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Category: Niyi Akinnaso

Jimi Solanke (1942-2024): Ó di gbére

It was August 15, 2010. He arrived earlier than scheduled, set up his band, and started playing. Monica and I had invited him to play at an event we hosted in Lagos, which was chaired by the one and only Baba Lisa, the late Chief Bayo Akinnola, and attended by a number of our close friends, young and old. Baba Lisa had come to the event all the way from Ondo with a live goat and enough firewood for roasting it, both in the boot (trunk) of his Mercedes Benz. He also brought along Lomi, a popular Ondo asun Masterchef.

If Baba Lisa had come in his quintessential elements that day, Jimi Solanke was something else on the bandstand. He sang. He danced. He acted. All at once. His guttural voice recalled Barry White’s baritone voice. His dance steps and accompanying theatrics recalled his steps as he told stories to kids on the Bar Beach Show is or in Storyland. Younger members of the audience were particularly thrilled that the same Jimi Solanke they grew up watching on TV was live on the bandstand at an event they attended. Jimi regaled the audience with a combination of folksongs, soft Jazz, and Juju misic.

However, whatever he did that day was no more than a prologue to his all-encompassing artistic accomplishments. Jimi was a dramatist, actor, songwriter, singer, dancer, choreographer, folksinger, storyteller, playwright, poet, musician, and a worthy ambassador of Yoruba culture worldwide.

True, he earned a diploma in drama from the University of Ibadan in the sixties, but the multiplicity of skills he deployed during his career surpassed whatever competencies he acquired during that training. Some of them even predated the training. The truth is that Jimi was a talented youth, who identified his interests early, and spared nothing in nurturing them to the fullest. Even as a secondary school student, he was collaborating with famous musicians at the time, such as Roy Chicago, and even composing for them.

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In the meantime, his father opposed his ambition of becoming an artist of any kind. Rather, he wanted his son to be an engineer because the young man was very good at fixing things around the house, from electrical appliances to gramophones. He was therefore sent to his uncle in Ibadan to learn print engineering from Caxton Press.

It turned out to be the wrong time and city to send a young man of immense artistic talent. He would work at the press during the day and sing at night with any band that needed him, including Edy Okonta and Chris Ajilo. But the night activities soon took a toll on his press job during the day. He was eventually laid off and sent out of the house by his uncle. This seeming tragedy was a blessing in disguise. It freed Jimi to find sanctuary in Mbari Club, founded by Ulli Beier, and frequented by literary giants, including Wole Soyinka, Chistopher Okigbo, J.P. Clark, Demas Nwoko, and Michael Crowder, then Head of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ibadan. His attraction to the diploma studies in drama came from this rich encounter.

Of course, one of his major influences was Professor Wole Soyinka, whose Orisun Theatre Group Jimi joined in Ibadan when it was founded in 1961. There hardly was a better opportunity for a budding artist to grow. And Jimi took maximum advantage. But he did not stop there. He jumped at any and every opportunity, including responding to Ola Rotimi’s invitation from Ife to participate in his theatre productions. It was at Ife in 1968 that I spoke with him after the production of The Gods Are Not To Blame. It was one young man admiring the work of another. But we stayed in touch over the years.

That’s why I could get him to play for me at very short notice in 2010. We had met about two weeks to the event at the Guest House of the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II. Monica and I were the Ooni’s guests for a week. Jimi had come there to see someone else. We bumped into each other in the lobby and embraced each other. His eyeballs glowed and his smile was as infectious as ever. “Niyi, when will you come home from America?”, he enquired. I assured him I would as soon as I retired. We talked for about 30 minutes, updating each other about goings on in our lives. The conversation ended with my invitation to him to play at our event in Lagos, which he accepted, even without discussing charges. I am glad he did, especially for the young attendees of the event, who kept referring to the experience.

Jimi’s contributions to the arts fell into several categories. First, as a dramatist and film actor, he participated in many memorable theatre productions and films, often playing leading role. They included Kongi’s Harvest and Death and the King’s Horseman, The Gods Are Not To Blame, Kurunmi, and Ovoramwen Nogbaisi. Jimi’s portrayal of the ancient Oba of Benin, Ovoramwen Nogbaisi, moved Samuel Ogbemudia, then Military Governor of the defunct Midwest state, to the extent that he engaged Jimi as Senior Cultural Officer to set up the dance, music, and drama sections of the Midwest Arts Council.

Second, Jimi’s TV shows, mainly on NTA, but also on LTV and AIT, stretched back to the 1960s. He starred in the legendary Village Headmaster, Bar Beach Show, For Better for Worse, Family Scene, Children’s Half Hour, Storyland, African Stories, and Sango. Children, now in their forties and fifties, recall with nostalgia how he dramatised his stories, including mimicking characters in folktales and fables.

Third, his musical talent showed up in everything he did. As indicated earlier, he had performed with leading bands of the time at home. He also did so abroad. It was a natural leap for him to set up his own band and perform at social events.

What is less known about Jimi was the international spread of his accomplishments. He performed across the globe, notably in Europe, the United States and the Caribbean. He even once set up a drama group in the United States, known as The Africa Review. He developed his story telling career there and honed it on his return to Nigeria.

In all this, Jimi’s most distinctive contribution is the depth and extent of his focus on Yoruba culture. Perhaps no one combined drama, folklore, and music to bring the Yoruba past alive on stage, on radio, and on TV than Jimi Solanke.

February 7, 2024
Renewed Hope Agenda: Waiting for the harvest season

In an exchange with a revered elder statesman recently, my attention was drawn to the venom with which the opposition criticizes the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, especially on social media. I had made exactly the same point to a group that sent to me a purported video of a party allegedly attended by a state Governor. To be sure, no law prevents any Governor from attending a social event anywhere in the world. However, critics are often eager to jump on the optics against the backdrop of the present harsh economic realities. Even where the Governor is spending his own money, it is assumed that he is spending state funds.

