The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • Vehicles purchase to Niger: Critics got it wrong

    Vehicles purchase to Niger: Critics got it wrong

    There is, currently, a national hysteria over the recent vehicles purchased by the federal government of Nigeria and donated to Niger Republic to boost security in that beleaguered nation. Since the “scandal” blew open, Nigeria’s tribe of the informed, the misinformed and the mischievous are united in lacerating and whipping the government of the day on this account.

    Columnists, writers of all hues, breakfast shows hosts, panelists on radio and of course, the ubiquitous social media “influencers” all, without reprieve, are exacting their pound of flesh on what they all concluded is a misplaced priority.

    As I write, editorials are being churned out condemning the purchase of these vehicles. One editorial by a major newspaper with a history of subjectivity and promoting regional divide described the act as that of a “Santa Claus” doling out moneys to other sovereignties whimsically.

    The government’s defense, so far, has been feeble and lackluster.  It merely justified the purchase on the grounds of “security”.

    Security or lack of it in the Sahel, for which, Niger Republic with a landmass of nearly 500,000sq mi, constitutes, a substantial part, should be a major concern to Nigeria. In sheer size, it is the second biggest country in West Africa. It is bigger than Nigeria by a staggering 148,000sq mi. Eighty per cent   (80%) of Niger Republic   is arid and its population is one quarter of Nigeria’s. This means despite its enormous size, it is scarcely populated. Its twenty five (25) million inhabitants are   mainly engaged in subsistence agriculture. It is a highly indebted Country (HIPC).

    Nigeria shares border in the north with this vast country. Apart from providing vast land cover for cross border criminals and bandits, Niger Republic provides sanctuary to insurgent elements of the dreaded ISWAP. It is also a smuggling route. A lot of Nigeria’s refined petroleum products. A 2019 report by the Guardian said that Nigeria loses over one trillion naira daily as a result of fuel smuggling across borders to West African states. The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) put Nigeria’s daily fuel consumption at 52 million litres but the actual fuel consumed is 45 million litres.

    Read Also: Buhari: Nigeria must get 2023 census right

    A litre of petrol sells at N400 in Niger Republic Niger Republic pose as a threat to Nigeria’s security on account of illegal migration. Several illegal aliens find their way into the country under cover of the free movement and trade under the ECOWAS Protocol on free movement and Trans border security.

    Increasingly nation states realize the importance of cooperation and integration. Nigeria with the biggest economy on the continent of Africa appreciates the import of sub regional integration and having secure neighbours. The country is battling with raging cocktail of insurgency and banditry.

    States have realized that they can’t live in isolation. Rich and poor nations appreciate the importance of corroboration in boosting commerce, trade and security.

    The goal of any national security is the protection lives, property   and promotion of the country’s enduring needs. One of such is enduring security.

    And in the final analysis, a   serious country will always    create and maintain an enabling environment for the prosperity of the nation.

    Informed critics know this. But they will chose to misinformed and misguide mainly for mischievous political reasons. This latest opposition didn’t come as a surprise.

    • Aliyu Mohammed writes from No 23,Wushishi Road, Kaduna

  • El-Rufai’s media chat and the matters arising

    El-Rufai’s media chat and the matters arising

    Malam Nasir El-Rufai hosted a live media chat in Hausa on Wednesday, 27 July 2022. One of the questions he fielded related to the deteriorating security situation. His response included a reminder of the fact that he has for at least five years advocated for robust action against the terrorists that are menacing our people, including bombardments of their locations.

    He further disclosed that he briefed President Muhammadu Buhari last Sunday about the gravity of the security situation and informed him that the terrorists had made threats to abduct the President and himself.

    As a digitally-active Governor with a significant presence in the social media, he was the first to draw the attention of Mr. President to the viral video making the rounds that day. It is incumbent on him to share information with the President without prejudice to any security or media reports that the President may receive from any other sources. The President had not seen the viral video at the point in time.

    Read Also: Terrorists creating ‘parallel’ govt in Kaduna, El-Rufai tells Buhari

    The suggestion and storylines by a section of the media that this amounted to a failing by the security agencies to brief Mr. President is not what the Governor expressly said in the Hausa language interview.

    At all times, it is important that the media exercises restraint and ensures contextual accuracy in reporting, and avoids issues that may arise from or be lost in translation. We must not, by acts of commission or omission, glorify the terrorists or demonise officials charged with the duty to contain and destroy them. Nigeria’s security challenges should neither be politicised nor deployed to mislead our people.

    • Muyiwa Adekeye, Special Adviser (Media and Communications), Kaduna State Government
  • Modupe Osikoya on my mind

    Modupe Osikoya on my mind

    Those of us who attended a secondary school in the sixties and perhaps a decade or so beyond that; will have no difficulty in remembering that one of the unforgettable highlights of every school year was the annual inter-house sports-day. This event was celebrated with a great deal of funfair as every aspect of it formed topics of debate, conversation and controversy from one year to the next within each school. It was a great day for athletes and non-athletes alike and most of us still carry memories of those days fully fifty years after those heady competitions were consigned to our individual moments of history. In Lagos, the first inter-house sports-day of the year always took place in Yabatech in January when all other schools were just settling into the new-year. For us who were just across the gate at Igbobi College this marked the beginning of the athletics season and was one event which we were allowed to go and watch and it was special even it is only from that point of view. The great attraction of those meetings was the invitational relays to which many schools responded and at which the various schools laid down their marker for the year. For most of us we watched the various events which took place before the invited school teams came out for the relays with scant interest. After all, they were of a restricted domestic nature, the results of which were of no consequence to us. What we had come to see was the strength of the various schools which we would be competing against throughout the coming season. In addition, relay races with the constant change of pace and high drama have always generated a huge appeal among those who are watching; they are a demonstration of pace, team work and determination as the baton is passed from one hand to another at speed, testing each participant to the limit of their competence and practice.

    One of the invitational relays that still stands out in my mind took place in Igbobi College, I think in 1968, my last year as a schoolboy. As was always the case, the relay races were called towards the end of the day when the heat of the sun had abated somewhat and light was just beginning to fade. One of the last events on that day was the invitational relay for girl schools and when the teams filed out to take their place on the track, we had no inkling of what we were about to be witnesses to. At the end of it we were all aware of the fact that we had been treated to something truly special by the slightly built anchor leg for the quartet from the Methodist Girls High School. This lithe young girl had a great deal of work to do if her team was to win and she had only a little more than one hundred yards or so to do it in. Undaunted by the challenge, she set off with steely determination and legs, pumping like well-oiled pistons in a powerful sports car she gave a breath taking exhibition of sprinting to take her team home in triumph, unlikely as it seemed when the baton was put in her hand. Thus those of us who were privileged to be present on that great occasion were introduced to Modupe Osikoya who in the decade following that exhibition rose up to dominate Nigerian athletics in a way that no other female has done until now with the explosive arrival of the rave of the moment, the exciting Tobi Amusan who is tearing up the record books with joyous abandon and winning gold medals as if they were going out of fashion.

