Following the new law decentralising electricity, the Federal Government has expressed willingness to partner with states on power generation.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said it would provide the regulatory framework for states to operate in the power sector.

The Fifth Alteration Bill No. 33 (Devolution of Powers) allows states to generate, transmit and distribute electricity in areas covered by the national grid.

Commissioner, Legal, Licensing and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye, said: “NERC’s principle has always been that we will partner with any state or anybody that achieves the common goal of ensuring that the lights stay on.”

He spoke during a two-day stakeholder workshop on the Constitutional Amendment and Electricity Act 2023, which began yesterday in Lagos.

The commission provided highlights of the event via its Twitter handle @NERCNG, monitored by our correspondent.

NERC Vice-Chairman/Commissioner, Market, Competition & Rates, Musiliu Oseni, believes the new Electricity Act has the potential of transforming the entire electricity supply industry.

He added: “When it comes to nurturing the sector, states face important choices that come with implications.

“It is important for them to adopt a collaborative mindset, focus on load growth, prioritise quality improvements, prioritise customer satisfaction, and work towards improving liquidity.

“These considerations are key to supporting the sector’s growth and success.”

NERC also said that available electricity capacity is underutilised.

Oseni said: “Only 53 per cent of available (electricity) capacity is utilised due to challenges with gas supply, transmission and distribution constraints and commercial challenges.”

As of July 11, the total energy generated in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) was 4,078.3MW.

NERC Fourth Quarter 2022 Report said the average available capacity of 4,497.32MW was available generation capacity.

According to the report, 75 per cent of the available capacity is gas-based, while the rest is from hydro as solar and biomass account for a very negligible percentage.

However, as of June 6, the installed generation capacity was 12,522MW.

Reps decry 14-year blackout in Ondo councils

Also yesterday, the House of Representatives mandated its Committee on Power (when constituted) to invite the General Manager/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).

He will explain why the electricity blackout in Irele, Okitipupa, Ese-Odo and Ilaje local government areas (LGAs) has persisted for 14 years.

The House also resolved to invite the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to explain why the councils were disconnected from the national grid.

The House said it would liaise with NERC on the reconnection of the LGAs while resolving any disputes.

The committee is to report back within eight weeks.

These followed the adoption of a motion titled: “Need to Investigate the Electricity Blackout in Irele, Okitipupa, Ese Odo and Ilaje LGAs of Ondo State” sponsored by Odimayo Okunjimi John.

The House noted that the primary responsibility of every government is to create a conducive atmosphere for citizens to carry out their social and economic activities with little or no hindrance.

The House said it was aware that since 2014, most communities in Irele LGA, such as Ode-lrele, OdeAjaja, Akotogbo, lyesa, Ujusun, Ormi, Aturase, and Udogun have been in darkness.

Others in Okitipupa LGA are lgbotako, llutitun, lkoya, Ayeka, lgbodigu, lrinje, lgundan, ldobilayo and Big road area of Okitipupa, as well as Ese-Edo and Ilaje LGA.

The House was concerned that the action by the BEDC has brought untold hardship and misery to the citizens, as all Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in these areas have folded up or collapsed due to a lack of electricity supply.

It said the high cost of providing alternative power supply has crippled the businesses of those who tried to brave the odds by using generators to power their activities.

The House was also concerned that children born 15 years ago to date in these communities do not know what public power supply is all about as they have never witnessed any form of electricity supply.

The House said the only means of power supply they know is either lamps, touches, candles or generators.

It said the situation has led to a massive loss of jobs for the locals, while the situation has adversely affected foreign exchange earnings by companies in the area.

Events in the past weeks betoken a pristine approach to Nigeria’s foreign policy utility. There are indications that the nation’s foreign policy plank will follow a clear and unconfused trajectory. And it is apparent that Nigeria will play a purposive role in the affairs of West Africa and Africa under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

A firm, decisive and progressive leadership at home, commands global attention and respect for the country. Essentially, a clear direction on the domestic front reflects on the utterly transactional and anarchical international front. Global or continental leadership, as it is with every other aspect of leadership, begins and succeeds with personal example. Evidently, Nigeria is beginning to show leadership in its internal affairs. That is the utility of personal example.

In the past, Nigeria was bogged down by domestic problems such that it could not extend itself a bit more robustly. Insecurity across the country meant previous administrations had to look exceptionally inwards. But there was also the problem of lack of interest or capacity, and policy direction. Although Nigeria did try to maintain some presence within Africa, its leadership was not all too palpable.

At times of internal upheavals, most states tend to be more nationalistic and protectionist. Between 1937 (Era of the Great Depression) and 1944, the US, battling its own domestic problems, exercised the Doctrine of Isolationism which advocated non-involvement in external wars and politics. But the US joined the Second World War at the twilight when its territorial interest was threatened. And with it came the Truman Doctrine in 1947 -- by President Harry S. Truman which states that ‘’the United States would provide political, military, and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces’’.

The vacuum in pilotage on the continent is conspicuous. Nigeria is by the conspiracy of history, geography, size, and economy, a default leader of Africa – and as such it should exercise this leadership.

The concept of Africa as the centrepiece of Nigeria’s foreign policy was ideated and articulated in the 1960s during the administration of Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa. The abstraction has been adopted and iterated by successive administrations. The spirit of the idea, which was a dominating motif of the de-colonisation era, is that Africa must come first in Nigeria’s foreign policy formulation. And true to the objective, Nigeria has over the decades played a decisive role in Africa.

President Tinubu has shown a clear understanding of the leadership example and imperativeness of Nigeria in Africa. At every turn in his foreign engagements, he has centred Nigeria and Africa as the denominators of his blueprint.

At a meeting with President Patrice Talon of Benin Republic at the New Global Financing Pact Summit in France recently, President Tinubu reaffirmed Africa as the centrepiece of Nigeria’s foreign policy. He said: “We are ready to improve relations. Africa has been the centrepiece of Nigeria’s foreign policy. I believe in Africa. We have the necessity to grow the continent. The world’s economy is wobbling, and Africa has been left behind. On risk factors, Africa is always placed high, with higher interest rates on borrowing. We are always classified as high risk. We must work together for systematic recovery and growth.”

