Category: Gbenga Omotoso

WHEN is a man sick? Is it when the body is diseased or when he lies in bed, writhing in pains and doctors are battling to save his life? What is the difference between being sick and being ill?

In other words, who is healthy? To the World Health Organisation (WHO), health is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. If so, can we presume that there are many people walking the street who are either sick or ill? How true is the assertion of leading psychiatrists that more Nigerians are battling mental illnesses? Some are even said to be mentally ill but unaware of it.

Pardon the long preamble, dear reader. “Editorial Notebook” is not about to drag you on a needless voyage into the labyrinthine world of medicine. Nor am I reporting from a mental home. I am not even anywhere close to a hospital; malaria has decided to give me a break – in the spirit of the season, perhaps. Nor am I attempting to change my trade and become a doctor; it is too late.

Here is the matter. I am quite curious about the way our leaders allude to common concepts of “health”, “sickness”, “illness” and such related matters to either analyse a political situation or shield themselves in some uncomfortable situations. And many of them are not doctors; in fact, they seem to need doctors.

I will explain. When former President Olusegun Obasanjo issued a 16-page scurrilous statement in which he accused President Muhammadu Buhari of planning to rig the February 16 election and behaving like the late Gen. Sani Abacha (of dreadful memory), it was like an earthquake. The inciting effects reverberated from Abeokuta all the way to the seat of power in Abuja and beyond. It was, in the view of many attentive observers, a declaration of war by a General against another General. A fire-fight was on the way, we all feared. Panicky elders were calling for restraint.

The Presidency saw it from a different and sober perspective. No anxiety. No shots fired. It simply gave the old warhorse a piece of advice – “he needs a good doctor for good treatment” and added that Obasanjo should “get well soon”.

Many were taken aback by the Presidency’s reply. Is Obasanjo sick or ill? What is the nature of the problem? Did Buhari’s media man, Garba Shehu, who signed the Presidency’s statement, consult a doctor before issuing the advice? Will Obasanjo take the advice and see a doctor–to be reassured that all is well? What kind of doctor? A specialist or a general practitioner? It is all hazy.

Obasanjo, cunning, cocky and foxy, takes no prisoners when it comes to verbal warfare. He is as brutal as they come. He fired back. Buhari, he said, is “sick in the spirit, body and soul”. Some theological perspective there.

Suddenly, health has become a weapon for politics and politicians. Also finding it handy are pranksters, tricksters and gangsters. Why are our big men so enamoured of this phenomenon that has hobbled and humbled man for ages?

Recall how former Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose swore that President Buhari was dying in a London hospital. He claimed to have photographs of the President on his sick bed and threatened to make them public if Nigerians would not be convinced that Buhari would not return to the Villa.

It then turned out that Fayose had been scammed – Buhari returned, hale and hearty. And many were shocked, not about Buhari’s return, but Fayose’s glaring indiscretion. They were asking: “Fayose scammed? Incredible. Those must be the master scammers.”

The former governor was later to deploy the health weapon on the eve of the July 14, last year governorship election. When the police fired some teargas canisters to disperse a crowd gathering for a rally, some landed in the Government House. His Excellency inhaled the smoke and collapsed. By the time his loyal aides who seemed to have been immune to the effect of the smoke rushed to his aid, he had broken his neck and arm. They poured water on his head to revive him before rushing him to the clinic where some inattentive doctors posing as specialists braced his neck wrongly and tied his broken arm to his broken neck. Remember?

His Excellency was crying like a baby: “I am in pains. I am in severe pains… Fly me abroad.”

There are also many big men – and women – whose health has become a subject of big debates in newsrooms, staffrooms and restrooms. Olisa Metuh – where in the world is the former PDP spokesman? Frail and weak, he was stretchered into an Abuja court where lawyers were struggling to convince the Judge that he needed medical attention and could not stand trial for alleged diversion of N400m from the Office of the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has asked the court to revoke Metuh’s bail. He has been absent from the court twice, consecutively.

Former Oil Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke has been away in the United Kingdom for years. She claims to be suffering from cancer – his lawyers swear this is true. Diezani, rich, powerful and beautiful, used to be a member of the kitchen cabinet of former President Goodluck Jonathan, who once confessed to have been caged. She is believed to be one of those who “caged” His Excellency.

The EFCC is battling to get Diezani repatriated and prosecuted for alleged fraud. Not an easy task, I dare say. The woman may simply check into a hospital where doctors will certify her not fit to travel let alone face a trial that will be as rigorous as can be imagined.

After an eight-day standoff with the police, Senator Dino Melaye surrendered. He was helped into the car that took him to the police office where he suddenly collapsed. He was rushed to hospital. A few days after, doctors certified him fit to face questioning for alleged homicide. The senator representing the good people of Kogi West insisted that he was not fit and would not be discharged from hospital.

The game went on for days during which observers were arguing whether Melaye was ill or sick or both.  One quiet morning, some security personnel stormed the clinic, yanked Melaye off the bed and dumped him in detention. He has been granted bail. Ever since, the loquacious and boisterous senator has remained quiet. Unusually so. Perhaps he is still of poor health. Poor guy.

When former Abia State Governor Orji Kalu was hospitalised in Germany recently, many felt he was trying to dodge a court matter. Not even his photograph on his sick bed would clear the doubts about his intentions. Instead of spending one year in Germany, His Excellency returned home, thanked Nigerians for praying for him and hit the road to campaign for a senatorial seat.

Back to Obasanjo.  Prof. Itse Sagay, the renowned law teacher, has since joined the huge row sparked by Obasanjo’s comments on the Buhari administration. He says Obasanjo is suffering from “Power Withdrawal Syndrome (PWS)”. Is this also a medical condition? He goes on to explain that Obasanjo “accuses his successors of doing what he did repeatedly, without a thought for his own gross misdeeds”. This, Sagay says authoritatively, is amnesia. And many have been asking: “Has Sagay taken a crash programme in medicine?”

Is amnesia a serious medical condition or  mere forgetfulness to which all human beings–including the high and the mighty–are susceptible?

Why does Sagay feel so strongly that Obasanjo has been hit by amnesia?  Some have been suggesting that he may have been thinking about some events that happened during his presidency–kidnapping of former Anambra Governor Chris Ngige, impeachment of some governors, removal of Senate presidents and rights abuses.

There seems to be a big health crisis among our leaders. Where can we find good doctors?

