The Nation Newspaper

Category: Tunji Adegboyega

  • Power without power

    Power without power

    • Whatever power state govts have on power sector is useless if tariffs are still centrally determined.

    IF there is anything that could pass for a good problem, it is the brouhaha sparked by the Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (EERC) decision to tamper with the extant tariff regime for Band A electricity customers in Enugu State. EERC has decided to review the tariff for the affected customers from N209.5 per kilowatt-hour to N160/kWh. This would have taken effect from August 1, but for the dampener from the sector’s regulator, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, (NERC) which said state governments do not have the right to determine power tariffs in so far as they still get power from the so-called national grid.

    Band A customers receive at least 20 hours or more of power supply daily and pay N209.5/kWh.

    The journey to the increased tariff actually started in April 2024 when NERC approved a steep tariff hike for ‘Band A’ electricity consumers, from N68/kWh to N225/kWh. This was later revised to N206.8 and again to N209.5/kWh.

    Band B: minimum 16 hours of electricity supply per day (N63/kwh), Band C: 12 hours (54/kwh), Band D: eight hours (N48/kwh) and Band E: four hours (N43/kwh).

    Power consumers in Band A decried the over 200 per cent hike then to no avail. Even the rich cried and have been crying that the difference of about four hours of power supply daily could not have justified the huge disparity in the tariffs paid by Bands A and B power consumers, respectively.

    This was the situation until July 20 when EERC announced that it had reduced the Band A tariff in the state from N209/kWh to N160/kWh, while keeping tariffs for Bands B, C, D, and E frozen. The commission then issued a new tariff order to MainPower Electricity Distribution Limited, its new subsidiary to this effect.

    According to the Order No. EERC/2025/003, the move was deemed cost-reflective, adding that the tariff must reflect the power generation subsidy by the Federal Government.

    EERC Chairman, Chijioke Okonkwo, explained in an interview with AIT on July 21 that “We have put out regulations that would guide the development of our own state-specific electricity market. One of our regulations happens to be the Tariff Methodology Regulation of 2024.

    “This work on tariff review started over six months ago when we assumed full regulatory oversight over our electricity space in Enugu State. And following that, we have since issued a number of regulations to guide the development of our own state-specific electricity market, including the Tariff Methodology Regulation of 2024,” he said.

    Expectedly, all the stakeholders in the power sector cried foul. The Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Power Generation Companies (GenCos) Joy Ogaji, said that EERC had set a dangerous precedent for other state electricity companies to follow despite the fact that its action did not reflect the true cost of electricity generation.

    Ogaji said “It is imperative to state that there is no FGN policy on subsidies. It is a debt accumulation,” she stated, warning ”that the N45 per kWh being covered leaves a 60 per cent cost gap that EERC assumed would be filled by the Federal Government, despite no official or cash-backed subsidies in place.

    Enugu State is the first state to come up with this type of decision.

    At this juncture it is appropriate to point out that EERC and indeed other state governments that are now trying to assert themselves in the power equation derive their power from the signing into law of some 16 amendments to the constitution by then President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023. The good news came via a tweet by the presidential media spokesperson, Tolu Ogunlesi.

     “Another landmark change: By virtue of the presidential assent, Nigerian states can now generate, transmit and distribute electricity in areas covered by the national grid. (This) wasn’t allowed pre-amendment. This is genuine, realistic restructuring — through the constitution.”

    Read ALso: Traders count losses as power outage ruins businesses at Osun’s biggest shopping complex

    Expectedly, too, some other states have said they would review the tariff regime, especially for Band A customers. Inasmuch as all the states in the country now have the power to generate and distribute electricity, at least seven states, according to the NERC now control their electricity markets in accordance with the Electricity Act 2023.

    As we speak, some of the states are beginning to indicate their desire to also reduce the tariffs. These include Plateau State Electricity Commission. The chairman of the commission, Bagudu Hirse, said “We are working towards making life better for the citizens of Plateau State, and we will bring down the electricity tariff for our people. Take it from me, as soon as we resume, that will be our focus,” Hirse stated.

    On its part, the Lagos State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Biodun Ogunleye, said Lagos was studying the tariff plan and that it would announce its own soon. “We are studying what they (EERC) have released. We are looking at the number, and we are going to make some pronouncements shortly”.

    Also, the Ondo State Government said it would soon reduce electricity tariffs like Enugu State. The state commissioner for energy and mineral resources, Johnson Alabi, said “We are the first in all ramifications to carry out this kind of thing; others are only learning from us. What is happening in Enugu is already happening here. The only thing is that we have not spoken to the media about what we are doing…

    “Once we sign our power purchase agreement, we will determine what the tariff will be. We will determine it by ourselves. We are already determining tariffs for some would-be investors who are here because we are buying our energy ourselves, which is strange for any state so far. It is only in those states that have initiated electricity market operation whereby we purchase our power directly from the Transmission Company of Nigeria.”

    I want to see the new development spawned by EERC’s tariff review for Band A downward as a good problem because this would probably be the first time that DisCos are having the heat really turned on them. And that is part of the beauty of liberalisation. All over the world, the customer is said to be king. Not in Nigeria; specifically not with the DisCos. They have always served as the accuser, the policeman and judge in matters affecting them and their customers.

    There is no doubt that EERC may be wrong in its assumptions about what should constitute the real elements of the Band A billing. Just as there is also no doubt that other states that may carry out similar reviews may also not be entirely right. But the undeniable fact too is that the DisCos have been generally a bundle of disappointment as far as many Nigerians are concerned. We do not have any cause not to doubt too that the so-called Band A tariff is not overpriced.

    As a matter of fact, even the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, saw this ambiguity and announced government’s intention to regularise it sometime ago. Apparently this has not been possible because of threats from Labour and perhaps other pressure groups.

    But my advice to the state governments and other serious-minded entities that may want to take advantage of this Buhari law on power is that they should find every possible way to boycott particularly the DisCos because that is the only way this country can break from the shackles of darkness. Our experience with them has shown that they cannot take us anywhere. 

    Indeed, I am not surprised that they are already vehemently opposing EERC’s idea. It could not have been otherwise for DisCos that have been spoon-fed ever since their so-called privatisation by the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2013.

    These are mostly entities that lacked both the technical and financial capacities but were just handed over the organisations on ‘paddy-paddy’ basis. And everybody seems to be saying this, yet, successive governments seem comfy with tolerating them at the expense of Nigerians.

    Ever since I was born, we never bought electricity meters in Nigeria until the DisCos came. Now you buy meters that you cannot take away from one location to the other when you are changing apartments (because it is not all the time that landlords pay for these meters).  A tenant that pays for his meter forfeits that meter when changing apartment. In fact,  the whole arrangement is just ridiculous. These are entities that know little or nothing about good corporate governance. I doubt if what the NERC is now saying was what Buhari had in mind when he further liberalised the sector by granting the state governments the autonomy to generate and distribute power.

    Pricing has remained contentious in the power equation for decades. That is why any independence given the state governments to take charge of power supply in their respective domains is useless if they cannot determine the tariff. Only those who handed us the current tariffs know the basis of their computation. The suspicion of most Nigerians is that we are paying for every affliction that the DisCos in particular suffer from — corruption, inefficiency, incompetence and what have you.

    But, why did we get this far before the state regulatory agencies are realising that they cannot fix tariff? Did they not go through the deals they signed with the NERC before they got their licences?

    Anyway, we should first drive away the thief before chastising the owner of the stolen property that he too did not keep his property well.

    With this depressing development from NERC what the situation calls for is for the state governments to look well into the agreements that they signed while they were being handed their independence and see if there is a way they could challenge the NERC’s position in court.

    At any rate, NERC could even be right by law; but that legal position cannot take the country anywhere, especially if we are truly desirous of achieving the $200bn economy by 2030.

    Alternatively, the state governments should put on their thinking caps and begin to look for ways to bypass the DisCos by having entities that can compete with them, however they do that.

    Even the minister said in February that ”They (DisCos) have refused to invest in this sector. Fine, it can be explained in a way…” I don’t know what can be explained in any way beyond the fact that the companies got their licences on a platter, with Nigerians now being forced to subsidise their operations. Rather than go to bank to source for funds, they extort all manner of charges from customers only to start repaying with electricity units in cases where the customers have a voice. Only God knows how many voiceless Nigerians the DisCos have got their money under false pretense.

    I have always said it; that Nigerians do not have to die for DisCos to live. This is what successive governments have been doing pampering them. It should not continue under our Renewed Hope Agenda.

    Whatever independence the state governments have on power supply is meaningless if they cannot determine tariff. If these DisCos are the ones to take us to the promised land, it would’ve been so evident in the last 12 years.

  • Buhari: Remember six feet

    Buhari: Remember six feet

    Nigeria would be great again the day our leaders start to remember that they don’t have death in their pocket

    Even as an unrepentant critic of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, I concede that the man was great in death. As a journalist, why I am a natural critic of Buhari as president is not far-fetched.   At his first coming as military head of state in December 1983, the then General Buhari, among other things, promulgated the infamous Decree Four that was for all intents and purposes, a press gag law. The problem with that decree was that it was not after the truth but more concerned about not embarrassing public officials. No true journalist would like a regime that came up with such a draconian idea.

    That was why, when, during the Sallah of 2014 (I think) when we were catching fun in the house of a commissioner-friend in Lagos State, we discussed a series of issues over exotic wine and sumptuous meal. The 2015 elections were around the corner then. We were enjoying ourselves when a former commissioner in the state literally fouled the air, as it were, when he touted Buhari as a possible presidential candidate. Mind you, over 95 percent of the about 12 of us in the sitting room are journalists. Our reaction was spontaneous NO WAY. Thank God, we didn’t say that would only happen over our dead body, dejected as we were that such a satanic idea could have come from a senior colleague. Otherwise, we would have been forced to swallow our words when Buhari later became president.

