The Nation Newspaper

Category: Hardball

  • El-Rufai’s ‘area boy’ outburst

    El-Rufai’s ‘area boy’ outburst

    Nasir El-Rufai is an angry man. From the last interview he had on Arise News, it was obvious he had been bottling up his frustrations for over a year. Before his frustrations, he had been poohpoohed as a would minister after his exaggerated performance as a nominee ended up in a fiasco. With flowing babaringa and showy perorations, he came as though to conquer.

    Now that the post was a mythical tantalus hanging elusively on a tree, he is blaming everybody. He is fighting with the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the governor of Kaduna State, Comrade Uba Sani, the appointees of the president because he said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed incompetent people. Then he threw an insult on the president himself, implying that the president is an “Area Boy.”

    From the lips of a man who was minister? A man who was head of a major agency like the Bureau of Public Enterprises? A man who governed a major state in the country, that is Kaduna, for eight years?

    Speaking on the appointments, he said Nigerians should not blame Yorubas because Yorubas have omoluabis and area boys. And he implied that the president was not omoluabi. This is the sort of thing that can happen to a man who has lost his capacity for reasoned discourse. He had capsized intelligence. He fell flat before logic.

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    This is the man wants to divert attention from his shoddy handling of Kaduna resources as the state’s chief steward. Rather than say the truth, he fights his successor. He said Governor Uba Sani is no longer his friend. His successor has routinely ignored him, just as the EFCC and ICPC are looking into the allegations of over N400 billion unaccounted for. He said the money is not missing. But the projects are missing. Yet the money has been allocated and paid but not to government projects. So, how can he account for the discrepancies? How can he account for the roads, the agricultural projects, the power projects, etc? How can he say that he did well when he could not reconcile absence of projects with absence of money spent?

    Governor Sani had to do what he had to do when workers wanted to shut down the state because the state executive could not meet its financial obligations. He had to show them the books, and that is why the governor also called all stakeholders of the state to look at the books and see why he had to let them know the state of things.

    The man Nasir El-Rufai said he did not support the president during the campaigns. He speaks with such bare-faced braggadocio as though no one else but him was in the country during the campaigns. He is denying himself. We heard what we heard from him. We knew what we knew from him. He wanted a southerner but he wanted to be vice president. He was one of the few who went to Buhari to complain about the pick of Kashim Shettima. He forgets that everyone knew he wanted to be vice president to any of Tinubu’s opponents for the party primary.

    He did not support Tinubu during the campaigns but he went to court to challenge Buhari in the Supreme Court with other governors over the former president’s financial policies to strangulate the APC candidate?

    He says the president’s policy are good but the people he put in charge are in competent. Maybe he is the only competent person in the world. It is what psychologists call megalomania.

    Maybe he will change if the president makes him quiet with an appointment. Don’t bet on it, though.

  • Aiyedatiwa–the world is his now

    Aiyedatiwa–the world is his now

    Aiyedatiwa — what’s in a name?  A lot!  This particular name affirms something.  The bearer is willing it to life, against all odds!  Ayedatiwa — the world is all ours — indeed!

    This affirmation is all reminiscent of darker parts of Nigerian political history.  The great Chief Obafemi Awolowo was on trial for treasonable felony, a trial that started in November 1962, and closed, with a conviction, in September 1963.

    Part of the “proof”, at least tendered by the prosecution, was that Awo did constant affirmations to become Prime Minister!  But who wouldn’t affirm such things, before working toward them?  At the end, it was unclear what probative value the court gave that “proof”!

    Back to Governor Aiyedatiwa.  It’s a family name, with Lucky and Orimisan, his self-reinforcing two names: the one in English, the other in his native Ilaje Yoruba dialect, have all come to catapult him to the apex of power in Ondo State!

    Again, even that reminds one of the evil Lady Macbeth, in that Shakespeare tragedy, Macbeth: to be thus is nothing but to be safely thus — she warned her regicidal husband, after he had killed the ill-fated King Duncan of Scotland.

