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  • Anambra state governorship contest

    Anambra state governorship contest

    • By IfeanyiChukwu Afuba

    Senator Victor Umeh second-guessed the bitterness that has caught up with campaigns for Anambra State, November 8, governorship election. Umeh had at a public function on June 19 pleaded with candidates and their supporters to keep the coming campaigns free of rancour. With gradual acceleration, the political bickering recently turned into mudslinging, raising electoral temperature sharply. 

    Following a volley of accusations and counter accusations, the campaigns degenerated to personal attacks. As if that was not bad enough, candidates’ families have been roped into the fray.

    It’s a matter of concern that while Professor Charles Soludo’s broadsides with the APC’s Nicholas Ukachukwu/Uche Ekwunife raged, another front opened with the alleged beating of Patrick Mbah, Anambra State Commissioner for Youth Development by security men of the YPP candidate, Paul Chukwuma.

    Adversarial political competition is not new in Anambra State. The Second Republic years were marked by acute rivalry between the National Party of Nigeria and the Nigeria Peoples Party in the old Anambra State. Anchored around the gain of Alex Ekwueme’s vice presidency in a post war scenario, the NPN viewed NPP’s fiery rhetoric detrimental to the interest of the Igbo. The NPP which saw itself as a movement, however, considered NPN’s bar an inferior shot at the ultimate prize which Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe was over-qualified to assume. It was a contestation extensively and intensively prosecuted. The tension was easily felt because of the unique structure of the media at the time. All radio and television stations were government-owned and private newspapers, few and far between. It was a period without the regulatory authority of today’s Nigeria Broadcasting Commission. Anambra Broadcasting Service and the local NTA Channel 8 station became theatres of the broadcast battles. On print media front, Daily Star and Weekly Trumpet amplified the divisions. Mid-1983, MKO Abiola’s National Concord praised the restraint from violence in Anambra State in spite of the heated political exchanges. Two weeks later, the commendation was reduced to ashes with the Nwobodo-Ojukwu, Nkpor Junction faceoff.

    It’s a-given that the incumbent is on the receiving end at election campaigns. How else does the opposition command attention? The manifesto, a catalogue of what may be, is a tepid, if not boring tale. The bite, and therefore the news, is the declaration of the government as a failure. And the variety and punchier of illustrations of incompetence, the more headlines and followership attracted. And, there are citizens of Anambra State who, even without the detractions of the opposition, rate Soludo as underperforming. As elsewhere, civil society activism against government in Anambra State comprises both the cynical and the constructive. Some of Soludo’s predecessors were also victims of this belittling of whatever the efforts of government. In the case of those who opposed the government with what they considered superior argument, it sometimes boiled down to difference in perspectives. Other times, it was a matter of what ought to come first.

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    First civilian Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife faced this plight. Ezeife, Third Republic Governor, was in office for less than two years; a year and 10 and half months to be precise. But just three months into the government, the street verdict was that Ezeife had failed!

    Against the background of the dire conditions of the new state, cross sections of the citizenry looked forward to speedy and massive interventions in the area of road construction and social infrastructure. In the face of many areas crying for attention at the same time, cost-saving measures, planning, and appreciable progress in some projects seemed ineffectual to a population hungry for modernisation.

    It was a similar experience in Peter Obi’s first tenure. Following Chris Ngige’s deliberately populist administration, the sense of government as a radical, single – minded, intervening authority stuck with a lot of people. The confrontations with perceived enemies of the state and declaration of emergency on roads became new parameters for assessing performance. Consequently, Obi’s cautious start did not make sense to this constituency. Mid-way into his first term, the impression of a too slow, too little and timid leadership was widely shared. Professor Itse Sagay would say at the time that he was not impressed and “preferred Ngige ten times.”

    In retrospect, the above conclusions are thought to have been hasty. With the benefit of hindsight, the approaches adopted by Ezeife and Obi are better appreciated today. No one can in all fairness fault Ezeife’s preoccupation with providing the material and social environment for the state’s take-off. Obi’s preference for touching “all sectors simultaneously” had its merits – and demerits. Detractors will always be at work. A leader’s attitude to criticism however, can make the difference in governance.

    For Ezeife, the de-marketing of his government was emotionally disturbing. He had complained bitterly on occasions, saying if this was what politics was about, then, he was not a politician. The retired federal permanent secretary succeeded in keeping his cool with the naysayers till the military’s termination of his mandate.

    For his part, Peter Obi understood the power of public engagement from day one. He had come into reckoning as the candidate to beat in the 2003 governorship poll through a deft combination of media and personal interfacing. Obi, much like his successor, Willie Obiano, did not directly confront their critics and rivals. The task was taken up by the media offices. Since leaving office in 2014, Obi has kept an informal media machinery working at full throttle, even as the engagement tone comes across as intolerant. Leadership disposition, then, is critical in management of disputes. This is even more so in the case of politics and elections which are prone to divisiveness.

     By the dictum of ‘to whom much is given, much is expected,’ Anambra State governor, Charles Soludo, would assume higher responsibility for the mess that recently beclouded campaigns for the November 8 poll. But beyond the onus of public office, the various actors contributed to the distasteful drama. All sides in the Anambra campaign fracas overreached themselves in their conduct. It would appear that Soludo took the poor ratings of his government in bad faith. What else was he expecting from those seeking to dislodge him from the coveted position?

    In any case, some of the objections raised by the gubernatorial candidates have merit. Even without categorising the administration “anti-people”, the load of collectable levies at a time of soaring inflation is heavy on majority of the people. And the crude, extortionist style of enforcement adds to the pain. The state security outfit has also been acting as if it were a law unto itself. If the administration believed these representations to be erroneous, the appropriate response would be to counter them with credible information. The impression is strong that the turning point was the sudden fixation on academic certificates. That in itself would not be a breach of any rule. What seems to have offended was the mockery without evidence of petition on authenticity of the certificates. The aggrieved parties saw the sarcasm over the certificates as unwarranted act of belittling.

    But as provocative as the certificate innuendos might be, the retaliation with stigmatisation of body make up was above bounds. And so much can also be said about morality of individual lifestyles. These are private matters that should not substitute public service debate. And what business has a Commissioner for Youth Development directing affairs at government hospital? Deliberately blocking the hospital gate with a vehicle was disorderly just as the physical assault by security operatives was misconduct. Desperation is the common element in this run of excesses.

