The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sunday

Tinubu: Revenue generation as basis for some ministerial posting and redeployment

With considerable justification, Chris Ekpenyong, former Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, would seem to have been reading from the same book as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu when he wrote as follows in December 2022:”Like a patient that has undergone numerous surgeries and rehabilitative procedures under the supervision of surgeons and medical consultants for years, yet with no recovery in sight, but rather deteriorating condition laced with permanent bodily scars as evidence, the economy of Nigeria has always been under the knife. It has been a history of serial diagnosis, proffered solutions and futile actions undertaken by successive administrations.Unfortunately, healing and recovery remain elusive”.

He wrote further:”Economists, geologists and surveyors have long agreed that under the Nigerian soil are wealth and riches untold. But majority of Nigerians are wallowing in poverty.

A NEITI report suggests that there are about 40 different kinds of solid minerals, and precious metals, buried under the Nigerian soil waiting to be exploited with a commercial value estimated to run into trillions of dollars but failure to harness their benefits has been the bane of the nation”.

President Tinubu, however, knows a little more than that. He knows that what is true of solid minerals is no less true of many other resources, all of which also, unfortunately, remain untapped for Nigeria’s economic development and growth.

Like most African countries, Nigeria faces humongous economic and security challenges. Among these are unemployment, huge revenue shortfalls which has led her to increased external borrowings, insecurity arising from massive youth unemployment and rising inflation, among others.

It is, for instance, currently spending about 96.3 percent of her total annual revenue on debt servicing, thus negatively impacting her foreign reserve just as the corrupt management of her foreign exchange by the former CBN governor literally crippled the economy, leaving it with N77Trillion debt.

The new Tinubu government thus had to think out of the box if it is to ever remedy the ugly situation. Hence, an end was put to the subsidy regime on 29 May, 2023 as against the expected 30 June 2023, while the multiple foreign exchange regime was cancelled a little later.

Although the subsequent floating of the Naira so negatively impacted the Naira that prices rose very steeply, it was necessary to allow market forces determine the value of the Naira rather than continue with the CBN’s lecherous practice of gifting Nigeria’s scarce foreign earnings, at preferential rates, to its favoured customers who, in turn, make billions through round tripping.

Read Also: First Lady’s RHI awards scholarships to 46 tertiary students

It took President Tinubu no time to realise that one of his government’s major challenges is the country’s extremely low revenue, analogous to what Lagos state was experiencing when he assumed office as governor in 1999.

Government Revenue has decreased substantially from N1837.52 at the end of the 3rd Quarter to N1502.52 at the end of the 4th Quater of 2022 due largely to a massive reduction in the volume of oil export as a result of corruption, accentuated by massive oil stealing.

For instance, NEITI revealed that the volume of crude oil stolen amounted to over 140 thousand barrels per day and that between 2009 and 2018, the country lost 4.2 billion litres of petroleum products valued at $1.84 billion.

This resulted in Nigeria having to rely, almost entirely, on expensive imports to meet its gasoline needs, despite being Africa’s largest oil and gas producer as

all her four refineries became dilapidated due to corruption and mismanagement.

It thus became a no brainer that revenue generation had to weigh heavily on President Tinubu’s mind.

His first action to remedy the situation was the setting up of a Presidential Tax Reform Committee with the mandate to transform the tax system to a minimum tax to GDP ratio of 18% from 10.9 % by 2026.

It is, obviously, the same reason of driving revenue generation that we see underpinning his allocation of some ministerial portfolios to the named individuals to whom he assigned them.

Topmost among them is the revered economist and investment banker, Olawale Edun, who is the finance minister and coordinating minister for the economy.

A personal friend, and ally of the President going back decades, the President has in him, and a few others, who besides their implicit confidence and trust in him, have unimpeachable belief in his capability as well as an implicit faith in his Renewed Hope Manifesto.

That goes for Dele Alake, Nigeria’s first ever commissioner for ‘Information and strategy’ during Tinubu’s two – term stint as governor of Lagos state, 1999 -2007.

Since that time, Alake had been with the President, through thick and thin, going all over the world together.

Dele will man the very important ministry of Solid Minerals as against that of Information which most Nigerians, yours truly inclusive, had thought he was inexorably heading to.

Ditto the President’s cousin, Adegboyega Oyetola, erstwhile Osun state governor, an Insurance guru with many years experience in the industry as owner of an Insurance Brokerage firm. He is the minister of the brand new Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.

Barrister Hannatu Musa Musawa is no less well known to the President.

As the Deputy spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, she brought panache and a commitment to the presidential campaign. Nor can you forget her incredible documentary on the President in a hurry.

With a degree in Law, and a Master’s in the Legal Aspects of Marine Affairs, it is obvious that her versatility would find a fertile ground in the extremely buoyant creative Arts’ sector of the Nigerian economy as Minister of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy.

To further bolster his overall economic development which will accentuate revenue generation, the President brought on board, two top I.T specialists in Lola Ade – John, who is Minister of Tourism, and Dr Bosun Tijani, as Minister of communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.

Ade – John has/ extensive expertise in designing, integrating, deploying, and overseeing core systems for international banking institutions, and has played a leading role in utilizing technology to enhance strategic business outcomes and optimize operations in diverse working environments, ranging from small businesses to large ones.

Armed with a Master’s degree in Information Systems and Management from Warwick Business School and a PhD in Innovation and Economic Development from the University of Leicester

Tijani’s huge

acceptability comes from his direct and indirect influence in building some of the tech startups that form the pillars of the Nigerian startup sector. This was made largely through CcHub, Nigeria’s first tech hub, founded by him in 2010. The hub is now the largest in Africa with a physical presence in some other African countries.

The duo will bring technology to bear on their respective spheres, and elsewhere, in the government.

As a result of space constraint, this article will not be able to go into details of the wealth inherring in the named ministries, but together with the Petroleum (Oil and gas) industry, are huge revenue sources which, with hard work, commitment and dedication of the assigned ministers, can more than quadruple Nigeria’s present total revenue within the shortest time possible.

August 27, 2023
He’s given us ministers, now what we need from our ministers

Just like it has been in recent times, the Aso Rock Presidential Villa did not see much of physical activities from President Bola Tinubu’s office.

But a lot went underground unnoticed, just like they say, the wheel of governance has continued to grind, non-stop, whether you see it or not.

However, one event loomed so large. There was no way anyone, especially in the country, will claim not to have noticed it.

The long awaited cabinet was inaugurated on Monday, with all the 45 ministers screened and cleared by the Senate being sworn-in.