    No, this is far from any evil plot.  After the tempestuous Ondo APC primaries, Ayedatiwa won the ticket.  He would later help himself to the most thumping win in Ondo’s gubernatorial history, trumping and drubbing his opponents in all of Ondo’s 18 local governments areas!

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    The Ondo APC just added another sweet bit to the happy propaganda, even if steeped in historical facts: for the first time in Ondo history, a “progressive” government is handing over to another one, after completing its first eight years!

    That’s true.  After Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu’s eight years — which Deputy (later) Governor Aiyedatiwa completed because the one they called “Aketi” died in office — Aiyedatiwa is succeeding him for own fresh four years.  That’s sweet!

    But it would all amount to nothing if, at the end of his tenure, he didn’t add tremendous value.  It’s then he would know that the world wasn’t really his own, as his surname suggests; and folks would flatly tell him he wasn’t so lucky; and that his “fortune wasn’t excellent”, as “Orimisan” had suggested!

    To cut out the verbiage: Governor Aiyedatiwa is condemned to succeeding.  Otherwise, things could go real bad for him and his legacy.

    The governor should have taken that to heart, as he took his oath of office yesterday.  The likes of Betty Akeredolu, Aketi’s outspoken widow, are waiting for him to trip, so they could declare him a never-do-well, and gloat over his political grave.

    But aside that negative motivation, powered by fear, the great Awo had set an all-time gold standard for governance in the Western Region, inside which Ondo is today.  He must follow the Awo exemplar and build a worthy legacy for himself.

    Then, and only then, would the world have well and truly become his own!

  • Babangida comes round

    Babangida comes round

    When on 24th June, 1993, former military president, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, announced the annulment of the June 12 presidential election held that year, he embarked on a journey of willful denialism that has taken 32 years to unravel. Now, he publicly acknowledges that business mogul and frontline philanthropist, the late Aare Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, won that election.

    Babangida, in his 420-page memoir titled ‘A Journey in Service: An Autobiography of Ibrahim Babangida’ that was presented in Abuja last week, openly recanted the narrative he had pushed in and out of office all these years. “Although I am on record to have stated after the election that Abiola may not have won the election, upon further reflection, and a closer examination of all available facts, particularly the detailed election results which are published as an appendix to this book, there was no doubt that MKO Abiola won the June 12 elections,” he said in his book.

    “Upon closer examination of the original collated figures from the 110 polling booths nationwide, it was clear that he satisfied the two main requirements for winning the presidential election – majority votes and geographical spread – having obtained 8,128,720 against Tofa’s 5,848,247 votes and securing the mandatory one-third of the votes cast in 28 states of the Federation including Abuja,” he added.

    In annulling the poll way back in 1993, the military ruler had cited vote buying and the need to protect Nigeria’s judiciary among motivating factors. Ahead of the poll, however, there were strong suspicions the Babangida regime was reluctant to cede power and was changing the goal post severally in the middle of the transition programme. When Abiola’s candidature scaled the many hurdles raised and limped towards certain victory, there were clear indications of unease on the part of the military class suggesting they weren’t just inclined to allow him take the reins.

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    Babangida, in his address at the book presentation said the poll annulment was done in “extreme national interest.” He told the audience of dignitaries: “As the leader of the military administration, I accept full responsibility for all decisions taken by me. And June 12 happened under my watch. Mistakes, oversights and missteps happened in quick succession but, as I say in my book, in all matters, we acted in extreme national interest so that Nigeria could survive.”

    It is doubtful that anyone other than Babangida and his fellow denialists did not know before now that Abiola won that election. So, the ex-military ruler really didn’t say much that is new. Still, it is helpful for closure that he outed with it. One thing he didn’t do, though, was apologise for the historical injustice and rather explained it away as being in “extreme national interest.” No, sir, it was more in national interest to have effected Nigeria’s boldest attempt at de-ethnicizing its politics. Every other consideration was selfish interest.

