The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Moral rot on steroids

    Moral rot on steroids

    There was public outrage recently when a video clip of pupils smoking and drinking what was suspected to be alcohol in a school dormitory went viral online. The video showed the pupils passing around for a puff what was believed to be Indian hemp, as they danced in the hostel. The incident was confirmed to have occurred at Excel College, Ejigbo on the outskirts of Lagos way back in April 2025, and only resurfaced online early last week.

    Both the Lagos government and police command deplored the occurrence and vowed measures to protect societal morality. State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jamiu Alli-Balogun, described the behaviour as unacceptable within the state’s education system, saying in a statement: “The state government views this incident with utmost seriousness, as it goes against the values and moral discipline we seek to instill in our students.” He added that the ministry, through the Office of Education Quality Assurance, had dispatched a monitoring team to authenticate the video, identify the students involved and determine the level of negligence on the part of school authorities. Institutions found culpable, he warned, would face sanctions in line with state policies.

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    The Lagos police command said it had opened full-scale investigation of the occurrence and Commissioner of Police Olohundare Jimoh had ordered the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, to take over the probe from the Ejigbo police division that had earlier invited the school principal for questioning. Command spokesperson Abimbola Adebisi (a Superintendent of Police), said in a statement: “The principal, who is also the proprietor of the school, was invited, and he clarified that the students in the viral video had already graduated. Nonetheless, the school is cooperating fully with investigators to ensure that the circumstances surrounding this incident are properly addressed.”

    According to the spokesperson, the command is treating the matter seriously because of its implications for discipline and morality in schools. “The command calls on all secondary school authorities, public and private as well as parents and guardians, to take proactive steps in properly supervising and guiding their children and wards,” she stated, warning school operators against disciplinary lapses that could degenerate into criminal activities. “Misconducts of this nature, if left unchecked, can snowball into bigger problems that disrupt the peace of society,” she added.

    Student hostels ordinarily are a closely supervised environment, and you wonder how illicit substances seen with the errant pupils got into base unintercepted. Besides, dormitories used to have resident housemasters/matrons, and it is curious the incident went undetected by school authorities until the exposure online. It is a bad argument that those students have left the school. There’s so much that reeks of negligence on the part of the school authorities and should pose a check on other school operators. But the parents of those young lads too should be ashamed of the failure of their parenting.

  • Local fintechs finally winning the trust battle?

    Local fintechs finally winning the trust battle?

    • By Emma Nwachukwu

    Sir: In recent times, growing concerns over the stability, transparency, and regulatory compliance of some major fintech players in Nigeria have left many users uneasy about where to entrust their hard-earned money. Reports of account restrictions, regulatory warning, and alleged misuse of platforms have stirred debate about fintech accountability.

    While fintechs like OPay and PalmPay have propelled Nigeria toward digital payments adoption, several red flags have been raised and serious questions about Regulatory Non-Compliance & Penalties, ownership and foreign influence, and user worries over safety of deposits have equally arisen.

    Recent concerns raised about the practices of some big players, especially those with majority foreign ownership, have reminded users that financial technology isn’t just about flashy apps and convenience. It is about the safety of deposits, the transparency of operations, and the assurance that when customers need access to their money, there are no surprises. This is where Nigerian-owned fintechs are quietly stepping forward, reshaping the narrative of what trustworthy digital banking should look like.

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    Brands like PiggyVest, Moniepoint, and the fast-rising Bankit reflect this shift. They embody a home-grown commitment to accountability and accessibility, being deeply rooted in Nigeria’s regulatory framework and operating under the watchful eye of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation. For users, this means peace of mind: knowing that deposits are not just numbers in an app but are insured, protected, and backed by local regulation.

    The industry’s trajectory is clear: Nigerians are beginning to prioritize trust and long-term reliability over marketing blitz or foreign prestige. They want digital banks that don’t just promise convenience but deliver it consistently without compromising safety. PiggyVest continues to stand out for its disciplined savings culture, Moniepoint has earned its place in supporting small businesses across the country, and Bankit is emerging as a model for everyday consumers who want stress-free, transparent digital banking that aligns with local realities. 

