The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has requested well-wishers to refrain from placing congratulatory billboards in his honour.

The Director of Press, Office of the Minister, Anthony Ogunleye, stated this in a statement in Abuja on Sunday.

“The attention of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has been drawn to lamp post billboards, full scale billboards and other adverts congratulating him on his appointment as minister.

“While the minister deeply appreciates the warm wishes and support of the citizens, he kindly, but strongly requests that such billboards and advertisements be discontinued forthwith.

“The minister acknowledges the overwhelming goodwill from the residents of the FCT and beyond and understands the sentiment behind these congratulatory displays and is genuinely touched by the show of support.

“However, in the spirit of public service and commitment to his responsibilities, the minister wishes to focus his full attention on assisting President Bola Tinubu in realising his vision and renewed hope agenda for Nigeria,” he said.

Mr Ogunleye said that Wike’s foremost duty lies in contributing to the development and growth of the FCT and the well-being of residents and the nation as a whole.

He added that the minister held in high regard, the aspirations and expectations of the FCT residents, and he remained dedicated to fulfilling his role with utmost sincerity and dedication.

According to him, this can be achieved by concentrating all efforts on the task at hand and joining hands with public servants to serve the country to the best of their abilities.

“Wike sincerely hopes that the public will understand his perspective and continue to extend their support and cooperation.

“He looks forward to working hand in hand with all stakeholders to build a stronger, more prosperous, and united FCT and Nigeria,” the director said.

[NAN]

…….Accuses AU, ECOWAS Of Silence

Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, on Sunday, condemned the rigging of Presidential election in Zimbabwe by the ruling ZANU-PF Party.

Frank in a statement in Abuja, also accused the Heads of State and Governments of the African Union and indeed the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) of eerie silence in the face of electoral injustice being meted on the opposition presidential candidate in Zimbabwe widely believed to have won the election.

According to Frank, such electoral coups in the form of rigging often snowball into military coups and violent change of governments because of discontent and deep seated anguish of the people who have been denied the right to freely choose who to lead them by fraud and force.

He insisted that Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared winner in questionable circumstances following widespread irregularities orchestrated by the ruling party in instilling fear and suppression of votes in opposition strongholds.

He noted that candidate of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), Nelson Chamisa, was robbed of votes as attested by international observers and South African Regional body that monitored the election.

According to him, foreign poll monitors insisted that the elections had failed to meet regional and international standards just like the outcome of the February 25, 2023 presidential election in Nigeria that failed on all parameters due to overbearing influence of the ruling party and its use of financial inducements, intimidation and harassment of opposition and voters to deny Nigerians of their rightful choice.

The head of the European Union’s observer mission said the vote took place in a “climate of fear”, while Southern African regional bloc SADC’s mission raised issues including voting delays, issues with the voter roll, bans on opposition rallies and biased state media coverage.

“For example, voting was forced into an unprecedented second day because of delays in the printing of ballot papers in some key districts including the capital Harare, an opposition stronghold principally to deny Chamisa of votes,” he said.

He condemned a situation where African ruling parties are increasingly violating the electoral rights of the opposition parties and their candidates through rigging saying the trend will continue if measures are not taken to make African Heads of States to respect the sanctity of the ballot box.

He urged regional political blocs like the AU and ECOWAS to urgently call the President of Zimbabwe to order as a step towards curbing coup d’état now rearing its ugly head in many Africa countries like the recent one in Niger Republic.

“This is what African leaders are doing that is leading to military coups in the continent of Africa. An electoral coup has just taken place where the sitting President has outrightly rigged the election against the expressed will of the people.

“But neither African presidents nor AU has condemned what has happened in Zimbabwe. But if there is a military coup in Zimbabwe tomorrow, they will all begin to issue war threats in a bid to restore democratic rule,” he said.

He called on the United States of America, United Kingdom and other international bodies, to
lend their voice to condemn the electoral heist in Zimbabwe if they are genuinely interested in ending coups in Africa.

“So we are telling the international community that until they come together to make sure that African elections are transparent, free and fair, coups will not end in Africa,” he declared.

He called for urgent international sanctions against the President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa and any President that rigs election in Africa to fraudulently perpetuate themselves in office against the wish of the people.

“The United Nations must ensure that henceforth Presidents or heads of governments that were rigged into office are not invited to attend its General Assembly or any of its international gatherings,” he said.

[DailyIndependent]

The South-west Directors of Veterinary Services in Nigeria have officially verified the emergence of two Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs) within the region.

These diseases are African Swine Fever affecting pigs and Anthrax affecting herbivores.

In a statement seen by Nairametrics, Dr. Taiwo Jolaoso, the conference’s Chairman, emphasized that TADs constitute highly contagious livestock epidemics capable of swift global dissemination, carrying adverse socio-economic and public health ramifications.

The federal government, therefore in a joint press release signed by Dr. Columba Vakuru, Chief Veterinary Officer of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, Director General of NCDC, highlighted that a risk assessment indicated a high likelihood of an anthrax outbreak in the country which means addressing these diseases necessitates collaborative efforts among various countries.

Measures taken

Additionally, the statement indicated that necessary actions have been taken to decontaminate and disinfect all affected farms and slaughter slabs.

Concurrently, plans are underway to establish protocols for issuing movement permits in the region.

The statement underscored the intention to heighten public awareness, particularly among high-risk groups like butchers, hunters, animal product processors, marketers, and livestock farmers.

This effort aims to contain the further spread of these diseases. Pig farmers were advised by the conference to enhance their biosecurity practices and avoid overstocking their farms.

Regarding Anthrax, the conference emphasized the necessity for all stakeholders to avoid contact with sick or deceased animals, particularly if they display signs of bleeding from their openings.

