The Nation Newspaper

Category: Tony Marinho

  • ‘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.   

  • 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!

  • 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!  

  • Cut 50% ‘Salary, Allowances, Perks, Pensions’ SAPP

    Cut 50% ‘Salary, Allowances, Perks, Pensions’ SAPP

    Since 1999 most Nigerians have called out the immoral unsustainable ‘but illegally legal’ high cost of financially and materially supporting and accommodating [s]elected, apparently deaf, officials in governance. The protest is because Nigerians in every people’s beer parlour debate club court, and ‘free readers association’ at newsstands have identified that their increasing suffering and poverty is directly precipitated by the huge greed, unchecked kleptomania, outright massive theft, professional financial mismanagement, redeployment of known financial-thieves-in-political-office and ludicrously outrageous spending style of those in-and-around governance especially the conspicuous consumption of constituency project funds and media frenzy ‘grandiose personal donations’ of Other People’s Money [citizens’ money] to communities. Could first ladies become financial patron to thousands of orphanages and physically challenged NGOs and not only First Lady NGOs?

    Nigerians know it is their money or goods merely being returned to them so why do they have to ‘Thank Governors, NASS members or government’ for such misnamed generosity and gifts? Nothing is from the ‘donor’s’ personal pockets. These cumulative financial travesties of human rights inflicted on the ‘common wealth’ have devalued our currency and living standards. The link between increased government greed and increasing poverty and needs of citizens is ‘Nigeria’s political curse’. Citizens are overburdened by the excesses of politics both in structure – two houses,  senate and House of Representatives, where only one would do – and in political personnel with their hornet swarm of ‘multi-layered ‘jobs for the loyal aides and special advisors’, buzzing around in federal and state feeding frenzy. These have burdened every Nigerian and are a ‘dirty slap in the face’ insult to poor Nigerians struggling to feed families.  The burden is the extravagant lifestyle, ‘Salary, Allowances, Perks & Pension’ of the Nigerian political class SAPPing Nigeria dry.

    To this we must add the ludicrous cost of elections which now include the irresponsible cost of presidential candidacy forms being sold for an unbelievable N100,000,000 in some parties with proportionately lower fees for other offices. Politicians who imposed this cost should shamefully know that this fee precipitated a further fall in the respect for and value of the naira starting with kidnappers, maybe foreign, who the very next week started to demand N100,000,000 for their victims’ release. See the connection. Political big living influences terrorists as well creating an unrealistically high cost of freedom.

    The problem with such presidential form charges is that all election costs with generous interest may be retrieved by the election winning party through bogus components of inflated or fictitious contracts. ‘Election Expenses Recovery’ is an unwritten cost of any government imposed on the budget. Following successful removal of such funds [+undisclosed interest or charges] there is a drive to fill an election war chest, merely a palatable name for just another politically criminal corrupt enterprise placed on the back of Nigerians. Nothing is free in politics, but politicians pay for nothing they spend, the people do.

    Read Also: ‘Give me more time’ – Tinubu begs Nigerians

    Every kobo spent on politics comes from the people’s pocket, directly through their budget allocations to NASS etcetera or indirectly, by theft and corruption. It is that way for all capitalistic businesses selling products. They run on the eternal capitalist economic primary principle that the sale of the product to the people yields money which eventually pays for the product and the emoluments of employees guaranteeing the manufacturing process. In this case, the product is the, up till now, very illusive good governance. The manufacturing process of that good governance is the dysfunctional and unnecessarily expensive practice of politics. The management and staff are employees and are politicians and civil servants receiving excessive and often secretive perks. The problem is that the cost of producing the product good governance is now clearly far too high compared to the poor quality and quantity of  good governance the very elusive  ‘dividends of democratic politics’. Indeed, most Nigerians would call the product of Nigerian politics a very fake product for which our poor country is paying a wrong premium price. 

    The non-political party majority of Nigerians demand that the poorly produced product be improved and the cost of production be reduced. The example of Kenya should remind all politicians of some of the consequences in some societies of rubbishing the people you offer an unfinished, inferior or fake product to. Nigerians are not mumu, just pathologically patient with serial political fiscal failures and criminality.

