The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niyi Akinnaso

  • Retreat on improving polytechnic education

    Retreat on improving polytechnic education

    It was acknowledged at the outset that polytechnic education had been in recession for decades due partly to low investment in the sector and partly to emphasis on university education. That’s why chairpersons of polytechnics, rectors, registrars, bursars, and state commissioners of education throughout the country attended a retreat on ways to improve polytechnic education. For 6 hours a day over two days (January 21-22, 2026), in the tech-resourced TETFund Auditorium, eight papers were presented and discussed, four per day, each for a full hour. The following summary is infused with my own reflections on the presentations and discussions.

    In his opening address, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, drew attention to the renewed goals of polytechnic education under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the need to align polytechnic education with the national manpower needs and development goals: “Innovation must be the heartbeat of our polytechnics; therefore, I urge you to foster entrepreneurship centres, research hubs, and industry partnerships that turn ideas into prototypes, inventions into enterprises, which will graduate students into job creators. Polytechnics should lead in areas like renewable energy, agriculture technology, digital manufacturing, and climate-resilient solutions directly contributing to Nigeria’s sustainable development goals.”

    Seven major issues:

    •Leadership and governance

    Typical governance problems in polytechnics were discussed and various approaches to solving them were highlighted. The problems range from funding shortages and poor infrastructure through inadequate lab and teaching facilities to undue external interference in internal affairs. The problems notwithstanding, effective governance and leadership accountability are necessary for sustaining the mission of the polytechnic.

    2 Social cohesion

    Emphasis was placed on (a) the need to foster collaboration and good relationships among governing council, management, and unions; (b) the need to foster effective relationships among management, staff, and students; and (c) the need to maintain harmonious relationships among institutional management, staff, students, and the host community, realising that a good number of staff and students reside within the host community.

    3 Financial management

    Financial prudence is critical to achieving the mission of the polytechnic, more so in the face of funding shortages. One area in which fiscal management could be optimised is procurement. There was an exhaustive presentation on procurement procedures, based on compliance with the Procurement Act. I strongly recommend this presentation to all procurement officers and members of the Tenders Board throughout the federation. Equally important is the presentation by an ICPC official on how to identify pitfalls in financial operations and how to avoid corrupt practices in fund utilization.

    It must be noted, however, that the procurement procedures are too cumbersome for efficiency. No wonder specially trained officers are required to be in charge. Yet the complicated procedures involved often leave gaps for oversight managers to exploit. There are over ten such groups from various ministries and both Houses of the National Assembly looking into various aspects of polytechnic management. In addition to visiting the campuses, oversight managers often invite one or more members of the polytechnic management to Abuja to explain or defend this or that. But even where there are no clear complaints, these managers often have to be settled. The expenses incurred by the polytechnics on accommodation, transport, and settlement fees amount to a drain on the inadequate resources of the polytechnics with little or no impact on quality assurance.

    • ICT and digital transformation

    In keeping with presidential directive on ICT compliance, polytechnics should adopt digitization across the institution to enhance efficiency in governance, teaching, learning, and research. The presentation and discussion of this topic highlighted the need for polytechnics to prepare candidates for the fourth industrial revolution, spurred by the Internet, digitsation, and the adoption of AI tools for enhanced efficiency.

    • Quality assurance

    Quality assurance enhances efficiency, reduces costs, and boosts stakeholders’ confidence. It is necessary to ensure standards in governance, teaching, fiscal management, and ethical practices. Quality assurance in polytechnics is diffuse, if there is any at all. The so-called oversight managers appear to be after collection rather than correction and after quantity rather than quality. It is unclear how the planned establishment of a Polytechnic Commission (after National Universities Commission) will provide desired quality assurance, which the NBTE appears unable to provide.

    •Human capital development and staff welfare

    The renewed focus on polytechnic education requires the upgrade of the lecturers’ skills, slaries, and allowances as well as clear owed allowances. In was, therefore, good news that the federal government was negotiating with polytechnic unions for salary upgrade and unpaid allowances. TETFund has been helpful to the polytechnics for faculty and staff training. However, polytechnic lecturers have not been tapping enough into available funds for research.

    •Polytechnic-industry linkage

    It is important to establish and strengthen linkages with local industries to establish or enhance internships, practical training, and apprenticeships. Where there are no industries in the area, construction companies, reputable roadside mechanics, welders, plumbers, electricians, and other artisans at work can provide practical training for students.

    Major challenges

    • Irregular and grossly inadequate funding for capital projects and recurrent expenses. Moreover, statutory intervention funds are delayed or not disbursed at all. The rigmarole before approved funds could be accessed often causes unnecessary delay. This has ripple effects across the institution, including dampened morale, lowered quality, and, sometimes, loss of funds.

    •Poor and inadequate infrastructure and deficiencies in workshop and laboratory facilities. The minister announced a special TETFund intervention fund for upgrading engineering schools with modern, industry-standard equipment. But what about the other programmes?

    •Teaching and technical staff shortages and limited opportunities for staff development and career progression.

    • Outdated currcula that are out of alignment with needed industry skills and current technologies need urgent upgrade.

    • Despite policy emphasis on ICT compliance, ICT infrastructure is limited or lacking. As a result, there is limited digital teaching capacity and low e-learning readiness. TETFund is one of a few institutions in Africa to have invested heavily in Blackboard, an online learning tool, but it has hardly translated to use beyond Abuja.

    • There are serious security concerns and safety issues on many polytechnics, especially newer ones without perimeter fencing. This requires urgent intervention in view of rampant security breaches in educational institutions.

    • There are serious constraints on institutional autonomy worsened by delayed release of statutory approvals and external interference in management processes. The menace of numerous “oversight managers” from various ministries and the National Assembly is particularly aggravating to the polytechnic management. Unfortunately, polytechnic Governing Councils have been rendered too ceremonial to be of help to the management.

    Key recommendations

    Federal and state governments should increase funding for polytechnic education and ensure regularity in the release of statutory allocations and intervention funds.

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    Federal and state governments should also take measures to enhance the autonomy of polytechnic institutions to encourage effective compliance with their mission.

    Polytechnics should be encouraged to collaborate with security agencies and community stakeholders to develop campus security protocols and emergency response plans.

    New curricula are long overdue to align polytechnic education with national development goals and industry needs.

    Finally, Governing Councils should cease to be a ceremonial haven for political jobbers. Rather, they should be empowered to hire, promote, and discipline management and staff, maintain quality, and raise necessary funds to carry out the polytechnic’s mission.

    Conclusion

    The zeal with which the present Minister of Education is implementing the administration’s Renewed Hope agenda on education is commendable. But a level playing field is assumed for all universities and polytechnics, which makes it difficult to achieve excellence. It is necessary to identify selected universities and polytechnics and develop high performing ones into Centres of Excellence through special funding for which development goals would be set with measurable kpis. Turkey has joined China and India in doing so.

