The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

The $200 billion quest for reliable electricity
- By Elvis Eromosele
Sir: Nigeria is an energy starved nation. Today, homes flicker into darkness, businesses grind to a halt, and dreams of economic growth stall in the face of an unreliable electricity grid. The numbers paint a grim picture. Nigeria generates a mere 6,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity against an estimated demand of 40,000 MW needed for a stable, nationwide supply.

The World Bank estimates this power deficit costs the economy $29 billion annually, an economic haemorrhage that highlights the urgency of reform. This may explain why Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power, laid out a bold vision: a $200 billion investment over 20 years to deliver a 24/7 electricity supply. This staggering figure, $10 billion a year, has sparked both hope and scepticism. Can Nigeria transform its beleaguered power sector, and what will it take to light up the nation?

Nigeria’s power crisis is a hydra-headed beast. The issues span generation, transmission, and distribution. The national grid, a relic of decades-old infrastructure, is plagued by inefficiencies. Reports indicate that for every 100 MW generated, 7.79 MW is lost in transmission, a figure that reflects both technical shortcomings and systemic neglect. Vandalism compounds the problem. Indeed, between January 2022 and October 2024, the government spent ₦29.3 billion (roughly $17.7 million) repairing 266 vandalised electricity towers, an average of $66,500 per tower. These fixes however are mere Band-Aids on a system that demands a full overhaul.

The human toll is palpable. In Lagos, small businesses and homeowners alike are compelled to rely on costly petrol/diesel generators to keep their machines/households humming. Many businesses spend more than half of their earnings on fuel. Across rural Nigeria, entire communities remain off the grid, their potential stifled by darkness.

The metering gap, less than half of customers have metres, further complicates matters, leading to estimated billing and revenue losses for distribution companies and discontent from electricity consumers. These challenges are not new, but the scale of the solution proposed is unprecedented.

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The $200 billion goal is ambitious. It seeks to achieve a generation capacity of 88,000 MW, enough to ensure uninterrupted electricity nationwide by 2045. This figure encompasses upgrades across the entire value chain, generation, transmission, and distribution. It also accounts for the integration of renewable energy, grid modernisation, and policy reforms to attract private investment.

Breaking down the numbers, the plan allocates significant funds to each segment. Transmission infrastructure, for instance, requires a massive investment. The Presidential Power Initiative, launched to modernise the grid, has already committed $1.9 million and €62.9 million in its first phase, boosting capacity by 2,000 MW. Yet, industry experts estimate that $100 billion over 20 years is needed just to maintain current service levels. Distribution upgrades, including metering initiatives, also demand substantial funding. The Nigerian Electricity Transmission Access Project (NETAP), backed by a $486 million World Bank credit, is a step toward addressing these gaps, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the broader need.

So, while the government focuses on grid expansion, decentralised solutions like mini-grids and solar projects are gaining traction. In a country where vast rural areas remain unconnected, off-grid systems offer a lifeline.

We can agree that the $200 billion price tag is daunting. But this is not just about money. Implementation efficiency, transparency, and anti-corruption measures are equally critical. Nigeria’s history of mismanaged projects looms large, with critics pointing to past initiatives that fizzled out despite hefty budgets. The truth is that the funds are one thing, but execution is another. Without accountability, $200 billion could vanish into thin air.

Short-term goals offer a glimmer of hope. Experts estimate that $15-30 billion by 2030 could stabilise the grid, expand metering, and deploy more mini-grids. These steps wouldn’t deliver 24/7 power but could significantly reduce outages and connect millions more to electricity. For urban centres like Lagos and Abuja, grid upgrades could mean fewer blackouts. For rural areas, off-grid solutions could bridge the gap, promoting economic growth and improving quality of life.

The stakes are high. A reliable power supply could unlock Nigeria’s potential, fuelling industries, creating jobs, and reducing poverty. The World Bank’s $29 billion annual loss estimate underscores the cost of inaction. Yet, the path to transformation is fraught with challenges, technical, financial, and political. As Nigeria grapples with its power crisis, the $200 billion question remains: Can the nation muster the resources and resolve to light up its future?