    These legitimate demands to scale back a cavernous political and official avarice, devouring poor Nigeria, are finally partly being met by an overdue ‘50% reduction on some few politicians’ salaries’  insultingly for six months, not even ‘six months with an option of renewal’ if the economy and naira value remains poor. But this, announced with sound and fury, is an annoyingly hollow gesture marginally reducing the cost of politics. ‘Immediate implementation of 50% of salary cut, allowances, perks, pension’, forever, would have been a significant contribution to calming the public while reducing the cost of politics and demonstrating remorse for past kleptomania and recklessness with ‘Other People’s Money’ -the ‘opium of politics’.  To survive, Nigeria needs more than gestures. ‘50% of salary’ is not a gesture.

    And 50% of multiple millions each is not a sacrifice, it is PAY PARITY CORRECTION’ for immoral, financial and economic crime, overpayment to right a wrong done reinforced since 1999 against Nigeria. Worldwide politicians work within the systems salary structure, not above it and often work almost for free.

  • Nays’, Salary; Weapons; Election; Meters; Collapse

    Nays’, Salary; Weapons; Election; Meters; Collapse

    Summary: National Assembly ‘Nays’ on increasing security oversite vote – we need electronic voting; pay 1800 Unity teachers 36 months’ salary; recycle seized weapons; UK speedy political handover- a lesson; metering of oil well pumps welcome; the tragedy of the pupils’ deaths in collapsed school building.

    Congratulations to Spain and England -first and second in the Euro 2024.

    NASS voice majority says a surprising ‘nay’ against Senator Oshiomhole’s ‘Strengthening Oversight Committee Functions’ to ensure the military spend on new weaponry to face real threats. This is a huge surprise even to Senate President Godswill Akpabio who, in shock, repeated the vote and got another ‘nays have it’. The law was to prevent further corruption and diversion of funds to projects like a non-military focused university and a ‘yacht’ and funds for weapons buried in officers’ cesspools. The ‘nays have it’ NASS members should be named to explain this indictment on transparent democracy, condoning wrongdoing.  NASS is a laughing-stock, losing a transparency opportunity. Voice votes are anonymous. We have recommended for years e-voting with name related published results for accountability.

    Read Also: FG approves new measures to combat malnutrition, food insecurity in Nigeria

    NO TEACHER SALARY 36 MONTHS? This is ‘Monumental Federal Failure’. Civil Service heads must role including Directors with no cover up. How can 1,800 secondary school teachers in Unity Schools work without wages? What quality and quantity of work can they render?  The fault is with unsupervised ‘godlike’ administrators who constitute the system and was caused by incompetence of Education and Finance ministries, civil service arrogance and dereliction of duty in regard to physical transfer of files and the logistic challenges of entering data into the problem-prone corrupted or incompetent Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, IPPIS. This irresponsible behaviour has probably led to death, disease, desperation and depression among the 1800 teachers and their families. Certainly, persons without a salary for 36+months should be encouraged to write a book about ‘Living without a wage in Nigeria’.   

    SEIZED WEAPONS: Nigeria must recycle the N3b weapons seized by vigilant Customs, for training in marksmanship and equipping government forces. Some malevolent Nigerian citizens unintendedly gave Nigeria N3b weapons and munitions, probably our stolen money. Can they not be apprehended by following the goods movement paper trail and the money trail to and from the Turkish munitions plant where the goods were ordered, purchased, paid for and evacuated to the port? Is the Turkish government not aware or complicit? It is immoral and speaks to a lack of understanding of simple cost/benefit economics, to destroy this valuable unintended ‘gift’ when we are broke and are fighting an undeclared war on many fronts. We cannot even afford to pay the contractor for destruction of the munitions. We should find out who bought the equipment, with what money from where and which bank, and prosecute accordingly. However, we must not destroy but divert the munitions from the nefarious activities planned by the evil purchasers and instead use the munitions to service our military and paramilitary training programmes.

    UK ELECTIONS: UK election Lessons are many. ‘Instant Politics’ announced on May 22 and completed on July 4-5. No voter corruption, violence, thugs, summersault verdicts, courts of ‘wrong jurisdiction’ (wrong court, idiot!), delays and massive refurbishment costs. It was less than 18 hours from verdict-to-10 Downing Street reoccupation. Nigeria was forced by military fiat to give up the colonial inherited UK system when we managed, as usual, to bastardise it with irresponsible cross carpeting form party to party ad nauseum without the courtesy of resigning one’s parliamentary seat. This amounted to stealing the votes and dashing them to the party opposed to the majority of voters. So now we have a mutated bastardised and misinterpreted US system but can learn lessons from both.