The statement underscored the crucial importance of promptly reporting such cases to the nearest veterinary office.

Furthermore, the government acknowledged the disease’s significant potential impact on human health.

To address this situation, the government has elevated its response to level two within the incident management system and appointed an incident manager for effective coordination.

[Nairametrics]

On October 21, 1968, a letter was written by a group which went by the name, Egbe Mekunnu Taku, literally, Association of the Adamant Poor, to the then Military Governor of the Western State, Major General Adeyinka Adebayo. The letter explains, and succinctly too, the anger of poor and impoverished people all over the world against governments’ punishing policies. Angered by Adebayo’s jerking up of tax, from a flat rate of three, to six pounds, the association, which comprised mostly farmers, the bulk of whom were taxable workers of the time, literally dared the leopard in its den by lighting fire-lamp to catch a glimpse of its scary face. As a result of the increment, cost of living suddenly skyrocketed, even amid the civil war that the Yakubu Gowon government was fighting against the then Eastern State. Tax at this time was like the ubiquitous petrol of today which cuts across all and sundry. The Egbe Mekunnu Taku letter goes thus: “It is quite evident that there is absolutely no sale of cocoa which serve (sic) as the main source from where we the farmers get our yearly income and that we are living at the mercy of the Almighty God. We beg to say that we are at present experiencing a good hardship in regard to our individual mode of living at the farm; our old ones as well as the young ones are crying of hunger (sic) day in and day out whilst many of us go about without food at times for days… this current tax assessment is considered to be too much for the individual to meet…”

At first, Adebayo met with leaders of the unions of farmers under the aegis of Egbe Agbekoya, (Farmers Against Oppression) Olorunkoya (God is Against Oppression) and Mekunnu Parapo (Association of the poor) in Ibadan, Ogbomoso and Abeokuta. The leaders were Mustapha Okikirungbo, Tafa Popoola, Adeniyi Eda, Adeagbo Kobiowu, Rafiu Isola and Mudasiru Adeniran. On November 15, 1968, the governor again met with them at Idi-Ayunre and Olode villages, via Ibadan, flying to the former meeting venue in a helicopter, due to the bad road. He was however shouted down by anti-tax sloganeering. Adebayo nevertheless continued with this tax regime, despite the massive resentment. Believing in the power of the gun and armaments to suppress the farmers rather than a continuation of dialogue, in radio and newspaper announcements, government threatened that, “as from tomorrow, those who have not paid their tax will be blacklisted as human parasites and saboteurs and treated as such” (Daily Sketch, June 30, 1969). Thus, between 1968 and 1969, farmers, led by ringleaders like Adegoke Akekuejo, Tafa Adeoye, Folarin Idowu, Mudasiru Adeniran and Tafa Popoola, shouting, Oke mefa l’ao san! Oke mefa l’ao san! – We will only pay 30 shillings! – marched from village to village in their anti-tax mobilization against the military government, towards Mapo hall. They ransacked offices, with a complete state of anomie foisted on the region. Government’s deployment of violence to quell the peasants’ uprising only worsened the violence, leading to several deaths of policemen and farmers. The rioters set free 464 prisoners at Agodi Prisons on September 16. 1969. This was the anomic state until Chief Obafemi Awolowo met with Tafa Adeoye and other groups at the Akanran village on October 15, 1969 which created an armistice.

But for the dystopia that arose as a result of the Adeyinka Adebayo-led government’s increased tax and the graveyard calm of today, there is hardly any difference between the hardship faced by western state farmers of the late 1960s and the excruciating pains that have been the lots of Nigerians in the last three months under Bola Tinubu. Since May 29, grueling poverty, social discord and spike in rates of crime have been on the increase after the off-the-cuff removal of subsidy by the government. Government’s subsequent responses to the groaning have been more of a staccato than a respite. Nigerians cannot see any coordinated or mapped out outflow from the fuel subsidy removal and unification of Forex. Many marvel that a government whose head had serially mouthed his long-term hunger to be in the driver’s seat of the presidential office could demonstrate such gross unpreparedness and perfunctoriness towards the challenges arising from administering office.

So, last week, the governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, articulated same grouse and sang same song ceaselessly sung on the streets of Nigeria since May 29. While addressing journalists in Benin City, Obaseki lacerated the buttocks of the Tinubu government, expressing shock at its inability to effectively plan a workable response to the fuel subsidy removal. The subsidy removal, the governor said, has seriously impoverished Nigerians, as well as inflicting hardship and suffering on them. Worse still, he said, the palliative policy of the government, due to its peremptory attitude to the plights of the people, has morphed into an unmitigated fraud, with the economy under Tinubu taking a turn for the worse. In all, these can be attributed to Tinubu’s effeminate grasp of the economy.

“I am shocked that people who campaigned around the country, saying that they will remove subsidies, had no clear plans on what to do after subsidy removal. They don’t know what to do and how to support those who will be victims of subsidy removal. I am shocked and scared of what we are passing through today, where the government doesn’t seem to have a plan or solution on how to respond to the consequences of the policy measure put in place by their administration. With the way they have mismanaged our national economy, we have to deal with inflation, between 20 and 25 per cent. It means that the people will feel more pain, especially the weak and vulnerable in the society, particularly our pensioners, as whatever they get as their entitlement will do only little for them,” he said.