    In about eight weeks from now, the Anambra governorship election will be decided. Election outcome will most probably not be determined by intimidation and hot, empty rhetoric. Anambra’s civil society is enlightened and can claim a measure of political sophistication. She knows the indices for arriving at informed choices. As it were, the star card sometimes used to distort voter preference, is neutralised this time around. The Abuja reach balances out, setting the stage for a fair contest. An averagely performing incumbent is already a step ahead of his competitors.

    In Anambra State, the unwritten rule of zoning cannot be wished away. It predisposes the stand of the next benefitting zone in second term election. Five notable parties, namely APC, APGA, ADC, LP and YPP will slug it out in the November governorship election. Each of these parties promises to win some wards in the state. This dispersal setting is a perfect recipe for incumbent’s advantage.

  • Tinubu’s two years: The irony we cannot ignore

    Tinubu’s two years: The irony we cannot ignore

    • By T. J. Ishola

    Nigeria has never lacked leaders with grand promises. Our history books are littered with men who climbed the podium, swore before God and country, and then promptly treated the nation like an ATM card. Bola Ahmed Tinubu entered Aso Rock in May 2023.  In just two years, Tinubu has managed to attempt what his predecessors, halo polished and robes ironed, could not deliver in eight. The same man critics swore was an albatross is now the one daring to cut the ropes strangling the nation. Such is Nigeria: the angels betray us, and the devils fix our roofs. Credit, whether we like it or not, has to be given where it is due.

    The first blow landed on the petrol subsidy. For decades, this subsidy was a bloated cow nobody dared to slaughter, though everyone knew it was eating us alive. Presidents flirted with its removal like timid suitors at a village dance, then fled at the first hiss of discontent. Tinubu yanked off the mask and swung the knife. Painful? Brutal? Certainly. But the boil had to be lanced. Billions once siphoned into private pockets are being redirected. Market women cursed, danfo drivers fumed, yet beneath the grumbling was recognition: the masquerade finally fell into the gutter.

    Then came the forex reform. For years, the naira lived like a Pentecostal preacher with two sermons—one for the rich, another for the poor. Politically connected merchants bought dollars at bargain rates, then flipped them for obscene profit while the masses queued at banks like beggars for crumbs. Tinubu collapsed the charade. Investors returned. Reserves rose. Suddenly, the naira began to act like a currency instead of a sickly orphan. The message was simple: the age of “na connection dey determine rate” is over. Even the sacred cows realised: pepper soup no dey exempt any cow when hunger knocks.

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    Fiscal prudence is another oddity on this stage. The debt service-to-revenue ratio—once a vampire draining almost 100% of our lifeblood—has dropped below 40%. Tax reforms are widening the net, finally catching big fish instead of flogging small fry. Young entrepreneurs, long condemned to borrowing from shylocks with interest rates resembling armed robbery, are now accessing loans. The streets laughed in disbelief: “Na wah o—government finally remember say poor man dey exist.”

    Security, our national horror franchise, has also shifted. Terrorists and bandits are being neutralised, caches of weapons seized, hostages rescued. Anti-corruption agencies once reduced to political bulldogs have barked into real action: over 4,000 convictions, billions recovered, ghost projects resurrected from the graveyard. Nigerians blink: so this machinery could work all along? What then were the previous tenants doing—sleeping in agbada?

    Infrastructure, too, has crawled out of PowerPoint presentations and into concrete. The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road is on track, gas plants are expanding domestic supply, ports are modernising, the Electricity Act has shattered Abuja’s stranglehold on power. These aren’t just ribbon-cutting charades; they are arteries for trade, jobs, survival. As one jaded commuter said: “If dem fix these roads, na like person wey finally buy shoe after trekking barefoot for 50 years.”

    Even education, that perennial disaster zone, has known calm. Two years without an ASUU strike—unheard of. Over half a million students now access loans, stipends, and bursaries. Millions of households benefit from cash transfers and school feeding programmes. It is not paradise, but the gates of hell have been nudged open just enough for air to pass.

    Yet let us not be drunk on progress. Reform without accountability is pouring palm wine into a basket. Ministries, agencies, and councils must now be forced to account for every kobo. No more phantom clinics, invisible schools, or constituency projects that exist only on glossy brochures. Budgets must become contracts with consequences. Fail to deliver? Watch your allocations shrink until you either reform or rot. As the Hausa warn: “Idan ka ki jin magana, zaka ji jifa”—ignore words, you’ll feel stones.

    This is Tinubu’s next test: will he wield the same courage against the entrenched gluttons in his own circle? The padded budgets passed by legislators who act more like armed robbers in agbada? The ministries where funds vanish like ghosts at cockcrow? If subsidy cabals could be tamed, can sacred cows in agbada be dragged to the abattoir? Or will the old pattern resume—where leaders roar against corruption in public but dine with it in private?

    Nigerians must also confront their hypocrisy. We chant “accountability!” by day but bribe policemen by night. We curse government waste yet inflate contracts when opportunity comes. Everyone wants reform—so long as it does not touch their own pocket. As the Yoruba say, “Omo tí a kò kó, yóò gbé ilé tí a kó ta”—the undisciplined child will sell the family house. We are that child.

    History rarely cares for personal saints; it cares for results. And the results—subsidy gone, forex unified, revenue stabilised, infrastructure rolling, strikes absent—are staring us in the face. The irony is brutal: the man many wrote off is doing the work our righteous leaders never dared.

    If Tinubu now anchors reform to genuine accountability, he could carve his name in history’s stubborn stone. But if he chickens out—if sacred cows are allowed to keep grazing—then his two-year sprint will collapse into the same swamp of squandered hope.

    He has done in two years what others failed to do in two terms. What remains is consolidation, discipline, and a refusal to play hypocrisy’s handmaiden. Nigerians, too, must decide: do we remain cynical spectators, or do we drag this fragile progress forward with vigilance? Because in the end, na accountability go separate the leader from the looter.

    And if Tinubu truly wants to be remembered as the man who rewrote Nigeria’s dirge, he must prove it now. For even in Lagos traffic, LASTMA does not accept vibes—you must show your papers.

    • Ishola writes from United Kingdom.
  • Act Now for Peace: Nigeria’s urgent call

    Act Now for Peace: Nigeria’s urgent call

    SIR: In a world torn apart by wars, division, and mistrust, peace is not just a dream it is survival. Every September 21, the world pauses to reflect on this truth and to mark the International Day of Peace. This year’s theme, “Act Now for a Peaceful World,” is more than a slogan. It is an urgent call to the hard, daily work of building peace not tomorrow, but today.

    For Nigeria, that call feels deeply personal. Ours is a country that has walked through fire and still found the strength to rise again. From civil unrest to insurgency, from economic strain to political transition, we have been tested repeatedly. Yet through it all, Nigerians continue to show resilience that is difficult to measure but impossible to ignore.

