The Nation Newspaper

Category: Wednesday

  • Ariwoola and his indelible footprints

    Ariwoola and his indelible footprints

    • By Lateef Fagbemi (PIX)

    A cursory surfing of the internet harvests and produces comprehensive biographical details about our Celebrant of today, the 17th indigenous Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, GCON. One should not be surprised about the avalanche of information available on the web about my noble Lord because our exiting CJN himself is always at home with the internet as he is Information Communication Technology savvy. I attest to the fact that My Lord is an internet prodigy and a guru.

    My Lords, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen; my Lord, the Hon. Justice Kayode Ariwoola is an embodiment of humility, hope, steadfastness, and determination, who by divine providence worked through the rungs of the judiciary up to the peak as Chief Justice of Nigeria.

    From his humble beginning as a young school teacher in Iseyin, Oyo State, to now retiring as the leader of the Bench in Nigeria, aptly mirrors the essence of hope and unwavering aspiration to ascend to greater heights in life. As an indigene of the Pacesetter State, Oyo, it is noteworthy that my Lord is the first graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University from Oyo State to be appointed to the Court of Appeal.

    My Lord Ariwoola started his educational career in his home town, Iseyin at the Local Authority Demonstration School, Oluwole in Iseyin Local Government of Oyo State between 1959 and 1967. He was in the Muslim Modern School in the same town between 1968 and 1969 before proceeding to Ansar-ud-Deen High School, Saki in Oyo North of Oyo State. His Lordship studied law at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile Ife and bagged his Bachelor of Laws degree with honours in July 1980. In July 1981, Olu Ariwoola was called to the Nigerian Bar and got enrolled at the Supreme Court of Nigeria as a Solicitor and Advocate soon thereafter.

    His Lordship was a State Counsel on National Youth Service (NYSC) at the Ministry of Justice, Akure, Ondo State and later as Legal Officer in the Ministry of Justice of his home state Oyo  until 1988 when he voluntarily left the official bar of the State Civil Service for private practice. His Lordship briefly worked as Counsel in-Chambers of Chief Ladosu Ladapo, SAN between October, 1988 and July 1989, after which he established Olukayode Ariwoola & Co – a firm of legal practitioners and consultants in Oyo town in August 1989 from where he was appointed in November 1992 as a judge of Oyo State Judiciary. Hon. Justice Ariwoola was born to the Ariwoola family of Iseyin at exactly 70 years ago today. His Lordship must have something to do, in a way, with figure two (2). While His Lordship was born on the 22nd August, he was sworn in as a Judge of the High Court on 2nd November, 1992, as a Justice of the Court of Appeal (JCA) on 22nd November, 2005 and again was sworn in as Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria (JSC) on 22nd November, 2011. Justice Ariwoola served as Chairman, Board of Directors, Phonex Motors Ltd – one of Oodua Investment conglomerates between 1988 and 1992. He also served as the Chairman, Armed Robbery and Fire-arms Tribunal in Oyo State between May 1993 and September 1996 when he was posted out of the headquarters, Ibadan to Saki High Court. His Lordship served on the election tribunals in Zamfara and Enugu states in 1999 and on Election Appeal Courts in Port-Harcourt, Enugu, Benin, Yola and Ilorin at various times.

    Read Also: Tinubu seeks to boost Nigerian economy with September China visit

    Before his elevation to the Supreme Court, his Lordship served as Justice of the Court of Appeal in Kaduna, Enugu and Lagos divisions. My Lord is also a fellow of the International Dispute Resolution Institute (FIDRI) having been inducted in Dubai, UAE in 2014. His Lordship has attended many national and international conferences and workshops in France, Atlanta Georgia, United Kingdom and Dubai, UAE. My Lord Ariwoola is happily married with children and he loves reading, listening to good music, photography and shopping.

     I am a very proud member of Ibadan bar and also a Patron of that great branch of the Nigerian Bar Association which unarguably is the first organised Bar in Nigeria, hence it is the real Premier Bar in Nigeria. As a rookie lawyer, I cut my very good and sharp teeth in the law firm of that great and renowned Avatar, Colossus and legal icon, now turned Educationist of repute, Chief Emmanuel Afe Babalola, CON, OFR, SAN, FNIALS, D. Litts etc. The prestigious and illustrious law firm is no other than Afe Babalola & Co., Emmanuel Chambers situate at No. 80, Adekunle Fajuyi Road, Adamasingba, Ibadan. The law firm is reputed for producing several great jurists and Senior Advocates of Nigeria.

    Lest I be accused of too much deference to the Afe Babalola Chambers, it goes without saying that in those good old days, Ibadan bar boasted of legal giants in the moulds of Chief Richard Akinjide, SAN; Chief Folake Solanke (Alabukun Chambers), Chief Olisa Chukwura, SAN; Chief Bamidele Aiku, SAN; and Chief Oladosu Ladapo, SAN, amongst many others, who all sharpened our legal teeth in these remarkable years. It was during my formative years at Ibadan bar that my path and that of our retiring CJN first crossed each other. Without being immodest, all lawyers and jurists of note must have had professional interactions and engagements with lawyers in Emmanuel Chambers either as “Appearing with me Counsel” or as  Opposing Counsel in litigations or as a judex in matters which we have been privileged to offer our cutting edge professional legal services to our diverse clients all over the country, and it was in the course of some of those vast nomadic legal practice that I met My Lord., the CJN who was a diligent  State Counsel in the Ministry of Justice, Oyo State.

    Our engagements in court became more frequent shortly afterwards when he left the services of the state to join us in the private legal practice when he set up his law firm known as Olukayode Ariwoola & Co., (Mako Allah Chambers) situate at No.1, Iseyin Road, Owode, Oyo town in Oyo State. It is pertinent for me to add that the CJN then took over that chamber which hitherto belonged to his kinsman, Mr. S. L. Popoola, upon the latter’s appointment as a Judge of Oyo State High Court in February 1982. As a private legal practitioner, my Lord was very ubiquitous in all the courts of various jurisdictions, including the Supreme Court.

    My noble Lord’s erudity and versatility in courts including his comportment, carriage and integrity did not go unnoticed by the judges of the Oyo State High Court at that material time and also the senior members of the bar who promptly recommended him for preferment as a Judge of the Oyo State High Court on 2nd November, 1992 alongside with five others namely:

    •Hon. Justice Kareem Jimoh, appointed from the old Rivers State Ministry of Justice where he was then the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary and who was from Ibadan zone of Oyo State;

    •Hon. Justice I. O. Olakanmi, then the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice of Oyo State who later rose to become the Chief Judge of Oyo State, also from Ibadan zone of the State;

    •Hon. Justice Afolabi Adeniran of Ogbomoso zone of Oyo State but who was a successful private legal practitioner in Yaba, Lagos State and who later rose to become the Acting Chief Judge of Oyo State;

    •Hon. Justice Lambe Olajire Arasi also of Ibadan zone who was also appointed from a very busy and successful private legal practice in Ibadan, Oyo State;

    •Hon. Justice John Olagoke Ige, another very successful private legal practitioner in Lagos who hailed from Igbo-Ora in Ibarapa zone of Oyo State. Hon. Justice J. O. Ige also rose to become the Acting Chief Judge of Oyo State; and

    •The last but not the least, but the youngest of the six  being my Lord, Honourable Justice Olukayode Ariwoola also a private legal practitioner based in Oyo town, Oyo State, but who hails from Iseyin in Oke-Ogun zone of Oyo State.

    Their appointment was made when the judiciary of Oyo State was under the leadership of Honourable Justice Timothy Adebayo Adeniran Ayorinde as the Chief Judge of Oyo State.

    My Lord’s pronouncements and interventions on the bench are variously contained in several landmark judgments delivered by His Lordship during his very purposeful and highly impactful sojourns on the benches of our High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, most of which are permanently recorded in our various law reports for posterity. No doubt, my Lord’s indelible footprints are very noticeable and manifestly seen in his contributions to the growth and the development of our jurisprudence and constitutionalism. These decisions are too numerous to mention here and, in any event, I prefer to leave that brief to the biography as I am aware that most of the judgments are already chronicled in various books in honour of my Lord, the Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria.

