The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Nigerians and Democracy Day

    Nigerians and Democracy Day

    • By Kenechukwu Aguolu

    Sir: As Nigeria marks 25 years of democracy, the critical question is how this has positively impacted the lives of Nigerians. The saying, “na democracy we go chop?” highlights the need for tangible benefits from democratic governance. The country, once known for saying, “Money is not the problem, but how to spend it,” is now struggling to survive. Many ask;’’ how did we get here?’.

    Implementing an improved national minimum wage is seen as a crucial step toward alleviating the suffering of Nigerians. Apart from providing salary workers with decent pay, it is expected to stimulate the economy by increasing people’s purchasing power, and workers’ productivity. Business owners would benefit through stimulated demand and the government would receive more taxes. Long-term benefits to the nation include a reduction in crime and insecurity.

    If the proposed Executive Order on “Inflation Reduction and Price Stability (Fiscal Policy Measures) Order 2024” is signed by the president, it will bring relief to both citizens and businesses. The proposal includes suspending import duties and other tariffs for six months on staple food items, raw materials for manufacturing, agricultural inputs, pharmaceutical products, poultry feeds, flour, and grain. While the government will lose some revenue, there are questions about what will happen after the six months.

    Read Also: Suit seeking Ganduje’s removal as APC national chair June 26 for hearing

    The government should intensify its efforts to improve infrastructure, particularly in areas of transportation and power. A significant challenge remains insecurity, which has gradually crippled the country. Agriculture and mining, crucial sectors for economic diversification, are most affected. Nigerians are looking for immediate impact in job creation. With high unemployment rates, particularly among the youth, the government’s economic reforms must prioritize creating job opportunities. Improving citizens’ access to quality healthcare and education is also essential for national development.

    Corruption continues to be a major obstacle to Nigeria’s development. The government needs to increase its efforts to combat corruption, ensuring that public funds are used efficiently and that individuals involved in corrupt activities are held responsible. Transparent and accountable governance will help to establish public confidence and garner support for the government’s initiatives.

    As Nigeria celebrates 25 years of democracy, they desire results and improvements in their lives. They want to see more concrete actions and outcomes from the promises made. While celebrating the journey, the government must deliver on its commitments and ensure that democratic governance translates into better living conditions for all citizens.

    While celebrating milestones is important, the true measure of success lies in the improved living standards of the people. Nigerians are not just looking for assurances; but for results that will make a real difference in their daily lives. The government must rise to the challenge and deliver on its promises to build a better future for Nigeria.

    •Kenechukwu Aguolu FCA,

    Abuja.

  • Modernising payments to secure the future 

    Modernising payments to secure the future 

    • By Elvis Eromosele

    Sir: Payment is the fulcrum of human interaction. And like everything else, it is constantly changing. The move from barter to commodity money was followed by currency and we are today in the realm of digital payments.

    It is clear that to go forward efforts must now be geared towards modernizing the payment infrastructure across the African continent. This is imperative to promote innovation, drive economic growth, and help the continent gain a competitive edge.

    Today, Africa stands at the cusp of a digital revolution, and the need to enhance the inclusivity and integrity of digital payments cannot be overstated. This transformation is not just about integrating new technologies but about simplifying processes, increasing trust, and ensuring the availability and reliability of payment systems.

    Africa may well be at a critical juncture in the journey of digital transformation, an inflection point. To underscore the significance assertion, two forums in June arrived at the same conclusion.

    The first was the Digital PayExpo 2024 by Intermarc Consulting with the theme ‘Redefining Payment’. It was followed by Interswitch, ACI Worldwide Customer Engagement event tagged ‘Modernizing Digital Payment Infrastructure for Innovation, Growth & Commercial Advantage.’

    Both sessions essentially concluded that the rapid proliferation of digital technologies has opened new avenues for financial inclusion, allowing more people to participate in the global economy. However, this potential can only be realized if digital payment infrastructures are modernized to meet the demands of today’s fast-paced, interconnected world.