That was a major activity for the President and also for all citizens because these are men and women who will run the Renewed Hope Agenda along with Tinubu and his Vice President, Kashim Shettima.

But much more, they are the people who make all Nigerians feel like a part of the government. For instance, ministers are from all states of the federation and for all Nigerians.

There is a particular feeling about hearing the name of your kinsman mentioned as part of those who are to make things work for everybody. You do not even need to know them in person. It is nostalgic.

So the week started on a note that concerns everybody and as expected, everybody has one opinion or the other to express.

Charging his ministers to their duties, President Tinubu reminded them of the dire situation facing Nigeria and what is expected of them to lighten the people’s burden and to really “let the poor breathe”.

He did not just stop with charging them to deliver. There was a note of warning; every man or woman will be measured by the standards the administration had promised Nigerians. The primary duty is to make the people believe in governance once again.

Read Also: FG denies news of expulsion of envoy from Niger Republic

The President admonished the ministers: “Since my inauguration on May 29, I have taken steps to begin implementing the agenda from which I campaigned and for which I received the mandate of the Nigerian people. With the inauguration of ministers today, we are about to accelerate our governing efforts to move forward, highlighting our best aspiration for Nigerians. It is all about a great team. And I believe we have them here. “It is the highest honour to be chosen to serve as a minister in the Federal Executive Council of our beloved Republic. With such high honour comes tremendous responsibility. In this moment of abundant promise and peril in equal measure, all of you who have been sworn-in have been called to distinguish yourselves. It is me who know you and delegate this authority. But the greatest number of Nigerians is highly expectant of delivery and accountability and transparency. “I expect that you will serve with integrity, dignity and deliver. I will hold you to that standard we all promised Nigerians. Your assignment begins immediately. As your country honours you today, by this call to service, you must each work to make yourself worthy in the eyes of God and all our nation’s people. Your highest obligation is to restore public faith in government so that our people can once again believe that the right hands in government can show. I believe in you that the government can be a positive force for transformation and a vehicle for collective progress of this country”.

Meanwhile, having fixed people where he believes they will best deploy their energies and talents, Nigerians have also been helping with thoughts on how the administration can make the best of the team for the good of the nation.

Bolaji Lawal, a socioeconomic analyst in the banking sector, identified four task areas for the administration to achieve its goals and the ministries that will help in achieving them.

According to him, increased revenue, job creation, security and power are those areas that need to be gotten right to get the nation running straight.

“These ministries are defined by what is considered the most urgent priority of Nigeria at the moment, which are increased revenue, job creation, security and power.

These are the most important because solving them resolves a lot of other issues. For example, increased revenue and job creation may resolve other problems like infrastructure deficit, poverty alleviation and so on.

“The first task area is increasing revenue for the job of running the system, without having to borrow, like President Tinubu promised when he inaugurated the Tax Reforms Committee.

Here, the ministries of Finance and Coordinating Ministry for the Economy and that of Budget and Economic Planning must think outside the box to figure this need out.

“These ministries are very important. They must plan, organise, propose, project, track, give feedback and make necessary adjustments along the way to the achievements of the government’s economic policies and programmes.

The Minister of Finance must be given the necessary powers to get the cooperation and collaboration of every other Ministry, Department and Agency of the Federal Government”

For job creation, which is the second task area, five ministries will help to considerably bridge the massive employment gap in the country.

Number one is the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy. This ministry should have as its focus prepping one million young Nigerians (in five years) for the global IT market.

“Also, the Ministry of Health is where Nigeria has perfected producing high quality medical personnel cheaply and this has attracted global attention. This Ministry should reposition Nigeria in such a way that it can benefit from the export of these highly skilled Nigerians by developing policies that improve medical facilities back in Nigeria. “The ministries of Sports Development, Marine and Blue Economy, Solid Minerals Development and Steel Development will do much in creating millions of jobs for both skilled and unskilled hands. Already the Sports fields are bringing in foreign currency, but only at the informal level. Policy reforms will reorganise the sector and increase remittances. The major gain here is in terms of remittances and this ministry should target exporting a million youths in a decade. “Ministry of Solid Minerals Development is a hardly tapped resource of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It will create jobs and enhance government revenue. Also, in the Ministry of Steel Development, the Ajaokuta Steel Mill alone has the capacity to create a million direct and indirect jobs. This project alone will impact Nigeria’s GDP growth.

“The third task area is Security and the much that could be seen puts much tasks on the shoulders of the Ministries of Defense, Interior and Police Affairs. They must develop a new security architecture that can effectively secure the nation.

“The last task area for the administration will be getting the Power sector right. The success of the government’s economic programmes is dependent on the availability of Power. The ministries of Power, Petroleum Resources and Gas Resources must fashion out a way to overcome all the bottlenecks that stand in the way of uninterrupted power supply across the length and breadth of the country. This industry, if properly harnessed, is a multi-trillion Naira one that impacts the GDP of Nigeria”, Lawal stated.

Other Nigerians have also been voicing what they will want to see from the government and how they will want the President and his ministers direct public life. One of such voices is that of Eguando Tone Jeff, an Abuja-based Public Affairs Commentator, who believes some of the ministries have much to tap from in order to grow the economy and ease some of the burdens that Nigerians have been forced to live with for too long.

“The Blue Economy ministry needs to harness the opportunities in fishing, ship registration, tidal energy (a clean power created by ocean wave) and so on. This is a global economy worth $2.5 trillion so Nigerians expect the minister to get to work so that we can pluck out of that global business that will generate FOREX, create jobs and revenue for our country.

“Tourism is another area that Nigerians want to see generate revenue like the entertainment industry. The Minister needs to brand top artists like Wizkid, Davido, Burna Boy as ambassadors to sell, not just their music, but attract the world to our Tourism. The $2.3 trillion global economy of Tourism is waiting for Nigeria. We have all that can attract the world; the sun, sand, sea and monuments, if well packaged.

“There needs to be synergy between the Ministry of Tourism, the Office of the National Security Adviser and other security agencies to create a futuristic security template because tourism does not thrive where there is insecurity.”

Don’t forget to add the Works Minister should work out modalities to sanction contractors who engage in construction of federal roads that end up failing in less than one year of construction.That is economic sabotage of scarce resources that should be applied to the benefit of Nigerians”, Eguando said.

Large as the ministerial inauguration loomed and appearing as the undisputed mega event of the week, it will be difficult for one not to note the President’s engagements regarding the Niger Republic debacle.

As Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), he has had to coordinate many of the activities of the regional body to prevent a breakdown of interface with the General Abdouramane Tchaini-led junta in Niger.