     My Lord, the CJN is a workaholic and a very outstanding jurist, but not many are aware that My Lord is also a great community person and has great communal value that is second to none. My Lord was once prevailed upon by his people of Iseyin to leave his private legal practice, temporarily, to represent their federal constituency in the Federal House of Representatives at Abuja during the military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida political adventures. My Lord politely declined the offer and remained focused on his legal career.

    Permit me to use this occasion to state that the Present Bola Ahmed Tinubu led government is irrevocably committed to massively change the course of narratives within our country’s justice sector. Nigeria’s justice sector shall continue to witness several massive turn-arounds, initiatives and projects that would restore, transform and reposition our justice sector and place it as the best in the global legal community. As a government, we shall eradicate all forms of obstacles militating against the modernisation, effectiveness and efficiency of that critical sector. Recently, the President has assented to the Act which granted upward review of the salaries and allowances of the country’s judicial officers by 300% which we strongly believe would enhance and promote not only the independence of judiciary but will also properly place and position our judiciary as the true and real last hope of the common man and indeed a renewed hope for all and sundry to get from our various courts not only judgements well delivered but justice in action. The Federal Government under the able leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is very much aware and conscious of the present hardships in our country and the hard times that all the citizens of the country are presently undergoing. The government appreciates the resilience of all Nigerians and appeals to our people to kindly bear with the government and be assured that the ongoing hardships are very temporary and will soon give ways to era of prosperity and real growth and developments in Nigeria. The government has put several measures and economic policies in place that would soon mature and transform our country into one of the top economies of the globe.

     For my Lord, the Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, today marks the end of a most memorable and impactful judicial career, which spanned a period of 32 years, from when he was first appointed a High Court Judge of Oyo State in November, 1992. Indeed, His Lordship came, saw and conquered (veni, vidi, vici). He has made his mark and left indelible imprints in the annals of the Nigerian judiciary and the legal profession in general. I must remark that the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria is a stabilising factor who mounted the saddle at a challenging moment for the apex court and he has creditably sustained the sanctity of this hallowed court both as a court of policy, final arbiter and regulator of the justice sector.

    As His Lordship takes a well-deserved bow today, permit me to specially appreciate him for providing leadership, guidance and his firm commitment to improving the wellbeing of the judiciary, which he contributed to immensely.

     This has culminated in the harmonisation of retirement age of 70 years for judicial officers, attainment of a full complement of 21 justices for the Supreme Court, and the enactment of the Judicial Office Holders (Salaries, Allowances, Etc) Act, 2024 which was recently assented to by H.E. President Bola Tinubu, GCFR in order to usher in a 300% increase in the remuneration of our noble lordships. The foregoing signposts the commitment of the present administration to promoting the independence and capacity of the judiciary and advancing judicial reforms.

    The government is also working on other reforms in terms of policies and constitutional amendments to increase access to justice, transparent appointment process, ensure speedy adjudication of cases, increase public confidence in the judiciary, insulate the judiciary from undue interference, etc. I must note that some of these reform initiatives are part of the resolutions reached at the end of the National Justice Summit held in April 2024, which enjoyed the strong support of Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.  Indeed, the President is committed to a radical transformation of the judiciary in line with rule of law and administration of justice components of the administration’s roadmap for national development.

    The government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu shall at all times protect and promote the rights of all Nigerians and shall not tolerate any infraction and or breach of same by any person(s) and agencies under any guise whatsoever except as provided by the country’s constitution.

    It is also pertinent to state that constitutional democracy and governance has laid out its peculiar features and attributes. I must restate that elective and legitimate governments entrusted with the mandates of the people can only be changed constitutionally and legally by the electorate at the end of its term of office as prescribed by our laws and the Constitution of the country which is the groundnorm.

     Any other mode or means of attempting to change a democratically elected government except as provided by our laws and the constitution is nothing but a clear case of treason and subversion of democratic governance. The laws of our land as well as the constitution have made copious provisions for dealing with same and bringing the full weight of the laws on such treasonable felons.

    Our Government commends and remains grateful to our apex court in the land, the Supreme Court of Nigeria for living up to its status as both a court of justice and as a policy court in their landmark judgement that emancipated, liberated and set free our local government system in Nigeria from the claws, tyranny and  oppression of those who had held them by the jugulars over the years which has led to almost total stagnation and absence of development and governance in our 774 local governments all over the country.

     We are not unaware of the threats and noises of reprisal by some (not all) of the principalities affected by that epic and locus classicus judgement of the Supreme Court who are threatening fire and brimstone in a matter that has been settled and laid to rest finally by our apex court. The point must be made that their action in this regard amounts to hoovering round the precinct of contempt of court. I urge the Attorneys-General of the affected states to educate and offer sound legal advice, even though very trite and too elementary, to their principals that there can be no appeal against the decision of the Supreme Court.

     They should therefore abide by the principles and the doctrines of the rule of law which is the bedrock of Constitutional democracy. We have no doubt or illusion that our country shall now witness a new dawn and era of purposeful governance across all our 774 local governments. We urge and appeal to all citizens of this country, professional bodies and associations to be alert and watchful of how the local government are utilizing their allocations for growth and development. Our law enforcement agencies too must also monitor all governments and bring the full weight of the laws to bear on any erring government, ministries, departments and or agencies in confirmed cases of misappropriation and or embezzlement, particularly for those who don’t have immunities under the constitution like our democratically elected local government executives, officers and personnel.

    I must attest to the fact that my Lord, the CJN, dispensed justice authoritatively and in his role as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, he discharged his duties passionately in Court and to the Country. He also fostered good relationship among the Bench and strived to protect the integrity and image of the Court. He insulated it from politics and reinvented the image of the courts as the last hope of the common man. The relationship between the Bar and the Bench was very cordial during his tenure. His two-year leadership at the nation’s apex court will be forever remembered.

    My Lords, Distinguished guests, it is obvious that my Lord is a highly accomplished jurist and held a distinguished career in the Nigerian judiciary. Inevitably, the time has come for my Lord to draw the curtain on his decades of meritorious service to the country, not because he is weak by any measure, but because of constitutional requirements. My Lord is merely stepping into the background from where he will have the responsibility of mentoring, advising, and shaping the younger ones. Therefore, we should not be sad that he is retiring because we shall now begin to enjoy another phase of his leadership and fatherly role.

    My Lord, I know you are eager to retire to your lovely family and away from public life, but I want to plead with you to be available to us. The judiciary, in particular, and the country at large will continue to reach out to you to tap into your deep wisdom and wealth of experience.

    At this juncture, I want to extend my gratitude to the family of my Lord. My Lord is not just an accomplished judiciary icon, he is also an accomplished family man and a father-figure to many. He is happily married to his lovely wife, Mrs. Ariwoola, and their marriage is blessed with children. They have endured the burden that comes with the arduous demands of judicial service. They have sacrificed their needs to allow my Lord to effectively discharge his duties as a jurist for over three decades. The intermittent late nights, absences, inconvenience that comes with postings and the requirements of the job; they have endured all, and for that we celebrate your love and sacrifices.

    My Lord, this is a day of celebration. We have gathered here not to say goodbye, but to celebrate you and the lofty goals and achievements you have accomplished. We are here to celebrate your dedication to public service and your immense contribution to nation-building. We are proud of you. The country is proud of you and is indebted to you. You have left indelible marks in the sands of time. Your legacy is eternal and remains a model for our jurists and legal practitioners. We are not happy leaving you to retirement, but I must say that I am personally pained that the bench is going to miss the wisdom and erudition of my Lord, Justice Ariwoola, CJN, but we are nonetheless consoled that he is handing over the baton to a worthy successor, the Ag. CJN, her Lordship, Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun, CFR who incidentally, was the classmate of My Lord, Justice Ariwoola

    •Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Prince Lateef Fagbemi delivered this speech at the Special Valedictory Session of the Supreme Court to mark the retirement of Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Olukayode Ariwoola in Abuja.

  • Security; first salary, first pension payment

    Security; first salary, first pension payment

    Nigeria must stop politics and immediately execute a cross-party united ‘military dispatch’ war on banditry, kidnapping.