    In Nigeria, resilience is not an abstract concept debated in conferences. It is the daily choice of communities that have suffered and yet refused to give up on one another.

    It is the farmer in Borno who dares to return to his fields after displacement by Boko Haram. It is the teacher in Plateau who gathers children under a tree so that learning does not die, even amid insecurity. It is the traders in Onitsha who rebuild their livelihoods despite the turbulence of sit-at-home orders. It is the young entrepreneur in Lagos who transforms hardship into innovation and keeps pushing forward.

    Resilience in Nigeria is not silent endurance; it is active, deliberate, and sacrificial. As an African proverb reminds us, “When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” For peace to take root, Nigerians must guard against internal divisions ethnic, religious, and political divisions that threaten to weaken our unity.

    This year’s theme also aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which focuses on economic reform, security, job creation, and social inclusion. Yet none of these goals can succeed without peace as their foundation.

    The theme “Act Now for a Peaceful World” speaks to urgency. Peace cannot wait for a more convenient time. Acting now means more than strengthening security forces. It means listening to communities, addressing poverty and inequality, creating jobs, providing good leadership, and empowering those who are too often side-lined women and young people.

    Across Nigeria, inspiring grassroots efforts already show us the way forward. These can be grouped into three key pillars:

    Dialogue and Mediation: Community dialogue initiatives address farmer-herder clashes, land disputes, and inter-religious tensions. Informal Peace Infrastructures (IPCs) provide mediation at the local level, while national institutions such as the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) develop systems for conflict prevention, early warning and conflict resolution. 

    Interfaith and Social Cohesion: Organizations such as the Interfaith Mediation Centre foster trust and tolerance between Christian and Muslim communities, proving that dialogue can bridge divides.

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    Economic Empowerment: Vocational training and microfinance initiatives reduce unemployment, provide alternatives to violence, and help young people build sustainable livelihoods.

    These examples show that peacebuilding is not the sole responsibility of presidents, governors, or ministers. It is the work of communities, civil society, and citizens alike.

    Nigeria is not just any country. As the most populous black nation and Africa’s largest economy, our peace or lack of it reverberates far beyond our borders. When Nigeria is stable, West Africa and the Sahel breathe easier. When Nigeria stumbles, the entire region feels the ripple effects.

    That is why our responsibility goes beyond ourselves. By acting now through dialogue, inclusion, and justice, we can demonstrate that a diverse, complex nation can still find common ground and chart a shared path forward.

    The International Day of Peace is not about ceremonies or speeches alone. It is a mirror, asking us what role we play in creating peace. Governments have their responsibilities policies, reforms, and security. But citizens, too, have theirs: in the patience we show, the empathy we express, the forgiveness we extend, and the bridges we build in our daily lives.

    These may seem modest acts, but they are powerful tools of peacebuilding. If practiced consistently, they can transform communities and strengthen national unity.

    Resilience has kept Nigeria standing. The Renewed Hope Agenda offers a path forward. What remains is for all of us to turn resilience into lasting stability and renewed hope into lived reality.

    As Nelson Mandela wisely said, “Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace.” On this International Day of Peace 2025, may Nigeria choose courage, choose dialogue, and above all, choose to act now. Because the time for peace is not tomorrow. The time is today.

    • Timilehin Olotu, Abuja.
  • Paradox of Nigerian identity abroad

    Paradox of Nigerian identity abroad

    SIR: Nigeria has increasingly become a cultural and human resource exporter of talent, innovation, and expertise. From music (Burna Boy, Tems, Davido), sports (Anthony Joshua, Noni Madueke, Bukayo Saka, Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze), literature (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie), and science (Bennet Omalu, Maggie Aderin-Pocock) to politics (Kemi Badenoch in the United Kingdom), Nigerians and people of Nigerian descent are leaving indelible marks across the globe.

    Yet, many of these achievers are “Nigerian” only by heritage. They hold foreign passports, often have little or no direct connection to Nigeria beyond their ancestry, and sometimes even downplay their Nigerian roots. This tension raises a critical question: what does it mean to be Nigerian in a globalized world—blood, birthplace, or belonging?

    These individuals have showcased remarkable resilience, adaptability, and talent. Their “Nigerian-ness” has become a global brand, even when their citizenship is foreign. Watching English football today—with names like Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, and Ethan Nwaneri—one might mistake the Three Lions for a Nigerian side. Yet, all of them carry British passports and represent England at the highest level.

    In politics, British Conservative politician Kemi Badenoch, despite her Nigerian heritage, often distances herself from her roots, sometimes in ways critics interpret as negative portrayals of Nigeria. Still, her Nigerian origin cannot be denied, and her rise illustrates the paradox of identity abroad.

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    The 1999 Constitution provides clarity on citizenship. Chapter III, Section 25 defines Nigerian citizens by birth as those born in Nigeria to Nigerian parents or grandparents, those born abroad to Nigerian parents, and those with ancestral ties to indigenous Nigerian communities. Sections 26 and 27 address citizenship by registration and naturalization, respectively.

    Yet, constitutional recognition often contrasts with lived realities. For example, when the Super Falcons won their 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) title in Rabat, Morocco, questions arose over the eligibility of players like Ashleigh Plumptre and Michelle Alozie. Despite holding British and American passports, both were challenged as “non-Nigerians.” CAF ultimately upheld their eligibility, since Nigerian law permits dual citizenship and their heritage is undeniably Nigerian.

    Being Nigerian extends beyond legal documents—it is cultural, ancestral, and experiential. In May, footballer Eberechi Eze married his longtime partner, Izuthe Mulatto in London. Though born British, the wedding was deeply Nigerian in character—from the attire to the music and cuisine—all rooted in Igbo cultural traditions. Such moments reveal that Nigerian identity often finds expression through heritage, not just citizenship.

    This raises a broader philosophical question: is Nigerian identity defined by blood, birthplace, or

    In recent years, the phenomenon popularly known as Japa—a Yoruba term meaning “to escape”—has accelerated. Frustrated by slow economic growth, insecurity, poor governance, and limited opportunities, many young Nigerians have migrated in search of better lives abroad.

    This exodus has contributed to significant brain drain, with Nigeria losing some of its brightest and most skilled citizens. The country continues to forfeit the expertise, creativity, and innovation of a generation that could otherwise drive national progress.

