The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Kwara attacks

    Kwara attacks

    • Security agencies need to put in more efforts to check banditry and terrorism

    Deadly bandit attacks in Kwara State grabbed the headlines in a continuing drama of insecurity across the country. The attacks occurred within about a week in two different communities in Ifelodun Local Government Area.

    On August 8, unknown gunmen on motorcycles were reported to have invaded the Babanla community. A resident was quoted as saying the number of those killed or kidnapped could not yet be ascertained, adding that many residents fled to Oreke, a neighbouring community, for safety.

    According to a statement by the state government, the attackers “targeted a police station, attempted to loot a few grocery shops and a hotel in the community before they were repelled by the security forces and bold members of the community.” The police confirmed the incident, describing it as “a sad development.”

    Some days earlier, on July 31, unidentified gunmen had carried out an operation in the Ganmu community, resulting in kidnaps and killings. The police said the “unfortunate criminal incident” had resulted in “the death of two victims and the kidnap of three others.”

    The state government reassured the public that concerted efforts were being made, in collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser, to rid the area of criminals. The police said they had “restored order, and initiated a full-scale manhunt for the perpetrators.”

    The script is familiar. Following such incidents, it is routine to reassure the public that security personnel are working to arrest the assailants. However, most times, the matter ends there and nothing is heard again about the pursuit of justice. 

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    The authorities must go beyond words and take effective actions, not only to ensure that such assailants are arrested and prosecuted but also to make the delivery of justice demonstrably transparent.

    It is noteworthy that the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre Issa-Onilu, at a joint security press briefing in Abuja, on August 4, gave an account of 326 police operations carried out in the previous month, saying, “2,901 arrests were made, 175 kidnap victims were rescued, 78 terrorists were neutralised, and six arms trafficking rings were dismantled.”

    These glossy statistics were intended to reassure Nigerians that the Federal Government was not only dealing with the country’s insecurity burden but was also winning the fight.  However, many Nigerians still face constant threats from various forms of violence, including banditry, kidnappings, and terrorism.

    The NOA boss also said the Federal Government “has escalated security operations nationwide, merging tactical enforcements with intelligence-led interventions,” adding, “Banditry, insurgency, trafficking, and other crimes are being tackled through seamless interagency cooperation, resulting in major arrests, rescues, and asset seizures.”

    Indeed, the gravity of the country’s security crisis demands the intensification of the government’s efforts to counter insecurity. This means deploying more resources, implementing new tactics, and ensuring better coordination among all security agencies.

    The Special Intervention Squad inaugurated by the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, last year, was expected to make a security impact, including apprehending major criminals, dismantling criminal networks, successfully deterring attacks before they happen, increasing public confidence in law enforcement and improving the safety of vulnerable communities.  He said it was created “to confront the most formidable challenges that beset our nation today — challenges like kidnapping, banditry, and other violent crimes that have sown discord and fear across various regions.”

    Egbetokun also said the officers had been trained for “advanced tactical operations, intelligence gathering, crisis negotiation, and community engagement,” among others, and described their work as a “critical national assignment.” There is a strong need to boost the capacity of this squad towards achieving its purpose, and empower the police generally to fight insecurity.

    Ultimately, the Kwara attacks underscore the need for intelligence and prevention, rapid response, and law enforcement in the fight against insecurity. Even more critically, the authorities should urgently address the underlying social and economic factors that fuel crime, such as poverty, unemployment, and a lack of education.

  • Gang violence

    Gang violence

    Govts must address poverty and unemployment that provide fertile grounds for it

    Responding to violent clashes by gangs of local thugs known as Yan Daba for over a week in Kofan Mata community in Kano Municipal Local Government Area (LGA) of Kano State, resulting in assaults and injuries inflicted on persons, destruction of property and deaths in broad daylight, married women in the state have staged protests demanding restoration of normalcy.

    It is of course understandable that this category of women would be most concerned about the reign of anarchy as the victims of these clashes would be their children and many of the disrupted and destroyed small scale businesses through which they contribute to the sustenance their families.

    Beyond Kano, the surge in clashes by armed gangs, especially in urban and semi-urban centres, has become a grave security threat in the North -West zone where an estimated 3,988 fatalities were recorded in about 1,380 documented such violent events in 2024. These cases of urban youth violence is quite distinct from such other kinds of assorted organised crimes, including kidnapping, banditry, terrorism and lethal Islamic militancy existing at varying levels of severity across geopolitical zones.

    Indeed, there is no part of the country immune to youth violence and the incidences of such occurrences are shifting, alarmingly, from tertiary to lower levels of education, and from urban to rural areas.

    A revealing report on this menace by a corporate group, SB Morgan, titled ‘Gangster’s Paradise: Nigeria’s Restive Youth Gang Crisis (2020-2025)’ shed light on a challenge that has assumed epidemic national proportions. According to the report, “Between January, 2020 and March, 2025, data from SBM Intel’s Violence Tracker indicated that no fewer than 1,686 people were killed in at least nine incidents of gang violence across Nigeria – an average of approximately 1.85 fatalities per incident – with 2024 leading in incidents (273), but having fewer than 2021, which recorded more deaths (377) than the years under review”.

