The Nation Newspaper

Category: Hardball

  • Heartlessness

    Heartlessness

    As the family of Bamise Ayanwola marked her birthday on November 30, seven months after her killer was sentenced to death, her sister, Damilola, was reported saying, “We only have judgment, and for justice to be served, they must at least compensate my family. Bamise was killed inside the government’s own property, and a government worker also did evil to her.”

     She argued that her parents “deserve compensation after everything they have suffered emotionally.”  They “cried almost every day,” she said, adding, “Two of my elder sisters now battle high blood pressure. I also had to undergo a brain scan after breaking down from stress.”

    “They only promised justice, and we appreciate that. But justice is not complete without compensation,” she lamented.

    Justice Serifat Sonaike of the Lagos State High Court, Tafawa Balewa Square Annexe, on May 2, sentenced a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) driver, Andrew Ominikoron, to death by hanging for the murder of 22-year-old Ayanwola in February 2022. She was a fashion designer found dead “in a naked state” on Carter Bridge, Lagos Island, nine days after she was declared missing after she boarded a BRT vehicle.

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    Ayanwola was going to Oshodi from Ajah, and was said to have observed that she was the only passenger in the bus and the driver was not picking up other people on the route.  She was suspicious and fearful, and was said to have sent voice notes to her friend, describing her situation. Information she had provided helped in locating the bus and the driver after she was declared missing.

    Justice Sonaike said she “died from severe cerebral injury and blunt force trauma, and his actions and inactions led to her death.”

    On the question of compensation raised by Ayanwola’s family, the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, was reported saying the Ministry of Justice would be consulted to determine if the court had ordered compensation.

    His words: “The unfortunate incident was a legal matter handled by the Ministry of Justice. I will need to talk to the ministry and get information about whether there was a pronouncement for compensation.

    “However, the state ensured that the criminal was brought to book, and he was given the sentence of death.”

    Is the commissioner suggesting that the state government is unwilling to   consider paying compensation based on empathy?

    Surely, there is a place for empathy in this matter. The killer was heartless. The government shouldn’t be.  

  • The Papiri puzzle

    The Papiri puzzle

    Reports, at the weekend, said 115 more pupils of St. Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary School, Papiri in Agwara council area of Niger State, who were abducted on 21st November, this year, had regained their freedom. These were in addition to 100 pupils freed in early December. Fifteen teachers who were also kidnapped as well secured their freedom this time.

    Gunmen had attacked the remote community at wee hours on the fateful day, storming the school about 2a.m. on motorbikes and operating for nearly three hours. Reports at the time were that 315 people, comprising 303 pupils and 12 teachers, got abducted. About 50 pupils managed to escape within the first 24 hours and were reunited with their families (security insiders said the 50 children were part of those who fled when the bandits struck and returned home, rather than that they escaped from the abductors’ hold), leaving – so it was reported – 265 persons in captivity.

    On the heels of the attack, government deployed security operatives including police tactical units as well as military ground and air personnel in the area to comb nearby forests for the abductees. National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu, leading a Federal Government delegation, visited Kontagora to meet the Catholic Bishop of the Diocese, Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, and distraught parents of the abducted pupils. At that meeting, he assured that the abducted pupils were in stable condition and would be returned safely. “God is with them and God is with us. Evil will never win. They are going to come back. I give you that assurance,” he stated during the visit.

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    On November 7th, 100 pupils returned from the abductors’ den, leaving (as it was reported) 153 pupils and 12 teachers still being held captive. Even at that time, there was only report of the schoolchildren being freed, with nothing said about how their release was secured and what happened to the abductors when the children were being freed. This fuelled speculation as to the possibility that the children were released on terms that insulated the abductors from backlash, if not indeed that there was some negotiated reward by way of ransom payment.

    Latest report indicated that 115 schoolchildren and 15 others, to wit abducted teachers, got freed at the weekend in a forest between Agwara and Borgu council areas of Niger State. These were said to be all remaining abductees in captivity, which the Office of the NSA deployed security vehicles and personnel to evacuate. The catch is that the math of the Papiri abductions no longer added up, with the unexplained discounting of the number of abductees to 280 from the 315 earlier cited on repeated occasions.

    There must be transparent reckoning of the Papiri abductees such that all persons affected are accounted for, lest they get crowded out of national conversation. The public also needs to know what has happened to the abductors.  

  • Conflicting codes on varsities

    Conflicting codes on varsities

    Is there a proliferation of under-utilised tertiary institutions in Nigeria warranting a freeze on establishment of new ones? That is one question government needs to address regarding its policy on setting up of new universities, which seems inconsistent.