    Despite this, the Nigerian diaspora has become one of the country’s greatest assets. Beyond their individual achievements, diaspora communities provide immense financial support through remittances. According to the World Bank (2024), Nigeria received approximately $20.5 billion in remittances in 2023, making it Africa’s largest recipient and placing it among the top ten globally. These inflows surpassed oil revenues at certain points, serving as an economic lifeline for millions of households by funding education, healthcare, and community development.

    Diaspora remittances are not merely financial—they represent Nigeria’s global soft power. Whether through professional expertise, cultural influence, or networks in politics and business, the Nigerian diaspora constitutes an underutilized resource for national development.

    The paradox of Nigerian identity abroad lies in this contradiction: Nigerians thrive globally, yet many do so under foreign flags, holding foreign passports, and often identifying more with their host countries than with Nigeria itself. Nevertheless, their cultural heritage continues to shape their lives and achievements, whether they acknowledge it publicly or not.

    For Nigeria, the challenge is clear: to transform its relationship with its diaspora from passive admiration to active engagement. Harnessing this global community’s wealth, knowledge, and influence could redefine Nigeria’s place in the world.

    Until then, Nigerian identity will remain a paradox—celebrated abroad as a source of pride, but complicated at home by issues of governance, opportunity, and belonging.

    • Anagba, Joseph Obidi Abuja.
  • The rise & festering of destructive media in Nigeria

    The rise & festering of destructive media in Nigeria

    SIR: Recently, three reputed international media organizations highlighted a transformative narrative about Nigeria that often escapes domestic headlines.

    Reuters documented the rise of millionaire cocoa farmers—visionaries leveraging innovation and scale to revolutionize agriculture, a sector foundational to Nigeria’s economic resurgence.

    Similarly, Financial Times (of London) reported on Chemical & Allied Products Plc, a leading Nigerian paint manufacturer that pivoted to sourcing raw materials locally in response to prohibitive foreign exchange costs, illustrating corporate adaptability amid macroeconomic constraints.

    Bloomberg also reported on how corporate organizations like Dangote Industries and BUA Group are cutting imports, projecting them as a key example of the trend towards local sourcing in the Nigerian “do-it-yourself” economy.

    These stories, by esteemed global media, offer a counterpoint to prevailing perceptions—remarkable accounts of resilience and growth under pressure.

    For decades, Nigerians have critiqued foreign media for disproportionately amplifying negative stories, often portraying the nation as perpetually in crisis.

    Unfortunately and paradoxically, this narrative has flipped domestically. Many Nigerian media outlets today prioritize sensationalism over substance, focusing primarily on sound bites and sentiments rather than investigative rigor. Positive developments are eclipsed by relentless focus on challenges.

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    From prime-time TV shows to opinion columns and digital platforms, the appetite for negativity dominates. The phenomenon of destructive media has become a self-sabotaging prophecy, shaping public sentiment and policy discourse with disproportionate pessimism.

    The Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s second anniversary provided a rare moment for reflection. Accessible public data highlighted significant investments in infrastructure: roads rehabilitated and constructed; health facilities modernized; rail networks expanded; student loans granted; agricultural initiatives scaled; and industrial activity showing renewed vigour. Yet, these achievements were met largely with scepticism or silence.

    Only few media outlets bothered to verify these claims or highlight their real-world impact. The nation’s progress quietly unfolds beneath a cloud of scepticism and selective reporting, hindering public understanding and stifling constructive engagement.

    The flourishing of destructive media is a crisis of narrative stewardship—wherein the power to influence public discourse is wielded without proportional responsibility.

    Reclaiming the narrative with balanced, fact-driven journalism is essential to reflect Nigeria’s complex reality and foster optimism rooted in truth.

    • Olabode Opeseitan, Lagos.
  • Nigeria/Ethiopia and tales of two hydro-power dams

    Nigeria/Ethiopia and tales of two hydro-power dams

    • By Charles Onunaiju

    Nigeria and Ethiopia are two significant powers in sub-Saharan Africa with estimated populations of 230 million and 135 million respectively. They are the first and second largest countries in Africa. Ethiopia has carved for itself a niche as a global aviation hub.

    On September 9, the East African nation carved another niche as a sub-regional energy hub when it launched the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a hydro power dam that would generate estimated 5,100 MW power and supply electricity to the entire country and other countries in the sub region.

    With the hydro-power dam completed and launched, Ethiopia looks forward to bringing electricity to 90% of its population in the next five years as the country step up efforts to build the enabling infrastructure that would carry the power now generated by the hydro-dam to the various parts of the country.

    What Ethiopia did is nothing short of epochal. Despite the country’s political legacy of polarizations and conflicts largely stoked by the Derg regime of former military leader, Mengistu Haile Mariam in the 70’s and 80’s, Ethiopia found a rallying point in turning their gift of natural water into a sovereign and epic decision to build Africa’s largest hydro-power dam.

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    Known as the “water tower of Africa”, yet it flowed for several years without being tapped. With a hydro-power potential of 45 gigawatts, it was not until the 1990’s, with routine nationwide blackouts, industries hobbled by electricity shortages and millions of household struggling through darkness that the country gathered the national will and resolve to translate their latent potential to transformative power.

    The pivotal figure of former late Prime Minister Melees Zenawi was central to reframing water beyond just a natural endowment. It was an outstanding tribute to the late Zenawi to escalate natural water endowment to national strategy; aligning hydropower to sovereignty and industrialization.

    Ethiopia by the 1990’s when the late prime minister assumed office was one of the least electrified in the world with chronic shortages that left her GDP at 2%. With a vision to mobilize national power strategically embedded in the state, former Prime Minister Zenawi advanced the paradigm of the Developmental State, where government reflecting the popular will and demonstrative of its integrity, credibility and strength would drive long-term transformation.

    The conception of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam was a bold move but the challenge came, when international lenders for combinations of politics and geo-economics refused to finance projects on the Blue Nile. But Zenawi, undeterred, launched an unfamiliar and radical experiment of domestic financing. Through bonds, payroll deductions and public donations, Ethiopians collectively funded the Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD). Zenawi’s earlier declaration that “this is our dam” turned a technical project into a compulsive national monument of pride and defiance.

    The launch of the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance dam on September 9 is the crown jewel of a bold vision transformed to actionable policy and kept in a steady trajectory by leadership connected to the national will and resolve. Not even the interregnum of the Northern Ethiopian conflict between 2020 and 2022 could derail the project of the country’s renaissance and the target schedule of its completion.

    The project laid in 2011 by Zenawi himself, with final design of 6,450MW capacity, 74 billion cubic metre reservoir and the largest hydroelectric project in Africa, was not financed by the World Bank but by  Ethiopian citizens. By becoming a regional energy hub, GERD would not only be powering industrialization locally but by exporting electricity to the immediate neighbourhood, would be projecting influence.

