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  • Tinubu’s two years of bold reforms, national revival

    Tinubu’s two years of bold reforms, national revival

    By Jobson Oseodion Ewalefoh

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has marked a defining chapter in Nigeria’s history—one anchored on courage, bold reforms, and a relentless pursuit of progress. As ThisDay Newspaper crowned him 2024 “Man of the Year,” they rightly noted:

    “Whether lampooned or lionised, President Bola Tinubu could not be accused of lacking courage to take tough decisions or the will to stay the course.”

    Those words ring true.

    In just two years, President Tinubu has embarked on transformative initiatives across various sectors, laying the groundwork for sustainable development.

    Key reforms include the removal of petrol subsidies and the unification of the exchange rate, creating a market-reflective and stable currency environment. These measures have enabled the Central Bank of Nigeria to increase foreign exchange reserves, now more than $38 billion.

    These reforms have resulted in a surge in investment inflows, with domestic and international investors regaining confidence in the economy. Fitch upgraded Nigeria’s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating from B- to B and revised the outlook from Negative to Stable in April 2025. This upgrade reflects increased confidence in the government’s commitment to policy reforms, including exchange rate liberalization, monetary policy tightening, and steps to end deficit monetization and remove fuel subsidies.

    The World Bank recently reported that Nigeria’s economy grew at its fastest rate in nearly a decade in 2024, attributing this to the early successes of the President’s macroeconomic reforms. The country’s fiscal deficit dropped from 5.4% of GDP in 2023 to 3.0% in 2024, bolstered by increased national revenue, from N16.8 trillion to N31.9 trillion.

    Infrastructure and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Acceleration

    President Tinubu’s focus on infrastructure development has catalyzed greater private sector participation in critical sectors such as healthcare, transportation, energy, ICT, among others. The President reiterated his administration’s stance on PPP at the 29th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES) held on October 23, 2023. He stated, “We must work together. I have proven capacity in this regard, as we remember the role of public-private partnerships in the transformation of Lagos State under my leadership. We will replicate that across Nigeria with your unwavering support”.

     The President has demonstrated his commitment to road infrastructure in Nigeria, with numerous projects including the 6-lane 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar coastal road designed to enhance connectivity and facilitate trade across eight states—Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River; and the Sokoto-Badagry highway that links the Western and Northern parts of the country. The Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi highway has been commissioned and is operational, while the Benin-Asaba highway has been flagged off under the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI). The contractor has since moved to the site.

    The administration has also implemented far reaching reforms in the area of internal security and boarder control management with the introduction of biometric passport application and e-visa initiatives, the implementation of Advanced Passenger Information (API) system, the Command and Control Center and the deployment of e-gates at the four major airports to make arrival and screening seamless for Nigerians.

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    The administration is implementing, approving, and advancing PPP projects across various sectors to drive infrastructure development and economic growth. At the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting of 12th May 2025, approvals were granted for some PPP projects that include:

    •MediPool: A centralized procurement and distribution hub for medicines, vaccines, and medical consumables, ensuring access in rural and underserved areas. It also includes local production of drugs. A groundbreaking PPP to centralise the procurement and delivery of medicines, vaccines, and supplies across Nigeria.

    •Ikere Gorge Hydropower Project (Oyo State): A revival of a 1970s project under a Finance-Build-Operate-Transfer (FBOT) model to generate a 6MW small hydroelectric power project in Oyo State, developed via PPP. It is designed for expansion—irrigation, water supply, and solar integration.

    •Federal Coastal Fishery Terminal (Borokiri, Rivers State): Rehabilitation and upgrade of the Federal Coastal Fishery Terminal, Borokiri, Rivers State, to boost domestic fish production, enhance post-harvest handling, and improve food and nutrition security.

    Other notable PPP projects include Kashimbila Integrated Cargo and Agro-Allied Airport Project (Taraba State. The project involves the upgrade of an existing airstrip into a cargo/agro-allied airport and the development of over 3,000 hectares of farmland for irrigation, livestock ranching, and fish farming.

    Additionally, talks are ongoing for a PPP initiative to construct the Dasin Hausa Dam to mitigate flooding from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon. The Product Authentication and Tracking System (PATS) aims to combat counterfeit goods by digitally tagging products with unique security codes.

    These projects will not only drive infrastructure development but also embody the spirit of the Renewed Hope Agenda—transforming infrastructure delivery, creating jobs, and ensuring no region is left behind.

    Youth Inclusion and Empowerment

    The administration has also demonstrated a firm commitment to youth inclusion by appointing a significant number of young Nigerians into key political and leadership positions. This intentional shift signals a break from the past and an embrace of a new generation of thinkers and doers poised to shape Nigeria’s future. From Ministers to Heads of strategic agencies, young professionals are now at the forefront of national development, bringing innovation, energy, and fresh perspectives to governance.

    Complementing this is the administration’s robust support for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)—a sector dominated by the youth. Through initiatives like the Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme and the rollout of targeted loan programmes, thousands of young entrepreneurs have received access to funding, business support, and mentorship. These interventions are not only empowering job creators but also stimulating grassroots economic activity, reinforcing the Renewed Hope Agenda’s focus on inclusive growth and youth-driven prosperity.

    Agriculture and Food Security

    To address food insecurity and rising prices, the President declared a state of emergency on food production. This unlocked N100 billion in fertiliser support for farmers and spotlighted Taraba State’s agricultural potential as a national model. Agriculture is once again being positioned as a driver of inclusive growth.

    Energy and Digital Transformation

    In power and energy, the administration initiated the National Integrated Electricity Policy—an ambitious $122 billion roadmap that combines infrastructure renewal with investor-friendly reforms. It aims to power industry, productivity, and innovation.

    In addition, the administration signed the Electricity Act, 2023, a transformative piece of legislation that decentralizes the power sector by allowing states to develop, generate, transmit, and distribute electricity independently. This strategic move empowers sub-national governments to attract private sector investments, tailor energy solutions to local needs, and accelerate access to reliable power across the country.

    In the digital economy, Nigeria has moved into the spotlight. Under Tinubu’s leadership, foreign direct investment surged from $22 million in Q1 2023 to $191 million in Q1 2024. A major driver is the proposed $2 billion national fibre optic rollout, delivering high-speed internet and transforming how Nigerians live, learn, and work.

    Health, Security, and Social Impact

    Healthcare is being reimagined from the grassroots. The National Health Fellows Programme is deploying young professionals to all 774 local government areas, ensuring quality care reaches remote communities.

    Security is also being addressed with both firmness and empathy. The clearing of N18 billion in insurance arrears for military personnel reaffirmed faith in the armed forces. Coordinated efforts have restored calm in parts of the Northeast and Northwest, where farmlands are now returning to life.

    Through the Renewed Hope Initiative, women and youth are receiving targeted support. Amendments to the Social Investment Programmes have strengthened transparency and ensured impact-driven delivery.

    Global Leadership and Climate Action

    On the global stage, the administration introduced the 4Ds Foreign Policy Doctrine—Democracy, Development, Demography, and Diaspora—repositioning Nigeria as a key global actor and investment destination.

    Equally notable is the leadership on climate action. Climate resilience is now a national priority, not a policy afterthought, and Nigeria is asserting its voice in global sustainability dialogues.

    Conclusion: A Call to Collective Responsibility

    As we reflect on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s two years in office, one thing is clear: this presidency is defined not by rhetoric, but by results. From economic stability and infrastructure revitalisation to social investment and national security, he has confronted Nigeria’s challenges with clarity and conviction.

    Transformation on this scale requires more than leadership—it requires partnership. It calls for belief and active participation from all Nigerians—young and old, rural and urban.

    Now is the time to rise beyond cynicism, see the big picture, and contribute to a cause greater than us.

    The future is being built brick by brick, reform by reform. The call is clear: Support the Renewed Hope Agenda, not just for today, but for the Nigeria of our dreams.

  • Two years on, Nigeria in transition from reforms to recovery

    Two years on, Nigeria in transition from reforms to recovery

    By Sunday Dare

    As President Bola Ahmed Tinubu marks two years in office, the series of structural reforms and sector-specific initiatives aimed at stabilizing the macroeconomy, expanding access to finance, and accelerating inclusive development begins to take firm root. 

    Under President Tinubu, Nigeria’s economy achieved its fastest growth in  10 years in 2024. According to the World Bank, his slew of new fiscal and monetary policies now positions Nigeria strongly for a growth projection of 3.6% this year, 2025.

    Key milestones include the establishment of regional development commissions, new education financing and credit access schemes, targeted investments in health and human capital, a renewed push into the blue economy and resurgent investor confidence opening up new funds in oil and gas, energy, mining and agriculture. The list goes on.

