoruba History From Ethnic Distortion in Nigerian  Textbooks by concerned citizens of Yoruba origin has been forwarded to the President, demanding that the underlisted steps be taken, it is hoped that government would act without any delay:

    1. Immediate retraction and public disapproval of any textbook or material spreading this misinformation.

    2. A formal investigation into how these textbooks were approved by NERDC.

    3. Inclusion of Yoruba scholars and cultural experts in the curriculum review process.

    4. Public apology, and correction notice, to be sent to all schools using these materials.

    5. Implementation of safeguards to prevent ethnic propaganda disguised as education.

    All these  steps are important, according to the group, because:

    allowing false ethnic narratives in our education system would endanger national unity, undermine cultural integrity, and misinform future generations.

    Also, if this distortion is not corrected, millions of Nigerian students, especially Yoruba children, will grow up believing a lie about their ancestral identity”.

    Concluding, as Moremi did to Yoruba’s eternal glory,  the time has come for Yorubas to find the final solution to the Igbo problem, not only in Lagos, but Pan – Nigerian, if they refuse to rein in their antagonism to Yoruba interests everywhere.

    Please Google:”Understanding Yoruba Mindset in context of Igbos as traitors”—A Tribute to Bishop (Prof) Funmilayo Adesanya-Davis,  by a honest Igbo scholar, Dr Nwankwo Tony Nwaezeigwe, PhD.

    Incidentally, the final solution needs not be deleterious. It may just require Yorubas helping to infuse sense into their perennial, bloody and economically ruinous “war of independence” being spearheaded by some Unknown Gun Men(UGM).

    Let us join them to work towards a meaningful devolution of powers in Nigeria in the hope that they will then go back home to develop their own territory rather than continue to ogle what belongs to others.

  • Calling on governors: Variant of herdsmen terrorism is taking over Southwest streets

    Calling on governors: Variant of herdsmen terrorism is taking over Southwest streets

    Or how come, to quote a trending WhatsApp chat, that they  are the only ethnic group in Nigeria that is at war with the  Eggons in Nassarawa, the Tivs in Benue, the Idomas of Agatu, the Beroms of Plateau, the Adaras of Southern Kaduna, the Mumuyes & June 4 District on the Mambilla, the Hausas of Zamfara, the Igbos of the South East, and the Yorubas of the Southwest?” – the columnist in:

    ‘Rampaging Fulani Herdsmen: The Akure High Level meeting should have done more, of January 31, 2021.

    “Good morning, Uncle Femi,

    I came across this in a group chat and I read with interest and alarm. I read every word and keenly too. I don’t know who Adedamola Adetayo is but he sounded neither flippant nor unknowing”.

    The immediate quote above is from my dear brother and friend, a Professor of Igbo extraction who I have quoted severally on these pages. Though non – Yoruba, what he read in  one of Adedamola Adetayo’s writings on the menace of Aboki’s in Yoruba land jolted him so much he sent it me, not because I can  do anything to the seemingly untouchable Northern urchins who were trucked  down South by the powers that be in that region during the Buhari years, but at least to allow, through this medium, those we voted into office to ensure our safety in the Southwest not only aware, but do something about them.

    Studies, like that by the China Achebe Foundation, have shown that senior Northern military officers deliberately stand down the rank and file from confronting Fulani herdsmen whenever they attack and it is doubtful if same isn’t happening in the Nigerian police. Add to that the preponderance of Northern DPO’s in the police and you’ve blown the cover of why Abokis are now ravaging the Southwest literally unchallenged.

    READ ALSO: Ileya, four other popular festivals in Nigeria

    Aboki’s  are some hoi polloi, Northern urchins exported to Southwest Nigeria by Northern governors who, in the name of dividends of democracy, bought them thousands of glittering, brand new okadas and trucked them with these characters, complete with cows, AK 47 and sundry arms and ammunition.

    Readers of this column would remember my oft- quoted Fulani Nationality Movement (FUNAM)directive to these rootless Northern youths:

    “Northern youths should move enmass to Southern States. Relaunch the mass movement in ways they have never seen … If the towns and cities are hostile, hang out on the street corners, in uncompleted buildings, occupy the forests, pitch tents, make any where available as your abode, your rest places, your home. We urge you to be armed as the infidels may want to attack you”.

