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  • National Assembly’s 10 year passport ban wrong

    National Assembly’s 10 year passport ban wrong

    SIR: The Senate is considering a new law that would stop Nigerians convicted of crimes abroad from getting a passport for 10 years or even withdrawing such passport for 10 years after conviction. The sponsor of the bill says it is meant to protect Nigeria’s image and discourage Nigerians from committing crimes in other countries. This sound like a patriotic and commendable idea, but when you look closer, it raises serious legal problems. It goes against the constitution and violates international law.

    Section 41 of the constitution protects citizens from arbitrary restrictions such as the one envisaged by the National Assembly. It states that no citizen shall be refused entry into or exit from Nigeria. The right to move freely is part of what it means to be a citizen, and the National Assembly is trivialising such.  If someone has been convicted and deported from another country, that person has already been punished. Denying them a passport for 10 years means stopping them from traveling even for lawful reasons. It means they cannot leave the country to work, do business, seek medical care, or visit family. That is a direct violation of a constitutional right. The section only allows restriction of rights if it is reasonable and justifiable in a democratic society. This proposed restriction is neither reasonable nor justifiable. The particular exceptions in section 41 does not allow for punishment or restriction of movement for offences not committed within the shores of Nigeria. 

    There is also the international legal principle of double punishment. Section 36(9) of the constitution says no one shall be tried or punished twice for the same offence. When someone commits a crime abroad, that country’s legal system tries them and, if found guilty, punishes them. Once they serve their sentence, the punishment is complete. If Nigeria then adds another punishment, a ten-year passport ban, it means punishing the person again for the same act. That violates the principle of double jeopardy. Beyond legality, it is also morally wrong.

    The bill is also deeply concerning. What kinds of crimes will attract the ban. What happens to those who were unfairly convicted due to poor legal representation, racial bias, or weak evidence? Many Nigerians abroad face these problems. Some plead guilty just to avoid long trials in countries where they do not understand the system. If such people return home and are banned from getting passports, it would be an injustice on top of an injustice.

    The real problem with Nigeria’s image abroad has less to do with ordinary citizens and more to do with bad governance at home and corruption. If the Senate is truly concerned about Nigeria’s reputation, there are better ways to address the problem. Nigerian embassies can be strengthened to provide legal and consular support for citizens abroad, especially those facing unfair treatment. Diplomatic engagement can also help ensure Nigerians are treated fairly in other countries. To strengthen Nigeria’s reputation abroad, real focus should go into tightening loopholes that allow embezzlement of public fund and inflation of budgets, and strengthen the judiciary to be truly independent.  These are the real steps that improve a country’s image and even discourage Nigerians from running away from their fatherland.

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    A law like this also creates a dangerous opening for abuse. In a system where politics often influences legal decisions, it could be used to punish political opponents or critics who live abroad. A false conviction or even an accusation could be used to block someone’s passport. Without strong checks and clear procedures, the law becomes a weapon instead of a fair rule.

    The Senate should remember that the constitution protects all Nigerians, including those who have made mistakes. The duty of government is not only to punish wrongdoing but also to protect rights. Laws should promote justice, not revenge. A ten-year passport ban will not make Nigeria look better. It will make it look harsh and unjust.

    Nigeria should not become a country that denies its citizens a second chance. The right to travel, to move, and to start again after a mistake is part of human dignity. Instead of passing laws that isolate citizens, lawmakers should focus on how to build a fairer, more caring country. That is how to protect Nigeria’s image—by being just at home and compassionate to its citizens abroad. Because in the end, the true image of a nation is not in the crimes of a few people but in how it treats its own.

    • Opatola Victor Esq, Abuja.
  • Inside Nigeria’s activist-industrial complex

    Inside Nigeria’s activist-industrial complex

    SIR: Nigeria today stands at a peculiar crossroads of dissent and impact. The explosion of public anger over corruption, poverty, injustice, and violence has produced a vivid civil society landscape. Streets fill with protestors, hashtags dominate timelines, and NGOs multiply by the hundreds of thousands.

    But beneath the visible surge lies a troubling structural pattern: dissent has become a marketplace, and outrage its currency. The activist-industrial complex in Nigeria thrives, yet systemic change remains elusive. This is not a critique of passion or advocacy, but of the political economy of activism—how its logic often mirrors the very structure it seeks to dismantle.

    Between 2019 and 2023, the number of registered NGOs in Nigeria rose from 17,177 to 191,278, a ten-fold increase in four years. That startling growth signals more than civic awakening; it points to an activist-industrial ecosystem fuelled by grants, donor funding, reputational capital, media visibility and global benchmarking exercises.

    The activism sector including international donors, domestic philanthropy, social media influencers, local NGOs has found in Nigeria fertile ground. Pain is now monetised. Victims become voices; voices become platforms; platforms attract budgets. The question then becomes: what happens to dignity, agency and reform when suffering itself morphs into a product?

    The activist-industrial complex thrives on legibility. Pain must be visible to be fundable. Victims must be named, photographed, quoted. This creates a paradox: the more visible the suffering, the more likely it is to attract support — but also the more likely it is to be commodified.

    NGOs compete for grants. Influencers compete for engagement. Movements compete for attention. In this economy, suffering becomes a resource. And while some communities benefit, others are left behind — especially those whose pain is too complex, too quiet, or too politically inconvenient.

    Consider Nigeria’s diaspora. Activist networks in London or New York fund-raise in foreign currency, amplify local crises, and influence media narratives. Yet their distance sometimes means they operate as intermediaries, not embedded agents. 

    Three structural issues stand out: the first is agency displaced by optics. When visibility and fundraising dominate, the impulse for reform can shift from building capacity to staging exposure. Communities are “given voice” yet remain spectators rather than owners.

    Secondly, trauma and dignity are bypassed. Acts of violence or injustice produce human pain. Yet when that pain fuels campaigns, the risk is commodification of trauma: the victim becomes a narrative. The system of dignity remains unaddressed.

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    Thirdly, the state remains passive. Protests and civil society may succeed in pressurising the state for immediate relief, but rarely shift the architecture of governance. The logic of control (centralised decision-making, patronage, extraction) remains intact. Unless the architecture itself is redesigned, cycles continue.

    Here is where the architecture of empathy comes in. If activism is to transcend spectacle and become structural reform, it must change from within the system of outrage into a system of dignity, agency and repair.

    Decentralise voice into capability. Instead of spotlighting individual victims, empower local communities with open-data tools (grassroots CSO training in Enugu, for example, taught 34 organisations how to use open-data editors).

    Align reward to repair, not exposure. Grants and donor funding must measure how many local systems are improved, not how many hashtags trended.

    Bind the state into accountability via system metrics. Use Public Trust Ledgers, outcome-based scoring, not just exposure.

    Flip the revenue model. Moving from pain monetisation to dignity monetisation. Value is not in the victim’s story, but in the community’s repaired capacity.

    Activism must evolve beyond the “flash protest, donor sprint, media wave, fade” cycle. Nigeria needs the “design, implement, monitor, sustain” cycle.