    With her reputation as a global aviation hub and now an energy hub, Africa’s second most populous nation can justifiably begin to seek the top table in the global fora, including a permanent seat at the United Security Council, whenever, it becomes available. But beyond national prestige and global acclamation, life would become much better for the ordinary Ethiopians. The bulging youth population of the country can find a niche in their new found electric power to advance their dreams.

    Meanwhile, as success stories have multiple claimants, Washington jumped into the fray of Ethiopia’s national excitement, with President Donald Trump, claiming that the U.S provided financial support. Addis Ababa has summarily dismissed any such claim, insisting that the project was entirely domestically funded.

    Ethiopia explained further that the project took 14 years of round-the clock work to build and that several fund raising campaigns were held at which members of the public made multiple voluntary donations.

    The success story of the Ethiopian’s hydro-electric project contrasts with Nigeria’s Mambilla Hydroelectric power project situated in Taraba State and whose first feasibility study was carried out in 1972. The project is currently entangled in a protracted and administrative dispute with no resolution in sight. Had the project that is more than 40 years in the drawing board been completed, it would generate an estimated 4.7 billion KWh annually, making it Nigeria’s largest hydroelectric power project. But corruption and chronic deficit of visionary leadership that is unable to transcend tenures of successive governments, have meant that the project become a convenient political football kicked in circles by the revolving doors of governing elite.

    Despite the Chinese Export-Import bank picking up the 85% of the total funding of the $5.8 billion in concessional loan to Nigeria, the legal tussle involving Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited persist, snowballing into international arbitrations that have seen Nigeria’s previous heads of government summoned for testimony.

    But beyond the drama of protracted litigations and administrative hoopla are entrenched vested interests, determined to derail the project for reasons that are obviously pecuniary. Because, these vexatious vested interests are nestled at the various layers of national power and feeds fat from their vintage positions, they can crash national will with impunity. Because derailing national projects of such magnitude generate enormous slush funds from where it is possible to pursue power, smear politics and public service, Nigeria’s governing elites do not see the vision of development beyond the electoral calendar.  And final years or tenures in office are seen and taken as period or moments of permissive recklessness including physical stripping pf public offices and utilities and mindless looting of public treasury. The routine nature of these shameless behaviours is becoming more or less an acceptable norm.

    The Mambilla Hydroelectric dam project stands as terrific testimony to the monument of Nigeria’s governance incompetence. While Ethiopia could carry their dream and vision beyond specific government tenures and even, the debilitating conflict in the northern part of the country that spanned two years could deter them from arriving at their epic moment of national glory. Nigeria’s governing elites and their hangers-on measure accomplishments by numbers of private jets, luxuries at their beck and calls and even such mundane things as birthday and marriage parties of their children.

    Despite a visionless and greedy successive leaderships and their elite accomplices, Nigerians by their resilience to survive the vicissitudes of the world’s most callous and vicious elite, have demonstrated in several instances, that when called upon, can rise to the occasion. In arts, sports, business, professions and academia with less toxins of corrosive politics, Nigerians are as distinguished as their counterparts in the world.

    Only corrupt politics and power stands in the way of renascent Nigeria.

    •Onunaiju contributes from the FCT, Abuja.

  • Nigeria: Fighting back against banditry and insecurity

    Nigeria: Fighting back against banditry and insecurity

    • By Senator Iroegbu

    Kidnapping and banditry remain among Nigeria’s most pressing security challenges. From Zamfara to Kaduna and down to the Southeast, this scourge has disrupted lives, displaced communities, and drained the economy through ransom payments.

    Despite the grim headlines, recent coordinated security efforts are producing measurable results, offering cautious optimism for citizens, policymakers, and the international community alike.

    In a democracy that thrives on dissent and scrutiny, pushbacks from groups like SBM Intelligence and the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) should be expected. Their critiques of recent incidents highlight the persistence of the problem and the human costs that statistics alone cannot capture. Still, challenges do not erase progress: security is rarely perfect; successes are incremental and often fragile. What matters is whether Nigeria is moving forward in terms of security. In many respects, it is.

    In late August, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) announced the rescue of 128 hostages in Zamfara State—an achievement echoed elsewhere. According to the Defence Headquarters, security forces in 2024 killed over 3,100 terrorists, arrested 2,500 suspects, and freed more than 1,600 kidnapped victims. Likewise, the Nigeria Police Force reported rescuing 1,581 hostages and arresting over 30,000 suspects for various offences.

    Between May 2023 and early 2025, National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu disclosed that more than 13,500 terrorists and armed criminals were neutralised, while over 124,000 insurgents and their families surrendered. Additionally, more than 11,000 individuals were rescued from captivity, and nearly 3,843 illegal refineries—key to the funding of insurgent and criminal activities—were dismantled nationwide.

    Collectively, these numbers underscore a shift from defensive responses to proactive operations, with a new focus on dismantling networks of violence.

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    One of the most innovative tools in this effort is the Multi-Agency Anti-Kidnap Fusion Cell (MAAKFC), established under the ONSA and its National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in partnership with the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA). The cell pools intelligence, coordinates rescue missions, and tracks financial flows sustaining kidnapping syndicates. Since its launch in late 2024, officials report an 80% success rate in anti-kidnapping operations.

    This initiative reflects an understanding that kidnapping in Nigeria has morphed into a sophisticated criminal economy, sometimes linked to terrorist financing. MAAKFC integrates military, police, intelligence, and judicial actors into a single platform. Beyond rescuing victims, its mandate is to dismantle the economic and operational infrastructure of kidnapping.

    Concrete results are evident in communities that once epitomised Nigeria’s insecurity. Southern Kaduna, long plagued by cycles of killings and abductions, is experiencing relative calm. Zamfara, under siege by bandit warlords, has begun stabilising. In the Southeast, where “unknown gunmen” once paralysed daily life through violence and sit-at-home orders, a fragile normalcy is returning.

    However, the Northwest remains the hardest hit. Banditry has killed more than 12,000 people and displaced entire farming communities. Still, gains are also visible here. The arrest of the Ansaru terrorist kingpins: Mahmud Muhammad Usman, the self-styled “Emir of Ansaru,” and his deputy Mahmud al-Nigeri (Malam Mahmuda)—and the elimination of notorious warlords such as Ali Kachalla, Halilu Sububu, and Boderi, alongside the surrender of others under non-kinetic initiatives like the “Kaduna Model,” has reduced mass abductions. While isolated attacks continue, the frequency and scale of kidnappings have declined.