To that effect, the President met with ECOWAS Envoy to Niger and Nigeria’s former military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar and the Commission’s President, Dr Omar Tourey, at the Villa on Tuesday and Thursday.

He also met with Islamic leaders, known as the Ulama, on the same matter. It should be noted, however, that as the administration moves close to hitting a hundred days in office, activities are expected to pick. More activities are expected, probably from this week.

August 27, 2023
Ekiti: Exhibiting exemplary eccentricity?

The Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji that I knew 10 years ago, has not changed a bit in character, content, candour and colour. He once stated inter alia: “if I promise you, I will fulfil; and if I cannot fulfil, I will get back to explain to you while it could not happen.” Definitely and determinedly, Oyebanji aka BAO is walking the talk in Ekiti despite the lean resources accruing to the hilly state.

Eccentricity, succinctly and saliently stated, is a deviation from an accepted, established pattern or norm. There are leaders and there are bosses. In leadership studies, the approach to governance could be diverse, making scholars to ascribe leadership styles to leaders. However, it could be conflicting or confusing to ascribe a particular style to certain leaders as these sets of leaders often oscillate between two or three known leadership styles as depicted by the followers’ assessment or perceptions, depending on the context of engagement with the followers.

An ideal way could be tagged as exemplary. In other words, when something or someone is acclaimed as desirable, in a certain context, it is tagged as exemplary. In essence, scholars in the literature depict and describe exemplary leaders as personalities that help you to attain your best; aid you in becoming a better person by reconnecting you with values whilst showing the way with compassion, and simultaneously holding themselves to high standards. Furthermore, exemplary leaders will not bat an eyelid to pause in their path to accomplishing goals if going that route will come at the cost of people’s wellbeing. Does Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji aptly fit this mold? Readers will get to know at the end of this article. Follow me.

Read Also: Between Tinubu’s infrastructure dreams and Umahi’s Midas touch

Ekiti: High and Low

Ekiti is a word from the local word “Okiti”, meaning hill in local dialect. Ekiti is in no doubt accorded a high rating in intellectual capacity as the state boasts of conglomerate of cognoscenti in virtually every subject of life. It is literally said that every household in Ekiti has a PhD holder. How has that dovetailed to a knowledge economy mitigating against poverty? This is one germane question for the incumbent government in the hilly countryside to unravel as the government will be one year in office come 16th of October 2023.

However, can one infer that the incumbent Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, popularly referred to as BAO by his teeming admirers and adherents, depicts a measure of exemplary ethos in leadership demeanour as perceived by followers in Ekiti? This question will be best answered in an empirical inquiry targeted at the average man or woman on the streets of towns and villages in Ekiti spanning from Ado to Efon Alaaye to Omuo to Ido Faboro to Ikogosi to Oye to Ikere to Ifaki to Ikole to Ilawe to Isan to Otun to Ijero to Itaji to Ode to Igede to Aramoko to Igbara Odo, etc.

Eccentricity: In a positive term!

This writer as a close follower of His Excellency, Mr. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, could attest, posing as an ethnographic researcher, to certain exemplary display and depiction of eccentricity, albeit in positive positing to achieve much with little as the resources accruing to the state are seemingly nothing to write home about in comparison to the avalanche of citizens’ demands for developmental interventions. In measuring up and reaching out to Ekitikete, the BAO-led administration rolled out the 6 Strategic Actionable Pillars – Youth Development and Job Creation; Human Capital Development; Agriculture and Rural Development; Infrastructure and Industrialization; Arts, Culture and Tourism; and Governance. It is surprisingly noticeable that anywhere Oyebanji visits in Ekiti, the people heartily and cheerfully welcome him with shouts of BAO repeatedly renting the air in ecstatic mien.

Remarkably, Oyebanji has, taken cognizance of his humble pedigree, distinguished himself in his demeanour which is visible to Ekitikete. He ensures regular payment of salaries and even going to clear the backlog of arrears owed public servants. Moreover, reiterating to inform others that his aged father, who celebrated 90 years recently, is a pensioner, he needs no prodding to pay pensioners regularly. He has lived up to expectation in the rating among most Ekiti people. It is amazing to this writer, no flattery intended, how Oyebanji is combining the payment of these salaries, emoluments and arrears whilst simultaneously attending to infrastructure, agriculture, health facilities, social investment in micro small and medium enterprises (MSME), tourism, etc. Personally, as a development scholar, yours sincerely wonder whether Oyebanji is not expending his security vote for the people as both the federal allocation and the internally generated revenue (IGR) of the hilly countryside do not measure up to activities, outputs and outcome palpable to observers on the ground! Oyebanji and his team are likely to be great managers of resources.

Concluding this piece, having now become part and parcel of the government of Ekiti State, it is good to let the public know the austere lifestyle of the man in the saddle in Ekiti. He is indeed an eccentric, a good one at that, when grouped and graded with his other colleagues. I have known Oyebanji for about 10 years now! The first meeting was when he was the Ekiti State Honourable Commissioner for Economic Planning, Budget and Service Delivery. Yours sincerely was contacted with others in my team to impact monitoring and evaluation (M & E) skills in Ekiti officers in his ministry. His simplicity and humility were noticed and infectious. Fast-forwarded, aftermath of June 2022 election in which he was declared the Governor Elect, he got me hired pro bono to help distil his manifesto containing the 6 Strategic Actionable Pillars to Outcome and Impact Indicators. This was done with my team and his meeting, on different days, and on three occasions. On each occasion, he was there earlier than scheduled and coming from Ado Ekiti while the place of meeting was in Lagos. I initially demanded we shifted the meeting venue to Ado Ekiti for his convenience, which he politely turned down, saying we were the one coming to help him and not vice versa! I was amazed. In addition, yours sincerely was part of the retreat for the Executive members and Accounting Officers of Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA) held at Arch-Bishop Abiodun Adetiloye Hall, Ado Ekiti. BAO was timely and stayed throughout the duration of the retreat closing around 6pm daily. He reiterated that he would sanction indiscipline and sampled one of the participants that arrived late and was still choosy on where to sit! He enjoined the participants, at the retreat, of the need to sacrifice whilst appreciating those who had served with him from November 2022 who have been using their personal vehicles to run errands for government services. It is noteworthy to state simply and squarely that Oyebanji exemplifies exemplary eccentricity in that from 16th October 2022 till the time of writing this article, he has been going about with his official vehicle attached to him while serving as the Secretary to the State Government (SSG). To him, he was not unnerved by what other colleagues of his would say about his humble mien so far Ekiti achieved shared prosperity in judicious utilization of resources ensuring the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Moreover, BAO has been shuttling between his old house in the GRA and his hometown, Ikogosi Ekiti for months until he was seemingly bad mouthed by cynics that he was surreptitiously moving the seat of government to his hometown! He, then, relocated to the hilly, Oke Ayoba Government House, Ado Ekiti. Any lesson for other state chief executives and our distinguished members of the National Assembly (NASS) from this exemplifying eccentricity of Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji? Can one comment on his social investment to many poor and hapless people that have been lifted out of poverty through his government’s monthly generosity done on Ward basis. It is the general belief that if BAO hears, he would bear the burdens with the needy.