    A robust infrastructure renewal drive—anchored by flagship road and transport corridor projects—is underway to enhance connectivity and unlock regional trade. Complemented by tax reforms, wage adjustments, and energy transition efforts, the administration’s agenda reflects a strategic pivot toward decentralisation, innovation, and fiscal sustainability.

    Crucially, Nigeria is reasserting itself as a more investor-friendly destination, underpinned by a renewed commitment to the rule of law, institutional reforms, and a regulatory environment aimed at attracting domestic and foreign capital.

    While challenges persist—particularly in inflation, security, and policy implementation—the foundations for long-term economic competitiveness and private-sector-led growth are being laid. One man’s clear vision and decisive temperament, laced with an aggressive approach to reforms, has opened up Nigeria’s possibilities and potential.

    There are ongoing efforts showcasing achievements and impacts that have shaped the socio-economic landscape of the nation as the Tinubu Government reaches the midway mark.

    Regional Development Frameworks

    To address Nigeria’s geographic diversity and region-specific challenges, the administration has advanced the establishment and operationalization of regional development commissions. The South West, North East, North West, South East, North Central, and South-South Development Commissions now serve as vehicles for sub-national infrastructure delivery, post-conflict recovery, and local economic development—helping decentralize impact and institutionalize regional equity.

    Expanding Access to Consumer Credit

    The establishment of the Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDITCORP) marks a significant move to widen financial inclusion and support domestic consumption. CREDITCORP is designed to facilitate access to consumer credit for underserved populations, particularly civil servants, youth, informal sector workers, and lower-income households. By offering credit guarantees and working with financial institutions, the initiative aims to stimulate spending, improve living standards, and energize the economy through responsible borrowing and lending mechanisms. So far, over 200,000 have benefited.

    Advancing Education Financing

    To democratize access to higher education, the government launched the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), a dedicated vehicle for financing tertiary education. The scheme provides low-interest, long-tenure student loans to eligible Nigerians, reducing financial barriers to university and vocational training. This initiative aligns with the administration’s broader goals of human capital development, youth empowerment, and long-term productivity enhancement. One year after its launch NELFUND has benefited about Six Hundred Thousand Students.

    Unlocking the Blue Economy

    With over 850 kilometers of Atlantic coastline and expansive inland waterways, the administration has prioritized the development of the blue economy. New policies and sector plans aim to sustainably tap Nigeria’s marine and ocean resources while generating jobs across coastal states and boosting revenues from fisheries, tourism, port infrastructure, and marine transport.

    Agricultural Transformation and Livestock Policy to bolster food security and rural incomes, a dedicated Ministry of Livestock Development was established, separating livestock policy from crop agriculture for more tailored interventions.

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    Under Tinubu’s Watch – Nigeria Transitions from Reforms to Recovery

    Investments in climate-resilient farming, modern ranching, and value-chain processing are aimed at boosting productivity, reducing import dependency, and addressing longstanding pastoralist-farmer tensions.

    The Livestock Ministry established by President Tinubu is a product of good thinking and visionary leadership. The Ministry can significantly boost the livestock sector’s contribution to Nigeria’s GDP, moving from $32 billion to $74 billion by 2035.  In terms of potential, the sector could generate over N33 trillion in revenue. 

    In a bid to stabilize the foreign exchange market and strengthen the Naira, the government has launched new oil-trade mechanisms, including the Naira-for-Crude initiative and Crude-for-Naira transactions. These instruments seek to restructure how Nigeria monetizes its oil exports while ensuring domestic currency liquidity and reducing dollar demand pressures.

    Capital Market Deepening and Investment Incentives.

    With Treasury bill interest rates exceeding 20%, the Central Bank has recalibrated short-term borrowing instruments to attract investors and contain inflation. In parallel, the creation of a new national credit guarantee institution—CREDITCORP—aims to ease access to finance for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), supporting job creation and GDP growth.

    Flagship Infrastructure Projects. From the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway to the Sokoto-Badagry Economic Road, large-scale infrastructure projects are underway with the dual objectives of enhancing connectivity and unlocking regional trade corridors. These projects are expected to catalyze logistics modernization, cross-border commerce, and localized economic activity.

    Welfare Enhancements and Youth Incentives

    In a major boost to youth welfare, the administration has raised the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) monthly stipend from N33,000 to N77,000—more than doubling support for graduates participating in national service. This marks a broader effort to retain skilled youth, reduce brain drain, and incentivize civic participation.

    Tax Reforms and Digital Government

    The introduction of the new tax reform bills now awaiting accent of the President is designed to simplify Nigeria’s complex tax architecture, reduce evasion, and improve compliance. Complementary reforms such as digital passport issuance and the installation of e-gates at international airports are improving public service delivery and reducing bureaucratic delays.

    Wage Reform and Labor Protection

    To protect household incomes in the face of inflation, the government has pledged to implement a recurring minimum wage review every three years. This institutional commitment aims to ensure wage growth keeps pace with economic conditions and worker productivity.

    Transition to Clean Energy and Trade Logistics

    As part of its energy transition plan, the government is scaling up the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a cleaner and more affordable fuel alternative. Simultaneously, the Three Million Tons Transport and Trade (3MTTT) initiative targets an overhaul of freight logistics, boosting efficiency in the movement of goods across the country.

    Strengthening Local Goverment Administration. The drive for local government autonomy remains central to the administration’s federalism agenda. By promoting fiscal and administrative independence for local councils, the aim is to enhance public service delivery and bring decision-making closer to the grassroots.

    Diversification of the Economy: Away from Oil, President Tinubu as pursued aggressively the goal of decertifying the Nigerian economy. Nigeria’s Solid Minerals potentials is receiving full attention under Minister Dele Alake and contributing immensely to national revenue.  Nigeria’s mining reforms now yielding six-fold increase in revenue, $800m foreign investment.  

    Conclusion

    President Tinubu’s first two years in office have ushered in a bold and wide-ranging reform agenda aimed at stabilizing Nigeria’s macroeconomic fundamentals while positioning the country for long-term, inclusive growth. From aggressive infrastructure renewal and enhanced health and human capital investment to targeted sectoral interventions, the administration has demonstrated a commitment to modernizing Nigeria’s development model and unlocking its full economic potential.

    With a focus on decentralization, innovation, and private-sector engagement, these reforms are actively reshaping the business landscape. Strategic initiatives—such as the launch of regional development commissions, credit access schemes, education financing, capital market reforms, and energy transition programs—signal a deliberate move toward a more competitive, investor-responsive economy. The government’s emphasis on regulatory clarity, institutional strengthening, and the rule of law is restoring confidence in Nigeria as a destination where capital is protected, contracts are respected, and the private sector is seen as a true partner in national development.

    Nigeria’s expanding infrastructure backbone—from coastal highways to trade corridors—is being aligned with human capital initiatives in education, healthcare, and skills development, providing the critical foundation for sustainable productivity and innovation. These combined efforts not only foster domestic resilience but also create compelling entry points for foreign direct investment across sectors such as logistics, technology, energy, agribusiness, financial services, and manufacturing.

    Nigeria is ready for business. The doors are open, and all legitimate investors—from across Africa and around the world—are welcome to engage in mutually beneficial partnerships. Backed by a population of over 200 million people, an increasingly digital economy, and a government committed to reforms, Nigeria offers one of the most promising frontiers for growth, scale, and return on investment.

    While challenges remain, the trajectory is clear: this is a country undergoing a renaissance. Sustaining momentum will require disciplined execution, measurable results, and a continued focus on transparency and global best practices, which President Tinubu has all but done. With a strong foundation now in place, Nigeria is confidently stepping into a new era of opportunities and inviting the world to take a bet on it.

    – Sunday Dare, CON, is the Special Adviser to Mr. President on Media and Public Communications

  • Desecration of Oval Office by Trump

    Desecration of Oval Office by Trump

    • By Olabode Lucas

    The Oval Office in the White House is the official office of the President of the United States of America in Washington D.C. It is an office known all over the world because the President of the USA is the most powerful political office holder in the world.

    It was in that office that Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the USA, took the decision to declare war on Japan in 1941 after the Pearl Harbour attack, and the consequent support of the Allies in the Second World War. Also, decisions to send US citizens to fight in the unnecessary Korean and Vietnam wars must have been taken in this office. These decisions no doubt led to the death of many young US citizens.

    On the brighter side, it was in this office that President John Kennedy signed the USAID bill in 1963, while the landmark Civil Rights Bill that tried to officially end racism in the USA was signed in this same office by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. One cannot forget also that President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky turned the office into their love nest between 1995 and 1997.

    In view of the exalted position of the USA in the world, many world leaders usually feel honoured to be invited to the Oval Office in the White House for bilateral discussions with sitting US Presidents. Many prominent and powerful world leaders like Winston Churchill of Great Britain, De Gaulle of France, Willy Brandt of Germany, Chou En Lai of China, Brezhnev and Gorbachev of Soviet Union had, at one time or the other, been received at the Oval Office. Even Emperor Hirohito of Japan, whose country was devastated by the USA Atomic Bomb during the Second World War, was received in the Oval Office by President Ford in 1975.