Almost immediately after Obaseki said this, Nigerians wondered what the Tinubu government’s response would be. Permit me as I digress. When Dele Alake, erstwhile image maker of the president, gave that self-justificatory claim that the president appointed him into the Solid Minerals Resources ministry, rather than the Information ministry, because of “the nature of this sector to our economic growth and vitality of this country which is dear to the heart of Mr. President,” I grimaced. Going further, he claimed that it was “just very apt and proper for him to send me here because he knows and trusts that I have a demonstrable sense of responsibility and courage to drive the agenda.” My take was that Tinubu was smart enough to realize early that he could not afford to recreate another Josef Goebbels in the information ministry, shortly after the monumental disaster of Lai Mohammed. A combative Alake was fit and proper for the hocus-pocus of presidential elections but off-putting for a government that postures as friend of the people.

We, for a minute, forgot that this was not a continuation of the Muhammadu Buhari government and Lai Mohammed was not in the saddle, even as he luxuriated in his paradise of lies. Then, we graphically imagined the usual potpourri of governmental playing-God, hogwash and arrogance, the usual broth dished out as Aso Rock’s replies to perceived enemies, would be pelted on Obaseki. It was however gladsome when we realized that a new Sheriff of the Information Ministry had come into the saddle. He even announced that his term of office was not going to be a roller-coaster of lies. At an official reception by the ministry for him, Mohammed Idris Malagi promised that there would be no room for lies and fake news. “For me, I am actually a reporter reporting for duty and I meant it with every sense of the word. The president has asked me to come and tell you that this is a brand new Ministry of Information and National Orientation….We are going to say it as it is. Mr. President is somebody who is truthful, honest, transparent. He has said that when we come, we should own up where there are mistakes, we should own up where we erred, we should not be shy to say, ‘No this is wrong and we are going to correct it.’”

From where did Malagi get those superfluous superlative adjectives of Mr. President being “truthful, honest, transparent” and all those what-ought-nots? Or perhaps, the Honourable Minister merely wanted to flaunt his English and Literary Studies background by showing off his arsenal of ironies, paradoxes and metonyms? If not, it is a general opinion that those superlatives are misplaced for the subject under reference. As far as Nigerians are concerned, the Honournable Minister should reserve his “truthful, honest, transparent” arsenal of ironies, paradoxes and metonyms about the current managers of our destinies for his next work of fiction.

And then, in his first official reaction on behalf of the federal government, Malagi unmistakably reversed the promises he made to Nigerians. You would imagine that the disputatious ghost of Lai Mohammed had risen in Malagi. Reacting to Obaseki’s national alarm on the whimsical navigation of Nigeria’s economy by Tinubu, Malagi began his intervention from a rather simplistic and ad-hominem plank. Obaseki, he said, had of recent, “shifted focus to the nation’s economic challenges as cannon fodder to divert attention from his poor performance at the state level.” That rhyme sounded kindergarten and a refrain of bad managers of office holders. It is a familiar route always trodden by information managers who forum-shop in hazy attempts to deflect justified arrows shot at their bosses.

Even members of the APC, in their closets, are worried about the policy somersaults and reactive colour of this government. Germane issues critical to people’s lives are left unattended to. For instance, Malagi, in hitting Obaseki, demanded that leaders should align criticism with reality. Here we go, Honourable Minister: What is the reality of Nigeria today? In simple terms, the reality is that Tinubu’s economic policies in the last three months, without debate, have pauperized Nigerian people colossally, more than previous governments’. There does not appear to be any mental rigour birthing those policies as they seem to be unintended governmental reactions. What broader economic picture could a fuel subsidy removal, inflicted at the spur of the moment, have on Nigerians when the president himself confessed that it was a product of a haphazard seizure “by the spirit of courage” without any governmental blueprint? While it is true that virtually everyone – World Bank, IMF and various economic experts – “have consistently advocated for the removal of fuel subsidy because of the fiscal distortions and burden it has placed on the economy,” as Malagi said, none of those bodies reckoned that a leader would be as unconscionable as to remove fuel subsidy without a requisite well-thought-out panacea to ease its resultant excruciating pains.

Malagi then tumbled into cants, sophistries and illogical ad-hominem arguments that made his intervention very watery, self-serving and insincere. In one breath, he accused Obaseki of “benefitting from the fuel subsidy removal, which is evident in the more than doubling of the FAAC allocation” and advising that, “rather than delving into narratives which do not provide the complete picture, the focus should be on how the Edo State Government will be using available resources to drive impactful projects that genuinely uplift the people of Edo State.” In those very disjointed ripostes, Malagi literally “aimed at the man,” and in the process, shifting his focus from the critical issues raised by Obaseki. While doing so, he enveloped himself in a blanket that could not allow him see the larger issues of the parlous state of the economy under Tinubu and the cries of the people. Because he could not see nor perceive the people’s cries, in frustration, Malagi then shot at the man who dared to bring out the log in Tinubu’s eye.

There is no doubt that the overwhelming cries of Nigerian people woke the Tinubu government from its somnambulist first three months in power. When it then woke up, government then rambled to offer N8000 to the “poorest of the poor.” Seeing that this would not work, it again cloned the same discredited Godwin Emefiele borrowing method to shore up the economy. Immediately, the Tinubu government then asked for a loan of $3 billion from JP Morgan, via the NNPC. Yet, the economy is gasping and clutching to straws. Tinubu hasn’t shown that he runs a government that is prepared for the acute challenges of office. Obaseki adequately articulated this effeminacy of control, a view of not only the common man on the streets, but one that is not dissimilar from those of respected economic experts. They all worry at the anti-people thrust of the three-month stay in office of Tinubu, especially the ostensible paucity of thought process that goes into his government’s economic policies.