In conclusion, His Excellency, Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji of Ekiti State has proved, beyond any reasonable doubt, that anyone can hold high government office and demystify that position without denigrating it. The Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji that I knew 10 years ago, has not changed a bit in character, content, candour and colour. He once stated inter alia: “if I promise you, I will fulfil; and if I cannot fulfil, I will get back to explain to you while it could not happen.” Definitely and determinedly, Oyebanji aka BAO is walking the talk in Ekiti despite the lean resources accruing to the hilly state. He hopes to take Ekiti to greater heights as he challenged us in the course of the retreat to speak up by bringing up innovative and creative ideas to uplift our dear state out of squalor! To keep Ekiti working together towards a shared prosperity is the vision of BAO; and it is a herculean task, yet surmountable, for all the stakeholders working together in harmony.

Dr John Moyo Ekundayo, Special Adviser, Office of Transformation and Service Delivery (OTSD) writes from Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State.

August 20, 2023
These insatiable rodents of democracy in Nigeria

“In order to enable all of us (to) enjoy our holidays, a token has been sent to our various accounts by the Clerk of the National Assembly.” – Senate President Godswil Akpabio, 8 August, 2022.

By His grace, I am not about to leave in peace, the ‘rodents of our democracy’, who are blessed with strong, constantly growing incisors, but no canine teeth and who continue to gnaw, nibble and eat away our patrimony; daily rendering the people so poor that as at the last count, over half of the Nigerian population (133 million), are now multidimensionally poor. If that number was as at November 2022, it must have since increased phenomenally, after the cancellation of fuel subsidy.

But not even that dizzying figure would stop Senate President Godswil Akpabio from giddily announcing,

unknown to him, over a live

public address system, that “tokens have been sent to their bank accounts to enable them enjoy their holidays”.

Read Also: Between Tinubu’s infrastructure dreams and Umahi’s Midas touch

Nigeria must have the most unkind legislators ever on planet earth.

But this did not begin today, only that they appear to be getting worse by the day.

The Columnist, apparently misled by the newly sworn- in President Mohammadu Buhari’s stern looks, and of course, his assumed incorruptibility, had waxed lyrical on these pages those early days, telling Nigerians that the retired Army General would put all lecherous politicians in their place. That was my belief when I wrote that we, the people, would ‘storm the Bastille’, were the reverse to be the case.

Unfortunately, our incandescent general caved in to the Villa Cabal, as well as the CBN, and ended up setting Nigeria back, economically, by many years.

The National Assembly leadership, by being so insensitive, is again, starting off where those ones left off.

Whereas one could have been emboldened by the incredible independence, and political will, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has already demonstrated in his removal of the hitherto untouchable fuel subsidy and in fixing a Forex regime former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, had turned to a kalokalo, to be positive, experience, given the calibre of those heavyweights who humbled the Nigerian economy, especially through the CBN- enabled arbitrage, advises nothing but caution.

These enemies of state are practised hands and because a popular adage in my Ekiti hood teaches that you can deceive, and mess up with a woman in a farm house, only but once, I have only prayers for the President in what I know to be his single – minded determination to right the wrongs of many years, by many military regimes and quasi – civilian governments.

I have written severally, on these pages, about Nigeria’s ‘Rodents of Democracy’ that I can pick on any of the articles and it will very well fit the bill.

For instance in:”The Saraki-APC Fiasco and Its Implications For Buhari’s Anti-corruption war”, published 14 June, 2015, I wrote as follows, quoting President Buhari in an address to Nigerians living in South Africa:”Government is determined to secure the country, manage the economy, create employment and fight corruption. Some articulate writers have said that if we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria”. “This APC administration intends to kill corruption in Nigeria. We will do our best, I assure you. We are getting the facts and logistic requirements together”.

I wrote further:A fiasco is defined as a humiliating failure; some effort that went quite wrong or a wine bottle in a straw jacket. For me, this is precisely what the shebang at the National Assembly represents for the APC.

Truth be told, my initial reaction to Bukola Saraki emerging the Senate President was: Yes, if a Tambuwal, why not a Saraki? Nor was that a flight of fancy because I believe, and still do, that he was as qualified as any member to be the Senate President, considering his contribution to the emergence of the party. It should not be difficult to remember who heads the political camp to which Abubakar Kawu Baraje, who led the walk-out from the PDP Abuja mini-congress on Saturday, August 31, 2013 belongs, nor the fact that Senator Saraki brought a whole state with him into the party.

However, all these thoughts were shredded when it became known that, out of desperation, he permitted his coronation to be, not only instigated, but funded, by a gang of PDP treasury looters and their cousins, the oil subsidy rogues, all of who are eager to hamstring the anti-corruption war President Buhari promised Nigerians so they can again escape justice through the machinations of the now totally rudderless EFCC. They have since been on a celebration binge. It is galling, if not puke-inducing, that in his political alchemy, Saraki thought nothing of selling his party cheap by accommodating Ike Ekweremadu, a PDP senator, as Deputy Senate President.

The Saraki shenanigan becomes more nauseating, the more we learn of the horrendous corruption of the Jonathan administration.

For instance, President Buhari is expected to meet the leading global watchdog on corruption, the Oslo-based, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) very soon to see how billions of dollars in the Nigerian oil revenue leakage can be curbed.

According to Zainab Ahmed, the Executive Secretary of its Nigerian arm, over $7.5 billion is yet to be recovered from oil and gas companies since 1999, while the agency’s audits show that $11.6 billion of dividends between 1999 and 2012 from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) company were not remitted by the NNPC whose oil swap deals have been discovered to be more of scams.

And that is only in the oil sector.

As you read this, millions of Nigerian workers, in at least 23 of Nigeria’s 36 states, have not been paid their salaries for over six months. It therefore becomes extremely agonising that Bukola Saraki, a leading light of a party elected almost solely on its promise to fight corruption could, out of overaching ambition, go into an unholy alliance with these mandarins of corruption. Nigerians must now brace up for all manner of opposition from the National Assembly to the Buhari government’s efforts to kill corruption, a demonstration of which we may soon see during the president’s attempt to re-energise EFCC.

