The Nation Newspaper

Category: Wednesday

  • CBN; TSA killing university grants; FERMA

    CBN; TSA killing university grants; FERMA

    It is hard to think through the CBN’s decision to cancel its banned list of 43 items, the most infamous of them being toothpicks which we spent $18m importing in one year. It seems to defy logic. Perhaps it is based on the presumably credible CBN-researched assumptions that these 43 items have always been imported even during the ban and paid for by CBN dollars extracted out of CBN disguised for other purposes and sold at black market rates decimating naira value.

    Bringing the CBN 43 black market into the open dollar market may be a part of the rescue mission by reducing pressure on the dollar and shrinking the available black-market size. So, it could be a strategy to strengthen the dollar. But this is Nigeria where economic planning and results differ dramatically. The black-market cabal will not give up their lucrative stranglehold easily even though they decimate our one proud currency from $1.2: N1 to $1:1,000 dashing the dreams of our forefathers and creating a currency crisis, economic paralysis, massive poverty and shame in the population.

    The CBN should also quickly study the negative impact of TSA, Treasury Single Account, on reducing foreign exchange inflows and advise government that federal government (FG) will lose the contribution of millions of dollars annually in foreign inflows as well as millions of corporate naira for research grants across universities. Abuja has just been freed from the stranglehold of the TSA making it a de facto state. The TSA modus operandi needs re-examination by stake holders including an enlightened team of CBN, users, enforcers and abusers to plan the way forward. The TSA requires re-assessment to see if it actually controlled corruption during the Buhari regime. It can still be used to control FG finances against corruption in the university system. However, the attempt to also control private donations and international grants and purpose-directed donations for buildings and other programmes has backfired and instead created a huge funds-retrieval problem breaking contract timelines. CBN, the Nigerian Academies Science and of Arts, the Community of Retired Vice Chancellors should come together and collectively engage enlightened members of government and National Assembly, NASS, to provide government with evidence of TSA problems and losses by the university system before they fall even further behind in grant and project funding inflows. 

    Read Also; Reps want FG to channel fuel subsidy savings to healthcare

    The new minister of works is insisting on concrete federal roads from now on. Good. The naming of a 24year old BSc Bristol & Masters graduate as chairman of FERMA has jarred many, especially the professional civil engineering family, regardless of the professional cost of the political payback debts necessary to keep the job of president. No doubt he is a brilliant UK 1st Class degree holder. As a public figure now, tell us where and what he did during his NYSC posting. Did he actually work or was his NYSC certificate thrust upon him? With this appointment, his CV will, under his Future Plans probably read ‘Next step: become a minister in Nigeria’ by 2027 while other Nigerians wallow in the ‘Joblessness so no experience’ and ‘No experience therefore jobless’ for years.  Indeed, it appears obvious he is being groomed for the highest office. But is it to Nigeria’s and Nigerians collective advantage that this job is seriously devalued to ‘No experience necessary’ by the Tinubu government? It is not a youth appeasement job and has nothing to do with youthfulness or brilliance!

    So, our roads carrying millions of citizens, vehicles and a million lethal motorcycles aka okada daily with preventable multiple pothole deaths can be managed by a 24-year-old with zero experience? However, we demand 15years of security experience for ‘thief-thief catching’ in EFCC. Strange to say the least. The nation is in shock, but the bottom line is ‘can he deliver?’ And if he can actually deliver, will he deliver? Ability and actuality are always two different things in Nigeria. We live in hope and are raising our expectations slightly above ‘no expectation’. Last week we saw the devastated roads in and around Edo State which have defied funds and older engineers for years.

    Nigeria’s trucks are unregulated and truck owners are too greedy, avoiding two trip shipments. Today’s trucks are almost always overburdened in axle-weight for the capacity of our roads, destroying them. We had weighbridges on a few roads, especially the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, but they were quickly rendered useless, much like our refineries were destroyed by corruption, with deliberate destruction of the technology through deliberate damage, corrupt maintenance ‘wayo’ and simple greed.

    Can the new FERMA leadership enforce a load-weight 25-50% reduction for our trucks and lorries, which is a main cause of road damage apart from the corruption and some deliberate poor engineering standards in road construction. The new FERMA head, should not take the job in the interest of Nigerian moral. If he does, he must remember seeing UK roads dug up and repaired by the next day, potholes being filled daily, lorries watching their weight. Will he address these deficits in the Nigerian Federal Road network? He should!

    Will he raise up the next generation of 100+ Nigerian road construction companies to speed up road repair, spread the wealth and curtail the monopoly of the current big 5 in 2023-27? He should! In 2023 we are old enough to uplift construction companies run by and employing Nigerian born and bred engineers and technicians.  

  • Ondo state on my mind

    Ondo state on my mind

    Two confessions at the outset: First, my heart goes to Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN, Governor of Ondo State. He has my full sympathy for his illness, which has kept him from full-scale performance of his statutory duties. I was in a similar situation abroad, and my university fully supported me for the entire six months of treatment and another six to recuperate. Those who are throwing brimstones over Akeredolu’s decision to take a rest after his return to Nigeria last month either have no idea of his health condition and state of mind, lack empathy, or are simply mischievous. You do not play politics with a person’s health misfortune. I even praise him that he was able to meet with members of his cabinet, the legislature, and party leaders within days of his arrival. He has since assumed duties, although from Ibadan until he completes his medication regimen for this crucial phase of his treatment.

    The second disclosure: Ondo is my native state and I live there now in my retirement. I have been close to the Ondo state government since the days of late Governor Adekunle Ajasin on whose cabinet I would have served but for a fellowship and study leave abroad. Since that time, my ears have always been close to the ground about the state’s social, economic, and political developments. I have monitored Akeredolu’s administration from inception and written about it, criticizing, supporting, or praising it as appropriate. I also speak with the Governor or send text messages from time to time.

    With regard to the ongoing developments in the state, it is very clear that they have been laced with political undertones for which there are many culprits, ranging from the former APC Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, who made an explosive statement about Akeredolu’s health situation in Abuja, based on exaggerated media reports, to Akeredolu’s Deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who allegedly aided such sensational media reports within and outside the state. The role of Aiyedatiwa’s media aides in propagating negative information about Governor Akeredolu’s health situation led the Governor to sack them on his return. One unprintable material they circulated, and later withdrew, on the Governor’s health situation was an anticipatory obituary, laced with a dirgeful song.

    Read Also; Reps want FG to channel fuel subsidy savings to healthcare

    It cannot be denied that Akeredolu and his family contributed to the Deputy’s perceived hurry to become Governor. Before relations between Akeredolu and his Deputy turned frosty,  the former had said or implied publicly that the latter would succeed him. However, Akeredolu’s son and his mother (the First Lady) reportedly have not made it easy for Aiyedatiwa to function effectively as a Deputy Governor.