    From Africa, leaders like Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, William Tubman of Liberia, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria had also been received in the Oval Office by US Presidents.

    There is no record that these world leaders were humiliated during their meetings in the Oval Office with US Presidents. They were accorded the best of diplomatic treatment, irrespective of the importance and size of their countries.

    Now, with Donald Trump as US President, this is no longer the situation as reception of foreign Heads of State at the Oval Office is like going to a minefield of insults and abuses.

    Trump started his show of shame at the Oval Office with the beleaguered Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, when he visited Trump in February 2025. Zelensky, whose country is engaged in a war of survival with oppressive Russia under the diminutive Valdimir Putin, came to the meeting in the Oval Office as an underdog because he badly needed US military support to withstand the ferocious assault of Russia on his country.

    In their discussion, Trump thoroughly humiliated Zelensky by telling him bluntly to cooperate with Russia in its intention to annex a big chunk of Ukraine’s territory. He also told Zelensky that he was risking the Third World War with his obduracy in not reaching an agreement with Russia. J. D. Vance, the pliable US Vice President, waded in at the meeting to openly accuse Zelensky of his ingratitude to the USA by not acknowledging the support that the USA has given his country.

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    King Abdullahi of Jordan brought his loyalty to the Oval Office only to be rubbished by Trump during the king’s visit. Trump pointedly told the king, who was the first Arab leader to visit him at the Oval Office after his election, that he had the plan to evacuate the Palestinians from Gaza after the Gaza war so that the place can be turned, according to him, to Gaza Riviera, a holiday resort to be visited by rich holiday makers from the West. This was nothing more than ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.  At the meeting, Trump refused to listen to the king, who came to present to him the collective plan of all the Arab countries for Gaza after the war. The king left the Oval Office in a confused state after Trump had shown disdain and contempt for the plan he came to discuss with him.

    Next to visit Trump in the Oval Office was Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom who, despite the so- called special relationship between the USA and the United Kingdom, could only get a tepid reception from Trump, despite showing him an invitation from King Charles III for a second state visit to the United Kingdom.

    The visit of the new Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, to the Oval Office to meet Trump, three weeks ago, was equally tense. Carney, a thoroughbred finance expert, was a former Governor of the Bank of England and Bank of Canada. He has not been long in politics, but he ran in the last election in Canada, which brought him to power on an anti-Trump slogan as he was able to capitalise on Canadians’ resentment of Trump’s obsession to make Canada the 51st state of USA. Carney, leading the Liberal Party of Canada, was able to use this resentment to overturn the pre-election 20% lead of the Conservative Party to win the last parliamentary election in Canada in April.

    A few weeks after becoming the Prime Minister of Canada, he visited Trump in the Oval Office. At the meeting, Trump repeated his desire to make Canada the 51st state of the US. He promptly told Carney that as a real estate practitioner, he knew what was good for Canada. Carney won the hearts of his fellow Canadians by cutting Trump down to size on this issue with his reply. He told Trump that as a real estate expert he should know that there were edifices that could never be on sale. He cited the White House and Buckingham Palace as examples of such edifices; and then told Trump, without any equivocation, that Canada, like those two edifices, was not for sale.

    Recently, it was the turn of Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of South Africa, to be humiliated at the Oval Office. Before this meeting, many observers felt that Ramaphosa was walking into a lion’s den by accepting the invitation to visit Trump. This was because prior to this meeting, Trump was having issues with the government of South Africa. A few weeks before this meeting, the US government had expelled South African Ambassador to the US, Ibrahim Rasul, for being “a race baiting politician,” according to Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State.

    Also, Trump, who is an ardent supporter of Isreal, was not happy that South Africa, under Ramaphosa, took Israel to the International Court of Justice at The Hague for violating its obligation under the Genocide Convention in its war in the Gaza strip against the Palestinians. In addition, Trump had also cut all fundings to South Africa.

    At the meeting in the Oval Office, Trump used the opportunity to allege falsely that the white farmers in South Africa were being subjected to genocide. He showed a video clip where the fiery Julius Malema, the leader of South Africa Economic Freedom Fighters, was showing his frustration on the slow land reforms in South Africa.  Trump also showed unverified newspaper pictures and stories of supposedly killing fields in South Africa, some of which were found to be taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Many commentators felt that Trump successfully ambushed Ramaphosa with his actions at this meeting.  Ramaphosa, who is reputed to be a skilled negotiator, kept his cool at this meeting. He came to the meeting with some eminent South African whites who told Trump that the whites in South Africa were not in any way under any threat of genocide, and that the problem of South Africa was its horrendous crime rate, which affects the black South Africans more than the privileged white South Africans.

    Many people had criticised the performance of Ramaphosa for being too cool and conciliatory to Trump. He was virtually begging Trump to come to the next meeting of G12 countries taking place in South Africa later this year. Also, his regular smiles to please Trump at the meeting were irritating to me. However, in my opinion, Ramaphosa has, through his performance, shown to the whole world that Trump is nothing more than an apostle of injustice because of his unbridled support of the whites in South Africa who controlled almost 80% of the country’s economy, despite the fact that they are only 7% of the population.

    It is a lesson to other African leaders that they should not rush to visit Trump at the Oval Office, which he has desecrated and turned into an arena for rubbishing world leaders who fail to kowtow to his racist agenda to ‘Make America Great Again.’

    •Lucas writes from Old Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State

  • The imperative of South-West Security Summit

    The imperative of South-West Security Summit

    • By Sunday Ayodele Enikanselu

    As Nigeria grapples with multidimensional security challenges, the South-West region, historically known as Oduduwa land, stands out as a relatively secure and productive region renowned for its agricultural enterprise, cultural sophistication, and progressive governance.

    But today, it is at the mercy of a deepening and multidimensional crisis. The drums of insecurity are sounding louder by the day, reverberating ominously through our farmlands, forests, towns, and cities. The persistent and unrestrained invasion of Fulani herdsmen, the unchecked and unmitigated rise of kidnappers and gunmen, and the emergent threat posed by terrorist groups such as the Mahmuda network—reportedly encroaching through the Kwara axis—are alarming.

    There is a clear indication that the region is under siege. This security threat is far beyond a matter of speculation or isolated concern. It is an existential threat demanding decisive leadership, visionary remodelling, strategic coordination, and collective courage and effort. It demands a comprehensive approach to security sanctification and redemption.

    The gathering storm in South-West Nigeria manifests a clear and present danger. Intelligence reports, experiences and challenges faced by farmers, daily observations, and accounts from social and print media have clearly shown a horrendous and growing pattern of insecurity.

    This includes: Kidnapping for ransom along highways, rural roads, and even in homes, including state capitals; Infiltration of forests and farmlands by armed Fulani herders; Bandit incursions and gunmen attacks; The emergence of the Mahmuda terrorist group.

    The horrendous insecurity picture painted above connotes catastrophic danger and systemic threats to the economy, culture, and smooth continuity of Yoruba civilisation and sophistication.

    The time for epideictic rhetoric, reactive security governance, and hollow pronouncements is long over. The six “Omoluabi” governors of the South-West must act now, not in isolation, but as a regional bloc with a shared destiny and unified security concerns and challenges. History will not forget prevarication, vagueness of purpose, or silence in the face of this pervasive assault on the territorial value and integrity of Oduduwa land.

    It is no longer right, conventional, reasonable, or acceptable to convene security meetings only after each attack or to issue routine condemnations. The time calls for strategic foresight, bold action, and result-oriented implementation efforts.

    The region is currently blessed with the Amotekun Corps. The establishment of the Amotekun Corps was a visionary leap, thanks to the proactive leadership of the late Ondo State governor, Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu (SAN), along with other South-West governors at the time.

    As a starting point in addressing the South-West’s scary security challenges, the Amotekun Corps must be immediately repositioned, re-equipped, restructured, and reconceptualised. It should be remodelled into a regional security command capable of interstate coordination, counter-insurgency operations, and intelligence-led interventions.

    To achieve this within record time, the governors must take swift action in the following time-specific directions:

    Ensure legal and tactical upgrades for Amotekun – This demands legislative strengthening of the Amotekun Corps across the six South-West states. This is no mean responsibility. The governors must be audacious and tenacious to ensure this is done swiftly, deploying all available resources within the region to actualise it through coordinated legislation across the Houses of Assembly of the six South-West states.

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    Equip operatives with operational tools, surveillance equipment, mobility assets, and communication infrastructure; Train operatives in the use of modern operational technology, tools, and equipment; Ensure structured collaboration** with private-sector security intelligence outfits; Perfect a well-networked collaboration with the  Federal Government security agencies, without relying solely on them for survival and resilience; Ensure structured and sustained integration with local vigilantes, hunters, and traditional security frameworks.

