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  • Preparing today’s Imo workforce for the digital future

    Preparing today’s Imo workforce for the digital future

    By Chimezie Amadi

    As the world moves rapidly into an era where technology is not optional but essential, the urgency to build a digitally skilled workforce in Imo State has never been greater. Every major headline from global industries shows that the digital economy is already reshaping how nations work, compete, and grow. Countries are investing heavily in digital talent to stay ahead and Imo must do the same, as we cannot afford to be left behind.

    This understanding is at the core of the Imo State government’s digital workforce revolution; a wide-reaching initiative aimed at equipping its workforce with skills for the future. As Governor Hope Uzodimma noted during a recent digital summit, “We are not just training people to use computers; we are building a digital economy that includes everyone from civil servants to market traders, students to entrepreneurs.”

    Since 2022, Imo State has been implementing a comprehensive digital transformation agenda targeted at modernizing the economy, improving public services, and creating jobs. Known as the Imo Digital Economy Agenda (IDEA 2022–2026), this policy framework targets sectors such as education, healthcare, and public administration. As a result, more government services are being digitized, leading to greater transparency, efficiency, and citizen engagement. But despite these advancements, the readiness of Imo’s workforce remains a concern. In 2022, a survey showed that only 32% of workers in the state had basic digital skills. This data exposed a glaring gap between the state’s digital ambitions and the current capacity of its workforce.

    Recognizing this, the Uzodimma administration is taking deliberate action by injecting more young and tech-savvy individuals into the public sector. Also, a state-wide digital upskilling initiative is scheduled to commence soon, targeting all cadres of the civil service both old and new. Permanent secretaries, directors, and junior officers across all local government areas will undergo structured training in the necessary digital skills needed to join the modern global workforce. Upon completion, the now trained civil servants are equipped with digital tools including laptops, to support continuous practice and integration of new knowledge into their daily work.

    Attesting to these efforts was a recent training session held for 30 permanent secretaries across all Local Government Areas, aimed at enhancing their understanding of digital tools for administration and data management. During the training, serious digital talent gaps which are now being addressed were identified in key areas such as data analytics, cybersecurity, software development, digital marketing, and virtual assistance. Addressing these gaps is not only timely but also a welcome development, especially as digital roles increasingly form the backbone of both public and private sector operations. This civil service capacity-building effort is not happening in isolation. It is directly tied to Imo’s broader digital governance strategy. With several soon-to-be launched e-governance platforms, including the MyImo App, Imo Land Information System (IMLIS), and expanded e-health systems, the state is preparing to redefine how citizens interact with government services. However, for these platforms to succeed, the people behind the systems, the civil servants, must be digitally literate. Because, without a tech-savvy workforce, even the most innovative digital solutions risk becoming underutilized or ineffective.

    According to the National Bureau of Statistics, technology-related jobs in Imo are expected to grow by about 25% every year for the next five years. This anticipated growth is driven by the expansion of sectors like fintech, e-commerce, and e-health. This demand presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Without digitally skilled workers, companies may look elsewhere to fill these roles. But with the right training, Imo youths can lead the charge in driving digital innovation across Nigeria and beyond. This is why the government’s approach is intentional and forward-thinking.

    Governor Uzodimma’s administration understands that modernizing public service is more than just launching digital platforms; but about building human capacity to manage and sustain them. To further reinforce this transformation, the government is also injecting digitally savvy young graduates trained through the SkillUp Imo program, into strategic positions within ministries and agencies. These new entrants, equipped with up-to-date Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) skills, will complement the upskilled civil servants, creating a digitally balanced and agile workforce. Imo State has already made impressive strides in digital transformation, but sustaining this momentum requires deliberate and focused action across key areas. The work has begun, and now is the time to build on this progress with even greater resolve. The state is already expanding its digital infrastructure.

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    In the electricity sector, it has partnered with Orashi Electricity Company Limited, while in broadband connectivity, it is working with Heartland Fibre Optics to deliver high-speed internet across Imo. These efforts have attracted major players like Airtel, MTN, and IHS, who are now contributing to strengthening the state’s fibre-optic backbone and enabling 5G coverage across all 27 local government areas. In addition, Governor Uzodimma facilitated a landmark technical partnership between the United States Market Access Centre (USMAC); a renowned Silicon Valley-based start-up accelerator and the Imo Digital City Limited. This first-of-its-kind sub-national collaboration is focused on building digital start-ups and innovation hubs, with a core objective of training start-up founders and driving digital transformation across the state. Together, these foundational investments in power, connectivity, and digital innovation, are crucial to enabling digital industrialization, remote work, and tech-driven development at all levels.

    Equally important is inclusive access. The government has started making digital programs more accessible to women, persons with disabilities, and residents in rural areas. However, there is still more to do. Expanding the reach of these programs will ensure that no segment of the population is left behind in the digital shift because inclusivity is not just a moral imperative, but key to building a robust and balanced digital economy. Evidently, it is crystal clear that the Uzodimma administration is intentional about closing the digital literacy gap within the civil service and modernizing the workforce to fit into the state’s envisioned digital future. These strategic steps,, starting from digital literacy programs to full-scale transformation projects, are not just about keeping up with the world. They are about giving every Imolite a chance to thrive in it. By 2026, over 70% of jobs in Imo State will likely require some form of digital skill. And as the global economy becomes increasingly tech-driven, Imo’s focus on building a digitally skilled workforce is both wise and necessary. So, by bridging the skills gap today, the state is investing in a better, smarter, and more inclusive future. The message is clear: The future is digital, and Imo is getting ready.

    •Dr. Amadi is Imo State Commissioner for Digital Economy and E-Government.

  • On a more inclusive Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road

    On a more inclusive Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road

    • By C. Don Adinuba

    The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway was originally conceived to connect Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, and Cross Rivers states. In other words, the 700-kilometre road, whose contract was awarded at $11 billion and remains the biggest infrastructure project by the Bola Tinubu administration, was meant to connect two of the country’s three geopolitical zones in southern Nigeria. Why was the Southeast left out? No explanation was given for this fundamental political and economic error. But this awful deficiency has now been rectified. On April 16, President Tinubu flagged off the 118kilometre road extension from Calabar, the Cross River State capital, to Afikpo in Ebonyi State, connecting the Southeast.

    The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway also now includes Benue and Nasarawa states and the Abuja Federal Capital Territory, all in Nigeria’s North-central geopolitical zone. Nigerians may have quibbled with the prioritization of the road, the cost, the manner of the award, and the choice of the contractor, but the project, scheduled for completion in 2031, is now a fait accompli. It is now more inclusive, bringing down the country’s political temperature and fostering a greater sense of national participation and project ownership.

    While the original vision of the road may not be his, its expansion to make it more inclusive appears to have the input of the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, which President Tinubu embraced enthusiastically in furtherance of national cohesion and rapid progress. The minister seems to appreciate the burden of history on his shoulders. He is the first person from the Southeast to be appointed the Minister of Works and comes from Ebonyi, the most neglected state in the Southeast. Therefore, he recognizes the value of social justice.

    He was appointed purely on merit. Elected into the Senate in 2023, Umahi is a civil engineer driven by what psychologists call intrinsic motivation, as opposed to extrinsic motivation. He has a passion for both engineering and public service. Though a politician who has led the Southeast Governors Forum, Umahi is generally considered a technocrat. He has caused the Federal Ministry of Works to make key changes in, among other areas, road design and construction plus aesthetics.  Key roads are now built on a cement base. The nation has seen the expertise and passion he has brought in addressing bridges and roads in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, guiding contractors and Ministry of Works engineers on the path of professionalism and modernity, enabling the citizens to have full value for their money.

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    The appointment of accomplished professionals as leaders of organizations where they have core competencies has been a subject of interest to leadership scholars around the globe for decades. While there is a general agreement by both researchers and practitioners that individuals should be sent to places where they have a competitive edge, sometimes non-experts are appointed to head organizations where they have little or no expertise; they sometimes surprise everyone with their brilliant performance. For instance, when IBM, the American technology icon, ran into rough weather and was about to go into receivership in 1992, Louis Gerstner, a person with almost no knowledge of technology, was hired as its CEO; he did a marvellous job! Still, IBM has since then been hiring only technology experts as CEOs.  Perhaps, borrowing a leaf from the IBM of the early 1990s, Volvo, the Swedish motor company, chose Jim Rowan, an expert in electronics sales, as its chief executive in 2022, but by March 2025, the firm was doing so awfully that it had to remove Rowan and bring back its former CEO, 75 year-old Hankan Samuelsson, to run the multinational for two years while it searches for a substantive CEO.  In other words, Rowan was a square peg in a round hole while Samelsson is a square peg in a square hole. Having a professional fit is critical to organizational performance.