    Lagos State, the country’s economic hub and commercial nerve centre was once the focal point of this phenomenon when youth groups popularly tagged ‘area boys’ operated in neighbourhoods, markets and motor garages, harassing citizens, combining begging with intimidation and engaging in petty thefts.

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    With the country’s economic crisis, however, more dangerous and lethal rival youth gangs emerged in the mega city such as the ‘one million boys’, ‘Ajah boys’, ‘Badoo cult gang’, ‘Awawa boys’ and ‘no salary boys’, among others, engaging in bloody turf wars across communities with fatal consequences. Some of these groups are also active in Ogun State and other parts of the Southwest. Other major commercial hubs in different parts of the country including Onitsha, Enugu, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Makurdi, are also now notorious for youth unruliness.

    Other similar youth gangs identified by the SB Morgan Report in parts of the South-South, South-East and North-Central geopolitical zones include the Black Axe, Eiye Confraternity, Aiye Cult, Buccaneers and Icelanders. Many of these cult groups sprouted from campuses of tertiary institutions but have now taken roots in diverse communities nationwide.

    The problem of violent youth gangs has been exacerbated by pervasive poverty in which no less than 87 million Nigerians, especially youths, are immersed; the attendant problem of mass unemployment which is estimated to hover around 53% for individuals aged from 15 to 35; increased drug use prevalence among youths, particularly those aged from 15 to 29, and the craze for quick wealth accumulation which spurs cyber and yahoo cult crimes, among others.

    Apart from the urgent need to decentralise our current overcentralised and ineffective security architecture, government at all levels must expedite action to promote accelerated economic recovery, generate mass employment, drastically ameliorate high poverty levels, mitigate endemic corruption that deepens underdevelopment as well as intensify mass reorientation of society to imbibe more wholesome and less materialistic values.

  • An avoidable glitch

    An avoidable glitch

    WAEC has lessons to learn from its 2025 WASSCE results

    Twice within five days, last week, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) posted different outcomes of the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

    On August 4, the council published results showing that out of a total of 1,969,313 candidates that sat the examination conducted between April 24 and June 20, 1,718,090 candidates – representing 87.24 percent – obtained credit scores and above in a minimum of five subjects with or without English Language and Mathematics, with only 754,545 candidates (38.32 percent) obtaining credit and above in at least five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

    But the council returned on August 8, to retract. It said upon “an internal post-examination review” of the results earlier announced, it found that 1,794,821 candidates (91.14 percent) obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects with or without English Language and Mathematics, while 1,239,884 candidates (62.96 percent) obtained five credits, including English Language and Mathematics.

    This marked a 24.64 percentage point improvement on the outcome announced days earlier and brought some relief to candidates and parents, among other stakeholders; though it posted 9.16 percentage underperformance when compared with the 72.12 percent success level achieved in the 2024 edition of the exam.

    The examination body had reported that 1,973,365 candidates registered across 23,554 secondary schools for the examination that also held in schools operating the Nigerian curriculum in Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea.

    Head of Nigeria National Office of WAEC, Dr. Amos Dangut, blamed the discrepancy in published results on an error in the marking of serialised papers that resulted in misrepresentation of candidates’ performance. Earlier, he had linked candidates’ poor performance this year to the exam body’s efforts to curb malpractice, saying one of the key measures introduced was the serialisation of objective test question papers in Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Economics, which made it difficult for candidates to cheat.

     “This approach drastically reduced the incidence of collusion and made examination malpractice more difficult. We observed a dip in the performance in objective papers, but essay papers remained consistent with previous years. It’s a strong signal that candidates must rely on their own preparation,” he had said on Monday.

    In his Friday re-briefing, however, Dangut said it was discovered that the English Language Objective Test (Paper 3) was scored using incorrect keys due to a wrongly assigned serialised code file. “We investigated and discovered that a serialised code file was wrongly used in the printing of the English Language Objective paper. This resulted in them being marked with incorrect answer keys. It is important to note that candidates who wrote the exams using the computer-based mode were not affected,” he explained.

    The WAEC boss was fulsomely apologetic on the council’s behalf for the messy situation. “The observable decline in the performance of candidates earlier announced was partly traceable to this absurd situation. The council sincerely apologises for the imbroglio and deeply regrets the emotional and mental dismay it might have caused the affected candidates and all stakeholders. We have been able to fix the anomaly, and candidates can now access their results on the portal (www.waecdirect.org),” he said.

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    Following public outrage over the results it earlier announced, the examination body shut down its results portal, saying it sensed a technical glitch in what was published. It was upon resolution of that glitch it posted reviewed results showing an improvement in candidates’ performance.

    By its own narrative, WAEC acknowledged poor mastery of the innovations it introduced to sanitise examination outcomes. This, in our view, is blameworthy, considering the distress caused candidates and parents, among other stakeholders. It is laudable, no doubt, that the council is dealing a hard tackle on examination malpractice; but he who calls a battle must be properly kitted to fight that battle and not be over-awed by what he himself started.