    One day soon, Yorubas will sing panegyrics to Adedamola Adetayo, the  tireless chronicler of the menace of these Northerners in Southwest Nigeria.

    Below is what space will permit of his recent capture of the horrendous bestiality of these Northerners in Yoruba land as detailed in a WhatsApp post titled: “Before Tomorrow Comes, a Warning”:

    “Just yesterday, I received a report from the IJEGUN area of IKOTUN in Lagos State. It was so troubling that I couldn’t sleep until about 4.30am:

    A shop in the area was burgled in the night. It was a phone shop where some youths sell phones, accessories and do repairs.  Thieves broke into the shop and cleared out all the phones in sight, including the ones for repairs.

    Not long after, an Aboki came into the shop with a phone to repair. It turned out it was one of those stolen. He made to delay the Aboki while he placed a call to the nearest Police post which was Isheri-Osun.

    While he waited for the police, the aboki, sensing danger, wanted to leave.

    He was prevented and trapped inside the shop.

    Next thing he did was to call his kinsmen and gave them his location.

    In a flash they were there in huge numbers brandishing different types of dangerous weapons. They TORE DOWN  the shop, took him out and made away with him before the Police came.

    The report says they encountered the approaching Policemen on the way but it was a non-issue as they openly challenged the police. The Policemen were coming on bikes but had to beat a retreat when they saw the menacing Abokis.

    In fact, two of the Okada riders who brought the Policemen were reportedlyh stabbed.

    What happened, I later learnt, is the standard and regular practice of the Abokis in the area just as it is the practice in Abeokuta and all over the SW right now.

    Indeed, as I also found out, there is  at a location in the ÈJẸDÒDÓ area in the axis, called BOWLER which is the central dump site for all the bowler-bowler Abokis of that area. It  is seething with the lowest dredges of humanity; and terribly dangerous. Equally

    About 80 per cent of Okada riders in the axis ,  just as it is all over Lagos State and Yoruba land, are  Abokis.

    ONDO STATE: Very recently we got news that at least three corpses were seen at different locations in front of the Ondo State Government House. Citizens had come to protest the killings of their Kinsmen by so-called Herdsmen who had killed them in cold blood. Somewhere in Okitipupa came another report that a man identified as an Aboki attacked the grandson of Madam Comfort Ọmọ́gè, the musician and, with a knife, slit his throat in broad daylight.

    Ditto in the Ikare and many other areas of  Ondo State.

     OYO STATE – There is a video all over the internet now in which a truckload of people  was intercepted somewhere on the Ọ̀YỌ́- IBADAN road. It was loaded to the brim with people, motorcycles and was full of arms and ammunition, hidden underneath. The truck was heading for either Ibadan or Lagos.

    And that was just ONE TRUCK out of hundreds which pass that route everyday and  night, most of them unchecked.

    In SASA market in Ibadan, the report was that a group of  Aboki traders killed a Yoruba trader in the course of an argument. By the time the dust settled, there had been a casualty on the side of the Abokis too.

    All hell broke loose and Governor Makinde of the State was later seen receiving a high-powered delegation from the North who treated him as if he was caught red handed in a shameful act. The reader would recall a similar visit to a governor of Oyo state by then General Buhari even when they were the aggressor.

      OGUN STATE – In Ijebu-Igbo, a regular pattern of the most despicable mode of killings repeatedly happens. Innocent citizens, Ijebus, are kidnapped and their families extorted through ransom payments. Yet the victims are later killed, thrown into wells full of water. The few who escaped usually tell their story.

    In  the same Ogun State, a Yoruba Okada rider had an altercation with an Aboki rider and before he knew it, fellow Abokis had surrounded him, beat him silly and thereafter took him and his bike with them to their Leader who forced him to pay the offending Aboki before his bike was released to him and  set free.

    Lllp

    I had a personal encounter in Abeokuta in 2018 in front of my business premises. Two Yoruba youths were in an argument with a single Aboki Okada rider. Before they knew it, about 20 other Abokis had swarmed on him ready to pounce.