    Yet, optimism must be tempered with realism. According to SBM Intelligence, Nigerians paid at least N2.57 billion in ransoms between July 2024 and June 2025, while abductors demanded as much as N48 billion. During this period, nearly 5,000 people were kidnapped, and over 760 were killed in related violence. These figures underscore the ongoing challenges and the need for continued vigilance and action.

    The NEF recently drew attention to deadly incidents. These include the massacre of 27 worshippers in a Kaduna mosque, the execution of 35 abductees in Zamfara despite ransom payments, and raids in Kauru and Kudan LGAs. Their call for a state of emergency in Northern Nigeria underscores the severity of the crisis and the urgent need for action.

    Critics are right to argue that one spectacular failure can erase the confidence built by 19 successful operations, and security gains remain uneven and vulnerable to reversal. Furthermore, the emergence of new groups, such as Lakurawa, demonstrates the fluidity and adaptability of criminal enterprises.

    Progress in Nigeria’s fight against kidnapping and banditry is undeniable, but it remains insufficient. To consolidate these gains, security operations must be sustained, and a broader focus on addressing root causes is also necessary. Security agencies should strengthen coordination and intelligence sharing by fully leveraging platforms like the MAAKFC. Otherwise, turf rivalries between agencies risk undermining years of hard-won progress and must be firmly addressed.

    Equally vital is community engagement, as local communities are the first line of defence. Gaining their trust relies on the security forces’ accountability, transparency, and respect for human rights. Simultaneously, addressing underlying drivers—poverty, youth unemployment, porous borders, and governance deficits—is essential. Otherwise, military victories will remain temporary.

    International partnerships also play a critical role. The UK-supported MAAKFC demonstrates the value of global collaboration. Building on this, Nigeria should seek to expand such cooperative frameworks with ECOWAS, the African Union, and other strategic partners. Ultimately, only robust security, community trust, structural reforms, and international cooperation can ensure that progress translates into lasting peace and stability.

    Nigeria’s battle against kidnapping and banditry is far from over. The pain of victims’ families and the ransom economy underscore the scale of the challenge, yet dismissing recent progress would be unfair. For the first time in years, momentum is building: thousands of hostages have been freed, major warlords have been eliminated, and coordinated institutions are emerging.

    The road ahead requires patience, vigilance, and collective responsibility. Security cannot be left solely to the government; it is everyone’s business, and each citizen has a role in ensuring the safety of our communities. To transform fragile gains into lasting stability, Nigeria must implement coordinated strategies, foster community involvement, and undertake structural reforms.

    Amidst the turmoil, there is hope. Our task is to turn hope into resilience, and resilience into peace. The strength of the Nigerian peoples—their ability to endure and strive for a better future—remains a source of inspiration in these challenging times.

    •Iroegbu, a journalist and security and public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja.

  •  Malami: The man crying wolf

     Malami: The man crying wolf

    • By Sani Mu’azu

    The Aesop fables, eponymously named after a Greek storyteller who lived around the 6th Century BCE, also included the fable of “the boy who cried wolf”. This story tells of a young shepherd boy tasked with watching over his village’s flock of sheep. Bored and seeking attention, the boy repeatedly cried out “Wolf! Wolf!” even though there was no danger. Each time, the villagers ran to his aid, only to find they had been tricked. Eventually, when a real wolf appeared and threatened the flock, the boy cried for help again –wolf – but this time, the villagers ignored him, thinking it was another false alarm. As a result, the wolf devoured many sheep, and the boy was left helpless.

    The petition authored by the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, wherein he accused the governor of Kebbi State, Nasir Idris of importing thugs from across the border to destabilise the state typifies the Aesopic fable above.

    The “smoking gun” according to the Malami in this petition or wolf cry was nothing more than his retelling of his last visit to Birnin-Kebbi, purportedly a condolence visit, nay a political circus. Now, condolence visits, at least here in Kebbi State and elsewhere in Arewa, are sombre moments of empathy, reflection, and collective mourning. They are meant to convey compassion, not chaos.

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    However, Malami’s version of condolence was something else entirely. His convoy was boisterous and extravagant, and could have rivalled that of a sitting president. While there is no law barring anyone from travelling with a long line of cars in the name of a condolence visit, videos from the reception tell a different story: His very loud throng of supporters were not clutching prayer beads or wearing mournful faces; they were brandishing machetes, clubs, and other dangerous weapons.

    Simply put, Malami went to piss on the graveside of the deceased, besmirch his memory, and insult the sensibilities of his loved ones. As if that was not enough, he has now added the audacity of dragging the memory of the deceased to the pungent hall of petty politics and national theatrics. As with the wolf fable, Malami came to invite chaos, but when the chaos of his creation threatened to consume him, he resorted to crying wolf!

    This is why Malami’s petition to the NSA, the IGP, and just about every rung of Nigeria’s security apparatus comes off as both ironic and unfortunate. It’s beginning to look like every angle of this sordid drama, culminating in his visit to Birnin-Kebbi was orchestrated and pushed out by Malami himself to achieve this exact outcome. Wolf!

    In his first press release after the event for instance, Malami claimed that thugs were unleashed from the APC headquarters in Birnin-Kebbi to truncate his noisy and flamboyant condolence mission. While we have been waiting for him to show us any evidence of that claim, he has pushed the boundaries of that outrageous narrative in his petition to now include allegations that a sitting governor, elected to safeguard lives and property and to uphold the rule of law, has descended into importing foreign thugs to destabilise his own state.

    Now, while people may consider all this as a very heavy accusation, here’s what I find fascinating: Malami truly believing that such a ridiculous narrative can hold water not at a beer parlour, but before the entire nation. I mean, whoever convinces himself that a governor would sponsor the institution of fear and insecurity on his state just for the sake of one politician. And who is this politician? An almost disgraced former AGF on whose head allegations of abuse of office continue to hover? Please.

    To think that a man who once held the exalted office of Attorney General of the Federation would descend to this all-time low peddling false narratives tells you so much about the quality of governance in our nation. This is a man nicknamed “the most powerful AGF in the history of Nigeria,” not because of noble reforms, but because of allegations of underhand dealings and manipulations that characterised his tenure as AGF. This is the same man crying wolf in Kebbi State and attempting to bring the leadership of our state to disrepute.

    I reckon that the most galling part of this saga is Malami’s sheer audacity; his willingness to drag the reputation of an entire state into the mud for the sake of petty politics. I honestly do not understand why the state government has tolerated his shenanigans this long. But this particular stunt is dangerous. It seeks not just to undermine the governor but to stain all of us in Kebbi by painting the picture of a lawless land overrun with imported mercenaries.

