The Joint Task Force, Operation Delta Safe has intercepted eight barges smuggling over 100,000 litres of adulterated diesel in Rivers.

Commander, Joint Task Force, South-South, OPDS, Real Admiral Olusegun Ferreira, disclosed this while presenting the seized barges and petroleum product to newsmen in Bonny on Sunday.

He said the vessels containing adulterated diesel were impounded by security forces during a stop-and-search operation across several creeks.

Represented by OPDS Maritime Component Commander, Commodore Adedokun Siyanbade, Ferreira said the seizure was in-line with the task forces’ mandate to rid the Niger Delta of crude oil theft and criminality.

“The seizures were done as part of the directives given to OPDS by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, to ensure total eradication of crude oil theft.

“Acting on this directive, the OPDS pushed further its operations resulting in the arrest of eight barges laden with suspected illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (diesel).

“The barges cumulatively had over 100,000 litres of diesel stored inside different compartments in Bonny area, Rivers State,” he said.

He said no arrest had been made but that troops were currently on the trail of the operators of the seized vessel.

“OPDS in collaboration with other security agencies within the joint operation areas will not relent in our efforts to ensure that crude oil theft is stopped at all costs.

“Those involved in this illegal activity should look out for legitimate business to do because we will not relent until they are caught and stopped,” he added.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Bola Tinubu to probe the alleged missing oil revenues budgeted to repair the refineries in the country.

A report from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has alleged that over US$15 billion of oil revenues, and N200 billion budgeted to repair the refineries are missing and unaccounted for between 2020 and 2021.

Reacting to the allegations, SERAP urged Tinubu to name those responsible for the missing funds and ensure their effective prosecution, as well as the full recovery of proceeds of crime.

They also urged the President to fully implement all the recommendations by NEITI in its 2021 report.

In the letter dated 23 September 2023 and signed by SERAP deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said, “As President and Minister of Petroleum Resources, your office ought to be concerned about these damning revelations, by getting to the bottom of the allegations and ensuring that suspected perpetrators are promptly brought to justice, and any missing public funds fully recovered.

“Any failure to investigate these grave allegations, bring suspected perpetrators to justice and recover any missing public funds would have serious resource allocation and exacerbate the country’s debt burden.

“The findings by NEITI suggest a grave violation of the public trust and the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], national anti-corruption laws, and the country’s obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption.

“The allegations of corruption documented by NEITI undermine the economic development of the country, trap the majority of Nigerians in poverty and deprive them of opportunities.

“According to the 2021 report by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), government agencies including the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NNPC) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NPDC) failed to remit $13.591 million and $8.251 billion to the public treasury.

“The NNPC and NPDC failed to remit over 70% of these public funds. NEITI wants both the NNPC and NPDC to be investigated, and for the missing public funds to be fully recovered.

“The report documents that about N200 billion was spent on ‘refineries rehabilitation’ between 2020 and 2021 but none of the refineries was operational in 2021 despite the spending. NEITI wants the spending to be investigated, as the money may be missing.”

Arsenal forward, Bukayo Saka has cited a key advantage the Gunners have over Tottenham Hotspur in their upcoming North London Derby on Sunday afternoon.

Arsenal are set to lock horns with Tottenham at the Emirates in a Premier League derby.

Ahead of the encounter, Saka spoke to Arsenal’s in-house media about the advantage of playing at home in front of the club’s supporters.

The England star reckons the fans and the environment they will create at their stadium could give them an edge in their match against Tottenham.

“I’m really excited, it is a massive advantage [to be at home]. Personally, the feeling I have every time I play at the Emirates is that we are going to win and the people are behind us,” Saka said (per the club’s official website).

“The support that the fans give us, not allowing us to lose, gives us that extra confidence boost.”

“Since last year, all the players and everyone around the club has realised what the fans have been doing at the Emirates and they’ve created a really beautiful atmosphere. I’m forever grateful for the love and support that we receive.”

[DailyPost]

State chapters and affiliate unions of the Nigeria Labour Congress are already gearing up for a possible declaration of a nationwide strike following the expiration of a 21-day ultimatum given the Federal Government to provide palliatives to cushion the pains associated with the recent fuel subsidy removal.

The organised labour had earlier embarked on a two-day warning strike to press home its demands.

After the warning strike, the NLC gave the government a 21-day ultimatum within which to meet its demands.

With the expiration of the ultimatum on Friday, the NLC has scheduled an emergency meeting of its National Executive Council for Tuesday at noon.

The council’s next line of action is expected to be decided at the virtual meeting.

In a notice of the meeting dated September 22, 2023, seen by Sunday PUNCH, the congress’ General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, told the Presidents, General Secretaries and Treasurers of its affiliates that “Your attendance (at the meeting) will be of utmost importance.”

Ahead of the meeting, however, state chapters of the NLC told Sunday PUNCH on Saturday that they were ready to mobilise full participation if the NEC declared a strike on Tuesday.

This is just as Sunday PUNCH learnt on Saturday evening that as part of its last-minute moves to prevent a strike, the Federal Government may meet with labour leaders again this week.

“Yes, the government delegation will meet with them maybe on Monday. The idea is to ensure that we prevent the strike. The nation cannot afford a shutdown of its economy at this time,” a government source said.

Another government source told Sunday PUNCH that the FG will continue to appeal for understanding from the labour leaders.

“The government has just increased the salaries of junior lecturers by 23.5 per cent. There is the need for an understanding,” the source said.

When contacted, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said, “I am not yet back, I am airborne now to London. No update yet.”

 Ekiti

The Ekiti State Chairman of the NLC, Kolapo Olatunde, told one of our correspondents that workers in the state would participate fully if the NEC resolved to declare a strike.

Olatunde said “NLC NEC’s decision supersedes any other decision. If the decision up there in NEC is that we should go on strike, we have no option.

“We will also come down and decide the State Executive Council level, but the decision of the NEC supersedes any other decision.

 “If the NEC says we are going on strike, everybody will go on strike, that is the implication.”

