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Category: Niyi Akinnaso

  • Atiku’s unfulfilled Nunc Dimittis

    Atiku’s unfulfilled Nunc Dimittis

    The original Nunc Dimittis were the opening words of a canticle or song, credited to Simeon, a Jew, who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. Faithful Simeon was there when the baby Jesus was presented to the Temple in Jerusalem for the ceremony of redemption of the firstborn son. He took Jesus in his hands and uttered the words now famously recognised as the Nunc Dimittis. As recorded in the Vulgate Bible in Luke Chapter 2, verses 29-32, Simeon, fulfilled that he had seen the Messiah, is reported as saying, “Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum.” This roughly translates to “Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace, just as you promised.”

    Simeon’s case provides only a partial analogy to Atiku’s. Like Simeon, Atiku may have been promised by his Marabout or Spiritual Leader that he will not die until he has become President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The problem with Atiku is that he may never become President, because, unlike Simeon, who consistently stayed with the same Temple to which baby Jesus was presented, Atiku did not stay loyal to the same temple of politics. He has been moving from one political party to the other so much so that the spiritual promise could not shift with him.

    In less than 20 years, from 2007 to date, Atiku had moved from PDP to AC (2007-2011); back to PDP (2011-2014); then to APC (2014-2019); and finally, to PDP. Each move was motivated by a run for President. Whenever he failed with one party, either in the primary or in the general election, he moved to another. Starting from 1992 to date, Atiku had run unsuccessfully for President six times. He failed three times in the primaries and three times in the general elections.

    Atiku’s desperation to validate the promise of his Spiritual Leader led him to go to any length, including far away Chicago State University in the United States, fishing for evidence to disqualify Tinubu, the same Tinubu, who gave Atiku his own party’s ticket to run for President in 2007!

    Not satisfied with his sixth failure in 2023, Atiku is at it again. He is building a coalition he hopes to ride to victory in his seventh attempt, when he will be 81 years old. If he is so blinded by ambition that he cannot reflect on why he failed six previous times, aren’t there people around him who could do so for him?

    Well, let me offer some insight. Atiku seems to lack the ability to build and keep a coalition as well as the ability to nurture supporters and followers, who could be loyal to him. After the 2023 presidential election, Atiku’s political shortcomings led me to invoke Antonio Gramsci’s theory of hegemony, by showing how President Bola Ahmed Tinubu attained power by building and keeping a coalition of loyalists and supporters over several years (see How to become President of Nigeria, The Nation, March 8, 2023).

    The problem with Atiku is that he never stayed long enough with any political party to build a coalition, nor could he keep one that he met on ground. In 2014 or so, he aligned with a group of PDP Governors and career politicians to join the coalition of various political parties in the newly formed APC. Once he failed in the party primary in 2015, he ran away, only to resurface in 2019 as candidate of the PDP with Peter Obi as his running mate. By 2022, Peter Obi and his supporters had left Atiku, who could not even keep a coalition of PDP Governors that Nyesone Wike, former Governor of Rivers State, had built for the PDP. The prolonged disagreement between them and Atiku led to a rebellion of the G5 Governors against Atiku. In the same 2023 presidential election, Atiku and Obi ran against each other, and together against Tinubu. They both lost to Tinubu. Not a few thought that both would have been formidable had they run as a team against Tinubu in that election. Atikun’s political misfortune was more than electoral loss. His major spokespersons left him after the election to work for the APC in separate roles.

    Read Also: Okowa: I regret accepting to run with Atiku in 2023

    Having belatedly learned about the usefulness of a coalition in the attainment of power, Atiku is now trying to build one. However, a political coalition built in emergency is like a house built with snowflakes. It melts and crumbles at the slightest increase in temperature or wind. But Atiku’s coalition seems to be crumbling from the very foundation. PDP Governors have come out to disavow the coalition.

    Former Governor Nasir el-Rufai, a former Tinubu electoral ally, who recently became an Atiku ally, has moved on to join the SDP. But, on their part, SDP leaders have told him and others who might contemplate joining their party that no one could come to lord it over them: “Look, you guys who are coming newly should study our ideology, don’t try to impose anything on us. We don’t need anything from you, just join the party and start behaving well … if you plan something out there on how to wrest power, don’t come here.”

    Obi on his own is building a coalition of Obidients at home and abroad. He recently launched an online registration portal and identity cards for members of his Obidient Movement at home and in the Diaspora. Perhaps to show the spatial dimension of his appeal, each member would have the country of residence on the identity card.

    Since it is fast becoming a season of coalitions, the New Nigeria People’s Party is also trying to forge a coalition with the African Democratic Congress. Other small political parties are making their own move too.

    But Tinubu, the Master Builder of coalitions, has not been idle. He and his party, the APC have been busy receiving defectors into their party. Ignoring talks of coalition by opposition political parties, some are crying wolf over defections to the APC. The wolf cry reached a crescendo when the entire Delta State PDP structure—government, party, and all—defected to the APC along with the immediate past Governor of the state. APC is turning Nigeria into a one-party state, they cried. But have they forgotten so quickly that APC itself was built from the coalition of various political parties and that some members, including Atiku himself, defected from the PDP to join them? In any case, which political party do the wolf criers know that rejects defectors?

    These political maneuvers are indications of the politics of power grabbing, rather than of ideological realignment. In the politics of power, no movement should be ignored. Who knows, for example, whether, behind the scenes, the forces that seem to have gone their separate ways have been meeting, or may meet, to forge an alliance? This is the more reason Tinubu, too, should continue to broaden his alliances. That is the path he rode to power. There is no need to abandon it now.

    As for Atiku, he may never become President. As a result, he may be unable to utter the like of Simeon’s canticle, because the sacred promise of his Spiritual Leader may be unfulfilled.

  • Revisiting Adamolekun’s Reflections on Governance

    Revisiting Adamolekun’s Reflections on Governance

    It is noteworthy that Professor Ladipo Adamolekun’s latest book, Reflections on Governance and Development in Nigeria, was launched last Thursday, April 23, 2025, not before a motley crowd of politicians and businessmen, but only before a select group of academics from various disciplines and journalists from major newspapers. It was not a traditional Nigerian book launch, where a copy would sell for a billion times its cost and maybe two billion times its worth. No Chairperson. No Royal Father of the Day. No moneybag book launcher. Instead, it was a festival of ideas about how to make Nigeria better, which is the central theme of Adamolekun’s book. To further celebrate the uniqueness of the launching ceremony, everyone in attendance got two copes of the book free of charge!

    The need for the devolution of political and financial powers to subnational governments dominated the discussion at the book launch (for my pre-launch review, see Adamolekun reflects on governance, development The Nation, April 23,2025). This happened because there was unanimous consent that Nigeria needs a devolved federation as recommended by Professor Adamolekun.