    The resignation of the National Intelligence Agency Director General, (NIA D-G) Ahmed Abubakar after serving since 2018 and being reappointed by Tinubu speaks volumes into the silence around security successes and failures. Everyone has a right to resign for personal reasons. And his tenure must be assessed. Unfortunately, the security situation has been worsened by poverty spread by joblessness, poor currency value, confidence-destroying ‘high cost-low value’ actions of current state and federal governments, a dangerous countryside where kings and kinfolk, leaders and led end up dead.

    Abubakar knows more about Nigeria than all of us readers put together. That is the burden of security leaders – to know and not to speak. Clearly security challenges are shaking the country mentally. We must assume that Abubakar’s tenure prevented threats and averted crises, so we must thank him even though what he has done must remain secret. Thank you.

    The incoming NIA D-G has a huge file of security problems to overcome and will need state cooperation. The last of eight NYSC participants kidnapped last year has been released. Obviously, they must receive their certificates, as their right! Congratulations to all security and NYSC officials concerned. However, Nigeria still faces threats which test our security agents to preempt, prevent, pursue, arrest the perpetrators and prevent recurrence.

    We are told that pensions do not start being paid to pensioners for more than one year after leaving office. When they ask what new pensioners should live on before the pension kicks in in one or two years, idiotic pension staff reply ‘your savings’.

    Mr President, surely you can get an Executive Order to force Pension Fund to immediately pay a sum equivalent to the projected pension to the new pensioned individuals from the first month of retirement. It is disgraceful that pensioners are treated like lost property. Just last month we learnt the unthinkable crime of ‘non-payment of salaries’ to 1,800 Federal Government College new teachers for more than 18 months? An unimaginable crime against humanity perpetrated by some ministry infighting or total administrative culpable catastrophic incompetence for which many heads must go to jail as a human rights abuse leading to depression, disease and death.  Why were these teachers, members of Nigerian working society all not paid their dues from ‘month end one’? What quality control standards exist in the Federal Civil Service and the MDAs of Nigeria? Who knew and did nothing? Were the teachers expected to bribe to get on the payroll?

    Read Also: Nigeria has 10m voters more than all ECOWAS countries, says INEC Chairman

    I am sure everyone in the Presidency 2023-2027 got paid from ‘month end one’. So, it should be for every federal, state, MDA and private sector employee. There must be a ‘month one’ way to pay the new employee instead of the current 3-18 months. The paperwork should not take a month; ditto for retirement and pension payments, subjects of corruption for too long. It is time Nigerian government officials step into line and we must imprison negligent, corrupt and fraudulent officials.        

    There is some security ‘good news’. Hurray, all 20 medical students and doctor kidnapped recently have been released. How soon will kidnapping become a thing of an ugly past?   Already, a doctor in Ilorin has been kidnapped. It seems we have so quickly forgotten the mass execution of over 60 Fellow Nigerians, names known only to their bereaved families, murdered simply for being on their farms doing their ancestral agricultural chores recently. We need no reminding of the murder of a District Head of Sabon Birni, Isa Bawa, along with the psychotic demand of N60m+five motorcycles as ransom to release his body for burial.

    Many kidnap victims have been murdered even after full ransom was paid. Just last week a state government, Niger was appealing to the military to again deploy troops to re-secure Shiroro forest, a permanent thorn in the flesh of Nigerian security, after some spectacular successes in May. It is reported that the military strategically withdrew some months ago. Is it at all possible that the military does not know of the need to do this or are they willing but unable, due to under-equipping, to respond spontaneously and preemptively? All this is when the federal government has received a presidential jet and presidential limousine and has recently expended 15+billion on revamping vice president’s complex et cetera. Choices, choices! Perhaps the terrorists have regrouped or been reinforced from internal and external sources.

    Nigeria seems to be in a ‘fight and let go’ operational mode allowing the enemy to retreat, but not repentant. But the terrorists retreat to other parts of Nigeria and not to other countries. So, they will come back and kill! Simple!! But Nigeria has had war declared on it. Nigeria must be seen to declare war back on the terrorists, kidnappers and all wayward herders among the herders. And not merely drive off pockets of the enemy from one locality to another where they will repeat their bloodthirsty evil deeds in double and triple portions. The enemy must be neutralized for Nigeria to enjoy peace and chart a return to agriculture success, job creation and an elimination of daily tragic bloodletting which has precipitated an ocean of orphans, widows and jobless youth.   

    Security savvy Nigerians ask what is the role of cellphone and heat seeking tracking, drones and satellite imagery from friendly countries in terrorism investigation?  

  • ‘Nightclub noisy Bodija triangle’; Ganiyat

    ‘Nightclub noisy Bodija triangle’; Ganiyat

    Noise pollution seems to be a government-approved Nigerian 2024 plague caused by clusters of competing eateries and nightclubs in residential areas insisting on keeping children, adults, the sick and dying in surrounding homes, clinics and hospitals awake, annoyed and angrily vibrating, sleepless, and tired and under-performing the following day.

    The cause, of course, is the uncontrollable and brain-damaging high decibels emitting from huge mega-sized speakers. A new eatery place was opened at the end of Osuntokun Avenue/ Secretariat Road, Bodija, Ibadan and the stupidly irresponsibly noisy loudspeakers would wake the dead and deafen babies in their cribs. The government silence to the pleas over more 15+years by hundreds of affected families has forced them to abandon and sell their childhood family property in the now ‘Notorious Nightclub Noisy Bodija Triangle’ of the once proud Awolowo Road and Osuntokun Avenue and the adjacent Secretariat UI road.

    Across Nigeria, we have noise pollution perpetrators tormenting us unhindered by the owners of such clubs and event organisers. These noise-polluters tune maximum noise level, often wearing earphones rendering them oblivious to the ‘Grievous Ear and Brain Harm’ to humanity, from babies to bedridden grandparents. The arrogant noise polluters refuse to lower the volume at functions and do not heed for more than a few days neighbourhood complaints. The noise makers mindlessly deprive guests of conversation and deprive entire neighbourhoods of a night, a week, a year, and now 20 years of sleep. 

    Visit any social function. You must shout into the ear, use sign language or write a note to the person sitting right next to you and still be misunderstood! Crazy. In my bedroom and the bedrooms of hundreds of children at home and boarding schools around the area, we cannot sleep because the music from the surrounding nightclubs invades our ‘silence space’ to 3-4am daily though some thankfully close on Monday.  But one silent day out of seven, leaves six days of hellish noise and is not a pass mark.

    We hear of efforts by supervisory authorities at reducing noise pollution. Unfortunately, such efforts here in Nigeria are more playing to the media and cosmetic and almost never sustained beyond one day.  As usual Rwanda a tiny country leads and has shut many noise pollution venues. Noise pollution is serious and destroys the much-needed rejuvenation of a good night’s sleep which is an essential ingredient of maintaining good national mental health. We citizens and club owners have a responsibility to give all children a good night’s sleep. Night Club managers should act responsibly to the neighbourhood youth and adults or close down. No nightclub worker or owner’s children sleeps next to their noisy nightclub every day.             

    EFCC thankfully announced it was not donating but was directed by the president to make available N50b of the recovered funds to the newly created Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND for tertiary institution students’ loans. Congratulations, though Nigerian students deserve full grants, scholarships and bursaries, not loans. Nigerians expect monthly transparency Good Governance updates to know exactly in cash and kind all our hard-working agencies like EFCC, ICPC, AMCON, Customs, the Police the Armed Forces recover on a regular monthly updated basis. Hopefully, the cash is immediately transferred to the CBN even if court cases take years. EFCC announced it would monitor the NELFUND. Good. Please do so across all MDAs to pre-empt and prevent a future of fraud. Prevention vs Cure.

    Read Also: Mutfwang suspends two Commissioners, two Special Advisers

    A High Court has rightly described as an economic crime against Nigeria, the deliberate destruction of 3,000 beer bottles by state government officials and called on EFCC to take prosecutorial actions.   

    Caution: Recovered stolen funds from Nigeria’s Pension Schemes and by Accountants General and Auditors General and SITF should automatically and urgently be returned directly to source of theft to do undone work.  

