The Nation Newspaper

Category: Gabriel Amalu

  • Trump’s gunboat diplomacy

    Trump’s gunboat diplomacy

    Donald Trump, the 47th President of the United States of America (America), has mastered the act of intimidating his opponents, and so far, it appears to be working for him. Americans, non-Americans, foreign leaders, local and foreign corporations, indeed the entire world is apprehensive of what Trump might do with the enormous powers he possesses. Trump, who has vowed to make America great again, totally abjures soft power, and unabashedly is determined to use intimidation and brute force to assert his country’s supremacy and exceptionalism.

    History will record his era, as the return of gunboat diplomacy, in foreign relations. Starting with immigrants, who entered America illegally and are living in the country without documentation, Trump is determined to hound them back to their country of origin. From day one, Trump walked his talk, by signing an executive order expelling undocumented immigrants, and is forcing other nations to accept their deported citizens. President Trump appears not to care about the wider implications of the policy, which includes separating children from their parents, since children of the undocumented persons have themselves become US citizens, by birth.

    While majority of Americans, including those that may eventually be affected by the deportation policy, are in support of throwing out persons with criminal records, the president appears determined to go beyond criminals to rid America of undocumented persons. The claim that Trump is a child of immigrants, or that the nation should worry about the policy’s impact on the availability of cheap labour does not change his resolve.

    Trump is also determined to get at the children of the undocumented Americans, albeit in the future, to leave, as he has by executive fiat sought to reinterpret the 14th constitutional amendment, which provided for citizenship by birth. Reinterpreting what many American thought was settled more than a century ago by the Supreme Court, Trump seeks to exclude the children of the undocumented, non-permanent residents, and visitors, from US citizenship. Trump falsely claimed that his country is the only country in the world that people acquire citizenship by being born in the country.

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    His supporters argue that a reinterpretation of the 14th amendment would help stem illegal migration into the United States. Many of those who figuratively cross seven rivers and seven seas, who climb mountains and walk through the desert, to enter into America, knowing that they will not be documented, do so to give their unborn children, a better opportunity in life, when born in America. The estimated 30 million immigrant workers, 8.3 million of which are unauthorized will be affected by the policy.

    For many, there is the desperation to be born an American, which Trump is determined to end forcefully. But, already 22 states have approached the courts to stop the president on his tracks, a case that will likely get to the Supreme Court for the reinterpretation of the 14th amendment. While Trump has promised to knock down inflationary pressures on groceries, which is another major reason why Americans voted for him, the crisis ignited by his policies at home and abroad, may make that nigh impossible.  

    The two giant US neighbours, Mexico and Canada, plus China, which together account for over 40% of US import, have come under the direct aim of the Trump’s gunboat diplomacy. While the America neighbours will soon be hit with 25% import tariffs, China will have to contend with 10% hike. Instead, of using tariffs to stave off economic emergency which the World Trade Organization, allows temporarily, Trump is determined to inflict arbitrary tariffs on his trading partners without any regard to the rules of international trade.     

    Of course, the affected countries, especially his neighbours, which would pay a heavy price, have indicated their determination to engage him on his own terms. While the balance of trade may be in favour of his neighbouring countries, they provide cheaper goods for his citizens which help to stem inflationary pressures. Trump’s claim that he is imposing the tariffs on his neighbours to force them to join forces with him to fight illegal migration and the poisonous drug, fentanyl across the borders though a plausible argument, is a subterfuge for protectionism.

    Of course, past experience shows that protectionism as a trade policy cannot work side by side with capitalism. America cannot seek to export to other countries, their economic activities of comparative advantage, in technology, intellectual property, arms and ammunition, relying on the rules of international trade on protection, while, it unjustifiably uses illegal tariffs to punish their trading partners. Trump should realize that if America goes rogue in the use of tariffs, other nations may disregard the protection provided by world intellectual property, for instance, and brazenly fake American technology and intellectual property. 

    No doubt, the rule of international relations is guided by reciprocity, as it is nigh impossible for America to rely on its enormous military might to maintain peace and tranquillity in international relations. This writer thinks that if Trump continues his gambit of gunboat diplomacy, he would increasingly push even non-aligned countries, to join the anti-American gang to fight the emerging hegemony. He would be foolish to think that the nations he is seeking to intimidate and harass into towing whatever line he has drawn, would all fall in line, without a fight.   

    He should also not forget that his country is a democracy, and some of his most strident opponents, being non-democrats would outlive him. The roguish president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, who has been sworn in for a third term of six years, via a disputed election, made the snide remark that he has outlived three America presidents. He was there when Barack Obama was the president, and also during Trump’s first coming. He saw out, the immediate past president, Joe Biden, and is still there at Trump’s second coming. 

    Trump’s dealing with Maduro has made Americans and non-Americans, worry about the standing of America in the fight for free and affair elections in Venezuela. While Trump claims that he merely sent an envoy to secure the American detainees in Venezuela, international observers are worried that it gives recognition to the rogue president. The world is also apprehensive over how Trump will handle his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine, as well as North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. Both leaders have been there for decades, and are diametrically opposed to democracy, which America is supposedly its champion across the world.

    While many international observers are apprehensive at Trump’s second coming, the majority of US citizens are happy with his performance, so far in office. Of note, majority of faith-based citizens of the world are excited over Trump’s determination to end the elastic transgender initiatives of what he calls the crazy far left. He asserts that God created humans, male and female, nothing more.

  • Enugu death shrine

    Enugu death shrine

    The Ugwu Onyeama, a hilly section of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, few kilometres to Enugu once again harvested 18 souls, last Saturday. The grim reaper has been reaping bountifully on that axis for over a decade and unless relevant authorities intervene immediately, many more innocent souls will be sacrificed at that shrine on the highway. The roughly two kilometres stretch is ominous, with a steep hill on one side, like a sacrificial altar, and a deep gully, on the other side, turned into a refuse dump. Ugwu Onyeama is suffused in acrid odour, smog, smoke, carcasses, tragic memories and death traps.

    If an action in Tort of Negligence can successfully be maintained against the state, the abysmal neglect of the Ugwu Onyeama stretch of the Enugu-Onitsha expressway should provide a classic justification for the award of humongous damages in favour of those who have lost their lives, limbs and properties on that stretch. But the doctrine of state immunity and the non-justiciability of the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state may provide a duck for federal and state governments.

    But in some jurisdictions, state immunity is abolished, and I wish such a law can be unearthed, in Nigeria. One example is the Highway Defect Statute in Connecticut, USA: “Any person injured in person or property through the neglect or default of the state or any of its employees by means of any defective highway, bridge, or sidewalk which it is the duty of the commissioner of transportation to keep in repair … may bring a civil action.” 

