The immediate-past governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has hailed President Bola Tinubu for suspending Godwin Emefiele as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Last night, President Tinubu suspended Emefiele and directed him to immediately hand over to the Apex bank’s Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate) Folashodun Shonubi.

Reacting to the development, Wike who was one of the critics of Emefiele’s policies, especially the Naira redesign, described the President’s decision as bold and timely.

The former Rivers State Governor also commanded President Tinubu for approving uniformity in the retirement age and pension of judicial officers in the country, according to a statement by his media team.

He said the President’s action will introduce a new lease of life to the nation’s judiciary.

Wike noted that he and other G5 members are impressed that the President is showing “focused and exemplary leadership that will lead the county to prosperity.”

The Department of State Services (DSS) has denied that the suspended Governor of Central Bank (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, is in its custody.

The DSS disclosed this in a tweet on Saturday.

Recall that the Governor of the apex bank was suspended on Friday evening by President Bola Tinubu over an ongoing investigation of his office.

Shortly after his suspension, Emefiele was reported to have been arrested by operatives of the DSS.

However, the DSS did not deny Emefiele’s arrest, but noted in a tweet on Saturday morning: “Currently, Emefiele is not with the DSS”.

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has filed a motion asking the National Industrial Court to vacate the order stopping the planned industrial action over the fuel subsidy removal.

Recall that Justice Olufunke Anuwe had on June 5 restrained the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its affiliates not to embark on the strike due to its implications for the country.

But, Falana is contending that the court lacks the jurisdiction to make the pronouncement stopping the planned strike in the ex parte application brought by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

He said the ex parte order is liable to be set aside because the reliefs sought offends “the lucid provisions of section 254C (1) (f) of the 1999 Constitution and section 7(6) of the National Industrial Court Act 2006.”

The orders of the court followed an ex parte application by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice seeking to stop the planned strike against the NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC).

The judge observed that the DCL, Maimuna Lami Shiru, in moving the motion showed the urgency of the matter because the proposed strike action is capable of disrupting economic activities, the health sector and the educational sector.

City FM is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Programme: CITY TALKS WITH REUBEN ABATI

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Guest: Muktar Mohammed (ceo finance with muktar)

Topic: Inauguration of 10th National Assembly and other matters

Date: 10TH JUNE, 2023

                         
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The President, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has given assurance that his administration would run an open-door policy that listens in order to transform the country’s rich potentials to reality.

Tinubu stated this on Friday at an interactive session with members of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria (NCTRN).

The President revealed the decision of the government on fuel subsidy, security, jobs creation, enabling business environment and election of National Assembly principal officers.

‘‘We are all ears. We are ready to listen at any given time. I promise you an open-door policy and that is the way I will go.

‘‘That open-door policy is for you to call me and send to me at any given time any concern that you might have.

‘‘We may not have it right 100 per cent of the time but we must get it right 90 per cent of the time for this country,’’ he said.

On the removal of fuel subsidy, the President appealed to the traditional leaders to persuade Nigerians to have faith and that the pump prices of fuel would eventually come down.

‘‘I am grateful that you are paying attention to what I have been doing. You have paid attention to the subsidy removal.

“Why should we in good heart and sense, feed smugglers and be Father Christmas to neighbouring countries?

‘‘The elephant that was going to bring Nigeria to its knees is the subsidy.

“A country that cannot pay salaries and we say we have potentials to encourage ourselves. I think we did the right thing,’’ he said.

While acknowledging concerns on the need for critical infrastructure in different parts of the country, Tinubu pledged that any road block on the way of the progress of the country would be removed.

‘‘The lamentations about the capital projects, where is the money going to come from if we don’t protect our resources and our boundaries?

‘‘You cannot have development without capital projects,’’ he added.

On the leadership of the National Assembly, the President urged the Royal Fathers to counsel their subjects on the need to manage their ambitions and create harmony within the legislative house.

Tinubu said he was ready to work with any elected representative, stressing that the Nigeria project was of paramount importance to him.

On security, the President reiterated his pledge to prioritise the sector until Nigerians “go to sleep with their two eyes closed.’’

He said that the unity of the country could not be compromised, adding that every region of the country would get “what it is due.”

“We are going to tackle youth unemployment. It is only when we have prosperity for the country that we can create jobs that will employ our youths.’’

He decried crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region by a ‘tiny percentage’ of the population, adding that it was counterproductive to the economy.

“We need to tame those involved in this sabotage and we will work as hard as possible to ensure that the diversity of this country is used for its prosperity, growth and stability.’’

Tinubu told the traditional rulers he was primed for governance now the campaigns and elections were over.

On electricity, the President said a constitutional amendment signed into law now allows Nigeria’s 36 States to generate electricity.

“That’s devolution of power and that should be our contribution to the developmental projects you are looking for and we will continue in ways that will help our people,’’ he said.