    METERING OF OIL PUMPS: The announcement of metering of Nigeria’s 187 oil pumps is 40 years in the pipeline and repeatedly shot down and sabotaged by the usual petroleum parasites in leadership position. We pray it will be allowed to happen and to work to measure Nigeria’s oil production transparently on the minute-to-minute basis. The field oil meter reader job was dangerous and they were ‘endangered species’ where meters were available due to violence, corruption like cooking figures. Will this change with electronic controls? Well pumps should be shut down if they cannot be metered. This is the only way metering and oil production with grow, hand in hand. If this move is effective, perhaps Nigeria@2024, not petroleum manipulators, will at last, after 60+ years, be in charge of its oil production figures with foreign exchange resultant prosperity.

    SCHOOL COLLAPSE: The loss of between 16 and 22 innocent young Nigerians, merely for being attentive and going to school to learn to become part of a greater Nigeria, is a tragedy for themselves, their parents, siblings and wider family and Nigeria in general. This is especially now, when so many schools are no-go areas due to terrorism including farmers being terrorised and murdered by weaponised cow herders etc. – some 10million- are children out of school, fenced from their right to education and denied access for various reasons totally out of the control of the victims. The coming investigation will identify the cause like structural, poor cement, poor foundation, erosion, but will not bring back loved souls. Nigeria deserves a nationwide alert by National Orientation Agency, NOA and prevention, then there will be no pupil or citizens deaths to be mourned or investigated.

  • Tribute Poems for ‘SoyINKa@90’

    Tribute Poems for ‘SoyINKa@90’

    Poem: What’s in the name ‘SoyINKa’

    W-ords  O-ften  L-eaving  E-ars,  S-eeking

    O-ther  Y-ardsticks,  IN K-nowing A-ll. END

    Poem 13-7-2024:  ‘SoyINKa’, INK KING@90

    INK runs in the SoyINKa name

    In the same vein

    A DNA prediction of wwword.fame

    A birthright nom de plume, aflame

    A profound English word embedded in a Yoruba name

    Coincidence or destined  for SoyINKa@www.fame

    A Master of the www -wordwideword

    Of the www-wisewordworld

    Of the www-worldwidewole

    A Master of the mega-thINK

    Of the computer, biro, QuINK

    Of the milito-political last to blINK

     A Master, connoisseur of wine, the drINK

    Of the age-youth lINK

    Of the prison’s bolt clINK

    A Master of the title written in Kadahar, INK

    Of the escapologist’s slINK

    Of the world Griot/Maestro interlINK       END

    Poem:  Ode to the sage – SoyINKa @90 On The World Stage

    SoyINKa, Nobel Laureate, giant among iroko trees,

    Injected SoyINK A into the meek trembling leaves

    Morally towering above the militarised intimidated forest

    Shielding earth, pregnant with a democracy harvest

    Labouring to birth a free and fair Generation Next

    Inspired by SoyINKa’s fiery worded text

    Kongi’s shadow, refuge for cowed civilians

    Dirty-slapped, earlobe gripping frog-jumped millions

    Victims of bloody milito-political crossfire,

    Making Nigeria a democracy forest funeral pyre

    Every democracy dividend

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    Costing blood, graves, voters, dead in the end

    The SoyINKa iroko, sharpened to a giant pen tip

    Writing inspired lines on oppressed lip

    Survived accusations, myriad lies

    Assassinations, armies of spies

    Melting into forests, in motorcycle flight

    Disappearing, theatrically disguised, day or night

    SoyINKa sharp words punctured military balloons

    Freeing democracy butterflies from prison cocoons 

    Each SoyINKa weightywiseword barbed sentence

    An arrowhead of struggling democracy resistance

    The Sage’s halo, white-haired crown, camouflage of calm

    A white-hot flame, a helmet against political harm

    SoyINKa’s silhouette plume which, like snowy Kilimanjaro’s peak

    And Everest, even as we speak

    Still dances on piano keys Ago-Taylor, Ebrohemi,

    and to drumbeats Mbari, Ife and www.Safari  

    Leading democracy skirmishes vs milito/civilian koboko

    Seeking to cut down our revered iroko.