  • Self-demarketing

    Self-demarketing

    Controversial musician Habeeb Okikiola, popularly known as Portable, may have unwittingly demarketed his brand in an effort to avoid police investigation. The Ogun State Police Command had declared him wanted for alleged assault on town planning officials on enforcement duty in the Ilogbo area of the state where he has a bar.

    He allegedly led thugs in an attack on three unarmed officials from the Ogun State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Ota Zonal Office: Onabanjo Abidemi, Raymond Lateef, and Ridwan Oyero Akinlesi.  He was said to have been armed with a firearm. The police said the enforcement officers sustained injuries.  They arrested nine suspects. Portable went into hiding.

    The police stated that they had invited him formally multiple times to answer questions concerning the incident, but he had ignored their invitations. They had then “obtained a valid court order declaring him wanted.”

    After the police declared him wanted, he posted a video on Instagram in which he claimed to be mentally unstable and receiving treatment at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta. He said: “I am a madman; I have medications that I usually take. You can confirm from Aro Hospital. I have a card that certifies me as one of their patients. “

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    However, the police response suggested they thought he was joking.  “He cannot be in the psychiatric hospital in Aro. Everybody knows that he is a wanted person. So, if he is going to be in anybody’s facility, the police will not accept that. He is a wanted man,” police spokesperson in the state Omolola Odutola asserted.

    The wanted man eventually gave himself up to the police in Lagos, from where he was transferred to Abeokuta. The Ogun State Police Command informed the public that Portable arrived at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Eleweran, Abeokuta, “at exactly 13:23 hours today, February 19, 2025.” Odutola said in a statement: “His presence at the SCID is connected to an ongoing investigation. The command assures the public that due process will be followed in handling this matter, and updates will be provided as necessary.”

    He was subsequently arraigned for conspiracy, assault and restriction, armed with cutlasses and guns, and conduct likely to cause harm. He was granted bail, and his case was adjourned till March 5 for trial.

    Having dishonestly labelled himself “a madman,” possibly expecting that the police would thereby stop looking for him, it remains to be seen whether this self-characterisation will negatively impact his brand. If it does, that would be a steep price to pay.

  • Osun: politics of blood and gore

    Osun: politics of blood and gore

    Are there still leaders in Osun, after the bloodbath of February 17?

    A fatal take-over bid, in 15 out of the state’s 30 local councils, has claimed a known name, Remi Abbas, an Irewole council chair hoping to regain his office, yet lost his life.  The Police have confirmed five others dead — nameless statistics?

    Yet, what do their leaders say?

    Governor Ademola Adeleke: “I equally condole with families of victims of the APC illegal takeover bid and the chaos the state and their hired thugs. PDP lost five members with several others wounded.

    So, Remi Abbas was rightfully killed, tit-for-tat — or what the hell was the governor saying?  Does Adeleke even realize he’s now governor for all, though PDP gave him the platform?

    And this from Ajibola Bashiru, PhD, a top APC hierarch in Osun, on account of being the party’s national secretary: “I will suggest that perhaps it will be necessary for the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency.  It has gotten to that stage where hapless people coming from farms are attacked by uncontrollable PDP thugs.”

    Even if that were so, is veiled presidential name-dropping, with threatened imposition of emergency rule, the solution? Does Bashiru remember what trouble Nigeria cropped in 1962, when a federal executive played politics with emergency rule in the West? Was the present Osun not among the epicentre of that crisis, which led to the collapse of the 1st Republic? O, for a sense of history!

    Kola Alimi, incidentally an ex-APC, but now Adeleke’s commissioner, delivered a fitting riposte: “I call on our amiable President to reject the call of Honourable Bashiru and his cohorts. That is what they are targeting; they deliberately caused mayhem in the state”. 

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    Well put.  But Alimi himself played the partisan card.  Life should be far too sacrosanct to use as cheeky tally to settle political scores.

    And this roar from young Turk, Jamiu Olawunmi: “We have taken 15 LGAs, including Ede South, the council of Adeleke.  We’re continuing the struggle tomorrow!