At the ECOWAS summit in Guinea-Bissau where he was elected as the chairman of the sub-regional group, President Tinubu made an impassioned and audacious declaration on the fundamentals of defending, protecting, and nurturing democracy in the zone. The President said: “We must stand firm on democracy. There is no governance, freedom, and rule of law without democracy. We will not accept coup after coup in West Africa again. Democracy is very difficult to manage but it is the best form of government. There is no one here among us who did not campaign to be a leader. We didn’t give our soldiers resources; we didn’t invest in them, in their boots, in their training to violate the freedom of the people. To turn their guns against civil authorities is a violation of the principles upon which they were hired, which is to defend the sovereignty of their nations. We must not sit in ECOWAS as toothless bulldogs.”

This patently demonstrates a keen sense of duty, obligation, responsibility – which I encapsulate as Tinubu’s Doctrine of Responsibility, of duty. It is a bounden duty and an unrelenting obligation for Africans and Africa to work together for ‘’systematic recovery and growth’’, and to protect and defend democracy.

Africa and Africans are afflicted by the same problems and are connected by the umbilicus of poverty, political, instability, unstable economy, and the like. So, it is important that African states deal with their shared challenges as partners. The fallout of the chaos in Libya and how it imperilled the security of some African countries, including Nigeria’s, points to why cohesion, partnership and mutual trust is a desideratum for the continent.

The Doctrine of Responsibility, as it relates to transnational relations, establishes patriotism, loyalty and commitment to African ethos, values, survival, success, and future. It evokes a sense of duty to father land and Africa.

However, it is important that while Nigeria retakes its place as the lodestar of Africa, it must evolve and not stay fastened to the old ways of ‘’big-brother diplomacy’’, but adopt more of mutualism, diplomacy of reciprocity. International relations is governed by an anarchy of interests, and as such Nigeria must protect its own domestic interest.

With a vibrant national leadership and a defining presence in West Africa and Africa, Nigeria is well on its way to status redemption.

By Fredrick Nwabufo, Nwabufo aka Mr One-Nigeria is a media executive.

Democratic consolidation requires holding periodic elections that allow for peaceful transfer of power. Yet some elections held outside of consolidated democracies have been identified as sources of conflict. So far, Nigeria has managed to skirt around its various electoral crises, thus avoiding ensuing conflicts. But all is still not well. As long as the outcome of Nigeria’s 2023 presidential elections remain under contestation, a conjunction of circumstances will determine Nigeria’s political trajectory, more so as her national resignation and seemingly unfettered elasticity in tethering on the precipice, may have reached the breakpoint.

The foundational and sustaining basis of any democracy is the holding of periodic and genuine elections that allow a nation’s citizen to exercise their universal suffrage. The one-man-one-vote practice is one of the affirming principles of equality of persons, regardless of social and economic stratification. However, when a nation is leadership challenged as Nigeria is presently, it becomes incumbent for certain individuals and national institutions to rise to the occasion and toe a remedial path.

It is no longer in question that the quest for good governance and purposeful leadership are contingent on holding credible elections. Relatedly, the path to national greatness requires courage and selfless sacrifice. Both traits seem to have eluded Nigerians. There is, indeed, a dearth of both in our nation-building matters. This reality has placed Nigeria in its present conundrum. As much as some may indulge in escapism and declare the 2023 presidential elections concluded, that is not the case. The matter and the fate of Nigeria now rest with the Nigerian judiciary.

The present state of play affirms the truism espoused by Justice Mosunmola Dipeolu, that “It is essential for good governance to have a formidable judiciary. It ultimately contributes to nation-building, because it stands as the watchdog of the society and does not allow the hope of common men to be lost.” The moment of truth is here!

For now, Nigeria’s 2023 presidential elections results remain in dispute. Those who urge the acceptance and grandfathering of INEC’s egregious declaration neither have an eye on history, nor interested in Nigeria’s long term wellbeing. Expediency in such national interest issues will always be fraught with miasma. No nation should legislate or legally sanction criminality. What Nigerians ought to be doing to escape the present quagmire is delve into its history and look elsewhere for guidance, if need be. There are for Nigeria, some close to home examples.

In 2017, the Kenyan Supreme Court declared the presidential elections held on August 8 as “null and avoid,” citing grave irregularities. As the Court ruled, “The presidential election held on August 8 was not conducted in accordance with the constitution.” The court then ordered a new poll to be conducted within 60 days. It was a landmark decision.

Similarly, in 2020, the Malawi Supreme Court upheld a Constitutional Court ruling that President Peter Mutharika’s 2019 election was invalid because of widespread irregularities. In annulling the elections seven months later, the court cited “widespread, systematic and grave” irregularities including significant use of correction fluid to alter the outcome. Consequently, it declared, “We consider that” Peter Mutharika “was not duly elected on 21 May 2019. We therefore annul the results of the presidential election.” The Court went on to order a new presidential election to be held within 150 days. For Malawi, democracy and history, it was a landmark decision.

The rulings by the Kenya and Malawi apex courts present seminal case studies in politics, history and jurisprudence. Contextually, two unique strands should always guide public policy decision making: lessons learned and missed opportunities. These are tantamount to use of history, precedent or experience for decision making. Put differently, precedents in law, convention or practice are valuable instruments of leadership decision making processes. In Nigeria, the landmark case, Awolowo vs. Shagari has been characterized by some as a case of compromise; the truth remains that the Supreme Court if it had any bias, was in favour of upholding tenets the Constitution.

Before Malawi’s election, the international community, including the United Nations, European Union and African Union, issued several statements ahead of the vote, by which they urged Malawians to uphold the rule of law and remain calm. In the aftermath of the elections, when there was clear consternation and discomfiture over the announced results, the same international bodies sued for calm, reminding the nation that “Malawi can draw on an impressive history of institutions and leaders stepping forward to safeguard your democracy and ensure peaceful resolution for internal tensions.” These exhortations have been and can be easily replicated in the circumstances presently confronting Nigeria.

What is left is for the Nigerian judiciary to find the courage and need for self-sacrifice against all odds, to affirm the supremacy of the Constitution and the eminence of the rule of law. Both acts are synonymous with Patriotism. Given Nigeria’s peculiarities, such hard-headed decisions are not for the faint-hearted. But nations have been rescued from perdition via such conducts.