    As the Ebonyi State chief executive from 2015 to 2023, Umahi was the first governor in Nigeria to build a large road network of some 1,500 kilometres with a cement base, even though Ebonyi has always received about the lowest allocation from the federation account monthly. He left a litany of engineering and aesthetic marvels at competitive costs in Ebonyi, stretching from the state airport to the international conference centre to international markets to hotels to educational institutions, to say nothing about bridges and flyovers he personally supervised. President Tinubu was impressed when he visited Ebonyi to campaign in 2023 and stated so publicly. Perhaps at this point, he resolved to appoint him the Minister of Works if he won the presidential vote.

    Several roads are being reconstructed or rehabilitated across the country’s six geopolitical zones, including the Southeast, which has for decades been complaining of neglect in the provision of critical infrastructure, of course, with justification. Many of the new roads have a cement base. This means that they will last much longer than conventional roads with a concrete base, though the upfront costs of the cement roads are higher.

    While it is true that the federal government is working on roads in each of the five states in the Southeast to make up for years of neglect, which Nigerians call marginalization, there is still a lot of work to be done in the zone to bring it up to scratch. For instance, the Okija-Ihiala-Uli-Egbu-Oguta Road connecting Anambra, Imo, and Rivers states has been abandoned since construction in 1982, for a whole 43 years! It is easily the worst federal road in the entire country. Some sections of the road are just impassable, especially during the rainy season, except to a person driving a military tank. Many people in the Ihiala section of the road do not go to school, work, or church on any day it rains.

    The road, which leads to the most crude oil-prolific area in the Rivers State, is macadamized, that is, it was constructed with a technology that had become antiquated even by 1982. The road desperately needs modernization. A road that connects three oil-producing states deserves a cement base so that it can last.

    The most important lesson from the expanded Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which is now more inclusive and makes for greater national cohesion and progress, is the need to have accomplished professionals lead organizations in both the private and public sectors where they have core competencies. That’s why management scholars speak of person-organization fit. Still, it has to be stressed that technical or job knowledge is not enough. Public and private sector leaders must have a passion for their work and cherish values like integrity and commitment to the common good. The nation needs more Dave Umahis.

    •Adinuba was the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Anambra State.

  • Will Eno’s defection profit Niger Delta?

    Will Eno’s defection profit Niger Delta?

    • By Ray Ekpu

    For much of Muhammadu Buhari’s time in office as president, most of the Niger Delta states were in the opposition. Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Delta, Edo, Cross River, Bayelsa and Abia were all PDP states. Buhari and his team did not do much to bring these states into the big tent of the ruling party, APC. He simply left them to their devices. And when PANDEF submitted a 16-point shopping list to the president, he did nothing except the establishment of the university in Warri. All the other items remained untouched. There was mutual hostility between him and the Niger Delta states.

    When the iconic NDDC headquarters located at the Eastern-Bypass in Port Harcourt was inaugurated in April 2021, he did not attend the ceremony. He commissioned it from his distant office in Abuja. The governors of the oil producing states too stayed away: Only the governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma and the Senate President Godswill Akpabio attended the commissioning physically. The Niger Delta state governors must have felt miserable that even though their states are the geese that are producing the golden eggs, the lives of their people were far from golden. The only medicine for someone who is miserable is probably hope, hope for a better future.

    Within two years of a new man in the saddle, President Bola Tinubu, there is a political tsunami in the Niger Delta region. The Niger Delta governors have realized that if they do not get to where the honey is, they will be licking only vinegar. And who wants vinegar for a meal? Now the following states in the region are in APC: Cross River, Edo, Delta, Imo, Ondo and Akwa Ibom. The remaining states that have not defected into the ruling party are Bayelsa, Abia and Rivers. What this means now is that out of the nine Niger Delta states, six of them are in the ruling party. The latest addition is Akwa Ibom State.

    On Friday June 6, governor of Akwa Ibom State, Umo Eno took the courageous step of stepping out of a party that has governed his state for 25 years and defected into the ruling party, APC. This is by far the most significant defection into the APC because Akwa Ibom is the country’s highest producer of oil and gas. With an average production of 504, 000 barrels per day Akwa Ibom, sends one third of oil and gas dollars into the federation account wallet every month. Therefore the state remains the biggest fish in the APC net.

    What is Akwa Ibom likely to get for moving into the big tent of the APC? In the oil league, Akwa Ibom has been very badly treated. Despite its huge contribution to the national revenue, the state does not have even one oil or gas related industry. Will it get one now? Let us hope so, for fairness sake.

    The state has a natural deep sea port which it has been struggling to build in partnership with the federal government since 1999 but it is still at a rudimentary stage. Yes, Nigeria already has seaports in Apapa, Tin Can Island, Onne, Port Harcourt, Warri and Calabar. Currently there are ongoing efforts to build deep seaports in Badagry, Ondo, Bonny and Ibom. The Ibom Seaport is very strategically located and can serve most of the neighbouring states if completed. Will the Ibom Deep Seaport receive the president’s urgent attention now? Let us hope so for the sake of fairness.

    There are two federal industries in the state, the Aluminium Smelting Plant in Ikot Abasi and the Newsprint Manufacturing Plant at Oku Iboku. They have been dead for years now. Will they get revived for the sake of fairness? The Calabar-Itu highway and the Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Road have been bone breakers for many years. And these are roads that lead to the highest oil producing state but the silly sort of politics that some of our politicians prefer to play has left these pivotal roads unattended to. Will they now be attended to for the sake of fairness?

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    Perhaps the most important remark to be made on the political sea change in the Niger Delta is that we hope that it will affect the fortunes of the NDDC. Since its creation 25 years ago, the NDDC has been tormented by various governments that approve their budgets yearly but do not release the funds for project execution. So opponents of the NDDC sit down and crunch the revenue figures approved for the commission without bothering to know how much has actually been released to the commission. Buhari ordered a forensic audit of the commission which showed scores of uncompleted projects as well as debts owed to people who used their money to execute those projects. That is where the story ended. Most of those projects remain till this day uncompleted. There is a Comprehensive Health Centre that the NDDC started in my village in Ukanafun Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State since 2004. It has not yet been completed as of today. Our federal legislator at the House of Representatives, Unyime Idem raised a motion on it sometime last year, yet nothing has happened at the place which if completed can save the lives of thousands of people who live in the surrounding villages. There are many, very many, of such projects that have remained like whited sepulchres, abandoned, ignored and forgotten.

    There are also people who executed projects for the commission and have not been paid for years. Who does business like that? The reason they have not been paid is because the NDDC budgets are just paper budgets; no release of the billions that are approved yearly. That means that the federal government has never been faithful to the NDDC and fidelity is the sister of justice. As at today the federal government owes the NDDC about N1.91 trillion. The budget which was approved by the National Assembly, we are told, included provisions for securing N1 trillion from development and commercial banks to fund ongoing legacy projects. So will the fact that six out of nine states in the Niger Delta region are now in the ruling party give the NDDC a new and better lease of life?

    I don’t know but the fact remains that the NDDC management is more likely than hitherto to receive more robust support and cooperation from the regions’ governors now than before. One hopes that this will translate into more transformational and life-lifting project execution in the region.

    There has been relative peace in the Niger Delta for several years now. The credit for that peaceful atmosphere belongs to the leaders in the region who have been able to keep the guns of the militants silent. It is not only when people hear the booming of guns that people ought to expect to get what is due to them. PANDEF must wake up and review the 16-point programme that was submitted to Buhari several years ago. It should then submit it to the Tinubu administration and push for their implementation. President Tinubu needs the support of the people of the Niger Delta not only for the 2027 elections but more importantly for the governance of Nigeria because the region still remains the country’s cash cow.

    But that cash cow has never been truly fairly treated. Gas flaring has destroyed the lives and livelihood of the people for many years now and no serious effort has been made to halt it. All that the various governments had been doing in the past was to impose miserable fines on oil companies that were destroying the lives of the people in those areas where the flaring was going on. And the oil companies were always happy to pay those tiny fines while the damage continued. Part of the inhuman treatment of the Niger Delta people by the federal government is that it allowed the Ogoni crisis to linger until now. It is gratifying that President Tinubu has revived the matter. The clean-up of Ogoni has remained untackled for years. Oil has not been produced in the territory for many years because no one seriously tried to have a decent conversation with the Ogoni people.

