Nigeria, a product of compromise by our founding fathers who as representatives of the dominant groups in a nation of some 300-odd nationalities at different levels of cultural development, envisioned a nation where even though “tribes and tongues may differ, will grow in brotherhood”. Unfortunately this was replaced by our soldiers’ blurred “vision of a good society which became more elusive, the closer they came towards it” (Robin Luckman).

For close to 60 years after the collapse of the first republic, we have done everything except retracing our steps back to where the rain started to beat us. Our successive leaders have never been short of lamentations during our independence anniversaries about missed opportunities, unfulfilled promises, abuse of rule of law, disrespect for human lives and mindless savagery by those who infiltrated through our borders and of course  corruption and economic strangulation.

 As a mark of departure, President Tinubu during this year’s anniversary, five days back, spoke of his commitment to “public sector reforms to stabilize the economy, direct fiscal and monetary policy to fight inflation, encourage production, ensure the security of lives and property and lend more support to the poor and the vulnerable”. His goal which is not markedly different from the unfulfilled hopes of his predecessors is a nation “where the abundance and fruits of the nation are fairly shared among all, not hoarded by a select and greedy few and a Nigeria where hunger, poverty and hardship are pushed into the shadows of an ever fading past”. Unfortunately his invocations like the lamentations of his predecessors are all but symptoms of our crisis of nation building.

But once again, the occasion of our 63rd independence anniversary provides another unique opportunity to interrogate where we are coming from. This has become imperative since over 70% of our people including political actors, journalists, partisan youths masquerading as EndSARS crusaders visiting violence on public properties in Lagos and the self-styled ‘Obidients’, a euphemism for unthinking and intolerant mob who see only what they want to see.

 Nigeria, prior to the imposition of the British colonial rule and carving of it into a conglomeration of states, had over 300  ethnic groups with each of the ethnic groups maintaining a different and independent system of administration.

The British, who according to Pa Ayo Adebanjo during his last Saturday interview by Channels TV conquered Nigeria as different groups; amalgamated the north and the south in 1914 and for ease of administration, institutionalised a unitary system. The West through its leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo had raised an objection on the ground that Nigeria is “a mere geographical expression and not a nation in the sense of the Welsh, the British or the French. And because by nature, the Yoruba of the West are federalists, he had canvassed for a federal system where each group would develop at its own pace without interference from others. The northern hegemonic power wanted a confederal or a federal system they could control, perhaps to enable them create a home for fellow stateless Fulani across West Africa or as feudal lords, sustain their strangle-hold on the middle belt minorities that served as mercenaries during Uthman Dan Fodio’s conquest of the Hausa states. The East wanted a unitary system where landlocked Igbo nation that like the Jews thrive in other peoples land would operate without restriction.

The British who believed it was their presence that had prevented a disastrous descent into a turmoil of warring groups, consolidated federalism through various constitutional engineering starting with Sir Hugh Clifford 1922 Constitution which abolished and replaced Lugard’s Nigerian Council with a new Legislative Council and an Executive Council; 1946 Richards Constitution which entrenched principle of regionalism by formally recognizing three regions as building blocks for a federal system; McPherson Constitution which created central House of Representatives with 68 members from the north and 34 each from the east and west; the 1954 Lyttleton Constitution which marked the beginning of direct elections to both the federal and regional legislatures in Nigeria and the Independence Constitution which consolidated a federal system with a Prime Minister and a Governor General representing the Queen of England.

The 1963 Republican Constitution was a wholly Nigerian affair without the supervision of big brother Britain and it turned out to be the beginning of our nightmare. The constitution stripped the judiciary of its independence while the government granted itself power to declare state of emergency.

The Sardauna had nothing but disdain for Awolowo who he believed was trying to undermine his authority in the north while Zik had an axe to grind with him for his role in derailing Zik’s ambition to rule the West in 1952.

But for Zik, Awo’s incarceration was a pyrrhic victory as the crises over the 1962/63 disputed census, the constitutional crisis that followed the massively rigged 1964 election proved beyond any doubt that Nigeria was a “mere geographical expression”.

It has since become part of our history that the January 1966 military coup which substituted our federal system with a unitary system was masterminded by Zik’s sympathisers in the military while the July 1966 counter coup was a vengeance coup by young northern military officers protesting the selective killing of their political leaders and senior northern military officers. The northern military officers and their civilian surrogates that have been in power for the greater part of our post-independence years midwifed the 1979 and 1999 constitutions, federal only in name but unitary in reality with 68 items in the exclusive list and without a residual list.

As we celebrate our 63rd Independence anniversary, President Tinubu has expressed his commitment “to stabilizing the economy, fighting inflation, encouraging production and ensuring the security of lives and property as well as lending more support to the poor and the vulnerable”. All these can hardly be achieved under a blurred vision that has remained elusive even as his predecessors played the ostrich in the last 53 years.

If we don’t know where we are going, we should at least remember where we are coming from.  As Punch editorial of October 1 warned: “Nigeria should stop its precarious existence and take the right choice of restructuring into a true federation with the 36 states as federating units. US think – tank, Brookings Institution, put it strongly: “Sometimes, nations face a stark choice; allow regions to federate and govern themselves, or risk national dissolution.”

