Category: Hardball

What has having and producing a National Identity Number (NIN) got to do with being allowed to board a train and travel by rail? Well, according to the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidet Okhiria , NIN will be a requirement from May.

“The process of linking passengers to their NIN for improved profiling is ongoing. This layer of passenger screening will commence by May,” he said on April 14, in Abuja, adding that this would enhance the safety and security of rail users.

It is understandable that the railway authorities are making efforts to prevent a recurrence of the tragic terror attack on a train on the Abuja-Kaduna route on March 28. Gunmen blew up a section of track. The NRC said there were 362 people on board. Eight passengers were killed, 41 injured, and many were abducted. The incident was yet another sad manifestation of increasing insecurity.

“The Abuja-Kaduna Train Service will resume as soon as possible with additional security measures put in place,’’ Okhiria stated. It is unclear which additional measures he was talking about. The NIN check is inadequate.

Leaked minutes showed that Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi had, on September 24, 2021,  asked the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to “approve the award of contract for the procurement and installation of electronic surveillance system and interrogation unit on the Abuja (Idu)-Kaduna (Rigasa) 200km railway monitoring rail intrusion detection system and emergency response system in favour of Messrs Mogjan Nigeria Limited/Cagewox Dot Net Limited in the sum of N3, 780,827,410.66 inclusive of 7.5 per cent VAT with a completion period of four months.”

The minutes also showed that the council, unsatisfied with the minister’s proposal, had asked him to provide certain necessary details and re-present an improved proposal on the security matter.

The horrific train attack happened more than six months after the said meeting. It seems nothing happened concerning the proposal in the period, which amounted to collective failure. What is the situation now on the proposed security equipment?

The NRC’s passenger NIN check idea cannot be an effective security measure against external attack like the one that happened on the Abuja-Kaduna route. Checking passenger NIN cannot stop external attackers.

The point is that the railway authorities and the Federal Government need to seriously focus on more effective measures to prevent more terror attacks on trains.  This is an urgent issue, and should be treated with a sense of urgency.

The agony of Russia, that rushed without thinking into its Ukraine invasion, is perceptible: it bombs cities like Mariupol into a shell; and slaughters armless civilians of Bucha like mad butchers.

Yet, it feels the acute pains of being belittled by own ample folly!  It’s a classic top dog/underdog match-up: by the underdog calling its bluff, Russia has earned itself self-ridicule.

Ukraine, on the other hand, has earned global bounce: standing up, with pluck, to its all-muscle-no-brain neighbour.  It might be bruised and bloodied for now.  But it has more than a moral victory coming its way.

If you doubt, just look at the grim stats. To a little rat and annoying fly like Ukraine, Russia has lost the Moskva (aka Moscow), the flagship of its Black Sea war fleet; and veteran of earlier plucky campaigns in Chechnya and Syria.

Russia has also lost an armada of tanks, some five top generals, a slew of warplanes, suffered routs in nimble Ukraine counter-attacks and forced to abandon its rash bid to take Kyiv, and maybe capture Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as golden prisoner of war, to be paraded in the streets of Moscow!

But on Moskva, the claims are varied.  Russia — shamefaced? — claimed an explosion in the ship’s lethal ammo chambers, blew it up.  For days after, it denied the Moskva had sunk, maintaining the distressed ship was being towed away for repairs.

A triumphant Ukraine, on the other hand, claimed its nimble, crafty missiles did the do, out-foxing the anti-missile defence systems of the staid and doomed Moskva.

But one fact is stark: the Moskva is sunk and is dead as dodo — and Putin’s Russia is shame-faced.

But Russia has copped own victories too.  For instance, it showed a video of surrendering Ukraine marines, numbering a thousand or so, in the besieged port city of Mariupol — a feat Ukraine has ignored with icy contempt.  Russia has also given two largely ignored deadline for surrender in Mariupol.

That suggests that though Mariupol might be under harsh Russian pressure — like Kyiv before it — one would be extremely rash to predict the eventual victor or vanquished.

On NATO membership in Eastern Europe — the prime casus belli for the Ukraine invasion — Russia also appears losing the plot.  Piqued by Russia’s rashness in Ukraine, hitherto pacifist and neutral Finland (which shares with Russia a long border) and neighbour Sweden are mulling joining NATO for own long-term security.

