The Niger Delta Basin Development Authority (NDBDA) was established in 1976 via Decree 37 promulgated by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
Its functions amongst others include development of irrigation schemes for crops and livestock production and other agricultural purposes.
Over the years, the agency has established several agricultural pilot schemes including fisheries at various sites across the Niger Delta.
However, over the years, the instrument establishing NDBDA has either been consolidated or readjusted by other decrees in terms of mandate with direct agricultural production excised from its functions and termed Water Resources Development Agency.
Its boundary was also readjusted leaving 18 out of 25 local government areas in Delta State in the scheme.
The local government areas include Bomadi, Burutu, Ethiope East, Ethiope West, Isoko South, Isoko North, Ndokwa East, Ndokwa West and Okpe LGAs. Others are Sapele, Ughelli North, Ughelli South, Udu, Uvwie, Patani, Warri South, Warri North and Warri South West Local Government Areas.
The readjustment of the boundary places Rivers State, Bayelsa State and 18 Local Government Areas of Delta State under the jurisdiction of this strategic agency of government with its functions expanded to cover development of surface and underground water resource for agricultural and domestic water needs of the people; construction of dams, wall boreholes and drainages etc, for irrigation and other purposes; collect and collate data for comprehensive master plan on water resource use, socio-economic and environmental well being of the River Basins; construct, operate and maintain sensitive infrastructure such as roads and bridges that are germane to smooth businesses in operational sites of the Agency among others.
From the foregoing, the strategic importance of this agency to the socio-economic development of the mandate area cannot be over-emphasized.
Water may be everywhere in the Niger Delta but safe and portable drinking water or for other domestic and commercial purposes are not readily available. It is obvious that the sensitive areas of concern in the Niger Delta where this agency plays critical roles like the development of irrigation schemes for agricultural purposes, building of dams, roads, bridges and water schemes in its mandate areas, places the agency at the very core of government developmental goals for the area.
The Ministry of Water Resources has enormous budgetary provisions for all these schemes with support from international donor agencies like World Bank, IMF, USAID, etc which commit billions of naira to development of water resource schemes across Nigeria annually.
The area of concern in this piece is management of the River Basin authority over the years.
NDBDA is headed by a Managing Director/CEO with four Executive Directors in charge of the four major departments crucial to delivery of its mandate in line with the instrument establishing it.
The four departments include Administration and Finance; Planning, Investigation and Design; Engineering Department and Services Department. Since the inception of the NDBDA in 1976, there had been 13 heads of the agency drawn from either Rivers or Bayelsa States to the total exclusion of Delta State either by deliberate fault or calculated attempt to undermine the interest of Delta State.
Those who have served as heads of the agency include J.D Briggs from Rivers State designated then as Executive Secretary from 1977 to 1980 and A.M Ndiomu from Bayelsa State, designated as Acting General Manager from 1980 to 1981. Engr B.J Samuel Horsfall from Rivers State took over as substantive General Manager in 1981 and was there till 1984.
Engr G.B Eguwe from Bayelsa State assumed office in April 1984 as Acting General Manager till 1985. In 1985, S.O.L Amadi Nna of Rivers State took over as substantive General Manager till 1989 when Engr B.A Lawson also from Rivers State stepped in as General Manager for 10 years between 1989 and 1999. Hon Desmond Akawor and Surveyor R.O Allen, both from Rivers State also served as General Manager of the agency from 1999 to 2003 and 2003 to 2009 respectively. In 2009, Engr Dickson Ahagbuje from Edo State was appointed acting Managing Director. He served till the appointment of a substantive MD in 2011 in the person of Mr N.M Aleru of Rivers state. After three years, Aleru handed over to Hon O.E Beredugo of Bayelsa State who served as Managing Director from 2014 to 2017. Beredugo was succeeded by Engr Tonye David West of Rivers state who was Managing Director of the agency from 2017 to 2020.
Today, Engr M.D Derefaka is the Managing Director of the NDBDA since 2021. Derefaka is also from Rivers state. From the above analysis, it is obvious that Delta State has been the weeping baby of the agency since inception. While Rivers State has produced 9 MDs spanning over 30 years, Bayelsa state has produced 3 with Edo state having one acting MD. While time and space will not permit detail analysis of the distribution of heads of the four departments of the agency since 1977, information available indicates that even those HODs have been skewed in favour of either Rivers or Bayelsa state making one to wonder whether it was a mistake for Delta State to be included among states under the mandate area of the agency. As the tenure of the incumbent Managing Director inches closer to an end, this is the time for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to look in the direction of Delta State in appointment of the next Managing Director of the agency to clear the doubts in the minds of most Deltans. For an Agency which was established since 1976 for three states to have been managed for almost 50 years by two of the three states it covers is an aberration. This is one mistake that must be corrected by the Tinubu administration to build trust and confidence in the present administration. For too long, Deltans have been silent hoping and praying for the right thing to be done. And the time to right this wrong is now.
The 18 local government areas covered by the agency in Delta State are three times the size of Bayelsa state and also bigger than Rivers State. One wonders the criterion for appointment of heads of this agency since 1977 to the total exclusion of Delta State. President Tinubu should address this anomaly. Delta State is part of the Niger Delta and the highest oil producing state in Nigeria as at today.
Taking our oil to fund critical business of government and treating Delta as second class when it comes to issues of appointment to heads of agency like this instance of the NDBDA is one bitter pill that the people cannot continue to swallow. The time to act and change the narrative is now. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the true democrat should appoint the next Managing Director of NDBDA from Delta State in the name of equity, fair play, justice and inclusive politics.
• Ogaga, a Journalist and Public Affairs Analyst writes from Asaba, Delta State.
The trajectory of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has always been in the news for negative reasons. For instance, among its past Directors-General, we have those who have faced corruption charges in the law courts. But the new helmsman, Anthony Ekundayo Mobereola, has a high reputation for integrity, performance, and delivery on expectations. He has renewed hope amongst the maritime stakeholders that the organization’s ship will be redirected along the right path.
People who have interfaced with Mobereola have spoken glowingly about his high value for professionalism, vision, patience, and a striking resemblance to public etiquette in whatever he does. His maiden interactive session with Maritime stakeholders which was held on Thursday was a testament to how highly rated he is in the industry and shows that expectations are a mouth full. He is perceived as a man with the Midas touch under whom substantial transformation of the sector is anticipated.
As a brand, Mobereola is a man of powerful spirituality, absolute purity, and all-round spiritual flexibility. Even in his alma mater, where he presides over its National Alumni Association, he has within one year brought a lot of changes to the old students’ body, by inspiring and mobilizing the Alumni to give back to the alma mater. Ayo Aluko-Olokun, who works closely with him as the General Secretary of Saint Patrick’s Grammar School, Ibadan Alumni Association, describes Mobereola as “a visionary leader and team player with a strong sense of patriotism. He is a leader who takes service to humanity, not as a job but a mission. The NIMASA DG leads by generously donating and contacting other old students to donate handsomely to the progress and development of the school and the academic excellence of the students.”
Social formation teaches that a change in nomenclature will also lead to a change in the status of any newly established institution, and it is bound to affect everything around it. With this in mind, one may wish to ask: what’s President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda all about and how does Mobereola as the new NIMASA DG fit in? To start with, the Agency is very central to the concept of the blue economy, not only in terms of maritime safety and the development of an exceptional trade facilitation framework in Nigeria but also in its potential to help grow the economy and raise the revenue profile of the sector. Mobereola holds a Ph.D. and a M.Sc. in Transport Economics from the University of Wales, United Kingdom, which makes him suitable for the job. The Marine and Blue Economy Ministry is a new creation and it is in the delivery of performance of parastatals like NIMASA and others that the Ministry will be able to deliver on its mandate and Nigerians would now see the need for the creation of that Ministry. NIMASA has a task to protect the local shipping industry to generate wealth for Nigeria.
According to Henry Ford, “coming together is the beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” From what yours sincerely have heard about the new appointments in NIMASA, Mobereola’s choice is very endearing and it is in the right direction. It is hoped that he would live up to his billing, with his rich track record.
Born on August 26, 1959, the new DG was the pioneer Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), where he was popularly called ‘Dr. MOB’. He led the processes that took the public transport system in Lagos out of its “dysfunctional and chaotic” state to its present enviable status. Between 2015 and 2016, Mobereola served as Commissioner for Transportation in Lagos State and was later appointed the Chairman of The Board at Lagos Bus Services Limited (LBSL) by the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration. He was the architect of much of what is being celebrated in Lagos today as the Blue and Red Rail Lines projects.
I have argued elsewhere that in the First Republic, under the 1960 and 1963 Constitutions, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) was contributing 42% of its earnings to the coffers of the Federal Government annually. It’s time we went back to that framework, and NIMASA has a big role to play in it. It is estimated that the maritime sector can turn about N7 trillion into the economy annually. NIMASA can achieve this by focusing on its core mandate and not trying to be everything to everybody. For those who care to know, NIMASA is currently one of the most important agencies in Nigeria, after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the military. So, its technical capacity has to be top-notch because it’s the agency that will enable the country to earn the kind of foreign exchange that the Maritime and Blue Economy will need to solve the balance of payment and currency crises currently confronting our dear country.
