Harry Belafonte, who recently died of congestive heart failure in New York at the age of 96, was a pioneering Caribbean-American singer-actor, who used his fame and wealth to support social causes. Belafonte was the first ever artist to have sold a million records, with his 1956 Calypso album staying at number one on the Billboard charts for 31 weeks and introducing Caribbean music to a mainstream American audience.

This was achieved three decades before Michael Jackson’s best-selling album of all time, Thriller, as Belafonte broke down barriers for future black artists. Strikingly handsome, multi-talented, and versatile, he was the first black actor to win a Tony. He also won two Grammys, had a successful movie career in Hollywood, and contributed tremendously to the civil rights and anti-apartheid struggles.

Early Life: Harold Bellanfanti, Jr. was born in New York on 1 March 1927, growing up in poverty in a cramped apartment in which several families shared a communal toilet. His Caribbean parents were mixed race: his Martiniquan father, Harold Sr., worked as a chef on merchant ships, while his Jamaican mother, Melvine, worked as a domestic servant. His abusive father eventually abandoned the family when Harry was six, and three years later, a struggling Melvine took Harry and his younger brother, Dennis, (brought up as devout Catholics) back to Jamaica, where Harry was placed in a stifling British-style boarding school.

He immersed himself in Jamaican culture, and fell into the warm embrace of his white grandmother, Jane: an experience which he later credited for his ease in interacting with diverse races and classes.   He loved his visits to banana markets, which would influence his trademark single “The Banana Boat Song (Day-O),” as well as the hit “Jamaica Farewell”.

The family returned to New York, but Harry struggled with dyslexia and soon dropped out of George Washington High School. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1944, where black servicemen introduced him to the work of W.E.B. Du Bois and other black intellectuals. He enrolled in Erwin Piscator’s Dramatic Workshop in New York under the G.I. Bill for military servicemen. Here, he befriended Marlon Brando whom he introduced to the city’s vibrant black jazz scene, and later recruited into the civil rights struggle. He also met his lifelong fellow Caribbean-American friend and rival, Sidney Poitier – described as “my first friend in life” – with whom he trained at the American Negro Theatre in Harlem. Harry – a light-skinned cultural polyglot – suffered from an identity crisis throughout his life: not fully black nor white; not fully Caribbean nor American.

It was also during this time that Belafonte met Marguerite Byrd, a middle-class African-American teacher, whom he married in 1949. She provided financial stability, as Harry struggled to find success, singing at New York clubs like the Village Vanguard, the Blue Angel, and the Royal Roost (where jazz legend Charlie “Bird” Parker played with him). The eclectic Belafonte moved from jazz to folk music before finally achieving great success as the “Calypso King.”

He was soon touring America and Europe, playing to sell-out audiences and incorporating black musicians into previously lily-white orchestras. He was, however, disappointed that he played to largely white audiences. Harry divorced Marguerite in 1957, marrying a white dancer, Julie Robinson. He divorced Robinson in 2004, and four years later, married a white photographer, Pamela Frank, who survives him along with four children from his first two marriages.

Artistic Successes: After his singing success, Belafonte’s film and acting career took off. He starred as a head teacher in Bright Road (1953) and a year later, with legendary African-American actress, Dorothy Dandridge, in the all-black film version of the Oscar-nominated Carmen Jones. He also won a Tony in 1954 for the musical Almanac. He won an Emmy in 1959 for the television show, Tonight with Belafonte.

A Grammy followed for best folk performance in 1960 for the album, “Swing Dat Hammer”. Another Grammy was awarded five years later for best folk recording for an album with South African singer, Miriam Makeba, An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba. In 1972, Harry teamed up with Poitier – the first African-American male to win an Oscar for the 1963 Lilies of the Field, a role for which Belafonte had ironically been earmarked – to produce Buck and the Preacher, and two years later, Uptown Saturday Night, which also starred Bill Cosby.

Harry enjoyed playing a gangster boss in the 1996 Kansas City, was in the cast of the 2006 Bobby (on Robert Kennedy), and his last film role was a cameo appearance in Spike Lee’s 2018 BlackkKlansman. His movie career was limited because he refused many of the stereotypical roles available to black actors. Belafonte also regularly hired black and Hispanic apprentice filmmakers.

Social activism: The sources of Belafonte’s social activism sprang from his poverty-stricken childhood; the widespread discrimination he encountered in America’s segregated Navy; and the indignities that he continued to confront in apartheid America, being forced to use separate facilities despite his fame.

By the 1950s, the globe-trotting African-American singer-actor-activist, Paul Robeson, was playing a strident role in condemning racism in America and pushing for the civil rights of black Americans. Robeson would eventually be hounded by the ignominious MacCarthyite witch-hunts of the era, paying the price for his outspoken activism when his own government prevented him from travelling abroad for eight years. He would become Belafonte’s main inspiration, with Harry himself forced to defend himself from charges of  being a Communist.

Belafonte consistently refused to abandon his mentor, who had urged him to “Sing your song and they will want to know who you are”: advice that stayed with Harry throughout his life as a lodestar, and inspired both his 2011 autobiography, My Song, and the documentary about his activism, Sing Your Song, of the same year.

A 27-year old Belafonte met Martin Luther King, Jr. – two years his junior – in 1956, after the civil rights leader preached at New York’s Abyssinian Baptist church. It was a life-changing experience, and Belafonte was struck by King’s calmness and humility. He described the civil rights stalwart as “the real deal, a leader both inspired and daunted by the burden he’d taken on.” After the soaring sermon, both men met alone in the church basement and talked for four hours. It was the start of a 12-year friendship in which Belafonte became a confidant to the Nobel peace laureate, providing a refuge for him in his 21-room Upper West Side New York apartment. Belafonte also passed messages between King, John and Robert Kennedy.