And what’s Russia’s response to all that?  A pathetic threat to unleash its nuclear arsenal and hypersonic missiles!  That, to be sure, would put the fear on God in Russia’s minion neighbours.  Yet, you could feel that threat comes from a growling dog, scared to own bones!

But the most pathetic, from the Russian camp, is reason its short-and-snappy “special military operation” (a lie Russian tells itself) is lasting so long and costing so much: that America is bolstering Ukraine with defence weapons!

What does Russia expect?  That America, NATO and EU would stand by and let Russia roll over Ukraine?  At last, the high folly of Russia’s bully thinking is coming forth: it can invade Ukraine but it’s a crime for Ukraine to defend itself!

Then, the tragedy of the strategy that could remove the myth of Russia’s might, once and for all: “tiny” Ukraine is doing the job; and it’s being hailed by the western media.  But really, it’s the entire Western Europe, led by the United States, dealing with Russia!

However the war ends, it’s sad requiem for Russia.  Next time, it would think before acting.  The reverse was the case in its Ukraine misadventure.

It’s a sadly familiar story of bullies using their status as military personnel to oppress innocent civilians, sometimes leading to their death.  This time, it involved some soldiers attached to Ibodi Barracks in Osun State, and tragically resulted in the death of Adeyinka Adekunle, a 37-year-old car dealer.

A delegation from the 2 Division, Ibadan, Nigerian Army, that visited the father of the deceased, Pa David Adekunle, on April 12, was reported to have told him that the soldiers involved had been arrested and the guilty would be punished.

Pa Adekunle, 79, said the two army officers that visited him “asked the eyewitness, who is a sister to Solomon Ogundare, who was also arrested and tortured along with the deceased, to write a report on what she witnessed and make it available to the Army in Ibadan.”

According to a report, “the deceased and a friend, Solomon Ogundare, went to a relaxation spot in the Imo area of Ilesa on March 24. A disagreement broke out shortly after three soldiers, who were in mufti, begged the friends for drinks and they refused.

“As the altercation degenerated into a fracas, one of the military officers phoned the Ibodi barracks and soldiers stormed the area. While Adeyinka escaped from the scene, his friend was caught and taken to the barracks.

“The soldiers caught Adeyinka the next day when he went to the barracks in the company of his friend’s sister, Elizabeth Itunu, to secure the release of his vehicle and Ogundare. He died after being subjected to rounds of torture by the soldiers, who also reportedly forced him to eat his vomit.”

Adeyinka’s death resulted from abuse of power by the soldiers involved. It shows yet again that some military personnel think they are above the law and can get away with acts of lawlessness against civilians.  This is an unacceptable mentality, and bad for the image of the military.

Military bullies that oppress civilians, sometimes leading to their death, are an embarrassment to the armed forces.  It is unclear how much the military leadership is doing to educate military personnel that abuse of power, especially when civilians are the victims, is unprofessional and unacceptable.

Sanctions are obviously useful for deterrent effect. This is why the army authorities should be seen to treat Adeyinka’s tragic death with a sense of justice, and ensure that the soldiers who caused his death are severely punished.

Folks in the South East are realizing the full gravity of that popular saying: the genie popping out of the bottle.  Who will cork it back?  The answer hangs in the air — and things are not at all pretty.

IPOB, that triumphantly declared the Monday sit-at-home strikes, has been screaming and bawling and screeching that it has called it off.  The last grand announcement was made with prominent Anambra monarchs in-situ, riding the crest of the bully pulpit by new Governor Chukwuma Soludo.

Staking his honeymoon, Soludo has even set up Anambra’s version of the Olusegun Obasanjo-era Truth and Reconciliation Commission, itself a dubbing of the Nelson Mandela South Africa classic, at the death of the apartheid regime — all in a bid to make triumphant South East anarchists drop their guns and give peace a chance.

But no dice!  It would appear a case of the elite screeching at a stone deaf rabble of anarchists, bent on bringing own own communities to social and economic ruin — or just chiselling the new (dis)order in their own ultra-ugly image.