    The end goal is not simply more protest but better governance. That means activism stops being a symptom of governance failure and becomes part of the architecture of governance itself.

    Speaking truth to power remains essential. But disrespecting principles of dignity, agency and long-term reform is counterproductive. A movement built on outrage alone risks becoming co-opted, extractive, and unsustainable.

    If Nigeria’s activist-industrial complex is to bear the fruit of governance, it must transmute outrage into agency, victimhood into dignity, exposure into repair. Then the visible public anger does not dissipate into the status quo—but becomes the spark of structural transformation.

    • Lekan Olayiwola, lekanolayiwola@gmail.com
  • Way out of Nigeria’s housing challenge

    Way out of Nigeria’s housing challenge

    SIR: Housing is the second most essential basic need of man, after food. The impact of housing on health, welfare and output of man is profound. But the challenge of housing in Nigeria has been endemic. Unavailability of serviced plots that are ready for housing development, lack of necessary basic infrastructures that will facilitate smooth development, or a good title that will enhance the marketability of the land, especially after one might have developed or build houses on it are some of the factors inhibiting housing development in Nigeria.

    Finance is the major impediment to housing provision. No matter the standard and scope of work you want to do, housing is capital intensive. You need quite a lot of money to accomplish it.

    To compound the challenge of finance is the absence of efficient, comprehensive and organized mortgage finance system that would have granted easy access to housing. Central Bank of Nigeria initiative in collaboration with the World Bank in setting up the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company Plc (NRMC) is expected to boost mortgage financing and home ownership schemes in the country, but it is yet to yield appreciable outcomes. Someday, I hope that the generality of our people would be able to access mortgage facilities.

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    Going forward, housing sector must be properly regulated and its activities coordinated to address low quality of housing development and absence of mass and affordable housing. There should be regulations. We must checkmate infiltration of the sector by land speculators and non-professionals. There is need to identify professional real estate developers just as it is being done in other climes such as United Arab Emirates, America and United Kingdom.  There is also the need to address the challenge of ineffective housing finance, in as much as it would be impossible to segregate finance from housing. Failure to do these is dangerous to the sector and would continue to pose a challenge to housing in Nigeria.

    Government must strengthen its legal and regulatory framework for mortgages, including property rights, land registration, and foreclosure procedures to enable a virile and robust mortgage system. Clear and unambiguous property rights, fast land registration processes, and well-defined foreclosure procedures can give lenders and borrowers better security, perhaps leading to additional mortgage lending.

    The Land Use Act is another hindrance to housing development. In the interest of Nigeria and housing in Nigeria, we need to review the Land Use Act. That is why the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers have been calling for a review of the Act, or its removal from the Constitution.

    • ESV Oluronke Mary Ajayi, Lagos.
  • The North needs more Sa’adats

    The North needs more Sa’adats

    By Ìtàn’ Abdullahi Ayọ̀bámi

    ‎There are people who enter public service like actors stepping onto a well-lit stage, and there are those who slip in like dawn softly, steadily, without noise, yet changing the whole landscape as they arrive. Barrister Sa’adat Yunusa Mohammed, the soon-to-be first Gimbiyar Dange, belongs to the latter.

    ‎Her name rings through Sokoto today beyond courts attention, because her work has begun to speak louder than the traditional praise of politics. To call her a public servant would be technically correct, but emotionally insufficient. She is a public conscience in human form, the one that remind saner minds that governance can still remember its moral roots.

    ‎Born, bred, and buttered in Sokoto State, Sa’adat comes from a lineage that shaped Northern history; the family of Shehu Usman Dan Fodio, the scholar-reformer who turned faith into philosophy and philosophy into statecraft. From her mother, the first female graduate of the Fodio family, she inherited the courage to imagine a life beyond expectation; from her culture, she learned that tradition does not have to be a cage, but can instead be a compass.

    ‎An alumna of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, where she earned her LLB, and the Nigerian Law School, where she was called to the Bar, Sa’adat’s legal formation was steeped in both intellect and integrity. To further expand her intellectual horizon, she is currently pursuing her Master of Laws (LLM) at the University of East London, with a PhD in view at Walsh University, USA. For her, learning is beyond a stage of life, but a lifelong stance.

    ‎When she took her first steps into the legal world, she did not do so to chase prestige. Her years as a Principal Legal Officer at the National Human Rights Commission were less about drafting memos and more about rewriting human stories.

    ‎There, she handled over 50 cases of domestic violence, mediated conflicts that never made the evening news, and became a voice for women and children who had long learned to whisper their pain. Her work was not performative activism; it was the quiet, administrative revolution of someone who understood that justice is not complete until it reaches the forgotten.

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    ‎In one of my earlier happenstance with her, she once said her guiding principle is disarmingly simple, that the law must be humane before it can be just. It’s a belief that shaped every of her career move that followed; from the corporate negotiations she handled at NAPET Telecommunication to the policy work that defines her role today.

    ‎When the Sokoto State Governor, His Excellency, Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto, appointed her as Special Adviser on Poverty Reduction Agency (SPORA) in 2023, she approached the role not as a technocrat chasing indicators but as a reformer interpreting human need. She has never failed her people, she fits her duty like truth fits conscience, precise and unpretentious, indeed, the square peg finally finding its rightful square hole

    ‎Under her direction, SPORA began to look less like an office and more like a movement. Poverty, to her, was not a statistic; it was a child dropping out of school, a mother selling dignity for survival, a young man that is one rejection away from despair.

    ‎She has trained over 150 women and youth, supporting microbusinesses, funding education for hundreds of indigent students, and pursuing legal redress for 19 women’s rights violations.

    ‎Sa’adat’s philosophical stand remain uncompromising that social justice without economic empowerment is charity, and that empowerment without institutional reform is futility. It is this fusion of idealism and method that has made her relevant.

    ‎If SPORA reflects her role in government, then the Sa’ara Mata Foundation, which she founded and leads as Chief Executive Officer, reveals her soul’s deeper mission to institutionalize compassion.

    ‎In less than three years, the foundation has trained and empowered over 200 people in Sokoto State, mostly women and young people, across technical (computer studies) and vocational entrepreneurial fields such as tailoring, grinding, and the making of local beverages and nuts, all with tangible impact on the state’s socio-economic fabric.

    ‎Beyond skills, the foundation has become a refuge for rights. It has supported and promoted the rights and interests of women, youth, and children, pursuing cases of fundamental human rights enforcement in Abuja, Sokoto, Kaduna, and other parts of the country, and successfully negotiating several out of court in favour of victims.

    ‎Education, too, has found an advocate in her. Through the foundation, she has purchased and distributed over 250 JAMB forms free of charge, and sponsored several underprivileged students from secondary school to university. The Sa’ara Mata Foundation has, in many ways, become her social blueprint.

    ‎Sa’adat’s brand of politics feels strangely refreshing in the dense, sometimes cynical air of Nigerian politics, she belongs to the All Progressives Congress (APC) but carries herself like an ambassador of women’s dignity before party identity.