The N185 billion palliatives is undoubtedly the most outstanding of the government’s policy. Its aim is to mitigate the grueling effect of the economy on Nigerians. Each state was allocated the sum of N5 billion. If you ask me, there is virtually no difference between this palliative and the parlous N8000 it earlier proposed. Only that, this time, the federal government has succeeded in offloading blames from the people to the governors. When Tinubu, last week, told the people to hold their governors responsible for whatever was the outcome of the palliative’s distribution, it was obvious to me that the aim of redesigning the curve of the palliative tokenism had been achieved. It was a masterfully crafted scapegoatism.

Questions have been posed severally on the N5billion allocation. One is that, did it occur to government that the poor in, say Kano, are not the same in number with those in Ebonyi? If this is the case, why give them uniform amounts? Second, if the money is a loan to the states as it has been confirmed to be, why is the federal government assuming patrimony over it? Why make it look as if the Federal Government had done the states some good that needed trumpeting to the world? Again, why make this policy look like an Uncle Grisham Comes To Dinner, as if it was the newest intervention ever? The Buhari government did something similar, in what was referred to as the Paris Club payment to states.

Malagi must know by now that Nigerians believe that Godwin Obaseki has earned his epaulettes for his Nostradamus peer into the future. On April 7, 2021, while hosting the transition committee members at Government House in Benin City, just as he did last week, Obaseki raised a similar alarm. Nigeria was in huge financial trouble, the governor shouted. Reason? Buhari had ordered a subterranean printing of Nigerian money to fund shortfalls in allocations shared to states. “In another year or so, where will we find this money that we go to Abuja to share every month? Last month, we got FAAC for March; the Federal Government printed an additional N50 to N60 billion to top-up for us to share…My worry is that we will wake up one day like Argentina, the naira will be N1,000, N2,000 and will be moving because we don’t have money coming in. You are just borrowing, borrowing and borrowing without any means or idea of how to pay back,” he said.

Hell was immediately let loose. Megaphones like Malagi were amplified to the limit of their decibels. Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, led the army. “The issue that was raised by the Edo State governor, for me, is very, very sad because it is not a fact. What we distribute at FAAC is revenue that is generated…it is not true to say we printed money to distribute at FAAC, it is not true,” she said. Lai Mohammed joined the inglorious orchestra. Ingenuously called Ways and Means, it was later revealed that the government had printed money to the tune of N22.7 trillion.

Rather than waste precious time and space to demonize Obaseki, Malagi should know that Nigerians adjust themselves to listen when Obaseki raises alarm on the economy. He earned his keep by the certitude of his projections. It is old grandmother tale to use political party affiliation as cudgel of censure. Nigerians are interested in logic and facts of issues.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, says the country is still losing 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily to local and international thieves despite efforts to end the menace.

Ribadu confirmed this when he led a presidential delegation to inspect oil and gas facilities at Owaza in Abia and Odogwa in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers on Saturday.

He said the activities of oil thieves and pipeline vandals had impacted negatively on the nation’s economy and were partly responsible for the rising cost of living in the country.

“It’s unfortunate that few individuals would steal our common resources, and in the process cause unbelievable loss to both the nation, communities and the people.

“Nigeria has the capacity to produce 2 million barrels of crude daily, but we are currently producing less than 1.6 million barrels due to theft and vandalism of pipelines.

“So, we are talking about 400,000 barrels of crude oil going to waste with few criminals and economic saboteurs not even getting much out of it,” he said.

Ribadu said the operators of artisanal refineries collect a small quantity of crude oil when they broke the pipelines while larger volumes of oil were spilled on the environment.

“The value of 400,000 barrels of oil today is about 4 million dollars, and every day, we lose this amount because of this irresponsible behaviour.

“If you multiply 4 million dollars by 365 days (one year), you will see that it is a lot of money running into billions of dollars.

“Currently, the country is in desperate need of money as the Naira is continuously losing its value because we earn less money.

“If we earn more money, it will not only help strengthen our currency but reflect in everything, including cost of living in the country,” he added.

The NSA said that the President Bola Tinubu administration was concerned about the development and was already taking actionable steps to address the matter.

He said huge investments made by the government in building infrastructures for the common good of all were being destroyed by few individuals, and in the process, destroying the environment.

Ribadu called for a united front to tackle oil theft and end decades of attacks on the nation’s oil and gas infrastructures.

“We are working hard with the security forces and those employed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to secure our facilities and end this madness called oil theft,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on the presidential delegation with the NSA were the Minister of Defence, Baduru Abubakar, and Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa.

Others included the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar; Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, and Minister of State (Oil), Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri.

The Minister of State (Gas), Petroleum Resources, Ekperipe Ekpo, and senior management officials of the NNPCL as well as other top security personnel were part of the team.

[Guardian]

Towards the end of 2022, as his country began preparations towards general elections scheduled to take place in the penultimate week of August 2023, Zimbabwe’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, contracted an unusual bout of generosity denominated in United States dollars. First, he disbursed $500,000 to his ministers, comprising 20 cabinet ministers, 13 deputy ministers, and nine provincial ministers supposedly as housing loans. Next, he doled out $350,000 to directors of Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO). The 270 members of parliament – both elected and nominated – each received $40,000.

As Zimbabwe went to the polls on August 23, it was impossible to escape the feeling that the president had bought and paid for another term in office. In locations known to be sympathetic to the opposition, mostly in the urban areas, voting materials failed to materialise, mysteriously showing up instead in very remote rural areas, thought to be sympathetic to the ruling ZANU-PF party of President Mnangagwa. To manage the resulting uproar, the president decreed an extension of voting into the following day, the 24th.  The damage had been done. In all major strongholds of the opposition, it seemed clear that the government and its hand-picked Zimbabwe Electoral Commission had succeeded in suppressing turnout among voters not sympathetic to them.