    Malami the politician, if we must call him that, is in desperate need of a reality check. This is the same man who has been repeatedly accused of hiring hatchet jobbers from outside Kebbi State to discredit the state government, all in cahoots with media stations that have long abandoned basic ethics. He thrives on distortion, and now, he’s attempting to institutionalise it.

    This is precisely why accountability must be demanded of him. We have all seen the videos—his triumphant entry into Kebbi State accompanied by thugs wielding machetes and clubs. That is hard evidence. If he insists thugs were imported from across our borders, let him present verifiable proof. Otherwise, what he is peddling is nothing more than scaremongering. And we, as a people, cannot afford to entertain that sort of reckless propaganda, regardless of who is spreading it.

    The security agencies he petitioned must not allow this matter to slide. Malami must be brought in for questioning. Let him come forward with evidence. Let him show us names, faces, or any credible proof. Because if his so-called “weighty allegations” collapse under scrutiny as I strongly suspect they will, then he owes the people of Kebbi State an apology.

    But then again, in a strange way, his antics are a blessing in disguise. By showing his hand this early, Malami has revealed the nature of his 2027 political playbook: a readiness to burn the state down to fuel his personal ambition. His strategy is transparent now: Manufacture chaos, throw wild accusations, and try to play the victim. The people of Kebbi State are watching, and we will not forget.

    For those of us who love this state, the message is clear. Malami should keep his ambitions on ice until the election season. But while we wait, we should thank him for unravelling so quickly. The people now see him for who he is and where he has anchored himself politically. By 2027, when the ballot boxes come out, Kebbi State will give him the “condolence visit” he truly deserves; a farewell from the political stage after his mediocrity has been fully exposed.

    •Sani writes from Birnin Kebbi.

  • Oloyede: Confronting AI-enabled examination malpractice

    Oloyede: Confronting AI-enabled examination malpractice

    • By Charles Ampitan

    “Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.” ~ Margaret Mead.

    There is no gainsaying the fact that Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, the hardworking registrar/chief executive of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has been on a one-man mission to eliminate examination malpractice in the nation’s public examination processes since assuming the leadership of the examination body on 1August 1, 2016. That he met a JAMB battling an image crisis is no longer news or that he had, without much ado, set upon the task of redeeming this battered image of one of the nation’s foremost examination bodies and had largely succeeded at doing just that over the years is there for all to see. In this wise, his automation of JAMB’s admission process through the institution of the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) to eliminate human interference in the admission process; the linking of NIN with UTME registration to checkmate impersonation and the ticketing platform, which was set up to streamline all communications with the Board from candidates, CBT centres and other stakeholders are worthy of reference. Presently, all transactions carried out on the platform are time-stamped and documented to enable the Board to track the trends of perceptions and complaints across its systems and facilities nationwide at a glance and this is open 24 hours every day (24/7), among others.

    Underscoring all these innovations by Oloyede are his three personal and interrelated codes of integrity, fairness and transparency, which are the hallmarks of a personality that does not suffer fools gladly. The refrain in some quarters is that as a chief executive, Oloyede would not bat an eyelid at deploying a thousand naira to trace the whereabouts of a dime.  Perhaps, it is this penchant for thoroughness that underscored his recent inauguration of a 23-member Special Committee on Examination Infractions, on August 18, during which he stated that the Board is currently facing a heightened level of assault which, if not urgently addressed, could negatively impact every sector of the country. That assault is the emergent trend of AI-enabled registration and examination malpractice. To tackle this menace, Oloyede had assembled some of the finest brains in academia, civil societies, law and security agencies, to map out the challenges, develop sustainable solutions, and at the same time, safeguard innocent individuals from being unduly affected.

    The terms of reference of the committee is both revealing and alarming as they include identifying the methods, patterns, tools, and technologies used to perpetrate these infractions; reviewing current examination and registration policies and recommend improvements to strengthen system resilience against such malpractices; determining the culpability or otherwise of each of the 6,458 suspected candidates, whose results are still being withheld.

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    The writer is amused at the naivety or mischievousness of some commentators, who had tried to castigate Oloyede’s attention to details or thoroughness by pointing that about 1.9 million candidates had sat the 2025 UTME, hence, they opined that it is needless to go after just 6,458 suspected examination cheats. Perhaps, they need to be educated that conventional wisdom dictates that one should “never underestimate the importance of small things!’’

    In its report, the committee had submitted that AI-enabled malpractice as perpetrated by some, institutions, CBT centres and candidates is on the rise. The Board had disclosed an alarming trend, whereby certain universities were found to have admitted candidates into full-time programmes under false pretences, and later forged NCE results to qualify them for 200-level direct entry admission adding that approximately 120 candidates were implicated in this scam.

    CBT centres, on their own, had been implicated in finger blending, which is the integration of fingerprints from multiple individuals into a single registration profile to fraudulently validate the identity of a candidate (4,251 cases), image morphing, involving the merging of the photograph of a registered candidate with that of an impersonator to create a blended image that could deceive physical inspection during examination entry (190 cases).

    With regard to candidates, many have been discovered to have been involved in albinism falsification, whereby they falsely declare themselves as albinos in order to benefit from relaxed image-capturing protocols designed to accommodate the peculiarities of genuine albino candidates(1,878), multiple NIN registrations, entailing the use of duplicate/triplicate NINs or alternate identities by candidates (30), result/credential forgery involving candidates presenting forged IJMB, JUPEB, WAEC certificates,  and altered UTME results to gain admission (29), and solicitation, whereby candidates are found to have been in communication with or soliciting assistance from examination centres (110) totalling 6,458 cases in all.

    Against the above scenarios, it is evident that Oloyede is not chasing after shadows as examination malpractice has evolved into a complex, technology-enabled, and culturally normalised ecosystem .Also, according to him, fraud has not only become systemic and organised, nor limited to candidates, but has also extended to parents, CBT centres, and institutions leading to the inevitable conclusion that current security, policy, and legal frameworks are grossly inadequate to address these emergent fraudulent practices especially against the backdrop of AI-enabled image morphing, albinism falsification and finger blending. Hence, what Nigeria needs now are bold reforms as currently being spearheaded by Oloyede, so that public confidence in JAMB and its processes as well as the country’s higher education system can be sustained.

    •Ampitan writes from Lagos.

