Charles Chukwuma Soludo‘s letter to Peter Obi is the latest construction of awareness in Nigeria’s heated political space. The Anambra State governor spared no scruples in his 4,025-word missive to the Labour Party presidential candidate.

Titled, History beckons and I will not be silent (1), the letter resonates as an expose and caution against the rage and aggression of Obi’s social media mob.

The latter had characteristically attacked Soludo for his utterances concerning Obi while interviewing with Channels TV.  Soludo, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the incumbent governor of Anambra State, had barely finished his interview with Channels Television when Obi’s supporters and media apologists launched ugly attacks against him.

With peculiar mob aggression, they flayed Soludo; they could not bear his indictment of their hero’s decision “to save” by investing state funds in beer producer, Intafact Beverages Limited,  while Anambra lacked critical infrastructure, and the citizenry grappled with starvation, insecurity and substandard healthcare.

The controversial investment in Intafact Beverages Limited shares had seen Obi plow millions of dollars of Anambra’s funds into a business in which Obi is a part-owner. While Obi’s apologists insisted that he invested  20 million dollars, the Anambra State Commissioner of Finance, Ifeatu Onejeme, in a bid to set the records straight, issued a statement clarifying that the true equity investment was $12 million dollars.

The shares were worth approximately $5.3 billion dollars, valued at CBN’s I&E exchange rate of N415.75/US$1.00 on June 20, 2022,  (and at N604/$1.00 parallel market rate, only US$3,709,051.24)” by the same date, according to Ifeatu Onejeme, Anambra’s commissioner of finance.

But rather than mull over the manifest distortion, Obi’s supporters resorted to personal attacks, abusing and threatening Anambra’s finance commissioner as they have done to Governor Soludo for speaking up. Yet Onejeme had it easier; while the mob issued unprintable threats against Soludo, the Ohaeneze Ndigbo Worldwide, an Igbo sociocultural association, has “dragged Soludo to Igbo deities over his comment on Obi.”

Reacting in a statement issued on Tuesday, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, secretary-general of the association, said the group has taken Soludo before “two famous divinities and deities” over his comment.

“Governor Soludo transgressed in choosing to revolt against the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, who is his brother and predecessor.

“Ndigbo has dragged Governor Chukwuma Soludo to the two famous divinities and deities (Chokoleze in Mbaise and ubiniukpabi in Arochuku) for his unreasonable public behavior,” he said.

Under severe attack by Obi’s supporters, however, Soludo sought consolation in an acquaintance’s counsel to him. “Someone reminded me that a mob has no head and hence cannot reason,” he said.

Thus he resorts to leading the mob on the path of reason by deploying history and unsparing critique of Obi. Referring to the latter’s controversial investments, Soludo said,  “Of course, there is room for legitimate debate about the logic or quality of the investments. For example, people might differ as to the propriety of using taxpayers’ money to promote a company in which one is a shareholder in the name of ‘investment,’ or even whether so-called ‘savings’ are warranted when there were dozens of schools without roofs or classrooms, or local governments without access roads or hospitals without doctors/nurses.

“A Bishop recently publicly advised that I should please try to construct the “Ngige type of quality roads,” stating that the ones done by his successor (Peter Obi) had washed off, while Ngige’s remained. I promised and we are delivering quality roads that Anambra has not seen before.”

Soludo probably understood that describing Obi in glowing terms in fulfillment of his presumed tribal obligation to a fellow Igbo, is akin to turning the foul mons of the proverbial whore of Babylon into a Holy Grail.

Reacting to accusations that he is anti-Igbo, he said, “When Bola Ahmed Tinubu defied the political wind of the time and stood out as the ‘only man standing’ in AD and later AC (before ACN) against a sitting president of Yoruba descent, no one accused him of being ‘anti-Yoruba.’ Indeed, everyone recalls that both Tinubu and President Obasanjo disagreed politically, and probably still disagree—but none is being accused of being ‘anti-Yoruba.’ Under Tinubu, the South West strategically organised under a different political party, the ACN, and went into a formidable alliance that kicked out a sitting president (in Africa?), and that alliance is not broken yet. Igbos, in their frenzied Nzogbu nzogbu politics, have sadly found themselves in a political cul de sac. Tragic indeed! When will my people smell the morning coffee?”