A jackpot hunt goes awry

It is incredible what some of our compatriots can do for money. Some are busy collecting women’s underpants, which they believe could be useful in money making rituals. Sounds so foolish. Others are killing for rituals and kidnapping for money. Such savagery sounds incredible.

But what do we say of a 27-year-old man who has lost an eye in a desperate quest for spiritual powers in aid of his battle to hit the lotto jackpot. Emmanuel Okachi, a newspaper report said, engaged a witchdoctor in Ishiagu village, near Ogwashi-Uku in Delta State for powers to see “lucky numbers” and win big in the Baba Ijebu lotto.

The witchdoctor prepared some concoction for Okachi to drink and rub on his eyes. He did. Then the left eye got swollen. He rushed to hospital but doctors could not save the eye. Okachi lost it – to greed and idiocy.

The story remains incomplete. How much did Okachi pay the witchdoctor? Who is he? Why has he gone into hiding? Is he not proud of his trade? If he has such powers why hasn’t he used them to help himself?

Our virtues – hard work, rectitude and honesty – are gone. The youth do not believe there is a righteous route to wealth; they must cut corners. In the end, foolishness has its pains – loss of dignity and, sometimes, physical wellbeing – and patience its gains – peace of mind and attainment of enviable feats.

Our youths should embrace the latter. An easy come, easy go life is perilous.

WE had thought it was the biggest show in town.  A bedridden senator, who has been declared fit by doctors, clinging to his bed. Masked security men storm the clinic, yank him off the bed and dump him in a detention centre where he lies flat on the ground. Immobile.

Then a big argument breaks out. Is Senator Dino Melaye ill or sick or both? Or just in a sulk? Is he a prankster or a trickster? A mere jester? No comments.

As the debate continues, a bigger show opens in another part of town, featuring no less a personality than the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN). Again, our soothsayers have never been this right on target; this is a year of drama.

It all began in whispers—CJN Walter Onnoghen would face charges for gaps in his asset declaration. The CJN in the dock? Incredible.

The facts of the mater:  CJN Onnoghen is alleged to have failed to declare his assets and liabilities within three months of taking office. He is said to have omitted some accounts with foreign and local currencies in the form he filled and submitted. Specifically, some $300,000 did not feature in the document.

His Lordship, being one not to submit to intimidation by mere mortals, confidently came out to accept ownership of the accounts. He forgot to declare that he had the cash, he said, and perhaps thought the simple matter had ended – until the CCT summons arrived at his doorstep. Some have said the CJN, being human, could be susceptible to that common foible – forgetfulness. He assigns all those serious cases, many of them dealing with life and death; others involving huge sums of money. Yet, there are cases involving power; politics and politicians. He is expected to have details of all cases at his fingertip and must be able to recall them with the speed of a computer. So, if he forgets some cash in some bank’s vaults in one decrepit corner of the capital city, they said, so what?

Again, no comments, lest “Editorial Notebook” is charged with contemptu curie. This is a matter before a court of competent jurisdiction and comments could be subjudice, a lawyer has told me.

In a jiffy, it all became a matter for public debate, with everybody donning the toga of a legal expert. To be fair, legal giants led the way. Some said Justice Onnoghen, being a judicial officer, should have been reported to the National Judicial Council (NJC). Others disagreed. The allegations, they said, border on the declaration of His Lordship’s assets and the CJN, being a public official, should face the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), which has been set up to try such matters – exclusively.

We have been through this route before. It was a big debate when security personnel raided the homes of judges in the dead of the night and hauled out tonnes of cash in local and foreign currencies. Was the raid right? Should judges be treated like ordinary mortals? Do they have the right to keep cash vaults at home? Should sources of their cash be questioned? Don’t they trust our banks with their hard-earned money? Are they afraid some banks may collapse and vanish with the rewards of their sweat? This is complex for an innocent amicus curiae. So, no comments.

To some legal giants – one, an emotional fellow, obviously, said on television that he was depressed and unable to eat after learning that the CJN was to fight for his integrity at the CCT – no situation on earth should compel His Lordship to stand in the dock to be asked after a long list of charges had been read out: “Are you guilty or not?” He should rather be at the NJC, away from the prying and penetrating eyes of the public, a public that revels in jungle justice and mob action. That, they insisted, is the procedure.

In the view of others, at the level of the CJN, the procedure should not matter more than the substance of the matter – when his integrity is in question. The CJN, they said, is like Caeser’s wife, he should be above board. Always. Did he do it or not? That question, they maintained, is the most vital of all and must be answered in public. Stalemate.

Then politics crept in. Southsouth governors, except Edo State’s Godwin Obaseki, held an emergency meeting and said it was all an assault on the region – the CJN is from Cross River State. They resolved that Justice Onnoghen should shun the tribunal.

He did. A large army of lawyers was there to represent him. In fact, many Senior Advocates rose in defence of Milord. Some ordinary folks who are not privileged to be lawyers; who are not learned – and may never be –  began to make insinuations that the CJN’s case attracted them like bees to honey because they wanted to be counted among the knights in shinning armours defending the system. Not some who had clearly shown hostility, believing that members of the  Bench are also human and can be corrupted. Again, no comments.

Were the governors right? Are those who call them anarchists right? Did they behave like statesmen? Were they expected to see this as a regional matter? What is going on in their hearts? Is any of them part of the indiscretion that may have sparked this problem? Do they think at the end of this matter, some stain could be found on their immaculate white garments?  It is neither here nor there – for now. So, for me again, no comments.

As I was saying, the matter of the CJN and his assets became the subject of political postulations and permutations. Why now? Who is behind it all? The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was the unseen architect of the CJN’s unenviable fate. PDP accused APC of trying to annex the Judiciary, weaken it and render it powerless to tackle the disputes that may arise from this year’s elections.  The APC said the behaviour of the PDP Southsouth governors suggested that they had more than a regional interest in the matter. In fact, claimed the APC, that Justice Onnoghen did not appear before the tribunal showed that there was “some affinity between the PDP and a section of the judiciary”.

Who is correct? Some commentators have noted that the PDP seems to be crying more than the bereaved. Is it? To such observers, the party has refused to look at the substance of the case. Does it believe that the APC actually wants to cripple the Judiciary to win the elections? Why is PDP damn sure that there will be disputes which the Judiciary will have to resolve?  What proof has the PDP? Will they be ready to tender it? Has APC done anything on this matter to make it open to such scurrilous attacks from the PDP? I refrain from commenting on these matters for obvious reasons.