The criticisms get much sharper when experts debate Tinubu’s economic policies. The same experts who praised his boldness in removing fuel subsidy and initiating a level playing field for foreign exchange have since turned around to blame him. They were aware then that the preceding administration did not even include fuel subsidy in the June 2023 budget, which Tinubu inherited. They were equally aware that the consequences of both bold policies would be with us for some time to come. However, for them, 8 months is too long. It is like planting coconut and hoping to harvest it in one year. It surely will take much longer. How long will depend on the variety.

That was the tone of the criticisms of the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda at the 21st Daily Trust Dialogue, titled Tinubu’s Economic Reforms: Gainers and Losers, held in Abuja last Thursday, January 25, 2024. That critical tone was best represented by the Labour leader, Joseph Ajaero, who categorised himself as a Loser in the discussion and spoke about the losses of the masses in the face of Tinubu’s economic reforms. His position was not unexpected, not only because of his alignment with the opposition Labour Party but also because of the harsh economic consequences of the reforms on the citizens.

However, other participants were more circumspect in their criticisms of the reforms. While agreeing that it was too early to judge the effectiveness or otherwise of the reforms, the consensus was that their immediate negative effects cannot be denied. Not only do these negative effects persist, they are indeed worsening as both the cost of fuel and the dollar exchange rate hit their highest levels in the country’s history. It is true that millions are finding it difficult to make ends meet.

Just two days ago, I went to a Pharmacy in Abuja only to discover that a drug I bought for less than N6,000 in 2022 now sells for N36,650! I was immediately confronted with three realities: (1) the skyrocketing increase in the dollar exchange rate; (2) the mopping up of the dollar in the black market by merchants, such as pharmacy owners, who need to purchase their drugs from the international market, and then pass the high cost to the consumers; and (3) the inability of the masses to access healthcare and purchase needed drugs. The escalating cost of drugs is symptomatic of the rising cost of living across the country.

While there is no research finding to link the high cost of living with rising criminalities, there is a logical link. When graduates are unemployed, artisans become jobless, and millions more fall below the poverty line, many look to all kinds of criminal activity to make ends meet. Very soon, with the rise in criminality, agricultural production will decline as it did at the height of criminality a few years ago.

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It is, therefore, not just important for the Tinubu administration to put in place necessary monetary policies to enhance the value of the Naira, it is imperative: The higher the value of the Naira, the lower will be the cost of goods and the easier it will be for reviving the moribund manufacturing sector. Even more importantly, the expansive informal economy will once again rise, while artisans will get more and more jobs. There is no doubt that the revival of these critical sectors of the economy will lead to more employment, while also reducing the lure into criminality.

What remains unclear regarding the Daily Trust Dialogue was the conspicuous absence of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, who, according to sources, accepted the invitation but failed to show up, without apologies. It was a missed opportunity for three reasons. First, if, indeed, he accepted to attend, an apology for absence was necessary. After all, the event was chaired by Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, who had held three key positions as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Budget and National Planning. It shouldn’t have mattered under which political party he held these positions. Second, the absence of the government’s perspective during the discussion gave room for various conspiracy theories, one of which, unfortunately (if not mischievously) is that the government lacks clear solutions to the economic problems its policies complicated. Third, Edun’s absence was a grievous mistake from media and public relations perspective.

I have always maintained that this government needs all the opportunities available to explain its policies to the public and how the government plans to assuage the concomitant economic pains. Palliatives alone may not be able to assuage the pains. Inspiring words of government officials, such as the Finance Minister, will go a long way too.

This leads to a critical question: How are the palliatives going? How is their distribution being monitored? Who gets rice or Naira, where, and when? What about the infrastructure fund? What and what have been put in place in which state? Certainly, there should be some reckoning, and the time is now.

January 31, 2024
As Ondo enters 2024 election season

In line with relevant provisions of the Constitution and the Electoral Act, the Independent National Electoral Commission has fixed Saturday, November 16, 2024, for the governorship election in Ondo state, barely two months after the Edo governorship election. Moreover, according to INEC, party primaries will be held in Ondo state from April 6-27, 2024. It is left to each political party to choose a date within this period for the conduct of its primaries.

A zoning convention, by which the governorship is rotated among the three Senatorial Districts, emerged by chance rather than by design. It became clear in 2016 that the first three Governors of the state since 1999 had come from one or the other of the three Senatorial Districts in the following sequence: Chief Adebayo Adefarati (North), 1999-2003; Dr. Olusegun Agagu, (South), 2003-2009; and Dr. Olusegun Mimiko (Centre), 2009-2016. Incidentally, too, each of these Governors chose a Deputy from the Senatorial District that produced his successor, although none of their Deputies ever became Governor. Thus, Adefarati chose Afolabi Iyantan from the South; Agagu chose Oluwatuyi from the Centre, and Mimiko chose Olanusi and later xxx, both from the North.

It was the desire to repeat this sequence that led the All Progressives Congress to zone the governorship to the Northern Senatorial District in 2016. This led to the candidacy and eventual election of Rotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN (North) as the Governor in 2016 and his reelection in 2020. Akeredolu’s second term was terminated by death, after a protracted illness, and his Deputy, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa (from the South) was sworn in on Wednesday, December 27, 2023, to complete Akeredolu’s term.

By the original rotational sequence of North-South-Centre, it is now the turn of the South to produce a candidate, the North having done so twice. By convention, it will be the turn of the Centre again after the South has had its second chance. With the major aspirants for this year’e election coming from the South, it would now appear that the zoning issue has resolved itself once again.

The erstwhile Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, now Governor on account of his boss’s death, is doubly advantaged to run this year. First, he hails from the South and, therefore, meets the zoning requirement. Second, he is the incumbent Governor and can take advantage of his present position. Accordingly, as recently as Monday, January 22, 2023, newspaper and social media reports hinted at Aiyedatiwa’s approach to the appropriation of state funds to further his political ambition (see APC Primary: Aiyedatiwa begins consultations, The Nation, January 23, 2024).