    Read Also: PROFILE: Meet Tobi Amusan’s coach

    Modupe Osikoya was not just a sprinter but an all-round athlete who made her mark in the heptathlon, a gruelling discipline made of seven events (100 metres hurdles, high jump, shot-put, 200 metres, long jump, javelin and 800 metres). Supreme athlete that she was, she could not only cope with each of these events but was a champion hurdler and consummate sprinter over the shorter sprint events. She is probably the first truly modern and international athlete that Nigeria has produced, blazing the trail for a galaxy of dazzling female athletes who grew up in her wake. She is now largely forgotten as she came long before sporting events from all over the world were brought into our sitting rooms in living colour as it is done now, giving us the opportunity of watching our stars live. She was also unfortunate to have been at her peak for the 1976 Olympics which quite tragically for her, was boycotted by African countries in protest at the continued support that the Apartheid state of South Africa received from the Western countries. They had refused to put up sanctions against South Africa even when the evil nature of Apartheid was exposed to the world when the South African Police opened fire on African children protesting the deliberate watering down of education available to African children in South Africa. Beyond that, some countries continued to play games against the South Africans even though a ban had been placed on sporting ties with the country of apartheid. Osikoya did not have the opportunity of showing the world what she was capable of on that occasion but her pioneer status in the world of women athletics in Nigeria speaks for her. This is why when I saw Tobi Amusan streaking over those hurdle sticks in the manner of one who was born to excel in that event and later saw her superlative performance as the first leg runner in the relay in Birmingham, I was brought back to that day. The day I saw Modupe Osikoya flashing through the tape as she brought her school relay team home in triumph on what was my home ground all of fifty-four years ago. As the saying goes, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. Unfortunately a lot of what gave value to our lives all those years ago has been carried away with the water that passed under that bridge.

    To tell the truth, I am amazed by the quality of the performance exhibited by our girls in the recently concluded Commonwealth games in Birmingham. As I said at the beginning, all schools in my days had a sports programme and this is what gave the young Modupe Osikoya the opportunity of developing her talents right from the onset of her glittering career in her primary school. This being so, she was already on the move to stardom by the time she got to MGHS. There, whatever talent she brought with her was further enhanced by her exposure to a sporting structure which was firmly in place not only in her school but all comparable schools around her. Moving on from the secondary school, she would have had the facilities to continue her development because the universities also had a rich sporting tradition within which she could develop further. One of my students was Judy Bellgam, also a world class hurdler who took a good pharmacy degree from Ife in spite of her participation in athletics events all over the world. She brought glory to the country and to the university and was able to do this because of the support she got from her country and the university. This was during the golden age of Nigerian sports in the late eighties and early nineties when Nigerian sportsmen and women were winning laurels in several fields from all over the world. It is not surprising that Nigeria won eleven gold medals at the Commonwealth games in 1994, two Olympic gold medals in 1996 and it has taken close to thirty years to win twelve gold medals in the Commonwealth games. In between, we have struggled to make a mark because virtually all our sporting structures have collapsed. Those incredibly exciting inter-house sports meetings are taking place fitfully at best, university games have degenerated into farce and apart from a few states, notably Lagos, Edo and Delta, the sports festivals which were introduced in 1973 in the wake of our successful hosting of the All Africa games are just a jamboree. They are merely an opportunity for officials to collect allowances designed to allow them to pretend that they still interested in the development of Nigerian sports.

    Like all other Nigerians, I was delighted with the sterling performances of some of our athletes in Birmingham but my delight was tempered by the knowledge that the Commonwealth games is a second tier competition with the absence of the very top athletes in the world. Besides, those games were conquered by Nigerians a long time ago with Ifejuana making a name for himself more than sixty years ago when as a schoolboy he won gold in the high jump and in 1966, our athletes shone like a constellation of stars when Igun, Ejoke, Asiodu to mention a few put up memorable performances in Kingston, Jamaica where the games took place that year. Were things right with Nigeria we should now be thinking of a sackful of gold medals in the Commonwealth games and very favourable mention in the Olympics.

    Given the lack of facilities, official interest and financial backing for sportsmen and women in Nigeria, the performances of our athletes must be categorised as nothing short of a miracle. With a population in comfortable excess of 200 million, the pool from which talents can be fished out is huge but how many of us have the opportunity of taking part in school sport or can take time off from whatever hustle we are involved in to put food on the table and take care of various other pressing bills? To put things in some perspective, New Zealand with a population of just 5.1 million won twenty gold medals in Birmingham, that is, almost double the number of our haul.

    We have the right to rejoice at the performance of our team to the recent Commonwealth games but our joy has to be tempered with the realisation that we should be doing better, much better. As for those who came home with medals, they have the nation’s thanks because they did so well, in spite of the various difficulties that they had to contend with in order to put those broad smiles on our faces. I hope that they would be regarded as role models by all the young Nigerians at home and abroad growing up in their wake.

    I sincerely hope that Modupe Osikoya gets to read this because the piece was inspired by the  brilliant race she ran on the playing field of Igbobi College more than fifty years ago as much as the performance of Tobi Amusan and company. That superlative performance was simply unforgettable as my writing about it so many years later proves so eloquently.

  • Of revolution, stereotypes, fallacies and social media

    Of revolution, stereotypes, fallacies and social media

    Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, American Spanish, was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 2008. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011.

     Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party communist state; industry and business were nationalised, and state socialist reforms were implemented throughout society. Fidel said:  “I began with 82 men. If I had to do it again, I would do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and a plan of action.” Faith is the key word in his statement, “Absolute faith.”

     Furthermore, on the 1st January 1959, Fidel Castro made a remarkable statement about revolution.  He had said: “The Revolution begins here and now. The Revolution won’t be an easy task. The Revolution will be a tough undertaking and full of dangers, especially during this initial period.”

     Interestingly, in social psychology, a stereotype is a generalised belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example, an expectation about the group’s personality, preferences, appearance or ability.