With the ballot degenerating into a farcical embarrassment, the ruling party chose to kill all forms of independent monitoring of the election. On election day, they arrested 41 independent election observers deployed by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) and the Election Resource Centre (ERC) in an act calculated to intimidate and frighten independent civic monitoring of the election-related abuses. A release issued by the police on election day accused the detained observers of being in possession of such dangerous weapons as “93 smart cellphones, 38 laptops, two smartwatches, two modems, one WiFi router, one external hard-drive, Nokia feature phone (Kambudzi), one printer, 1 x 24 port switch, various computer chargers, power back-up unit and headphones.” The design was not difficult to read.

President Mnangagwa has been in government since Zimbabwe became independent in 1980. In 2017, he emerged as the head of the government after masterminding the ouster in a coup of Robert Mugabe, the ruler who had led the country since independence and whom he had served as vice president. In 2018, Mnangagwa won a disputed mandate in his own right as president. In this ballot in 2023, he sought a renewal of that mandate. But all indications were that he was not interested in giving the people of Zimbabwe a choice over the outcome. It seemed clear even before the first ballots were cast that it “was unlikely the ruling ZANU-PF party would allow any loosening of its 43-year grip on power”. Most informed observers expected that whenever the ZEC chooses to announce the results, it will award enough numbers to President Mnangagwa to declare him “winner” in the first ballot. That is exactly what eventuated as this column went to press 48 hours after the ballot.

Zimbabwe is only the latest in a succession of African countries where elections increasingly have nothing to do with the will of the people. In Sierra Leone, which voted in June, the electoral commission allocated numbers that seemed designed to ensure a pre-determined outcome on the first ballot, promising only to publish disaggregated results “in due course”. That has yet to happen. Nigeria’s election, which occurred in February 2023 was marred by credible claims of high-level partisanship by the election management body which has increasingly become devoid of credibility. They remain mired in legal challenges, which are unlikely to be settled before the end of the year.

President Museveni’s violent re-election in Uganda’s 2021 elections remains pending in litigation before the East African Court of Justice in Arusha. In June, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, also in Arusha, ordered Tanzania to desist from the practice of using government-appointed district officers to rig elections for the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). This is significant because it is the first time a regional court in Africa is wading into the manipulation of elections by ruling parties across the continent.

Even regional election observers are no longer safe from the whiff of being compromised. In Nigeria’s February 2023 elections, the ostentatiously named West African Elders Forum (WAEF) deployed what it called an Election Mediation Team led by John Mahama, Ghana’s former President. But it was not secret at that time that Mahama was in the running to become the candidate for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Ghana’s presidential election due in 2024. His presence at the head of a significant election intervention team in Nigeria was either a calculated piece of mischief or an effort to ingratiate himself with the winners in Nigeria in order to blunt any intention on their part to support the ruling party when the contest takes place there in 2024.

Across the continent, incumbents with spent legitimacy go into elections with terminal hubris. With public resources, they compromise every institution in the election management and dispute resolution chain, frustrating the basic structure and rules of electoral contests. For clarity, elections are ordinarily supposed to be governed by determinate rules designed to ensure that the outcomes are indeterminate until results are announced. Now across the continent, ruling parties make the rules indeterminate and suborn the courts to ensure that this is the case, all to ensure that the outcomes are pre-determined.

When he suffered his outbreak of generosity late last year, President Mnangagwa did not just stop at bribing the cabinet, security services, and MPs. Not to be left out, be doled out U$D400,000 to all judges of superior courts of record, including the judges of the High Court, the Constitutional Court, and of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe. The judges received this largesse as “housing loans” but President Mnangagwa curiously forgot to require them to sign any loan agreements. Coming shortly before the judges were expected to assume jurisdiction to adjudicate over the outcome of the country’s elections, it was not surprising that many people took the view that the payments had “the odour of a bribe.”

It was not difficult to see his strategy. All disputes over the elections will end up before the same judges in cases in which they will have two options. They can either respect the implicit bargain and rule in favour of the ruling party or they should be prepared to have their “housing loan” recalled if they fail to do so. Their fate could even be worse: ZANU-PF could decide to have any judge that rules against them charged with corruption and then impeached and removed as a judge. The Judicial Service Commission, which is responsible for judicial discipline, is chaired by the compromised Luke Malaba, Chief Justice since 2017, who was born on May 15, 1951. Under Zimbabwe’s constitution, he was due to retire on May 15, 2021, when he turned 70. Instead, President Mnangagwa unilaterally and without constitutional authority extended his tenure by five years under contract, an arrangement that makes him worse than a presidential lap dog dressed up in judicial robes.

In many African countries, increasingly, elections have become costly misadventures implemented to arrest choice and put democracy in reverse. Citizens, driven to despondency by the malevolent refusal of incumbent politicians to afford them credible choices at the ballot box or to respect the will of the people disclosed in elections, are now in one country after another tempted to transfer their allegiance to wannabe messiahs in military fatigues.

Across many African countries, what seemed to be a consensus on military coups has broken down. The fact that military adventurers are returning to political rulership with public support in some African countries is the result of the destruction of public faith in elections as a system for installing legitimate leadership. If the civilians don’t step back, the reversals could become a contagion.