With the United States court mandating that Chicago State University release some of President Bola Tinubu’s records, Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate and Tinubu’s rival in the last general elections, won a moral victory bigly. While this might not translate to legal gains in the upcoming Supreme Court, many Nigerians seem thrilled by the turn of events. I understand that feeling. This is one of the rare instances where a court judgment repudiates the almighty power that the Nigerian presidency embodies. For a nation where it is near impossible to compel its leaders to answerability, watching a higher form of power shake their supposed invincibility is gratifying.

This certificate scandal has been long in coming. The inconsistencies in his claimed trajectory began to appear when he became Lagos governor. From his family background to educational path, the numbers did not line up.

The late lawyer and activist Gani Fawehinmi memorably fought at the courts to unravel the façade but never quite succeeded. The court case could not proceed then because he had political power on his side and constitutional immunity. Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi also took the fall (for a crime he likely never committed), a deflection that left a bitter taste in the mouth. Who seeks public office but would not take the time to fill out a personal form.

While the legal aspect got caught in a constitutional quandary, the questionable credentials stuck with his public profile. If Tinubu had remained where he was in Lagos, his certificate issues would have remained a niggly problem and might even have been wrapped up in his enigma. By aspiring towards and actively pursuing the presidency, the issue was recuperated to disqualify him. It did not help that his lawyers filed serial appeals to stop the impending judgment to the point their frenzied attempts raised some red flags. In one instance, his lawyer even argued that “severe and irreparable harm will be done to Bola Tinubu if the records are released.” What kind of harm could possibly come to a man already president?

Atiku’s role in all these is most interesting. He pursued the case of Tinubu’s certificates like a man who knew something could be found. You do not pay the expense of hiring lawyers and fighting serial appeals by the defendants without some certainty that something worthwhile would be revealed. TheCable publisher Simon Kolawole’s narration of his professional experience in the certificate scandal suggests how Atiku might have had foreknowledge. According to Kolawole, while he was the editor of a weekly news magazine owned by Atiku, TheWeek, they produced an edition on the allegations of certificate forgery against Tinubu where they raised some vital questions. The management had the printed copies redacted. It was 2002, and even though they were in different political parties, Atiku and Tinubu were close friends and associates.

Ironically, the same Atiku that shielded his friend from scrutiny is also the one who went all the way to wrest his academic records from his university. You can call him amoniseni—the people who use their intimate knowledge about you to harm you—but high-stakes politics can be that amoral when you want what your opponent has.

I also want to believe that as an African big man, Atiku is also aware our laws and institutions can hardly make our political elites accountable. A victory in the US courts might not mean much at home. That makes me wonder, what if his end goal is not merely to challenge Tinubu in court but simply to disgrace him? Unless something changes, Atiku still has 2027 presidential ambitions. His doggedness in pursuing Tinubu’s certificates could be to use his (ex-) friend’s perennial thorn in the flesh to cause a moral wound. An internet resident himself, Atiku knows how much the younger digital population—many of whom actively voted against Tinubu in February—are invested in this case. He might also be playing for them. His big victory here is not what the certificates reveal or how they will be received at the Supreme Court but to score a goal before observers with varying interests in how the case unfolds.

The triumphalism they exude is not a matter of certainty that this will go anywhere in a Nigerian court but that the man before whom every institution in the country has bowed met his match in political power. What Judge Nancy Maldonado ordered could not have happened in the Nigerian courts.

Another source of satisfaction is seeing that the saying, “the judiciary is the last hope of the common man” still has meaning elsewhere. Unlike Nigeria where judges will spend a whole day reading prefabricated judgment that sends everyone to sleep and ultimately contributes nil to the course of justice in the country, we saw a court where a judge understood what was at stake and mandated the release of contested records. No hiding behind technicalities, no endless adjournments, and no judge cosying up to political powers. The judge saw—and ruled—on what needed to be done.

In Nigeria, that same case would have crawled through the court for 20 years and barely moved an inch. In fact, for each court appearance, the defendant would have sent 120 SANs to court. All of them, wig and gown in tow, would have lined up there like small children waiting to see Father Christmas. To see a mere judge—a human of like passion, vested with the power of democratic institution—compel an African president to accountability before the people he purportedly serves, is a most rewarding spectacle.

For Nigeria where our leaders are bigger than the courts, seeing them brought down by oyinbo judicial systems is always a joy and the body counts cannot rack up fast enough. We remember former Delta governor, James Ibori, who was exonerated in Nigeria only for corruption only for him to be tried and imprisoned in the United Kingdom. We also saw how Senator Ike Ekweremadu was made to pay for his crimes in a London court without anyone giving a bleep about his big man status. Which court in the country would have sentenced a former Deputy Senate President? Big men do not go to prison in Nigeria, and that is not because they do not commit crimes. Our judicial system lacks the autonomy to make judgments against them, and it was never designed to hold powerful people accountable anyway.

Of course, Tinubu’s supporters will try to spin the turn of events in the standard way they frame his defeats. Yínmú! If he were such an astute strategist, the economy under his watch would not be in the doldrums. Anyway, his supporters are welcome to their monomania, but I am pretty sure that Tinubu himself would have preferred not to have the myth of his invincibility punctured. By proving he is not unshakeable, Atiku won this round.