    Today, Turkey has at least 23 institutions in the top 500 in Europe. In the forefront is Turkey’s Middle East Technical University (METU) which “secured its position as the national leader by scoring highest in academic reputation, employer reputation, and international research network indicators.” Excellence does not result from wishful thinking or funding alone, but from careful planning and achieving set targets.

  • Renewing hope in higher education

    Renewing hope in higher education

    The President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration has done it again! For hire education. First, it was the student loan for students who have secured admission into Nigerian public universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, or vocational schools. The loan pays full tuition directly to the student’s institution plus a monthly stipend of N20,000 paid directly into the student’s bank account.

    This was followed by huge investment in skills acquisition in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). The investment involves the allocation of N120 billion to launch major programmes to provide technical and practical industry-related skills training. Trainees will receive free tuition, monthly stipends, and starter packs and take-off grants upon completion of training. Over one million youths will be trained across 1600 centres in various trades, including electrical installation, welding, and digitals skills. The goal is to improve on the digital ecosystem, move Nigeria from a resource-based to a knowledge-based economy, and reduce foreign dependency on skilled technicians, a lesson the United States is learning so late.

    The most recent stride is resolving government’s 16-year on-and-off crisis with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, As recently as last week, the Tinubu administration reached a monumental, comprehensive, agreement with ASUU on a host of issues that have led the Union to go on strike for as many as 1,200 days in the last 16 years.

    The new agreement covers salaries; allowances; retirement and pension; maternity and paternity leave; welfare benefits; a national research council bill to provide for research funding; and a review of laws that impede university autonomy and academic freedom. The agreement is topped with a N30 billion restoration and stabilisation fund to be paid in three equal installments over the next three years.

    Public discussion of the agreement has focused on the 40 percent across the board pay raise and a new, research allowance of N840,000 for Associate Professors (Readers) and N1.74 million for full Professors. Given the cost of research, N1.74 million is hardly sufficient to cover a search for relevant literature to write a proposal, let alone undergo a 9-month or longer research project. Nevertheless, this research allowance must be viewed along with the proposed bill to provide research funding to be made available to all cadres of faculty on successful peer-reviewed proposals.

    Much less discussion is the government’s willingness to review laws that impede university autonomy and academic freedom. These include the Acts establishing government bodies, which regulate one aspect or the other of university traditional practices. They include JAMB, NUC, and TETFund. There is no doubt that President Tinubu believes in university autonomy and wants to remove the clogs in its wheel. He started with the removal of universities from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) so that each institution could manage the payment of staff salaries.

    The real problem is not with government’s agreement wit ASUU but with the initial conflation of ASUU with higher education. The truth is that ASUU represents the universities, both federal and state, although it remains unclear whether state universities and sponsoring state governments were fully represented at the negotiation table. It is also unclear how and when the administrative staff of universities will be accommodated.

    There also are other tiers of higher education that ASUU does not represent. These are the unions representing Polytechnics, Colleges of Education, and Vocational institutions. I pushed hard on the Committee of Chairpersons of Polytechnics and the Ministry of Education before I got the clarification that the Federal Government has plans to negotiate with these other unions. The negotiations had better come fast and be made comparable to the agreement reached with ASUU to avoid ASUU-like strikes from the unions of other higher institutions.

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    A related issue that came to mind when I reviewed the 35-page agreement with ASUU is the place of teachers in primary and secondary schools, which feed the universities and other tiers of higher education. It is important for the Federal Government to reach out to State Governors to take a close look at the state of primary and secondary schools in their states and take steps to review the salaries and conditions of service of their teachers.

    There are also questions as to whether the substantial increase in professors’ retirement benefits could be accommodated in a pension scheme that has underserved pensioners for a long time. The Director General of the Nigeria Pensions Commission, Omolola Oloworaran, insisted that the scheme has enough funds to meet pension obligations but agreed that sustainability has always been a problem. She singled out President Tinubu by adding: “For the first time in almost two decades, the government has cleared long-standing pension liabilities, including pension differentials.” Nevertheless, questions remain about sustainability beyond the present administration. That’s why it is very important for a legal framework and firm implementation strategies be established that will be difficult for incoming administrations to set aside

    There is no doubt that the current Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, appears to be in a hurry with the implementation of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda on education. And he has accomplished a lot within 15 months or so. He should, however, take his time to ensure a comprehensive approach that takes into account historical precedents, current pedagogical practices, stakeholders’ views, and a futuristic outlook.

    Finally, the Ministry of Education should henceforth take proactive measures and not wait for crisis to brew or criticisms to mount before taking action. Reactive policies tend to be made under pressure and in a hurry, short-circuiting comprehensive and long-term solutions.

  • The truth about Tinubu’s economic reforms

    The truth about Tinubu’s economic reforms

    In an article on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s boldness in embarking on major economic reforms early in his administration, Bamidele Ademola-Olateju invoked Robert Frost’s famous poem, The Road Not Taken to show that neither previous Nigerian Presidents nor his major competitors for the presidency in 2023 had the audacity to choose the path Tinubu chose to follow  (see Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, Follow Who Know Road, The Nation, October 15, 2025).

    Tinubu’s chosen path (encoded in his manifesto, Renewed Hope 2023) entails four bold reforms, among others: (1) removal of fuel subsidy; (2) harmonisation of the foreign exchange market; (3) tax reform; and (4) infrastructural development. Although these reforms have interconnected effects on the economy, I will discuss them separately.

    But, first, let’s briefly look at the macro-economic effects of President Tinubu’s reforms, that is, the large-scale or general economic factors, such as subsidy, interest rates, taxation, and infrastructure as they affect fiscal policy, inflation, price stability, employment levels, and so on. When the effects of President Tinubu’s reforms are assessed from the perspective of macroeconomic factors, the result is a positive outlook.

    A quick demonstration is the Nigerian Stock Exchange Market, which, for the first time, exceeded the N100 trillion mark this week. Similarly, Nigeria’s Eurobond issuance was massively oversubscribed. The $2.3 billion target was met four time over! These examples demonstrate international confidence in President Tinubu’s reform agenda.  Furthermore, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, headline inflation, which climbed to 34.19 percent in 2024, has been cut into less than half at 14.5 percent in 2025. It is no wonder then that domestic and international economists as well as global financial institutions have endorsed and praised President Tinubu’s economic reforms.

    However, as far as ordinary folks are concerned, the reforms are only successful if they translate to pocket issues for them. The effects on day-to-day market decisions of individuals are the microeconomic effects of the reforms. The following review is just for demonstration purposes only. It is by no means exhaustive (for more detailed reviews, see Sunday Dare’s Tinubu’s policies yielding positive impact, The Nation, September 21, 2025; and Nigeria: Close of year accounting-sequencing from reform to relief, The Nation, December 30, 2025).