    Now that a conversation is ongoing, I urge the Ogoni people, elders, youths, politicians and thought leaders to decide to keep the past in the past. They have lost a lot and what has been lost cannot be recovered. They must not prolong the loss. The people who caused the problem are no longer on the scene. That they must bear in mind. Let everyone decide that it is time to let go. Nobody fights for ever. Your fortune is in your soil which God gave to you. That is your honey. Don’t let interlopers deprive you of that honey because wherever there is honey there are always flies. What has happened to you for years is a misfortune. You should know that people can bear their friends’ misfortune better than they can bear their good fortune. Let what has happened now in the Niger Delta be a new beginning for the region, a new beginning that will bring about a phenomenal renaissance in the region where the people have been treated like lepers for years and their God-given heritage taken away without any compunction.

    Now that the bulk of the oil producing states are in one party, the ruling party, they must work together to turn this tsunami in the political space into a piece of paradise.

  • Good governance: How have Niger-Delta fared?

    Good governance: How have Niger-Delta fared?

    By Magnus Onyibe

    The Niger Delta is often seen as a reflection of Nigeria in miniature—especially Delta State, where a rich tapestry of ethnic groups, each with its own dialect and cultural identity, mirrors the nation’s diversity. The region comprises nine states: Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Rivers, and Ondo. Among the current governors, only Alex Otti of Abia State, representing the Labour Party (LP), came into office without any prior experience in government. A seasoned banker, Otti entered the political arena as a newcomer to public administration. In contrast, the other eight governors had already held significant public offices before their current roles. For example, Douye Diri (Bayelsa), Hope Uzodinma (Imo), Monday Okpebholo (Edo), and Bassey Otu (Cross River) all previously served as senators before transitioning to executive leadership in their respective states. Similarly, Lucky Aiyedatiwa rose from deputy governor to governor in Ondo, while Sheriff Oborevwori, former Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, moved from a legislative role to become the state’s chief executive.

    Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, who served as the state’s Accountant General under the previous administration, also brought with him deep familiarity with the government machinery. However, his tenure is currently on hold, following a six-month state of emergency declared by the federal government. Meanwhile, Umo Eno, the governor of Akwa Ibom, previously held the position of Commissioner for Works before ascending to the governorship.

    With this wealth of prior experience, it was widely expected that these governors would not need much time to adjust to their roles. The prevailing assumption was that they would be ready to deliver from day one—mobilizing both human and financial resources to fulfil the lofty promises made during their campaigns.

    To borrow a phrase often attributed to former New York governor, Mario Cuomo, “You campaign in poetry but govern in prose.” In other words, while election campaigns are filled with passion, inspiration, and grand ideals—governance demands pragmatism, clarity, and results.

    Building on the earlier analysis, a crucial question arises: Which of the nine Niger Delta governors have transitioned from campaign poetry to the prose of governance, as famously framed by former New York Governor Mario Cuomo?

    An exception must be made for Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State, who only took office in November due to the state’s off-cycle election. With just six months in office, it would be too early—and unfair—to judge the effectiveness of his administration at this stage.

    The Niger Delta: Unique challenges and governance imperatives

    While the Niger Delta shares commonalities as Nigeria’s oil-producing heartland, its states vary in environmental and socio-economic conditions. Many areas, especially in Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and parts of Bayelsa, are characterized by wetlands, creeks, and swampy terrain. These difficult geographies complicate infrastructure development, especially road construction, which is vital for connectivity and economic growth.

    In contrast, states like Abia, Imo, Edo, Ondo, and Cross River are situated on firmer ground, making them relatively better positioned for infrastructure expansion.

    When President Bola Tinubu assumed office in 2023, he implemented sweeping economic reforms, including removing the long-standing petrol subsidy and unifying the exchange rate. These policies freed up considerable funds, resulting in significantly increased federal allocations to state governments. Many states are now estimated to receive up to 60% more from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC). For the oil-rich Niger Delta, this financial windfall raised expectations for accelerated development, improved infrastructure, and better living conditions.

    One of the most immediate and tangible outcomes of this revenue boost is the clearing of civil servant salary backlogs. Many states that previously owed up to two years’ worth of wages are now current on salary payments—offering much-needed relief to workers and their families.

    Assessing progress without standardized tools

    Nigeria currently lacks a uniform, institutionalized system for evaluating subnational governance performance—unlike the way inflation or poverty is tracked by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, or GDP by global rating agencies. In this gap, the media has stepped in to measure progress.

    A more thorough, data-backed evaluation from transparency-focused organizations like BudgIT, Statista, or Nairametrics would give a clearer picture of the impact of how the 36 governors and the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT) minister nationwide have fared in their administration at the subnational level.

    Currently, Delta and Akwa Ibom are viewed as the most progressive states in the Niger Delta based on visible governance efforts and citizen engagement. One thing both Delta and Akwa Ibom have in common is their effective communication strategies. Through sponsored programs on television and collaborations with media influencers, these states have maintained strong public visibility. This strategic communication has helped them control the narrative, highlight successes, and stay connected to their citizens.

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    Conversely, the remaining seven Niger Delta states—Abia, Bayelsa, Imo, Ondo, Cross River, Rivers, and Edo—have suffered from poor communication, making their governance efforts largely invisible to the public. As the saying goes, “Governing without communicating is like winking at a pretty lady in a dark room. The man knows what he’s doing, but the lady doesn’t.”

    Special Focus: Rivers and Edo states

    In Rivers State, Governor Siminalayi Fubara began with high visibility but soon found his administration overshadowed by political conflict. In Edo State, Governor Monday Okpebholo only assumed office six months ago due to the state’s off-cycle election. Despite the short time in office, he has made bold moves to tackle the state’s current biggest challenge in terms of insecurity—cracking down on cultism, removing traditional rulers involved in crime, and demolishing properties tied to illegal activities.

    He has also initiated the construction of a major flyover at Ikpoba Hill to alleviate severe traffic congestion. Once completed, this project will improve traffic flow between eastern and western Nigeria, easing movement from Delta and Edo to Lagos.

    Agriculture: A neglected sector

    One major area where all Niger Delta governors need to improve is agriculture. With food prices rising due to subsidy removal and currency devaluation, food security is now a pressing concern. While civil servants’ national minimum wages have risen—from N30,000 to about N70,000 commendably in all Niger Delta states it is higher than the national level —there has not been a commensurate increase in investment in farming. This is troubling, as agriculture remains the largest employer in Nigeria. So, without creating an enabling environment for agricultural activities to thrive in the rural areas, significant poverty alleviation may not be recorded in the hinterland as food insecurity will continue to be a source of hardship for the masses.

    Despite ongoing challenges like farmer-herder clashes, flooding, and coastal erosion, Niger Delta state governments must prioritize agriculture to reduce hunger and boost rural livelihoods.

    The takeaway is clear: with at least 60% higher inflow of funds to states from FAAC account, money is no longer the biggest or primary constraint to development in the Niger Delta and states nationwide.

    The real test is in vision, planning, and prioritizing projects that directly benefit the population.

    With the 2027 election season approaching for all but Edo, this midterm point is an opportunity to turn things around, show leadership, and earn the people’s trust for a possible second term.

    •Onyibe, an entrepreneur, public policy analyst, author, democracy advocate, sent this piece from Lagos.

  • Impunity on steroids

    Impunity on steroids

    Reported assault on a vice-principal in Ondo State for daring to stop a pupil from cheating in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) shows just how audacious examination malpractice has gotten in our country. No longer is the deed done shamefacedly in secret. Cheats have acquired a sense of entitlement, and their sponsors a brazen disregard for conventional ethics. We are steeped in an age of the death of societal morality and in need of a sure compass to halt the slide and retrace back to the path of high probity.

    In the Ondo State incident, a vice-principal identified simply as Mr. Rotifa was, penultimate Friday, battered to near unconsciousness by thugs suspected to be acting on the instructions of parents of a Senior Secondary 3 pupil of Complete Child Development College, Awule in Akure. The pupil had against school rules taken an android phone into the exam hall, apparently to cheat, prompting the vice-principal to confiscate the phone. Reports said the pupil reported the matter to his parents, upon which the mother stormed the school to threaten harsh reprisal against anyone who dared to obstruct her son from cheating.

