The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Why the drug war needs us all

    Why the drug war needs us all

    • By Ebun Okedepo

    Sir: I found the recent Trust TV documentary on the drug problem in Abuja both troubling and inspiring. The report sheds light on the scale and complexity of illicit drug trafficking and abuse within the Federal Capital Territory and made me realise just how enormous the task is for agencies such as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

    Until now, I must admit, my understanding of the issue was rather superficial. However, after watching the real-life accounts—particularly from drivers and those working daily in the transport sector—it became clear to me that the NDLEA operates under immense pressure. What struck me most were the confessions of commercial drivers who described the difficulty of transporting drugs out of Abuja due to the agency’s effective highway monitoring and surveillance. In my view, this is a significant development in the ongoing fight against drug trafficking and a testament to the dedication and vigilance of NDLEA operatives.

    Another commendable aspect highlighted in the documentary was the explanation by the NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, regarding the use of body cameras during raids. This initiative is not only progressive but also promotes transparency and accountability—key ingredients in fostering public trust. At a time when confidence in institutions is often fragile, such measures help to rebuild faith in law enforcement and demonstrate that the NDLEA is not merely reacting to challenges, but evolving in how it fulfils its mandate.

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    While the tireless efforts of NDLEA officers deserve high praise, it is equally important to recognise that tackling drug abuse and trafficking cannot be left to the agency alone. The menace of illicit drugs permeates every layer of our society—our homes, schools, and communities. As such, the responsibility for safeguarding our cities must be collective.

    This issue is far too complex for any single organisation to address in isolation. The NDLEA may form the backbone of enforcement, but what is needed is a whole-of-society approach to create lasting change. Parents must pay closer attention to their children. Schools should integrate drug education into their curricula. Religious leaders ought to speak out against substance abuse from the pulpit, while community leaders must take ownership of the fight within their localities.

    As members of the public, we must actively support law enforcement efforts. This means reporting suspicious activity, backing public awareness campaigns, and resisting the urge to shield offenders—regardless of personal ties. Our silence or indifference only empowers traffickers and undermines the national effort to combat this scourge.

    The documentary delivered one resounding message: progress is being made, but it must be sustained and strengthened through collaboration. The NDLEA is doing its part. Trust TV has fulfilled a crucial role in exposing the underbelly of drug activity in the capital, thereby providing valuable insight into areas where law enforcement should concentrate its efforts. Now, it is our turn to act—as partners, as parents, as community members—in protecting our society from the grip of drug abuse and trafficking.

    •Ebun Okedepo,

    Ibadan, Oyo State.

  • The opposition blame game

    The opposition blame game

    • By Chionye Hencs Odiaka

    Sir: As Nigeria heads toward the pivotal 2027 general election, the political landscape is once again shaped by turbulence, particularly within the opposition. Grappling with internal crises, many opposition parties have been quick to accuse President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of deliberately destabilising their ranks in a bid to steer the nation toward a one-party state.

    The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed these claims, insisting that the opposition’s troubles are largely self-inflicted.

    Yet internal crises are nothing new in Nigerian politics. What we see today reflects a long-standing pattern. Even the APC wrestles with its own disputes across states. The key difference lies in management: the APC, despite its challenges, has largely kept its internal issues from spilling into the open, while opposition parties appear unable to contain theirs, preferring instead to blame the president for their woes.

    Politics is, after all, a contest of ideas, organisation, and strategy. Power is not handed over voluntarily; it must be earned, seized, and defended. For the opposition, this requires principled, resilient leadership capable of uniting factions, inspiring loyalty, and presenting a clear, credible vision. Without such internal strength, parties remain vulnerable to division, infiltration, and manipulation.

    These dynamics are by no means unique to Nigeria. In every multiparty democracy, dominant parties work, often ruthlessly, to weaken their rivals. It is the duty of the opposition to build structures that can withstand these pressures. To expect otherwise is naïve. This is the nature of politics the world over.

    Across democracies, from the United States and United Kingdom to France, Canada, Germany, and Australia, ruling parties have long employed tactics to divide, weaken, or co-opt the opposition.

    In the U.S., parties have funded fringe candidates in opposing primaries or lobbied lawmakers to switch allegiance. In the UK, Brexit-era politics saw offers of peerages and government posts to opposition defectors. In Australia, governments have offered committee posts, perks, or negotiating positions to independents or minor party members to secure crucial votes. In France, President Macron’s rise owed much to recruiting key figures from rival parties, hollowing them out in the process.

    Such manoeuvres though rarely admitted publicly, are well-documented by journalists, historians, and political insiders alike. The lesson is clear: power is not given; it is taken through strategic action and disciplined organisation.

    Read Also: Tinubu orders security chiefs to restore peace in Benue

    If Nigeria’s opposition truly hopes to unseat the ruling party and offer the nation a credible alternative, it must stop expecting an easy path to power. The hard work begins within: building strong internal structures, fostering unity, and establishing mechanisms that protect against external interference.

    This is where the PDP, Labour Party, and others have repeatedly fallen short, leaving themselves vulnerable. The APC’s triumph over the PDP in 2015 was not just about merging parties; it was about building a solid structure and forging a unified, loyal leadership. Figures like Muhammadu Buhari and Bola Tinubu commanded respect and brought together diverse factions into a cohesive force that external actors found difficult to divide.

    That’s not to say the APC is immune to internal challenges; far from it, but it has so far managed them with greater success.

    This is the critical lesson for the opposition: less blame, more action. If they cannot govern their own parties effectively, how can they persuade Nigerians they are fit to govern the nation?

