The Faculty of Engineering and Informatics (FoEI) at the University of Bradford has unveiled a substantial scholarship to the tune of £11,645. equivalent to N24,000,000 to support Nigerian, and other international students.

The scholarship for the Applied Artificial Intelligence B.Sc programme represents a significant opportunity for prospective students worldwide.

According to the University of Bradford, international students will be granted a scholarship at 50% of the advertised tuition fee, equivalent to £11,645, meaning that as of the 2024/25 academic year, students will only need to pay £11,645 per year in tuition fees.

The institution announced that the reduced fee of £11,645 represents a significant decrease from the regular tuition cost.

It aims to reassure prospective students of its dedication to improving the accessibility of higher education.

The scholarship is open to students from a wide range of countries, including Nigeria, Afghanistan, Canada, Germany, India, and the United States, among others, and the scholarship automatically applies upon enrolment, so students do not need to submit a separate application.

However, the university expects scholarship recipients to remain engaged with their coursework, including regular attendance and timely submission of assignments.

Failure to meet these expectations could result in the withdrawal of the scholarship and a potential requirement to repay the awarded amount.

Information supplies that the scholarship is available to all new, full-time international students who begin their studies in the Applied Artificial Intelligence BSc program during the 2024/25 academic year.

Furthermore, the opportunity is not restricted by country, as it encompasses a broad list of nations from the Solomon Islands to Zimbabwe, ensuring that a diverse cohort of students can benefit from this initiative.

The Dean of FoEI, Professor Alex Johnson, in the statement, expressed enthusiasm about the new scholarship, stating, “We are thrilled to offer this significant scholarship to our international students.

“It reflects our commitment to attracting global talent and supporting students who are passionate about advancing their knowledge in artificial intelligence. We look forward to welcoming a diverse group of scholars to our programme,” he said.

Additionally, prospective students should note that while the scholarship is automatically applied, they must still complete the necessary enrolment procedures by October 25, 2024.

Interested students need to ensure they meet all academic and administrative requirements to benefit from this opportunity.

For more information on the scholarship and the Applied Artificial Intelligence BSc programme, prospective students are encouraged to visit the University of Bradford’s official website or contact the admissions office directly.

[Leadership]

The Kano State Government has indefinitely postponed the resumption date for both primary and post-primary schools for the 2024/2025 academic session.

The government cited “urgent reasons” for the postponement but did not provide specific details.

The decision follows a similar move by the Edo State Government, which also postponed school resumption due to rising petrol prices and challenges faced by parents and guardians.

Schools in most parts of Nigeria are set to resume on Monday, September 9.

Balarabe Kiru, Director of Public Enlightenment at the Kano State Ministry of Education, announced the postponement in a statement on Saturday.

He explained that the Commissioner for Education, Umar Doguwa, would announce a new resumption date soon.

Kiru stated, “I wish to inform pupils, students, and parents that the previously scheduled resumption dates of September 8 and 9, 2024, have been postponed.

“This decision is based on urgent reasons aimed at enhancing the learning environment for our children. A new date for resumption will be communicated in due course.”

[DailyTrust]

Nigeria and other African countries have been advised to be mindful of strategic national interest and take a more strategic approach to Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, from China and other global investors.

This is even as the President Bola Tinubu’s administration has been cautioned to be careful with Chinese deals.

The call was separately made by former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Kingsley Moghalu, and foremost Professor of Political Science, Bolaji Akinyemi.

The statements come on the heels of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Beijing from Wednesday, September 4 to Friday, September 6.

The 9th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit themed “Joining Hands to Advance Modernisation and Build High-Level China-Africa Community with Shared Future,” had Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu in attendance.

According to the Nigerian government, Tinubu’s high-profile visit to China was aimed at fostering economic ties and securing investments for Nigeria.

DAILY POST reports that China is Nigeria’s largest creditor, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO) among the five global powers, including France, Japan, India, and Germany.

Nigeria’s debt to China is primarily for infrastructure projects such as railways, highways, and power plants, with analysts fearing the debt burden poses challenges.

Speaking via a post on his X handle over the weekend, Moghalu stressed that the guiding hand of the state remains imperative even in the most capitalist economies.

The former Deputy Governor explained that foreign investment into African countries should be channeled to focus on electricity provision, education and skill development, amongst others.

He said: “As African heads of state and government meet with Chinese leaders in Beijing and China makes another round of investment and financing promises to African countries, US President @JoeBiden ‘s looming decision to block Japan’s Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel on “national security” grounds reminds us of the role of strategic national interest exceptions in the (overall, welcoming) stance of advanced economies (including China) to foreign direct investment. Note that Japan is an American ally.

“The lesson is that, while market forces have created the most wealth of nations in global history, the guiding hand of the state remains imperative even in the most capitalist economies.

“This, of course, presupposes that the state itself is a competent one in the first place. African countries need to take a more strategic approach to FDI from China and other global investors.