    As part of the operational framework of the regional corps, there must be a joint command structure spanning all six South-West states. Our security threat is regional and, therefore, our counter-efforts and operations must be regionally managed.

    Once the Amotekun Corps has been restructured on a regional command basis and adequately equipped—legally, materially, and technologically—to perform optimally in providing upfront and remedial security services to the region through the untiring efforts of our “Omoluabi” governors, the next stage in fortifying the security landscape is the convocation of a South-West Security Summit (SWSS).

    The SWSS should serve three critical purposes: Strategic coordination of security efforts within the region; To create a platform where state governors present detailed reports on actions taken, challenges encountered, and results achieved—enhancing transparency and accountability in the security system; To involve a broad array of experts and actors in building a long-term, inclusive, intelligence-driven security framework.

     To guarantee an all-inclusive, operationally effective, credible, and professionally constituted summit, membership should include the following tiers of stakeholders:

    Strategic Leadership: The six governors of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti, with their deputies as alternative representatives. The chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum should serve as the chairperson and convener of the summit.

    Existing Regional Security and Intelligence Agencies: Commanders of the regional Amotekun Corps, commissioners of police for each South-West state, zonal and state directors of the Department of State Services (DSS), military heads overseeing South-West jurisdiction (Army, Navy, Air Force), NSCDC zonal commanders, and regional coordinators of Customs, Immigration, and NDLEA.

    Select first-class Obas and kings, chairmen of state councils of traditional rulers across the six South-West states, and custodians of sacred forests and historical lands.

    Coordinators of well-structured local vigilante groups, indigenous forest hunters’ associations, and leaders of farmers’ unions and associations.

    Intelligence and technology experts, security consultants, ex-military strategists, and security technology experts.

    Civil society representatives, human rights lawyers, legal scholars, and communication professionals to build public trust and enhance citizen engagement.

    Expected Deliverables from the Summit: A harmonised security roadmap for the South-West, possibly spanning 10 years (2025–2035), subject to review; Establishment of surveillance and intelligence networks across the region; Creation of the South-West Security Trust Fund (SWSTF); Development of key performance metrics (KPMs) for security delivery at local, state, and regional levels; Development and rollout of citizen engagement frameworks, such as real-time security alert apps and toll-free numbers.

    This is a defining moment in the history of the Yoruba nation. Let it not be said that when danger knocked, we were too divided or too distracted to respond. Let it be remembered—let it be recorded in history—that in the hour of peril, the leadership of the South-West and the sons and daughters of Oduduwa rose with one voice, one will, and one mission to defend their land, their people, and their future.

    •Prof. Enikanselu writes from Lagos

  • Africa knows its best interests

    Africa knows its best interests

    By Charles Onunaiju

    Nearly 50  years after Nigeria’s charismatic former military head of state,  the late Gen. Murtala Muhammed,  warned from the hallowed rostrum of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now African Union (AU), in January 1976,  that “Africa has come of age and it is no longer under the orbit of any extra-continental power,” a German diplomat, Weert Borner, reportedly cautioned leaders of West African countries against partnership with  the Russian Federation in their respective countries at a recent event.

    Gen. Mohammed had cautioned then that, “for too long has it been presumed that an African needs outside experts to tell him who are his friends and who are his enemies,” and added that “the time has come when we should make it clear that we can decide for ourselves; that we know our own interests and how to protect those interests; that we are capable of resolving African problems without presumptuous lessons in ideological dangers which more often than not, have no relevance for us, nor for the problem at hand.” Gen. Murtala Mohammed spoke against the background of the infamous letter from the then US President Gerald Ford, warning African leaders against the continent’s effort to bring unity among pro-independence forces in Angola.

     Weert Borner, Germany’s Consular General in Lagos, reportedly spoke at an international conference marking the 50th anniversary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), hosted by the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, (NIIA) in Lagos. The German diplomat reportedly warned, “do not regard Russia under President Putin as a reliable partner on peace and stability in the region. From Russia’s direct neighbourhood to various parts of Africa, Putin’s Russia is playing a power and resource game without respect for the true interests of the respective countries in the region.”

    The German diplomat is among the archetype of “outside experts” that Gen. Muhammed warned against several years ago, that would tell the African “who are his friends and who are his enemies.”

    Since 2022, when the simmering Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out into an open proxy war, with the 32-member US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) vowing to inflict “strategic defeat” on Russia, various European countries, especially Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Poland have made it a key part of their diplomatic activity to rupture, by all means, the long  historic Africa-Russia relations inherited from the era of the defunct Soviet Union, to which the Russian Federation is the major successor state.

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    Both at the multilateral forum of the United Nations and bilateral platforms, these countries have arm-twisted and pressured African countries to line up behind their agenda of inflicting “strategic defeat” on Russia; a project which has turned out to be a geo-political fantasy from the reality of actual combat in the battlefields and the compulsive failure to isolate Moscow on the world stage. African countries have maintained a pragmatic approach to the conflict, which consists of adding their voices to the call for a negotiated settlement through diplomatic engagement, which contrasts with NATO’s inflammable actions of pouring more weapons into the conflict.

    Africa’s cautious and pragmatic approach is based on the reality that Russia, being a nuclear power with the largest numbers of the deadly warheads in its arsenal, can be forced to unleash it, if cornered, and bring humanity to an end. While leaders of Western European countries and its NATO alliance can gamble on this end-time scenario, they have no right to force others, especially Africans, to share in their geopolitical containment strategy, which can backfire with unpredictable consequences.

     Telling African leaders, especially in the ECOWAS region, to beware and stay clear of “Putin’s Russia” is an outdated diplomacy of fear- mongering that no longer works. Having prodded Ukraine to poke fingers at the eyes of her stronger neighbour, with her reckless ambition to join NATO, and also the open maltreatment of ethnic Russians, what has Ukraine achieved except its cities in ruins, nearly two million dead, over six million in exile and in internal refugee camps, with European leaders bantering Ukraine’s beleaguered leader, Mr. Zelenskyy. Europe had an opportunity to end the conflict when it first broke out in the 2010s.

    Germany and France were key European countries that acted as guarantors under the 2014 negotiated settlement of conflict held in Belarus capital, Minsk, from which there were two major agreements ending the conflict then, called Minsk 1 and 2.

    Germany’s long-serving leader then, Angela Merkel, and her France counterpart, Francois Hollande, both explained later that the agreement produced at the negotiation was intended as a hoax, to deceive Russia and buy time for Ukraine to re-arm and create a “strong army.”

    Following the start of the war in 2022, a process of negotiated settlement was started in Istanbul, Turkey, and again, according to the head of the Ukrainian negotiating team, an agreement which would have ended the war a few months after it started was derailed, when the then British former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, ostensibly acting on behalf of NATO, urged the Ukrainians to walk away from the Istanbul process and just  “fight.”

    While these are the unassailable facts in the trajectories of the escalations of the conflict to its current phase, the NATO establishment and their media outlets label all such factual chronicles as mere “Russia-narratives,” which they claim are being routinely fed to Africa, with their arrogant assumptions that Africans are unable to decipher facts from fictions. 

    African leaders have at several forums made clear that Africa of the 21st century prefers to be a pole of international stability, demonstrating even-handedness on global issues, instead of being a pawn in the geo-political contests of major powers. Africa’s space is large enough to accommodate all partners, especially those who respect the integrity of the continent to choose and decide what is best for her.

     Peace and stability are essential prerequisites for sustainable and inclusive development in Africa, and the need for it cannot be allowed to be trifled with by diplomats whose goal is merely to score geo-political points against their rivals. Those countries in the West African sub- region – Senegal, Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger – who kicked out American and French military forces, know best the reality and experiences they have lived through with the military presence of these powers, and are best placed to decide what comes next for them, and not a German diplomat living in the safe and exquisite corner of Nigeria’s commercial hub, Lagos.

     At least, he should say what Germany brings along to support the sub-region in addressing the security concerns and not to engage in fear-mongering about “Putin’s Russia.” It appears Western Europe and its NATO alliance are yet to come to the reality that Africa’s partnerships with China, Russia, India, Turkey, Brazil, Vietnam, Republic of Korea etc. are the existential fact of Africa’s irreversible embrace of the emerging multilateral international system, and which have so far delivered concrete returns in the many areas of Africa’s priorities of economic growth, poverty reduction, peace and stability, and mutual political respect.

    It is also a well-known fact that military procurements and training in Africa are carried out now with more diverse partners, thereby eliminating the lethargic conditionalities imposed by Western Europe and their NATO alliance in such an important field of cooperation. Except such traditional partners in Europe and their diplomats engage in understanding the evolving realities, especially as Africa seizes the opportunities of the shifting international landscape to diversify her partnerships, their approach would continue to look like the discredited old gunboat diplomacy.