    The place to start is building trust through availability. Trust is the cornerstone of any financial system. For digital payments to gain widespread acceptance, they must be reliable and available at all times. Experts argued that the trust quotient in digital payments is directly proportional to their availability. When users can depend on payment systems to function without fail, their confidence in digital transactions increases. This is a fact.

    Of course, modernizing payment infrastructure also involves implementing robust systems that ensure high availability. This means reducing downtime, minimizing transaction failures, and providing seamless user experiences. Financial institutions must, as a matter of urgency, invest in technologies such as cloud computing, block chain, and artificial intelligence to create resilient and scalable payment systems.

    The second thing would be to simplify the user experience. At the heart of digital transformation is the goal of simplification. Complex and cumbersome payment processes deter users and hinder the adoption of digital financial services. To drive growth, it is essential to simplify these processes, making them intuitive and user-friendly.

    Innovations such as contactless payments, mobile wallets, and real-time transaction processing are examples of how simplification can enhance user experience. By reducing the friction in payment processes, businesses can attract more users and facilitate smoother transactions.

    Read Also: Alleged N1.85b fraud: Court sends two REA officials to prison

    Another way to boost the adoption of digital payments is by ensuring transaction integrity. Those who should know insist that one of the major challenges in digital payments is maintaining transaction integrity. Issues such as fraud, data breaches, and identity theft can undermine user trust and disrupt the financial ecosystem. As digital transactions increase, so does the need for robust security measures.

    The way forward of course involves implementing advanced encryption technologies, multi-factor authentication, and block chain can help ensure the integrity of digital transactions. These technologies provide a secure framework that protects user data and prevents unauthorized access, thereby bolstering trust in digital payment systems. 

    Furthermore, everyone, from regulatory agencies to players, must consider digital transformation as the path to unprecedented growth. In truth, digital transformation is more than just a trend; it is a pathway to unprecedented growth. By modernizing payment infrastructure, businesses can unlock new opportunities for expansion and innovation. Digital payments enable faster, more efficient transactions, reducing operational costs and increasing profitability.

    Moreover, digital payment systems facilitate global commerce by breaking down geographical barriers. Businesses can reach new markets and customer segments, driving revenue growth and enhancing their competitive advantage. The adoption of digital payments also promotes financial inclusion, bringing underserved populations into the formal economy and driving socio-economic development.

     The future of payments is digital, and the time to act is now!

    •Elvis Eromosele,

     elviseroms@gmail.com

  • Anambra’s seized schools: Time to redress past wrong

    Anambra’s seized schools: Time to redress past wrong

    • By Edwin Nnamdi Ozonma

    The echoes of the East Central State government’s forceful and unjust takeover of private and mission schools in 1970 in what is today’s Anambra State is still reverberating. And the victims of that government’s injudicious and unkind deed are still agonizing over the wrong which was perpetrated against them. Fifty four years after they were wickedly dispossessed of their schools, no sorts of compensations were paid to the private schools’ proprietors; neither were their schools returned to them.

    After the end of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war in 1970, our leaders, then, felt that the task of rebuilding the destroyed infrastructure(s) as well as managing them had devolved on the government. And, in 1974, that is, four years after the Ukpabi Asika’s government had seized private and mission schools in what is today’s Anambra State, it unveiled guidelines for the management of the schools, as part of measures to assuage the hurt feelings of private school proprietors and right the wrong of the past.

    Among the guidelines for the administration of those schools was the celebration of the birthdays of private schools’ founders. And schools’ founders whose houses were located on the schools’ premises should be permitted to live in those houses. More so, children of people who were dispossessed of their schools should be given scholarships that would take care of their primary and post-primary education in government-owned schools.

    Another guideline listed for the administration of those schools was that private school proprietors should be made the chairmen of boards of governors of the seized schools. And interim awards and compensations should be given to them.