“All too often, and with very few exceptions such as Rwanda, Ethiopia and Tanzania, they trade and negotiate away their long term strategic interest in these transactions which also fail to deliver real development and transformation.

“Foreign investment into African countries should be channeled to focus on (a) electricity provision; (b) education and skill development; (c) single-digit financial credit, and venture capital that boosts wealth creation and jobs at the bottom of the pyramid; (d) agriculture value chains.

“This kind of focus would provide the strategic levers to industrialization and other kinds of infrastructure that can be provided through public-private partnerships, leaving governments to focus on social services such as health, basic education to boost literacy.”

On his part, while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme, Akinyemi warned that Tinubu could not afford to repeat the mistakes of successive administrations in the country.

“Of course, we should be careful but don’t isolate the debt to China. There are also debts we owe the United States, there are also debts we owe even some of the medium-power countries.

“What we need to do is to be careful about two things: one, we shouldn’t default on that debt. A month before this African-Chinese Summit, Nigerian Sovereign Goods were being impounded all around the world at the instigation of a Chinese company.

“So, China is not going to serve us anything on global butter; we have to be careful that we fulfill our part of the bargain, not only to China but with all the other countries that we may be doing deals, it will impede on our status, our pride, our sovereign goods to be seized because we are defaulting from fulfilling our part of the agreements.”

DAILY POST recalls that a French court recently ruled in favour of a Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng, to seize three presidential jets belonging to the Nigerian government.

The development followed a dispute between Zhongshan and the Ogun State government.

[DailyPost]

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, on Monday, debunked claims that the rate for Value-Added Tax (VAT) has been upwardly adjusted to 10 per cent from 7.5 per cent.

In a statement on Monday, Edun clarified that the current VAT rate, as stipulated in the country’s tax laws, remains at 7.5 percent.

He said: “The current VAT rate is 7.5% and this is what the government is charging on a spectrum of goods and services to which the tax is applicable. 

“Therefore, neither the Federal Government nor any of its agencies will act contrary to what our laws stipulate.

“The tax system stands on a tripod, namely tax policy, tax laws and tax administration. All three must combine well to give us a sound system that gives vitality to the fiscal position of the government.

“Our focus as a government is to use fiscal policy in a manner that promotes and enhances strong and sustainable economic growth reduces poverty as well as makes businesses flourish.

“The imputation in some media reports on the issue of VAT and the opinion articles that have sprouted from them seem to wrongly convey the impression that the government is out to make life difficult for Nigerians. That is not correct. If anything, the Federal Government has, through its policies, demonstrated that it is committed to creating a congenial environment for businesses to thrive.

“In fact, it is on record that the Federal Government, as part of efforts to bring relief to Nigerians and businesses, recently ordered the stoppage of import duties, tariffs and taxes on rice, wheat, beans and other food items.

“For emphasis, as of today, VAT remains 7.5% and that is what will be charged on all the goods and services that are VAT-able,” Edun said.

[TheNation]

The Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arraigned one Ibrahim Shuaibu before Justice Darius Khobo of the Kaduna State High Court, sitting in Kaduna State for fraud.

According to a Monday statement on EFCC X.com handle Shuaibu is facing prosecution on a seven-count charge, including criminal breach of trust, impersonation, and obtaining by false pretence, amounting to N100 million.

Count one of his charges reads, “That you, Nuhu Ibrahim Shuaibu (a.k.a Ishaku Abdulrazak) (M) and lIya Garba (now deceased) sometime in 2017 in Kaduna within the judicial division of this honourable court did conspire between yourselves to do an illegal act, to wit: obtaining money under false pretence and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”

Another reads: “That you, Nuhu Ibrahim Shuaibu (a.k.a Ishaku Abdulrazak)(M) sometime in 2018 at Kaduna within the judicial division of this honourable court, with intent to defraud, obtained the total sum of N47,050,000.00 (Forty-Seven Million and Fifty Thousand Naira) from one Faisal Safiyanu, when you claimed to supply him petroleum products, which pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offenses Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”

He pleaded “not guilty” to all the charges when they were read to him, prompting the prosecution counsel, M. Lawal to urge the court to fix a trial date. His counsel, AbdulKareem Audu failed to file a bail application.

Justice Khobo afterwards ordered the defendant to be remanded in the custody of the EFCC.

Shuaibu’s path to prosecution began in 2017 when he falsely represented himself as the Group Executive Director of NNPC, offering to help his victim acquire over 2,000 litres of petroleum products.

The victim subsequently transferred the agreed payment to Shuaibu’s bank accounts in instalments.

However, after receiving the funds, Shuaibu neither delivered the products nor refunded the victim’s money.

[Punch]

Ace comedian and entertainment guru Gbenga Adeyinka has stated that President Bola Tinubu has nothing to gain or lose if the country fails to progress under his leadership, adding that the president is still the right person to steer the affairs of the country.