    As it is typical of Africa, even far before the emergence of its modern states, Africa never forgets her old friends, even those with a colonial record of brutal domination and exploitation and, therefore, welcomes everyone to the cooperation safari of win-win outcomes.

    •Onunaiju writes from Abuja

  • Reawakening Hausa consciousness

    Reawakening Hausa consciousness

    By Aliyu A. Ammani

    I received thoughtful messages from friends urging me to focus on unity and peaceful coexistence between the Hausa and Fulani in my public commentary. They caution that my words, though well-intentioned, might inadvertently deepen divisions, or even aid those seeking to destabilise our society. A gentleman advised me to fear Allah and not sell out the lives and peace of my people for a few “samanan qalilan” dollars. Meanwhile, Kaltume Jitami was elsewhere, vehemently accusing me of being a Fulani infiltrator working for Miyetti Allah to deceive the Hausas. She even claimed to have traced my ancestral roots to a Fulani settlement in a place called Dan Balbelu in Niger Republic! A few years ago, someone contacted Dr Ahmad Gumi’s media team, warning them to be cautious of me, claiming I was one of those” awarded the contract” to sow division between the Hausa and the Fulani.

    Let me make myself clear. I am deeply committed to fostering peaceful fruitful coexistence between the Hausa and Fulani. This commitment is not theoretical; it is practical and personal. I am Hausa, raised in a cosmopolitan family where diversity was embraced. My father had three sons, each of whom married women from different ethnic backgrounds, including Fulani and Igala.

    As I write this piece, a beautiful Fulani woman is warming up to occupy one of the remaining spaces in my heart and house, as an additional wife. My father had nine daughters that have blessed me with nephews and nieces of Shuwa Arab, Kanuri, Babur/Bura, Fulani, and Buzaye heritage. Peaceful coexistence among tribes is not just an ideal for me; it is a reality I lived in. This is just my father’s household; I haven’t even touched on my grandfather’s or my uncles’ households.

    However, true coexistence must be built on a foundation of truth, sincerity, mutual respect, and accountability. A ‘peaceful coexistence’ constructed on a foundation of falsehoods, denial, false sense of entitlement and manipulation is fragile and unsustainable. This, in my opinion, is part of why we find ourselves in our current predicament. Agreed, some of my statements may be perceived as divisive or as playing into the hands of those who wish to destabilise our society. But the fear of misinterpretation should not stop us from confronting uncomfortable truths.

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    In the pursuit of the lofty goal of peaceful coexistence between the Hausa and Fulani, it is evident that the Hausa are at a great disadvantage. While the Fulani are deeply conscious of their identity, proud of their heritage, organised and exhibit strong group solidarity, the Hausa have historically lost such organisation and collective consciousness. Little wonder why a significant proportion of street children, out-of-school children, street beggars, child brides, and low-skilled labourers in Nigeria today are of Hausa descent!

    Until very recently, it was rare to find Hausa individuals who openly identified with their tribe, celebrated their Hausa heritage, took pride in their history and culture, or felt a strong sense of communal belonging. I recall attending a gathering at Arewa House in 2021, where the convener asked attendees who identified as Hausa to raise their hands, and surprisingly, very few did.

    This, in my opinion, can be traced back to the brand of Islam deliberately promoted among Hausa communities since the Sokoto Jihad, which discouraged associations with tribal identity and group affiliations. This is why, among all the peoples on earth, it is only the Hausa who have both a ‘Bahaushe’ and a ’Bamaguje,’ and often there’s no love lost between them!

    This version of Islam took root predominantly among the Hausa, while other tribes, including the Fulani, continued to embrace and express their ethnic identities in all aspects of life. Even the Emirs in central Hausaland, such as those in Kano and Zazzau, proudly identify as Fulani Emirs, even though they are socio-culturally ‘Hausa.’ It is not unusual to encounter individuals born and raised in Hausaland, who speak only the Hausa language, openly or tacitly telling those who care to listen that his ancestors are not Hausa, but Fulani or Kanuri or Kilba.

    This is the reason why many, including religious scholars and opinion leaders, are beginning to question the very existence of the Hausa as a distinct people. Imagine this twisted logic: we have Hausaland, we speak the Hausa language, yet somehow, there are no Hausa people! The primary reason I write, on social media and beyond, is to reignite a positive sense of identity, self-pride, and awareness of our rich heritage and history among the Hausa people of Nigeria. I write to reawaken Hausa consciousness: to inspire a wake-up call, encourage self-reflection, prompt internal reorganisation, assess the current realities, strategically plan for the future, and ultimately, to effectively put an end to ‘zaman kara zubanci.’

    I firmly believe that this reawakening is essential for the Hausa to organise and be beneficial to themselves, contribute meaningfully to Nigeria, and engage as equal partners in any arrangement of coexistence between the Hausa and Fulani or any other Nigerian tribe. Sometimes I wonder why some people view the noble goal of reawakening positive consciousness and awareness among the Hausa as an attempt to create disunity between the Hausa and the Fulani. Perhaps, without realising it, they are suggesting that peaceful coexistence with the Fulani is only possible if the Hausa remain unconscious, disorganised, rudderless, and without a clear sense of purpose.

    •Prof. Ammani writes from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

  • Reflections on ECOWAS at 50

    Reflections on ECOWAS at 50

    By Igwe Kelechi Njoku

     As the world navigates an era of increasing centres of power and growing tensions between major global powers, West Africa, through its regional organisation, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), stands at the threshold of defining the region’s international relations agenda. The bloc was established on May 28th, 1975 with the treaty of Lagos.

    Originally conceived to foster economic cooperation and regional integration, ECOWAS has since expanded its mandate to encompass regional collective security through Monitoring Group ECOMOG for peacekeeping, with the revised Lagos Treaty of 1993. This status quo was set out in greater detail in the 1999 Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security, and subsequently by the 2001 Additional Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy. Guided by principles such as solidarity, collective self-defence, democratic consolidation, and human rights promotion, the organisation has played a pivotal role in conflict prevention, peace building, economic harmonisation, and regional stability.

    Over the decades, ECOWAS has demonstrated its relevance through initiatives such as: the ECOWAS Standby Force for peacekeeping; Protocols on democracy, free movement of goods and persons, and humanitarian assistance; the establishment of a single market, customs union, and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development; issues on ECOWAS Single Currency, ECO in collaboration with the West African Monetary Agency (WAMA); The single West African Gas Pipeline Project (Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Project) as African Atlantic Gas Pipeline Project (AAGP); Interventions in election disputes, military coups, and post-conflict reconstruction; Efforts to counter the activities of Terrorist Armed Groups (TAGs) and Violent Extremists, against transnational organised crime and criminality, disaster reduction, and climate change mitigation amongst many others.

    Despite these achievements, ECOWAS faces mounting challenges that threaten its effectiveness, including: Security crises (terrorism, insurgency, piracy, and border insecurity); Political instability (military coups, democratic backsliding, sit-tight leadership); Economic and integration setbacks (lagging trade harmonisation, resource induced conflicts); Geopolitical tensions (the withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger to form the Alliance of the Sahel States).

    Amid overwhelming geo-political challenges, the bloc still boasts a stellar track-record of peace missions through the establishment of ECOMOG in 1990, majorly to intervene in the civil war in Liberia (1989–97) and the Sierra Leonean Civil War (1991–2002) and resolving the Mano rivers crisis.

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    The most pressing issue for ECOWAS is the breakaway of Alliance of the Sahel States (AES), Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, with ECOWAS acknowledging the notification in accordance with the provision of Article 91 of ECOWAS Revised Treaty of 1993.  The three states will officially cease to be members of ECOWAS from 29th January 2025. However, the ECOWAS authority decided to set the period from 29th January 2025 to 29th July 2025 as a transitional period to keep doors open for their reconsideration. These withdrawals are believed to forestall the ongoing progress consolidated collectively on regional security in fighting Islamic jihadist, terror and insurgent groups. Their withdrawal is a major strategic shift in dictating the emerging order in West Africa as their departure reflects a complex web of security concerns, geopolitical realignments and institutional failures, and it brought with it a new configuration in the region following the decline of the G5 Sahel.

    This geo-political challenge exposes the need for the bloc to re-examine existing mechanisms for regional integration and its cooperation architecture. While the consequences of this strategic exit are still difficult to measure, their withdrawal definitely has disrupted the collaborative partnership in joint security operations, free trade and movement of goods and services that has made ECOWAS Africa’s most advanced regional bloc, founded on principles of political cooperation, economic integration, and collective security. 

    The withdrawal of the AES from ECOWAS is a result of a multifaceted set of circumstances, primarily instigated by ECOWAS’s inadequate response to the Niger coup in July 2023. This response included hasty and indiscriminate sanctions, as well as threats of military intervention, which highlighted a significant disconnect between institutional actions and the actual regional context, particularly in light of the stalled governance reforms since 2015.