    Stereotypes are sometimes overgeneralised, inaccurate, and resistant to new information, but can sometimes be accurate. Solutions for mankind will not come from the goodwill of those who now take possession of the world to exploit it, even though they cannot dream or conceive of anything but the perennial nature of what is heaven for them and hell for the rest of humanity, a real hell without any possible remedy.

    Read Also: Africa and Fourth Industrial Revolution

     Similarly, stereotype is a thought that someone has about specific types of individuals that may or may not accurately reflect reality. Stereotypes can also be thought of like caricatures, which are pictures that exaggerate certain features while oversimplifying others and end up distorting the essence of an individual.

     Many stereotypes are widely held but they are also over generalised images or ideas about a particular type of person. Any time we group individuals together and make a generalisation or judgment about them without knowing them, this is an example of a stereotype. It is so prevalent in our society today.

     A prejudice is an opinion – usually an unfavourable one – that was formed before having any evidence and that is not based on reason or experience. While a stereotype is a thought about a person or group of people, a prejudice relates to feelings and attitudes about that person or group of people. Prejudices are often rooted in the idea that certain types of people are worthless or are less capable than others. It can be direct, indirect or structural and often results from stereotypes or prejudicial attitudes.

     Therefore, we must at all cost desist from anything that could attract reprisal – bearing in mind the mood of the nation and considering the implication of continuous mentioning of “Muslim Muslim” or “Christian Christian” tickets as the case may be. This is because of the delicate nature of religion in the third world.

     When we have expectations or feelings about people based on characteristics like sex, gender, marital status or pregnancy we may act in ways that negatively affect individuals or groups of people. Often we don’t even think about the stereotypes or prejudices we hold and may hurt or disadvantage people without realising it.

     We may think that we are simply behaving in ways that accurately reflect the realities or abilities of men and women but we are actually discriminating and reinforcing inequality. Even if a stereotype is seen as or meant to be positive, the fact that not all persons in that group meet that standard often leads to a “positive” stereotype disadvantaging specific individuals.

     Flowing from above, therefore, this article focuses on the ways in which people from different social groups feel about, think about, and behave toward each other. In most cases, we have positive thoughts and feelings about others, and our interactions with them are friendly and positive. And yet in other cases, there is a potential for negative interactions, and in rare cases, even hostility and violence.

      As such, the thoughts on my mind as I write, is, if truly, Christianity developed Europe and America and Islam transformed UAE /Saudi Arabia  – why then will both Christianity and Islam brings us underdevelopment in the third world? It, therefore, means that we must have deviated from the true teachings of both religions.

      Let me use the ongoing election and the results coming from Kenya to illustrate the futility of social media hype and the fallacies of delusional audacity: Since the time of Ancient Greece, philosophers, logicians, and regular people have developed ways to identify types of illogical arguments. These logical fallacies are errors in reasoning.

     In a logical fallacy, the arguer does not provide enough evidence to support their claim. It is important to note that just because someone uses a logical fallacy, their claim may not necessarily be wrong, it simply means that the arguer has not provided either enough, or the right kind of evidence, and therefore has not proven their point.

     The election in Kenya looks like it will be a tight race between frontrunners Mr Odinga, 77, and Mr Ruto, 55. Odinga – a long-serving opposition leader, nicknamed Baba (“father”) by his supporters, is running for president for a fifth time. Mr Ruto, who has tried to emphasise his connection with ordinary Kenyans by calling himself a “hustler,” is taking his first stab at the presidency. Two other candidates – David Mwaure and George Wajackoya – are also in the race.

     The elections are coming amid a cost-of-living crisis and soaring unemployment rates that have left many Kenyan households struggling.  Analysts say voters are disillusioned by failed promises of former governments, including the incumbent administration. This year, a significant number of young people opted out of voting in the elections, with a growing number of under-35s, who make up 75% of the country’s population, similar to the Nigerian situation, saying that they do not see elections as a pathway to change. Their counterparts in Nigeria are not totally disillusioned, although driven by sentiments and emotion.

     There seems to be similarities between the Kenya election and the upcoming elections in Nigeria. The top two contenders are similar to ours as well as the pretenders, particularly the social media hype candidates. Kenya’s social media candidate performed poorly in reality. 

    • Odusanya is a social reform crusader

  • Ajaokuta Steel Complex: A colossal failure

    Ajaokuta Steel Complex: A colossal failure

    As there any nation on earth that will sink more than 5.1 billion dollars of its hard-earned money on any project and walk away from it when it is 98 percent completed?” Mr Pandhi, an Indian who worked at the Ajaokuta Company had asked. But come to Nigeria and see the Ajaokuta becoming a ghost industry!

    However, Pandhi did not know that in Nigeria, one can mischievously attempt to square the circle regardless of the severe repercussions. Afflicted by the colossal failure of Ajaokuta, we are paying the price of gross insensitivity and national tragedy as a people. With all its huge benefits capable of making us an industrialised country, how can our leaders allow a 42- year- old gigantic project that gulped billions of dollars and reached 98 percent completion to go to the hungry vultures, rejecting 2 percent of its requirement to put life into it and move the nation forward?

    It has been estimated that this complex needs just 650 million dollars to make it fully operational. However, it seems the strongest political will that can rescue the project is not forthcoming and we will continue to be nationally tormented by this resource plundering.

    Based on the Ajaokuta economic loss estimation, Pandhi had observed: “Nothing is running in this country. There is no discipline here. With my experience, if you kill the steel plant, you kill employment, you kill GDP; you kill the intellectuality of the country.”

    Perhaps, his stormy anger was informed by the fact that he had more than 20 years’ experience in steel production and had worked for about 10 steel companies in India and was fully aware that Nigeria had chosen the path to a tragedy.

    Analysts believe that steel production and consumption levels are indices of national power. According to the World Bank, steel is a major indicator for measuring economic progress and a key driver of other high investment and job- creating industries. In 1973, iron ore of the required quality was discovered in Itakpe, Ajabanoko and Oshokoshoko. Interestingly, Nigeria is believed to possess the 12th largest iron deposits in the world and the second largest in Africa.

    Read Also: Hope for Ajaokuta steel?

    Experts insist that Ajaokuta Steel Complex has the capacity to become a major producer of industrial machineries, auto- electrical spare parts, ship building, railways and carriages. However, we are deliberately committing development suicide and the world is mocking us because steel experts feel dejected that years of neglect means that many of the units at the steel complex might be old and obsolete, thus mindlessly squandering our hard-earned resources.

    The Ajaokuta project was established on the 18th of September, 1979 with the formation of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited charged with the responsibility of constructing and operating the Ajaokuta integrated iron and steel plant. The foundation laying was conducted by the late President Shehu Shagari in 1980 and had reached 98 percent completion in 1994, with 40 of the 43 plants at the facility having been built.