Saraki, of course, knows that something must give, but if he thinks he would succeed in thwarting the hopes of Nigerians, then I have news for him. It’s even nice that he showed his hands, and what manner of National Assembly he intends to lead, quite early.

In the article: ‘It Is Time We Storm This Bastille’, (Sunday, 12th June, 2011), I wrote as follows on the immediate past Bankole-led House of Representatives:

“When in the past week the EFCC finally caught up with the erstwhile Speaker of the House, Nigerians came to know that the Speaker, together with the House leadership, had been borrowing illegally for un-appropriated purposes.

In their defence, we came to learn that the following new allowances were approved at an executive session on March 30, 2010: Speaker N100m, Deputy Speaker N80m, House Leader N60m, Deputy House Leader N57.5m, Chief Whip N55m, Deputy Chief Whip N54.5m, Minority Leader N54.5m, Minority Whip N50m, Deputy Minority Leader N50m, Deputy Minority Whip N50m’. For what job you’d ask?

They also agreed payment of outstanding allowances dating way back to 1999 – 2007; all from un-authorised funds.

Not only are these allowances probably much higher today with Saraki as Senate President, President Buhari is guaranteed a monstrous fight to reduce this highest pay to political representatives, anywhere in the world.

I then concluded by saying that we, the people, must storm the National Assembly and chase them back to their villages or to gaol.

Already, even before the ink on the signatures of members of the 8th Assembly could dry, they are now expecting alerts from their banks, announcing their respective share of a humongous N8.4 Billion ward robe allowance, as if they have been going naked all their lives.

How unconscionable can they get?

No wonder a highly perceptive Dr David Kuranga, of Kuranga and Associates, has suggested that “if President Buhari is going to have any success in unravelling the complex and heavily entrenched corrupt interests in Nigeria, he is going to have to successfully tackle and overcome far more difficult opponents than the Saraki allies who just bested his party in the National Assembly.” This is very true because their ambition to eat Nigeria raw is collective, and party blind. Therefore, for President Buhari to succeed, and for Nigerians to be free from these predators – the Deputy House Speaker, Lasun Yusuff, is already quoted as defending their utterly callous N150 billion budget in a dying economy – Kuranga concludes that President Buhari, and of course, the party, should treat the senate leadership as a political insurgency until they surrender and resign from their positions and that Nigerians just must say no to a political class riding roughshod on their well-being.

Otherwise, it will be a promise of change deferred”.

For now, all the charges against the Goodluck Jonathan government in the referenced article, may turn out a child play, compared with what is beginning to emerge as the utter rudderlessness of the Buhari era when the governor of the apex bank was more answerable to a Mafia than to the elected President.

President Tinubu, no doubt, already has his job cut out for him.

I wish him God speed.

August 20, 2023
Political clerics rekindle opposition

It was perhaps too optimistic to expect some of Nigeria’s political clerics to relent after their presidential election predictions spectacularly misfired. They were hushed up, indeed chastened for a while, approximately for some three months; but after catching their breath, after watching their predictive sequel suggesting there would be no inauguration misfire badly, they had seemed to surrender to indescribable gloominess. Now, after just two months or so of the new administration introducing pain-inducing economic policies, clerics have again found their voice and begun to thunder against the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration. Experience should have taught them to be wary of the bold posturing that turned them into objects of derision before and shortly after the May 29 inauguration, indeed to be wary of how they second-guess God in the name of prophecies, but their anger and dismay will not let them. Obviously, for reasons not easily explicable, the clerics will not relent.

August has been productive for them, as they find ecclesiastical rationalisation to underpin their political discourses and statements. There are video substantiations for their pastoral outbursts. Pastor Obi Ogbo of the Garden of Grace International Church, Awka, Anambra State, in one of his services raised poignant innuendo-laden prayer points against the five Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) justices presiding over the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) petitions against the victory of President Bola Tinubu. He emblazoned the church pulpit with the photographs of the five justices, and declared they would ‘rule in the fear of God’, and would not ‘bow to satanic inducements’. He then magisterially restrained them from ‘unjust judgement and from wicked judgement’. He followed up by mentioning each of the justices by name and then declaring they would not ‘bow to witchcraft, to Satanism, and to occultism’. He finally decreed that they would not ‘judge against Nigeria… and the Spirit of the Lord would overrule them, and they would do the bidding of God’ in order to save Nigeria. Clearly, he had presumed the justices to be inclined towards injustice. More, he was unable to disguise his pro-Peter Obi leanings.

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Aubja-based Pastor Sarah Omakwu of the Family Worship Centre was no less overtly and scathingly pro-Obi. Before the elections, she had taunted critics who warned that a vote for Mr Obi was a waste. The Christian community was ready to waste their votes, she said offhandedly. She meant that fruitless casting of votes in the cynical and sarcastic sense; but she turned out to be prescient. Now, this August, she has begun to fulminate again, discomfited by how the voting turned out in February, not to say how nothing thwarted the inauguration in line with many clerics’ apocalyptic predictions. In her message uploaded on August 15 or so and applauded by the churlish Charles Oputa, aka Charly Boy, the fluent and engaging pastor wailed: “I have noticed that Nigerians have moved on politically. We have accepted what has become. On one side of our mouth, we said we did not want a Muslim-Muslim ticket. And then on another side of our mouth, we have accepted it and we are going on. So, I come to say, no, we can’t accept it. This government is still Muslim-Muslim. And some of you have accepted it. You are even wishing that somebody you know would be made minister. Ministers over what? Ministers over illegality?” Of course, she said so much incandescent more.

But then came Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Citadel Global Community Church, also last Sunday, with his customary mixture of sarcasm, political and legal theories, and theological contextualisations. But just as he vacillated over the previous Muhammadu Buhari administration – scathing today, and amenable tomorrow – he was difficult to place last Sunday. It is not clear why he occasionally turns the pulpit to a soapbox, but anyway he spoke on a wide-ranging number of political issues under the theme ‘Vice, Virtue & Time: Three Things That Never Stand Still’. Hear him: “I’m reminded of the warning that I sounded to Nigerians in January 2023 in my address titled, ‘Bridging the gap between politics and governance.’ I warned that the politics of entitlement; the ’emilokan’ type of politics would breed an imperium presidency, one that would slide towards dictatorship and would be intolerant of dissent. This same impulsive leadership style was clearly evident when the president recently led the Economic Community of West African States to violate an ancient principle of diplomacy that is recognised even in the Holy Book that you must offer peace before declaring war. By placing military invasion on the table from the very start before subsequently exploring diplomatic options with the coup plotters in the Republic of Niger, President Tinubu once again put the cart before the horse, thus placing Nigeria and the sub-region in a precarious situation.” The pastor did not say how impulsiveness translated into dictatorship. But at least the sarcasm was unmistakable.