How long have you been in this condition? The sick man near the Pool of Bethesda spent 38 years in his own condition and had enough reasons not to expect healing and they were all facts. He was very ill and could not get up. He could not help himself and had no body to help him. He was in the midst of other helpless and hopeless individuals – the sick, the blind, the paralyzed, the lame, etc. My God! Group of invalids! A congregation of desperate, terminally sick people and their depressed and exhausted relations. Just imagine what that kind of gathering would look like - the groaning, the sighing, the cries, the prayers, the hopeless looks, the stench, the anxieties and the struggles to rush into the water first for the healing. The angel of the LORD only visited once in a while and only the first sick that had people to help them into the pool would receive healing. And after that the long wait continues until the angel visits again. And because of these facts and the long years in this condition, the man had totally lost hope of ever getting well again. He was virtually waiting to die. True. And he promptly presented these facts to Jesus. But what happen? Jesus ignored them and healed him. Yes, the medical facts of your condition are there - the proof, the tests, the opinions of the experts. Yes, they are incontrovertible. But the Master is overruling then today!

    God overrules facts and conditions. He overrules worst situations and best opinions. And that is why he is Sovereign. Now listen to him today, “I am God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me to do?” No! He is the creator of the heavens and earth. He is the maker and controller of life and death. Nobody, nothing dies or lives without his knowledge and approval. We are told that not even a bird out of the billions can drop from the skies without his knowledge. He is the beginning and the end. He is the maker of all the things you see and all those that you cannot see. Everything, every power, every condition, every situation, every spirit and flesh bows to him. He is the Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega – nothing exits or happened without him. He is the great healer and with him nothing is impossible. He is the great physician. Even the best of the doctors always agree that they treat, but it is only God that heals. You can ask them. Praise God! So why do you still think that nothing can be done about your condition? Why do you think you will not be healed now as you read this message? Tell me. The same Jesus that healed the 38 year old sickness will meet you today!

   Even if your condition is worse than that man’s, it cannot match with the case of Lazarus that had already been buried for four days and was expected to have started decaying. After death sometimes, miracles can still happen. But once somebody is buried, then it is finished. But Jesus defied this natural and eternal order by calling up Lazarus from the grave! As you read this, every power of grave around you will be broken in the mighty name of Jesus! I like the encounter Lazarus’ sister Martha and Jesus had at his graveside. Listen, “Roll the stone aside,’ Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, said, ‘Lord, by now the smell will be terrible because he has been dead for four days.’ Jesus responded, ‘Didn’t I tell you that you will see God’s glory if you believe.” John 11.39. Is your situation already buried and smelling? Roll away that unbelieving stone and receive your miracle today. Yes, it was a fact that he has been buried for days, all hope lost, the body expected to be decaying already, etc. But Jesus still ordered the stone to be rolled away because Lazarus must come forth. Every stone holding back your healing and miracle must be rolled away today in the name of Jesus! He made the man, the grave, the life and death, the stones, so he can afford to manipulate and maneuver them at will. God does not care how long, how smelly, stinking or how impossible your situation looks. The most important thing now is that he wants to make you a testimony so that his name will be glorified. In fact, the more stinking the condition is the more glorious the testimony will become. He has waited till now so that your story and testimony will be complete to his glory.

   He was there when Lazarus took ill. He tarried when they were expecting him to come and see him. But he only appeared after the man has been buried and already stinking. Why? He wanted the world to see another dimension of his power and sovereignty. They had seen him raise the dead before but not calling the decaying dead from the grave. I know what is going on your mind now. I am feeling it. You are asking why God allowed you to get into that condition in the first place. Why did he allow you to stay so long and waste all those resources and efforts? Why did he allow all that humiliation and pain? Why did he allow your enemies to mock you for so long? Why did he allow this to happen upon all the good things you have been doing for him and for humanity? Yes, they are legitimate questions. But he says that it is for the glory of God to manifest. He is making you a global testimony. The ending of you situation will make the world to see and know the power of God.  Your testimony will shake the church and the world. Lazarus was Jesus’ friend and the family loved the LORD so much, yet he allowed that condition to get to that hopeless, irreversible point. My God!  I am sure that your condition is ending with a testimony today.  Nations will hear your story. What he did then he is also doing now. Just get up now and roll away that stone. Receive your healing and miracle in the mighty name of Jesus! Till next week.

Indeed, 27th of August, 2003 was like every other day in the ancient city of Ilaro, in the Yewa South Local government area of Ogun State. People went about their daily cores, but for Professor Afolabi Olabimtan, there was a need to attend an important meeting in Imeko, which turned out to be his last major activity and appearance on this side of the world. 

Towards the evening of that day, the news of his demise filtered in with great shock and disbelief. People were seen in groups discussing the unfortunate incident of a ghastly motor accident that took place along Lagos/Abeokuta road. It, however,  became dawn on all of us that the great teacher, political icon, and Nationalist,  Afolabi Atanda, son of Ojelabi, the poet from the popular Ekerin Compound, Ilaro had gone to a place the Yoruba people refers to as Iwaleasa; the great world beyond. Afolabi Olabimtan, the famous University Don and astute political icon, a distinguished leader of Afenifere and a renowned Awoist had painfully embarked on a journey to meet his creator at the age of 71 when his political and community mentoring roles were essentially needed for further development of Yewaland and the Nigeria at large. 

You were interred like a hero in that beautiful casket that was lowered into your grave to commit your body from the mother earth to dust. Your burial ceremony was officiated by a long list of bishops, clerics, and witnessed by who is who in the Nigerian political and academic arena. Your exit was indeed glorious and heroic. It was a day never to be forgotten in the history of our ancient city of Ilaro. No other person had been so celebrated in death in the community to say the obvious. 

You are indeed a man of many parts when you lived here on earth. We knew you to be a prolific writer, a poet, a literary icon, a renowned political juggernaut, a robust community leader with great impacts on his people, and of course, one of the Pioneer Commissioners in our great state,  Ogun and former Senator of the Federal Republic in the 4th Senate.