    The National Universities Commission (NUC), last weekend, said it had lifted an existing ban on establishment or operation of foreign universities in Nigeria. Its Executive Secretary, Professor Abdulahi Yusufu Ribadu, said at the 10th Convocation ceremony of Gregory University, Uturu (GUU), Abia State, that the decision was taken to allow foreign direct investment in the education sector. It is also to strengthen and make the Nigerian university system more globally competitive, he added.

    Represented by Offor Chukwuemeka, the NUC boss said the commission had initiated sweeping reforms that would make products of Nigerian universities global hotcakes. He explained that partnership with foreign institutions is envisaged to take place under six competitive modes namely “franchise, branch campus, twinning/articulation, open and distance learning (ODL), acquisition, and teaching institutions.” NUC, according to him, has introduced a governance code for private universities to standardise operations and embarked on curriculum re-engineering, shifting from Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) to Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS).

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    This latest policy statement was against the backdrop of a recent decision by government to impose a seven-year freeze on establishment of new federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. Sometime in August, a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu took the decision following a presentation by Education Minister Dr. Tunji Maruf Alausa.

    Addressing State House correspondents on the policy, Alausa cited proliferation of under-utilised institutions, overstretched resources and a drop in academic quality as reasons for pulling the brakes on new institutions. He argued that the challenge with Nigeria’s tertiary education system was no longer access but inefficient duplication, poor infrastructure, inadequate staffing and dwindling enrolment in many existing institutions. “Several federal universities operate far below capacity, with some having fewer than 2,000 students. In one northern university, there are 1,200 staff serving fewer than 800 students. This is a waste of government resources,” the minister said. He explained that the freeze was to enable government to channel resources into upgrading existing facilities, hiring qualified staff and expanding the carrying capacity of existing institutions.

    The obvious difference in the latest policy is that universities to be established will be foreign-funded, not government bankrolled. Still, those universities will draw on existing infrastructural capacity in this country, the same student and manpower potential and the likelihood of inefficient duplication. Actually, many foreign universities – excepting the big names – are notorious for spurious standards. It is not clear how the new policy announced by NUC has addressed these concerns.

  • Bago’s honesty

    Bago’s honesty

    How many first-term state governors in Nigeria are focused on governing, and are undistracted by their ambition to secure a second term in office? There are 18 first-term governors currently in office.

    This is a critical question. On December 12, during a mass swearing-in of 30 commissioners and 25 local government chairmen, Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago made remarks that highlighted a tension between governance and political survival.

    It was a rare moment of political transparency. Bago said: “There are some steps I ought to have taken to move the state forward but I dare not because of fear that taking such decisions would affect my victory in 2027. For example, some people who failed examinations and should have been sanctioned one way or the other could not be punished because of second term ambition.”

    Because of this internal conflict, Bago became a vocal advocate for a single-term limit for governors, arguing that it would allow a leader to be “more focused from the beginning to the end.”

    “I am an advocate of a single term for governors,” he stated, adding, “Everything in Niger State is being politicised and because of this, more decisive actions cannot be taken. There are some people I want to sack but I cannot. As the governor, I am preoccupied with the search for a second term in office and as a result, governance is suffering and this is why one term is better to serve because you will be more focused from the beginning to the end of your one term tenure.”

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    Based on Bago’s own logic—that the system itself forces distraction—the number of “undistracted” governors is likely very small. Whatever the first-term governors might achieve, how much more could they have done if they weren’t pursuing re-election?

    Is a single term the solution? Interestingly, Bago didn’t elaborate on the specifics of his proposal, leaving the ideal tenure for such a single term undefined.

    Analysts estimate that if governors weren’t pursuing re-election, they could be 30 to 40 percent more effective in their first term. The drive for a second term tends to skew decisions, appointments, and even the budget, they argue.

    The ultimate casualties are the people; they are shortchanged because a first-term governor pursuing re-election is often forced to sacrifice the public interest at the altar of political survival.

    Governor Bago’s honesty exposed the reality that second-term ambition may well be the single greatest distraction to effective governance in the country.

  • Truckers’ revolt on expressway

    Truckers’ revolt on expressway

    Movement by motorists on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway was grounded for some while last Wednesday when truck drivers blocked both lanes of the major artery at Ogere axis, Ogun State, with their trucks. They acted in solidarity with their colleagues who alleged being extorted by traffic officials.