    But sadly, the coup d’état that toppled the Yakubu Gowon military administration put paid to the implementation of those guidelines for the administration of those seized schools. So, not unexpectedly, the unveiled guidelines for the administration of the seized private and mission schools, which would have righted the wrong of 1970, were jettisoned.

    Peter Obi, as governor of Anambra State, returned the seized mission schools in the state to their original owners, that is, the churches while bypassing seized private schools. That historic handover of 1044 primary and post-primary schools to churches took place in 2011, 41 years after they were seized by the government of Ukpabi Asika, the administrator of East Central State Government, then.

    Read Also: Suit seeking Ganduje’s removal as APC national chair June 26 for hearing

    However, there is an inherent injustice in the return of schools: the seized private schools were not returned to their founders and proprietors. And no compensations were paid to them. But why were the private school proprietors treated differently from caretakers or owners of mission schools? This question blows in the air. But what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

    The wrongs and injustices perpetrated against the Anambra-born private schools’ proprietors in 1970 and 2011 are yearning for redress. Those school founders who were either top politicians or businessmen salted away money, over the years, which they used to build schools only for the government to seize those schools.

    Peter Obi’s bypassing of private schools’ proprietors when he returned seized schools to churches was an unjust and biased deed that could have caused social disharmony in Anambra State but for the restraint shown by the proprietors and founders of the seized schools.

    Governments exist everywhere to protect people’s lives and properties, create job opportunities for the citizens, provide social amenities for the people, and safeguard their fundamental human rights.

    The fundamental human rights of the people have been trampled upon as their schools had been taken away from them without any compensation paid to them. Government should do the right thing by returning the seized private schools to their original and rightful owners and paying them commensurate compensation, to boot.

    •Edwin Nnamdi Ozonma,

    Onitsha, Anambra State.

  • A road no longer to be travelled

    A road no longer to be travelled

    Ancient wisdom teaches that you do not go revisiting a path on which you had pulled the curtains for lack of prospects therein. If it was tried before and was abandoned because it didn’t work, it doesn’t make much sense contemplating a revisitation. That is the challenge Hardball has with a recent proposal by the Nigerian Senate that government should explore the prospects of negotiating with bandits.

    Concerned about escalating insecurity in the Northwest and Northcentral zones, the Senate requested President Bola Tinubu to raise a task force that will evaluate the effectiveness and implications of negotiating with bandits. The task force, according to the red chamber, will analyse short-term gains against long-term consequences of such option. The Senate adopted the resolution following a motion by Senator Nasiru Zangon Daura (APC, Katsina North) on urgent need to review security approach to dealing with banditry menace in Northwest and Northcentral states.

    Read Also: Mrs. Oloruntoyosi Thomas explained that NAGS is to build the resilience of the small-scaleholder farmers through increasing access to inputs

    The lawmakers, of course, proposed other measures including reintroduction of patrol spots across affected states to deter bandit incursions, review of operational methods of security agencies, deployment of additional security personnel and special task forces to identified hotspots to ensure safety and protection of lives and property, and collaboration among the relevant security agencies, state governments, local communities, traditional leaders and stakeholders towards gathering intelligence that will enhance security operations in affected areas. The Senate also urged security agencies to adopt proactive and innovative strategies to secure farmlands, so that farmers can safely return to their farms in affected areas.

    Governors of states in the Northwest had about mid-last year served notice of their toeing a new path in dealing with the menace of terrorism and banditry in the zone. Kaduna’s Uba Sani said governors currently in the saddle in the zone had resolved to “have a common approach to the issue, and we have to move away from the mistakes made by some previous governors that decided to compromise the operation in the past when they started giving money to the bandits and negotiating with them.” He spoke against the backdrop of previous governors like Katsina State’s Aminu Masari and Zamfara State’s Bello Matawalle having voiced frustration with their own efforts to bring bandits to reason through negotiation; and Kaduna’s Nasir el-Rufai’s advocacy of a hard hand against the criminals including carpet-bombing their forest hideouts. Only in March, Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda said negotiating with bandits was a doomed approach to addressing the menace of banditry because of multiplicity of layers of their operational command and diversity of their objectives.