In the meantime, the APC party leaders have laid two precedents that should guide the primary election of its flag bearer in Ondo state. First, the party has been consistent in providing a level playing field for all aspirants, by not giving automatic ticket to anyone. Thus, in 2023, the party did not provide automatic ticket to David Lyon, who was declared the Governor-elect of Bayelsa state in 2019, but whose election was invalidated by the Supreme Court on the eve of his inauguration. Similarly, even where Governor Uzodima of Imo state had no contestant, he was still made to go through a primary election before he was declared the party’s flag bearer.

It is against this background that the declaration by Felix Morka, the APC spokesperson, should be understood, when he said on January 18, 2024, that the APC has ruled out an automatic ticket for Aiyedatiwa, Governor of Ondo state in the 2024 election. Morka’s statement notwithstanding, Aiyedatiwa told a large group of selected party stakeholders on Monday, January 22, 2023, that “there is no vacancy in Alagbaka” that is, the Ondo state Government House.

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The second guiding precedent established by the APC leadership is the mode of primary elections. It has now become standard practice to hold direct (also known as open) primaries for the election of the party’s flag bearer in governorship elections. Accordingly, direct primaries were employed in the off-season primaries in Ekiti and Osun in 2022 as well as in Imo, Kogi, and Bayelsa in 2023. Even in Imo, where Governor Uzodimma was the sole contestant, a direct primary was still held.

These two precedents have cleared the stage for the Ondo governorship primary contest in April this year. Already, many potential aspirants, mostly from the Southern Senatorial District, are lining up for the contest. It is as yet unclear how many contestants will enter the fray. However, three things are clear about Ondo state that should attract the serious attention of APC party leaders and the electoral umpires.

First, Ondo citizens are highly politically conscious. As a result, they are willing to fight back if they felt that their mandate was stolen. This happened in the elections of the early 1960s, in 1983, and in 2007. In each case, Ondo state voters fought back, and won their stolen mandate, where possible.

A second characteristic of the state is its progressive political leaning. As part of the old Western Region, Ondo state citizens aligned with Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his progressive political party, the Action Group. After Chief Awolowo’s death, the mantle fell on Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, also a progressive and a long-term ally of Chief Awolowo. Today, their political hero is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, also a progressive, for whom they voted overwhelmingly during the last presidential election. That’s why his recent intervention in the governance crisis in the state was met with complete compliance.

Third, the state is still in mourning over the loss of their Governor, Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN, who is being buried on Friday, February 23, 2024, just about two months before the primary election. It is very important to remember him as we enter this election season. His memory should not be so quickly replaced with electoral machinations.

January 24, 2024
Multiple cheers for Chief Bisi Akande at 85

Millions of Nigerians at home and abroad know him today as an elder statesman. However, such a label is both too general and too restrictive to describe the person and contributions of Chief Abdulkareem Adebisi Bamidele Akande, who celebrated his 85th birthday yesterday, January 16, 2024. He is often reverently referred to as Baba Akande, not so much in recognition of his age as in recognition of his leadership role in the fight for democracy, good governance, national development, equity, social justice, and true federalism.

While this recognition led many communities to confer on Chief Bisi Akande various chieftaincy titles, including Asiwaju, Balogun, Basorun, Agba Akin, and Jagunmolu Oodua, various political leaders across the nation recognise his many qualities with superlative accolades. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu summarised these qualities: “He has always been a progressive; always noble and disciplined in thoughts and actions, as well as given to rational and enlightened ideals. He is a cherished friend and confidant, ever so generous with his wise counsel”.

The accolades came together yesterday at the University of Ibadan International Conference Centre, when Chief Bisi Akande’s group of friends, led by his childhood friend, Emeritus Professor Olu Aina, launched the Bisi Akande Foundation on the occasion of Chief Bisi Akande’s 85th birthday. The encomiums by various participants, from President Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima to Governor Seyi Makinde, the host, and various State Governors only go to show that no single label could capture Chief Bisi Akande’s congeniality, his approachability, his invaluable counsel, and his immense contributions to education, corporate business, community development, politics, governance, statecraft, democratic growth, and national development.

However, most Nigerians only came to know Chief Bisi Akande in the late afternoon. They marvel at the breath of his knowledge, his sagacity, and his congenial disposition, because they don’t know enough of his background. The truth is that Chief Bisi Akande is a self-made man, who, in the course of his own development, combined multiple tasks, professional orientations, and worldviews. While growing up, he freely moved in and out of mosques and churches just as he admired his grandfather’s warring amulets, while also sympathising with his poor parents. Having lost both parents rather early, he drew strength from his traditional warrior background; multiple religious practices; complex life experiences, spanning different professions; multiple worldviews; and unparalleled self-discipline.

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Here is a man, who wanted to be a Mechanic but ended up as a classroom teacher for eight years between 1955 and 1963. He started building his own house in Ila with his first salary arrears at about age 20; shunned a funeral party for his mother in order to save money for his brother’s education; and, at the same time, saved enough money to enroll in correspondence tuition. After training professionally as a teacher in a Teacher Training College, he combined his teaching duties with professional training simultaneously to become a Chartered Secretary and an Accountant through correspondence courses from three different correspondence institutions in England.

At age 23, he became an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries (ACIS) and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Cost and Management Accountants (FCMA). He would later join British Petroleum for the next 16 years, where he rose to managerial level, the last being Manager, System and Computer Services. The position opened him up to professional workshops and inservice training in Europe and the United States. The BP experience would prepare him for his respect for the management of funds, data preservation, and his current dexterity with modern technologies of communication.

Just as he engaged in training in another profession while working as a teacher, his services with BP were interwoven with involvement in community development activities in Ila-Orangun, his hometown, until he was drafted into local politics as a Councillor and later as an elected member of the 1977 Constituent Assembly that wrote the 1979 Nigerian constitution. The experience brought him in contact with Who is Who in Nigerian politics at the time and prepared the way for his contact with Chief Obafemi Awolowo, whose political party he joined and whose model of progressive politics and governance he would adopt.