    I made an effort to dowse the tension. Before I did that, and that was what saved my life, I placed a call to the nearest Police station for help. The two Yoruba youths had used the opportunity of the distraction to slip out of the crowd and I was the only one left. They were getting ready to MOB me when the police arrived.

    Even at the police station I became the accused and I was going to get locked up in the cell for, apparently, allowing the two youths to escape jungle justice in the hands of the Aboki murderous mob.

    6.  LAGOS STATE – Mr Olatunji Bakare wasn’t as lucky in Apapa.

    He was the LASTMA commander of the sector covering Mile 2, Ijora and Apapa.

    On that fateful day in December of 2016, the Abokis had an argument with some LASTMA operatives.

    In a flash, as they always do, the entire area was swarming with Abokis and they were going to attack the LASTMA operatives.

    Mr. Bakare very unfortunately came from Ijora into the fray to mediate.

    These guys descended on him, and in broad daylight at a location a  mere stone throw from the Army DMI, the Navy Hydro graphics, Police Area B and, in front of many soldiers doing guard duties on Liverpool road, that man was LYNCHED to death!!!

    They beat and pushed him into the gutter and stoned him to death..

    I haven’t gotten over the shock till today, 8 years after. It was that traumatic..

    C: REALITY ON GROUND

    1. There is an unreasonably huge population of Abokis all over the Southwest.

    2. These people are strategically placed in heavily populated  areas of our state capitals, parading  as Okada riders, scrap collectors, beggars, shoe makers etc..

    3. They live in packed colonies on  any available open spaces where they don’t pay any rent.

    4. They seem to be very organised, very mobile and are usually located within close proximities of security installations such as Army or Police Barracks.

    They are excessively aggressive, instinctively violent and all armed.

    5. They are so confident they treat Police with utter disdain and are not  bothered by the presence of soldiers.

    6.They do their washing, toileting, bathing, eating, indeed, everything right on the street thereby constituting an environment nuisance.

    8. If you ever have an argument with them and it lasts for too long it is an invitation to a mob action which will most likely cost you your life.

    9. They are on constant reconnaissance of our neighbourhoods. They know practically every nook and cranny of their areas of operation.

    10. These people have ALL the trappings and resources for TERRORISM”.

    D: WHAT TO DO

    Although Adetayo made some suggestions in this regard, I would rather leave this to our  SOUTHWEST governors and their security councils, our Kabiyesis and  ALL OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES in the SOUTHWEST to seriously ponder and rescue, not only this generation of Yorubas, but those ones coming behind us.

  • Adedamola Dada bows out as CMD of Federal Medical Centre Ebute Metta in blaze of unparalleled adulation

    Adedamola Dada bows out as CMD of Federal Medical Centre Ebute Metta in blaze of unparalleled adulation

    I’ve heard so much about the top notch services provided by the Federal Medical Centre(FMC), Ebute Meta, Lagos, Nigeria.

    Then the other evening I saw an empty glasses’ case in the back pouch of the passenger seat of the cab I was taking home.

    I called the attention of the driver to it.

    “Oh”, he said, “it’s for my neighbour …”

    Then he told the story of his pregnant neighbour whom he had driven with her husband and their relative, who owned the case, to a hospital when the lady started contracting.

    They were eventually referred to FMC. According to the driver, this was where he saw a different kind of fascinating public hospital.

    “All the staff, doctors and nurses, were on their feet and took charge,” he gushed.

    He went on and on talking about how the expectant mother got all the attention she needed,”right from my car.”

    Many thanks, Dr Adedamola Dada for instituting that culture of excellence at the Centre.

    May your tribe increase” – that was the ever scintillating journalist, Taiwo Obe, Founder, Director at the Journalism Clinic, who in Lagos in August 1983, gave me my first ever newspaper interview when,  together with my family, I had to rapidly escape from the political maelstrom then convulsing Ondo state.

    Debonair Dr Adedamola Dada is a class act, indeed, one in a million. I write here about a man I have known for like ages, a self effacing, yet confident, stylish, and charming Medical professional who I have seen, at very close quarters, repeatedly turn down an offer of being appointed a state commissioner of Health, even as the governor, trusting  his competences, was insistent.