    Nigeria needs fintechs that scale without sacrificing safety, transparency, and trust. Our locally and wholly owned local alternatives including the fastest rising ones like Bankit offers all that: Nigerian ownership, regulatory compliance, clear user value, and a roadmap of innovation.

    In a landscape where other providers are facing fines, public scrutiny, or ownership ambiguity, our Nigerian fintech brands are well-poised to be the go-to option for anyone who wants modern fintech service and peace of mind. 

    •Emma Nwachukwu,

    Lagos.

  • Jonathan: To run or not to run?

    Jonathan: To run or not to run?

    • By Sunday Olagunju

    Sir: One of the hallmarks of good politics is to know when to quit, and the legendary British novelist and playwright, Shakespeare, concludes it – “when the ovation is loudest”. Again, in the words of the iconic Shakespeare, “opportunities, like flood, are taken at the highest level, but when the flood resides, what remains are eyesores of unpleasantries”.

    Despite his defeat in 2015 by the then APC flagbearer, late Muhammadu Buhari, former president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, earned a place for himself by voluntarily relinquishing power and returned to his village, Otuoke, Balyesa State.

    The African Union (AU) found him useful as an ex-Nigerian administrator and had engaged him in many troubled spots as their peace mediator and ambassador and had done quite well.

    Jonathan’s humility and unassuming political attitude found favour with former president, Olusegun Obasanjo who did everything politically possible to make him vice president to the late Musa Yar’Adua at the expense of lots of more qualified politicians. Luck again smiled at him when his principal, Yar’Adua, died and by constitutional declaration, he became president and also contested in 2011 and won until 2015 when he met his political waterloo in the APC coalition.

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    Between 2010 and 2015, Jonathan’s presidency did not really redound into good governance, good welfare or well calibrated policies, but rather a great distortion to the economy he inherited from the late Yar’Adua. His saving grace was the defeat of 2015.

    Given the great difference between him and the personages that governed and are still governing the country since his exit from power, it will be a huge joke and a monumental deception on his part to think that Nigerians will want to troop out in 2027 to vote him as their president.

    Jonathan could borrow from former American president, Bill Clinton who confessed that after leaving the presidency, the money he was making for delivering speeches and lectures based on his years of experience as US President tripled his earnings as president. Is former President Jonathan saying that he has not discovered his other talents since leaving office as president that can stand him in good stead to his rather belated ambition to enter Nigeria’s murky political waters?

    If the examples of former Heads of State, Yakubu Gowon and Abdulsalaam Abubakar are anything to go by, there is certainty that Jonathan’s second coming may not be to bolster up his image. Nigeria’s political terrain since 2015 when he exited power, and now, has become more toxic and vicious than ever.

    Moreover, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) under which flag he became president has become a political anathema and a shadow of its old self. From 2015 till now, Nigerians have become wiser and much more informed politically that nobody, not even an ex-president now from the blues and political exile, can come suddenly to the ring to take them for a ride.

    Nigerians cannot be so careless as to succumb to any plan or gimmickry that can draw them to a false start again.

    •Sunday Olagunju,

    Ibadan, Oyo State.

  • When government cheats its own workers

    When government cheats its own workers

    • By Prof Leonard Karshima Shilgba

    Sir: Every month, thousands of federal workers watch deductions disappear from their payslips—contributions to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) under the Pension Reform Act 2014 and to the National Housing Fund (NHF) under the National Housing Fund Act. These deductions are not voluntary; they are statutory. They are meant to secure the dignity of workers in retirement and to offer them a pathway to home ownership while still in service.

    Yet, for some time now, the federal government has been guilty of a shocking breach of trust: the systematic failure to remit these deductions to workers’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) and Housing Fund Accounts (HFA).

    This practice is not merely an administrative lapse—it is an ethical scandal and a legal violation. Section 11(3)(b) of the Pension Reform Act 2014 requires every employer to remit both the employee’s and employer’s contributions to the Pension Fund Custodian not later than seven working days from the day the employee is paid his salary. Similarly, the National Housing Fund Act mandates employers to remit contributions to the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria. Failure to remit is therefore a breach of the law, plain and simple.