•Elvis Eromosele,

elviseroms@gmail.com
July 10, 2025
Anambra’s SASA: When the falcon cannot hear the falconer
- By Chiedu Uche Okoye
Sir: Before Governor Chukwuma Soludo became the governor of Anambra State, the state was the haven and stamping ground of touts and thugs, who would commit atrocious and heinous crimes under the guise of collecting road levies from commercial motorists. They were feared and dreaded. And their nefarious activities gave the state a bad name and scared investors away from the state.

So upon taking over the reins of power, Soludo formed the Special Anti-Tout Squad of Anambra (SASA) to rid Anambra roads of touts, thugs, and miscreants whose activities endangered the lives of people. His decision to form SASA is not injudicious considering the fact that the misdeeds of the touts had made many investors flee Anambra State. Moreover, the road levies which they collected never entered the coffers of the state government, then. It was the hope of Soludo that SASA members would work within the ambit of the law to bring back sanity to our roads.

But the obverse is the case now. The torrents of complaints, which have trailed the activities of SASA are indicative of the fact that SASA is abusing and misusing the enormous power entrusted to it. It is a perfect exemplification of the case of the falcon not able to hear the falconer, anymore.

On July 1, SASA operatives went haywire in Chief Emeka Anyaoku’s home town of Obosi. Under the pretext of chasing fleeing drug peddlers, they barged into the Obosi town hall. They upturned chairs in the town hall and smashed the glass windows of the building. Cars, which were parked on the premises of the town hall, were not spared their anger as they were damaged, too. One of the operatives of SASA, in a moment of madness, drew his machete and dealt a cut on the hand of an infant.

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So incensed were the Obosi people that they contemplated a protest to call Soludo’s attention to the mayhem that happened in their town. Thankfully, the Obosi Development Union president general, Chimezie Obi, dissuaded the people. Had they staged the protest, it would have turned violent.

Expectedly, their outcry elicited response from the appropriate quarters. The state government promised to conduct an investigation into the operatives’ barbarity in Obosi as indeed other places, with a view to overhauling that security outfit and punishing its operatives found guilty of engaging in misdeeds.

It is high time SASA was reorganized and the bad eggs removed. Just as throwing the bath water away with the baby is not good; disbanding SASA will not bode well for us all given the activities of touts and thugs on our roads and their penchant and knack for committing violent crimes.

•Chiedu Uche Okoye,

Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State
July 10, 2025
Why ADC can never be like ANC
- By Bishir Dauda Sabuwar
Sir: I listened to Senator Ahmed Babba Kaita of Katsina North on Radio France International Hausa at the weekend saying that they would enthrone party supremacy in ADC. According to Babba Kaita, their aim was to transform ADC to be like ANC—African National Congress of South Africa.

This is mere rhetoric. This is because at the beginning, the ANC was not hijacked from anybody. It had a solid foundation, clear-cut ideology, and discipline. It has never been a “special purpose vehicle.” Had it been that the ANC was a product of hijacking; it couldn’t have lasted for 113 years.

From 1912, the year the ANC was founded, how many years did it take her to end apartheid and wrestle power? Was it in two years? They spent 82 years working tirelessly, including waging gruelling guerrilla warfare. Nelson Mandela had to spend 27 years in prison. Steve Biko was killed. Hundreds of people were murdered. The party was once outlawed. Yet it survived. You don’t build a party on quicksand.

If the ANC could be established under apartheid and it survived all the intrigues and subterfuges, I don’t see why Ahmad Babba Kaita and coalition leaders couldn’t found their own political party instead of hijacking an existing party. Like what Dr. Umar Ardo said, you can’t liberate Nigeria on the platform of a special purpose vehicle. What happened in Abuja on the day the coalition unveiled their SPV was a scandal. It was laughable when Ralph Nwosu claimed that all the executives of the party had resigned. It showed that the party is not well organized.