    Reports said security agents earlier impounded three trucks for wrong parking on the Ogere-Sapade section of the busy highway. One of the truck drivers claimed that traffic officers seized his vehicle battery and, in protest, abandoned his truck right in the centre of the Ibadan-bound side of the highway. In seeming suggestion that the lone tuck disruption of traffic not enough, fellow truck drivers mobilised to further block the lane with articulated vehicles and extend the barricade to the Lagos-bound side of the expressway.

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    The Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE) deplored bottlenecks often created by truck drivers who park at the roadsides while ignoring provided trailer parks – private and government-owned – resulting in traffic obstructions and gridlocks, avoidable road crashes and narrowing of the road corridor. The agency’s spokesperson, Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed that the Ogere division task force earlier apprehended three trucks for illegal double-parking. He further explained that one of the drivers whose truck was impounded, rather than follow required procedure for securing release of the truck, mobilised other drivers to protest the impoundment.

    According to Akinbiyi, the driver got unruly in his bid to retrieve the impounded truck. “(He) reported back at the task force office by 07:00hours, spitting fire and brimstone in a bid to secure his truck. The said driver exhibited high-handedness, irrational and uncompromising behaviour, threatening to cause chaos if he wasn’t attended to immediately, even though the time for proper documentation and enlightenment before release, which is 08:00hours, had already been communicated to him.” He added: “Unfortunately, he left in annoyance and went on to instigate his fellow truck drivers – a deliberate act intended to cause mayhem, obstruction and delay in travel time, and expose road users to risk and danger along the Ogere-Sapade road, all with the intent of embarrassing the state government.”

    On how matters got resolved, Akinbiyi said: “Orderliness (was) restored through the intervention of the Ogun State Commissioner of Police Lanre Ogunnowo, the Seriki Hausawa of Ogere, and the acting TRACE Commander-General Omonayajo Elias, who also ordered the release of the earlier apprehended trucks that were handed over to the Seriki Hausawa and other transport union representatives to douse the built-up tension along the axis.”

    The manner of resolution suggests the truckers were appeased, which could mean something wrong was done by traffic officials. Still, it was the height of lawlessness for these truckers to have barricaded the public highway to press a personal grouse. They should’ve been brought to justice.

  • A politician and a prophet

    A politician and a prophet

    An interesting clash between a politician and a prophet gives insight into the things that happen behind the scenes in the pursuit of power. 

    The Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, a former governorship candidate who has his eyes on the 2027 Oyo State governorship race, alleged that Primate Elijah Ayodele of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church “had persistently approached him with unsolicited offers of “spiritual intercession” purportedly to guarantee electoral success.”

    In a petition to the Department of State Services (DSS),  he urged the security agency to “investigate the activities of the said Pastor Ayodele for extortion, blackmail, and deliberate dissemination of false and inciting information; compel him to retract his false prophecies and issue a formal written apology; and bring him under the force of the law, in accordance with relevant provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and Criminal Code, to deter similar fraudulent religious practices in future.”

    He said there was “documentary evidence, including recordings and message exchanges, which clearly show his repeated demands for money and other items under the guise of spiritual assistance.”

    Ayodele’s response: “I didn’t ask Bayo Adelabu to bring money for prayers.” His account: “He was the one who sent someone to me to talk to me on his behalf. He went as far as saying he was willing to give anything to become the next governor of Oyo State…

    “I told him that they won’t want to give him the governorship ticket, but if he wants it so bad, he should seek the mercy of God by buying the musical instruments for God, not even for my church, but he said he can’t do it. That’s all.”

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    Why did Ayodele suggest the purchase of musical instruments for a church?  It is unclear how buying such instruments could bring electoral success for Adebayo.

    The minister’s grouse is that Ayodele had launched a campaign to demarket him, by prophesying his electoral failure, following his refusal to release money allegedly demanded.

     “I have been talking about how he won’t be made governor of Oyo State for years; this is why he called me to seek solutions… my subsequent prophecies after our discussion about his ambition aren’t because he failed to buy the musical instrument,” the cleric explained.

    Should Adebayo be troubled by such alleged demarketing? Should he be bothered by Ayodele’s prophecy of electoral doom for him?

    Adebayo said the cleric had demanded N150 million from him to make his gubernatorial dream come true.  The exchange raises questions about quality candidacy, the role of money, and the potency of spiritual intervention in the country’s electoral space.  

    How many politicians and spiritualists of various hues across the country are collaborating towards achieving electoral success as the 2027 elections draw near?

    In such a context, where is the place of the electorate, and how much power do voters have?