    So, 23 Russian Engineers arrived at the Ajaokuta Steel Plant. It will be tough resuscitating something conceived in 1979 that never breathed and died prematurely at near delivery 93% completion in 1994, 30 +years ago. Hopefully they bring 2024 technology short cuts and innovation and will not just stoke up a 45+ year outdated plant with outdated factory site drawings. Historically, who destroyed the dream? How much was the purported bribe? Was it non-Ukrainian Russians or Ukrainian Russians who built the plant? Also is this just new Russian soft power diplomacy and recent Russian flag-flying by another name?

    Tragedy: Ganiyat, Ayati 60, Utukpo 20. Can authorities urgently secure the rescue unharmed of Dr Ganiyat Popoola, Senior Registrar, Ophthalmology, National Eye Centre Kaduna and her nephew Abdul-Mugniy Folaranmi kidnapped seven months ago on Dec 27, 2023? Dr Popoola’s husband was released in March 2024. Please add 20 medical students kidnapped on August 8 on their way to an educational conference. Can they bring justice to the murderers of 60+ Fellow Nigerians murdered on August 8 in Ayati, Ukum LGA Benue State? Yet we travel as if all is well, though many declare war with us! We need to take lessons from the Nigerian kidnapping realty until government regains control Nigeria-wide. Kidnapping is terrifying, insanely financially costly to obtain freedom and a permanent mentally scarring traumatic experience if the victims survive. We pray the NSA and state security officials are not too distracted by Russian flags to also go maximally after all kidnappers nationwide. Life is hard enough for Nigerians without frequent local or foreign kidnappers and repeated village massacres.   

  • Some impediments to effective governance in Nigeria

    Some impediments to effective governance in Nigeria

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria and President Joe Biden of the United States share one feature in common: No matter what economic policies they have proposed to improve their citizens’ lives, the citizens do not appreciate them. This is partly because in both countries, inflation and the cost of living are high and partly because the governments have done a poor job of communicating the advantages of their policies to the public. While both Presidents are concerned about long-term economic stability, the citizens are concerned about today, about what it costs them now to eat, sleep under a shelter, and move from one place to another. It is no wonder then that, in both countries, the opposition readily weeps up the people’s emotions by weaponizing the economic situation for political gain.

    The economic situation in Nigeria is bad alright, but what makes the present situation worse is a range of factors, notably, various groups aiding an abetting government failure in their retaliation against President Tinubu’s policies; corruption; the high cost of governance; weak institutions; weak center of government; and lack of evidence of consistent performance evaluation. I review these factors below, but none exhaustively.

    In Tinubu’s adversaries and the planned protests (The Nation, July 31, 2024), I highlighted the various groups possibly behind the 10-day protests against Tinubu’s governments, despite repeated entreaties to shelve the protests to avoid the kind of violence that took over the #EndSARS protests in 2020. True, the protests did take place over ten days, the government’s fears were realized as the protests were accompanied by violence in the northern parts of the country. This is understandable, because the North has the highest levels of illiteracy, poverty, insecurity, youth population bulge, and youth unemployment. These factors provide ready recruits to violent causes for cash or possible loot.

    It is no longer news that corruption and high cost of governance have been the bane of development in Nigeria. Bribery, aptly highlighted yesterday by The Nation Editorial, titled Checking bribery, is central to the corruption saga in Nigeria. Bribery and corruption cover a very wide spectrum in the country. They take place at service points, checkpoints, and police stations. Kickbacks from contracts are rampant, and cash is exchanged for position. Moreover, there is outright embezzlement, where government funds are diverted to personal projects or funneled to personal accounts, often using surrogates. These are long-standing entrenched practices throughout the country.

    The high cost of governance is a recurring decimal in government failure in Nigeria. Imagine the cost of maintaining 10 presidential jets, three of which were seized recently on court orders in France amid a long-standing dispute between ZhongshanFucheng Industrial Investment, a Chinese company, and Ogun state government in southwestern Nigeria over the development of free trade zone for the state. They were said to be in France for “routine maintenance”. True, President Tinubu has been cutting down on the cost of governance, but much more remains to be done, including selling off older presidential jets in view of the recent purchase of a new jet. In a sense, the new jet is a metaphor for negative public perception and trust deficit in government. Only a few would understand that the jet was purchased much below cost, to save maintenance costs, and for safety reasons. However, until many of the older jets are sold off, the touted cost-cutting advantage of a new jet will be lost on the skeptical public.

    To complicate matters for the government and its economic policies, the major institutions are weak, especially those responsible for implementing government policies. For example, the Nigerian civil service at federal and state levels is quite weak and prone to corruption. What is worse, Nigerian civil servants interact with those making enquiries or needing some assistance with some kind of mentality that they have to beg, bribe, or otherwise suffer some indignity before they are attended to. Many civil servants seem not to understand their role in servicing civil society, which already prepaid their salaries with their own taxes. This mentality can only be changed with periodic capacity building workshops and training for civil servants, a number of whom were recruited with little or no training in civil service tasks.

    Read Also: IGP’s dedication to justice, security commendable – Tinubu

    Perhaps one of the weaknesses of the present government is the perceived weak Center of Government. This is the organ or institution in the executive branch that provides direct support to the chief executive in managing the government, by preparing Cabinet meetings, coordinating the formulation of government policies, and working with the appropriate department charged with performance evaluation to ensure effective implementation of government policies. Ideally, this organ performs cross-ministerial functions and ties loose ends, by making sure that ministries and agencies do not act or speak at cross-purposes. At the end of the day, nothing should happen in government that misses the attention of the Center of Government. In the Nigerian case, the Center of Government should include the Vice President, the Chief of Staff to the President, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Head of Central Result Delivery Unit, relevant Civil Servants, and whoever the President wants to participate. True, Hadiza Bala-Usman, Head of the Delivery Unit, has indicated at various times that performance evaluation is on track, the results are not reflected in public perception of the performance of many ministries, departments, and agencies.

    Beyond these factors, however, the President remains confronted with responding to the demands of the protesters and to the demands for reorganizing the country for administrative and governance effectiveness. This government cannot afford another large-scale protest, nor can haphazard governance continue this way, especially at the state level. Although it will take time to work through the responses before necessary implementation, there should be no further delay before mid-term tenure.

    The country has reached a point at which a powerful centre has become undesirable, especially a centre that is larger than the total sum of its federating units. This is why citizens look up to the federal government for everything, including directing protests at it. The state Governors do the same, but without doing the needful with the resources allocated to them by the federal government. Things cannot continue this way.

  • Ewi of Ado: The story of a monarch in a republic

    Ewi of Ado: The story of a monarch in a republic

    The traditional distinction between a republic and a monarchy is so sharp that the definition of one is a negation of the other. Thus, on the one hand, a republic is a state or nation in which supreme power or sovereignty is vested in the people, that is the body of citizens, rather than in one person. On the other hand, a monarchy is a state or nation in which supreme power or sovereignty is vested in one person, usually one who inherits the power.

    This distinction underlies the displacement of Nigerian monarchs, otherwise known as traditional rulers, from their precolonial role as Alpha and Omega in their respective kingdoms. The displacement began gradually under colonial rule. While recognising the traditional role of monarchs in their respective communities, the colonial government signed treaties with them, but nonetheless subjugated them to colonial authority, by constituting them into the House of Chiefs. When the colonialists gradually began to cede power to the people, they worked through the monarchs in a system that came to be known as indirect rule. Some monarchs even became Governors, notably, Oba Adesoji Aderemi, the Ooni of Ife (Governor of Western Region, 1960-62). Although he was only a prince with a chieftaincy title, the Sardauna of Sokoto also became the Premier of Northern Region from 1954-1966.

    One legacy of the colonial government’s relationship with the monarchy was its role in the installation of a monarch, king or emir. No one ascended the throne without government approval and the presentation of the staff of office. As Nigeria advanced with self-government since the mid-fifties, this role became increasingly politicised and abused by the government of the day. Politicians and military rulers alike suspended or removed monarchs, who failed to do their bidding and installed those who did. Perhaps at no time in our history is this tendency more disturbing as currently witnessed, for example, in Kano and Osun states, not to speak of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s denigrating “Stand up, Sit down” command to a group of monarchs.