By the time Chief Bisi Akande entered the upper echelons of partisan politics, his progressive teeth had been cut and refined, featuring a focus on projects and programmes that benefit the majority. He would serve progressive political parties as Secretary to Government, Deputy Governor, and Governor. Like Chief Awolowo, he believes that universal education and healthcare are possible, and he successfully put the ideology to test as Governor of Osun state.

Once he quit elective politics in 2003, he was drafted again to the chair a political party. He would chair four progressive parties in a row, namely, the Alliance for Democracy, the Action Congress, the Action Congress of Nigeria, and the All Progressives Congress as foundation Chairman.

What is easily discernible from the above summary is the progressive growth of Chief Bisi Akande’s activities from local to state to national and even international levels. As his activities expanded, so did his mind, his heart, his outlook, and the richness of his capacity to arbitrate disputes and offer invaluable advice. At the end of the day, Chief Bisi Akande became an encyclopedia of knowledge, who is able to discuss any aspect of national life as if each was his specialty.

It is against the above backgrounds that Chief Bisi Akande’s contributions to the political process should be understood. His uncharacteristic boldness came from his warrior background; his firmness and didacticism from his teaching background; his prudence from his accounting and corporate experiences; and his foresight from his expansive store of knowledge.

Those who know Chief Bisi Akande know that he only says what he means and means what he says. He tells it as it is, as in his autobiography, My Participation, which led Professor Wole Soyinka to tell the author to expect war, because the book burns many known politicians today with “the fire of truth’s passion that leaps at the reader from between the covers.” Similarly, Chief Bisi Akande does only what he believes in, regardless of market noise. For example, as Governor of Osun State, he had fewer than a dozen Commissioners; laid off redundant and unproductive workers; and built schools, hospitals, roads, and a monumental government secretariat being used till today, all without borrowing a penny.

Unknown to many, Chief Bisi Akande is an avid reader and consumer of information from a variety of sources, including social media. He processes information with intellectual alacrity and writes his views in books, monographs, and speeches with uncommon clarity on topics, such as, education, devolution of powers, restructuring, obstacles to peace in Nigeria, and governance.

I have known Chief Bisi Akande for over 70 years. One distinctive feature that has become his signature is his effusive smile, evident in photographs in which he appeared over the years. The smile is symbolic of the transparency of his inner core. With Chief Bisi Akande, what you see is what you get. He is as forthright as he is frank; as sympathetic as he is forgiving; and as true to himself as he is to others.

May his years be long for us to continue to draw from his wealth of knowledge.

January 17, 2024
Energy poverty as the bane of development in Nigeria

Energy is a shorthand for various sources of power, such as electricity, petrol, diesel, kerosene, gas, solar and other renewable energy sources. One of the major deprivations fueling world-wide poverty is lack of access to regular and affordable energy. Other deprivations include lack of access to healthcare, education, and meaningful income. These deprivations are rampant in Nigeria, where at least 46 percent of the population is rated as poor. That’s at least 104 million people, according to recent World Bank estimates. Majority of them have limited or no access to any source of energy beyond age-old firewood.

Unfortunately, however, energy deprivation has not been given due attention, because it is either tucked away under living standards along with housing and drinking water or considered as part of infrastructure, where the focus is often on roads and bridges. Yet, energy, especially electricity, is universally acknowledged as the most potent catalyst for economic development and for lifting people out of poverty. It is needed for operating factories; for transporting crops and other goods; for powering or charging modern technologies of production and communication; for illuminating homes and offices, refrigerating foods, and operating household appliances; for powering schools, hospitals, financial institutions, and media houses, and so on.

For years, the Federal Government has been struggling to improve the infrastructure, generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity with minimal success. It is universally acknowledged that corruption has repeatedly dampened the efforts. That’s why, today, the maximum electric power generation capacity the government could boast of is only about 14,000 megawatts.

However, with grid collapse every now and then, only about 5,000 megawatts of this capacity has ever been in use. This is abysmally low for a population of over 200 million. The result is that nearly half of the population, living mostly in rural areas, has no access at all to electricity at all. Of those who have access to electricity, about 80 percent do not a supply of more than 10 hours a day. This implies that most households and businesses do not have access to electricity for more than 10 hours a day.

If, according to international standards, a population of 1 million people needs at least 1,000 megawatts of electricity, then Nigeria needs at least 200,000 megawatts of electricity for its present population. Good planning would require that this number be doubled in less than 30 years, when the country’s population is also expected to have doubled.

Right now, the United States, our model country for the constitution and structure of government, has a generating capacity of about 1.3 million megawatts of electricity for a population of less than 345 million people. The electric grid in the country has been described as an engineering marvel: It has more than 9,200 electric generating units, producing more than 1 million megawatts of generating capacity connected to more than 600,000 miles of transmission lines! What is more, the largest source of electric power in the United States is gas. This is a commodity we produce in large quantities but have failed to properly harness it. Instead, we flare most of it!

There are at least three reasons Nigerians have been complacent with low electric power output. First, those who can afford it find an alternative power supply in diesel- or petrol-fueled generators and/or solar powered backup units, while others limit their energy consumption to kerosene, cooking gas, and, of course, raw firewood, all used for cooking.

However, with a steep rise in the cost of petroleum products, due to the removal of fuel subsidy and multiple exchange rates, many households are finding it difficult, if not impossible, to keep up, while many businesses, including manufacturing industries, are closing down. A hotelier in Lagos expressed doubts about keeping up with diesel costs to power generators, because of the high cost of diesel and continued electric power outage, sometimes for as long as three or four days in a row!