    Nigeria has endured enough from weak leadership. What the country needs now is not more excuses, but leaders of competence and vision. While the ruling party may have fallen short of expectations, Nigerians deserve a credible alternative, not leaders who merely capitalise on discontent, but those who can chart a better path forward.

    •Chionye Hencs Odiaka,

    Asaba, Delta State.

  • Trump’s populism has infantilised the presidency

    Trump’s populism has infantilised the presidency

    • By Aurel Braun

    In 2024, Americans voted for a plain-talking, bombastic, United States-centric president. He promised to end moral preening, cease American involvement in foreign conflicts, and stop much international bloodshed. Indeed, Donald Trump has taken the title of disruptor as a badge of honor. He’s had warm words for dictators like Russian President Vladimir Putin, while offering little sympathy for Ukraine.

    Nonetheless, upon returning to the White House, he promised to peacefully conclude Russia’s war of aggression within 24 hours. Now, 100 days into his presidency, the world is still waiting.

    US allies are currently watching to see if Trump will be “mugged by reality” and finally appreciate that he is being played by Putin, who is not interested in a genuine settlement of the war. The US president’s thinking, however, is exceedingly difficult to decipher. In a virtual replication of the mysticism of Kremlinology, analysts and foreign leaders parse Trump’s words and track his moods.

    Who influences Trump’s decisions?

    Under Trump, foreign policy changes have been reduced to mere hours as he pursues a mix of geopolitical isolationism, disruptive tariffs, and relentless pressure on NATO allies to increase defense spending drastically, all while coddling dictatorial or illiberal governments from Russia, Hungary, and multiple nations of the Middle East.

    With unquestioning faith in his own negotiating abilities, Trump appears convinced that he can control the international political environment, make America great in his image, and end wars.

    However, such insistence on his omniscience and hopes of omnipotence have led to an infantilization of the American presidency, where expertise and reality have given way to outlandish flattery and unbound positivity. Expert advisors do not last long in his orbit, or have to sugarcoat bad news, see the ousting of National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, the marginalization of Ukraine special envoy General Keith Kellogg as prominent examples.

    Instead, the president is seemingly under the sway of “Trump whisperers,” from his unctuous Vice President JD Vance to the fired Fox TV host Tucker Carlson, a self-described isolationist. Most of those who have Trump’s ear view Russia with favor and Ukraine with disdain.

    For close observers of Trump, there have been some whiffs of hope.

    He has expressed occasional frustration that Putin might be just “tapping him along.” He has repeatedly told the Russian president to “Stop it, Vladimir” after particularly egregious Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians. It has been more than a wish among Western leaders that in this Trumpian maelstrom, reality would prevail over fantasy. The president has even threatened new sanctions. The problem is these threats have been like feathers in the wind, and Putin himself seems to have become an adept “Trump whisperer.”

    Putin seems to conduct a masterclass in manipulation when dealing with Trump, drawing on his KGB training to use “reflexive control,” where the operator plays on the predilections of the target. The Russian leader has also employed a particularly creative combination of fear and flattery, from threatening World War III to lavishly praising the US president and his wife. Further, Putin invariably dangles vast lucrative trade and investment possibilities to a mercantile president who insists that he is ultimately a winner in all interactions. Consequently, Trump invariably claims he has won.

    All this is helped by various “Trumpian realities”: personal relations are prime; a natural affinity for the Russian dictator and visceral dislike of the Ukrainian leader are the norm; and Trump seems to imagine the Russian Federation as a Soviet Union equivalent, even though it is merely a poor remnant of that old superpower.

    Why is Trump so friendly with Russia?

    Specifically, Trump is focused on two goals in a big power game with Russia that would, in his view, end the war. First, Trump has been working under the assumption that Moscow could be detached from its alliance with Beijing. Second, in terms of transactional terms, Trump seems convinced that Russia has limitless investment and trade opportunities.

    Trump is wrong on both accounts – even if his goals, “commerce, not chaos,” and building instead of bombing, are desirable and noble.

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    In reality, Russia is very much a junior partner of China. Moscow has become far too dependent and indebted to Beijing to switch alliances. Putin may have mortgaged the future of his country to preserve personal power, and in this, he is more mafia than Machiavelli.

    Further, investment and trade opportunities in Russia are far more limited than what Trump seems to imagine. Russia, under Putin, has failed economically. Its nominal GDP is only about the size of Italy’s. It is energy-dependent and inefficient, except for some pockets of excellence. Crucially, it lacks any kind of credible business law or independent courts.

    Given Putin’s impressive manipulative skills and Trump’s predisposition and predilections, it should not be surprising then that any intent Trump might conceivably have to punish Russia for its continuing aggression and intransigence melts like an ice cube in summer sun when he speaks with the Russian leader.

    Following a two-and-a-half-hour phone call on May 19, the president suggested someone else could now take the lead on peace negotiations, perhaps the new Pope. Trump ominously suggested he might walk away from trying to settle the conflict. In such an event, it’s unclear whether the US would continue to provide crucial military support, which, as of now, other NATO allies are not in a position to supply.

    If American military support continues, Ukraine would remain in a good position to reach a favorable settlement as time would not be on Russia’s side, given its unsustainable losses and increasing economic difficulties. If, however, the US ceased or significantly cut Kyiv’s military backing, this could leave Ukraine in dire straits, drastically shifting the balance in Russia’s favor. This would be a Chamberlain-like betrayal despite Trump’s expressed admiration for Churchill.