    It is against the above backgrounds that the recent bold intervention in rising prices in his kingdom by the Ewi of Ado, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe, should be examined within Nigeria’s republican status. The Ewi and his chiefs did at least four things. First, they instructed sellers to reduce the prices of foodstuffs, such as tomatoes, pepper, vegetable, palmoil, beans, meat, and garri. Second, they even dictated the price ceiling for some of these goods. Third, they dissolved market associations, which often met to set food prices. Finally, they banned middlemen, who would buy directly from farmers, increase prices, and then resell to market women and other retailers.

    Read Also: N11b rail contract: El-Rufai’s aide faults ICPC

    In order to implement these decisions, the chiefs were mandated to monitor various markets in their neighbourhoods and sanction defaulting sellers. It is unclear, however, what the sanctions are against the defaulters and what punishment is in store for chiefs who abuse their role as monitors.

    Perhaps a more critical question is how the Ewi and his chiefs came about these policy directives. Reading the headlines and some of the reports in newspapers, it looked like a top-down policy. Upon close reading and further investigations, however, the monarch’s actions were inspired by consumer complaints. After receiving numerous complaints, the Ewi summoned his chiefs, who listened to complaints by some consumers. It was revealed that middlemen, who bought foodstuffs from the farmers and resold to market women, were part of the problem. This was followed by a meeting between the monarch and his chiefs, on the one hand, and lead market women, on the other hand. The policy directives outlined above were the outcome of these various meetings. Incidentally, what the Ewi and his chiefs observed about the role of middlemen and market associations in price gouging in Ado-Ekiti applies in most communities throughout the country.

    It is unclear whether the Ewi has shared the data and his policy directives with the Chairman of his Local Government Area or anyone in the state government, given that his kingdom is also the seat of the Ekiti state government. Their silence, however, should be taken as consent. In any case, no one should expect any form of public disagreement between Abiodun Abayomi Oyebanji, the state’s humble, but hardworking, Governor, and the Ewi of Ado, should there by any.

    Whatever the case is, the Ewi’s actions raise serious questions about the role of monarchs in a republic like Nigeria’s, which has hundreds of them. Regardless of what politicians do or fail to do, the monarch’s influence is felt, for good or for bad, in every community throughout the country. What is more, politicians continue to engage in the creation of new or pseudo kingdoms or endorse such action by monarchs in their state.

    In recent years, under the auspices of the National Traditional Council of Nigeria, monarchs have made a case for a specific role in the constitution. Many notable citizens and organisations have supported the monarchs’ request for constitutional role. The list includes the Nigeria Bar Association and the National Union of Journalists. Many newspapers have also run editorials in support of the request. It is high time the National Assembly took a decisive stand on the issue.

    In doing so, the legislators need not be constrained by the distinction between a republic and a monarchy with which I opened this essay. Ours is a peculiar republic with hundreds of monarchs. Our republican culture is for us to create, modify, and nurture, just as the British created and continue to nurture a constitutional monarchy. While admitting that there is only one monarch in the United Kingdom, we will be deceiving ourselves by preaching republicanism, without recognising the essential role of traditional rulers, who are custodians of cultural history and institutional knowledge of their communities.

    Besides, monarchs and chiefs are closer to the grassroots than state actors. Many of them are farmers, artisans, and so on, who interact with other local actors on a daily basis. Ironically, politicians recognise their influence in local communities by making royal palaces the first stop during campaign seasons.

    There is no doubt that the Ewi of Ado, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe, has filled a major void in the current economic crisis. Perhaps the recent 10-day protests, with all the casualties and property destruction, would not have taken place had such action been taken earlier throughout the country. The Ewi’s action calls for serious consideration of the role of monarchs in the republic by politicians, especially legislators.

  • Trial; constitution; NNPC innocent?  

    Trial; constitution; NNPC innocent?  

    Congratulations world on a successful Paris 2024 Olympics. Congratulations Nigerians in diaspora. Commiserations Team Nigeria.

    Note how quickly the UK is trying rioters because of CCTV, cell-phones and emails. Lesson for Nigeria.

    Nigerians and indeed Nigeria suffer from a constitution disease called ‘We, not the people’ constitution disease.  Some people called ‘we’ who are not ‘we, the people’ wrote a proposed 1999 constitution in semi-secret for a Nigeria reeling from a brutal military rule. 

    The ‘we, not the people’ 1999 constitution had time bombs which crippled Nigeria’s  growth compared to funds available since 1999 from a serial government which, cross-party, failed GoodGovernance  while imposing unbearably ‘juicy’, cripplingly high cost-of-governance and corruption on Nigeria with added multiple taxation.

    Since 1999, politicians tweaked the ‘we not the people’ constitution with one constitutional review buried before birth, dead on expensive arrival, a costly diversion or killed by those who benefit from the existing constitution.

    The current 10th National Assembly has inaugurated separate committees, 45-member Senate and 43-member House of Representatives on constitutional review. Can suspects judge their own case? Politics has sworn itself to silence and criminalised self-criticism, correction or improvement. Politics is vicious to its own dissenters or whistle-blowers who are vilified, suspended or expelled. Nigerians know any outcomes by NASS reducing NASS houses to one, or reducing numbers or reduction in Salaries, Allowances and Perks and Pensions, SAPPing Nigeria dry will not be approved by incumbent NASS members. No politician will sacrifice his seat voluntarily for a cheaper Nigeria even if Nigeria is dirt poor. We need a NON-POLITICAL GROUP for the ‘gainful’ political treatment which must include amputation surgery [reducing members of parliament by closing one NASS House-probably the Senate -aka GRA ‘Governors’ Retirement Abode’], tummy tuck surgery [cutting out fattening funds going to the federal government and cutting fulltime to part-time members with 1. Modest Sitting Allowances or 2. 75% reduction in SAPP and 3. Eliminating Constituency Projects].

    The new constitution must add surgical reduction in the Federal Exclusive List to remove sectional monopolistic and development stunting , which triggered the vicious ‘EndbadGovernance’ riots in the North which controls the  majority of the exclusive and LGA list and most of the budget since 1960. This control   has never guaranteed  ‘GoodGovernance’ with people-oriented use of an excessive resource allocation at the expense of other parts of the country. However all parts of government are subject to ‘BadGovernance’ corruption consequences. 

    Read Also: 12 burnt to death, four injured in Lagos-Ibadan expressway crash

    ‘Politicians Beware. The people are aware of citizen power. GoodGovernance is now a necessity for the survival of every class.  Reducing the Exclusive List would be useless unless we have leaders not ‘greeders’ at state and LGA level preventing corruption and extortion. 

    The Patriots met President Tinubu urging the initiation of a completely new constitutional process. Their blueprint should be acted upon to the letter.       

    Who is stealing our oil with vessels asks Elumelu? We do too! Also, are men in Buhari’s government negotiating to return 1/3 of money looted from oil deals? If true, it makes nauseating reading. NIGERIAN PLEA BARGAIN OFFICIALS MUST NEVER SETTLE FOR LESS THAN 100% REFUND OF STOLEN FUNDS AND ONLY THEN PUBLICLY NEGOTIATE ONLY THE SENTENCE, NEVER THE AMOUNT. NIGERIA’S DESTITUTE CHILDREN ARE TOO POOR TO LOSE N1 IN A PLEA BARGAIN.

    The oil deal revelation emphasizes our demand for a NON-POLITICAL 10-year FORENSIC NNPC AUDIT with 100 forensic auditor staff and consequent prosecution. Last week, termites were added to unfortunate animal kingdom members accused wrongly perhaps in the theft of Nigeria’s cash and account documents. We all remember snakes, rats, cockroaches and now termites. We should budget for anti-snake bushes and insect spray in accounts departments, abi no be soooo??

    The ‘honesty’ outbursts from NNPC officials are noted. However, seeing is believing. If you take a job on behalf of Nigeria and you fail, you should resign. If you cannot make 4/4 Nigerian refineries work… Resign. If you cannot get Ajaokuta to run….. Resign. Nigerians must question serial failures by officials and NNPC Plc and the leadership in oil and gas and even steel. We have rights to doubt the professional competence and dedication of a serially failed leadership. We must ask every single Nigerian official from gateman to General Manager of governor, from cleaner to clerk to chairman, to be of GoodGovernance-compliant and be of good moral behaviour and demonstrate accountability, financial transparency, honest administrative non-ethnic transparently.