    ‎As a member of multiple national campaign councils in the 2023 election, from the Women Presidential Campaign Council to the Progressive Sisters Network, she has been both strategist and symbol. Her kind of politics is not the one that make needless noise; it is about negotiation, the art of finding humanity within hierarchy.

    ‎When she speaks at conferences or women’s forums, she is speaking from the scars and stories of those she has helped. And that, perhaps, is why people listen.

    ‎Her education from Harvard Law School and Yale School of Management has not made her distant; rather, it has expanded her horizon. She speaks the language of development with the authenticity of one who has seen deprivation up close.

    ‎Now, as she prepares to be formally conferred with the title of first Gimbiyar Dange, the symbolism could not be deeper. The title, being the first of its kind is reserved for women of substance and heritage like her. For Sa’adat, it is less coronation and more covenant being a pact between her and the people whose lives she has chosen to serve.

    ‎As part of the investiture, she will visit hospitals and correctional facilities across Sokoto State, distributing financial grants, essential donations, and words of hope. It is a gesture that mirrors her philosophy of service and impact beyond ceremony.

    ‎To study Sa’adat Yunusa Mohammed is to witness a future Nigeria might one day mature into; a place where intellect does not alienate compassion, where politics does not suffocate purpose, and where leadership wears both a head and a heart. Her work has shown that change need not be dramatic to be real; it can be as subtle as a policy rewritten, as simple as a girl returning to school, or as symbolic as a woman of law becoming the Gimbiyar of her people.

    ‎Sokoto has produced many women of worth. But in Sa’adat Yunusa Mohammed, the state may have found something rarer; a woman whose mind and heart have learned to serve the same purpose.

    ‎If the North’s future ever needed a face, it might just look like hers; promising, thoughtful, courageous, and luminously human. This is why the North needs more women like sa’adat for collective prosperity.

    ‎The rest, is ellipsis…

    ‎Written by: Ìtàn’ Abdullahi Ayọ̀bámi, a Communication Strategist and Independent Thinker (Abuja), He can be reached via itanayobami@gmail.com

  • Amotekun and Osun killings

    Amotekun and Osun killings

    Residents of Akinlalu community in Ife North council area of Osun State are crying for justice over the killing of at least three of their members by operatives of the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun Corps, in the state. Amotekun is the local security outfit raised by governments of Southwest states to foster security at the grassroots in complement to operations of the Nigeria Police.

    Akinlalu residents said an unprovoked attack visited on their community by Amotekun personnel on 30th September resulted in four fatalities and left nine others – mostly women and youths – severely injured. Among those killed were children of the Aro of Akinlalu, Chief Kamorudeen Oyebamiji. Official statements by the police and Amotekun acknowledged three fatalities and fewer injured persons.

    According to local accounts, operatives of the security outfit a day previously arrested suspected thieves at a village close to Akinlalu, who managed to overpower the operatives and snatched rifles from them. Apparently feeling challenged, masked corpsmen on Tuesday, 30th September, invaded the community to instill fear in residents and make them produce the stolen rifles. During that invasion, they allegedly shot indiscriminately, resulting in casualties among community residents.

    Amotekun Corps, for its part, claimed that three people were killed, but said they were suspected hoodlums against whom its operatives acted in self-defence when they were attacked. “Our men were ambushed while attempting to retrieve two rifles forcibly taken from them during an earlier confrontation with suspected thieves. In the exchange of gunfire that followed, three of the attackers were neutralised,” a statement by corps spokesman, Idowu Yusuf, said.

    The community denied, however, that those slain in the incident were hoodlums. Akinlalu monarch, Oba Oluwabusola Oloyede, demanded justice for the victims who, he argued, were innocent residents. “Upon our visit to Amotekun headquarters, their boss confirmed to us that he was the one who ordered the invasion, having instructed them to first visit the palace. However, they never came to the palace, but rather attacked innocent residents at the market square. Four people were killed while nine people were injured during the attack,” he was reported saying, as he implored Akinlalu youths to remain calm and believe in government’s capacity to bring erring corpsmen to justice.

    The Aro of Akinlalu who lost children to the incident said two of them were shot by hooded Amotekun operatives, and another was hacked down while trying to escape from the scene. The corpsmen reportedly took away the bodies of those slain in the attack, and it was at the intervention of state government officials that the bodies were released to bereaved relations. Community youth leader, Musibau Adeboye, also dismissed the claim that Amotekun operatives acted in self defence and insisted the attack was perpetrated by corpsmen suspected to be under the influence of drugs. “We heard there was theft of farm produce at Abaoba, a village under Akinlalu. Amotekun men went there and arrested suspects. Later, we learnt two rifles were seized from them by the sons of a retired soldier. The next day, they returned heavily armed and started shooting indiscriminately,” he said.

    The corps has waged a battle of self-justification by spinning narratives portraying its operatives as endangered in their line of duty. Concerning the Akinlalu violence, the spokesman insisted operatives acted in self-defence. He said in a statement that hoodlums earlier ambushed men from the agency’s Ile-Ife command responding to a distress call from Akinlalu, and forcibly took three rifles from them. A backup team dispatched to the scene, according to him, was also attacked by the hoodlums at Akinlalu junction, leading to a gunfight in which three people lost their lives. “Upon receiving news of the ambush, reinforcement operatives were deployed and approached Akinlalu with the intention of engaging peacefully, including paying a courtesy visit to the traditional ruler of the town. However, at the T-junction leading into Akinlalu, the road was found barricaded by the assailants, who immediately opened fire on the operatives, triggering a fierce gun battle that lasted over an hour. Despite the intensity of the attack, Amotekun operatives successfully overpowered the assailants. In the aftermath of the encounter, three lives were confirmed lost, including individuals believed to be among the attackers,” he said.

    Barely a week after the incident, the corps plied another claim of an assassination attempt against its boss. Corps Commander Adekunle Omoyele, a retired Brigadier-Gen., alleged that he escaped the attempt in an ambush by gunmen in Osogbo. A statement by the corps spokesman said the ambush occurred penultimate Monday at about 10:05p.m. along Ikirun road in Osogbo, as Omoyele was driving home in his private vehicle. “I had left the office, driving home with my two-door vehicle. When I got to Kobo, some armed men suddenly appeared in a moving vehicle, double side-by-side with my car and started firing. Their faces were covered, and before I could react, they opened fire on my vehicle. Bullets riddled the car. I didn’t stop. I kept driving through the hail of gunfire. I was hit, but I managed to escape,” the corps commander was reported saying, adding that the incident was reported to the police.

    The police weighed in and vowed that culprits of the Akinlalu violence would face justice. Apparently in line with that commitment, some Amotekun men were arrested penultimate Wednesday by a special squad of policemen who stormed the corps’ operational bases in Oke-fia, Osogbo, and Ife Central division in Ile-Ife, which they also sealed off. Reports said the police officers arrived unannounced and whisked away corpsmen found on site before shutting down the bases.