    Negotiating with bandits is so proven to be a dead end that senators needn’t contemplate exploring its potential application, much less recommending it.

  • Hajj: 1,869 Lagos pilgrims in Mina for Hajj rites

    Hajj: 1,869 Lagos pilgrims in Mina for Hajj rites

    No fewer than 1,869  Lagos State pilgrims in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have arrived Mina to begin the major Hajj rites.

    The state’s Home Affairs Commissioner who doubles as the Amir-ul-Hajj, Ibrahim Layode, said the pilgrims moved to Mina between tonight (Thursday) and the early hours of Friday.

    The pilgrims would proceed to the plain of Mount Arafah on Saturday.

    According to him, the pilgrims are  to depart from the plain of Arafah and proceed to Muzdalifah where they would observe both Solatul Magrib and Ishai, pick 49 pebbles each, relax briefly overnight after which they would move to the Jamarat on Sunday morning to throw pebbles.

    Layode emphasised that the throwing of pebbles exercise shall be performed for three days consecutively. He added that the pilgrims  would leave Mina in the evening and return to Makkah where they would stay till they are airlifted back to Nigeria.

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    The Amir-ul-Hajj appealed to the pilgrims to take advantage of the period to pray fervently for themselves, Lagos State and Nigeria at large.

    He stressed that Hajj is a lifetime opportunity for the pilgrims to seek Allah’s favour, forgiveness and mercy.

    He assured them that they would be accommodated in ‘Tent B plus’ which gives substantial comfort with provision of bed spread, pillow, duvet, rechargeable handfan,  umbrella and finger counter to be taken away by them as gift items.

    Special Adviser to the Governor on Islamic matters, Dr. Ahmad Jebe, praised the pilgrims for their patience, perseverance and understanding, saying that their conduct is very impressive and satisfactory. He prayed to Allah to accept all their supplications as act of Ibaadah.

    Lagos State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board Chairman, Imam Shakiru Gafar, said that the main lessons Allah intended to teach  Muslims across the world is equality and endurance. He stated that every pilgrim, no matter his/her status, must put on the Ihram (two pairs of white clothes by males and long gown by women) while in Mina, Arafat and Musdalifah. This, he said, signifies equality and that no human being is superior to another before Allah.

    He encouraged them to be mindful of the significance of the Mina and Arafah events and see others as equal in every environment they may find themselves.

    The Board Secretary, Saheed Onipede, thanked Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat for their supports.

    Onipede urged the pilgrims to remember to pray for peace and tranquility for Lagos State in particular and Nigeria in general.

  • LEMU disbursed N105m Zakat funds to 300

    LEMU disbursed N105m Zakat funds to 300

    The Lekki Muslim Ummah (LEMU) in Lagos has given out items and cash worth N105 million to over 300 beneficiaries.

    The money was raised from payers of zakat and sadaqat for distribution to the less privileged to ameliorate their plight.

    Chairman of the Lekki Muslim Zakat and Sadaqat Committee and member of the Board of Trustees of LEMU, Alhaji Olalekan Saliu, hailed the zakat givers for their commitment to fulfill one of the five pillars of Islam despite the country’s economic crisis.

    Alhaji Saliu thanked Allah for making the collection and disbursement of zakat possible, particularly given the monumental issues and challenges confronting the Nigerian economy.

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    He said: “We are all living witnesses to the current difficult economic condition characterised by the persistent devaluation of our currency, the naira, which has pushed it to an all-time low against the US dollar and the surging inflation with its attendant rise in the prices of food, medicine, fuel, electricity, transportation, basic commodities, essential daily needs, etc.”