    NNPC laboured under historic anti-Federal Character ethnic bias and the perception of a huge cloak of corruption. Has the perception or the practice changed?

    So, you and presumably the NNPC are not corrupt. Hurray! Prove that by actions-at every level of operation!  Gas measuring meters, 187 in number are great anti-corruption items and 30 years overdue but are only as good as those monitoring the lines. Are they honest? NNPC is a house that Nigerians think emits a foul odour of corruption primarily because the citizens’ yard stick is simply the 0/4 functioning four refineries from ‘sabotaged or incompetence-driven failure to deliver multimillions dollar failed TAM-Turn Around Maintenance x 4. Please correct that impression by getting the refineries working. Period. If not ..Resign. Nigeria awaits the 10-year NNPC Forensic Audit. Even if NNPC is innocent of corruption, NNPC is certainly guilty of institutional monumental technical incompetence and fuel-delivery-failure, depriving Nigerians of 30 years of affordable fuel and the country of its pride as a major oil producer and refiner. What a scam!

  • Kabiyesi, Oba Frederick Adegunle Aroloye, Arubiefin IV, 1926-2024

    Kabiyesi, Oba Frederick Adegunle Aroloye, Arubiefin IV, 1926-2024

    Udane kete.

    Opo ma ye o

    Orise! Ooo ri p’ohunda!!

    The above lines were part of the incantation, led by Chief Subale Olafisoye Akinnawo, which heralded the transition of Kabiyesi, Oba Frederick Adegunle Aroloye, Arubiefin IV, the Owa of Idanre Kingdom on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. The announcement was authorised by the Lisa of Idanre Kingdom, Chief Christopher Oluwole Akindolire, who is the Kingdom’s Prime Minister. He also is the official Head of the ritualists, including the Aghoro and the Babalawo. Only he has the authority to declare the Oba’s transition, which he did in the palace on Wednesday, August 1, 2024.

    The declaration, Opo ma ye o (the pillar has fallen) in the opening incantation is rooted in Idanre anthem, part of which prays as follows: Du-un ma’sopo odede/Ma-ma d’ule yeghe o (May nothing happens to the front pillar/So the house may not fall). The lines are a prelude to a more substantive prayer in the anthem: Du-un ma s’Oloja Udane/D’ogwa jee oye o (literally, May the Oloja (Ogwa) live long so the kingdom may prosper under his reign).

    Oba Adegunle Aroloye ascended the throne in 1976 after 7 years of community turmoil over which of two brothers would succeed their father, Oba Aladegbule Aroloye, Arubiefin III, who transitioned in 1969. The community was as divided over the choice as was the royal family itself. On the one hand, majority of Idanre people, led largely by the reigning politicians at the time, supported the younger brother, Benson Aroloye. On the other hand, however, the older brother, Adegunle Aroloye, had the support of the elite within and outside the royal family. At the end of the day, he got the nod of the then Western State Government, which had two prominent Idanre sons among the elite on the cabinet at the time. This brief historical excursion is for those Idanre sons and daughters, about 50 years old or younger, who had no idea about that past in the history of their town, and who have known only Oba Adegunle Aroloye all their lives.

    What was remarkable about Oba Adegunle Aroloye was his ability to meet the challenges emanating from the long tussle with equanimity and determination to change the course of Idanre history for the better. He started out by reaching out to key supporters of his younger brother to solicit their cooperation. Some of the politicians rebuffed him and prolonged the enmity, but I did not.

    I was moved that the prospective king came to my father’s house, looking for me, shortly after the announcement that he would be the next Ogwa of Idanre. He was already 50 years old, while I was only thirty-something, and a young lecturer at the University of Ife. He said he knew I was not a politician, but he wanted me to appeal to my politician friends to cooperate with him. I promised I would do so to the best of my ability. “We did not want you to be King, but God has made you King. You are now our King. I will support you”, I told him. His genuine appeal for cooperation inspired me to collaborate with my friend and big brother, Olu Akindolire, now High Chief Lisa of Idanre Kingdom, to write the petition asking for the separation of Idanre from Ifedore Local Government. It led to the establishment of Idanre Local Government Area as we know it today.

    Read Also: Idanre monarch, groups congratulate Adefisoye on Federal College

    Despite the initial hostility of local politicians, Oba Adegunle Aroloye pushed ahead. Building on his father’s foundation, which welcomed missionary proselytisation, the establishment of missionary schools, the adoption of cocoa as a cash crop, and the decision to descend from Oke Idanre to the valley below, Oba Adegunle Aroloye brought many innovations and unprecedented development to Idanre Kingdom. Following his father’s example, education expanded in Idanre in leaps and bounds. Beyond expansion of primary education, the number of secondary schools increased from two, when he ascended the throne in 1976, to over 30 in 2024. In addition, there was a vocational school and a polytechnic. Virtually every household in Idanre today boasts of a university graduate. More than any community of its size, Idanre has also produced professionals in every discipline of human endeavour. Moreover, Idanre was never left out of the government of Ondo state while he was on the throne.

    He also democratised royalty by elevating four community Chiefs, previously known as Olu, to the status of Oba, namely, Oba Alade, Oba Atosin, Oba Ofosu, and Oba Abababubu, while new Olu were installed in newly emerging communities, such as in Omi Ifun, where my late friend, Chief Frederick Ilemobayo, was the new Olu. This development has since become a growing trend in many Yoruba kingdoms.

    Beyond this development, Idanre Kingdom witnessed unprecedented peace and harmony. This is particularly noticeable in local politics, where the bitterness of the past has given way to negotiations and peaceful coexistence between members of different political parties. Although skirmishes still exist around election time, Idanre voters today ignore politics as usual by voting for candidates they consider worthy of their votes. Accordingly, in the 2023 elections, they voted out those who they thought did not perform and voted in those who had contributed to the development of the Kingdom, regardless of political party.

    Perhaps what was most remarkable about Oba Adegunle Aroloye was his humanity. He was humble, selfless, kind, empathetic, and compassionate. He once told me that he felt the pain when a child was flogged or otherwise beaten. He was ready and willing to assist anyone who approached him for one kind of assistance or the other. Above all, he was a personality to behold—tall, handsome, and lovable.

    These qualities and his contributions to his kingdom and the state endeared him to fellow monarchs as well as successive state governments. Accordingly, more than any other Oba in the state, Oba Adegunle Aroloye served as the Chairman of Ondo State Council of Traditional Rulers on three different occasions (including when Ondo and Ekiti were one and the same state). In this capacity, he represented the larger Ondo state in the defunct National Council of States.

    For those who only knew Oba Adegunle Aroloye as the Owa of Idanre, it is necessary tthat, though he was born into royalty, he went through the mills of growth and development like most of them. He attended public schools. He started his education at St Paul’s Primary School at Oke Idanre but completed it at Odode, the valley below. He started his secondary education at Western Boys High School in Benin and completed it at Hussey College, Warri. After a short stint as a Clerical Assistant in the Federal Ministry of Works, he proceeded to London to study public administration at the old Belham and Tooting College of Commerce. Upon the completion of his studies, he worked in the London City Council for several years before returning to Nigeria.

    As Oba Adegunle Aroloye is interned today at Oke Idanre beside his father, his legacies will continue to endear him to the people of Idanre, Ondo state, and the nation at large. His embrace of peace, harmony, and love of his people should be rewarded by peaceful succession to the throne he so well dignified.

  • A protest and its aftermath

    A protest and its aftermath

    In a way, it was good that the so-called #EndBadGovernance protests happened to the just over one-year-old Bola Tinubu government. He was hardly afforded the customary honeymoon period because right from the inauguration podium, he snatched ‘honey’ from many mouths with his declaration that ‘subsidy was gone.’

    It was a move that presidents who came before him were too frightened to make, knowing the consequences in a country that has been dependent on imported fuel for ages.

    But it was a decision around which a national consensus had formed. Leading presidential candidates like the People Democratic Party’s (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and the Labour Party’s (LP), Peter Obi, committed to scrapping it. The latter even came up with a fancy soundbite – calling the subsidy regime ‘organised crime’ that he would remove from day one.