For Tinubu to make this happen, he must make sure that NIMASA is very well-funded and supported with policies and FEC approvals to drive its transformation and also unbundled the Maritime fund which is 3% of freight on every cargo. And for Mobereola to succeed, the strategic option is to remain the patriot that he has always been – an exceptional manager who has the technical capacity, intellectual nourishment, and strategic opportunity to run an Agency as complex in shape and size as NIMASA. Not only that, members of staff of the Agency should be well-remunerated and motivated. He should also introduce data-driven processes and ensure ease of doing business by the shipping lines. Technology should be deployed to move the sector forward and faster – and can be first-class, bringing in the foreign exchange that the country needs to survive. Failure to do these will be catastrophic for the country’s economy because, if Nigeria doesn’t diversify her economy from crude oil, she is finished! Yes, if Nigeria is to get her way out of the critical balance of payment crisis, NIMASA should be at the centerpiece as a formidable front for the maritime base, in agreement with “the policies and programs outlined for the sector, guided by the Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, H.E. Adegboyega Oyetola.”
A word of advice, though: as Nigerians are expecting an even bigger performance from this man of wisdom and impressive capacity, let Mobereola make clear the government’s policies and direction for the sector: An Agenda not politically driven but industry-focused and friendly must be stated for him to etch his name in gold!
I really do wonder whether those great patriots that fought a long and bloody war against British colonial rule and founded the United States of America in 1776 like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and so many others envisaged what has happened to their beloved country today?
I wonder whether the Pilgrim Fathers and great and wise men of old that, by faith in the Living God, left the Old World, crossed the Atlantic ocean in hazardous conditions and went to the New to establish a new beginning and build a new nation founded on freedom, equality, the fear of God and solid good old fashioned Christian virtues and values would believe what the beloved nation they toiled, prayed for, established and worked so hard to build has turned into today?
Would they not all be turning in their graves?
A nation that was once referred to by both friend and foe as the “land of the free and the home of the brave” is now neither free nor brave.
A mighty nation that delivered itself from its own internal prejudices, contradictions and demons by fighting a brutal civil war to free the slaves and that presented a great hope for those that dreamt of a world where all men and women could have equal opportunities regardless of class, history, color, race or creed has now lost its sense of decency, equity, honor and morality and turned into a corrupt, power drunk, morally bankrupt, blood-lusting, war-loving, terror-funding, egocentric and idiosyncratic collection of self-serving, self-seeking, cowardly and deluded individuals who serve the interests of not their own people but that of AIPAC, the Jewish lobby and the State of Israel.
A rich and powerful nation of over 300 million people that delivered the world from evil in both the First and Second World Wars, that defeated and dismantled the curse of Soviet Communism, that entrenched democracy throughout much of the world and that literally rules the waves today as the greatest super power in the history of humanity in a unipolar world is now nothing but the lap dog of little Israel?
It seems so hard to believe. Yet true it is!
Like Lucifer fell from heaven so you, O mighty America, has fallen from grace!
I weep for you.
Apart from your internal decay where the family system has been destroyed and traditional religious beliefs have been replaced by humanism and a godless philosophy in which the Lord is no longer reverred, where men marry men, where abortions are encouraged, where homosexuality is adored, where satanism is practised, where money is worshipped, where God has been banned from the schools and indeed every sphere of human endeavour and where the establishment of a New World Order is your ultimate objective you have also, with the help of your servile and fawning vassals like the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Holland and others, debased and destroyed the fortunes and vision of many countries with your reckless and self-serving foreign policy and your insatiable thirst for power and world domination.
The number are legion but to mention a few, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia, Lebanon, Iraq, Sudan, Palestine, Ukraine and a number of others stand out.
You have literally left each of them in rubles and turned them into a shell of their former selves simply because you insisted on misleading them, controlling them and imposing your values and will on them.
You are also attempting to undermine and destroy Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Turkey, Pakistan, India, South Africa, the Arab Gulf States, Brazil, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Senegal, Guinea, Egypt, Algeria and many others.
You wish to exploit them, enslave them, milk them, destroy them bend them to your will and turn them into your pliant little acolytes and colonies but thankfully so far you have failed.
Yet what exposes your monstrous, dark, evil and gluttonous degenration more than anything else is the way in which you nurture, protect, feed, arm and support your little baby Israel and how that baby has now become your slave master!
You quiver and bow at her every command and you seek to justify and rationalise her barbaric behaviour even when she operates what is undoubtedly a racist apartheid state and seeks to exterminate and occupy ALL the land of those she considers to be a lesser people with a lesser faith from a lesser nation like the Palestinians.
For the last seven months the entire world has witnessed with shock the way and manner in which you have not only allowed but openly encouraged her to commit mass murder, genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza violating every rule and norm of international law and subjecting the Palestinian people to a modern day holocaust.
This is unacceptable and you have as much blood on your hands as a consequence of your shameless complicity as the Israelis themselves.
The truth is they could not and would not have dared to indulge in this monstrous and cruel display of depravity and in this bloodfest and killing spree without your tacit approval and support.
This is bad enough but the worst aspect of it all is that when the world boils in anger, weeps and wails and attempts to bring your baby to justice for her wanton and wilful display of utter madness whether at the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court, you bare your ugly fangs and growl like a wounded lion and you boldly tell us that we should know and MUST accept that your little Israel and the fascist right wing white and non-semitic European colonial settlers and Zionists that own and lead her are Gods chosen people, are above the law and are entitled to do ANYTHING they deem fit, including wiping out the Palestinians!
This disposition and open endorsement of pure and unadulterated evil is nauseating and sickening and it is a graphic reflection of the unconciable beast that you have now become.
You do not fear God, you do not fear world opinion, you do not fear even those from your own nation that are protesting your madness and you do not fear your conscience!
The only thing you fear is your Lord and master Israel!
I am.constrained to ask, who on earth has bewitched you and which invocations and spells of occult sorcery from the ancient Kabbala did the Jews invoke to capture and bind your spirit and soul and to make you behave in this slavish manner?
You are no longer the mighty giant that we once knew and reverred but rather you are now what the Nigerian people would decribe as a “woman wrappa” to your beloved Israel.
At the mention of her name your strength fails you, your knees bend, your heart beats faster, your soul melts, your emotions overwhelm you and you bow, genoflect, crawl and quiver before her like
a young man before his first love.
Truly this is satan’s work: you can no longer control your own will, you have been cursed, charmed and reduced to nothing and you are under a powerful spell.
I cry for you!
When the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague issues a warrant of arrest for other world leaders you rejoice but when they consider issuing the same for @netanyahu, the Israeli PM, you wet your pants, soil your diapers & threaten brimstone & fire!
Through one of your jittery officials at the State Department you went as far as to proclaim that
“the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israeli officials” and therefore has no right to even issue any arrest warrant on Netanyahu.
You forget that you were amongst those who clapped the loudest when a similar and active arrest warrant was issued on Russian President Vladimer Putin.
For that you believed that the ICC acted within its powers and in fact did a great job yet you believe it is “unacceptable” for them to issue such a warrant on Bibi Netanyahu.
Your hypocrisy and double standards beggars belief!
Again you have just passed a law which violates your own constitution, known as the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, which outrightly bans free speech & which seeks to jail anyone that opposes, condemns or criticises the Jews, the Zionists or the State of Israel or that accuses them of being a racist, apartheid state or of committing genocide in Gaza or at any other place or time in their long 5000 year history including during the days of the Holy Bible!
Your Congress just voted to make it ILLEGAL to compare Israel’s genocidal actions to Nazi Germany
and they have effectively banned the Holy Bible in a supposedly “Christian” nation.
Is this not evidence of a diseased mind?
To be clear the new law makes it illegal to criticise, protest against or boycott Israel.
It also makes it ILLEGAL to preach or qoute the portions of the GOSPEL & the Holy Bible where the countless & horrendous atrocities that were committed by the Jews against other nations thousands of years ago were listed!
The House of Representatives just voted to make preaching the FULL GOSPEL of the Christian faith ILLEGAL in America!
Let that sink in!
Megatron_ron captured it well when he wrote the following on X.
“The US House has passed an act that totally bans speaking and protesting against Israel. Even if you preach parts of the bible that clearly state the days the Jews killed Christ you will be arrested. In response to campus anti-Israel protests, the House is rushing to to vote on a new bill, HR 6090. This new Bill would officially define “Antisemitism” so the federal government can sue, prosecute, or sanction more people, businesses, and universities for supposed violations of civil rights law. This Bill would make it illegal to compare Israeli policies to Nazi policies. It would make it illegal to describe Israel as racist. It would make it illegal to accuse an American citizen of being more loyal to Israel than to the United States”.