    We debated the matter. In the end, the senior colleague asked one simple question: what did we think was Nigeria’s worst challenge then? Of course that was a simple question that even a pupil in kindergarten could answer. Indeed, it was not a matter of what we thought, but a matter of what was the main problem. We all answered: corruption. Then the next logical question: who did we think could solve the problem? Was it Atiku Abubakar? We were all silent because none of us believed Atiku had the guts to fight corruption. At the end of the day, we all grudgingly agreed that it was Buhari, given his stance against corruption when he was military head of state between December 1983 and August 1985.

    At that point, it became clear that Buhari was going to be the candidate of the three political parties that eventually formed the All Progressives Congress (APC) –the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

    The 2015 general election finally came and Buhari won, defeating the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan in the first such election where an incumbent president would be defeated in the country.

    He was sworn in and the rest is history.

    A lot has been said about his performance in office, so I wouldn’t want to dwell much on that. Rather, I want to make this a somewhat philosophical piece for our present leaders, particularly those of them who act and talk as if they already have death in their pocket.

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    Nonetheless, I said that Buhari was an analogue president who came in a digital age. I said that much while he was president, so, if I say it now, I cannot be accused of speaking evil about the dead. Whatever that is supposed to mean even? For me, that would be one of Buhari’s biggest mistakes. That was why, right under his nose, one of his top officials (or were they many?) could have owned 753 duplexes in the same Abuja that he was living without him knowing. A digital president would have got wind of that. The sad part of it was that when some of us called his attention to some of the barefaced corruption and cluelessness that defined his presidency, Buhari never listened. Our voices were like that of John the Baptist in the wilderness. As a matter of fact, I was so frustrated at some point that I was always saying that his top officials must have got the original of whatever they used to cast a spell on him because that was the only thing that would have made a president so aloof in the circumstance.

    As I said, I am not writing to praise Buhari or to bury him. I leave the question of whether he did well or not to posterity. This piece is more of one for introspection on the part of Nigeria’s current leaders.

    I watched a substantial part of the man’s burial live on television on Tuesday. I was fascinated by what I saw, particularly the place called his house where his remains were eventually buried. It was too modest for comfort, given the status of the man Muhammadu Buhari, ex-this, ex-that; former governor, former Minister of Petroleum, former chairman, Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), among others. What many of our politicians would call lucrative appointments that they would be ready to die for. Indeed, many Nigerians who eye public office would have mansions as head of the least rewarding of these institutions.

    And, to those of you who would be asking or wondering what of his house outside Nigeria, the man had answered your question before he died. “In one of my meetings with King Charles III, he asked me an interesting question if I had a house in England, and I replied that I don’t have a house, not an inch, anywhere outside Nigeria,” then President Buhari said while receiving Letters of Credence from the High Commissioner of the United Kingdom, Richard Hugh Montgomery, and his counterpart from Sri Lanka, Velupillai Kananathan, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja in May 2023, shortly before he left office.

    For me, this counts not just for something but for a lot, especially in a country where corruption is rampant and many people see public appointments as avenues for corrupt enrichment and personal aggrandisement.  When we see what some local government chairmen own just after four years in office, you wonder what product they are producing that is yielding so huge profit to provide the kind of comfort they sustain. Governors are in a world of their own.

    Buhari is dead and gone for aye. But I was somewhat touched when I read in the social media that Aisha, his wife, said after the man’s death that he asked her to apologise to Nigerians that he might have offended. And, as if to be answering the question of where precisely Buhari told her that, Aisha said: “Ever since he left office, he often told me that if he passed away before me, I should kindly ask Nigerians to forgive him for any wrongs he might have committed during his time in power.”

    Again, whether Buhari did well in office or not, he had a befitting burial. I doubt if there has been any Nigerian leader that had received the kind of befitting burial that the man got in recent years, and within so short notice. He died at about 4.30pm on Sunday, July 13, in a clinic in London and, his remains were committed to mother earth about 48 hours later in his hometown, Daura, Katsina State. Yet, it was as if he had died a long time ago and there was adequate time to prepare for his burial. Credit for this goes to the present government that did the needful in the circumstance.

    Everything, including the weather cooperated on Tuesday that he was buried. There was no rain even as the usually hot Katsina State had a relatively low temperature that made the occasion somewhat more of a pleasant experience for the mourners and guests that thronged the town of Daura from where Buhari hailed, to pay their last respects to him.

    My people would say “o ye Buhari, egan ni hee” (Buhari’s burial was grand unless we want to badmouth it)!

    Those who might have been wondering whether it was true he really had over 12 million votes on two of the four occasions he contested for the office of president must have seen it was for real and not the kind of fluke that usually attends such claims by politicians. He had six million in one and 15 million in another; that was when Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (now president) intervened to boost his popular votes in the south. But for this, Jonathan would have had a better spread of votes and Buhari would have lost.

    I don’t want to be dragged into this unnecessary debate about Tinubu’s contribution to Buhari’s victory in 2015. But sometimes, not to do that would allow those wanting to turn history upside down to gain an undeserved and fallacious upper hand. As a matter of fact, I was also at a meeting of a few persons in the thick of Buhari’s illness where Tinubu said and I quote: ”Buhari, even on a stretcher”, unapologetically making his position known at a time many had written Buhari off.

    Be that as it may, the truth is; the man, Buhari, had the crowd. And when I say the crowd, I meant a genuine mammoth crowd of believers as against the rented crowds that many a politician is reputed for in this part of the world.

    Indeed, what kept running on my mind as I watched his interment live was that this could have been anybody. Here was a man who twice led this country, first as a military dictator and later as a democratically elected president, motionless. His body was wrapped with cloth just like any other person, and he was dropped six feet underneath like any other mortal, a sad reminder of the fact death is indeed a leveller. No special provision was made to import soil for his burial. No burial tourism.

    If our leaders reflect deeply on such occasions, this country would be a far better place to live in. They would realise that all these rat race for political office, stupendous wealth and fame would end the very day death comes knocking. I want to become this, I want to become that automatically comes to an end.

    I am here talking to today’s leaders in the country, from local government chairmen to governors and ultimately the president. They should all remember six feet. If they do, they will always do the rightful and Nigeria would be a better place for us all, even as their names would be etched in gold. That way, nobody would need to solicit for forgiveness for them when they die because they would have earned genuine commendation from Nigerians.  

    Definitely, it is not possible to please everybody at the levels of national service that Buhari operated. Nobody can walk without his head shaking, unless he has a stiff neck. What is important is for the office holder to do something good for the greater majority. Government policies must necessarily produce both positive and negative consequences. For instance, Tinubu government’s decision to remove fuel subsidy put an end to some people’s access to easy money without lifting a finger, and such people would never see anything good in the government. But the government should not worry about that, in so far as its decision serves the interest of the greater majority.

    That is the most profound lesson for them from Buhari’s death.

  • Dane guns vs. AK-47

    Dane guns vs. AK-47

    This apparent mismatch is Gov. Alia’s own way of capturing the herders/farmers crisis in Benue

    When the Samuel Ortom administration began the implementation of the Anti-Open Grazing Law in Benue State in November 2017, many people had thought that was going to give them some respite given what they had gone through in the hands of killer herdsmen in the state. The law was signed by the governor in May of the year. It prohibits open rearing and grazing of livestock in the state, as well as provides for the establishment of ranches. The aim was to minimise clashes between farmers and herders.

    About eight years down the line, the respite hoped for by the enactment of the law has not materialised. Indeed, Benue State appears marked out for attacks by the herdsmen who had forced people in the state to organise several emergency mass burials arising from casualties during farmer/herders clashes.

    Governor Ortom was said to have faithfully implemented the law. However, his successor, Hyacinth Alia, under whose watch the anti-open grazing law had reportedly witnessed some relaxation in its implementation, is now feeling the heat.

    Recently, a group, Benue Advocacy Network, has had to raise the poser as to why insecurity persists, especially in the rural communities in the state, despite the existence of the anti-grazing law. In a statement signed by its president, Enoch Ortese, the group requested the governor to address the concerns of the people regarding governance, transparency and security.

    The group is also worried by the continual rise in the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) across the state, contrary to the governor’s campaign promise to return the IDPs to their ancestral homes within the first 100 days of office.

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    There were other allegations levelled against the state government by the group which also requested the government to publish financial receipts and expenditures, with details of contract awards, and why local governments in the state have not started to enjoy immunity.

    “Instead of fulfilling his promise to return IDPs to their ancestral homes within the first 100 days of his administration, the governor has constructed additional camps and tents for the displaced people.

    “We demand an explanation for this approach and a clear plan for the safe and sustainable return of the IDPs,” the group stated.

    The group obviously carries some weight because the government could not be silent to its requests.

    But I am not so much interested in the financial details even if I have to commend the group for doing what many people are not doing in their respective states. They are not asking their governors any question, even as the allocations they are now receiving have more than doubled in some cases.

    I appear more interested in the governor’s answer concerning the increasing killing of innocent people by some herdsmen in the state.

    According to Gov. Alia, the Benue State Protection Guards set up to implement the anti-grazing law cannot match the herders weapon-for-weapon. Whereas the guards are only permitted to carry Dane guns, the herders’ militias brazenly wield AK-47 and AK-49 rifles.

    The governor, who spoke through his chief press secretary, Kula Tersoo, said “The governor has been very open about the problem of implementing the anti-open grazing law, because the enforcers, the state Civil Protection Guards, are not permitted to bear arms except licensed guns.

    “But the unfortunate development is that these herdsmen are being protected by their militias who carry AK-47 and AK-49, even while grazing their cattle.

    “You can try and find out the number of mobile police that had been killed by these herders’ militias, even though they are well trained to confront enemies.

    “So, if MOPOL could not arrest these armed herders, is it the State Protection Guards who don’t have access to sophisticated weapons that will do?”