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    But the consequences go beyond legality. By withholding these remittances, the government inflicts irreparable harm on its workers:

    Retirees discover, too late, that their pension balances are grossly underfunded, condemning them to financial insecurity at a vulnerable stage of life.

    Workers are denied access to NHF-backed mortgage loans, even though deductions have been made from their salaries in trust.

    Both groups lose out on accrued yields—the compounded investment returns that would have accumulated had their funds been promptly remitted.

    In effect, workers are cheated twice: first, by the illegal withholding of their contributions, and second, by the forfeiture of the investment income they should have earned.

    And where is the National Assembly in all this? The legislature, constitutionally charged with oversight, has looked away as executive agencies and ministries flout the law with impunity. Committee hearings come and go, but no real sanctions are imposed. Reports are written, but accountability is missing. By failing to call the federal government and its agencies to order, the National Assembly has become complicit in this injustice. Silence in the face of systemic wrongdoing is itself a betrayal of Nigerian workers.

    This crisis is not just about mismanagement of funds; it is about the moral contract between the government and the governed, which has been violated by the government. How can a government insist on discipline from the workforce when it itself defaults in the most basic obligation of trust?

    The solution is clear: The federal government must remit all outstanding pension and housing deductions, with interest, into workers’ accounts. The National Assembly must summon and sanction defaulting agencies, not with empty rhetoric but with enforceable resolutions. Workers should be able to independently verify that deductions have been credited to their accounts within the statutory seven-day period; and where remittances delays happen, penalty payments by government should be transparently reflected enough for workers to know.

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and other organized labour groups must rise beyond token protests. They must make this injustice a defining battle for workers’ dignity. Civil society organizations, the media, and the public must join hands to demand restitution.

    Nigeria cannot build a just and prosperous society while robbing the very people who serve it daily. The measure of a government is how it treats the labour of its people. On this measure, by withholding pension and housing remittances, our government has failed.

    The time for excuses is over. Justice demands restitution. Nigerian workers must not wait silently. Their unions must act, and civil society must amplify. Together, the voices of the cheated must become too loud to ignore. Workers deserve better, not bitter treatment from the government and its institutions that should protect them.

    •Prof Leonard Karshima Shilgba,

    <shilgba@gmail.com>

  • Once beaten, twice dumb

    Once beaten, twice dumb

    Once beaten, twice shy, goes that popular English saying.  But for Joe Ajaero, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) president, who seems to first commit NLC to partisan political battles, then think after, it would appear it is once beaten, twice dumb.

    The last time Ajaero tried to misuse NLC for a political cause was the last governorship election in Imo State.  Even moving against the local Imo NLC, he tried to force a strike to shore up the electoral chances of Samuel Anyanwu, the sitting PDP national secretary but the party’s Imo gubernatorial candidate.

    Anyanwu got drubbed: an electoral version of being beaten black and blue — and cleanly so, as incumbent, Hope Uzodinma of the APC, coasted home in a landslide.

    But much before then, Ajaero himself got whipped into a virtual pulp, which left him with a bad eye.  His nemeses were surely not ghosts.  But that hardly anyone has been apprehended is proof that when bad faith begets bad faith, the victim hardly has any remedy. 

    After much fire and tempest, the heady Ajaero must have admitted that he went too far  — just as he tried to put NLC at the service of Peter Obi: an abuse he even continued after the presidential election 2023 had been won and lost. 

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    Well, whatever bound them had surely split them, with the ongoing split and endless schism in Labour Party (LP), Obi’s special electoral hire in 2023; with the ace political perambulator set for another platform in the 2027 sweepstakes, leaving LP in chaos.

    Once beaten, twice shy?  No!  For Ajaero, it’s once beaten, twice dumb.  As he did with Obi and Anyanwu, he’s committing NLC to the senatorial battle of Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, a long-running legal gambit, in which Natasha  appears to have trapped herself.

    To be clear: Ajaero can push his right to support or oppose anyone.  It’s his democratic right.  What he cannot do is committing organized Labour to his personal whims and caprices.  The NLC — which members are workers who hold diverse political sympathies and affiliations — has no dog in the Natasha fight.