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Second, Nigerians from about age 45 and upwards have been used to hard times. Whether it was the Electric Corporation of Nigeria, Nigeria Electric Power Authority, or Power Holding Company of Nigeria, epileptic or no power supply had been their lot. For most of them now, it is a case of nothing is new under the sun. However, the younger generation, mostly their own children, are more intolerant and restive. As this restive population grows in number and in age, the government can expect a revolution, if the present trend of poor electric power supply persists. Here, for example, is what a 32-year-old welder told me: “Sir, I changed from welder to okada rider when my generator packed up after one heavy job. I was using it everyday for two years. Now, I don’t get enough riders to make profit and petrol price is killing us. Now I want to go back to welding, but I can’t because I can no longer afford to buy and fuel a generator. The one I bought for 180,000 three years ago is not about 400,000. Where can I find that kind of money? If they (government) don’t do something about light (electricity), in two or three years, the youths will rise. The suffering is too much.”

Another reason for complacency is the periodic distribution of palliatives by federal, state, and local governments as well as by individual politicians, especially those currying favour for the next round of elections. But palliatives only provide temporary cushions for the poor in harsh economic times. They do not fix the energy deficits.

That’s why what manufacturers need to hear the most from the Minister of Trade, Industry and Investments, Doris Uzoka-Anite, during her ongoing tour of selected manufacturing industries, are assurances of stable, regular, and affordable electric power supply.

Yet, we know that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is aware of the shortcomings of electricity supply and has robust plans for power generation and power sector reform in the country (see Renewed Hope 2023, pages 30-32). That’s why he acknowledged that “Our economy is constrained by our inability to generate, transmit and distribute power efficiently” (page 30). He has taken several measures to improve on the power situation. For example, he recently signed an agreement with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, to have Siemens inject 12,000 megawatts of electricity into the national grid. Regulations are relaxed for state and local governments as well as the private sector to supplement the government’s Rural Electrification Project in generating electricity for rural areas. Furthermore, the presidency and the National Assembly are working on reforming the regulatory and governance structure of the nation’s power sector.

But we have heard many of these ideas before, including contracts with Siemens by previous administrations. The expectation is that this one will be different, by producing desired results.

January 10, 2024
Goodbye Aketi (1956-2023)

Few knew about the arrival in this world on July 21, 1956, of a baby, who was later known as Rotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN, CON, popularly known as Aketi. However, millions knew about his departure in the early hours of Wednesday, December 27, 2023, exactly one week ago. He was 67 years old.

The publicity of his death stemmed from three major factors: (1) his status and role as the incumbent Governor of Ondo state; (2) controversies over the temporary governance crisis in the state due to his illness and subsequent disagreements between him and his Deputy; and (3) negative perception of the role of his family over his illness and in the affairs of the state.

Preoccupation with these issues have led to mischaracterisation of Akeredolu as a person and as Governor. Yet he was a rounded figure: Christian, unionist, Kegite, lawyer, politician, husband, father, and cherished anchor to his network of friends. He would be remembered for his legacies in these roles.

However, the two roles for which he was widely known were lawyer and politician. He birthed both roles at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). As a law student at Ife, while I was teaching there, Akeredolu was popularly known as an activist and a strong member of the Student Union. He successfully ran and won the election as Vice-President of the Student Union in 1975/76. Akeredolu was also a visible and proud Kegite (that is, a member of the Palm Wine Drinkards Club) of which he later became a Grand Patron. It was also at Ife that he met Betty, who would later become his wife. The coterie he developed as an undergraduate remained as his permanent friends till death.

The commingling of law and politics at Ife would persist throughout Akeredolu’s life. After a stint as Attorney General in Ondo State, he contested and won the presidency of the Nigerian Bar Association. After joining other top lawyers, including his law partner, Akin Olujimi, SAN, and Wole Olanipekun, SAN, to help rescue the stolen mandate of a number of politicians in the progressive fold, Akeredolu opted for the rough terrain of “real” politics. But it was not until the second attempt in 2016 that he won the governorship election in Ondo state under the banner of the All Progressives Congress.

I did not support Akeredolu on both occasions. Nevertheless, I supported his administration and reelection in 2020. I also had several conversations with him throughout his tenure, admonishing or praising him and offering tips, where necessary. For example, I admonished him over the scuffle with Osun delegates in Akure in 2017 and advised him to close ranks with then Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun state just as I also advised Aregbesola to do the same. They both met in Abuja and closed ranks.

Regardless of the assessments of armchair columnists and social media bugs, Akeredolu’s stewardship as Governor was good in comparative terms. His stellar projects featured over 500 kilometres of roads, including a virgin link road between Akure and Idanre via Ijoka and dualised roads in major towns; the Ore flyover at the intersections of Sagamu-Benin Expressway and Ondo-Okitipupa roadways; the flyover at the Onyearugbulem junction in Akure; the ODIRS Building Complex; the Technology Hub; the conversion of two major State Specialist Hospitals in Akure and Ondo to Teaching Hospitals and the construction of a 200-bed Complex in each one; the development of Ore Industrial Hub; and advanced plans for the construction of a deep seaport in the state.

Akeredolu’s stature grew beyond the state, when he took on herdsmen encroaching on farmlands and the state’s forest reserves. He pushed against open grazing and the detectable activities of herdsmen, notwithstanding criticisms from Northern quarters and even the presidency. He gave the herdsmen a seven-day ultimatum to vacate Ondo forests; banned under-age, night, and highway grazing in the state; and, as Chairman of the Southwest Governors’ Forum, he ultimately led other Southwest Governors to establish the Amotekun Corp to defend their states against criminality.

Another national issue he boldly took on was the advocacy for political parties to honour the established convention of zoning the presidential ticket to the South in the name of equity, justice, and fairness after an eight-year tenure of a Northerner. These major positions on national issues came as a capstone of Akeredolu’s preoccupation with fairness, equity, and justice, all of which he honed during his undergraduate days at Ife.

Nevertheless, all was not rosy for Akeredolu. Like most others, he had his own albatross to contend with. What was exceptional in his case was the conjunctive pressure of three albatrosses, namely, a debilitating illness; over-ambitious Deputies; and an immediate family beyond control.