    He recalled that the committee received N85 million in 2023 but collected N105 million in 2024, translating to an increase of about 24 per cent.

    “On behalf of LEMU, I wish to express profound gratitude and deep appreciation to all our zakat givers for their incredible generosity, benevolence, kindness and sincere devotion.”

  • Dates!

    Dates!

    May 29, June 12, August 27 and October 1 are dates that have played prominent roles in the running story of Nigeria.  With democracy firmly forming, running for 25 years for the first time in Nigeria’s history, it’s cheering news the “fake” dates are giving way for the genuine ones.

    Clearly the most arbitrary date in Nigeria’s history was August 27.  On that day in 1985, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida overthrew Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in a palace coup. 

    As far as power infamy goes, it was no better or worse than any other day that the political military stole power.  Its notoriety, however, lay in the IBB regime trying to etch it into the country’s consciousness as if that day were any better, during IBB’s eight-year power roller coaster. 

    But it’s good and pleasing that date got buried with the IBB debacle.  IBB scuttling from power, itself a fallout from the June 12 annulment crisis, signified the first-ever civil society victory over the political military.

    Clearly, the most traumatic of these dates is May 29.  On 29 May 1962, Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa-in-Parliament imposed an ill-advised emergency rule on the Western Region.  As things turned out, that marked the beginning of the end for Nigeria’s 1st Repsublic, since it spurred a chain of crises that led to the first military putsch of 15 January 1966.

    Read Also: PHOTOS: Tinubu leads celebration for 25th Democracy anniversary

    It was the same day — 29 May (1993): his Inauguration Day — that elected President but former Army General and Head of State, Olusegun Obasanjo, tried to impose on Nigeria as “Democracy Day”, against June 12, memorializing MKO Abiola’s martyrdom, which powered the forced foundation of the current 4th Republic.

    But again as it takes poison to defang poison, it was another retired General, Head of State but elected President, Muhammadu Buhari, that knocked off that “Army Arrangement” (apologies to Fela); and restored the primacy of June 12, as worthy Democracy Day; and also recognized MKO as elected President that never ruled.

    And just as well — for June 12, for Nigeria’s civil society, symbolizes second independence from internal subjugation by the political military and the soldiers of power fortunes that misruled the country for much too long.

    With democracy at 25 in its present stretch, it’s pleasing that only two — genuine –dates have survived: October 1, the day in 1960 that Nigeria won independence from British colonialism; and June 12, the day Abiola won a free election, which the arrogant IBB and delusional boys cancelled but which turned out to be sweet Waterloo for the political military.

    October 1, June 12 — sacred dates to be memorialized!  Nigeria — Democracy — We Hail Thee!  Dates!

  • Artificial Intelligence: Wither Africa’s Indigenous Intelligence?

    Artificial Intelligence: Wither Africa’s Indigenous Intelligence?

    Sir: Despite the incontrovertible significance of artificial intelligence (AI) in the scheme of affairs all around the globe, one is made to wonder if the ideology of subjugation is not the reality of Africa in the AI equation.

    AI is good. And of course this is not open to debate or contest. But where does Africa come in, in the scheme? Peradventure there are some of us who are sound enough to demystify the coding and the codes; the scheme also makes provision for hijacking them. It has never been for or about Africa. Like the mirrors shown to our great grandfathers that made them negotiate our future, gave out our oracles, sculptures and artefacts, and sold us into slavery, it is now a phase of intellectual sabotage. Before Africa ever understands the gimmicks and think of making anything of the situation, we have negotiated much more than our gain.

    While AI is already producing robots and cars that control themselves for its designers, the major place of Africa at the moment will be to count the first set of Africans to buy the car. Of course to be bought by these giants in Africa mainly at the expense of the treasuries of the different countries. No country awaits the release of a new brand of iPhone like Nigeria. I am not sure the citizens of the producing countries use the phones as much as my compatriots do. I do not mean to posit that these technological affordances come at no gain for Africa and Africans. But it is a truth that you cannot be a developmental consideration for people to whom you make a market.