Adeyinka, speaking on a podcast released by TheCable over the weekend, disclosed his membership in the All Progressives Congress, emphasizing that President Tinubu’s previous achievements as Lagos governor qualify him to tackle Nigeria’s economic issues and drive the nation toward success.

He said, “If I’m passionate about you, I’m passionate about you. That’s my problem. And I believe that, and please take this to the bank, if Asiwaju (Tinubu) cannot set Nigeria right, then we’re in trouble. With his capacity, with what he knows, with the fact that he has nothing to gain or lose anymore, if he cannot set Nigeria right, then we’re in trouble. I’m scared for Nigeria,” Adeyinka said.

“Even before the election, people were taking sides. Am I happy with the policies of the government? I suffer too. People should not forget that I’m a Nigerian too. Now, am I happy with the policies of Asiwaju? Some yes, some no.

“The man explained something. He said, we have two options. We go the way we are going. I’ll be attacked for this one, but I’ll say my mind. We go the way we have always gone. We keep borrowing money. We keep using our crude, for instance, I’m told has been used to borrow money. We can change that and have a better tomorrow. Or, we continue this way and everybody is happy, and your children suffer.

Adeyinka, who praised certain policies of the current administration, such as subsidy removal and local government autonomy, also criticized the government for being wasteful.

“Do I believe he should have ended subsidy, although he was not even the one that ended the fuel subsidy thing. I support fuel subsidy removal totally because of the amount of corruption that was in it.

“Do I think they’ve done a good job by tightening their belts when we need to tighten our belts? No. I believe that those cars that were bought for members of the national assembly was an unnecessary oppression of the people, of the people who are suffering. What else have they done? I see a lot of restructuring taking place.

“Local governments are to get their money directly. If you have a vibrant local government, you can build the country from bottom up, which is the way they do it abroad. Will governors allow the money get to the local government? Some governors have said no, nine or so.

“If you get the local government right, it’s like getting a family right. Society will be better. Should people have gone on the streets to protest? There’s a fundamental right of protest. Should they have said the summit should be cancelled? No.

“Those are constitutional issues that should be dealt with constitutionally. I think what should have been done is to ask for a constitutional review. You can’t use illegality to remove someone legally elected.”

Speaking further, Adeyinka urged the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, and others, such as Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress and Kingsley Moghalu to vie for National Assembly seats to help rewrite the country’s laws.

“There are some people who are professional politicians. That is their job. You now wake up and say you want to come and… they will not even give you ticket. With our current structure, it takes the grace of men for you to become president,” he said.

“That’s why when I see them Sowore, saying they want to be president, Fela Durotoye wants to be president, Peter Obi wants to be president, and there’s one very intelligent guy, Moghalu wants to be president… I think we need to get these young people into the house of reps, into the senate, to rewrite our laws.

“If Peter Obi becomes president of Nigeria with the same structure we have in place, there’s nothing he’s going to do.”

[Vanguard]

Around May 26, 2020, the police in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced that Raphael Yanyi, a senior judge, “had suffered a suspected heart attack” leading to his death. The ministry of justice quickly clarified, however, that the remains of the judge “did not exhibit any toxic substances.” Following an autopsy, justice minister, Celestin Tunda Ya Kasende, disclosed that Judge Yanyi had died from “blows of sharp points or knife-like objects, which were thrust into his head.”

Contrary to the claim by the police, the judge did not die of a heart attack. Instead he was murdered. At the time of his killing, Raphael Yanyi was presiding over the high profile corruption trial of Vital Kamerhe, chief of staff to President Felix Tshisekedi.

The killers of Raphael Yanyi have yet to be unmasked and it is impossible presently to say whether they were state or non-state actors.

Zimbabwean advocate, Justice Mavedzenge, makes the distinction between attacks on the independence of judges on the one hand and the persecution of judges on the other. While the former are usually institutional, the latter seek to harm the lives, persons or wellbeing of judges and their families. This goes beyond the weaponization of judicial ethics or the targeting of judges for political reasons. It is not exactly new in Africa.

On September 21, 1972, for instance, elements in the army of Uganda’s Field Marshall Idi Amin Dada, abducted chief justice, Benedicto Kiwanuka, from his chambers at the supreme court of Uganda. Four days later, Marshall Amin shot and killed his captive, Chief Justice Kiwanuka, at the state lodge in Nakasero, Kampala, Uganda’s capital.

Nearly 10 years later, on June 30, 1982, unknown persons abducted three serving judges of the High Court of Ghana: Cecilia Koranteng-Addow, Frederick Poku Sarkodee, and Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong. They transported the judges to the Bundase Military Firing Range near Accra where they were shot and killed. To cover up the act, the perpetrators set fire on their bodies. Their charred remains were located the following morning. Joachim Amartey Quaye, a senior member of the ruling Provisional National Defence Council, PNDC, was one of the people found guilty of the judges’ murder. He was subsequently executed by firing squad on August 18, 1983.