    Removal of fuel subsidy

    Undoubtedly, initial hardships followed the removal of fuel subsidy, leading the price of petrol to climb as high as N1,250 per litre. The result was an immediate hike in transport costs, which affected the cost of goods and services. Today, the litre price has fallen below N800, thanks in part to Dangote Refinery, which exposed the shenanigans of NNPCL and its subsidiaries. True, transport unions have hardly reduced transport costs for passengers in line with the reduction in fuel prices, but drastic reductions should set in soon, especially as the holiday season is rapping up. Otherwise, passengers should begin to call commercial drivers to order.

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    However, even more importantly, the removal of fuel subsidy has released more money to be shared by federal, state, and local governments. Today, states are getting more than double their allocations when fuel subsidy was being paid. Heavens might not have fallen over subsidy removal, but it is well known that beneficiaries of the scam (some of whom were not even in the oil business at all) have been fighting back one way or another.

    Equally significant is the fact that this last December and the entire holiday season is the first in decades, when there were no queues at fuel stations or buying fuel at exorbitant prices from off-pump profiteers selling from jerrycans.

    Harmonisation of the exchange rate

    The immediate effects of the harmonisation of the exchange rate were similar to the removal of fuel subsidy. The former affected imported goods, while the latter affected the local markets directly. However, both converged to hike prices of consumer goods and services. The former in particular led to the devaluation of the Naira.

    Fortunately, however, both also started stabilising about the same time. Today, both have witnessed a major downward trend: litre price of fuel from N1,250 to about N750 per litre, while the exchange rate has stabilised at about N1,450/1 dollar from a high of about 1,800/1 dollar. The stabilisation has been aided by rising external reserve, which has been beefed up from a mere $3 billion, when Tinubu assumed office, to about $45 billion today.

    The cumulative effects of both reforms have eased headline inflation as indicated above as well as food inflation. The result is a downward trend in the prices of transport, food, and household goods. This is evident in super- and local markets and retail outlets nationwide. For example, in local markets in Akure, Ondo state, gari has come down from a high of N25,000  to N12,000 per igbeleri; rice from N90-95,000 to N60-6500 per bag; and vegetable oil from about N95,000 to N65,000 per garawa.

    Tax reform

    The restructuring of the tax system started gradually in 2023 and the implementation of the new tax policy began piecemeal in June 2025. Nevertheless, tax collection improved significantly even before the new tax policy went into effect. In 2025, the economy expanded by nearly 4 percent due to robust growth in non-oil sectors, including tax collection, agriculture, manufacturing, and trade.

    For the first time in Nigerian history, a new tax law was enacted, which consolidated over 70 fragmented taxes into a unified, digitised system. Moreover, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is no more. It was rebranded into Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), capable of collecting tax on both domestic and foreign earnings. It is expected that this reform will lead to the collection of more taxes from various sources and boost national development.

    Infrastructural development

    President Tinubu has focused on two major types of infrastructure, namely, roads and power generation. He has completed many road projects inherited from the President Muhammadu Buhari administration (2015-2023), such as the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the East-West Road, and as many as 135 road projects across Northern Nigeria, according to the Minister of Transport, Sai’du Alkali. In addition, work has been going on steadily on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto-Badagry Super Highway.

    True, only a few citizens may ply these roads, but many citizens are enjoying record power generation, the Presidential Metering Initiative, and the payment of legacy power-sector debt. For the first time in two years, a popular Akure welder, who closed shop two years ago for lack of power supply, is back at work. Recently, too, my household experienced 24-hour power supply a few times and an average of about 20-hour daily supply overall. As a result, our power generator has been dormant for months.

    Political opponents and saboteurs

    They are at work already, causing confusion and misleading the public about the dividends of these reforms. If they are not focusing on the initial hardships at the beginning of the reforms, they are busy distorting the new tax policy. I won’t be surprised if they ask voters during the campaigns to compare fuel price and exchange rate today with the rates in 2022 or even 2012. They won’t tell voters that if we had continued on the economic trajectory inherited by President Tinubu, the Nigerian economy would have been in a deep ditch by now.

  • Tunde Ponnle: From classroom to boardroom (1939-2025)

    Tunde Ponnle: From classroom to boardroom (1939-2025)

    Although I had read about him online in Nigerian newspapers, Prince Michael Ayantunde Ponnle was already far along in his journey into stardom before I ever met him. That was fifteen years ago or so, when we met at his pioneering MicCom Golf Course in Ada, Osun state. I was introduced to him by Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, then Governor of Osun state, who had invited me from the United States, to participate in a conference on Yoruba culture, which he had organised. I was among the guests lodged in the MicCom Golf Hotels and Conference Resort on that occasion. It was only more recently that we truly became friends. That friendship was solidified by a common friend, Bode Adediji of Bode Adediji Partnership, also from Ada, and by Prince Ponle’s marriage to the former Deputy Governor of Osun state, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Ponnle, whom I had known for quite some time.  

    His was a star-studded life, but it did not start that way. His parents were so poor they could not afford to send him to a secondary school. Instead, he went to a Teacher Training College to become a classroom teacher. However, when be could no longer tolerate his secondary school friends’ taunts about science, he enrolled in a correspondence programme to learn science. That was his steppingstone to admission to the Polytechnic of North London to study electrical engineering.

    Upon return to Nigeria, he was hired by the Ministry of Education from where he resigned to establish his own company. That was the beginning of the famous MicCom Wires and Cables Company. Like his humble educational beginnings, the take-off of the company was rough. It started out as a contracting company but graduated into a full-fledged manufacturing company since 1978. The foundational capital was £25,000 with which Prince Ponnle went to India to buy three cable-making machines. These would be complemented with other machines to produce various types of completed wires and cables, from household electrical wires to armoured and non-armoured cables.

    About 20 years after establishing the cable manufacturing company, Prince Ponnle was introduced to golf, and he fell in love with the game (some see it as a sport) as he did with science. In no time, the MicCom Golf Hotels and Resorts was established in Ada, his home state of Osun as both a tourist and leisure destination to serve private individuals, groups, corporate and military executives, and government institutions.

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    He also diversified into real estate. I once intervened in a property he wanted to sell to a Chinese company. My intervention was motivated by the proximity of the property to government establishment. I negotiated with the government to purchase the property. Prince Ponnle agreed, although at a reduced price and staggered payment terms. Yet, my friend was still grateful for sensitizing him to the security implication of selling the property to the Chinese. He would later send an intermediary to me to find out how much cut I would take. My response was prompt and clear: “Nothing. I did it as a friend of both government and seller. Any cut would damage the friendship with both parties.” It was later revealed that a government official had earlier intervened, asking the government to purchase the property at a higher price than I negotiated. The fellow had asked the seller for a N10 million cut!