    Ondo State Government issued a statement of preliminary investigation, in which it described the assault on the vice-principal as an affront to Nigerian education system and a dangerous precedent that threatened the integrity of Nigerian schools. According to the statement by Director of Schools in the state Ministry of Education, Dare Obajulaye, the encounter had its genesis on Monday, 26th May, when Rotifa confiscated an android phone found with the SS3 pupil, Wisdom Elisha, in the exam hall. The situation escalated when the pupil’s mother came to the school the following Thursday to verbally assault the school management and threaten violence if her son was hindered from cheating in future papers. Somehow, her threats intimidated the school management enough to direct that the phone be returned

    The statement further said: “The brother of the student, who happens to be an old student, later came to the school to harass the vice-principal and threatened to deal with him. After school hours, the boys were seen loitering in the street, and the proprietor was informed, who told Mr. Rotifa to go to the police station to lodge a complaint. He (Rotifa) went, and two policemen took him in their van to look for the boys, probably for arrest. They couldn’t get them. As they were going back to the station, the boys waylaid the police van, stopped it, brought out Mr. Rotifa and beat him up. He was taken to the hospital for treatment.” It added: “According to the principal of the school, he (Rotifa) has been discharged from hospital, but he did not go back to his house for fear of the boys coming back for him. Further investigations and efforts to get the culprits are in progress.”

    Ondo State police command subsequently reported that its operatives had arrested five suspects linked with the brutal assault on the vice-principal. Command spokesperson Olushola Ayanlade, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), in a statement said following the assault, the police arrested the concerned pupil’s mother, Mrs. Dorcas Asije, and four suspected accomplices. “Acting on the directive of Commissioner of Police Wilfred Olutokunbo Afolabi, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) led a tactical team to ensure their swift arrest. The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) and will be charged to court upon conclusion of investigation,” he added.

    Many things suck about the whole matter. One is the audacity of the student and his family members in seeking to enforce criminal indiscipline against society’s rules, and the seeming helplessness of the school management in the face of barefaced lawlessness. You wonder, for instance, why the school management could not stand up for the vice-principal in his objection to the pupil’s bid to cheat, and rather ordered the release of the phone when the mother came in with her rant. The management also left it to the vice-principal to go lodge a complaint with the police by himself, when it should have been an institutional action.

    More disturbing is that the police couldn’t provide protection for the vice-principal despite being brought into the picture. No one expected them to use lethal arms indiscriminately against the thugs who waylaid the police van, but to have allowed those thugs hijack Rotifa from the van and beat him up mercilessly takes civility in police’s rules of engagement to an impotent level. It is indeed curious that police presence posed no deterrence whatsoever to the miscreants in carrying out their mission – almost like they demystified the fabled aura of police presence striking preemptive dread in persons with criminal intent. Sadly too, police involvement has not sufficiently guaranteed safety for the vice-principal as to enable him to return to his home after hospital treatment. So much smacks of supremacy of lawlessness!

    Abuses that have characterised the WASSCE, notably the leakage of the English Language paper, gave resonance to government’s mandate to the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) to migrate fully to computer-based testing (CBT) mode by May/June, next year. Education Minister Tunji Alausa first announced the policy in April while monitoring this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) by JAMB. “We are determined to eliminate examination malpractice by ensuring all exams, including practicals and essay papers, migrate to CBT. If JAMB can successfully administer CBT exams for over 2.2 million candidates, then WAEC and NECO can also do it,” he said. The minister directed that both bodies must begin conducting their objective papers in CBT mode from this year, and fully transition the remaining components accordingly by May/June 2026. “By their 2026 exams that will come up in May/June, both the objectives and the essays will be fully on CBT. That is how we can eliminate exam malpractice. We want our children to study and not go ahead to have a perfect way of cheating,” he argued.

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    While inspecting the conduct of WAEC’s CBT examinations in Abuja some two weeks ago, the minister restated government’s commitment to the mode migration. “We are working very hard to eliminate fraud in our exam system, and WAEC is taking the lead,” he said, adding: “We now have clear evidence that when exams are done using technology, the level of fraud is minimised to almost zero.”

    Most stakeholders agree that CBT has the potential to curb malpractice and address logistical challenges often encountered by WAEC and NECO in conducting hard-copy examinations. But many doubt that the country is ready for rushed implementation. There is the question, for instance, whether the level of infrastructure is sufficiently robust to carry full scale computer-based testing in school certificate examinations. Among others, there’s the need for access to computer terminals by all candidates, steady power supply and strong internet connectivity. Unlike the UTME that is conducted at designated urban and semi-urban centres, school certificate examinations are written by pupils in far-flung schools, some of them in remote locations yet straining for the trappings of civilisation. Adequate infrastructure coverage needs to be ensured in all those areas. Besides, whereas JAMB conducts its UTME in just a day, school certificate examinations span nearly two months at each stretch and infrastructure coverage must be made to last the whole time.

    There’s also the issue of digital literacy of all prospective candidates as would guarantee that no area of the country – urban or rural, north or south – is disadvantaged. At the moment, there are some schools especially in remote rural areas where students who get presented for school certificate examinations have inadequate exposure to ICT, and educational justice could require that they first be formally updated in digital literacy to properly equip them for computer-based testing. Meanwhile, efforts must as well be made to safeguard the conventional rigour of examinations. Experts have argued, for instance, that while CBT works well for multiple-choice-type assessments, many disciplines require more complex forms of evaluation like essays, problem solving, diagrams and technical drawing presentations, among others. These forms are not easily adaptable to standard digital testing platforms, and a blanket implementation risks oversimplifying assessment and undermining the depth and rigour required in many fields.

    Again, to make the point directly: the endgame for school certificate exams by CBT is most welcome, but the rush to implementation leaves grey areas. Let these be addressed before taking the plunge.

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

  • Suswam’s misplaced anger against Bala Mohammed

    Suswam’s misplaced anger against Bala Mohammed

    By Emma Agu

    The recent statement by a former governor of Benue State, Senator Gabriel Suswam, accusing the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum (PDPGF), Governor Bala Mohammed, Governor of Bauchi State, of being responsible for the problems of the party, is the height of arrogance, political opportunism and outright hypocrisy.

    Appearing on the Morning Show programme of Arise Television recently, Suswam said that Bala Mohammed and the acting national chairman of the PDP, Ambassador Iliya Damagun should be held responsible for the problems of the party.

    Suswam, I must say, is being clever by half if not outrightly hypocritical. As a former governor of Benue State for two terms of four years each, Suswam knows that Bala Mohammed is not a member of the national working committee (NWC) of the party, the body that has the statutory responsibility for running the affairs of the party. It is also hypocritical for the former Benue State governor to feign ignorance of the genesis of the crisis that has plagued the PDP since the last convention in 2022.

    Suswam knows that the crisis started when a presidential aspirant, in pursuit of his inordinate ambition to be president at all cost, led some members to walk out on President Goodluck Jonathan and the party in 2013. They ultimately joined forces with opponents of the PDP to oust both the president and the PDP from power. Perhaps, if the leadership of the PDP had mustered the courage to punish the perpetrators of that ignoble disloyalty, the party would have been spared the crisis that Bala Mohammed and his colleagues in the PDPGF are trying to resolve.

    Rather than demonise Mohammed as Suswan and his cohorts have embarked on, Bala Mohammed and his colleagues in the PDPGF deserve commendation for standing in the leadership gap, for a party whose existence has been seriously threatened by a multiplicity of factors. In fact, it is insulting to the members of the PDPGF for Suswam to attribute all the decisions of the body to Bala Mohammed. As a former governor, he cannot feign ignorance of the fact that the forum is a body of equals where the chairman, as a ceremonial head, cannot force a decision on other members. It is also common knowledge that all decisions of the PDPGF, as contained in the communique of their meetings, are reached by consensus.

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    It is indeed a sad commentary that while Bala Mohammed and his brother governors have deployed all available assets to re-establish the PDP as a formidable opposition party, ready to take over the reins of government from the All Progressive Congress (APC), Suswam and his sponsors are rather de-marketing the party.

    Reminiscent of the 2013-2015 misadventure, Suswam and his co-travellers have embarked on another round of self-serving negotiations, deceptively couched as ‘coalition’, to create another dubious contraption of strange bedfellows that would further deepen the misery of Nigerians. If the former governor and his mentors are sincere, they should boldly support the decision reached at the Ibadan meeting of the PDPGF, in April, opting for like-minded compatriots to join it, as the country’s leading opposition party with the aim of ousting the APC-led Federal Government.

    Besides, Suswan needs no one to tell him that those who arrogate to themselves the toga of indispensability, those who are consumed with a maniacal sense of entitlement, those who have one leg in the party and the other leg in another party, and those who have a reputation for abandoning the party once they lose either a nomination or an election, are the real problems of the party and certainly not Bala Mohammed.

    For Suswam to cast aspersions on Bala Mohammed as insincere and lacking in leadership and therefore the problem of the PDP, is grossly unfortunate and portrays him as someone with a very poor sense of judgement.