    The Amotekun spokesman acknowledged the clampdown. “Some policemen came, but they didn’t seal our headquarters. They burst our operational base in Oke-fia and the Ife Central command. They also arrested about 20 of our operatives. We don’t know where they took our personnel,” he said. Osun police command spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, a Superintendent of Police (SP), also confirmed the operation but said only five Amotekun operatives were taken into custody and not 20 as claimed by the corps. He added that Police Inspector-General Kayode Egbetokun had taken over investigation into the Akinlalu killings and reported assassination attempt on the Amotekun commander. “Investigation revealed that the attackers were members of Amotekun corps. Five suspects have been arrested, while others remain at large,” Ojelabi said, adding that Omoyele was invited to explain his role but he failed to honour the invitation. “Efforts to reach him on phone proved abortive as his line has been switched off. He later went on social media claiming he was attacked by unknown armed men wearing masks, which preliminary investigation shows to be a figment of his imagination aimed at derailing justice,” the police stated.

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    Earlier, the command said it could not commence full-scale probe of the alleged assassination bid, even though a formal complaint was filed, because Omoyele failed to provide proof of the claim. “According to the report he made that he was attacked, the police have gone to the scene and we have told him to come along with the vehicle. He will have to produce the vehicle and other things to prove the incident before we can talk of an investigation,” Ojelabi told journalists.

    Since the Akinlalu violence, the Amotekun commander has withheld from submitting to the police, and neither has the Osun government that appointed him called him to question. When he visited the community to pay condolences early last week, Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke vowed that all those involved in the killings will face the wrath of the law. But in response to the community’s call for suspension of Omoyele, the governor only said the matter had been referred to Amotekun board for thorough investigation. “On the request for the suspension of the Amotekun commandant, the matter is ongoing. As I speak, it has been handed over to Amotekun Chairman Wale Abass for proper investigation,” he said.

    There are questions begging for answer. For one, why a parallel probe when there’s been no cooperation with police investigation of the same incident? It shouldn’t take much for Amotekun bosses to clarify the outfit’s role through the police probe, unless there’s inter-agency mistrust on dealing justice. And an assassination attempt involving a gunfight shouldn’t be difficult to back up with evidence, especially as Omoyele said his car was riddled with bullets and he himself was hit before managing to escape. It will be a tragedy if Osun government shields suspects of the Akinlalu killings, which is an albatross that can only be relieved with justice for the victims. And the earlier that gets done, the better.

    •Please join me on kayodeidowu.blogspot.be for conversation.

  • Local content and quest for economic independence

    Local content and quest for economic independence

    By Paul K Adegboyega

    “A race that is solely dependent upon another for economic existence sooner or later dies.” — Marcus Mosiah Garvey.

    In this 65th independence month of October, Garvey’s words resonate with renewed urgency. Political sovereignty was achieved in 1960, but true independence goes beyond flags, anthems, and the rituals of statehood. It lies in economic self-reliance — in the ability of a people to use their own resources, build their own industries, and chart their own course. Without this, nationalism risks becoming hollow.

    Nowhere is this reality starker than in oil and gas. For decades, the sector has been Nigeria’s lifeline, generating the bulk of government revenue and foreign exchange. Yet it has also been a paradox — a source of wealth that often-enriched others more than Nigerians themselves. The history of flaring gas, importing refined products, and relying on expatriates to build and operate critical infrastructure tells its own story of dependence.

     That is why the creation of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in 2010 was a watershed. Through the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, the Board was mandated to ensure that petroleum wealth translates into Nigerian jobs, Nigerian businesses, Nigerian technology, and Nigerian capacity. In a profound sense, the NCDMB represents an act of economic nationalism — a determination to turn resource endowment into enduring national strength.

    Fifteen years on, the record shows progress. Local content retention has risen from less than 30 percent before the Act to 56 percent in 2024. This means that more than half of industry spending now remains in the country through contracts, goods and services, and salaries. Over 12 million training man-hours have been delivered; more than 50,000 direct jobs created through NCDMB-linked initiatives; and hundreds of indigenous firms supported to scale up operations. The Project 100 initiative alone has added over 1,500 direct jobs and 15,000 indirect jobs while contributing more than N50 billion to GDP.

    These numbers are not abstractions; they translate into real lives. In 2019, NCDMB partnered with AOS Orwell and the Lagos Energy Academy to train 50 young engineers in smart electrical engineering. Six months later, 60 percent of them had secured jobs with firms such as AOS Orwell, Daystar Power Group, and Eauxwell. Four others earned placements with BIC Electric in Europe. One of the beneficiaries, a young female engineer from Lagos, recalls entering the program with little hope of employment. By its end, she had Siemens-certified training, an offer from Daystar Power, and a career path. Today, she mentors others and embodies the transformative ripple effect of local content.

    At the corporate level, indigenous service champions like Dorman Long Engineering and Lee Engineering & Construction have benefitted from NCDMB’s enabling framework. Dorman Long, with a proud legacy in fabrication and marine services, was recognized in 2025 as “Indigenous Service Company of the Year” by the Board for its contributions to local content. Lee Engineering, with its massive Warri yard, has completed over 350 major projects with “zero incident, zero downtime,” employing thousands and deepening Nigeria’s technical base. Companies like Oilserv Limited in Port Harcourt have leveraged the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund to access financing, acquire equipment, and expand capacity — winning contracts that once went abroad.

    The NCDMB’s interventions go beyond finance and training. The Nigeria Oil and Gas Parks Scheme (NOGaPS) is developing industrial hubs in Bayelsa and Cross River States, designed to host manufacturers and service companies with world-class infrastructure. Legacy projects attached to mega-contracts, such as galvanizing plants linked to NLNG Train 7, ensure permanent assets remain after the projects conclude.

    This work has acquired added urgency in the age of energy transition. As the world moves inexorably toward renewable energy and lower-carbon futures, Nigeria faces the reality that oil’s days as a dominant resource are numbered. The NCDMB’s mandate thus represents a last opportunity for Nigeria to extract sustainable value from its petroleum wealth. Unless oil revenues are translated now into factories, skills, and indigenous technology, the country risks being left with stranded assets and missed chances.

    Since assuming leadership in December 2023, Executive Secretary, Felix Omatsola Ogbe has sharpened focus on this mission. His priorities include achieving 70 percent local content by 2027, accelerating disbursement of funds to indigenous companies, operationalizing industrial parks, and simplifying certification processes. Under his watch, the Board also took a 20 percent equity stake in a planned 100,000-barrels-per-day refinery in partnership with NNPC Ltd — underscoring that local content is not just regulation, but ownership.

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    These efforts align closely with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s sectoral vision: encouraging investment, streamlining approvals, cutting costs, and prioritizing “Nigeria First” in procurement. Tinubu’s reforms open the doors; NCDMB ensures Nigerians are the ones walking through them. Together, they form a strategy not only for efficiency but for sovereignty.

    Of course, challenges remain: indigenous firms still face hurdles in accessing finance, meeting stringent international standards, and penetrating complex offshore projects. Infrastructure and logistics continue to constrain efficiency, while global energy dynamics demand flexibility. Yet the NCDMB’s record offers evidence that with the right policies and leadership, Nigeria can steadily move from dependency to self-reliance.