Access, Fidelity, Zenith lend states N46bn in six months as govs battle poor IGR

•Fiscal Responsibility Commission issues guidelines to banks on lending to states, MDAs

State governments borrow about N46.17bn from three banks to pay salaries between January and June 2023, according to findings by The PUNCH.

The findings were based on an analysis of the half-year 2023 financial statements of Access Bank, Fidelity Bank, and Zenith Bank Group.

The PUNCH observed that the states borrowed the most from Access Bank in six months, with a record of N42.97bn loan.

It was followed by Zenith Bank (N1.78bn borrowed) and Fidelity Bank (N1.42bn borrowed) within the six-month period.

According to the H1 2023 financial statement of Access Bank, the outstanding balance on the salary bailout fund was N58.84bn by June 30, 2023, from N101.81bn in December 2022.

“The amount of N58,842,651,795 represents the outstanding balance on the state salary bailout facilities granted to the bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria for onward disbursements to state governments for payments of salary of workers of the states. The facility has a tenor of 20 years with a 2 per cent interest payable to the CBN. The bank is under obligation to on-lend to the states at an all-in interest rate of nine per cent per annum. From this creditor, the bank has nil undrawn balance as at 30 June 2023,” Access Bank noted.

For Fidelity Bank, the H1 2023 financial statement showed that the outstanding balance on the salary bailout fund was N80.65bn by June 30, 2023, from N82.07bn in December 2022.

The bank noted “FGN Intervention fund is CBN Bailout Fund of N80.65billion (31 Dec 2022: N82.07bn). This represents funds for states in the Federation that are having challenges in meeting up with their domestic obligation including payment of salaries. The loan was routed through the bank for on-lending to the states. The bailout fund is for a tenor of 20 years at 9 per cent per annum.”

It added, “The bailout fund is for a tenor of 20 years at 7 per cent per annum and availed for the same tenor at 9 per cent per annum until March 2020, the rate was reduced to 5 per cent for one year period due to Covid-19 pandemic to March 2021 after which it was extended to February 2023. CBN on August 17 2022 further reviewed the rates in response to economic outlook and approved the following order; All intervention facilities granted effective July 20, 2022 shall be at 9 per cent per annum while all existing intervention facilities granted prior to July 20, 2022 shall be at 9 per cent per annum effective September 1, 2022.”

According to the H1 2023 financial statement of Zenith Bank, the outstanding balance on the salary bailout fund was N125.14bn by June 30, 2023, from N126.92bn in December 2022.

The bank noted, “The Salary Bailout Scheme was approved by the Federal Government to assist state governments in the settlement of outstanding salaries owed their workers. Funds are disbursed to banks nominated by beneficiary states at two per cent for on-lending to the beneficiary states at 9 per cent. The loans have a tenor of 20 years. Repayments are deducted at source, by the Accountant General of the Federation, as a first line charge against each beneficiary state’s monthly statutory allocation. This facility is not secured.”

The PUNCH findings show that the loans occurred despite the slight increase in the revenue allocation to states.

The PUNCH had earlier reported a N540bn increase in the amount shared between the Federal Government, states, and Local Government Areas.

This was according to an analysis of the communiqués issued by the Federation Account Allocation Committee between January to July for 2022 and 2023.

In 2022, a total of N4.96tn was shared for the first seven months of the year.

By 2023, a total of N5.5tn was shared for the first seven months of the year.

However, The PUNCH has also reported that about 25 states in Nigeria suffered a drop in their internally generated revenue and battled cash crunch in the first quarter of 2023.

Data obtained from the budget implementation report of each state showed that 25 states earned N182.26bn in Q1 2023.

This was a shortfall of 3.07 per cent or N5.77bn from the N188.03bn made in Q4 2022, based on a quarter-by-quarter analysis.

Although there are 36 states in Nigeria, Rivers and Sokoto have no data for Q1 2023 yet; Akwa Ibom has no data for Q1 2022, while Kwara, Edo, Kaduna, Lagos, Bauchi, Zamfara, Yobe, and Ogun have no data for Q4 2022.

Therefore, the figure for IGR was limited to 25 out of the 36 states in the country.

The PUNCH findings showed that the 25 states projected an IGR of N219.56bn for Q1 2023 but only made about N182.26bn, which means that they had a revenue performance of 83.01 per cent.

This also means that the revenue underperformed by 16.99 per cent as it failed to hit the states’ revenue target.

States debt

Also, The PUNCH had reported that state governments’ indebtedness to commercial banks rose to N2.2tn amid worsening revenue challenges.

This was according to data from the quarterly statistical bulletin of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which showed that states and LGAs owed banks about N2.21tn as of March 2023. 

CBN data also revealed the states’ indebtedness rose from N1.97tn to the current figure, indicating an increase of about N240bn within the period under review.

Data from the Debt Management Office showed that the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory have N5.82tn domestic debt and $4.35bn external debt.

In its December 2022 edition of the Nigeria Development Update, the World Bank noted that states’ debts would rise above 200 per cent of the revenue generated in 2022 and 2023.