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    The producers move to the next stage before the mystery is unravelled and before the boundaries of use are understood. He who pays the piper calls the tune. I was saddened to read at least five AI-generated academic proposals from some students who would later confess they had no single sentence in the whole document. I have reviewed and edited scholarly works that revealed unpardonable use of AI to generate contents for academic writing. We had thought plagiarism involving the use of expressions from other people’s works was a challenge until we got to this age of generating a complete abstract for conference participation from AI. And we will say it makes life easy. Why stress if AI will help? Let it do the thinking and writing for you. So now let us ask: what is ours to take from AI if not mental colonisation and intellectual degradation?

    Even in academia, from Scopus to the rest, Africa must seek validation for what is good. As we are rounding off with our onshore-offshore debate, we now have to ask again if that journal is Scopus-indexed. Isn’t it worrisome that we still, as Africans, cannot be the judge for what we find good in our discussion of knowledge? What do we expect when the scoresheet for our productivity has to be produced by those who need us to be consistently under them?

    It is my submission that what will liberate Africa will not come from anywhere else but Africa. Every good thing we are offered will be to the extent that we remain a market for the ingenuity of these value-producing continents. One cannot exactly think of what is in China that is missing on most African soils except the readiness to tap into our indigenous intelligence. The RHS Cultural Framework (2005) explains indigenous intelligence as the wise and conscientious embodiment of exemplary knowledge and the use of this knowledge in a good, beneficial and meaningful way. The document states further that within whatever worldview one is operating, intelligence has to do with more than the acquisition of knowledge and the mental manipulation of thoughts and ideas;

    Intelligence has to do with activating knowledge into something useable within a system that is charged with meaning.

    The Yoruba Ifa corpus has computational values that can manifest the Africa-specific AI which will be geared towards the sincere development of the Nigeria. The Ifa corpus is one of many such forms of indigenous intelligence that can be leveraged for genuine development in Africa.

     If we cannot do it now, at least we can put it in writing as literature for those who will be sufficiently provoked to rise to the call of African liberation.

    •Ganiu Bamgbose,Lagos State University, Ojo.

  • When will it be our turn, President Tinubu?

    When will it be our turn, President Tinubu?

    Sir: Inflation rate as at April 2024 stood at 33.69percent according to the National Bureau of Statistics CPI and Inflation report of April 2024. The cost of transportation is killing whether you move in your own vehicle or use commercial. Workers are finding it hard to feed their families. Marital conflicts are rising, depression is rising. It is important for the president to know that there is no rest/peace of mind yet for the masses despite telling them to calm down.

    The question that Nigerians are asking the president is, when will it be their turn to enjoy basic amenities of life and good governance?

    The country is hard for the majority but the minority in the corridors of power are getting empowered and better. Only those who interact with the streets will understand what is happening. Small business owners like pepper sellers are shutting down. Those in power formulate and implement policies that empower foreign investors but hurt and kill domestic industries because they cannot compete favourably.

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    Lecturers have not fared better. To even to go to the office five days a week with the present salaries is unsustainable. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been trying to make government sign a living wage and a better condition of service with the overworked and overburdened public university lecturers. Since 2009, government has been dribbling the union and playing with the livelihoods of the intellectual community. However, they expect our universities to solve societal problems without committing commensurate funds that can bring out impactful researches.

    Workers in the health sector are also lamenting. We are losing more of our best to the United Kingdom, Canada, United States of America and even South Africa. There is no money to pay workers a living wage or provide them a decent working condition. 