    South Korea, which started its steel construction around the same time now has a revenue base of over 60 billion dollars per annum and employed over 65,000 staff. It is also baffling to know that South Korea and Japan have inadequate raw materials like iron ore and steel but are today among the world top 10 countries in steel production.

    Setting up the project met global standards, having proximity to raw materials, rail, water and good weather conditions. Hence, the contract for the project was signed in 1979 between the federal government and Messrs Tyajzhprom Export (TPE) of the former Soviet Union. When completed, it is expected that the steel plant will have the capacity to generate about 1.7 billion dollars per annum, employ over 10, 000 engineers and technicians, recruit over 10,000 other personnel and lead to the creation of over two million indirect jobs.

    It is capable of enhancing our GDP, and launching the country into the orbit of industrialised nations. But the gigantic plant is left to die like a patient with a prolonged illness.  It is disturbing that our leaders have persistently denied the right prescription to make the company fully operational.

    Upon completion of the project, Nigeria’s export earnings are expected to increase by over 1 billion dollars per annum, and it could save over 15 billion dollars’ worth of steel products imported into the country yearly. Also on completion, it is envisaged to produce 1.3 million tonnes at first stage, 2.6 million at its second stage and 5.2 million per annum at the third phase of long and flat products.

    But there was a sad story published in the Punch of 5th May, 2022 that after spending over 8 billion dollars on Ajaokuta, Nigeria imported N837 billion of iron, steel and metals in the third and the fourth quarters of 2021!

    Why has Ajaokuta been deliberately abandoned despite its enormous economic benefits to the nation? There are diverse answers to this question. But unfortunately, the answers still provide no solution to the lingering problem. For instance, this is not the first time that successive governments have been accused of allowing the project to become a conduit for siphoning the nation’s wealth.

    This is not the first time we have been disappointedly told that poor management of the company is taking a high toll on the nation. Also, this is not the first time we have been informed that powerful nations of the world are uncomfortable with the prospect of Nigeria becoming a big steel producer, and that Nigeria’s potential for steel production and its oil wealth give the West reasons to worry.

    The question is: When are we going to depart from the prevailing festival of a national tragedy to observe the festival of development by making the Ajaokuta Complex a living and industrial reality?

    • Abdullahi, aaringim68@gmail.com

  • How Sunday Dare brought joy

    How Sunday Dare brought joy

    On the 13th of May, 2022 while in Abuja on a political expedition, I stopped at the office of the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Chief Sunday Dare, to brief him on some developments at home. As I was approaching the office, I saw him rushing out, descending the staircase to his office, briskly.

    Hurrying! My thought was that he must be hastening to meet an appointment in the villa with the President. But as he sighted me, he said “Kenny I am going to the stadium, join me there.”  He practically raced to his waiting official car and sped off to the stadium.

    I followed his convoy and at the stadium we met Mary Onyali-Omagbemi who received us and commended the minister for coming to the training session promptly “as usual. “ I wondered whether he had been really attending their training. I kept my cool, waiting for a good opportunity to confirm this.

    We immediately entered the main bowl where athletes from the 36 states of the federation and Abuja together with their compatriots from the Diaspora were training, competing for places to represent Nigeria at the just concluded Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

    From track to field events, the heats were well organised and highly interesting to the extent that one had the feeling of watching the main event and not just a selection exercise. I observed keenly as the minister passed messages and instructions to Mary Onyali, his Special Adviser (Technical) from time to time. Fully alert, the Track Queen would elegantly dash down to the field and return to the minister. The two of them were obviously fretful but clearly focused and steadfast in getting the best out of the hundreds that came for the selection exercise.

    As the heats were going on, the National Convention Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by a former senate president, Senator David Mark arrived at the stadium. The party was billed to use the stadium for its national convention a few days ahead. The minister took some minutes off to receive them.

    Read Also; Dare assures Team Nigeria of presidential reception

    But the former senate president who was in company with the governors of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, Benue State, Sam Ortom, immediate past governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha,  and Senator Philip Aduda among others , was surprised to meet him on the field. Senator Mark said “you are supposed to be in the office treating files” to which Dare replied that “the main job is here sir.” They all laughed and prayed that his efforts would yield great fruits. They were all impressed.

    Done with the inspecting team of PDP, we returned to the training session where the selection of the team for the games continued. Sitting next to Onyali, I was able to get more on the extra efforts put in by the minister towards getting the best team for Nigeria and also getting the best out of the individual athletes and coaches.

    First, the minister, according to Onyali, instilled discipline in the team ensuring that all the rules are obeyed to the letter in terms of punctuality, kitting and conduct both on and off the pitch. She disclosed that the minister had consistently displayed it in all his engagements with the team too. She confirmed that the minister makes time to attend their training and always did so promptly. Onyali told me too that the minister has also been a great source of motivation to the team as he personally interacts with them, giving them confidence and expressing genuine love.

    Dare profusely displayed this as I watched the heats and final selections of the team to the most successful Commonwealth Games Nigeria ever attended since 1950. He got to the stadium ahead of the time for the commencement of the heats. Showing uncommon commitment and impartiality, he watched all the heats and final selections and ensured that only the best were chosen, not minding their religion, tribe or region. A great motivator and exemplary leader, the youth and sports minister mingled with the team, with the firm assurance that the President, his ministry and the entire country were fully behind them in their endeavours.

    Onyali, who is very passionate about athletics, did not forget to inform me about all the efforts already made by the minister in getting the nation prepared for the Commonwealth Games and other international sporting engagements. She said the first thing the minister did was the unprecedented 300 percent increase in rewards for medals won in all competitions which she disclosed was a major motivation and attraction for athletes to run for Nigeria.

    She also revealed that the minister strategically delivered the National Sports Festival and National Youth Games amidst COVID -19 complications to boost Nigerian sports and our chances at international tournaments.

    On why there were so many locals on the pitch struggling to be selected, Onyali said that the Return to Grassroots Sports Development, National Principals Cup and Talent Hunt Programmes of the Dare-led sports ministry had brought out so many great talents from towns and villages across the country.

    And as we were leaving the stadium after the minister’s convivial interaction with the athletes, Onyali asked me jokingly, that as a friend of the minister, whether I had adopted a game or an athlete in the spirit of Adopt An Athlete initiative of the minister to which I responded that I had already adopted Table Tennis and was planning to build a Tennis Academy in my village, Onipe. She said, “thank you sir” with so much respect and passion, and made me feel that this just must be done.