    At 65, Nigeria stands at a crossroads. Independence is not a historical event to be remembered; it is an ongoing project to be renewed daily in factories, classrooms, fabrication yards, and boardrooms. Political independence gave us the right to govern ourselves; economic independence will give us the power to sustain ourselves. The story of NCDMB over the past 15 years — its policies, milestones, and impact — is a reminder that independence must be measured not just in symbols, but in skills, jobs, industries, and ownership.

    As Garvey warned, dependence is a path to decline. But with institutions like NCDMB championing local content and self-reliance, Nigeria has a real chance to anchor its nationalism in economic strength — and to ensure that when oil’s light begins to fade, it leaves behind enduring value for generations to come.

    •Adegboyega is a policy analyst.

  • Tax reform: Rewriting Nigeria’s fiscal story

    Tax reform: Rewriting Nigeria’s fiscal story

    By Mayowa Alakija

    For more than six decades, Nigeria’s fortunes have risen and fallen on the tides of oil. But in June, that old order shifted. With a stroke of the pen, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed into law the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 — a sweeping reform that economists call the boldest economic transformation since independence.

    Taking effect on January 1, 2026, the Act signals more than a fiscal adjustment; it represents a moral and structural renewal. It seeks to rebuild the bond between government and the governed — to make taxation not a burden, but a shared commitment to national progress.

    For a nation long trapped between oil dependency, inequality, and crumbling infrastructure, this reform offers something rare: a chance to rewrite the social contract.

    Since independence in 1960, it has been a story of lost discipline. When Nigeria gained independence, its leaders inherited a colonial tax system built for control, not development. The Income Tax Management Act (ITMA) and the Companies Income Tax Act (CITA), both enacted in 1961, were early attempts to build a home-grown fiscal foundation.

    In those early years, taxation was seen as the civic glue of the young republic — a way to bind citizens to government through shared responsibility. But the discovery of oil in the late 1950s and the boom that followed in the 1970s changed everything. With petrodollars pouring in, discipline gave way to dependence. Successive governments turned away from taxation, and Nigeria’s economy began to orbit around oil revenue alone.

    As crude wealth flowed, accountability dried up. Tax collection declined, public institutions bloated, and citizens lost faith in what their payments achieved. Schools, hospitals, and roads fell into disrepair. For many Nigerians, taxation came to symbolise exploitation, not progress.

    By the 1980s, the illusion of endless oil wealth had shattered. The economic crisis forced Nigeria to borrow heavily, and reform became unavoidable. The Tax Reform of 1993 established the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and introduced the Value Added Tax (VAT) to replace the outdated sales tax. For a moment, hope flickered. VAT offered a new stream of non-oil revenue — but corruption and bureaucracy soon strangled its promise.

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    From the 1990s to the 2020s, Nigeria lived through an era of half measures.

    The 1990s ushered in cautious optimism. The newly formed FIRS and the introduction of VAT were meant to modernise Nigeria’s revenue base and reduce dependence on oil. For a time, it worked. VAT became a reliable source of non-oil income, and the idea of a diversified tax system began to take root.

    But reform in Nigeria has rarely been a straight road. What began as a bold step soon stumbled into old habits — inefficiency, bureaucratic bottlenecks, and corruption. Each new initiative promised a clean slate, yet each ended up buried beneath layers of paperwork and distrust.

    By the early 2000s, the cracks had widened. Tax evasion thrived among the wealthy, while small business owners and traders faced overlapping levies from multiple agencies. The poor often paid most in proportion to what they earned, while the rich found their escape routes.

    The Personal Income Tax (Amendment) Act of 2011 and the Finance Acts of 2019–2023 sought to change that. They digitised payments, streamlined procedures, and aimed to align Nigeria with global best practices. Yet these efforts were scattered — like patches on a fraying fabric. Each reform was an improvement, but none res the trust that had long unravelled between citizens and the state.

    Despite trillions in oil revenue, Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio — a measure of how much citizens contribute to national income — hovered around 10 per cent, one of the lowest in Africa. Ghana collected 17 per cent; South Africa, nearly 28 per cent. Decade after decade, the pattern repeated: hope, reform, disappointment. Nigeria was not poor for lack of wealth, but for lack of a fair and transparent system to collect and use it wisely.

    The 2025 tax regime ushers in a new social contract.

    By mid-2025, after decades of partial fixes and paper promises, Nigeria’s leaders faced a simple truth: no nation can grow when its citizens no longer believe in how it raises and spends money.

    That belief is what the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 set out to restore. For the first time since independence, the country gained a single, unified, and modern legal framework — one that harmonises all major tax laws, from company and personal income taxes to VAT, customs levies, and stamp duties.

    But this was more than a legislative clean-up; it was a philosophical reset. At its core lay a principle long missing from Nigeria’s fiscal story: fairness.

    The Act introduced a Wealth and Luxury Tax, ensuring that those who own private jets, luxury estates, and fleets of exotic cars contribute proportionally to the nation’s progress. At the same time, small businesses, artisans, and traders receive reduced rates, exemptions, and incentives to expand. For once, the system tilts towards equity rather than privilege.

    Technology became the second pillar of reform. Through a National Tax Portal, citizens can now pay, file, and track taxes digitally from anywhere — eliminating middlemen, cutting corruption, and ensuring every naira paid reaches the government’s account.

    Equally transformative is the law’s commitment to transparency. The newly created Public Tax Accountability Council (PTAC) must publish quarterly reports showing how tax revenue is spent. For the first time in generations, Nigerians can see their money at work — in schools, hospitals, and roads, not private pockets.

    The 2025 reform also looked beyond revenue. It aimed to shape a new kind of economy — one driven by innovation, production, and sustainability. Incentives for manufacturers, renewable energy firms, and farmers encourage job creation while reducing dependence on imports. In this way, the tax system becomes not just a tool for collection, but an engine of transformation.

    For millions of Nigerians, this shift represents more than policy; it is a restoration of faith. The market woman who has long paid levies she did not understand, the teacher wondering what her taxes achieve, the young entrepreneur trying to build a business — each now stands to see tangible returns on their civic contribution.

    As President Tinubu declared during the signing ceremony, “Our goal is simple — a Nigeria where paying tax is not a punishment, but a partnership in progress.”

    That partnership is the reform’s true achievement. It redefines the social contract — closing loopholes that once favoured the powerful, while opening doors of opportunity for the ordinary citizen.

    For over 60 years, Nigeria’s wealth was measured in barrels of oil, not the trust of its people. That trust eroded through neglect, waste, and a system that asked much of the poor and little of the privileged. Now, with a single, unified reform, the nation has begun the slow but certain work of rebuilding itself.

    Economists describe the Act as transformative; citizens will judge it by the roofs over classrooms, the lights that stay on in hospitals, and the roads that finally endure beyond one rainy season. If it succeeds, taxation will cease to be a symbol of hardship and become proof of belonging — evidence that every citizen, from farmer to founder, holds a stake in Nigeria’s future.