Abrasively, Pastor Bakare then declared that the honeymoon was over for President Tinubu. After just two months? But unlike the sulking Pastors Omakwu and Ogbo, the Citadel pastor’s criticism of the administration appeared not designed to favour Mr Obi; and as a lawyer who has probably read the final written addresses of all the lawyers in the petitions before the PEPC, and as someone unfettered by the foolish sentiments that blind the man on the street, he knew that neither Atiku Abubakar of the PDP nor Mr Obi was going anywhere with their petitions. Instead of expending unproductive energy in wishing for a judicial miracle to overthrow the Tinubu presidency, or joining ranks with clerics who surreptitiously wish for a popular revolt to overthrow the system, he capped his advice to President Tinubu in the following words: “Take the yoke off the neck of the poor, go after the looters, recover the loot, and retool it to the benefit of Nigerians. In simple terms, Mr President, kill corruption, not Nigerians…”

Why it has not occurred to the clerics that the fundamentals of their faith abhor the unwarranted politicisation of their pulpits, especially given the fact that some of their members could belong to other political parties apart from the favoured one, is exceptionally hard to explain. Would it not be far better and safer and unimpeachable to restrict themselves to the love rubric that forms the core of their faith?

August 20, 2023
Finally, a ministerial council

Until President Bola Tinubu grants a no-holds-barred interview to explain himself, Nigerians will be left with conjectures on why it took nearly six months after he was elected to emplace his cabinet. Constituting a cabinet at the state level is a cakewalk; replicating the process at the federal level is both daunting and nerve-wracking. There were a few surprises in the Tinubu cabinet, but nothing earth-shaking, not in the list itself, nor in the assignation of portfolios. There were women on the list, but not enough; and there were youths, but also not significantly remarkable. On the whole, however, and notwithstanding that the cabinet registered little impact on the Richter scale, it is a functional list, one that could conceivably help the president deliver on his vision. Many of the ministers already acquired reputations from different backgrounds; they are thus expected to hold their own in cabinet debates and maintain their points of view. They will of course give quarter, knowing full well that their membership of the cabinet is at the discretion of the president. But they will be loth to abandon their convictions or personalities.

Ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo dominated his cabinet, even towering over his ministers, especially because of his military background and his idiosyncratic impatience and ideological perfunctoriness; and Goodluck Jonathan infected his ministers with his doubts as well as communicated his lack of surefootedness to his cabinet by virtually surrendering critical aspects of his administration to a few individuals in his cabinet. But President Tinubu, given the constellation of big and aging names he has assembled around himself, not to say his earthiness and the permanent grin on his face which youths may find disarming, will probably feel more like primus inter pares. It is, therefore, bewildering why the opposition against him has been both instinctive and unremitting. Instead of recognising and applauding the denotative value of his presidency, that he is a president not beholden to any power group or interest – whether ethnic, religious or class – his opponents in the last presidential poll and their supporters have done everything possible to undermine the election or delegitimise it.

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The opponents could not have won, not after fracturing their ranks and playing awful politics, including securing the conspiratorial collusion of the past administration using state economic policies. And as the courts will judge, they in fact never won and, worse, were unable to prove that they won, going by the superficiality of their final written addresses. But obviously, their opposition to the Tinubu presidency, egged on by social and traditional media and other powerful political and economic interests, will continue for a very long time. Some of the opposition wish the entire system to collapse, anarchy to overtake the country, or the military to stage a coup, and have indeed surreptitiously sponsored invitations to that effect on social media. Yet, and profoundly, the Tinubu electoral victory beats a remarkable pathway to a great democratic future where anyone can win the presidency despite huge official and unofficial opposition from the government of the day, despite Nigeria’s errant and ossified religious fault lines, despite ethnic background and population politics, despite intraparty conspiracies, and despite countervailing demographics. But incapable of hard-nosed analyses, Labour Party’s Peter Obi and his pugnacious army of dissenters disregard the opportunities presented by the Tinubu victory to rebuild their coalition in order to make a fresh bid in 2027. Powerful interest groups inspired by people who think like Chief Obasanjo have also failed to see that Poll 2023 represents another opportunity to reclaim and relive the advantages the 1993 election afforded Nigeria to overcome and heal its religious schisms; and that regardless of the size of a presidential aspirant’s ethnic group, it is possible for him to cultivate trust in most parts of the country and build a rainbow coalition that transcends all divisions.

Someday, perhaps soon, many Nigerians will see the value of the 2023 presidential poll outcome. Despite the subtle ethnic and religious blackmail against the judiciary, the courts will rule justly. The system will stabilise, there will be no coup, and notwithstanding the prevailing harsh economic conditions or the identity crisis suffered by Labour unions and their party, the LP, Nigerians will weather the storm, reinvigorate their democracy, rebuild their system and economy, and forge ahead in the hope they can ignite something in the souls of the rest of Africa.

President Tinubu took much longer than expected cobbling together a cabinet, and even began very warily and laboriously in assembling a corps of advisers; but if he manages to regain his composure in rethinking and recalibrating the Nigerian economy while eschewing the spontaneity that has thrown a spanner in the works of his policies, he will have a great and successful presidency. There are bright flashes already in some of his policies, obviously backed by convictions; but out of his seemingly disparate cabinet, he must now forge a kitchen cabinet capable of helping him to avoid the kind of complicating mistakes that dogged his initial and awkward response to the Niger Republic coup crisis, his bold but desultory and palliating approach to fuel subsidy removal, and his inexplicable reluctance to begin engaging with his countrymen.

August 20, 2023
Oshiomhole’s insinuations

Rising from a meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima last week, former Edo State governor and past APC chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, insinuated that the previous administration put the economy out of joint, necessitating the drastic and painful remedies being applied by the current administration. According to him, “The government inherited a terrible economic situation. Everybody knows it. The government inherited an economy in which our total national revenue was barely enough to service our debt burden, spending 96 percent, which is to say (for) every N100,000 Nigeria earns, N96,000 goes into debt repayment, to service debt. So, you have only N4,000 left to pay all the salaries.”