Harry became a disciple of non-violence, marching from Selma to Montgomery, joining freedom rides, holding fundraising concerts, and recruiting his Hollywood friends to join the March on Washington in 1963. He became a major fund-raiser for the movement, donating to King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, financing Freedom Riders, and providing $70,000 to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Mississippi to register black voters in 1964, under threat of assassination from the Klu Klux Klan. He also forged links between black America and Africa by arranging for SNCC activists to visit the continent. Further afield, he condemned the US trade embargo against Cuba, defiantly visiting Fidel Castro in Havana.

Belafonte further contributed greatly to the anti-apartheid movement, financially supporting the Randall Robinson-led African-American lobby group TransAfrica, taking part in anti-apartheid protests, and helping to support the careers of black South African musicians, Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela, in the U.S. He collaborated closely with Makeba, and provided both South African artists platforms to promote their music while spreading the anti-apartheid gospel.
Prof. Adebajo is a senior Research Fellow at the University of Pretoria’s Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship in South Africa.

Harry also took part in several events with Nelson Mandela after the South African leader’s release from jail in 1990, a cause for which he had actively campaigned.

In 1985, Belafonte helped to organise the Grammy-winning superstar collaboration We Are the World which raised funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. Two years later, he accepted a role as the goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).  In the same year, he chaired an International Symposium of Artists and Intellectuals for African Children in Senegal.

The twilight years: Belafonte remained uncompromising in his determination to act as America’s moral conscience. He described the war-mongering president George W. Bush as “the greatest terrorist in the world,” and Bush’s Jamaican-American Secretary of State, Colin Powell, as a “house slave”. He did not spare the first African-American president, noting: “For all of his smoothness and intellect, Barack Obama seems to lack a fundamental empathy with the dispossessed, be they white or black.” He dismissed Donald Trump as “feckless and immature.”

As the 2011 documentary, Sing Your Song, demonstrated, Belafonte was relentless in his activism, as he constantly chased new causes to which to contribute. He strongly backed the Occupy movement in New York in 2011; he was a lifelong supporter of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People; he advocated gun control and joined the fight against gang violence; he backed a school for emotionally disturbed boys; and was active in his own Belafonte Foundation of Music and Arts. Harry was sometimes irritated with the mainstream U.S. media imposing on him the burden of always having to act as the spokesman for black America’s social causes.

For all his achievements, Belafonte also had his critics. Black Power activists criticised his comfort with the white establishment; many black women criticised his philandering (including an affair with British actress, Joan Collins) and his divorcing a black woman who had been critical to his success to marry a white woman; some Trinidadian Calypso musicians considered him an imposter; while other critics pointed to his addictive gambling and what they regarded as an oversized ego.

Belafonte was, however, articulate, reflective, and had a moral clarity that was often unnerving, as he unwaveringly pursued worthy social causes for seven long decades. Robin Densselow noted that “Harry Belafonte was one of the most important and influential campaigning black musicians in American history;” while Philip French described him as “a man of bravery and probity, a formidable contributor and witness to his times.”

Prof. Adebajo is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Pretoria’s Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship in South Africa.

AS a child I was taught that the road to heaven is narrow. But that seems to be the teachings of the ancients; now across the world, shepherds are letting their flocks know that there are shortcuts, or even flights to heaven. Perhaps the old depended on stars to guide them on the road to heaven while the modern are using Google maps and satellite imaging.

The old idea that the road to heaven is narrow might have been reinforced by Matthew who advised: Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it(Matthew 7: 13-14). I know it immediately warned us to beware of false prophets, but who am I to judge?

The struggle to get to heaven has been quite intense so much that the old church in Rome used to sell pardons (Remission of sin) to the rich who want the Heavens to forgive and guarantee them a place. But these days, there are several ways to get directly to heaven. Some men of the world reasoned that when Adam and Eve were nude, they communed directly with the Lord. So they came to the conclusion that in this ostentatious world when fashion seems to rule worship centres, and bishops deck in heavy regalia, the best route to heaven is to worship in all nakedness. So nudity rules in their churches.

In the White Tail Chapel, Ivor, Southampton, Virginia, everybody, including the pastor reading the passages, worship completely nude; just the way they were born. Everyone coming to worship in the church must leave all their material possessions, including clothing, behind and worship only in truth and spirit. Wearing apparels in the church was optional until Sunday, August, 2015, when Pastor Allen Parker announced a complete ban.

He explained this mode of worship: “When Jesus was born he was naked, when he was crucified he was naked and when he arose he left his clothes in the tomb and he was naked. If God made us that way, how can that be wrong? I consider this a gift and a privilege God has given me as our members are caring, understanding and they’re community and family oriented. We have one of the most involved chapels any place around.”

When a couple, Katie and Robert, tied the nuptial knots, they did so in complete nudity. So, there was no need for wedding gowns or dresses. That must have significantly reduced costs. Worshipping nude to get closer to the Lord on the way to heaven does not mean they will get to the promised land. But never mind, there are churches and shepherds who now, not only guarantee people going to heaven, but doing so without going by road which may still be narrow. So they sell flight tickets to heaven.