    Wow! How rash!  How unthinking!  So, the young man felt painting the governor as a powerless jelly, in his own home council, would end well for anyone?

    Well, the “struggle” did continue “tomorrow”.  As yesterday there was news that APC had indeed “fully taken over” the councils.  But at what cost?  Would that bring poor Abbas back to life?

    But can you really blame a rash youth, when all the leaders have manifested was culpable lack of introspection?

    To make a rash dash for a council takeover, without thinking something grave would give, is as harebrained as they come.  To respond with brazen violence is no less hare-brained — and here, the Osun PDP had the greater motive, to protect its turf.

    The Police must fish out everyone involved — not only the bozos that pulled the trigger but their enablers who, after driving violence, always resort to empty cant.

  • That empty apology

    That empty apology

    After slamming a 200 percent tariff hike on its data bundles, mobile network operator MTN has tendered an apology and begged forgiveness from its subscribers.

    Early last week, the network reputed as Nigeria’s largest telecom provider raised the cost of its 15GB data bundle by 200 percent against the backdrop of recent approval by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for telecom operators to review their tariffs by 50 percent. Under the new template, MTN’s 1.8GB monthly plan now goes for N1,500, replacing the 1.5GB plan that was previously priced at N1,000. The 20GB plan soared to N7,500 from N5,500.

    Following persistent pressure by telecom operators for permisson to raise tariff in line with prevailing market conditions, NCC in January gave the nod for 50 percent hike. The regulator body, in a statement, said the approval was pursuant to its power under Section 108 of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003 to regulate and approve tariff rates and charges by telecommunications operators. Network operators had pushed for some 100 percent increase, but NCC said it approved 50 percent taking into account industry reforms that should positively influence sustainability.  Subscriber groups, notably organised labour, protested the approval of tariff increase, but government considered it in the best interest of the sector and stood its ground.

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    MTN rammed in a 200 percent hike, though, and later last week apologised to subscribers. In a statement worded in informal conversational tone, the operator acknowledged the frustration of its customers over the ambush tariff increase, and sought to appease their outrage, asking that they “forgive and forget.”

    The statement in pidgin English said: “To our 15G digital bundle lovers, you dey vex. We know. We know how upsetting it must have been to suddenly wake up to a 200 percent increase on your favourite digital bundle. We could share several reasons, and provide explanations, but omo, all that one na story. We don cast. We get it and admit it. Let’s just say na mistake.” It added: “In this love season, don’t stay angry with us. Please forgive and forget. You matter, die, and we will never stop showing you how much. Let’s continue our relationship. Thank you for your understanding.”

    Hardball has been checking since the statement was issued to see whether the apology was meant to translate to a reversal of the tariff hike. Evidence shows the contrary. And so, you could ask what equation represents “forgive and forget” in conventional economics and what value it adds to subscribers when the tariff increase remains in place. By the way, what has happened to regulation, whereby the NCC gave approval for 50 percent hike but MTN imposed an overreaching 200 percent? By its statement, the network appears to have only mocked the helplessness of subscribers and the curious inaction of regulatory authorities.

  • Darkness unacceptable

    Darkness unacceptable

    Less than two months into the new year, Nigeria experienced another national power grid disturbance on February 12, after a similar incident that affected parts of the country on January 11. The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had attributed the January occurrence to line tripping.   

    Reports said the grid lost power generation before noon in the latest incident. Most power plants on the grid were reported to have lost generation when the incident occurred, including the Egbin power plant, Azura Edo, Geregu, Olorunsogo, Jebba, Omotosho, and Paras Energy, among others.

    For instance, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company said “a system disturbance occurred on the national grid… causing a power outage across our franchise areas.” Similarly, Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company said “we experienced a system outage…affecting all our feeders.”

    Later that day, TCN spokesperson Ndidi Mbah explained that the Omotosho-Ikeja West 330kV transmission line had tripped at the Omotosho end at the same time that the Benin-Egbin 330kV line was on a scheduled outage for mechanical line tracing. She added: “The tripping resulted in a cascaded outage affecting the Lagos, Abuja, and Osogbo axis. However, all other parts of the grid remained unaffected.” She also announced that normal power supply had been fully restored to the affected areas.