    A consultant Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeon of repute, Dr Dada is an admirably proficient Administrator, leading with panache, and an ability to build and enhance unity of purpose amongst his staff, as I last saw the late, but fondly remembered, Professor Ladipo Akinkugbe  do during those our early days at the University College, Ilorin, now University of Ilorin.

    This leadership model would end up paying huge dividends for the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Meta which was, at a time, almost indistinguishable from the old, and rustic, Railway compound, Apapa Road, Ebute Meta.

    Confirming the hospital’s exit from that position of near obscurity to one of  great renown and respect, H.H. Etim, the Centre’s Director of Administration wrote in his invitation to invitees to the send off event in honour of Dada:”DR Adedamola Dada in a space of a few years has transformed our hospital from a little known centre to the reference centre and standard setting institution in the Nigerian public health space, mentoring over forty institutions including teaching hospitals and providing training and technical support to many public, military and even public hospitals”. “Our facility, he went on, witnessed unprecedented growth with utilization increasing by over 80 per cent and the institution’s asset base growing by over 100 per cent”, adding for emphasis, that “it is therefore necessary for us, as grateful staff of the hospital, to celebrate the man who has led us to achieve these unprecedented growths in the last couple of years”.

    As I was quite familiar with many of Dr Dada’s phenomenal developmental strides at the hospital, many of my colleagues on the Board of Management of the Federal Medical Centre, Bida, Niger state, then, would readily recall my references to Dada’s innovations, one of them being when he automated the hospital’s funds collection system and brought in Remita.

    Knowing the challenges facing his rustic hospital, with old and massively deteriorating infrastructure, and further compounded by the antics of some corrupt staff who were diverting funds, Dr Dada knew he had to act fast and to do so, he had to be innovative.

    In his own words, this was the point at which he keyed into Remita:”We automated our funds collection system and brought in Remita. Every single kobo in the hospital is now collected by Remita”.

    The result, he said, was instantaneous

    As soon as he resolved the hospital’s financial conundrum, Dr Dada paid off the debts owed contractors and immediately began a process of retrofitting the dilapidated Centre in such a manner that a visiting journalist could describe what he saw as follows:”I observed that access door to each of the wards is automated. The polyvinyl flooring contrasted beautifully with the Led-lighting systems as new air conditioners coo and cool the air. Patients are on hydraulic beds as uniformed cleaners are on standby to clear any mess. There are kitchenettes in every ward and toilets are squeaky clean. Except for the presence of doctors, nurses and matrons, one could mistake the hospital for a hotel”.

    But whoever knows Dada would know that much more than aesthetics, he would  lay more emphasis on those things that would deliver healing to patients.

    And that exactly was what he did.

    Read Also: Reps task FG to provide solar power for teaching hospitals, Federal Medical Centres

    Before his arrival, the condition of the dialysis centre made it impossible for people to use because the machines were damaged just as the

    Intensive Care Unit had only bad and inoperable equipments; so bad consultants no longer referred anyone there.

    These were refurbished and brought up to standard such that “a dialysis centre that used to see one or two patients in a week had to extend its service to 24 hours because of demand,” according to the Director.

    Another of Dada’s innovations is the use of technology to resolve challenges.

    That was what he did when the hospital’s Help and Research group fingered Medical records, especially the delay in locating case notes, as a major challenge to patients.

    Under his leadership, the hospital grew in leaps and bounds. These include:

    Bed capacity rose from 72 to 450.

    A 16-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) was established.

    The hospital expanded from one to 20 baby incubators.

    now boasts 12 theatre suites, 16 dialysis machines (from zero), and over 500 patient monitors integrated into a central system.

    Dada noted that the hospital currently registers 4,000 to 5,000 new patients monthly, a reflection of increasing public trust in its services.

    Of Dada’s incredible performance at the hospital, however, he regards his ‘magnum opus’ – if one can borrow that literary term – “as the export of the hospital’s digital best practices to over 60 health institutions across Nigeria.

    More than 70 hospitals, nationwide, have adopted the electronic medical records (EMR) system pioneered by FMC Ebute Metta”.