    There are several oddities about the Nigerian federation today. First, the political status of local councils is unclear in the Constitution, unlike the case of Brazil, where the Constitution explicitly names municipalities as part of the federal union, granting them political autonomy and equal status with states and the Federal District. In that case, municipalities are not merely subdivisions of states but rather independent entities. The lack of clarity in the Nigerian case underlies the criticism of the federal government and the Supreme Court for bypassing states in granting financial autonomy to local councils, even while they are still integral parts of the states to which they belong. State governors’ unhappiness with the direct financial link between the central government and the local councils within their jurisdictions is understandable.

    The truth is that there are only two named levels of power in every other federation. These are the central government and the federating units, named variously as states (United States and India), provinces or territories (Canada), cantons (Switzerland), or emirates (United Arab Emirates). This leads to another oddity about the Nigerian federation—the lopsidedness in the political and financial powers of the central government, so powerful that state governors and heads of federal educational institutions look up to the central government for sustenance. The dependence on the central government partly accounts for the inability of states and federal institutions to generate enough funds internally. The result is that many states cannot nurture their own residents to self-fulfillment, leading to separatist agitations.

    Another oddity is the centralization of the police force, which has compromised the security situation in the country. On the one hand, the police central command cannot effectively monitor the forces assigned to different states. On the other hand, states have no direct control over the police assigned to them. Politicians and others who can afford it exploit this gap by hiring police officers as bodyguards. In other federations, such as the United States, there is no such thing as a central police force, although there is relative uniformity in the guidelines underpinning police training across states.

    These oddities were explored in Adamolekun’s book and his presentation during the book launch. His recommendation is unmistakable: “Only devolution can unleash the forces for consolidating democracy and achieving accelerated socioeconomic progress in Nigeria. The alternative to devolution will likely be the death of the federation”. Hence his political credo for Nigeria is “Devolve or Die”.

    After the entire audience agreed that a devolved federation would serve Nigeria better, the first question that followed was: Why has devolution been impossible to achieve, even after two national conferences and numerous attempts at constitutional review? The answer to this question hovers around politics and political will. We know that those who view the central government as their industry may be reluctant to support a devolved federation in which the power of the central government is reduced. What they don’t remember is that they fared much better when they were administered as a region. Besides, they have become so engrossed in the present that they fail to remember what was and what can be after devolution of powers and fiscal federalism.

    The question remains as to what form the federating units would take. Professor Adamolekun elaborated on his answer in his presentation: There should be six federating units, based on the existing six geopolitical zones. He also suggested that functions and resources should be shared between the central government and the federating units in ways similar to the shared formula in the 1963 constitution. Specifically, he recommended a 35:65 formula for the reallocation of powers and resources between the central government and the subnational governments.

    Read Also: Nigeria ‘ll soon begin crude oil extraction in Ogun Tongeji Island – Senator Adeola

    Professor Adamolekun also raised a critical question about two institutions recently established by the Federal Government, which he thinks are antithetical to devolution. One is the establishment of Development Commissions, one for each zone, and the other is the creation of a Ministry of Regional Development (a renaming of the Ministry of Niger Delta Development). However, if the existing zones are adopted as federating units, then the Development Commissions could become coordinating units for the various development activities across the zone. At such a time, the Ministry of Regional Development would become redundant.

    A critical issue raised during the discussion was the neglect of Chapter II of the Constitution, which specifies the duties and responsibilities of government; the duties and responsibilities of the press; and the duties and responsibilities of the citizens. A close reading of the chapter shows clearly that none of the neither the government nor the press not the citizens have lived to the expectations of the Constitution. To be sure, we do not have a perfect Constitution. No state really has. The problem with us is that we have lived far shot of the ideals of the one we have, imperfect as it may be.

    This again takes us back to the lopsidedness in the allocation of duties and resources between the central government and the federating units. The truth is that the present Constitution concentrates too much power and resources in the central government. It is difficult to achieve effective governance in a multilingual, multiethnic, and multi-religious federation like ours in the present setup. It is also difficult to keep in check such an amorphous federal government, which has spread its tentacles across the country. A devolved federation will avoid such a problem by bringing people with similar orientations or shared backgrounds together, thereby allowing those at the margins to get nearer to the centre of action at a level close to them.

    The key lesson of the book launch was clear: The earlier Nigeria became a truly devolved federation, the better for the country and its people.

  • Adamolekun reflects on governance, development

    Adamolekun reflects on governance, development

    This is only a forerunner of a 239-page book by Professor Ladipo Adamolekun, NNOM, titled, Reflections on Governance and Development in Nigeria, published in April 2025, by Caligata Publishing Company Limited, Ibadan. The book will be launched tomorrow, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Akure, Ondo State. A more detailed review will follow the book launch later.

    It is important to recall that Professor Adamolekun is an Oxford-trained expert in public administration and development and had a nearly 20-year stint at the World Bank, after meritorious service as Dean of the Faculty of Administration, University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile-Ife, Nigeria. His expansive scholarship, typified by the publication of many books, monographs, and journal articles on administration and development earned him the award of the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) twenty years ago. Yet, he never slowed down. The present book is the latest testimony.

    The book sets out to answer three basic questions:

    •What are the major fundamentals of, and impediments to, good governance in Nigeria?

    •What are the major impediments to development in Nigeria?

    •How might good governance and development be achieved in Nigeria?

    In his elaboration on the first two questions, Adamolekun delved into the six central issues featured prominently in the development literature, namely, (1) electoral legitimacy; (2) rule of law; (3) civil liberties (to which human rights is central); (4) accountability and transparency (including anti-corruption measures; (5) administrative competence; and (6) development-oriented leadership. These issues are discussed in relation to the Nigerian situation but also set within African and international contexts, where necessary. These issues recur in various discussions on governance and development throughout the book.

    In addition, Adamolekun also raised a seventh issue, bearing in mind the peculiarities of the Nigerian federation—the issue of a devolved federation as a key macro-governance issue. This issue would later feature prominently in his recommendations discussed briefly below.

    Read Also: Nigeria ramps up 17,000 PHCs revitalisation efforts, bolsters immunization drive

    After teasing out these issues in several chapters, he goes on to provide answers to the third question. In order to fully appreciate his recommendations, Adamolekun sets Nigeria’s performance records since 1999 against similar data in African countries, using the Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance. Nigeria never reached 50% score in the years data were available, nor did it rank higher than the bottom 20 poor performers every year, except in 2018 when it was ranked in the bottom 25, despite its biggest size and highest GDP. Adamolekun’s conclusion is not surprising: “The verdict is clear and unambiguous, the quality of governance in Nigeria is poor.”

    Although solutions to poor governance and development problems are embedded in several discussions throughout the book, Adamolekun brought the recommendations together in the book’s concluding chapter, titled, Path to achieving improved governance and good development performance. The recommendations are made with particular reference to Nigeria.