The report read, “Debt levels for an average state are estimated to increase from 154.6 per cent of revenues in 2021 to above 200 per cent of revenues in both 2022 and 2023.”

Borrowing for salaries

Economic experts, who spoke with The PUNCH on Wednesday, described borrowing for the payment of salaries as dangerous, cautioning states against this.

An economist and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Uyo, Prof Akpan Ekpo, acknowledged the bad economic situation of the country, which has compelled states to do more borrowing.

He, however, advised against borrowing for recurrent expenditures, such as salaries.

“The situation is bad but most states do not have enough in terms of internally generated revenue. A lot of the states, even their federal government allocation, cannot pay salary, which is very dangerous. You should not borrow to pay salaries.

“You should borrow to finance capital projects. States have to think of new ways of increasing their IGRs. If they continue borrowing to pay salaries, it is not good for the economy,” Ekpo said.

He urged the states to look at what they have in their states in order to find a way to increase their revenue.

Ekpo also urged the states to increase service delivery, which will attract more revenue.

A development economist, Dr Aliyu Ilias, also acknowledged the economic difficulties that states are faced with but noted that borrowing to pay salaries is a problem.

“With the current hardship we have in the country, they may not have alternative than to resort to borrowing. But borrowing to pay salaries is becoming a problem. We must stop borrowing for recurrent expenditure. We can borrow for capital expenditure; that is okay. The consequence is that we are digging ourselves into more trouble,” he said.

He admitted that state governments might be unable to join in the Federal Government’s effort to increase allowance to workers.

He then advised, “Each state should look inward, find what they are good at and maximise it.”

Also speaking with The PUNCH, a Professor of Economics at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Prof Sheriffdeen Tella, said borrowing for consumption is worsening the country’s inflation.

“It is part of what was creating inflation. Most of the money borrowed were for consumption not production. It is unfortunate,” he said.

He urged the states to stop depending on the Federal Government and boost local production for more revenue generation.

A former President, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, Dr Sam Nzekwe, described the borrowing by states as bad.

“This is the bad borrowing we are talking about – borrowing for recurrent expenditure. That is a very bad one,” he stressed.

He further called on states to stop depending on the Federal Government, cut governance costs, and block revenue leakages.

“Most of them depend on the Federal Government. I will advise them to work hard to increase their internally generated revenue. When they do that, they have to look into the costs of governance – having a fleet of cars for themselves and aides.

“They should reduce the cost of governance and block leakages. Most of the money you see are being embezzled,” he told The PUNCH.

FRC engages banks

The Fiscal Responsibility Commission has said it is set for a stakeholder dialogue on how to implement sections of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 relating to lending by banks to governments and public institutions in the federation.

The agency, which is saddled with the task of promoting a transparent and accountable government financial management framework for Nigeria, disclosed this in a statement by its spokesman, Bede Anyanwu, on Wednesday.

The statement read, “The Fiscal Responsibility Commission has concluded preparations to hold a stakeholder dialogue on implementing sections of the Fiscal Responsibility Act that relate to lending by banks to governments and public institutions in the Federation.

The Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 (FRA), which is Nigeria’s foremost legal framework for the promotion, monitoring, and enforcement of fiscal discipline and accountability in the management of public finances, stipulates that lending by banks to governments or their agencies in contravention of certain provisions of the Act shall be unlawful.

The statement added, “The Commission aims at using the stakeholder dialogue to refresh the attention of stakeholders to this provision of the Act and to engender stakeholder agreement on ways to enhance compliance and thereby improve the nation’s debt management practices.”

Last Friday in Las Vegas, United States, Duane Keith Davis, popularly known as ‘Keffe D,’ was arrested after a grand jury indictment for murder with use of a deadly weapon. Although Davis was brought to court yesterday, his arraignment was deferred till 19 October while he remains in custody. He will be tried for allegedly killing Tupac Shakur, the legendary American rapper, on 13 September 1996 at age 25. It is remarkable that attempts to resolve the fatal shooting of Tupac 27 years ago is coming at a time the Nigerian police have opened an investigation into circumstances surrounding the death of a 27-year-old rapper, professionally known as Mohbad (real name, Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba). He died on 12 September and was buried the next day. A week later, his body was exhumed following a social media campaign. 

 Let me be upfront here. Ordinarily, I consider myself a music illiterate because I have never even heard of many Nigerian artistes being raved about. And it would be insane to compare a global icon like Tupac with Mohbad whose name and music came to my awareness only after his death. I am not trying to do that. Such is the impact of Tupac on popular culture that there are monuments of him in several countries around the world. Even on the streets of Abuja, you see his image on public vehicles and tricycles. Tupac has also been a subject of intellectual curiosity in several institutions of learning. A year after his death, the University of California, Berkeley offered a course titled, ‘Poetry and History of Tupac.’ And in April 2003, Harvard University co-sponsored the symposium, ‘All Eyez on Me: Tupac Shakur and the Search for the Modern Folk Hero.’ He is adored even by politicians. In 2020, United States Vice President Kamala Harris, then a California Senator, described Shakur as the ‘best rapper alive’, and she justified her curious assertion by saying rather affectionately, ‘West Coast girls think 2Pac lives on’.  