    The grid collapsed 12 times in 2024, according to reports. Predictably, the frequent collapse of the grid has been frustrating to Nigerian electricity consumers, including homes and businesses. If grid disturbance has occurred twice already in the first two months of the year, it is a disturbing sign that Nigerians should brace for worse. 

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    The President of the Nigeria Consumer Protection Network, Kola Olubiyo, who is also a member of the Technical Investigative Panel on Power System Collapses, implied that frequent grid collapses were inevitable because “the grid is stagnated, is limited, and is full of inefficiencies.”

    Even the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, last year blamed grid collapses on the deplorable state of the country’s power infrastructure.  He argued that there was a need to have power grids in different regions or states to end frequent grid collapses.

    Interestingly, three days after the incident, TCN still felt it needed to clarify what happened. The company said in a statement on its X handle on February 15: “TCN management would like to reiterate that there has been no system collapse this year.” Also, it claimed to have the “exclusive right to provide information to the public about events and status of the grid.”

    It missed the point. Whether what happened was a “system disturbance,” a “system outage,” or a “system collapse,” darkness is unacceptable.

  • St. Kanu roars 

    St. Kanu roars 

    Given the stunt Nnamdi Kanu pulled at his last court appearance, two cynical Yoruba sayings popped up with Hardball.

    One: a loony show is fun to watch — but whoever want their children to star in such shows?  And two: his kith-and-kin kid him what he suffers is but a mild ailment.  But those who know him not swear what ails him is out-and-out lunacy!

    Yet again, those who should caution Kanu have been deathly quiet with the lunacy he just exhibited in the courtroom — for what else but arrant lunacy would make Kanu talk down on the judge, insult the prosecuting counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, 77 — old enough to be Kanu’s father — and also bully, though outside the court, one of his own lawyers: “Stop talking when I’m talking”, he snapped!  For real?   

    Is such loutish behaviour allowed in court, the bastion of polite conduct?  Did he think the court was some village square, where any uncouth youth could just blab, without fear of dire consequences?  Lo!  Even the village square won’t suffer such crudeness, for it’s governed by customary decorum!  Yet, here we were!

    Good thing though: both judge and counsel ignored Kanu’s rude vituperations.  That’s what polished society does. 

    Still, after all that foul sensation, Hardball hopes Kanu knows the net loser is no one but himself.  He’s in the can; and the longer he stays in there, the longer he freezes own life.

    So, infantile bluff and bluster won’t help him.  Nor would it halt the wheel of justice that grinds so slowly, so gravely, so surely.  Hardball waits to see who blinks first!

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    As for the Free Kanu lobby, they can clearly see they market a bad product.  One good advice from Kanu himself, though: let no one beg for me!  For one, you don’t beg for mercy by blustering; or projecting sick entitlement. If they want mercy, they must show contriteness — and Kanu must be model-in-chief of that.

    But he has chosen the other path — a democratic choice!  So, let him have his way.  If the court finds him innocent, so be it.  If he is found guilty, let him face the full penalty of his crime.  There is no other way.

    Enough of these comic rounds called “political solution” — a euphemism for actions don’t have consequences.  They do.  That’s why Kanu is the dock.

    You don’t jump bail while on trial, goad hoodlums to visit violence on the law-abiding, from the illusory safety of a foreign land, yet bleat as a goat that you were brought back to face trial.

    Let the law take its course with Nnamdi Kanu.  Innocent or guilty, the heavens won’t fall!

  • Unruly finalists of AAU

    Unruly finalists of AAU

    Authorities of the Ambrose Alli University (AAU) in Ekpoma, Edo State, recently wielded the big stick against unruly final year students. They cancelled already written final papers over wild celebration by some students who were set to graduate.