    This is a serious matter. The matter is worsened by the fact that, according to the governor, even when the civil protection guards try to confront the herders, they sometimes flee to neighbouring Nasarawa State where there is no anti-grazing law. This probably explains why the governor wants the law to be a national matter.

    I am disturbed because this is not the first time that people have accused herders of going about with sophisticated weapons. I am not speaking for Gov. Alia, but I am particularly worried because this kind of thing is happening in the 21st century Nigeria. Where did the herders get militias that carry such sophisticated weapons from? Where do they get the arms? Are they licensed to carry such arms?

    I have heard the argument before that because of their itinerant nature in bushes and forests, they need such protection against cattle rustlers and others who might want to disturb their operations.

    Indeed, Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, is one such person. But the director of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Professor Ishaq Akintola, gave an appropriate response to Mohammed’s submission: “Bala Mohammed should not try to pull the wool over our faces. Is it not those arms herders use to intimidate farmers in Zamfara, Kebbi, Kaduna, Enugu, Ibadan, etc? Is it not the same arms they use to kidnap and rape? No herder has the right to carry dangerous weapons like AK-47. Are they going to war?”

    And, as he added, if we do not address the crisis frontally, we may be inviting food crisis because that is what to expect when the fear of armed herdsmen has to be the beginning of wisdom for farmers.

    “Farms are being deserted in the North East, North West, North Central, South West and South South. We have sent an invitation to famine and I pray the invitation will not be honoured. There may be famine very soon if the situation is not urgently addressed. A practice that threatens food production nationwide has to stop.”

    I don’t have problem with people trying to protect themselves from bandits and other criminal elements. But the pertinent questions I asked above deserve to be answered, otherwise, it would only be a matter of time for other Nigerians to carry their own arms, also ostensibly in self-defence.

    Obviously too, it is the owners of the cows (and not the herders that go about with the animals) that provide the herders with the sophisticated rifles. It therefore would not be a bad idea for rich farmers to reciprocate same by also providing the hands on their farms with weapons.

    As the MURIC boss noted, it has now become obvious that most of these herders carry the arms not only for purposes of self-defence but to harass other Nigerians out of their own legitimate businesses or even homelands.

    This is what has been playing out in seven parts of the country where herders/farmers clashes are more pronounced.

    As recently as April, this year, no fewer than 50 communities across five local government areas in Benue State were said to have been sacked by armed herdsmen, according to the Benue State Emergency Management Agency. These included Sengev, Gbaange/Tongov, Saav, Mbapupuu/Tswarev, Mbabuande Kyaav, Mbapa, Tsambe/Mbesev, Sengev/Yengev, Merkyegh, Nyamshi, Tijime, Tyough Ater, and Njaha, where herders were said to have settled comfortably with their cows. “Our community has been abandoned for years due to repeated attacks. Public facilities like markets, healthcare centres, and schools have all been destroyed,” a retired comptroller of prisons and President of Mdzou U Tiv Worldwide, Iorbee Ihagh, lamented the destruction of entire communities in the Moon ward of Kwande local government area where he hails from.

    Yet, Benue is not the only state in Nigeria where this has happened. In 2001, about 102 communities were said to have been sacked and renamed by herdsmen in Plateau State. According to the son of the first Gbong Gwom of Jos and spokesperson for Southern Middle Belt Alliance, SAMBA, Prince Rwang Pam Jr., in an interview in 2001, security agents knew they were occupying their homes, and that children and women who ran into schools when the rampaging herders arrived were trailed and killed, even as elections were held in the ‘captured’ territories.

    However, since Benue State has provision for ranching, the state government should go ahead to see that it works. It must ensure that its law mandating the establishment of ranches is enforced. Here, one would however remember the dangers in this, especially with the fight between the herders and farmers not being one among equals. As Akintola said, “Anybody with a loaded pistol has the power of life or death over his neighbour unless he is a law enforcement agent protecting the citizens. It is a different picture entirely when herders bear arms openly.”

    A situation where nomads still go about with sophisticated and probably unlicensed arms would seem to suggest that they are not yet ready to embrace modernity. They must be made to embrace ranching as the modern way to do their business. Even their cows would thank them for this. The Federal Ministry of Livestock Development and agencies of government responsible for advocacy should not just initiate enlightenment campaign to make the herders accept ranching as the way to go; they must sustain the campaign until the import sinks in the heads of the herders.

    Nobody has a monopoly of breaking laws or treating same with levity. This is why the respective governments at state or federal level must ensure they stop giving the impression that they support carrying of illegal arms by murderous herdsmen while this is forbidden for farmers.

    We do not have to wait for the natural consequence of everyone carrying  illegal sophisticated arms for self-protection against bandits and murderers who masquerade as herdsmen before doing the rightful.

  • Diri wants third term

    Diri wants third term

    Bayelsa governor says eight years are not enough to deliver on his mandate

    I must confess I have been too far from Bayelsa State. But I remember an article I wrote on March 31, 2013, when the then Governor Seriake Dickson was advocating the criminalisation of ‘Dem say, dem say journalism’. I remember Prof Olatunji Dare, this newspaper’s editorial adviser, also published a piece he titled ‘From the cell phones’, which were reactions to the governor’s peculiar wish that some of the columnists in this paper, including myself, published on the issue.

    Twelve years after, I am here commenting again on another equally peculiar request of the incumbent governor, Douye Diri, that has attracted negative reactions from certain quarters.

    Given the kind of country we are in, not a few people have been piqued by the governor’s request for more time for governors in office. Indeed, I knew the governor would be pilloried for asking for tenure extension for governors when about a week ago I first came across the news in the social media. I took it with a pinch of salt initially, coming from the social media where everyone is now a journalist. But by the time I saw the news in the mainstream media, it dawned on me that the governor was not misquoted. At any rate, up till the time of putting finishing touches to this piece yesterday, the governor has not denied the statement.

    But first, what exactly did Governor Diri say?

    Just about what I told you earlier: the man wants third term for governors to enable them complete their good works. Senator Diri seized the opportunity of his ‘Thank you tour’ to the eight local government areas of the state to make the passionate plea.

    Speaking specifically at the King Koko Square in Nembe, headquarters of the Nembe Local Government Area of the state, before a large crowd during the tour, Diri said he wants the National Assembly lawmakers to consider tinkering with the constitution towards this noble and patriotic objective.

    Hear the governor: “It is not proper to start a project and abandon it for another government. So, some of your demands can be achieved. But I will suggest you talk to Hon. Marie Ebikake, Hon. Fred Agbedi, Hon. Oforji Oboku and Senator Benson Agadaga to tell the National Assembly to tinker with the constitution.

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    “They should tinker with the constitution and consider giving governors third term in office. With that done, I can accomplish some of your demands.”

    Isn’t this good enough a reason for governors to have third term?

    But Nigerians, ever impatient as usual, did not even wait to let the governor finish before taking on him. I wasn’t surprised, though. Our people like throwing away the baby with the bath water. The same thing they did when the then President Olusegun Obasanjo began the third term gambit. The National Assembly at the time also threw away other goodies with third term not necessarily because they did not like the idea, but because they hated the face of the person on whose behalf a case was being made for it. I chose my words carefully. Yes, I said ‘’ they hated the face of the person on whose behalf a case was being made for it’’ because the person at the centre of it all, president Obasanjo, craved for third term like mad and worked assiduously towards it, without opening his mouth.

    In the case of Gov. Diri, there was no pretension about it. I do not know whether he even had such a thing in mind before going to Nembe. What is in the public domain is that the request came as his response to the demand by the people that his government may not be able to complete some of the good works it started due to inadequate time.

    Lest we forget, Senator Diri became governor in February 2020. He won reelection and was sworn in for second term in February, last year. Meaning he should quit, other things being equal, in February 2028. That is less than three years from now.

    The governor gave account of some of his achievements to the people. He told them that by the end of the year, the state should be in a position to provide electricity supply to them.

    “As you are aware, your state government has procured an independent power plant and very soon, we will no longer depend on the existing power supply arrangement. We will soon take delivery of the 60 megawatt gas turbines and the site for the installation is almost completed”, the governor said.

    He added that: “We are rich in gas and by the end of this year; the problem of power supply will be a thing of the past in this state. It is expected to cover Yenagoa, Nembe, Ogbia, Kolokuma/Opokuma, Sagbama and parts of Ekeremor local government areas.”

    It would seem to me that Gov. Diri is on a silent revolution in Bayelsa because I have some knowledge (or so I thought until now) of states that are likely to come up with their own power production and Diri’s Bayelsa is nowhere on the list. Isn’t this good enough news?

    I want to suspect third term surreptitiously crept in when the people talked about construction of the Igbeta-Ewoama-Okoroba Road.

    That was when the governor said he was beginning to face time constraints. Even then, he promised to partner federal agencies such as the Niger Delta Development Commission and South-South Development Commission to facilitate some of the projects.

    So, what is wrong with the governor suggesting that governors’ tenure be extended from the present eight years maximum to, say, 12? Or even 16, if the situation so demands? Are we not all aware that projects are never equal? While some can simply be bought off the shelf and coupled, others take time to come to fruition. Like roads, for instance. Especially the kinds of roads that the governor has in mind. Such laudable projects cannot be completed in three years!

    Gov. Diri would appear to be talking sense when we realise that some governors simply abandon their predecessors’ uncompleted projects, no matter the stage of completion. This is the source of many abandoned projects in the country. Isn’t it better then for the person who began a project to finish it, even if that would take two more terms? Many of our states are yearning for development and tenure extension is one stone that could be used to kill two birds: complete developmental projects as well as check wastage of resources associated with abandoned projects.

    Mind you, the man is making the case only for governors, not all elected officials. And some people are saying some governors won’t go far even if you give them 100 years. I don’t know what that is supposed to mean. Is that to say our governors are not putting on their thinking caps?

    One annoying thing in this matter is that this is a sitting governor talking. He has the experience. Many of those criticising his request for third term have never been local government chairmen. Many cannot even govern their streets.