Read Also; Soludo v Obi: Truth is bitter

Soludo’s missive resounds a prickly polemic, a candid stream of thought soothing one divide of the political class and riling up others. Among other things, it strips the LP candidate of his messianic cloak.

Quoting the National Bureau of Statistics, he reiterated that “poverty in Anambra actually grew (from less than 25% in 2005) to about 53% under Peter Obi in 2010/2011 but fell under Willie Obiano to 14.78% in 2020. Yes, poverty more than doubled under Peter Obi and more than 50% of Ndi Anambra were in poverty under him. Go and verify!

“I am Governor, and sitting on privileged information which I will not want to use against a political opponent. But on matters of facts, I will always state the same as is. As the saying goes, you can fool some people some of the time but never all the people all the time. Enough said for now!”

In response, Obi claimed that, aside from his investment in the brewery, his administration saved $50 million each in Access, defunct Diamond and Fidelity banks with an interest rate of at least 6.5 percent.

Speaking at the 2022 Lagos Business School Alumni Conference in Lagos on Tuesday, he said, “If you calculate (all of them) today, the money (invested) would have been about N60 billion.”

Obi said he exited office as governor of Anambra leaving behind savings of about N75 billion in the state treasury and that he was not owing any contractor and supplier who had executed their jobs.

The LP candidate also said that “For other things which I didn’t succeed, God has given him (Soludo) opportunity to do it and succeed…I have done my little own (sic) as a trader, now the professor is there. He will do his own as a professor. The schools I didn’t roof, he will roof them. That’s how government goes,” the LP candidate added.

Yet Soludo worries that the “Ndigbo as Nigeria’s foremost itinerant tribe and with the greatest stake in the Nigerian project does not yet have a strategy to engage Nigeria—politically! Every four years, we resurface with emotive Nzogbu Nzogbu political dance (“it is our turn dance” but without organisation or strategy) and fizzle out afterward while others work 24/7 strategising and organising…When will Ndigbo understand and learn politics, especially of Nigeria?” he said.

The Anambra governor, in his letter, further highlights the hollowness of the ‘Obidient’ political movement and the fragility of Obi’s dreams of victory at next year’s presidential election, stressing that, “Let’s be clear: Peter Obi knows that he can’t and won’t win. He knows the game he is playing, and we know too; he knows that we know.

“The game he is playing is the main reason he didn’t return to APGA. The brutal truth (and some will say, God forbid) is that there are two persons/parties seriously contesting for president: the rest is exciting drama!”

At the moment, Obi’s presidential dream looms as a great beached whale, marooned on the desert shores of ambition and the fringes of realisation. His fantasy of victory clearly conflicts with political reality but Obi is held hostage to the fiction by his own supporters – many of whom are nursing a thicket of unrealistic fantasies around him.

The LP candidate’s supporters expect him to stage a remarkable upset, beating front-runners, All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and People’s Democratic Party )PDP)’s Atiku Abubakar to the presidential seat.

“Analysts tell him you don’t need ‘structure’ to win. Fantasy! Of course, LP won governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun on social media and via phantom polls, while getting barely 2,000 votes on ground,” said Soludo with wry sarcasm.

Creating a credible third force for a presidential election in Nigeria requires a totally different strategy and extremely hard work, noted Soludo adding that “The current fleeting frenzy, if not checked, will cost Ndigbo dearly for years.”

The Anambra governor based his summation on the South East’s unimpressive outing in previous elections stressing that, “the South East has the lowest number of votes of any region…During the 2019 presidential election, the five South East States were united for PDP but contributed merely 1.6 million votes to PDP which was about the votes that Kano state gave to Buhari. The emotions might run to the heavens but politics-power is about cold calculations, organisation, and building alliances for power. In a democracy, it is a game of numbers. So far, I don’t see any of these–and 2023 might again be a wasted opportunity for Ndigbo! What is our Plan B when Peter Obi loses in February 2023?”