However, if we are to learn lessons that will serve the budding rap music in Nigeria, there are parallels to be drawn from Tupac’s life and death and that of Mohbad. This is particularly important for us, with many of our young people believing that their only way to success is through the music/entertainment industry. As an aside, I have encountered many of them in recent years who, believing I ‘know people’, sought my help. I have directed quite a few to those I believe may know how to reach Don Jazzy. I am still on the lookout to see if anyone of these young men will ‘blow’ so that I can remind them of my role in their stardom. 

Meanwhile, with an autopsy already conducted on Mohbad’s exhumed remains, the coroner inquest into the cause of death has also started with a hearing fixed for next Wednesday. As stated earlier, I heard the name of Mohbad for the first time after his death. But out of curiosity, I have in recent days listened to some of his songs. There can be no doubt about his talent. The controversy now is about his last days. Before his death, Mohbad had posted social media accusations of being harassed, bullied, and even battered against certain people in the industry. Some have been arrested by the police and we should allow them to do their job.  

However, while we await the autopsy report and the coroner inquest, stakeholders in the music industry should not waste this moment. Even if it turns out that Mohbad died of natural causes, glorification of the gangster ethos, debauchery and lawlessness being promoted in the name of music by some with whom he associated is dangerous to the health of our society. The notion that rap music or hip-hop as many call it, is a subculture that only thrives by promoting violence, drugs, sex, and wealth without work, has been disproved even in the United States by Jay-Z, Kanye West, P. Diddy and others who are now corporate giants and strong political voices by virtue of their craft and the choices they made. Sadly, the emerging rap culture in Nigeria tends to glamourise ‘the thug life’ while creating the illusion that success has nothing to do with work. They encourage ‘Yahoo Yahoo’, money rituals and drug dealings.

In June 2009, Reuben Abati wrote a controversial piece on ‘Youth Culture: A Nation’s Identity Crisis’, with special emphasis on the then emerging brand of music in the country and their promoters. In dismissing most of their outputs as noise, Abati compared them to older generations of artistes who “sang music under its real names, not abbreviations or slangs…after the fashion of T.S. Eliot‘s description of ‘Tradition and the Individual Talent’, a pattern of meaning that dates back to traditional African musicians and all the musicians that succeeded them.” 

Abati’s anger was driven by what he described as sound with very little sense, shape and skills coming from many of the music stars. He also noted a lack of originality in their lifestyles and comportment. “They try to imitate Western hip pop stars. They even dress like them. The boys don’t wear trousers on their waists: the new thing is called ‘sagging’, somewhere below the waist it looks as if the trouser is about to fall off. The women are struggling to expose strategic flesh as Janet Jackson once did.” But as critical as he was, Abati also recognised the fact that “it is now possible to hold a party without playing a single foreign musical track, the great grandchildren of Nigerian music are belting out purely danceable sounds which excites the young at heart. But the output belongs majorly to the age of meaninglessness and prurience. The lyrics says it all…” 

Even if one may argue that some of his statements in the piece were too sweeping (and Banky W. wrote a powerful rejoinder), Reuben made a strong point about the lyrics. And he referenced many of them. Nobody should say that these lyrics don’t matter because they do. In April 1992, an American Trooper, Bill Davidson, was killed by a 19-year-old Ronald Ray Howard. Davidson had stopped the vehicle of Howard for broken headlights, but he shot the cop in the neck before driving off. Three days later, Davidson died of his injuries. In court, Howard claimed that when pulled over by the trooper, he was listening to Tupac’s track, ‘Souljah’s Story’ and the lyrics influenced his decision. Part of the lyrics is about the harsh life of a young black American, especially when he confronts police on the road: “Only fifteen and got problems; Cops on my tail, so I bail ’til I dodge ’em; They finally pull me over and I laugh; ‘Remember Rodney King?’ And I blast on his punk ass…”   

In addition to the murder charge against Howard who was eventually convicted and executed by lethal injection in 2005, the officer’s widow, Linda Davidson, filed a separate civil suit against Shakur (who was alive at the time) and his Interscope Records label, a Time Warner subsidiary. In the charge, it was alleged that the label and the rapper were grossly negligent in manufacturing and distributing music that incites “imminent lawless action.” According to the family’s lawyer, the lyrics of the album read like “pages out of a cop-killing manual.” The then United States Vice President Dan Quayle waded in by saying, “There’s no reason for a record like this to be released. It has no place in our society.” 

Hip Hop (Rap) is about rhyme, rhythm, and poetry and very popular among young people. Most writers have traced its origin to the early seventies in the United States and the defiance by young African Americans against racism and unequal opportunities. In the process, some took to music as a way of escape by rapping about guns and ghettos as a reflection of their daily living. “Not only did rap provide an outlet to voice the struggles of the black youth”, according to one writer, “it also gave them a sense of pride.” The genre, he concluded, “was a testament to triumphing over hardships, to having enough confidence in oneself not to let the world drag you down, and to rising above the struggle, even when things seem hopeless.”  