    It is 25 years into this democratic journey. Yet, Nigerian leaders at the national and sub-national levels have not been able to provide basic amenities for the majority of Nigerians to enjoy. The masses who don’t have money to fly have to travel by road. In the process, they are picked up by bandits and kidnappers, raped, extorted for ransom and may be released dead or alive. Many households in the northwest and northeast have pulled their children out from going to school because government has not shown them that they can be trusted to protect them.

    What are the implications of allowing the aforementioned conditions to continue? There will be increase in corruption in government offices, in the markets and on the streets. People who spend more than they earn to come to office do not depend on the salaries anymore. They have simply devised strategies and are exploiting the system that failed to consider their welfare as important. When the economy is hard as it is, there will be increase in out-of-school children and that implies future danger and insecurity.

    When people shut down their businesses, there will be increase in unemployment and poverty and the resultant effects will be increase in social problems, deviant behaviours and criminality such as cyber-criminality, armed robbery, kidnapping and banditry.

    President Bola Tinubu needs to know that fixing the economy is an important step to reposition the country. Farming communities need protection from bandits and terrorists displacing them from their ancestral homes so that they can plant and grow crops to feed the nation. Our refineries must be made to work and refine products for us locally. Government policies must encourage domestic production and protect domestic industries to thrive. Electricity (energy) is central to this. Epileptic power supply kills business. The president must be courageous to weed out those sabotaging his efforts.

     For Nigerians to hail thee, Mr President, you need to deliver a sound security system, a functional health and education and a rejuvenated economy. Mr President, grant this one request. Help us to build a nation where no man is oppressed. And so with peace and plenty, Nigeria and Nigerians may be blessed.

    • Professor Oludayo Tade,University of Ibadan.

  • El-Rufai’s silence not golden

    El-Rufai’s silence not golden

    Sir: On Wednesday last week, the Kaduna State House of Assembly indicted former governor, Nasir El-Rufai and several of his aides for allegedly siphoning over N423 billion of the state’s resources from 2015 to 2023. Presenting the report during plenary, the chairman of the 13-member ad hoc committee and the Deputy Speaker of the House, Magaji Henry Danjuma, said most of the loans obtained under the El-Rufai administration were not used for their intended purposes.

    Since the shocking findings by the assembly, the ex-governor has been uncharacteristically quiet. Though, his former aides and son Bashir have kicked against the allegations, describing the probe and the finding as baseless and politically motivated, the former governor has to do the needful to clear his name.  The huge amount of funds said to have been squandered under his watch demand full explanation if only to establish his innocence.

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    Nigerians might want to recall that the same El-Rufai, had during an interview with BBC Hausa service while still in office, accused the past PDP government of mismanaging billions of naira loans. At the time, he also challenged whoever accused his government of diverting the state’s loans to look at the infrastructural development executed across the nooks and crannies of the state.

    Governor Uba Sani has since come under barrage of attacks for being complicit in the loans debacle. This is because, in 2019 when Governor Uba Sani was in the senate, he actually facilitated the loans. This was after earlier attempt by the ex-governor were scuttled by senators Suleiman Hunkuyi and Shehu Sani, representing Kaduna North and Kaduna Central respectively in the 8th National Assembly. Not only did El-Rufai curse those two senators for not endorsing the loans request, but ensured they did not return to the senate. Later, Senator Uba Sani and Abdu Kwari who found their way to the 9th Senate through the support of El-Rufai, would assists his government to obtain the loans with relatively ease.

    Governor Uba Sani has since countered that he facilitated the loans in good faith, believing the ex-governor will judiciously utilise the funds.

    Although, El-Rufai supporters and associates have described the probe as politically motivated, it is high time the former governor broke silence on the weighty allegations against his government. The state House of Assembly committee’s recommendations which advised government to refer those indicted to relevant anti-graft agencies is certainly in order. The brazen abuse of office being alleged should not be swept under the carpet. If the ex-governor has no skeleton in his cupboard, this is the time to break silence in defence of his government.

     •Ibrahim Mustapha,Pambegua Kaduna State.