    As many of them can personally support or oppose Natasha — but certainly not as a collective as NLC members.  The simple logic is that it’s not a Labour matter.  Besides, it could be a recipe for bickering and disaster.  If many support as many of their members oppose, then on what basis are they getting involved as a band?

    Well, common sense is not usually common.  Which is why those passionate about workers’ interests should warn Ajaero to cease using NLC as battling ram for personal whims.  It’s a horrendous abuse of forum.

    Still, talking abuses: the personal “villain”, against who Ajaero turned NLC  into a partisan tool — Governor Uzodinma — has turned the near-biblical stone that the builders refused, yet became the critical cornerstone of workers’ welfare.

    Ajaero — not the best of introspective guys, obviously — hailed Uzodinma, jacking up the Imo minimum wage: now the highest in Nigeria.  Ajaero praised the governor — and rightly so, embarking on the usual Labour cant that NLC would use it as tool to pressure other states to do much better.

    But in his Imo serenade, did it ever occur to Ajaero that, if his scheming had worked, Uzodinma wouldn’t have earned re-election?  That irony was clearly lost on him!

  • The fragile side of our digital defences 

    The fragile side of our digital defences 

    • By Emmanuel Adjah

    Cybersecurity is supposed to be the strong part of our digital world—the armor, the safety net. Yet 2024 reminded us it can also be the weak link. A single faulty update from CrowdStrike sent millions of Windows machines into a loop. Airports, clinics, retailers, and offices felt the ripple. It was not a hack—it was a mistake—and it still brought work to a halt. It is the digital version of locking yourself out of your own house.

    The outage revealed a simple truth: Our systems are only as strong as the dependencies they rest on. Many businesses have built mission-critical operations on tools run by a handful of vendors. When one of them slips, everyone feels it.

    The very technology that shields us can also knock us offline. That is a hard truth, but it forces better questions about how we build resilience.

    Plenty of companies in Nigeria faced similar lessons this year.

    A new generation bank was fined by the National Data Protection Commission for privacy breaches, a landmark case that showed regulators are ready to enforce the rules. Flutterwave, one of the biggest fintechs in Africa, suffered an incident involving billions of naira in unauthorized transfers. And earlier in the year, the government suspended a proposed cybersecurity levy after public pushback, a reminder that even policy responses to digital risks can be shaky. These events may differ in scale and impact, but together they expose the same weakness. Digital trust is thin, whether in vendors, regulators, or policymakers.

    I have worked on both sides of this. Earlier in my career, I helped drive cybersecurity adoption across West and Southern Africa, where the infrastructure challenges were sharp and businesses had to adapt with fewer resources.

    This year, I supported clients in the UK mid-market while keeping close track of trends in Africa. The concerns were the same in both regions. Companies wanted speed, savings, and scale. But they also wanted control, privacy, and uptime. Balancing those trade-offs is the real work.

    A brand can be strong and still fail. A policy can be written and still ignored. A control can exist and still be misconfigured. That is not pessimism. It is honest risk management. The companies that coped best this year were not necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets or the most polished security brochures. They were the ones who accepted that something would break and prepared for it. They tested backups, staged updates, and assumed that even trusted partners could let them down.

    One of the biggest illusions this year was control. Many businesses assumed that by buying from leading vendors, they were buying certainty. But the CrowdStrike outage proved otherwise. A single faulty update was enough to bring airports and hospitals to their knees. The same pattern appeared in Nigeria when financial institutions or regulators stumbled. Reputation is not resilience.

    Trust is not a logo. What matters is how well you prepare for the inevitable day when something breaks. This year exposed a shift in priorities across the industry.

    The loudest questions were no longer about stacking more features or prioritizing speed but about certainty. Could companies still function if a provider went down? What happens when data laws clash across borders? How much control do organisations really have once their systems are in the cloud? 

    The responses varied. Some spread their workloads across multiple vendors, while others pulled critical processes back in-house. What united them was a more cautious approach, built on sharper questions and fewer assumptions.