    Yet they are criticising a man with hands-on experience who has seen it all. I am sure Diri must be speaking for many of the governors even if most of them cannot openly request for what he requested for, not necessarily because they do not like it, but because of its political inappropriateness or possible backlash. I know that if Gov. Diri manages to get this wish through, his state would become a Mecca for appreciative colleagues who lack the courage and patriotism to do what he did.

    At any rate, where were the people now criticising Diri over his tenure extension dream when the father of former Gov. Lucky Nosakhare Igbinedion of Edo State said his son should be allowed to ‘repeat’ since he failed the first attempt (tenure?) Sunny Edoja summarised the story in a piece titled ‘’Need for continuity in Edo State’’ (The Sun, September 4, 2016):  When Lucky’s father, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion  was campaigning for the re-election of his son in 2003, Edo people told him point blank that his son didn’t do well in office but the senior Igbinedion told them in pidgin, Pickin wey no do well for one class must repeat that class  meaning if a child fails in one class, that child must repeat the class; so he wanted his son to be re-elected despite his woeful performance in office. Lucky was re-elected through the usual PDP magic and Edo State was the worse for it.’’ The rest is history.

    Gov. Diri’s case would even appear somewhat different. Igbinedion did not do many projects; so he probably had no abandoned project. For such a person, four years might even be too long. Diri would seem to be a governor with so much in his belly that he thinks eight years are not enough to deliver.

    We must listen to him.

    What is more? He even spoke with such gusto and candour unlike the proponent of third term in our political lexicon who said everything pointing in the direction of tenure extension without saying anything. Only to turn round to say he did not want it and that if he wanted it, he would’ve told God who would also have granted his wish.

    All said, I admire Gov. Diri for his courage and forthrightness. In a country of pretenders, we need to hail people like the governor who say their minds irrespective of whose ox is gored. If a governor is pregnant with projects and he thinks eight years are not enough to deliver all of them safely, what is wrong in asking for more years?

    So, let Bayelsa’s law makers in the National Assembly that the governor mentioned: Ebikake, Agbedi, Oboku and Agadaga set the ball rolling. Their governor is not like Lucky Igbinedion who was bereft of ideas. In Diri’s own case, it is the glut of projects he has that is making him ask for more time. For such hardworking governor, we must oblige him. He should be allowed to deliver naturally, lest he be induced to deliver prematurely.

    I wonder why we are not putting the governor’s progressive proposal in the front burner of national discourse. This is where it rightfully belongs and we must take it there. Otherwise, we should stop complaining that many governors are not doing much. At least we now know why. 

    This is much more so now that state governments are literally awash with cash. More cash. More projects. More time. Balanced equation. Not a bad idea.

    Third term! Third term!!

  • The omitted heroes

    The omitted heroes

    It is impossible to remember all the June 12 heroes once; but those left out today should be honoured later

    That it took the Bola Ahmed Tinubu presidency to honour the men and women who fought for the democracy that we are all enjoying today should not come as a surprise. Indeed, what should have surprised us is for President Tinubu to, like three of his predecessors, forget the source from where his presidency came.

    Tinubu was himself in the vanguard of the June 12 struggle. As they say, “he who wears the shoe knows where it pinches”. As a leading light in the pro-democracy days, he knows what it means to fight such a battle, especially with soldiers that the allure of political offices had made to forget their natural calling, and so wanted to stay perpetually in power, whether as military president, or transmute into civilian president, without going through the rigours of a free and fair election.

    For the benefit of many of our youths who may not know what June 12 is all about, a brief recap.

    Nigeria held a presidential election on June 12, 1993, which was won by the late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola. But the Ibrahim Babangida regime annulled the election, regarded as the freest and fairest in the country’s history, for no tenable reason.  Following the annulment, several prominent Nigerians spoke and worked vociferously against the annulment. Some of them were killed, some incarcerated under frivolous charges, while others went on exile for fear of being hounded. The activities were largely coordinated by the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO).

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    To cut a long story short, the country only managed to get out of the quagmire after a prolonged political crisis, and on May 29, 1999, six years after the election was annulled, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was sworn in as president.

    It was in recognition of the invaluable contributions of the men and women who fought the military to a standstill after the annulment, until they handed over in 1999, that President Tinubu gave national honours to many of them on June 12, 2025.

    Much as it is better late than never, it is nonetheless sad that the nation had to wait for 26 years, and until one of their own is in office before the honours came. There had been at least four presidents before Tinubu; namely Chief Obasanjo, who took over on May 29, 1999, and served till May 29, 2007; President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of the ‘Umoru, they say you are dead’ fame (May 2007 to May 2010); President Goodluck Jonathan (May 2010 to May 2015), President Muhammadu Buhari (May 2015 to May 2023), and now, President Tinubu.

    We can understand General Obasanjo pretending throughout his eight years as if June 12 did not exist. Apart from the fact that he may not want to publicly identify with the reality that his kith and kin in khaki were returned to their barracks so ingloriously, even though that was self-inflicted, because they would have saved the country the upheavals that followed their desire to remain perpetually in government if they had remained honest to the exit date they set for themselves to gloriously quit the stage. 

    We may also excuse the late former President Yar’Adua.  Although he was in power for three years, he was bogged down by a debilitating illness that made it impossible for him to govern with the required presence of mind, until he died.

    But if we can excuse Yar’Adua for not honouring the June 12 heroes, what of former President Jonathan on whose laps the country’s presidency was literally placed, on a platter? He too in his entire five years in office did nothing about the heroes.

    It was not until June 12, 2018, that President Buhari conferred the winner of that election, Bashorun Abiola, with the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR). He also honoured Babagana Kingibe, his running mate,

    as well as declared June 12 as new Democracy Day, in place of the previous May 29.

    We should give kudos to Buhari for this. Abiola, no doubt, was the symbol of June 12. But a tree can never make a forest. As Abiola himself often acknowledged in his lifetime, “you cannot clap with one hand”. If many of these other people did not complement Abiola’s efforts, June 12 would never have been a reality. Mercifully, Tinubu has made up for whatever Buhari did not do in this regard.

    We should also berate the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) for not deeming it worthwhile all these years to lift a finger for these real patriots whose struggles paved the way for many of them to become governors. Yes, we might say they do not have any direct power to do much on the matter, but they wield enough clout to influence decision on it, if only they believe it is something worth clamouring for. They always have a way of getting things done if they want to.

    Not to talk of the National Assembly. The people making laws for good governance in the country.  But this should not be surprising considering that some of them in the hallowed chambers even sat or spat on June 12, by supporting the sit-tight military dictators.

    All those who were in a position to remember these great heroes but forgot or simply ignored to do it didn’t do well at all, especially if they have been part of the political class since then. These heroes were not soldiers in the Nigerian Armed Forces. They did not sign that they would die for the country, yet many of them put their lives on the line for us to have the democracy that we are enjoying today, no matter how imperfect.

    Forgetting the heroes is like a river that forgot its source. It is akin to wanting to build something on nothing, which we all know is impossible.

    I commend the president for remembering those he has honoured. I also appreciate the concern shown in several quarters that the list is incomplete. The truth of the matter is that, given the scope of the June 12 crisis, it is almost impossible for all the actors to be remembered in

    one fell swoop. I guess those left out would be honoured sooner or later. The president himself alluded to that in his speech at the joint session of the National Assembly where he announced the names of the honorees on June 12.

    Bashorun Abiola’s wife, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, and the late Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, were posthumously honoured.

    Others in no particular order: ‘The Nation’s  Editorial Adviser Prof Olatunji Dare; Chairman of The Nation Journalism Foundation and columnist Prof. Adebayo Williams, board member Mr Olawale Osun and ex-columnist Prof. Segun Gbadegesin.

    Other living recipients are Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka (GCON), publisher of Vanguard, Sam Amuka-Pemu (CON), Kunle Ajibade (OON), Nosa Igiebor (OON), Seye Kehinde (OON), Kayode Komolafe (OON), Dapo Olorunyomi (OON) and Bayo Onanuga (CON).

    Also honoured are: Ayo Obe (OON), Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah (CON), Senator Shehu Sani (CON), Governor Uba Sani (CON), Femi Falana, SAN (CON), Abdul Oroh (OON) and Odia Ofeimun (CON).

    The rest are Felix Morka (CON), Ledum Mitee (CON), Dr. Amos Akingba (CON), Prof. Julius Ihonvbere (CON), Dr. Edwin Madunagu (CON), Pa Reuben Fasoranti (CFR), Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi (CFR), Sen. Abu Ibrahim (CFR), and Sen. Ameh Ebute (CFR).

    Prominent among those missing on the list is Late Chief Frank Kokori, the former Secretary-General of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), a man that the military dictators would never forget because of his role of ensuring fuel scarcity at crucial times of the struggle.

    Others left out include the Late Mr Walter Carrington, the U.S. ambassador to Nigeria from 1993 to 1997. Meaning he was around in the thick of the June 12 crisis and his voice as to where he stood on the matter was loud and clear enough. Some have argued that his support for the struggle was influenced by his marriage to a Nigerian (Dr. Arese Carrington), and his having lived in three Nigerian cities since the late 1960s. I don’t know. What we know for sure is that he fitted the bill.

    I remember a speech he gave at (I think) a cocktail party during the crisis and after he had spoken, myself and some of my colleagues at the event were afraid for his life, even though he should enjoy immunity as a diplomat; America’s envoy for that matter. But that was an era where anything could have happened without the country’s then head of state (Gen. Sani Abacha) understanding the implications. That apart, any of his goons could have done what occurred to him as the needful (like they did to some pro-democracy activists) before they would realise the implications.

    I remember too that I was looking left, right and centre at the end of the programme until I got to wherever I chose to sleep for the night (because I went to the event in my branded official car as editor of ‘The Punch’ at some point during that struggle, a thing I later felt I should not have done, given the safety and security implications at the time.