     All along, Prince Ponnle had always set funds aside for philanthropy, leading to the establishment of the MicCom Foundation for Educational Development. The Foundation has provided scholarships for secondary and higher education and research grants for university teachers. He was appalled by the deplorable state of university education in Nigeria, when he served as a member of the Governing Council of Osun State University, Osogbo. He also sponsored an annual lecture series, The Prince Tunde Ponnle Lecture, given around convocation period at the Osun State University.

    Prince Ponle also invested in healthcare by establishing the MicCom Cancer Foundation through which Nigerians were alerted to the need for regular health checks for early detection of killer diseases, such as cancer. He was a pillar in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic in Osun state through the donation of money and time. He served on a state committee to develop a strategy for fighting the pandemic in the state.

    In the course of his business activities for about 50 years, Prince Ponnle created jobs for thousands and wealth for millions. He provided educational support, assisted the sick, and nurtured industries. His services to individuals, groups, communities, state, and nation did not go unnoticed. His business acumen, strategic foresight, and leadership skills attracted him to corporate boards. One of them was Lafarge, formerly West African Portland Cement, of which he was once Chairman.

    Three qualities stand out about Prince Ponnle. First, he had the qualities of a pioneer, which include vision, resilience, resourcefulness, and courage. In pursuing new ventures, pioneers are willing to take risks, even in the face of difficulties and initial failure, because they are visionary enough to see far into the future. The traits of a pioneer trailed Prince Ponnle throughout his life—from valuing science early and picking it up through correspondence tuition; from starting out as a teacher to becoming an engineer; from working as a contractor to turning around as a manufacturer; and from being taught how to play golf to establishing a multimillion-dollar golf course.

    Second, he was as meek and gentle as they come. The milk of human kindness was in his makeup. His philanthropic ventures sprang from this quality.

    Finally, lest he be accused of sudden death, Prince Ponnle was careful about taking care of himself. He had been overseas at least twice this year, each time looking after his health as many people in his age bracket do. He had just returned from England, when he was called to eternal rest. He will forever be remembered for his enduring legacies.

    My heart goes to his wife, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Ponnle, the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. May his soul rest in peace.

  • Sudden deaths

    Sudden deaths

    Approximately 173,000 deaths occur daily in 2025. As the year runs out soon, it is estimated that about 64 million people would have died this year alone, based on a global crude death rate of 7.67 deaths per thousand population. Of this number, about 15 million were sudden deaths. Whether we like it or not, we will be part of the statistics some day.  

    We may accumulate all the wealth we want now, eat the best foods money can buy, use the best doctors and healthcare facilities in the world, or pray or sacrifice all we want, we cannot avoid death. It is the only certainty we know for sure. That is why at the news of someone’s death, the Yoruba would say ojó á jìnnà sí’ra won o. It is a way of praying for longevity, knowing full well that our turn will come. Nevertheless, we still mourn deaths, especially sudden deaths. This particularly true of the death of someone we saw or spoke with hours ago, who was otherwise hale and hearty and was not involved in an accident. Within the past few months, many such cases have made the news in Nigeria alone.

    Nine months ago, I wondered why more young people were dying prematurely (Why more young people are dying these days, The Nation, March 12, 2025). Today, my focus is on the rise in adult sudden deaths in the world at large but particularly in Nigeria.

    By adult sudden death, I mean a situation in which an apparently healthy adult (say, 50+) suddenly dies, often from natural causes, rather than from an accident. I use the word “apparently” advisedly: There are often undisclosed or unknown underlying causes.

    The most prevalent underlying cause of sudden death has to do with a heart problem. Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops working. When this happens, the person suddenly loses consciousness. If CPR is not available there and then, the organs needed to keep the person alive will stop working because the blood has stopped carrying oxygen to them. As a result, death can happen within minutes, or at most within an hour of onset.

    I always remember a close friend, who was alert enough to get behind the steering and start driving. After driving for about 30 minutes or so, he noticed that he was getting rather weak. He wisely parked his car off the road to take a brief rest. He leaned on the steering wheel and passed on minutes later. What he did not realize was that his heart was shutting down and his organs were failing, even when he felt no pain.

    There are many heart diseases that could lead to cardiac arrest, such as coronary artery disease (for example, due to high cholesterol), plaque disruption, abnormal heart rhythm, and faulty heart’s electrical system. There are also non-cardiac causes of sudden death, such as a massive stroke or blood clot. When clotted blood breaks, small lumps can travel to block the passage of blood to the heart, the lungs, or the brain, depending on the location of the clot and how far it is able to travel.

    In addition to medical conditions, lifestyle, diet, smoking, alcohol consumption, lack of exercise, and irregular or no medical check-ups could trigger or conceal any of various underlying conditions.

    It is possible to die suddenly without a clear symptom. However, some individuals may experience palpitations, chest pain, dizziness, fatigue, or shortness of breath before sudden death. These individuals often have underlying heart or lung problems that are either unrecognized or ignored. Others may have have stopped taking medication for high blood pressure, asthma, or any other medical condition. In such cases, sudden death is a possibility. That’s why anyone experiencing any of these problems is advised to see a doctor at once, especially those who know that they have one underlying condition or the other.

    The possibility of sudden death is heightened by lack of self awareness of their body and health problems; unwillingness to disclose medical problems to those who could help; lack of, or delayed, access to medical care; misdiagnosis; sheer ignorance; poverty; and illiteracy.

    Although precise worldwide data on sudden death varies, depending on data collection methods, autopsy rates, and documentation culture. However, it is estimated that over 15 million people die suddenly every year and that many cases are unreported. Sudden cardiac arrest accounts for about 5 million cases of sudden deaths worldwide.

    Reliable statistics are hard to come by in Nigeria. Nevertheless, a study published in 2013 showed that cardiac arrest accounted for about 50 percent of all cases of sudden death between 2003 and 2011 at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital. While only 4 percent of the cases occurred in less than 24 hours after admission, about 72 percent of cases occurred out of hospital. The data derived from case notes and autopsy reports of cases of sudden death.

    The LAUTECH data cited above were collected over a decade ago. In the last five years, coronavirus hangover, environmental stress, economic pressures, ultra-processed foods, and self-medication have complicated our lives. Besides, silent killers, such as cancers and other noncommunicable diseases, have been on the rise.

    That is why it is important to take certain precautionary measures to avoid premature or sudden death. The usual precautions include (a) a heart-healthy diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and low in salt, sugar, and unhealthy fats; (b) avoid alcohol and self-medication in managing stress; (c) exercise regularly—walking and stretching will go a long way in toning the body and the heart; (d) keep blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and complete blood count in check—you should track your base white cell, red cell, and platelet counts; and, above all, maintain regular medical check-ups.