    Putin’s maximalist goals in Ukraine show he refuses to accept the post-Cold War settlement in Europe, including the defined borders and enlarged NATO. Moreover, following gift after gift by Trump to Russia, from taking Ukraine’s membership in NATO off the table to refusing to join the Europeans in new sanctions or blocking the G7 from rightly blaming Russia for starting the war in Ukraine, there has been no Russian reciprocity whatsoever.

    Trump forces other NATO countries to step up

    On the positive side, through brutal pressure, dismissiveness, and threat of disengagement, Trump has managed to coerce the European Union members to embark on long overdue dramatic increases in defense expenditures. It’s a shift meant to confront the reality of the Russian threat. Though salutary, scaling up European defenses will take time.

    As the former NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, sagely noted, it has to be “a coalition of the willing, not of the waiting.” The European Commission’s ReArm/Readiness 2030 plan seems ambitious, but it must be expedited to address the pressing military emergency.

    Canada, has been among the most significant laggards in G7, acting as if it could lead a charmed international existence without adequate defense spending. This illuminates some of the problems of gravely atrophied defense capabilities. Canada has the lowest defense expenditure among the G7, at a grossly inadequate 1.37% of GDP.

    Prime Minister Mark Carney, though signaling in his new government’s Throne Speech, a desire to significantly increase Canadian defense capacity, has provided only one concrete indicator of reaching a meagre, outdated 2% by 2030. The vast majority of the other NATO states achieved that landmark by 2024.

    It’s premature to give up hope that Trump will, at some point, recognize the reality of Putin’s aggressiveness and clever manipulation. However, hope is hardly a geopolitical policy. Ukraine needs at least two key commitments. First, the US should at the very least provide “bridging” military support until the Europeans, led by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his revitalized military, can provide Ukraine with the defensive necessities even after a cessation or drastic reduction of American military aid. Second, the West, collectively, must realize that constructive engagement with Russia is an illusion under Putin, and only a new containment will manage the ongoing threat from Moscow.

    Trump may continue to dislike Zelensky, admire Putin, and view the Europeans with contempt. He may persist in falsely believing he can persuade Russia to switch alliances, and that Russia presents astonishing investment and trade opportunities.

    However, if Ukraine falls as a result of Trump’s withdrawal of seminal military support, or even if it is left helpless and hopeless after a Russian-imposed settlement, the loss would reverberate far beyond Ukraine’s borders. Trump would own the avoidable debacle, and with it, an inconvenient truth: his legacy would be forever poisoned.

    ·           This article was originally published in www.kyivpost.com

  • The underdevelopment of Ijebu-Jesa, my Native Nazareth (2)

    The underdevelopment of Ijebu-Jesa, my Native Nazareth (2)

    Presidential Aide Alubankudi’s gracious response to the first part of this intervention reflects the significance of roots, responsibility, and collective effort in nation-building. It also accentuates the complexities of development, community dynamics, and leadership’s role in shaping Ijebu-Jesa’s future. She has promised to visit Ijebu-Jesa very soon, looking forward to “engaging, listening, and contributing more directly to the development of our community.” Of course, this commitment provides a meaningful framework for exploring our hometown challenges.

    As we await further developments, a critical question arises: how did we get to this pass? According to Sunday Ojelabi, former Personal Assistant to Elegboro, “It’s undeniable that Ijebu-Jesa is blessed with citizens who truly love their origin, and this is evident in their demonstrated commitment over the years. Despite this, the town has suffered neglect from successive state governments and even less attention from the federal government.

    “The community has provided buildings for every known government presence, including the Divisional Police Station, High Court, Magistrate Court of Appeal, Customary Court, and General Hospital. They also donated 50 hectares of land for the Local Government Secretariat, which now houses INEC, NOA and NPC. When Oba Agunsoye lobbied for the NSCDC Area Command, the community provided the necessary infrastructure.

    “The irony is that the town maintains these facilities without government support, using funds raised at the annual Egboro Day festival for renovation works. This raises questions about why a community so supportive of successive governments has been overlooked in terms of development”.

    During one of his state visits to Ijebu-Jesa in the Second Republic, Governor Bola Ige of the old Oyo State promised to convert the then Obokun Local Government Secretariat into a 60-bed hospital. Residents were elated! But that was where it ended! Had Ige had the opportunity to tar or dualize the road from Ilesa to, say, Esa-Oke via Ijebu-Jesa, the story of my hometown might have unfolded differently.

    “The past”, they say, “is a bucket of ashes.” So, what’s to be done? To move forward, several next steps are crucial. In his book, ‘Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto’, Walt W. Rostow outlines a linear progression of economic growth through stages: Traditional Society, Transitional Stage, Take-off, Drive to Maturity, and Age of High Mass Consumption.

    Rostow’s stages provide a framework for understanding the process of economic development and growth. Therefore, what’s to be done to overcome these longstanding challenges in my town is to establish cooperative movements, reinforce the current microfinance bank policies and look at the model of the Igbo town unions and their effectiveness. These are some of the things to be done; and it’s not rocket science!

    It takes the committed sacrifices of selfless leaders like Nehemiah to rebuild and revive Jerusalem, while selfish figures like Sanballat and Tobias sought attention at all costs, to the detriment of the city. Similarly, undue attention-seeking sons and daughters of Ijebu-Jesa would take this town to nowhere.