    Contrary to Suswam’s tantrums, the evidence abounds that, all through his political career and public service, Bala Mohammed has scrupulously and persistently prioritized national unity, political stability and constitutionalism over self-interest. If he had not been a talented conflict manager who also places a high premium on inclusion and due process, he would not have commanded the respect and confidence of his brother governors and other party stakeholders at this critical watershed in the party’s history.

    The sublimity of the essential Bala Mohammed was to play out, to the nation’s advantage, way back in 2010 during late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s unfortunate passing. As the nation perched perilously on the vortex of a constitutional implosion, Bala Mohammed rose gallantly to propose the Doctrine of Necessity motion that cleared the path for then Vice President Jonathan to assume office, initially as acting president before he was confirmed as demanded by the constitution. For Suswan to speak so derisively of such a principled patriot raises serious questions about his ability to run the PDP should the leadership mantle fall on him.

    That Suswam has not been able to re-establish a strong foothold in Benue politics since his exit from the senate is an unflattering tribute to a man who aspires to lead the party in a crisis period and a repudiation of his leadership claims. Since charity should start at home, it is also axiomatic that if he could not secure the endorsement of his zone, by the same token, he cannot secure the confidence of other zones.

    It is also axiomatic that those who go to equity should do so with clean hands. Therefore, for Suswam who could not produce a successor and ended up handing a secure PDP state to another party, to now pontificate over  leadership credentials is an insult to intelligent members of the society. To make matters worse, except for the one term he spent in the Senate, Suswam’s diminishing political clout is further demonstrated by the ease with which he has been trounced on those occasions that he offered himself for elective offices in Benue State since he left the gubernatorial seat.

    If Suswam does not know, his recent utterances portray him as a man who is either envious of Bala Mohammed’s ever rising profile or someone who no longer believes in the PDP as a viable platform for achieving the objective of the tendency that he represents. The yarn that he is spinning, about telling the truth, does not give him the impetus to de-market his party otherwise he would not have gloated about the PDP being in ICU on national television. One is strongly tempted to see Suswam’s uncharitable characterisation of the PDP as being in ICU as a smokescreen to validate the continuation of coalition talks with other entities, in a clear defiance of the decision of the PDPGF, ruling out any coalition talks. 

    If I may ask, what has been Suswam’s contribution towards strengthening the party since it lost the presidential elections in 2023? In other climes, the loss of the presidential elections in 2019, and again in 2023, would have triggered a welter of strategic moves towards rebuilding the party. Furthermore, in order to command the confidence of a broad spectrum of the party membership, this rebuilding process would  naturally  have thrown up a new leadership corps of younger elements that has not been serially tainted by defeat or deep-seated cleavages fuelled by personality cults and an entitlement mentality. Sadly, for some people, that is not the case.

    Thus, we are left to wonder which party that Suswam aspires to run: the one that his co-travellers have sent to the ICU or the party that the PDPGF is striving to rebuild? He cannot be approbating and reprobating, he cannot be running with the hare and hunting with the hound at the same time as he is doing and still claim to have the interest of the party at heart. That may explain the trust deficit that, despite his desperation, has denied him the chairmanship of the PDP so far. These are the issues that he should address instead of his misplaced aggression against Bala Mohammed.

    •Agu, a veteran journalist is the media consultant to the PDP Governors’ Forum.

  • Professional body as game changer in civil service reform in Nigeria

    Professional body as game changer in civil service reform in Nigeria

    Just recently, and in a demonstration of institutional support and a signal to institutional progress, the Council of Retired Federal Permanent Secretaries (CORFEPS) paid a courtesy visit to my office at the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC). The visit provided another opportunity to deliberate on mutual concerns around the well-being of the federal service, and especially the civil service system and public administration profession in Nigeria. The visit particularly afforded me another opportunity, for the umpteenth time, to restate my call for the resuscitation and revitalization of the National Association for Public Administration and Management (NAPAM) as a key stakeholder that holds the community of practice together in Nigeria.

    The visit also raises critical and fundamental questions that bother on what it means to categorize the public service as a profession and a vocation; the factors that short-circuit the growth and development process of the civil service in organizational development theory; the place of a vibrant professional body like NAPAM and the role it should play in rescuing the system; as well as the critical roles that significant stakeholders like the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Heads of Service of States, the Federal and State Civil Service Commissions, departments of public administration in our tertiary institutions, government training institutions, research institutes and think tanks across the country, etc. have to play in facilitating the vocational status of the public administration profession in Nigeria. In this piece, I attempt to bring all these fundamental issues together as an advocacy piece. My objective is to provide a methodological framework that could guide the revitalization process for the reestablishment of NAPAM as a significant avenue for constituting a vibrant community of practice that could instigate theoretical and practical questions and issues around the organizational development of the civil service system.

    The civil service system is currently in its bureaucratic phase. And this phase is determined by the evolution of the subsisting industrial revolution era-bureaucratic culture of command and control hierarchical cum seniority-based and rules compliant ‘I am directed’ managerial orientation of the civil service in Nigeria; one that is renowned for stifling innovation, administrative progress and performance effectiveness. I have termed this dysfunction as bureau-pathology. It is a phase that undermines the capacity of a government to deliver on the dividends of democratic governance. And that failure is experienced by Nigerians in terms of bureaucratic red tapes all across the MDAs at federal, state and local government levels. A bureaucratic civil service system implies that a lot is wrong with the system and its capacity readiness to deliver on its core mandates in terms of service delivery and institutional relevance to democratic imperatives that increase the welfare and well-being of the citizens.

    Institutional and governance reforms are therefore required to articulate a convergence of theory and practice, as well as the injection of smart, good and best practices that enable the system to stimulate continuous learning and incremental improvement of management system. This serves to foreclose administrative inbreeding and dysfunctional decay at the heart of Nigeria’s public service bureau-pathology. And as is usual in this kind of diagnostic analysis, a recourse to administrative history becomes imperative. The golden age of public administration in Nigeria in the 1960s till the mid-1970s was marked, among other things, by the alignment between town and gown especially with regard to policy-research partnership and networking that facilitated the emergence and functional relevance of the community of practice and its contribution to the optimal capacity of the public service.

    From a recognition of the urgent need for a collaboration with academics to solidify policy initiatives, in the Western Region (which is one good practice that I had studied a lot closely), Chief Simeon Adebo constituted the “A Club” which took critical advantage of the proximity of the Universities of Ibadan and, subsequently, the University of Ife and their academics, to strengthen the capacity of the civil service and its economic analysis and policy intelligence. The A Club later morphed into the Regional Economic Planning Advisory Committee, and was later reinforced by an Administrative Research Group, all dedicated to critical and analytic reflection on the state of the civil service. This town-gown synergy contributed in no small measure to the significant achievements of the civil service in terms of infrastructural developments for which the western region is known even till today.    

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    And in this regard, we immediately see the significant roles that a professional body like NAPAM can play in strengthening the core mandate of the central governance cum personnel agencies as the preeminent gatekeeper that facilitates the entry requirements and career management that solidify the vocational status of the civil service as a critical profession for complementing the relevance of democratic governance in a state like Nigeria. The FCSC for example has the constitutional mandate to recruit, appoint, deploy, and discipline civil service in a bid to profile a model civil service that is needed to make the civil service a world class institution. Its objectives are: (a) To appoint qualified candidates to man the different Ministries/Extra-Ministerial Departments in the Federal Civil Service; (b) To ensure that such appointments maintain/represent the Federal character of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; (c) To make recommendations to the Federal Government on Personnel policies aimed at improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Federal Civil Service; and (d) To ensure that Personnel decisions are taken objectively, promptly and competently in accordance with the policies and interest of the Federal Government.

    To therefore be fully optimal in its commitment to the optimization of human resource management of the civil service system, the FCSC needs the assistance and support of NAPAM and partnership with other key players in the community of practice. Whether we like it or not, the gatekeeping imperative in the civil service system is too significant to be left to the FCSC all alone. It demands all hands to be deck in the collective need to facilitate the emergence of a vocation of public service. Indeed, the FCSC itself requires the optimal operations of the professional bodies like NAPAM and other stakeholders to be able to articulate the merit metric that is required to make the civil service system a meritocratic one that effectively and efficiently achieve service delivery to Nigerians. The vocational status of the civil service system in Nigeria for instance requires rethinking in terms of what it means for an average public servant to be public-spirited and professional—what it means, in other words, to genuinely serve the public, rather than one’s own immediate gratification or livelihood.