    The present problem with the Deputy reportedly began with his access to the Governor’s health records through aides close to the Governor. He and his own aides quickly translated what they saw as the Governor’s imminent death. This heightened the Deputy’s campaign within the cabinet for the Governor to transfer power to him, even when the Governor was still functioning, if only minimally.

    Once the Governor went abroad for medical attention and transferred power to Aiyedatiwa as Acting Governor, he assumed Governor Akeredolu was probably not coming back to power or even alive. He allegedly went full throttle not only to exercise power as Acting Governor but also to plan his own election as substantive Governor. In no time, the cabinet was fissured. Those who were promised “juicy” positions, including deputy governorship, quickly aligned with him, while those who were also planning to run for the office of Governor fell into another camp with their supporters.

    Of course, it is the Deputy’s legitimate right to want to become governor as it is for other qualified residents of the state. However, how he went about it and what he did during the brief period as Acting Governor raised eyebrows within the administration and across the state. From all available reports from within the administration and from the media, he was naïve about governance and lacked leadership qualities. He reportedly focused on grabbing power and using it for selfish ends than in exercising it for the benefit of the citizens. For three months, he did nothing tangible except to ask for this and that for himself. And this did not go well with some of his colleagues. Nor could the state legislators condone his excesses. Ultimately, they moved to impeach him.

    In a letter addressed and delivered to the Deputy Governor on September 20, 2023, the House raised fourteen (14) allegations against him, including gross misconduct, misappropriation, and embezzlement. Aiyedatiwa later responded to the House’s impeachment process with two court filings, one in Akure and the other in Abuja seeking an order to stop it and from harassing him. Nevertheless, the House moved ahead with the impeachment process, which has now developed a major delay, pending the vacation of the order of the Abuja Court, which has postponed judgement till October 30, 2023. Understandably, this led the Ondo State Chief Judge to decline to set up a Judicial Panel to investigate the allegations against the Deputy Governor.

    These developments are unfortunate for a number of reasons. First and foremost, governance is at its lowest ebb in the state and will remain so until this matter is resolved. On the one hand, the Governor is certainly still not well enough to function optimally. On the other hand, the Deputy Governor can no longer be trusted to do the right thing, if power were again transferred to him. He cannot function even in the capacity of Deputy Governor in view of these developments.

    Second, the perceived vacuum in governance has generated anxiety within the state, leading various groups to mount protests, some for or against the Deputy governor and others against the Governor. The ultimate goal is to seek ways of restoring normalcy in the state.

    Third, no matter how the matter is resolved, it has generated so much bad blood that good relations can no longer be restored between Governor Akeredolu and his Deputy; between the Deputy and his colleagues on the cabinet; and between the Deputy and the House of Assembly.

    Fourth, because of the protracted nature of the matter, the National Working Committee of the ruling party has found it necessary to intervene, by inviting the state House of Assembly to Abuja. Such intervention is motivated by Nigerian party culture, which sees disputes at any level as a family affair. Unfortunately, however, this particular intervention contravenes the relative autonomy of the state House of Assembly in a federal system. Compare the situation with a case in Chicago, when Mayor Harold Washington suddenly died of a heart attack in his office. The Democratic Party at the national level refrained from intervening in the ensuing fight between two members of the party to succeed him.

    In the final analysis, there appears to be only two options to resolve the Ondo impasse, without impacting on party unity. One is to allow the House of Assembly to move forward with impeachment. If his hands are clean, he would be exonerated. The alternative is for Aiyedatiwa to resign from office. Either way, the earlier the matter was resolved the better for ensuring party unity before election about a year away. The option of pacification being attempted by the NWC cannot heal the wounds that have already cut deep. If anything, it may exacerbate distrust and party disunity within the state.

    Whatever path is followed, it must be remembered that, in good health, Akeredolu did his best for the state, for the Southwest, and even for the entire South. Now that he is temporarily down, we should not trample on him. I hope he gets well soon.

  • Atiku: How much is in the glass of discoveries?

    Atiku: How much is in the glass of discoveries?

    Perhaps no story emanating from the 2023 electoral cycle in Nigeria demonstrates the divisions in our society and in the media than the fishing expedition in American courts over President Tinubu’s qualifications to contest Nigeria’s presidential election. The expedition was spearheaded and sponsored “at great cost” by one of his political opponents, Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party.

    On the one hand, there are those who see a half full, if not full, glass in Atiku’s fishing expedition into Tinubu’s qualifications for President, especially his claim that he graduated from Chicago State University. They claim that they found many things incriminating by focusing on ancillary matters. These are Tinubu’s opponents in politics and the media, who ignored the evidence and proceeded to claim that Tinubu forged CSU certificate. Specifically, they claim that the person, who graduated from CSU, may not have been Tinubu at all, because (a) the transcript from the College from which he transferred to CSU indicated female gender; (b) there are contradictory entries of year of birth in the candidate’s records, although day and month or birth were the same; and (c) Black-American was checked out as the applicant’s ethnicity.

    Yet, the CSU Registrar dismissed (a) and (b) above as possible clerical errors, which he had seen occur several times as Registrar. More importantly, he insisted with evidence that Tinubu’s letter of admission was addressed to a male, as “Dear Mr. Tinubu”. Besides, he confirmed that the same Social Security Number on the transfer College is the same as the one on Tinubu’s CSU records. The opponent’s reference to (c) above demonstrates sheer ignorance of the American social system. Even until now, Black- or African-American is the category of choice for “a person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa”, according to the US Census Bureau.

    For Tinubu’s supporters in politics and the media, Tinubu has no case to answer, meaning that Atiku returned from Chicago with an empty glass. After all, the Registrar testified (1) that Bola Ahmed Tinubu attended CSU and graduated in 1979 with Honours in Business Administration, majoring in Accounting; (2) that the Tinubu, who graduated from CSU, is the same Tinubu, who is the current President of Nigeria; (3) that there was no copy of Tinubu’s certificate on file, meaning that he picked it up on graduation; (4) that the university does not print certificates but only outsources the printing to outside vendors, meaning that only the vendor, which issued the certificate, can authenticate it; and (5) that certificates carry no weight whatsoever in the American system, because, like academic gowns, they are only ceremonial papers—that’s why, according to the Registrar, many students don’t bother to pick them up after graduation.

    Read Also: Why my SSCE certificate bears Sadiq Abubakar – Atiku

    I can attest to some of these claims as a student and professor in the American educational system, having received doctorate training and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, and having taught in three American university systems for nearly 30 years. In particular, it remains true till today that outside vendors print certificates and make academic gowns. Any student can order replacements or replicas from the vendors, once they are satisfied that you graduated from the university involved. The size and format of the certificates are generally the same, typically 8.5×11 inches, across disciplines and across universities.