    My heart goes to families who have lost a family member to sudden death. For those who are still here, ojo á jìnnà sí’ra won o. For those on the other side, may their souls rest in peace.

  • Lessons from Delta’s century of flight (2)

    Lessons from Delta’s century of flight (2)

    Delta began operations on the Lagos-Atlanta route in 2007 just as it was coming out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, after completing the reorganization of the company. Delta has serviced the route continuously for 18 years. Today, it is one of their most profitable routes. From its Atlanta headquarters and main operational hub, Delta can take Lagos passengers to nearly 300 other cities in the United States and, indeed, many other cities worldwide. It is, therefore, a very convenient port of entry into the United States for Nigerian travelers.

    By contrast, Nigeria’s national carrier, Nigeria Airways, was liquidated in 2004, having gone into total bankruptcy the previous year. At the time of its death, Nigeria Airways had only one serviceable plane, over 4,000 staff, and owed over $500 million. The deceases were classic and typical of Nigerian government ventures—corruption, mismanagement, overstaffing, and heavy debt. Part of the management incongruities of Nigeria Airways was the disjuncture between its management headquarters in Abuja and its main operational hub in Lagos.

    Delta’s operation in Nigeria is defined by several features. One, the operation is headed by a Nigerian and run by Nigerians. This facilitates smooth transactions between the Nigerian workers and the Nigerian customers. Compare that to a time when Nigerian Airways had to hire staff from TWA or KLM to manage its operations, despite having thousands of Nigerian staff on its payroll.

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    Two, although tickets may be sold in local currency, Delta has an agreement with the government, as do other foreign airlines, to collect airfares in dollars. To Delta’s credit, the airline never stopped operation on the Lagos-Atlanta route when the Nigerian government defaulted on payment before the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu paid off the arrears. Delta’s capacity to absorb such shocks is due to the volume of its operations and high profitability: In 2024 alone, the airline operated over 4,000 flights a day and declared a record high revenue of $57 billion. The pretax income stood at $5.2 billion and free cash flow at $3.4 billion.

    Three, to be sure, Delta makes astronomical profit from its Delta One and First Class fares, not only in Nigeria but worldwide. For example, Delta One fare for a return flight from Lagos to Atlanta over the holidays, ranges between $8,000 and $10,000, depending on the dates and how soon the ticket is booked. Nevertheless, Delta’s profitability on the Lagos-Atlanta route is not limited to passenger load alone. Delta also makes money from cargo freight, taking advantage of the huge volume of trade between Nigeria and the United States. To date, Delta has flown about 2 million passengers and about 25,000 tonnes of cargo in 18 years on the Lagos-Atlanta route.

    Four, Delta is not just pocketing the profit. It also spends on improvements to the aircraft, passenger comfort, and overall customer experience on the Lagos-Atlanta route. For example, this year alone, Delta switched to its flagship, wide-bodied, long-haul jet, the A350-900, offering more comfort throughout its four-cabin setup.

    Earlier in July 2025, Delta opened a premium lounge at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos. The problem, though, is that it appears to be an exclusive lounge that admits only Delta One and certain VIP travelers, for example, in the oil and gas industry. I once enquired from an agent at the reception counter if the Delta Skymiles American Express Reserve Card was good enough for access to the lounge as it is for other Delta and Centurion lounges worldwide, provided the traveler has a same-day Delta ticket. I was shocked by the negative response, but I hope the agent was wrong, because the card comes with a very high annual fee to compensate for all the perks that come with it, including 15 annual visits to Delta lounges. Such cardholders are admitted, without question, to such lounges in the United States and whereever Delta flies. How could the few Nigerian holders of the Delta Skymiles American Express Reserve Card be discriminated against in their own country, when the same card admits them to similar lounges in the United States?

    Delta has also been working since 2023 on free WiFi on their planes in association with T-Mobile, a global mobile phone and WiFi access provider. It is now available on flights on the Lagos-Atlantic route. A welcome addition to the capabilities on newer planes is bluetooth, which allows customers to sync wireless headphones for listening pleasure. The WiFi service is free for those with Skymiles account, while those without an account can purchase WiFi access.

    As indicated last week (see Lessons from Delta’s century of flight (1), The Nation, November 19, 2025), the Delta experience offers lessons in management, customer service, and staff relations. Its profit-sharing program is unparalleled in the industry. Every year they make profit, eligible employees receive a payout equivalent to about 10% of their annual pay or five weeks of pay. Furthermore, eligible employees, including ground workers receive a pay raise equivalent to 4% of their base pay. I hope Delta workers in Nigeria are availed these financial benefits.

    The principal founder of Delta Airlines, Collett Everman Woolman (1889-1966) died in 1966, but the business continued. Its management struggled to keep it afloat, wading through obstacle after obstacle until it stabilized. Today, Delta Airline is the largest airline in the world by revenue. It has received numerous industry awards, including best US airline; best US business class; and best in operational management, employer reputation, and customer experience. It is also best in innovation, including best airline App. How many Nigerian businesses have survived their founders and thrived afterwards? This is a question the Dangotes, Otedolas, and others should begin to ponder.

    I cannot but repeat my assessment of two of the airlines CEO, who, in my estimation, revived the company from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and are largely responsible for its present fortunes. They are Gerald Grinstein and Edward Bastian. The former was CEO, while the latter was Finance Director during the bankruptcy hearings. Ed took the company’s case to court to seek its protection, while Jerry defended the company before Congress from takeover by US Airways. Today, Ed is the company’s CEO. What is remarkable about both men was their recall to work again for the company. Jerry had retired in 1996, while Ed resigned out of anger with the direction of the company. Both were recalled to manage the company. Their contributions will remain indelible in the aviation industry.

  • Lessons from Delta’s century of flight (1)

    Lessons from Delta’s century of flight (1)

    I recently took an early morning flight from Calgary, Canada, to Philadelphia, USA, with a stopover in Salt Lake City. The layover was so short that I could only have a cup of coffee at the Delta Lounge, hoping to have an early lunch on the 4-hour Philadelphia leg of the flight. The meal was so satisfying that I dosed off right afterwards. Upon waking up, I decided to watch a short movie since I still had nearly two hours to go. As I scrolled through the menu, my eyes caught a documentary, titled A Century of Flight. It is the story of Delta’s journey over the last 100 years, making it the first Airline in the United States to make the 100-year mark. The name Delta came from the Mississippi Delta region the airline originally served.