    SoyINKa’s Pyrates’ gourd gurgles first gravely, then gaily

    Laughing at its cutlass admirers giggling expectantly

    SoyINKa the Pirate Poet searches brain, book

    Seeking  the lost definitive word in every dictionary nook

    SoyINKa, Corps Marshal, strapped helmet to okada head

    Strapping seatbelts across Nigeria’s chest, cutting the dead

    Does SoyINKa, Hunter, Democracy Defender, dare to sleep?

    One eye open, ear cocked, Sage’s sleep is never deep

    The hunter asleep, searches the forest for discordant sound

    Among myriad African tunes rumbling from the ground

    Hunter gunfire’s acrid smell heralds fresh-kill blood

    While tearful gas shrouds democracy’s blood-stained mud.

    SoyINKa, Freedom Fighter, without your life

    Where would we be in Africa’s perennial political strife?

    We changed MILITARISED to DE-MILITARISED ZONES

    And fight to change DEMOCRISIS to DEMOCRACY ZONES 

    Nigerian citizens have become DEMOLAZY,

    Politicians have become fiscally DEMOCRAZY

    We will never forget ‘THE (IN)COMPLETE WORKS OF WS’

    SAGE SOYINKA@90 , no less

    Going on 100, I thINK

    Enshrouded in computer clouds, today’s Kandahar INK

    New  SoyINKaesque irokos+ need continued nurture

    For Nigeria to have a rich apolitical future

    Aluta continua, Vitoria e uncerta!

    Not yet uhuru. To Nigeria be true

    Sage ‘SoyINKa’@90. THANK YOU

    And 90 Gbosas just for you, too! END

  • Suicide bombers; Death in the house

    Suicide bombers; Death in the house

    Since 2018, more than 50 children have been used in suicide bombing. Last week, suicide bombers, S-Bombers, three children and two young mothers did not go voluntarily to blow themselves up at a football match and a wedding and subsequently at their funeral respectively. Another two were intercepted and neutralised. What manner of life and death is this? What is the solution?

    No doubt, if we say we are not at war, certainly the bomb makers and dressers of the children with bomb vests are at full war with Nigeria and Nigeria’s innocent children.

    Last week a Deputy Comptroller of Customs prepared himself, like others before him, said goodbye to his family and left for the intimidating job of defending the finances of his office before the National Assembly, NASS’s House of Representatives. Unfortunately, he was not to return home alive. May he Rest in Perfect Peace. He was Andrew Essien, suddenly a victim when tragedy struck while responding to a NASS ‘Harrowing/Harassing Inquisition Chamber’ oversight enquiry. I cannot confirm the level of bullying involved, if any. NASS, empowered by immunity, often verbally rides roughshod over the civil servant ‘victims. Sadly, he started coughing, requesting for water. The committee chairman offered water or tea. Essien then asked again for water and slumped. We are told he died in the clinic. Did he die in the chambers; was he then ‘brought in dead’ or ‘Dead on Arrival’ or ‘alive on arrival’ and then died in the clinic? The person receiving the patient in the clinic will confirm.

    However, ‘Was the correct First Aid procedure carried out immediately he collapsed?’ I mean beyond the usual panic traditional measure of dousing the head and face with a water.  This works in simple heat and dehydration related fainting but not in a heart attack for example.

    Worldwide, laying the patient on the floor, face up and performing CPR, Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation, Mouth-to-Mouth and Chest Compressions are essential First Aid steps before a defibrillator for the heart electric shock arrives. May His soul Rest In Perfect Peace and may his family be comforted and supported and may his entitlements and pension be paid promptly and without having to bribe anybody. Amen.

    Sadly,  NASS which is very greedy in SELF-ALLOCATION of budgets, is using the passing  of Essien to publicly promise itself even more of the scarce budget, in the ‘public interest’ , for a NASS ‘a state of the art’ medical centre.