    There are towns like Ijebu-Jesa in India and Malaysia that have transformed beyond recognition over the past 40 or 50 years because their people have focused on new developmental strides and stages of growth. The citizens of my ancestral home should learn from this and work towards making it great. My hometown deserves meaningful development and recognition. This isn’t the time for populism or buck-passing! What we need now is decisive action. Sometimes, tough decisions must be made, even if they offend some, to drive progress.

    Perhaps, the key to unlocking Ijebu-Jesa’s potential lies in finding a balance between tradition and modernity. ‘Owambe’ party is not development. ‘Owambe’ party is raising money to refurbish the schools, put in water systems and get healthcare development in place. That’s development, more so as these will trigger off all kinds of forces. Sinking a borehole on an already narrow and practically impassable road is also not development. It will only add to the problems!

    Beyond the physical infrastructure, there’s a yearning for a systemic transformation that can catalyze economic growth, ensure fair representation, and address longstanding grievances. The call for modern projects, economic revitalization and rectification of electoral imbalances reflects our community’s determination to break free from the shackles of underdevelopment and assert its rightful place within the larger socio-political landscape.

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    What’s more? The decision-makers in Ijebu-Jesa must employ lobbying as a tool to market our hometown to the world around us and beyond. Northern leaders have mastered this approach, effectively lobbying for their children, which is why you find them in high places in significant numbers. In contrast, Yorubaland often falls short in this regard, with ‘I-me-and-myself’ attitude prevailing and stifling progress.

    Given the significance of communal celebrations, this brings us to the organizers of the annual Egboro Day festival. Town festivals, as we know, are communal celebrations that promote cultural heritage, foster social bonding and promote collective identity. They play significant roles in preserving traditions and supporting local economies. Above all, they provide platforms for social commentary and community engagement. For example, Aliko Dangote is not from Modakeke in Osun State, yet he donated generously at the 39th Akoraye Day Celebration, which again supports the maxim, “We have great children but no great town”.

    In the face of ongoing political realignments and reattachments, Ijebu-Jesa must adopt a strategic approach to ensure that sons of the soil occupy key positions. Events over the years have shown how challenging it has been to convince ambitious candidates to step aside for others, since each one is convinced of his or her own winning prospects. Often, reality sets in only after elections are lost or won, resulting in significant financial losses. This is complicated by supporters who fuel their candidates’ optimism with misguided assumptions and assurances.

    The sweet truth about legacy is that it immortalizes our impact, lets our contributions outlive us, and turns our lives into lasting impressions. Legacy serves as a timeless echo of our existence. Another undeniable reality is that life is about service. Whatever heights we attain, someone has assisted us along the way. Of course, that ‘someone’ might have even been an ass! This raises a crucial need: Ijebu-Jesa indigenes should be more interested in supporting one another.

    The stone may be hard, and the raindrops small, but acts of kindness can have a profound impact. It’s true I’ve faced my share of challenges, as have others. However, thanks to the kindness of individuals like Archbishop Olukayode Akinyemi, Oba Olasore, and Bishop Matthew Kukah, among others – some of whom I’ll write about later – my situation could have been worse.

    Building on this foundation of kindness, specific examples stand out in my mind. For instance, Oba Olasore’s N19,000 over four academic sessions at the University of Ilorin (1992-1996) was a game-changer for me. Later, the Olufemi Fatodu Foundation’s N23,500 financial assistance during my postgraduate studies at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, was a welcome relief. This spirit of service, recognizing our shared humanity and impermanence, is what I envision for Ijebu-Jesa. Thankfully, Oba Agunsoye’s commitment to this spirit has been fantastically exceptional.

    There’s a place called ‘Ojokoro’ in Ifako-Ijaye Local Government Area of Lagos State. The real meaning is ‘Ojo kò r’oko’ (Cowards cannot farm here). Now, Ojokoro is a town for all, courtesy of the bravery of certain individuals. Ijebu-Jesa needs similar bravery and sacrifice from its sons, daughters, friends, in-laws and those who have benefited from its opportunities.

    In a word, genuine development requires sustained investment in men and materials, community engagement and accountable governance. Until these fundamental issues are addressed, Ijebu-Jesa’s potential will remain unrealized, and its residents will continue to wonder when development will arrive.

    For Ijebu-Jesa, my Native Nazareth, as the saying goes, “a stitch in time saves nine”.

    May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us peace in Nigeria!

    •Concluded.

  • PDP affirms Tinubu political sagacity

    PDP affirms Tinubu political sagacity

    • By Nnaji Jekwu Onovo

    This is season of political rejigging, realignment and recalibrations. So, the migration from one political platform to another is not strange. Defection is an important phenomenon in party politics and is based on democratic principles of freedom of association. It is a regular occurrence even in mature democracies such as the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), Germany and Canada among others. It is also not a recent development in Nigeria as many instances could be cited in the country’s past republics. However, the defection this time around, is more to the ruling APC, unlike what happened in the build up to the 2015 general election. One striking factor is the impact of Bola Ahmed Tinubu in both instances.

    In the build up to the 2015 general elections, Tinubu took the most audacious political step, as he mobilized the opposition political parties in the country on what late K. O. Mbadiwe would refer to as accord concordia, birthing the APC. The All Progressives Congress (APC) was formed in February 2013 through the merger of several Nigerian political parties. It was a coalition of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and a faction of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    The newly formed APC unsettled the ruling PDP, as some of the elected PDP Governors and legislatures decamped and joined the APC under the leadership of TINUBU. APC succeeded in wrestling power from the ruling PDP. Again, history is repeating itself, as elected PDP Governors and legislatures are decamping to President Tinubu APC.  The latest development is not only an affirmation of President Tinubu political sagacity, and administrative dexterity he brought to the complex socio-economic problems of Nigeria; but also a vote of confidence by the opposition of the Tinubu administration. The development is surely driving the main opposition PDP into political oblivion, and driving some of the leaders crazy.