    Unsurprisingly, the recommendations centre on improvements on the central issues in the development literature elaborated upon at the beginning of the book and foregrounded in the third paragraph of this essay. Rather than summarize the recommendations here, I leave it to readers to read them in full and make their own judgement.

    Nevertheless, I find it necessary to provide my own assessment, especially since Adamolekun and I agreed that only a devolved federation could aid good governance, channel necessary development, and provide self-fulfillment to Nigerians. This convergence of opinion has different roots. Adamolekun came to this conclusion from the perspectives of administration and development and I from the perspectives of linguistics and anthropology.

    We both recognize that Nigeria is a multilingual, multiethnic, and multi-religious state. Atop these primordial divisions are geographical and administrative groupings—North vs South; Zone vs Zone; State vs State; and Local Government vs Local Government, each in competition with the other.

    Of course, the divisions are not neat as they are either colonial or military creations for administrative convenience. True, Muslims are concentrated in the North and Christians in the South, but they are both found in every region or state, each with its own base of traditional religion. Similarly, many ethnic groups find themselves scattered across regional, state, or even local government boundaries.

    But whatever “convenience” was meant to be achieved by the geographical or administrative divisions never came to fruition, partly because of the lopsidedness in the creation of the geographical or administrative divisions. For example, Lagos and Kano have comparable populations (Lagos is even believed to be more populated), but Lagos has only 20 Local Governments, whereas Kano has 44! By the same token, Ondo has only 18 Local Governments, whereas Osun has 30; yet, both states have comparable populations.

    Yet another source of lopsidedness is the over-concentration of powers and resource allocation in the central government. This has had two damning consequences for governance and development. First, the powers of the central government make it the locus of fierce competitions for political power. In the process, electoral legitimacy and the rule of law are undermined or believed to be so.

    Second, the central government has been the locus of corruption since the attainment of independence. Corruption was institutionalized by military dictators and escalated since return to civilian rule in 1999. Even while corruption is also rampant in the states, protests are often directed at the federal government because of its perceived powers. Similarly, separatist agitations are directed at the central government, because it is viewed as the locus of injustice and inequity.

    It is within the above contexts that a devolved federation is recommended as panacea to Nigeria’s governance and development problems. Adamolekun prescribed the following characteristics of the desirable devolved federation for Nigeria:

    • the existing six geopolitical zones as federating units instead of the existing 36 states, many of which are not viable;

    • the assignment of functions between the central government and the federating units, using the same principle of subsidiarity as in the 1963 Constitution;

    • the allocation of resources consistent with the imperative of fiscal federalism and increased functions for sub-national governments.

    I agree with Adamolekun that “A devolved federation is a necessity, not a choice,” and that “only a devolved Nigerian federation can become a well-performing state that is capable of achieving good development performance.” It is no wonder then that Adamolekun ranked it over his other recommendations.

    The issue of how to get there has been a major clog, despite several attempts at moving forward on devolution. We have had two major national deliberations, the 2005 National Political Reform Conference and the 2014 National Conference. However, their far-reaching recommendations were either selectively appropriated for selfish political agenda or totally ignored.

    I have always argued that, if a one-off comprehensive approach is not feasible for political reasons, a gradualist approach could be adopted to achieve the same result over time. It is within this context that the bill on state police now before the National Assembly should be expedited to combat insecurity. It may well be a first step toward a devolved security structure and the allocation of required resources for that purpose.

    But make no mistake about it. A devolved federation should happen sooner than later, if good governance and development were to be achieved, including a successful outcome of ongoing economic reforms.

  • Itinerant hunters in southern forests

    Itinerant hunters in southern forests

    At the height of the herders-farmers conflicts across the country, we were told that cattle-rearing is the Fulani way of life. That is historically true.  Many ethnic groups in Africa were traditionally nomadic pastoralists, from the Mursi and Hamar of Ethiopia, through the Maasai and Karamojong of Uganda, to the Shona of Zimbabwe, the Fulani (or Fula) of Senegal, and the Fulani of Nigeria.

    However, while many pastoralists in other countries have adopted ranching or transitioned to communal livestock production, as in Zimbabwe, Nigerian Fulani herders have insisted on nomadic pastoralism. The result has been, and continues to be, fierce clashes with farmers, whose crops are eaten up or otherwise destroyed by cattle. What is worse, farm owners are killed, their wives raped, their children molested, and their property destroyed. Only last week, over 50 such victims were given mass burial in Plateau state. The atrocities of Fulani herders and Boko Haram have earned Nigeria a top 10 position on the Global Terrorism Index.

    Recent events would suggest that another group from the North has emerged in Southern forests. There was initial controversy as to their identity. However, if we go by their history, the Hausa, and not Fulani, were agriculturalists, fishermen, blacksmiths, hunters, salt-miners, and traders. The group’s self-identification as hunters lends support to their identity as Hausa.

    From news reports, they did have the paraphernalia of hunting, notably dane guns (and not the notorious AK-47 guns associated with Funani herdsmen) and dogs. It was a group of over twenty people in a trailer, which was double-crossed on a tip by another truck near Uromi, after refusing to stop for inspection by an earlier group of vigilantes. 16 of them were gruesomely murdered by the locals, who took them for gun-touting Fulani herders, kidnappers or bandits. Even if they were kidnappers, the law does not allow for extra-judicial killings. That’s why the murderers should be apprehended to face the full wrath of the law.

    Read Also: FAAC shares N1.578tr March revenue to FG, States, LGAs

    The anger from the North over the incident is understandable. Any ethnic group in the country would protest over the killing of their own. If the men were indeed Hausa, then the protest by Fulani leaders was hypocritical. These are the same Fulani leaders, whose cattle plunder Hausa-owned farms on their own ancestral land and would not allow any Hausa politician to be one, just one, of the 19 Governors from the North.

    Be that as it may, the background to the sad Uromi incident must also be fully understood. Here’s how the problem was summarised by Vanguard Newspaper, after a thorough investigation: “More than 24 other communities in Edo Central, Edo North, and Edo South senatorial districts have been sacked and under siege by criminally minded herders from northern Nigeria. The same could also have arisen in over 30 communities in Delta and Bayelsa States, where the residents, especially farmers, are terrified to go to farms because of some brazen Fulani herders who invade their farms, uproot crops they planted and feed their cows, rape women, and take the villagers hostage for ransom” (Uromi Killings: Untold story of how villagers identified some of them as kidnappers before lynching, Vanguard, April 5, 2025). The story went on to detail specific incidents within the Local Government and beyond.