Like equity, jurisprudence has universal value. Transformative legal rulings are transboundary. Precedents arise and are employed from every legitimate authority. This is more so in our globalized world and with the benefit of seamless information technology. Whereas some have argued that it’s folly to mistake precedent of court cases for knowledge, and that any such endeavour is not by itself law; it goes without saying that precedent is the GPS of law and indisputable guide on extant principles.

There are unambiguous parallels in the Malawi and Nigeria presidential election cases. In Malawi, one of the grounds for annulling the elections was “irregularities, especially ‘massive’ use of correction fluid on results sheets.” In Nigeria, evidence abounds of result sheets that were “blurred,” “mutilated,” and carelessly altered, with the use of “correction fluid on result sheets”. Such evidence exists and is incontrovertible.

Everything that could possibly go wrong with an election went wrong with the 25 February presidential elections, thanks to INEC. Of the lot, the worst misdeed, which borders on criminality, is the egregious debasement of the Nigerian Constitution, thus creating a constitutional crisis. INEC also flunked the doctrine of substantial compliance. It put provisions of the Constitution in auto reverse, more so in neglecting dictates on winning requirement for Abuja FCT. Consequently, the judiciary negating this INEC legerdemain will not in spirit and letter amount to judicial legislation as some may presume.

Nigeria is like Kenya; like Malawi, no questions asked. Yet this needs to be asked: Can the Nigerian judiciary find the courage to uphold the constitution? Like the song says, “The answer is blowing in the winds.” Whether it will be good winds or ill winds remains to be seen.

Obaze, a politician, diplomat and governance and public policy expert, is a card carrying member of the Labour Party

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu says he understands the hardship brought abut by the removal of fuel subsidy, assuring that the decision was in the best interest of the country, especially in guaranteeing future prosperity.

Tinubu, who received 18 governors who served with him, Class of 1999, at the Presidential Villa, appealed for more patience from Nigerians.

He assured Nigerians that the framework for palliatives to remedy the effects of fuel subsidy removal was being worked out.

Tinubu said the government will increase effort, speed up the process and ensure a full-proof social security structure that will not be compromised, especially in cash-transfer.

“I understand that our people are suffering yet there can be no childbirth without pain. The joy of childbirth is the relief that comes after the pain. Nigeria is reborn already with fuel subsidy removal. It is a rebirth of the country for the largest number over a few smugglers. Please tell the people to be a little patient.”

The palliative is coming. I don’t want cash-transfer to fall into wrong hands. I know it pinches and it is difficult. In the end, we will rejoice in the prosperity of our country,’’ he told the governors, who were led by former Governor of Edo State, Lucky Igbinedion.

Tinubu had earlier written to the House of Representatives to seek an amendment to the 2023 supplementary appropriation act to accommodate N500 billion for provision of palliatives for Nigerians.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas read the president’s letter at plenary on Wednesday.

He said the request became necessary to enable the government provide palliatives for Nigerians to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal.

In the past couple of days, Mmesoma Ejikeme, a student of Anglican Girls Secondary School (AGSS), Nnewi, Anambra State, who took the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in May 2023, and was briefly celebrated as the highest scorer in the country, has been trending. The first child in a family of four, whose father works as an Okada rider, claimed she scored 362 and was subsequently awarded a N3m scholarship by Innoson Motors before she was accused of manipulating her result, using an APP. Several people took sides with the innocent-looking school girl who said she was incapable of such an act of forgery as she was being accused.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) came out to defend its integrity, perhaps too harshly, given the age of the girl, while the girl stuck to her claims. As evidence continued to mount against her claims, an investigative committee found her guilty of manipulating her results – as alleged by JAMB.

There are several lessons to be learnt from the Mmesoma saga:

The first is a deep distrust of our institutions which in many ways mirrors the general distrust in the society. In many climes, an institution of the stature of JAMB coming out to declare Mmesoma’s result as fake, would have settled the matter. But not in Nigeria.  When the story first broke out, there were people who claimed that institutions like WAEC and JAMB routinely ‘tamper’ with people’s results or fraudulently swap results between students. Bearers of such conspiracy theories, when challenged to provide evidence, would often retort that ‘this is Nigeria’ and remind us of the well-known shenanigans from institutions like the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

That the Mmesoma story took an ethnic angle is predictable. Most Igbo came out instinctively in defence of the girl. From identity studies we learnt that the identity that is perceived to be under threat is often the one most vociferously defended. Among the Igbo, there is a deeply ingrained suspicion that there is a conspiracy somewhere to ‘inconsequentialize’, emasculate and ridicule the race, including the accomplishments of its people. Most Igbo believe that Buhari barely concealed his disdain of their race during his presidency and that some of his actions and Freudian slips (like calling them ‘dot in circle’ or saying he should not be expected to treat people who gave him 97% votes the same way as those who gave him three per cent) buttress these beliefs. One of the consequences was the mainstreaming of Igbophobia under the Buhari government. Before Buhari’s presidency, this had existed in hush-hush conversations. The 2023 elections and their aftermath weaponized it.

Essentially, due to the belief that they are either unwanted in Nigeria or at best wanted only as second or third class citizens, there is a sort of ingrained persecution complex within the group – sometimes when there is no justifiable ground for that. This leads to strong, often uncouth push backs as they try to counter the narratives that justify Igbophobia – and also throw their own ethnic/religious jabs. This contest over narratives is rarely conducted in civil language. Quite often it requires immense courage to read through the bile and sheer hatreds the warring groups throw at each other. The Mmesoma saga became inexorably drawn into the vortex of this contest over narratives. In this sense, it makes a whole difference that it was an investigative panel set up by Anambra State government that found her guilty of manipulating her result –  as charged by JAMB. If that panel had been set up by the federal government or any other institution, it would still be difficult to convince some people that the outcome was not part of the conspiracy against the race or a cover up of sorts. Though I applaud Buhari for his efforts in providing infrastructure in the country during his presidency, (including the construction of the Second Niger Bridge) and using personal diplomacy to secure top positions in some leading global institutions for Nigerians, the scars he left on the country by his mismanagement of both the herdsmen crisis and our diversity are very deep and may take a very long time to heal. For instance, Buhari’s cuddling of the herdsmen created non-state actors like Nnamdi Kanu, Sunday Igboho, Simon Ekpa and others who gained legitimacy from the local population by promising to protect them from the attacks by herdsmen. As part of demonstrating ‘courage’, Nnamdi Kanu and his organisation’s mode of vilifying the assumed enemies of the Igbo did not win friends for the ethnic group. Rather there appears to be bottled-up feelings by groups who felt hurt by the perceived insults by these non-state actions. Some of these hurt groups seem to be uncorking their bottled up feelings, which in turn fuel the prevailing Igbophobia.