    In democratic countries, opposition parties are free to criticise the ruling party and the government. They are entrusted with offering policy alternatives. However, it should be noted that no political party is formed to serve as opposition. A party becomes an opposition when it loses an election.

    Opposition parties have a better chance of winning election if united against a ruling party, as exemplified in the forming of APC. Coalitions as forms of party-to-party partnership are common to all countries, and are political mechanisms for aggregating interests and reaching a middle ground in order to form the government in situations where no single political party is capable of winning. What is going on in Nigeria, as we approach 2027, is that leaders of the opposition parties are abandoning their parties and working for individual-to-individual partnership, to register new party.

    The opposition political parties are grappling with intra-party crisis, and forcing elected members of these parties to decamp to the ruling APC. Unfortunately, rather than work to fix the problems in those parties, the leaders accuse the ruling APC of infiltrating and stoking trouble in their parties, and poaching their elected governors and parliamentarians. These opposition leaders are therefore thinking of abandoning their crisis-ridden parties for a brand new party. The question that comes to mind is: if these opposition leaders can’t resolve the crisis in their individual political parties, why are they aspiring to lead Nigeria with its complex web of socio-economic structures? Are their intentions just to grab power without any plan for the morning after?

    Two PDP states in the South-South geo-political zone, Delta and Akwa Ibom have switched to APC. Though more governors are expected to decamp to the ruling APC, we hope Igbo people of the South-East are keeping tabs on the political calculations based on the principle of no permanent enemy nor permanent friend as characterisation of the present political culture. If they are, they should work towards beneficial realignment, especially with the ruling APC. We say this, in the light of Igbo complain of being marginalized.

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    In Ray Ekpu article, “Biafra: A conversation is needed”, published in ‘The Nation’ edition of 3rd June 2025, he stated: “The Igbos have been complaining of being marginalised. They point to the fact that since Dr Alex Ekwueme was elected as Vice President in 1979, no Igbo man has been in that position. And of course, no Igbo man has yet become President since the onset of the 4th Republic in 1999. But political positions are determined in a democracy through networking, compromises and adroit bargaining between persons and parties. If the Igbos have not yet been able to achieve that, they have themselves to blame. —“

    Ndigbo needs to be pragmatic and understand the prevailing circumstances, and build alliances that will drive them deep into the national politics and avail them opportunities they yearn for.

    Even though political opposition may not be perceived as one of the traditional roles of political parties, it remains one of the most inevitable aspects of any democratic society. Functional and effective political opposition is an important attribute of a vibrant, dynamic and inclusive democratic system. The opposition party in a democratic system has the task of representing the interest which may have been overlooked by the ruling party, provide unavailable information to the government about public reaction to a particular government policy and provide criticism and useful alternatives to government policies. So, opposition parties are the unpaid but dedicated principal researchers for the government in power. Unfortunately, the leaders of the opposition political parties especially PDP are just playing to the gallery, trivializing governance, and accusing the governing APC of causing the problems in their respective parties.

    The political parties are affected by the environment within which they operate while they

    also determine the well-being of their environment and society at large. Like every organization,

    political parties in Nigeria maintain an exchange of both input and output with their environment, prominent among which are societal values. While the state and its offices are, in many instances, abused by the representatives of the people, society is yet to rise up to its responsibility of effective engagement in public affairs and with “elected” representatives. Civil society, preferably from the community levels, has critical role to play in the interest of the generality of Nigerians in the ongoing milieu of party politics of this republic.

    •By  Engr. Nnaji jekwu onovo (plot 18 whitesand avenue, lekki, lagos. Tel: 08184553078)

    & Comrade sunday adekanbi asuku (national president, north central youth congress. Tel: 08065498510)

  • Maryam Abacha’s amnesia

    Maryam Abacha’s amnesia

    • By Kene Obiezu

    Sir: History may appear meek and malleable, but the ferocity with which it singes the fingers of those who attempt to rewrite it is often enough to deter the most spurious of scribes.

    The privileged wife of a long-deceased dictator, one who perhaps was Nigeria’s most brutal, sitting regally in her seating room, well-appointed no doubt with Nigeria’s money, on national television, 27 years after his death, to accuse Nigerians of lying, tribalism and religious bigotry over well-founded claims that her husband, Sani Abacha, looted public funds while he was president, and stashed his loot in offshore accounts all over the world, is most tragic..

    She asks for evidence that her husband stole money, for signature. Furthermore, she alleges that the money her husband left for Nigeria vanished without a trace and says she is praying for Nigerians that they may have goodness in their hearts.

    If she had any modicum of conscience and not condescension for the country and citizens that her husband treated with such murderous indignity, Maryam Abacha would have used the window of the interview to beg Nigerians for forgiveness. Instead, she felt it was a rare opportunity to put Nigerians in their place for falsely accusing her husband of stealing the country blind.

    Indeed, whenever Nigerians who notoriously let things slide easily look like they will forget about Abacha, his loot, somewhere across the world will cry out to Nigerian skies for recovery, unleashing an avalanche of accusations and acrimony. Such is his legacy. Such is the stain to his name that his family must now bear.