     ‘The Punch’ was one of the influential daily newspapers in the forefront of the June 12 struggle and it paid hugely for that. What with serial proscriptions, including one for about 15 months, alongside two other national dailies. The story of June 12 cannot be complete without giving due credit to the  newspaper.

    That takes me to the symbol of the newspaper at the time, Chief Ajibola Ogunshola, chairman of its board of directors. As editor of the daily title, I am competent to say that whatever courage we exhibited then on June 12 would not have been possible without the support of ‘The Punch’s’ board of directors, and Ogunshola in particular.

    Incidentally, it was only a few hours that I discussed Ogunshola’s omission from the list with one of his friends, an erudite professor, that I read in the column of my predecessor, Bola Bolawole, that “Those of us at ‘The Punch’ Newspaper were completely blotted out; yet, we stood and fought for June 12 more than anyone else, even more than the Concord Newspapers owned by MKO Abiola, the symbol of the June 12 struggle. I stand to be corrected because facts and figures back up this claim.”

    That this was Bolawole’s introduction to the piece underscored his disappointment that ‘The Punch’ was conspicuously missing on the honour’s list.

    Many of the other names I could have added have been mentioned elsewhere except that of Mr Soji Omotunde.

    All said, it is good that many of the omitted names are now in the public domain. This should be of tremendous help to the government when compiling the names of the next set of people to honour for their roles in the June 12 struggle.

    There are also many anonymous others who were mauled down by soldiers on the streets during the many protests that defined that struggle in several parts of the country. It would not be a bad idea for the government to construct a befitting monument in their collective memory.

  • Maryam Abacha’s lie

    Maryam Abacha’s lie

    • A widow’s failed attempt to whitewash her husband’s image and rewrite history

    For a taciturn person like Maryam Abacha, the country should be all ears whenever she opens her mouth. That was why many people did not take it kindly when the widow of Nigeria’s former despot, General Sani Abacha, bared her mind on certain issues on the country’s past, in a rate interview she granted Television Continental (TVC) on June 9. Gen. Abacha died on June 8, 1998.

    Mrs Abacha, rather than seize the golden opportunity of the interview to atone for the sins of her husband, chose, sadly, to rise in stout defence of some of his actions and policies.

    The former first lady spoke on sundry issues, including security, the June 12 election and the money her husband stole when he was head of state, better known as Abacha loot. I deliberately said the money Sani Abacha stole (and not allegedly stole as Maryam would have preferred, to rub it in) because that was (and still is) Sani Abacha in the eyes of millions of Nigerians.

    It is an understatement that Mrs Abacha’s comments in that interview got many Nigerians angry.  They said she had such guts to say what she said because she is in a country where corruption is treated with kid gloves. That she could not have had such privilege in a country where their entire family would have been wiped out for the fraud perpetrated by their patriarch!

    Coming from people who ordinarily would have been touting rule of law and due process in the circumstance had the matter concerned somebody else, shows the level of their anger and frustration with the former first lady’s comments.

    But that is Nigeria for you. We often determine the quality of a message through the messenger. Many of us tune off as soon as we see that the message is coming from a messenger whose face we do not like.

    But, it shouldn’t be so.

    Unfortunately, that was my position too until Wednesday when I decided to make the Abachas my topic for today. “Oro wo lo wa lenu asegita, to ni ki Oyinbo pade oun lagogo mejo owuro kutu hai”? (What would make a wood seller request for an early morning appointment with a White man?) What would the wife of a man who was hated with a passion by Nigerians, and for good reasons, say on the issues under discussion? Who else would she have sided with if not her late husband? Moreso now that the husband is no longer in a position to defend himself.

    I had to drop off the bus of Nigerians who like throwing away the baby with the bath water because it is not usually helpful.

    So, what were Maryam Abacha’s views on each of these issues?

    First security. Or insecurity, on which the former first lady spoke tongue-in-cheek! On the one hand, she commended the armed forces for their efforts and, on the other hand, wondered why we have not been able to bring insurgency down to its knees. But that was after rubbing it in that there was nothing like that in her husband’s time. Hear Maryam: “You are not even talking about the security of the country. I’m (sic) just a wife in the house. Yes, I’m (sic) close to him as his wife. But was there any insurgency during his time? No, there was none. He was able to tackle… Liberia, he went there and corrected things and Nigeria was at peace”.

    She didn’t stop there: “There are other countries, apart from Nigeria, that have insurgents and they have tackled them. And I don’t know what is the matter with Nigeria until now, that we still have insurgents…

    “And we have the government. We have the government from the top to the states, to the local governments and so on. So I don’t know how come these things have stayed so long and they have not been really tackled.”

    Mrs Abacha acknowledged that we have all it takes to deal with insurgency:

    “We have neighbours that have really tackled it. And they are smaller countries. And we are bigger. We are richer. We are more experienced.

    “I believe in our military. I believe in our army. I believe in the armed forces and I think they can do better if they wish to do so. And I pray that they do.”

    On this score, even though the former first lady tried to engage in some delicate balancing by saying “Now look at what we are in. I cannot say governments have failed. They have not really failed. No government can fail,”, the government should not fail to get her message on insecurity.

    As a matter of fact, she merely echoed what many people have said. Insurgency is still with us (apparently) because some influential people are making money from it. This is aside the elites that are also using it for political purposes.

    So, government must do more in this regard.

    Now, to the June 12 election.

    Apparently referring to the claim by former self-styled president, General Ibrahim Babangida, in his book,

    “A Journey in Service”, released in February, that Gen. Abacha was largely responsible for the cancellation of the election, Mrs Abacha rose in stout defence of her husband.

    It was a rare opportunity for the former first lady to give it back to her husband’s boss. The presidential election was won by Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Abiola.

    We must admit that Maryam was making some sense when she wondered how her husband who was not the head of state at the time could have made such an important decision.

    Hear her: “I’m not here to talk about Babangida or anybody. I don’t want to talk about anything or anybody. All I know is that that annulment was not done by my husband, and then if it was him, then that means he was very powerful.

    “He was even more powerful than the president, and if the president is there and somebody else is calling the shots, then that means Abacha was the greatest.”

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    I stand with Maryam on this, too. Babangida, from many accounts of him in the public domain is not the kind of general that would take bullet with his buttocks. True generals face, not back, bullets. How could such a man say someone else was calling the shots on a matter as crucial as annulling the freest and fairest election in the annals of the country? Something does not add up here.

    Definitely, if Abacha was the one calling the shots on Babangida’s transition programme, and was in fact responsible for the annulment of the election, then Abacha must have succeeded because his wish aligned with that of Babangida whose body language on the entire transition programme indicated he was himself not ready to go as agreed and announced by his government.

    Now to the main menu: the Abacha loot, stupid!

    It was on this aspect that I find Maryam’s comment most ridiculous and distasteful. Even then, as in the other issues, she is entitled to her opinion. This is much more so when her late husband was the ‘thief-in-chief’.

    She said, “Who is the witness of the monies that were being stashed? Did you see the signature or the evidence of any monies stashed abroad? And the monies that my husband kept for Nigeria, in a few months the monies vanished. People are not talking about that. Why are you blaming somebody? Is that tribalism or a religious problem, or what is the problem with Nigerians?

    “So where would he have stolen the money from? Where would he have stolen the money from?  Because Nigerians are fools, they listen to everything”, she added. Let Maryam listen to herself. Where do even lesser  people stealing public funds stealing it from?

    It was at the juncture where Maryam said her late husband kept some money for Nigeria but which disappeared in a few months that rekindled my interest on this aspect. Much of what we were told and which, in our “foolishness” we believed, was stashed abroad by Gen. Abacha.

    Barkin Zuwo who governed Kano State for only three months, from October 1, 1979 to December 31, 1979, kept N3.4m  (that is about N5.4 billion at today’s exchange rate and N952m at about N128 to a dollar then). We are talking of the equivalent of about 225 BRAND NEW (emphasis mine) Peugeot 505 GL at 15,000 apiece!. That was what a governor kept in the state government house and when the soldiers who sacked their government on New Year’s Eve in 1983 asked him why he kept such a huge amount out of the bank, he merely told them that he did nothing wrong. “Government money in government house, what’s wrong with that?”, he rhetorically asked.

    The point I am trying to make is that whatever Barkin Zuwo’s intention, what was found on him was found here at home.

    All the foolish questions about where Gen. Abacha could have got the money that he stole from were misdirected. Maryam should have asked her husband where they got all the private luxury they enjoyed and are probably still enjoying. Or, better still, ask today’s public officials who also have itchy palms to bail her out.

    Where has Maryam Abacha been all this while that Nigeria has been collecting money stashed abroad by her husband and his cronies? At least over $5bn of such monies had been recovered as at 2023. That is for the known.

    True, a wife properly so-called should try as much as possible to defend her husband, and vice versa. But even then, there should be limits. Maryam Abacha should indeed apologise to us (Nigerians) that she has called fools for believing that her husband was a ‘Grade A’ thief.

    It was not because he was smart that we didn’t focus on his thieving when he was around; it was because some other issues eclipsed that aspect of his life, especially after he overthrew Chief Ernest Shonekan’s interim national government (ING) and made himself head of state. The way he ruled repressively, especially in the aftermath of the annulment of the June 12 election engaged our attention more than anything else.

    Gen. Abacha had his stars to thank that somebody like Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was no longer around in his time. Fela would have put it to him that ‘e be thief’; ‘he be rogue’; ‘he be robber’ and in fact, that ‘he be ‘armu robber’ (armed robber’). And there was nothing he could have done. The General Obasanjo’s of this world know that for sure.

    If Mrs Abacha had said her husband was not the only thief, I am sure many Nigerians can live with that. If she had said some other people had re-looted some of the money recovered from her husband, many of us can still stomach that.

    But to say her husband was not a thief; I believe General Abacha himself must be struggling wherever he is to correct his darling wife that that  impression is not only far from the truth; it is blatant falsehood; and go ahead to apologise to Nigerians for the misinformation.