Just one man in Abuja would hand over a political party without following due process!

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That is why I agree with APC National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka, who described the coalition as “obsessed merchants of vendetta….A coalition of egotistical maniacs for whom power and patronage are the oxygen on which their lives depend.”

The coalition would have been more convincing if they emulated the former president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, who left ANC and formed his political party called Umkhonto we Sizwe, and he performed spectacularly well in the last general election in South Africa.

In the UK, the coalition could learn from British politicians like Nigel Farage of the Reform UK Party or Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana or even from Elon Musk in the US, who, instead of resorting to hijacking political parties, opted to establish their own from scratch.

I don’t think someone can liberate Nigeria through political hijacking and manipulation. There is a world of difference between power grabbing and governance.

•Comrade Bishir Dauda Sabuwar,

Unguwa Katsina.
July 9, 2025
The danger of online romance
- By Bilkisu Ahmed Shekarau
Sir: We have heard the stories too many times—young women found dead in strange places, their lives cut short by people they once trusted. But the pain feels fresh every time.

The shock never wears off, especially when the tragedy could have been avoided with a little caution and curiosity. Not long ago, in the heart of Abuja’s Gwarinpa district, a young woman checked into a hotel with a man. Hours later, during a routine inspection, hotel staff found her lifeless body, chained and motionless. The man had vanished without a trace. That woman was later identified as Aladi Offikwu Johnson, popularly known as Tessy, an indigene of Benue State. According to the police spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, Tessy had checked in on June 16, , with an unidentified man. He left without her. She never made it out alive.

The Commissioner of Police, Ajao Adewale, ordered an immediate investigation and advised young women to be more mindful of whom they associate with—especially strangers. He also urged hotels to strengthen their guest verification systems, enforce identity checks, and install more surveillance cameras to deter crime and aid investigation when needed.

While the details of how Tessy met her killer remain unclear, her story echoes a chilling reality: many of these encounters begin online. A growing number of women are falling victim to dangerous strangers masquerading as love interests or friends.

Catfishing—pretending to be someone else, often online—has evolved into something deadlier. A person you meet virtually could turn out to be a predator in disguise.

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In another reported case earlier this year, a woman narrowly escaped death at the hands of a suspected ritualist. She had met the man online, where he posed as a supposed oil company employee named Michael Prince. He invited her to Delta State, but they eventually agreed to meet in Abuja. During the meeting, he turned violent—threatening her with a dagger, tying her up, and taping her mouth shut before locking her in a bathroom. He fled with her phones, leaving her for dead. Thankfully, she was rescued by the police.

These stories are not isolated. They reflect a growing crisis—a silent war against women.

Gender-based violence in Nigeria is escalating, and the numbers are heart-breaking. According to the Femicide Observatory run by Document Our History (DOHS) Care Foundation, 22 women were murdered in the first two months of 2025 alone. That’s a 240 percent increase from the same period last year. And that is only what was reported. A 2013 national health survey found that nearly one in three Nigerian women had experienced physical violence by age 15.

These are not just statistics. These are daughters, sisters, mothers, and friends—real people who deserved better. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has continued to push for stronger policies on gender-based violence, but change must begin with awareness.

It must begin with us. Women need not only protection but empowerment. We must teach young girls to investigate before they trust, to listen to their instincts, and to share their movements with trusted loved ones.

Women are the backbone of our families and communities. They nurture, they lead, they build. They deserve to be seen, heard, and protected—not silenced by fear or buried beneath the weight of unchecked violence.

Let every woman lost be a reminder. Let every survivor’s voice be heard. And let every budding relationship be approached with wisdom. Because love, real love, should never cost a life.