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    The money recovered as part of the Abacha loot may have been re-looted by notoriously corrupt Nigerian public officers, but it cannot detract from the heist the late dictator perpetrated against Nigeria.

    So, Mrs. Abacha should spare Nigerians her sanctimonious sermons or self-serving prayers about having goodness in their hearts. Nigerians already have goodness in their hearts. This goodness is reflected in the fact that they have largely restrained themselves from speaking ill of the dead in discussing her late husband, despite the unaccountable iniquities he initiated or tolerated after he seized power through a military coup. That is goodness enough. That Nigerians have not called for the prosecution or ostracisation of members of his family for his deeds is further evidence of the goodness of their hearts, which goodness he doesn’t deserve.

    No, Nigerians are no fools. They have never been. Despite their grit and grace in the face of profound national challenges, and their ability to let things slide, they are no amnesiacs. They remember those who have ruined their country, and they will pass their names to posterity.

    •Kene Obiezu,

    keneobiezu@gmail.com

  • Tackling the menace of erosion in Anambra

    Tackling the menace of erosion in Anambra

    • By Obinna Odogwu

    Sir: Anambra State is arguably the erosion capital of Africa, if not the world. As of today, the state reportedly has over 1,000 active erosion sites. The figure was around 950 as of April 2022 according to the state governor, Chukwuma Soludo. The governor made the revelation during a roundtable meeting with the taskforce team of the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) held at Bon Hotel, Awka, the state capital.

    The team were then in Anambra for a three-day workshop that centred on the organisation’s Additional Financing (AF) Implementation Completion and Result Report Mission (ICRM).

     A year later, the Commissioner for Environment, Felix Odimegwu, an engineer, revealed that erosion sites in the state had hit 1,000 based on his findings. He made the revelation while unveiling the state’s programme for the 2025 World Earth Day (WED) in Awka.

    While lamenting that Anambra was losing arable land to gully erosion, the environment commissioner revealed that new erosion sites were still emerging in the state.

    From 2022 to 2025, available reports show that more erosion sites have emerged in various parts of the state.

    A god example is the very deep gully threatening the fence of Amanuke General Hospital, Amanuke in Awka North Local Government Area of the state, as well as the family home of a citizen which shares boundary with it. In fact, if urgent action is not taken, both the hospital’s fence and the residential building may cave in anytime soon.

    Also in Nnewi South, many communities in that LGA are currently battling with erosion issues. The same applies to parts of Nnewi town in Nnewi North LGA.

    Read Also: Tinubu has fulfilled Abiola’s vision for a democratic Nigeria — Shettima

    Erosion sites in Agulu community, Anaocha LGA; Nanka and Oko communities in Orumba North LGA are still very much active. In fact, the trio is regarded as the headquarters of gully in the state.

    Erosion issues in the three communities are so bad that their residents reportedly spend each day in fear, not knowing when and where the next landslide would take place.

    So far, scores of lives have been lost and property worth several millions of Naira destroyed even as farmlands and economic trees have been swept away.

    The Federal Polytechnic, Oko is also under a serious threat. Already, a part of the institution’s perimeter fence has been pulled down by a very deep gully with some buildings near it threatened.

    In other parts of the state, there have been a series of reports about the devastating impacts of gully erosion.

    There is hardly any community in the state that does not have its own share of the erosion issues.

    Despite this sad condition of the state, some of the residents still engage in unwholesome practices that promote the development of new gully erosion sites and the worsening of the already existing ones.

    Across many communities, incessant excavation of the soil surface is still going on. There is also the indiscriminate disposal of wastes, as well as the deliberate blockage of water channels by unscrupulous individuals.

    These negative actions undermine the efforts currently being made by the state government to check gully erosion and their devastating impacts in the state, as well as the remedial work already done by NEWMAP.

    The state government under the leadership of Soludo has spent and is still spending its scarce resources in its efforts to reclaim lands taken by the gully erosion.

    There is, therefore, a need for the people to join hands with the government to prevent further deterioration of the environment and the emergence of new erosion sites in the state. Indiscriminate excavation of the soil surface must be stopped.

    There is also a need for stringent laws and regulations to be made by the government, and where necessary amend the existing ones, to protect our environment.

    It is important that religious, traditional and social organisations, as well as influential individuals in the state lend their voices and support to the efforts being made by the state and federal governments to protect our environment and make it safe for everyone.

    •Obinna Odogwu,

    obinnaodogwu77@gmail.com

  • Tinubu’s healthcare reforms: Turning point or déjà vu?

    Tinubu’s healthcare reforms: Turning point or déjà vu?

    • By Oladoja M.O

    Sir: In the annals of Nigeria’s healthcare odyssey, the narrative has long been marred by systemic inertia, infrastructural decay, and a pervasive sense of despondency. For decades, the nation’s health sector languished in a state of neglect, characterized by underfunded primary healthcare centres, a dearth of medical personnel, and an overreliance on foreign aid. The corridors of our hospitals echoed with the silent cries of the underserved, while policymakers offered platitudes devoid of actionable substance.

    Enter the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in May 2023, heralding a paradigm shift that seeks to redefine the contours of Nigeria’s health landscape. At the heart of this transformation lies the comprehensive overhaul of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), a mechanism previously crippled by bureaucratic bottlenecks and inadequate financing.