    Atiku’s claim of forgery requires close examination. He and his lawyers seem to have moved beyond contesting Tinubu’s attendance at CSU or his graduation from the university. They are silent on the confirmation that he graduated with Honours, meaning with distinction, with a high GPA. They ignored the corroborative evidence by a classmate of Tinubu’s who swore on oath that they even contested the same position for student leadership and graduated in the same year. Rather, they are focusing on his replacement certificate as a forgery, only because the CSU Registrar says he cannot attest its authenticity since it was not a document in the student’s file. Why would he when the certificate was printed by an outside vendor? The Registrar rightly testified only to the records on the student’s file.

    But Atiku and his lawyers found a glass full of forgery and proceeded with their newfound evidence to the Supreme Court, claiming that it “was not in existence or available at the time of filing the petition or the hearing of the petition”. It is better at this point to leave the matter to the Supreme Court.

    It is pertinent, however, to reflect upon Atiku’s mission and whether or not he is truly interested in the truth. Why the recent overzealous pursuit of this matter, when Atiku had over a year to do so? It is the same answer that was given to his baseless petition in the first place. The goal was not necessarily to win but to throw dirt on the winner, delegitimise the election, and distract his attention from governance. Atiku gave a hint of his animosity against Tinubu in his so-called world press conference, when he claimed that Tinubu was responsible for his own loss in the election, by abetting the balkanization of his (Atiku’s) political party. Who knows whether his marabout has advised him to avenge the loss any way he can?

    But, come to think of it, Atiku has every reason to be upset. This is his sixth unsuccessful run for President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria—in 1993, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2023. He is the only Nigerian with that record. He is also the only one who has run for President under four different political parties. How could he be floored by someone, who ran only once and won, despite all the obstacles on his way? Besides, Atiku must have figured out that he may not be able to run again in 2027, when he will be 81 years old. So, if he cannot get it this time around, he must damage the person, who won and delegitimise the election.

    It is for the above reasons that Atiku should not be blamed for internationalising the fight with his adversary, by going all the way to the United States for evidence. After all, didn’t Peter Obi’s supporters carry their protest over his loss to the White House? However, questions remain for Atiku as to why he ignored the evidence that Tinubu attended CSU and graduated in flying colours. Can someone forge the certificate of a degree he actually earned? Why focus on a paper that is considered worthless in the country of issue to the point that its printing is outsourced?

    While Atiku’s statesmanship has been called into question by these developments, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has remained focused on governance. The American comparison is also striking here: President Joe Biden has focused on governance, by neglecting former President Donald Trump’s shenanigans. That is what statesmen do.

  • CBN: ‘What is the exchange rate of the Nigerian???’

    CBN: ‘What is the exchange rate of the Nigerian???’

    Perhaps the security forces would prefer not to announce operations ahead of time as it affords the enemy the opportunity to escape or ambush our gallant forces. Secrecy and silence were paramount in security. Maybe the announcement is a cunning military strategy?         

    The CBN team must put a notice in CBN offices asking ‘WHAT IS THE EXCHANGE RATE OF THE NIGERIAN, NOT JUST THE NAIRA? ’. We cannot divorce the naira from the lives of Nigerians. It is a financial fatal mistake for CBN and financial institutions to ignore the Nigerian holding the naira. In medicine and education, we know that naira value determines the quality and quantity of care and education. By now, the CBN leadership would have had a rude awakening from the congratulatory media spotlight having successfully scaled the sometimes-odoriferous political screening procedure. The dream of high office is over, the nightmare of office-holding has begun, or perhaps ‘daymare’ or sleepless ‘night-and-day-mare’? One can only imagine the ‘true talk’ revelations the CBN team face daily especially with the corruption by inactivity and unconstitutional over-activity revealed by the federal government’s forensic investigator, as frightening financial facts are dug up. The team has become fully conversant with funds or the lack of funds and the ever-deepening account of the void in the vault[s] of the deeply wounded or actually raped apex bank.

    The team must know the answer to the first question for the new CBN leadership: ‘Does Nigeria have $3.4billion or $34billion in Foreign Reserves?’ What is the foreign reserve figure? The CBN needs to answer ‘Who or what is the black market in Nigeria?’ The CBN should have a black-market imitator presenting the mind, method and machinations of the black market to predict the cabal’s actions to the CBN’s Daily Emergency Strategic Meeting’.

    The foreign exchange black market is a major cancer in Nigeria and a very expensive debilitating disease, difficult to eradicate and very deadly to the citizenry. Everyone finally realises that everything for transporting life’s daily needs like kerosene, petrol, diesel or gas and food require foreign exchange. Manipulated or not, foreign exchange rate is very relevant to everyone, from baby on powdered milk to grandparent on imported diapers. The stupid saying that ‘good foreign exchange rates and fuel prices only favour the rich and cheat the poor’ is now exposed as the ludicrous lie we have been trying to expose for years.

    Nigeria has managed to create many jobs non-existent elsewhere and refusing to create jobs that exist elsewhere – the ones which make countries great nations. We have an army of aboki forex mules, a cabal to make the dollar crazily more expensive than it should be and ‘fresh naira note sellers’ on the creation side. There is a complete lack of dedicated maintenance staff on the other hand.

    Read Also: eNaira no threat to financial stability, says CBN

    Nigeria demands that the ‘Nigerian Forex Cabal’, a key culprit in our financial wows today, must, like any illegitimate organisation,  voluntarily wind-up operations by being starved of CBN funds needed by legitimate corporate and private individual needs. The cabal must be neutralised, prosecuted and imprisoned for financial terrorism against Nigeria. The CBN collaborators deserve no mercy. The cabal only thrives because someone, somewhere, created an artificial scarcity atmosphere.

    CBN high officials cannot claim ignorance of the source. CBN in collaboration with other relevant agencies especially ICPC, EFCC, etc. must conduct a high-powered investigation to neutralise the kingpins and end this third force assault on Nigerian naira. Can the CBN wrestle the demon of the black-market cabal to the ground or will its corrupt shadow forever dwarf the CBN? Will more dollars fall out of the CBN net, under the radar allowing the cabal to create naira even less valuable than it is now with to crashing through the N1000:$1 ruining pension, salary and manufacturing plans? 

    No doubt the increase in oil price to $92 per barrel should increase our foreign exchange earnings handsomely especially as we majorly reduce oil theft and approach the limit of legal barrels per day to recover from our 44% shortfall. Sadly, even with this anticipated increase in earnings, we have been told that the immediate past government secretly forward-sold our oil and perhaps [mis]spent the foreign exchange in advance and for an undisclosed period. If true, those who did this should be tried for financial mismanagement and abuse of office. The side effect of what should have been a celebratory high oil price $92 bringing much needed massive foreign exchange into Nigeria and the rubbish naira value concocted by the greed-driven foreign exchange cabal is the high market price of oil products.