The details of Akeredolu’s illness were never officially revealed. Rumours pointed to leukemia and prostate cancer, but the family only named the latter after his death. If that was the case, Akeredolu should have known that prostate cancer was detectable through periodic medical checkups and was treatable. However, like breast cancer, it had to be caught early before it spread beyond the prostate. Even leukemia is treatable, if diagnosed early, usually before blood blasts begin to accumulate.

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Akeredolu’s first Deputy, Agboola Ajayi, was so over-ambitious that, like Atiku Abubakar, he was planning to supplant his boss during the latter’s reelection in 2020. Once the details of his plans were uncovered, he got ostracised from government until he resigned from the APC and later joined the Peoples Democratic Party. He jumped over to the Zenith Labour Party, when he lost the PDP primary. He eventually performed woefully in the election.

Ajayi’s replacement, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, allegedly took advantage of his boss’s illness to spy on his medical records and to begin planning to replace him, hoping that he might die sooner. He also began to plan his election in 2024 once power was transferred to him while his boss was on medical leave between June and September. His actions paralysed governance in the state for three months. Aiyedatiwa’s media aides, who broadcast all sorts of negative stories about Akeredolu’s illness, were dismissed on Akeredolu’s return from medical leave in September. The relationship between the two men became so frosty that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had to intervene twice.

It was during Aiyedatiwa’s latest stint as Acting Governor that Akeredolu never returned as Aiyedatiwa had long hoped. His anxiety to become Governor became even more evident when he greeted his supporters in Yoruba, “A ku ori ire” (roughly, we thank God for His blessings) as soon as he was inaugurated as Governor on the day Akeredolu died.

It was also during Akeredolu’s illness that the shenanigans of his wife and son, Babajide, became even more evident than before. However, I will not go into the details here in deference to Akeredolu’s memory and the agony of family members, who just lost a dear one.

Goodbye, Aketi.

January 3, 2024
Rescuing federal universities from excessive govt control

The excessive control of universities by the federal government has been part of the centralisation of powers by the government since the federalisation of regional universities in 1975. In that year, the federal government took over the four regional universities (Benin, Ife, Nsukka, and Zaria) and established seven more. Over the next six decades, the number of federal universities would grow from 2 (Ibadan and Lagos) in 1962 to 52 in 2023.

Within this period of expansion, three key agencies of the federal government were established to exercise control over the universities, namely, the National Universities Commission (1962); the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (1978); and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (2011, originally established in 1993 as Education Trust Fund). Periodic revisions of the functions of these agencies have increased their powers over the years.

The NUC

Originally established as an advisory agency in the cabinet office, the NUC has since taken a life of its own, beginning in 1974, when it became a statutory body and one of the parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Education. Subsequent revisions of its mandate gave it a Governing Council and as many as twelve directorates.

Today, its functions include granting approval for the establishment of new universities; accreditation of all academic programmes; ensuring quality assurance of all academic programmes; and channelling government subvention and external support to Nigerian universities. The Commission has now grown into an amorphous and powerful institution.

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Under cover of quality assurance, the Commission developed curriculum templates for university courses, indicating the basic content of the courses in order to meet “minimum academic standards”. But this precisely is the function of the University Senate, which also approves results at the end of each semester and degrees at the completion of each course.

The normal procedure for creating courses in the university is for each faculty member (that is, lecturer or professor) to create a new course (if necessary) in his or her specialty in collaboration with his or her Head of Department. Such a new course would be discussed at the Faculty Board meeting before the final draft is presented to the University Senate for discussion and approval. Therefore, NUC’s curriculum intervention is a clear usurpation of the traditional function of the University Senate.

What is even worse is the sham that the accreditation exercise has become over the years. To start with, universities are charged for the exercise, although the NUC has a budget for its duties. To complicate matters, it is common knowledge that, in preparation for accreditation, universities borrow equipment, hire professors on sabbatical leave, appoint adjunct faculty, and even falsely create space for classroom activities.

At the end of the day, the accreditation team goes away with a brown envelope, after being housed and feasted for the duration of the exercise. Ultimately, many courses are accredited for which staff, equipment, and space are inadequate, if not non-existent. Yet, “staffing” and “physical facilities” account for over 50 percent of the points awarded for accreditation. To accommodate the funding gap that the NUC itself bemoans, funding is awarded only 5 percent of the points!

Numerous studies have faulted the ways in which the NUC carries out its duties as well as the lack of adequate measures for ensuring uniformity of the standards it seeks to establish across the universities. Equally missing in its supervisory role is university administration, which is critical to the implementation of university projects and programmes.

Since inadequate funding is a critical factor hampering the work of the Commission and the smooth running of the universities, it is high time the NUC told the government that neither the Commission nor the universities could function properly without adequate resources. It will not even be too much if the NUC chorused the outcry by ASUU against poor funding.

The JAMB

The JAMB is another parastatal under the Ministry of Education. Its specific function is to administer the examinations, whose results are combined with the WASSCE, NECO, or other certificates in university admission processes. However, unlike the NUC, JAMB really does not exert controlling influence on the universities. Rather, it only functions as a clearinghouse for the admission process. Contrary to popular perception, universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, not JAMB, determine their cut-off points for admission, pick their students, and only send their list to JAMB to ensure conformity to agreed standards and prevent rampant illegal admissions.

Moreover, JAMB is a self-sustaining institution that derives funds from the sale of forms for the examinations it conducts. Since Professor Is-haq Oloyede took over as Registrar in 2016, JAMB has disbursed over N50 billion Naira to federal government coffers, to capital projects, to corporate social responsibility, and to support other institutions.

It is in conducting the examinations that JAMB has been accused of excessiveness in its policing duties. Nevertheless, these were necessary in order to prevent examination malpractices. Anyone who has participated in JAMB’s annual policy meetings would marvel at the range and extent of malpractices uncovered in various Computer Based Test centres. To avert these problems, JAMB decided to build its own CBT centres across the country, rather than rely on privately owned centers.