    President Tinubu’s decision to consolidate and digitise the nation’s tax laws is not just a policy milestone; it is a statement of direction. It declares that Nigeria will no longer rely on oil wells for survival but on the integrity and contribution of its people.

    June 26, may well be remembered as the day Nigeria chose accountability over dependency, justice over privilege, and partnership over politics — a day when a nation once adrift found its fiscal compass again.

    And if this reform holds to its promise, it will not just rewrite Nigeria’s tax code. It will rewrite its story — from one of squandered potential to one of shared prosperity and renewed faith in what a government, and a people, can build together.

    •Alakija writes from Mafoluku, Oshodi, Lagos.

  • Re: Waste management in Lagos—facts, causes, and ongoing fixes

    Re: Waste management in Lagos—facts, causes, and ongoing fixes

    By Muyiwa Gbadegesin

    The attention of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has been drawn to The Nation’s Sunday Parade feature of Sunday, October 12, titled ‘Fear of Epidemic as Refuse Takes Over Lagos’, which raises some public-health concerns and posits that Lagos may be returning to the old bad and inglorious days of mountains of refuse. 

    While the state government, through the Lagos Waste Management Authority, takes those concerns seriously, it is, however, very inaccurate and fallacious to suggest that the city’s waste-management system has “collapsed.” As of today, Lagos generates roughly 13,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste every day—which ranks among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa—and the system in place continues to collect and dispose of the vast majority of it daily through LAWMA’s public–private model with licensed PSP operators.

    The pertinent question that the report failed to highlight and which should agitate the minds of everyone is: “What could be driving the recent nuisance spots along Apapa–Mile 2–Oshodi, Ikotun–Ejigbo–Egbeda, Iyana Ipaja, LASU–Iyana Iba, and around large markets in the state?”

    These pile-ups reflect localized pressure points, not a system-wide or state-wide failure. Some major reasons stick out as being responsible for this increased pile up and include, but are not limited to:  Night-time illegal dumping on medians and setbacks by residents or unlicensed collectors trying to avoid PSP service fees. The Lagos State government has responsively tightened penalties to N250,000 fine or up to three months’ imprisonment for illegal dumping and littering, while enforcement is active and ongoing.

    There has also been a market-area surge in waste, which comes in the form of high, continuous inflows from traders and non-traders who bring street waste to market frontages, overwhelming daytime loading windows amidst heavy traffic. LAWMA has repeatedly cautioned against using medians as collection points and back up PSPs with targeted “intervention” clearances.

    Also noticeable is the return of banned, illegal collectors (“cart pushers”) in some districts, who typically dump refuse at night into canals and road medians, creating the very eyesores residents decry. Authorities have renewed crackdowns with LAWMA and partner agencies undertaking arrests and prosecutions for these offences—with over 300 persons arrested and prosecuted by April alone—through day/night surveillance with KAI/LAGESC.

    As a responsible and responsive organisation, LAWMA is responding to the new challenges by undertaking hotspot clearance and night operations through intensified “intervention” sweeps on the named corridors (including Apapa–Mile 2–Oshodi; Ikotun–Jakande Gate; LASU–Iyana Iba), with night evacuations to prevent daytime re-accumulation, paired with targeted enforcement.

    The organization is also undertaking PSP performance management through ongoing route reviews, backup services where private capacity is thin; and directory transparency so that residents can reach assigned PSP operators.

    Public reporting channels have also been provided so that residents can report black spots and service gaps via 080000LAWMA (08000052962), 07080601020, or the short code 617, or email info@lawma.gov.ng. which are all LAWMA’s official, published hotlines.

    The government is also embarking upon structural system upgrades that come with structural fixes. These include decommissioning legacy landfills and building modern infrastructure through which Lagos is transitioning Olusosun (Ojota) and Solous III (Igando) away from open dumping towards a network built around Transfer Loading Stations (TLS) and Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs)—with timelines publicly stated and preparatory works ongoing. This shift shortens haulage, speeds turnaround for PSP trucks, and keeps markets and highways clear.

    Also part of the structural upgrade is the Waste-to-Energy pathway, where, as part of the end-state system, the state has outlined waste-to-energy capacity (e.g., Epe) to handle residuals after recycling/composting, reducing landfill reliance and methane emissions. There are also plans to introduce Compact/Mobile TLS at pressure points to stop medians from becoming de facto dumps. LAWMA has advanced plans to introduce compact/mobile TLS that will relocate loading off the roadway and into controlled nodes—especially around large markets and dense corridors.

    We are also undertaking organic management and biogas at source: roughly 6,500 tonnes of Lagos’ waste stream is organic. LAWMA’s Ketu-Ikosi market biogas project pilots on-site treatment that will cut odour, reduce bulk, and generate useful energy—an approach now being scaled through training and partnerships.

    LAWMA’s marine unit continues clean-ups around Five Cowries Creek and related in-water interventions, working to prevent canal outfalls from pushing litter into the lagoon system. The agency recently screened off 22 canal outlets along Five Cowries Creek to prevent waste from ever entering the canal. This will be extended to other canal outfalls throughout the state.

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    LAWMA is also in the process of procuring additional compactor trucks for PSP waste collectors, which will improve service delivery and reliability state-wide when coupled with the introduction of the new Transfer Loading Stations (TLS) that will reduce turnaround time, enabling the PSP operators to evacuate waste more rapidly from the doorsteps of Lagosians.

    It must be stressed that Lagos’ scale is unique, with the capacity to manage 13,000 tonnes/day in a megacity of 20 million+ people that requires continuous upgrading of assets and rules—not a one-time fix with that upgrade already underway and publicly documented.

    Eyesores are preventable: Where residents must bag waste, keep bins, pay their assigned PSPs, and avoid illegal collectors, medians do not become loading points—and enforcement will continue against violators under the updated penalty regime. Enforcement is real, as arrests and prosecutions of offenders have increased; penalties are stiffer; and surveillance now targets night time dumping, when most infractions occur.

    It is, however, expected that residents and businesses play their part by effectively ensuring that they use only the assigned PSP operator (door-to-door collection) and keep a covered bin—never use the median—as your staging point. Residents are to report black spots or service failures to LAWMA via 080000LAWMA (08000052962), 07080601020, 617, or info@lawma.gov.ng for rapid intervention. 

    We must also segregate organics (especially in markets) and support on-site solutions, such as the Ketu-Ikosi biogas initiative, as they scale.  We should not patronise illegal cart pushers—they are a proven source of median dumps and canal blockages.

    The bottom line is that Lagos is not returning to “the bad old days.” The city is tightening enforcement against illegal dumping, clearing hotspots, and, most importantly, building the next-generation system—Transfer Loading System + Material Recovery Facilities + market-area compact Transfer Loading System + organics/biogas + Waste To Energy—that will keep refuse off our roads and medians while creating jobs and cleaner neighbourhoods.

    It must, however, be stressed that environmental protection ought to be the duty of everyone, and not simply that of the government. Therefore, we all need to embrace a positive attitude towards the environment.

    With a global upsurge in the occurrence of natural disasters, partly caused by abuse of the environment, a collective approach to the protection of the environment is, without doubt, the best way to protect the city against diseases and other harmful environmental hazards.