Gombe

The situation is the same in Gombe State where the state Secretary of NLC, Ibrahim Fika, said the chapter would comply fully with the industrial action should the NEC order such.

Fika said, “We will comply 100 per cent by God’s grace. There is no doubt about that.

“It’s after the Tuesday meeting that we will know when to proceed, and whether the people will be given time to prepare but Gombe NLC is fully ready 100 per cent.

Sokoto

A similar scenario is playing out in Sokoto State where the state chapter said it would join the strike whenever the national headquarters decides.

The state chairman, Abdullahi Jungle, confirmed this while speaking with one of our correspondents.

He said, “We are waiting for the decision of the national headquarters. Once a decision is taken on the strike, we will join.”

 Plateau

Also in Plateau State, members of the NLC vowed to comply if the union decides to go strike.

The state chairman, Eugene Manji, said, “We are a democratic union. Our NEC meeting scheduled for Tuesday is going to be via Zoom. So, if the majority decides that the union is going on strike, workers in Plateau State cannot disobey the decision of NEC but will comply.”

Benue

The matter is not different in Benue State where the chairman, Terungwa Igbe, said the chapter would comply with any directive from the national secretariat.

 “If it’s a national directive to go on strike, we will surely join,” he said.

 Kano

Kano State is not different as the state chapter expressed its readiness to comply with any directive from the national headquarters.

The state chairman, Kabiru Inuwa, said, “The NEC may decide to go on strike and may decide not to go. But whatever decision is taken, the Kano State chapter will abide by it.

“So, we have to wait and see what will be the outcome of the meeting.”

Niger

The Niger State chapter also said it was ready to comply with any directive from the national leadership of the NLC.

The state chairman, Idrees Lafena, said, “We don’t have an option than to comply with the directive of our parent body. The Federal Government has been given enough time to rethink and retrace its steps but it is adamant. It is not finding a lasting solution and does not want to do the needful.

“The two-day warning strike which was hugely successful in Niger State and Nigeria at large was an opportunity for the Bola Tinubu administration to do serious thinking and retrace his steps. Nigerian workers can no longer bear the hardship when there is no termination point for the hardship. We don’t have an option.

“We will ensure that the Federal Government is compelled to do the right thing. Niger State will be shut down by the strike once we get the directive from our national leaders.”

 Zamfara

The Zamfara State chapter of the NLC also said it was ready to embark on a strike action if the national body of the union gave a directive to that effect.

The state chairman, Sani Halliru, said, “We in Zamfara State are only waiting for the directive and I am assuring you that, as soon as we receive it, we will join the strike.

“We will shut down the state as soon as we are given the go-ahead to embark on strike action.

“I was part of the meeting and I came back on Friday. So, I see no reason why I should not join the strike if I receive a directive from the national body of our great union.”

Yobe

Workers in Yobe State have also expressed readiness to embark on strike if the national headquarters of the NLC calls for the action after its Tuesday meeting.

“We are ever ready to participate in the strike if the national body of NLC directs all states to do so.

“We will join the strike because all the issues at stake concern every worker in Nigeria, including you, journalists. We will comply with whatever decision is taken at the Tuesday meeting,” the state chairman of NLC, Mukhtar Tarbutu, told Sunday PUNCH.

Rivers

The Rivers State chairman, Alex Agwanwor, said the state chapter would comply fully with the national directive in the event of a declaration of strike.

When our correspondent asked Agwanwor if the state chapter would comply fully if a strike was declared, he simply replied, “Yes.”

Bayelsa

The Bayelsa State chapter said it would mobilise its members to participate in any strike action declared by the national leadership of the body.

 The state chairman, Simon Barnabas, said, “NLC anywhere is NLC, so we will not do anything different. That’s how other state councils will be part of the event.

 “The strike is not targeted at the state government but the Federal Government. What we are doing is to attract the attention of President Bola Tinubu and the need for something to be done to get us out of this untold hardship meted out to us as a result of fuel subsidy removal.

 “The only thing we see that he can do now is he can revamp our refineries to functional status so that the Naira will have value. Otherwise the one-one naira they think they want to give to people will not go anywhere.”

 Akwa Ibom

Akwa Ibom State chairman of the NLC, Sunny James, said there was no way the chapter would shun the strike.

“There’s going to be an official meeting to determine that but if there is going to be a strike, there is no way we will not join. Are we not the state council of NLC?” he asked.

 Adamawa

The Adamawa State chairman of NLC, Emmanuel Fashe, said, “If we are not comfortable with the system, we should give support to labour leaders so that whatever that is being decided, we as Nigerians will comply and give them all the necessary support.

“You can see people suffering but when you call them out to join forces, to demonstrate and cry out to the government, they will shy away from it. This unfortunately is the Nigerian reality for you as we speak today.

“Things are hard but even for people within the community to organise themselves to come out and cry against the repressive economic policies of government is very hard. Labour leaders don’t have separate markets, we all go to the same market and it is the support of the public that we require to be successful in our agitations for a responsive system.”

Kaduna

The Kaduna NLC chairman, Ayuba Suleiman, said, “We are not outside the NLC. We shall be part of the NEC and every decision taken is binding on all state councils.”

Abia

The NLC in Abia State said its members would join the strike.

The state chairman, Pascal Nweke, said, “We are under them. If they decide to go on strike after Tuesday’s NEC meeting, the Abia State chapter will join them.”

Kebbi

The Kebbi State chairman, Murtala Usman, said, “I am sure that no state chapter of NLC will refuse to join the strike if the decision is reached by the national headquarters of the union.

“We are the ones that called for the meeting and by the time NEC briefs us on the outcome, the decision will be taken and we shall abide by it.”

 Taraba

The Taraba State Chairman, Peter Jediel, said, “Yes, we are ready to join the strike but we are waiting for an official communication.

“I just returned from a meeting of the union where the issue of the strike was discussed and we are willing to comply with the directive if the national union sends us a notice of strike.

“We are expecting that notice between tomorrow (Sunday) and Monday and we will fully comply.”

Oyo

However, the Oyo State chapter said it would not pre-empt the outcome of the Tuesday meeting.