Perhaps Soludo’s epistle would do for the Igbo what painting and sculpture did for the Italian Renaissance. By his intuitive grasp and presentation of the hard, bitter truths, he puts the possibility of Igbo political rebirth in a better perspective.

Yet hordes of Obi’s supporters, riding on spunk and acerbic posturing online, continually urge Obi towards illusive glory at the February 2023 polls. Their passion is woefully belaboured and contrived. And efforts, like Soludo’s, to nudge them towards a more realistic goal are fiercely resisted.

Marching in virtual lockstep to innate rage and discontent with the political class, they embrace Obi as their placebo aspirant. Like the fictional child character of  James Barrie’s 2015 fantasy film, “Pan,” their passion is borne of illusion, cunning, pixie dust, and an unrealistic belief in mass culture.

Mass culture, like Chris Hedges rightly notes, is a Peter Pan culture that posits that if a mob like the Obidients, for instance, visualise and have faith in what they want, if they believe in miracles, they would live to see Obi emerge victorious at the 2023 polls against all odds.

Such mob retreat into illusion is a form of magical thinking. It presages the debauched revels of the South East’s troubled political culture. By sticking to an unrealistic theory of Obi’s victory at the 2023 polls, they are setting themselves up for disappointment.

Ultimately, an ominous divide looms between those who chase after Obi’s manufactured illusions of victory, and realists like Soludo, who are able to puncture the illusion with the sharp lance of realism.

And Mele Kyari cried. The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) recently sounded the alarm on his travails as a hunted man.

“There is a threat to life, I can say this, I have several death threats but we are not bothered about this, we believe that no one dies unless it is his time.

“But this is the cost of change. When people move away from what they are used to and are faced with something new that will take away value and benefit from them, they will react. That reaction is beneficial to all of us and we will work together to make sure it works out,“ he said.

Kyari made this known on Wednesday in Abuja at the Legislative Transparency and Accountability summit organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption.

The summit was titled, ‘Enhancing Transparency and Accountability in the Oil and Gas Sector: Challenges and Prospects.’ The NNPC boss said that as a result of the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), a lot of changes are ongoing that affect the old order.

He said the company had taken down several illegal oil refineries affecting the volume of oil production in the country. As a result of the activities and effects of the illegal refineries, daily crude oil production had been reduced by 700,000 barrels, he said.

Kyari had blamed various sections of the society for being complicit in the theft of millions of barrels of crude oil, mentioning even that make-shift pipelines and stolen fuel have been found in churches and mosques.

During the crackdown, illegal refineries, reservoirs, and metal tanks for storage purposes were destroyed, and seized trucks were burned. Also, vessels, speed boats, trucks and cars were impounded, while different suspects were arrested in connection with various cases of theft of petroleum products.

It has been outlined that the bigger culprits are political and economic elites. Even the federal government had promised to expose the names of prominent figures responsible for crude oil theft in the nation.

Indeed, the timeless saw which hol ds that there is no smoke without fire aptly captures Kyari’s recent outcry that there are threats to his life.

While Kyari alleged a threat to his life, a circus of adversaries has reportedly been mobilised against him by certain powerful figures angered by his moves to curtail oil theft and save Nigeria revenue running into trillions of naira.

The NNPCL chief who did not mention those behind the threat to his life justified the decision to engage the oil pipeline surveillance team, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, led by Tompolo, arguing it was aimed at curtailing the massive theft of oil in the country.

Kyari lamented that the scale of theft was enormous and that the NNPCL had taken down thousands of illegal refineries in the past 45 months. The magnitude of financial hurt has put Nigeria in dire straits. The cost to the economy is huge, he noted.

Over the years, the quantum of financial losses Nigeria incurred as a result of crude oil theft necessitated some reforms and collaboration with security agencies to clamp down on oil thieves and saboteurs.

Persistent oil theft and pipeline vandalism had foisted on the country a calamitous situation; the oil sector experienced low production as operating facilities were shut down.

As part of measures aimed at boosting the level of security for the country’s oil assets, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, and the Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, held series of meetings with the governors of the Niger Delta states, and several crackdown operations were conducted.

The federal government also launched the ‘Crude Theft Monitoring Application,’ a platform created for members of host communities and other Nigerians to report incidents of oil theft.