    Watching and reading about the great exploits of the athletes that were eventually selected for the Birmingham Games gave me real joy. That the hard work of our sports minister, his special adviser, and other officials of the sports ministry had paid off with the best outing of Nigeria in the past 72 years is gladdening. Dare, through effective leadership, dedication, patriotism and commitment has brought glory and joy.

    • Kehinde Olaosebikan is a reputation manager

  • The gamble of Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan

    The gamble of Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan

    On the surface, Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan looks like an American triumph. The House speaker flew into the island’s capital yesterday, undeterred by China’s threats and the announcement of military exercises in the surrounding seas. As she met with Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, and spoke to its legislature, the Chinese leader Xi Jinping had to watch helplessly, able to do no more than order his forces to splash about in nearby waters in a display of rage and futility.

    This narrative has elements of truth, but things aren’t that simple. Pelosi’s trip is likely to be the beginning, not the end, of a crisis in U.S.-China relations. Beijing could stretch out its response for weeks, even months, with unforeseeable consequences. Only hours before Pelosi’s arrival, China’s foreign ministry warned that the U.S. would “pay the price” for the affront. The real impact of Pelosi’s visit may not be clear for years.

    Pelosi’s Taiwan gamble has reinforced trends in the U.S.-China relationship that are edging both countries toward conflict in East Asia. Ever more ambitious, Beijing believes that China has a right to be the paramount power in the region and that the U.S. is standing in its way. In Washington, D.C., policy makers see America’s future as depending on Asia and are resolved to maintain, or even expand, its system of alliances in the region to entrench U.S. influence and contain China’s.

    Taiwan sits directly on the fault line between these two competing powers and their agendas. To the U.S., Taiwan is not merely a longtime friend, but also a crucial economic partner and a link in the network of democracies that upholds American power in the Pacific. To China, Taiwan is an indispensable component of the country’s ascent to superpower stature. Claiming Taiwan has been a top priority for the Chinese Communist Party ever since it chased its Nationalist foes off the mainland to the island at the end of the civil war in 1949. To this day, Beijing considers Taiwan an errant province that remains an integral part of China.

    Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan intensified the insecurity among China’s leaders about achieving that goal. They already fear that the government in Taipei is drifting ever further into the American orbit, making “peaceful reunification,” as they call it, less and less likely. The Pelosi visit exposed the limits of Beijing’s power over the island—especially with the U.S backing up Taiwan—and the risks that that poses to the Communist regime. In Beijing’s perception, Pelosi’s visit offers legitimacy to Taiwan’s democratic government. And if all of Beijing’s bluster and threats couldn’t scare away even an octogenarian from California, what’s to stop a parade of foreign dignitaries from visiting Taiwan in defiance of China? The outcome, China’s leaders fear, could be Taiwan declaring formal independence—a step they could never tolerate.

    Beijing has, of course, been complaining about American “interference” in Taiwan for decades. And Pelosi’s trip is not without precedent. Members of the U.S. Congress travel to Taiwan regularly, and another speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, visited 25 years ago. But the Taiwan issue is taking on even greater importance in China because of significant changes in Chinese domestic politics. Xi has justified his one-man dictatorship by promising the Chinese public that he will attain what he calls the “Chinese dream” of national rejuvenation—which is impossible without unification with Taiwan.

    Such nationalistic goals are also becoming more central to the Communist regime as a source of legitimacy. For decades, the Communist Party counted on its successful program of economic development to validate its right to rule, but with the economy slowing, that argument no longer packs the same punch. So the message has morphed from “the party will make China rich” to “the party will make China great.” That entails not only achieving unification with Taiwan, but also seeking revenge against those enemies that try to prevent it and “keep China down.”

    This represents a major shift in China’s national policy. For much of the past four decades, its leaders tended to put economic growth before other policy goals. That, in turn, rendered their approach to foreign affairs—focused on matters of development—generally predictable. Now the party is turning its attention to getting foreign-policy wins over those it deems adversaries as proof of its competence and as a means of rallying domestic support.

    Hence Beijing’s hysterical reaction to Pelosi’s visit. To China’s leaders, her Taiwan jaunt is another humiliation perpetrated by the U.S., and one not so easily forgiven or forgotten. But Xi brought this embarrassment on himself. Beijing’s extreme reaction to the proposed trip elevated it to an eyeball-to-eyeball superpower standoff, and Pelosi didn’t blink. Xi, the supposed champion of the Chinese nation, was made to look weak in the eyes of the world and, worse still, in the eyes of his own people, who followed Pelosi’s trip on social media.

    The speaker’s tenacity also amplifies fears in Beijing that Washington is actively working to thwart unification. Officially, the U.S. still upholds a “one-China policy,” but Beijing isn’t buying that. Foreign Minister Wang Yi accused Washington of following a “fake” one-China policy in a conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in October. During the leaders’ discussion last week, Xi warned President Joe Biden on the Taiwan issue, telling him that “those who play with fire will perish by it,” according to the official summary from China’s foreign ministry.

  • Nigerian female politicians must learn from Gov Wike

    Nigerian female politicians must learn from Gov Wike

    The major political parties in Nigeria, the ruling All progressives Congress  (APC), the leading opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) have all been in the news in the last number of weeks over a lot of issues. There have been debates about the zoning for Party leaderships, Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates and even about religion.

    The opposition People’s Democratic Party has had the lingering crises with the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike who came second during their Presidential primaries. There has been a lot of tension around his attitude having lost to Atiku Abubakar. In fact, there has been different groups of the party’s leadership making ‘political pilgrimages’ to Rivers State to pacify him over what is alleged to be his misgiving  over being left out as the Vice Presidential candidate of the party.

    In some quarters, he is comically been referred to as the beautiful bride post all the party primaries. There were even rumours that other political parties wanted to ‘gain’ from the assumed problems a Nwike has with his party of the Presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.  The permutations about his next line of action are still in the public domain even as he recently had a meeting with the PDP candidate in Abuja and had allegedly been issuing conditions for peace.

    The APC on the other hand seems to have been trying to douse the tension over its Muslim-Muslim ticket for its Presidential and Vice presidential candidates, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shettima respectively. There has been efforts at explaining to the voting public that both candidates do not wear their religion on their sleeves but have a history of liberal practice of their faiths given that even the Presidential candidate’s wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu is not just a Christian but a pastor and that a former governor Shettima of Bornu had a history of religious tolerance in office.