    This is why we have always argued that digitalisation of examination processes in this country should be systematised to equip exam administrators with required mastery of innovations being introduced before the roll-out of those innovations. Otherwise, it is the candidates who suffer.

    Earlier this year, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) also encountered technical glitches in its conduct of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). But the good thing is that JAMB asked candidates affected to rewrite their papers. This is an option WAEC refused to contemplate, even with the May 28 debacle involving candidates writing Parts II and III (Objectives and Theory) of the English Language paper at nightfall.

    If WAEC wouldn’t brook reconducting the crucial paper in which mass failure was widely foreseen, the least it could have done was take that circumstance into consideration in its overall grading of the examination. Its failure to do that largely contributed to the messy situation over the 2025 WASSCE results, and lessons should be learnt.

  • Icon of integrity

    Icon of integrity

    Police officer who rejected $17,000 bribe exemplifies Nigerian potential

    Sentome Obi, a Superintendent of Police (SP) attached to the Bayelsa State Police Command, is a worthy Nigerian personality and among the finest breed in the country’s security establishment. He embodies integrity that could not be bought with sleazy cash, and showed that the perception of the Nigeria Police as a corrupt institution is not reflective of every personnel of that vilified institution.

    Obi was lately celebrated as the recipient of Police Officer of the Year 2024 Award and IGP Integrity Award for having rejected a $17,000 bribe offered by suspects involved in organ harvesting, drug dealing and cyber fraud, among other crimes. The suspects were arrested late last year and subsequently charged to court.

    At the parade of the suspects in December, Zone 16 police command in Bayelsa State said they were arrested at Rumukparali community, Obio/Akpo council area of Rivers State by operatives of the zonal financial and cybercrime unit acting on credible intelligence. A spokesperson for the zone said the three suspects confessed to impersonating a prominent United States-based personality and defrauding two named victims of $71,500.

    According to the spokesperson, during the execution of a search on the suspects’ premises, wraps of illicit drugs, two vehicles, two laptops and 10 phones were recovered. “The suspects, through their agent, offered the sum of $17,000 bribe that was rejected by our well-trained, reformed officers. The money is registered and will be tendered as exhibits in court,” the spokesperson added.

    Obi, head of the financial and cybercrime unit at Zone 16 command, Yenagoa, is the officer who spurned the bribe. He was feted for the uncommon demonstration of integrity at a state banquet organised by the Bayelsa State Government on July 23, 2025, where Bayelsa State Governor Duoye Diri presented him with a brand-new Toyota Corolla car and a fully furnished three-bedroom bungalow.

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    Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun also led police top echelon to celebrate him in Abuja and slate him for accelerated promotion. Obi is greatly encouraged by the rewards, but he says integrity and not expectation of rewards was his major motivation for the rare demonstration of high character value.

    Asked if he regretted refusing the bribe, which could have made him wealthy, Obi said: “Not at all. Regret is not even to be mentioned in this case, $17,000 is a huge amount – that is millions of naira. I have never seen that type of money in all my life. But you will recall that (the police) is a regimented organisation. The integrity of the organisation is at stake.

    Ordinarily, some people must have felt like, why didn’t we collect the money and just enrich ourselves? But what comes ahead is better than what they are thinking.”  He cited rewards that have rolled in as positive reinforcement of the choice he made, saying: “Today, the governor has rewarded me with a three-bedroom bungalow and a brand new car. So, integrity really pays.”

    Obi defended the image of the police against widespread notion that it is a corrupt institution. “Many people have negative perception of the police. But this is going to tell you that we still have the good ones. And it will make it clear to everybody in the society that in every organisation, we have the bad eggs,” the icon said. “So, the police is a reflection of the society. The authorities keep on educating, sensitising and telling us. We also have seasoned police officers who have integrity,” he added.

    On what advice he had for fellow police officers, Obi said: “They should live up to expectations. It is not just about money, integrity counts: who you are, the family that you are coming from, the organisation that you are representing. So, why not do your best? Do the work as it is, forget about bribe, forget about intimidating, forget about turning white to black. The reward actually pays off, just as you have seen.”

  • A no-no!

    A no-no!

    It appeared a troubled throwback to the best forgotten era of military rule: a governor ordering the closure of a radio station!  It’s little wonder then that the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has not taken it lying low.  Neither has the International Press Institute (IPI), Nigeria.

    The radio in question is Badeggi 90.1 FM, in Minna, Niger State, reportedly ordered shut by Governor Mohammed Umar Bago, for alleged incitement of violence.

    “Arbitrary closure of media houses reminds us of the dark days of military rule which ended 26 years ago,” Eze Anaba (NGE President) and Onuoha Ukeh (Secretary) cautioned in a joint statement they released on the matter. “The closure of Bedeggi radio is a worrying trend that threatens the vital fabric of our democracy” the statement warned.

    The guild also cited Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights to further back Nigerian local laws and regional protocols that protect the freedom of speech, particularly in a democracy.  It however also cautioned media professionals to play by the rule and uphold journalistic ethics.