    The professional administrative bodies therefore complement the Heads of Services, the Civil Service Commissions in terms of providing the structural, institutional and procedural dynamics—platform for sharing and learning through learning events, publications, research and advocacy; keeping the body of knowledge of the profession in the cutting edge, enforcing professional ethics, standards and codes of ethics and practice, etc.—that could determine the emergence of a meritocratic, effective and efficient institution that Nigeria’s democratic experiment needs. This is where the various communities of practice—Centre Africaine de Formation et de Recherché Administrative Pour le Development (CAFRAD), the now defunct Commonwealth Associations for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM), African Associations for Public Administration and Management (AAPAM), the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), International Institute of Administrative Science (IIAS), and so on—constituted the comparative frameworks and platforms for disseminating and refracting global best practices that would assist Nigeria in coming to term with its governance imperative. 

    Interestingly, this is also the juncture for measuring the significance and continuing relevance of national bodies like the Council of Retired Federal Permanent Secretaries (CORFEPS) becomes poignant. This is a body that embodies administrative experiences, institutional memories and professional knowledge that could pull a lot of political and administrative weight within the reform imperative to transform the civil service and its ecosystem. As a multidisciplinary body of retired public servants with vast knowledge of the workings of the system, CORFEPS, if networked with States’ professional bodies for retired Heads of Service and permanent secretaries, possesses a huge significance in connecting the institutional and reform dots in terms of where the civil service system is coming from, where it is at the moment and where it intends to be, given the democratic imperatives and development necessities of the current Tinubu administration.

    Unfortunately, NAPAM—the critical stakeholder that ought to be at the critical core of the community of practice and service in Nigeria’s administrative ecosystem—is comatose. And yet, its effective presence is required if the civil service must enjoy a full complement of institutional support. What is to be done then? NAPAM requires an urgent institutional reawakening that is backed by total commitment and the administrative will from all stakeholders. A summit of some core champions among the active and concerned stakeholders is needed to articulate a concept note that will determine the next step to take in terms of a) reestablishing its relevance within the structural and institutional reform of the civil service, b) the technical support that is needed to resuscitate it, and c) the constitution of its secretariat and constitution. NAPAM will require, for instance, a competent public sector specialist to act as the head of its secretariat, an interim executive committee to oversee its structural renewal, and the commencement of a membership drive to stimulate awareness. There will also be the necessity of launching some flagship programmes that will bring the professional body back into reckoning within the Nigerian administrative ecosystems in terms of initiatives that connect it back to the critical issues on ground regarding the efficiency of the Nigerian civil service system as a vocational professional tasked with the responsibility of making the lives of Nigerians worth living.  

    I dare say that the responsibility for making this framework of resuscitation work lies between CORFEPS, States’ associations for retired Heads of Service and permanent secretaries, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and of States, the Federal and States’ Civil Service Commission, some departments of public administration in our universities and concerned stakeholder. Between these institutional platforms, bodies and associations, NAPAM stands a chance of resuming its professional mandate as a gatekeeper of the community of practice in Nigeria in the very nearest future and now. 

    • Olaopa, Chairman,Federal Civil Service Commission & Professor of Public Administration, Abuja

  • Can International law survive Putin’s war?

    Can International law survive Putin’s war?

    • By Denys Honchar

    For centuries, war has been humanity’s cruel constant. It evolves with our technology and politics – but so does our effort to restrain it. Out of the wreckage of Europe’s bloodiest battles, we built rules to spare civilians, protect cultural heritage, and hold commanders accountable. That’s the essence of international humanitarian law (IHL) – a framework meant to bring a measure of order to the chaos of conflict.

    But in 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, that framework began to crack.

    The war has become the largest and most brutal conflict Europe has seen since World War II. Yet it’s also become something else: a catalyst. A stress test. A mirror reflecting just how unprepared our existing laws are for 21st-century warfare – and how urgently they need to change.

    A legal system born in blood

    Modern IHL dates back to 1864, when Swiss humanitarian Henry Dunant, horrified by the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino, inspired the creation of the First Geneva Convention. That treaty set the groundwork for the humanitarian principles we still rely on today.

    Over time, the law evolved through new agreements:

    • The 1907 Hague Conventions, regulating the conduct of hostilities

    • The 1949 Geneva Conventions, which remain the backbone of IHL

    • Additional protocols in 1977 and 2005

    • The 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons

    • And the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions

    These treaties aimed to curb the worst impulses of war. But it wasn’t just treaties that advanced the law – it was also tragedy.

    The genocides in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur pushed the world to establish international tribunals that prosecuted war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. While their verdicts aren’t binding sources of law, they set legal precedents that shaped how IHL is interpreted and enforced.

    In this interview Andrew Mitchell focuses not only on the need to stop Russian aggression rather than negotiate with it, but also on what Ukraine should look like after the war.

    That movement culminated in 1998, when more than 120 countries adopted the Rome Statute, creating the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC was tasked with prosecuting the most egregious crimes of war, regardless of borders or politics.

    But for decades, the ICC’s influence remained limited. Major powers like the United States, China, Russia, and Israel never ratified its statute. Realpolitik often trumped the ideals of justice.

    Then came Ukraine.

    The Geneva Conventions never imagined the world we live in now.

    A historic warrant and a global wake-up call

    In 2023, the ICC did the unthinkable. It issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin – a sitting head of state and leader of a nuclear power. The charge: orchestrating the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children. A similar warrant was issued for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights.

    It was a legal earthquake. For the first time in history, a nuclear-armed president became a wanted man. And for the first time, the mass deportation of children was formally recognized as a war crime by the international community.

    These weren’t symbolic gestures. They were legal milestones – and they underscored just how radically this war is reshaping global justice.

    Documenting war in real time

    Ukraine is fighting not only on the battlefield, but in the courtroom of global opinion. And it’s using 21st-century tools to do so.

    Drones. Smartphones. Satellite images. Encrypted databases. Never before has a nation under siege so systematically documented war crimes in real time. Civil society groups and government agencies are collecting and verifying evidence daily. The sheer volume – and quality – of data may set a new standard for future investigations.

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    This digital trail is already informing cases at the ICC and other bodies. It’s also exposing the limits of existing law.

    What do we do when missiles knock out an entire country’s power grid in the dead of winter? When cyberattacks disable hospitals? When armies use social media to spread disinformation as a weapon of war?

    The Geneva Conventions never imagined this world. But this is the world we live in now.

    Toward a New Legal Order

    Russia’s actions have shattered any illusion that IHL is fully equipped for modern warfare. Its missile strikes on apartment blocks, maternity wards, and energy infrastructure have tested every provision in the legal playbook – and often left those provisions looking outdated or toothless.

    But something else is happening, too.

    Legal scholars and diplomats are rallying behind the idea of a special tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine. Such a tribunal, if created, would not only fill gaps in existing law – it could reshape how aggression is prosecuted for generations to come.

    Meanwhile, the ICC’s action against Putin is breathing new life into the principle of individual accountability, even for the most powerful leaders. And it’s nudging other countries – many of which had remained on the sidelines – to consider ratifying the Rome Statute or reforming their national laws to better align with IHL.

    This war may ultimately do what no treaty or tribunal has done before: force the world to take international humanitarian law seriously.

    War as a turning point

    Russia’s war in Ukraine is a humanitarian catastrophe. But it’s also a legal turning point – one that could define how the world handles war in the decades ahead.

    It is prompting uncomfortable questions. Can international law keep pace with the weapons of tomorrow? Can autocrats be held to account? Can justice still matter when the bombs are falling?

    If the answer is yes, it will be in part because Ukraine refused to suffer in silence – and because the world, finally, listened.

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

  • Malcolm X’s Hajj experience

    Malcolm X’s Hajj experience

    In this column, on 16 June, 2024, during that year’s Hajj, in an article titled “The Hajj experience,” key aspects of Hajj and their significance were highlighted. As the 2025 Hajj rites are ongoing and in continuation of the celebration of the centenary of Malcom X’s birth on 19 May, 1925, let’s look at one of his most profound life-changing experiences – his pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, in 1964.

    In 1952, in the context of extensive racism against blacks in America, Malcolm joined the Nation of Islam which was led by the charismatic Elijah Muhammad. About Malcolm’s protégé, Muhammad Ali, in a 5 June, 2016 report in the Independent (UK), Adam Lusher reported: “The whites of America, said Ali, had ‘lynched us, raped us, castrated us, tarred and feathered us … Elijah Muhammad has been preaching that the white man of America … is the blue-eyed, blond-headed Devil! No good in him!’”