    Just about a day ago, the two political parties appointed the Director Generals for their Presidential campaigns.  The APC has appointed Governor Simon Lalong of Plateaustate as the Director General and the Minister of state for Labour, Festus Keyamo  (SAN) as the interim Spokesperson. The PDP appointed  Daniel Bwala a recent decampee from APC and a Dino Melaye, another decampee from the APC to PDP as Campaign Spokespersons. So seemingly the die is cast for these two parties. For more than a dozen other political parties, Nigerians await their appointments.

    The Roundtable Conversation listened to the Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu project that the Commission anticipates about 95million registered voters for the 2023 election. This number of voters is predominantly the youth and women. Women are often the largest voting demographic and are often the most loyal party members. The commitment and competence of women in all sectors cannot be over-emphasized.

    However, it has been a very disappointing silence from the few women politicians and the political party leaderships as reagrds positions for women even as we hear from the grapevine permutations of who gets what in the even of a win by either political parties.

    During the conventions of the APC and the PDP, we noticed the tokenism to the largest voting bloc at all elections, the hands that rock the cradle, those who feel the most impact of bad leadership at all levels – the women seem to be mere onlookers and the political parties are always enthusiastic to give the ‘Women Leader’ position to the women with the sole aim of making them mobilizers of votes for the men.

    We see the silence of the few women in politics as a betrayal of the global efforts at integrating more women into politics in a developing nation like Nigeria. The silence of the women is very worrisome and one wonders whether they are just very comfortable waiting on the men to send them on errands or throw certain posts to them post elections. The political parties from the congresses to primary elections have been very silent about a level playing field and the women seem not to take note.

    The Roundtable conversation spoke to Ndi Kato, Executive Director at Dinidari Africa, an Advocate for Human Rights and  African Women in Tech. She feels that not much has changed in the political scene as it concerns women and that is very discouraging because women are  capable and qualified to take up leadership at any level.  She believes that women must make choices right now, do the women just want to dance at political rallies and wear uniforms while the same chauvinistic and patriarchal attitude of male politicians continue in the political space? Some action to her must come from more women in politics.

    To her, women must be willing to walk the talk and hold Nigerian male politicians to account like the Liberian and Icelandic women whose determination and hard work substantially changed the dynamics of the political situation in both countries very profoundly. No country in her view can progress without the contribution of their women.  In the case of Nigeria, Ndi feels that no country seems as blessed as Nigeria especially when it comes to the capacity of Nigerian women to blaze trails and contribute nationally and at globally.

    An Ndi believes that Nigerian women in politics must purge themselves of the cultural and religious beliefs that have negative impact on development as it concerns gender equity. In the United Kingdom at the moment, Liz Truss is almost at the threshold of being elected the British Prime Minister. Even the Nigerian-British Kemi Badenoch was a top contender  earlier in the race. Could she have had the opportunity in Nigeria? She doubts.

    An Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, an Amina Mohamed, an Aruma Oteh, Yewande Sadiku, a Tobi Amusan and dozens of other Nigerian women are global citizens making their education and tenacity work for a world that offers a level playing field to everyone.  Some vibrant global economies have had women as Chancellor in the case of Angela Merkel of Germany, Presidents, Prime Ministers, or Heads of governments because their political environment allows the best human to emerge without the overt or subtle huddles by the political systems in their countries.

    The Roundtable Conversation believes that Nigerian male politicians are just being monopolistic in terms of opening up the political space. On the other hand, the women in that field are very docile and seem to have resigned to faith. However, development is not a natural endowment, both genders have complimentary roles that must be employed brilliantly and patriotically working together for national development.

    Observing the attention a governor Wike is getting must teach Nigerian women in politics some lessons. With no prejudice to the PDP internal squabbles, a Wike either way has exposed the political system in Nigeria. Given the attention his party and others have paid to a governor Wike, rightly or wrongly, he is sending a message that the PDP seems to be getting. The pampering and series of consultations coming his way shows that the men in Nigerian politics understand the human value in politics.

    There are talks that a Wike is merely trying to say he is very relevant to the party. Whether true or false, we might never know.  However,  if the focus and attention on him by several delegations of his party and even the subtle wooing by other political ‘pilgrims’ to his state are anything to go buy, he seems to have made his point and all the politicians seem to agree to his relevance exaggerated or regular.

    Then when we look at the issues about gender equity in the Nigerian political space, one can sense a bit of patriarchal arrogance and ego play by the men. Issues that concern women and the youths are often overlooked as the men assume, even if wrongly and parochially that they can always get their way and lead the largest votying blocs in any election.

    What the Nigerian male politicians forget is that the global political paradigms have shifted and the old ways might not be the winning ways anymore. There is more political awareness, more influence from technology and the new media.  The youth and women might be a force to be reckoned with in Nigeria in the coming years. The awareness about leadership and governance structures are getting to all the nooks and crannies of the world. No one expected the Arab Spring events. The Sri Lankans never anticipated the recent political turn of events in their country. It is always good to evaluate strategies and tactics even in the political sphere. Equity pays.

    However, when we depart from the political leaderships that are predominantly skewed to favour the men across all political parties, the notorious ‘Women Wings’ leaderships of all political parties must take the blame for the docility they have shown especially as the political parties get ready for the elections. Why the deafening silence? Are the Women Leaders just satisfied with dancing, singing and persuading the rural women to vote for the men?

    There is a sense at which the Roundtable Conversations feels seriously that most female politicians seem to have failed generations of women and youths. If a lone governor Wike can seemingly bring the PDP to its knees and allegedly get other parties to the negotiating table, what more of the greatest voting demographic given the past records and current INEC records?

    Political power is never offered on a platter. The women in politics must spring beyond individualism and an exaggerated sense of relevance as members of any ‘Women Wing’ of any political party. Have they ever asked why there is no Male wings?

    The dialogue continues…

  • What Muslim/Muslim ticket are we even talking about?

    What Muslim/Muslim ticket are we even talking about?

    I do not know the precise religious demographics of All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s family but I know it’s a Christian/Muslim mix. Nevertheless, it is most likely to be the case that Bola Tinubu goes to bed at night in his own house and, yet, he went to bed surrounded by Christians.

    Needless to say, the same Bola Tinubu will wake up the next morning in a house in which he is probably the only Muslim on that particular occasion! Is this really the sort of Muslim candidate, somebody seriously expects us, as Christians, to oppose on the basis of religion?

    I do not joke with my Lord Jesus Christ neither the religion I practice in His Most Holy Name. Indeed, the man, person, personality, spirit or force that should be able to entice, persuade, hoodwink or intimidate me out of Christianity does not exist, has never existed and can never exist. I will remain Christian and proclaim the Kingdom till Jesus comes! That is how fierce and utterly unshakable I am in my religious persuasion.