    The IPI Nigeria, reacting through its president, Muskilu Mojeed and legal adviser, Tobi Soniyi, and also quoting Sections 22 and 39 of the 1999 Constitution, which it insists guarantee press freedom and access to information, called for the unconditional lifting on the radio’s closure.

    It warned that if the station was not reopened within 24 hours, it would include the Niger State governor and everyone involved in the closure in its Book of Infamy, which was launched in April 2022.  The IPI Nigeria also threatened to share the book and its ignoble contents with global media rights groups, human rights organisations and embassies.

    That is highly welcome: a study in civil non-violent protest, in contradistinction to the arbitrary action of the governor, regarding the radio.

    Still, the Niger State government too has accused the radio of media outlawry, claiming it had been inciting public violence against the government and its policies, by its rabid reporting.  If these charges were true, they would be unfortunate.  Badeggi 90.1 FM should do a thorough introspection and cut back on excesses alleged by the government, if any.

    As the NGE cautioned, media houses too should play by the rule, for no freedom is absolute.  Press freedom is ideological, and rightly so.  It’s the oxygen without which media practice is gravely endangered; and democracy itself is highly imperiled.  But closing eyes to complaints of genuine media excesses is also not good, for ideology then becomes crass emotion that only reinforces media impunity.

    A healthy balance, of mutual respect, is therefore called for.  That should ensure a peaceful coexistence between the media and its many publics.  It should also foster common submission to the rule of law, in times of friction, such that the law rules, never arbitrary power.  Arbitrary action by the government and abuse by the media fuel impunity.

    But even with media abuse — which too should never be tolerated — the governor should have known that under no circumstance should he have ordered the radio closed.  That was self-help, and self-help is but a step to anarchy, such as absolute freedom, which is a myth, even in a democracy.

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    So, what the Niger State government ought to have done was to lay a complaint with the industry regulators, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), charged by law to investigate any media abuse and impose sanctions.  Had the government done that, the radio would have got its comeuppance under the law, if found liable and culpable.

    But beside market sanctions, the government could also have approached the courts for redress, if the radio had infringed on any of its rights.  That would have been more civil, not necessarily less severe, though it would have taken longer.

    No matter the level of perceived provocation, the government should have realised that shutting down a radio could have a far-reaching effect on the welfare of its staff who, despite the collateral damage of an offending radio, are law abiding citizens the government has sworn to protect.

    Besides, rushing to shut down a radio — and many of these radios are struggling cottage media industries, with limited capital — could make a difference between earning revenue to pay their staff for the month.  Failure to do that could result in social tension, which could come back to haunt the government itself, in terms of general anti-social behaviour.

    But of course, the flip side of that is for media houses to operate strictly under the law, be ethical in their practice, be socially responsible, and shun all forms of recklessness, without prejudice to taking any legitimate step to call the government to account.

  • Good examples

    Good examples

    • Two LGs in Lagos demonstrate the immense possibilities at that level of governance

    In the last days before the expiration of the tenure of chairmen and councillors of the 57 local government (LGs) and local council development areas (LCDAs) which terminated with the local government election of June 12, 2025, the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, inaugurated a number of legacy projects in two of the local government councils.

    In Agboyi-Ketu LCDA, Sanwo-Olu commissioned the Orumba Bushura Alebiosu Multipurpose building, the Agboyi Community Primary School, the Agboyi-Ketu ICT Hub, the HRM Oba Taiwo Adesegun Lamina Sport Centre and 4.45 kilometres of newly constructed roads.

    And in Bariga LCDA, the governor commissioned two newly-built primary schools, 14 networks of completed roads of the 21 earmarked, four primary health centres, one of which is equipped with ultra-modern digital clinic, a fully equipped fire station and a legislative building for the council’s lawmakers. The projects, widely showcased in the print, electronic and social media, had impressive aesthetic appeal and were obviously of the desired high quality.

    It was only natural for an enthused Governor Sanwo-Olu to profusely commend the achievements of the outgoing chairmen of the two LCDAs, Mayor Dele Oshinowo (Agboyi Ketu) and Mr Alabi kolade (Bariga).

    Although this is good news, it is disheartening that such legacy projects were inaugurated in only two of the 57 local government councils in Lagos State. True, much earlier, Sanwo-Olu had inaugurated projects constructed by the Mushin Local Government Council which included a local government radio station to enhance communication between the council and its constituents, a number of new road projects and markets, as well as a centralised facility to house federal agencies located in the local government, to facilitate access to them by residents of the area.

    But then, this does not distract from the widespread perception that the number of chairmen and councillors in the 57 LGs/LCDAs genuinely serving the people with the requisite vision, commitment, dedication and sense of purpose is all too few.

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    Commissioning the projects in Agboyi Ketu and Bariga local government councils, Governor Sanwo-Olu attributed the demonstrated performance of those at the helm of affairs in the two grassroots entities to the fact that the state government does not tamper with funds statutorily remitted to the councils from the Federation Account. He said local government authorities in the state had free and full access to their funds ever before the Supreme Court judgement that granted full financial autonomy to the local government councils.