    NO! NO!! NO!! Nigeria cannot endure more diversion of severely scarce public funds when nearby Abuja government hospitals and Primary Health Centres are wallowing with mediocre services, replacement fund paucity and outdated facilities. Let me add the ‘Nigerian Total Lack of Maintenance Disease’ from lack or theft of Annual Maintenance Budgeting. This deprives Nigeria of the required annual painting/ furniture refurbishment requirements of outpatient and refurbishments especially of toilets and water provision. These are required by every facility with high human traffic. We celebrate cleanliness in toilets elsewhere but fail to maintain our own in working order.

    I spend more money monthly in toilet paper and water supply and cleaning paraphernalia in my small clinic than some states actually spend annually in one hospital.

    There is so much to steal because maintenance budgets are vandalised and stolen in Nigeria. Staff of all neighbouring shops use my clean facilities. I therefore provide anti-cholera/typhoid health services service for free to my community.

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    The toilet with wash basin is the unit of resistance to disease including cholera and typhoid. No toilet=No health! Dirty, no water toilets and ‘toilets for executive bottoms ‘are the bane of Nigerian MDAs life. Are staff to use the bush?

    Ten staff is 30 visits to the toilet daily, at least two to pee and one to poo!  Hospitals, MDAs and NASS may allocate toilet maintenance but the funds budgeted may be released but disappear. Shame or greed?

    Open every toilet in every MDA and hospital countrywide as part of the anti-cholera/typhoid anti-open defecation policy. Judge MDA by their toilets.

    NASS, you should build ‘state of the art’ facilities for all the people and then use those facilities for yourselves and families.  Yes. That would be true oversight! 

    NASS: Do not create yet another island of ‘state of the medical art’ privilege for NASS MEMBERS ONLY.

    NASS; Do not be distinct from the citizens. Learn the lessons from Kenya. NASS is insensitive but the citizenry is sensitive, because Essien was a civilian, not a sectional NASS member. His death is personal for the citizenry, no matter what the outcome of the NASS enquiry into Customs will be. 

    Of course, the Ministry of Health, and NMA will recommend upgrade of the NASS Clinic with the First Aid skills needed and a Medical Code Red Alarm System  direct to established government hospitals for help to arrive within minutes or prepare for NASS patients transfer. 

    There should be a Civil Society Oversight Legit/BudgIT/SERAP public enquiry into the total NASS Clinic budget for 10 years to identify if corruption, incompetence or/and theft are behind why NASS does not have a ‘state of the art’ medical centre. It is immoral to use this unfortunate incident to install a NASS hospital, CT Scan or MRI.

    The NMA must object to any effort by NASS to create a specialised hospital for the tiny NASS community.

    NASS must review its oversight modus operandi.

  • Save Nigeria: Cut governance; Cholera

    Save Nigeria: Cut governance; Cholera

    The Abuja and State Caucus Club of Political Parties, ASCCPP 1999-2024, including the Presidency and ministers and state governors, is in deep trouble entirely of its own making. Its deliberate strategy of greed-driven laws is enriching the ASCCPP in super-salaries, Allowances, Perks & Pensions, SAPPing the country dry but leaving a legacy of poverty pauperising the citizenry.

    Citizens know the law of action and reaction. Remember the N100m kidnapping demand a week after the insulting and inflationary N100million Presidential Form – a fee bringing N3+billion, super-inflating the cost of governance as every kobo ‘invested in politics’  is automatically ‘stolen back’ by budget padding and other forms of corruption with huge interest.

    So, sadly, there is a direct negative relationship between ASCCPP actions and inaction and the citizens’ condition. The ASCCPP acts out of step with the needs of the suffering citizenry, 80% underfed.

    The disease of poverty easily diagnosed as the disease of eating one meal a day, 0-1-0, ignored by ASCCPP, 1999-2024, was rampant for years throughout the tertiary education life of Nigerian youth. Now it has spread from the student population nationwide.  Many millions eat less than 0-1-0. Why cannot the ASCCPP change ‘This Nigerian world’?

    But we know that the APPCC, 1999-2024, has, from day one, 1999 done everything possible to establish itself financially and power-wise above everyone else and everything else in Nigeria.

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    We, the people are daily insulted and derided by the visual excesses of the ASCCPP 1999-2024. We the ‘masses’, know this to be true because ‘we have watched the infrequent whistleblowing sickening video’ over the 1999-2024 years.