    In the event, the responsibility fell to Tinubu who won the election to do the honours. If Atiku and Obi had won and were true to their words, they would probably have faced the same inflation demons that were unleashed with more expensive imported fuel.

    So, the question is really not whether removing fuel subsidy was the way to go, because it was killing Nigeria. Even the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had accepted it had to stop. The only point of cavil was when. They wanted refineries fixed first, an efficient mass transit system in place etc etc. Given that our four public-owned refineries have been under repair for nearly two decades, acceding to the unions’ demands was akin to permanently postponing the evil day.

    We know that up till last year, Nigeria was spending 97% percent of her earnings on servicing debts. A country that deep in the financial hole cannot pay for much else with the miserable three percent that is left; that includes paying for subsidy. The financing to continue delivering cheap fuel to the people would have to come from borrowing or cutting all sorts of unorthodox deals with our crude to raise cash. There were really no easy options left for this country and only those deceiving themselves would pretend there are.

    The new president had the option of continuing with the same old arrangement and face the very real possibility of the country not being able to meet its internal and external obligations, or dare to step where angels wouldn’t even tread.

    He bit the bullet by scrapping subsidies and ending multiple exchange rate regimes. We can argue all day as to whether it was wise to do one, not to talk of the two in one fell swoop.

    The cost of living crisis has been ferocious. We’ve seen in Kenya where President William Ruto pulled off the same fuel subsidy removal gambit, that the impact on prices can be bruising. Ever since, the consequences of those actions have hung over this administration like an ominous cloud.

    Tinubu spent much of the last 12 months staving off a potentially devastating national strike by the unions. But the best of his interventions haven’t slain the inflation monster. Courtesy of the new policies, federal and state governments now have more money to spend. We now know that state governments have received an estimated N570 billion in relief funds aside their higher takings from the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC). This is in addition to other measures calculated to take the edge off the blow to the average man’s pockets.

    Read Also: Kaduna protests sponsored by external forces, says Gov Sani

    The common man doesn’t scrutinise the nation’s accounts and probably doesn’t care that Tinubu stepped in to meet the country spending 97% of her revenues on debt servicing. He is hungry and food prices are out of reach, so he blames the president. Cartels that have been feeding fat on fuel imports, and probably have a hand in ensuring that refineries never work, would certainly not be pleased that the new man wants to snatch the lollipop out of their mouths.

    Conscious of the unrelenting cries about hunger and hardship, Tinubu has even had to execute a u-turn, approving a short term food importation exercise – something he had vowed not to do earlier this year. If so much is being done to assuage suffering, questions have to be asked whether this flood of cash and other palliatives are percolating down to the vulnerable targets.

    Clearly, they haven’t. Meanwhile, the pressure continued to mount with ominous warnings. It would take the Kenyan protests to give coherence to the muttering across the country.

    However, by plunging into a copycat agitation without putting local perspectives into consideration, the organisers saved the Tinubu administration from what could have been a more serious challenge if they had solely framed their agitation around hunger.

    These protests meant different things to different people. That was why the list of demands had at least 15 items. Everyone jumped on the bandwagon: ethnic jingoists, separatists, failed politicians and their supporters nursing hangovers from last year’s polls, rebels without a cause, anarchists, agent provocateurs from the diaspora, idealists with their heads buried in the clouds, ‘experts’ who haven’t successfully run their own lives but presume to have the blueprint for saving Nigeria etc etc.

    Many initially embraced the action because ‘hunger protest’ was something they could relate to. Alas, it was just a smoke screen for those with a more ambitious agenda of making the country ungovernable and ultimately unseating an administration they cannot abide. For such people ‘peaceful protests’ wouldn’t hack it and an uprising had to be manufactured.

    Nigeria has 36 states and six geopolitical zones. The violence has been most pronounced in the Northwest and Northeast. The North-Central zone was largely quiescent with the exception of Plateau State. There were protests in the three Southern zones but not of the feral nature seen up North. Sulking over a multitude of grievances, leading Southeast figures had campaigned in the weeks leading to the protests for their people to stay out of it, sensing that this was actually a political slugfest masquerading as a revolution.

    I am sure that the organisers expected more from Lagos given its peculiar circumstance as Tinubu’s home state and its past history as epicentre for popular agitation. There were indeed protests but the government and stakeholders had for weeks pushed a counter narrative that the state would not allow a repeat of the #EndSARS carnage. That robust and uncompromising message, along with a court order limiting the protests to specific locations, helped in defanging what could have become another episode of burning and looting similar to what happened in 2020.

    As it turned out, the streets were largely empty on the first two days of the protests. This wasn’t necessarily in solidarity with the goals of the agitators, but rather a wise decision by those who had been burnt in the past, to stay out of harm’s way. They knew from bitter experience that Nigerians don’t do ‘peaceful protests.’

    What has played out in Kano, Kaduna and certain parts of the North has been very revealing. Following an age-old pattern, almajiri – many of them not up to 10 years old – have been let loose on the streets in an orgy of looting and destruction by faceless sponsors. In Borno State, Governor Babagana Zulum confessed that 95% of the so-called protesters were underage.

    These are the same sort of children handed Russian or Nigerian Army flags in Kano and Kaduna to solicit a coup or foreign intervention. Those behind this sinister plot would rather it all went to hell than for the current administration to continue in power. They thought to undermine Tinubu but have turned many off by selling the discredited military rule option. Baying for Russia to bail them out is hilarious given that that country is still trying to disentangle itself from its Ukraine misadventure.

    There is abysmal poverty in Northern Nigeria, no doubt, but no one should blame it on a one-year-old administration. Many leaders from the region who have been attacking the president ought to hang their heads in shame having been part of governments that have led Nigeria for the bulk of her years as an independent nation. In all the years they led this nation – especially in boom periods – they did nothing to lift up their people. They created the mess they want the incumbent to clean up in 12 months.

    By politicising these protests, the enemies of the administration have shown their hands and done their worst. They sought to give Tinubu a bloody nose, even unseat him, but failed. The unintended consequence of their actions is that they’ve given him and his team the breathing space to pursue the path of recovery they have chosen.

  • Wanted: More leaders not ‘greeders’

    Wanted: More leaders not ‘greeders’

    Favour Ofili, star female sprinter, finalist in Olympics 2024 200m, but, in a catastrophic disgrace, our country’s sports administrators, ministry, athletic body, NOC, did her no favour by not confirming her registration for the 100m@2024ParisOlympics. We are again forced to witness another irresponsible scenario, truncating the 100m career of a champion. Heads must roll for ruining eight-years of preparation of a star athlete and publicly disgracing Nigeria.  What really is the level of administrative difficulty in 1. Calling for qualified athletes; 2. Receiving names and events; 3. Confirming the details with telephone and in writing aka communicating with athletes effectively;  4. Acknowledging receipt; 5. Transmitting; 6.Confirming transmission; 7. Sending reminder; 8. Receiving confirmation of registration for each event; 9. Checking confirmation for correctness; 10. Investigating and solving problems; and11. Transmitting confirmation to athlete?

    Is it administrative failure or corruption? We see selfies of politicians and administrators, all non-athletes, who ‘successfully’ registered at our citizens’ expense. This tragedy suggests an incompetent administrative support structure also seen by citizens in most government offices and is in tandem with our naira decline. Did the athlete fail to bribe along the human chain responsible for registration? EFCC AND ICPC -please investigate and prosecute as this is far worse than a despicable financial crime against a single athlete who has lost reputation and opportunity for awards, advertising, bragging rights and invitations amounting to thousands of dollars towards her OLYMPICS2028 plan. IT IS ALSO A FINANCIAL CRIME AGAINST NIGERIA, as we have lost the glory of the performance of a star citizen athlete.  Indeed, the integrity and competence of Nigeria and the Nigerian sporting apparatus is questionable following previous failure to provide for sports personnel ‘as and when due’ caused by lackadaisical approach to planning, support, travel and participation confirmation etc.

    Note that four-year International Sports Events are available. Most Nigerian athletes must japa to train with quality equipment and knowledge while shamefully in 2023/4, our leadership  buys hundreds of 2024 N160m jeeps for legislators and high government officials, spend N10-15b on vice president’s quarters, buy jets, pay stupidly irresponsibly huge salaries and other automatic drawings as Salaries and Perks, Pensions, and many other politically insensitive actions. Nigerian leaders must eliminate ‘greeders’, greed-driven leaders, and re-prioritise, please!       