Is this not sad and amazing?
Is it not a tragedy of Shakesperean proportions?
Does it not make your blood boil and your skin crawl?
Are we not entering the Orwellian world that the British author George Orwell wrote about and predicted in his celebrated book many decades ago and that the writer and great visionary and intellectual @davidicke often refers to today?
Is America, a once great country that exalted justice, freedom and righteousness, not turned into a big fat turd that is now in the process of flushing herself down the Israeli toilet!
Surely she can no longer be referred to as the “United States of America” but rather the “United States of Zion!”
On his part @Jakeshieldsajj a highly respected American public affairs commentator and social media influencer, wrote the following on X:
“In the past two weeks, Congress has made anti-semitism illegal, demanded that anti-Israel protesters must be arrested, banned TikTok at Israel’s request, given $100 billion to Israel and Ukraine for war, approved warrantless spying on Americans, approved $3.5 billion aid for illegal immigrants and done nothing for the American people! It’s become clear they are not here to serve us.”
Jake has spoken the bitter truth.
Perhaps the most asinine and chilling contribution of all came from American Senator Ted Cruz, a one time presidential aspirant, a ranking Senator and a man who, up until recently, I had immense respect for.
He said, “I condemn NOTHING that the Israelis are doing!”
Is this not evidence of mental illness!
People are slaughtering thousands of children on a monthly basis with weapons that are being supplied by the American taxpayer which you as a Senator approved in your budget and you say you cannot condemn it?
Does that not make Cruz and those that think like him accomplices in the crime of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity?
People like him should tell me why I should condemn Hamas for what they did on October 7th if he refuses to condemn the Jews for the 1948 Nakba in which they murdered almost one million Palestinians!
They should tell me why I should condemn Hamas if they refuse to condemn the Israeli Army for the 2024 genocide in Gaza in which 40,000 civilians have been murdered in 7 seven months and still counting?
Again Senator Cruz and indeed the entire American Congress claim that the phrase which the pro-Palestinian protesters and forces have come to regard as their signature tune and battle cry which boldly proclaims that “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” connotes the intention of the Palestinians to eliminate every single Jew in Israel yet they fail to apply the same standard, connotation and sinister intention when the Zionists themselves use the same slogan in respect of the same land and when they scream “from the river to the sea, Israel shall have sovereignty”.
Permit me to ask, why the double standard?
When the Palestinians say it you claim that they want to kill every Jew in the nation but when the Jews say it you claim that they have no evil intentions for the Palestinians!
Is this not another example of the self-serving, infantile and puerile reasoning that most Americans and Europeans suffer from and have been afflicted with when it comes to the Gaza issue and does it not prove the fact that as far as the majority of Americans are concerned the Palestinians do not have the right to exist or to be treated like human beings whilst the Jews are treated like gods?
Is this fair? Is it rational? Does it make sense?
The Jews constitute only 2% of the American population and yet they have been singled out for such preferential treatment and protection whilst the State of Israel, a distant nation of only 9 million people, has been accorded the special status of being “Gods chosen people” and well above the law and is entitled to commit the most grievous and heinous acts of genocide, ethnic and religious cleansing and mass murder without criticism or consequence.
All this you have done for a people and a nation which comprises of a deluded and sociopathic horde of genocidal psychopaths that not only murdered Jesus Christ 2000 years ago, that not only wiped out the Amalekites 5000 years ago, that not ethnically cleansed the Midianites 4000 years ago, that not only exterminated the Agagites 3000 years ago, that not only butchered 1 million Palestinians during the Nakba in 1948, that not only eliminated millions of Arabs all over the Middle East in the last 75 years but that has also killed 40,000 innocent and defenceless civilians, including 20,000 children, in the last 7 months in Gaza and are set to kill even more in Raffa!
Is this not madness? Pray tell us, I ask again, who has bewitched you?
I say woe unto you!
Your awesome power and mind-boggling wealth has driven you insane and far from God!
From being perceived as the leader of the free world you can now be best described as the fawning and pliant pit bull terrier of the Zionist state and the world’s leading genocide supporter and enabler!
The truth is that there can be no defence or justification for anyone or any nation, no matter how rich and powerful, that supports a country of genocidal maniacs and psychopathic child killers.
The Zionist state of Israel is the greatest evil that we have seen since Nazi Germany.
It is a vicious, savage, bloodthirsty, racist, apartheid entity that is led by a group of desperate and deluded European settlers and land grabbing colonialists and that has lost its right to exist.
The sooner it is wiped off the face of the earth the better!
Yet for America there is still hope and that hope lies in people like the Christian protesters who barricaded themselves at the cafeteria of the American Congress last week and who said that as long as the people of Gaza could not eat they would not allow the members of the House to enter the cafeteria to eat!
Again that hope lies in the courageous and gallant students, lecturers and academics who have demonstrated their commitment to justice, decency and humanity by vigorously protesting in Universtiy campuses all over the country.
As a former American presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders, rightly said those young demonstrators are “out there for the right reasons! They are out there not because they are pro-Hamas. They are out there because they are outraged by what the Israeli government is doing in Gaza!”
Sanders is right and permit me to add that those protesting students are indeed the saving grace of America.
Despite the fact that they have been subjected to the most brutal repression by the security forces who have raided the campuses injuring many in an attempt to disperse them and in spite of the fact that as at the time of writing this piece over 2000 of them have been arrested and detained in various police stations across the nation, they continue to come out in their thousands and stand for the people of Gaza.
They represent America’s pride and joy and the brightest and best of American youth and they are now all fired up and are marching the streets and university campuses for the Palestinians!
This is a truly remarkable moment in world history and it represents a seismic and monumental shift in the perception, hearts and minds of the younger people in a nation that has been in the pocket and under the control of the Jews and the Zionists since the end of World War 11.
Permit me to end this contribution with the following.
Nothing symbolises the renewed hope that we are witnessing more than the beautiful and moving words of Professor Rashid Khalidi, who has been a Professor of Modern Arabic Studies at New York’s Columbia University for the last 22 years.
In an inspiring address to the students and in a speech that will reverberate throughout history he said, inter alia, the following.
“This is about a genocide being carried on with American money and with American weapons, against a people enduring generations of occupation. The students of Columbia fought against the Viet Nam war when I was a student here many years ago. We protested against that war then and today we honor the memories of those who took part in that great struggle by doing the same for the Palestinians and the people of Gaza!”
May God guide and protect them all and may He grant the people of Gaza and Palestine victory!
(Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, the Sadaukin Shinkafi and the Wakilin Doka Potiskum, is a lawyer, a former Minister of Culture and Tourism and a former Minister of Aviation)
Nigeria’s recent elections have been marred by various challenges, including logistical issues, concerns about transparency, and the ineffective use of technology. Addressing these challenges is crucial for strengthening the country’s democratic processes and enhancing public trust in the electoral system. This report explores how the integration of agile principles, and the effective implementation of technology can contribute to improving Nigeria’s elections.
The 2023 general elections in Nigeria saw the introduction and use of various technologies aimed at improving the electoral process. However, the implementation and effectiveness of these technologies were met with mixed reviews. Here’s a closer look at the role of technology in the recent Nigerian elections:
Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS): INEC introduced the BVAS, a device designed to accredit voters through fingerprint and facial recognition technology. The BVAS was also meant to upload polling unit results to INEC’s central server in real-time. However, there were widespread reports of BVAS malfunctions, with many devices failing to authenticate fingerprints or capture images, leading to delays and frustration for voters.
INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV): INEC developed the IReV portal to allow for the real-time uploading and viewing of polling unit results. This was intended to enhance transparency and reduce the risk of manipulation. However, the portal experienced significant delays, with many results not being uploaded in a timely manner, leading to concerns about the credibility of the process.
Electronic Transmission of Results: INEC had initially planned to transmit results electronically from polling units to the central server, but this was later abandoned due to concerns about the integrity of the process and legal challenges. As a result, results had to be manually collated and transmitted, which increased the potential for errors and manipulation.
While the use of technology in the 2023 Nigerian elections demonstrated a commitment to modernizing the electoral process, the implementation challenges and failure to fully leverage the potential of these technologies highlighted the need for further improvements. Stakeholders and experts have called for more robust testing, better training, and addressing infrastructural deficits to ensure the effective and reliable use of technology in future elections.
The Role of Technology
Technology has the potential to revolutionize Nigeria’s electoral process by enhancing efficiency, transparency, and credibility. However, the effective implementation of technological solutions has been a significant challenge. Some key areas where technology can play a pivotal role include:
1. Voter Registration and Verification: Biometric voter registration systems, coupled with robust voter databases, can ensure accurate and up-to-date voter rolls, minimizing the risk of fraud or duplicate entries.
2. Electronic Voting and Result Transmission: Secure electronic voting systems and real-time result transmission mechanisms can streamline the voting process, reduce human errors, and enhance transparency by providing timely access to election data.