  • Tinubu is two!

    Tinubu is two!

    Just like yesterday, the President is already two years in the saddle. How time flies!

    After what looked like an impossible mission, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu survived all booby traps and defeated all foes, culminating in his swearing in as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 2023. Two years down the line, how has he fared?

    To do justice to this question, we must examine some of his programmes and policies during the period. I am going to start with the Student Loan Scheme probably because it is the one that fascinates me most.

    This initiative is revolutionising access to education in the country. The scheme, being administered by NELFund, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, is collaborating with about 218 institutions, with 608,955 registered students, out of whom 565,039 of them are currently enjoying the facility. That is to say their tuition fees are being taken care of with the loan, interest-free, while each beneficiary enjoys a monthly stipend of N20,000. The scheme is all about equal access to higher education for all eligible candidates and reduced financial stress on students and families.

    This is really something to cheer, especially in a country where there are no more scholarships as in the days of yore, and even bursaries that were taken for granted back then are also now elusive. Many of the professors and highly educated elites in the country enjoyed both several years back.

    Infrastructural development is another critical area the present administration has made significant incursions. Here, the monumental 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway that aims at connecting Victoria Island in Lagos to Calabar, readily comes into mind. Despite criticisms from certain quarters, the road would open up many unserved or underserved rural communities along that corridor for more economic activities, thereby fostering regional integration and boosting tourism.

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    Other vital road projects include the 1,000-kilometre Sokoto-Badagry Highway, which is expected to connect Sokoto to Badagry, traversing Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, and Oyo states; the 46-kilometre Enugu-Abakaliki-Ogoja Road, which will traverse Benue, Kogi, and Nasarawa states, terminating at the Federal Capital Territory; and the reconstruction and rehabilitation of 330 roads and bridges across the six geo-political zones of the country.

    On power supply, the government is trying too. Just that things had gone so bad in the sector for decades such that two years repair job cannot ensure stable power supply. We have attained the 5,000MW plus generation but we are still unable to wheel it all. We still experience national grid collapse. However, with the gradual decentralisation of the power sector, it is expected that more players would continue to show interest in the sector, thus engendering competition and boosting efficiency.

     But the energy sector is where the Tinubu administration has also recorded a major breakthrough. The Port Harcourt Refinery was able to come on stream again after years of downtime, in spite of billions sunk into its turn-around maintenance. Although it would seem there are still issues with aspects of its production, the fact is that it is still significant that the moribund plant could work again. The coming on stream of the Dangote Refinery has also helped in some ways to modulate fuel prices. Although fuel prices remain relatively high, there is the hope that things would get better when the competition in the sector gets keener. The good news for now is that the Federal Government is no longer paying subsidy on fuel that is imported into the country. That is a lot of savings for the country.

    Yet, fuel subsidy withdrawal has been a contentious issue in Nigeria for decades, with several governments carefully avoiding it. Although the full effect of the subsidy withdrawal might not be obvious now, state governments are some of the major beneficiaries of this policy, as their allocations have increased ever since.

    Another policy of the Tinubu government that has come under heavy attack is the merging of the multiple exchange rates in the country. I want to believe that many of those who might not have agreed with this policy must have seen the need for it after the disclosure of the mind-boggling 753 mansions that Godwin Emefiele, the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), could no longer own. Emefiele made a kill through the multiple exchange rate windows. That is no longer possible under the new arrangement.

     As they say, ‘’necessity is the mother of invention’’. Tinubu’s cancellation of fuel subsidy necessitated the search for cheaper alternatives to run vehicles. Nigerians naturally groaned as a result of the hike in transport fares, which also meant higher transportation costs, both for passengers and goods, agricultural produce inclusive. The Presidential CNG Initiative (PCNGI) was launched in October 2023, to promote the use of CNG as a cleaner and more affordable alternative to petrol and diesel. It is aimed at facilitating the adoption of CNG and electric vehicles (EVs) in Nigeria, as a response to the removal of fuel subsidies and the rising cost of transportation.

    Commercial vehicle operators are to have the CNG kits fitted free of charge with the expectation that this would trickle down and ultimately reduce transportation costs, and positively impact the prices of foodstuffs. Private vehicle owners who wish to convert their vehicles to CNG use are also to be provided loans for the purpose.

    Aside some teething problems associated with such ideas, the initiative has made some progress. But its drivers have to run faster, in view of its importance in the scheme of things, particularly as it pertains to the transport sector.

    Then, the credit scheme. President Tinubu believes every hardworking Nigerian should have access to social mobility, with consumer credit playing a pivotal role in achieving this vision. He therefore initiated the Consumer Credit Scheme, which is well popular in many countries. It facilitates crucial purchases, such as homes, vehicles, even education, and healthcare, essential for ongoing stability for people to pursue their aspirations.   Many Nigerians are today happy beneficiaries of the scheme.

    In spite of the efforts of our military men, insecurity remains a serious issue. The government has to work more on this. If it means bringing in mercenaries again, at least in the interim, so be it. Security is the essence of any government. While those of us who feel the situation is getting better are looking at the figures, the families of victims are counting their losses in human terms.

    In the same vein, there is still the need to further bring down the price of food items. Rice is getting better; the same with beans, gari, etc. But eggs, chicken, beef, palm oil, groundnut oil, etc. are still on the high side in terms of price. The government must continue to work towards reducing transport cost and ensuring the safety and security of farmers on their farms. That is one of the reasons security is germane. It is not only about being able to sleep at home with two eyes closed; insecurity also affects food security if not wrestled to its knees.

    One other area the government must continue to work on is the exchange rate. This is at the root of the high prices we are experiencing that seem to be weakening whatever achievement the government has made. Petrol price, for instance, would go down if the value of the naira improves, and that is what Nigerians want to see. It is not enough sweet music in their ears that we are now producing fuel in the country; they want to feel this in terms of reduced pump price, among other things.

    The government has also made some progress in the health sector. President Tinubu, in December 2023, launched the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII). The administration is building several health infrastructures across the country. Just last August, the President approved the free Caesarean Section for the most vulnerable pregnant women across the country under the National Health Insurance Scheme, with over 2,000 pregnant women having benefited so far.

    One good thing about the government is that it has never denied the fact that the fuel subsidy withdrawal and merging of the exchange rates are impacting painfully on Nigerians, hence it came up with palliative measures to ease these pains. Indeed, President Tinubu in his speech late July 2023 acknowledged the economic challenges but expressed confidence in the effectiveness of his measures to improve the country’s economy and citizens’ wellbeing.

    About two months after his inauguration, the president enunciated an eight-point agenda towards this objective. These include a new national minimum wage, N125 billion for MSMEs, nine percent interest for SMEs and startups, food price stabilisation and N200 billion for farming. Others are infrastructure support for states, N100 billion for mass transit and funding of student loans. The president regretted this “…unavoidable lag between subsidy removal and these plans coming fully online,” in a speech he delivered late July 2023.

    It is important to stress at this juncture that for so long; many state governments did not play the role expected of them in easing the pains of the economic measures on the people, even when they had the Federal Government’s support in diverse ways to ensure this. They are closer to the people and should therefore be able to more meaningfully impact their lives to cushion the effects of the harsh economic climate, especially with more cash coming in monthly into their coffers from thee Federation Account.

    Perhaps I should seize this opportunity to mention an observation concerning some board appointments that the government has announced but are yet to be inaugurated. Here, one can mention those of the boards of essential parastatals like the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), whose chairman, Dayo Adeyeye, the proponent of the South West Agenda for Asiwaju (SWAGA), was named as far back as July, last year. Adeyeye’s SWAGA, it would be recalled, was one of the early believers in the Tinubu presidency, even at a time many could not see it becoming a reality. Another such parastatal is the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), whose chairman, Alhaji Umar Ganduje, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was also named about six months ago; nothing has been heard since then, concerning their inauguration. There are several others.

    The story of the Tinubu presidency at two is like that of the typical fowl that is sweating but its feathers would not allow people to see. There is no doubt that but for the high exchange rate, the impact of the policies of his government’s Hope Initiative would have had more salutary effect on Nigerians. The economy, truly stupid!

    This is the main reason many Nigerians, understandably, are still not happy with the government. But then, the familiar road that the Tinubu administration did not travel would have been far worse than the one taken by his government. His is a government with many game changers within so short a time, but it is a matter of time for the effects to be felt.

  • Compulsory voting?

    Compulsory voting?

    • ‘Nibo la tun jasi yi o’? From where to where?

    Because a coin that is thrown up, irrespective of the number of times, would always fall on either of its two sides, many of us would similarly continue to tell the members of the House of Representatives who are hell bent on criminalising voting that they are merely embarking on a wild goose chase.

    The bill, jointly sponsored by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen and Daniel Asama Ago, is titled: “A Bill for an Act to Amend the Electoral Act, 2022 to make it Mandatory for Nigerians of Maturity Age to Vote in All National and State Elections and for related matters”. It was first introduced in February but was presented last week by co-sponsor, Daniel Asama, of the Labour Party, for a second reading.

    The bill prescribes sanctions, including fines of up to N100,000 or six months imprisonment for eligible Nigerians who fail to vote.

    True, voter turnout, especially in the 2023 election, was abysmal, at about 27.1 per cent, nationally. With less than half of the eligible population turning out to vote, and no state had a turnout above 40 per cent, participation in it was said to be the lowest since Nigeria’s independence.

    Indeed, the sharp decline has positioned Nigeria as the largest democracy in Africa with the lowest voter turnout.

    It is also true that, globally, there is compulsory voting in about 21 countries, with punishment ranging from severe to non-existent. But then, reasons for low voter turnout differ from country to country. Reasons why there is such huge voter apathy in Nigeria are well known and these, according to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and others, are what should be addressed.