    The Delta story is one of courage, resilience, community, teamwork, accountability, authenticity, and exemplary corporate leadership. Founded in Atlanta in 1925 by C.E. Woolman as the first ever aerial crop-dusting company, Delta’s first commercial flight came about four years later. It was a bumpy 5-hour flight over a distance of only 427 miles. But it grew from there to become arguably the largest international airline in the world.

    In the course of its growth, Delta faced at least four major challenges, each of which could potentially drown the airline. The first major challenge was the aviation fuel shortages of the 1970s, one in 1973 due to the OPEC oil embargo as a result of the Yom Kippur War and the other in 1979 due to disruption of oil supplies because of the Iranian Revolution. About the same time, the Airline Deregulation Act was passed under the presidency of Jimmy Carter in 1978, which replaced federal control over airline fares, routes, hubs, and market entry with market competition. The intense competition that followed led to the failure of some airlines, including PanAm, TWA, and Eastern Airlines. Delta did not only survive; it gave its employees a pay raise, even when the Wall Street Journal said it was a bad idea in those challenging times. The employees responded by contributing toward the airline’s purchase of a new aircraft, a Boeing 767. It was named Spirit of Delta, which came to define the communal spirit driving the company.

    The second major challenge came during the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, which led airlines to shut down for four days. By this time, online booking sites, which began to take advantage of the Internet a few years earlier, had become very prominent. In the following years, Delta lost funds, buckled, and, in 2005, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which gave room for reorganisation, rather than liquidation.

    The management did something extraordinary at this point. Already demoralised employees were summoned to a meeting at which they were fully informed about the company’s plight and given a chance to ask questions and make suggestions for recovery. They were delighted that management answered their questions fully and outlined solutions to the problems identified. Above all, Ed Bastian, then Finance Controller, apologised for the situation of the company and assured them that the company would come out of bankruptcy. The employees, who had reluctantly attended the meeting, came out upbeat.

    The strategy paid off and allowed Delta to overcome the third major challenge in 2006, when US Airways made a hostile takeover bid for Delta Airlines. The management was able to rally the support of its employees, creditors, and even the public to oppose the bid. Delta employed two main strategies. One, the management, led by CEO Gerald Grinstein, brought to the Congressional hearings on the takeover some Board members, uniformed pilots, and uniformed flight attendants, all saying No, while US Airline’s management came with a bunch of lawyers. The optics was not lost on the Congressional committee. Delta also mounted successful rallies and media campaigns to oppose the bid. Delta succeeded, emerged from bankruptcy in 2007, and began to thrive.

    In that year, the company went public on the New York Stock Exchange and the following year, it merged with Northwest Airlines to become the largest commercial airline in the world, with 1,100 planes in its fleet. The Delta Airlines brand was retained. Eleven years later, Delta reported a $4.8 billion profit and distributed a profit share worth $1.6 billion, the highest of any company in the world at the time.

    The fourth challenge was COVID-19, which led to drastic reduction in passenger load. Drawing on the spirit of Delta again, Delta employees volunteered and took over a vaccination centre in Atlanta and were vaccinating about 5,000 people a day at peak. To Delta’s credit, not a single worker was laid off during the Covid years.

    Three major factors underlie Delta’s success. One is Delta’s unparalleled commitment to its workers. Through the years, Delta management developed and nurtured a value system of mutual respect between management and staff, which encouraged a communal spirit. This was made possible by the management’s accountability and openness, especially in challenging times, which helped to build trust in the company’s leaders.

    Two, since 2007, when the company went public, the company made sure that every worker got stock in the company but CEO Gerald Grinstein decline his share of $10 million. The company used the money to establish a Care Fund tapped to bail out employees in need. A profit-sharing programme also was developed, which has since paid out an average of $1 billion annually. More recently, the company established an Emergency Savings Programme. Participating employees earn $1,000 dollars to fund a rainy day account.

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    According to the current CEO, Ed Bastian, “At Delta, our No. 1 job is taking care of our people—our success flows from this simple concept. Sharing profits with our people, along with providing tools and education to help manage and grow their wealth, is part of our responsibility as a values-led organisation.”

    Three, the Delta management is top-notch. The leaders listened. They took every step to save the company and make it thrive. Former CEO Grinstein and current CEO Bastian could be credited for the current buoyant state of the company. Their people-oriented management style and resilience carried the company through major challenges. The employees paid back with hard work, dedication, and loyalty to the company and its leaders.

    Nigerian leaders and the Nigerian public have a lot to learn from Delta management and their workers, respectively. The company’s employees rewarded the responsiveness and accountability of Delta management with loyalty and hard work. The result is a values-led organisation built on mutual trust.

    Next week, I will examine Delta’s profit margins over the years, the place of the Nigerian route in Delta’s lucrative business, and necessary improvements to add value to the route and for the customers.

  • Tales of shameless Nigerians

    Tales of shameless Nigerians

    The pattern of behaviour exhibited by some of our politicians and their supporters at home and abroad sometimes makes me cringe at their shamelessness. I can understand the behaviour of some youths who, lacking global knowledge beyond sports and hip-hop music, hide behind the screen of their phone to rant, curse, and lie on social media. I can even understand Obidients, who, knowing no better, think they have found a Messiah in wily Peter Obi, who, admittedly, is a smarter liar than them. I have learned to overlook their lies, trolls, disinformation, and misinformation on social media.

    However, I cannot overlook the shameful behaviour of adults, who willingly suspend logic, ethics, and circumspection to engage in acts of denigration of self and nation. My grandmother would call such people Òmùgo, Alaìleko, or Àkoìgbà. These are various labels the Yoruba use to describe fools and nincompoops.

    One of those acts was the protest organised by one PDP Like-Mind Group. The group staged protests at the United States Embassy in Abuja, calling for international intervention to safeguard democracy in Nigeria, and prevent the alleged drift to one-party state in the country. Members of the group carried placards with various inscriptions, including “Please save our democracy from intimidation” and “Fix PDP, fix Nigeria, save our democracy.” The group also submitted protest letters at the European Union office, the Ministry of Justice, and the Nigeria Police Headquarters.

    Members of this group are not only foolish; they are also ignorant. They lack knowledge of international politics and the idea of sovereignty. How can anyone request President Donald Trump of all people to save democracy in Nigeria, when he is destroying the one in his own country? Ever since he assumed office in January, President Trump has been going after anyone, who opposed him in the past, and charging them to court. He sidetracks Congress at will, and disobeys judges, who rule against him or appeals their verdict all the way to the Supreme Court. None of these actions has ever been taken by the Nigerian President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It would appear that, in their foolishness, the PDP protesters piggybacked on Trump’s threat to send troops to Nigeria to save Christians. Perhaps they also want him to use some magic wand to fix PDP and save democracy in Nigeria.