Indeed, it is a fact that you led with so much integrity, and in all the places you have served, there are still testimonies of exemplary leadership with unprecedented mentoring roles. Our dear Papa, long after you left,  I had the privilege to know your principal roles in our cathedral projects and programmes and I can bear testimony to the fact that the vacuum is still there till tomorrow. That's just one out of many I can mention. 

I remember at the first Oronna Day Celebration in 1992, I was invited by you to participate in a symposium, “The role of Youth in an emerging Society - A case Study of Ilaro." I was then in my final year in the University and the President of Egbado Students Association, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. I rose to eloquently condemn the older generations for their inactivity, cold passivity, and divisive roles towards building a strong and dynamic Ilaro Community and Yewaland. My speech was well applauded by the audience at our historic Oronna Hall.

After the lecture, you took your turn to present the closing remarks as the the Chairman, Oronna Day planning Committee. You applauded me for a beautiful presentation. You agreed with my position that though the older generation had their shortcomings; you maintained that they have not totally failed in their responsibilities to provide right leadership. You then asked what agenda does the younger generation have to salvage the situation if we are not satisfied with the contributions of the older generation. 

In fact, you challenged us on that very day to rise up and take responsibility for leadership. You told those attentive audience that you would be willing to have me back on the podium at the 20th celebration of Oronna Day to give accounts of stewardship of how the new generation would have fared in changing the narratives. That 20th anniversary of the Ilaro Oronna festival took place in 2015, twelve years after you left the stage, hence, there was no opportunity for me to present another paper on the agenda set by you . 

Today, I have come to tell the world after you have left that we have significantly built on the modest achievements you left behind. You were truly a trail blazer, role model, well cultured, well focused and visionary, you set the agenda for the yearly celebration of the town festival, which has today become one of the major national cultural festivals in Nigeria. 

Soon, after you left, a very young and dynamic Monarch from our generation came to the throne of Olu to direct the affairs of the town and set agenda for the entire Yewa Community, His Royal Majesty, Oba Dr. Gbadewole Kehinde Olugbenle, the Asade Agunloye 4th, represents the hope you shared with us at the 1st celebration of Oronna day in 1992.

His coming on board as the 14th Olu of Ilaro and the Paramount Ruler of Yewaland has broadened the horizon of development in the entire Yewaland. It was you who first told us that we have a role to play in the leadership of our community. You did not only say this, you demonstrated it through your mentoring roles in some of us. Your house at Leslie road was our usual meeting point where you dished out those illuminating ideas culminating in our growth and further development in community services and in our career progression.

Along your lines of developmental agenda, the youth are now more involved in the political agenda of the West. I know you will be glad to know that your son, Olaolu, is among the new generation of leaders in our state. He has stepped into the big oversized shoes you left behind and leaping high with it.

Eng. (Mrs) Noimot Salako-Oyedele, the beautiful daughter of your bosom friend, Prof. Salako is worth calling a distinguished Amazon in the political leadership of our state, the young and vibrant Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, the current Senator of our district is a major blessing in our renewed hope for political relevance in Ogun State, Gboyega Nasir Isiaka, Biodun Akinlade, Tunji Akinosi, Kunle Salako, Jagunmolu Jamiu Akade Omoniyi, Barrister Biyi Otegbeye, Femi Dokunmu, Biodun Oluseye, Funke Akinkurolere, Lateefat Ajayi and retinues of other professionals  are making us proud in their various contributions towards the greatness of our Senatorial district, the Senatorial district you once represented as a Distinguished Senator. It suffices to say, therefore, that "Ina yin ku, ofi eeru boju, ogede yin ku ofi opolopo omorere ropo". 

Our gentle and loving Papa, your contributions through your literary writings and political activities to the building of modern-day Nigeria are remarkable and laudable. They would forever remain indelible in our memories 

As we remember you today, twenty years after you have left this sinful world, we reaffirm that we love you so much as we bid you goodbye to Ilaro, your homeland, and the place of your birth. We bid you goodbye to Yewaland, whose interest you have fought hard to protect. We bid you farewell to Ogun State, your noble State, which you have served for optimum development. We bid you farewell to the Ivory Tower, which you nurtured so well through your brilliant writings and research. We bid you farewell to the political family of the Late Sage Obafemi Awolowo where you were a titan. We bid you farewell to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, where you were an icon of peace, good leadership, and transparent political values.

Continue to Rest in Peace in the bosom of the Lord Jesus who had made you perfect with His Resurrection on the Cross.

 Adieu Professor Emmanuel Afolabi Atanda Olabimtan,  the husband of Olubunmi Ejide.

Oke, wrote in from Ilaro, Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. 