    This columnist had written more than once, about the abandonment of the dilapidated Enugu-Onitsha federal highway, until the intervention of former works minister, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, during the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari. Before then, even when persons of southeast extraction were holding very important positions in the executive and legislative arms of the government, the highway rotted. The highway was abandoned by the regime of President Goodluck Jonathan, who campaigned as the new Nnamdi Azikiwe, with all the promises to the southeast, most of which were never kept.

    Fashola advanced the repairs of that road which seems to have stalled again under Minister Dave Umahi. It is ironical that despite years of political investment in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), especially at the federal level, the southeast never gained any significant infrastructural development during their 16 years in power. Interestingly, it was during the regime of Muhammadu Buhari, who did not gain the support of the region at the elections that the reconstruction of that highway, the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway, and the second Niger Bridge were reinvigorated.

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    Sadly, while one side of the Ugwu Onyeama axis has been substantially completed, the other side in use, yet to be repaired, has turned to a harvester for the death shrine. The anguish of those who lost their loved ones last Saturday, at that ignoble shrine pierces the soul. According to a media report, a wailing victim said that all his family members died in the fire. Another said, his in-law who just returned from overseas, got burnt inside a Lexus with five others at the scene.

    Bread winners, promising youngsters, children and all manner of loved ones, have been sacrificed by the inefficiency of the Nigerian system. What rankles is that several persons have died at the scene of last Saturday’s accident, and yet nothing had been done to abate the public nuisance that the dilapidated road construction has turned into. At a point, a military check point on that axis was contributing to the constant accidents, and appeals were made to the General Officer Commanding 82 Division, to get his men out of the place. 

    The Enugu-Onitsha expressway was started during the military regime of Olusegun Obasanjo, and significantly furthered during the civilian government of Shehu Shagari, but had never been fully completed. There are many who believe that the quality of construction was compromised from the beginning, especially with respect to the thickness of the asphalt laid on the road. That perhaps explains why driving along the failed portions, one can swear that asphalt was never laid on them. Those portions look bare and not different from rural roads that have never seen asphalt before.

    The tragedy of a developing nation like ours is that no one bears responsibility for the failure of a governmental responsibility, even when such failure has caused deep rooted pains to other citizens. Those who have compromised their responsibility over the years, whether as political office holders, civil servants or construction workers, which have resulted in the killing field that Ugwu Onyeama now constitute, would never be known, exposed, shamed and punished. They would dust their coats and go to work the next day after each mayhem as if nothing ever happened.  

    This writer has passed that road several times, and knows that if the two sides of the road were motor-able, the accident would not have happened, and should a tanker fall, there would be minor casualties, if any at all. But because only one side of the dual carriageway is functional, there is usually congestion, and anytime an articulated vehicle loses its balance, or control, the consequences are grave. As happened last Saturday, vehicles and their occupants were trapped, when the tanker fell and spilled its content, which became an Armageddon. 

    This writer’s relation who got to the accident scene shortly after the fire was put off, described how the charred bodies, burnt beyond recognition, looked no different from ordinary animals. President Obasanjo in his book, ‘This Animal Called Man’ pejoratively describes man as merely an elevated animal. Those who are responsible for the neglect of Enugu-Onitsha highway over the years should know that their negligence contributed to the deaths at Ugwu Onyeama, last Saturday. If they have any conscience, it should be pricked by the gruesome agony they have subjected the victims and their relations to, so early in the year.

    Hopefully, Governor Peter Mbah would take charge of that stretch of the road, and quickly complete whatever remains to be done. He must not succumb to the usual excuse that the state is waiting for the approval of the federal government, or the assurances that there would be a refund of the cost of repairs to the state. Having shown his competence with respect to state matters, he should assume immediate jurisdiction over that federal road, under the doctrine of necessity, while the details are worked out later.   

    Luckily, when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu visited the state recently, he referred to Mbah as a friend. Also, the Minister of Works, Umahi, is a brother, from neighbouring Ebonyi State. Mbah, should tap into that friendship and brotherhood, and ensure that those who lost their lives, at Ugwu Onyeama shrine, did not die in vain.

  • Mele Kyari as almajiri

    Mele Kyari as almajiri

    The revelation by Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer GCEO of the National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on his 60th birthday, last week, that he was formerly an almajiri, is an interesting information. That Kyari, a top Nigerian elite, well-educated, and perhaps one of the most powerful and influential Nigerian, by virtue of the lucrative office he occupies, was once like the starry eyed boys packed in that cargo bus, reportedly rescued from a trafficker, in Abuja, last week, is intriguing.

    In his message, Kyari said: “I am profoundly grateful to my country for giving me the opportunity to grow from an Almajiri (Tsangaya) school pupil to become the CEO of Africa’s largest energy company.” Whether by coincidence or design, as Mele Kyari, was proudly announcing his Almajiri pedigree, the police in Abuja, were parading children, rescued from an alleged child trafficker, who was hauling 59 children, like logs of wood, in a 15 seater bus, without windows, apparently designed to carry goods.

    The ‘trafficked children’, with some holding begging bowls, were packed like sardine, as they were being hauled by their guardian, who himself apparently needs a guardian, to only God knows where. According to the scruffy looking fellow, the children were allegedly being taken to their Almajiri school, in Nassarawa.  He claimed that the dirty, barefooted and hungry looking boys, were released to him by their parents, for them to undertake Almajiri education.

    Unlike the children of Kyari and other elites, the boys were returning to school, without mattresses and beddings, eating utensils and beverages, school and dormitory uniforms, books and writing materials, and similar items, for boarders. Unlike other children going to school, the address was not supplied, so that on school visiting day, their parents can go check out how they are faring with their studies. Apparently, there would be no Parents Teachers Association (PTA) meetings, to ensure that the teachers are teaching what they are supposed to teach.

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    Under the tutelage of that guardian, there are no school facilities to be inspected and the inspectors of education would have no business checking out whether the school was habitable on not. Unlike the school where the children of Kyari and other elites attend, there is no question whether there are chairs and tables for the pupils, or whether the dormitories are habitable. The state of their residence, if any, may not be different from the airless bus that conveyed them. 

    Looking at their faces, I sought the power of clairvoyance, to know which of them could in future, become the chief executive of a company worth $153 billion, like the NNPCL, that Kyari, who was like them before, now occupies. Sadly, I couldn’t. Perhaps, Kyari went to a different kind of Almajiri school? For it is difficult to fathom how any of the abandoned children who loiter the streets of northern Nigeria, in the name of Almajiri education, can ever amount to what Kyari has become or anything worthwhile. 

    After the arrest of the alleged kidnappers with their victims, the senator representing Kano South senatorial district, Sumaila Kawu, of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) materialized before the cameras, to tell tales by moonlight, that it is their culture to allow children of the poor to loiter hungrily around town, begging for money to feed adults, who claim to be their guardian, while the children of senators, company chief executives and their likes, are enjoying cozy learning environments. A culture that practices class apartheid, to ensure that the children of the elite remain on top, while the children of poor, remains the dredges of the society is repugnant.