Our circumstances may be different but there is a way in which rap music is also popular among the deprived of our society. That probably was how Mohbad emerged. Was he exploited by people he trusted? And was his death a result of brutalities inflicted on him? Those are questions authorities will now have to answer. But when the inquest into the circumstances under which he died is over and justice is seen to have been done, I hope two things will happen. One, there should be an attempt to honour him in a way that will benefit his son and wife who are his immediate next of kin. Two, I hope that those who are promoting misogyny, violence, drugs, and other vices in the name of music will retrace their steps.

Fortunately, there is no better place to look than the United States where this genre of music originated. The Big Boys have moved from the streets and dark alleys to the boardroom! And so have their songs. How did Kanye West put it in his album, ‘homecoming’? Yeah, “Reach for the Stars, so if you fall you land on the clouds.” That’s far different from those whose world still revolves around “Cannabis in the rizla, so high I can’t get higher”, while asking young people who look up to them to ‘marry Juana’ and ‘smoke the fire’.

May the soul of Mohbad rest in peace.

The Value of Life in Nigeria

I read a moving story in PUNCH newspaper yesterday of how a female lawyer, Uduak Adams, survived death by whiskers, after she was wrongly accused of kidnapping a boy. According to the report, Adams had on 16^th September gone to Surulere in Lagos to inspect a house she wanted to rent. She asked a boy for directions to the street, and he obliged. Not long after, Adams was confronted by the boy’s mother who accused her of kidnapping him from their compound and wailed for support. “Immediately, people gathered. They carried planks, and sticks, dragged me, and didn’t give me a chance to explain. They dragged me and started beating me,” she recalled. “The crowd brought tyres and wanted to burn me. They told me that I was going to die, that even the police and army could not save me. They said they were about to kill me, and I should start saying my last prayers.”

Fortunately for Adams, while she was still being molested by the mob, the boy returned. Asked where he had been, the boy explained that after he and his friends had assisted Adams to locate the street, he left to go and play football. At that point, the crowd dispersed, while the mother started begging. Policemen from Itire Police Division were said to have immediately arrested some of the attackers including the boy’s mother. While Adams should seek legal redress, I don’t expect anything from the police. In July 2019, I wrote a column, ‘Let me Talk to my Father Before I Die’, based on jungle justice involving the loss of life right at a police station. I am recalling excerpts from the piece to draw attention to the lack of premium we place on human life in Nigeria and the propensity for jungle justice that is driving the menace.

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The video clips are two. Though it is difficult to ascertain which comes before the other. In one, the young man, bleeding and shackled, is in the trunk of a Hilux vehicle as he rails at policemen. In a futile bid to demonstrate he is still in control of the situation; he even threatens them as he scoops his own blood while making a gesture of washing his hands. In the second, he is lying on the ground. Sensing that his life is ebbing away, he makes a desperate plea: ‘Let me talk to my father before I die’. It is met with a stern ‘God punish your father!’ by one policeman and a cacophony of curses and abuses from bystanders.

Nothing tells a more compelling story of our country than these video clips. There is inherent value in every life. How we react, as individuals and as a society, when someone’s life is at stake reveals who we are. From the video clips, it is abundantly evident that life holds no meaning in our country. Invariably, we can begin to understand why nothing works in a milieu where the life of an individual can be casually taken. All the talk about quality of life, standards of living and human dignity are hollow. Before you begin to think of education, health, job security and things that advance our quality of life and livelihoods, you must first be accountable for what you didn’t create.

Now, let us return to the video clips. According to social media reports, the young man, said to be an undergraduate, was reportedly arrested for sporting a tattoo, a crime not known to our law. But in the official version as provided by the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), a Deputy Superintendent of Police: “…He assaulted somebody, and he was arrested. On getting to the station, he just took up an axe and was pursuing all the policemen. He destroyed 17 vehicles at the station; he broke their windscreens and side screens. All the policemen and suspects at the station had to run for their lives. But when he wanted to harm a policeman that was armed; in the process, that policeman shot him in the leg. Should they have waited till he (suspect) killed everybody? The suspect is a confessed member of Eiye Confraternity. At the station, he suddenly jumped up and drew the axe. He destroyed 17 vehicles; you can confirm from those present at the scene, including civilians.”

I do not want to dispute the police report of the young man’s violent behaviour. The officer who shot him in the leg was also professional, he at least did not target the head. But what followed when the boy was already demobilized is the issue. It was clear to the policemen and those milling around at the station that if he was not taken to the hospital he would bleed to death. Because that is precisely what eventually happened, we can conclude that it was deliberate. The notion that someone accused of crime is deemed guilty and can be subjected to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment is the greatest challenge of our criminal justice system in Nigeria. But what I found most shocking was the behaviour of the crowd. They were braying for the blood of the young man! In one of those common conspiracies between the state and society, a life was brutally taken without court trial simply because of broken windscreens.