    On the fateful day, the trailer ferrying the ill-fated group failed to stop for the first group of vigilantes at Ubiaja, which then sent a distress signal to the group in Uromi. The latter group then used a tipper with a full load of sand to double-cross the trailer. It was then discovered that the men in the trailer “covered themselves with a tarpaulin in a truck filled with palm kernel shells”. Suspicion began to mount. Tensions rose when weapons and dogs were discovered. Nevertheless, according to the Vanguard report, mayhem was said to have been let loose only when one of the men in the trailer “stabbed the vigilante with a dagger”. At the end of the day, 16 “hunters” were gruesomely killed.

    True, Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo state moved quickly to douse tension following the incident, he could only provide temporary succour to affected families and prevent possible backlash. But his amelioration job was hardly completed when another set of four hunters was intercepted by the Edo Security Network “with three dane guns, six empty cartridges, three half filled cartridges, four cutlasses and two daggers” (Another Set of Hunters Arrested in Edo, Daily Trust, April 13, 2026). Like the first group of hunters, the new set was also travelling to Kano for the Sallah holidays.

    What is needed now is an enduring solution to this hunting problem before it escalates like kidnapping and banditry or turns into either or both. There are those who question the movement of hunters from faraway Kano to hunt in Port Harcourt. Would they just enter the forest without the knowledge of the landowners or host communities? If they are registered hunters, were they hunting in Port Harcourt with Kano hunting license or with one from Port Harcourt?

    Ideally, hunters should not cross state lines. However, if they must hunt across state lines, then it is necessary to device a measure by which such itinerant hunters could easily be identified. One way of handling this problem is to require itinerant hunters to register their weapons with the police station nearest to their hunting areas. Another method is to require them to register as hunters at the Local Government headquarters within the hunting area.

    The truth is that, given the precarious security situation in the country today, anyone carrying a weapon in any community could easily scare people, by raising the suspicion of being a kidnapper, bandit, or armed robber.

  • Breeds of chickens and egg prices across the globe

    Breeds of chickens and egg prices across the globe

    I got interested in breeds of chickens early in life, while living with my grandmother in the 1940s and early 1950s. She raised chicken in the backyard solely for meat. I was always fascinated by her attempts to protect the little chicks from being snatched by hawks, usually just before nightfall. The behaviour of the hawks got me interested in ornithology. The interest crystallized during my Senior Fulbright Scholar Exchange year at the University of Wisconsin in the 1986/87 academic year. I spent time observing swallows in the course of their north-south migration across the Wisconsin skyline, often in response to food availability, weather changes, and habitat issues. I have since always wondered how much people knew about birds in general and about chickens in particular beyond eating their meat and eggs.

    Breeds of chickens

    There are over 100 breeds of chickens across the globe, divided into 9 broad categories. In the past, some were unique to particular localities. However, in our globalized world, many of them have been transported beyond their original habitat as part of international commerce. Nevertheless, some survive better in a particular climate than others, while others mature faster than the rest. Today, poultry farmers have improved on the methods of raising chickens on a large scale. So have scientists introduced genetic engineering as they seek new ways of growing chickens faster so they could produce more eggs and more tender meat. In the process, more is known about different categories of birds and their peculiarities.

    Read Also: DSS arrests two principal suspects over Uromi killings

    The ten categories of chickens have varying memberships: Brown Layers (22); Colored Layers (7); White Layers (10); Bantams (11); BBQ Special (12); Crested Breeds (6); Ornamental Breeds (5); Rare Breeds (18); Unusual Breeds (16). Indigenous Nigerian breeds belong to one or the other of the above categories. They include Naked Neck, Featherless Wing, Rose Comb, Wild Type, and Frizzle Feather. In my part of Nigeria, these indigenous breeds are known, respectively, as Abolorun, Opipi, Onigbaogbe, Ibile, and Asa. The various breeds raised commercially in Nigeria today belong to one or the other of the 9 categories listed above. They are mainly dual-purpose breeds for meat and eggs.

    Rising costs

    However, for Nigerian housewives today, the major concern is about the rising cost of eggs rather than knowledge of types of chicken. The cost of eggs has more than doubled since early 2023, which is why some housewives use it as a reference point for asking for doubling or tripling the amount of food allowance. The problem is that they complain about the rising price of eggs in their local markets, without knowing about the price of eggs across the globe. Worse still, like everything else, they put the blame squarely on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    The truth, however, is that the price of eggs has been rising across the globe for some time now. This has given rise to the economic concept of eggflation.

    Recently, a survey was conducted on the price of one dozen eggs across 127 countries. According to the data, Nigeria is No 96 on the list and the average cost of a dozen eggs in the country rose from $0.40 (about N600 with pre-Covid exchange rate) to $1.92 (which translates to under N3,000). In Africa, only seven countries have cheaper egg prices than Nigeria. They are Morocco ($1.89), Uganda ($1.83), Cameroon ($1.80), Algeria ($1.73), Kenya ($1,59), Libya ($1.47), and Egypt ($1.45). These are countries in the bottom quarter of the price ranking. Rounding up that quarter is India at No 127. It is the only country in the survey, where a dozen eggs costs less than a dollar (at $0.97).

    By contrast, the top one quarter (30) countries with the highest prices for a dozen eggs include many European countries, such as Germany ($3.60), Italy ($3.77), UK ($3.84), France ($4.06), Greece ($4.25), Netherlands ($4.54) and Switzerland, where the cost of a dozen eggs is highest in the world at $6.81. In South and North America, the cost of a dozen eggs ranges from $1.68 in Paraguay to $3.36 in Canada and $4.16 in the United States. However, there are variations from one province or state to another within these countries.

    Critical factors

    The critical question is why are egg prices going up? It is all too easy to blame President Tinubu’s policies for inflationary pressures, which contributed to higher prices for eggs and many other products. But what about the other countries, where inflation is only in single digits, and the price of eggs is two, three, or more times higher than in Nigeria? The answer calls for global explanations.

    First, the Covid years dealt a major blow to feed production as activities were scaled down, leading to increased prices, felt in the markets as from 2023.

    Second, global events, such as the war in Ukraine, caused disruptions in the supply chain of feed ingredients, such as corn and wheat. This has caused major producers of chicken feeds to reduce or curtail production, leading to reduced supply and, consequently, higher prices.

    Third, across the globe, climate change has impacted both feed and egg production. Virtually every part of the world has experienced extreme weather (too hot or too cold) in the last few years. The impact has been felt by both feed producers and poultry farmers alike. The result is higher egg costs.

    Fourth, there have been disease outbreaks in some countries, such as the United States, where the avian flu disrupted egg supply, leading to shortages and higher prices.

    Fifth, immigration policies in the United States and some European countries have caused labour shortages, which have impacted egg production, leading to higher costs.

    The bottomline

    The bottomline is that the rising cost of eggs is a global phenomenon, and it is symbolic of increased prices of most consumer goods across the globe. Consumer illiteracy, limited knowledge of the world, untruthful politicians, and social media liars have made everything look like Tinubu’s fault.