3. Monitoring and Observation: Technology-enabled monitoring and observation tools, such as mobile applications and data analytics platforms, can empower domestic and international observers to effectively monitor the electoral process and report irregularities.
4. Voter Education and Outreach: Digital platforms, including websites, social media, and mobile applications, can be leveraged to disseminate voter education materials, polling information, and real-time updates, improving citizen engagement and participation.
How can we apply Agile to improve the existing system without reinventing the will.
Applying agile principles and practices could help improve the implementation and effectiveness of technologies like the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in Nigeria’s electoral process. Here are some ways agile could be leveraged:
1. Iterative development and testing:
Instead of a monolithic deployment, agile methodologies would advocate for an iterative approach, where BVAS and IReV are developed and tested incrementally. This would involve releasing a minimum viable product (MVP) early on, gathering feedback from users (poll officials, voters, observers), and continuously improving the systems based on real-world experiences.
2. Cross-functional collaboration:
Agile emphasizes cross-functional teams, where experts from various disciplines (technology, logistics, security, voter education) collaborate closely throughout the development and deployment process. This could help identify and address potential issues early on, ensuring better integration and coordination.
3. Continuous integration and delivery:
Agile practices like continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) could be applied to ensure that updates and improvements to BVAS and IReV are regularly and seamlessly integrated, tested, and deployed, minimizing the risk of system failures or compatibility issues.
4. User-centred design:
Agile’s focus on user involvement and feedback could be leveraged to ensure that BVAS and IReV are designed with the needs and experiences of voters, poll officials, and other stakeholders in mind. This could involve conducting user testing, gathering feedback, and incorporating changes based on real-world usage scenarios.
5. Retrospectives and continuous improvement:
After each electoral cycle, agile retrospectives could be conducted to identify what worked well, what didn’t, and what could be improved. These learnings could then be incorporated into the next iteration of BVAS and IReV, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
6. Scalability and adaptability:
Agile practices emphasize building scalable and adaptable systems. This could be applied to ensure that BVAS and IReV can handle varying loads and complexities across different regions, while also being flexible enough to accommodate changing requirements or new technologies.
7. Training and knowledge sharing:
Agile promotes frequent knowledge sharing and training sessions. This could be applied to ensure that poll officials, technical staff, and other stakeholders are adequately trained on the use and maintenance of BVAS and IReV, minimizing the risk of errors or misuse.
However, adopting agile principles and practices would require a shift in mindset and culture within INEC and other relevant institutions. It would also necessitate investing in training, infrastructure, and resources to support these new ways of working. However, the benefits of agile could include more responsive and reliable electoral technologies, improved stakeholder collaboration, and a system that can adapt to changing needs and challenges.
Recommendations
To effectively leverage technology and agile principles in improving Nigeria’s electoral process, the following recommendations are proposed:
People n Process
1. Establish a dedicated task force to oversee the integration of technology and agile practices into the electoral process. This body should comprise representatives from relevant government agencies, technology experts, civil society organizations, and political parties.
2. Conduct a comprehensive assessment of existing technological infrastructure and identify areas for improvement or investment. This should include evaluating the scalability, security, and usability of existing systems.
3. Implement pilot projects to test and refine technological solutions and agile practices in selected regions or constituencies. These pilots should involve stakeholder participation, continuous monitoring, and iterative refinement based on feedback and lessons learned.
4. Foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing partnerships with international organizations, technology companies, and other countries that have successfully implemented agile and technology-driven electoral processes.
5. Prioritize transparency and public outreach efforts to build trust and awareness among citizens regarding the use of technology and agile methodologies in the electoral process.
Technology
1. Electronic Voting Systems (EVS). Use of Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines or Optical Scan Voting Systems at polling stations
– Iterative development and user testing of EVS interfaces to ensure usability for voters and poll workers
– Secure transmission of voting data from machines to central tallying servers using encryption
– Agile development of tallying software with robust auditing and verification features
– Modular architecture allowing components like voter authentication to be improved iteratively
2. Biometric Voter Registration/Authentication
-Use of fingerprint, iris, facial recognition for voter registration and authentication at polling stations
– Agile prototyping of biometric registration apps for mobile devices for voter enrolment
– Integration with Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) / Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS)
– Continuous security testing of biometric data storage and matching systems
3. Results Transmission and Viewing
Distributed architecture for secure transmission of results from polling units to central database
Implementation of End-to-End (E2E) verifiable voting protocols like Randomly Permuted Decryption
– Automated auditing mechanisms to detect tampering or irregularities in results
4. Geospatial Data Integration
– Integration of GIS data for district boundaries, polling locations into electoral management systems
– Use of geofencing techniques to authenticate devices at legitimate polling locations
– Interactive maps for citizens to locate their polling stations and view results
5. Monitoring & Observation
– Apps for observers (domestic/international) to report issues, submit photos/videos as evidence
– Dashboards aggregating observer reports, incident mapping and analytics
– Use of technologies like computer vision for monitoring crowd levels at polls
6. Voter Education & Outreach
– Chatbots and voice assistants for answering common voter queries
– Online voter information portals with polling details per constituency
– Social media command centres for rumour monitoring and addressing misinformation
7. System Integration & DevOps
– Use of containerization (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes) for consistent deployment
– Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines for regular system updates
– Comprehensive monitoring, logging, and analytics infrastructure
– Cloud deployed for scalability and failover across multiple availability zones
8. Risk-Limiting Audits (RLAs):
– RLAs are a type of post-election audit that provides statistical evidence that the election outcome is correct, without requiring a full manual recount.
– RLAs can detect and correct outcome-altering mistakes in the initial tally.
– Examples: Several states in the USA, including Colorado, Georgia, and Rhode Island, have implemented RLAs. Denmark has used RLAs to verify parliamentary election results.
9. AI and Machine Learning:
– AI/ML techniques can be used for tasks like voter roll data cleansing, detecting fraud patterns, and automating aspects of election monitoring and auditing.
-Examples: Machine learning Nigeria’s election process has an excellent opportunity to strengthen the country’s democratic institutions and address long-standing difficulties by embracing technology and agile approaches. Nigeria may adopting iterative development, cross-functional cooperation, stakeholder involvement, and continuous improvement to boost election efficiency, legitimacy, and transparency. However, in order for implementation to be successful, financing for the necessary infrastructure, training, and resources must be committed to by government agencies, civil society organisations, and the general public working together.
Strong cybersecurity measures, including as penetration testing, secure coding techniques, and defence against fraud and DDoS attacks, are necessary for the solutions. Sovereignty and data privacy are important factors.
In the end, the technological plan ought to be in line with the concepts of auditability of the election process, software agility, stakeholder participation, and transparency.has been used to detect potential voter roll irregularities in several US states. AI-based systems have been proposed for automated ballot adjudication and auditing.
Conclusion
Nigeria’s election process has an excellent opportunity to strengthen the country’s democratic institutions and address long-standing difficulties by embracing technology and agile approaches. Nigeria may adopt iterative development, cross-functional cooperation, stakeholder involvement, and continuous improvement to boost election efficiency, legitimacy, and transparency. However, for implementation to be successful, financing for the necessary infrastructure, training, and resources must be committed to by government agencies, civil society organisations, and the general public working together.
Strong cybersecurity measures, including as penetration testing, secure coding techniques, and defence against fraud and DDoS attacks, are necessary for the solutions. Sovereignty and data privacy are important factors.
In the end, the technological plan ought to be in line with the concepts of auditability of the election process, software agility, stakeholder participation, and transparency.
In 2021, after the COVID-19 pandemic, my husband and I engaged in a pet project that required us conducting candid interviews with people on the streets to gain insight into their perceptions of Nigeria, their expectations of government and their sense of ownership of a Nigerian dream. It was an interesting season of my life that afforded me the opportunity to just hear first-hand what everyday Lagosians were thinking. There was an encounter with a young lady, however, that left an indelible mark on my consciousness. She said to me, “TBOG, at the tender age of six, I was called ‘the leader of tomorrow’. I just turned forty, yet, the promise of tomorrow still eludes me. When will my tomorrow come?” Her words touched me deeply because it echoed a sentiment shared by many who have long been called, THE LEADERS OF TOMORROW. “When will our collective tomorrow materialize, and what form will it assume?” many youths ask.
For a long time, the youth have been told to wait for their turn to lead the nation. As the years have passed and the vista of tomorrow appears distant, one cannot help but question the accuracy of the ‘waiting period’. Will the youth ever have their turn at power, or will it have to be forcefully grabbed? Are youths even ready to handle the reins of power or are we just too inexperienced to know what to do with it? Would Nigeria progress as a nation if it had an infusion of youthful energy to invigorate governance structures or would our much-touted inexperience cause us to falter under pressure, make costly mistakes, or succumb to the allure of power without proper accountability? If they had the opportunity, would the current crop of youths be any different from the older generation of leaders they fiercely condemn or would they become the breath of fresh air Nigeria needs? While these are burning questions on the minds of many, I am compelled to take Lagos, once again, as my model.