    Malcolm also noted: “Elijah Muhammad had told us that the white man could not enter into Mecca … and all of us who followed him … believed it; and he said the reason he couldn’t enter was because he’s white and inherently evil. It’s impossible to change him. And the only thing that would change him is Islam, and he can’t accept Islam because by nature he’s evil. And, therefore, by not being able to accept Islam and become a Muslim, he could never enter Mecca.”

    Malcolm further reasoned: “Being friendly and being a friend, I think, are two different things. … The fox acts friendly towards the lamb and usually the fox is the one who ends up with the lamb chop on its plate. The wolf doesn’t act friendly, and therefore the wolf has more difficulty in getting the lamb chop in its plate. … The white liberal who usually poses as the friend of the Negro … actually differs from the white conservative … in the same way that the fox differs from the wolf: their appetite is the same, their motives are the same. It’s only their mannerisms and methods that differ.”

    It was in this atmosphere of racial distrust that Malcolm X set out to perform the Hajj. On 25 April, 1964, he wrote a letter home from Mecca, detailing his Hajj experience. The letter read in part:

    “Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in this Ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad and all the other Prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors.

    “I have been blessed to visit the Holy City of Mecca. I have made my seven circuits around the Ka’ba, led by a young Mutawaf named Muhammad. I drank water from the well of the Zam Zam. I ran seven times back and forth between the hills of Mt. Al-Safa and Al-Marwah. I have prayed in the ancient city of Mina, and I have prayed on Mt. Arafat.

    “There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colors, from blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans. But we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and non-white.

    “America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in America would have been considered ‘white’ – but the ‘white’ attitude was removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespective of their color.

    “You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to re-arrange much of my thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions. This was not too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions, I have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for truth.

    “During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept in the same bed (or on the same rug) – while praying to the same God – with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white. And in the words and in the actions in the deeds of the ‘white’ Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan, and Ghana.

    “We were truly all the same (brothers) – because their belief in one God had removed the white from their minds, the white from their behavior, and the white from their attitude.

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    “I could see from this, that perhaps if white Americans could accept the Oneness of God, then perhaps, too, they could accept in reality the Oneness of Man – and cease to measure, and hinder, and harm others in terms of their ‘differences’ in color.

    “With racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called ‘Christian’ white American heart should be more receptive to a proven solution to such a destructive problem. Perhaps it could be in time to save America from imminent disaster – the same destruction brought upon Germany by racism that eventually destroyed the Germans themselves.

    “Each hour here in the Holy Land enables me to have greater spiritual insights into what is happening in America between black and white. The American Negro never can be blamed for his racial animosities – he is only reacting to four hundred years of the conscious racism of the American whites. But as racism leads America up the suicide path, I do believe, from the experiences that I have had with them, that the whites of the younger generation, in the colleges and universities, will see the handwriting on the walls and many of them will turn to the spiritual path of truth – the only way left to America to ward off the disaster that racism inevitably must lead to.

    “Never have I been so highly honored. Never have I been made to feel more humble and unworthy. Who would believe the blessings that have been heaped upon an American Negro? A few nights ago, a man who would be called in America a ‘white’ man, a United Nations diplomat, an ambassador, a companion of kings, gave me his hotel suite, his bed. … Never would I have even thought of dreaming that I would ever be a recipient of such honors – honors that in America would be bestowed upon a King – not a Negro.

    “All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the Worlds.                       

    “Sincerely, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X).”

    This means that, on his 1964 Hajj, Malcolm had a direct experience of the following Qur’anic injunctions on racial equality: (a) Chapter 30, Verse 22: “And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your languages and your colors. Indeed in that are signs for those of knowledge.” (b) Chapter 49, Verse 13: “O humanity! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may get to know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you. Allah is truly All-Knowing, All-Aware.”

    These Qur’anic injunctions are more explicitly specified in the following excerpt from Prophet Muhammad’s last sermon, which as IslamReligion.com states, “was delivered during the Hajj of the year 632 C.E. [10 A.H.], the ninth day of Dhul Hijjah, the 12th month of the lunar year, at Arafat, the most blessed day of the year”: “All mankind is from Adam and Eve.  An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab; a white has no superiority over a black, nor does a black have any superiority over a white; [none has superiority over another] except by piety and good action.  Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood.”

    The Prophet’s last sermon also admonished, concerning the treatment of women, a theme dear to Malcolm’s heart: “O People, it is true that you have certain rights with regard to your women, but they also have rights over you.  Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under a trust from God and with His permission.  If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness.  Do treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers.”

    In Mecca, Malcolm moved away from the fringe version of Islam practised by the Nation of Islam, back home, to mainstream Sunni Islam, and took the name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. In a 1964 interview in America, he noted that Malik El-Shabazz was a name he had always had on his passport, but which he used only in the Muslim world, and that he had merely added “El-Hajj” (‘one who has performed the pilgrimage to Mecca’) to it.”

    The Hajj experience purged Malcolm of the anti-white stereotypes he acquired from his unquestioning followership of Elijah Muhammad. In one interview, he said: “I think you’ll find that if Negroes ever have to resort to any kind of physical action to defend themselves, many white people will be on the side of Negroes. Many white people are fed up with what the Negroes suffer. And this is what I had to become aware of on my pilgrimage to Mecca.” The interviewer then noted: “You have changed your attitude about the white man in the United States to some extent.” Malcolm responded: “Well, I’ve broadened my scope. Travel broadens your scope, gives you a wider understanding.”

    Malcolm X’s travels were also opportunities for building a strategic international consensus preparatory to approaching the United Nations, as an interviewer put it, to “ask that charges be brought against the United States for its treatment of African Negroes.” Unfortunately, this incremental strategic movement was terminated with Malcolm X’s assassination on 21 February, 1965.

  • Beyond oil (future without oil)

    Beyond oil (future without oil)

    • By Bashorun J.K Randle

    I hope you will forgive me for quibbling – which oil are we here to discuss ?  It could well be palm oil which was for centuries the principal driver and lubricant (excuse the pun !!) in our trade with Europe – starting with Portugal and subsequently with England under the aegis of the Royal Niger Company (founded by Sir George Tabman Goldie) which midwifed United Africa Company (UAC Plc) and Lever Brothers Limited (Unilever Plc).

    It is Crude Oil and petroleum fossil fuels because they are mixtures of hydrocarbons that formed from the remains of animals and plants (diatoms) that lived millions of years ago in a marine environment before dinosaurs existed.

    For laymen, the oil we are interrogating is crude oil which belongs to the category of fossil fuel.

    Hence, we cannot thank the convener enough for giving us the opportunity to pause and savour the signs of hope as we endeavour to chart a fresh path and adopt bold strategies that would provide salvation.  It is a huge challenge and the time is now.  We must commit to a future without oil.  However, we may choose to reframe matters as :“a Future With Or Without Oil”.

    If we are to make impact, our first task is to resolve the precarious ambiguities in our ecosystem – especially in the prudent management of our financial resources and economic choices in a renewed commitment to the elimination of waste and corruption.  Singapore is a great and worthy example of a nation that has no oil at all.  Yet it is thriving.

    The Scandinavian countries, especially Norway have oil but they have vaccinated themselves against the “oil curse”.  They prefer to channel their earnings from oil into Sovereign Wealth Fund For Future Generations.  It is their solid insurance against being accused of squandering their riches (derived from oil) by future generations.  Currently, Norway has stashed away.

    Others in the league of Sovereign Wealth Funds are as follows: US $ Sovereign Funds of China 1.3 trillion

    Pakistan Sovereign Wealth Fund 8.06 billion. Turkey Wealth Fund 318 billion, Maharlika Wealth Fund 2.26 billion, Sovereign Fund of Brazil14.2 billion, National Wealth Fund United Kingdom 36.9 billion, Russian National Wealth Fund 39 billion

    Nigeria’s Sovereign Wealth Fund is a paltry N4.42 trillion (roughly US.$2.95 billion).

    The convener has cajoled us into believing that the Gods are smiling on us but harsh reality suggests that neither the old nor the young can rely on their sense of entitlement as the vaccine against the next variant of COVID-19 or whatever pandemic erupts.

    Today’s event regardless of the overwhelming glamour and glitter should not only rekindle our hope, it should serve as a catalyst.  The last time I checked our leading intellectuals, the indomitable technocrats and rugged professionals (save for a few) have given up.  That is lethal.  It is indeed a sure recipe for disaster and ultimate extinguishment/extinction.