•Bilkisu Ahmed Shekarau,

<bashekarau@gmail.com>
July 9, 2025
More than a seat, Nigerian women deserve power
- By Lekan Olayiwola
Sir: Since 1999, barely 43 women senators and 119 House members have held elective seats in Nigeria’s National Assembly. Sometimes triumphant but often solitary, their journeys tell stories of structural exclusion, and individual determination. Over 25 years of democracy in Nigeria, women have held 162 out of 3,283 legislative seats. That means women have occupied fewer than 1 in 20 (or 4.9%) seats in Nigeria’s highest law-making body.

This is not symbolic absence, but entrenched structural gap and systemic marginalisation of women in Nigeria’s political landscape.

With women holding less than 5% of seats in the National Assembly, the country ranks among the lowest globally for female political representation. The proposed Reserved Seats Bill, if passed, aims to change that trajectory, even if modestly.

The Bill offers access to formal political power, reserving 111 extra seats for women in the National Assembly, granting women a legally mandated political presence—a foot in the door. This signals constitutional recognition that gender exclusion is real. Although it could inspire a new generation of female political aspirants, critics regard it as a temporary structural fix because it’s not permanent—it designed to expire after 16 years.

Critics say it doesn’t address root causes, tackle party gatekeeping, money politics, or political violence which are the real barriers. Without reforms to party primaries, campaign financing, and electoral safety, many qualified women will still be locked out. It neither empowers at scale nor match actual demographic or participatory parity. It may lead to tokenism if not followed by deeper institutional reforms.

The Bill risks ghettoising women’s representation; by creating “special” women’s seats, it could reinforce the notion that women are politically “other” or only belong in segregated spaces. It doesn’t guarantee leadership influence because having more women in parliament doesn’t translate to women leading parliament, especially in key committees or power blocs.

But while it may look like a small step, for generations of politically excluded women, this could be a giant leap forward. Around the world, gender quotas have proven to be not only effective, but transformative. They are not about charity. They are about legitimacy.

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In Rwanda, a constitutional mandate reserves 30% of parliamentary seats for women. The result? Women now hold 61% of the lower house—the highest in the world. This didn’t happen by accident. It happened by design.

Mexico took a different route. Through a parity law, political parties are required to nominate 50% women for all elected positions. The outcome? Near-equal representation in Congress. Not because women were given power, but because they were finally allowed to compete on equal footing.

In India, the transformation began at the grassroots. One-third of all seats in local councils are reserved for women. Today, over one million women serve in local governance. That’s not symbolism. That’s infrastructure.

Senegal passed a law mandating gender parity on party lists. Today, women hold 43% of seats in the National Assembly. And in Tunisia, a “zipper system” requires party lists to

Let Nigeria be the next example others cite—not for how long we waited, but for how boldly we moved.

Reserved seats alone party won’t dismantle the barricades of gatekeeping, money politics, and electoral violence. But here’s the opportunity: the bill can be paired with complementary reforms, such as mandatory internal party quotas for primaries, public campaign financing for women candidates and electoral safety protocols, especially in high-risk zones. Reserved seats can be the wedge that opens the door, but the rest of the architecture must follow.

•Lekan Olayiwola,

lekanolayiwola@gmail.com

Prof. Leonard Karshima Shilgba,

<shilgba@gmail.com>
July 9, 2025
State police: An idea whose time has come
- By Sunday Olagunju
Sir: Critics have espoused the presumably overbearing and inordinate ambitions of state governors to use state police as an instrument of oppression and suppression of perceived enemies and foes of their administration.

Now assailed by the quagmire of banditry and rising malcontents, virtually all the governors are now praying and clamouring for the urgent establishment of state police as the only foreseeable solution to the hydra-headed insecurity problems in most of the states.

Protagonists of state police complained of the overarching workload of the present force which numerical ratio of one police to a given population falls ridiculously below the requirement of the United Nations. With overstressed personnel, coupled with poor and antiquated weaponry, oftentimes, the police are at the mercy of fowlers and malcontents, who breach securities and security of lives and people’s wellbeing and welfare with impunity.