    This shift in focus is healthy. It moves the conversation away from promises and toward practical resilience. It also changes how technology leaders are judged. It is no longer enough to choose the biggest name in the market.

    Leaders are expected to weigh sovereignty, compliance, and contingency as part of their digital strategy. That shift is one of the quiet revolutions of 2024.

    As the year closes, the lesson is clear. Our defences are strong in theory but fragile in practice. And the festive season is always when that fragility is tested most. Online transactions surge. Shoppers hurry. Criminals take advantage of distraction. 

    Cybercrime spikes because people let their guard down. If this year has shown us anything, it is that our digital defences are not invincible, and trust in them must be earned daily. The celebrations should continue, but the vigilance cannot fade.

  • Yoruba: From ancestors to architects (1)

    Yoruba: From ancestors to architects (1)

    The Yoruba-speaking people of Nigeria have been floundering, a state that, as is common in human societies, has led to transferred aggression. This isn’t a problem unique to the Yorubas; we need only recall how large segments of the German population misdirected their aggression towards Jews and other minorities, resulting in a worldwide catastrophe. We must learn from these historical lessons!

    Yorubas are unfortunately misinterpreting their own cultural strength, using it to promote self-serving interests rather than collective empowerment. They should look to the Gujaratis – a small Indian ethnolinguistic group – as a model for how a community can marshal its strength to achieve overwhelming political advantage, even with a numerical disadvantage.

    Gujarat, accounting for only 6% of India’s land area, makes significant contributions to the country’s economy, including over 8% of the GDP, 18% of industrial output, and 25% of total exports. Gujaratis are renowned for their entrepreneurial spirit, business acumen, and extensive networks, which have enabled them to establish thriving businesses globally, particularly in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and East Africa. They dominate industries like diamonds, textiles, finance, and ICT, with notable achievements such as owning one out of every four hotels in the United States.

    The Jewish, Chinese and Lebanese Diasporas are also prime examples of communities that have leveraged their cultural and business acumen for success. Facing historical persecution or instability, they built extensive, interconnected global networks based on shared cultural values like familial trust, education and entrepreneurial spirit. This allowed them to thrive in fields such as finance, trade and commerce worldwide.

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    Tragically, Yorubas today have lost the momentum they once had and the sense of common purpose that arose from the treaty that was signed on September 23, 1886. This loss is reflected in several areas: professional and business advancements are being undermined by a lack of unity and strategic focus, progress in the education system – from primary schools onward – has stalled, and the competitive advantages afforded by access to the sea remain underutilized.

    Yorubaland should be a thriving export-oriented economy, building on the plans of the 1950s and 1960s to move from exporting primary products to value-added goods. Instead, due to a lack of strategic direction and investment, raw materials like cocoa from the Southwest are exported with minimal processing, with the bulk of the profits going to foreign processors. In a more developed economy, we would be exporting chocolates, cocoa derivatives and other finished products; we would be leveraging our resources to drive economic growth while creating more opportunities.

    The Obafemi Awolowos! The Bode Thomases! The Adeyemo Alakijas! The Sapara Williams! Leaders of their calibre saw the future and worked towards it! Can we say the same about our current leaders? Isn’t that a shame?

    Awolowo’s tenure as Premier of the Western Region was marked by groundbreaking achievements that positioned the region to compete with countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and India. Through strategic investments via the Western Nigeria Development Corporation (WNDC) and Western Nigeria Finance Corporation (WNFC), Awolowo spearheaded the establishment of numerous industries and corporations that drove rapid industrial development. These included West African Portland Cement Company (WAPCO) for cement production, Nigerite Ltd for asbestos and roofing sheets, Odu’a Textile Mills, and many others.

    By opening vast industrial layouts in Ibadan, Lagos, and Ilupeju with over 120 factories, Awolowo catalyzed mass production to meet various needs. Between 1951 and 1959, it created countless jobs without relying on oil revenue. Awolowo’s legacy of Infrastructure, Social Services, and Enduring Impact in Western Nigeria encompassed iconic infrastructure and social services that were pioneering for the time. He oversaw the construction of Cocoa House, the tallest building in West Africa for decades, Liberty Stadium (one of the most modern in Africa), and initiated Western Nigeria Television & Broadcasting Service (WNTV/WNBS), the first radio and television stations in Africa.