    We have no reason to doubt the governor and this is certainly commendable. But the state government also has the responsibility to query the lethargy and complacency of those local councils which are clearly not living up to the expectations of their people in terms of delivery of democracy dividends.

    There is certainly the urgent need for all respective stakeholders to work to resolve the bureaucratic and other bottlenecks, including subtle resistance by many governors, to the implementation of the apex court’s directive on the unhindered transmission of funds statutorily accruing to the third tier of government to them with no interference from state governments.

    With the removal of fuel subsidy at the inception of the Tinubu administration, the Naira accruals to the sub-national governments, including local government councils, have quadrupled but this can have only minuscule impact on the people’s welfare if a substantial proportion is allegedly diverted to other uses by imperious governors.

    Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), for instance, indicated that the 20 constitutionally recognised LGAs in Lagos State received the highest allocation from the Federation Account compared to all other local councils in the country, in the first half of 2024. Alimosho LGA received N11.13 billion during this period; Ajeromi/Ifelodun was allocated N8.90 billion; Kosofe received N8.80 billion and Mushin got N8.69 billion. Oshodi-Isolo, Ojo, Ikorodu and Surulere LGAs received N8.66 billion, N8.58 billion, N8.41 billion and N8.24 billion, respectively.

    One key factor responsible for the low performance of most local government councils in the country is the lack of genuine, credible and transparent elections at the grassroots level. Most elected local government officials, for instance, have little or no sense of responsibility to the people since they came to power by inexplicable means, with little participation from the electorate.

    The norm now is for the ruling party in the control of power at the state level to sweep the polls with 100% success, just as happened in last month’s local government elections in Lagos State, whereby the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state won all 57 chairmanship seats, conceding only one obscure councillorship seat out of 366 to the PDP.

    This is what generally happens across the country, irrespective of the ruling party in power there.

    During a courtesy call on him by the Forum of Chairmen of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIEC), the Chairman of the National Independent Electoral Commission, (INEC), Professor Yakubu Mahmud, seized the opportunity to lament the poor quality of elections at the local government level. In particular, he stated the need for drastic improvements in the areas of planning, execution and adherence to statutory electoral timelines.

     INEC itself must be sensitive and responsive to allegations that it also has a long way to go in raising the quality of elections it conducts significantly. But elections conducted by INEC are still far superior in their organisation and management than those supervised at local government levels by the state independent electoral commissions (SIECs).

    While transferring the responsibility for the conduct of elections into local government councils to INEC, as has been suggested in many quarters will further overburden the central electoral umpire, it will also further weaken the federal ethos in our democratic practice, which is widely considered already overcentralised.

    There is thus no alternative to bringing about the requisite constitutional changes that will strengthen the autonomy of SIECs, ensure greater diversity of credible stakeholders on the board of the SIECs and weaken the current stranglehold of governors on the state electoral umpires.

    The lack of trust in the credibility and integrity of SIECs is largely responsible for the negligible participation of the electorate as once again happened in Lagos, where less than five per cent of the registered voters estimated at seven million turned out to cast their votes.

    This is also responsible for the little interest of a majority of citizens in the affairs of grassroots councils that have great potential to improve public welfare through dedicated service.

  • Reviving the textile sector

    Reviving the textile sector

    • FG’s determination is good, but we must avoid past pitfalls

    Last week, the Federal Government put in concrete gear, its long advertised plan to revive the cotton, textile and garment sector with the tour by the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Enoh, of key textile sites in Kaduna State. The tour which had officials of the Bank of Industry (BOI) in tow would appear deserving of the more than the passing attention given it by most Nigerians considering, first its historic role as a key player in the national economy, and secondly, the terrible fate that has befallen it. 

    Here is a sector which at the height of its splendour, had a 600,000-strong work force operating close to 170 textile mills across the country, providing livelihood for about 20 percent of the population, currently boasting of barely 20 to 25 mills, most of which operate below capacity.

    Of course, the fate of the 1.3 million cotton growers in the cotton production belt, most of who depend on the firms in the situation, can only be imagined. From a once upon a time impressive gross domestic product (GDP) of 25 per cent, we saw the sector plunge to barely 1.63 percent (N1.247 trillion) in 2023. In fact, in Q1’24, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) noted that the sector contributed a negative 1.75 percent to GDP, making it one of the underperforming sectors in the country.

    And from being a one-time second largest hub in Sub-Saharan Africa behind South Africa, accounting for 63 percent of the textile capacity in the sub-region at the time, it is currently a net importer of textile products from Asia.

    The other part of the textile sector story easily taken for granted is that the years of direct interventions, each cycle of which had cost the Federal Government hundreds of billions of naira, actually availed the sector little respite.

    Now, the Bola Tinubu administration, in conjunction with the BOI is set to change the narrative under a programme that aims to localise up to $4bn in spending on textile imports, fostering economic growth, creating jobs, and boosting local manufacturing capabilities.