Lagos State boasts of the most vibrant and dynamic population of young people in the country. Many of Nigeria’s young leaders and change-makers have their roots in Lagos, the likes of Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Olugbenga Agboola, Folarin Falana (Falz), Debo Adedayo (Mr. Macaroni), Tunde Onakoya, Hilda Baci, Debola William, Chude Jideonwo, Yemi Adamolekun among others who are all thriving in their various spheres of influence, from technology to arts and entertainment to media to civil society, placing Nigeria in global conversations. This suggests that the youth have the potential to make a difference if given the opportunity in the political arena. Thankfully, the current Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, is a young Nigerian whose inspiring story is traceable to the Centre of Excellence. Moreover, did you know that in Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s cabinet, there are young people in their thirties holding key positions? Some of his Senior Special Assistants were in their twenties when he took office and they have since grown to head agencies within the state, contributing their quota to the decision-making process. For these ones, their tomorrow has come; they have become the leaders of today.
Mr. Governor recognizes the untapped potential of youth and is committed to investing in this potential. No wonder the Lagos model is a departure from the longstanding tradition of political leadership dominated by the older generation. The Lagos model is a definite paradigm shift in governance dynamics. This should not be very surprising given that Lagos is a forward-thinking state driven by the THEMES+ agenda. Besides, Lagos has historically provided an enabling environment for young people to thrive across various sectors even as the political environment has been characterized by intergenerational integration and continuity of vision. This is a commendable model that other states must consider adopting. While there are indicators of increased youth participation in several states across the nation, to accurately measure inclusion, a Youth Participation Index that evaluates the gains of the Not-Too-Young-To-Run Act and the involvement of youth in appointive positions would be a valuable additional contribution from civil society groups. While I believe that Lagos State would top such an index, I recognize that there is still much room for progress in the inclusion of young people in public leadership across the nation.
Among public officials, there are two schools of thought on youth involvement in public leadership. On the one hand, there is the belief that incorporating youth in politics and governance would trigger a positive disruption through the introduction of innovative ideas, digital savvy, and a deeper connection with contemporary issues facing the populace. This school of thought holds that the idealism of youth as well as our passion for change offers a promising antidote to stagnant bureaucracies and the entrenched systems that currently impede transformative outputs. This school of thought further holds the opinion that since many among the present-day older generation of leaders began their leadership journeys as youths, it would be only just for them to yield the floor to the present-day younger generation. On the other hand, there are those who hold sacred the age-old wisdom of experience. The holders of this opinion argue that governance is a complex matter requiring the nuanced understanding and institutional knowledge that can only be found among seasoned politicians and administrators. They believe that youthful idealism could become a pitfall without practical wisdom gained through years of service and leadership.
My thoughts regarding these two positions are very simple. Leadership is a skill that must be forged in the crucible. I do not think that the youths, in themselves, are the panacea to Nigeria’s problems. I do not think power should be given to anyone simply because they are of a particular age bracket. I think the making of the Nigeria of our dreams is the collective responsibility of the old and the young because we need the wisdom of the old and the energy of the youth to make this nation work. But this is also not an endorsement of the status quo. If we had to choose between the ebullience and innovation of the youth on the one hand and the conventionality and steadfastness of the old on the other, I would likely go for the former. But what Nigeria needs, beyond creativity and passion, is patriotism and people of character; people who love their nation and can defend her, come what may. These kinds of people are first forged in the home before they are released to the nation. If parents do not rise to take charge of the value and moral components of their children’s growth and development, a pipeline of value-driven youthful leaders would be a pipe dream.
As a youth, I may be castigated for even considering that the older generation should still have a say at the table, but life has shown me that there are unpatriotic and corrupt youths as much as there are nationalistic and reliable older leaders. As a Fellow of The Lateef Jakande Leadership Academy, I have seen and worked with political leaders and bureaucrats who possess professionalism and integrity – value systems that I hardly thought that I would encounter in the public sector and that I never believed even existed among politicians. Among the old as well as the young, I have seen the propensity for the good as well as the inclination to the not-so-desirable. This has compelled a rethink of the notion of age as the sole determinant of leadership emergence in our nation. While it is my utmost delight to see more young people emerge as leaders in Nigeria, I am concerned that if the production process is not thoroughly curated to produce a generation of leaders who are passionate and patriotic and possess the character and competence required for governance, we would replicate the corruption that currently eats at the soul of our nation, except that this time, it would be with an exuberance that could bring our nation to its knees.
This was why, when the Lateef Jakande Leadership Academy (LJLA) convened its first-ever Lagos Leadership Summit (LLS) held on April 17, 2024, tagged, Leadership and Nigeria’s Future, expectation surged in my heart that the event would kickstart fresh conversations around the integration of a new generation of trained and tested leaders. I was not disappointed. As the Honorable Commissioner for Innovation, Science & Technology, Olatubosun Alake, pointed out at the event, there are older leaders devoid of patriotism, just as there are callous youths hungry for power. The goal, in my opinion, is an integrated approach where the wisdom of age converges with the dynamism of youth. Mentorship programs, intergenerational dialogues, knowledge exchange opportunities and leadership training initiatives, all of which the LJLA and LLS embody, can bridge this gap. By harnessing the complementary strengths of diverse generations, Lagos is already cultivating a leadership ecosystem that is resilient, adaptable, and responsive to the needs of its diverse populace. No wonder we boldly say: This is Lagos, the Centre of Excellence, the Nigerian model for city transformation and the reference point for all other states.
● Temitope tbog Omoakhalen – Fellow, Lateef Jakande Leadership Academy
On 17 April, 2024, an iconic image was splashed across television screens and newspaper pages. It was that of the Chief of Staff to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Right Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, wheeling the nonagenarian Leader of the Yoruba socio-cultural group – Afenifere – Pa Reuben Fasoranti, on a mobility aid, in the inner recesses of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, with the kind of care with which eggs are carried. That picture is worth more than a thousand words. The picture is complemented by another one in which, in a crescent-shaped arrangement, a delegation of Yoruba elders led by Pa Fasoranti posed for a photograph with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, on a visit to him at the Aso Rock Villa. Those pictures are indices of changing times.
When Yoruba elders congregated at Premier Hotel in Ibadan on 7 February, 2013, for a meeting convened by the Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF), it was to lament and protest Yoruba marginalisation by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration. At least one of the key personalities at that meeting, Chief Olu Falae, was also present at the 17 April, 2024 meeting with President Tinubu. The Vanguard of 14 February, 2013, in an article by Charles Kumolu entitled “Now we’re the marginalised – Yoruba elders”, reported Chief Olu Falae, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and former Minister of Finance, to have remarked as follows: “the degree of marginalisation of the South West zone borders on attempts to excise the zone out of the federation”.
In the pattern of President Tinubu’s pre-election Emilokan speech, Chief Falae was reported to have recalled: “In the dying days of the Yar’Ádua administration, when there was a lot of reluctance to make Jonathan the acting President, it was predominantly Yoruba activists who led the march to the National Assembly to force our lawmakers to pronounce Jonathan acting President.” He was also reported to have said: “when the then-Acting-President Jonathan chose to run for president, he got the enthusiastic endorsement of many Yoruba progressives, especially the leadership of YUF, die-hard Awoists who pushed his acceptability to the Yorubas by portraying him as a fulfilment of an earlier Awolowo prophesy about the Ijaws and the presidency.”
In spite of the best efforts of Yoruba elders’ groups like YUF, Afenifere has remained the most enduring and most well-acknowledged Yoruba leadership group. In fact, at its beginning in the 1950s, Afenifere was an ideologically pristine Yoruba-interest-promoting group. Due to this perception, even Yoruba personalities who were not actively involved in its activities could at least identify with it spiritually. And members of other ethnic groups saw it as the quintessential Yoruba voice. However, with time, the group began to slide. It started treating those who were outside its fold as inconsequential and began to treat Governors of Yoruba states and other government functionaries with condescension.
It was at this stage in its development that Afenifere led most of the Governors of the Yoruba states into the infamous and treacherous agreement for the Southwest Governors, who belonged to the Alliance for Democracy (AD) at the time, to work for President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2003 presidential elections, while he would work for these Governors to ensure that they retained their seats on the platform of their party, AD. It was only one of the AD Governors, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Lagos State, who saw through the game of the foxy old General. For their pains, the Governors lost their seats to the governorship candidates of Obasanjo’s PDP. Rather than acknowledge and appreciate his political perceptiveness and foresight, some sections of Afenifere subjected Tinubu to what may be called ‘generational opprobrium’ which had its greatest opportunity to be manifested when Tinubu went into an alliance with General Muhammadu Buhari to unseat President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.