    During that time the media videos have shown too few, less than 0.2% of members of ASCCPP, who have objected to wallowing in misappropriated luxury actually the property of the hungry masses. Those few politicians of moral conscience, stood against the profligacy of their co-politicians. The apparently greed-driven political majority in ASCCPP have developed a habit of ganging up like conspirators against fellow ASCCPP199-2024 whistle-blowers and the country. What fate awaits the three who refused jeeps? The citizens should protect them, not watch the video of bullying them.  

    As a result, the few politicians who have called out the ASCCPP for greedy practices,  are shouted down, disgraced, ostracised and even suspended the other ASCCPP members. This bullying causes embarrassment and shame to their families. The heavy hammer majority ASCCPP backlash against moral opposition silences internal ASCCPP dissent.

    Nigerians are familiar with ‘shouting down’, ‘OFF THE MIC’ and ‘ORDERS FROM ABOVE’ and ‘OGA AT THE TOP’. To this end APPCC members appear to put in place ‘illegally legal’ or ‘legally illegal’ and certainly morally reprehensible wrong laws designed to enrich themselves members beyond wildest expectations.

    The APPCC must put aside its political infighting and meet about redirecting the dangerously terminal fate of the country still struggling to be a nation according to the tenets of all three national anthems – the old, the new and the old new. The ASCCPP can decide to ignore the obvious woes, financial and security, plaguing the country but wisdom suggests it needs to extricate itself from its long-standing reputation for profligacy, political high horse trading with the poor population and living above the means of its Fellow Nigerian citizens.

     The budget-padded walls of Abuja, the gilded cage of  ‘N160m jeeps’, the bloated gowns and garb of ‘always’ imported maxi-costing garments of ‘dignified dress code’, are a fake public stage life and  must not immune the political class especially the leadership to the desperate and unwarranted plight of the citizenry. If you think the citizenry is lazy and undeserving, I recommend that every serving politician spends a day with a market load carrier, or policeman at a junction, or doctor in the hospital. It is the belief of many that every serving politician and indeed senior civil service should spend compulsory hours in a police cell, a court and a hospital clinic.    

    So, we have complex problems visited upon us by a complex corruption prone political system which has so far consumed almost all the good work done by so many of our forebears and even current hard workers and which is consuming an unacceptable number of lives in kidnapping and terrorism activities. 

    But now, our ASCCPP-led exorbitant borrowing, misuse of funds, serial budget padding, and an unreasonable financially demanding, greedy political class are the burden of the poor.

    Nigerians expect that ASCCPP would have surveyed the political, economic and security terrain and by now aligned itself with international political office holders’ emoluments  and slashed by 70% the ridiculous ASCCPP Salaries, Allowances, Perks and Pensions to reflect the suffering of the masses in keeping with the principle that politics is a sacrificial service not a blank corruption cheque. 

    Saving Nigeria requires sacrifice which means ASCCPP must urgently cut its crushing economic burden signposted by an unaffordable two-house NASS, extravagant  governance, constitutional projects,  presidential jet(??), a huge VP palace monstrosity, superhighways, corrupt distribution of financial handouts instead of speedy electricity and water provision to prevent cholera and create jobs.

    Nigerians want one NASS house but if two houses greedily insist on staying, then urgently cut their budgets by 75%.    

    Congratulations to the team who traced the source of the Lagos cholera outbreak. Political failures, law breaking, poor water supply, poor hygiene conspire to kill, like typhoid simple requiring potable water and electricity countrywide – denied by politics but not nuclear physics.  

  • Ayo Banjo, Educare Trust, Nigeria

    Ayo Banjo, Educare Trust, Nigeria

    I have fortunately closely known many great men and women, irokos, most in shock that Nigeria has, during their 60+ years of contribution, failed to live up to the developmental targets.  I am constantly amazed at the generosity of these moral irokos. If only all, especially politicians, had acted accordingly. Of course, many academics are also involved in anti-growth activities.

    We are mostly in awe of Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo. His stellar input in academia is public record. He also had other interests including his work with Educare Trust. I am blessed with having worked with his senior brother, late Dr Bayo Banjo of The Jokotola Infirmary along with Dr Mrs Abiola Oshodi and Professor Ope Adekunle among others in the terrifyingly turbulent time of the Nigerian Medical Association proscription of the 1980s, ‘Buhari 1’, with summary arrest and sack of doctors. Who remembers?