Similarly, the Kyari-led NNPCL awarded a multi-billion naira pipeline surveillance procurement to a former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, Tompolo.

But how far can Kyari go? Tackling oil thieves requires political will and a massive cache of cojones, as past efforts to bring the preparators of the heinous economic crime to justice have proved ineffective.

The fight against economic saboteurs and other criminal elements is too important to be left in the hands of selected stakeholders. It must be a collective responsibility of the government, civil society and the citizenry.

Despite the blurring of the lines between hope and despair, Nigerians continually seek the elixir of hope and assurance that oil theft in the country will soon become a thing of the past.

The last may not have been heard of the legal action instituted by the former Senator representing Imo North, Ifeanyi Ararume, against President Muhammadu Buhari for allegedly removing him as Board Chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

The scalding 75-paragraph affidavit in support of the suit by Ararume also cast a critical eye on the matter, thereby raising eyebrows and a medley of discordant tunes. 

Predictably, Ararume’s supporters argued in his favour stressing that no reason was given for the unceremonious removal of Ararume as NNPCL board chairman.

Some pundits argued that Ararume was edged out due to power play between him and the political caucus in his home state. He had allegedly been in a long-standing feud with the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma.

The genesis of the current feud dates back to Ararume’s appointment as board chairman of the corporation in September 2021 by Buhari; afterwards, he was tactically replaced with Margaret Chuba Okadigbo in January. Margaret is the widow of the late Chuba Okadigbo, a former president of the senate.

Apparently irked by his humiliating removal, Ararume protested quietly at first, but when he couldn’t endure the humiliation any longer, he went all out for war.

Ararume sought legal intervention on the matter, so he contracted his legal team to act on the situation.

The former chairman of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, in the suit, is also demanding a whopping sum of N100 billion compensation for damages suffered as a result of his unlawful removal.

Among the issues Ararume raised for determination include: whether in view of the provisions of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the NNPC, Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2010 and the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 (PIA), the office of the non-executive Chairman was not governed and regulated by the stated provisions of the law.

The suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/691/2022 was instituted on his behalf by a group of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) comprising Chief Chris Uche, Ahmed Raji, Mahmud Magaji, Ogwu James Onoja, K.C Nwufor and Gordy Uche.

Ararume also wants the court to determine whether by the interpretation of section 63 (3) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, the President can lawfully remove him as non-executive Chairman of the NNPC for any reason outside the provisions of the law.

He had argued that upon the passage of the PIA 2021, the former Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries were unbundled to become Nigeria National Petroleum Company registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission with number 1843987.

Ararume explained that on October 20, 2021, Buhari approved his appointment as a non-executive Chairman for a period of initial five years and subsequently, his name was registered in the Memorandum of Articles of the Company and the appointment was announced to the whole world.

Based on the appointment, Ararume averred that he attended the 23rd World Petroleum Congress in the United States of America but surprisingly on January 7th, 2022, Buhari, inaugurated the NNPC Board without recourse to him while another person was named in his place.

By a letter of January 17, 2022, he was informed of the withdrawal of his appointment but without any reason whatsoever to justify the purported removal.

Consequently, Ararume asserted that he had suffered a loss of credibility and goodwill, untold emotional, mental and psychological trauma and public humiliation, degradation and embarrassment by his purported removal by President Buhari.

He, therefore, prayed the court to award him N100 billion in compensation and to order his return to office in line with the letter and conditions of his appointment.

A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed the 15th of December for the hearing, all eyes are on the judiciary to see how it would adjudicate the matter.

Given the swirl of apprehension ahead of the 2023 general elections, Afenifere scribe, Ayo Adebanjo’s public anointing of Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP) in September added an interesting twist to the presidential race.

The aggrieved Afenifere chieftain publicly declared support for Labour Party’s hinging his support on the need for the South-East geopolitical zone to produce its first president after other zones had had their turn.

A deeper analysis reveals a more nuanced struggle around issues of collective direction. Hence the declaration attracted knocks and criticism for Adebanjo, who was said to have not widely consulted Fasoranti and other Yoruba leaders before endorsing Obi.