In Zimbabwe, Pastor Tito Watts and wife, Amanda who have been selling flight tickets to heaven for $500 per person are not without customers. What is more: the ticket is inclusive of visa and a straight passage into heaven as it also grants immunity from prosecutions for sins committed on earth. When the police arrested him, Pastor Watts explained that they had the wrong person as he was merely a salesman for Jesus. His followers believe him and stormed the police station demanding that their pastor be freed to continue his evangelical work.

While there are still debates whether the road to heaven is still narrow or has been widened, a shepherd, Pastor David F. Isanga of the Universal Apostle Fellowship Church of Righteousness, Kaliro, Eastern Uganda, assures his flock that they are already citizens of heaven. The pastor asked them to buy plots of land in heaven. He told his followers to sell all their properties, including houses, farms, livestock and lands, give him the money so he can allocate lands to them in heaven. He did not tell them the size of the lands, whether they are serviced plots and if they are upscale property. He also has not revealed how he became an estate agent in heaven and whether he receives commission.

In all the talk about heaven being the final destination of the faithful, people do not appear to want to die. Joe Louis quotation: “Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die”, became so famous that it featured in many songs. I also used to think that anyone who goes to heaven never returns. That was until South African Pastor Paseka Motsoeneng, alias “Prophet Mboro”, announced he not only had been on a trip to heaven and returned, but also took photographs using his smartphone! Since he did not say he met people or angels during his trip, he must have taken selfies. 

The story did not end there: Mboro is charging those who want to view his heavenly photographs 5,000 rand ($340) each. In all these cases, people negotiate the road to heaven, or like Mboro, go on tourist tours where they take photographs. But Nigerian Pastor Noah Ade Abraham, actually knows where heaven is and charges a ticket fee of N310,000 per entrant. In his well organised three-stage movement to heaven, he established his operational base in Kaduna, a transit camp in Kabba, Kogi State and a departure camp which he calls the Christ High Commission, in Araromi-Ugbesi, Omuo-Oke, Ekiti East Local Government Area of Ekiti State. At the departure camp were 40 persons who had met the financial requirements and were waiting for Jesus to descend and meet them.

Meanwhile, Pastor Abraham is yoked with earthly matters as the police charged him for allegedly obtaining money “by false pretence and intent to defraud” by claiming he is capable of taking his followers to heaven. But how can ordinary mortals prove that the pastor is lying? It is like the story of a pastor who asked his followers to fast to death in order to go straight to heaven. When charged for making false claims that he is Jesus, he said if the prosecutor doubted him, it should produce the real Jesus.

The basic lesson in all these is that nobody should allow another human being to control his mind. However, there is not expected to be a trip as the kingdom will descend on the transit camp and it will be transformed into heaven. So like the Jehovah Witnesses preach, heaven is not where you will ascend to or go on a trip through some narrow road or land on an airport; heaven is right here on earth.

In the light of the individual and collective experience of Nigerians in the past several weeks, it is probably a shared experience that I have not been sleeping well in as many weeks. This is likely the case if the prevalent mood of despair and despondency that followed the parody of recently concluded general elections is any indication.

For me, there are a number of extra contending factors for this sleeplessness. Beyond the DNA inheritance of chronic insomnia, one factor is the heartbreak over how my beloved Barclays premiership football club side, Arsenal, has transformed from being a class A euphoria drug to a deflating downer. In the past decade, if I’m in a low mood, there is a good chance it has something to do with how well

Roger Federer and Arsenal are faring in their respective tournaments. When they do well, they serve as potent psychological therapy for diffusing the fog of ennui cast permanently over the darkling plains of politics and governance in Nigeria.
Now it gets worse. As the appointed hour of May 29th draws near, many have been praying along that this foretold dreadful cup of iniquity passeth Nigeria over. Even if our countervailing dreams of a Nigerian political renewal have become recessive, providence can still intervene to use the improbable instrument of the judiciary to accomplish God’s purpose for Nigeria.

There is hardly anything left unsaid in the rumination over the misnomer of the (s)election of Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president of Nigeria. As we used to banter in those days of rebellious innocence, “nuff said”. We have to come to terms with the reality of the traumatising transition from Major General Muhammadu Buhari to Tinubu as the new normal of Nigerian politics.

Yet, regardless of the latter’s credentials, (which reads like a Mario Puzo mafia syndicate prototype), the truth is that no other successor Nigerian president has the latitude to surpass Buhari in his demonstrable capacity to render Nigeria a graveyard of national aspirations.
The logic of this conclusion is obvious enough.There is simply no room to spare for any successor to replay the Buhari ‘bull in the china shop’ one man wrecking crew. Nigeria has already crumbled, what is left is the near impossible task of putting the broken pieces back together. Presently, the economic numero uno among these broken pieces is the big elephant in the room aka the oil subsidy racket. In the near term, it is damned if you do away with the subsidy and damned if you don’t.

And in a rather befitting epitaph to the mockery of fighting corruption in Nigeria, the duo of the former Governor of Zamfara state, Abdulaziz Yari and the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, proved the corruption depravity of the Buhari dispensation in an unforgettable manner. The two cooked together a book launching ceremony, in which the former made a public display of a N250m returns of corruption proceeds to the latter. In broad daylight, Yari launched a book purportedly authored by Malami with the jaw dropping sum.