    It is not clear which group is more foolish, the PDP protesters or the so-called American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID), who wrote to the White House in Washington to rejoice over the designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern. Here is part of their letter: “The American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID) sincerely and warmly welcome the recent designation of Nigeria a a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) by your administration. We want to express our deep gratitude for this action, which offers renewed courage to Christians in Nigeria to continue practicing their religion.”

    Read on, as they portrayed Kanu as the apostle of the crusade against Christian genocide: “The whistle blower behind this genocidal act is Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who prophesied the killing of Christians by the terrorist groups sponsored by the government years ago.” As if this were the reason behind Kanu’s detention, they declared, “Mr. Kanu is still detained illegally in solitary confinement over 4 years without charges. We are ready and willing to assist in any efforts aimed at the liberation and protection of Christians in Nigeria.”  The letter ends with the invocation of God’s blessings on President Trump and the United States of America. Omitted from the invocation are President Tinubu and the Republic of Nigeria.

    But they should first pray for their own liberation from folly and boldface lies in portraying Kanu as a persecuted Christian, detained without charges. The lies are an insult on American intelligence architecture. Did they forget that there is an American Embassy in Nigeria, which knows that Kanu has long been charged to court on multiple counts, and has gone through trial, despite his delaying tactics? Judgement in the case has been fixed for November 20, 2025.

    Finally, there are the sore losers of the governorship election in Anambra state, typified by the candidates of the Labour Party and the African Democratic Party. The LP candidate came fourth with 10,576 votes, while the ADC candidate came fifth with 8,208 votes. Yet, they cried foul to contest an election won in a landslide by the APGA candidate with 422,664 votes. That is well over 73% of the votes, the highest in the history of the state. He even won in all Local Governments in the state, including those of the sore losers.

    Respectable politicians would call to congratulate the winner and then go back home to sleep. Not our politicians. Only two defeated contestants are known to have done so in presidential and governorship contests since 1999, namely, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and former Ekiti state Governor, John Kayode Fayemi. In this sense, you could say that these Anambra politicians behaved true to type, except that they lost so badly that they should not have been found complaining about the election at all.

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    On further reflection, they might have found good examples of crying foul in the defeated candidates of the 2023 presidential election: Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who came second and third, respectively, challenged the victory of the APC candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, now President. They protested the election results and the inauguration of the winner. Their supporters even called for military take-over. The absurdity of their actions in the face of the evidence, with each of them claiming victory, is on the same plane as the foul cry of the Anambra governorship election losers.

    The implications of these behaviours by political actors at home and abroad are far-reaching for the image of the country and the growth of our democracy. Not only do these behaviours create wider wedges between groups and faiths, but they also delegitimise the democratic process, while deepening distrust in government. What is even more baffling is the idea of calling for the annulment of democracy, by inviting military take-over, given over 30 years of bitter experiences with military governments in the country. Which military dictatorship today is devoid of tension, repression, and even assassination of dissenters? Just look at the prime examples of North Korea, Myanmar, and even Pakistan, which only recently returned to military-backed democracy. Do they want Nigeria to join eight other struggling military dictatorships in Africa?

    It is beyond me how supporters of a Trump invasion of Nigeria under the pretext of Christian genocide do not realise that such an invasion could be likened to the heavens falling; everyone is a casualty. What is more, it speaks volumes about the stupidity of AVID members that they could not figure that Trump’s threat is a political and economic threat in which Christian genocide is used as a pretext for invasion. It has turned out to be a tool for negotiation between Abuja and Washington. It is a shame that AVID members are avid for invasion of Nigeria. Àwon òpònú, otherwise known as idiots.

  • Nigeria: Two coups in two weeks

    Nigeria: Two coups in two weeks

    Within the past two weeks, Nigeria has experienced two serious cases of coup d’é•tat. One was domestic, and the other foreign. The domestic one was a military coup. The foreign one was a political or, more accurately, a disguised economic coup. It was alleged that the domestic coup was meant to target the President directly, but that coup was foiled. The foreign coup promises to target Islamic terrorists, and it is still brewing. Just the other day, as we were settling down to breakfast in a Phoenix suburb, someone asked me if I heard the roar of fighter jet engines in the air. “No,” I answered. “But what about fighter jets?” “They are heading to Nigeria to solve Nigeria’s problems,” the fellow answered.

    The other person in the conversation was joking about President Donald Trump’s threat to send the army to defend Christians in Nigeria, following its designation as a Country of Particular Concern in response to orchestrated allegations of “Christian genocide.” Trump’s pronouncements have generated so much debate as to have drowned the debate about the domestic coup, which came before the foreign one.

    It is a shame that there are Nigerians celebrating both coups. They may have missed these lines from someone, who put them out on social media in response to coup celebrants: “Because of the hatred of the cockroach, the mosquitoes voted for the insecticide. But when it came, it killed both the cockroach and the mosquitoes, including the flies that never voted.”

    It is even more shameful that there are Nigerians boasting of responsibility for planting the seed of alleged Christian genocide in Trump’s mind as one fellow did in a virile video in which he named some Nigerian church leaders as accomplices. But that’s not even the issue now. The critical issue of the moment is how to respond to Trump’s pronouncements. It is unwise to blame or insult Trump on this issue as some commentators have chosen to do. Trump has a clear agenda, and he has not been hiding it from anyone who cares to listen to him or watch his actions.

    Here are a few things to bear in mind. One, it is important to appreciate that Nigeria is the only one threatened with military invasion among the countries on the United States’ CPC list due to alleged violations of religious freedom. The others are: North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and China.

    Two, it will be naive to assume that Trump, or at least the American State Department, does not know the complexities of the insecurity situation in Nigeria. It is advisable to fully understand why the alleged Christian genocide resonates with Trump. Christian conservatives and Christian evangelicals, including Nigerian-American ones, are critical to Trump’s support base. They are a major lobby group to which Trump responds. That is why the transactional use of religion is critical to his political strategy. That is why he included in his threat to Nigeria, “We stand ready, willing and able to save our Great Christian population around the world.” Besides, Trump’s MAGA agenda often trumps facts on the ground, and he has not been shy about using hard power to achieve his goal.

    Three, Trump always speaks aloud about what he wants to do. Just see what he has been doing to fellow Americans since he assumed office. He promised retribution. He is doing it, by weaponizing the justice department in the process. He promised to flush out illegal aliens (particularly Hispanics). He is doing it, even trapping in some American citizens in the process. He promised to shrink the federal government. He is doing it. He led the Republican Congress in shutting down the federal government, while he engages in his Asian tour and returns home to play gulf. What about his global outreach? He promised tariff on imports. He did it across the globe, not minding its domestic repercussions. He promised to aid Netanyahu of Israel in flushing out Hamas from Gaza. He did it. Gaza is now lying fallow. The world can only watch. He may not have succeeded all the way, such as failing to annex Canada and Grenada to the US or stopping the war in Ukraine on his first day in office. But you cannot blame him for pushing hard on his agenda.