Self-acclaimed political ‘prophets’ predicted that Tinubu would regret his alliance with the Hausa-Fulani and that he would emerge battered and bruised and as an utterly damaged political product. So, when after the commencement of the Buhari administration, it appeared as if Tinubu was being deliberately shut out of the Presidential Villa by some aides of President Buhari, the political prophets were fast to claim the “we-said-so” credit. Then the preparations for the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries began, and with it came all of the shenanigans which appeared to be targeted at ensuring that Tinubu did not win.
But then, some Northern Governors of the APC came out in the nick of time to say that they supported that the presidential ticket of the party be given to a Southerner. Tinubu emerged the beneficiary of that historic consensus. All the same, the prophets of political doom still had high hopes when a series of measures were taken seemingly to ensure that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu lost the election. This was when the then-Governor Nasir-el Rufai of Kaduna State issued the patent declaration: “I want to say that those of us from Northern Nigeria honour agreements. We do not violate unwritten political agreements…” Meanwhile, an Acting Leader for Afenifere, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, had been appointed in 2021, in the light of the quite advanced age of Pa Fasoranti, and the most combative elements in the group seemed to have gained ascendancy. Some key members of the group failed to live by the Yoruba proverbial principle that “Àgbàlagbà ma ñ yá’jú ni, àgbàlagbà ò kìí yá’nu” (‘Elders are swift to see, but slow to speak.’) They also seemed to discountenance the proverb, “ÌÌrÍÌ níí yÍ obì l’ápò, ÍÌrÍÌ níí yÍ Ífà nínú apó.” (‘Words draw kola nuts from the pocket, and words draw arrows from the quiver.’) In fact, some tendencies within Afenifere seemed to relish shooting verbal arrows, thereby alienating significant sections of the Yoruba elite and large swathes of some other ethnic groups.
The most self-deprecating act in this regard was the following widely-reported spiteful and undemocratic declaration by Pa Adebanjo, as Acting Leader: “I don’t have to consult him.” He said this in respect of his seemingly unilateral decision to declare that Afenifere’s choice for the 2023 presidential election was the Labour Party candidate Mr. Peter Obi, without consulting his principal Pa Fasoranti on behalf of whom Pa Adebanjo was acting.
As the mercurial part of Afenifere continued to predominate, many things were going amiss in Yorubaland. Even those things for which the Southwest was easily given credit started to elude the zone. One of such things is religious tolerance. Before now, it used to be axiomatic to say that “in Yoruba society, hardly can you find a family without Muslims and Christians living together in harmony.” Today, this claim has become more like a means of sedating and incapacitating Southwesterners who wish to protest religious injustice. And it is those who are guilty of the injustice or those who benefit from it who resort to the increasingly vacuous refrain. There are all sorts of tendencies now which belie the axiom.
One is the formation of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) which describes itself as follows: “The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) is an Islamic human rights organization. … As a major mechanism in our operations, we open dialogue with institutions, employers and agencies in order to intervene on behalf of aggrieved Muslims. … Our adoption of dialogue has often doused tension in Nigeria and reduced the incidence of violence.” The organisation is headed by a now-retired Professor of Islamic Studies, Ishaq Akintola. The rather anti-intellectual, kneejerk reactions to the mention or positions of MURIC on religious issues are often amazing. It is also strange that some members of the non-Muslim elite propagate the stereotype that MURIC is a fringe, one-person outfit. It is not.
Another index of the widening religious gulf in Yorubaland is the formation of the “Association of Christian Traditional Rulers of Nigeria (AOCTRON)” to which the Tor Tiv, Professor James Ayatse, emerged as Head in October 2020. One enquiry showed that the registered office of the group is in Ogun State, and a Yoruba traditional ruler is one of its key sponsors. Decreasing religious accommodation in Yorubaland is also shown in the public spat that occurred not long ago between a popular Lagos-based Yoruba Pentecostal Pastor and his family members over what was perceived as the mistreatment of a vulnerable Muslim member of the family, including the desecration of the corpse of that family member by the Pastor.
Currently, the most disturbing index of religious disharmony in Yorubaland is the open conflict between the Soun of Ogbomoso, His Royal Highness Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye (a Pentecostal Pastor) and the Chief Imam of Ogbomoso, Sheikh (Dr.) Talhat Yunus Ayilara. In those days in Youbaland, four personages, working together, superintended over the peace, harmony and well-being of the society. They were the traditional ruler, the Chief Imam, the Pastor and the Head Teacher. This makes the Ogbomoso feud unacceptable. Ironically, Afenifere which should have been in the best position to intervene has in the recent past portrayed itself as a pseudo-evangelical outfit, considering the utterances of its then-Acting-Leader, Pa Adebanjo, during the campaigns for the 2023 presidential elections.
For example, he was widely reported to have said: “Obi is leading the crusade to get us out of the bondage of serious oppression. … We will give it what it takes. It is either bend or break. If Obi does not win, forget a country called Nigeria. If we lose this election, there will be no opportunity for a non-Christian (sic), a non-northerner to be president again.” In a 3 February, 2023 report, by Samad Uthman, entitled “Ayo Adebanjo: If Obi loses, a Christian southerner may never be president again”, The Cable newspaper put in context the Afenifere Acting Leader’s misadvised statement.
Afenifere has splintered, resulting in the creation of the Afenifere Renewal Group in 2008. It has also understandably lost considerable public respect even within Yorubaland, and the erstwhile almost sacred group started to be the object of caustic puns. The most telling one was the reference to “Af¹ìnif¹ìre” (which may be translated as ‘well-wishers’) as “Af¹ìnif¹ìbi” (‘evil-wishers’). Respectable members of the Yoruba elite then started to publicly confront, criticise or simply stay clear of anything that had to do with the group.
If Afenifere must regain its mystique, its relevance and its prestige, especially now that the office of Acting Leader has been abrogated, it must recognise, respect and accommodate diversity within contemporary Yoruba society. The pictures of Afenifere that came out of the Presidential Villa show that the group has come full circle, and is setting out on a new beginning. The emerging new Afenifere must be introspective, align its actions with its declared objectives and must not depend on verbal darts to establish its authenticity.
I have been talking about the British class system because it is very old and well established. Its characteristics have become so familiar to the British and indeed to many people all over the world that no aspect of it is likely to be challenged in any serious fashion by any group of people for many years to come. All parts of it have been tried, tested and found to be acceptable to everyone save a few people on the fringes of society. Those dissenters are allowed to have their say and even rant and rave in public from time to time, whenever the fancy takes them to do so. They are able to do this because of the stability of the class system in Britain. It is easily recognisable that they do not pose any threat to the establishment and they help to show up the notion of tolerance to deviance by the authorities. The people in the upper crust, that is, the miniscule ruling elite have been in control and so completely in charge that they do not entertain any fear that their pre-eminence will be seriously challenged by any group of people. The stability of the structure they control is dependent on the universal acceptance of the status quo. It may not be satisfactory to some but as long as the upper crust maintains the cohesion which has served them well over a thousand years, there cannot be any possibility of any serious change to the system. This is not to say that the system has remained totally unchanged over the years. There have been a few changes here and there but these changes have only occurred in keeping with changing times. The very earth of their kingdom and the fullness thereof belong to them and that is the source of their enormous power. It is inconceivable now that a rampaging duke from anywhere, except perhaps from outer space will suddenly fetch up at Dover or anywhere else in Britain, for the sole purpose of taking over the land and sharing it among his followers as William the Conqueror did in 1066. The ruling class, at first glance look to be merely decorative, even effete but, it is on that rock that the kingdom has been built. The upper class is a fixture of massive proportions and no longer needs any form of coercion in order to maintain itself in power ad infinitum. Furthermore, it does not need any coalition partners who may have an agenda different from that which has worked over the last five hundred years or so. There has been no dilution of their resolve because nobody gets elected, absorbed or recruited by any means into the ruling class. You can only be born into it. In the old days, the confinement of any queen was minutely supervised by a retinue of courtiers swarming around the bed like spectators at a football match so that anyone thinking of switching the royal baby for another was wasting their time. The royal baby must not only have blue blood but must be seen to have it. Before consensus was reached in 1485, there were two competing ruling houses which fought over all manner of disagreements. In 1485 however, the House of Lancaster led by the Tudors defeated the Plantagenets of the House of York in the War of the Roses. The result was that the Tudors simply absorbed their recent opponents and since then their descendants have been in the driving seat. Like the stool of Ibadan, it became a case of turn by turn but unlike Ibadan, most of the kings and occasional queens have reached the throne with the flower of youth still blooming in their cheeks. The people of Ibadan may wish to find a way to follow this example and spare us the almost annual announcement of another octogenarian limping to the throne to replace another octogenarian who has been on the throne for no more than a couple of years but often less.
The British royals have, throughout the last six centuries managed to convince their subjects that there could be no alternative to their rule which is why British grown men and women, some of them with tears in their eyes beseech God to spare the lives of king or queen so that they may rule over them for a long time as they sing their national anthem lustily on every possible occasion. Their wish was granted in the case of Elizabeth II but she held on to the crown so long that her son and successor was always never going to be lucky in his turn to rule over his loyal subjects for a long time.