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    In the words of BOI managing director/chief executive officer, Olasupo Olusi, “Our goal is to create hope and renew interest in a sector that was once a major employer of labour. It is a crucial step toward rebuilding the economy.” We couldn’t agree more with the BOI chief: Nigeria’s garment sector in particular, not only stands among the most dynamic in the world, the synergy between the disparate parts of the sector has only remained a vast ocean of promises.

    At this time, our concern is whether anything has changed from previous initiatives on the basis of which citizens can anchor their optimism of positive outcomes this time around. In other words, why did those previous efforts – also celebrated as well-conceived at the time – flounder? Can we now say that the appropriate lessons have been learnt?

    Of course, a major component in any plan to get the sector on its feet would have to be finance. With most of the technologies currently in use outdated and the machines obsolete, an industry-wide retooling would have to be a major priority. This will obviously extend to the working capital, as indeed the need for a programme to overhaul the value chain – bottom up – to bring the cotton growers into the loop.

    Yet, as important as these are in the revitalisation plan, issues of infrastructure, particularly of power and logistics, should rank no less in the order of priority, considering that these have been at the heart of the country’s inability to compete, either locally or internationally.

    But then, the biggest headache remains the smuggling of cheap, substandard imports from Asia through our porous borders. So powerful is the cartel behind them that successive attempts to stamp out their activities have remained fruitless. Being the particular area where the government’s resolve would have to be tested most, any failure on its part can only in the end, lead to disastrous outcomes for the turnaround plan.

    In all, we urge the government and BOI to pay close attention to these issues as they plod on with the revitalisation plan.  

  • Fresh start

    Fresh start

    Super Falcons and D’Tigress awards call for a fresh reward template for national heroes, across all sectors

    The triumph and fulsome reward to two Nigerian national female teams, the Super Falcons and D’Tigress, has opened a spigot of cash, promised real estate and the national honour of Officer of Order of the Niger (OON) — and rightly so.

    The Falcons, after going down 2-0 in just 24 minutes to hosts Atlas Lionesses of Morocco, claimed a 3-2 victory — all three goals in the last 30 minutes of the game! The icing on the cake: the Falcons’ 10th triumph in 10 finals, out of 13 championships, spread over 26 years! 

    These 10 wins are also a world record: only the Falcons — national female football team — boast 10 titles, of all the continental champions; the closest being (USA: North/Central America/Caribbean) and Brazil (South America), with nine titles each.  Also, the 10 over 10 — 100% win — in the Women African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) finals is also a global phenomenon. 

    Still, move over, the Falcons — in a few days in-between.  Approach to be toasted, D’Tigress: seven-time African female Basketball champions, and five-time champions on the bounce, with their August 3 triumph in the African championship in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire — an African record!  What was more?  That latest win was their 29th, over the last 10 years: their last defeat, on African soil, being in that same championship in 2015!

    The Federal Government, under President Bola Tinubu, has admirably reacted with a surfeit of gifts, on behalf of a thrilled and grateful nation: the Naira equivalent of US$ 100, 000, a three-bedroom apartment in a government estate in Abuja and the OON for each of the players, with the cash prize graduated for each member of the technical team.  The Falcons and D’Tigress were rapturous winners.

    But what first appeared a rich pasture of national honour — well-earned — soon plummeted into a desert of resent and complaints.  The aggrieved complained that whereas they honoured Nigeria by past wins, Nigeria never honoured them, as the present golden girls.

    Graceless sense of entitlement?  Sour grapes?  Or even braying political opponents, over the good PR these sweet victories have gifted the Tinubu government? Plausible motives to be fair, but not x-raying these grievances would be unfair.

    The very first came from past winners of WAFCON, particularly in those early dominant years, when Nigeria did not only clean the titles but won big, scoring as many as eight goals, in complete demolition of luckless opponents.

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    Ironically, representing these indomitable pioneers, in this latest bevy of winners, is Ann Agumanu-Chiejine.  Chiejine, a former Falcons goalkeeper, played in a championship when she was months pregnant!  What heroism!  What patriotism!

    But most of her Falcons contemporaries were out, including Precious Dede, another iconic goalkeeper, Perpetual Nwocha — the female version of the male Austine “Jay-Jay” Okocha, with her sublime skills, if not Jay-Jay’s mercurial showboating, Florence Omagbemi, worthy and dependable skipper of that era, among many others.

    If they delivered for the country, why were they not toasted as these Spartans that just accomplished Mission X? Can the good action of the present government become a “fault”, because of the inaction of the previous governments?  Certainly not! 

    Even then, it’s doubtful if that “inaction” can be rubbished.  Whatever reason for that past decision couldn’t have been ingratitude.  Such governments appreciated the Falcons no less.  They just did it their own way.  It doesn’t matter that it didn’t translate into cash and sundry flourish. 

    So, while we empathise with these past heroines, it’s better they stop turning their experience into virtual moral blackmail to browbeat the current order for past actions or inactions.  Were the government even to bow to that pressure, how far into the past would it go?  It’s best to wish the present lucky winners well and joy for them.

    A second appeal, driven by a rather bitter grumble, has come from Peacemaker Azuegbulam, a living symbol of near-supreme sacrifice in his service duties, but who has found redemption in sports.