TETFund

The primary function of TETFund is to administer funds collected as 2 percent tax on all companies operating in Nigeria to fill the funding gaps in tertiary institutions. However, the disbursement of these funds has been a major problem over the years. Few institutions or lecturers are motivated enough to apply for project or research funding. Others are discouraged by the disproportionate disbursement of the funds, whereby some universities in certain parts of the country get a larger share of the funds than others. Even those that are funded often have strings attached to them as indicated last week on this column. The result is that surplus funds are left unutilised year after year. A reasonable percentage of the funds should be shared across the institutions so that each one could use its share to address the most pressing needs. Special reports should be submitted on project completion and a list of funded projects and their recipients should be published annually for the public to see.

Besides these three agencies, three other ways were introduced to exert further control over the universities. They are: (1) the requirement to remit 40 of IGR collected; (2) salary payment via the IPPIS; and (3) job vacancy waivers. These are measures that easily could have provided cover for fraud, which was already going on with the job vacancy waivers. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should be commended for preventing these measures, either from taking off or from further implementation. He should order a review of the operations of the NUC, JAMB, and TETFund in order to make them more efficient and also grant more autonomy to the universities.

December 27, 2023
SNAPSONG 202

The Whisper which surprises the Shout

Soki l’obe oge

Our message this day is

     So long because it is so short

It is that smoked-dry meat

     In the mouth of the eloquent sage

That old, old proverb

     Which has seasoned countless words

Into wisdom nuggets whose grip and glow

     Traverse the ages

Make it short

     Make it long

Poem it into an eternity

     Of seamless meanings

A drop of water

     Is larger than the ocean

A penny newspaper

     Is a library of words

A spoonful of rice

     May feed a nation

One short wink

     Is a lengthy slumber

One humble step

     is longer than a marathon

A minute spent in fancy

     Is Time-without-End

*Dainty is the soup of the elegant

December 24, 2023
President Tinubu and Nigerian universities

With a degree from an accredited American institution, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is no stranger to tertiary education. Nor are the plights of Nigerian universities beyond his gaze, having spent more than 30 years in the tough arena of Nigerian politics as a Senator, pro-democracy activist, Governor, an alliance builder, and now President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is no wonder then that he paid special attention to education in the construction of his manifesto, cited above, and reiterated it during the presidential campaign.

For example, as far back as January 10, 2023, at a campaign rally in Damaturu, Yobe State, candidate Tinubu, with former President Buhari on his side, reiterated two campaign promises: “I will extend credit facilities to university students as loans. I will make our education system, especially the university education system, more stable by dealing with the problem of ASUU strikes. There will be no more strikes in our universities.” Similarly, on February 14, 2023, Tinubu also declared at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri, Imo State, that “There will no longer be ASUU strike in Nigeria. All courses will be finished as an when due.” It was the same pledge he reiterated on Saturday, November 18, 2023, at the 33rd convocation ceremony of the Federal University of Technology in Akure, Ondo state. It made splash news then because most people had forgotten about the manifesto and the campaign pledges on university education.

What should have made breaking news is the speed at which President Tinubu has been keeping his campaign promises to the universities and their unions. He started early with the announcement of student loans as partial fulfillment of his goal of facilitating access to university education for students who might otherwise be unable to benefit from such education.

This was followed by the partial waiver of the “no work, no pay” order on striking members of the ASUU, by releasing four of eight months of salaries withheld by the Buhari administration. True, the ASUU strike went on for far too long, but, over the years, the government has led the union to believe that a prolonged strike is the only language of negotiation that could prompt the government into some action. Unfortunately, however, the crude tactics used by the Buhari administration during the negotiations and the coercive no work, no pay order could only aggravate the situation, coming at a time when, on the hills of a general election, the disgraced CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, was also playing his own pranks on politicians with his twin policy of Naira redesign and cash swap, which led to unprecedented Naira scarcity throughout the country. Just as Emefiele’s approach affected all Nigerians, so did the Buhari administration’s delayed response and punitive approach to the ASUU strike affect all university students and their parents.

Against the backdrop of Tinubu’s economic and education policies, it is not surprising that he would move away from such punitive approaches. True, the effects of his economic policies may take some time to mature, but the payment of four months of withheld salaries brought immediate relief to university lecturers and boosted their morale. No doubt, the effects would trickle down to the students one way or the other.

One of the vexing issues during the ASUU strike was the union’s rejection of subsuming universities under the government’s Integrated Personnel and Payroll and Personnel Information System, as if university workers were direct government employees like civil servants and political appointees. It was a corrosive policy that erodes federal universities of whatever is left of autonomy for them. If the NUC takes over accreditation and the construction of the curriculum; the Ministry of Education the appointment of members of Governing Councils and Vice Chancellors; TETFund the funding of infrastructure and research; and JAMB the admission process; what else is left, if the university management cannot pay its workers directly? It was as well that, just last week, President Tinubu approved the removal of universities and other tertiary institutions in the country from the IPPS. This would allow each institution to handle staff salaries internally.

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Perhaps the most obnoxious government policy that President Tinubu reversed again last week was the requirement for federal government-owned tertiary institutions to seek waivers from the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation to fill vacancies in their institutions. The negative implications of this policy went beyond bottlenecks and delays to the loss of accreditation of some progammes due to staff shortages and the barring of adjunct lecturers or professors, because they are not recognised in the IPPIS. What is worse, civil servants and politicians hijacked the recruitment process. Here’s how a Vice Chancellor put it in a recent interview: “Even when you apply for the waivers, the politicians would hijack the processes by dictating who should be employed even when they are not qualified.” (Premium Times, December 14, 2023).

In this regard, my attention was once drawn to the dumping of prospective lecturers on certain universities interview and possible recruitment to some departments. The consistency of the pattern over several months indicated that some cabal or cabals must be behind the practice. It was later learned that the job candidates were charged some fees by the cabal for possible placement in certain universities. This is a clear indication of what happens when federal universities are subsumed under the bureaucracy of the civil service.