Still, from Soludo’s Anambra end, there would appear some cold comfort.  The governor claimed the set of loonies that hit a market and started strafing cows for sale with bullets were non-Anambra criminals, dislodged from some illicit bush camp and on the run from the law.

To be sure, that sounded a tad comforting.  If they were fleeing, it meant the security agencies must be making some progress at clearing them out.  The comfort does not reach the poor owner of the cows though, for his assets just vanished in wanton waste!

The raiders probably saw the hated “Fulani” in the doomed cows.  But as it turned out from reports after, the doomed pocket belonged to a fellow Igbo, trying to make a honest living, breeding and selling cows.  How naked hate paralyzes your brain!

The throes of another transporter in Enugu, who watched his Sienna shuttle car go up in smoke, is better imagined: “By the time I looked back to see what was happening, my Sienna was up in flames,” he recalled — and could well have been history too, was he not standing a bit far from the car. “I learned that about two persons were shot dead during the attack,” the unnamed driver said, clearly happy to be alive.

But despite his “happy” survival story, it was one livelihood gone (his Sienna shuttle); and two lives recklessly despatched — all the victims, human and material, Igbo!

That is the albatross IPOB will learn to wear on its stiff neck.  One way or another, it stands fairly charged with being associated with the ruin of the same people it rather grandiloquently swears to champion.  Some ill-fated championing, there!

The moral?  Never ever ripple to unleash any form of anomie, for the anarchy to come might be beyond your powers!  That’s the jam IPOB has found itself, even as security agencies battle the felons its rash declaration has spawned.

Like bees drawn to honey, beggars were reported to have invaded the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, believing it is “flowing with milk and honey” like the biblical Canaan.

This influx during Ramadan was said to be because many beggars believe that Muslims, especially rich ones, tend to be more generous in the period.

Over 150 beggars, said to be mainly women, children and aged men, were arrested at various locations in the city, on April 10, by the Enforcement Squad of the Social Development Secretariat (SDS). They are not wanted in Abuja. But where are beggars wanted?

The Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister, on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement, Ikharo Attah, said: “We saw excessive beggars from across the country flooding into FCT so we had to move them off the streets, sensitive areas where they gather in large numbers to beg for alms, and in the process they disturb people and the complaints came in, and we moved in and cleared them in a friendly manner that most of them were very happy about.” How can beggars be happy that they were prevented from begging?

The activities of beggars evoke the level of poverty in the land. The number of poor Nigerians has increased to 91 million, according to the official figure, and the so-called “poverty virus” is still active and spreading. With a population of about 216 million, Nigeria needs to urgently address the rising number of the poor.

When President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated a National Steering Committee to oversee the development of the ‘Nigeria Agenda 2050 and Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP),’ in September 2020, he mentioned the objective of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty “within the next 10 years.”

But the current figure, almost two years after his ambitious declaration, does not show a reduction in the number of poor Nigerians but a disturbing rise.

Importantly, the authorities need to be aware of the markers of poverty, and take action. 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.”

The beggars that invaded Abuja were obvious victims of poverty, and their noticeable presence in the federal capital should be seen as a reflection of poor socio-economic conditions. Arresting beggars is not the same thing as arresting poverty.

Did he say goat?  Yes, goat. Pastor Leke Adeboye may need to clarify if he actually meant goat, a real goat.   He is the son of Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the respected General Overseer (GO) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), the Pentecostal megachurch with headquarters in Lagos. He is also his father’s Senior Personal Assistant.

Leke wrote on his Instagram page:  “Why would you go and preach another sermon after Daddy GO had just finished speaking and preaching? You are not a son, you are a goat sir. Next Thanksgiving service, just do altar call, then Thanksgiving.”

This was his crude response after some pastors allegedly preached after the GO had delivered his sermon at the Thanksgiving service at the church’s national headquarters in Lagos on April 3.

RCCG parishes across the country are expected to connect to the national headquarters for the GO’s sermon on the first Sunday of the month, which is Thanksgiving Sunday.

But after the church leader’s message that particular Sunday, some pastors were said to have delivered their own messages in their parishes.