The idea of state police comprising an overwhelmingly high percentage of the indigenes of a state means that they know the nooks and crannies of the state and can easily identify people who are security risk and deal with them accordingly.

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The National Assembly can set a state police committee of the House with a view of sending members to study countries operating the two tiers of federal and state police in the world, with a view to identifying their modus operandi and possibly copy some aspects of their operations and administration.

Definitely, there are some states in the country, especially in the North that needs state police to complement whatever security architectures they have in place to deal with the rising cases of banditry and loss of peace occasioning rising malcontents.

For upwards of over three decades, the debate on state police has been on the front burner, and now with worsening security situation in virtually all parts of the country, the time seems ripe enough to take a stand on the issue of state police, to be or not to be.

With the failure of many prescriptions for solving rising insecurity in the country, wisdom demands that the issue of state police be given a trial just as it happened to other prescribed solutions.

Nigeria is big enough territorially and in terms of population to accommodate both federal and state police, constitutionally working in cahoots for the security and well-being of the nation.

Today, rising insecurity tides have obfuscated the old time criticisms of possibility of political misuse of police powers at state level, paucity of funds by most states to maintain and equip a standard state control force, potential fragmentation of national security and absence of regulatory architecture to ensure standard and operational cohesion of state police force.

State police is an idea whose time has come.

•Sunday Olagunju,

Ibadan, Oyo State.
July 7, 2025
Why Artificial Intelligence can’t take over
- By Ganiu Bamgbose
Sir: Artificial Intelligence has come to stay and the debate over whether or whether not to accept/adopt it is needless, fruitless and baseless. The discussion at the moment should be the survival of professions and professionals in the age of artificial intelligence. The prerequisite for the survival of occupations in the age of Artificial Intelligence is the adoption of AI in occupational operations. The fear and prediction of AI taking over the world is not manifesting completely so soon inasmuch as its creation and adoption still depend on human ingenuity.

Bill Gates has been reported to predict the survival of three works as AI takes over human roles but of course Gates too did not consider dynamics such as the unequal spread and uneven penetration of AI to different countries of the world. We are not all experiencing AI at the same level. This puts everyone at the liberty of studying the wave at their own spot and determining out to wage in to continually attract wages.

Artificial intelligence will replace only those who are not in place. By this I mean that the wave of AI will threaten only those who are not weaving AI into whatever they are doing already. With AI for instance, many teachers will no longer fit into the profession but teaching as a profession will not get easily swept away by AI. Teachers can subsume AI into their methodological approach but AI is not immediately prepared to incorporate the empathy and the affection that will come from a teacher to their students. The teacher that will not be replaced by AI must therefore know that the classroom in the 21st century is made up of CLICKS, and not just BRICKS. With the congested classrooms in many African countries, the AI-compliant teacher must achieve PACE even without SPACE.

Academics and researchers who also see AI as a free gift of nature that comes without fee will in no time fizzle out. In line with the thoughts of scholars and the editorial positions of many journals, Sumaya Laher differentiated between AI-assisted content and AI-generated content. AI-assisted content refers to work that is predominantly written by an individual but has been improved with the aid of AI tools. AI-generated content is produced by the AI itself. This could mean that the AI tool generates significant portions of text, or even entire sections, based on detailed instructions (prompts) provided by the author. Intellectual outputs that do not contain the ingenuity and voice of an academic or researcher amounts to plagiarism on the one hand and prepares such person for intellectual degradation on the other hand.

It is ridiculous that the first move of an intellect when presented with a topic, issue or debate is to find out what AI says. A scholar should take the within-without approach to discourses which requires your intellection before AI-inclusion, and not the without-within approach which prompts you to essentially rely on AI-generated ideas before asking yourself if you have anything to add.