In return for their many privileges, the royal establishment gives out meaningless titles to some of their adoring subjects, notably those who have performed some service beyond the call of duty. Those titles are coveted by all and sundry even when they are being given the Order of the British Empire, a long expired empire. Rather like the long Balogun line in Ibadan where the last active Balogun sheathed his sword as long ago as 1886. Human nature is universal as shown by the desire of men from far flung reaches of the world to occupy all kinds of ceremonial posts and fight tooth and nail to be so recognised by their less privileged peers. Being a Manchester City supporter, I cannot resist a dig at David Beckham OBE who showed his allegiance to the British crown by dutifully and very publicly queuing for more than thirteen hours to pay his last respects to the queen before her state funeral. The man seems determined to bend his way into a knighthood. Knight of the British Empire. What empire?
At this point someone may point out and they have every right to point out that, we have royalty too; Obas, many of whom are still being minted, at least in Ibadan, Emirs, Obis, and sundry traditional rulers bedecked in recommended banks of coral beads. There is no dispute about their royalty but we have to ask, what is the power behind their throne? The simple answer is, tradition but is this enough to build that necessary aura of power around them? In the first place there are many of them, so many that in the context of Nigeria, their aura is constantly fading. Their area of influence is constantly shrinking but most importantly, they cannot call up the vast financial resources available to their British counterparts. Perhaps the greatest point of weakness however is that history tells us that there was a time, not long ago when our royal fathers were subject to the British crown. There is no coming back from that. Under no condition can our traditional rulers rule the roost in the same way as the British version of royalty can do.
The upshot of this is that in the real sense, we do not have a natural ruling class, fully equipped to formulate a growth agenda for the country. We lack a cohort of people who can take leadership positions because of birth induced confidence. That space has now been largely usurped by politicians who cannot boast of any ancestral confidence and who have no experience of wealth management. They are what the Yoruba describe as having risen from sterile rocks. They have nothing fertile to offer because of their own starkly barren background. They are in politics to make up for their deficiency in positive upbringing within a confident home background. This is why Nigerian politicians at every level of government have no ambition beyond stealing an awful lot of money to make up for their lack of genealogical history. Just ask the Nigerian politician who his father is or was. The answers will make sorrowful reading.
We have seen the effect of class formation on British society. Everyone in Britain knows his place in society and also knows what to do to enhance that place within that society. As a result of the clear divisions in their society people in the various classes do not eat the same food or speak the same language. They don’t even play the same games. The members of upper crust will be found playing with horses, those in the middle classes play cricket and rugby whilst football is attractive to those in the working class. In other words people in different classes are separated from each other by formidable barriers in what can be described as a soft apartheid system. It may be soft but those barriers are nevertheless irremovable.
In contrast to the clearly defined class system in Britain what you find in Nigeria is a bewildering mish mash of eclectic mixing. This is why Nigeria has been rightly described as a classless society, one in which the rulers do not show any distinctive differences to the people they are supposed to rule right down to those wallowing in the murkiness of their social basement. Nobody appears to take any responsibility for setting a tone for societal behaviour. The so called middle classes which are supposedly responsible for setting the standards in the strictly defined class relationships in Britain are in Nigeria just as crass as anyone else. They are corrupt, loud, pretentious and outside their area of professional competence, they are functionally illiterate as they do not have a tradition of reading books nor are they preoccupied with any form of serious intellectual engagement. Too many of them are taken over completely by their determination to not just making (stealing) money but flaunting it in the manner of some ignorant high street trader who has quite inexplicably run into a great deal of money. He cannot believe his luck and must fling money around like confetti to make sure that people are made visually aware of his new status. Such accidentally rich people are a source of serious danger to cattle which are slaughtered in large numbers to celebrate all kinds of unimportant events in their restricted lives. In other words, on the whole, our setup makes us behave like a rabble without any class distinctions. This is largely because we have no history of class formation that can run a modern society as is the case with British society. What we have here is an abysmal lack of purposeful and well brought up leadership. The bottom line is; we are still waiting for the arrival of our own version of William the Bastard.
Israeli writer and academic A.B. Yehoshua’s short story Facing the Forests is an allegory about the Israel-Palestine conflict. Controversial when published in 1963, Yehoshua exposed the reality that Israel was constructed on territory taken from others: the “forest” of the story represents the Israeli state and society, and the story’s unnamed Israeli protagonist is tasked with making sure that no fires emerge in the forest. The Palestinians in the story are referred to only as “Arabs,” and late in the story, the forest turns out to be constructed on the ruins of an Arab village.
After 75 years as one of the globe’s most contentious conflicts, we now seem to be witnessing the turning point for the Israel-Palestine conflict. The Israeli state’s horrific and bloody destruction of Gaza, and the intransigence shown by both the Israeli and United States political leaderships, has sparked not just widespread protests on US campuses, but worldwide outrage and a formal case brought by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
This reckoning has taken a long time to arrive. As I mentioned in a previous commentary, US President Harry Truman’s need for votes in 1948 motivated him to establish the US policy of supporting Israel. That support led to many subsequent compromises in US foreign policy towards the Eastern Mediterranean, to numerous wars and disasters, and ultimately, to the current crisis and protest movement.
Gaza and TikTok: The US and Israel lose control of the narrative
The protests now sweeping across the US campuses immediately brought to mind the turmoil on US campuses that erupted in the late 1960s. Notably, those protests were fueled by the new communication media of the era: television. The Vietnam War was the first war filmed on the battlefield and presented to citizens through television the same day; the result was that public perception of US policies in Vietnam turned negative and intensified opposition to the war.
The long-term consequence was that the US government, in later conflicts, gave intense attention to controlling the media narrative. That gave rise to the various techniques, such as the “embedding” of reporters with soldiers that featured so prominently in the 1st Gulf War in 1991, intended to ensure that the messages and images desired by the US government were those encountered and digested by media consumers. When the Internet was opened to public use in the early 1990s, new opportunities for information dissemination and control appeared, and the US remained at the forefront of what commonly became known as “information warfare.”
TikTok seems to have brought us back to the situation with television in the 1960s. TikTok is outside of the US government’s control, so it has long sparked calls to ban it. Israel’s actions in Gaza over the past 6 months have been broadcast to the world unfiltered over TikTok, which played a major factor in turning world opinion against Israel. Unsurprisingly, the US Congress’s efforts to ban TikTok sped up considerably amid claims that the Chinese state was using TikTok and Gaza to foment disorder in American society. Students are using a variety of social media apps to organize their protests, but TikTok remains the focus of attention from pro-Israeli groups.
South Africa and international protest movements
The international campaign against South Africa’s former apartheid regime is the other protest movement that comes to mind while observing the current worldwide protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza. Little nuance was displayed in the coverage of South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel, but the significance of South Africa’s intervention stems from the long fight to end the racist apartheid regime that dominated that society for decades. Many South Africans see a parallel between the Palestinians’ struggle for rights and self-determination and the extended struggle by Black South Africans for their rights and self-determination.
In fact, the figure associated with that long struggle, Nelson Mandela, and the party he was associated with, the African National Congress (ANC), were once armed militants. South Africa’s apartheid regime received support from the US during the Cold War because Mandela and the ANC received support from the communist bloc. Mandela and most of the ANC’s leadership were imprisoned from the 1960s until 1990. In the 1970s and 1980s, however, the surge in international activism against the apartheid regime made South Africa a pariah regime and Mandela an international hero. The same is now happening in regard to Gaza, and once again despite the efforts of the US government.
Truman’s ghost
Yehoshua’s story ends, after the unnamed Arab burns the forest, with the simple statement: “And so it will be all the days and nights after.” Maybe that’s how the situation looked to a conscientious Israeli intellectual in the early 1960s but, as Heraclitus stated 2500 years ago, nothing remains the same forever. Eventually, the Palestinians would develop the means to assert their rights and claims to self-determination; eventually, the fact that Israel was founded on land taken from other people would rise to prominence; eventually, the consequences of the choice that Truman made for votes in 1948 would materialize.
Now, with a national election only 6 months away, Truman’s Democratic Party is starkly split between an older generation that stubbornly maintains a willingness to tolerate the Israeli state’s flagrantly criminal behavior, and a younger generation appalled that anyone could have ever accepted such actions. And Donald Trump appears to be the main beneficiary.
Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo clocks 42 years today. His life’s journey unfolds like a testament to dedication, perseverance and visionary leadership.
From humble beginnings to enviable political and professional heights, Tunji-Ojo’s story is a shining example of what can be achieved through hard work, passion and acommitment to serving humanity.
Born on May 1, 1982, in Ondo State, Tunji-Ojo’s early life was marked by innate curiosity and thirst for knowledge.
His academic excellence led him to University of North London (London Metropolitan University), where he got a Bachelor’s in Electronics and Communication Engineering in 2005, followed by a Master’s in Digital Communication and Networking in 2006. This foundation would become the springboard for his future accomplishments.