    NBA President, Afam Osigwe, listed such to include electoral violence, systemic flaws, insecurity, and mistrust. Hear him: “Instead of fixing the conditions that discourage voter turnout, such as electoral violence, vote buying, among others, the state is attempting to force participation through punitive legislation.”

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    Chukwuemeka Obi, an unemployed graduate from Enugu, is more forthcoming as to why many Nigerians abstain from voting: “Many of us have lost faith in politicians. They come every four years with promises and disappear after winning. If I choose not to vote, that’s my right too. Compelling people with jail is dictatorship, not democracy.”

    But that is one of the major things that are wrong with us as a nation. This tendency of heaping every blame on hapless citizens. When anything is not working, the tendency is to look for the guinea pig. This, unfortunately, means hapless Nigerians carrying the can. Nigerians again are the beasts of burden for voter apathy which, clearly, is a creation of the political elite.    

    Sometimes I keep wondering the kind of rigour that goes into public administration in the country. Yet, the country spends a fortune keeping most of our public officials comfortable. I guess that is also part of the problem. Many of them, including rather unfortunately, people in the National Assembly (NASS) are too comfortable to know what things look like at the very grassroots they claim to be representing.

    This is the kind of brain wave that a few privileged people who wear well-starched ‘babariga’ in the midst of millions of poverty-stricken compatriots have that makes them come up with all manner of funny decisions because they are disconnected from the grassroots.

    Rather than be scientific about the issue, Speaker Abbas and his co-travellers resorted to military era solution of decreeing an impossibility into existence.

    Is it not funny that a toxic, compulsory voting is what they are spending valuable time to debate when there are many serious problems confronting the average Nigerian?

    At this juncture, I think Speaker Abbas should, in the absence of any serious matter for the consideration of members of the House of Representatives (because that is the only reason they would be chasing after shadows that compulsory voting represents), declare

    the House adjourned ‘sine die’, to allow members go back to their respective constituencies to find out from the people what their actual needs are. Only people who are disconnected from their roots would be banging their heads against the walls, pursuing an objective that is not even on the reserved list of the people they represent.

    Just in case Mr Abbas decides to continue to be deaf to the calls of freedom, insisting on having his way with this obnoxious bill, then he must be ready to host millions in our prisons. We have not yet seen prison congestion.

    Of course, when Mr Abbas’s dream comes to pass, our prisons would be bubbling because we would have many volunteers who would want to spend the six months in the place rather than be coerced to vote. 

    Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), would probably be their leader, having sworn that he would rather go to prison than be subjected to compulsory voting.

    Agbakoba spoke on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television on May 19: “Look at the ridiculous one in the National Assembly about voting being compulsory. If that bill were to pass, I would say, ‘Agbakoba, we will not obey it.’ I’ll plead conscientious objection. I’d rather go to prison for six months than to obey it,” he said.

    Not done, the lawyer added: “Why would the National Assembly want to impose compulsory voting? Why don’t they reverse the question and say, Why are Nigerians not interested? What is the apathy about?”

    I have no doubt he would have many followers.

    Anyway, more people in our prisons would also boost some people’s businesses. Afterall, tailors would be required to sew the prison uniforms; food vendors and suppliers of various shades would also experience boom in their operations. Likewise, healthcare providers, not excluding the men of God who would now have more jobs to do in the prisons than in the churches. And then, the speaker would go down in history as a man who made all of these possible, as his peculiar way of killing voter apathy in Nigeria.

    But I have a better idea of how to kill Speaker Abbas’s law should it scale through in spite of our rejection. I am not ready to die for my enemies to rejoice. You can’t put anything beyond people with the kind of mindset to make voting compulsory in Nigeria. When people who have been convicted for not voting are kept behind bars, such public officials could be celebrating in their apartments that at least some of their vocal enemies are out of circulation, even as they feign to be worried about the incarceration in the public.

    But, suppose those opposed to compulsory voting also feign support, go to the polling booths and, before God and themselves, decide to deface the ballot papers. Thumbprint across two or three political parties such that the ballot papers would be cancelled eventually?

    Since Speaker Abbas and his co-travellers have decided to shoot without aiming, we (the people) too should master the art of flying without perching.

    We should let them know that they can

    only force a horse to the river, they cannot force it to drink.

    Yes, they would see the millions they want to see on voting queues, but, just as they are clinking glasses that ‘yea, our law is working’, the glasses would drop from their hands when the final figures are released and with most of the ballot papers cancelled and of no effect. It is then they would know how little their thought processes were in coming up with such a bill.

    I guess this is better and cheaper than going to prison over compulsory voting when those who caused the same problem and are now misdiagnosing it remain in their air-conditioned offices, drinking tea and doing in and out. Probably putting in the works another misbegotten policy or idea. Opting to go to jail in this matter smacks of falling for the enemy to rejoice (Olorun ma je ka subu f’ota yo).

    I have no doubt that if the National Assembly goes ahead to pass this bill into law, the law would eventually be challenged in court and I don’t see how it would survive legal scrutiny, given the several provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) on freedom of expression, association and similar matters.

    Mercifully, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has already voiced concern over the bill. Part of its contention is that, “In a democracy, voting is a civil liberty, not a legal obligation. Compelling citizens to vote through coercive measures infringes on their fundamental rights.”

    I want to agree with the NBA that, to the extent of its inconsistency with this and other provisions of the constitution on basic freedoms, the compulsory voting bill would most likely be declared null and void, and ultra vires by the courts.

    Before then, however, we must rise against this imposition because eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Since one cannot tell the exact destination of the proponents of the bill, it is better to assume, like the NBA, that if we allow this to pass unchallenged, worse and more draconian legislations could be lurking somewhere.

    I have always argued that we as a country are where we are because we have been lethargic about governance after we returned the soldiers to their barracks in 1999. We were not this lethargic in the military era.

    If Mr Abbas & Co need to be reminded, their singular decision in the NASS to buy imported exotic cars at the expense of locally-made vehicles was something that has put off many voters in future elections already. It would be difficult to persuade them to change their minds because nobody is a fool. So, Nigerians should continue to vote for people who have little or no feelings when spending scarce public funds, even as they keep telling the people there is no money?

    Mr Speaker and his co-travellers should know that Nigerians’ eyes are no longer on their knees, they are now right on their foreheads!

    If compulsory voting is all about civic responsibility, patriotism and all, what of rejection of local vehicles for imported, more expensive ones?

    If the NASS members know what is good for them, they would do well to throw this bill away in their larger interest. It is an exercise in futility and a product of legislative tyranny and indolence which could further alienate the people from the assembly.

    This compulsory voting law is a decree that its proponents want to cloak in lawful legislative garb. But it would fail. Vote-for-money, we know. Vote-for-rice, we know. Vote-for-bread, we know. But what is don’t vote go to prison?

    Even soldiers didn’t give us such a draconian option. They never forced us to vote.

  • Significance of Ahmadu Bello Platinum award to Air Vice Marshal John C. Ifemeje (rtd).

    Significance of Ahmadu Bello Platinum award to Air Vice Marshal John C. Ifemeje (rtd).

    By Kalu Okoronkwo

    At a time when Nigeria’s socio-political fabric is constantly tested by divisions, insecurity, and economic turbulence, a moment of national unity has arisen that signify hope. One such moment came with the conferment of the Sir Ahmadu Bello Platinum Leadership Award on Air Vice Marshal John C. Ifemeje (Rtd) by the Arewa Youth Council (AYC).

    More than just a ceremonial honour, this award symbolizes something deeper, a recognition of selfless service, a celebration of integrity, and a powerful gesture towards national cohesion.

    This national honour recognizes the retired military officer’s exceptional contribution to national development, security, and the unity of Nigeria.

    Air Vice Marshal John C. Ifemeje (Rtd) is not a stranger to excellence. His career in the Nigerian Air Force was marked by tactical brilliance, disciplined leadership, and a commitment to the security of the nation.

    From commanding air operations to shaping military policy, AVM Ifemeje rose through the ranks with honour and distinction. But even beyond the battlefield, he remained a statesman, quietly mentoring, guiding, and building bridges where many only saw walls.

    The Arewa Youth Council, a leading voice among young northern Nigerians, saw in AVM Ifemeje a model of the leadership that Nigeria desperately needs, one grounded in humility, merit, and national interest.

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    His tenure in the Nigerian Air Force was marked by a series of strategic and leadership roles that have significantly contributed to the operational efficiency and administrative excellence of the force till date. 

    As the former Air Secretary at NAF Headquarters, a position that entrusted him with the critical responsibilities of overseeing personnel management and administrative policies, he was known for notable initiatives that enhanced the welfare and professional development of Air Force personnel, reflecting his dedication to the human capital that constitutes the backbone of the military.

    He was also at a time, the Commandant of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC) in Jaji. a premier military institution dedicated to the professional development of officers in the Nigerian Armed Forces and allied nations.

    This role was instrumental in implementing advanced training programs that emphasized leadership, strategy, and joint operations, thereby preparing officers for the multifaceted challenges of modern military engagements.

    His leadership at AFCSC not only elevated the institution’s standards but also reinforced its reputation as a center of excellence in military education.

    The Sir Ahmadu Bello Platinum Leadership Award is no ordinary accolade. Named after the legendary Sardauna of Sokoto — a visionary leader who championed education, unity, and development. The award is reserved for individuals whose leadership reflects these enduring values.

    By honoring retired Air Vice Marshal Ifemeje, the AYC made a profound statement: that excellence knows no ethnicity, and service to the nation transcends regional divides. It is a recognition not only of what he has done, but of what he stands for, unity in diversity, strength through service, and leadership by example.

    Nigeria’s history has been defined by regional loyalties and ethno-political fault lines. But this award marks a pivotal counter-narrative, one that says a new generation is rising with a different vision. The Arewa Youth Council, through this recognition, declared that leadership should no longer be judged by geography but by character.