Mmesoma is a metaphor for the endemic fraud that has eaten deep into the fabrics of the Nigerian society. Fraud is everywhere in the country – from exam frauds at every level, (including at PhD levels) to cheating in offices and elsewhere. Leading politicians are routinely accused of either forging their certificates or NYSC discharge certificates or not having the credentials they claim to have. That such an innocent-looking youngster as Mmesoma could commit such a fraud and held onto her lies until the evidence against her became overwhelming and an investigative panel pronounced her guilty as charged – is just unfortunate. I congratulate the Anambra State government for recognizing the environmental context of the controversy and setting up a committee to investigate it. With its verdict, no one can accuse the committee of witch-hunting the young girl or this being another instance of a conspiracy to keep the Igbo down.  While there is no doubt that there is rising Igbophobia in the country, one of the lessons from the Mmesoma saga is the need for better discernment before jumping into conclusions on any issue.  While an early admission of guilt might probably not have stopped the ethnic finger pointing between those who would want to use her indiscretion to define her ethnic group and those who are so defined aggressively pushing back on that narrative and throwing their own ethnic/religious jabs, many right-thinking members of the society would have overlooked such as the perennial wrangling between ethnic factions of our keyboard warriors.

While I believe that JAMB has done remarkably well under its current registrar Professor Ishaq Oloyede, I equally believe that the body was rather overbearing in its justified desire to defend its integrity in the asymmetrical confrontation between it and Mmesoma. Given Mmesoma’s age and station in life, I believe that a fatherlier approach, which isolates the wrong act from the person who committed it, would have been more helpful. On the part of Mmesoma, she needs not just counselling but also to offer a public apology to both the JAMB and Nigerians.

The Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, has ordered troops to seize control of areas where the  Indigenous People of Biafra enforce their sit-at-home order throughout the South-East states.

The order cames after a Finland-based pro-Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, announced that there would be a two-week sit-at-home in the South-East region from July 31.

According to him, the order was to demand the immediate and unconditional release of the detained IPOB leader,  Nnamdi Kanu, as well as facilitate the freedom of Biafra nation, among others.

 Ekpa warned that failure to comply with the sit-at-home order would attract ‘heavy consequences’.

However, speaking in an interview with The PUNCH,  the Director,  Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu,  declared that such an announcement was unlawful and would not be condoned.

 He said the troops of the 82 Division had been given an order to work with other security agencies to ensure citizens go about their businesses freely.

Onyema said,  “The renewed threat by IPOB to compel the people in southeastern Nigeria to sit at home is not only appalling but a violation of the fundamental rights of southeastern Nigerians and, therefore, unlawful. This will never be condoned.

“The Chief of Army Staff has handed down clear directives to the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army operating in synergy with other security agencies to ensure robust patrols to dominate all flashpoints and emplace measures to ensure citizens are free to go about their legitimate businesses.

“Strangely, Simon Ekpa, a notorious terrorist and self-acclaimed leader of IPOB, is in Finland making a living for himself and his family, but ordering the people to shut down their means of livelihood by sitting at home.”

The army spokesman called on  Nigerians in the South-East region to disregard the sit-at-home order, urging them to support the security forces to defeat IPOB.

 Onyema said,  “We implore the good and enterprising people of the South-East to shun all forms of cajoling or threats aimed at unlawfully compelling them to be reclusive by sitting at home. We urge them to join forces with the security operatives to resist this illegality perpetrated by IPOB.”

Similarly,the police have vowed to resist the sit-at-home order in any part of the South-East.

The Force spokesperson,  Muyiwa Adejobi, told The PUNCH that the police had killed and arrested non-state actors enforcing the order,  adding that the force would not rest on its oars.

Adejobi disclosed that the police were keeping a watch on the sponsors of the agitators.

He said,  “The police will not allow any unlawful order to stand in any part of Nigeria. The sit-at-home order is illegal and unacceptable. We have suppressed and neutralised the non-state actors who have been trying to enforce the order. We have arrested many of them and recovered their weapons.

“We will not relent in our efforts to maintain law and order in all parts of Nigeria, and we assure the people in the South-East to go about their lawful businesses as we have emplaced adequate security measures to protect them. We are keeping watch on the sponsors of these agitators who cause pain and sorrow in the areas.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, visited the headquarters of the Nigerian Navy in Abuja to seek support for the abolition of sit-at-home in the state.

The governor had, on June 2, declared sit-at-home banned in Enugu, saying it was injurious to the economy of the state.

Despite his declaration, however, sit-at-home remains a feature of the state on Mondays.

Speaking to journalists during his visit to Abuja, Mbah said attracting investors to Enugu State would be an uphill task if sit-at-home persists.

The governor said, “If we must deal with the root causes of insecurity we have in our country, we must adopt both the kinetic and non-kinetic approaches to dealing with insecurity, and we felt that the big elephant in the room is to address those activities that may be an inhibitor to bringing in investors to our state.

“We identified insecurity as one of those inhibitors; we felt that it was a clog in the wheel of our continued development, and that was why, immediately after I assumed office, I convened a Security Council meeting, and following that, we made a pronouncement that we wanted the sit-at-home to end.  This is because we have zero tolerance for that.

“There is no way we’ll be able to achieve the exponential picture we have painted, those massive promises about growing our economy and eradicating poverty, it will not happen if we don’t deal with that problem, and of course that requires we tighten our security architecture, and mobilise our security agencies in our state to be able to deal with it.”

Mba said he looked up to the partnership with the Navy to help bolster security in Enugu State and uphold the unity of the country.

He said,  “Thus far, we are getting the required support from the security agencies, and we are hoping to see them join hands with us to be able to deal with this big elephant.

“When I was sworn in, I took an oath to defend the unity of this country, and that is exactly what we’ll do, and we are not going to endorse any behavior that is outside that.So, what we are saying, in effect, is that we look forward to partnering with the Navy in those areas that are necessary to do so to achieve one common goal of building one unifying country, peace, and security.”