That Nigeria is a state in serious retreat is no longer in doubt. What is more worrisome is that almost daily, each Nigerian is becoming progressively less capable of performing the critical role of responsible citizenship. That accounts for the total breakdown of law and order and why the law of the jungle operates as we saw with the way a life was casually wasted at a police station without anyone calling for restraint or expressing outrage. While we complain so much about why our government, (at practically all levels) is not working, we may also need to look at ourselves in the mirror. No matter how much noise we make, the change that we seek in our nation must begin with individuals. If a society is not compassionate, it is futile to expect the government to be. If a society has degenerated to the level of everyman for themselves, then we delude ourselves to expect anything different from our government.

The sanctity of life, as espoused by all religions and by philosophers including Emmanuel Kant is based on the supposition that “If laws were permitted to embody the idea that in some circumstances life loses its worth, or that some people lack sufficient worth to have their lives protected, individuals would no longer enjoy equal protection of the law so far as their lives are concerned.” When that happens, all other things are forfeit. That is why Nigeria is what it is today.

Whichever way we look at it, what happened at that police station reflects a disturbing reality of our time and society.  Gradually, the value we place on lives as measured by how much we are moved by violent deaths is almost nil. Our policemen routinely supervise the extra judicial killing of innocent citizens they are paid to protect. On our part as a society, we have failed to grow into a community of compassion. Our public would prefer to be spectators witnessing citizen rights violations than act as protectors of those rights. The net result is a collective descent into a Hobbesian jungle where life is nasty, brutish, and short.

Atiku and The Chicago Papers 

Ever since former Vice President Atiku Abubakar filed his application at the Northern District of Illinois Court, requesting for an order of mandamus compelling the Chicago State University (CSU) to release information regarding President Bola Tinubu’s school record, I have taken considerable interest in the matter. Complying with the court order on Monday, the school authorities released the documents to Atiku and on Tuesday, their registrar testified under oath. Given the politics involved, supporters of both Tinubu and Atiku are now claiming victory. But since the American deposition is supposed to be part of the election petition case being pursued in Nigeria by the latter, we must wait to see how it all ends.

The Tinubu saga is a long-running one that began 24 years ago in his first year as Governor of Lagos State. Following his victory at the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries in July last year, I wrote a column on ‘Tinubu’s School Record and Matters Arising’ where I traced how it started, dating back to 1999 based on the information contained in his Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) form. That Atiku would wait till 2 August this year, two months after Tinubu had been sworn in as president, before commencing his legal inquiry in the United States is what I still don’t understand. How does that help his cause? Since this is a case I have followed from the beginning, readers may refresh their memory with my July 2022 column, https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2022/07/07/tinubus-school-record-and-matters-arising/

The measures currently being implemented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to tackle crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism is yielding tremendous results as the Nigerian oil and gas industry achieved its highest crude oil and condensate output in nearly 18 months, with a production of 1.72 million barrels of crude and condensate.

This improvement is the result of months of collaboration with operators to co-create unique solutions to peculiar challenges, mainly evacuation issues faced by individual operators, stakeholder management, political will, and support from government institutions.

Data from the NNPC showed ghaf as of 25th of September 2023, the Nigerian oil and gas industry achieved its highest crude oil and condensate output in nearly 18 months, with a production of 1.72 million barrels of crude and condensate.

This improvement, it was gathered is directly attributable to the reopening of operations along corridors with a history of security challenges, the restart of production from facilities that have been shut down for extended periods due to evacuation challenges, the completion of Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of some assets, completion, and hook-up of infill wells, and critical NEPL well intervention projects.

In September 2023 alone, ABO TAM was completed, while ESSO-operated offshore Assets (Erha & Usan) recorded significant gains.

Similarly, the old and new Kolo Creek Trunklines were reopened, while production was restarted into the Okodia-Rumuekpe line (Zone 7) effectively enabling the recommencement of production from the SPDC East Assets including Nun-River and Kolo Creek.

Also, AITEO Exploration and Production, NNPC Eighteen Operating Limited, Heirs Energies Limited, Total Energies (OML 58 & 102) and Mobil (Etim & Inim) all ramped up production in September 2023, contributing sizeable volumes to Nigeria’s national output.

These improvements, combined with prevailing crude oil, have significantly improved the overall mood of the industry, with operators able to meet their obligations to contractors and a line of sight to healthy returns on investments.

The NNPC Ltd, it was learnt, has also been consistent and timely in meeting its cash call obligations with the much-improved production output.

“There is indeed a lot to be optimistic about, and there is still enough room for improvement. NNPC Ltd. is pursuing all avenues to meet and exceed expectations,” a top official said.

The fate of the suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, remains uncertain 112 days after his arrest.

Bawa was suspended from office by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on June 14th, 2023 and Abdulkarim Chukkol was appointed to act in his capacity.

The Department of State Services (DSS) had immediately picked up Bawa for questioning at the DSS headquarters at about 9:pm on the same day he was suspended.

The DSS Spokesman, Peter Afunanya confirmed the arrest in a statement saying: “The Department of State Services (DSS) has invited Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, the suspended Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).”

Before his arrest, some civil society groups had called for his removal for allegedly disobeying court orders.

But 112 days after, no further statement has been issued about him.

But while in detention, Bawa is said to have refused to cooperate with his interrogators and revealed little.

However, recent reports in the media claim Bawamay have agreed to a deal that could see him resign as EFCC chairman and walk home in peace.