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But this is a subject the Tinubu administration has been extremely wary of investigating or discussing. It is a big dilemma. Everybody knows how the mess was produced, even fulminating clerics know, not to say the civil society and pressure groups all over the country. Mr Oshiomhole and a few top politicians and administration officials may occasionally vent their spleen on the past administration, especially when pressure mounts on the APC to deliver utopia faster than is possible or even rational. But for President Tinubu and Aso Villa, there is not going to be a word on ex-president Muhammadu Buhari, regardless of what everybody knows. They would prefer you read their lips.

August 20, 2023
Semantics and DHQ coup talk

Last Sunday, newspapers published reports on the Defence Headquarters‘ view of the request made by some Nigerians for the military to carry out a coup d’etat. The public then excoriated the DHQ for not first arresting those who came to them soliciting for their intervention. Chastened, the DHQ said there was no coup request before them. But the back and forth was nothing more than a storm in a teacup. Here is the original statement by the Defence Information spokesman: “The Defence Headquarters frown at a report being circulated online about welfare issues in the Armed Forces of Nigeria. The report’s call on the military to interfere in our democracy is highly unpatriotic, wicked, and an attempt to distract the Armed Forces of Nigeria from performing its constitutional responsibilities.”

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How the media, particularly the social media, construed this statement to mean there were coup requests before the military is baffling. Obviously, it’s a question of semantics. Alarmed, the DHQ issued this rebuttal: “The Defence Headquarters is concerned about false and disturbing social media reports twisted to state that the Armed Forces of Nigeria received a request to effect a change of leadership in the country. We want to use this opportunity to reiterate that the Armed Forces of Nigeria never received nor made such a declaration at any time to anyone or any group…”

Even after the election tribunal had ended its work and the losers stopped drawing parallels between horses and wishes, such malevolent twisting of statements will continue, perhaps mitigated as time goes on. Illiteracy may account for a part of the slipshodness; but overall, the semantic overreach beloved by the social media will be put down to dangerous incitement by conspirators eternally dissatisfied with the outcome of the last presidential poll.

August 20, 2023
Nairobi moments

I have travelled to Kenya more than seven times in the last 15 years. I was back in the country recently for a meeting and noted the following moments among others.

Very cold in Nairobi

I should have paid attention to the pre-travel weather advice that July is usually one of the coldest months in Kenya. It was so cold most of the days that I usually shiver while outside in any enclosed space.

I couldn’t walk barefoot in the room and was grateful to the hotel for giving me a thick blanket without asking for one. Not only the visitors complained about the cold, Kenyans also did.

How is your new President?

Almost everyone I told I’m a Nigerian asked how our new President is doing. They obviously followed the last campaigns and general election from the questions they asked.

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Hope he will be better than Buhari. How true are the accusations against him? Why didn’t “Peter the Rock” win with all we read about him online? I did my best to explain what I think of the election and the present situation.

Kenyan Airways

I’m not sure why I was one of the passengers on the Kenyan Airways flight from Lagos asked to give feedback on the services by the airline, but I was glad to do so.

“Always a pleasure to fly KQ. It’s truly the Pride of Africa. They keep to their schedule and the inflight service is very good” I wrote. The airline is 46 years old.

No corruption-free zone

If there’s anywhere corruption of any kind is not tolerated in Kenya, the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is one of the places. The inscription at the entrance of the toll gate where every passenger has to disembark and walk through the screening machine says so.

However, a on arrival, a policeman at the airport tried hard to get my colleague and I from Nigeria to give him any amount even when we told him we did not need his help for any entry requirements but we didn’t budge.

He trailed us from the Health checkpoint for Yellow Fever Vaccination Card, through the baggage collection point to the arrival gate.

No power outage

For the one week we stayed in Nairobi there was no second of power outage. There was no generator in sight anywhere in the hotel we stayed or in any building, we passed by. I didn’t see anyone with a Power bank for telephones.

Does that mean they don’t experience blackouts I asked a staff of the hotel?

“We rarely do, but we have a backup just in case and there will be an advance notice if there will be any,” he explained.

No wonder, a female journalist who would love to visit Nigeria says she can’t live for a long time in Nigeria. “How do I cope with the blackouts and noise of generators?”

Nigeria music flooding everywhere

A speaker at the meeting we attended spoke of how her son usually complains of how dull her organization’s social media engagement is. She said her son suggested among others the use of “one of those Nigerian popular music taking over the place, Baby come down or something like that.”

Nigerian wears

Nigerians and other West Africans who attended the forum stood out with the clothes we wore. We were roundly commended by the Kenyans for the traditional wear that gave us a distinctly African identity.

“We Kenyans don’t have traditional wears like Nigerians and other West Africans. I envy you, people. We are stuck with wearing English wears all the time. I told the lady from Togo to bring me a bag full of clothes the next time she is coming to Kenya,” a Kenyan participant said.

Beware of Nigerians

Kenyans generally like Nigerians for what they call our “Can do” spirit. They say we are very enterprising and daring, but should be dealt with like someone intending to dine with the devil.

“They are many Nigerians here who do all kinds of businesses, but you must be careful about what you buy from them. Imagine Nigerians preaching in our local language Swahili,” a taxi driver said.

August 20, 2023
Oluropo Sekoni at 80

Except for Professors Olatunji Dare and Adebayo Williams that I had known previously, I met virtually the remaining senior citizens on the Editorial Board of ‘The Nation’ at the newspaper’s Fatai Atere Way, Lagos, headquarters, where we used to meet physically without fail, come rain, come shine every Wednesday, until the coronavirus pandemic revolutionised the way we now conduct the weekly ritual. Just as it did redefine how the entire world works or plays, or does several other things that we used to do physically.

I am here talking of Professors Oluropo Sekoni, Jide Oshuntokun and Ambassador Dapo Fafowora. These are all great names that I had been hearing a long time before our paths crossed at this newspaper’s inception in 2006.

I have had the opportunity of writing on all these men except Prof. Sekoni. Today, he takes the centre-stage. The retired Professor of Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies clocked 80 on August 10, thus becoming a member of the Octogenarian Club from that day.

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When on July 26, I received the invitation to Prof’s (that’s what we call him and other professors on the board) birthday bash from his wife, I promised nothing would stand between me and the ceremony. This was for the simple reason that I had missed the one he celebrated when he turned 70 in 2013. That was at the Lagos City Hall on Lagos Island. That birthday was preceded by presentation of Prof. Sekoni’s book, ‘Federalism and the Yoruba Character’, as well as the launch of his Yoruba Insight and Innovation Initiatives (YIII) on Wednesday, August 7, 2013. The birthday party followed on Saturday, August 10. It could not have been otherwise for a man of Sekoni’s stature.