    Will government have to reintroduce subsidies or give more palliatives to reduce the escalating fuel and transport costs ruining Nigerian families?

    Of course, if CBN could pay off Nigeria’s legitimate corporate and individual immediate accumulated dollar debts as it claims, create the miracle of providing enough dollars for daily legitimate markets with adequate dollars which requires better dollar inflows from oil etc., starve the leakage to the black-market cabal, eliminate the black market and deliberately strengthen the naira, then poverty figures would drop. We need made-in-Nigeria fuel, better power supply, destruction of oil smugglers, elimination of the forex cabal, and immediate ease-of-doing-business promotion of dollar earning enterprises which earn rather than burn foreign exchange. These will demonstrate that the government and CBN at last value the ‘THE EXCHANGE RATE OF NIGERIANS’.

  • Nigeria @ 63; ‘maintenance’; ‘no plea bargaining’

    Nigeria @ 63; ‘maintenance’; ‘no plea bargaining’

    As we celebrate the 63rd year of Independence remember that the people of Nigeria have a much older history- good, bad, oppressive and being oppressed. Some countries reject their independence day from colonisation and celebrate earlier historical references even changing their colonial name. We should remember those Nigerians whose actions have held us back and pray and work so we get back on track to changing our country into a great nation. Citizens do not flee from great nations. We will know we are a great nation when we have 24/7 power 60-100MW, generators fall silent, foreigners visit, japaed Nigerians return from abroad, our sports heroes train in Nigeria and the tide of death-risking illegal migrants stops while tourism to  Nigeria swells to a tsunami.  

    The deliberate abandonment of history in school, has largely suppressed our past glory and even the gory from our memory, conversation and education coursework. This suppression of history, first colonial, then reversed by know-your-history early post-colonial reactionary political leadership and then suppressed again by the military coup policies, have caused an identity crisis. ‘If you do not know where you are coming from, how do you expect to know where you are going?’ History is ‘His story’ + ‘her story’= ‘Our story’. Without a story, what are we? ’Who are you?’ History is not always palatable. All people and nations have stories best kept secret.  

    Beyond our varied history, Nigeria faces leadership and followership corruption from dirt poor to filthy rich life. Sadly, the anti-corruption organs charged with stopping corruption have failed to reach expected successful prosecution rates. The absence of early warning preventive measures like financial alarms triggered by small thefts to alert anti-corruption organs like the Police, EFCC and ICPC is a major problem similar to refusing to put measuring devices on Nigeria’s oil pumps. Nigerians are angered by absence of deterrents or no early capture of corruption criminals while their crimes are in infancy. No spotlights or close monitoring or close marking of ‘potentially corrupt officers’ in ‘financially juicy offices’ to frighten them into honesty. It is only when most culprits leave office that they are discovered to have links to sometimes N100b theft each, cumulatively amounting to trillions of naira losses from budgets.

    Imagine if that money had never been stolen across the governance structure! We would have had the positive effect of affording more humane salary and pension expectations especially when compared to the embarrassing bloated political salary, perks and support structure costs which should be cut by 75%! That stolen money would have given us 21st Century electricity, schools, universities, hospitals, roads, travel and transport. Modernising our ports, railways would have been accomplished years earlier without strangulating foreign loan repayment rates.

    Read Also: Impeachment: Ondo Speaker drags Justice Nwite before NJC

    Politicians should never have been allowed to think that they had power to ‘give or refuse’ books, classrooms, laboratories, desks, chairs, salaries, pensions, culverts, pothole filling, bridges or rubbish clearance or make them worthy of press coverage. They should never have dared to wildly celebrate their responsibility to spend the citizens’ budgets on the citizens’ needs including scholarships, bursaries, development training courses et cetera which were standard in the 60-70s but have been denied to today’s youth with the money diverted. Remember the names of governors who reduced workers’ rights to salaries or pensions? In private business that is prosecutable theft and breach of contract. Without punishment evil continues, forcing subsequent governments to pay the inherited debt burden.

    What the totality of money stolen from budgets could have done developmentally for Nigeria ‘I cannot tell it all’ but I can shout ‘we have suffered Oh’ and ‘Enough is enough’. At 63, our development has been stunted by colonisers followed by uncaring milito-political class, especially at governor/state level, supported by a criminal cohort from all professions and society strata.

    Now instead of getting this corruption money back, we hear of plea bargaining. Did they plea bargain with us when they stole our budgets aka development funds? So why should we plea bargain to get 10-20% of our 100%? It is also corruption by plea bargaining agencies if they fail to retrieve 100% +interest from criminals. ‘All we are saying…get all our money back!’  SECRET PLEA BARGAINING CAN BE CORRUPTED & MUST BE ‘OPEN PLEA BARGAINING’ IN PUBLIC. Emefiele is being offered a plea bargain. Nigeria and Nigerians must not lose their money to corruption twice. STOP PLEA BARGAINING IN NIGERIA FOR NOW!

    Corruption is in thought, word and deed causing a cancer reducing societal survival. People die! CORRUPTION KILLS BRAINS, BODIES AND ESPECIALLY BABIES IN THOUSANDS PER N100M. PERIOD!

    The cost of development has been hyper-inflated by corruption, cutting kilometres built and quality and buildings quantity and quality across the social spectrum. This reduces Sustainable Developmental Goal scoring by Nigerian budgets.

    Dirt is a social and medical enemy of development combated by an inherited colonial  ‘MAINTENANCE CULTURE’ making small budgets stretch, filling potholes and making toilets, offices and clinics  cleaner, safer and more hygienic, allowing them to be used for longer with improving the work experience. Visit ministries to see holes in ceilings and dilapidated chairs cutting into walls and with torn fabric with protruding foam and dirty corridor and office walls and stairwells where hands, heads, feet and chair-backs have marked walls. Just paint please! Maintenance oils the development wheel. Without maintenance, we move backward. Nigeria can be poor but clean or rich and dirty. Our choice.

  • Tinubu: Five major speeches in less than five months

    By September 29, 2023, when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had spent exactly four months in office, he had delivered four major speeches in which he variously outlined his agenda (or parts thereof) for the country and his vision of Nigeria’s role in West Africa, Africa, and the world. The four speeches were (1) the inauguration speech on May 29; (2) the Democracy Day speech on June 12; (3) the speech on the economy (some see it as the speech on palliatives) on July 31; and (4) the speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 19. In addition to these speeches, he delivered a fifth one last Sunday on the occasion of the nation’s 63rd independence anniversary on October 1, 2023. That was at the beginning of his fifth month in office.