The pertinent background to the infamy of this wanton display of stolen resources is as follows.
The remote aspect dates back to the governorship of Yari over that micro embodiment of all that is evil about Nigeria, Zamfara state. At his departure from the state, ‘Premium Times reported that he was being investigated for N150 Billion embezzlement charge whilst official documents revealed that Yari was paid N350 million two days before he left office. Aside from the monthly pay out of about N11 million, the law also provided for a house in Abuja for the former governor’.
The immediate backdrop is that along with the former Accountant General of the federation, Ahmed Idris, Yari was the poster boy in the collosal theft of one hundred and ten billion (and still counting) from the Nigerian treasury. It was widely reported that “the former governor is being investigated for allegedly conspiring with the suspended AGF to siphon an estimated N84 Billion in public funds”. The economic and financial crimes commission, efcc, is the investigation and prosecution agency of this crime and it reports directly to Malami in the performance of this duty.

The same Malami then invites Governor Yari to serve as chief launcher at his book launching ceremony. Whereupon the former governor dipped into the pot of stolen money, (for which he is under prosecution), and forked out N250m to bestow on the Attorney General. Do you then need to be a Nuhu Ribadu to discern a linkage between the criminal theft of public resources and the hundreds of million donation by Yari? And all this in the glare of the national and international community and, in a country rated as the poverty capital of the world.

If you are literally drenched in naira and rearing to make show of it, why not buy as many copies as N250 million naira can buy and then distribute the books across educational institutions in the nation? What was exactly the participation of Malami, the chief law officer of the country, in this corruption on steroids instance?
What extrapolation are we to make from this outrage other than it was compensation for a favour Malami rendered in (all probability), shielding the fellow from being prosecuted as his just dessert
In competition with this show of shame as a trademark of the Buhari dispensation and which record is impossible to surpass is the penchant for ethno national chauvinism (of apartheid proportions) in appointments to the leadership of nearly all strategic and significant public institutions especially the military, security and para security agencies.

With N77 trillion debt (80% of which was incurred under Buhari) what would prove the difficulty in arriving at the conclusion that there is no space left for further ‘borrowing and sorrowing’ for any incoming President? Today, said Chief Afe Babalola “We are the worst debtors in the world. We owe trillions of dollars. We are borrowing more even when the current government has few days to go. And we learnt that our incoming President has gone to look for those who are coming to invest here. Nobody is coming to invest here when you can’t even pay the interest due on the huge debt that we owe”.
And I affirm that it is theoretically improbable and practically impossible to contemplate that any potential successor can worst Buhari’s records and still have a nation standing.

Where, however, there is room for the continuation of the Buhari anomie is the reputation of those ascending to the topmost hierarchy of Nigeria’s organs of government. We already have Tinubu in the executive organ. Now we await, in raging stupefication, the imposition of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the Senate president and the chairman of the national assembly. Spanning the last two decades, his public career has come to symbolise a study in the utility of public corruption and impunity for upward mobility in the ladder of political leadership in Nigeria.

The tragedy of contemporary Nigeria is the extent to which the perfidy of mindless corruption has been upstaged (by the impunity of
how much you can rub the nose of Nigeria in this mud) by the open tender of a pedigree of unspeakable stolen public resources as credentials for higher office. To prove the point is the pending coronation of Akpabio as the next Nigeria’s Senate president.
In his preceding successive occupations as Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator and Senator-elect, he has left behind tons of evidence on his exploitation of those offices as conduit pipes for unprecedented embezzlement.

As Governor of Akwa Ibom State, he has a pending case of “withdrawal of N18bn from the state’s coffers under the guise of special services, reception of very important guests and sundry items; acquisition of some assets through surrogates, including a multi-billion naira mansion at Plot 5, Ikogosi Spring Close, off Katsina-Ala Crescent, Maitama-Abuja; a multi-billion naira mansion at Plot 28 Colorado Close, Maitama, Abuja; 22 Probyn Road, Ikoyi, Lagos; Plot 23 Olusegun Aina Street, Parkview, Lagos and a multi-billion naira 25-storey building at Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos”.

As Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, he was the star culprit in the allegations of N40 billion fraud perpetrated in the NDDC, a ministry which was headed by Akpabio for three years. The Senate over which he will preside resolved in 2020 to probe the alleged N40 billion financial recklessness of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the NDDC. Less than two months ago, he was detained by EFCC for two hours after attempting to bribe agency chairman with $350,000.
The trillion naira question is: How does Akpabio proceed from this immediate background to become the President of the Nigerian Senate?
Akpabio is, of course, not the exception that proves the rule. Coincidentally, his two other co contestants are cut from the same wool. One of them is none other than Governor Abdulaziz Yari. Yes, the same Yari.

And then, there is Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, whose felony laurels include belonging to a class of dubious politicians who have succeeded in symbolically dragging the Supreme Court down the mud through the procurement of morality subversive judgements.
Recall that “the trial court found him guilty of corruption in December 2019 and was sentenced to 12 years in jail. But in one of a series of questionable judgements given by the Supreme Court, his jail time was nullified on technical grounds: that the judge who jailed him was ineligible to handle the trial having been elevated to the Court of Appeal’s bench as of the time he concluded the case”.
If ever there is poetic justice in the ambitions of political leaders in this electoral cycle, it is in the ruins of Kalu’s aspiration to become the Senate president. In subordinating the concession of the Nigerian presidency to the South East, to his personal ambition, no politician from amongst the Igbo did greater damage to this cause than kalu.

Stop Press!
As we were putting this column to bed, we were rudely reawakened by the hereunder:
“President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the Senate to approve the payment of judgement debts awarded by different courts against the federal government. The president said the judgement debts were awarded in different currencies which he summed up to $556,712,584,01; £98,526,013 and N226,280,801,801,64”.
Now, you see what we were saying?