Adebanjo’s endorsement of Obi attracted riposte from the southwest intelligentsia.

To some political pundits, Adebanjo’s endorsement of Obi seemed a reckless initiative.

What happens if Adebanjo’s dream of an Igbo presidency is not realized with Obi in 2023, just as restructuring did not happen with Jonathan in 2014? Many are indeed not surprised by his political stance and antecedents over time.

However, in a recent development, Afenifere’s national leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti publicly anointed the presidential flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu at his home and in the presence of several southwest leaders.

The public anointing of Tinubu by the leader of the foremost Yoruba socio-cultural group undoubtedly unsettled Adebanjo. It took place in an expansive gathering of heavyweight politicians and leaders in the southwest region, who convened to lend their support to Tinubu’s presidential ambition with Pa Fasoranti’s blessing. ously received and celebrated at the country home of Fasoranti by the newly sworn-in Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji; Deputy governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa; Deputy governor of Oyo State, Bayo Lawal; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Olu Falae; former Ogun state governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel.

Read Also: Pa Adebanjo: Why is Tinubu different, sir?

Others include; the Minister of State for Transportation, Ademola Adegoroye; a former Minister of State for Niger Delta, Chief Tayo Alasoadura and a former Governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande, among other Afenifere leaders from Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Lagos, Kogi, and Kwara States were also in attendance.

Since his emergence as the party’s standard bearer, Tinubu has continually asserted that he is capable of leading the country citing his antecedents as an unrepentant democrat and progressive statesman.

The Akure endorsement of Tinubu by Fasoranti was no doubt a symbolic and strong political statement. Fasoranti, a frontline educationist and second republic finance Commissioner in Ondo State was delighted to receive Tinubu in the charged atmosphere of his abode. At the gathering, the rendition of Afenifere’s anthem elicited feelings of nostalgia on the faces of those in attendance.

Fasoranti had his two palms firmly placed on Tinubu’s clean-shaven head and wished him success in his presidential race to Aso Rock. The 96-year-old elder statesman who briefly prayed for the APC candidate, simply declared, “Tinubu will win the election.”

The Afenifere leader’s action effectively laid to rest needless controversies over his group’s disposition to Tinubu’s candidacy.

A statement issued, later, by the National Organising Secretary, Abagun Kole Omololu, described a Tinubu presidency as one that would “usher in a new era of hope, peace, security, harmony, gainful employment for the multitude, economic development, social and political stability.”

The Deputy Governor of Oyo state, Adebayo Lawal, who was at the meeting said his principal, Governor Seyi Makinde, supported Afenifere leaders on their preferred choice of presidential candidate for the 2023 elections. Lawal, who represented Makinde at the meeting, said the Oyo governor has always been in support of the decisions taken by Afenifere thus hinting at an alignment of certain opposition figures in support of Tinubu’s candidacy.

POPULAR American rapper, Kanye West, is in the eye of the storm following his anti-semitic tirade which has been described as “hateful and dangerous” on his social media pages.

West who is known for courting controversies, has also made several other remarks in the past, including suggestions that slavery was “a choice” and calling the COVID-19 vaccine the “mark of the beast.”

Beyond the avalanche of criticisms that trailed his recent anti-semitic outburst, the 45-year-old has lost several lucrative deals. Brands like Adidas, Balenciaga, GAP, and others have revoked their business deals with the rapper.

Spotify Chief Executive, Daniel Ek, said West’s comments were “awful” but that his music would stay on the platform. Kanye’s former bank, JP Morgan, and Vogue severed ties with him. His management, Creative Artist Agency, also announced that it would no longer represent Ye. Madame Tussauds also removed its wax figure of West from public view.

Adidas became the latest company to join the exodus when it announced the end of its partnership with West. It marked what everyone viewed as the largest financial blow to the rapper, who had declared that the brand “can’t drop me”.

Forbes had estimated West’s net worth at $2bn with most of that wealth tied up in Yeezy, for which he earns an estimated $220m annually as part of his production deal with Adidas.

Prior to the announcement Forbes said that West’s net worth would fall below $1bn should the Adidas contract be torn up, but have now drastically reduced that figure to just $400m.