Tinubu thanked members of NCTRN for their early visit and prayers for the success of his administration.

The NCTRN Chairman and Co-Chairman, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Saad Abubakar, and Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, pledged the support of members from the six geo-political zones.

They assured the President of their continued prayers in his resolve to move the country forward under his Renewed Hope agenda.

“We are 100 per cent in support of your government and we believe in the will of the Almighty Allah you will move this country forward.

“We will contribute our quota to the development of the country once you reach out to us,’’ the Sultan said.

The Ooni of Ife expressed delight that the country had remained united and focused in spite of its challenges.

He urged the President to explore the reach of traditional rulers in complementing the programmes and visions of the new government.

Members of the NCTRN at the interactive sessions include Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Ibn Umar Al Amin El-kanemi; Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe and Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero.

Others are Amanayabo of Nembe, Edmund Daukoru; Tor Tiv, Prof. James Ayatse; and Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi.

Anxiety in Akpabio’s camp over Yari 

AHEAD of Tuesday’s inauguration of the 10th National Assembly and election of presiding officers, there is apprehension in the camp of Senator Godswill Akpabio, the favoured candidate of President Bola Tinubu for the post of the President of the Senate.

This is just as a credible source said a vote in the Senate chamber, on Tuesday, may “trade for between $5,000 and $10,000 or even more.”

Indeed, the source said some of the senators-elect have started playing double game, collecting dollars from the two contending camps and signing up for them.

The source, a member of the Stability Group, the platform campaigning for the Akpabio-Barau Jibrin ticket confided in Saturday Tribune that some of the senators-elect who professed to be working for the Stability Group are playing double game, as they also attend nocturnal meetings of the main rival of Senator Akpabio, the senator-elect for Zamfara West, Abdul Aziz Yari.

The source revealed that some of the lawmakers who appended their signatures on the list of Akpabio supporters have also pledged loyalty to the camp of Senator Yari.

He said: “I don’t know what is happening on the other side but I am aware that some people who claim to be with us have also signed for Yari. I am saddened that senators are selling signatures for between $5,000 and $10,000. They are not asking Yari what he has to offer; they are only interested in his money,” the lawmaker lamented.

The source said the Stability Group would still continue to reach out to many senators to secure their buy-in for the Akpabio-Jibrin ticket

Consultations continue

Indication has emerged that Akpabio’s main rival, Yari, who has vowed not to step down for the favoured choice of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has continued with consultations.

Checks revealed that the former Zamfara State governor has since secured commitment of some opposition lawmakers in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

It was also gathered that despite the intervention of a former governor of Kano State and NNPP presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, the senators-elect on his party’s platform are in league with Senator Yari.

During the week, the senator-elect for Kano South Suleiman Kawu (NNPP), decried the zoning template of the ruling APC and announcement of favoured candidates.

Kawu told newsmen that he and his colleagues were determined to frustrate what he called the plot to impose the presidency’s anointed candidates on the legislature.

Labour Party disowns members over Akpabio, Abbas

Four days to the election of the presiding officers of the National Assembly, the Labour Party has rejected a claim by two of its House of Representatives members-elect, Honourables Amobi Ogah and Obi Aguocha.

The lawmakers had declared support for the APC zoning template and the ruling party’s favoured candidates for the leadership of the National Assembly

The National Publicity Secretary of the LP, Obiorah Ifoh, in a statement on Friday, declared that the lawmakers expressed their personal opinion, contrary to the stance of the party.

Ifoh said: “As individuals, the lawmakers do not have the mandate to speak for the party and therefore cannot claim to be standing on the platform of the Labour Party to speak, giving views that are diametrically opposed to ideals which the Labour Party stands for.”

The LP spokesman warned “the two lawmakers and, by extension, any other member elected on the platform of the Labour Party who chose to walk outside the agreed position and ideals of the party to desist from such trajectory and vain glory.”

The statement reads in part: “The attention of the leadership of the Labour Party has been drawn to interviews granted by two of our House of Representatives members-elect, Hon. Amobi Ogah and Hon. Obi Aguocha wherein they expressed their satisfaction with the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the zoning formula of the All Progressives Congress, APC, on the leadership of the 10th Assembly.

“The members-elect had, in their different interviews, said that they alongside some of their colleagues have “agreed to go towards government and party decision” on the zoning of the leadership of the National Assembly.

“Although as newly elected lawmakers on the platform of the Labour Party, the members-elect made the utterances which are clearly within their rights as individuals as enshrined in the laws of the land, the party has a view quite different from what the honourable members were quoted to have said.

“As individuals, the lawmakers do not have the mandate to speak for the party and therefore cannot claim to be standing on the platform of the Labour Party to speak, giving views that are diametrically opposed to ideals for which Labour Party stands.