[Punch]

Last month, popular Christian gospel singer Tope Alabi ignited some controversy when she appropriated a greeting associated with babalawos, while singing in a church. Several Christians defended her but did not assuage her critics who insisted she was encroaching. There is a reason Christians do not conduct their services in Arabic, they argued. What I found interesting about the exchange that followed her was how the Christians that habitually condemn practices associated with ìsèse also ransack their wardrobe to extract symbols that will enrich Christianity. The irony of the simultaneous diabolisation and covetousness by those in that category is perhaps best expressed in how they sing that “Babalawo power is powerless power” on Sunday and “àború àboyè” on Monday.

The contradiction of attributing power to indigenous African religious practices even while making a show of denouncing is no different from the other Abrahamic religion in Nigeria: Islam. The recent debacle in Ilorin, Kwara State, expresses how even the dominant religions are still haunted by the order of religious knowledge they demonise as “idolatrous.” You must have read about the incident. An Obatala priestess, Yeye Ajesikemi Olokun Omolara, had circulated fliers announcing a three-day event aimed at celebrating Olokun festival. Then some Muslims accosted her saying the festival cannot hold in Ilorin because their culture is “Islam.”

Honestly, when the news was first reported, my thought was that she was harassed by some miscreants who must be lashing out because the strangulating Tinubu economy had robbed them of legitimate employment. When these men added that they were acting upon the orders of their Emir Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, I still did not believe them. A whole emir cannot be that obtuse, I thought.

It was not until the emir’s spokesperson, one Abdulazeez Arowona, penned a rejoinder to the criticism of Wole Soyinka on the issue that it finally occurred to me that I had been overestimating the reasonability of these people. The article, meant to ridicule the laureate’s intervention in the matter, was such a shabbily conceived and poorly scribbled composition of ill-logic and inelegant ramble. For an article written on behalf of an institution like the emirate, it was either belittling of the status of the emirate or a reflection of the vacuity of the so-called “traditional” leaders. You can convincingly argue it both ways.

Not once did the article offer itself the courtesy of reflecting on the key issues of rightness and legality. Since they have not thought about it, let me put it to them directly: what gives the emir the right to infringe on a Nigerian citizen’s expression of her religious rights? The rejoinder was so thoughtlessly arrogant that it spared itself no time to contemplate that the emir has neither the constitutional or even moral power to declare Yeye Ajisekemi’s celebration of Olokun festival as going beyond her boundaries. Who drew those boundaries and by which authority? The only person overreaching himself here is the emir who mistakes his ceremonial role for constituted authority.

They tried to pass off the emir’s overstepping of his own boundaries too by stating that the festival had to be stopped in the interest of peace. How often have we not heard that same nonsense of asking people to give up their inalienable rights just so that some maniacs would not descend into their characteristic orgy of violence? Meanwhile, in that same gabble the Emir’s letter writer issued, they stated that Ilorin has been so harmonious that some non-indigenes have made the place a home. Some sentences later, they contradicted themselves by saying Yeye Ajisekemi had to be stopped because the celebration of that festival could lead to an outbreak of violence in different parts of the country. So which one is true? Ilorin people are peace-loving liberals or small-minded bigots searching for a reason to set the city on flames? If they are open-minded enough to live harmoniously with their neighbours as he states, why would there be an outbreak of violence simply because another religion staged their festival?

The emir and his letter writer should stop telling themselves that they live in a state of harmony if they cannot trust their people to be mature enough to mind their own religious business. A place where people will potentially kill each other over a festival is a lawless jungle, a dystopia. That is also an indictment of the state governor, the chief security officer of the state. If he cannot control the fanatics in your domain, then over whom does he have any authority?

When Arowona would spoil his Oga’s paltry case pátápátá, he boasted that the emir was an ex-judge, an incorruptible one to boot. Because Nigerians tend to speak of “corruption” in largely economic terms, people like Arowona reductively think of “incorruptibility” as not accepting bribes rather than its larger import as abuse of power or debasement of processes. That was why he could make that logical somersault that ascribed incorruptibility to a judge (a former one, yes) who stopped a religious festival. If Sulu-Gambari could not respect the fundamental human rights of Yeye Ajisekemi to exercise her freedom of conscience, what does it say about the arc of his career as a judge? On what ethics would a man like that have based his professional judgment when something as basic as freedom of worship eludes him? He did not need to have collected money to pervert justice before he could be termed “corrupt.”

Violating the rights of another is “corruption” in itself. Bringing up the emir’s professional past, unfortunately, only highlighted one of the many tragedies of Nigeria: a judge that lacks the concept of justice and a traditional ruler with no regard for tradition. Sulu-Gambari is proof—if you ever needed one—that not even education, not professional training, or even international exposure are enough to cure willful narrow-mindedness. What a shame!

For the emir to have stooped that low to stop an Olokun festival in his domain, he and his council of advisers must have been rattled by the symbolic power of ìsèse practices. All the drama could not just have been because their religion forbids “idolatory.” If it were, they would look away or lock themselves in their houses while the festival lasts. For the emir to disgrace himself this way, it must be because ìsèse rites carry a seductive force that threatens the political and spiritual power he embodies. Unfortunately, he played himself. If he had left the woman alone to do her thing, the festival would have come and gone by now. But, due to their own indiscretion, they are forced into self-justificatory modes. It will not be surprising if the woman starts getting patronage from the city’s inhabitants. Some of the people they thought they shield from witnessing ìsèse will reason that if the festival could bother the emir that much, there must be something to it.

Since this issue started, I have seen a couple of videos by some alfas vituperating over Yeye Ajisekemi’s choice to stage the festival. They based their contention with her on the idea that their city’s ethos has already been ceded to Islam and they will not allow anyone to pollute it with idols. Looking at them reminded me of the reputation of Ilorin as home to some of the most profound Islamic scholars and mystics. Watching some of these people shaking with rage over the Olokun festival was rather demystifying. So, with all their reputation as devoted practitioners and powerful mystics, they were not even secure enough to wave off an Olokun festival in their city as DOA? More intriguingly, it took only one woman with a flyer to unravel their fragility. At this point, Yeye Ajisekemi should be declared a national hero. Just let me hear anyone sing “Babalawo power, powerless power!’ one more time!