    I first had met Professor Ayo Banjo around the University of Ibadan in late 60s-early 70s. He lectured my late wife, Lola Alalade. Sadly, education suffered malicious chronic underfunding, Machiavellian education policies like removal of Civics and History as subjects, confiscation and destruction of standards in faith-based secondary schools and immoral financial neglect by military and civilian governments especially worse in the Abacha regime. This was an uphill task in the political and religious  minefield of a negative education terrain,  combating corruption-driven low education budgets, poor  school empowerment, greed-driven oversight politicians and role model moral decadence with the get-rich-quick epidemic promoted by much of Corporate Nigeria’s shamefully infecting the youth with  a ravenous hunger for quick-fix ‘instant millionaires’’, ‘bonanza’ strategies and televised questionable morals of  ‘Big Brother’ shows with zero growth  and instilling  apathy and revulsion in regard to hard work.

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    Abacha’s coup forced my association of friends in Ibadan, formalised as The Group, to brainstorm in secret places, on how to resuscitate everything from agriculture to education. In education, we needed to show a good example for others of ‘the good old days’ to follow in education. As a result, I started Educare Trust by sounding out great philanthropists like Chief Dr Raymond Zard, Dr Toyosi, Dr Bayo Banjo and leaders in education led by Emeritus Professor Banjo. I invited them and others to our inaugural planning meeting in October 1994 at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ibadan under the auspices of Dr, now retired Professor Dele Fawole. The name ‘Educare Trust’ (ET) was confirmed.  Professor Banjo, always punctual, advised that ET should concentrate, not on tertiary level, already infected with chronic entry examination manipulation, but on ‘innocent’ pre-corrupt primary schools and secondary schools already infected with cultism, to get the foundation right. The aim was to quickly get a better educated, co-curricular active, ‘non-bored’, non-cheating, non-cult, morally honest generation into tertiary education. And that is what we did reaching several million students and their teachers since 1994. We helped to change the university ‘garbage in – garbage out’ mantra to ‘goodness in – greatness out’. We also produced several Education Policy Papers. The journey is a forever one, never ending.

    With Justice Babalakin as chairman of the Board of Trustees,  after Dr Toyosi, Dr Bayo Banjo and Emeritus Professor Akinkugbe, and Ogie Alakija, Ayo Banjo   became chairman of Educare Trust and was succeeded by Dr Olutunde Oni and  the current chairman Dr Tokunbo Abiose. Emeritus Professor Banjo held the post with characteristic distinction, grace, commitment and great love of youth activities, not missing any event. As we in the honest NGO community all know, fundraising especially outside financial hubs like Lagos, is a ‘thankless tasks that must be done’ for NGO work. Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo lent his name with some success and it was a joke between us that he was not able to get a large donation even after several requests from a close very conspicuously wealthy friend. We wrote it off as   donor fatigue. Because of Emeritus Professor Banjo’s foundation membership and his guidance and others’ guidance including Emeritus Professor Ayo Bamgbose, his senior ‘Twin’, Educare Trust survives and is 30 years old this year. Hurray!

    Professor Banjo was also, since the mid-1980s, a very active member and past chairman of the Ibadan Dining Club, founded by Chief Simeon Adebo and associates, who never missed a meeting.

    Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo demonstrated an unwavering commitment to family, education and the youth of Nigeria, leading the University of Ibadan into the education battle for VC two terms. He used his conquering the language of the colonial power in the wider context of an all-purpose education empowering the then next generation. His inspiring shadow spanning across the classroom, lecture room, research opportunities and necessities, progressive policies, music appreciation, academic academies, the powerful LNG Literature Prize committee chairmanship, Educare Trust founding membership and later chairman, Dining Club chairmanship. He received a Kilimanjaro or Mount Everest sized mountain of well-deserved awards, titles and a tsunami of goodwill.

    Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo stands out as always being especially generous with his time and talent – strategizing for the youth.

    Personally, I have many pleasant memories and a rich record of ‘Do Not Delete’ WhatsApp chats with Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo, rich with his often humorous ‘Quotable Banjo Quotes.’

    God Bless Him and Keep Him and Mama. May He Rest In Perfect Peace and may the Banjo family, nuclear and wider, take justifiable pride in the multifaceted legacy of its forebears. Amen.