    As usual with the Nigerian press, plenty of noise is made about each speech within days of its delivery and the noise dies down within a week. Some analyse each speech for what it actually contains, while others analyse it for what it does not contain. Some see a half-empty glass in each speech, while others see a half-full glass. Yet others, blinded by pathological hatred, see nothing at all—they go on a rant on what they would have liked to hear but was not in the speech or they twist what was said to suit what they wanted to hear. Few ever go back to the speeches in the bid to remind the President of his promises and nudge him on the path of achieving them, forgetting that the success of his administration is our collective success.

    Yet, the speeches are a call for action by all arms of government. However, citizen participation is also necessary for the implementation of government activities. One of the functions of the press is to inform citizens of the government’s agenda and educate them about their role in their implementation. After all, citizens are the beneficiaries of the agenda. Of all negative criticisms that could be raised against the Tinubu administration, failure to state its agenda is not, and should never be, one of them. He has left nothing unsaid, from the Renewed Hope manifesto to the speeches mentioned above. What is more, the speeches have grown with his administration, from his vision for the country in his inaugural speech to his view on global cooperation in the UNGA speech. And with the growth of the speeches is the widening of the President’s horizon from Abuja to the far corners of the globe via New Delhi at the 18th G20 Summit and New York at the 73rd UNGA meetings.

    True, all the speeches have one thing or the other to say about domestic policy, the first three speeches as well as the Independence anniversary speech focus largely on domestic issues, while the UNGA speech takes a leap to the world at large.

    Although the inauguration speech is now remembered for the aftermath of the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of the multiple exchange rates, it also reiterated the President’s manifesto on various sectors beyond the economy, including security, agriculture, infrastructure, jobs, and foreign policy.

    Read Also: Resist ‘japa’ syndrome, explore Nigeria’s opportunities, Soludo’s aide tells youths

    Above all, it was an inspirational speech, in which the President pledged inclusivity and collectivity. In particular, he reached out to political opponents, who “shall forever be my fellow compatriots … represent(ing) important constituencies and concerns that wisdom dare not ignore”. Moreover, “I shall serve with prejudice toward none but compassion and amity towards all”. Never mind that some political opponents continue on their wild goose chase of ever elusive victory, while others continue on their agenda of delegitimising the election and throwing dirt on the victor. 

    Within two weeks of inauguration, the President again gave a major speech on the need to continue on the path of democracy, in honour of Chief MKO Abiola, whose election was inexplicably annulled by the military government, and died in pursuit of his mandate, while also honouring the sacrifices of those who fought for democracy (some with their lives), following the annullment of the election. Nevertheless, the President never took his eyes off the economy as he reiterated the key measures he had taken so far.

    The third speech on the economy was primarily a follow-up to the removal of fuel subsidy and the provision of palliatives to cushion the effects of the hike in fuel prices that followed. In the speech, the President spelled out a range of measures that would ameliorate the effects of the economic policies (for details, see Akinnaso, The President’s speech on the economy, The Nation, August 2, 2023). Admittedly, a number of the measures need longer gestation periods as is usual with socioeconomic measures in general.

    Unfortunately, the labour unions have chosen to allign with the opposition, and the press has not been helpful in properly educating union leaders and the public about the usual delay for economic measures to take effect. Even in the United States, where President Joe Biden developed various economic measures two years ago to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, some states are still reeling from the effects and the measures have yet to fully mature.

    It was in the UNGA speech that President Tinubu rose to the level of a global statesman. He spoke for Nigeria, West Africa, and the African continent as a whole. The speech sought to place Africa on equal footing with the rest of the world  in the negotiation for economic benefits: The rest of the world should be prepared to do business with Nigeria and Africa “in a equal, mutually beneficial manner” (for a comprehensive review of the speech and the President’s other activities at the UNGA meetings, see Tunde Rahman, 78th UNGA: President Tinubu and his defining moment, The Nation, September 30, 2023).

    In the Independence speech given last Sunday, October 1, 2023, the President revisited the economic measures and rolled out new ones. He also outlined new measures on monetary policy and tax administration. Furthermore, he emphasised key investment funding for small and medium scale enterprises. Other key measures include the expansion of the social register to involve additional 15 million people; boosting employment rates; and equipping the security forces. Despite the clarity of the President’s speech, the Peoples Democratic Party saw or heard nothing (see Tinubu’s Independence Day speech was empty, bereft of ideas, The Cable, October 2, 2023)!

    What is missing in all the speeches is review of the civil service, which is sorely needed as that is the arm of government primarily involved in the implementation of government programmes at federal and state levels. Equally needed is a clear, free-standing agency, department, or commission, dedicated to the evaluation of job performance, according to verifiable key performance indices. These are subjects to be taken up in a subsequent essay.

  • Why the MOUs with Cuba should be implemented

    Why the MOUs with Cuba should be implemented

    The relationship between Nigeria and Cuba is deeper than most citizens of both countries appreciate. Historically, twice as many slaves were shipped to Cuba alone than to the entire United States of America, making Cuba the largest slave colony in all of Hispanic America. At their peak around 1838, there were as many as 400,000 slaves in Cuba. That’s why, today, the Cuban population of just about 11 million is highly mixed, with approximately 37 percent White, 11% Black, 1 percent Chinese, and a whopping 51 percent mulatto (that is, persons with White and Black ancestry). Majority of Cuban slaves were from West Africa, largely from Nigeria. That is why, today, a Nigerian visitor to Cuba will easily see another person, who looks like himself or herself or looks like his or her relative, friend, or neighbour. The cultural resemblances are even more striking, from art and food to various cultural practices.

    In view of this historical relationship, I found it surprising that it was not until July 1974 that Cuba and Nigeria established diplomatic relations, with the Cuban Embassy opened in Lagos in that year and the Nigerian Embassy opened in Havana the following year. Today, relations between the two countries cover education, health, economy, trade, culture and sports. However, these relations have been more nominal than functional. True, diplomatic relations between both countries have been sustained over the years, there isn’t much to show for it in any of the sectors highlighted above, save for private individuals, who go to Cuba for business or to train in medicine or biotechnology.

    It is against the above backgrounds that we should explore the two recent Nigerian delegations to the Republic of Cuba in the last two years, the first in April/May 2022 and the second in September 2023. The first delegation was composite. Some delegates went there to attend the international conference on biotechnology, which held from April25-29, 2022, while others went there to inspect Cuba’s biomedical facilities. Yet others went there to explore business potentials, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. The outcome of the delegation was a Memorandum of Understanding between Nigeria and Cuba to collaborate on contract manufacturing, technology transfer, vaccine production, and sale of Cuban biopharmaceutical products in Nigeria.