    Now, a precept of my Jesus is that “by their fruits, you shall know them”. Indeed, even if many Christians might not be aware of it, this dictum of Our Lord is the basis of the Christian theological approach to the definition of the concept of the faithful of God, in other words, the Children of God.

    If we are to discard the intrinsically misleading labels and woefully false tags we have become most unfortunately and rather miserably hostage to, I would say Bola Tinubu is, at least, as good a Christian as my humble self, if not, indeed, a better one. In fact, be it from the point of view of personal morality or public conduct, family background and life experiences, world view or approach to life, I cannot, in any honesty, see the basis upon which I might legitimately discriminate against someone like Tinubu other than on the completely untenable ground that he is a Muslim! And, if I were to do so, I would be going directly against the dictates of Jesus, my Saviour.

    If law has taught me anything, it is to go beyond the surface to ascertain what truly lies underneath. If politics has taught me anything, it is to assess others on the basis of their achievements, attainments and stewardship. If activism has taught me anything, it is to judge everyone on the basis of the content of their character and not in accordance with some shameful paradigm such as the colour of their religious persuasion! If Christianity has taught me anything, it is not to judge lest I be judged.

    Yes, Bola Tinubu is a Muslim and his running mate Kashim Shettima is also a Muslim but labelling, usages and nomenclature aside, I cannot, in any good conscience, see how the Tinubu/Shettima ticket is actually a Muslim/Muslim ticket for, in reality, it is practically no different from a Christian/Muslim ticket, if we are to tell ourselves the truth. Tinubu is a Yoruba man for God’s sake! If, as Christians, we would discriminate against a Yoruba Muslim, what sort of Muslim should we ever be able to get along with in the whole world?

    I support the ticket knowing that a man who could not convert his own wife nor compel his own children to his religion cannot possibly endanger my religion in any way. I support Tinubu because he is by far the undisputed and indisputable number one performer in public administration since our return to democracy in 1999, if not in the entire history of this country.

    I support Shettima for being able to keep Borno afloat, while bringing dividends of democracy to the people, even in the midst of the height of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East of our country. I cannot see how Peter Obi, as Governor of Anambra, despite all that may be said in his favour, surpasses even Kashim Shettima as Governor of Borno, much less Bola Tinubu as Governor of Lagos! Peter Obi certainly never encountered, in Anambra, the sorts of challenges Shettima had to face in Borno, and yet delivered in spite of all the odds stacked against him. As for comparing him to Tinubu as Governor of Lagos, titan of the South-west and phenomenon of Nigerian politics, Obi is at best still a learner, if not a complete nonstarter, I am sorry but must say.

    Regarding Atiku Abubarkar, he is certainly not going to be Nigeria’s President for he cannot steal the turn of the South and expect to have a country to rule if he were to win. There is a subsisting consensus for power to rotate between North and South and it exists and is maintained for national cohesion and the unity of this country. To violate it is to treasonously threaten our corporate existence as a nation. Perhaps it would not be a bad idea for Atiku to now consider running for President in Cameroon, for a change.

    I therefore stand with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. He is, indeed, a Muslim but when I look beyond the labels and take a closer look at him, he easily emerges before me as also my best Christian candidate for President in 2023! I cannot discriminate against a man who practices his religion with an enlightenment indistinguishable from the one with which I practice mine. I will not, in servitude to inanities, discriminate against a man, who, by the verifiable and readily ascertainable evidence of his accomplishments in governance, will make and leave my country a much better place than he will meet it as President. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is the best man running for President and, for our own good and the good of this nation, that is a fact we simply cannot afford to ignore.

    • Onokpasa, a lawyer, writes from Warri. +2347037212475

  • 2023: Why all Yoruba should vote Tinubu

    2023: Why all Yoruba should vote Tinubu

    The campaign for the 2023 election is gathering steam as the nation is awash with the usual displays that follow political electioneering, and the battle for the votes of Nigerian electorates is raging. Between now and when the election is scheduled to hold in February 2023, this scenario will prevail, and Nigerians will juggle their considerations for various political officers but most significantly, the most coveted office, which is the office of the president.

    Among those jostling to get the presidency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu stands head and shoulder above the rest. If we, as a nation, are ruled by the desire to tap our most competent, most able, best tested and adroit consideration for the presidency, Asiwaju is the impeccable choice. I have dealt extensively with this in my last piece, that tackled the religious dimension of the impending election. So my views today are focused on addressing the Yoruba on the need to rally around one of our bests in his quest for the nation’s top job.

    The aphorism goes that all politics is local; thus, for a people, the fad during elections is to weigh the contending candidates and how best their programs and manifestoes positively benefit them. That is what I am doing in this piece for my Yoruba people.

    In pursuing the task ahead, I must state that I am a full-blooded Yoruba, a Prince in Yorubaland, born and bred in Yorubaland; thus, I am schooled in the cultural norms of my Yoruba people.

    Among the Yoruba, it is taboo to sell a bad product or lend support to any Yoruba son or daughter that will eventually bring shame to the Yoruba race. The Yoruba are very much rooted in cultural competence that demands them to put their best foot forward and avoid those that stand to bring shame and reproach to their race.

    Even in my long years of living and working in Europe, I am guided by this moral code and this etiquette guides every Omoluabi that it requires us to put forward our best and go all out to support such choice.

    I am wholly convinced and sure that Asiwaju is Yoruba’s best foot in 2023. In saying this, I consider his antecedents and his fruitful governance history, which Nigeria, as a nation, is wholly tapping from today.

    In taking Lagos from a run-down slum, he made it to the fifth largest economy in Africa; Asiwaju had worked out an oasis of growth and economic development, which has benefitted and continues to benefit other states and other ethnic groups apart from the Yoruba. Lagos today serves as a refuge to other Nigerians who are fleeing from the farcical misrule and gross incompetence in their home states. Lagos is not playing this role by accident. Tinubu deliberately planned Lagos for this role when he involved other tribes in the governance of Lagos and ensured that the all-encompassing policy was enduring to date.

    So as a Yoruba man, I am not supporting my tribesman because he is Yoruba but because I know he has the capacity to serve other Nigerians in equal measures as his Yoruba tribesmen. If Tinubu is elected president, he will be a Nigerian first before being a Yoruba man, and he did demonstrate this cosmopolitan carriage when he was Lagos governor. Lagos benefits the Yoruba as it benefits other Nigerians-thanks to Tinubu’s liberal persona and conviction.