    The reimagined BHCPF now boasts a projected infusion of at least $2.5 billion between 2024 and 2026, a testament to the administration’s commitment to fortifying the primary healthcare system. This financial renaissance is not merely a numerical augmentation, but a strategic realignment aimed at enhancing service delivery at the grassroots. The direct facility funding to primary healthcare centres has been escalated from N300,000 to a range between N600,000 and N800,000 per quarter, ensuring that resources are channelled efficiently to where they are most needed. Such fiscal decentralization empowers local health facilities, fostering a sense of ownership and accountability that was hitherto absent.

    Complementing this financial strategy is an ambitious infrastructural agenda. The administration has embarked on a mission to double the number of functional primary healthcare centres from 8,809 to over 17,600 by 2027, a move poised to bridge the accessibility gap that has long plagued rural and underserved communities. These centres are envisioned not as isolated units but as integral components of a comprehensive emergency care system, ensuring a seamless continuum of care.

    Read Also: NASS to Tinubu: Make State of Nation Address to Nigerians from parliament yearly

    Human capital development forms another pillar of this transformative agenda. Recognizing the critical shortage of healthcare professionals, the government has initiated the training of 120,000 frontline health workers over a 16-month period, encompassing doctors, nurses, midwives, and community health extension workers. This initiative not only addresses the immediate workforce deficit but also lays the groundwork for a resilient health system capable of withstanding future shocks.

    In a bold move to stimulate local pharmaceutical production and reduce dependency on imports, the administration has eliminated tariffs, excise duties, and value-added tax on specialized machinery, equipment, and pharmaceutical raw materials. This policy is anticipated to catalyse the domestic manufacturing sector, ensuring the availability of essential medicines and medical devices while fostering economic growth.

    Public health initiatives have also received a significant boost. Nigeria has become one of the first countries to roll out the Oxford R21 malaria vaccine, a landmark development in the fight against a disease that has long been a scourge in the region. Additionally, the administration has launched targeted programs aimed at reducing maternal and neonatal mortality, focusing on 172 local government areas that account for a significant proportion of such deaths.

    However, amidst these commendable strides, challenges persist. The sustainability of these reforms’ hinges on robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks to ensure transparency and accountability. The spectre of corruption, which has historically undermined health sector initiatives, must be vigilantly guarded against. Furthermore, the success of these programs requires the active collaboration of state governments, civil society, and the private sector.

    In all, the Tinubu administration’s approach to healthcare reform represents a departure from the perfunctory gestures of the past. It is a comprehensive, well-funded, and strategically articulated plan that addresses the multifaceted challenges of the sector. While the journey towards a fully revitalized health system is fraught with obstacles, the current trajectory offers a beacon of hope. It is imperative that all stakeholders coalesce around this vision, ensuring that the momentum is sustained and that the promise of accessible, quality healthcare becomes a reality for all Nigerians.

    •Oladoja M.O,

     Abuja.

  • Oshiomhole vs Air Peace

    Oshiomhole vs Air Peace

    The match-up between Air Peace, arguably Nigeria’s No. 1 airline today, and Senator Adams Oshiomhole, is well and truly titanic.  It still ripples, with no one knowing the denouement of the high drama.

    But clearly, you could see a clear attempt of “cancelling out” by horrid propaganda, particularly on the Air Peace side.  Some parts of its story clearly don’t check out.  But maybe the senator also over-blew or under-played his own part. 

    But everything given, it’s the type of fight that Oshiomole, formerly a fiery Labour leader, would crave to be in.  Hard luck for Air Peace for taking on the wrong guy.  Spin wouldn’t throw these dice, without prejudice to still emerging facts.

    First, Air Peace, in their first report, did a lot of innuendoes, which tended towards mischief.  Yet, it admitted that Oshiomhole arrived their check-in facility at 6:05 am for a 6:30 am flight.  When does boarding close for 6:30 am flights?  They should have released that information.

    But even if they were forthright, and the senator indeed arrived late for boarding, why were other passengers still boarding, when the senator could not?  Why, as the senator claimed, and Air Peace has not denied, did one of its top official approach him for “sorting”?  To divert his attention from the alleged ticket racketeering and extortion going on?

    Again, another question over another claim: is there anything like checking in online as the senator claimed?  If there is, why would arriving at 6:05 am for a 6:30 am flight be “late” for boarding?  Shouldn’t he just have breezed into the cabin physically, what he had already done online?

    Read Also: Tinubu has fulfilled Abiola’s vision for a democratic Nigeria — Shettima

    The authorities should do a thorough investigation into the matter.  But on that, the statement by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, was arrogant and disappointing, to say the least.  Yes, aviation may not be “molue” as he crowed.  But people that pay the premium for plane tickets too are not exactly area boys.  They have the right to protest shabbily treatment.  And this coming from a consumer protection chief!

    Air Peace goes on and on about violence and disruption, good!  But for whatever reasons, decreeing “lateness”, and earning customers’ rage — is that not emotional violence and disruption too?  How do you decry the same thing your customer accused you of,  and still think that’s a doughty line of defence, simply because it’s a rich line for frothing blackmail, of a public officer, at least to the obtuse?

    Let NCAA, the Police and even the DSS probe whatever happened and revert with findings.  But based on past behaviours in the public space, Hardball would believe Oshiomhole more than the Air Peace line, without prejudice to fresh facts.

    Air Peace should use this confrontation to do a sober soul-searching.  If indeed a racket is going on in its ticketing department, it should nip such in the bud.  We are all witnesses to Nigerian Airways at its prime.  It’s such unholy practices that brought it down. 

    May Air Peace’s case not be like that.  But on its alleged shabby treatment of its passengers, tongues have been wagging for long.