How time flies! I cannot believe it’s 10 years since.

Although I was not at that 2013 birthday party, my wife and daughter who attended came back with the report of how grand the occasion was. How guests were spoilt beyond description with virtually everything under the sun. – choice cuisines, exotic wines, good music, etc., all in a convivial atmosphere. Their situation report on the event made me determined to be at Prof’s 80th birthday, God sparing our lives.

But it was not to be. Again, an impediment. And one which was probably even more compelling than the one that made me miss his 70th birthday party.

But my wife was there as usual. Indeed, as I drove her to the venue of the party at their beautiful Abiola Gardens home, I was tempted to drop and at least say ‘hello’ to the celebrator. But then, what was on ground was such that I could not afford to because I knew I would be tempted to stay longer than I could imagine. But I could feel the aura of what was happening in the compound even from outside because the gate was wide open, apparently for the day. It is usually under lock and key. That is what the country’s security situation demands.

Prof Sekoni’s stewardship on the editorial board of this newspaper is remarkable. As I always say when writing about the people of their generation (that those of us who are younger, in some cases their former students in the university) are privileged to sit with at least once a week to deliberate on ‘burning national and international issues’, the benefit of hindsight that the opportunity provided is unquantifiable. As the elders say, ‘b’omode ba laso bi agba, ko le lakisa bi agba’ (if a child has clothes like the elder, he cannot have as many rags as the elder). I guess the proverb explains itself. Clothes are good; still, rags too have their own uses that we cannot use clothes for.

I can’t quantify what we gained by way of the knowledge and experiences of these great men on the editorial board. The ease with which they recalled events that ended up further enriching discourse on the board is confounding. Despite the fact that we all see the editorial board meeting as serious business (sometimes we had hot arguments, depending on the topic and individual member’s position on it), we usually ended on a happy note. The meeting was hardly ever drab, what with the sometimes salacious jokes more often by the senior citizens! I must confess COVID-19 has robbed us of the presence of these eminent personalities.

With regard to Prof Sekoni specifically, he ceased to participate in editorial board meetings since July 2021 when his cardiologist “decreed that, given my cardiovascular situation, I had to stop all activities requiring deadlines”.

Of course the cardiologist’s ‘decree’ also affected his column. Thank God the ‘decree’ came after Prof had contributed about 700 Sunday columns and 40 draft editorials. He also attended a total of 600 weekly editorial meetings —face-to-face or online, in his 15 years stay with ‘The Nation’. If this newspaper is heavy and rich in incisive intellectual stuffs, we do not have to look too far for the reason/s.

Prof Sekoni used both his column and editorial contributions to promote the cause of the Yoruba nation and federalism generally in the true sense of the word, in sharp contrast to the 1999 Constitution foisted on us by the departing soldiers.

Sekoni is not a politician. But he has been a silent contributor to the democracy we have today. Or to the civil rule we now enjoy, if that would make those of us who do not think it is yet democracy in Nigeria, happy. Yet, when you see him, you can hardly notice he has such a fighting spirit. Indeed, his mien betrays his great contributions alongside other well-meaning Nigerians who helped push the soldiers away from the political scene after decades of their dictatorship.

In Nigeria, we hardly celebrate silent achievers. Rather, we focus attention on politicians, many of whom have contributed in no small measure to the sorry pass that the country is in today.

Of course, I had always known that Prof was a part of the democratic struggle. That he was a member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), that thorn in the flesh of the country’s sit-tight generals who kept shifting the goal post of returning the country to civil rule. But I didn’t know the extent of his involvement. He told aspects of the story: “Activism for change or improvement of existing situations had always driven my life from my primary school days till the days of struggle for de-militarisation of the Nigerian polity under the aegis of NADECO.”

Sekoni was chairman of Action Group for Democracy’s (AGFD) Political and Strategic Committee, one of the sister organisations of Egbe Isokan Yoruba in Washington. In that capacity, “I became involved in the mobilisation of members of Yoruba cultural organisations within North America, South America, the Caribbean, and the West African region. My remit in this respect was to encourage Yoruba cultural groups where they already existed and stimulate new ones to participate in the struggle for the restoration of democracy in Nigeria.”

I was also asked to serve as the editor of AUTONOMY ALERT, a weekly newsletter, and to assist Professor Gbadegesin in a weekly shortwave radio broadcast on two themes: restoration of the presidential mandate of Chief MKO Abiola, the restoration of full federalism in Nigeria through political and economic restructuring.”.

A native of Ondo in Ondo State, Prof visits his home base frequently. Born on August 10, 1943, Sekoni taught at both University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, for about 15 years. He had also served as secretary and acting president, respectively, of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). He was also at a time editor of ‘Ife Horizon’ (ASUU newspaper) and later of Citation of Lincoln University’s branch of American Association of University Professors (AAUP), upon his relocation to the United States. Prof has also had to train ‘The Nation’s’ reporters on use of English. There is still a lot to say about Prof Sekoni. But space would not permit.

Other eminent Nigerians in the NADECO train included Chief Anthony Enahoro, Lt-General Alani Akinrinade, Senator Bola Tinubu, Dapo Olorunyomi, Chief John Oyegun, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, Chief Amos Akingba, Mr. Wale Oshun, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, to name just a few. The team played a key role in the restoration of democracy or civil rule that we have in Nigeria today. Tinubu is now President of the Federal Republic.

Prof, you will celebrate 90, you will celebrate 100 and beyond in good health and prosperity. I said 100 and beyond because I don’t want to limit your existence on earth in view of the experience of one of our former governors, (now late), who had years before his death thought he was still a long way to 70 when he said if he was lucky to clock 70 years, he would be grateful to God and be ready to go, only to later realise that that is when one actually begins to enjoy what he called the ‘mudun-mudun’ of life. I think that was on his 70th birthday. He then longed for an extension which he never had as he died only a few months after his 70th birthday.

If my understanding of the Yoruba language, a language that is rich in meaning, culture and wisdom, is not failing me, ‘mudun-mudun’ that the late governor meant is beyond good food and exotic wines or cars. But it is also far beyond what can be described in a family newspaper like this!

A friend of mine would simply capture all I had told in the epistle by the former governor thus: it is only when orange is not sweet that one would be satisfied after sucking only one. But there is nothing to fear in sucking as many as 200 if the oranges are sweet!

So, Prof, all I am saying is that you will continue to enjoy the ‘mudun-mudun’ for as long as it pleases God Almighty. You will also continue to reap the fruits of your labour.

Congratulations. Happy birthday and many happy returns sir.

August 20, 2023