Elective government found in most of Africa today, is supposedly more subtle. The predominant contemporary arc of the judicial trajectory around the continent reflects intersecting trends of both “regime capture of the courts” and willing abdication of independence by the highest levels of judicial leadership. However, there remain many examples of judges possessed of both integrity and courage. To bring such judges into line, they are increasingly targets of persecution and harm.

The assumption that the state, government or ruling political parties have a monopoly over these kinds of malefaction appears to be supported by both experience and evidence. It is also the state or ruling parties that are best placed to weaponize mechanisms of judicial ethics in order to terrorise upright judges into submission.

However, in many African countries these days, the presumed monopolies of the state are contested by sundry entities. In Burkina Faso, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, and Sudan – to cite a few examples – there exist belligerents, insurgents, or armed movements, who exercise quasi-state capacities, enabling them to target judicial officers or other public officials at will or to harm them.

In the face of a slow build-up of this reality in Nigeria, for instance, there has been a concerted effort to deny it or avoid conferring upon it the stamp of official acknowledgement.

At the beginning of January 2012, for instance, an unknown gunman entered the house of Baba Loskurima, Registrar of the High Court of Borno State in north-east Nigeria and “fired several shots into Baba’s head and chest with a Kalashnikov rifle in front of his wife and children.” He stood no chance.

Nine months later, in September of the same year, Zanna Mallam Gana, the Attorney-General of Borno State was also assassinated. The killings of both Baba Loskurima and Zana Mallam Gana were suspected to have been the handiwork of assassins from the Islamist insurgent group, Boko Haram.

These were not the first attacks by suspected non-state actors in Nigeria designed to bring judges to harm. In 2009, Florence Duroha-Igwe, a judge of the Imo state high court in south-east Nigeria suffered an attack in which both her driver and police orderly sustained severe gunshot injuries.

The following year, the judge-president of the state’s customary court of appeal, Ambrose Egu, and senior magistrate, Pauline Njemanze, were abducted near the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport near Owerri on official duties. In March 2011, high court judges in the state embarked on a strike to protest the abduction of one their colleagues, Theophilus Nzekwe.

Emboldened by the incapacity of the Nigerian state to exact accountability, the perpetrators of these attacks grew in both audacity and intensity and started trading judges for ransom. In October 2019, a senior Justice of Appeal from the Imo state, Chioma Nwosu-Iheme, was abducted in Benin City while on duty presiding over election disputes. She spent a fortnight in captivity.

In September, 2021, former chief judge of Abia state, Nnenna Oti, was abducted in Orlu, Imo state. Seven months earlier, presiding justice of appeal in Owerri, Rita Pemu, needed an extra supply of native wiles to survive the perils of abduction.

The non-state perpetrators of the most recent attacks on the safety of Nigeria’s judges are no longer keen to hide their provenance. Janet Gimba, a judge of the upper customary court of Kaduna state in north-west Nigeria, was abducted with her four of her children on 24 June 2024 by reputed bandits who brutally killed one of the children in order to drive home their bargain for both money and prisoners. The children were released after 15 days in captivity.

On the date in June on which Judge Janet Gimba and her children were abducted, in the Borno-Yobe borderlands in north-east Nigeria, elements suspected to be from the Islamic State, West Africa Province (ISWAP), abducted Haruna Mshelia, a senior judge of the high court of Borno state together with his wife, Binta (who was nursing a fracture), their driver and an orderly. For two years until 2010, before his appointment as a judge, Haruna Mshelia was the chairman was the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), in Maiduguri.

While the fate of the judge, his spouse and their staff remain uncertain, it is prudent to prioritise their safe return. As such, it may be premature to dwell too closely on their case. It is not difficult, however, to speculate as to why a senior judge who is deeply respected for his integrity could be the target abduction by an armed quasi-state actor like ISWAP.

The real question that must be addressed is how legitimate institutions of the state and of organized civics should respond to this kind of situation. Seventy-seven days since the abduction of this senior judge and his wife, very little official or public information exists about their plight or about efforts to free them. That could, of course, be because public authorities have decided that this is the best guarantee for their safe return.

The good news in that is that this suggests that government trusts that the judge, his wife and other abductees with him are alive. The risk, however, is that this could also enable government to demobilise pressure for their safe return. That could guarantee their erasure from public consciousness and, even worse, bring closer the day when the abduction by non-state actors of conscientious judges will become normalised in Africa’s most populous country.

A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sharon Ooja, the Nigerian actress, has revealed how she met Ugo Nwoke, her husband.

The film star tied the knot with Ugo in June.

Ooja shared her marriage testimony during a recent service at the Harvesters International Church, headed by Bolaji Idowu.

The movie star said despite her beauty and financial stability, she prayed tirelessly for a life partner until a transformative encounter with the Holy Spirit in the desert.