    •Dr Gbadegesin is managing director, LAWMA.

  • COP30 and Niger’s turn to shine on climate action

    COP30 and Niger’s turn to shine on climate action

    By Abdulsalam Mahmud,

    Across the world today, governments are recalibrating their economies to fit a green and sustainable future. From Brazil’s vast reforestation drive in the Amazon to Morocco’s solar revolution in Ouarzazate, nations are realizing that the path to prosperity now runs through the low-carbon economy.

    The green transition has become more than an environmental necessity; it is the new global economy in the making — one that rewards innovation, resilience and foresight. For Africa, this transition is both an urgent challenge and a rare opportunity.

    As the continent most vulnerable to climate change, Africa stands to lose the most from inaction. Yet, it also possesses immense natural capital — sunlight, land, biodiversity and youthful human potential — that can power a sustainable transformation. Countries that act early and boldly will not only build resilience but also attract the finance, partnerships and technologies shaping the next century.

    It is in this global context that Niger State, under the leadership of its farmer governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, has chosen to define its future differently. Over the last two years, the state has pursued one of the most ambitious subnational green economy transformations in Nigeria’s history.

    By linking local realities with global climate ambitions, Niger State is steadily positioning itself as the country’s hub for climate-smart agriculture, clean energy and green industrial development. Governor Bago’s administration began by recognizing an undeniable truth — that climate change is not just an environmental issue but an economic one.

    Desertification, flooding and deforestation have long undermined livelihoods across the state. To confront these threats, Niger State launched its “Green Economy Blueprint”, an integrated strategy designed to build resilience while creating green jobs and sustainable prosperity. From that moment, the state’s engagement with the world deepened.

    At COP28 in Dubai, the state presented its blueprint before international partners, and by COP29 in Baku, it had become a recognizable name in subnational climate leadership. These appearances were not symbolic. They yielded partnerships that have since defined the core of Niger State’s transition agenda.

    One of the most transformative was the Memorandum of Understanding with Blue Carbon, a UAE-based company committed to developing sustainable climate solutions. The agreement to plant one billion economic trees across one million hectares in Niger State stands as one of the largest private–public reforestation programmes on the African continent.

    Beyond ecological restoration, the initiative promises rural employment, carbon credit generation and long-term economic dividends from timber, fruit and non-timber forest products. Equally significant was the partnership with FutureCamp Germany, a globally renowned firm in carbon markets. This collaboration aims to unlock over N1 trillion in climate investments and build the technical framework for Niger State’s carbon market activation.

    For a subnational entity, this is pioneering work — one that could see the state emerge as the first Nigerian state to fully participate in voluntary carbon trading, attracting new revenue streams while promoting transparency in climate finance. The MoU with the NNPC Limited extends Niger’s climate action to the energy frontier.

    It covers a suite of renewable and low-carbon projects, including a Greenfield hydroelectric power plant, mega solar parks for institutions and home solar systems targeting 250,000 households. The agreement also envisions an ethanol plant capable of producing 500 million litres annually, powered by crops cultivated across 100,000 hectares — a project that will create value chains, empower farmers and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

    Meanwhile, the collaboration with ECOWAS Bank for Development and Environment for an $11 million Madalla Green Economic Market promises to turn commerce itself into a model of sustainability — blending trade, recycling and renewable energy in one modern ecosystem. Similarly, Niger’s partnership with the Turkish firm, Direkci Camp is reshaping agribusiness through smart agriculture, irrigated soya cultivation and export-oriented value chains.

    These developments are not isolated. They are coordinated through the Niger State Agency for Green Initiatives (NG-SAGI) — the institutional anchor established two years ago, and now led by Dr. Habila Daniel Galadima. Beyond doubt, NG-SAGI is more than a bureaucracy; it is a policy engine designed to harmonize the state’s environmental, agricultural and energy programmes into one coherent climate resilience framework.

    Under this framework, Niger hosted Nigeria’s first-ever subnational Green Economy Summit in 2023, attracting investors and development partners from across the globe. The summit’s outcomes validated the governor’s approach: local action can be globally relevant if guided by clear vision and credible governance. The pledges and partnerships secured there continue to serve as foundations for current projects — from afforestation to renewable energy and sustainable agriculture.

    Another milestone was the creation of the Niger State Agriculture Development Fund with a N3.5 billion start-up capital from the state and local governments. The fund is enabling 1,000 young farmers to access grants of N1 million each, alongside hectares of land for nurseries across all 25 local governments. This initiative has quietly triggered an agricultural mechanization revolution, empowering a new generation to see farming as business — and sustainability as strategy.

    Partnerships with United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Energy Commission of Nigeria, and the Global World Energy Council are driving new frontiers in wind energy and industrial de-carbonization. Niger’s growing alignment with the UNIDO is already yielding plans for circular economy models within the agro-processing free trade zone, blending job creation with environmental responsibility.

    And while some of these projects are at different stages of implementation, the direction is unmistakable: Niger State is building a green identity anchored on innovation, inclusion and international collaboration. Even modest steps, like the installation of solar-powered streetlights across Minna, tell a larger story — one of a government deliberately moving toward a future powered by clean energy and driven by public safety and climate consciousness.

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    As the world prepares for COP30 in Brazil next month, Niger State’s delegation is expected to present these achievements not as isolated efforts, but as part of a coherent subnational climate narrative. It will highlight how a state, once challenged by deforestation and poverty, is now leading a structured march toward carbon neutrality and green prosperity.

    The focus this time will be on climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy expansion, youth inclusion, and green finance innovation — key pillars that align with the global call for just and equitable transitions. At COP30, Niger’s voice will also speak for Nigeria’s broader subnational climate movement — demonstrating how state-level leadership can accelerate the nation’s commitments under the Paris Agreement.

    The lessons from Niger are clear: climate action must be localized, data-driven and economically beneficial. Beyond the conference halls of Brazil, Niger’s agenda carries deep human meaning. Every hectare reforested, every solar panel installed, every youth trained in sustainable agriculture is a statement of faith in a liveable future.

    Climate action here is not an abstract ambition; it is a lived policy that transforms communities, restores hope and redefines governance as stewardship. If properly amplified, Niger’s story could inspire other states to see climate change not as a threat but as an opportunity — a chance to create industries, attract green finance and protect generations unborn.

    That is the broader promise Governor Bago’s vision now represents: that sustainability is not an aspiration for rich nations alone, but a shared moral and developmental duty for all.

    As COP30 draws near, Niger’s turn to shine on climate action is not just about showcasing progress; it is about reinforcing possibility.

    For a state once defined by its rivers and farmlands, the journey toward a green economy may well become its most enduring legacy — one that proves that in Africa’s heartland, the seeds of a sustainable future are already being sown.

    •Mahmud, a rapporteur at the maiden Niger State Green Economy Summit, writes via: babasalam1989@gmail.com.