  • Labour blows hot again

    Labour blows hot again

    ‘Battle’ is its undeclared name, and so you never find the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) chilling for too long without calling a fight. Sometimes, though, you wonder if the fight being called makes sense in the circumstance.

    The congress has announced plans to stage a nationwide protest on Wednesday, December 17, over insecurity in the country. In a communiqué last Monday at the end of its national executive council meeting in Lagos, it deplored heightened level of insecurity across the land, including the recent abduction of 24 schoolgirls in Kebbi that it described as alarming.

    The communiqué signed by NLC President, Joe Ajaero, and Acting General Secretary, Benson Upah, condemned the abductions and killing of school staff during the incident and criticised reported withdrawal of security personnel from the affected school just before the attack. It called on government to secure all schools, particularly those in remote and vulnerable areas, and demanded immediate investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the security lapses.

    Among other things, the congress warned that failure by government to address insecurity and other pressing national issues could lead to escalated industrial actions across various sectors, including health and education. It made clear that workers’ safety and welfare remained a top priority in NLC’s advocacy, promising that the planned protest would be peaceful but resolute and aimed at compelling the government to act decisively. The congress also urged state governments and security agencies to intensify measures to protect vulnerable communities, particularly schools and students, warning that continued neglect could undermine national stability.

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    At the opening of the NEC meeting penultimate Thursday, Ajaero argued that Nigerians had endured enough, and it was time to put a stop to killings by criminal bandits and terrorists. “We are going to declare nationwide protests of mourning to demand an end to the killings. We will also demand to know who ordered the withdrawal of soldiers before the Kebbi school children were abducted,” he said.

    While Labour’s concern is perfectly legitimate, you would wonder what value a nationwide protest at this time would add to national quest for a remedy. As of now, the Kebbi schoolgirls referenced by the congress are out of the abductors’ hold and other abductees are also being gotten out, although by installments. There have been changes made in the security hierarchy, with a new Minister of Defence just settling to work. Ideally, he needs some space to get to grips with expectations. Besides, since the designation of Nigeria as a ‘Country of Personal Concern’ by United States President Donald Trump, there has been heightened attention to security matters as makes any extraneous effort to call attention to the same issue totally superfluous.

    NLC, with its protest, will be making some noise just for the sake of it. There’s no end it will be serving that the Trump effect hasn’t more than served.

  • Narrow nets

    Narrow nets

    According to a new World Bank report, poor Nigerians who need government-funded safety-net schemes the most are not benefiting from them, despite billions of naira spent on poverty alleviation. The bank’s November 2025 report, titled “The State of Social Safety Nets in Nigeria,” says poor households receive only 44 percent of the total benefits from such programmes.

    The report, which examines the country’s spending on social safety nets and evaluates their coverage and efficiency, attributes the failure to reach the neediest to poor targeting, weak funding, and fragmented implementation. 

    “Many programmes implemented by the federal, state, and local levels, as well as safety net programmes implemented by religious bodies, fail to reach the neediest,” the bank observed. It described the impacts of extant safety nets on the overall poverty headcount rate in the country as “negligible.”

    It also said the poverty impacts of safety net programmes in the country “are much lower” than in most other low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), adding that “The range of poverty impacts in Nigeria is even lower than the average among not just the LMICs, but also low-income countries with lower incomes and a higher extent of poverty.”

    In 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had released a report that said 133 million Nigerians were multidimensionally poor. This figure represented 63 percent of the country’s population of more than 200 million. Three out of five Nigerians lived in poverty, according to the NBS report.

    The data from the Monetary Poverty Measurement (MPM) and Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) had called into question the anti-poverty efforts of the Federal Government and the seriousness of state and local governments in the fight against poverty.

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    Ironically, the findings had suggested that poverty in the country was governance-driven, with high deprivations nationally in healthcare, food security, and housing, among others.

    Poverty remains a big issue in the country, and anti-poverty solutions must be governance-driven.

    The United Nations (UN) defines extreme poverty as “a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services.”

    This definition captures not only monetary poverty but also multidimensional poverty, showing how “deprivations in basic amenities” are used to assess poverty.

    The World Bank’s critical findings demand action from the Nigerian authorities. They must ensure that the social safety nets are spread wide enough to cushion the neediest citizens.

    • First published on November 14, 2025. Show trimmed content

  • Mental health of inmates

    Mental health of inmates

    Incarceration should not be an impediment to proper healthcare for inmates with mental health issues. However, many people who are incarcerated in the country lack access to mental health professionals because they are in short supply.    