    What apparently amounts to irresponsible parenting, has metamorphosed and has been elevated into a culture, and a distinguished senator of the federal republic is proud to own and propagate such culture. To make matters worse, the elites, who have lost every sense of shame, seek to use religion to cover their sins. Yet, there are countries, like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Libya, Syria, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan and even Afghanistan, which are predominantly Islamic nations, but which do not engage in such odious practice of child abuse. 

    If the intention of the propagators of Almajiri is the teaching of Islamic education, what stops them from building schools predominately dedicated to such a cause? Both the teachers and the students, can do with clean school environments, uniforms, dormitories, teaching aides, computers, dining halls, and similar things that enhances the quality of life. Who says the Almajiri school system cannot have a curriculum that encompasses plumbing, electrical, plastering, flooring, tilling, roofing and similar skills, that would feed the graduated Almajiri? Why must the learners be so limited that they can only survive on benevolence?   

    Kyari, as an ex almajiri, can through a Foundation, start a model almajiri school, as a way of giving back to the system that laid the foundation for his very successful life. As a former almajiri, he has the credibility to lead a revolution to make the system amenable to modern day living. Senator Kawu and his colleagues, Honourable members, governors, business men and successful northerners, who believe the almajiri model of education is rewarding, as evidenced by Kyari, can sponsor Almajiri model schools, for the benefit of the teeming children roaming the streets of the state capitals and towns in northern states.

    If they succeed, the almajiri children would cease to be counted amongst the out of school children. According to the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF), there are over 18 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, and about 69 percent of them are in northern Nigeria. Within that number, Bauchi State has the highest number of about 1,239,759 million, while Kano has about 989,234. At a conference in October last year, in the presidential villa, Vice President Kashim Shettima, reportedly said states like Kebbi, Zamfara, and Bauchi, have more than 60% of primary school-age children not in school. Kebbi has 64.8% of out-of-school children. For secondary education, Bauchi has 66.75%, Kebbi at 63.8%, and Jigawa at 62.6%.

    The Bauchi State governor, Bala Muhammed, who has been up and about threatening the All Progressive Congress (APC)-led federal government with sack in 2027, has not done much to alleviate the cataclysm that the out of school children pose to his state, and to the rest of Nigerians. While gearing to challenge the Tinubu-led administration, at the presidential polls, he has not shown capacity to deal with basic education in the Bauchi State he currently governs.

    The northern elite, particularly those holding political offices and controlling the common resources of the people must show themselves worthy of the leadership positions entrusted in their care. Modernizing almajiri education would help the region’s economy. It is not enough to be masters of political rhetoric, while the masses wallop in poverty and ignorance.

  • Two ideas men

    Two ideas men

    The front page picture of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) and Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah (GPNM) of Enugu State, shaking hands, and a seemingly counter advertorial on page 28, titled: “You lied to our president: a reckoning of deception in Enugu State”, published on this paper, on Monday, inspired this piece. While I have no brief to write a rebuttal to that advertorial, I have written several essays, in the past 15 years, in this paper, urging Nigerian presidents to show knowledgeable interest in the affairs of the Southeast.

    Again, while I have had the privilege of meeting PBAT and listening to him for hours before he became president, I have not met GPNM, but have read his interviews and followed his developmental agenda, since he became the governor of Enugu State. My conclusion is that both men, are gifted radical thinkers. They are persons gifted with the capacity to see prosperity where others see adversity. Men gifted by God, like Moses, to strike a rock, and water will gush out, even in the wilderness.

    In Exodus 17:1-7, the Bible tells the story of the Israelites, in the wilderness of Sin, and their thirst for water, for which they were ready to stone Moses, who had brought them out of the Land of slavery, in Egypt. In their desperation, they had questioned Moses, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” Seeing their desperation, Moses importuned God, who told him to take some elders of Israel, with him, and use the staff with which he parted the River Nile, to strike the rock at Horeb.

    When Moses obeyed, water gushed out of the rock, for the people to drink, and the people were happy, and the journey in the wilderness, continued in peace.

    Of course, this piece is not about theology, but about leadership and the challenges associated with it. PBAT and GPNM, like Moses, are leading their people at a very difficult period in their history. When I watched a few clips of the president’s visit, I was amused, at the convivial atmosphere surrounding the visit.

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    I juxtaposed the friendly atmosphere with the war-like situation during the presidential campaign. Those who showed sympathy for a Tinubu presidency where treated as renegades and saboteurs. The argument that candidate Tinubu had history of performance on his sleeve, and should be given a chance to replicate same at the national level, was derided as a joke taken too far. But he had. The Eko Atlantic city, is one such Tinubu miracle. And there are several others which stood him out among other contenders, for the presidency.

    Until Tinubu, as Lagos State Governor, wrought ideas over strong arm tactics, the federal government was pouring billions of naira, as sand and gravel, to stop the ravaging Atlantic Ocean, that was eating away, the Ahmadu Bello Way, and the prime real estates that adorned that part of Lagos. Listening to Tinubu as a potential presidential candidate in company of the incomparable Segun Ayobolu, and one other fellow, for about five hours, talk about his grand vision for Nigeria, this writer was convinced that Tinubu would be a very capable president, if elected.

    Again, after reading the detailed interview GPNM granted a newspaper, and listening to his talks, this writer was again convinced that Mbah would make a great success of his tenure as governor. While not a man of grand ideas, this writer has the knack, to appreciate great ideas men, when he chances on them. Perhaps, because, though a lawyer, I had the privilege of mentoring under late Chief Charles Adebiyi, former President of Nigeria Institute of Estate Surveyors, in my formative years, in practice.

    Chief Adebiyi was an ideas man, and I always marveled at his ingenuity. GPNM has shown himself such a man of great ideas, since he became Enugu State governor. The water miracle, in Enugu, within 100 days in office, still beggars belief. The rise in state IGR, from N37.4bn in 2023; to N144.7bn, between January to September, 2024, is incomparable, by a long standard. The state Budget of N971bn for 2025 for a state that budgeted N521.56bn in 2024; N166.6 plus supplementary budget of N15BN in 2023, and N1N186.64 in 2022, again beggars belief.

    Some of the projects PBAT commissioned in Enugu, will be transformational, if followed to the letter. The most significant, is the SMART GREEN schools that the governor is building across the states. What was shown complements the governor’s mantra that tomorrow is here, for the people of the state. In 260 wards across the state, the government is building schools that would transform the learning trajectory in the state. The plan to infuse Artificial Intelligence, virtual reality and mechatronics, in primary schools in the rural and urban cities, would give unprecedented equal opportunity, to every child in the state.       