    The crisis has unveiled more profound challenges: ECOWAS’s inability to effectively combat terrorism and insurgency in the Sahel, issues of economic marginalisation linked to the CFA franc, and concerns regarding sovereignty in relation to perceived French and Western dominance in ECOWAS’s decision-making processes. Furthermore, the increasing influence of Russia in the region has offered these nations alternative partnerships, thereby diminishing their reliance on traditional Western alliances and potentially expediting their plans for withdrawal.

    The schism has revealed the inherent weaknesses of ECOWAS: a dependence on sanctions without sufficient diplomatic efforts, inadequate management of political transitions and security issues, and ineffective communication with the populations impacted. These errors highlight a disconcerting reality: the organisation’s conventional methods of influence—namely sanctions, isolation, and military threats—have become counterproductive in a situation that necessitates the resolution of legitimate concerns, especially as member states possess alternative diplomatic and security avenues. Additionally, ECOWAS’s failure to adequately acknowledge the evolving geopolitical landscape in the Sahel and its lack of engagement with civic actors have compromised its credibility and legitimacy.

    The trajectory of the geo-political reality in West Africa contributes to the signal trends of the emerging world order as the globe transits from a unipolar order to a multipolar order characterised by the rise of plural hegemonies and the consequence of renewed geopolitical and geostrategic competition unfolding in the world and mirrored in the region.

    We see this fracturing affecting institutions from the European Union (beginning with Brexit and the growing strength of rightwing political parties) to ECOWAS (with the exit of AES). These profound shifts in the geostrategic context are still unfolding, and the full structure of the world order to come is still taking shape, with significant implications for the Global South and beyond.

    For West Africa, ECOWAS must rise to the occasion in pursuing regional interests amid the odds.  The unraveling tensions between ECOWAS and the breakaway AES offers Nigeria, a pivotal power in the region, an excellent opportunity to reassert its strategic leadership coupled with the growing anti-French sentiment in West Africa.

    Nigeria’s strategic leadership in ECOWAS is greatly needed now amid pressure, despite its legacy from internal security weaknesses and external shifts in African dynamics. As a two- term chair of the bloc, Nigeria should consolidate on its 4D foreign policy strategy of democracy to navigate these dynamics in maintaining stability, and continue championing multilateral joint task force operations as a frontline state for regional security.

    With the void created by France’s waning neo-colonial influence, Nigeria should displace France and step up its strategic leadership mandate to defend ECOWAS regional interest against neo-colonial and imperial foreign powers as the Frenchphones are strengthening relations with alternative partners like Russia and Turkey to tackle their economic and security challenges.

    Nigeria, because of its foreign policy heritage in Africa, and in West Africa, in particular, has remained a huge stumbling block for the French complete domination of West African politics amid Nigeria’s bid for greater regional integration. Leveraging the severing of military ties and diplomatic rows between France and some of its former colonies, it should pursue a visionary blueprint for a sustainable regional integration at the ECOWAS golden jubilee commemoration to ignite hope for posterity in West Africa amid its current geo-political challenges. Nigeria remains a pivotal power in the region and retains the strategic potential to champion an ECOWAS of the people for peace and prosperity for all towards the bloc’s centenary.   

    ECOWAS has not failed; but like other multilateral organisations, such as the United Nations (UN), faces challenges which are huge but surmountable. For the bloc to adjust to the unfolding geo-political challenges, ECOWAS should mark the difference between regional lofty ideals and the reality on the ground today, a reality that demands decisive multilateral policies to achieve greater posterity heading into the next 50 years.

    That ECOWAS and it greater parts in the Sahel are confronted with serious challenges, including tenure elongation, democratic reversal, physical disintegration, bad leadership, economic crisis, climate change, youth unemployment, poverty, terrorism, and insecurity suggests that the leadership must be frank in demanding good and responsible governance from member states.

    Finally, ECOWAS should deepen its multilateral policies to the grassroots level to be more appealing to the citizens of member states and strategically position itself to pursue a citizen-centred ECOWAS of the people.

    • Njoku is a Research Fellow at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos

  • Celebrating President Tinubu’s remarkable two years in office

    Celebrating President Tinubu’s remarkable two years in office

    By Olubunmi tunji-ojo

    Bibliophiles, who may have read about the exploits of legendary King Arthur of Britain, will remember his round table, where everyone is equal. Such is the rare opportunity members on the Federal Executive Council (FEC) under  President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) enjoys — a president that calls both the young and old to a fellowship of nation-building, bridges gaps between the north and south through his appointments into offices, and inspires even his sworn enemies to join his camp without coercion.

    In two years, working closely with Mr. President as his appointee, even as a youth, ICT Development Expert and Pan-Africanist that I parade myself as, this man, through his influence, instructions, challenge, charge and guidance, has taught me to be more courageous, focused on results, unmoved by frivolous media commentaries, and ultimately be more dedicated in the service to my motherland.

    For every milestone we have recorded at the Ministry of Interior, for instance, you can be sure to find Mr. President’s imprint and contributions. From a mere spark of an idea on the table with him, Mr. President would provide me with more context, and beyond that, would follow it up with resources to help me execute it seamlessly.

    “Make it work. Nigerians are watching. Make it work,” he would say, and then follow it up with “Bunmi, when shall I expect a result?”

    At such an instance, I know for a fact, I have entered into another national covenant —One that I owe the number one citizen of the largest black nation. To date, I still think only a few people know the president they elected and swore in to office in 2023.

    In my meetings with men of various agencies under my purview, I often repeat this: “If you must fail your service, don’t fail me as your minister. If you must fail me, don’t fail Mr. President. If you must fail Mr. President, don’t fail Nigerians and your conscience.”

    Perhaps, people don’t understand the direct import. Every failure has a consequence. As a nation, we cannot continue to run a race of one step forward, two steps backward.

    Mr. President is not one to turn a blind eye to underperformance. He doesn’t wait for people to grade him before he grades himself. He is that hard on deliverables. He knows when, where and how developments should flow.

    For him, anything to make it work is what he wants to hear and see happening. And, anything short is not worth is attention. He has built his life on the pillars of strategy, constantly aligning with forces that promise progress.

    We must remember that this man is the major force that propelled the wind of change that blew across the country like a hurricane over a decade ago, and went on to unseat an incumbent president through the democratic process. Tomorrow, he will clock two years in office as the father of the nation and leader of the world’s most populous black nation.

    Since May 29, 2023, when the baton of leadership of Africa’s largest economy was handed over to him, he has continued to exhibit unmatched tenacity and perseverance, even in the most difficult situations, to steer the country out of its challenges and give its citizens a new lease of life.

    Beyond politicking, we must always remind ourselves that we are first, Nigerians, before being loyalists to any political party. And, as such, our interest and focus should be on the emancipation of our country. It is common knowledge that you cannot make an omelette without breaking an egg. Development is a product of sacrifices, as we must be ready to make sacrifices for the greatness we so yearn for.

    Here is a president putting his re-election bid on the line. How else do you define courage? Ordinarily, one would have thought that he would play politics to do what entices the public at the detriment of true national growth and development – a path many presidents once trod.

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    For him, he knew the consequences of wasting time, especially for a country that needs to redeem its glory, as well as begin to push other African countries to greater heights.

    Regardless of party affiliations, we must judge him objectively. Hence, it is not surprising to hear recently that the Governor of Akwa Ibom, a politician from the opposition party, His Excellency Pastor Umo Bassey Eno, aligns with Mr. President, acknowledging his strides in just two years.

    In his words: “I support this president. I know clearly that this president did not create the situation that we are in. And, I cannot mince words.”

    One may sound patronising by quoting fellow party politicians. A sincere and honest compliment from the opposition has done justice to what we define as objectivity. Therefore, we can only agree that the man affectionately known as the “Jagaban Borgu” by his numerous followers and associates has lived up to expectations as a visionary, a pathfinder in turbulent times, and a steward of hope in a generation weighed down by deferred dreams.

    To appreciate where we are, we must constantly remind ourselves where we are coming from. President Tinubu inherited a country drifting perilously towards the abyss and on the verge of tumbling off the cliff.

    Before he assumed office, the citizens had lost hope in their country; hardly could you find anyone walking with a smile on their faces. The economy, like other facets of our national life, was in tatters and on the verge of another recession.

    From the available index of assessment, we saw that it was sluggish due to internal as well as external factors that have been compounded by the fall of oil prices occasioned by a global recession.

    There and then, cometh the President, Bold, Audacious and Tenacious, with measured reforms and people-oriented initiatives tailored towards achieving his “Renewed Hope Agenda (RHA)” to restore Nigeria on the path of sustainable progress after years of mere promises by successive governments.