    Awolowo’s government implemented free primary education, developed cooperative societies leading to a Cooperative Bank and College, and expanded road networks with bitumen-covered roads spanning over 2,000 kilometers. Odu’a Investments, a conglomerate he nurtured, was among Nigeria’s largest by 2004. His impactful governance in the Western Region, covering what is now eight states, remains unmatched. Compared to the WNDC and WNFC, of what impact has the Odu’a Group been to Yorubaland, beyond using its knife to tear and share the regional cake?

    The question therefore is: can the Yoruba race ever find a leader like Awolowo? Does the Yoruba race even have a leadership presently? At this stage of its development, Yorubaland needs thinking innovators, not just fixers or deal masters. Incidentally, Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s current president, is a Yorubaman. The conventional wisdom is that the country’s 15th president can only spend two terms of four years each in office. What happens after he leaves office? Will Yorubas ever transcend the limitations of political temporariness and build enduring institutions?

    Again, here lies the essence of the challenge: giving a Yoruba man a political appointment doesn’t necessarily translate into empowerment for the Yorubas. Such appointments are often used to cement political alliances and enrich friends and close acolytes. To put it bluntly, being made the chairman of a board or commission is not empowerment; what empowers a people are meaningful programmes.

    Take, for instance, what have the numerous political appointments given to our Yoruba sons and daughters over the past forty years translated into? What tangible benefits have the Yorubas gained, and how many socio-political and economic programmes are currently in place to support their development?

    The opulent mansions being built by political appointees in Ijebu-Jesa and its environs – are they a sign of industrial investment? How many industries are actually operating in Osogbo, the Osun State capital? What about Ile-Ife, the cultural heartland of Yorubaland? And Ijesaland, known for its historical commercial prowess that even impressed leaders like Otto Von Bismarck, the former Prime Minister of Prussia and Chancellor of Germany – how many industries are thriving there?

    Let’s flip the script and look at the story of Yorubaland’s development through a different lens. Germany boasts the world’s third-largest economy and a top-notch financial system. Added to this is its constitution which requires a certain voter turnout threshold for election validity. In contrast, economic growth in Nigeria is often measured by statistics rather than the actual impact on people’s lives. When one considers the state of Nigeria, one is tempted to believe that the country itself is a management problem that needs philosopher-kings. Here, voter turnout is getting ridiculously low with each passing day and all we chant is: ‘Hurrah!’

     In our very eyes, school enrolment is dropping across the country, with innocent pupils trekking to their schools even as the sick skip medications due to lack of funds to procure recommended drugs. A proper development programme for Yorubaland would have transformed the Olokola Deep Seaport into a major economic hub over thirty years ago, and that would have yielded remarkable results. But, where are we?

    Surely certainly, Yorubaland faces a clear choice: preserve the past or forge its future. To transition from a people defined by ancestry to one that actively shapes its destiny, Yorubaland needs a forward-looking development plan that could span decades, whether ten, twenty, or more years.

    The work of previous institutions already referred to helped develop a petit bourgeoisie unmatched in any of the regions. To build a sustainable future, we must learn from the past and rebuild the capital base of Yorubaland, attracting long-term investment capital to support fiscal and social infrastructure development. This is crucial, as exporting raw products would condemn us to being perpetual hewers of woods and fetchers of water.

    ● To be concluded.

  • Season of trekkers

    Season of trekkers

    If it rained trekkers, Ebonyi State recently had a downpour. An indigene, Emmanuel Obasi, trekked from Ilorin, Kwara State, to Abakaliki, Ebonyi capital, avowedly to appreciate a federal lawmaker, Nkemkanmma Kama, for his service. Kama represents Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo federal constituency in the House of Representatives, and Obasi who hails from that constituency said he staged the marathon trek “to honour (him) in a most uncommon way due to his infrastructural and human development strides in the constituency.” He was rewarded by the lawmaker with two million naira.