Fortunately, President Tinubu would have none of it. He is a supporter of university autonomy, which the measures discussed above seek to enhance. However, a lot more still needs to be done. The activities of other institutions impinging on university autonomy will need to be reexamined. Moreover, the budgetary allocation to education in the 2024 budget still does not keep pace with the Presidents vision for the sector, although is double allocation in the 2023 budget he inherited. In the meantime, rather than subject access to TETFund to tedious application processes only, a certain percentage of the funds should be shared equally across the universities every year so that each university could address its own unique needs. The remainder of the funds would be accessed through approved proposals. The process by which contractors are attached to projects funded by TETFund should stop. It is another shade of politicians hijacking employment waivers.

December 20, 2023
Ondo again: Aiyedatiwa as Acting Governor

“A formal letter regarding the medical leave and a notice formally transferring power in line with the Nigerian Constitution will be transmitted to the House of Assembly.

“In the absence of Governor Akeredolu, the Deputy Governor, Hon. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, will assume the responsibilities of the Governor in an acting capacity.” —Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s Chief Press Secretary, Richard Olatunde, in Akure on Monday, December 11, 2023

Ondo is a very lucky state, and it is not luck that came by happenstance. It is luck well earned, rather than merely bestowed. For example, the state’s literacy rate is among the highest in the nation; its political sophistication is unparalleled; and it’s among the few states in the nation that contributes to the nation’s wealth through oil and other mineral resources. It is no wonder then that far more politicians, lawyers, and columnists from outside the state than citizens living in the state have had a lot to say about the seeming governance crisis believed to have been caused by the protracted illness of the state Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, CON.

Unfortunately, however, most commentators had limited knowledge of the issues involved. Most of them hang their opinion on the constitutional provision of power transfer to Akeredolu’s Deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, in the event of a prolonged absence of the Governor from the state, for whatever reason. Nobody cared that, since he had been going abroad for treatment, Akeredolu had previously transferred power to his Deputy at least once each year since 2021, the latest being between June and September 2023. He would have continued in power but for the reasons stated previously on this column (Ondo state on my mind, The Nation, October 18, 2023) and Aketi, Lucky, and the future of Ondo state, The Nation, October 25, 2023). It was also for the same reasons that the House of Assembly sought to impeach him.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took the foregoing into consideration, when he ordered the maintenance of the status quo, following a meeting with Akeredolu’s representative, the Deputy Governor, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, the Secretary to the State Government, the state Chairman of APC, and others on Friday, November 24, 2023. The understanding then was that, since the Governor was still alert and claimed he was in control of the state, Ondo politicians, especially the Deputy Governor, would act in good faith, by keeping the wheel of governance moving until such a time that the official transfer of power would be necessary. However, rather than do that, the Deputy Governor refused to go along with the arrangement. Honestly, I cannot blame him for that, except that he should have gone about it quietly. Instead, he orchestrated a media blitz, including a petition to himself, rather than to the Governor, by one of his supporters on the cabinet, alleging fraud and sending documents to a purported “forensic expert”.

I had anticipated these shenanigans, following the President’s November intervention. Here’s the way I put it in my November 29 column below: “I use the word “truce” in the above title in its true sense of temporary cessation of hostilities, although the President meant to put an end to them. Nevertheless, I fear that maneuvres and intrigues will continue underground and may possibly come to the fore later. The driving forces will be greed, lust, and the upcoming governorship election in the state, which fomented the loss of trust in the first place” (The President and the Ondo truce, The Nation, November 29, 2023).

If only Aiyedatiwa had been a little patient, all that would have been unnecessary, as Akeredolu decided over the weekend that he would go back to Germany for further medical treatment and transfer power to his Deputy. With this development, the President’s political solution had to give way to the constitutional path of formal transfer of power. It was not surprising, therefore, that the President again summoned the lead actors in Ondo state to Abuja yesterday (Monday, December 11, 2023) to order compliance with the constitutional provision on the transfer of power. The above quote from Governor Akeredolu’s Chief Press Secretary was consequent to that order.

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It may appear that Aiyedatiwa is the ultimate beneficiary of the mischief he has orchestrated, which has put the state in bad light. It is, however, unfair to blame him alone. As I indicated in Ondo state on my mind (October 18, 2023), Akeredolu and his family cannot escape culpability. True, Akeredolu had reasons to withdraw power from Aiyedatiwa on his return to the country on September 7, 2023. Nevertheless, his failure to disclose those reasons and his decision (actually more of his family’s) to remain in Ibadan rather than Government House or even Owo, his hometown (like Governor Alex Otti of Abia state), clearly open him to blame. Even more blame flows in his direction for failure to talk to the people of the state he governs about his illness or merely that he was going abroad for treatment. That’s why speculations and mischiefs abound about his illness and his government.

Be that as it may, the ball Aiyedatiwa had been struggling to kick is now on his half of the field. How he plays it will determine not just the quality of governance in the state from now until further notice. It will also determine his own fate as a leader. However, he must remember at all times that he is only an Acting Governor, not the Governor. He is acting on behalf of, not as, Governor. This means that he is not in a position to destabilise the structures and programmes put in place by his boss. Indeed, the President’s “status quo” of November 24 remains. The only difference is the constitutional power now being formally transferred to him to “act” on behalf of the Governor.

Come to think of it, the position of “Acting Governor” is an aberration, like other aberrations in our political system, such as the legislators’ humongous salaries and allowances. We have yet another aberration in the so-called “Doctrine of Necessity”. Not in America, whose constitution we copied, does such a position or doctrine exist. It must be emphasised here, however, that the doctrine of necessity is not at play as in Yar’Adua’s case. While Yar’Adua was not in a position to concede to the transfer of power or even sign necessary documents, Akeredolu conceded power and signed the necessary letter to that effect.

It is now up to Aiyedatiwa to rally appropriate state officials, lift the workers’ morale, raise the state’s profile once again, and give hope to its citizens.

December 13, 2023