    Read Also: Nigeria, Cuba sign MoU on food security, agric advancement

    I organised the media briefing by the Nigerian delegation at the Cuban Embassy on their return from Cuba (see Akinnaso, Why collaboration with Cuba is important, The Nation, July 6, 2022, and Emoriken, Nigeria, Cuba explore prospects of local vaccine production, The Nation, July 5, 2022).

    The more recent Nigerian delegation to Cuba was even more elaborate and high-powered than the first one, being led by Vice President Kashim Shettima himself. Although the primary mission was to attend the G77+China Leadership Summit, major advances in Nigeria-Cuba relations were made on the sidelines. Two major MOUs were signed. One was to enhance collaboration between the two countries in innovation, science and technology.

    Admittedly, 2022 MOU on same was signed during the lame-duck session of the previous administration and toward the end of the tenure of the previous Cuban Ambassador to Nigeria, Clara Pulido-Escandell. However, given the overlap between the 2022 and 2023 MOUs, the next logical step is to consolidate both MOUs and move forward. It will be mutually beneficial for both countries to fully implement these agreements. Indeed, Nigeria has more to gain from their implementation. Cuba’s biotechnology industry, which developed in response to the US blockade in the early 1960s, is among the best in the world. It is made up of more than 30 research institutions and 45 companies (31 in Cuba and 14 abroad), under the supervision of the state-run conglomerate, BioCubaFarma.

    Today, Cuba is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of biopharmaceutical products, especially vaccines. It was Cuba that developed the world’s first meningococcal B vaccine in the late 1980s. Currently, Cuba’s biopharmaceutical industries have 110 production facilities, producing 996 different products and hiring over 190,000 workers. It is no wonder that Cuba has alliances with over 60 countries in the manufacture and distribution of biopharmaceutical products.

    Besides, Cuba’s investment in medical training and biomedical research provides a global model, which allows the country to have one of the highest doctor-to-patient ratios in the world. That’s why Cuba can afford to dispatch healthcare professionals all over the world to combat disasters and epidemics. They were in Haiti during the cholera outbreak in 2010; in West Africa during the Ebola crisis of 2013-2016; and in Italy when COVID-19 peaked in 2020. They should have been invited to Nigeria as well.

    The second MOU signed with Cuba in 2023 was on agriculture and food security. Specifically, the agreement called for ways of enhancing the agriculture value chain, from improving seeds and seedlings and biofortification of agricultural produce to agricultural mechanisation and reduction of post-harvest losses. Improvements in poultry, livestock, and fisheries were also included. Again, like the agreement on biotechnology, it is necessary to follow up on the agreement on agriculture as Nigeria has a lot to learn from Cuba. Despite its small land area, Cuba today is a global player in mechanised agriculture and the export of coffee, sugar, honey, and tobacco, notably the popular Cuban Cigars.

    Bilateral agreements with Cuba have both diplomatic and symbolic implications. Implementation of the agreements will bring Nigeria closer to understanding the plight of Cuba and Cubans as they struggle to survive the oppressive blockage imposed on them by the United States government since 1962. Unfortunately, Cuban Blacks suffer the most as a result of the embargo. As the largest nation of Blacks in the world, the Nigerian government should be keenly interested in the survival of Blacks anywhere in the world.

    The recent escalation in diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Cuba are more than welcome as it will bring mutual benefits to both countries. Fortunately, Cuba’s new Ambassador to Nigeria, Miriam Morales Palmero, is anxious to see the recent agreements through. She has been meeting with top Nigerian officials and touring various states, encouraging alliances with Cuba. During the presentation of her credentials to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the Presidential Villa on August 24, 2023, the President acknowledged Cuba’s advances in science and technology as well as the development of their health system. He agreed that bilateral relations between the two countries should be fully developed, especially in the interest of our youths. The Tinubu-Shettima administration has its reputation on the line regarding these bilateral agreements.

  • NYSC, students; CBN: Stop ‘Clean vs Dirty notes’ scam  

    NYSC, students; CBN: Stop ‘Clean vs Dirty notes’ scam  

    Again, more attacks on youth – students, undergraduates and corps members. When will the Nigerian Armed Forces execute a pincer war strategy encircling and capturing terrorists, preventing an escape, since there is a war against Nigeria?  

    Nigeria has good people. Read obituaries. Congratulations on President Tinubu’s choice for CBN special investigator, the CEO of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Jim Obazee, and team  for  following CBN’s paper and electronic trail of meetings, social media [?doctored] financial approvals and inflows/outflows leading hopefully to prosecutions which will motivate the new team.  

    Imagine a whole past CBN management team criminally neglecting audits for six years- breaching CBN anti-corruption law. This ‘Forensic Auditing with Culprits’ model is underutilised in the Nigerian corruption-infested governance structure. To stop the corruption pandemic infecting the new CBN, Nigeria must insist on a COMPULSORY ‘PUBLISHED QUARTERLY FORENSIC AUDIT’ compiled into the ‘THE ANNUAL FORENSIC AUDIT’, within two weeks of year end giving immediate online results. Impose this on each government organ immediately and involve ICPC and EFCC and make it Lesson 1-0-1 creating alarm bells for early detection/prevention of Nigeria’s annual trillion-naira fraud. 

    We welcome the new governor, Yemi Cardoso and the deputy governors’ team to the stinking/sinking apex bank ship in Nigeria, a metaphor for citizens’ economic woes and the institutionalisation of the decline and fall of our tormented naira. That naira fall is CBN’s yoke especially as CBN is said to have printed unbacked currency, ignored or facilitated round-tripping of forex inflows with collaborators masquerading as corporate and murky oil industry gurus. Today’s nefarious activities of the recent CBN board forced every Nigerian to become a mini-economist reducing the revered ‘CBN’ to a swear word ‘Come Bastardise Naira’! Is ongoing Forensic Audited CBN activities a Police, EFCC, ICPC matter? If not, why not? The country demands justice and reparation. Immunity and impunity will only perpetuate corruption.

    Nigeria cannot afford a Nollywood-like sequel to CBN pre-2015-2023 financial meltdown film or stage play entitled “2015-2023- CBN Fiscal Fiasco”. The new CBN team must study the wrongs from the past CBN management team and jettison bad precepts of bad predecessors to avoid being stars in the ‘Annals of Nigeria’s Fiscal Failure and Economic Emasculation’.