Our humourists are simply incredible. They have seized upon the CJN matter to amuse everyone. Consider this from the ubiquitous social media: “A man appears in a packed market and begins to scream: Breaking News! Breaking News! CJN Resigns. Chiejina John  Nnadi resigns from his teaching job. Details later.”

In humour, truth resides; if it is not truthful, it will not be humorous. Some moral purists have asked the CJN to throw in the towel. Their view is that should the case go all the way, the person and the office may be forever tainted. Others have said the CJN should sit tight, insisting that the procedure is more important than the substance of the case. Who is right? What is going on in His Lordship’s mind? Is he at peace with himself?

Anyway, I insist on my right not to say a word on all this.  No comments.

A new chief for the police

WITH the appointment of Mohammed Abubakar Adamu as Acting Inspector General of Police, those who vowed to protest should Ibrahim Idris’ tenure be extended have gone quiet.  The President took the wind out of their sail.

A lot has been said about the process.           A group of Deputy Inspectors General will have to go now that an Assistant Inspector General (AIG) has been vaulted to the exalted seat of IG. This, said analysts, should not be so because it is a waste of human and material resources. These officers were trained with public funds in some of the best institutions. Now they have to go, just like that. It is curious that none among the Deputy Inspectors General is found worthy of the job.

Idris, many have said, is leaving a police with low morale. Protests by policemen were unheard of; they became common under Idris. Haphazard postings destroyed espirit  de corps among men and officers. There were moral  and immoral issues. Personal battles were fought as state battles. Rights were abused and a huge protest was mounted against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) for its brutality. On the eve of Idris’ departure, it was not really clear who occupied the commissioner’s seat in Lagos. That was not tidy – like many features of his tenure.

It is to his credit, however, that many suspected criminals were seized and made to stop troubling innocent citizens.

Idris is out. Adamu is in. A new day beckons for the police. Will Adamu seize the day?

THE soothsayers seem to be right on target this time.

The year 2019 will be dramatic, they had predicted. Dramatic? That’s loaded. Cheery and dreary? Hot and cold? It is neither here nor there, but it seems we may not experience the apocalypse that we so much dread.

For sure, we have the Boko Haram headache, the varsity teachers’ strike, the minimum wage brouhaha and the labour leaders’ bravado as well as other pains in the neck, but the fact is clear – the year has begun on a dramatic note.

Consider the distinguished Senator Dino Melaye. For eight days, he engaged the police in a sensational stand-off. The police invited the senator to say all he knew about an alleged homicide, but Dino, a wise man, thought that was no invitation to a dinner. Obviously leery of the police – he had had many encounters with them – the senator claimed that there was a plan to inject him with a lethal poison. The police laid siege to his Abuja home. He bluffed it off and announced that he was out of town and that he would report to the police upon his return. The police would not budge; they stayed put. Knowing that he was surrounded, Dino surrendered.

And what a spectacle. The television beamed Dino being helped out of the house, his wobbling feet sweeping the ground, eyes half closed and head hanging loosely on his thick neck. He was like a drunk battling a terrible hangover.

At the police office, Dino just collapsed, his huge frame lying on the floor. He was rushed to the hospital where, thankfully, he has recovered. The police have, in fact, certified him fit to undergo the investigation of how his aides allegedly shot and injured a policeman in Kogi. The good people of Kogi West have the enviable honour of being represented by the popular senator.

The situation has, ironically, boosted Dino’s fame. Now his fans are all over the place requesting desperately for his old videos. The hottest is the one in which he raised his hands and shook his head as he reminisced about his days in the PDP; the one in which he sang, “Home my home, when shall I see my home, PDP”. Also in high demand is the video of the lawmaker singing, “Ajekun iya ni o je, ajekun iya ni o je, eniti o to’ni mu, t’ondena deni, ajekun iya ni o je ( He will suffer in full measure, the one who can’t beat his opponent but elects to lay in ambush for him).

Dino’s opponents have also flooded the social media with his photograph when he collapsed, placing this beside that of Chief Ayo Fayose – many are wondering where in the world he is; he is in Ekiti fighting Senator Biodun Olujimi for the control of the Atiku campaign  – and asserting that His Excellency will sue Dino for alleged copyright infringement. They are referring to the former Ekiti State governor’s prized photograph in which he collapsed on the bare ground of the Government House, his head in the hands of dutiful aides pouring water on him in a desperate bid to revive him after the police allegedly fired teargas canisters into the exclusive facility. Fayose, being a liberal man, I must stress, may not be sending Dino a writ of summons over this little family matter, which the PDP can easily settle in-house. Dino, ever so creative, may not have deliberately set out to steal Fayose’s or anybody’s intellectual property.

There are also pictures of the lawmaker posing with exotic cars. “He invested in these, instead of investing in people. Now let his cars fight for him,” a commentator said. Another claimed to have known how Dino made his money. He said the senator was a rent-a-crowd contractor who did so well for himself. “Where is the crowd now to protest, if Dino was good to them?” he wondered.

\Others were recalling his controversial educational background. Yet others swore he used to be a philanderer of note. They painted derisive pictures of his sexual peccadilloes. It is, however, to his credit that Dino’s constituents still retain a good measure of confidence in him. In fact, despite the jeering and sneering, the PDP in Kogi State has vowed to ensure that Dino returns to the Senate.

The photograph of the President, Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun and Allied People’s Movement (APM) governorship candidate Adekunle Akinlade  was splashed on newspaper pages. The mood was boisterous; they were laughing like a drain. They all raised their hands and flashed eight fingers (four on each hand).

Apparently, the Ogun helmsman was reassuring Buhari that despite the civil war in the local APC, his second term of four years was assured. Amosun, in a fit of fury, after being dismissed as a budding emperor by APC National Chair Adams Oshiomhole, corralled his supporters to join another party. He vowed to back Buhari for president. How he wants to walk this tight rope remains to be seen.

Former Governor Aremo Olusegun Osoba had earlier visited the Villa with the party’s candidate, Dapo Abiodun. The President raised Abiodun’s hands and flashed his trademark toothy smiles. That was after Amosun had chaperoned the APM chair, Yusuf Dantalla,  into the Villa to announce that its party had adopted Buhari.

Should Buhari have received his guests so warmly? Is he naively convinced that the Amosun formula will work some magic? Who will Buhari support – his party’s candidate or the stranger? One thing remains as clear as day – we are yet to see the end of this drama.