    Continuing at a recent Press parley, Dada said:”We are the first public hospital in Nigeria to operate fully paperless clinical services. In five years, we mentored 60 hospitals—tertiary, secondary, and state-owned—on adopting digital systems, all at no cost.

    Our aim was to strengthen healthcare delivery across the country.”

    As Dada steps out of FMC, Ebute Meta, with all his remarkable, absolutely ground breaking achievements, it is hoped that the Federal Government would waste no time in, once again, engaging the limitless capabilities he  has demonstrated, and is certainly capable of replicating, even at higher levels of responsibility, in the Nation’s Health sector.

    It is noteworthy that, at no cost whatever, Dr Dada positively impacted many

    other health institutions nationwide.

    God forbid that Nigeria should lose a dedicated expert of this calibre to other health agencies outside our borders.

    Hearty cheers to Dr Adedamola Dada, an incredible public servant.

    May your tribe increase.

  • Let us embrace, formalise and put the self confessions in the North to better use

    Let us embrace, formalise and put the self confessions in the North to better use

    On these pages on 31 December, 2023 I asked the question: ‘Is It Time For a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Nigeria or Do We Simply Go Our Separate Ways’?

    God works in mysterious ways.

    Today, given nothing more than the honest  confessions of some of our Northern compatriots, the very beginnings of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission have, very stealthily, walked in on us.

    While we have the individuals to thank, Nigerians must embrace their effort while the Federal Government should formalise it as one of the ways of finally resolving our socio – political, even developmental, conundrum.

    “The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of South Africa was a court-like body established in 1995 to investigate and address human rights violations during the Apartheid era.

    It was aimed at promoting reconciliation and healing by providing a platform for victims and perpetrators to share their stories and come clean for purposes of ultimate truth and restorative justice. Its goal was obviously not to prosecute individuals but to foster reconciliation, promote forgiveness and usher in overall development in the country.

    READ ALSO: Issues in Lagos APC LG primaries

    In like manner, if not exactly on all fours since Apartheid was a system of segregation and mental enslavement which traumatised the entire Black population of South Africa for 46 years (1948 – 1994), the Nigerian Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission, also known as the Oputa Panel, was a Truth Commission established in 1999 to investigate human rights violations during Nigeria’s military rule from 1966 to 1999.

    Its mandate included uncovering the truth about the violations and recommending redress for victims.

    While both were products of institutional reform in each country, what has now, almost miraculously, walked in on us in Nigeria unappreciated is, unbelievably, the result of some honest soul- searching by some of our patriotic Northern counterparts who, where many Southerners would rather not talk at all, or lie through their teeth, preferring instead, to put the blame on others, chose to own up to their collective guilt.

    Although these were told at different fora, a trending WhatsApp post by, again surprisingly a Northerner, has now put together what they describe as the contributions of Northern leaders, especially their politicians, to the extremely parlous situation of the region – poverty,  socialised insecurity – banditry, Boko Haram, unemployment etc. The WhatsApp post contains some facts which, were they made by non- Northerners, would have been rightly considered extremely provocative.

    But these individuals were only being truthful; the kind of truth one now expects to see come from the south too, in order to birth total healing and reconciliation to our country.

    As usual, space constraint will limit what can get published of the humongous lot in an article like this.

    Limited as it would be, however, it should be capable of washing our country clean if each part would own up to its own shortcomings, apologise to all and promise to turn a new leaf while the Federal Government, on its part, would waste no time, in institutionalising it as a worthy effort towards cleaning up our past.

    Although the contributions of Professor Usman Yusuf, the former Executive Secretary/Chief executive officer of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) should take the cake for his consistent exposition of the contribution of Northern leaders to the region’s underdevelopment,  this piece will yield that position to the Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, who has no less been vehement in his disdain for what he says has, over the years, pauperised the North.

    In his recent critique, the governor held nothing back, declaring inter alia: “All of us, including myself, all the politicians in Northern Nigeria, including all of us here, should be held accountable for what is happening in Northen Nigeria for the past 15 years in terms of poverty, unemployment and insecurity.

    As at 2016, there was nothing like banditry. What went wrong?