She said she was filming in the desert when the “Holy Spirit asked me to let go of my burdens” and to focus on personal growth.

The actress said “God gave me the best husband in the world” while encouraging other church members to trust God for their heart’s desires.

“Before I got married, I was one of those girls who felt I was playing God in my own life. I would think I knew it all. People think that because you are a beautiful girl you should get everything. Several times I would have conversations with God and say you have given me work, you have given me financial stability, and there is just one thing I am looking for,” she said.

“I had a conversation with pastor B about six years ago. He asked what I wanted in a man and I said someone that would take care of me. And he said I was looking for money, bank and that is not wanted for me. I needed to work on myself. I kept on building and growing.

“Fast forward, I was filming in the desert last year and I had a heavy encounter with the Holy Spirit. We were not with our phones because anytime we went into the desert there was no network. So, I was detached from people. And I remember the Holy Spirit telling me to leave my burdens here on a land where it will never grow. It is not a fertile ground. I prayed and I told God that I was ready.

“I thought I was wise but God stripped me. He gave me the best husband in the world. I am testifying this because when you are in line with the Holy Spirit, it is between you and Him.

Ooja previously revealed that Ugo proposed to her after two months of meeting each other.

She said her sister introduced them shortly after she had gone through a severe heartbreak.

The actress stated that she was initially hesitant but Ugo persistently tried to reach out to her.

[TheCable]

“The city burns but Nero has just finished playing tambourine in Chinese cafes. The end of the world is having the street empty. It is having ghostly trekkers casting no shadows everywhere. It is Nigeria becoming Malcolm Cowley’s “empty streets of air.” How many will live to tell the end of these hard times, only God knows. Bill Gates said in Abuja last Tuesday that “the actual tax collection in Nigeria is actually low.” Our president echoed him in China on Friday that the petrol we buy must be this costly for the country to stand. There are ‘rumours’ that VAT may move from 7.5 percent to 10 percent. Wahala! Eleven years ago, a barrage of austerity measures was wracking the people of Greece. Just as Nigeria has its own husbands feeding it doses of poison as elixir, Greece had Germany as its guardian angel, its doctor which prescribed for it poisonous doses of magical wellness. Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schauble, paid a visit to Greece on Thursday, July 18, 2013. To welcome that visitor, a troublesome Greek newspaper exclaimed: “Hail Schaube, those who are about to die salute you.”

From William Bascom, American folklorist and anthropologist, I got a Yoruba story. It is here retold, substantially in my own words, in some areas using his words: A certain Chief Lowa was careless with his tongue. Every priest has a priest; Lowa’s own warned him to be careful so that his mouth would not disgrace him. Chief said he had grown taller than disgrace; he was too surefooted to be put to shame. Because he had money and medicine in super abundance, he thought there was nothing he said or did that would have repercussions. His secrets he made subjects of boasts at palm wine joints. He would say anything on impulse and credit it to spasms from unseen spirits.

Then it happened that an unknown tale bearer had gone to inform the king that Lowa had a goat that talked like a human being. The king sent for the chief and the chief appeared before the king. “Is it true that your goat speaks like you and I?” Lowa said it was true. The palace responded with gasps of disbelief. Are you sure? He said he was sure and swore in the name of the town’s ancestors that what he said was the truth and the whole truth. “Well then. Bring your goat before the throne in four days’ time.” The king ordered him and vowed that if, indeed, the goat talked, he would give Lowa half of his possessions, but if it did not, Lowa would be given the goat treatment – barbecued. Chief Lowa smiled and shrugged. He was sure of his goat and its human vocal chords.

Lowa in four days’ time brought his goat before the king. The palace grounds hosted the noble and the not so noble. Every ear wanted to hear the unnatural; every eye was desirous to behold the goat that was human. Lowa rose and spoke to his goat; the goat kept mute. He talked to his goat more frantically, Lowa’s goat ignored Lowa; it refused to answer its owner. It was clear to all that Lowa’s truth was an empty boast; they said he had fooled the king and the ancestors. The people said what he did no one had ever done and gone back home in one piece. Palace guards seized Chief, got him bound, hands and feet, while a huge fire was prepared in fulfillment of the king’s vow.

Chief was stripped naked and his body passed slowly back and forth across the huge fire. On the third pass, the goat opened its mouth and asked, “Why are you trying to kill my owner?” There was a commotion in the palace. “The goat talks!” The people shouted. Lowa was saved and taken off the fire while the king ordered that half of all his possessions be given to him. He was richer but sober. Bascom said as Lowa was taking his goat home, he asked the animal, “Why did you let them pass me over the fire three times?” The goat replied, “Should I have answered the very first time and let you get all this wealth without any suffering? If one becomes rich through trade, do we not see its scars on one’s body?” May our mouth not set us up for trial.