    So, when PBAT went to Enugu State, last Saturday, this writer was excited that a knowledgeable president was visiting a knowledgeable governor. Instead of a clash of ideas, there will be a synergy of ideas. While PBAT is pushing to deliver $1 trillion national economy, GPNM is working to move the state economy from N4.4bn to N30bn. Clearly, in terms of big ideas, the governor thinks like the president, and that may have influenced the decision of PBAT, to visit the state, first, in 2025.

    This writer has written essays on this page, urging the southeast governors to help the region track back to its accustomed giant developmental strides, which made the Eastern Nigeria, a beacon of development, before the Nigeria-Biafra civil war truncated everything. It is inconceivable that despite the huge national investments in gas infrastructure, there is currently no gas pipeline, in the southeast. Almost, similar to the railways. Happily, the president has made promises to revitalize the Imo River Basin authority, with its potentials for the region, and push forward the Port Harcourt to Maiduguri railway.

    Arguably, a rail line, linking the southeast to Lagos, would be the most economically viable, in the country, and there is no reason why it should not happen under a PBAT presidency that dreams big. This writer has urged the southeast, to support PBAT presidency and is excited that there are signs that the political leadership in the region appears to think similarly. The handshake across the Niger is desirable, even when the people, like the Israelites, complained against Moses, seek for their immediate needs.

    In Numbers 20:2-13, the people of Israel again quarreled with Moses and Aaron, when they could not provide them with water, or grain, or vines, or pomegranates. The Nigerian economy is tough, and life is difficult, and the people will legitimately complain. But with ideas, tomorrow is assured.

    Happy New Year, dear reader.

  • Christmas as oyster

    Christmas as oyster

    Christmas season is here again. Soon, the hustle and bustle associated with most major cities would dim and Nigerians would go on holidays. The major markets, after the jostle of buying and selling, would be still, and only hum, till after the New Year. Many senior level workers would take their holidays, and the junior ones would go to the offices perfunctorily. The civil servants would watch the backs of each other, and those who haven’t been to the office for days, would be excused, as having gone to the bank, upon any official enquiry.

    Even with the augury weather of the run-away inflation and the scarcity of the naira ravaging the economy, markets are bubbling and some nearly bursting. The children do not understand the economics of parents not having money, whether in their banks or in their pockets. They expect to breast the season with new clothes and shoes, even if it comes from bend-down boutique. The ingenuity of parents is tasked, on how to raise money to buy food and the accoutrements of the season of celebration.   

    When we were younger, we heard tales of how ingenious poor mothers, would put frying pans on the fire, and while still retaining some water in it, would pour oil to have the ‘jiiii’ impact, as if frying something, to ape the next door neighbour, actually frying a stew. As the Igbo adage says, ‘afo ada aka ihe oriri’ meaning the stomach does not tell tales of what it has eaten. Once it is full and slightly distended, the presumption is that it has been well fed. 

    For the sellers in the market, it is the windfall season. Despite the best efforts of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission ((FCCPC), it is a season to exploit buyers. In the euphoria of the season, buyers like the lamb, submit themselves to the medicaments of sweet tongued sellers. When they get home, they wonder what came over them in the throes of the unequal haggling contest with the seller. Unfortunately, it used to be the buyer’s market, but now, it has become the seller’s market. The seller dictates at what price to sell, and the buyer nearly has no alternative.  And their gains would last, deep into the year, when economic activities would pick up again.

    With Christmas ashore, the roads would be empty of the long winding traffic that make life difficult in a city like Lagos, on bad days. Moving across the far-flung parts of any major city would become pleasurable, as the roads become unencumbered freeways. Those who drink and drive would, as my people would say, be pricing death cheaply with the freeways alluring and inviting the foolhardy for a speed contest. Party goers would zoom across the city centres, and touch all the clubs in town, without any stress.

    Day would grow into the night, and the night would bore the day, without a prolonged labour pain. It is a season to joist and jostle, as if the world is all about gain. Eating and drinking would become a contest that everybody wins, as no one remembers the amber of hunger and want that would become aglow again in January. In the ecstasy, school fees, rents and other bills pales far away. After all, we are in 2024, and the tumble for bills, is for 2025.

    The roads leading into the villages would stretch like a carnival parade, with cars and legs jutting and jostling for the distances, as in a parade. Children would walk without complaining. Happiness and festiveness becomes an analgesic, for dumbness and weariness. Piles of kilometres would be covered, to see a daughter married to a neighbouring town, or an aunty, who is like a mother in another village. In the days of yore, only one word was the happiness of the childhood, and that is to ask, uncle or aunty: ‘celebrate Christmas’ for me.

    And to ‘celebrate Christmas’ was to be given a kobo or two, back in the days. With inflation eating up the kobo and making mincemeat of the naira, a child given ten naira now, would wonder, for what purpose? Even the village masquerades are only in the recess of the mind, as the young ones would consider it beneath them, to gather to practice how to dance to funny sounding beats, from drums and gongs when the hot beats of Davido, et al, are there to prance at.

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    With technology at their palms and ears, entertainment can be privatized, and everyone according to his or her choice. Organizing music for parties does not require the rigor of the last century, or even the early 21st century. With a torch-like equipment, or a flash fixed on a laptop, music can start blaring, and the party is on. Drinks and other enablers have also metamorphosed and the young get on the groove with ease, holding just one bottle of a heavy intoxicant. Some looking deceptively like a soft drink.

    Parents of the old school are warned that when their children sip what looks like a soft drink, regularly, they may be actually getting high, on a dangerous substance. The social media has become another dangerous addictive, such that some may be in Nigeria, and be celebrating Christmas in Asia, Europe or America. For such, Christmas is intercontinental. Even worse, abuses also come from such extra-terrestrial sojourn. Decades back, it would have been unimaginable what a little object, like an android phone, can be used for.

    With an android phone and a few gigabytes of data, the young literally have the world at their feet. On holidays, they listen and watch whatever pleases them. They engage, make vows, take oaths and entangle behind closed doors, and appear outdoor looking very innocent. The happy side is that with such little devices, they can also conquer the world, and bring accolades home. They can learn, earn and grow big barns. With that device, they can trade, train and rain in huge income.

    The season of Christmas should not be for anything ugly, as the reason for the season is Jesus Christ. In the Catholic Christendom, it is preceded by Advent, a season of Hope, Faith, Joy and Peace. But even for non-Christians, they are partakers in the oyster of Christmas. Our country needs hope, that we would get out of the challenges of the present times. Interestingly, the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, promotes the Renewed Hope Agenda. Nigerians, need to have faith in their leaders, but the leaders must inspire it.  

    Joy and peace are intertwined in the season of Christmas. And amidst the challenges facing Nigerians, this writer wishes his readers, Nigerians and all mankind, joy and peace. Hopefully I will see you, next year.