    The school management said it took the measure because the action of the finalists violated its directive forbidding wild celebration. Acting Registrar Ephraim Isiraojie, in a memo, said affected students engaged in car horn display, use of sirens, spraying of money, shouting and hooting within the campus, and also blocked access roads leading in and out of the university. “The management is disturbed that despite the directive against jubilation/celebration on campus, graduating students from the Faculty of Arts (Department of Mass Communication, English and History, and International Studies) violated the directive of the management,” he stated.

    He explained that the university management in an emergency meeting held on 29th January resolved to invoke extant laws against wild jubilation/celebration on campus. “The management has thereby cancelled all the final year examinations written on Wednesday, 29th January, 2025, including but not limited to the following: ELS41I; MAC 414; IIIS416. The university management shall decide in due course when such cancelled examinations shall be rescheduled,” he said.

    The unruly conduct happened apparently while other students were yet writing their own examinations, because the registrar  added that the cancellation of examinations in the faculty concerned was intended to serve as a deterrent to other graduating students yet to complete their final year examinations. He stressed that the university management was keen on maintaining order and discipline on campus.

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    There are chances, even if remote, that some students were being unjustly punished, that they were not part of the unruly gang though they sat the affected papers, that they were level-headed and were calmly thankful to God for seeing them through to the end of their studies. Indeed, those in this category might be more in number than those who resorted to the wild celebration. But it is a case of the rotten apple that spoils an entire basket; and the challenge that confronted the management in not being able to distinguish between the wheat and the chaff is quite understandable. Hence the recourse to a sweeping sanction.

    But beyond the big stick, the students need to be put through counselling. They only wrote their final papers and had not even waited to see how they respectively fared before hitting the binge! Much more are serial examinations of life that yet lay ahead of them, beginning from when they go on the national youth service programme. They would have to engage the labour market or other life pursuits thereafter. Those students are simply ignorant of what life involves and need to be updated.

  • Budget interrogation

    Budget interrogation

    As Nigerians await the National Assembly’s approval of the 2025 Appropriation Bill, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) claims to have detected 254 “frivolous, inappropriate, unclear and wasteful expenditures” that should be eliminated. The number is concerning.

    The alleged suspicious items include N5.492bn budgeted for the annual maintenance of the Presidential Villa and N6.042bn also budgeted for annual routine maintenance of mechanical/ electrical installation, building/civil and environmental services within and around the Villa facilities.

    Also, the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning budgeted N230m to provide clean and potable water in 774 local government areas, “which is far from its mandate.” It also budgeted N115m for purchase of UPS, desktops and laptops.

    The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security budgeted N2bn for the provision and installation of solar power streetlights in rural communities in the six geopolitical zones, without specific location and no identification of beneficiaries. The organisation said “this is a replication of a project which is handled by the rural electrification agency.”

    Similarly, the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy budgeted N952.075m for innovation and coordination of the ministry’s policy programme. 

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    The Ministry of Water Resources budgeted over N1bn for the purchase of utility and Hilux operational vehicles. It also budgeted N450m for the construction of rural access roads nationwide, “which clearly is outside its mandate.”

     Apart from some of the allegedly questionable items stated, the organisation said “the budget includes vague allocations under service-wide votes, such as N4.409tn, which lack clear specifications on how the funds will be utilised.”

    CSJ lead director Eze Onyekpere was reported saying, “the reasonable expectation is that every available resource in the 2025 federal budget proposal should be targeted at concrete deliverables aimed at reducing poverty, creating jobs, improving infrastructure and stimulating economic growth.”

    Indeed, Nigerians do not expect a wasteful budget. President Bola Tinubu recently requested an increase in the 2025 budget by N4.5tn, bringing the total from N49.7tn to N54.2tn.  The request was based on additional revenue from some government agencies in 2024, including the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) which raised an extra N1.4tn, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) which contributed N1.2tn, and other government agencies which collectively generated an additional N1.8tn.

    The observations of the CSJ are thought-provoking. These critical questions must be asked:  What is the integrity of the proposed budget?  Is it a truthful reflection of projected spending? How transparent is the process by which it was created? Does it contain any provisions that could facilitate corruption?