Tunji-Ojo’s professional trajectory is a marvel. At 24, he became chief executive officer of Matrix IT Solutions, an indigenous ICT consulting firm. His expertise and innovative approach earned him recognition and respect, leading to consultations with World Bank, JAMB and the PTDF.
His pioneering efforts in oil and gas, particularly the 2016 Nigerian Content Workshop, showcased his ability to drive change and foster collaboration. His leadership and vision transformed ICT, empowering businesses and individuals.
His foray into politics in 2019 marked a new chapter in his life. As member of House of Representatives, Tunji-Ojo chaired the House Committee on NDDC, spearheading the probe into its finances.
His commitment to transparency and accountability earned him respect of his peers and admiration by the public. His dedication to public service and leadership brought him awards, including honorary doctorate in Public Administration and Sir Ahmadu Bello Platinum Leadership Award of Excellence.
As Interior minister, Tunji-Ojo continues to live a life worthy of emulation. In two weeks of assuming office, he resolved a backlog of 204,000 passport applications.
He introduced user-friendly e-platforms for visa applications, enhanced e-passport facilities at key embassies, and advocated for fair compensation for paramilitary officers. His efforts led to release of 4,000 inmates from correctional centres.
Tunji-Ojo’s leadership philosophy is rooted in empathy, compassion, and a deep understanding of the human condition. He demonstrates a willingness to listen, to learn, and to adapt, earning him the trust and admiration of his colleagues and the public. His dedication to public service, passion for innovation, and commitment to people’s welfare made him a beloved figure and a shining example of leadership.
As he marks his 42nd birthday, Tunji-Ojo’s inspiring journey is a reminder that with determination, dedication and passion for service, greatness can be achieved.
His life is a testament to the power of human potential and we can only imagine the feats he will attain in years to come.
Happy birthday, Sir! May your life continue to be a beacon of hope and inspiration.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of Nigeria has been one of the more vocal – and at times controversial – anti-corruption agencies (ACAs) in Africa. It has been instrumental in charging and prosecuting senior political leaders and businessmen with political links, as well as in recovering and repatriating significant stolen resources that belong to the Nigerian state. Yet it is also subject to frequent political interference, which reduces its effectiveness and means that it is often seen as an arm of the incumbent government without an independent mandate. Senior-level functionaries of EFCC are perceived as being not immune to political pressures, which is one reason why the commission has not been able to function credibly, while operational inefficiencies caused by insufficient funding and lack of technical capacity and expertise among staff also undermine the effectiveness of the commission.
Successive Nigerian governments have tried to tackle corruption through legislation and the creation of anti-corruption agencies. Indeed, there is evidence that appears to suggest that EFCC senior officers do not seem to be immune from political pressures, with some observers having linked the falling rates in prosecution to such interests and selective prosecution. These linkages evidently have a negative impact on public perception of the commission.
As damaging rent capture is common in Nigeria for structural reasons, the EFCC’s role in tackling some of the more severe instances of corruption is critical. A report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (Pwc) estimates that corruption could cost the Nigerian economy 37 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, therefore the EFCC plays an important role in reversing this trend. The EFCC is a statutory body with an ambitious mandate, yet it is also subject to frequent political interference which reduces its effectiveness.
This makes it a unique organisation in the Nigerian political settlement space – it is a reproducible combination of distribution of power and distribution of benefits. Seen in this light, the effectiveness of the EFCC or the outcome of EFCC’s enforcement in terms of successful prosecutions and lower levels of corruption is an interaction of, or contestation between, powerful organisations that have the ability to influence outcomes, and usually not in rule- following ways.
These organisations are able to use their influence over enforcement in a manner that aids their political interests; and when rules can be thus distorted or infringed, enforcement is usually weak, as is the case in many developing countries including Nigeria. It is equally important to note that these powerful organisations are not coalitions with consistent memberships. Political affiliations are fluid in Nigeria and ruling coalitions can have varying memberships over periods of time, resulting in differential outcomes for the EFCC. While it is safe to say that these outcomes rarely differ in terms of the general levels of corruption and enforcement, they do however differ in terms of the groups of people who are affected.
Some commentators have suggested that inefficiencies of the Nigerian legal system prevent EFCC from fulfilling its mandate, with the EFCC itself associating some of its challenges to judicial hostility and delay in courts. It is important to note, however, that while delays may persist at the lower courts, the Court of Appeal has sought to mitigate the effect of delays in the justice system by providing for a system of fast-tracking criminal appeals through its 2013 Practice Direction. This legislation mandates that the presiding Justice of each division of the Court of Appeal, in conjunction with the Deputy Chief Registrars of the division, ensures that their registries give priority to the listing, consideration and determination of all applications and substantive appeals related to agencies such as the EFCC, the ICPC and other recognised LEAs. Similar provisions are found in the Supreme Court (Criminal Appeals) Practice Directions 2013. As a result, adjournment on criminal matters that usually take three to four months at the Court of Appeal and possibly as long as seven to eight months at the Supreme Court are now usually adjourned for two weeks to one month with the new Practice Direction.
In recognition that delayed criminal proceedings prevent effective administration of criminal justice, the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court issued their respective practice directions to also mitigate delay in the administration of criminal judges. In Dasuki v Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Supreme Court recognised the necessity of a speedy trial and implored the court and the parties (including their counsel) to avoid any antics aimed at delaying the determination of the matter.
In respect of inordinate delays in the conclusion of corruption cases, it is important to note that the EFCC Act contains a novel provision in Section 40, which states that an application for stay of proceedings in respect of a criminal matter brought by the EFCC shall not be entertained until judgment is delivered by the High Court. This provision was also introduced into the Administration of Criminal Jurisdiction Act 2015 (ACJA), and in both cases was introduced to prevent the use of frivolous appeals against interlocutory rulings of the trial court pending the final judgment of the said trial court. As previously noted, the 2013 Practice Direction also sought to mitigate the effect of delays in the justice system by providing for a system to fast-track criminal appeals.
However, legal representatives have relied on technical legal principles such as filing a ‘no case submission’, which is not treated as an interlocutory decision and means that the defence has the right to appeal against any refusal to uphold a submission. One example where this strategy was used is the high-profile case of Walter Wagbatsoma v Federal Republic of Nigeria. The prosecution had charged the accused with the offences of advance fee fraud, obtaining by false pretense and forgery in respect of an oil subsidy scam. When the prosecution closed its case, the defence made a no-case submission which was refused by the trial court; however, in doing so the court considered and ruled on a point of law (the applicability of certain sections of the Admiralty Jurisdiction Act) on which points were not raised by either the prosecution or the defence, and neither was given the opportunity to address the court on these issues. Consequently, at the Supreme Court, the ruling of the trial court on the no-case submission was struck out and the case was remitted back to the trial court for retrial. This happened six years after the case was filed and almost four years after the judgment on the no-case submission was delivered, which shows the impact of such dilatory tactics on the delay and weaknesses in the Nigerian judicial system.
To further curb delays in the judicial process, the ACJA introduced several other provisions including Section 396 of the ACJA. This provides that upon charging an accused person to court, the trial of the defendant shall proceed from one day to another until the conclusion of the trial, and where it is impracticable to proceed from one day to another, no party to the proceedings shall be entitled to more than five adjournments from arraignment of the accused person to final judgment. Furthermore, the interval between each adjournment shall not exceed fourteen days.
The ACJA further states that where it is impracticable to conclude criminal proceedings after the parties have exhausted their five adjournments each, the interval between one adjournment to another shall not exceed seven days including weekends. It goes on to provide that in all circumstances the court may award reasonable costs in order to discourage frivolous adjournments. The practicality of this provision of the ACJA has been called into doubt; however, as it does not take into account the quantity of case files (particularly as the courts do not have specialist corruption divisions), or the busy schedule of both defence and prosecution counsels. Furthermore, it does not cater to exigencies such as securing the attendance of witnesses that may prejudice the dispensation of a fair trial, as espoused in Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
Furthermore, the EFCC is hugely significant politically, which is why policy that could make the commission more effective may be difficult to achieve. While it might be so that procedural and political considerations limit the effectiveness of the EFCC, measures could be put in place to nudge the organisation in the right direction. Hence, the tenure of the Chairperson and Secretary of the EFCC should be fixed and not renewable, and should straddle at least two tenures of a President and Senate (that is between five and six years) to limit political influence over the EFCC. The Board of the EFCC should also have a staggered tenure, with no more than a third of members being appointed by the government in power.
Also, efforts should be made to undertake an organisational effectiveness map for the EFCC that identifies skill sets that are needed. Lastly, more relevant, targeted and bespoke training programmes should be designed that link to the skills sets that are identified as lacking. Deliberations should continue on the institutional arrangements and focus of the ACAs (EFCC and ICPC) to understand the overlap and to allow for streamlining where needed.