    Indeed, all Nigerians in leadership positions must reassess their positions, roles and legacy and determine to reduce their greed-expectations for power over OPM-Other People’s Money. Most Nigerians inexplicably happily disgrace their parentage, pedigree and old school for ‘filthy lucre’ which deprives the needy. Today, Nigerians, following the currency collapse disaster from Babangida to 2023, need every naira, and dollar, monitored and spent appropriately. Some with poor parentage and no memory of family having suffered war, weather [climate catastrophe wiping away any family memory] and wickedness [murder of family members], retained their ‘omoloabi’, humanity and self-worth without stealing a kobo. Reputation is personal, not institutional and goes beyond the title and pedigree.  

    Jesus Christ asked his apostles “Who do men that say I am?” We must apply this ‘Jesus Question’ to ourselves and value non-monetary wealth and our ancestors’ reputation above greed. My father, Dr Abayomi A Marinho’s picture in my office daily reminds of my family honour, responsibility and the dignity of labour. Try it. Even those who lost parents in childbirth or youth can be Faithful, Loyal and Honest-FLH- to Project Nigeria. My family was honoured, and terrified, when in 1978-9, while I was a resident doctor in UCH, Dr Marinho and Mr FB Cardoso came to stay in our UCH flat for a function. They chose family and friendship over Premier Hotel luxury.   

    There are many corruption problems facing CBN. The one hiding-in-plain-site enraging Nigerians is not the rubbishing of the naira before the dollar but the uniquely Nigerian 30year old ‘CBN Clean vs Dirty notes Scandal’. CBN routinely issued new notes to replace dirty notes regularly but refused to investigate the customer complaint that clean notes were not reaching the tellers and bank customers who were left with dirty notes. In fact, clean mint notes were only available to the rich direct from banks managers and through a uniquely Nigerian bank, new illegal business chain, third party girls parading wads of mint notes and bank doors, and social functions, who broke the law by perhaps acting as fronts for managers and selling those clean mint notes at above the currency face value- a currency crime, legalised by CBN’s refusal to act.   

    Surely this is “SALE OF THE CURRENCY NOTES ABOVE THE VALUE IS FINANCIAL TERRORISM” making our banking system a laughing-stock among international bankers sniggering”. That is Nigeria where they actually sell their own currency to each other at a profit. I hear a N1000 mint note can be sold for N1,100 dirty currency so the mint notes can be pasted, they call it spraying actually, on breasts of brides and birthday celebrants only to fall to the floor and be picked or swept up by minions. Madness! But someone replied: “Maybe they are wise, creating a mint new notes currency scarcity causes a demand and supply crisis? Criminal creativity? Making money out of nothing. Banking entrepreneurship!”

    The new CBN governor can remind banks to obey the clean-dirty note law. It is a serious credibility step. It will send signal to every bank manager that normalcy is back. It will end a blot on our dear currency.  Just as if the IGP can stop police checkpoint extortion nationwide costing citizens N24-40b annually.  

  • Parenting dilemmas today

    When I was growing up in Ajegunle village, a cocoa farming outpost in Idanre in the 1940s, my parents were not only respected, but they were also revered. This was especially true of my father, who was regarded as the king of the household. Neither of them went to school and neither of them was literate as they were too busy with their farms to take advantage of the colonial government’s adult education scheme.

    I was the first person in my family to ever go to school. However, my very first school was not the missionary or colonial government’s school. Rather, it was a divination school. I was apprenticed to a diviner to learn the art and science (yes, science) of Ifa divination. It was the establishment of cocoa farmers cooperative society that led my father to withdraw me from divination school for the missionary school. He wanted me to learn to read and write like the secretary of the cooperative society, who would “scribble something” during the farmers’ meetings and later read the minutes of their last meeting to them. This “magic” captivated my father, especially when he became the Treasurer of the society. He wanted me to keep track of the flow of money he needed to account for by keeping accurate records for him.

    Once I learned to read and write, I became fascinated by the widening of my horizon to include people, places, and things I would never have known. I read anything that came my way. As my education advanced, libraries and bookstores became my favourite locations to find something to read. I shared this with a close friend, who has a similar passion for libraries and bookstores, when we read about Vice President Kashim Shettima’s penchant to visit bookstores on his trips.

    Each book I read widened my horizon and improved my knowledge one way or the other. In particular, I learned new words, new sentence structure, and new ways of conveying meaning. I learned how to write and write well from reading books. I encountered some books at every level of my education up to the university, more so because I majored in English at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). For example, I came across a number of Shakespeare’s plays three times at primary, secondary, and university levels. Another book I encountered three times was George Orwell’s Animal Farm. At first, in primary school, it was a beast fable that fits well with the animal fables I learned in my village. I later learned in secondary school that the story meant something else (thanks to Coles Notes). It was a satire reflecting the events leading up to the Russian Revolution. It was in the university that I fully understood Animal Farm as a satirical criticism of Stalinism beyond the idea of revolution (George Orwell, the author, was a sharp critic of Joseph Stalin).

    I provide these glimpses to my biography to show how things have changed from my father’s generation and mine to the present overlapping generations of young people, which experts have styled Generation Z or Gen Z (children born between 1997 and 2012) and Generation Alpha (born between 2013 and 2025).

    The same experts refer to my father’s generation as The Greatest Generation (born between 1901 and 1924), while mine is referred to as the Silent Generation (born between 1925 and 1945).

    The characteristics of each generation vary slightly from one society to another, depending on their peculiar history and social formation. Here in Nigeria, the Greatest Generation is typified by traditional values; respect for culture; strong work ethic; self-sacrifice; determination; and dedication. They are trailblazers in many respects, although most of them never went to school. In my village, they were among the first generation to adopt cash crops—my father planted cocoa and coffee, but the latter did not thrive. The nationalists, who fought for Nigeria’s independence, were among members of this generation, who went to school at home and abroad.

    Read Also: Impeached Ogun council boss lied against me – Abiodun

    My generation shared many of these traits in addition to goal-orientation; focus on self-fulfillment; and eagerness to shape society. My generation also witnessed the development of various professions and professional associations and occupied key positions in government, security agencies, and business. Members of the generation benefitted from the efforts and contributions of the preceding generation, especially in the development of human capital; physical infrastructure; industrialisation; and a virile civil service.

    In contrast, Generations Z and Alpha are children of the 21st century, with all its characteristics. They are the true Internet generations, otherwise known as “digital natives”. While Gen Z is more politically and socially aware, Gen Alpha tends to live in the moment. Consequently, Gen Z engages more in social activism, while Gen Alpha spends more time online. Finally, while the realities for Gen Z are ambition, money, and material acquisition, the realities for Gen Alpha are coding, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

    As a result of these differences, Internet and other money frauds gained prominence among Gen Z, while Gen Alpha tends to focus on the use of the Internet for homework, and chatting with friends from near and far. However, Gen Z tends to recruit members of Gen Alpha, especially girls, into their Yahoo! Boys fraudulent business.