 The state Chairman, Kayode Martins, said, “We have not heard from the national secretariat of the NLC so we can’t pre-empt them. Let’s see the outcome of the NEC meeting, then we will call our state meeting as well.”

 Ondo

The Ondo State secretary of the NLC, Akin Sunday, said, “ I cannot say anything much about the strike because my chairman is preparing to go to Abuja for the NEC meeting. The decision of the NEC at the meeting would determine what would happen next.”

Katsina

The Katsina State Chairman of the NLC, Hussaini Hamisu, said, “We should not jump the gun. The NEC of the union is meeting on Tuesday. We would rather wait for its decision on the strike. Let us await the decision of the NEC. “

Lagos

The Chairman of the NLC in Lagos State, FunmI Sessi, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, also said the outcome of the meeting scheduled for Tuesday will determine if the congress in the state will join the strike.

“They have called us for a meeting scheduled for Tuesday, so it’s on that day that we will know our stance. Let us leave everything till that Tuesday. We will know the outcome then,” she said.

Edo

The Edo State chairman of the NLC, Odion Olaye, said he was yet to receive a directive on the matter.

 “I am yet to receive any directive concerning the strike action,” he said

Delta

 The Delta State chairman of the NLC, Goodluck Ofobruku, also said the council would comply with the decision of the NEC.

 “Yes, but there’s a NEC meeting on Thursday where a decision will be taken,” he said.

[Punch]

Do you know yourself? Do you know the divine grace and the power you possess? Jesus knew his nature, authority and mission very well and that was why he boldly ruled over Satan, demons, sicknesses, nature and situations throughout his stay on earth.  And even at the point of death he also clearly demonstrated this. He had to personally, willingly submit himself, because mortals could not physically arrest not to talk of killing him. He had to discard his divine nature for them to be able to touch him. Let’s just see the drama at point of his arrest. I believe it will give us an insight into what we are saying here: “After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees.  Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, because Jesus had gone there many times with his disciples.  The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a battalion of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him.  Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove.

    “Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him.  Stepping forward to meet them, he asked, ‘who are you looking for?’  ‘Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied. ‘I am he,’ Jesus said.  Judas was standing there with them when Jesus identified himself.  And as he said, ‘I am he’, they all fell backward to the ground!  Once more he asked them, ‘whom are you searching for?’ ‘And again they replied, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’ I told you that I am he’, Jesus said, ‘And since I am the one you want, let these others go.’   He did this to fulfil his own statement, ‘I have not lost a single one of those you gave me.’ ‘Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant.  But Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup the father has given me?” John 18:1-11

       Wow! That was indeed a drama at the point of Jesus’ arrest. So much to learn from here. We went through this story so that you will be able to appreciate the authority and nature of Jesus.  A battalion of soldiers with all their weapons could not arrest him. When he told them, ‘I am he’, they all fell to the ground.  He later willingly submitted himself to them so that he would be able to fulfil his divine mission of sacrificing his life for mankind.  Otherwise, it would have been impossible for men to kill him. Yes, he was always on top of every situation.  This same Jesus is saying that he has given us that authority in his name to cast out devils, withstand Satan, to heal the sick, and march upon principalities, powers, dominions, diseases, conspiracies, witches and rulers of darkness. The believers must understand that at the mention of the name Jesus, every power and every situation, every conspiracy, every gang up must bow! 

  Confession of a former occult master

    Please before we continue, let’s briefly see this confession of a one-time powerful and high-ranking agent of Satan from Nigeria - Evangelist E. O. Omoobajesu.  This will help us to appreciate the power in the name of Jesus and also give us an insight of what goes on in the spirit realm. Read:

     “I recall a meeting of the cults held at the Lagos Bar Beach.  All the high-ranking occultists in Nigeria were present and among our members were some of the traditional rulers from all over the country.  Thus, from every part of the country we came and assembled at the beach, dressed in demonic regalia while our evil powers made us invisible.  We were just settling down on the beach to start the meeting when a man came to pray on the beach.  Though we were invisible to him, we could all see him clearly.  Unknowingly, he started to march on the members seated on the sand. 

   “We were all infuriated, and a person in our assembly was ordered to deal with him.  Instantly, he gave the intruder a very heavy slap.  The man started to feel dizzy.  On realizing this, he cried out aloud.  He shouted J-E-S-U-S!  The echo of his voice rented the silence of the night. What happened?  Immediately [after] the name of Jesus was called, a ray of light came out of his mouth and disappeared into the heavens.  We all sat down looking at what would happen next.  After a few moments, the light reappeared out of the sky coming back to the earth.  The light again exploded in mid-sky and subdivided into various parts, still coming directly towards us.  This light encircled our gathering on the beach and made the whole surrounding very brightly lit.

  “Looking more closely, we saw accompanying these rays, all forms [kinds] of weapons of war, chariots of fire and winged-beings, all were running furiously, heading towards us.  We all had to disperse; everyone ran away, the chariots chasing each of us home.  All these [things] happened within the twinkling of an eye.”

    Wow! The name of Jesus is powerful! Our God is the Almighty. This is a true confession of a one-time very powerful and dreaded agent of Satan. It is very possible that that prayer warrior (Christian) who called the name of Jesus did not and may never know what happened that night; the war that heaven declared on his behalf. All he would say is that Jesus delivered him from the attack of the enemy at the Bar Beach. But, the Satanists, the occult masters saw everything clearly. This is exactly what happens each time we mention the name of Jesus in our warfare against the kingdom of darkness.  The enemies, dark agents, the witches scamper for safety.  They run in confusion and total disarray. I want you to begin to appreciate the power and the nature of the God you serve. Begin to use his name. Yes, the word of God said that at the mention of the name of Jesus every knee must bow! We will continue. God bless you!

Section 188 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, provides for the removal of governor or deputy governor from office through the process of impeachment. The process consists of a written allegation of gross misconduct against the accused person who has a right to defend himself. If his defence succeeds, he is expected to be left off the hook; if not, he is removed from office.