  • Reputation versus liberty

    Reputation versus liberty

    The battle cry of the 1789 French Revolution was liberty, equality and fraternity. At the cusp of that revolution, France was divided into the First Estate, made up of high ranking members of the Church and privileged class; the Second Estate, comprising the Nobility and lesser privileged class, and the Third Estate, which was the aggregation of peasants in the countryside, as well as the wealthy bourgeoisie merchants in the cities, plus the unprivileged class. The First Estate was answerable only to God, they paid no tax, and their words were law, however unreasonable.

    Some commentators have tried to frame the ongoing legal dispute, between a doyen of the legal profession and educationist, Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, and human rights activist and politician, Dele Farotimi, as akin to a fight, between a member of the privileged class, and the unprivileged class, respectively. Because of that framing, majority of Nigerians have extended their sympathy to Farotimi, who is seen as the underdog in the fight. Even with the efforts by Chief Babalola’s legal team to redirect the deluge of sympathy, this column doubts if success has been achieved.

    At the beginning, many had thought that it was a government official that came after Farotimi, the widely acclaimed spokesperson of the Labour Party and her presidential candidate, in 2023, Peter Obi, (Okwute). Those who had political and economic grievances against the Tinubu led administration, post-haste took up arms, ready to storm the ‘Bastille’, on the belief that the regime had overreached itself. Piles of press releases, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the human rights activist, became a tome, before the reason for the arrest was made public.

    Alas, it turned out, the fight was between a citizen seeking to protect his reputation from being battered and shattered and another citizen who believed he exercised his liberty to fullest limit. Since no government official was involved, some sheathed their swords, while a significant number refused to be placated. For some, since police was used by the privileged citizen to arrest in Lagos, transport and detain the less privileged person in Ekiti, the hand of government must be involved, one way or another. The argument that both parties are lawyers, and as such belong to the same class does not cut ice, with that trenchant group.

    While the argument rages on in the court of public opinion, whether the offence of criminal libel, is still in the statute books of Ekiti State, there is the likelihood, that those asking Chief Babalola to sue for the Tort of Defamation, simpliciter, may well get what they are asking for. While this writer has not read, and does not intend to read Farotimi’s book, the snippets quoted extensively by social media pundits and public commentators, have done enough damages to the sense of propriety.   

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    Taking extreme and conclusive positions, or deductions that may not be beyond mere speculation, is an alchemy I do not want to share with Farotimi. When he is quoted to have written, some of the unprintable words against the integrity of the Supreme Court, Chief Babalola, his firm and other lawyers, as alleged, in cold prints, this writer fears that Farotimi could be defending himself in court for the rest of his life, over plethora of self-inflicted defamatory suits.

    If not that Farotimi appears regularly on television where he uses extremely vile words to describe those who hold opposing views from his convictions, before the release of his book, I would have disregarded the quotes ascribed to him, as totally unbecoming. But there the quotes are, and those strenuously defending him, unfortunately spare no sympathy, for the reputation Chief Babalola has spent nearly a double lifetime, by Nigeria’s life span standard, to build. If it was a street urchin that uttered words similar to what was allegedly written by Farotimi, many would have questioned the mental state of the utterer.

    There is also the likelihood that Chief Babalola would spend the rest of his life ruing over having anything to do with Farotimi and even the law suit, the casus belli of the entire imbroglio. According to public record, in the petition by Chief Babalola, his firm claimed their client undermined them over their fees and now an opposing counsel, who lost the legal battle, had chosen the slippery court of public opinion to exert his pound of flesh. And for the most loquacious traducers of Chief Babalola, including lawyers, the old man should be hanged for all that is wrong with our criminal justice system. I don’t agree.

    In the Law of Tort by Ese Malemi, Libel is defined as a defamatory statement made in a visible or permanent form, such as written or printed statements, for instance in books, newspapers, notes … and so forth. Clearly, in criminal law, defamation is also a crime, and it is outlawed, because “it tends to incite breaches of peace.” In Beauharnais v Illinois 343 US 250, referenced by Malemi, the defendant had called upon the “one million self-respecting white people in Chicago to unite …” so as to halt the invasion of white neighbourhoods by Negroes.

    According to the majority decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, such talk played “significant part” in creating tensions between the races, and on some occasion had resulted in race riots. The court held that such libellous statements were not “within the area of constitutionally protected speech.” Whether Farotimi, who allegedly published defamatory statements for which he has been charged for criminal libel amongst other charges, meet the threshold of the necessary ingredients of a criminal libel, will be determined by the courts. So, also is whether the courts have the jurisdiction to hear the suits.

    Interestingly, there are many defences to a claim of defamation. They include justification or truth. If the words authored by Farotimi against the reputation of Chief Babalola are justifiable or true, he will be set free, and may even take out an action for malicious prosecution against the legal giant. If he raises the defence of fair comment, and the court agrees with him, Farotimi will be a free man. Of course there are other potential defence which can set him free, from the vice grip, of one of the best legal minds in the country, even though age may have caught up with him.   

    For most laymen, in the court of public opinion, Chief Babalola falls within the rank of the privileged Nigerians, who like the First Estate of the pre-revolution France, are the casus belli of all the problems in our country. If they can have their way, Farotimi, should have his liberty immediately so he can luxuriate in the touted proceeds from the book that allegedly decapitated Chief Babalola’s reputation.

  • Enugu is airborne

    Enugu is airborne

    The Governor of Enugu State, Barrister Peter Mbah, at his inauguration, in 2023, promised to transform the state economy to a $40 billion economy. Many had wondered, and still wonder, how he can do that. With the presentation of the 2025 budget proposal to the state House of Assembly last week, Enugu State, which is commonly referred to as a civil service state, after the state lost its economic shine, since the Coal Corporation became moribund, appears to be on the march again. The state capital, Enugu, otherwise known as the Coal City, developed around the business of coal, and evolved to become the capital of Eastern Nigeria.

    The colonial master, Britain, which needed coal as the source of energy, ensured that railway was built to evacuate the product through the sea to Europe. But with the rise of relatively cleaner hydrocarbons, oil, as the alternative major source of energy, there was gradual death of the coal business. As the coal economy nosedived, the economy of Enugu State, the ultimate successor of the Eastern Nigeria, shrank, until the state was substantially sustained by the fuel, from the federation account.

    In 2023, the state got a total of N133.29 billion from the FAAC, ranking number 25 out of the 36 states in Nigeria. That year, the state budget was initially N166,602,416,770 before it was revised to N224,697,899,063, making the budget reliant on the FAAC, about 80 percent. In 2024, with Mbah, fully on the saddle, the budget tagged ‘Budget of Distributive Economic Growth’, more than doubled to N521,561,386,000, out of which it expected to raise N252.7 as Internally Generated Revenue, IGR.