So the son was angry, and reacted angrily.  But by reducing the pastors allegedly involved to goats, he also reduced himself to a level that may well be lower. His intervention was insulting. It was improper, inexcusable and unacceptable.

Importantly, he also perhaps reduced the impact of his dad’s sermon. The GO had talked about the issue of oil theft in the country, and the country’s increasing debts, among other problems.

Pastor Adeboye had asked: “Who is stealing the oil? Where is the money going? What do they want to do with the money? Who are the foreign nations buying this stolen oil? How many of these nations of the world are your friends?”

It is noteworthy that when Pastor Adeboye turned 80 on March 2, RCCG members celebrated him for “A life of holiness, humility, consistency and focus.” He marked his 40th anniversary as the head of the church last year.   Leke didn’t reflect his father’s said humility in his verbal attack.

It is unclear how many of the church’s pastors allegedly went against the Thanksgiving service practice.  Under Pastor Adeboye’s leadership, RCCG has expanded phenomenally, and ranks as one of the biggest Pentecostal churches. As at 2017, it reportedly had branches in about 196 countries. A church with such an impressive profile needs to pay attention to its image.

There is no doubt that Leke’s post embarrassed the church. He is an embarrassment to the church.

Although Governor Jide Sanwo-Olu tried to jug the memory of Nigerians, almost always fated to forgetfulness, many still would not remember the grass-to-grace story of the Lagos Bar Beach, now turned tony Eko Atlantic City (EAC).

It was at a March 31 event, where the United States Embassy in Nigeria flagged off the construction of its new N223 billion, 10-storey consulate campus, to be built at EAC.  When completed in 2027, it would be, according to a report in The Nation, “the largest US Consulate in American history, anywhere in the world.”

Huge.  But even huger was the waste the doomed Lagos Bar Beach would have been, but for the cutting-edge thinking of those running Lagos affairs then, even when the Federal Government, under President Olusegun Obasanjo, virtually left Lagos for dead.

The Bar Beach, at its zenith, was well-storied: Nigeria’s prime beach, the very epitome of water fun, splash and pleasure; and a meeting point, of all races in Lagos: African, European, Indian, etc, who couldn’t have enough of the roaring and frothing Atlantic.

And yes: wasn’t it the bastion of the fictive Brother Jero, the rascally but likable Aladura fraud, hero (?) of Wole Soyinka’s twin plays: The Trials of Brother Jero and Jero’s Metamorphosis?  Yes: the Bar Beach was home to a racket of white garment priests, in their daily faith drama, well captured for posterity by the Jero plays.

But then, ocean surges soon laid bare the Bar Beach, even threatening the beachfront Ahmadu Bello Way, with its bevy of well-appointed state liaison offices, and allied plum pieces of property in that neighbourhood, including Eko Hotel and Suites.

At its worse season, the press would duly report the panic; and the neighbouring NTA would beam the hysteria to viewers’ home, in sobering technicolor.  In response to that, the best antediluvian thinking President Obasanjo and his Works and Housing Minister, the late Chief Tony Anenih, conjured up was award of contracts to a slew of sand-fillers.

But no sooner did those tens of trucks deposit their sand than the surging ocean swept them away!  Short-story: the Obasanjo order had absolutely no clue!

Then, enter Governor Bola Tinubu and his band of Lagos innovative thinkers.  The result is today’s Eko Atlantic City, which genius of waste-to-wealth the US Embassy just endorsed.

At that event, sitting Governor Sanwo-Olu crowed the crow: eye and living witness of turning “what used to look like a liability into an asset.”  He added: “At that time I was also privileged to be in a cabinet that said ‘Not under our watch’ would nature wipe us off the face of the earth.”

Bola Tinubu was governor and thinker-in-chief.  That couldn’t be said of you know who: then commander-in-chief in Abuja (who even once proudly bragged that Lagos was a “jungle” in his Abuja lair) and his relay of Bar Beach sand baggers!

The Bar Beach metamorphosis (like Brother Jero’s, by the way), from ugly sandbags to tony EAC, thanks to superb marine engineering, is ode to punishing but cutting-edge thinking.

The latest American endorsement is the latest toast of that.  Ideas rule the world, don’t they?