The title of this short piece is not exactly original. The word “Strategic Humility” was first coined brilliantly and diplomatically deployed by Dr Henry Kissinger, former American Secretary of State, who marked his centenary (100 years) birthday few days ago, in his recent book “LEADERSHIP”.

In that book, Kissinger did an analysis of six heads of state in the 20th century who he considered as great leaders. They are France’s Charles De Gaulle, Germany’s Conrad Adreneur, America’s Richard Nixon, Singapore’s Lee Kwan Yew, Britain’s Margaret Thatcher and Egypt’s Anwar Sadat.

I may not necessarily agree with three of Kissinger’s categorization, especially Nixon, Thatcher and Sadat. But that is a topic for another day. What I however find most interesting in the book is his take on Conrad Adreneur, the German post-war Chancellor. He cited Adreneur as a man who eased Germany into the mainstream of world power. It was a remarkable feat by a great man. That Germany found its way back into the mainstream of world politics (a privilege she still enjoys till today) is the brainchild of Adreneur with his deployment of “strategic humility”.

I find these words relevant today as Asiwaju is set to take over the mantle of the nation’s leadership in a few days time. There is no dispute among those who have worked with him over the years (in government and at political level) about his adroit deployment of political strategy in resolving the unsolvable. His instinctive respect for every individual he meets speaks of humility in leadership.

Nigeria is currently in a mess both economically and politically. We are more divided today than 10 years ago. I believe his coming is at the right time because we need a leader who can stabilize and rejuvenate us.

I recently saw a bit of what is to come. First in Port Harcourt when he was invited by Governor Nyesom Wike to do the commissioning of his 12th Bridge and new Courts. Gov Wike had asked that Asiwaju’s Government should refund money the Rivers had spent on the new bridge and some federal roads in the state. Asiwaju’s remark was most Solomonic and statesmanly. He said “I owed you nothing”. His reason: we still have in place a government headed by President Buhari which must be respected.

Also, we have seen a plethora of project commissionings by President Buhari which many expected he would attend beside the incumbent leader. But he chose to avoid them in what clearly is borne out of strategic humility in not wanting to share the glory with the incumbent as the latter deserves his shine and glory.

Earlier in January when the iconic Lagos rail-line (which Asiwaju initiated as governor) was commissioned, he stayed away and allowed President Buhari to lap up the glory. The fickle-minded would have been tempted to contest the platform with Buhari on the justification that “It is my baby”. Not Asiwaju.

Perhaps the most remarkable one was the commissioning few days ago of Dangote’s Refinery at Lekki Free Trade Zone, a visionary scheme he initiated as Governor of Lagos State in 2005 in a stroke of Socratic ingenuity. Instead of being present with President Buhari at the commissioning, he sent his vice Shettima so that the present Goverment could carry the glory.

It was remarkable that Aliko Dangote himself referred to Tinubu as the “Asiwaju of Nigeria” on that important date to Nigeria’s economic history. In Yoruba, Asiwaju means the Leader.

Tinubu’s deft footworks actually reminded us of Nicollo Machaiavelli’s legendary postulation: “Power is alluring and infectious when you are at the top. But calmness is for the Prince of expectation and manifestiion begins when you are on the throne.”

The incoming President and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces must be ready to deploy more of that strategic humility when in office. There are more challenging times ahead. Two are quite critical: restoring confidence in our Federal Government and the ECONOMY. The Americans call it “Economy, Stupid.”
The first borders on instability in various parts of the country and growing religious intolerance. To fix the second, you have to solve the first. But given Asiwaju’s pedigree, we are assured.

In the annals of human history, there are rare individuals whose indomitable spirit and unwavering determination to succeed enable them to carve out a lasting legacy. One such exceptional man in Nigeria is Chief (Dr) Abu Inu-Umoru. Abu’s remarkable achievements are an inspiration and constitute an attestation that hard work, diligence, industry and humility do pay. Through his relentless pursuit of excellence, Abu has built a business empire that not only stands out as a symbol of his accomplishments, but also as a beacon of hope and inspiration for all those who dare to dream. And dream big too.

ABU’S TENDERFEET: THE MORNING TELLS THE DAY

Chief (Dr) Abu Inu-Umoru clocked 60 on 9th of May, 2023. Every astounding journey begins with a spark of ambition. Our celebrant's story is no different, having breathed the oxygen of life on 9^th of May, 1963.

Born and raised by a father who was also a very successful businessman, Chief Abu, from a very early age, possessed an insatiable quest and hunger for success. Guided by an unwavering belief in his innate abilities, he nurtured his tall dreams and embarked on a path less travelled. He left Nigeria for the United States of America in 1984, to pursue his unwavering love for learning and the desire to improve himself. He got an Associate's Degree from the College of Alameda in California in 1986 and a Bachelor's Degree (B.Sc.) in Business Administration from Central Connecticut State University in Connecticut, in 1989. He is also an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, graduating from the University’s Owner / President Management Course (OPM43) of 2013.