In a desperate call that can only exacerbate the security challenge in Plateau State, a member of the House of Representatives urged his traumatised constituents to defend themselves. On Monday, Hon. Dachung Bagos said that 19 people were killed within 24 hours last weekend in Jos South and Mangu local government areas of the state. “Hundreds have lost their lives since May 2023, and villagers can’t go to their farms, several displaced persons, lands taken over, farmlands destroyed”, said Bago who released the details (name and age) of the people killed in his federal constituency. “In the face of this kind of breakdown in the will and capacity of the government to protect the people and their communities, law-abiding citizens must organize to protect themselves”, he admonished.   

While it is difficult to blame Bagos for asking his people to embrace what amounts to self-help given the breakdown of law and order in the area, his prescription offers no solution to the killings that have ethno-religious undertones and feed on ancient animosities. Sadly, officials of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and Berom Youth Moulders continue to trade accusations on the spiral of violence that have left hundreds gruesomely murdered and maimed, communities razed, huge swarths of farmlands destroyed and thousands of cattle missing. Because we live in a nation where people suffer from collective amnesia, it is important to remind readers that this is not a new crisis in a region where identity has become a matter of life and death.

On 3^rd September 2018, Major General Idris Alkali (rtd) disappeared while travelling to his farm in Bauchi from Abuja. The family alerted army headquarters. Acting on intelligence, the army narrowed its search to a pond in an abandoned mining pit in Dura–Du District, Jos South Local Government Area and brought in dredgers. On 29th September, they found Alkali’s black Toyota Corolla car, a customised white T-Shirt with Nigerian Army logo and his name inscribed on it as well as a pair of canvass shoe belonging to him. Eventually, the body of General Alkali was found in an abandoned well in Guchwet village of Shen district, Jos South Local Government Area of the state. But in searching the pond, the army also pulled out two additional vehicles, a Toyota bus reportedly declared missing with the driver three months earlier and a Rover car declared missing with its occupants since 2013. These of course were victims of barbaric killings whose families had searched in vain for their whereabouts.

An eye for eye, as the saying goes, makes the world go blind. But that is what is happening today in many parts of Benue, Plateau and a few other states in the Middle Belt where the people have been reduced to undertakers. Every day comes with multiple burials. When a society is in decline, as I wrote five years ago, people look for solutions where they do not exist. In Nigeria, identity politics has become the new form of expression. Therefore, we must locate this tragedy within the context of the tit-for-tat ethno-religious violence that has for years defined Jos and environs. We cannot continue to manipulate differences while trading hate yet expect peace or development.

I have on different occasions written as to how artificial differences are magnified and manipulated in Nigeria for sinister ends. That is not what obtains in some other African countries. Two weeks ago, I was in Sierra Leone for their presidential election. One of the things I learnt from that country is how identity politics on which most Nigerians tear themselves apart means nothing to their people. Even though 78 percent of Sierra Leoneans are Muslim, both President Julius Maada Bio and his rival, the main opposition candidate, Dr Samura Kamara are Christians! Even Bio’s immediate predecessor, Ernest Bai Koroma who was in power for 11 years is a Christian. I pray for such a time in Nigeria when the faith people profess or the ethnic group to which they belong would matter less than the ‘content of their character.’

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday expressed sadness and grief over the latest round of violence and killings in both Plateau and Benue States. “It is most unfortunate that in this orgy of violence, an innocent eight-month-old baby in Farin Lamba community of Vwang District, Jos South Local Government, died in a conflict she knew nothing about”, the president said. “A major consequence of perennial conflict is always the tragic loss of innocent lives. To build virile, peaceful, and prosperous communities demand tolerance and forgiveness for every perceived wrongdoing.”

The president is correct. But he must go beyond merely preaching. He should help facilitate a dialogue for peace in the region if we are to end the cycle of revenge killings that has claimed the lives of thousands in the two states. Eleven years ago, precisely on 8^th July 2012, Senator Dantong Gyang Dalyop and Hon. Gyang Fulani, then Majority Leader of the Plateau State Assembly, were attending a mass funeral for dozens of their people killed in Barkin-Ladi local government area when a gang of gunmen invaded the burial ground, shooting in all directions. The two lawmakers did not survive the massacre that claimed dozens of lives. Following that tragedy, I wrote a column, ‘Fire from the Mountains…’

I leave readers with excerpts from that column as I urge President Tinubu to work with stakeholders in the Middle Belt region to end what has now become multilateral killings.

It was bad enough that the victims were brutally massacred in their homes before one now considered the indignity of a mass burial. Unfortunately, it was at that emotionally vulnerable state at the scene of a multiple funeral that Senator Dantong Gyang Dalyop and others were callously ambushed in a second round of violence that ultimately consumed no fewer than 40 people. Given the nature of the crisis which led to that bloody madness, it would be very naïve of anybody to consider this as the end of a cycle of revenge that brought about the pogrom. And that is where the federal and state governments have now been left with a serious challenge which would require tact and commitment on the part of critical stakeholders.

All the political, traditional, and religious leaders in Plateau State who have substantial influence must join forces if we are not to witness an escalation of this tragedy. What happened at the weekend was almost like a scene from a horror movie. That explains why it is nothing but gratuitous insult for some people to be dwelling on the irrelevant fact that there were no gunshot wounds on (some of) the victims who were, to all intents and purposes, simply murdered. There is also need for a serious inquisition into the role of the security agencies at the scene of the tragedy to ascertain their level of professionalism in such a panicky environment.

While we commiserate with the families who lost loved ones, it is important for those who are already talking carelessly to understand that making divisive and incendiary statements at a time like this can only compound the situation. Whatever the grievances (real and imagined) by the contending parties, this is not an auspicious moment to air them. When the tears have dried and the pains have subsided, there definitely must be a revisit of several issues that are critical to finding lasting peace in the state.

The ethnic conflicts on the Plateau and the resultant political tensions that have been pervasive over the years arose principally because of the politicisation of accumulated grievances. And it is not helped by the ethnic-settler controversy that is founded on division and hate. This is an issue that has become a serious challenge not only in Plateau State but in several places across the nation. And until, and unless, we address it, we will never be able to build a united society.

It is not too late for a political negotiation that will put an end to the ethnic strife and bloodshed. For that to happen though, it is important for all critical stakeholders to rise to condemn this massacre, not rationalise or justify such cold-blooded mass murder. It is also important to avoid a reprisal that can only worsen an already bad situation. It is natural that at a time when emotions run high, reason will be at a very low ebb. Yet except the relevant authorities move in quickly, (and I am not talking of drafting in some military men who will run away at the sight of danger as happened last Sunday), there could be further acts of anger and retaliation between the contending parties. And this will be most unhelpful.