Elsewhere in town, the drama continues. A man was held in Akure, the Ondo State capital, for allegedly collecting women’s underpants. A mob descended on him, stripped him naked and beat him black and blue. Why? It has been rumoured that women’s panties are being used for money rituals.

The jungle justice would probably have been fully served with a burning car tyre hanging on the man’s neck – a victim of a savage ritual to appease the vengeance of a people driven to anger by the vicissitudes of life with which they are struggling to cope. Law enforcement agents yanked him off the hands of his tormentors. He was later to be declared insane.

How will a ritual performed with a woman’s underpants evoke the spirit of cash in which the beneficiary will begin to swim? What kind of ritual is this? Who are the beneficiaries of this strange enterprise? Is this a mere rumour taken too far or the reality of voodoo? Isn’t this another avenue of duping those who believe that hard work won’t ever pay and that there is a short cut to wealth? Is this part of the Yahoo Yahoo and Yahoo Plus ventures in which many of our youths have found expression for their skills?

What kind of undergarments are the strange collectors’ favourites – G-String? C- String? Bikini? V Kini? Boot Booster? Classic Briefs? Or just any type?

Where are our women rights activists? Isn’t this a clear case of discrimination and sexism and misogyny? Now, women are being advised to dry their underpants in their rooms; no more on the lines in the backyard. How about those who stay in hostels and others who don’t have a room to themselves?

It all sounds so strange. Crude and rude. But then, the prognosticators have warned us – this is a dramatic year. They seem to be right.

Amina Zakari and her traducers

THERE has been so much noise since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced Mrs Amina Zakari as Head of the Election Collation Centre Committee. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alleges that she is a relation of President Muhammadu Buhari and ipso facto could swing the poll for him.

The PDP’s fear is not out of place. Here is a party whose chieftains believe the presidential election is theirs to win or lose. Little wonder they are fighting to smash any obstacle on their way to victory.

Not so fast, I dare say.

The woman says she is no relation of the President. INEC says she will have nothing to do with the collation and announcement of the results; Chairman Mahmood Yakubu says it is his job. The Presidency has debunked the assertion. Mrs Zakari’s family has defended her integrity and family background..

The controversy should end. Calling in the UN, the United States and the United Kingdom is taking it too far; we can manage our affairs. Is Mrs Zakari not qualified? Isn’t there a way of monitoring her performance when it is believed that the job she has been given is so sensitive? Has she no right to work at INEC just like any other Nigerian?

Didn’t the security agencies certify her to be fit in learning and character for the INEC job? Will she be collating results from all the polling units, even if her job is collation?

The row is needless; it should end.

A NEW year is here.

now that the last of the revellers are finding their way back home, the itinerant drummers are calling it a day for their recession to the countryside and businesses are struggling to overcome the hangover of the Yuletide, it is fit and proper to pay tribute to our deserving compatriots.

In other words, dear reader, it is time again for the yearly ritual in which  “Editorial Notebook” honours all those whose actions and inactions one way or the other affected our national life in the past year, lest they feel ignored and disenchanted from making more sacrifice in the new year.

Where do we start? Politics, of course. Politics and politicians have been dictating the pace and face of our national life.

Who then is our Politician of the Year?

Not Dr Kayode Fayemi, who made a dramatic return to the Government House after winning an election many thought would be tough. Nor testy Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun, who led his supporters to another party – can you recall the name? – in a desperate bid to install his successor.

Nor is it Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom who dumped the ruling APC for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the heat of the killings blamed on cattle herders. The bloodshed seems to have subsided since His Excellency quit the APC and found himself in the same camp as his opponent and former Governor Gabriel Suswam.

Nor is it Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje who has held his head high and his political family firmly even after being accused of taking bribes.

Our Politician of the Year swore to stay off politics. He supervised the shredding of his party card and declared himself a statesman. Then something snapped. He began a surreptitious move to rally his troops, many of who were described as discredited and spent. He wrote a memo to Buhari, lashing the administration for what he saw as its weaknesses. He formed a group that morphed into others with the aim of picking a candidate who will wrest the presidency from President Muhammadu Buhari. He went from city to city and town to town. His message was the same – Buhari must go in 2019. Yet he insisted that he is a statesman.

And many were saying: “Yes, you are a man, but a statesman? Doubtful. You are a man desperate to be the State, appointing kings and reigning for them. No; you      won’t.”

As the world was trying to make sense of his peregrination around the country and overseas, he suddenly announced a truce with his former deputy who he had condemned in the most vituperative language in his memoirs. The public was stunned as he sang Atiku Abubakar’s praise.  They called him names.

For standing firm, despite the knocks, ladies and gentlemen, former President Olusegun Obasanjo is our Politician of the Year.

Every time the President visits his physicians in Britain, he draws so much attention. Rumours lead to rancour. A former governor once swore that Buhari was dying and would not return. His last trip attracted the worst backlash. Fugitive Independent People of Biafra(IPOB) chief Nnamdi Kanu announced that Buhari was dead and a certain  Jubril or Jibril or Jubrin – pick your choice – from Sudan was running the show.

Many, including otherwise attentive people, bought the tale and went to town with the Buhari Double story. In fact, Buhari had to tell the world that he is indeed Buhari from Daura and not Jubrin from Sudan before the matter began to fizzle. But, dear reader, Buhari is not our Patient of the Year.

To whom honour is due, honour must be given. Step forward Mr Ayodele Fayose, former governor of Ekiti State.

The way he fought the July 14, last year governorship election, it wouldn’t have been out of place to think that his name was on the ballot. Fayose threw in everything he had. On the eve of the poll, he was asked to shelve a major rally so as to prevent a clash as another was being organised by the other party in the same town. His Excellency would not be intimidated. He insisted on holding the rally. The police stood their ground; no rally.

The public watched with trepidation the events in Ekiti. As the rally got underway, huge plumes of teargas went up to darken the sky around the Government House. Fayose was televised being wheeled into the theatre, surrounded by anxious medical personnel. He had been hit, not by bullets, but the teargas which, strangely, had no effect on others who were with him.

A few minutes later, His Excellency appeared at the rally, his right hand heavily bandaged and slung on his broken neck, stabilised by a brace that was won upside down – Ekiti doctors swore they could do better. He was crying like a hungry baby.