  • Abdulahi Ibrahim Atta (1928-2025) – a tribute

    Abdulahi Ibrahim Atta (1928-2025) – a tribute

    By Dapo Fafowora

    Since the departure of late Ambassador  Ibrahim Abdulahi Atta, there has been a flurry of tributes from all over, from his former colleagues and friends in our foreign service, extolling him for his friendship, his professional diligence and his immense contribution to our foreign service.

    After his retirement and until his demise, Ambassador Atta was actively involved in Association of Retired Ambassadors of Nigeria, (ARAN) affairs in Lagos. He also played a pivotal role in the formation of Association of Retired Career Ambassadors of Nigeria, (ARCAN) in 2017. He wrote and presented an impressive framework for the evolution of ARCAN with the merger of the two branches in Lagos and Abuja. He is a trustee of ARCAN, an honour well deserved.

    Amb Abdullahi Atta had a huge reputation for his outstanding public service, a trait he inherited from his Atta family. He was the scion of the notable and highly respected Atta family of Ebiraland.  It was his father, the first traditional ruler of all Ebiraland, who united the various Ebira clans into one unit under his traditional authority, so recognised by the British colonial authorities. He also fought hard and successfully in resisting and warding off persistent attacks on the United Ebiraland by their neighbours.

    He was a man of immense wealth from farming and had a large family. He valued education very much and made sure all his children received a good education. At a time when Western education did not receive much attention or traction in the North under British colonial rule, he worked very hard to give all his children good education. This paid off immensely as many of his children became hugely successful later in Nigeria. They can be found in all walks of life with some of them becoming pre-eminent in our country in diverse professions with a deep sense of public duty and service. 

    Among these outstanding Atta public servants are late Abdul Azeez Atta, his older brother, who was educated at Cambridge and served as Secretary to the Federal Government and Head of Service, a position he held until his premature death in office. There is also Ambassador Judith Atta who served as our ambassador to UNESCO and later as the Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Service, the first female officer so appointed

    That is the formidable background and legacy that Amb Atta inherited.

    In the case of our own Abdullahi Atta, his father sent him, after his primary school education, to Ondo Boys High School in 1943 at 15. He was a close friend of Canon Adeyemi, who was then the Principal of Ondo BHS. There were only a handful of secondary grammar schools in the then Northern Nigeria, most of them Christian private schools, as the British colonial administration were not keen on education in the North, and did not consider the education of the natives necessary or important. At one point while Atta was at Ondo, there were six other Atta students there. At Ondo BHS he and late Amb Tayo Ogunsulire were classmates and became close friends for life. Ogunsulire predeceased him by three years.

    After two years at Ondo he transferred to Oduduwa College at Ife where he completed his secondary grammar school education in 1949.

    After leaving Ife, he joined the then Nigerian Railways (NR) in 1949 and received his training at the Zaria headquarters of the NR. He soon got married and started his public service career. He became a relief Station Master but was not really happy as he was moved rapidly around to the various rural railway stations. He disliked this routine. He wanted to be in the city. And then he lost his first child while still in the Railways.

    The opportunity for him to change his job came in 1960 when he transferred his services from the NR to the office of the Prime Minister in Lagos. There he was assigned to the finance section where his brother, late Abdul Azeez Atta, was the federal Permanent Secretary.

    From finance, he was sent to the new CBN where he served as a manager in the foreign exchange section. He and his young wife, Madam Amina Atta, liked the change very much and settled down easily to life in Lagos where they lived in Yaba.

    In 1962 he left the CBN for the Ministry of Foreign and Commonwealth Relations.

    Shortly after he was posted to the new Embassy in Guinea (Conakry) and later to Accra, Ghana, where he served under Leslie Harriman and later, under Isa Wali, two of our veteran and highly regarded diplomats.

    In 1964, he returned to the foreign ministry from Accra. That was when I first met him as I entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MFA in 1964 shortly after Amb Atta returned home from Accra. We were in the old Post Office Building at the Marina then. We met a few times then but barely knew each other. But I liked his pleasant and friendly manners.

    Then we met in London again in 1966 where we both served in the High Commission as second secretaries with Jibrin Chinade and Segun Ononaiye. That was where he did his foreign intelligence training while also serving in the Consular Division of the High Commission. It was the only time we both served in the same diplomatic mission and I got to know him better.

    After that, we never served in the same Mission again and our career in the FS progressed satisfactorily. From London he went to Cairo. His first appointment as ambassador was to Cuba. In 1981 when I was at our UN Permanent Mission as Ambassador/ Deputy Permanent Representative, I had the privilege of leading a UN delegation to Havana, Cuba, in my capacity as the chairman of the UN Human Rights Commission. I met him there and was much impressed by his diligence in our embassy there under his leadership. He and his wife gave us a very warm hospitality.

    Amb Atta spent most of his career on our then Research Dept. (Intelligence Service, now NIA) of which he became the head. He was a highly professional and resourceful intelligence officer. One delicate assignment he handled very deftly and without any publicity was the return to Nigeria and rehabilitation of some Foreign Service officers who had left the employ of the federal government after the civil war. General Gowon gave him this assignment and he accomplished the task fully. He brought back some of these officers to Nigeria and re-integrated them into the public service. One of them became a Permanent Secretary in the federal civil service and another, the CEO of a major foreign company in Nigeria.

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    It was after we had both retired from the FS that the opportunity came for us to renew and further develop our friendship.

    We both met almost every week at the Metropolitan Club in Lagos of which many retired Nigerian ambassadors were members. These included Ambs Adegoroye, Dove Edwin, Jolaoso, Clark, Peter Afolabi, Olisemeka and Ogunsulire. We had our own table, the Diplomatic Table, at the Club where we spent a lot of time reminiscing about our years in the FS. We all interacted socially freely and Amb Atta was my favourite companion at those weekly social lunches at the Metropolitan.

    There was also, our meetings of ARAN where we exchanged views about our foreign relations. Amb Atta hardly ever missed those ARAN meetings. In fact, he hosted ARAN at least twice at his Onigbongbo residence in Lagos before he relocated to Abuja. And when he returned to Lagos he renewed his old connections with ARAN. In 2017 when ARCAN emerged, Amb Atta was a key figure in events that led to the formation of ARAN of which he was appointed a Trustee later.

    On one occasion, I think it was at the launching of his autobiography, ‘International Diplomacy and Palace Politics’, I asked Amb Atta how and where he and his wife first met. He said it was at Okene and that when he paid her his first visit he saw a young man there lurking around. But the poor guy fled when he saw him. His wife responded in good humour that at Okene she was a hot cake much sought after as a maiden. They marked their 70th wedding anniversary in August shortly before he died. It was a blissful marriage blessed with 10 children of which two predeceased them.

    He planned his children’s education very carefully. One of them, Amina Oyagbola, read law at Cambridge and is now a hugely successful corporate lawyer. His five daughters, equally successful in diverse fields, are married to prominent Yoruba families. I remember how he used to bring his youngest son, Ibrahim, then about 12, to the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club for coaching in tennis. Very few fathers took such a trouble in those days.

    •Fafowora OON FNAL is former Ambassador/Deputy Permanent Representative of Nigeria at the UN and foundation president of ÀRCAN.