    Azuegbulam, 28, was at the terror front in October 2020, as a 23-year-old, when Boko Haram cells attacked his unit, seriously wounding him.  To save his life, military doctors opted to amputate one of his legs.  That completely broke Azuegbulam. 

    “After being injured, I got into a lot of things emotionally, physically and even mentally,” he would later tell Africa News. “I was thinking a lot of things, I was not myself, it was very tough.”  Indeed, for a young man, that must have been tough!

    But then came redemption — and a second life — in sports.  The young soldier grabbed sports as therapy, and before long, he was back to his feet.  He became the African champion in powerlifting, while also competing in sitting volleyball. The apogee of his rebirth came in Düsseldorf, Germany, which hosted the 2024 Invictus Games, conceived as rallying sports for deformed soldiers.  He won a gold in powerlifting — the very first African soldier to achieve such a feat.

    “I feel great to become the first champion in Invictus Games from Africa,” he crowed to AFP in Abuja, after the win. “Invictus means unconquered because we are still alive.”

    Unfortunately, the Falcons and D’Tigress rewards have brought needless bitterness to blight his soaring, back-from-the-dead spirit, the very ethos of the Invictus Games, which started in 2014, as conceived by Prince Harry of England.

    “We came back, nothing was given to us,” he grumbled, “and today, US$ 100, 000 was given to female footballers.”  Although he clearly stated that he was happy for the girls, his own lack of reward made him bitter.

    The pathos of Azuegbulam is deep: a serviceman, crippled in action, came back to do more honours for his country, and yet feels far less appreciated — deep!  But that can only fly in the emotive space.  If you apply some rigour, the podium seems to vanish. 

    For one, he is a serviceman, who enjoys benefits not open to other non-force citizens.  We owe our service (wo)men grateful honour. But it’s doubtful if anyone outside the military ogles those exclusive benefits he and colleagues enjoy, flowing from their service oath. 

    Besides, Invictus is a strictly military affair.  Whatever dissonance he had, he ought to have channelled it to the military authorities.  Also, he sounds rather reactionary: his glory came last year.  If the military did not do enough, why didn’t he complain then?  But maybe complaining now is an opener for the military to give their own far better deals, in consonance with their service oath.  First thing first, though: Azuegbulam should complain to the right quarters.

    A third complaint came from the triumph of other glorious teens — three of them — from a Yobe secondary school, that trumped their peers in a global competition in English. The trio: Nafisa Abdullahi Aminu, Rukayya Muhammad Fema and Hadiza Kashim Kalli.  All three, 17 and below, triumphed at the 2025 TeenEagle Global competition in London, UK.

    Some voices have pushed a Naira splash for the teens too, matching the presidential largesse of the adult Falcons and D’Tigress.  Well, no crime in asking in a setting notorious for entitlement.  But pushing for adult rewards for impressionable teens is clearly not well thought out, if not ab initio powered by outright mischief.

    The Federal Government has done well by toasting the feat of these golden teens where it matters most — their budding intellect.  Their achievements, coming from a section of the country often talked down as educational laggards, is great news.  So, the Federal Government should follow with adequate rewards to further nurture their promise.  But that can’t equate fulsome cash given to adults.  Better: some structured scholarships and learning tools.

    With these complaints, however, there is an urgent need to frame a conscious and deliberate reward template for whoever excels, in every sector of our national life. 

    If that is put in place, and it’s fair and robust enough, sour grapes popping up at glory times should vanish.  We should celebrate our patriots without any dark backlash.

  • Let Bauchi follow suit

    Let Bauchi follow suit

    Marker Day seems to have outlived its usefulness in the state,
    it should emulate states that have banned it

    Marker Day, originally organised by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, a private grant-making foundation, is a day to celebrate, preserve, and maintain historic markers across the United States. It is a family-friendly event in which volunteers participate in cleaning and restoring the markers that are often found near significant historical locations.

    But the Nigerian variant is an aberration of the original concept. What is supposed to be a harmless celebration of school graduation or year-end milestone, at least in Nigeria, Marker Day has become a breeding ground for indecency and all manner of immoral and anti-social behaviours in the country.

    Bauchi State presents a vivid example of such as students closed for the last academic session, last month.

    Thanks to the social media on which some of these activities trended.

    It is significant that in about 23 schools where the videos were recorded, 20 were public schools. Only three came from private schools. Even then, two of the three were not shot within the school premises, but on the streets. The majority of the remaining 20 shots occurred on the premises of some secondary schools in the state.

    It is unfortunate that what started as a practice whereby graduating students sign on each other’s uniforms with markers to signify the end of an important chapter in their lives has graduated to something else. In one of the videos online, one graduating female student was seen removing her blouse while a male student knelt in her front and inscribed some things right on her left breast!

    It is not clear whether this was part of the Bauchi incidents or it was taken from somewhere else. What is clear is that it just represents the depth to which the society has sunk.

    It was for this reason of immoral behaviours that are unexpected, even of adults in public, that states like Adamawa and Yobe, among others, have banned Marker Day.