“I am in pains. I am in severe pains. But I will endure this pain because of you. All I ask of you is to go out and vote for my candidate, Eleka, I am going back to the clinic now,” Fayose said in a shaky voice. He was drenched in tears. It was a moving spectacle. Many, Overwhelmed by emotion, also began to sob. And the rally turned into a scene of mass sobbing.

Confronted by reporters on his way out of the rally, Fayose sobbed: “Fly me abroad. Fly me abroad.  If anything should happen to me, the Inspector General of Police should be held responsible.”

Against all expectations of his traducers, Fayose was on his feet the next day. Till date, experts still acclaim it as the fastest recovery ever from such a near-death situation. Who then should be Patient of the Year?

Choosing the Governor of the Year was contentious, considering how well members of this elite group performed.  Governor Abdulaziz Yari was fighting to choose his successor when suddenly the Zamfara killings started. Apparently overwhelmed by the bloody situation, he threw up his arms in capitulation and joined the call for a state of emergency. Instead of praising his courage, his opponents lambasted him for, according to them, not exhausting all democratic avenues of resolving the matter.

Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has been fighting to install his in-law as his successor. APC chair Adams Oshiomhole insisted that Okorocha could not decree that, adding that His Excellency was creating a dynasty. His proof: Okorocha’s daughter is a commissioner, his father in-law holds a Federal appointment, his son-in-law is Chief of Staff and more.

The governor replied with a list of Oshimhole’s relations who got appointments when he was the governor of Edo State. Okorocha’s candidate has since moved to another party to realise his ambition.

Akwa Ibom’s acclaimed serenity was violated the other day when five lawmakers sat to, as the story went, impeach the Speaker of the House. What nonsense, His Excellency Udom Emmanuel must have thought. He stormed the place and flushed out the fellows. Another governor would have reported the matter to the police and waited patiently at the Government House for peace to be restored. Or ordered a probe into the immediate and remote causes of the problem, with a 20-member panel of persons of unblemished character and headed by retired Judge working round the clock to meet a seven-day deadline. Or would have just kept quiet, hiding under the principle of the separation of powers. Not Emmanuel.

Since Nasir El-Rufai brought a novelty to governance, others have been struggling to understudy him. He had a disagreement with some politicians, including Senators Shehu Sani and Suleiman Hunkuyi.  All attempts to resolve the matter failed. At dawn when many were still snoring in bed, El-Rufai led a squad to Hunkuyi’s home. By the time residents realised that a VIP was in the neighborhood,  a bulldozer had levelled the property, which will now be for public use. Ever since, there has been peace in Kaduna.

For this novelty, El-Rufai has snatched away the Governor of the Year.

Senator Sani, aforementioned, would have easily been Lawmaker of the year for divulging one of the world’s best kept secrets – the emoluments of our senators. They earn N13.5m, he said, pleading that his conscience could no longer take it. If he had gone all the way to state the salary of a senator, he perhaps would have got the trophy. He did not.

Who then does the cap fit? Senator Ademola Adeleke? His academic credentials were incredulous. But what he lacked in paper qualification and business acumen and oratory and key leadership skills he made up for by his remarkable dancing skills. He mesmerised the electorate, many of who voted for him during the Osun governorship election. He would have without doubt been the best dancer-governor in the land. But fate, that unseen hand in human affairs, supervened. Adeleke lost the election. He says he was robbed. He is now shuttling between the tribunal where is battling to have the verdict reversed, and the law court where his integrity is under attack for alleged criminal conspiracy in an examination “fraud”.

Lawmaker of the Year. As we speak, the distinguished Senator Dino Meleye’s home is under siege by the police who are asking him to surrender. They need to question the lawmaker in the investigation of an  alleged homicide and other ancillary matters.

Dino, rude and crude – according to his critics – has in and out of the chamber shown the capacity of an average lawmaker for sensational mischief. Psychologists, I am told, are studying the relationship between the thought process of a motor park tout and a lawmaker – all because of Dino’s eccentricities.

He once spent 24 hours on a tree to escape being kidnapped; he has escaped many assassinations; and, he says, the police are planning to inject him with a lethal drug. He often enlivens the system with his occasional videos.

For his drama, Dino is Lawmaker of the Year.

Meanwhile, here is wishing all the fans of this column a Happy New Year.

HUMANITY has once again risen to salute the arrival of The Saviour. The Prince of Peace brought so much hope, but the world remains hopeless. He brought salvation, but many are getting lost in a world that is wracked by hunger, disease, poverty and wars. So much misery in a blessed world.

In many instances, the message of our Lord Jesus Christ has been turned upside down. Evangelism is clashing with materialism. A self-absorbed believer will easily forget the essence of Christmas – the humility of Christ’s birth, the salvation he brought, his selflessness, the sacrifice of his blood for the remission of our sins, the hope he represents and more.

It is not all about the revelry and merrymaking. It is a time to spare a thought for our future, the essence of our being here, the poverty that has made many people lose their humanity, the wickedness of the wicked and the hope that “all this too shall pass”.

Where were you on Christmas Day?

I tried to reduce my sleep deficit, but it was difficult. The phones kept vibrating. Friends and relations were calling to wish me a merry Christmas. With the intrusion becoming unbearable, I quit sleeping and hit the road to have a feel of the city.

Parks were packed full of people. Vehicular traffic was heavy but smooth. Movie theatres were jammed. Retailers were battling to cope with crowds. So were beaches and motor parks – many passengers were still struggling to travel out of Lagos for the Yuletide. Beer parlors and clubs had more revellers than usual. There were long queues of card holders waiting to use the cash machine.

How do Nigerians finance all this despite the economic situation? Does it mean that the rich are being more compassionate, giving more than they used to?  Did our compatriots just resolve to defy the prevailing situation? In other words, how do we match the celebrations with the popular thinking that poverty keeps torturing the land?

Well, the figures may not be looking good and many emergency economists may be sounding off, but the celebrations have made nonsense of the theory that we are dying of starvation.

So what is going on? Politics, of course.

The strategy in one camp, it seems, is to make the situation look so bad that the electorate will be impelled to just march on the Presidential Villa even before the February 16 election. But the legendary Nigerian spirit has, once again, triumphed – against all odds.

This is a season of harvest for mobile telephone companies. Everyone carrying a telephone set is being forced to use it now. That means more money for the operators.