The president spoke to Nigerians before he left China a few days ago. He spoke about his “very bold and unprecedented decisions” at home; he linked his audacious boldness with the unprecedented hike in “fuel prices” and then asked: “can we help it?” No one there could tell him we could – if we searched well and in the right places and using the right persons. Is it not true that the market owes its access not to just one road? While the president was sawing our spine abroad, NNPC was sinking its teeth into our neck at home. It said petrol price in Nigeria would be “determined by global market forces.” And you wanted to ask what that meant. Dangote Refinery is active too, painting ambiguous portraits of oily prices on canvas. Everyone is tugging at the wounded entrails of the helpless.

Writing for ‘The Reading Teacher’ in March 2004, Salli Forbes said “to err is human, to self-correct is to learn.” She was correct. A leader may have the courage to make a mistake but he must not lack the wisdom to know that an error has occurred. And, it is not enough to spot the mistake; the leader must have the competence to correct himself, to repair the damage and stitch up the error. Buying petrol now is like paying for the last supper – dining, then dying. And it is all because someone spoke the wrong words on a wrong day last year. That person has not agreed that his error threw the nation under the bus; he is instead doubling down, praising his priest of pain.

Ben Sira’s wisdom of the ancient counsels whoever must speak to “say much in few words.” Eugene MacNamee, author of ‘The Government of the Tongue’, has a more extreme maxim: “Whatever you say, say nothing.” MacNamee warns that “saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, or even saying the most banal of things in the wrong place with the wrong accent could lead not only to offence but to death…” You would agree with MacNamee if you agree with South African researcher, Khona Dlamini, who thinks “the tongue is fire.” And with Douglas Ewart who insists that “the tongue is mightier than the sword.” Richard Turnbull says “by the tongue, men are led into error through false doctrine.” The wise men who founded Ile Ife had a million gods. But they said one deity worthy of their worship is the mouth. What they offer the mouth till tomorrow is a mouthful of carefulness; they gave it a tongue-twister name, olubobotiribo. Its cognomen is ‘baba ebo’ (father of offerings). May our mouth not disgrace and defeat us.

Darkness has a heart. If you like, call it ‘Heart of Darkness’ with all the pun Joseph Conrad’s novel of that title evokes. Nigerians entered last year and suffered the stroke of escalating petrol prices – one of Buhari’s parting gunshots. Today’s president, as that president’s reluctant candidate, campaigned vigorously against the pains of that era. On his campaign rostra, Bola Tinubu told the distraught to trust him with their votes: “E lo f’okàn ba’lè (be calm), we will bring down the price of petrol.” The candidate on heat got what he wanted and, in his very first speech as president, the conquistador pulled the plug on the livelihood of hope: “subsidy is gone.” He fired that shot into the darkness of our market and nothing has remained the same for all since. He said in China that he could not help it. When he made the be-calm promise before the election, did he know that what he said was a lie? In every context (and contestation) of lies, at least one side is not deceived. And that is the liar. Lies can kill, and they kill. The lie teller may keep his body while victims of his untruth lose theirs. But he loses his essence. “Lying is dying…There is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies”. For the source of that line, check Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’.

While the petrol price tragedy drags on forever, people are dropping dead farm and stream. Nothing walks the land at this moment except poverty and pain. But the president said in China that our eyes needed to see what we are seeing for Nigeria to be sturdy and stable. It is in Orwell’s dystopian ‘1984’ that you read that a stable society is “only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance.” Listen to Orwell: “For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty would become literate and would learn to think for themselves…” (page 198). No one, not even regime backers, are free from this pain. For I have seen some very committed Emilokan people writhe in pain, wetting their withering plants with tears. Why are they not excused from what we suffer? “It is deliberate policy to keep even the favoured groups somewhere near the brink of hardship, because a general state of scarcity increases the importance of small privileges…” (Orwell’s Nineteen-Eighty-Four; page 199).

The city burns but Nero has just finished playing tambourine in Chinese cafes. The end of the world is having the street empty. It is having ghostly trekkers casting no shadows everywhere. It is Nigeria becoming Malcolm Cowley’s “empty streets of air.” How many will live to tell the end of these hard times, only God knows. Bill Gates said in Abuja last Tuesday that “the actual tax collection in Nigeria is actually low.” Our president echoed him in China on Friday that the petrol we buy must be this costly for the country to stand. There are ‘rumours’ that VAT may move from 7.5 percent to 10 percent. Wahala! Eleven years ago, a barrage of austerity measures was wracking the people of Greece. Just as Nigeria has its own husbands feeding it doses of poison as elixir, Greece had Germany as its guardian angel, its doctor which prescribed for it poisonous doses of magical wellness. Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schauble, paid a visit to Greece on Thursday, July 18, 2013. To welcome that visitor, a troublesome Greek newspaper exclaimed: “Hail Schaube, those who are about to die salute you.”