    President Tinubu’s footprints have been deeply ingrained in virtually every area of our national life, and even the naysayers and doomsday prophets (as some have publicly identified themselves to be) have eaten the humble pie and grudgingly acknowledged his impact in the last 24 months.

    Judging by available metrics, today, the economy is back on the path of growth after the years of the locusts, and it is noteworthy that the government’s priority sectors, including agriculture and solid minerals, continue to lead the growth of the now diversified economy.

    Exports have grown steadily in agriculture, raw materials, solid minerals, and manufactured goods, positioning Nigeria for a leading role in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the world’s largest free trade organization.

    Spurred by targeted food interventions and enhanced productivity across sectors, inflation is now on the slide while external reserves have stayed at healthy levels throughout these periods.

    We must not fail to tell our true story, especially as there are false narratives flying about in the media. I consider this a vital part of our responsibility as political officeholders. And, as I often say, if we don’t feed our people with facts, they will be fed with falsehood by mischief makers whose sole objective is to plunder, and turn the masses against the government.

    There is so much to talk about, and if you see anyone supporting Mr. President, these are the points convincing them to remain with him, regardless of where they may be standing on the divide.

    The unification of the foreign exchange windows eradicated the market distortions that had for years enriched rent-seekers at the expense of honest enterprise. This bold decision revitalised the investment climate with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) rising to $6.2 billion in 2024, up from $4.8 billion in 2022.

    With the Renewed Hope agenda, Macroeconomic stability is no longer an aspiration; it is a reality. Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by 4.6% in the last quarter of 2024, the highest in a decade.

    Of course, President Tinubu sustained his predecessor’s drive for infrastructural development and took it a notch higher with several laudable projects, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.

    That project alone is a testament to the President’s vision of linking every part of the country with superhighways. The 700-kilometre, which cuts across eight states, is expected to add ₦1.3 trillion annually to the national purse when completed.

    Over 2,000 kilometres of roads have either been built or reconstructed under President Tinubu’s leadership. The revitalisation of the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano corridor, the East-West Road and the full activation of the Second Niger Bridge access roads are all part of this national reawakening.

    Our railways are once again humming with promise. The Lagos-Kano and Port Harcourt-Maiduguri standard gauge lines are advancing steadily, reducing transportation costs by 35% and enhancing mobility for over 12 million Nigerians annually.

    When Mr. President was worried by the activities of terrorists and other non-state agents disturbing the nation’s social fabric, he came up with measures to address the problems. Today, the establishment of the National Command and Control Centre to integrate real-time operations across all security agencies has reduced incident response time by 43% and violent crime by 28%.

    This President, through the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), has installed e-gates in all international airports. Today, all persons entering the country through the airports are pre-profiled and screened against global criminal watch-lists. For the first time in history, we now pick up people of interest before fizzling into the population.

    Mr. President looks for the root cause of problems when he commits to addressing them. He often reminds us that a solution that will create a problem in the future is not a solution but a compound problem.

    The rejuvenation of the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) with the establishment of the Ministry of Livestock Development to supervise a phased transition from herding to ranching has also helped to address the frequent clashes between farmers and cattle rustlers in the Northcentral.

    Today, over 8,000 terrorists have been eliminated, while more than 11,600 criminals have been captured and prosecuted. The Nigerian Police Force has foiled over 100 organised criminal operations since 2023. Displaced persons in Borno, Zamfara, Plateau and Benue are returning to their homes years after they were sent packing by criminals.

    With the Student Loan Act, 500,000 students now access higher education without the burden of immediate financial hardship. The repayment framework, tied to income post-graduation, guarantees equity and access.

    The Three Million Technical Talent initiative has trained over 750,000 youths in digital technologies ranging from artificial intelligence to mechatronics. Nigeria is fast becoming Africa’s outsourcing hub, with the National Talent Export Programme expected to generate $1 billion annually by 2026.

    With ₦37.4 billion, six advanced oncology centres have been built, treating over 25,000 cancer patients and drastically reducing outbound medical tourism. Maternal mortality has declined by 12%, while immunisation coverage has grown by 15%.

    Through the Afreximbank’s $1 billion health facility, 11 tertiary hospitals are undergoing radical upgrades, improving surgical capacity, laboratory quality and attracting diaspora professionals back into the system. More than 11,400 primary healthcare centres now dot our rural landscape, extending care to millions who once relied on prayers alone.

    The Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer has supported 15 million households with monthly stipends, lifting four million Nigerians from extreme poverty. Every payment is traceable, auditable and linked to biometric records. It is not charity; it is justice.

    The nano-enterprise grants have touched one million businesses, creating 600,000 jobs and invigorating the informal economy. The National Consumer Credit Scheme has empowered Nigerians with over ₦200 billion in loans for housing, mobility, and productivity, delivering dignity and possibility.

    The Minimum Wage Act, signed in July 2024, ensures that all eligible employees are paid at least N 70,000 per month is an affirmation of Mr. President’s commitment to quality life for the citizens.

    The Act also requires companies to provide free transport or a transport allowance to employees who travel more than 16 kilometers from their usual work location.

    Through our Ministry, the automation of the passport process is one of the success stories of Mr. President’s RHA. The process has removed the bureaucratic and other unethical conduct that had hampered the issuance of passports for Nigerians in the past.

    Again, we must not allow people to paint our story with a single brush. While we are not where we want to be, we must first acknowledge that we are no longer where we used to be. The tax reform bills, though contentious, at the beginning is another bold reform initiative of President Tinubu’s administration.

    The benefits are numerous, including acceleration of improved service delivery to the public, boosting non-oil tax revenue, and improving efforts to curb the incidence of tax evasion and avoidance.

    Success does not come cheap. It takes a courageous leader to inspire and achieve it. A man like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) has mastered the art, as results will always speak.

    The recent payment of a $3.4 billion loan received from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the COVID-19 pandemic was a historic milestone and a testament to President Tinubu’s visionary leadership, meticulous economic management, and commitment to sustainable growth and development. This noble act, no doubt, will ultimately shore up Nigeria’s socio-economic rating in the international community.

    This is a two-year run with bountiful harvests, and I am proud to be one of Mr. President’s agents of change.

    Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo is Interior Minister

  • Puzzling corporate prosperity in harsh times

    Puzzling corporate prosperity in harsh times

    • By Elvis Eromosele

    In the first quarter of 2025, a curious paradox is playing out across Nigeria’s economic landscape. Discerning observers will notice that the nation’s economic landscape tells a story of stark contrasts. On the one hand, households groan under the weight of runaway inflation, forex instability, fuel price hikes, and an unrelenting surge in the cost of living. On the other hand, a stream of earnings reports from banks, telecoms, FMCGs, and even manufacturing firms show a steady rise in revenues and profits. It almost feels surreal: while the average Nigerian tightens their belt to survive, boardrooms are raising glasses to another quarter in the black. How are companies thriving when their customers are barely surviving?

    The answer appears to lie in a complex interplay of strategic pricing, market consolidation, cost-cutting measures, and, unfortunately, consumer sacrifice. Many of Nigeria’s leading corporates have adopted recession-proof strategies that prioritise shareholder value, often at the expense of affordability and accessibility for the average consumer.

    Take the financial sector, for instance. Tier-one banks such as Zenith (PAT N312 billion), GTCO (PAT N258 billion), and Access Holdings (PAT N182 billion) all reported robust Q1 2025 profits. These were largely fuelled by non-interest income, transaction charges, FX revaluation gains, and aggressive digital expansion. While interest rates soared, banks reaped returns on government securities and leveraged forex differentials to boost their margins. Meanwhile, small business owners and salary earners struggle to get loans or survive excessive transaction fees.

    In the telecoms space, MTN Nigeria (PAT N133 billion) and Airtel Africa (PAT $31 million) posted impressive earnings as data consumption remains inelastic, even during hard times. With more Nigerians relying on mobile data for work, education, and survival, telcos are cashing in. However, data costs have steadily increased, often quietly, adding to household burdens.

    Read Also: 2025 UTME result ranks best in 12 years despite glitches, says JAMB

    Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) giants like Nestlé (PAT N30 billion), Cadbury Nigeria (PAT N5.9 billion) and Unilever (PAT N5.2 billion) also joined the profit party. With dollar volatility affecting import costs, many firms have localised production, increased prices, and reduced pack sizes (a practice known as “shrinkflation”). Consumers, in turn, are forced to adjust consumption habits, often choosing between quantity and quality.

    The success of big business however raises uncomfortable questions: Is Nigeria’s private sector truly growing sustainably, or merely extracting value in a way that widens the inequality gap?

    What is emerging is a two-speed economy. On one track, corporates optimise profits through agility, digital transformation, and price adjustments. On the other hand, citizens face daily hardships, shrinking purchasing power, stagnant wages, and rising unemployment. The middle class is thinning, while poverty deepens.