HOW ABU ACHIEVED HIS SUCCESS

The Warrake, Edo State- born business Czar is very intentional. It was this unique attribute, among other things, that EASILY endeared him to his late multi-billionaire father, Alhaji Inu Umoru. He took deliberate steps to establish a position for himself in the financial world, even while his father was still alive. He has continued to do same to date. Hard work and the fear of God are the very foundation upon which this colosus built his octopaedal business empire. He understood very early in life that success is not a coincidence, but rather, a product of persistent and unwavering efforts. Tirelessly dedicating himself to his craft, Abu toiled day and night, honing his skills and striving for excellence. His work ethic became legendary, as he embraced challenges, not as obstacles, but as stepping stones towards his ultimate goal. When Setraco Nigeria Ltd (SNL), one of the companies established by his late business mogul father, was plunged into a N17 billion-debt, Chief Abu Inu Umoru deployed his good corporate practice and experience in exposing financial scams within the company. He started plugging fiscal leakages such that the N17 billion debt portfolio he met, which was largely orchestrated through manipulations of overdrafts with the company’s bankers, was cleared within two years of his finance directorship. Today, SNL has a clean balance sheet, charting once again the trajectory of profitability; and, in fact, owing no bank anywhere in the world. What a story!

ABU UMORU’S BUSINESS CONGLOMERATE

Amongst other endeavours, Abu is currently the Chairman (CEO) of Setraco Nigeria Ltd (a foremost construction giant in Nigeria); Petra Quarries Ltd; (a Mining and Quarrying firm); Aerotek Agro – Allied Company Ltd; (an emerging Mixed Mechanized Farm Estate in Edo; State), Beer Barn Ltd; and Presto Hotels Ltd; just mention a few.

Having grown up in affluence, Abu, unlike many “Aje Butter” children who have their palm kernels cracked for them by a benevolent spirit has transitioned into building his own companies—Hartland Engineering and Construction company and other businesses—from the very scratch, up to a burgeoning empire. He has thus demonstrated his abilities as a successful engineering and construction business mogul. He has continued to subtly use his enduring dedication and family values to avail his siblings the desired leadership with a view to strengthening Setraco Nigeria Limited, the familly tree. He has, through this instrumentality, contributed tremendously to maintaining and expanding the companies and interests that their late patriarch, Chief Inu Umoru, left behind.

ABU’S ABIDING PRINCIPLES

Abu’s unwavering commitment towards the pursuit of his goals became the guiding principle of this visionary man. With an unwavering focus, he relentlessly pursued his dreams, undeterred by man-made setbacks and obstacles. Each failure rather served as a valuable lesson; propelling him forward with renewed vigour and determination. Through his diligence and conscientiousness, he not only built a business empire, but has also fostered an environment where others could thrive. Our visionary man has since built a commonwealth that is poised to withstand the tribulations and trials of time. His visionary leadership, coupled with an unyielding focus on innovation, has transformed industries and left an indelible mark on society. The empire he has built is not just a conglomerate of material wealth; it is a lasting testament to his deep family values and life principles; certainly an embodiment of his unflagging spirit.

YET, ABU REMAINS HUMBLE

Notwithstanding his laudable achievements, Chief (Dr) Abu Inu-Umoru is not arrogant; he also does not practise it. He simply exhibits modesty. He wears humility naturally like a second skin. While many successful individuals succumb to the temptations of arrogance and aphrodisiac trappings of power, Abu, our celebrant, personifies the virtues of diffidence and self-effacement. He understands that true greatness lies, not in personal individualistic accolades and aggradisement, but in the collective success of his team. By treating every person with respect and recognizing their individual contributions and worth, the Edo State University, Iyamoh, honorary Degree holder, has created a culture of collaboration, team work and unity within his business empire. This humility and team spirit have endeared him to those around him, fostering utmost loyalty and dedication among his employees. In celebration of his greatness and humility in all lovely things, the Otaru of Auchi bestowed the title of Kauthar (Abundance; multitude) on him some time ago after spotting him as a shining star in the firmament of Afenmai land. Importantly, Chief (Dr) Abu Inu-Umoru keeps possible human excesses at bay by letting his humility rule the circumstances and subtleties of his social interactions.

ABU’S SUCCESS STORY AS LESSONS FOR OTHERS

We celebrate the uncommon attributes of this quintessential humble man and philanthropist extraordinaire. Abu’s should serve as a great lesson to anyone who has ever harboured any doubts about what humility and industry can do in the life of a great man. Like sweetness draws bees, humility has drawn prayers, compliments, and encouraging remarks from others. These, the All-Powerful God has combined into answered petitions. Additionally, God has added wisdom and a discerning mind to the bouquet of Abu’s rare grace and blessings.

Even at an age of 60, Chief Abu Inu-Umoru has significantly contributed to society in ineffable dimensions, while maintaining a rare level of mental discipline and humility. Abu possesses the necessary skills and means to court the media, embrace to the spotlight and limelight. Yet, he has instead, chosen the noble route of quietude, serenity, restraint and stoicism. But, there's no denying that Chief Abu Inu-Umoru is still at the top of his game. He understands how to build and run his business relationships. He mentors and moulds people. But, he gives all the credit and glory to God Almighty.

I wish this my friend, brother and soul mate a happy birthday as he reaches the milestone of "Diamond" in his life. May you, Abu, experience Gen. 6: 3. Itsee. 

The squabble between the EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa and the outgoing governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Bello Matawalle, is a clear pointer to the difficulty inherent in fighting corruption in the country. The governor has launched virulent attacks against the chairman in an apparent retaliation against the commission’s investigations into his alleged corrupt behaviour. It is a clear case of corruption fighting back, and the EFCC cannot afford to be cowed. It is not uncommon for powerful individuals who are under investigation for corruption to either resist or avoid arrests, but Matawalle is the first governor to publicly claim that the EFCC Chairman had asked him for a bribe. It is particularly disturbing. I have contacted Mr. Bawa and he has vehemently denied the allegations. The federal government should launch thorough and independent investigations into the governor’s accusation to determine the truth. Nigerians would be particularly disillusioned and let down if Bawa is not above board. His appointment as the commission’s fourth executive chairman in February 2021 elicited excitement for many good reasons. He was just 41 and the first product of the EFCC Academy and the first non-police officer to assume the position. In a way, he represents the yearnings of young Nigerians who earnestly want to play some parts in managing the affairs of their country. I had written an article entitled ‘’Agenda for the New EFCC Chairman’’, asking him to do a thorough job and not to let his generation and the nation down.