The messages range from the very serious to the seriously funny and the utterly meaningless – depending on who is sending them. A friend sent me this yesterday: “My dear brothers and sisters, this is to inform you that I have just learnt from a usually reliable intelligence source that some disgruntled elements have concluded plans to publish in newspapers and social media that I will stop receiving gifts after Christmas. It is a lie from the devil and his boys. I will keep receiving gifts until I say no more. For those of you who are yet to send me gifts, hurry up so that this evil gang-up against me will not work. Merry Christmas.”

And this, titled: “Very Important Announcement”:  “ Due to heavy traffic at the Onitsha/Asaba bridge-head, all the Southeast APC members coming home for the Christmas are hereby advised to use their Second Niger Bridge, the contract for which has been awarded and project completed on social media.”

There is indeed nothing that Nigerians will not play politics with. Our leaders have been struggling to outdo one another in sending seasons greetings to Nigerians. The same boring and vacuous themes all the time. They talk about peace when most of them behave like motor park touts and the thugs they breed.

Consider the behavior of our lawmakers the other day when the President was presenting the 2019 budget. He was heckled and booed and taunted. So bad was the situation that President Buhari remonstrated them, saying: “The world is watching.”

Did they care? Of course, they didn’t.

They talk about making sacrifices. Good. But the question is, should sacrifice be a one-way traffic? Our lawmakers are said to be feeding fat on the sweat of all for doing little or nothing. Their salary remains one of the world’s best kept secrets. Troubled by his conscience, Senator Shehu Sani once confessed that a senator carts home N13.5m as running cost (Are they running factories?) Imagine that in a country where many families struggle to have one meal a day. Workers are fighting to have N30,000 minimum  wage. And many kids are out of school.

Can’t our lawmakers make some sacrifice by, first, divulging this long-kept secret and then slicing the huge pay?

President Buhari , Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and All Progressives Congress (APC) Chair Adams Oshiomhole featured in  a short video, wishing Nigerians a merry Christmas. It was dramatic.

The President, in his Christmas message, promised a level playing field for all in next year’s elections. This is not the first time he has spoken about a free and fair election. He has, according to him, directed the security agencies to ensure that the outcome of the election reflects the will of the people. “My word is my bond,” Buhari said.

Buhari’s opponents have been crying that there are plans to rig the election. They allege that foreigners will be shipped in to vote and that APC is working with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rig the elections.

Evidence? None, of course.

They say APC is not campaigning because it plans to rig. They seem to be referring to those huge rallies with crowds of people many of who may not have the voter card. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has been going from one home to another, talking to ordinary Nigerians. He has been to many marketplaces, with the “TraderMoni”, which has been well received by many Nigerians.

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the scheme is vote buying. But APC supporters disagree. They recall that in the twilight of its reign the PDP in 2015 launched SURE-P for small businesses. The cash, they allege, went into the pockets of party chiefs.

When our leaders admonish us to imbibe the spirit of this season, it will be fit and proper for them to also spare a thought for how they run our country. Those who are taunting the Buhari administration for not reviving the economy are the very people who ran it aground in the first place. Today they apologise for their rapacity that has defied any rational explanation. They were spending money in hard currency as if it was growing on trees. They neither saved nor spent wisely.

Despite the pains of these times, it will be fine to remain hopeful. Nigeria has the potential to be great. We should examine critically the kind of people who are aspiring to lead us and make the right choices. That way, our hope will not be misplaced.

All the best for an exciting Yuletide and a great year ahead.

Dino and his would-be assassins

Whenever Senator Dino Melaye opens his mouth wide –too wide sometimes – the sounds reverberate all over the country. Not because of his wit or wisdom; he is neither witty nor wise, many would argue. In fact, his opponents see him as a nitwit.

Why? The disgruntled – sorry, an error there – the distinguished senator (so much anguish he has caused the good people of Kogi West) makes wild allegations. He once told the world that assassins were after him and he had to hide on a tree in the bush for an entire night – no food, no drink, no sleep and, of course, no talking, lest his assailants drag him down and deal him a fatal and final blow. The hilarity of it all did not stop the police from asking Dino to make some explanation. He refused to.

Now, he has alleged that the police plan to arrest him and inject him with a lethal substance to silence him permanently.

Why will the police want to kill Dino? Is he the only lawmaker who has a case to answer on his conduct? What will the world gain in Dino’s death? Who will miss Dino?

Jokes apart, many will miss the senator for his melodrama – he is always as excited as a kid who has just landed a bowl of ice cream – and for his comical interventions. But then, shouldn’t there a limit to an adult’s tomfoolery?

Former Vice President Atiku Abubaker is a strong man.

Since he dropped his hat in the ring for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket, he seems to have amassed more enemies than friends.

First, they told him to his face that the ticket was not for sale, as if he told them that he was seeking to buy it. Then when he eventually got the ticket after a keenly contested primary, his opponents and critics, among them those masquerading as public affairs analysts, commentators and activists, said he was the highest bidder. They claimed – tendering neither facts nor figures – that he plunked down a hefty $5,000 per delegate (there were 3,274 delegates, in all) to snatch the trophy.

Trust Atiku. He never dignified them with a reply. Only his friends came out forcefully against the peddlers of that vacuous claim. Does a party member need as much as that to vote his or her favourite candidate? In fact, a fellow contestant was said to have bid and paid $1,000 per delegate. He was to be compensated later with a key position in the Atiku Campaign Organisation.

All was peaceful. Atiku was getting set to launch out with a massive road show that would take his manifesto to all Nigerians. Unknown to him, his critics, those politicians who will never come out openly to challenge their targets but hide somewhere to be throwing darts at them, had perfected another mischief . They dug up a stale story that Atiku had been barred from the United States where, they claimed, he was being investigated for alleged financial improprieties. They dared him to procure a US visa and fly to New York.

Just like the minimum wage, Atiku’s visa became a matter for debate and discussion in all platforms – newsrooms staffrooms, restrooms and other rooms.

Never one to run away from a fight, Atiku threw in his all. He reportedly hired a lobbying outfit which is said to be well reputed and well respected in such matters, to mount a campaign for a US visa and, thereby reaffirm his integrity.

The lobbyists were said to have told the authorities that the US would have struck the right cord by issuing Atiku a visa right away since, according to them, he was set to win the 2019 presidential election.

As this was going on, Atiku took a short break to visit Dubai. He assembled a team of party chiefs, expats and experts to draw up his 2019 battle plan. The trip, like every step taken by the PDP candidate, became a subject of weird speculations and postulations.