    But then, the presidency has done little or nothing to properly educate the public about global events and the place of the administration’s policies within them. Even now that some of the policies have begun to yield some dividends, the administration has restricted its public communication to responding to criticisms, founded or unfounded. Now that the 2027 general election has begun to smell in the political air, the administration had better start preparing a robust midterm report, now that the midterm is barely two months away.

    Finally, it is high time it was made a central government policy to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on global feed supplies for chickens. Until chicken feeds are locally produced in abundance, the price of chickens and eggs will remain high.

  • Revisiting polytechnic education in Nigeria (2)

    Revisiting polytechnic education in Nigeria (2)

    The Chairpersons of the Governing Councils of federal polytechnics highlighted several problems facing the federal polytechnics and made recommendations to the government in a communique issued at the end of their meeting in Calabar (February 9-14, 2025). Three of those problems were discussed last week (see Revisiting polytechnic education in Nigeria (1), The Nation, March 19, 2025). The remaining issues are discussed below.

    Infrastructure

    The quality of infrastructure in the federal polytechnics is reflective of the quality of infrastructure in the country as a whole—bad roads, lack of electricity and water supply, and limited or epileptic WiFi connectivity. Although the focus of the Chairs’ recommendation is on power supply, the federal polytechnics need all these infrastructural facilities, if they were to function at optimal level. This has not been the case, however, which is why they are not able to carry out their expected mission “to produce low, middle and high-level manpower” (2019 Polytechnic Act).

    Aware of the difficulty of connecting the polytechnics to the national power grid, which has been collapsing every now and then, the Chairs recommended that the Rural Electrification Agency should be directed to power the federal polytechnics, by providing solar electrification. Fortunately, the Federal Government had recently allocated the sum of N100 billion for solar projects in selected public institutions throughout the country. Institutions, mostly polytechnics, in the rural areas should take priority in the project.

    Nevertheless, there are cases where step-down power stations only need standby technical workforce to function. As this is a distribution issue, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, should work with the DISCOs to provide the necessary personnel and equipment to get such stations connected to nearby federal polytechnics.

    Security

    There are at least three reasons to ensure the security of federal polytechnics throughout the country. First, it is necessary to protect the innocent lives of students and staff in the institutions against bandits and kidnappers now operating across the country. Second, it is necessary to protect the institutions’ property (buildings and technical equipment) against damage, theft, or vandalisation. Third, it is necessary to protect the polytechnics’ land from encroachment, which is an ongoing problem in many of the newer institutions.

    The best way to achieve this tripartite goal is to fence the perimeter of each polytechnic from one corner of the entrance gate to the other. Additional security could also be achieved by installing Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras at strategic locations all over the campuses. Such cameras will not only aid in detecting possible encroachers, but they will also help in detecting infringements by internal members of the institutions.

    There also should be fully equipped security personnel at strategic locations around each polytechnic. If police personnel could be guarding politicians and businessmen all over the place, there is no excuse for not protecting federal polytechnics, which serve thousands of people at a time.

    Other recommendations

    While the retreat was going on, NBTE notified the Chairs of TETFund’s circular, indicating that federal polytechnics with less than 1000 students after three years of operation would not be entitled to intervention funds. However, the Chairs pleaded that the affected institutions were new ones, and they still needed intervention funds to make necessary progress. Besides, some of the affected polytechnics had spent only one year and had two more years to attain the 1000 enrollment figure. Moreover, it should be recognised that polytechnics are no longer as attractive to students as they used to be, because of limitations in the job market as well as discrimination against holders of HND vis-à-vis university degree. That’s why the Chairs recommended a focus on the development of entrepreneurial skills and the removal of the Higher National Diploma-B.Sc. dichotomy, by converting HND to B.Tech degree.

    Another issue in the Chairs’ communique is the appointment of Rectors of federal polytechnics. Up till now, only the Federal Ministry of Education could handle the appointment of Rectors for the federal polytechnics. This often led to the delay and politicisation of the appointment by civil servants. A review of the Polytechnic Act would be necessary to empower the Governing Councils o take on this role as is the case with university Governing Councils. After all, the Councils are much more familiar with the needs and peculiarities of their institutions and are better suited to appoint suitable Rectors.

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    Updates

    Some developments affecting polytechnic education have occurred or been accelerated, following the Chairs’ communique.

    On Tuesday, March 4, 2025, the bill to abolish the discrimination between university degrees and HND, by replacing HND with a B.Tech degree, has scaled the second reading in the House of Representatives.

    If passed, the bill would bring two critical innovations to the polytechnics. First, as indicated last week, the degree component of polytechnic education would have to be handled by the National Universities Commission to maintain parity of standards with university degrees. Second, a polytechnic Rector must have a minimum of a doctorate degree. Ideally, Rectors should be manned by Professors in order to be able to adequately drive the institution’s research agenda and enhance the degree component of polytechnic education.

    Work is also ongoing on the review of the scheme of service in the polytechnics. It is hoped that the polytechnic managements have been part of the process. Much too often, innovation trickles down from the civil service, without the input of critical stakeholders.

    Conclusion

    The state of infrastructure in the polytechnics today recalls a sociological dictum, proposed by Emile Durkheim, the father modern sociology, namely, that education can do no more than reflect society. However, in view of the need for our youths to compete not just within the local markets, but also in a global market, efforts should be made to upscale the infrastructure of educational institutions in the country to maximise their teaching and learning potentials. The Federal Government has a duty to ensure adequate funding of the polytechnics it established, beyond the funds provided by TETFund.

    In a way, the communique under discussion recalls the NEEDS Assessment of Universities of 2013. Eleven years after, federal universities remain in dire need. It would appear that the present Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, is determined to carry out the mandate of the present administration to rescue federal polytechnics from performance malaise. The starting point is taking this communique seriously.

  • Revisiting polytechnic education in Nigeria (1)

    Revisiting polytechnic education in Nigeria (1)

    At the instance of the new Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, and with the sponsorship of TETFund, the Chairpersons of Nigeria’s Federal Polytechnics met recently in Calabar for four days (February 9-14) in a brainstorming retreat. The dual goal of the retreat was to discuss the problems facing polytechnic education in the country and to recommend possible solutions. It also afforded the exchange of ideas and social networking among the Chairpersons.

    Their findings are implicit in their recommendations, which were summarised in a comprehensive communique, reported by various newspapers after the retreat. However, the newspaper reports only regurgitated the contents of the communique, without discussing them. Besides, in the typical tradition of Nigerian newspaper reporting, there has been no followup. This article attempts to fill both gaps.