    I think that government inaction and weak regulation often compound the situation. There may also be companies that exploit regulatory loopholes or benefit from policies that insulate their sectors from real competition. While this fuels short-term gains, it does little to build long-term inclusive growth or economic resilience.

    To align corporate success with citizen welfare, Nigeria must prioritise policies that channel profits into inclusive growth. First, the government should expand targeted cash transfers and food subsidies to shield the poorest households from inflation’s bite. Headline inflation stood at 24.23 percent in the period under review. No wonder therefore that the World Bank’s call for accelerated social protection programmes is urgent. Second, investing in labour-intensive sectors like manufacturing and agriculture could create jobs and reduce rural-urban disparities. In addition, addressing insecurity in farming regions would lower food prices, tackling inflation at its root.

    Third, monetary policy must balance inflation control with economic stimulus. The Central Bank’s tight policy, while necessary, has raised borrowing costs, stifling small businesses that employ millions. A gradual easing, as inflation is projected to fall to 22.1 percent in 2025, could spur growth without reigniting price pressures. (NB: A tight monetary policy, implemented by a central bank, aims to curb rapid economic growth and control inflation by slowing down spending and reducing the money supply.)

    Finally, companies must share the burden. Corporate social responsibility initiatives, such as affordable pricing for essential goods or investments in community infrastructure, could ease public discontent and foster goodwill.

    This is the core of the matter. The glowing quarterly results splashed across business pages paint a picture of corporate triumph, but it’s one cast against a backdrop of growing national despair. This contrast cannot be ignored, and it is also not sustainable.

    The corporate sector’s resilience is a testament to adaptability and innovation, but it also underscores a troubling truth: economic growth alone does not lift all boats. Nigeria’s economic narrative cannot be solely about profits and stock valuations; it must include people. If companies are winning while citizens are weeping, then we are all losing in the long run. What’s needed is a recalibration: one where businesses pursue profit with purpose, governments enforce equity, and the well-being of Nigerians becomes the bottom line that truly matters.

    •Eromosele – elviseroms@gmail.com

  • Oloyede’s tears and apology

    Oloyede’s tears and apology

    And Professor Ishaq Oloyede wept. What would make this 70-year-old Registrar of Nigeria’s Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) weep openly in public? When he got reappointed for the second term in that office, people clapped for him. When he clocked three scores and ten, people thanked God for his life. These are pieces of evidence that many people were happy for the work that he has been doing at JAMB. So, why would such a man, held in very high esteem by lots of people, choose to weep in public?

    His action can be compared to the antics of an old woman who runs out naked from her residence. There are two explanations given in folklore. It is either the woman has lost her snuff box or her grandson. Oloyede has not lost his snuff box since he doesn’t have one in the first place. He doesn’t have a snuff box because he does not indulge in such matters. He has also not lost his grandson, otherwise he would have said so.

    Why Oloyede wept was because JAMB, an institution that he has nurtured for several years now to be a reputable and respected institution, has just fallen below its own standard of performance. What went wrong was that in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) 379, 997 candidates out of 1.9 million candidates failed the examination. When there was a public outcry, JAMB decided to do an investigation. The investigation showed that there was something wrong.

    Oloyede decided to address the matter at a press conference on May 14, 2025. He told the public, blow by blow, what JAMB, on his watch, had been doing over the years to deliver an efficient service to the public. These steps include innovations and reforms, introduction of mock examinations, and the appointment of experts in cybersecurity and software development whose responsibility was to keep an eagle eye on the activities of JAMB. At the end of the press conference, he accepted responsibility for the problem.

     He said: “Despite being able to identify the sources of the problem and the affected centres, we are conscious of the painful damage it has inflicted on the reputation of JAMB. As Registrar of JAMB, I hold myself personally responsible, including the negligence of the service provider; and I unreservedly apologise for it and on the trauma that it has subjected affected Nigerians to, directly and indirectly. It is our culture to admit errors because we know that in spite of the best of our efforts, we are human, we are not perfect. The only consolation we have in this case is that it is just one of the service providers that did not do well.”

    Read Also: 2025 UTME result ranks best in 12 years despite glitches, says JAMB

    Some people are of the view that it takes courage for one to accept his mistakes and to apologise. Oloyede admitted the mistakes and apologised unreservedly to Nigerians. That is a courageous act. Some others who are trying to ethnicise the problem think that he was targeting Igbos and he should resign. I am not surprised because it seems it has become the norm that in this country every problem is often coloured with either tribe or religion or region.

    In this particular case, there were also problems in Lagos but some people prefer to ignore that so that their theory of ethnicity can hold water. I have known Oloyede for some time now and I find nothing in his utterances or behaviour that can lead me to believe that he is an ethnic or religious irredentist. I consider him to be a fair-minded person, and a public servant who believes in justice, equity, transparency and accountability.

    He publishes every week in JAMB’s bulletin a statement of JAMB’s income and expenditure for public scrutiny. He also holds regular public sessions with stakeholders, including the media, educationists and civil society officials, where he personally makes detailed presentations on JAMB and answers questions. That is solid evidence of transparency and accountability. How many public officials do that on a regular basis in Nigeria? I do not know, but they must be pretty few and they probably do so only when they have problems that they need to win the favour of the public on.

    Corruption has been a major problem in governance in Nigeria since independence. But since he took over as the JAMB Registrar, Oloyede has confronted the problem frontally. Before he stepped into JAMB, the story was that JAMB’s money, which was collected from the sale of scratch cards, was being swallowed in the JAMB office by snakes and reptiles. Oloyede charmed these snakes and they no longer swallowed JAMB’s money. JAMB’s money stayed only in JAMB’s wallets, not in the stomach of snakes. There was a significant difference in the management of JAMB’s funds. For some 38 years of its existence, JAMB was able to remit to the coffers of the Federal Government about N50 million only. But in the last nine years or so, Oloyede has remitted to the Federal Government about N55 billion. And JAMB, which was not created as a cash cow, has become that, thanks to the excellent money management methods of Oloyede.

    We learn that the Department of State Services and the Police have arrested 21 suspects in the hacking of JAMB’s system. The identities of the suspects have not been disclosed yet but it is likely that they will come from within JAMB and outside it. Their motives may include trying to damage JAMB’s reputation, favour some candidates, mar the fortunes of some candidates, or to make some money from the system. The security personnel must follow every possible lead. Outsiders cannot destroy JAMB’s system without the cooperation and support of insiders.

    My experience is that in almost every system there are always saboteurs. When I was the Chief Executive Officer of Newswatch, we bought a colour separation machine which we used for our two publications. But the machine was not fully utilised. We agreed that the staff of the unit can canvass for business so that we can make some money from the machine. For more than a year, the staff kept telling us that there was no business. An informant told me that the staff always came on Sundays to do private business on the machine and the money went into their pockets. One Sunday, I drove to the office and went straight to the colour separation unit. I saw one of the staff working on the machine. I asked whether the job was paid for. He said ‘No,’ but that he was just helping his pastor. I collected the materials from him. The next day, I directed that he be queried. He gave an unconvincing answer, of course. I directed that he should be fired. That same day, several managers trooped into my office and said that if he was fired, the magazine would not come out the following week. I told them that since he was probably the only person on this planet with the knowledge of colour separation, then all of us had lost our jobs. I insisted on his being fired. He was fired, but the magazine still came out. My interpretation of what the managers did was that they were co-conspirators in the “chopping” business and wanted to protect their source of “awoof.” The lesson of this story is that in every organisation there is probably always an insider who collaborates with an outsider within a unit, or within the company, to achieve a mischievous purpose. For any syndicate to succeed in doing any dirty job in JAMB, there must be an insider.

    My advice to Oloyede is that people learn more from failure than from success. This incident will lead to more successes for JAMB once it takes stock. JAMB does not need to blame the mirror for its looks. What the mirror shows is exactly what it looks like, but it can change that look by identifying who the hackers are, and why they chose to bring a piece of misfortune to JAMB.

    As for those who are asking the JAMB Registrar to resign, they should tell Nigerians how many public officials have performed their duties as creditably as Oloyede. I have said it before that, apart from INEC, the next most difficult job in Nigeria is that of the Registrar of JAMB. Why is this so? It is so because success at INEC and JAMB does not depend solely and wholly on the heads of those organisations. Lots of other persons, known or unknown, easily make themselves interlopers who feel that they can make an impact on the organisation for the benefit of others, or for a fee. Politicians and their followers try to influence the outcome of INEC’s exertions for their benefits. In JAMB, students, teachers and parents try to do what they think is needed for the benefit of the students or their schools or families. But at the end of the day, when there is a problem, INEC or JAMB bears the blame.

    I request Oloyede to carry on with the difficult job that he is doing for Nigeria. History will remember him kindly.