    Significantly, the projected IGR for 2024, was more than the entire budget for 2023. Last week, the governor literally shot the state economy into the stratosphere with a budget of N971,844,000,000, called ‘Budget of Exponential Growth and Inclusive Prosperity’, for the year 2025. Interestingly, the Capital Expenditure component of the proposal, is N837,944,000,000, while the recurrent expenditure component is N133,140,000,000. Between IGR, VAT and Grants, the state expects to raise N692,179,000,000.

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    At the presentation, the governor said: “In crafting this budget, we have sort to continue to lay the right foundation in Enugu to enhance the economy and attract even more private investment.” He went on: “In spite of the dreary economic environment across the country, for us here in Enugu, we have elected to remain bullish in our aspiration, and to double down on our commitment to elevate our state to top three status in terms of GDP nationally, and eradicate poverty from our midst.”

    Considering where the state was in 2023, it is reasonable to wonder where the state would get all the resources to achieve its very ambitious budget proposal. Agreeably, the removal of oil subsidy has seen the federation account balloon, but not with the same leap as the state’s proposed budget. From N224 billion in 2023, it moved to N521.5 billion in 2024, and now N971.8 billion projections for 2025. The figure reeled out by the governor, at the budget presentation, are indeed ambitious. 

    The governor said: “In the area of our revenues, we estimated that total recurrent revenues during 2025 will amount to N692,179,000,000 as against the approved revised provision for 2024 of N383,789,000,000.” He continued: “The recurrent revenues for 2025 are broken down as follows: opening balance – N32,000,000,000; Internally Generated Revenue, IGR – N509,947,000,000; statutory revenue – N48,749,000,000; exchange rate differential – N26,559,000,000; and Value Added Tax, VAT – N74,924,000,000.”

    If the state can pull this budget off, it would join the top sub-nationals in the country.

    One unequivocal area of interest for the governor is education. He said: “As we all know by now, education is both our ‘sword’ and ‘shield’ in this battle to achieve economic growth in our state and banish poverty and want among our population. Consequently, we are maintaining the ambitious direction we charted in 2024 by voting N320,000,000,000 for that sector. This represents 78 percent of the social sector of the budget and 32 percent of our Capital Expenditure this year.”

    An excitable angle, that first drew my attention, is the proposal to acquire four additional aircraft to expand Enugu Air, which inspired the title of this piece. The budget proposal for that is the sum of N41,132,436,000,000. Mbah said the state will be consummating the concession of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, as well as the construction of an international cargo terminal. The state will also float a new taxi scheme, in collaboration with the private sector, to modernize, urban and inter-urban transportation, in the state.  

    Talking about the 2024 budget performance, one understands that the governor’s optimism, is not merely in the air. For instance, the state’s IGR in 2022, was N26.8 billion, and it grew by 39 percent to 37.4 billion in 2023, but as at September 2024, had drastically increased to 144.7 billion, representing a 286.2 percent increase. He was optimistic that it would hit N200 billion by the end of the year. In terms of budgetary performance, he said, “the total revenue realized in the state as at October 2024 came to N459,851,39,396.47, which comes to a budgetary performance of 88 percent.”

    On the performance side, the budget has also performed up to 88 percent. He also said: “As at October, these inflows had been applied to expenditure with N382,427,929,564.00 as Capital Expenditure and N76,546,09,116.18 as recurrent expenditure. These translated to a budget performance of 88 percent.” This column agrees with the state House of Assembly, that the governor and his team have shown enormous capacity to live the state’s avowed mantra that ‘tomorrow is here’ and so agrees with the members that the budget should be expeditiously passed by them.

    While the state ranks in the middle of other 36 states in the country with respect to revenue from the FAAC, it definitely pushes to be amongst the top five states in terms of budget estimate for 2025. And yet the state is not an oil producing state, which gets extra federal allocation receipts, from FAAC. So, to achieve the ambitious plan to turn the state into a top three state economy, in the country, the state must be ready to diversify its revenue sources, hence the Enugu Air.

    Post haste, the governor has promised that the state airline will lift Ndi Enugu home as the 2024 yuletide, beckons. With Akwa Ibom State, seemingly making a huge success of its Ibom Air, who says state run enterprises cannot be a success? Last week, Governor Mbah was amongst President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s federal government’s delegation to France, where the Solid Mineral Ministry, signed a Memorandum of Understanding, with France, for the revival of 2000 abandoned mine pits, in Nigeria. Hopefully, the Coal City, Enugu, will benefit, and her several abandoned mines will roar back to life.

  • Ultimatum on minimum wage

    Ultimatum on minimum wage

    The threat of strike, from the 1st of December, by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), in states that are yet to agree on when to start paying the new Minimum Wage, of N70,000.00  is reasonable. The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act, 2024, was enacted by the National Assembly, on 29th July 2024. The Act increased the minimum wage from N30,000.00  and reduced the review period from five years to two years.

    Before the Bill became an Act, it was robustly debated by the relevant parties ;  made up of the federal and state governments, the organized private sector, and the representatives of the NLC. Though  most state governments had shown lethargy during the debate, they eventually came on board, and the bill was passed. Considering the galloping inflation, the Labour representatives, initially asked for outrageous wages, but following negotiations with the team set up, by the federal government, they kept coming down, until President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, intervened to help the parties agree to what the payers can afford to pay, and what could tamper the inflationary pressure on wages.

    So, after that rigorous endeavour, to achieve an agreeable Minimum Wage, no state has any reason not to pay, what has become a law. After all, the economic reform policies of the federal government have been putting more monies into the state coffers. According to reports, the statutory federal allocation to states in 2024, will increase by 69 percent. In 2024, the states are expected to receive N2.2trillion more than the N3.3 trillion they received in 2023. The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), reported, that 36 states of the federation shared N1.51trillion, in the first half of 2023, compared to N2.59trillion in 2024. Of that humongous amount, the oil bearing states, got 626.33billion. So, why should any state, delay on the payment of minimum wage?

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    The states which are yet to reach an agreement with their respective state NLC, on the implementation of the minimum wage, are Katsina, Cross River, Zamfara and Imo States. The concerned states within the first quarter of this year, got the following :  Katsina – N60.58bn, Imo – N58.06bn, Zamfara – N48.08bn and Cross River – N40.08bn. In 2023, before the removal of fuel subsidy, Katsina State, got 85.00billion, and after, 106.43billion, making a total of 191.43billion. Zamfara State, before the removal of subsidy got 52.57billion, and after 66.6billion, totaling N119.17b. On its part, Imo State, got 68.49billion before, and 83.90billion after the removal, making a total of 152.39billion.

    While the four laggard states are not amongst the highest state earners in the country, they are not amongst the lowest either. So, again I ask, what could be their reason for delaying the implementation of the National Minimum Wage? Such reason cannot be altruistic, considering the by- product  of the necessary, but painful reform programs, of the federal government, which is yielding the extra monies accruing to the states.