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Academics should also note that they are dealing with a generation of students who are smarter than they are brilliant. They have not cultivated the use of their intellect so much but are fantastic at using AI. An AI-ignorant supervisor can therefore give good grades for completely AI-generated submissions because they are not aware of the affordance of artificial intelligence. While the gist is not to prevent or discourage the use of AI for school tasks, students must be guided on how to use the available online tools and, of course, be punished for misuse and abuse.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been said to refer to “intelligent machines and algorithms that can reason and adapt based on sets of rules and environments which mimic human intelligence”. This makes clear that AI is not designed to replace human ingenuity so everyone who remains ingenious will remain relevant even in our AI-driven world. We are therefore left with the option of placing AI in the scheme of things if we will not be replaced by AI. Individuals must not wait for authorities to do it for them. Academics must not wait for their institutions to train them. We all must strive to move with the wave of AI as much as we can as failure plus explanation will not guarantee success.

•Ganiu Bamgbose,

Lagos State University, Ojo.
July 7, 2025
Uba Sani: Changing the face of governance
- By Zaidu Zaidu
Sir: Purposeful leadership has long been the missing link in Northern Nigeria’s development journey. Despite its vast human and mineral resources, the region is often seen as a drawback in the country’s quest for sustainable progress. Simply put, many perceive Northern Nigeria as a burden, a region with little to offer. This perception might have been different if the region had continued to produce visionary leaders in the mould of the Sardauna and other great northern statesmen, who not only led with purpose but also united the people across all divides.

Today, however, a new wave of leadership is beginning to challenge this narrative. Senator Uba Sani stands out among a handful of emerging leaders who are redefining what it means to govern with vision, empathy, and results.

Governor Uba Sani’s leadership style gives life to John C. Maxwell’s saying that “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” Since assuming office, he has wasted no time translating his vision into action, and he is doing so without media frenzy or fanfare. Unlike his predecessor, who employed the tactic of divide and rule, Uba Sani has been able to harmonise both the northern and southern parts of Kaduna State.

Before he came on board, Kaduna was a hotbed for bandits and terrorists, a place where, to borrow the words of Thomas Hobbes, life was “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” But through dialogue and a non-kinetic approach, he has helped restore a measure of peace, especially in troubled axes like Birnin Gwari. While pockets of attacks still occur, the frequency has reduced significantly, showing that security is not only about force, but also about trust and community engagement.

In terms of infrastructure, Governor Uba Sani has made meaningful strides despite inheriting a huge debt running into hundreds of millions of dollars. Roads like the Kachia-Kafanchan link and rural feeder roads in Giwa and Soba have been rehabilitated, reconnecting communities and boosting local economies in ways that touch people’s daily lives.

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When the time came to organise the North West Stakeholders Forum, many doubted it could hold without descending into chaos, especially considering how the North East Stakeholders Forum had gone. But Governor Uba Sani proved the doubters wrong by spearheading one of the most seamless and productive forums in recent times. His success mirrors the Igbo proverb that “When an elder is in the house, the she-goat does not suffer parturition on its tether.” Though Governor Uba Sani is still young, he has succeeded where some elders have failed.

When predictions of chaos at the North West Stakeholders Forum did not come to pass, critics shifted their doubts to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s visit to commission landmark projects like the rebuilt Sabon Gari Market. They said the president could not visit Kaduna without crisis, especially considering this is the state where his strongest and bitterest critic governed for eight years. Yet again, Uba Sani silenced them. Talk of a leader who knows his onions.

In the area of appointments, Governor Uba Sani has shown that he understands the time-tested Nigerian cliché that the youth are the leaders of tomorrow. His cabinet includes young, qualified professionals alongside experienced hands, with clear attention to gender balance.

In all this, one thing stands out: Governor Uba Sani’s quiet revolution in Kaduna is not just transforming a state, it is rewriting the story of Northern Nigeria. By proving that with vision, courage, and sincerity, purposeful governance is indeed possible, he reminds us that the North still has leaders who know the way, go the way, and show the way.