  • SIWES: For a more structured and impactful scheme

    SIWES: For a more structured and impactful scheme

    • By Umezurike Emeka Taye

    The Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) was introduced in Nigeria in 1973 with a clear mission: to bridge the gap between theoretical classroom learning and the practical realities of the workplace. The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) was established in Nigeria by Decree No. 47 of 1971, which also laid the foundation for the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) to bridge the gap between theory and practice in tertiary institutions. While the decree was relevant at the time, it has become outdated due to changes in industry needs, technology, and workforce demands. There is therefore a pressing need to repeal the old decree and enact a modern law that reflects current realities, strengthens industry–academia collaboration, and enhance skills development for national growth.

    At its best, SIWES gives students the chance to apply what they have learned in laboratories, workshops, studios, libraries, moot courts and lecture halls to real-life professional settings. The scheme is meant to expose students to modern tools, working conditions, and industry standards so that, by the time they graduate, they are more confident and employable. Students are expected to gather some working experience as well as develop expertise while undergoing the scheme in other to better equip them for the work place and industry which they will finally graduate into.

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    Over time, however, SIWES has struggled to live up to this vision. This has led many students to see the scheme as only as a graduation requirement rather than a developmental experience. Students face challenges in securing placements, suffer from irregular supervision, and are discouraged by inadequate, sporadic or delayed stipends. The scheme, though important, has been treated as an afterthought rather than a national priority. These gaps call for urgent reforms in other to make SIWES more impactful, it needs to be more structured like the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). The scheme needs to be compulsory, centrally managed, better supervised, and with regular monthly remuneration for all participants.

    Current challenges of SIWES

    Unlike NYSC, SIWES is not centrally managed. Each institution is left to coordinate its own students, and this leads to a lot of inconsistency. Some universities and polytechnics have well-organized SIWES units, while others leave most of the responsibility to the students. Due to the fact that there is no central database or portal, it is difficult to monitor who is participating, where they are posted, and whether they are actually learning or not.

    Many students in the scheme are left to find their own placements. Some succeed through personal connections and through lecturers who have built contacts and connections in the industry, while others without such leverage end up in organizations unrelated to their field of study or do not even participate at all. Microbiology students, for an example, may find themselves working in a small business office or the sales unit of some organization rather than a laboratory simply because proper placement opportunities were unavailable. This defeats the purpose of industrial training as the period of SIWES is practically wasted and the student achieves very little in line with professional work experience.

    Supervision within the scheme is often sporadic and very inconsistent. Academic supervisors and SIWES coordinators may not have the resources or time to visit all the students engaged in the scheme regularly, and industry supervisors may not take the role seriously, as it feels like additional responsibility without remuneration or compensation for many of them. In some cases, students simply fill out logbooks with all kinds of inconsistencies and outright falsehood because they have not done any meaningful work. This lack of accountability reduces the value of the program.

    The financial aspect of SIWES is another major issue and setback for the program. Students are expected to be paid stipends, by the federal government through the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) but many of the students never receive such, and those who do often get them very late. The payment methods the ITF uses is such that the ITF insists on paying the students their stipends in arears after the students must have completed the scheme. This method is hardly effective and many of the students even after submitting due documentation do not receive these stipends for one reason or the other. This discourages students, especially those who have to bear transportation costs to attend their places of placements. The fact that there is no proper remuneration, makes many students view SIWES as a burden rather than an opportunity to learn and expand their expertise.

    In many cases, SIWES runs for three to six months. While this period can offer exposure, it is often too short for students to gain deep, hands-on experience. Worse still, some organizations assign students menial or repetitive tasks rather than meaningful training. Some offices and employers are even notorious for using SIWES students to run all sorts of errands that add no value to them, neither do these tasks or chores improve their expertise or expand their knowledge in their chosen fields. Some organizations also purposely hide information, expertise and knowledge from students who are on SIWES and therefore these students spend what little time they have in such organizations without really learning anything of value, interest or use for their careers.

    Learning from NYSC

    NYSC, despite its own challenges, offers a good model for how a national program can be structured and sustained. The pillars of the NYSC program are such that every graduate of eligible age must participate, registration is centralized, posting is managed by a national body, and participants are given monthly allowances. If SIWES is modeled along similar lines, it can achieve far greater impact. Below are key lessons SIWES can adopt from NYSC:

    Government, institutions, faculties and departments as well as lecturers and even SIWES coordinators should partner with industries, research institutes, private companies, businesses and public organizations to secure guaranteed placements for students. Every participating organization should be encouraged to take a minimum number of students each year and this should come with some incentives and tax breaks from government. This would ensure that students no longer scramble for placements or at least reduce the pressure. Placements can also be handled as it is done with the NYSC where students who have connections and can get good placements which are compliant with their chosen careers and fields of study should be allowed to explore such opportunities. Placements and approvals personally obtained by the students can still be entered into the database for government supervision while the ITF or any other agency government creates will be charged with the responsibility of finding placements for students without places to serve. Government should also encourage small businesses to take on as many of these students as they can especially if they can teach what the students can apply and use in their professional lives.

    Supervision should be both digital and physical. Academic supervisors should be funded by their institutions to make mandatory visits, while industry supervisors should file reports online. Random checks by ITF officials should also be done to further strengthen monitoring. This kind of three pronged approach will keep the students on their toes and ensure that they do not play around with the scheme but take it serious. Evaluation reports should also be done on the portal and final grades of students should be determine from their evaluation scores on the portal.

    Students should be paid stipends monthly, similar to NYSC corps members. The moment students get involved in the scheme, stipend should be paid to them to help them with transportation and feeding at work. The government could pay half of what is currently paid to corpers as a stipend to students undergoing SIWES while the organizations they are interning with can also be encouraged to augment government efforts. This will not only motivate the students but also helps students cover transport and feeding costs during the program. Payment should be made on a monthly basis, directly into students’ bank accounts using the data on the central portal to avoid delays.

    Depending on the discipline, SIWES should last at least six months and organizations should provide structured training schedules so that students learn systematically, not randomly. The ITF and other government agencies can work with industry giants to create a structured curriculum for student training to ensure that they expose the students to real life situations and make sure that the time spent is worth the effort of all the parties involved.

    SIWES was designed as a bridge between theory and practice, but it has struggled because of weak structure, poor supervision, and irregular remuneration. To make it truly effective, it must be reimagined along the lines of NYSC: compulsory, centrally managed, well-supervised, and with guaranteed monthly stipends for all participants. If properly reformed, SIWES will become a transformative experience that prepares students for the realities of the modern workplace, strengthens Nigeria’s industrial capacity, and contributes to national development. The time has come for Nigeria to move beyond rhetoric and treat SIWES with the seriousness it deserves.

    •Taye PhD, teaches at Lead City University, Ibadan.