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    Four, it must be recalled that, in recent years, American intervention in conflicts beyond its borders has left the target countries in shambles: Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan.

    Five, Nigeria has more to lose than any other country in which the United States has intervened. Apart from its position as the largest country and economy in Africa and the highest concentration of Black people on earth, Nigeria is rich in solid minerals, including petroleum, bitumen, gold, crystal quartz, tin, granite, copper, iron ore, and lithium-bearing ores. This list is the envy of the world, not least Trump’s United States. On top of this enviable list of resources, Nigeria how houses the largest in the world, Dangote Refinery, owned by a Nigerian!

    Six, everything in the preceding paragraph plus innocent people will be collateral damage, with some becoming the spoils of war, should Trump send troops to Nigeria. The world watched Gaza razed to the ground as Trump-aided Netanyahu looked to exterminate Hamas terrorists. It is, therefore, better for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (a Muslim married to a Christian evangelical pastor) to negotiate the Nigerian situation President to President. And Trump even left room for that by inviting the Nigerian government to move fast. Tinubu started well with a measured response: “The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians.”

    This is not the time for idle talk or press statements. Nor is it time for armchair columnists to pontificate. It is also not time for opposition leaders in Nigeria to start pointing fingers. Rather, it is time for unity of purpose. It is time for statesmanship. It is time for the display of soft power through diplomatic and other back channels.

  • The semiotics of Pate’s red letter

    The semiotics of Pate’s red letter

    Ordinarily, the phrase “red letter” is used to describe something, such as a day or an event, of special significance. For example, October 1 every year is a red letter day in Nigeria, because the country attained independence on that date in 1960. That was a joyous and memorable event. However, not all red letter days are joyous moments. The day misfortune fell on New York City by way of a terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001, was a red letter day too.

    If you wish to understand how The Red Letter issued on October 22, 2025, by the Coordinating Minister, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammed Ali Pate, has elements of both types of red letter and more, please follow me through the following semiotic analysis of the letter.

    It was Roland Barthes (1915-1980), the French philosopher, literary theorist, and semiotician, who popularised an interesting rubric for analysing sign systems from a variety of perspectives. He found semiotics, the study of signs, a useful way of exposing contradictions and revealing hidden meanings. For example, Barthes showed how a simple advertisement, that of Panzani, a brand of pasta (spaghetti), could be analysed from multiple levels to reveal iconic and symbolic signs as well as surface (denotative) and hidden (connotative) meanings at the same time (see Rhetoric of the Image in his book, Image Music Text, London, Fontana, 1977, pages 32-51). In the following analysis, I juxtapose the various levels of meaning as I go along.

    At the iconic level, Pate’s letter is set against a red background in its digital representation. Although the print of the digital copy is white, the red background captures attention much more than the white print. It literally makes the letter red. However, we begin to get the meat of the letter once we begin to decipher the white print.

    But what does the white print say? Many things, some direct, others indirect. First, the words confirm the disbursement of N32.9 billion to the commercial bank accounts of “primary care facilities in every ward across the country.” Wait! There are 8,809 wards across the country. That means that there are 8,809 primary care facilities across the country. And how much does each ward get from this pot of money? You do the math. But remember to multiply your answer by three, since the minister says this is “the third round this year.”

    Second, the letter is presented as an invitation from the federal government to the various communities to help safeguard the spending of the fund by ensuring that it is monitored. There is a much deeper meaning here. Here is a government promoting participatory democracy, by appealing to the people not to “stand aside,” at a time when some cheeky politicians are screaming the death of democracy.

    Nevertheless, there is a sense in which the people’s lethargy makes room for the perceived death of democracy: They are not participating as they should, and the letter is very explicit about the problem: “Our community members and institutions do not ask how the money is used, or if it reaches the people it was meant for”.

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    Hence the government’s direct appeal in The Red Letter:

    “Stand up and take ownership

    Go to your health facility

    Join the committee

    Review the plan

    Demand openness

    Celebrate progress

    And above all, make sure the fund truly protects the health of your people.”

    Third, there is an indirect appeal to the elite and those who are literate enough to be able to read The Red Letter to disseminate the information: “Let this Red Letter reach every community, every ward, and every home. Let it remind us that the health of Nigeria lives in the hands of Nigerians.” I am doing my own bit here by reproducing The Red Letter and analysing it. You should do your own bit too, by sharing this article with as many people as possible. Make it a point of duty to tell at least ten people to find the primary health care facility in their ward and follow the money by taking part in ward activities and making enquiries about funding.

    It must be emphasised, however, that this Red Letter carries far-reaching implications for accountability and citizen engagement beyond wards. Since the return to democracy in 1999, state governments have not been sufficiently accountable to those they were elected to serve. Local government councils and their wards have been shut out of their funds by their respective state governors. It has been reported numerous times since the inception of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration that states have been receiving increased allocations from the Federal Account Allocation Committee, compared to previous years due to the economic reforms by the administration.

    Indeed, in the last few months, states have been receiving more funds than the federal government. For example, in September 2025, FAAC’s disbursements were as follows: federal government N711.314 billion; state governments N727.170 billion; and local government councils N529.954 billion. On top of their allocations, oil producing states also received a total of N134.956 billion as 13 percent derivation. These past few months would be the first time in over two decades that states would receive a larger share of FAAC allocation than the federal government. Yet, there is little to show for the increased allocations in many states of the federation. This led me to raise the alarm in September (see Your governor has your money, ask him for it, The Nation, September 3, 2025).

    This situation also led the present administration to approach the Supreme Court to seek the loophole in the constitution in granting financial autonomy to local councils. Even then not much development has happened in the councils. It is alleged that some governors had their local council chairmen swear to an oath of secrecy or sign a fund sharing agreement on their council’s funds!

    The Red Letter now shows that the ministry of health has even bypassed the councils by going directly to wards and calling on citizens to seize the opportunity by participating in the oversight of their health care facilities. But this is not the first time the federal government would target wards directly. Early in August, President Tinubu approved a ward-level development strategy designed to drive grassroots economic growth and address poverty across Nigeria’s 8,809 wards. It is the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme (RHWDP), which is integral to the Renewed Hope Agenda that targets a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

    Just as Minister Pate appealed to citizens to participate in the affairs of primary health care facilities in their wards, so did President Tinubu appeal to state governors to prioritise the welfare of their citizens at the local level: “I want to appeal to you; let us change the story of our people in the rural areas. The economy is working. We are on the path of recovery, but we need to stimulate growth in the rural areas.”

    At the end of the day, The Red Letter and the President’s appeal to governors are coded messages: governors should perform and citizens should hold them to account through participation and oversight.