    As expected, the major recommendations of the communique cover: (1) funding; (2) curriculum; (3) supervision; (4) infrastructure; and (5) security

    Funding

    Perhaps the most significant factor behind the fall in educational standards in Nigeria’s federal educational institutions is inadequate and irregular funding. This is especially true of polytechnic education, where less than half of approved capital budget is often released, thus making it difficult to maintain existing structures or pay contractors for ongoing construction, not to speak of embarking on new projects. The result is the abandonment of numerous projects as elsewhere in the country. As if this were not enough, delays in releasing subventions translates to delays in releasing funds for overhead expenses and the payment of salaries.

    Right from the inception of polytechnic education in this country, the emphasis has been on the development of necessary skills and competencies that would prepare the students for appropriate job placement. This also has been the reason for recent emphasis on entrepreneurial skills that would prepare the students to initiate some business or some trade after graduation. Unfortunately, however, this desire has not been backed up by the necessary funds for the polytechnics. Hence the call by the Chairpersons to the government to set aside special funds for skills development so that a key goal of polytechnic education could be attained.

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    Although not expressed in the communique, it will be very helpful if the federal government could allow the polytechnics to keep and use tuition fees collected from their students as this is the main source of Internally Generated Revenue for these institutions, especially those created within the past five years. Asking under-resourced institutions to remit as much as half of tuition fees collected to the federal government amounts to double jeopardy.

    Nevertheless, credit must be given to the government for TETFund’s release of funds to federal institutions for special projects, staff training, and attendance at conferences. It is also TETFund that provides the seed money for newly established federal institutions. It must be emphasised, however, that the fund does not come directly from the federal budget but from two percent of the taxes collected from the profit of companies registered in Nigeria. True, TETFund was set up by the federal government to arrest the deterioration in educational infrastructure caused by years of poor resource allocation. Nevertheless, TETFund cannot, and should not, replace the government’s responsibility to the institutions it established. This is the essence of the Council Chairs’ call to the federal government for more and regular funding to the polytechnics.

    Curriculum

    A comprehensive review of polytechnic curricular offerings in all disciplines is long overdue in order to align them with current technological realities and ensure that they meet the needs of the Nigerian job market. Another important reason for curricular review is the pending legislation in the National Assembly to equate HND with a university degree, by awarding a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) to successful candidates. If future HND holders are to just the elevation of their degree to a university degree, then some knowledge equivalent is warranted.

    My experience with the polytechnic graduates I have hired has led me to question their knowledge and even that of their teachers. One had an OND in statistics but could hardly do simple computations, not to speak of basic statistical analysis. Another had HND also in statistics but had no idea of the meaning and uses of basic statistical terms, such as mean, variance, and probability. Worse still, she could not even make sense of an opinion poll done by my company after the data were coded and analysed, although she took part in data collection. It was not surprising, therefore, when, in another study along Oke-Aro street in Akure, I discovered that a number of the women petty traders, selling soft drinks, fruits, and roasted plantain or corn, were polytechnic graduates. One of them said she took the decision to start selling foodstuff after looking for a job unsuccessfully for over six years.

    In engaging in any curricular review, it will not be enough for the National Board of Technical Education to do so in Kaduna or Abuja, without involving experienced past and present polytechnic faculty.

    Supervision

    At present, the supervision of the polytechnics is done by the NBTE, which currently supervises 787 institutions throughout the country. The polytechnics are the apex of these institutions. However, because the NBTE is overburdened, the polytechnics have been left to be preyed upon by other arms of government.

    As a result, various ministries, departments and agencies of government and numerous committees of the National Assembly devolve on the polytechnics or summon their Rectors (and sometimes, their entire management team) to Abuja for one reason or the other. It would have been great if these visitations and summons resulted in improvements in the quality of polytechnic education or their funding. On the contrary, their goal has been extortion of the meagre resources of these institutions. I drew attention to this unwholesome practice in an earlier article (see Repositioning TVET in Nigeria, The Nation, February 5, 2025).

    In order to correct this anomaly, the Committee of Chairpersons recommended the establishment of a Polytechnics Commission at par with the National Universities Commission with similar functions. Indeed, the polytechnics have been asking for such a Commission for quite some time.

    However, the current bill before the National Assembly on awarding a B. Tech degree to HND holders should require the National Universities Commission to supervise the HND programme in order to maintain parity with other university degrees, while the NBTE should be left only with the OND programme. Nothing should prevent the NBTE from imitating the NUC practice of employing reputable polytechnic teachers along with the NBTE staff in carrying out the evaluation and quality assurance of the OND programme.

    I am aware that many Polytechnic Rectors support the establishment of a Commission for their institutions. However, their demand seems to come more from frustration with the NBTE than from anything else. Nevertheless, I am not sure that the solution they need is more bureaucracy.

    •To be concluded next week

  • Why more young people are dying these days

    Why more young people are dying these days

    As I reflected on the recent deaths of many young men and women between 35 and 50 years old, two questions crossed my mind. One, if it is true that we now live in an age when hygiene and modern medicine have made it possible to live even longer, why are people dying young? Two, what is Professor Daniel Lieberman’s answer to why young people are dying more than before, given the medical resources available?

    About a decade ago, I reviewed The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease, by Daniel Lieberman, a Harvard University Professor of anthropology and evolutionary biology. The book, first published in 2013, does (a) charts a chronology of our biological evolution up to the time that we have our present bodies; (b) shows how our cultural evolution has transformed our environment, the way we live, and what we eat; and (c) explains how mismatch between our biological and cultural evolutions has caused many modern-day diseases killing us today. By mismatch is meant that there is a conflict between the conditions of modern life and our prehistoric bodies. That is, we were not adapted to where and how we live our lives today as well as what we eat. Food and drinks are meant to give us energy and valuable nutrients, but the way food and drinks are prepared, preserved, and stored today may bring us closer to the grave as they lead to the prevalence of diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, back pain, depression, various cancers, and so on.

    You do not have to be an evolutionary biologist to follow Lieberman’s argument. Similarly, the idea of cultural evolution should not be strange, even to a lay person. Nor should you be an anthropologist to understand the three major cultural transitions in human history that have major implications for our bodies.

    The first was the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture, when we began to settle down to farm our own food. The second was the industrial revolution, when we began to use machines to replace human work. The third transition, an offshoot of the technological advancements of the second, was the digital revolution, when we began to replace physical meetings with virtual ones and social media networking. In many advanced economies, more and more people are now working from home.

    Each of these transitions came with advantages and disadvantages. For example, agriculture brought predictable food supply, but farmers were susceptible to famine and food shortages as well as contagious diseases.