    He called on Northern politicians to apologise to the people for their failure to address the region’s persistent underdevelopment. Expressing concern over the state of  the region, he attributed its current challenges to decades of mismanagement and neglect by political leaders, admitting that the region’s multifaceted challenges did not begin two years ago, but rather, the result of systemic issues which have been allowed to persist for over 20 years by Northern political leaders who have held public office.  “We all need to look at ourselves in the mirror and apologise to the people of Northern Nigeria. We let them down,”

    He emphasized that the problems facing the North are deeply rooted in a long history of underdevelopment, highlighting, in particular, the widespread poverty and financial exclusion that continue to plague the region despite the billions sunk in social intervention programs in the region under former President Muhammadu Buhari, but from which majority of the population were excluded.

    In my article of  May 5. 2024,  titled:  ‘Poverty and insecurity in Northern Nigeria: Prof Usman Yusuf’s views beginning to resonate with region’s leaders’,

    I quoted him as follows: “I am old enough to clearly remember thirteen Administrations from that of General Yakubu Gowon (1966-1975) to the current one of President Muhammadu Buhari (2015- to date). It is safe to say that none of these administrations came to power with so much hope, expectations and goodwill of citizens and the international community like President Buhari’s.

    Unfortunately, all this goodwill has been squandered by this government due to a messiah complex, intellectual laziness, bad governance, endemic corruption, incompetence, mediocrity, nepotism, arrogance of power, sense of entitlement, stubbornness, aversion to constructive criticisms, delegation of responsibility without supervision or holding anyone accountable, indifference, distance and disconnection from, and insensitivity, to the sufferings of our people”.

    Professor Yusuf has not let down since  and if you look critically at all the arrows he shot in the guided missile above, they are all headed for former President Buhari, a President of Northern extraction.

    And he wasn’t yet done with Northern leaders.

    I therefore wrote further in my referenced article: “The North has become a literal inferno and given the overwhelming parlous state of affairs in the region they(Northern leaders) can, no longer, afford to neglect him(Yusuf). What makes the situation worse is the fact that, like forever, especially during the immediate past administration of President Buhari, the North literally had a complete lock down of all the country’s consequential appointments.

    In some of his stirring ‘sermons’, Professor Yusuf listed some of such  positions; likewise in the current Tinubu administration where the North holds the offices of  Vice President, Speaker of the House of Representatives,  Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the National Security Adviser, Chief of Army staff, both Ministers of Defence, as well as the Minister of Police Affairs.

    Yet, he went on, Northern leadership has completely failed the people, choosing instead, to look elsewhere, or blame others and  concluding that the time has come for the entire Northern leadership, whether in government or not, to look at themselves in the face and agree that they have failed the people, promising to do better”.

    Then the bit I consider rather provocative were it to have been contributed by a non Northerner.

    It came from a young man – the youngest amongst the contributors – who identified himself as proudly coming from Bornu state.

    He opened up by asking what Nigeria’s major problem is. “Come let me tell you: the major problem of Nigeria is Northern Nigeria. If you want to see conflict, Northern Nigeria, rape, Northern Nigeria. In fact, if you want to see thieves, stealing on an industrial scale, come to Northern Nigeria. Thieves engaged in primitive accumulation, just come to Northern Nigeria.

    I am proud to be an indigene of Borno state. I am from Borno state. The North is where you come to if you want to see conflict, hatred, nepotism, cronyism. In fact, if you cut off the Southern part of Nigeria from the North, in ten years the South will be a proud member of the comity of nations. 70 per cent of people who govern this country are from the North, but if you want to see hunger, starvation, poverty, come to the North”.

    On and on he went, touching on critical issues on which the region has taken aback, not only the North, but the country as a whole.

    Many others – Northerners all – spoke very truthfully on all the issues underpinning Nigeria’s current under development and the negative roles played by Northern leaders in all of them.

    So dispassionate are  the speakers that I honestly, and very sincerely, believe that  were all of us, Nigerians, to be this honest in owning up to our faults and, government in turn, taking the appropriate measures to benefit from it all, Nigeria can, very soon, overcome its current developmental somnambulism, as well as restore a measure of concrete and tangible security, pan Nigeria.

    May the good Lord guide Nigeria aright.