    The major by- product of that reform, is the inflationary pressure on goods and services, especially food items. With inflation at 33.9 percent in October, no fair minded State Governor, would hesitate for an extra day, to pay the new minimum wage. Considering the effect of inflation on the cost of living, some state governors have reduced the working days of the state civil servants, to three days, and some have introduced some other measures, to cushion its impact on the citizens. Some states also established special markets, where basic food items, are sold to civil servants at subsidized rates.

    Another major impacted social need, is the cost of transportation, which further increases the inflationary pressure. An outcome of the deregulation of fuel price, from which the more-money comes, movement of goods and services have become a big cause for worry, for Nigerians, whether in the rural areas or the urban centres. I wonder how state workers, still paid the old minimum wage, afford to go to work, feed and pay for other essential needs. One of the laggard states, Zamfara, reportedly implemented the old minimum wage, enacted in 2019, only this year.

    Surprisingly, Imo State which is an oil bearing state, is reputed among the laggards, as I write. Those who know Governor Hope Uzodinma, said he does not do things in half measure, especially when it has to do with infrastructure development. I hope he is aware that former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, years ago, educated those who were more educated than him, that stomach infrastructure, is one aspect of infrastructure development. And minimum wage if implemented, is not only about stomach infrastructure, both could lead to other forms of infrastructure development.

    A well motivated  work force, is a sine qua non for economic prosperity of the state. While the workers would become more productive, if their welfare is assured, with more money in their pockets, they would have more disposable income, which also impacts the economic prosperity of the state, as there would be increased payment for goods and service. Some states have even agreed to pay more than the National Minimum Wage, and on the top chart are Lagos and Rivers State, which will pay 85,000.00 every month.

    This column agrees with the fundamental principle, for the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira, despite the severe economic hardships occasioned by the policies. Indeed, it agrees with the position that there are no real alternatives to those policies. To do otherwise, was to keep postponing the evil day, which was already at the nation’s doorstep. What is,  however,  hampering the full success of the programs is the structural inefficiencies, which allows corruption to continue to thrive. Sadly, political office holders still find it easy, to pilfer public resources, without consequences.

    Considering the antecedents of PBAT, in governance, it is hoped that he will incrementally rein  in public corruption, by using technology and the law to tighten the loopholes, through which public resources are pilfered. Expectedly, the federal government has given effect to the new minimum wage, and the current wage will be due for upward review, in the next two years. As I have argued in the past, what requires to improve is the public and private wages, and not subsidy on fuel and the national currency, which benefits a few persons within the national economy.

    Hopefully, the NLC will stare down the state governors, who are dillydallying on the payment of the new National Minimum Wage, and use labour tactics, to compel them to pay what the law says. As they pressure the states, the local governments must be pulled along, and of course, the private sector. The Nigerian economy can only make progress, if it modernizes. And the era of a privileged few, getting the benefits of misguided subsidies, must give way to economic certainties, which drives genuine economic progress.

  • Educating the Almajiris

    Educating the Almajiris

    The decision of the Ministry of Education to collaborate with the National Commission for Almajiri and Out of School Children Education (NCAOOSCE), to mop-up out of school children around the federal capital territory and send them to school, points the way for states afflicted by similar challenge. The report indicated that the new Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, and NCAOOSCE, formally handed over the children to the FCT for enrolment. This is refreshingly different, from what looked like the flagship program of the former Minister of Education, who expended his energy on how old a child should be, before he or she, can enrol in the university.

    From hindsight, the sacked minister, Professor Tahir Mamman, would wish he had concentrated on this ‘Back2School’ enrolment drive which he had launched earlier in the year. The collaboration between the Ministry of Education and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, will see the children get absorbed into schools, at no cost to the parents. This enrolment, if pushed to a logical conclusion, will help rid the FCT, of child beggars, who are mainly, Almajiri children, that also constitute security challenges.

    Hopefully, similar collaboration would take place in the states. Even if the minister and NCAOOSCE have to pressure the state governors, the federal government should extend the program across the states. According to the UNICEF, there is a whopping 18.3 million children between 6 and 14 years, who are out-of-school in 2024. Among the states with the highest numbers, include Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2023, Yobe has the lowest literacy level of 7.23 percent, followed by Zamfara at 19.16 percent, Katsina 10.36 at percent and Sokoto 15.01 at percent.

    One report indicates that Kano has 39 percent out-of-school children, higher than the national average of 28.7 percent. Kano is reputed as the most politically conscious state in what is popularly regarded as the core-north. Truly, over the years, the state has trodden its own political part, regardless of what is happening in other states in the northwest zone. Hopefully, Kano, one of the most afflicted by the Almajiri crisis, would key into this project.

    This column urges political leaders, especially in the educationally blighted states to make the education of the out-of-school children the cornerstone of their political manifesto. For instance, Yobe State last year, by one account, budgeted less than 10 percent of the 2023 Budget, for education, unlike Sokoto and Kano which allocated about 30 percent to education in their respect budgets. If the allocation, which is higher than the UNESCO benchmark of 26 percent, is maintained over the years, the out-of-school children will diminish, in those states.

    Trump trumps pollsters

    As the result of the United States of America’s elections rolled in the penultimate week, this writer who had relied on the so-called renowned pollsters to predict that Kamala Harris would win the US presidential election was flummoxed as Trump trumped the prediction. If it were in Nigeria, the headlines would have read, ‘Trump wins by landslide’.  While the results were trailing in and this writer was expressing surprise, the office secretary, dismissed my exertions in one sentence: “Oga, you listen too much to CNN”.

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    Perhaps she is right. For in the past few months to the election, the televisions, at home and in the office, had been tuned near permanently to the Cable Network, to hear how the electioneering campaign in US, was progressing. And the predictions have been that Kamala Harris was surging forward while former President Donald Trump was reclining. One pollster, who claimed to have predicted 10 out of 11 past elections correctly, boasted that Kamala was going to win Trump.

    One CNN pundit after another told us why Kamala would win, even though she entered the race late, and the odds were initially against her. And I believed. Interestingly, after the election, I discovered that many around me were actually happy that Trump won the election. The Catholics were excited that Trump defeated Kamala hands down, even though President Joe Biden, her godfather is a Catholic. Other Christians told me that the promoters of the infamous LGBTQ have been defeated. Many used unprintable words to describe Biden and Kamala’s support for LGBTQ.

    Any argument that while one abjures the crazy concepts promoted by the LGBTQ folks, the potential danger posed by a Trump presidency is far more dangerous to the world is met with complete scorn. The argument that Trump hates other races, especially the blacks, is countered with the argument that he has an Arab in-law who occasionally lives in Nigeria. When one raised the danger of ‘America first’; the question is, ‘before nko?’ The supporters wonder whether as USA president, Trump is expected to put Nigeria first? When one argues that US is the policeman of the world order, the next question is, at what cost to Americans? 