    The industrial revolution brought science and technology as the major driver of human activity. Social and economic institutions were reorganised, factories began to produce on a large scale, and the economy of delayed return replaced the economy of immediate return of the farming age. Human populations exploded with progress in medicine, sanitation, and food storage. As a result, there is much more food variety than the average farmer could provide. However, the varieties and the surpluses came at a cost. Most of what we consume today is processed and shipped by machines, and they contain huge amounts of pesticides, inorganic fertilizers, and antibiotics. Worse still, processed food contains more sugars and starches, causing spikes in blood sugar levels that our bodies were not designed to deal with. Even the fashionable non-stick pots with which many of us cook contain PFAS chemicals, which can lead to serious health problems, when the coating is damaged or overheated.

    The digital revolution may have brought radical changes to how we communicate and work. However, it has also made us more sedentary and less physically interactive. The implications for our bodies are still being studied. But the social implications of social media on our social lives and political participation are no longer in doubt.

    The truth is that we live in a world of new handicaps and new diseases, which never afflicted our prehistoric ancestors. Unfortunately, many of us overlook or are unaware of some common sources of today’s diseases. Many of these sources became prevalent only recently, coinciding with the appearance of today’s youths on the food scene. The sources include preservatives and additives in processed foods, chemicals in plastics, non-stick pots, makeup and hair products, asbestos, and formaldehyde in building materials.

    Today, in part because they care less about safety, the younger generation is ultra-exposed to these sources, most of which are associated with one type of cancer or the other. They consume a lot of ultra-processed foods, which are associated with a higher risk of gastrointestinal cancers, regardless of their weight or body mass index. Youths are particularly susceptible to exposures to toxins in the environment and in many everyday goods listed above, which are also known to cause cancer.

    Youths are also victims of modern lifestyle changes, which involve less physical exercise, and less or interrupted sleep. Recent medical research shows that sleep and circadian rhythms are important components of health. Getting less sleep may be a factor in developing colon, breast, ovarian, or prostate cancer. Although genetic inheritance remains a predictor, but many cancer patients these days have no such history.

    It is not the case, of course, that older adults over 60 are inoculated against these diseases. My focus on youths is motivated partly by the spike in the number of youth deaths and partly by a recent meta-analysis by the American Cancer Society, which found that 50 percent (17 of 34) of the most common cancers are occurring more frequently in younger people. Worse still, while death rates are dropping for colorectal cancer patients over 65, they are increasing among younger patients, partly because colonoscopies are not recommended until after 45. The problem with youths is that cancers are often not caught until it is too late for treatment. All we tend to hear is that X or Y was rushed to the hospital two days ago, but he or she did not make it.

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    To complicate matters for today’s youths is the prevalence of psychotropic, illicit injection drugs, and stimulants to get high in a country that lacks effective drug regulation. To be sure, NAFDAC is doing the best it can, but it can only do so much in a society where rules and regulations are breached more than they are observed. Besides, today’s youths are so daring and creative that they’ve reportedly created deadly concoctions out of pain killers.

    Perhaps at no time in human history is Lieberman’s “mismatch” theory more relevant than today. Our bodies were not designed for what we do and consume. And our youths, who consume any and everything, are the greatest victims. Many of them began early with processed baby food, continue with ultra-processed food, consume sugary and alcoholic drinks, and top them with drugs to get them high. They stay on the phone till 2am or later and have little or no time for regular physical exercise. And the killer of it all—they shrug off symptoms and only seek intervention when it may be too late.

  • Ethnicity and religion as Nigeria’s albatrosses

    Ethnicity and religion as Nigeria’s albatrosses

    The place of ethnicity and religion in Nigerian society has hardly been fully examined in the Nigerian media, partly because they are complicated subjects and partly because they are considered too sensitive for discussion. Rather than pay due attention to them, the focus has been on weak leadership, poor governance, and corruption as the major factors responsible for Nigeria’s lack of development and progress. Yet, ethnicity and religion have been at the root of Nigeria’s problems since colonial times.

    Ethnicity was a critical factor in the delay of Nigeria’s independence till 1960. The Fulani-dominated North insisted that they were not ready for independence at an earlier date. Ethnicity also was at the root the crash of the first republic, which was aided by an Igbo-led military coup in January 1966 in which political leaders across the country were killed, except those from the coup plotters’ ethnicity. It also was at the root of the Fulani-led counter-coup by General Murtala Muhammed, which led to Aguiyi-Ironsi’s assassination. Today, ethnicity is in the forefront of the agitation for self-determination by several groups.

    This is not surprising, given the multiplicity and complex distribution of ethnic groups and religious practices across the vast land that the colonial government brought together as one. What is surprising is Nigerian leaders’ unwillingness to take necessary steps to limit ethnic and religious tensions and their effects, despite several suggested solutions, including various recommendations of national political conferences convoked by the government. 

    On the surface, it would appear that Islam predominates in the North, while Christianity predominates in the South. Below the surface, however, is a complex tapestry of ethnic and religious identities and interactions.

    In the North, for example, sizable groups of Christians are to be found largely in the Northeast and North-central, while the Northwest is the bastion of Islam, being the entry point of the religion into Northern Nigeria possibly as far back as the 11th century. But in that same Northwest, there are smatterings of Christians here and there, notably in the southern part of Kaduna state. In general, however, there are no states in the North in which Muslims and Christians do not coexist, although Muslims are a clear majority.

    By the same token, there are Muslims in the South, especially in the northern part of the South to which the jihadist influece spread in the precolonial period. Nevertheless, Christianity predominates in Southern Nigeria, because it was the region of entry for Christianity. While the Anglican and Protestant missions predominated in Southwest, the Catholic mission predominated in the Southeast and parts of the South-south, because Irish Catholic priests were in the majority in those areas during the missionary phase of colonisation.

    Neither Islam nor Christianity is monolithic in terms of beliefs and modes of worship. Each has various denominations or sects in Nigeria as elsewhere. However, the different sects within each religion often come together as one when confronted with the other religion. This was evident, for example, during the 2023 presidential election, when the Christians as a block opposed the Muslim-Muslim ticket of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima.

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    A major drag on progress in Nigeria is the commercialisation of religious worship and the belief by many Nigerians that Imams or pastors could provide solutions to their problems. This is especially true of Evangelical Christianity, which preaches prosperity  gospels, attracting many followers. Even politicians run to Muslim and Christian leaders for blessings and support. Perhaps no politician in Nigerian history has foregrounded both ethnicity and religion than former Governor Peter Obi, the candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election.

    The various shades of religious sects are not as worrisome as the complex interplay of ethnic identities in the country. If we go by Ethnologue’s list of nearly 500 languages in Nigeria and assume that each language is spoken by a distinct ethnic group, then there are possibly 500 ethnic groups in the country. Even more challenging is the tapestry of dialects within particular ethnic groups, leading to subdivisions within each group. This is especially true of the Southwest, where each of the six states is composed of distinct dialect groups, except Ekiti state, which appears to be linguistically homogeneous.