The Greek newspaper got the about-to-die salutation from Ancient Rome. In ancient Rome, captive gladiators are routinely driven to death in a horrid game supervised by the emperor. They called it a gladiatorial match. The fights had large, loud crowds watching and applauding as men hacked men to death. It was an event that saw fighters die after fighters until the last man standing dropped dead. In AD 52, Emperor Claudius reviewed an edition of that ‘game’, then he heard those fated to die let out a cry: “Hail, Emperor, those who are about to die salute you (Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant).” And the emperor responded in practical terms demanding that they died.

Malcolm Cowley’s poet persona hears a scratching at his door, “the noise of some one fingering the latch once.” He opens “and found the night empty of sound, empty.” A long time ago, Emeritus Professor Ladipo Akinkugbe’s uncles heard their own “scratch at the door.” They also found “night” but it was not “empty”. He writes: “Asleep in their little mud hut, they were suddenly roused by some knock at the door in the middle of the night. His elder brother bade him open the door as he had assumed that this was a neighbour seeking assistance. He refused and soon the knocking ceased and the caller’s footsteps faded into the darkness. Peeping through a small hole in the mud wall, they discovered to their horror that it was a leopard. Had that door been opened, they both would never have lived to tell the story.”

My muse told me we’ve finally opened our door to the leopard of Big Brother. It was the muse’s summation of the many things that happened at the same time last week. Reports of trials and tribulations, of protesters in police courts, and of traumatized paupers at petrol pumps. Petrol, for the first time since 1914, sells for more than a thousand naira per litre. If you can buy, buy it quietly and drive home; if you are too poor to buy, trek home silently in peace. Whichever you choose, BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU. Those words in capital letters you find in George Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’. They make up the caption beneath a huge poster that displays “…an enormous face, more than a metre wide”. It is not enough that the face is enormous, you find, to your horror and dread, that the eyes in the poster “follow you about when you move.”

The leopard-at-the-door story above is a paragraph in Akinkugbe’s autobiography, ‘Footprints & Footnotes’. The book is a personal story which provides some ghastly details about this country, the demons in its forest and why it may never work well. A leopard at the door cannot be a friend or a totem of good fortune. Not all who knock at doors seek help or seek to help. Beware of those you open your heart or stall to, especially when it is dark. You may be sorry if every rap on your door unbolts the access. Nigerians did this – many times during their election cycles. They are always sorry after the act. They did it yesterday, – and today, they are very sorry. But, they will do it again.

In July 1986, Nigeria’s military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, launched a public policy initiative hailed as the silver bullet for Nigeria’s distressed economy: the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). A local adaptation of an IMF/World Bank  initiative, SAP was intended to stabilise the economy. However, within a year of its implementation, the programme had left a trail of hunger, industry closures, unemployment, and acute poverty. Instead of achieving its objectives, SAP exacerbated the economic crisis, leaving Nigerians groaning under economic hardship. SAP was part of a broader World Bank/IMF global economic policy framework.

While SAP failed from a broad perspective, certain socio-economic elements—like poverty alleviation, job creation, and rural development—experienced some success in the medium term.

 Fast forward 37 years to 2023, and Nigeria’s new political leadership revisited two critical elements of the 1986 SAP: the policy on petrol subsidies and the floating of the Naira. While these policies’ medium to long-term impacts are still uncertain, their short-term effects bear an uncanny resemblance to those of their predecessor.

The issue is not necessarily the nobility of these policies’ intentions—after all, the road to hell is often paved with good intentions. Nor is it about the appropriateness of the policies themselves. What’s indisputable is that these public policies have imposed unintended consequences, hurting the very people they were meant to help. These aren’t the only government policies in Nigeria, at both the national and state levels, that have failed to achieve their intended objectives or have produced adverse effects.

It is not uncommon to see government policies fail to meet their goals. Such failures drain public resources, exacerbate the suffering of the people rather than alleviate it, and erode public trust in the government. The question is, why? As Nigeria continues to embark on new public policies that, if not carefully examined, may produce unintended consequences, I will explore why public policies fail in Nigeria and how we can do things differently.

First is the need for more rigour in policy conception. Most policies emerge as reactive measures to imminent problems the government seeks to solve. This reactive approach often forces a sense of urgency in policy formulation, leaving little time for proper planning, research, cost-benefit analysis, and scenario mapping of both intended and unintended consequences. We often see policy statements made in the media by leaders on the fly, with policy implementing institutions scrambling to catch up in executing  these policies. This approach is dangerous in a democracy and detrimental to economic development. The lack of rigour in developing the fuel subsidy removal policy is evident for all to see.

For instance, the president made a straightforward policy statement during his inaugural speech that “oil subsidy is gone,” triggering immediate reactions from the people and the economy. However, there was no clear, overarching policy framework to guide the process, consider intervening variables, anticipate unintended consequences, and devise ways of mitigating them. The policy apparatus was unprepared, and implementation has been a game of catch-up with unintended  results. The ongoing attempts to rein in the consequences of this policy have largely failed, and the damage is evident for all to see.