The said section 188 spells out in detail, the procedures and steps to be taken to consummate the process. Although, several deputy governors have been impeached since 1999 when democracy was restored to Nigeria, none of the impeachments has ever escaped from crass political rascality and abuse of process. The legislators always leave no one in doubt that their aim is always to carry out a hatchet job.

To start with, whereas the constitution expects any impeached executive to have committed gross misconduct, the meaning of gross misconduct to legislators is imaginary. For example, Mahdi Aliyu Gusau, former deputy governor of Zamfara State was impeached in 2022 for refusing to defect along with his governor from the Peoples Democratic Party PDP to the All Progressive Congress APC.

To Zamfara legislators that amounted to be an abuse of office, criminal self-enrichment and failure to discharge his constitutional duties.  If that perception was taken as rational, Nigerians especially citizens of Anambra State would have wondered why the same punishment was not meted to their own former deputy governor, Nkem Okeke, who abandoned his principal in the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in October 2021 to defect to the APC.

Whereas political movements from one party to another are not illegal, Rauf Olaniyan former deputy governor of Oyo state was impeached in 2020, over his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). The same charade had earlier taken place when Peremobowei Ebebi, the former deputy governor of Bayelsa State was impeached in June 2010 by the State House of Assembly.

Two charges for which Sunday Onyebuchi was impeached as deputy governor of Enugu state in 2014 were, one: “gross misconduct” of running a poultry farm in his compound while the second, was absence from an assigned function. When video evidence showed he was actually at the event, the exact location where he sat was declared inappropriate and offensive.

Ondo State is one of the states where the impeachment of deputy governors is not new. Already, two deputy governors, Olanusi Ali and Agboola Ajayi have had a taste of the bitter political hobby. Only last week, Ondo legislators served an impeachment notice on Lucky Aiyedatiwa the current deputy governor over allegations of gross misconduct. Aiyedatiwa acted as governor of the state until September 7, 2023 when the substantive governor Rotimi Akeredolu SAN returned from a three-month medical leave.

Unfortunately, the House of Assembly has not properly educated the public on Aiyedatiwa’s list of gross violations. An opportunity presented to the House last Tuesday by channels television was poorly utilised by the tongue-tied presentation of its spokesperson and chairman of the House committee on Information, Oshati Olatunji. 

All that Oshati did was to repeatedly affirm that the proposed impeachment was not a witch-hunt while failing to underscore its inevitability. Viewers were left to feel that the allegation of misappropriation of N300 million was a political story. Considering that the House considers the matter strong enough to warrant an impeachment proceeding, the public expects a thorough investigation of the allegation. Who approved the amount? To whom was it paid and for what purpose? When was it concluded and what roles did the tender’s board and the audit department play? These are important questions because Ondo State legislators had in the past been projected as a group that has an inclination to concoct stories just to win an argument. Thus, governor Akeredolu needs to watch them. 

In 2019, the leadership of the assembly allegedly hatched a plan to arm twist their state governor whom they felt was frugal and who refused to release funds to them for the renovation of their deplorable chambers constructed in 1976. The game plan was to fabricate a story of snake invasion of the chambers as well as the collapse of the ceiling during plenary. Using intelligence from his loyalists in the House, the governor openly castigated the legislators for fabricating the story.

On further probing, the media gathered that N2m was allocated to the assembly every year for the past ten years for fumigation of the complex while N57m allocation was given to the legislators on monthly basis. Although the law-makers managed to hold-on to their cock and bull claim, the matter died a natural death. How are we sure that the new attack on the deputy governor is not another plot? 

Akeredolu needs to be cautious because while some of the ring leaders of the new design may be seeking to merely demonstrate their loyalty to him, others may be looking forward to making direct material gains from the subject because it is an open secret in Nigeria, that many legislators expect financial rewards for ‘helping’ a governor to sack a perceived disloyal deputy.

In Kogi State for instance, the legislators held-on tenaciously to their loyalty to the governor by ensuring that an alleged recalcitrant deputy governor Simon Achuba was still impeached even after the panel they set up to investigate him cleared him of any wrong-doing. As Sunday Onyebuchi former deputy governor of Enugu state testified after his impeachment was quashed in court, some of those who perpetuated injustice against him, came “to confess and plead for forgiveness saying they were used.”

What seems to matter in Nigerian impeachments is that it is always successfully used to settle scores even if the legislators concerned are made to look foolish after gratification. They can change any rule or procedure just to achieve the goal. In the case of Mahdi Gusau former deputy governor of Zamfara State, the legislators severally redrafted the Order Paper on the day of his purported impeachment.

First, it was simply to deliberate, consider, adopt and vote for the impeachment/removal of the deputy governor. That same day a letter sent by the governor nominating a new deputy governor necessitated redrafting the Order Paper to reflect invitation to the deputy governor-nominee for screening. Thereafter, the Clerk of the House transmitted the resolutions to the governor who then invited the state chief judge, to swear-in a new deputy governor: all within a few hours.

Another reason why governor Akeredolu must be himself- a gentleman to the core, is the lesson of history which points to the futility of Nigeria’s fake impeachments. First, his legislators can back-off from the plan midway.  They did it before in July 2020 when 9 of the 26-member State House of Assembly dissociated themselves from the planned impeachment of the state’s Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi. The 9 members said they were not convinced that the deputy governor did anything wrong deserving his impeachment. This frustrated the planned impeachment of Agboola. Again, another deputy governor of the state, Olanusi Ali who was earlier impeached had his impeachment invalidated by the courts. 

It is also important to note that on a few cases,some judges with unassailable principles may not play ball in an impeachment process.  A good example can be located in Imo state where Justice Ben Iheka displayed great courage in 2018 by restraining the panel set up by his Chief Judge from taking further action in the illegal impeachment process of deputy governor Eze Madumere. And back in Ondo state, there was the persuasive stance of the State Chief Judge, Oluwatoyin Akeredolu, who in 2020 faulted an impeachment process embarked upon by the legislature.  She accordingly declined to set up an investigation panel while also giving due recognition to the existence of a restraining court order on the subject. 