    Two related formulas are employed in Nigeria to accommodate ethnic and religious factors in the distribution of political positions at federal, state, and local levels. One is the constitutional requirement of “federal character” (Section 14(3)) and the need  “to recognise the diversity of the people” within a state or local government (Section 14(4)).

    The other formula is the convention of zoning political positions at federal, state, and local levels. Nevertheless, it is sometimes difficult to accommodate the two factors of ethnicity and religion at the same time, without violating meritocracy or incurring some tension. For example, Christians across the country criticised President Tinubu for choosing a Muslim running mate, while other ethnic groups in the North wondered why he chose a Kanuri man and not Fulani, Hausa, or some other ethnic group from the region.

    What is even less discussed is the system of internal colonialism by the more powerful ethnic or sub-ethnic groups within each local government, state, zone, or region. Perhaps no where is this better demonstrated than in Northern Nigeria, where Hausa identity is masked by the adoption of Islamic religion and the adoption of their language by the Fulani, who conquered them and imposed Islamic religion. The situation is further complicated by the adoption of Hausa-Fulani as a single label for both groups.

    The truth, however, is that over the centuries, the Fulani have taken over Hausaland, while their cattle have been eating up Hausa crops in the little land they have left. This has been, and continues to be, a source of tension between the two groups. What is worse, the leading traditional rulers in the North are Fulani. So are the leading politicians. That’s why, today, there is not a single Hausa Governor, whereas there are at least 9 Fulani Governors. The remaining 10 Governors from the North are distributed across various minority ethnic groups: (2 for Kanuri and one each for Ebira, Jukun, Nupe, Marghi, and Mwaghavul).

    Secession or disintegration of the country is not a desirable solution to ethnic rivalries and religious tensions. Rather, a reorganisation of the country is necessary in which power is devolved to states and local governments in such a way that each group can attain self-fulfillment. The less the power of the central government and the less frequently the states and federal institutions go cap-in-hand to Abuja for bread, the more self-actualisation will be achieved across the country. The present administration has initiated measures on devolution of powers. There should be further action, rather than a pause.

  • Dear Governor Aiyedatiwa

    Dear Governor Aiyedatiwa

    I write to congratulate you on your inauguration as the seventh Governor of Ondo State, my home state. I would have sent this letter to you privately or even come to your office to congratulate you, but I could not  do so now for two reasons. First, I am currently out of the country. But, secondly, and more importantly, I wanted the public to know that I have accepted you as my Governor, despite my public opposition to your election. It may interest you to know that, in the same vein, I did not support your predecessor, late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu (may his soul rest in peace) during his first election in 2016 but rallied around him once he was inaugurated as Governor. I even successfully mediated between him and then Osun Governor Rauf Aregbesola over the scuffle between his SSG, Ifedayo Abegunde, and Osun’s Commissioner for Regional Integration, Bola Ilori. I also went on to support Akeredolu’s re-election in 2020.

    I look forward to discussing matters affecting our state and, particularly, Idanre Local Government, my beloved cradle. Ondo State, even as part of the Old Western Region, was the bastion of democracy and home of progressivism. It was the home base of numerous associates of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, including Chief Adekunle Ajasin, Chief Gabriel Akin-Deko, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, Chief Adebayo Adefarati, and Chief Wumi Adegbonmire.

    Each of them left a significant mark on the development of the state. Chief Ajasin, for example, built the Secretariat, which continues to be the seat of the Ondo State government till today. In the current democratic dispensation, Chief Adefarati took off where Chief Ajasin stopped and saw to the establishment of the Ondo State University in its present location, after splitting with Ekiti State University.  His successor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, notably established the Ondo State University of Science and Technology, named after him by your boss, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN. Agagu’s successor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, built the iconic Dome, initiated the concept of Mega Schools and built many of them across the state. Above all, he established the first University of Medical Sciences in the country.

    Akeredolu, who succeeded Mimiko, developed the expansive structures opposite the Dome, housing the Ondo State Internal Revenue Service, the IT Hub, and other facilities. He also expanded teaching hospitals and facilities for UNIMED, and constructed a network of roads throughout the state, including two iconic flyovers at two major intersections in Ore and Akure.

    Every Governor since 1999 invested heavily in infrastructure in major sectors, notably in education, healthcare, transport, agriculture, and trade. It is hoped that you, too, will put your own stamp on the development of the state. Indeed, the task before you is enormous, given the current financial and security situations in the state. The good news for your administration is that state allocations have increased, and I trust you are making effort to also increase the state’s Internally Generated Revenue. State residents are anxiously looking forward to the dividends of democracy from increased revenue inflow.

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    But it is to Idanre I now turn for the rest of this letter, because of an urgent task before your administration.

    Your Excellency will recall that our beloved monarch, Oba Frederick Aroloye, Arubiefin IV, the Owa of Idanre Kingdom, joined his ancestors nearly seven months ago, precisely on July 30, 2024 (see my tribute, Kabiyesi, Oba Frederick Adegunle Aroloye, Arubiefin IV, 1926-2024, The Nation, August 7, 2024). As indicated in my tribute, Idanre people are anxious for government action in order to avoid the seven-year delay and confusion that attended the installation of his immediate predecessor. Already, Idanre people are suffering from the disruption of traffic, following the relocation of major markets in the town as a result of the traditional mandatory change until a new monarch is installed.

    The delay and disruption so far are understandable in view of the three-month window provided in the Declaration and the reorganisation of the Local Government, including an election. It is now hoped that there will be no further delay since the election had already taken place, followed by your inauguration.

    Fortunately, the procedure for the selection of the Owa of Idanre had previously been approved by the Ondo State Government, following its review of the Morgan Commission’s recommendations. For example, the Ondo State Government approved, as a general rule, that “the concept of ‘Omo Orite’, ‘Aremo’, and ‘Abidagba’ should be abolished wherever it was being practiced”.

    With particular reference to the Owa of Idanre Chieftaincy Declaration, it is important to emphasise that the Ondo State Government recognises in the Declaration (a) that Idanre has only one ruling house, that of Agbogun; (b) that Idanre has only 12 Kingmakers (titles provided); and (c) that “all male ‘direct’ descendants of the past Owa of Idanre” are qualified to be proposed as candidates (see page 65 for details).

    Another major task for which the people of Idanre would be very grateful is the dualisation of the Akure-Idanre Road. This was discussed with Governor Akeredolu but he put his preference on a new link road between Akure and Idanre through Ijoka, for which the community remains grateful. However, the major artery to Idanre from Akure remains the one between Oke-Aro through Alade and Atosin. Your immediate attention to this road will be highly appreciated, especially given the tonnage of cocoa, timber, and foodstuff hauled through the road.

    Here’s wishing you a successful tenure.

    Professor Niyi Akinnaso, MFR.