•Zaidu Zaidu,

Zaiduzaidu@gmail.com
July 7, 2025
NYSC certificate deserves a digital makeover
- By David Tersoo Heke
Sir: On June 3rd, 2025, I collected my NYSC Certificate of National Service. For years, I had seen others celebrate this document with pride, holding it up as a symbol of academic closure and civic contribution. I anticipated that same feeling. But when I finally received mine, the excitement gave way to quiet concern.

The certificate felt… underwhelming.

In a time when most official documents come with modern security features—QR codes, encrypted barcodes, holographic seals, or even digital verification portals—the NYSC certificate appears stuck in the past. No embedded digital features. No tamper-proof markings. The paper itself feels ordinary, and the design appears unchanged for decades.

This is not just about aesthetics. It’s about credibility and security.

The current certificate, in its form, is worryingly vulnerable to forgery. Without any way to digitally verify authenticity, employers and institutions are left to rely on the assumption that every certificate presented to them is genuine. In a country where document fraud is a known issue, that’s a dangerous gamble.

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Contrast this with exam bodies like WAEC and NECO, which now allow digital result confirmation, or even universities that offer transcript tracking systems. Why has the NYSC certificate—arguably one of Nigeria’s most significant civic documents—not evolved?

The solution is not complex. It’s time for the National Youth Service Corps to:

– Introduce QR or barcode-based verification systems linked to the NYSC database.

– Upgrade printing materials to tamper-proof formats with security overlays.

– Offer secure digital copies for online use and international processing.

As a proud Nigerian who completed national service, I believe this is not too much to ask. If we are going to continue mandating service to the nation, then the token of that service—our certificate—should reflect the standards of the time.

We owe it to the thousands of Corps members who serve every year. We owe it to national integrity. And we owe it to the future of public trust in our systems.

•David Tersoo Heke,

Makurdi, Benue State.
July 7, 2025
Criminality in the name of culture
- By Ike Willie-Nwobu
Sir: In a disturbing incident in Enugu State, some masquerades supposedly celebrating the Oriokpa masquerade inflicted bodily harm on some members of the public. Also, a couple of weeks ago, some masquerade traditionalists invaded the home of an Imam and a mosque in Oke Agbe, Akoko North Local Government Area of Edo State. They beat up his wives and children.

The government must move in to stop a repeat, as such unsightly incidents cannot be allowed to reoccur in the name of adherence to culture. Those who hide under dirty masks and costumes to perpetrate terror are not representative of any culture. They are criminals. It is as simple as that. Those who hide behind dirty disguises to terrorize other citizens do not stand for what culture and tradition mean. They are criminals and must be stopped. It is people like them who give culture and tradition a bad name , hastening in the process the loss of what is otherwise invaluable to society.

The government must step In and firm up the regulations. There should be control and most importantly, there should be accountability from those who wear the regalia of culture.

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It is unfortunate that these days, culture, and tradition have become synonymous with criminality, no, thanks to the activities of some unscrupulous individuals. Ritual killers now hang on to the coattails of culture to take life in incredibly cruel ways; those who mint and print blood money somehow draw their paint from culture. Kidnappers and bandits also appear to have found some justification and fortification in culture and tradition, forcing the government in a state like Anambra to take charge and clamp down, further giving culture a bad name. The move has not been very popular, but many consider it necessary, even inevitable.

Culture is not bad in itself. There is nothing shameful or abhorrent in upholding culture. A people’s way of life is often among their most prized assets because in it is ingrained their identity and the very sense of history and prosperity. It is worth preserving. But not at the expense of peace, tolerance, law, and order which foreground every civilized society.

It is important that Nigerians cling to their culture. But it is even more important that the rights of others are respected while doing so. Respect for culture and tradition must exist alongside the overwhelming realization and recognition that culture can only thrive in a society where there is law and order

Nigerians must also endeavor to do away with those cultures of death that diminish life, oppress women and leave behind the ugly marks of marginalization and brutalization.

•Ike Willie-Nwobu,

Ikewilly9@gmail.com
July 4, 2025