A woman who wants sex, effective sex that delivers on all the errands it was sent, has no business marrying a man with low sex drive. A woman who wants sex 20 times a month should not be in a relationship with a man who thinks women who want sex more than once a week are nymphomaniacs. Yeah, there are men like that. They lift their wives’ wrappers either only to make babies or when the woman has asked and asked and has begun to mumble sentences like:
‘If you are having problems getting it up, you should speak up so I know how to help you instead of punishing me like this,’
When a woman starts cobbling such sentences together, even under her breath, the man knows that he is in trouble and that he needs to seek and get help before his wife moves from mumbling her dissatisfaction to hissing loudly her frustration.
Now, this is not a piece about men with low libido. It is actually about mature, single women finding love or marriage again. The stories I have heard about some second chances are, to put it mildly, embarrassing. Of course, I have heard beautiful second chance stories too. The kind that are so romantically inspiring that you want to make a movie from them. Some second-chance marriages are so cute they bring tears to your eyes, encouraging you to encourage other mature singles to give marriage another thought.
There is a current sad story doing the rounds. It is irking and demeaning. Both the man and the woman are telling colourful stories people of their age shouldn’t be caught telling. They are releasing deep, embarrassing secrets on social media, social media that does not forget! The woman is living her pain in the open. The man is making revelations that no real man should and threatening to provide more materials for the woman to make more episodes from. I’m gritting my teeth and wondering when the shameful and shameless exposition will end. Each time someone, in the last one week, made reference to this couple’s dirty-linen-war, I cringed. I’m disappointed but I’m not judging them. I’m doing this piece because I think there are a few lessons for everyone in the bad movie that came from a marriage that lasted only three months.  I am still wondering how a 90-day marriage could produce so much bad-blood.
I will not mention their names here because I do not want to join the clan of those platforms that have been feeding fat on the unfortunate story. Like I said, this is for the mature, single (MS) women who may be thinking of finding love again or even trying for an ‘evening time marriage.’ There are deep questions every MS must ask herself and go ahead and provide answers to.  Let’s look at some of them.
Why do you want to get married again? Is it marriage you want or a solid relationship with a solid man where mutual respect and companionship are guaranteed? If you have been married before, did you long for days gone or you want another chance to experience a really ‘good’ marriage? Have your children grown and left the nest?
When you have found answers to those questions truthfully, ensure your next steps are guided, cautious. Keep the following in mind before you commit your heart to any deep relationship.
1.       Don’t get in there if you are sexually incompatible. If you are still very sexually active and you are considering a long-term relationship or marriage, do not go for a much older man. If he’s rich but 75, chances that he gets regular ‘morning glory’ are slim. If in the few months you’ve been together, you have had to pull and push his engine before you could get a little roar, don’t expect any miraculous difference after you exchange vows. ‘I do’ doesn’t increase anybody’s libido. A man who cannot get it up more than once a month will be a challenge. If you have to pull his cable as often as you pull an I-pass-my-neighbour generator, ‘pressure go dey’. Whether in marriage of the young or on the second missionary journey, sex plays a key role in keeping a marriage vibrant and healthy. That’s the reality. For couples who steadily ‘used each other’ for 45 years and are now in their 70s, it is different. But a 45-year old widow expecting her 75-year-old boo to constantly and consistently fit his piston in her rings is daydreaming.
2.       Only dumb brides pay their own dowries. Yes, we know that you are more than financially comfortable. You drive great cars and live in a four-star neighbourhood. Your business is doing well but does that mean you should buy a husband and still pay your own bride price? Didn’t your mother tell you that the man you buy, feed and fund won’t be a real husband? The way the world is today, with many women doing what men can do and living larger than the men, even conservative me knows that rich mature single girls will have a hard time finding men they can look up to, if you get my drift. I mean, these highflying girls are already playing in the same leagues with the big boys. The big boys already have official and unofficial wives. The only available men are a few floors downstairs. Many mature single girls who want to marry sometimes even for the first time have had to ‘upgrade’ their men, help them up a little. But I draw the line where a MS woman has to foot the wedding bill, buy everything on the engagement or traditional wedding list, pay for the wedding rings and her groom’s outfits. Sister, we know you want to be known and addressed as Mrs Somebody by Christmas but desperation always gives off a bad odour. Do not pay your own bride price. A man who lets you do all that heavy-lifting is not a he-man even if the sex is out-of-this-world. He knows you need him more than he needs you. His parents, siblings and friends do not think you are picking all the bills because you love him, even if you genuinely do. Spending N100m to stage a wedding ceremony is nothing to be proud of or brag about. All it says is you were desperate and you acted out your desperation. Period.
 
3.       If a man is going to turn out to be a bad husband, women, let’s be frank, we usually get a whiff of his badness during courtship. The choice to ignore the warning signals or foolishly think a man will change after the wedding reception is absolutely the bride’s, one she must live with instead of boring or afflicting us with the consequences when they show up. If he has slapped you a couple of times and then apologized, he will slap you again or do something even worse, like removing your front teeth. If you have overheard him discussing how hot you are in bed with his friends, his circle of friends and respect for you won’t improve just because you footed the wedding bill.
 
4.       The temptation to tilt towards desperation when lonely and alone increases as we get older because God did not create us to be alone. The desire for companionship is a natural one and that need increases as the nest empties, for those who are single parents or as the biological clock winds down after ticking loudly for years. Every man, every woman needs someone to lean on, someone to gist with, someone to watch the sun rise and set with. Every woman needs someone to play Ludo with and that need and search for a playmate leaves a woman very vulnerable, more vulnerable than men. Yes. The society in which we live in does not ease off in its judgment of women whether we are 16 or 60. You don’t agree with me? Well, tell me how the society reacts to a 60-year-ol woman remarrying compared to a 70-year-old man marrying for the third time and I mean as a serial monogamist.
 
Women are expected to exercise control. The men are allowed to pick and drop, test-run as many women as they want. A 60-year-old man dancing in a night club is ‘just hanging out with the boys’ but a 50-year-old lonely woman doing the same is a slut, an irresponsible shame to womanhood. Painfully annoying but that is the way our world works, for now.
Where does that leave the mature, single woman? On her own. That, my sisters, is the verdict. You are on your own, which means you must look out for yourself, protect yourself, put yourself first and bind all demons of desperation. Do not let any man treat you like you need him more than he needs you. Do not let any man use you if you can’t use him. If he won’t add value to your life, let him go somewhere else with his valueless self. If he won’t take away your loneliness, he’s useless. If he’s going to treat you like an ATM, tell him to check the next shop because you ain’t open for that kind of business.  Whatever you do, don’t let any man, any relationship take away your dignity. It’s your life, do only what you’ll look back and be happy about.