All well-meaning Nigerians particularly the alumni of the great Loyola College Ibadan who have remained in praise to God for our brother’s recovery are against mischief makers disturbing his peace. They are free to follow the due process of law as enshrined in s188 of the constitution in dealing with deputy governor Aiyedatiwa, without involving Akeredolu who was out of the state when it reportedly happened.

Patty was in pain, deep searing pain. She was not supposed to be in this place, end up at this sorry pass. She gave Alhaji her all, the relationship her everything. Relationship?  Was what they had even worth calling a relationship because looking back from her balcony of grief, all she could see now was a one-winged flight that eventually crashed spectacularly. The pain wracking her body and soul was made worse by the feeling of foolishness. You know how you feel when you finally realised you’ve been used, had, taken advantage of and you allowed it all happen, with your eyes wide open.

Patty wept and howled. She cursed and creamed but unless an uncommon miracle happens tomorrow, Alhaji was lost forever, her heart shattered into smithereens, her self-esteem in the mud.

What really happened?

Patty and Alhaji were an item for four solid years. Alhaji’s two wives and children knew Patty as the ‘latest sisi’ in Alhaji’s life. He’d set her up in a posh apartment in Abuja and spoilt her in every way possible. Indeed, everyone thought Patty was the third wife-in-waiting. But last Saturday, out of the blues, Alhaji took a third wife and it wasn’t Patty. No, Patty heard of the event just like the rest of us. How’s that for violence in romance, heartless blindsiding? How do you not tell a woman you’ve been with for four years that she is not good enough, not wife material? How does a woman miss all the signs that she’s not going to make wife cadre? Is it possible for a woman not to know the man she’s dating doesn’t thinks she’s nothing more than a plaything?

Okay, disappointments on the way to the altar happens all the time, as often as the wedding ceremonies themselves. But considering the sacrifices that Patty made, the things she gave up to be with and keep Alhaji, that cut was deep, very deep.

‘I almost died getting a BBL.’ BBL is Brazilian Butt Lift. Yeah, the rave cosmetic surgery girls are all doing to get bigger backsides, bigger breasts, slimmer waists. And yes, Patty had a surgery to look more sumptuous and voluptuous for Alhaji. Don’t gasp. Here’s the rest of the story, according to pained Patty.

‘Yes, Alhaji paid for the surgery but it was me under the knife, immobile and in scary pain because I had complications after the operation. He wanted me to have bigger butts and constantly made jest of me for wearing butt pads. I eventually went for the surgery. I changed virtually everything about my life for him. I resigned from my job so I could have more time for him. Whatever he wanted I did. I loved him, still do but I didn’t see this coming. How could he do this to me, take another wife, pass me over for another woman? What else didn’t I do? How did I not see this coming? He spent the weekend before the wedding with me for God’s sake!’

Mean, Alhaji was mean and cold but I still can’t find the right words to describe how Patty fell and stayed with a man like that. You must have ice where your heart should be to do what Alhaji did, right?

However, don’t you think there should be limits to the sacrifice a woman, or even a man should make in a relationship? How much should you give up? How much of yourself should you lose to please your partner? Should you even lose yourself at all? Yours sincerely can’t even get a tattoo to impress a man because from videos that I’ve watched, it is not a painless process and you can’t remove a tattoo painlessly. My take is: do not do what you cannot undo. Do not give what you can’t take back.

More and more women are making foolish sacrifices in relationships that are not guaranteed to lead to happy endings. And I ask, when you take out one of your ribs to achieve a slimmer waist, are you doing it for yourself or to please a man? Have you thought seriously about what the man you are getting cosmetic surgery to please thinks of you?  A lot of men encourage their side chicks to do things they’d never ask their wives or daughters to do. If a man thinks your butt lift or tummy tuck will create medical or health challenges for you later in life, does he not reserve the right to ease out of your life so he doesn’t get sucked into avoidable future medical expenses? If you are vain enough to go beyond henna to please a man’s physical need, be brave enough to own the consequences.

I still do not understand why women do dumb things to keep men interested. Is it that we are just plain dumb or shamelessly desperate? Why do we bleach our skin, risk our kidneys and livers just so men can look in our direction? Is it that we skipped biology classes when we were being taught Excretion in secondary school or we just don’t care whether we live or die? You see women who sell roasted corn by the roadside bleaching until they turn dirty pink right before your eyes and I wonder if they do it for their husbands or concubines. A husband who can’t set you up in a shop is not the one you should risk or give up your skin or kidney for. The men are at this point going to scream “Not all men will be rich”. Fine, and I scream right back, “No woman should give up her kidney for any man, poor or rich”. But do my sisters listen? Do they learn? Do they care what happens to them beyond the few naira notes thrown at them for a few years men are interested?

He wants you to bleach or tone or you decide to ‘whiten’ your skin because you think a fair skin will keep him interested, ask yourself for how long will you bleach and for how long will he be interested? A new phone, a few aso-ebi and ‘woroworo’ jewellery? Maybe he even pays your rent for a year or two. Is that why you are assaulting your skin and kidney? A session of dialysis per session cost about N30,000 and kidney transplant can cost as high as N20 million. That is what you are risking for a foolish phone and cheap rent? Lady, if you have the sense God gave a goose, you will reassess your life, that relationship and draw up a table of pros and cons of what you are doing to yourself just so one man will not look at another woman. His mother did not have only you in mind when he took him for circumcision, so ‘borrow yourself some brain’ as they say on the streets.

You may even get lucky and never get to the road junction of compromised kidneys but have you not seen women whose skin look like rotting shaki (tripe)? Today is Saturday, every woman’s damaged skin will be covered with layers and layers of makeup. Wait till Tuesday when they are not covered in ‘foundations’ ‘concealers’ and bronzer and see gbege. Years and years of chemically processed skin on display. Burnt skin all over the place. Burnt face, peeling back of the neck, discoloured faces and elbows that make you want to puke. Why do we do these things to ourselves? The men eventually leave, look further afield or generally lose interest eventually, don’t they?