“Labour Party is presently in the tribunal hoping to retrieve our mandate which was expressively given to our presidential candidate on February 25 and every testament emanating from the tribunal points to the fact that Labour Party clearly won the election but was robbed. We have remained resolute in our belief that justice will be done and so soon.

“For the record, Labour Party has nothing against the personality of President Tinubu, but we are challenging both the process and final outcome of the presidential election. We, as a party, insist that the route to His Excellency must be excellent and anything other than that amounts to a mockery of democracy.

“We therefore caution the two lawmakers and, by extension, any other member elected on the platform of the Labour Party who chose to walk outside the agreed position and ideals of the party to desist from such trajectory and vain glory.

“The party has given clear directives and will not condone any of its members who will not subsume to the supremacy of the party. We therefore demand that the affected lawmakers retrace their steps and tender unreserved apologies to the leadership of the party.”

Naira on Friday depreciated further against the dollar at the Investors and Exporters window, exchanging N472.50 to the dollar, just as President Bola Tinubu suspended the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

The local currency showed a 0.64 per cent decrease when compared with N469.50 it exchanged for the dollar on Thursday.

The open indicative rate closed at N471.32 to the dollar on Friday.

An exchange rate of N477 to the dollar was the highest rate recorded within the day’s trading before it settled at N472.50.

The Naira sold for as low as 460 to the dollar within the day’s trading.

A total of 77.42 million dollars was traded at the official Investors and Exporters window on Friday.

Shehu Sani Former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani has reacted to the suspension of the governor of The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, stating he was a disaster.

The Nigerian senator, made his reaction at the late hours of Friday via his Twitter handle.

He expressed his dissatisfaction towards the CBN governor all through his term in office.

This is following the news of Mr Godwin Emefiele’s suspension as the Governor of The Central Bank of Nigeria.

‘A disaster he was’, He tweeted

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu on Friday suspended the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele.

The president has also ordered a comprehensive probe of Emefiele’s activities as the CBN governor.

A statement signed by the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Willie Bassey, said the suspension was with immediate effect.

The statement said the suspension “is sequel to the ongoing investigation of his (Emefiele’s) office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.”

The statement added that: “Mr Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), who will act as the Central Bank Governor pending the conclusion of investigation and the reforms.”

Emefiele has been enmeshed in series of controversies over his management of the nation’s economy and his involvement in partisan politics.

Contrary to the CBN Act, Emefiele purchased a nomination form to contest for the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He withdrew from the race at the last minute.

The introduction of new naira notes shortly before the last general election was the last straw for Emefiele.

For several weeks, Nigerians suffered the pains of cash scarcity as the CBN withdrew old notes from circulation without making new ones available.

He was appointed as CBN governor by former President Goodluck Jonathan on June 4, 2014. At the expiration of his first term in 2019, he was reappointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Southern Nigerians have asked me two trivial but persistent and important questions about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The first is why most Hausa-speaking northerners don’t call Tinubu “Jagaban” as a standalone title like southerners do. Since I am from Borgu, I’ve also been asked why Tinubu was knighted as the “Jagaban Borgu” or the “Jagaba of Borgu.” And what does the title mean, anyway?

I didn’t think the questions were worth a response, much less a column-length one, because, until now, Tinubu was either just a major, if unofficial, political player in the Buhari regime or a candidate for president. Now that he is president, I think these questions are deserving of a response in the interest of historical and political education. 

Hausa-speaking northerners don’t say “jagaban” as a standalone word because it is ungrammatical in their language. The usual word is “jagaba.” When it transforms to “jagaban” it must be followed immediately by a place name because the additional “n” in the word is a preposition that signifies “of.” So, it is either “the Jagaba of Borgu” or “Jagaban Borgu.” If the title is not associated with a place, it’s simply “Jagaba,” not “Jagaban.”

To say “Jabagan of Borgu” is to commit an ungainly interlingual prepositional tautology since “n” and “of” mean exactly the same thing. Of course, interlingual tautologies are not uncommon. For example, we say Aso Rock even when “aso” means “rock” in the Gbagyi language. We say “Lake Chad” even when “chad” means “lake” in Kanuri. And we say “Sahara Desert” even when “sahara” means “desert” in Arabic.

Since linguistic habits often form and evolve outside notions of correct usage, I won’t be surprised if even Hausa-speaking northerners start to call Tinubu “Jagaban”—or even “Jagaban of Borgu.” Nigeria’s southwest is, after all, the country’s sociolinguistic pacesetter because of the centrality of Lagos as the cultural capital.

 So, what does “jagaba” mean? Well, it’s the Hausa word for chief warrior, warlord, frontrunner, or simply a brave man. It’s derived from “ja,” which means pull and “gaba,” which means front in the Hausa language. A jagaba is therefore someone who leads from the front, which is another way of describing a war commander. In other words, “Jagaban Borgu” or the “Jagaba of Borgu” means the Chief Warrior of Borgu.