    We no longer have the luxury of a waiting period or room for vacillation.  The challenge before us is the conquest of debilitating fear, festering anger and traumatic frustration bordering on PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

    For several decades our nation has been on a roller-coaster ride of unrealistic expectations.  Now, we have no seat belts.  To quote the late American Lawyer, Ralph Nader:  We are “UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED”.

    Perhaps we need to back track to how our oil journey commenced with the discovery of oil at Oloibiri (now Bayelsa State) in commercial quantities by Shell D’Arcy in 1956.  But the real journey commenced almost twenty years before.  Shell drilled many holes that turned out to be dry before striking it rich.  Since then Nigeria slowly developed a problem with its oil.  At first, the impact of oil was not profoundly manifest.  The economy was fundamentally anchored on agriculture – groundnuts and cotton from the Northern Region, palm oil from the Eastern Region; and Cocoa from the Western Region (plus rubber from the Midwestern Region).  I would even argue that even now, the oil sector has not ever been properly integrated with the Nigerian economy.  It just grew and prospered (or declined) at a tangent – instead of being the catalyst for self-evident economic development as has been the case with what was previously dessert in UAE. (United Arab Republic); Saudi Arabia; Qatar; Bahrain etc.

    1966 Coup:“On 15 January 1966, rebellious soldiers led by Kaduna Nzeogwu and 4 others carried out a military putsch, killing 22 people, including the Prime Minister of Nigeria, many senior politicians, senior Army Officers and their wives, and sentinels on protective duty.  The coup plotters attacked the cities of Kaduna, Ibadan, and Lagos while also blockading the Niger and Benue River within a two-day timespan, before being overcome by loyalist forces.

    Although the coup was considered a failure, it still resulted in a change from an elected government to a military government, albeit led by a different set of senior officers.  It also marked the start of a succession of military coups in Nigeria.”

    If we want to change our future without oil, we are entitled to draw a lesson from Don Zimmer who delivered a nugget:

    “What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle and giving 110 per cent all the time.”

    Besides, we have to recognize and acknowledge the new hierarchy of needs and paradigm shift.  Nigeria is actually a GAS country rather than an epileptic oil producing country.  In oil our ranking is 10th globally, and in gas we are ranked number 9th.

    Read Also: Fire guts hotel with over 480 Nigerian pilgrims in Mecca

    The Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited [NLNG] has proved to be a resilient flagship and robust business model.

    Our next destination is the confessional box where we have to admit our long list of missed opportunities and wrong choices galore.

    Thankfully, this time around we would be willing to subscribe to rigorous risk assessment and meticulous risk management.

    We cannot but recollect that back in 1980 when we were in distress, the United States of America wanted Nigeria to boycott the Moscow Olympic Games.  The President of America also wanted to pacify American oil companies which had won the trans-Siberian pipeline contracts.  They were barred by Presidential order.  However, the US President wanted to compensate them by bankrolling four new oil refineries in Nigeria which they would run for twenty-five years and thereafter hand them over to Nigeria.  They were going to be BOT’s [Build; Operate; and Transfer].  I believe that the American companies were Chevron, Mobil and two others.  In any case, Nigeria preferred not to boycott the Olympics much to the delight of the Russians.  On a personal note, I attended the Olympic Games and I must confess that the Russians delivered a truly magnificent and memorable Olympic Games.  There were other lessons too – which time and space would not permit me to share with you on this auspicious occasion.  It is a story for another day.

    Also, let me add that the oldest refinery in Nigeria was located in Port Harcourt and it was jointly owned by Shell and BP. 

    I recall that back then, when I participated in the audit of the refinery TAM (Turn Around Maintenance) was not a big deal.  It was handled by a mid-level expatriate manager who would typically scribble on a blackboard: NOTICE TO ALL STAFF

    TURN AROUND MAINTENANCE WILL COMMENCE ON 12TH JUNE AND BE COMPLETED ON 22ND JUNE” Now it has become a blockbuster contract involving millions of dollars at frequent intervals.

    Perhaps I should add that about forty-five years ago, the then military government decided to build new refineries in addition to the already existing one in Port Harcourt, which could handle only 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day.  A Canadian firm was hired to carry out the Feasibility Report.  The Consultants recommended four refineries – one in Lagos (the major market), one in Warri (close to the supply of crude) the third one would be built in Lokoja (central location between North and South); and the fourth one would be a second refinery in Port Harcourt (as an export terminal). 

    Apparently, when the report was tabled at the Supreme Military Council, the Chief of General Staff objected to all the refineries being located in the South.  He insisted that at least one of the refineries should be located in the North.  That is how Kaduna  Refinery emerged regardless of the huge distance from the oil producing area.  In any case it was designed to handle heavy crude oil which would have to be imported.  Besides, the pipelines between Kaduna and the oil producing areas have been massively vandalized.

    My recollection is that the Warri Refinery was built by an Italian company, Snamprogetti while Kaduna Refinery was built by a Japanese company, Chiyoda.  What was remarkable was that the Japanese took about four years to complete the job and trained about one hundred Nigerian engineers. 

    Twenty years later when the refinery broke down, I was part of the delegation despatched to Japan to invite the Japanese to come to our rescue.

    However, there was a lesson to be learnt.  The Japanese summoned the engineers who had worked on the Kaduna Refinery.  Out of the twenty-six engineers, twenty-five were still in the employment of Chiyoda.  One of them had died.  Alas, the Japanese were shocked to learn that only one or two of the Nigerian engineers they had trained both in Nigeria and Japan were still in the employment of NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation).

    It is worth remembering that when we export crude oil, we earn maybe U.S.$80 per barrel.  However, when it is refined the value added (petroleum motor spirit, jet fuel and other by-products) would fetch as U.S.$1,500.  Hence, notionally we lose U.S.$1,420 on every barrel of oil which we are unable to refine.

    For the benefit of the younger generation, we should share with them that for several decades the United States of America was a huge buyer of crude from Nigeria.  However, when President Shehu Shagari visited the US in 1982 he dropped  a bombshell while being welcomed by the American President:“We shall use our oil as a weapon against America.”

    Chief Tayo Akpata was one of those who drafted the speech.  He was aghast.  The threat was not in the speech he drafted !!  What a gaffe.  In any case the reaction by America was swift and lethal.  The American President, Mr. Ronald Reagan, immediately ordered American companies to commence drilling for oil within the United States of America.  They no longer wanted to buy crude oil from Nigeria.

    It would not be out of place to beam the searchlight on NNPC and its successor NNPCL.  We have a problem that is not going away anytime soon.  The four refineries which are owned by NNPCL are old.  They were built at least forty years ago.  The spare parts may not even be available.  Apart from the Dangote Refinery which has the capacity to refine 650,000 barrels per day, other refineries have opted for modular refineries which are modelled on the latest technology with appreciable savings in the cost of operations.  It is going to be difficult for NNPCL to compete with Dangote in the market for refined products.

    As we endeavour to address the future of Nigeria without oil, we must also factor into the equation a global future without oil with the prospects of a looming expiry date for what we have come to regard as “liquid gold”.  As more and more countries insist that the deadline for carbon emission for cars is 2030 while electric cars (mostly driverless) become the rage, we have no choice but to craft alternative strategies for our survival as a nation. 

    If we are ready to admit to past failures through negligence and neglect, this is the time to proceed from critical failure factors to positive success factors.

    We have vast options and fresh opportunities in:Agriculture

    Artificial Intelligence [AI] and Technology  Minerals

    Gas

    Tourism and Creative Industry

    Infrastructure

    Of course, we should include the vast potentials available in our seas and oceans – otherwise known as the “Blue Economy” which are yet to be cultivated, harnessed and harvested by the newly created Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy under the former Governor of Osun State, His Excellency Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola.

    Also, “The Saturday Sun” newspaper yesterday carried on its front page with bold headlines, the following report:  “WITH GOVERNMENT SUPPORT, COTTON, TEXTILE INDUSTRY CAN RIVAL OIL IN SOCIAL IMPACT”-Ms. Ololade Majekodunmi (National Coordinator, Nigeria Cotton Society).

    Furthermore, we are entitled to a grave sense of awe and shock over grievous waste and monumental recklessness signposted by last week’s front page headline in “Business A.M.” newspaper: “NIGERIA REQUIRES N18 TRILLION TO RESTORE JUNKYARD OF ABANDONED BUILDINGS”

    “But ROI (Return On Investment) could boost GDP by US $200 million annually.”

    “In a sad reality, Nigeria’s cities and towns are plagued by abandoned construction sites, with different abandoned projects, including houses, schools, churches, offices, malls, among various other buildings collectively worth billiions of naira, littering various parts of the country.”