And the heartbreaking part? Men hardly ever marry or make life-long commitment or have children with dumb women who make these desperate half-thought out or outright have-brained sacrifices. You don’t agree? Send me a list of Nigerians you know who have proposed to or married their girlfriends who got Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL)? Why are the men not all over these ‘new models’ with flowers, rings and marriage proposals? Does it mean BBL and bleaching are strictly for runs girls, aristo babes and hook-up business? Ah, I do not want to even think that the answer is yes. It will be a sad day indeed if it turns out that women are going under the knife, risking their lives just to be playthings, side-chicks? Aluu, God forbid. Let me console myself with the few men who have appreciated the BBL investments of our girls and have proposed. I can’t imagine a city filled with busty bumper chicks who are all single because the young men can’t take them home to mama and the married rich guys think they are good only as snacks.

It is quite clear that indeed power has changed from the hand of the lanky, foxy and taciturn one to the hand of a very artful dodger who actually prepared for a strategic state capture.

Yes, it is no longer in doubt that our country’s architecture of governance has been disrupted for another long walk to freedom. I can see that a great deal of feckless arm-twisting is going on in our national capital. Besides, it is getting ‘curiouser and curiouser’ that the governors we want to be the brand ambassadors of federalism, the paradise we often claim we lost and would like to regain for sustainable development are becoming more and more tyrannical. In some southern states, where the poor are agitated, even some deputy governors also cry. One of them has been locked out of the government house the organic law of the land allocates to him. He is now begging his principal to allow him to work in his office. And sadly, no one cares a hoot about the plight of that deputy governor who now walks alone. So it is with another victim of political recklessness in another state where the deputy governor has been put on a slab for impeachment by his ailing principal who has curiously relocated the capital of his state to his personal residence in a neighbouring state capital. And no one is asking for the action photographs of governance (as a process) of the recuperating governor who should be asking for the mercy of the God that can heal him. Not even a correspondent in the southwest state has contextually reported what that governor who fought his first-term deputy till their last day in office has been hiding in the old capital of the Western Nigeria. A lot of news treasures, sorry features are hidden in the pacesetter state capital. No word yet from the civil society organisations including the classic ones that fought for the birth of this democracy that is being demonised by democrats. A great deal has happened to democracy via a strange electoral justice system that has redefined sovereignty in Africa’s most populous nation. In Nigeria, our Nigeria, a new elective principle is fast emerging and it is growing luxuriantly like yam tendrils in the rainy season. Now our political leaders need the courts more than the electorate to be in power. In our dear country, you can’t get to any elective offices except you have the war chest to fight through the labyrinth of the electoral justice system. Here is the new thing, unless most of the big twelve (Justices) cast their ballot for you in their electoral judicial college, the votes of the millions of voters for you will amount to what Shakespeare describes as “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing”. I hope Benjamin Franklin wasn’t talking about some of our today’s men whom he described as “greater talkers, little doers”.

Our country is transiting really from darkness to uncertainty as our currency, the symbol of our economic freedom is gravitating towards a precipice that is getting more of our children out of school, signalling another voyage from darkness to darkness. And sadly our state actors who should stay at home to examine the state of their wastefulness and bloated bureaucracy are gallivanting around Asia and Europe to lobby to be part of building bricks of BRICs and G-20 that South Africa joined more than a decade ago. I hope they are re-reading a significant bureaucrat’s recent piece, a warning signal, which sets the tone for more questions, which are pointing to a construct that one hopes it is not “too early to say we are losing it” already after a recent euphoria of the first few weeks after taking oath of office. What can be more concerning than consistent gaffes from the office of the chief executive of the federation from United Arabs Emirate through the state house to the economic capital of America, their America where a mere bell ringing at a stock exchange was inaccurately contextualised by a carelessly exuberant spokesperson. Even as we see hope that the presidential gaffes will be taken care of as soon as possible, what the office of the citizen should be concerned with is this: how to stop our leaders from serving the ‘God of Small Things’. The ancient words have taught us to note that ‘there is a time for everything…’And so, we, the enthusiastic believers in a new Nigeria should begin to inspire our leaders with critical words of hope and encouragement that they should stop serving the ‘God of Small Things’ and begin to learn how to serve the ‘God of Big Things’ immediately. There is nothing esoteric about serving the ‘God of Small and Big Things’. It is a simple. I mean here that we have dwelt for so long on this side of the mountain where we serve the God of Small Things that have diminished our stature as the organic giant of Africa and leader of the back race. We have been reported for so long as work in progress. But now we as pilgrims aren’t making steady progress as John Bunyan would have reported.

Let’s explore this construct through The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Published in 1997, ‘The God of Small Things’ is Roy’s debut novel and was awarded the 1997 Booker Prize. The novel has been banned, being considered “obscene” due to the sexual relationship between people of different castes. There are a few things to consider when discussing the novel’s title. On one hand, we can concentrate on the main portion of the title and think about the specific individual it may be referring to – the God of Small Things. All things considered, from Ammu’s fantasy, we get the possibility that the ‘God of Small Things’ speaks to Velutha, the man whom she cherishes, regardless of the way that society will never accept them being together. In her fantasy (which happens in Chapter 11 and happens to be entitled “The God of Small Things”), Ammu dreams of a man with one arm who holds her near him: He could only do one thing at a time. “If he held her, he couldn’t kiss her. If he kissed her, he couldn’t see her. If he saw her, he couldn’t feel her.” (205).

When Ammu wakes from her dream, Rahel and Estha are there with her. Ammu notices a curl of shaved wood in Rahel’s hair and knows that the kids have been to see Velutha. She knows even more, “She knew who he was – the God of Loss, the ‘God of Small Things’. Of course she did.” (206) Velutha’s identity as the God of Small Things is fortified toward the end of the book when we find out about Ammu and Velutha’s first romantic encounters. Since they know it’s impossible for their love to exist, they never talk or consider the future, or what one may consider to be the “big things”; they just adhere to the present. Just as we hardly dream of big things here.