We must explore all the possibilities for peace, though that is contingent on not bringing in mercenaries who may exploit the situation to further their own nefarious agenda. The fear is that there may already be some tell-tale signs in that direction, and we know that without peaceful coexistence and tolerance, the city of Jos and indeed Plateau State, will be in perpetual conflict. Each side will keep trying to eliminate the other through what has become a bilateral genocide, to borrow a phrase coined in Rwanda. To therefore put the brakes on the violence, there is the need to checkmate all appeals to hate, force and guilt by association. I will recommend for the people a 75 second video clip which, in a different context, puts this issue in proper perspective: http://www.seedsofpeace.org/#. 

At the end of the day, all the contending parties must come to the sober realization that they have only been losing lives, wealth and their peace of mind since the conflicts began. Their children are being wrongly socialized because their religious and cultural teachings about the sanctity of life are being cheerfully violated. The local economy has crashed and a land that was a haven of peace and agricultural productivity now exports only tales of man’s inhumanity to man.

The failure of our security agencies and whatever may be their current tactics for dealing with the challenge in Jos is also evident. It is particularly worrisome that no arrests are made after these killings, implying that there is probably no real grip on the situation. This only encourages what has become a national culture of impunity. As the nation therefore mourns the distinguished Senator and other victims of this tragedy, let the people of Plateau State embrace the legendary admonition of Ukpabi Asika: “Enough is enough”.

Joe Irukwu and the ‘Nigerian Delinquents’

Former President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and foremost Insurance guru, Professor Joseph Ogbonnaya Irukwu, died last Sunday—11 days to his 89^th birthday. I met him only once, but it was memorable. On 15^th August 2014 in Abuja, I reviewed his book, ‘Nigeria at 100: What Next?’ at the public presentation chaired by Bishop Hassan Matthew Kukah. I had been approached for the assignment by one of his children. In the late Joe Irukwu’s memory, I am publishing excerpts from that review (of nine years ago) titled, ‘The Past is Another Country’.   

If the young generation is made to believe that our past does not matter, how then can our children develop a sense of belonging and patriotism to a nation they don’t know? That of course is by the way, but we must commend Professor Joe Irukwu for documenting essential epochs and the dominant issues in our journey to nationhood. Reading through ‘Nigeria at 100: What Next?’, it is easy to understand why the author comes to the same conclusion as most writers that the greatest problem confronting Nigeria today is that of leadership at practically every level and in all strata of our society. However, the real message of the book is that the change we seek in our society must begin with each one of us.

Part One provides historical background to the nation now called Nigeria, right from the British annexation of Lagos in 1861 through the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates in 1914 to what many now cynically call the flag Independence in 1960. Even though briefly, the book deals with such landmark events as the resistance of three monarchs (the Nana of Itsekiri, Jaja of Opobo and the Oba of Benin) to the British incursion; the post-colonial constitutional developments; the First Republic and its acrimonious elections and census; the tragic military interregnum and the civil war; the Second Republic democratic experiment and why it failed; the military rule that followed and finally, the return to democracy in 1999.

For each of these periods, the author provides the lessons that were ignored as well as what might have been had we followed a different trajectory. Yet despite being a participant (or at least a ringside observer) in some of these events so aptly captured, the author adopts the detachment of an unbiased reporter which I consider refreshing for someone of his generation. In Part Two, the author deals with the impediments to nation-building in our country and the factors he identifies include the challenge of leadership and pervasive corruption. However, in presenting this twin-challenge in five chapters, the author relies on his earlier thesis that the Nigerian space has been hijacked largely by a group of men and women he describes as delinquents. I shall return to this shortly.

Part Three is titled ‘Repairing the damage and healing the wounds: reconciliation, transformation and patriotism’. While the author advocates for a united and stable Nigeria, he nonetheless believes that such a goal is better achieved by strengthening the ethnic and regional organizations. That the author would adopt this position is not difficult to understand since he is a former president of Ohaneze Ndigbo. However, he ends that section of the book with some enduring lessons that would serve the nation, but he tempered them with some caution. Part Four, which is the last section of the book, has five chapters and is appropriately titled ‘A roadmap for the future’. The author advocates the reformation of the family, restructuring of the polity and a complete national reconciliation.

In all, Irukwu has given us a fascinating collection that speaks to a period like this in our nation when there is an intense contestation for power between and among the major geo-ethnic groups and a growing apprehension, in several quarters, of an impending national crisis. What a book like this does is to remind us about where we come from, the mistakes we made in the past, the lessons we refused to learn and their consequences.

With the maturity that comes with age, experience and exposure, Irukwu’s patriotism shines through the collection. He agonises over the challenges we face while at the same time, proffering his own solutions to some of them. At the end, what the author says most clearly in ‘Nigeria at 100: What Next?’ is that we can overcome the human and institutional barriers that have for decades held the country back if critical stakeholders in the Nigerian project embrace a more productive and cooperative form of engagement.

While the author’s account of the civil war may be considered too brief, he nonetheless provides us with the enduring lessons and the more I reflect upon them, the more I wonder whether we have learnt anything from the tragic episode. The first lesson, according to Irukwu, is that in war everybody loses, at least to certain degrees: The wasted lives and resources as well as the missed opportunities when compromise, which is not necessarily a bad thing, could have helped to avert such tragedy. The second lesson is that no society can be peaceful if a section of it is either in turmoil or rendered vulnerable due to acts of omission or commission by relevant authorities. While the author is of a strong conviction that the formation of a national political party provides antidote to such situation, whatever that may mean within the context of Nigeria, there is yet a bigger message embedded in his narrative which those who pay close attention would see in the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast.

The third lesson, according to the author, is that we should never paper over our differences. We must discuss them and find acceptable ways to accommodate one another rather than allow misgivings arising out of conflicts to fester. While that is clear enough, the fourth and last lesson from the author with respect to the civil war is that we should never externalize our problems. With graphic illustration, Irukwu teaches us that solutions to domestic problems, like charity, must begin from home.

Reading through ‘Nigeria at 100: What Next?’, it is easy to conclude that the past was a much better country. Unfortunately, that has become the story of our nation as we almost always look back to “the good old days”. Notwithstanding, the author still believes and argues rather forcefully that the future holds better prospects, if we all play our part.