Contrastingly, the Philippines, one of the few countries that successfully removed petrol subsidies, took a markedly different approach. The government meticulously laid the groundwork for the policy over nearly five years, engaging independent assessors to evaluate the potential impact of subsidy removal and mitigation measures. The implementation was phased, with provisions for targeted support to assist vulnerable citizens, ensuring the impact was cushioned for lower-income households. The Philippine government also proactively communicated the rationale behind price changes and the benefits of deregulation, which helped build public trust and acceptance of the reforms. This strategic, long-term approach fostered a more sustainable oil and gas market in the country, a stark contrast to Nigeria’s short-term, reactive policy formulation.

Second, policymakers in Nigeria are often driven by short-term gains and personal interests. The prospect of immediate results or benefit too easily sways them, and they seldom consider the long-term impact. True leaders think about generational impact and provide solutions that transform society for posterity. Unfortunately, such leaders are not common in Nigeria . Many policymakers are so short-sighted and parochial that their focus on policy is as narrow as pursuing the subsequent election victory. Even when good policies are created to benefit society, a lack of political continuity often kills their implementation. Political discontinuity in policy execution has led to frequent policy disruptions. New policymakers tend to abandon previous policies to create new ones, even if the old policies are addressing the challenge it was designed to address   or nearing completion. This constant change fosters confusion and instability.

Thirdly, policymakers in Nigeria often lack a deep understanding of the policies they plan to implement or the economic context. Instead of developing solutions that are tailored to Nigeria’s unique circumstances, they often defer to foreign solutions—a copy-and-paste approach, without the necessary adaptation . The floating of the Naira under this administration is a prime example. On paper, the policy aligns with recommendations from international financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank and was heralded as the solution to Nigeria’s exchange rate problems. However, previous governments resisted the policy due to fears of unintended consequences in an import-dependent and mono-product export economy. This lack of understanding and the blind adoption of foreign solutions have led to the current exchange rate crisis. May be adaptation could have produced a different result . 

Nigeria’s economic structure means that fluctuations in the Naira’s value against major currencies directly affect the cost of living for millions of Nigerians, especially those living in multidimensional poverty. The government was overly optimistic, expecting the Naira to stabilize at around N750 per USD. However, within a year of implementing the policy, the exchange rate has mostly harmonized and partially deregulated (with the CBN still intervening to influence the Naira’s value). However, the currency has depreciated by over 300%, from N500 per USD at the start of this administration to N1600 recently. The problem lies in the supply of USD in the market, which neither the Nigerian government nor the private sector has significantly impacted. Demand far outweighs supply, leading to a severe erosion of the Naira’s value.

It is evident that policymakers in Nigeria often underestimate the challenges and potential unintended consequences of their policies. This was the case with both the oil subsidy removal and the exchange rate floating. As a result, they have yet to find answers to the many unintended consequences that have nearly overwhelmed the planned policy objectives. Most Nigerians are less concerned with the policies’ good intentions and more affected by the harsh consequences. Furthermore, there was poor communication with stakeholders. The government needed to adequately prepare the public for the unintended consequences or provide sufficient remedial and palliative measures. As the saying goes, ‘To be forewarned is to be forearmed.’ Nigerians were unprepared for what they are now facing.

Moreover, misleading narratives led to these policies. The government framed the economic situation under the Buhari administration as dire, suggesting that without these two policies, the country would collapse. This doomsday narrative initially led to the policies being received as the panacea to Nigeria’s economic woes. But time is proving the opposite, and people are increasingly frustrated. The difference between the tail end of Buhari’s regime and now feels like a lifetime. The price of everything has at least doubled, if not more.

I advocate for a more intellectual approach to governance. Politics seems to dominate everything, and this lack of capacity to engage with the complexities of governance leads to ineffective policymaking and implementation. Nigeria must develop a national policy elite capable of creating, pursuing, and sustaining sound policies. Nigerian leaders must work to bridge the gap between policy formulation and implementation. Most policies fail at the implementation stage due to conflicting interests and the impunity that hinders Nigeria’s economic and social progress.

In Nigeria, the persistent failures of public policy reflect more profound issues in the governance structure, where reactive measures, short-term thinking, and a reliance on foreign templates overshadow the need for tailored, well-researched, and rigorously planned policies. The consequences of these approaches are evident in the current economic distress and public disillusionment. Nigeria must cultivate a new generation of leaders and policymakers who prioritize long-term societal transformation over immediate political gains to break this cycle. These leaders must embrace a more intellectual and context-sensitive approach to governance, ensuring that policies are well-conceived and effectively implemented, with robust mechanisms in place to mitigate unintended consequences. Only through such a paradigm shift can Nigeria hope to achieve sustainable economic and social progress.