Quite a number of fellow celebrities including comedian Sarah Silverman, writer Dan Levy, Actor Florence Pugh, Reese Witherspoon have also condemned West’s behaviour.

The controversial rapper and fashion designer stirred the hornet’s nest when he wore a ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt to his Yeezy Season 9 show at Paris Fashion Week in early October.

Then on social media, West threatened to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” before doubling down in a succession of antisemitic statements.

Kanye later clarified that he meant to say Defcon 3 in the tweet. Defence readiness condition (Defcon) is an alert system used by the US military, with five levels of readiness, with level one being the highest. Defcon level 3 refers to “Increase in force readiness above normal readiness.”

But the post has since been removed. The post came after he accused record producer, Sean “Diddy” Combs, of being controlled by “the Jewish people” in a post on Instagram.

IS Rishi Sunak Britain’s next fleeting political personae? Or is he an emblem of power baiting fugitive hope from the British underclass?

When he walked into 10, Downing Street, London, United Kingdom (UK) on Tuesday, October 25, as Britain’s youngest Prime Minister (PM), he did under a dark pall of apprehension over the country’s economic woes.

The UK’s stock and bond markets had shed at least $500 billion in value since his predecessor, Liz Truss, was formally appointed to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister on September 5.

At Truss’ unceremonious exit, Sunak, 42, emerged as the British PM and third occupant of the office in 51 days.

The most remarkable response to his ascent perhaps was the reverberant hope expressed by segments of UK’s Indian-Asian community – many received the news of Sunak’s emergence as the first prime minister of colour as a watershed moment in British politics.

But then, it is not so simple; Sunak will be the first Hindu and the first person of South Asian descent to lead a country that continues to grapple with its long history of colonialism, racism and wealth inequality.

The new PM’s opulent roots and his copious identification in public circuit as a British aristocrat is one of the hot button issues triggered at his resumption at Number 10, Downing Street.

The Sunday Times of London, on Tuesday, estimated his financial worth to be about £730 million, or $1.2 billion Cdn. And even though his wife’s riches presumably dwarf his earnings, Sunak allegedly contributed several million dollars to the family fortune via his work as an investment banker before he became an MP in 2015.

Sunak was criticised earlier this year when British press reported that his wife (Akshata) and daughter of Indian billionaire, Narayana Murty, took advantage of rules allowing her to avoid UK taxes on her foreign income. She has since promised to give up her “non-domiciled” status and pay all her taxes in Britain.

Notwithstanding, the milestone of Sunak’s emergence as the British PM is doubly significant for many people with Asian roots because it dispels the belief that a coloured person could never become Prime Minister in Britain, and it happened during the Diwali, a five-day festival of light celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains.

At the backdrop of the debate about his origins, Sunak has been called an Indian of Asian origins. But the new UK prime minister is probably more African than Asian. Historians trace his roots to East Africa. According to London-based historian, Levin Opiyo, Sunak’s grandfather, Ram Dass, married Suhag Rani in the 1930s and they migrated to Kenya at a time the colonial government needed skilled expatriates in the country.

Thus Sunak’s father, Yashvir, was a Kenyan born under colonialism and his mother, Usha, was Tangayikan, before the country merged with Zanzibar to become present day Tanzania.

So, his parents were Africans who met in England, where Sunak was born British. As he was pronounced PM on October 25, some citizens of Kenya and Tanzania, especially those of Indian descent, proudly celebrated his emergence hoping he would strengthen diplomatic ties and advocate for minorities.

Sunak may be likened to the UK’s equivalent of the fetishised political personae. Like his predecessors, he flaunts no extraordinariness save his membership of Britain’s upper aristocratic divide.

Ultimately, Sunak may champion no urgent, radical surprises even as he assumes leadership in an austere British clime. Households are struggling with skyrocketing inflation as cost of goods and services spiral above wages. 

Investors still predict interest rates will climb to a little over 5% next year and most economists anticipate no significant growth until the second half of 2023.