    “We have 8,246 inmates with mental health conditions in our custodial centres,” according to the Assistant Controller General of Corrections in charge of medical services, Dr Glory Essien. She gave this figure during the third public hearing of the Independent Investigative Panel on Alleged Corruption, Abuse of Power, Torture, and Other Inhumane Treatment by the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), held in Abuja, on August 12.

    From her explanation, the mental health of these inmates had been impacted by their incarceration. She said: “From the moment someone is brought in—those who have seen a custodial centre know what I mean—the police escort them to the gate, it’s opened, they’re admitted, and then that gate locks behind them.

    “That instant loss of freedom can trigger something. Some begin to show signs of disturbed behaviour almost immediately, as if something in their mind has shifted.”

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     When this happens, the shortage of mental health workers complicates the problem.  “If you’re in a facility housing 500 to 1,000 inmates, and you’re the only attending doctor, nurse, or psychologist, it’s simply not possible to monitor everyone individually,” she observed.

    The prison system, therefore, trains some inmates to assist the staff in identifying those showing signs of poor mental health, she added. According to her, they are “trained to alert the staff when they notice concerning behaviour. They might say, ‘This inmate seems dazed, hasn’t eaten, hasn’t spoken to anyone.’  Such observations help the staff to “intervene early,” she said. But she noted that these efforts are inadequate in dealing with the scale of the problem.

    Two other speakers at the event gave further insights into the issue. The Assistant Controller General of Corrections in charge of pharmaceutical services, Mohammed Bashir, said there were 81,122 inmates in 256 correctional facilities nationwide, adding that specialised consultants “usually go to about 12 designated custodial centres that have a large number of these cases.” This is concerning.  Correctional centres with a small number of such cases also deserve attention.

    The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Dr Magdalene Ajani, noted the maldistribution of mental health professionals, saying, “Let them not only be centred in Abuja and Lagos; we need them to go out to the fields. Because if we even put two in the states, it will help them.”

    The authorities need to address this aspect of conditions in the country’s correctional centres.

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  • CCTV dreams die first

    CCTV dreams die first

    Lawmakers in the House of Representatives have exhumed the controversy over the closed-circuit television project in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that has failed to work, despite government securing a $460million loan from China to fund it. The chamber raised an ad-hoc panel to probe evident collapse of the CCTV project touted to boost security, amidst rising insecurity in the territory.

    The probe followed from a motion moved earlier by a House member, Amobi Ogah, by which the lawmakers decried repayment of the loan for a security infrastructure that has remained largely non-functional. After a robust debate, the chamber resolved to interrogate the failed project and how the loan was utilised, and determine the roles played by ministries, departments, agencies and contractors.

    At the inauguration of the ad-hoc panel, House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas described mounting cases of kidnappings and armed attacks in the FCT as “intolerable and deeply troubling.” He lamented that a city once rated among West Africa’s safest capitals has become infested by criminal gangs who “daily harass and abduct residents, almost without restraint.” He questioned why a multi-million-dollar surveillance project designed to strengthen security operations had failed to function.

    Represented by House member, Julius Pondi, Abbas said the green chamber owed Nigerians clear answers on whether the project was properly implemented, abandoned midway or compromised through poor management. The panel, according to him, will undertake forensic review of the scheme, assess its current status and interrogate how well it was integrated into the national security architecture. The probe will also identify lapses, acts of negligence or possible sabotage, and recommend measures for reviving or overhauling the system.

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    Panel chairman, Ojogo Donald, described the failed CCTV project as a “national embarrassment,” noting that an investment of such scale should have offered substantial protection to the capital. “What elevates this situation from mere tragedy to a scandal of immense proportions is the glaring contradiction before us,” he added, alluding to rampant security breaches in the FCT.

    Ojogo was right. The CCTV project was conceived under former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration as part of a broader initiative to bolster security, help security agencies monitor key areas and provide real-time surveillance in the FCT. The contract was awarded in 2010 to a Chinese firm, ZTE Communications, after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Beijing, China; and the project was funded through a $600million soft-credit facility from China‑EXIM Bank, under which $460 million was dedicated to the CCTV project. Under the loan terms, Nigeria enjoyed a 10-year grace period, followed by a 10-year repayment schedule. Only that the project has never delivered on its promise years after the loan deal. Some installed cameras and allied equipment were vandalised or stolen, while others were simply abandoned.

    Corruption and mismanagement were speculated as major factors in the project’s failure, with funds meant for its operation allegedly misappropriated. So, the probe should go beyond lawmakers, it should also involve anti-graft agencies.