 The EFCC is investigating Gov. Matawalle over allegations of corruption, award of phantom contracts and diversion of over N70 billion from government’s coffers into personal accounts. The commission avers that the money was sourced as a loan from a bank by the Zamfara State government ostensibly to fund some projects across the state, but was allegedly diverted by the governor through proxies and contractors who received payments for contracts that were not executed. According to the EFCC, over 100 companies have received payments from the N70 billion loan, with no evidence of service rendered to the state. Some of the contractors have been interrogated by the commission and they have made startling revelations on how they were allegedly compelled by the governor to return the funds received from the state coffers back to him through his aides after converting them into foreign currencies.

EFCC alleges that one of the contractors, a popular Abuja property developer, collected N6 billion on a N10 billion contract without rendering any service to the state. Another contractor collected over N3 billion for a contract for the supply of medical equipment, but the commission traced a transfer of N400 million from the contractor’s account to a Bureau de Change operator. The contractor, the EFCC says, had confessed that the payment was to procure the dollar equivalent allegedly for the governor. the commission has also recovered N300 million from a company that was also involved in the sleaze.

These accusations are grave and mind boggling. I must commend the commission for doing a thorough forensic investigation. But amazingly, the governor has not denied these allegations, instead, he has making counter allegations, claiming that the EFCC Chairman had asked him for a $2 million bribe, and that he has evidence to prove it. In an interview with the Hausa Service of BBC last week, the governor criticized the seeming obsession of the commission with governors whereas federal officials are not investigated. He also accused the commission of not being transparent in the disposal of confiscated assets. I have also seen a video in which Mr. Bawa is accused of staying in a $15,000-per-room hotel with many of his extended family members during hajj in Saudi Arabia. The narrator wonders how the Chairman, a civil servant, could afford such an expensive hotel accommodation for himself and his family members. Clearly, the accusations are meant to ridicule the EFCC Chairman, embarrass and weaken the commission and eventually throw it offtrack from pursuing the criminal investigations into the activities of the governor. As I said, Mr. Bawa has vehemently denied these allegations. The governor claims that Bawa met him ‘’in a certain house’’. Of course, they couldn’t have met in a beer parlour or bus stop. It has been a common tactic for sleazy persons to attempt to destabilize the commission’s leadership, especially during transition period like now. I recall that Nuhu Ribadu; Farida Waziri and Ibrahim Larmode all suffered similar disgrace in the hands of powerful men. We should call off their bluff.

Mr. Matawalle also made the point that the EFCC is focusing more on the state than the federal government. That is neither here nor there. Are the state governors wrongly accused? Is there any former governor that has been sent to jail for committing no offence? In any case, I know that former federal officials like FFK; Diezani Allison-Madueke; Ahmed Idris (former Accountant General of the Federation) and Sale Mamman (former Minister of Power) have been in the EFCC net for various crimes. If more former governors are being investigated, it speaks to the fact that states’ chief executives control more resources, yet are less oversighted than the ministers. Who does a governor report to when the House of Assembly is in his pocket?

Gov. Bello Matawallwe should bring forth whatever evidence he has against the chairman or, he should report the matter to the ICPC or the Police. The federal government should also launch an investigation into the allegations made by the governor. If it turns out that the governor’s allegations are baseless and fabricated, the Chairman should seek redress in the court of law. The EFCC should conclude its investigations into the affairs of the Zamfara government and prosecute all the culprits. Matawalle should be prevented from sneaking out of the country after May 29. We have seen many instances in the past in which the commission made loud allegations against some politically exposed persons, but eventually failed to prosecute them. Former Governor of Anambra State, Willy Obiano was arrested soon after he handed over to Prof Charles Soludo, detained for a few days and released. Nothing has been heard of that case again till today. The Matawalle case should not be swept under the carpet. The revelations unearthed by the EFCC are staggering. It should also look into the activities of other governors and public officials who are about finishing their terms. We cannot surrender our country to wicked people in powerful positions.

After weeks of being at daggers drawn over the results of the last general elections and with only days to the inauguration of a new government on May 29, one of Nigeria’s three biggest pastimes – food – appears to be bringing people together again. 

On a good day, the country swoons over football or music. In the last two weeks, however, Nigerians up and down the food chain have been flocking to the pot of 27-year-old Hilda Bassey Effiong, fondly called Hilda Baci, who is on the verge of confirmation as the new holder of the Guinness World Records for the longest cooking time. 

Nigeria’s president-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the two other leading contestants – former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) – who have not seen eye-to-eye since the February 25 presidential poll, all lined up nicely behind Hilda’s kitchen from May 11 to 15, invoking the national can-do spirit on social media. For a moment, they buried the hatchet. 

Also, celebrities riven by partisan politics, friends and family, and ordinary folks, defied at least two nights of heavy downpours in Lagos to cheer Hilda. A country deeply divided by the outcome of the elections appears to have found common ground in Hilda’s recipe. 