Truss assumed office about a month ago promising to revive the economy with deep tax cuts that seemed to ignore the rapid inflation and came with no immediate plan for covering them. The ensuing market panic forced her to beat a retreat, and cut short her tenure, with the tax burden now back to the highest since World War II and a roughly £25 billion hole in public finances.

In all of this, what are the likely gains for Nigerians living in the UK?

While various segments of Tanzanian, Kenyan and Indian-Asian populace anticipate improved circumstances with Sunak-led Britain, of what benefit would his leadership be to Nigerians?

It is noteworthy that Sunak assumed office as British Home Secretary, Suella Braverman revealed her intention to cut immigration numbers, potentially affecting a path for many Nigerians seeking greener pasture in the UK.

“We definitely have to reduce the number of work visas, students and dependents,” she said.

According to Daily Mail, Nigeria represented 40 percent of the total number of dependents between June 2021 and June 2022, and some 34,000 Nigerians were given study visas in the UK, bringing with them a total of 31,898 dependants – a reality considered cringe-worthy in official circuits.

Nigerians may be the worst hit by Braverman’s desire to cut immigration despite their contributions to the British economy. Nigerian students and their dependents contributed an estimated sum of £1.93 billion to the United Kingdom (UK) in 2021, a new report by SBM Intelligence shows.

This contribution is a net addition to the UK economy, said Ikemesit Effiong, Head of Research at SBM Intelligence, an Africa-focused geopolitical research and strategic communications firm.

“With rising living costs, a shrinking labour force, escalating pension and health costs, the UK needs to constantly attract new immigrants into the country in order to be able to keep key aspects of its economy, particularly in the healthcare sector,” said Effiong.

The challenges facing Sunak are no doubt tremendous: He must revivify an economy sliding toward recession and unite a disheartened, divided party.

In his first public statement, Sunak said, “the United Kingdom is a great country, but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge.”

“We now need stability and unity, and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together,” said the 42 -year old youngest British Prime Minister in 200 years.

The floods are here again, wreaking havoc across the country. Every year, the surging waters sweep across Nigeria, affecting mostly states where the Niger and Benue Rivers converge. Farmlands and houses in states are submerged following heavy rainfall, which threatens people’s means of livelihood.

The country is experiencing its worst flooding in over 40 years, because of heavy rainfall across the country for some days.

Also, the Lagdo Dam in Northern Cameroon used for electricity generation, and irrigation, released its excess water, but the Federal Government clarified that the dam was not fully responsible for the heavy flooding.

When the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, reeled out the grim and horrendous statistics of victims, properties, farmland affected by devastating floodings across the country so far, it raised questions about the status of the country’s Ecological Fund.

This is an immediate response fund established to provide handy resources for the amelioration of environmental problems such as soil erosion, flood, drought and general environmental pollution.

It was created in 1981 through the Federation Account Act. At inception, one per cent of revenues in the Federation Account was set aside for the fund. In 1992, the allocation was increased upward to two percent of earnings and is only released with the approval of the president.

Consequent on the directive of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in July 2002 for a review of the Modification Order of May 2002, the two percent Ecological Fund and one percent derivation hitherto under special funds were shared among the three tiers of government along existing revenue sharing formula as follows: federal government (1.46 percent), state governments (0.72 percent) and local governments (0.60 percent).

Many observers have been asking what happens to the funds? Are they being used to address relevant concerns and if so, why then do floods always wreak havoc? All of these strong posers have become more strident in the light of the death of hundreds and displacement of over one million people by the disaster.

There seems to be incongruence between these funds and the state of the ecological devastation that has become recurrent decimal. Many communities have been deserted as a result of the damage caused by flooding.

Read Also: U.S. plans $1m humanitarian aid for flood victims

What happened to the funds set aside to cater for these challenges? How are they accounted for? What exactly are they spent on? How transparent is the process of disbursement of this fund and its execution?

All these are questions which state governors who superintend the fund should be providing answers. But such answers haven’t been forthcoming. Instead, it has only been tales of woe and cries for help from many states. In some cases nothing is even being said or done.

According to NEMA, Kogi and Anambra were among 13 Nigerian states predicted to be overrun by “the combined waters of rivers Niger and Benue”. Many communities in Kogi, Kwara, Edo, Jigawa, Kano, Benue, Niger, Nasarawa, Taraba, and Borno amongst others are now underwater.