    Both generations share the decline of values and sexual laxity, reflecting trends in the wider society and on the Internet. The escalation of teenage rape cases and the viral sex video of a 10-year-old schoolgirl during a school trip to Dubai last year are examples. Whatever they don’t learn from home and their immediate environment, they learn from the Internet and their peers in school. These preoccupations have led them away from reading like my generation.

    The consequences of the trends described above are far-reaching. First, Gen Z in particular is angry at the generations before them, starting from my own generation, for driving the national economy aground. That’s why a numbere of them believed in Peter Obi’s sweet tongue on turning the economy around.

    Second, the lack of adequate personnel and material resources in public schools have led to the decline in educational outcomes. Private schools escalated as alternatives. In both types of school, however, schoolchildren resort to the use of the Internet for their school assignments.  Just ask Google, they tell each other.

    Third, because their parents are also busy vending for themselves in a depressed economy, these children have a hard time finding appropriate guidance. Unfortunately, sending them to boarding school offers no better solution as peer pressure there could lead them astray.

    The truth is that times have changed, unfortunately, not for the better. Perhaps the beginning of a solution is awareness of these problems. That’s why I address this piece to the parents of both generations.

  • Wanted: ‘War on terrorism dismantling new infrastructure’   

    Wanted: ‘War on terrorism dismantling new infrastructure’   

    There are many groups of thieves, bandits and terrorists with different agendas. We see trillions disappear into VIP pockets attested to by numerous mostly unsuccessful ICPC and EFCC prosecutions. We must also focus is thieves who terrorise travellers by dismantling any progressive infrastructure development provided as part of the cloak aka mantle of democratic development in the struggling country failing SDGs or other targets.

    Years ago, we were shocked when the aluminium railing on the Third Mainland Bridge began to be dismantled and disappeared only to appear in the market as spoons and plates. No arrests or conclusive police investigation, no night patrols until the entire bridge was stripped. The lesson was that new bridges have concrete railings.

    Before cell phones, we all suffered telephone cables dismantled and stolen by criminal gangs masquerading as pseudo-telephone NITEL staff, killing the conversation. One had to pay dearly to replace the stolen cable, probably with one’s own stolen cable, standard practice at the time, sold by the thief network back to the contractor through the back door.  We have all witnessed similar gangs dismantling Nigeria’s electricity infrastructure through similar terrorist attacks targeting power cable and armoured cable theft, pylon destruction [paralysing the country – terrorism] and even transformers countrywide. Many have knowledge of the dismantling and theft of metal manholes in busy roads, killing citizens, or dismantling metal culvert grills and even concrete culvert covers to steal the iron rod inserts.  

    Sadly, add to this already disgusting list the inexplicably wicked dismantling and theft of highly specialised airport landing and take-off lights. Suppose a plane had crashed? Terrorism! Just when we thought things could get no worse, some terrorist transport thieves dismantled and stole the junction metal buffers on the newly opened Second Niger Bridge which though costing N336billion, 40 years in the dream and five years in construction, remains inaccessible due to failure to adequately police red flagged security issues and construction peripherals like road access failures.

    As if all these terrorist dismantling activities against the Nigerian state’s disorganised efforts at developing the long overdue mantle of development infrastructure, are not debilitatingly destructive enough, we face a major terrorist assault dismantling our still 60 years late renewed railway network. Imagine an army of terrorist leaders leading nocturnal assaults to dismantle and vandalise rail lines across Nigeria, especially the Lagos-Ibadan, Abuja-Kaduna, Nasarawa (where two truckloads of sleepers were arrested) and the Southeast. And once stolen, they move the rails, sleepers and collateral railway equipment, thus endangering, callously Nigerian children, youth and adults merely taking a train.

    Read Also: Five expected talking points of President Tinubu’s Speech at UN General Assembly

    The question must be asked as to where the iron and aluminium smelters are who buy and recycle these stolen items? Once stolen, where are the items taken for smelting which requires skill, not to talk of remodelling and reselling? Who is displaying and selling the end products – stolen goods? As yet, no smelter has been identified. Shame. As with the trade in body parts for fertility, political and other power and pregnancy, until we get the traditionalist, cultist and religious [mis]-leaders who demand such human sacrifices for body parts, such murders will continue unabated and even increase as poverty and need for instant cash miracles rise disproportionately.

    When will Nigeria gear up to the responsible 2023 police task of capturing the well-connected kingpins, smelters, financiers, major terrorists probably mingling with us? Will we continue to arrest easily replaceable petty thieves like lorry owners, drivers and porters of terrorist booty? Where is our Police Investigation?

    The police must first demonstrate commitment with 2023 cathartic leadership accountability by STOPPING CHECKPOINT CORRUPTION 2023.-through a morality drive and better pay and conditions of service please.  

    The National Orientation Agency must be reinvented, expanded and multi-focused because Nigeria has descended into the abyss of new nauseating dimensions of economic immorality crime – an abyss filled with 419, One-chance, baby factory, organ-and-human trafficking, cyber-criminality, cyber-identity theft, video-and-naked-selfie blackmail as well as mega-theft by mega-greedy public servants-especially ministers, governors and high government officers et cetera.

    Nigeria needs total NOA led, but CBN-CSR supported ‘NATIONAL REORIENATION CAMPAIGN AGAINST NIGERIAN INFRASTRUCTURE TERRORISM’ for citizenry, social media, each educational strata, community, society, NYSC, the workforce, trade unions and prisons. This 2023-2027 NOA campaign for development protection should focus on the need to protect, preserve and promote efforts at creating the mantle of development. It should highlight the danger, to youth and children of terrorist vandals and future generations, of maliciously dismantling the current development efforts.

    No country can provide development to its citizens if some citizens, terrorists overnight dismantle all the daily wheels of developmental progress. It takes a special deadly or murderous breed of terrorism to systematically specialise in paralysing Nigeria by dismantling its highly expensive [inflated contracts], long overdue, infrastructure for a petty monetary mess-of-pottage in gains. For Nigeria to have its bridges, railways, roads, electricity pylons and cables, communication towers and runways targeted, stripped and paralysed by terrorists is to have WAR DECLARED AGAINST IT. Nigeria needs to reciprocate and DECLARE WAR AGAINST DISMANTLING INFRASTRUCTURE AND CLASSIFY NON-WEAPON TERRORIST ATTACKS ON NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE AS TERRORISM WITH APPROPRIATE WARTIME PUNISHMENTS-long prison terms etc.

    Why do terrorists dismantle and steal iron grills and manholes? A lack of iron? Perhaps a working Ajaokuta Steel Mill would have prevented the need for iron at murderous cost. Perhaps soon thieves will be dismantling and stealing petrol tanks from cars just to get the expensive petrol???