Some said he was going to draw from his vast foreign bank deposits enough money to buy up all the votes available in the election. Others said he was putting on sale some exotic properties to raise the cash. Yet others hinted at some dark strategies that the party was drawing up.

As Atiku’s plane landed at the Abuja airport, security agents descended on it, sweeping it thoroughly. Nothing incriminating was found. The PDP went to town. It alleged that there were plots to plant some illegal materials on the plane and set Atiku up for a long struggle with the law. This, they asserted, quoting “authoritative”security sources, was to distract the Wazirin Adamawa from his campaign.

Meanwhile, Atiku meticulously kept an eye on the visa matter. One weekend, the one before the last, specifically, the news broke that he had been granted the visa. He was, in fact, already on his way to the US, it was claimed.

Those critics, aforementioned, began to deride that big feat. Most of them have never been to the US – many will never go there. They said the PDP should rather be ashamed that its candidate was celebrating a mere visa (imagine how much envy has blighted their sense of objectivity) as if the US visa is just any other document that can be obtained for a chickenfeed at the Federal Secretariat.  Not done, they vowed not to believe the feat until Atiku has actually landed in the US and returned.

For PDP sympathisers, that, in any case, was no big deal. They simply pulled up a picture of Atiku getting off a plane and proclaimed boldly: “Done deal; Atiku in the US.” The unrelenting critics fired back: “Shame. This is an old picture.”

Atiku, to his credit, stayed out of the controversy. In fact, for those who did not monitor the row closely, it was easy to conclude that he was not the subject of it all. Unknown to many, he was devising a way of beating his opponents and putting to shame those who claimed that he could never go to America.

He hopped onto a plane and landed in London. An online publication scooped it that Atiku was off to the US. Alarm bells began to ring everywhere. Will his opponents be truly disgraced? What will the APC that has made a song and dance of his alleged inability to visit the US now say?  What lai (sorry, an error there; lie) will they tell now?

Some reporters cornered a US Embassy official and demanded to know Atiku’s visa status. They were disappointed. The official told them pointblank that the information they sought belongs in the category that would not be discussed with a third party. He resisted all entreaties to make, as the police would say,” a useful statement”. No hint. No clue.

As I was saying, Atiku landed in London en route to the US, as claimed by the said publication. PDP sympathisers went to town. Now that Atiku has gone to the US, let Buhari prove that he is Buhari, they screamed. What will they say now? Are we not on the way to Aso Villa next year? Hip hip hooray!

Then it all came to a screeching halt. Suddenly. Atiku returned home. What went wrong? Did he not plan to visit the US? Some supporters who were already booking newspaper advertorials to welcome their hero back home withdrew their materials. Those who had ordered a special Ankara fabric, which was to have the PDP candidate’s picture – flashing the V-victory sign and smiling broadly – stopped the manufacturers. Food vendors were quickly disengaged. So were the numerous musicians who were to stage big shows in cities, towns and villages to celebrate the feat.

Again, what went wrong? Some said Atiku never really wanted to go to the US; he got the visa just to prove to his traducers that he just didn’t need it all this while. His original and only destination, they insisted, was London. Atiku actually had, among other things, dropped in at the football stadium to cheer his favourite team Arsenal on to a thrilling 4-2 victory over Tottenham.

Many cried sabotage. They claimed that Atiku was actually on the way to the US when somebody suddenly raised the issue that the State Department under which the visa section operates is different from the Justice Department, which can grab and detain a suspect, visa or no visa. Atiku, said those who claim to be his sympathisers, was being tricked to head to the US where he might have no control over his schedule, and may not return home early enough for the election. One of his challengers in the primary would then grab his ticket and run in the election. That, in any case, was neither here nor there.

But the visa palaver has refused to go away. A group of youths stormed the US Embassy in Abuja yesterday –placards and all – urging the US to deny Atiku a visa. Has he applied? Will he apply? Has he not got the document? If not, what were his fans celebrating? What exactly is going on? Why has Atiku’s presidential ambition           been so heavily tied to his possession of a US visa?

When did the US visa become the Holy Grail of politics and a presidential contest? Will Atiku ever go to the US? Anyway, what is the difference between US and UK? Yank off the “S’ and the “K”; any difference between the two?

The First Lady and the two powerful men

WHO are the two powerful men slowing down the Buhari Administration? The President’s wife said the government would have done better if the duo had not been throwing a spanner in the works.

Rather than tackle these unnamed men, said Mrs Aisha Buhari, some men would go to the “retrogressive” duo at night, grovelling for favours. She sounded gravely disappointed.

The audience was excited as she spoke at a National Women Leadership Summit in Abuja on Tuesday. But nobody could answer the biggest question of the day:  Who are these men?

The First Lady spoke eloquently about the President’s social investment programmes and urged women to support the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming elections.

This is not the first time Mrs Buhari has spoken about “opposite people”  (God bless Fela Anikulapo- Kuti’s soul) “hijacking” the  government. She once told the BBC about people who did not join in the struggle reaping where they did not sow. Asked to name such people, she retorted: “You will know them if you watch television.”

Some two years after that explosive interview, we are yet to know those “few people” who “hijacked” the government.

This, I must confess, is a failure of reporting. We reporters are guilty. Now, a new opportunity to show our reporting skills has come.

Who will unmask the “powerful” duo?

IT is a great spectacle in downtown Yaba in the heart of Lagos Mainland. The popular bus stop is, as usual, throbbing with crowds of people. Many are running up and down, going nowhere in particular. Nobody is asking anybody where everybody is heading to – except the bus conductors screaming all manner of destinations and asking would-be passengers to hurry up and get onboard.

It is a sunny, sweltering afternoon.

Big radio-cassette players mounted on shoulders of vendors are belting out new works of leading musicians, including the philosopher-activist Fela “Augustine” Anikulapo-Kuti (of exciting memory). The rail line is blocked with wares – used clothes, food stuff, used shoes, old books, drinks and more.

A woman is sobbing, holding her head in her hands. She has just lost her master’s cash to some guys inviting people to “come and win big; double your money” in a game of cards.

Beside the wall that blocks off the rail line is a long line of people. A young man is ringing a bell furiously and screaming in Yoruba: “E wa wo’ri o; ori t’on so’ro! E wa wo’ri o; ori t’on so’ro”. “Come and watch a talking head; a head! Come and watch the head that is talking!”