    While the jury as to the wisdom of Americans, in choosing Donald Trump, as their 47th president, has four years to sit, there is the claim that the president-elect is choosing strange characters, as his secretaries and top administration staff. Some of his nominees are reputed to have parochial or little knowledge about the position they would occupy, if cleared by the Congress. 

    There is the allegation that he even wants to circumvent the standard process, of having his nominees cleared by the Congress, by resorting to a rarely used legislative process, provided for during emergencies, when the Congress is on recess for a long time. Again, the worried German and French leaders, at their recent meeting, discussed how to contain the emergence of Trump, who in his previous incarnation as president, insisted that Europe must carry its load, instead of leaving it for Uncle Sam, the USA.

    One wonders whether the Trump presidency would be as turbulent as many pundits are predicting. After my recent failure as a pollster, I am wondering if I am again, listening to CNN, more than I should?

    Congratulations Ndi Enugu

    The emergence of Chidimma Onwe Adetshina, as first runner up, of the Miss Universe 2024 pageant, in Mexico, brought joy to the Enugu State governor, Peter Mbah, and most people of the state. Governor Mbah, who has promised to increase and multiply, the state economy, many folds, described her emergence as reaffirming the resilience, brilliance, and determination that define Ndi Enugu.

    Chidimma who passed through the valley of the shadow of death in South Africa on her way, to participate in the pageant, deserves all the accolades coming her way.

  • Exacerbating poverty in northwest

    Exacerbating poverty in northwest

    Every effort should be made to pulverize the so called Lukarawa terrorists, mutating in the northwest in its infancy considering what the nation went through in the hands of the Boko Haram. The news that a new terror group has metamorphosed in the country broke last week, after the group killed 15 persons in Mera, Augie Local Government Area, of Kebbi State. The Defence Headquarters announced that the group moved into Sokoto and Kebbi states, from Niger and the Sahel region.

    Expectedly, the governor of Kebbi State, Nasir Idris, has called on the military to save the people from the danger posed by the terrorist group. Unlike in the past, nobody is playing politics with whether the invaders are mere bandits or have metamorphosed to terrorists. Even without waiting for the federal government to take steps to formally declare the group as a terrorist organization, the Kebbi State government and the socio-political organization, the Arewa Consultative Assembly (ACF), are united in calling the emergent group a terrorist organization.

    In the past, politics would have overshadowed the looming danger posed by the armed terror group. According to Prof Tukur Mohammed Baba: “The Arewa Consultative Forum is deeply concerned about the emergence of a new armed terror group, Lakurawa, in northwest states of Kebbi and Sokoto, as confirmed by local authorities as well as the DHQ.” He went on: “Lukarawas, at this incipient stage of its emergence, must not be tolerated or allowed to entrench itself to be embedded in our communities through benign neglect and/or kid-glove treatment, as was the case with Boko Haram insurgency, farmer-herder clashes and banditry in the Northeast, North-central and Northwest areas, respectively.”

    It is interesting that the farmer-herder clashes in the North-central is now lined up together with other terrorist acts, in other parts of the north, instead of the prevailing attempt to label it as mere economic dispute between pastoralists and farmers. And yet, the people we call herders, wantonly kill hundreds, in communities across the Northcentral, in many instances seeking to wipe out entire residents of villages and communities. The ACF which is quick to call for action when herders are attacked, usually keep mum and ask for understanding when mayhem is visited on the farming communities.

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    This saddening attitude was displayed by former president, Muhammadu Buhari, who called on communities at the risk of genocide by rampaging herders, to show compassion for their fellow citizens seeking a means of livelihood. Instead of dealing with the terrorists masquerading as herders, the government sought some form of appeasement, which was called RUGA. With the government and influential leaders showing lack of neutrality in the incessant crisis, government policies to ameliorate the crisis always meet with a brick wall.

     Sadly, the insincerity of purpose has made it difficult for government to deal with that crisis which has contributed greatly to the food insecurity facing the country. The Boko Haram crisis followed a different trajectory, but almost consumed the entire Northeast. The insurgency which started in 2009, as a rebellion against the secular government in Borno State, eventuated into a terror machine ravaging parts of Northern Cameroun, Southern Niger and Western Chad. Even with a combination of forces across the affected countries, defeating the group has become an uphill task.

    The result is that about 38,683 lives have been lost, 244,000 turned into refugees and 952,029 children made to drop out of school. Of course there is massive destruction of communities and devastating effects on the social, economic and general lives of the people. According to the World Bank, the conflict has significantly destroyed physical infrastructure, disrupted social services and dislocated social cohesion among the people.  These challenges according to the UNDP, further affected the precarious lives of people, with a poverty rate of 69 percent and a literacy rate of 28 percent.

    Sadly, the Northwest, the emerging epicentre of the new terror group, despite its political advantages since independence, is the second most underdeveloped region of the country. It ranks very poor in human development index and has the highest population amongst the regions, in Nigeria – a combination that makes recruitment of followers for the new terror group easier. The region has 75.8 percent of its population entangled in multi-dimensional poverty; slightly lower that 76.5 percent for the Northeast. And on state basis, Sokoto has the highest, at 86.10, Jigawa – 83.30, Zamfara – 82.70, Kebbi – 79.10, Katsina – 77.50, and Kano – 68.80. 

    The three regions in the north make up more than 70 percent of the Nigeria’s total multidimensional poor. According to the UNDP, “the Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) represents the number of people who are multi-dimensionally poor and the deprivations such people face at the household level. It is the share of the population that is multi-dimensionally poor adjusted by the intensity of deprivation.” It went on “Poverty is not merely the impoverished state in which a person actually lives in, but a lack of real opportunities due to social and other constraints and circumstances that inhibit living a valuable and dignified life.”

    With the destructive tendencies of terror groups, if the nascent terror organization in the northwest is allowed to fester and expand, the already bad situation would only get worse. The responsibility to ensure that Lukarawas do not gain foothold in the region is that of the community and traditional leaders, local government authorities, state governments and the federal government. Sadly, the maladministration of the past and perhaps the present, exacerbated the level of poverty in the region, and thus a potential nest for the terrorist group.

    If the level of literacy and other social indices in the region were better, the group would never have contemplated making the region a potential base. But apparently, after looking at all the indices, they may have come to the conclusion, that their terror group would do well, in such a nest of poverty and underdevelopment. As this writer has argued recently, the northern region must wake up to the numerous challenges facing it, and by extension, the entire country. The age-long attempt to curtail the spread of western education is at the root of the poverty in the region.

    Unfortunately, some of the leaders instead of making a differentiation between education and religion, lumps the two together, and in resisting the spread of other religions, also build a bulwark against education. Yet, Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirate have leaders who trained in western countries. Even local leaders in Nigeria, attended schools in western countries, yet, the ordinary people are encouraged to treat western education, as haram.

    The northern leaders already campaigning to take over power in 2027 may be behaving like the proverbial man chasing rats while the roof of his house is on fire.