    But that gesture wasn’t exactly uncommon. Barely a week earlier, another Ebonyi indigene, Jeremiah Obaji, trekked from Lagos State to Abakaliki to appreciate Governor Francis Nwifuru for restoring peace in his community, Alaoma in Ohaukwu council area, which was plagued by communal conflict. According to Obaji, the trek from Ikorodu took him 17 days, and he got rewarded by the Ebonyi governor with ten million naira.

    Obasi said the journey from the Kwara capital began on 25th August and covered 670 kilometres, on a route laced with grave security challenges. “Due to security challenges along the Ilorin-Ekiti-Okene route, I had to resort to the Bida-Minna-Suleija-Zuba-Lokoja route for the trek,” he explained, noting that people advised him to give up on the journey due to the stress involved but he was determined to go through with it. Having been warned not to trek during the night, he broke the journey wherever he found himself by 7p.m. “I received favours and support during the trek as people accommodated me freely wherever night fell,” he added.

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    At his own reception on 7th September in Abakaliki, Obaji said he trekked from Lagos to appreciate Governor Nwifuru for restoring peace in troubled Effium community of Ohaukwu council area. He added that the trek began on 21st August and spanned over 600 kilometres. Speaking with journalists in the Ebonyi capital, he noted that the trek was his way of thanking Nwifuru for brokering peace in the Ezza-Effium conflict through his creation of five autonomous communities. He recalled how the crisis had displaced his family and others, causing untold hardship. “I faced hunger, fatigue and insect bites, and at some point had to abandon my jeans due to blisters. At a point I also became afraid of being kidnapped,” he said.

    These long haulers recall to mind  Suleiman Hashimu, who walked from Lagos to Abuja in 18 days to celebrate the victory of the late President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 in the 2015 general election. Nothing is being heard of him anymore, and you wonder if these adventurers can’t be useful in efforts by government to tackle insecurity challenges across the country. Besides their ruggedness, their survival skills could come handy in the proposed forest guards if there is sufficient motivation. They could be harnessed for national service, not to just use their endowments to prospect for ‘golden handshakes.’

  • Bauchi: Prioritising roads, flyovers over education

    Bauchi: Prioritising roads, flyovers over education

    • By Yasir Shehu Adam

    Sir: When Gombe State recently launched a bold programme to tackle its education crisis, I could not help but think of my own state, Bauchi. Gombe, with more than 700,000 out-of-school children, has moved quickly to harmonise data, engage communities, and create practical solutions. The government there has set targets for every local government area, introduced special programmes for older learners, and partnered with UNICEF and UBEC to get children back into school.

    Now, compare this with Bauchi State. According to UNICEF’s 2023 figures, Bauchi has an estimated 1.2 million out-of-school children — the highest in the country. Yet, instead of a serious, data-driven response, what we see are new roads and flyovers. Impressive structures, yes, but they do little to lift children out of illiteracy or to secure the future of our state.

    Education is not just another sector; it is the foundation of every kind of progress. A society cannot rise on illiteracy. Without educated citizens, there will be no sustainable development, no innovation, and no future leaders. Bauchi’s failure to prioritise education is nothing less than a betrayal of its children.

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    The same is true of health and welfare. Other states are using federal allocations to cushion the suffering caused by fuel subsidy removal, but here in Bauchi, there are no real welfare programmes for struggling families. Hospitals remain under-equipped, and the youth are left without meaningful job opportunities.

    This is why Gombe’s example matters. If a neighbouring state can gather traditional rulers, religious leaders, education experts, and communities around a single cause — saving children from the streets and bringing them back to school — then Bauchi has no excuse. We need more than promises; we need action.

    The government of Bauchi State must launch a mass enrolment campaign with measurable targets, support poor families so children, especially girls, stay in school, improve school infrastructure and teaching quality and redirect resources from vanity projects into human development — education, health, and youth empowerment.

    Bauchi does not need more roads; it needs more classrooms. Bauchi does not need more flyovers; it needs more teachers. What we need is leadership that sees children as the real foundation of development.

    The future of over a million children is at stake. Bauchi must act now.

    •Yasir Shehu Adam (Dan Liman),

    Bauchi.