It is also reported that President Tinubu may soon appoint a new EFCC chairman together with the Director General, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and ICPC chairman.

Some prominent lawyers and civil society groups have called for his release after months in detention without trial.

A lawyer, Nkereuwem Anana, had also filed a suit seeking an order for the immediate release of the embattled EFCC Chair from custody.

The lawyer is seeking the sum of N100 million from the federal government for compensation to Bawa for “unlawful and continuous” detention by the DSS.

Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Lagos has slated October 9, 2023, for the court hearing.

The U.S House of Representatives Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, was voted out of office on Wednesday by colleagues in his Republican Party, alongside those in the Conservative and Democratic Parties.

The House voted 216-210 to remove McCarthy while few Conservatives joined Democrats and Republicans to remove him.

A number of Republicans accused McCarthy of aligning with the policies of the Democrats and not taking a critical stand against President Joe Biden.

He was accused of not making moves to end the war in Ukraine, secure the US border and make America energy independent again – an ideal that was championed by former US President, Donald Trump.

McCarthy told the press he would not contest for speakership again in the House of Representatives dominated by Republicans.

He equally accused former US Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, of supporting the Republicans that were not in alignment with his political ideals.

“I may have lost this vote today, but as I walk out of this chamber I feel fortunate to have served,” McCarthy said.

The development is reportedly the first in U.S. history.

It was engineered by McCarthy’s colleagues in the Republican Party who disagreed with his disposition towards a number of political issues.

The Democrats aligned with the Republicans to perfect McCarthy’s removal through a vote.

Former US president Donald Trump is also being blamed for McCarthy’s removal and a number of foreign media claim Trump is rallying his Republican House members to press ahead to remove president Joe Biden.

The House has adjourned to next week for lawmakers to choose a new speaker.

The Republicans are searching for a replacement within the party.

The Republicans are also reportedly planning to impeach Biden.

The National President of Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, (AYCF), Yerima Shettima has stated that it is too early to accuse President Bola Tinubu of engaging in lopsided appointments.

Shettima said this while speaking with Daily Post.

He stated that the region is keenly watching Tinubu’s administration.

Shettima noted that Tinubu only took over power three months ago, adding that every administration has its own method of doing things.

The AYCF president stated that he believes the president has good intentions for the North and they are patiently waiting to see his plans unfolds.

Shettima, said, “It’s too early to conclude that appointments are lopsided or there is nepotism.

“He took over the government just three months ago, so naturally, every government has its own style, but what’s important before Nigerians is who are we picking? Are they competent? Can they give us what we want as a nation?

“Since we have tried nepotism over time and it didn’t work, can we try competency? I’m sure Tinubu has not made all the appointments, so let us not put the cart before the horse; let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and see how far he would go and after a while, we will respond accordingly.

“I’m not part of those who believe that they would just imagine things and assume that all is not well.

“As for the North not being favoured, we are watching at the moment, but we are not in a hurry to conclude that he is not doing anything good because I believe he has good intentions; until he proves otherwise then we will look for an alternative.

“But for now, let’s not be in a hurry because it’s still early. We didn’t get it exactly how we wanted it, and we didn’t expect it to be this way.

“We are not in a hurry; we Northerners don’t believe in propaganda or talking anyhow.

We will give him the benefit of the doubt until he gives us reason to react, and then he will see us in full colour. Even if we can’t get our way now, there are elections ahead of us so we will decide before then.”

Benue State Governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia has ordered the Urban Development Board in the state to investigate the encroachment of government lands by residents within Makurdi, the State Capital.

This was contained in a statement by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula, on Wednesday in Makurdi.

Governor Alia gave the order when he visited Benue Links, the state-owned transport company, to inspect ongoing work on erosion control and other maintenance work in its office premises.

He ordered the board to, within the shortest time, identify and summon all those who have built on waterways, as well as those who have illegally possessed government lands.

”Those who encroached on lands or built on waterways must present their titles and other relevant documents for assessment and verification, ”he said.

Governor Alia maintained that the state will not fold its hands while people suffer the greed of a few individuals

Jurgen Klopp wants Liverpool’s match at Tottenham to be replayed due to the VAR error that cost them the opening goal at the weekend.

Spurs went on to win the Premier League game 2-1.

The fallout from the VAR failure in Saturday’s defeat, in which officials wrongly disallowed Luis Diaz’s goal due to a misunderstanding over the on-field decision, is still being felt.

Referees body Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) released the audio conversation between the match officials after a request from Liverpool, but Klopp said that had made little difference to their thinking.

“The audio didn’t change it at all,” he told a press conference on Wednesday. “It is an obvious mistake. I think there should be solutions for that. I think the outcome should be a replay.

“The argument against that would be it opens the gates. It is unprecedented. It has not happened before.

“I’m used to wrong and difficult decisions, but something like this never happened and so that is why I think a replay is the right thing to do.”

Questioned over whether the club had asked or would formally ask the Premier League for a replay, Klopp added: “At this stage we are still going through the information we have.”

Liverpool also had Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota sent off as their unbeaten start to the season came to an end.

PGMOL released a statement admitting a “significant human error” had led to the wrong decision being made.

[Vanguard]