    I am appealing to my  South West brethren that we must unreservedly speak with one voice in support of the Tinubu-Shettima Ticket because it represents the best for us as Yoruba and for the rest of Nigeria.

    I have noted the desperate efforts of the opposition to demarket a Buhari government that has achieved massively in building a modern Nigeria and employing the same to demarket the Tinubu candidacy because they belong to the same party and because they say that Tinubu brought Buhari. These efforts are based on wildly false, skewed and syndicated premises that take hostage of facts and figures but are aimed at making cheap political gains by the opposition. While this is not for the enumeration of the Buhari government’s achievements, I boldly say that no regime in the history of Nigeria has achieved more than the present regime, and no regime in Nigeria’s history has benefitted the Yoruba more than the Buhari government they said Tinubu brought.

    The Yoruba are significant beneficiaries of the APC government, which had recorded massive developmental feats in Nigeria and the South West despite the global economic and security challenges.

    I will proceed to enumerate what the Yoruba as a race has gained in the past seven years that makes the support for the Tinubu-Shettima ticket very imperative.

    Firstly,  for several years, there had been this veiled conspiracy to conceal the importance of June 12 and inter the considerable sacrifice made by the late Chief MKO Abiola to secure the present democracy we have in Nigeria today. Even when a Yoruba man, Chief Obasanjo, was in power, he never mentioned June 12 and his government for the entire eight years he was president; despite that, he remains the greatest beneficiary of the sacrifice of Chief Abiola. To Obasanjo and his PDP, June 12 was inconsequential and didn’t deserve any attention despite the loud plea of pro-democracy agitators.

    But Buhari came and, in a revolutionary manner, reverted all the neglect and scorn with which June 12 was treated. Buhari not only validated the annulled victory of Abiola, but he also bestowed on him the highest national honour reserved for only Presidents and Heads of State, named the National Stadium Abuja after Abiola and declared June 12 the real democracy day for Nigeria!  This singular act not only restored the wounded feelings of Abiola’s family, associates and friends, but it also restored the potency and pride of the Yoruba race and healed the deep wounds of the June 12 annulment.

    Do I need to talk about the massive infrastructural investment the current government has made in the South West? A regime that has gifted the South West with an ultra-modern Standard-gauge rail line that runs from Lagos to Ibadan, a brand new Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, a new Benin-Ore -Shagamu Expressway, Ibadan-Ogbomosho-Ilorin Expressway, Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonshoki expressway, among many other heavy infrastructure projects, never ever seen in the history of the South West has unlocked the potentials of growth the Yoruba needs to excel. Presently a dry port is being established at the Ibadan end of the Lagos-Ibadan Standard Guage rail line, direct from the Apapa seaport to freight imported goods, through rail, from the port to the dry port at Ibadan for clearance!  You can imagine what a Tinubu presidency can do to advance and add to these solid investments to drive a resurgent South West as the hub of growth and prosperity.

    In the area of appointments, never has the Southwest enjoyed its golden era in political appointments and placing during the Buhari/APC regime. Before Buhari, the highest ever appointment a South Westerner held was Minister of State for Works under the past Jonathan/PDP era. In terms of the top ten positions in government, South West had no representation. But these dramatically changed when APC came to power. The South West got the Vice Presidency (No two position), Speaker of the House of Representatives (No 5 position) and is about to get the Chief Justice of Nigeria (No 4 position) in the country’s power scale. Today, South Westerners hold key ministerial posts and head very many powerful parastatals in Nigeria, all thanks to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Even when Obasanjo, a Yoruba man, was president, Yorubas never recorded this massive mileage in the power organogram of Nigeria. What will happen with a Tinubu Presidency could better be imagined by every Yoruba man.

    I have enumerated these merits Yoruba got from the Buhari/APC government to show that in leading Yoruba to APC, Tinubu charted a positive route that will lead Yoruba to glory. The zenith of that glory will come when Tinubu himself becomes president, and he needs the total support of Yoruba for that ambition.

    I leave the right thinking Yoruba to imagine what a Tinubu presidency would impact on the general human capital development of the country, which provides the right atmosphere for the highly educated, sophisticated Yoruba race to excel in their various endeavours. Good enough, Tinubu’s massive success in infrastructure capacity development, education, security, economic growth, and the justice system in Lagos shows what every Nigerian stands to gain from a Tinubu presidency; the reason why every Yoruba must show total support to the project. Given the massive success Tinubu wrought in Lagos, it behoves every Yoruba man to see the dawn of a golden future not only for Yoruba but all Nigerians with a Tinubu presidency.

    The South as a whole and indeed every Nigerian must now see this season as an opportunity we cannot afford to miss in the interest of the entire country.

    Good enough, the North had taken the lead by giving the proper support to the Asiwaju-Shettima ticket; that was why he won the APC presidential primary with such a significant margin. Key and viable political leaders from the North have equally made a key commitment that power must go to the South after eight years of stay in the North. Despite the cheeky political antics of PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to violate the power rotation commitment for purely self-serving ends, the North has shown irrevocable commitment to support the South to take over the presidency in 2023. The North has demonstrated, in act and deed, that Asiwaju is their preferred choice to take over from President Buhari in 2023. That was why things happened the way they happened at the APC presidential primaries. If the Northerners were not in full support of Asiwaju, there was no way for him to win the primary with such margins as he did. Democracy remains a game of numbers, and Asiwaju is in a pole position to emerge as the next president.

    It will be a monumental tragedy if the South West refuse to reciprocate the positive reach-out from the North and shoot itself in the feet by pandering to the invidious propaganda of those few Yoruba black legs which are still smarting from the rot lodged in their teeth after devouring a poisonous PDP apple in 2015. We need to mass in great numbers, as Yoruba, to support our very best chance at the Nigerian presidency in 2023.

    So, to my Yoruba kith and kins, I want to conclude by saying;  The match has started again. We are on course, and Asiwaju is the man. Therefore, the Yoruba must unite behind the Democratic jewels in Asiwaju/Shettima ticket and bring unprecedented block votes as had never happened in the history of the South West. The North is ready to deliver for the progressive ticket to win. All Yorubas must be prepared to deliver massively too. Let us recall that Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief MKO Abiola strived bravely in vain for this golden crown but missed it by inches. Asiwaju is a man of destiny, our golden boy, our star, our jewel, our diadem, the pride of the Yoruba nation. He is at the very door of success. The least every Yoruba owe him is our total and unalloyed support as history beckons in 2023.

    • Prof. Ademola, renowned expert on Cyber Security, wrote from London.