  • Captured in the East, courted in the North

    Captured in the East, courted in the North

    • By Folorunso Fatai Adisa

    Sir: The Nigerian Army has scored a tangible operational success. Ifeanyi Eze, a high-ranking commander of the Eastern Security Network, known by the alias “Gentle de Yahoo,” was apprehended at a hideout in the Aku-Ihube area of Okigwe, Imo State. Alongside him, security forces seized weapons, ammunition, and other materials linked to insurgent activity. On paper, this is a decisive tactical achievement for a military long criticized for its uneven response to the insurgency in the Southeast.

    A tactical win, no matter how dramatic, does not automatically dismantle the Eastern Security Network or resolve the grievances that sustain it. The capture of Eze is an opportunity, not an endpoint, and it places a clear responsibility on policymakers to convert a military success into strategic progress.

    The Nigerian Constitution, along with international conventions to which Nigeria is a party, guarantees the right to a fair trial. Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have repeatedly highlighted challenges in prosecuting alleged insurgents, from prolonged detention to opaque judicial processes. Ensuring that Eze is tried transparently and promptly is essential. It is not merely a procedural formality; it is a strategic signal. A credible trial demonstrates that the state, not armed groups, is the ultimate arbiter of justice. Conversely, a flawed process risks propaganda victories for insurgents and can fuel recruitment into the very networks the military seek to dismantle.

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    Contrast this with Katsina State, where the approach has been markedly different. Only days ago, a wanted bandit leader openly attended peace talks in Faskari Local Government Area, one of the worst-hit councils in the Northwest. Instead of being arrested, he was welcomed to the negotiating table as communities sought to broker a fragile peace with armed groups. The symbolism could not be starker: in Imo, a commander was seized and paraded as evidence of state strength; in Katsina, a kingpin walked freely into dialogue, underscoring the state’s willingness, or desperation, to negotiate.

    Local communities in Katsina are themselves divided. Some see negotiation as a necessary evil, a way to stem ceaseless killings, kidnappings, and raids that have devastated livelihoods. Others recall with bitterness how previous peace deals in the Northwest collapsed into betrayal, as bandits regrouped and returned to violence once concessions were granted. To them, dialogue without accountability feels like surrender, eroding faith in the rule of law. The decision not to arrest a wanted bandit in full public view creates a dangerous precedent: one Nigeria where insurgents face trial, another where bandits enjoy immunity in exchange for shaky promises.

    This divergence captures Nigeria’s broader security dilemma.

    Peace studies pioneer Johan Galtung once observed that “negative peace” is the absence of violence, while “positive peace” requires justice, equity, and reconciliation. Nigeria today risks settling for negative peace in Katsina, silencing guns without addressing grievances, while in Imo, it courts further instability by pursuing justice through force alone. True stability requires harmonizing the two: the discipline of law with the inclusiveness of dialogue.

    In essence, the capture of Eze presents the state with a dual challenge: operationally, it is a win; politically and socially, it is a test. Can the government leverage this moment to address grievances, restore confidence, and build a sustainable peace? Or will it be treated as a symbolic triumph, celebrated in headlines while underlying tensions persist? History offers caution. Across the world, insurgencies thrive not only on ideology but on perceived injustices. When the state responds solely with force, communities may close ranks around the very networks it seeks to dismantle.

    For the Nigerian public, the question is not whether the army can capture a commander? It is whether this translates into safer streets, functioning markets, and a return to normalcy. Tactical victories matter, but they are a means to an end, not the end itself. The military’s success must be accompanied by visible improvements in law enforcement, judicial integrity, and civic trust.

    The capture of Ifeanyi Eze in Imo and the negotiation with a bandit kingpin in Katsina together mirror the contradictions at the heart of Nigeria’s counter-insurgency efforts. Military prowess can disrupt, deter, and dismantle. Dialogue can pacify, de-escalate, and buy time. But enduring stability requires the patient work of rebuilding relationships, enforcing the rule of law, and addressing the conditions that allow armed groups to flourish. The battle may be won in Imo, and the gamble staked in Katsina, yet the peace, fragile, elusive, and desperately needed, remains to be written.

    •Folorunso Fatai Adisa,

    United Kingdom.