    Therefore one can boldly that , this is not just an award but a message to the country, a message that Nigeria can still be united,  a message that young people can choose role models not by tribe, but by track record, a message that integrity still matters

    Though retired, AVM Ifemeje continues to inspire. His voice remains active in national discourse — often advocating for peace, responsible governance, youth empowerment, and security sector reforms. His leadership has seamlessly transitioned from the rigid lines of military command to the flexible but impactful corridors of civic influence.

    In a world where many fade into silence after public service, AVM Ifemeje chose to stay visible, not for applause, but for responsibility. This is the essence of true leadership: when the medals have been worn, and the uniforms folded, the heart for service still beats.

    The conferment of this award offers Nigeria a moment to pause and reflect — on what kind of country we want to build and what kind of leaders we want to follow. It challenges citizens, especially the youth, to seek inspiration in those who lead by action, not by noise.

    It reminds us that the ideals of the founding fathers ,  unity, sacrifice, and integrity,  are not relics of the past but blueprints for our future.

    As Air Vice Marshal John C. Ifemeje stood to receive the Sir Ahmadu Bello Platinum Leadership Award, he did not just accept a medal. He carried the weight of a national hope, that somewhere between the lines that divide us, there are leaders who still believe in one Nigeria.

    And for the Arewa Youth Council, this moment was not about celebrating the past, but shaping the future. A future where merit is honoured, unity is embraced, and youth-led initiatives become the driving force behind national rebirth.

    In a land thirsty for true leadership, this was more than an award.

    It was a statement.

    It was a spark.

    And, hopefully, it will be a turning point.

  • Oloyede, victim of own standard

    Oloyede, victim of own standard

    Hullabaloo over UTME glitch because of the superhuman heights he has taken JAMB. We saw worse scenarios before.

    Professor Ishaq Oloyede, the registrar/chief executive of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), knew what he was saying when he appropriately titled the speech he delivered at the press briefing he held last week Wednesday, on the technical glitch that happened in some centres during the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), “Man proposes, God disposes”.

    As a former vice-chancellor, Oloyede had addressed many press conferences. He had also addressed many press conferences in his present capacity. He had spoken to the ‘gentlemen’ of the press in his several other private or official capacities.

    But the press conference of May 14 was of a different kind. It’s good music when you come prepared with record achievements that you want newsmen to tell the world. It’s good music when you won national or international accolades for exemplary performance. Good music when you are to be showcased as a man who has breathed life afresh into an institution that was on the brink of collapse.

    But it’s something else when all eyes are on you for the wrong reason. This is especially so for a man who has worked conscientiously to earn whatever he has become today. It is the more so for a man that has come to be known as ‘Mr Integrity’ because he cares about his image.

    The saying that when you don’t plan before embarking on a project, you have only planned to fail is an acclaimed truism.

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    In terms of preparations, JAMB had done what was humanly possible to ensure a hitch-free 2025 UTME. Realising that its workers cannot do the job alone, JAMB brought in a lot of people of integrity across board to ensure a smooth conduct of the examination, and as part of its quality assurance measures.

    As Oloyede said at the press briefing, “There are peace monitors, of 41 women of substance who are or have been principal officers of Nigerian universities; we have chief external examiners (CEEs), who are vice-chancellors, rectors and provosts of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. Each state also has chief technical adviser, a reputable professor who is an expert in computing and cybersecurity.

    “We have peace monitors, civil society group, equal opportunity group, the general monitors group, high-powered opinion leaders, the roving group, technical advisors group and the virtues vanguards. All of these groups play critical roles and complement our staff in ensuring quality and troubleshooting challenges.”

    That was for adhoc personnel.

    What of technology? If we begin talking about this, we won’t ever finish because it is the backbone of whatever Oloyede has achieved in JAMB, after God.

    So, how do you now explain that 379,997 of about 1.9 million candidates who sat for the exam that you had so elaborately prepared for are to resit the same examination?

    That is the big question. And that must have been the basis of Oloyede’s ‘man proposes, God disposes’.

    The answer was found in discrepancies linked to faulty server updates in JAMB’s Lagos and south-east (Owerri zone) comprising the five South-east states: Abia, Enugu, Imo, Ebonyi and Anambra, which led to the failure to upload candidates’ responses during the first three days of the examination. Unfortunately, this was not detected before the results were released.

    The mass failure that trailed the release of the result on May 9 was attributed to this avoidable lapse. More than 78 per cent of candidates scored less than 200 points out of the 400 maximum obtainable points.

    There was public outcry and JAMB consequently emplaced a committee of various examination and educational experts to review the results. It was in the process that the glitch was discovered and Oloyede publicly accepted responsibility for the technical error and tendered an unreserved apology to the nation.

    “As registrar of JAMB, I hold myself personally responsible, including for the negligence of the service provider. I unreservedly apologise for it,” Oloyede

    said, tears in his eyes.

    Agreed, people are usually interested in result, not efforts. Again, the gravity of what happened notwithstanding, the apology should do. After all nobody is perfect. Even if such a glitch occurred elsewhere, the best that would be ordered is a retake of the examination in the affected centres, and not a wholesale cancellation of the result as some people were canvassing, since the glitch was not nationwide.

    But, what do we see? A barrage of criticisms calling for Oloyede’s head in a golden plate. It is refreshing though that some of the professionals in the social media space did report and analyse the incident professionally.

    Really, sometimes one is usually at sea to decipher certain things, especially where Oloyede’s tenure in JAMB is concerned. One finds it difficult to differentiate between genuine critics of the board and those who do so because they are part of the people that Oloyede’s stringent policies have denied the opportunity of fleecing either the hapless candidates through all manner of illegalities, or even the country.

    There is the third group that is neither here nor there. This comprises armchair critics who think the only way they can be relevant is to criticise the system, whatever happens. To them nothing good can come out of the country and when it does; it must have been a mistake.

    But it is unfortunate that the technical glitch of 2025 UTME provided an ample reminder for people who never saw anything good in either the government or JAMB under Oloyede to reopen the debate on the huge remittances that he has been making to the federal purse since his assumption of office. To date, that is said to be over N50 billion in seven years, a thing the Federal Government has commended JAMB for.

    This is despite the fact that Oloyede has reduced the application fees for UTME forms by N1,500. To date, he has never thought of increasing it despite the

    vicissitudes of the nation’s economy.

    The critics keep saying he should still reduce the fees to help poor parents even when we can see some of the benefits the money has been spent on through the awards the board organises every year to encourage the higher institutions to keep to the rules.

    Curiously, such critics are mum about those who either embezzled or misapplied what Oloyede has been remitting to the government since the board came into existence in 1978.

    What a country!

    Under him, JAMB has demonstrated uncommon courage in enhancing accountability, transparency, and openness in its financial practices by making public its income and expenditure profiles weekly since 2017. How many government agencies can do such?

    All of these are aside the technology that he has leveraged on to improve the fortunes of JAMB and the integrity of its examinations.

    One thing many of us, including Oloyede himself, may not realise is the fact that he is a victim of his own standard. Many things that people would simply have shrugged off as one of those things in the dark years of the board have now become cornerstone expectations from his JAMB.

    And the brickbats, could either come as genuine friendly fire from people who feel, ‘no, this man has gone past this kind of mistake’. Or from people who, as I said earlier, Oloyede’s policies have deprived the opportunity of fleecing candidates or the country, who would want to seize a moment like this to extract their pound of flesh from him. To such disgruntled elements, Oloyede is an irritant and pollutant whose ouster from the system they would gladly embrace and or orchestrate.

    I said this not to make light of the UTME glitch but to just put the record straight.

    Indeed, while putting this piece together on Thursday, I saw a piece written by someone who said he scored 90 something in his UTME and that when his father wrote JAMB because he trusted in his ability to have done better in the exam, his mark was changed to over 200. I was taken aback. I thought it was part of the fallout of the current UTME, only for me to read down the line that that happened about 24 years ago! That was where we were coming from with regards to JAMB and UTME. Sadly, we have forgotten so soon. These days, UTME is held without many people, except those directly concerned, knowing.

    The chaos of the past whereby candidates would be running from pillar to post in search of their centres, the very many problems associated with the manual conduct of the examination, etc. have since Oloyede’s coming become things of the past.

    Oloyede has since his appointment been conducting UTME yearly. He had been vice-chancellor in one of the country’s top notch universities, among others. So, he knows his onion. He has international recognition for his handling of his assignment as JAMB registrar and, in fairness to him, his performance every year has always been better than the previous year.

    But it is gratifying that some institutions and individuals have shown solidarity with him at this point in time. He needs such; the country needs such. Otherwise, we would be inadvertently yielding the space to the vocal critics who are in the minority, thus giving the impression that they are in the majority. Ours is a country with too many critics, many of who cannot administer a single classroom but they are fast at calling for the heads of otherwise hard-working Nigerians simply because of one mistake or grouse, or the other.

    It is sad that one candidate, Faith Opesusi, took poison allegedly over her ‘failure’ in the mass failure and died. Ordinarily one would only have stopped at sympathising with her parents and relatives, but it is also good to counsel both parents and candidates over an incident like this. In this kind of situation, the youths need counselling.

     If there was mass failure in UTME as it happened, JAMB and the tertiary institutions would not go to America or South Africa to look for students. They would still have to admit students from those that ‘failed’. If it meant lowering further the requirements, it would be done. That was what happened as it was reported that her admission letter came shortly after she had committed suicide. Many great people in the world had cause to resit some examinations several times before finally making it. We need to drive the fact that an examination is not always a true test of one’s ability into their heads.

    This is not an occasion to dwell extensively on why standards are falling in many of our schools, because mischief makers could term it as dancing on the grave of the poor girl. Mischief-making has no limit in our clime.

    Suffice it to advise JAMB to use the technical glitch of the exams to reflect, once again, on its processes. It is sad that an examination that the board had envisaged as a poster exam has been marred by this avoidable human error.

    At 70, going to 71, Oloyede should know that such is life.