Here is the take-away from this story: Most of us including our leaders don’t have any problem imagining a big God who does big things. In fact, we prefer it that way. Our problem seems to be believing in a big God who does big things for us. In Nigeria, our leaders seem to believe only in the Gods of small things. We are a big country always planning small things, dreaming small dreams, thinking only of small things. What is worse, we rake in small revenue and use the proceeds to buy big things for public officers who are less than three percent of the population. Our leaders don’t study Israel, a small start-up country that serves the God of Big Things. Our leaders visit United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, small countries with leaders who believe in the God of Big Things. They dream big and the world cannot ignore them. They have invested their oil and gas resources in big businesses across the world. Qatar, a small country of about 2.6 million people just played host to a $220 billion worth of Soccer World Cup without borrowing a dime. They have mostly gas resources. They also have their Almighty Aljazeera, a world-class cable news channel. They serve the God of big things.

Sadly, when you try to pass through our local and so-called international airports Nigeria, we see clear manifestation of serving the God of small things. First, you see shameful, tiny restrooms accommodating sometimes only two passengers. Most times, wash-hand basins are leaking and ropes are used to tie some components. When you want to clean your hands, you see cleaners handing miserable toilet rolls to passengers, as no tissue papers will be found where they are to be fixed for use. In the entire North of 19 states, there is just one railway line from Abuja to Kaduna. When you disembark in Kaduna, how do you go from there to capitals of the rest 18 states? There is another magic railway line from Lagos to Ibadan. When you alight from Ibadan, how do you connect other state capitals in South West? There is none connecting anyone from South East to South South. We are an oil producing country but because we serve the God of small things, we import refined products because all our four refineries have for years been unserviceable. Even the economic capital of West Africa, Lagos can’t boast of a mass transit system beyond meretricious BRT system and a Blue-line light rail system being tested in one unnoticeable axis. Only people who serve the God of small things talk about these small things as achievements in this time and age. Let’s continue this story of the God of small and big things next week.

It’s a terrible Nigerian fate that every so-called democratic election is delivered like a ticking time-bomb primed to explode with fatal menace. The unfathomable aspect of the matter is that some Nigerians dance to the ticking of the time-bomb thinking it is sweet music.

It’s noteworthy that the candidate who was eventually declared the winner of the Nigerian presidential election made this statement: “Grab it! Snatch it! And run with it!”
The ready advice for anybody who feels that his mandate has been stolen runs thusly: “Go to court!”

There is the farcical dimension that the justices that justified the contrived election wrote their judgement on a paper with the chosen candidate’s header. The defence of the ruling party is that the judgement was only watermarked by the party’s apparatchiks rather than being written on its header, whatever that means.

There’s this book by Peter Enahoro, aka Peter Pan, entitled You Gotta Laugh to Cry. Why is it that all the highly ballyhooed democratic elections in Nigeria almost always end up making all Nigerians laugh to cry?

Let’s start from Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999 during which an army ruler handed over to a former army ruler who had pulled off his army uniform. Before the 1999 presidential election, the American journalist, Karl Maier, who was on a tour of Nigeria to write his book This House Has Fallen: Nigeria in Crisis told me that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo had been chosen by the powers-that-be to return as the elected leader of Nigeria. Imagine an American journalist knowing the result of a Nigerian presidential election even when it had not been conducted!
The pre-eminent politicians of the era in the G-34 Group that formed the PDP had put it as a rule that anybody who aspired to contest for the presidency must first win his local government election.

Obasanjo could not win his ward but the rule had to perforce be put away for the erstwhile imprisoned man from Otta to become PDP presidential candidate over the futile efforts of Chief Alex Ekwueme in the primaries.

The Obasanjo machine was so heavily funded that it made the challenge of Chief Olu Falae in the presidential election proper to look like a side-show. Even so, not a few observers stressed that the underdog actually won the election, and the legal challenge had to get up to the Supreme Court.

Many years later, to borrow the opening words of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua told the world that the election that brought him to Nigerian presidential power was flawed.

In my book, the only good thing about Nigerian elections was President Goodluck Jonathan’s personal sacrifice to cede power in 2015.

Any talk of the elections being free, fair and credible belongs to fiction of the magical realism type of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

The buying and selling of Nigerian elections have abiding partners in the mischievously named Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a pathetic judiciary, crooked politicians, and their foreign and local allies.

Like American TV wrestling, Nigerian elections are always fixed. The then American Secretary of State John Kerry had to come to Nigeria to supervise the “Anything but Jonathan” 2015 election that brought in the disaster named Buhari.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu told the world that Obasanjo had been hired as the “Navigator” for the ousting of the hapless Jonathan. In the turn-by-turn setup, Tinubu cried to the hearing of all and sundry; “Emilokan! Yoruba Lokan!”

Nasir el-Rufai revealed that he joined the bandwagon because it fitted the Muslim-Muslim ticket contrivance.

When an election result is announced in the ungodly wee hour of 4am, trust controversy to do a jig or two. The ready resort of the beneficiaries of the deadly hour heist was the repetitive and repeated declaration: “Go to court!”

The former Supreme Court Justice Mary Odili was very handy and forthcoming with her partisan praise-songs for the attorneys of the powers-that-be. It turned out to be a judgement not unlike a Xerox copy of the chosen ruling party’s handout complete with header!

Shamelessness is the vilest disease! The time-bomb is ticking, and the excited winners are dancing to its music with agility belying their ages. Democracy has been translated to mean

“coup at the polls” and justice has become the last resort of miscreants.

To fulfil all righteousness, the candidates who are appealing against the election results have been advised to take their cases to the finality of the Supreme Court. It is not in my constitution to beat about the bush now that the Nigerian Constitution has been transferred to a new shelf: Fiction!

All the money wasted on BVAS, iREV, PVC, the Electoral Act, and all that jazz are neither here nor there in a land where so-called justices of the law are jaundiced lackeys of power.

The INEC is in cahoots with the compromised lieutenants of snatched power, dodgy politicians, shady judiciary, and the scandalous “orders from above” thus reducing democracy at all levels in Nigeria to a purchasable farce.