  • The many lives of June 12

    The many lives of June 12

    • By Olatunji Dare

    To military president, Ibrahim Babangida, who was compelled by circumstances beyond his control to stage the presidential election of June 12, 1993, ostensibly the final act of his transition programme that had been eight years in the making, the poll was so shot through with bribery, coercion, intimidation and manipulation that it could not be countenanced as a test of the people’s will.

    He was forced to make a ragged, tearful retreat from office and from power by the nationwide protests.

    To Ernest Shonekan, head of the misbegotten Interim National Government that was charged with supervising the poll, it should be regarded as having passed into “the dustbin of history.”  In the end, it was Shonekan himself who was swept into that receptacle.

    To Clement Akpamgbo, officially Attorney-General and Secretary for Justice (ha) but in fact the regime’s forensic cardsharper, the election was a crime, and anyone who invoked it stood to be charged with treason.

    I know of one young man who felt sorely tormented that Akpamgbo, being chair of the Body of Benchers, was going to be the presiding personage at his Call to the Bar, and that he was supposed to regard him as a model.

    General Sani Abacha, who ended Shonekan’s pretence of being a Head of Government after 93 turbulent days, called the election a “watershed” and then set about to muddy and pollute the waters, only to expire in an orgy of concupiscence.

    In his Inaugural Address, President Olusegun made not the slightest allusion to June 12.  In his tenure spanning eight years, he could not bring himself to mention MKO Abiola’s name in public – Abiola, the winner of the annulled poll.  But every anniversary of June 12 helped keep that day and its epochal outcome splendidly in focus.

    Obasanjo would designate May 29, the day he took office as an elected civilian president, as Nigeria’s Democracy Day.  It was as if June 12 never happened. True believers in June 12 were unmoved. The day refused to go away.  Indeed, the harder they tried to erase it, the more tenaciously it clung to our consciousness.

    It was probably this tenacity that led Gani Fawehinmi, the redoubtable attorney and crusader for democracy and human rights, whom nobody ever accused of humbug, to declare that June 12 was a “spiritual force” that one dared to suppress at one’s peril.

    And then, a president from the North produced by a coalition of progressives from the Southwest and the North, yielded to pressures to accord June 12 its rightful place in Nigeria’s history.  Thus ended May 29’s sham pretence of being the symbol of the democratic will of Nigerians.

    And in double-quick time, June 12 was proclaimed Nigeria’s Democracy Day and declared a public holiday. With his release from a secret pact he had been forced to make with the Babangida regime and its powerful confederates, Humphrey Nwosu, chair of the national electoral body that conducted the election, published the official results that confirmed what had been known 48 hours after the poll.

    Abiola won decisively on every front and across Nigeria. He was no longer the “presumed winner” of the poll.  He was the uncontroverted winner and an authentic martyr of democracy, who refused to bargain away the people’s mandate for release from prison and privations of the shabbiest kind, this man of commanding presence who had lived in splendour and empowered hundreds of his compatriots to do the same, a person of storied kindness and compassion and legendary philanthropy.

    Sooner or later, a sturdy lie that was sown and watered and nurtured begins to wither from attrition, unable to withstand the relentless battering of countervailing facts.

    So it has been with the June 12 election and the elaborate scaffolding of falsehoods and obfuscations built around it.

    Read Also: Democracy Day: Soludo to speak on national rebirth at June 12 ‘Platform’

    Its calculating protagonist is nothing if not alert to the arc of history.  Sensing that his version of the events of that tumultuous period was becoming increasingly tenuous and that he was about to be unmasked as a reprobate unworthy to be called an officer and a gentleman, he changed tack abruptly.

    Several years ago, without any mental discomfort, Babangida told an interviewer that the June 12 election he annulled was the fairest and freest Nigeria had ever known and that it was completely devoid of violence.  So free and fair, he might have added, that it had to be annulled to protect a public that was not equipped to process it!

    And at every opportunity, he affirmed the true election outcome, maintaining however that it had to be annulled, even as he washed it clean of a battery of malpractices he had recited as justification. It was a monumental volte face, executed without regret or contrition.

    He reserved his peroration for the launch of his memoir, A Journey in Service, on February 20, 2025. The volume and the occasion, I contend, were designed more to monetise June 12 than to enrich history and public discourse. Even before a full accounting is done, the book has already gone down as the greatest money spinner ever produced between two covers. And how he milked it!

    Only certified gushers in the oil field can generate so much wealth at such velocity, but there, one must reckon with the muck and the dangers of life on the rig and the tax man.

    Babangida’s memoir spouted cash faster than the speed of sound. A handful of grateful contractors and beneficiaries plonked down N16 billion in a matter of minutes.

    The Naira is no longer what it used to be, but N16 billion is a great deal of money in any economy. It is bigger than the annual budget of all but a handful of states in Nigeria.

    All the reasons Babangida had solemnly advanced for the annulment – the “security reports,” the “tremendous negative use of money,” resort to tribal and religious incitement, he finally admitted, were manufactured through and through.

    “We now know better,” he said.

    What did he know, and when did he know it?

    If Babangida knew that all along and still went ahead to annul the election, then he has the blood of hundreds who were killed during the June protests on his head and the pains and privations of the thousands who lost limbs and livelihood on his conscience.

    The annulment, then, was not a historic mistake. It was, and remains, a historic crime.

    If he came to know what he now admits only much later, then he stands guilty of wilful and sustained deception that plunged a nation on which he had foisted himself into a convulsion from which it is yet to recover.

    • Dare contributed this piece from Caledonia, Michigan.