    In banning it last month, Yobe State government said in a statement by its permanent secretary, ministry of basic and secondary education, Dr. Bukar Aji Bukar, that “The celebrations have strayed far from acceptable school practices to now pose serious threats to discipline and security within the learning environment.”

    A circular signed by the Adamawa State Commissioner in charge of the Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development, Dr. Umar Pella, banning the signing-out ceremony said, “The decision to ban the celebrations was taken in response to the growing incidence of unruly behaviour, erosion of cultural values, and security threats linked to the events.”

    Other state governments like Gombe and Katsina that have similarly outlawed the event adduced similar reasons.

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    We agree with them entirely.

    True, there is nothing bad in students unwinding after finishing a milestone like secondary education. It, indeed, calls for celebration. Whether the students would proceed to tertiary institutions after leaving secondary school or not, the fact that they have finished another leg, and an important one as secondary education for that matter, signifies freedom on the scale they probably never witnessed before.

    Freedom from the many restrictions they faced through their academic career up till the time they leave secondary school is worthy of celebration.

    But the relevant authorities have to step in when the ceremony is now being observed dysfunctionally.

    We expect Bauchi State to ban the signing-out ceremony as well. This is much more so that most of the immoral conducts that trended online on the ceremony in the state occurred in the state’s public schools.

    The state governments that have banned the celebration are not necessarily opposed to celebrating the milestone; what they are saying is that since those involved cannot celebrate it responsibly, they had no choice but to ban it.

    Not only that, they directed school heads to take full responsibility for enforcement, making it clear that violators would face sanctions appropriately.

    We cannot watch our country’s future leaders erode our culture so blatantly.

    As a matter of fact, we expect sanctions against some of the identifiable culprits, to serve as deterrence to students who might want to toe a similar path in the future.

  • Doyin Abiola (1943 – 2025)

    Doyin Abiola (1943 – 2025)

    Journalism has lost a genius and trailblazer

    She was notably the first woman to hold the positions of editor and managing director/editor-in-chief of a national daily newspaper in Nigeria. As pioneer editor of National Concord daily in 1980, Dr Doyinsola Abiola (nee Aboaba) grabbed the headlines. It was a prominent newspaper, and she had been headhunted for the prestigious position, which underlined the credibility of her appointment.
    She made the news again when, in 1986, she became managing director/editor-in-chief of the Concord Group of Newspapers.
    In the same year, she was selected for the Eisenhower Fellowship in the US, the first Nigerian woman to participate in the international programme for “innovative leaders.”
    She continued setting records well beyond her active journalism years. In 2010, she was the first woman to receive the Wole Soyinka Lifetime Award for journalistic excellence, for being “an inspiration to the present crop of journalists, and will continue to be an inspiration for the future crop of journalists.”
    She was the second woman recipient of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) Lifetime Achievement Award at the 24th DAME ceremony, “for her lifelong devotion to advancing the frontiers of knowledge and strengthening the media as a pillar of democracy.”
    Her death on August 5, aged 82, brought back memories of her sense of professionalism and contribution towards a better society. She was well equipped for success in journalism. After getting a degree in English and Drama from the University of Ibadan in 1969, she joined the Daily Sketch and worked as a reporter and columnist. She left the newspaper the following year for postgraduate studies in journalism, in America.
    She returned to Nigeria with a master’s degree. The Daily Times, a leading newspaper in the country at the time, wanted to employ her as a woman editor who would be responsible for a gender-focused section. She dramatically rejected the job offer because she saw it as downplaying her capability. This incident showed her sense of self-worth. The newspaper later employed her as features writer, validating her earlier stance, and she proved her worth by rising to the position of group features editor.
    In the mid-1970s, she again travelled to the US for further studies and returned to the country with a doctorate in Communications and Political Science, which she got from New York University in 1979. She returned to the Daily Times and was a member of the paper’s editorial board.

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    When the Concord opportunity came, she was ready for career advancement by virtue of her education and practice. She made a mark as editor; and under her leadership as managing director/editor-in-chief, the group grew into a journalism heavyweight that published 14 newspapers and magazines at its peak.
    Her Concord years spanned three decades, including trying times following the Babangida military regime’s annulment of the historic June 12, 1993 presidential election won by her husband and Concord publisher, Chief M.K.O. Abiola.
    She demonstrated impressive courage in the face of military dictatorship as the Abacha military regime moved against Chief Abiola’s businesses, including the Concord Group of Newspapers. “In 1995 soldiers were put on our premises and they destroyed the presses. The newspaper was proscribed for 18 months,” she recounted in a 2001 interview. She displayed her fighter side in the pro-democracy struggle, and fought on the side of truth and justice.
    Her expertise and experience earned her the position of chair of the awards nominating panel for the Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA) when it was established in 1992; she also served as chairperson of CNN African Journalist of the Year Awards. This demonstrated her standard-setting role locally and internationally.
    As chairperson, National Commission for Women Affairs, and a member of the steering committee of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), she showed her relevance beyond journalism.
    She was a role model not only to women in the country’s male-dominated media sector, but in Nigerian journalism generally.