More people join the line, sweating and swearing as some jump the queue. There is a small makeshift cubicle covered by a piece of white cloth, which obviously used to be somebody’s bed sheet. In the cubicle lies the “talking head”. At the entrance is a big carton in which every spectator drops 50kobo before going in to see the head of a young man who speaks in various ways by changing his voice. He smokes like a chimney- and drinks also. After about two minutes, the visitor is hustled out for the next client on the line to see the “talking head”. Of course, after dropping the gate fee.

That was in the 90s in good, old, swinging Lagos, the home of wisdom, street wisdom (Eko ile ogbon) and the nemesis of the foolish.

The show went on for days, until the police stormed the scene to dismantle the makeshift tent and haul out the man from the hole that had been dug to hide the other parts of his body and the big crate on which a space had been cut for his head to stick out. The end.

The end of the show. The end of a scam. Needless to say, the venture had fetched a fortune for its investors. A flashback.

Now, fast forward to 2018.  In place of Lagos, throw in Abuja. A huge scam is in the smithy. Some are resisting it; others are just laughing it off as extreme desperation by political desperados who are desperate to carry the day in the desperate 2019 elections. Yet, some are, surprisingly, seized of its veracity – that a Buhari double exists in the Villa!

It is potentially the biggest political scam ever foisted on a people’s credulity.  Who wants Buhari dead? Who are the purveyors of this ugly tale? What scientific facts do they have? How credible are they?

Again, some flashback. The President’s last trip to the United Kingdom sparked a big row. The Opposition said he was dying and would not return. After a few days, when His Excellency was due to return, the rumour machine was revved up and throttled to lightning speed. Buhari, said the rumour mongers, unable to bend his health challenge, had decided to end it all.

A former governor had, in fact, boasted during Buhari’s earlier trip that he had pictures of the President as he lay dying in a hospital. He threatened to release the pictures. He actually had pictures, it was learnt, but it turned out that the fellow, a master of stealth and cunning in financial matters, had been out-scammed. Buhari was hale and hearty.

Now they say a certain Jibrin or Jubril or Jubrin from Sudan is Buhari’s doppelganger who has been re-engineered to take his place at the Villa. A cabal of some sharks and barracudas in Buhari’s kitchen cabinet has been aiding and abetting the scam, they claim. Again, no proof.

Will the First Family be this calm if the President had passed away? I have combed through the Constitution; nowhere is it stated that there should be no mourning if a president has passed on. Is there really a mystery Fulani man from Sudan? Why are some people ready to swear with their all that any other person can acquire Buhari’s mannerisms, gait, voice and all so easily- in a matter of days?  Is he a former soldier? Who are his school mates? Where are his certificates? Was he the one who recently got an attestation?

Is he also the one who will be all over the place campaigning for re-election? When will his family in Sudan move into the Villa in Abuja to complete the game and make it foolproof? Is he on loan from the Sudanese Government? For how long? Who is paying for his strange services?

Who is the source of this rumour? Nnamdi Kanu; yes, Kanu, the fugitive; the one who recently surfaced in Israel after jumping bail here. Now he has found a new pastime after failing to incite his hardworking Igbo people to violence. Now, it is expensive rumours to be swallowed by the gullible. Is Kanu a credible source? No, I dare say. He is not, even as he threatens to back up his claim with hard proof.

On the social media, the matter has sparked fierce battles between PDP and APC fans. Former Minister Femi Fani-Kayode wrote that he was damn sure Buhari’s double was at the Villa. One fellow rejoined, without saying he was replying Fani – Kayode: “Didn’t they say Tramadol and Codeine have been banned?”

Unfazed, Buhari has been carrying on with his duties. Some governors, I am told, had to touch him after shaking his hand at a recent meeting so as to be fully convinced that he is the same old president – just as many had thronged Yaba to watch the “talking head” and confirm that, indeed and in fact, a head could talk. Please, don’t laugh.

Lately, the tale bearers have padded up their lie – for effect. They claim – again without any proof whatsoever – that “the cabal” at the Villa had warned Vice President Yemi Osinbajo that if he attempted to let the cat out of the bag, he would face the law for allegedly stealing NEMA funds.

Will this line work? No; not at all. It has neither rhyme nor reason. It will find meaning only among the fools who are looking for the foolish who are ready to be fooled and who are, unfortunately, among us. Osinbajo’s integrity has long been established. It remains solid.

But we need to take it easy with the gullible. The line between fiction and fact is so thin here. Thieves no longer steal in millions; they cart away billions. Poverty walks the street. Moral depravity reigns. Robbers have turned more vicious. Hired killers are thriving, their evil trade unchecked. It is all sickening.

As I said here a few days ago, it is not all the time we are offered an offence that we take offence. We need not take offence that we are being told that a Buhari double is running the show – a bitter insult. If we take offence all the time, people may begin to doubt our robust sense of humour.

One fellow said the other day: “It’s November and there is no sign of Harmattan and Buhari is not doing anything about it – PDP.”

I have just got a new passion; golf. But time has been so unfriendly, even as there are few courses around. I have, thankfully, found a way round it.  I have just ordered that my clone be created. He will stand in for me while I run off to play golf. So, dear reader, if you find something not quite right or discover some of those howlers, don’t howl. The editor is off to the golf course; my clone is on the seat.

And Atiku’s wife defends her love

WILL those alleging that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is corrupt now keep quiet?

His wife Amina Titi Atiku-Abubakar has put up a stout defence of her man, stressing that she fell head over heels in love with him because of his integrity.

Her story:” I was on my way back from Benin Republic when I went to visit my aunt at the Idiroko border and was accosted by officers of the Customs Service. They had demanded that I pay duty for a pair of brocade material, which was a gift from my aunt. An argument ensued between us and I told them to have the material for a keep because I couldn’t comprehend why I should pay duty for a pair of brocade.

“Suddenly, an officer by name Atiku Abubakar who heard our argument summoned the officers to come along with me to his office. He was the head of the command at the time. After listening to both sides, Atiku demanded for the duty charge, dipped his hand into his pocket and paid the duty and handed me the receipt, smiling and saying that ‘I will pay him back’.”

“As the head of the command, he could have simply commanded them to let me go if he chose to, but his patriotism to fatherland would never allow him do so, and that singular act swept me off my feet and I eventually fell in love,” she said.

There you have it, champions of the anti-corruption war, those who say Atiku is threatening to sell the NNPC to his friends– if he is elected.  How many wives can remember how their husbands wooed them and why they fell in love?  How many can state categorically that their men’s integrity won them the prize?