I share the author’s optimism that it will take our collective efforts to build a nation ruled by logic and ideas, rather than blind faith and fanaticism; a nation where girls would be able to attend school without the fear of being abducted by some criminal gangs who would turn them to chattels of pleasure; a nation where the poverty of the majority would not be cynically explained away with the number of private jets owned by a few individuals; a nation where sustainable growth and development would go hand in hand. Professor Irukwu may not have said so in those words but the message from ‘Nigeria at 100: What Next?’ is very clear about the nation envisioned by the author and the choices we must make to achieve that dream.

Although the book has 22 chapters, all of which are compelling, two chapters stand out. They are chapters 11 and 12 titled ‘The Advent of the Nigerian delinquents’ and ‘The Invasion of the Nigerian Leadership by Delinquents’. I take the liberty to quote the words of the author: “…they represent a small, noisy and highly visible percentage of Nigerians. This small group of delinquent Nigerians, from all backgrounds and ethnic groups, have over the years been responsible for the decline in the country’s traditional values. Their generally negative activities became more pronounced after the Nigerian civil war in the 1970’s and beyond. Although very few writers have written specifically about the delinquents as such, several writers and commentators have spoken and written about the havoc caused by this small group of reckless Nigerians and the damage they have done to Nigerian image, as well as their negative influence on the Nigerian youth.”

I am sure we can all picture in our minds the delinquents in the Nigerian public space. The private jet owners who have no visible means of livelihood; the so-called oil barons who have probably never seen oil rigs before yet feed fat on the collective misery of our people; the assistant directors in the civil service who move around with contingents of security details with billions of Naira belonging to pensioners in their private accounts; the airlines operator who sell 200 tickets for an aircraft that can only accommodate 150 passengers; the Judge who grants injunctions that can only be vacated in heaven and of course we should not forget the ‘Papas and Mamas’ who are supposedly doing the work of God but are helping themselves with the tithes and offerings of their church members to live in obscene luxury.

While the author argues that these characters represent but a tiny minority of our country, he nonetheless makes it clear that they are so powerful and visible that they have become the public face of Nigeria today. The question to ask is why do we have so many delinquents in our society? The answer is simple: Because it carries enormous rewards and little consequences. We are in a society where it is easy to get away with bad behaviour…

ENDNOTE: May God comfort the family of Professor Irukwu and may He grant his soul eternal rest.

The Peoples Democratic Party has accused the All Progressive Congress, Governorship candidate in Adamawa State, Aishatu Ahmed, popularly known as Binani of attempting to protect herself from indictment, by approaching a Federal High court in Abuja, seeking to stop the prosecution of Resident Electoral Commissioner of Adamawa, Hudu Yunusa-Ari.

Scribe of the Adamawa chapter of the PDP, Idris Yahya, stated this on Tuesday in Yola when he addressed journalists, calling on President Bola Tinubu to wade into the matter.

The PUNCH had reported that the governorship candidate of the APC, Sen. Aishatu Ahmed, popularly known as Binani, had approached a Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to stop the prosecution of Resident Electoral Commissioner of Adamawa, Hudu Yunusa-Ari by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Yahya said even before the ignoble role of the Adamawa REC, who failed in his bid to ensure Binani emerged as the winner of the Adamawa governorship election by hook or crook, the party had made repeated calls to complain about Binani and her desperation, but neither her party nor INEC showed any concern about it.

He said the latest attempt by Binani to stop the prosecution of Hudu Yunusa-Ari, only confirmed her as the “Chief executioner and principal actor” in the attempted civilian coup orchestrated by the suspended Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner.

He said, “Binani by this action has shown herself to be the chief executioner and principal actor in the attempted civilian coup orchestrated by the suspended Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner, Yunusa Ari-Hudu, who usurped the returning officer and illegally, declared her winner of Adamawa governorship elections even when collation of results for the supplementary governorship polls were still being collated. Her intention is to protect Hudu because she knows what she has done. Because with the prosecution of Hudu, she knows she will be indicted.”

Yahya also alleged that Binani had yet to face prosecution for her own role in the saga because of the invincible hands backing her. He said, “Binani I believe has not faced prosecution because of the invisible hands behind her otherwise she ought to be prosecuted for aiding and abetting Hudu’s illegal declaration of her as the winner of the Adamawa governorship elections.

“You were part of a treasonable plot and now you are going back asking your lawyer to stop the prosecution of the suspended REC who the police by its investigations said it has established a prima facie case against him.”

He said his appeal to President Bola Tinubu to intervene is to resist Binani’s push to stop the prosecution of her close ally in the failed civilian coup which she tried to orchestrate in Adamawa.

The Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, has kicked against amnesty programmes for bandits and terrorists in the country.

The army chief said amnesty programmes instituted in many states had failed to achieve their purpose.

According to him, rather than repent, beneficiaries of such programmes see the programme as an avenue to regroup and attack innocent citizens.

Lagbaja spoke when Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said, “So, I want to appeal to Your Excellency that as we come up with a strategy to address the issue, the state government should be disposed to the implementation of the measures that we will recommend so that together we will address the activities of these criminal elements.

“We also have the issue of the amnesty programme that has been instituted, and which has failed, not only in the North but also in many other states.

“I think we need to look at this issue of the amnesty programmes. The agreements have proven to be incorrigible and so amnesty has created an avenue for them to reorganise and launch attacks on defenseless citizens. So, I think we need to look at that.”

Lagbaja said the insecurity ravaging Zamfara was a mix of many things such as farmer-herder clashes, ethnic confrontations, and the quest for economic survival.

He said he had directed the deployment of more platforms and the release of more funds to reactivate unserviceable platforms to boost troops’ operations in the state.

Zamfara governor said he was frustrated by insecurity in the state.

Lawal said, “I’m frustrated that Zamfara is facing serious security challenges. I will say without mincing words, Zamfara is the state facing the most challenges in insecurity today. Therefore, for me, being the number one citizen, part of my responsibility is protecting lives and properties.

“It is sad to mention that there is never a day without people being killed in one area or local government or the other. This is very, very worrisome for us because, without security, development can’t take place.

“I cannot do this alone. I need the support of the Chief of Army Staff and his entire team. I need to bring peace to first Zamfara and then Nigeria in general.”