The title was conferred on President Tinubu in February 2006 by the late Alhaji Haliru Dantoro who was Emir of Borgu in New Bussa from 2002 to 2015. Dantoro and Tinubu struck up an enduring, if unusual, friendship in 1992 when both of them served as senators in IBB’s abortive Third Republic. Dantoro was a senator on the platform of the National Republican Convention (NRC) and Tinubu was elected on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Although they belonged to different political parties, had diametrically opposed ideological temperaments, and Tinubu was much younger than Dantoro, they hit it off and sustained their friendship even after Sani Abacha dissolved the senate.

On February 26, 2006, exactly four years after Dantoro became emir, he knighted Tinubu as “Jagaban Borgu” (or the Jagaba of Borgu) and Remi Tinubu, his wife, as Yon Bana Jagaban Borgu. “When God made me the Emir, I said this man was there when I was in dire need of help, so why can’t I use my position to make him what I feel will help him in future politically?” Dantoro said in a news interview before his death.

Dantoro’s graciousness toward Tinubu doesn’t come to me as a surprise. As I pointed out in my November 07, 2015, column titled "Tribute to Haliru Dantoro, Emir of Borgu,” Dantoro was a conciliatory, even-tempered, and pleasant person who loved to build bridges across cultures, regions, ideologies, and faiths. Six months before his death, former President Muhammadu Buhari testified that even though he imprisoned Dantoro in 1984, along with other Second Republic politicians, he forgave him and even went “ahead to establish [a] very strong and cherished personal relationship” with him.

Dantoro and my father’s immediate younger brother, J.B. Kperogi, were also fierce political rivals in the Second Republic in the old Borgu, yet when I had a chance to meet him in 1999 as a young reporter and he recognized me as the nephew of his former political opponent, he was kind and gracious to me, asked after my uncle, and emphasized the importance of unity in the old Nigerian Borgu that is now splintered in parts of Kwara, Niger, and Kebbi states. 

Having said this, it’s important to state that “jagaba” is not a Borgu title; it’s borrowed from Hausa land. The ancient Borgu empire was a pluri-ethnic, confederate polity and was peopled by many ethnic groups, but mostly by the Baatonu (whom Yoruba people Bariba, Ibariba, or Baruba), the Boko (or Bokobaru/Bisa), the Fulani, the Kambari, and the Dendi people.

 Ancient Borgu stretched from what is now northeastern Benin Republic (where a Borgou state exists) to present-day Baruten and Kaiama local governments in Kwara State; Borgu and Agwara local governments in Niger State; and Bagudo and Dandi local governments in Kebbi State.

In 1904, Nigerian Borgu, which Lord Salisbury once angrily derided as "a malarious African desert…not worth a war," was initially designated as a province by British colonizers. That was the equivalent of a state in modern parlance. It was later downgraded to a “division” of several provinces, including Kebbi Province, Kontagora Province, and finally Ilorin Province because it wasn’t economically self-sustaining.  

When Kwara State was created in 1967, most of Borgu (except Bagudo and Dandi) became a part of the state and existed as Nigeria’s largest local government area until August 27, 1991, when IBB carved out what is now Borgu and Agwara local governments to Niger State. What was left of Borgu in Kwara State became Baruten and Kaiama local governments.

I don’t know why Dantoro didn’t give Tinubu a title that is native to the Bisa/Boko-speaking people of New Bussa, but Professor Halidu Usman, the Emir of Desa (known as Ilesha Baruba by Yoruba people) in the Baruten Local Government in Kwara State once defended handing out Hausa-derived traditional titles because, according to him, the repertoire of native Borgu titles is severely limited and has been exhausted in light of the changing cultural environment.

In any case, Borgu has always been a melting pot that fuses multifarious cultural influences from far-flung places. Many historic and deeply entrenched Borgu royal titles have Hausa or Kanuri roots. Take Kilishi Yeruma, for example. It is a fossilized, time-honored title in all of Borgu for the heir apparent to the throne. It is derived from a fusion of Hausa and Kanuri.

Kilishi is the Hausa word for rug (which symbolizes the throne) and Yeruma is the corruption of the Kanuri “yerima,” which means prince. The town of Kishi in the Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State, was founded by a Borgu prince called Kilishi Yeruma, and Kishi (or Kisi) is the short form of Kilishi. It’s a historical fact that people of Kishi are intimately familiar with and proud of. That is why the Iba of Kishi attends the yearly Gaani festival in Borgu.

Interestingly, when I discussed Tinubu’s Borgu title with my paternal uncle a few days ago, he jokingly wondered if Tinubu was aware that he was shirking the duties his title required of him by removing fuel subsidies, which has multiplied the deprivation of border communities such as Borgu.