Findings from data collated from the monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee reports showed that between 2012 and 2021, Nigeria set aside a total of N548 billion for the derivation and ecological fund account for the 36 states in the country.

But the presidency had challenged states to give an account of how they spent amounts in excess of one trillion naira, allocated to them from the Ecological Fund to tackle floods and other ecological problems.

It warned state governors to rise to the responsibilities of their office by responding to the needs of their citizens in the face of growing floods and other ecologically-related disasters.

In 2018, 2.2 per cent of the estimated of N9.120 trillion budget, amounting to N198 billion was set aside for the Ecological Fund; in 2019, the 2.2 per cent amount of the budget of N132 billion was allocated for the Fund, while in 2023, 2.2 per cent of the N21 trillion budget indicated N462 billion allocation for Ecological Fund.

The House of Representatives had since June this year, launched a probe into the utilisation of the fund for the past 10 years.

Specifically, the House mandated the committee to, among other things, “investigate the total consolidated mandatory accruals into the Ecological Fund from 2010 to March 2022,” noting that the committee should equally “evaluate the disbursement of the Ecological Fund in line with the provision of the 1999 Constitution from 2010 to March 2022.”

The recurrent destructive effects of floods across the country appears to be enough evidence that ecological funds were being diverted by state governors.

A former security adviser to the Bayelsa State Government, Perekeme Kpodoh, called on Buhari to compel the EFCC and the ICPC to probe these governors and the diversion of funds allocated to them to solve ecological problems like flood.”

In the last few weeks, Kogi State has been trending for several reasons. The foremost, is the issue of rampaging floods. Secondly, the state under the leadership of Governor Yahaya Bello is locked in a twin-battle with Dangote Cement Company and BUA Group.

A strange dispute over the ownership of the 14-year old Obajana Cement plant has kept the state at the epicentre of controversies. For both parties — Dangote and Kogi State Government have been issuing rebuttals, and rejoinders, all in a spirited attempt to absolve themselves.

For Dangote Cement’s principal competitor, BUA Group, it is facing a similar conflict over purchase of an expanse of land measuring 50,000 hectares it was invited to procure a decade ago by the Kogi State Government, citing its unsuitability for its investment push.

Initially, the land became a subject of discord when the Kogi State House of Assembly directed BUA group to appear before it, insisting no payment was made to consummate the transaction dating back to 2012.

For Bello, the battle with Dangote’s company and BUA’s group appears to be a bold steps taken to reconfigure the socio-political dynamics in the state marked by deep divisions that existed for decades.

Although, Bello recently submitted to the public that the company belongs to Kogi and not Dangote, he noted that the state government had not reached any agreement with the Dangote Group.

In one of the many developments, after meetings and interventions by stakeholders, the Kogi State Government put measures in place to take Dangote Group to court and reclaim ownership of the plant.

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At a meeting brokered by the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, at the Presidential Villa, the Presidency ordered the reopening of the factory facilities to staff while efforts continue to unearth the sources of the misunderstanding between the two parties.

The fact is not disputed that Obajana Cement Company was solely founded in 1992 by Kogi State, which held 100 per cent shareholding in trust for its people long before the advent of Dangote Cement Plc. What is at stake is the shareholding structure. Per the Dangote Group, Obajana is its sole property without question.

Different protests have sprung up in Kogi State and other places in past few days. Strikingly, pandemonium actually broke out when officials of the Kogi  Government moved to seal off the cement plant.

Although the government said one person was shot during the chaos that ensued, the cement company claimed that vigilantes acting on the orders of the state government shot 27 of its workers.

The standoff had resulted in the closure of the factory, by a vigilante group acting on the order of the Kogi State government.

For BUA Group, the company claims that it could not utilise the land due to lack of infrastructure and security challenges present in the state, and this poses as a serious indictment to the Bello administration which has boasted as a “safe state”.

In all of these brickbats, Bello faces a tricky balancing act of fighting his populist battles, whilst ensuring that his actions don’t project the state as being hostile and unpredictable territory for potential investors.