Meantime, the time-bomb ticks on as the music of the death of democracy to welcome dancers on the Nigerian leadership floor not unlike Paul Biya of Cameroun.

Welcome to the Age of Shamelessness in Nigeria.

In many ways, High Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo is a great man. In many ways, too, his plebeian irascibility makes him look like a medieval proletarian who gatecrashed into modern high society and feels obliged to play Orunmila.

In case you didn’t know, Orunmila is the Yoruba god of wisdom and knowledge. He is said to have been there at the time of creation, thus possessing a deep understanding of humanity and divinity. Because of his unique advantage and knowledge, Orunmila is said to know the ways of the world and the fate of humankind.

Olusegun Obasanjo is proof that God’s ways are wondrous and that He could bestow his blessings on whomsoever He wills, regardless of merit. If you didn’t believe that the pendulum of Fate can swing in whatever direction Providence wills, consider the fact that it was Col. Benjamin Adekunle, the famed ‘Black Scorpion’ of the 3rd Marine Commando who fought inch by inch during the Nigerian Civil War to secure victory for the federal forces, but it was Col. Olusegun Obasanjo who was posted to succeed Adekunle towards the end of the war and therefore had the honour of accepting the instrument of surrender from the Biafran forces in January 1970 on behalf of the federal government.

Meteoric Rise

About five years later, when the young Turks in the army had had enough of the gentlemanly General Yakubu Gowon, they overthrew him and replaced him with Gen Murtala Mohammed who dragged Obasanjo along as second-in-command. Murtala himself fell to assassins’ bullets in 1976 and the potato of power fell into Obasanjo’s laps at the age of 39. He handed over power to a democratically elected civilian administration in 1979 and retreated to his farm, a much respected statesman and retired general at 42.

From retirement, Obasanjo began a career of public criticism of the government. The Shagari-led civilian government felt beholden to him and therefore tolerated —even celebrated— him. The gun-slide of Major General Buhari which brought the second republic to a miserable end did not last long enough for Obasanjo to make his polemical mark but he soon found his voice after General Babangida kicked the Buhari regime out. His career as a letter writer of note blossomed in the Babangida years.

Babangida handled Obasanjo with a mixture of disdain and rehearsed affectation, benefitting from his international contacts but keeping him at arms length to ensure that he wasn’t close enough to do much damage. When Babangida annulled the 1993 presidential election won by Moshood Abiola, everyone knew that he had dribbled himself beyond the limits of the agreed turf. Obasanjo was missing at the barricades, making people conclude that he would rather the presidency went to someone else. Poor Chief Ernest Shonekan was only brought in to allow tempers cool before the real McCoy of military brutality, Sani Abacha, took the helm.

Close Shave

Taciturn Abacha may not have been cerebrally gifted like Babangida, but he displayed the capacity to rewrite the book of terror all alone. Obasanjo underrated him and continued trying to be a hero. Abacha obliged him and, after a sham trial for coup plotting, put Obasanjo on death row. Again, Providence intervened. Abacha suddenly died. Obasanjo and other death row inmates were freed by the new junta. Then, the military decided that he was the only person they could trust with power. They cracked all the palm kernels on his way and handed power to him in 1999.

Compared to his successors so far, Obasanjo appears to be the best democratically elected president Nigeria has had since 1999, save for Yar’Adua’s brief but promising intervention which was too short for any meaningful comparison with Obasanjo’s eight years. His letter writing career has so blossomed, especially in the Jonathan and Buhari years, that a book has been made of it and his stature as a statesman and meddler-in-chief is all but assured.

In a sense, anyone who has been so favoured by God and his country as Obasanjo has been over the last 50 years may be forgiven if he thinks he is some kind of godlet. Bullying comes  naturally to the retired general. The more helpless his opponent, the more virulent his attacks. Gifted with an uncanny ability to steal the thunder of causes originally championed by other people, OBJ, as he was nicknamed in his days in power, is a human paradox— a blessing and a curse.

In the column I ran in Daily Trust in 2012, I said the following about the former president: “Don’t take anything away from the wily general. Obasanjo is as smart as they come. He tries to gauge public opinion and then goes public with his reaction as if he is on the same side with the people. Yet, all his narratives are focused on self.…”

E Dide! E Joko!

Now, to Obasanjo’s latest rude intervention in the public sphere. So much has already been said about Obasanjo’s demeaning of traditional rulers present at the commissioning of the newly reconstructed Oyo—Iseyin highway in Oyo State. As Guest of Honour, Obasanjo did not confine himself to his role but chose to play the part of a sergeant-major. He complained that the traditional rulers present did not rise as protocol demanded when the governor was going to the podium to address the gathering. He first established that he was a senior to the traditional rulers on two accounts: age and position.

He then thundered: “All rise!”

All the traditional rulers rose to their feet.

Then he barked, “Sit down!”

They all obeyed.

Obasanjo took the shine away from the true significance of the otherwise glorious event and the PR mileage that the Seyi Makinde government deservedly expected from its developmental intervention in that rich agricultural belt of his state. If anything was amiss, a wise statesman could have spoken to the kings in private, But that is not the way of bullies. And talking of protocol which Obasanjo made so much noise about, is it conceivable that Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister (whose country trained Obasanjo  at the Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot), would command King Charles to stand up as a mark of respect for him?

In spite of his life achievements — real or imagined, Obasanjo is too insignificant to review the relevance of the traditional institution in Yorubaland. The people revere their kings as custodians of their heritage and they jealously guard how they are treated in society. The kings are the link between the material and the spiritual. They are seen as representatives of the gods on earth and are exalted into the position of deputy deity because of their monarchical duties. Regimes come and regimes go. The kings outlive them all.

By contrast, people like Obasanjo are tenants of power. Once their tenancy expires, they become cantankerous and insist that society accords them perpetual relevance and reverence. No matter whatever else he achieves on this side of the grave, Obasanjo will always be a plebeian. True to type, he insists that he will never apologise for his behaviour. That is the true mark of a lowly plebeian. But a butterfly can never be a bird.

So much for an old man’s bout of Logorrhoea!