    Our Nigerian athlete even if registered for the 100m may not have won the race spectacularly won by Albert of St Lucia. However, she deserves an apology. Nigeria failed her especially if incompetence or ‘pretend loss of a file’ corruption are involved.  Nigeria should apologise and bestow a national honour and financial rewards as if she had won the 100m race similar to ones to be given to her teammates.

    Investigation should exclude punishment for not playing ball i.e. if she had rejected any corruption or advances by management team members. All unpalatable causes must be eliminated. Female athletes worldwide are prone to ABCDEFG…advances, bullying, corruption demands & exploitation from guardians. Nigeria is not immune. The athletes may be silent, needing protection.

    Chant the following… Nigerian needs leaders, not ‘greeders’- greed driven leaders.  Since pre-1999, the traditional and now the social media, fact and fake, have been awash with genuinely workable, easily applied quick, medium- and long-term fixes, for the myriad, often greed-driven problems crippling the country and its deprived desperate citizens. The problems have been caused by the bad actions and inaction created by the CINS [Corruption, Incompetence, Negligence, Selfishness]  of a greedy political class and its collaborators across the public and private sectors specifically high civil servants, administrators, MDA officials, contractors and especially bankers at CBN even Directors, and get-rich-always bankers.

    The above culprits since 1999, with a few stellar exceptions, must accept liability for Project Nigeria@2024’s poor financial situation, express remorse, offer restitution, change sides and fight for legislative and constitutional changes to recover and grow Nigeria back to and beyond good governance expectations. The poverty they have corruptly created has created a nation of poor relations and constituents overburdened even them, the greeders, when they go home! They must be meeting now strategizing on rescue efforts for Project Nigeria@2024 to stop further haemorrhaging funds diverted to ‘greeder-over-needer’ individual pockets. They must stop financial recklessness and economically destructive political excesses including insulting pay, perks, pension and discontinue looting Constitutional Projects. Recycling the same ‘greeder-driven’ nonperforming politicians who have ‘expertise’ and ‘experience’ in ‘bad governance’ must be stopped.

    Nigeria’s growth has been hampered by an absence of a Contract Coordination Monitoring Unit leading to unchecked paralysis of urgent government electricity power and other important contracts by unpredictable corruption-caused bottlenecks, including port corruption.

    Read Also: Oyebanji unveils Leadership Academy in Ekiti

    We face a dangerous volcanic eruption manifested as deteriorating hijacked protests facing President Tinubu, governors, ministers, the 10th NASS and Houses of Assembly and MDA heads. These leaders must accept responsibility for past government and current ruin so far and begin to ramp Nigeria up to success rather than become greeders and run Nigeria further down to destruction. All governments must address citizens survival, to relieve decimated earning power and the misfortune befalling all families and  citizenry and the need for first line actions, emergency actions, and long-term actions. Cheap affordable food, fuel/gas and family and farm security and fuel and good education and affordable transport are the key to peaceful existence. Economically, Nigeria’s self-respect and earning value depends on a strong naira. Danger remains.  President Tinubu must make NNPC serve Nigeria.  President Tinubu’s legacy requires that ‘greeders’ leave for leaders!

  • ‘Protests: To be or not to be

    ‘Protests: To be or not to be

    In school, St Gregory’s College, Lagos, we would be given Compo-Comprehension or Essay, not Professor Soyinka’s Father OO! In the current context we would be asked to ‘Compare and Contrast – Strike or no strike’ or ‘To strike or not to strike – That is the question?’

    For the more than 100th time, simple protests are the right of right-thinking citizens. However, think through all possible adverse scenarios which could arise from any strike. Many strikes are traumatic to the non-striking population. Even strikes in courts lead to loss of life among awaiting trial and others impacted by the slow judicial process. We remember personal stories of trauma and loss during strikes involving professions especially the transport – road closures, fuel shortages, air/road/water travel interruption/cancelled plans/appointments/deliveries.

    The medical professions’ strikes cause absent/interrupted/delayed diagnosis/treatment, inadequate/absent staffing, many complications especially, deaths. Loss of life in a strike is a consequence of the absence of attention denied by the strike and by collateral damage. The EndSARS strike was painful in its outcome and the human rights debate around consequent deaths still rages after the inquiry. But the origin was a response to extreme unbridled prolonged unpunished and unchallenged excessive force and brutality by sections of the Police Services-unstopped for years by politicians. In the case of the EndSARS strike deaths, the situation was complicated with accusations of deadly force inflicted on unarmed citizens.

    We know where the victim becomes the accused, having to defend themselves, pay fines, are held in police custody, jailed and face strange charges sometimes ending in prison. 

    Abuse of office is not unique to our police force. Worldwide police services can be accused of excessive force and no accountability for actions, with excessive powers.  In the UK, the country is witnessing questionable Greater Manchester Police with a poor Police Complaints Commission function, excessive violence, strip searching vulnerable women and even men leaving them naked in the cell and the corridor of the cell block. The American police services will find it hard if not impossible to shake off the ‘Knee on My neck George Floyd’ murder in broad daylight. 

    Read Also: Drama as Senate rejects Ministry’s memoranda on Ajaokuta Steel

    Nationwide, in Nigeria people fear having anything to do with the police. The EndSARS was hijacked in many places by local idle groups, who naturally have a violent streak against any authority and many policemen in isolated situations were murdered and actually burnt to death in a rash of mindless violence which would not have happened if the EndSARS protest had been called off earlier. Timing matters.

     THERE IS IMMEASURABLE WISDOM IN KNOWING WHEN YOUR POINT HAS BEEN MADE, WHEN TO QUIT AND WHEN TO STEP BACK FROM THE TRENCHES.

    In Nigeria however, protests are often long in duration, tortuous and treacherous in progression, and uniformly poor in outcome.  In medical 5-6months strikes, paralysing and closing medical professional departments like nursing, pharmacy, or non-medical unions with consequent nonviolent sit-at-home by staff and paralysis of entire hospital networks usually lead to capitulation by strikers after stubbornly being ignored by relevant government organs – state or federal. All with little gain with more unfulfilled promises. Education strikes is most unrewarding and time consuming often losing an academic year with little succour at the end or remorse by government.

    There are different stages of disaster. The actual disaster. The response to disaster. The perception of disaster. The appreciation of the disaster. The prevention of disaster as a part of the learning curve. ‘I feel your pain’ cannot go with ‘I still want my gain’ from being in political office. We require remorse, not big agbadas. Learn from Ukraine’ leader. We too are at war and have five million suffering Internally Displaced Persons?

    The fake presidential speech on WhatsApp has several merit points and irrelevant ones. Those merit points stand out and have been discussed and digested ad nauseum since forever in this guest column and in thousands of other columns daily and airtime throughout the media by professional journalists and presenters vast in the frailty of the self-aggrandised political structures.

    The Nigerian Columnists Association is absolutely sick of the 1999-to-date repetition of the same solution to the growing malignant cancer of political cost killing Nigeria when the solution was so obvious. The country-preserving requirement for the need to save the country from a bloated politics is seen by everyone except the blind politicians blinded by power and greed. There is need for downsizing and cutting the cost of individual seats of the political hierarchy at every table sitting allowance. The political class immediately on assumption of office, greedily, haughtily and very insensitively always isolates itself from the citizenry’s pains.

    ‘Good governance’ demands shared suffering, especially the suffering pointed out daily in the media. The political and administrative classes have inserted themselves as middlemen between the citizens and the services when they should be mere fast-track conduits to improve lives of all.         

    Government must reduce itself to avert the protest, by wearing political sackcloth and ashes, stop its N100b corrupt officials, be seen to suffer and endure financial deprivation demonstrated by political policy implementation including a 50-75% cut in Salaries and Perks and Pensions and cutting the bloated political edifice eliminating huge costs. We pray for every Nigerian family and roadside business to survive the coming weeks with no loss of income, destruction and burning of property or loss of lives. Amen. All government property belongs to the citizens. Jaw-jaw is better than war-war!