After four days of dicing, marinating, boiling, frying, baking and grilling, Hilda toppled the 87 hours 45 minutes individual cooking record set by Indian chef, Lata Tandon, three years ago. The Nigerian set a new record of 100 cooking hours, with 55 recipes and more than 100 meals. 

Yet, when Hilda first announced she was going to challenge the record it sounded like a joke, even to her. “I’ve been obsessed about the Guinness Book of Records,” she told TVC, a Nigerian TV station. “It was out of obsession that I randomly asked my brother about five years ago who the holder of the world’s longest cooking record was.”

In a country where four in ten are poor, attempting a record in most fields is a long shot. Hilda had seen misery upfront, especially during COVID-19 when she supported less privileged communities in Lagos with 3000 meals at her own expense and came down with the virus. She certainly does not belong in the class once controversially described by President Muhammadu Buhari as “lazy youths.”

Her mother, Lynda Ndukwe, eked out a living from selling food in open space before she later started “Calabar Pot”, a makeshift eatery in Abuja’s middle-class working area. 

Mrs. Ndukwe struggled to put her children through school and by the time they finished, she had barely enough left in the tank. All she could offer any adventurous child at this time were her prayers and best wishes, though once when Hilda competed in a beauty pageant, her mother parcelled traditional costumes to her over hundreds of miles. 

Though Hilda had tried to make a career as a supporting actor, TV presenter, restaurateur, and Big Brother Africa left-out, if she was ever going to get a shot at her dream of toppling Tandon, the cook-a-thon record holder, she needed to be in form, a far cry from where she was two years ago.

She was having weight problems and had undergone liposuction, a process which she later described as one of the darkest periods of her life. To come through that period and announce a plan to challenge the world’s record holder, a task that would test even the very fit seemed like a bridge too far.

Yet, Hilda was willing to try. Before her surgery that year, she competed in the continent’s hottest culinary warfare – that triangular title race among Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria over a dish of long-grain rice mixed with spicy stew aptly named the Jollof Face-off Competition. 

Hilda, representing Nigeria, beat Ghana’s Leslie Kumordzie to win the prize money of $5,000, which seeded her dream for a modest online restaurant service, “@Myfoodbyhilda”, with the tagline, “Made with love”.

But love alone won’t pay bills. Or make dreams happen. Hilda took her fate into her own hands and left Abuja, her comfort zone where she had been with her mother, on a journey to the unknown. 

“Moving to Lagos was definitely a turning point for me,” she told The Nation newspaper in an interview shortly before she announced her cook-a-thon date. “The challenges I faced pretty much prepared me for this point. I did a nine-to-five and worked two jobs at a point. I worked as a cook. When I quit, I started my own show on DSTV. It was called ‘Dine on a Budget.’”

Lagos, Nigeria’s hustle capital described in local folklore as the teaching place of the laggard and slothful, taught Hilda more than how to dream big. It instilled in her the appetite to pursue her dream and also opened her up to a wider network. 

After operating from a tiny restaurant for the first two years, using mainly home delivery service, she opened her first big spot in 2022 with four staff and kept her fire burning by offering online culinary lessons. She even awarded cash prizes to the best-performing students. 

By March this year when Hilda officially announced her intention to challenge Tandon’s record, she had amassed both a culinary army of supporters and some experience for the task. She also spent hours in mental and physical drills. But as she would find when the cook-a-thon started, the taste of a marathon is in the grind.

“I almost gave up six hours after I started,” Hilda told LEADERSHIP. “I was tired and couldn’t go on. But I was encouraged by my mother who stood by me for 14 hours and gave me strength.”

Her mother and the country were rooting for her. In five days, her Instagram followers grew from 50k to 1.2m. In the days after she reached the 100 hours mark, the accolades and offers of endorsement have not stopped coming. 

“One of my biggest goals is that I want Nigerian recipes to be propagated across the world,” she said. “I want it to be a normal thing to make Egusi (melon) soup in an American environment, to walk into any random supermarket and find Nigerian ingredients. I also want to inspire young people, especially girls.”

Yet, even before her dish is cold or her record is confirmed by Guinness World Records, which sometimes takes up to 12 weeks, competitors are snapping at her heels. 

Two chefs – Liberian Wonyean Aloycious Gaye, and Kenyan chef Maliha Mohammed (who twice broke the cooking marathon record), have signalled they would challenge Hilda, drawing Nigerian trolls who are angry that competitors can’t wait to rain on Hilda’s parade.

The culinary queen is obviously offering her cheerleaders what is absent in the menu of politicians. And they’re not in a hurry to leave her table.

MUHAMMADU Buhari, president of Nigeria since 2015, will leave office on Monday, May 29, after eight disastrous years. The late Chief Bola Ige famously coined the phrase, “good riddance to bad rubbish”. That, truth be told, is the best way to describe the exit of Buhari, his presidency and his government from power.

For the past eight years of Buhari’s administration have been an unmitigated failure; a monumental waste of time, of resources, and of the hopes and aspirations of a nation and a people.

True stewardship is leaving a place better than one found it. But Buhari is leaving Nigeria far worse than he found it in 2015.

On any metric, Nigeria sunk deeper into an abyss under Buhari. Without a doubt, he’s the worst civilian leader Nigeria has, so far, had! No previous civilian president showed such aloofness, such indifference, such arrogance and such utter lack of competence and vision in governing Nigeria. None!

Before becoming president in 2015, Buhari had been a military head of state. But he was so calamitous that his colleagues removed him from power within 20 months. Yet, he enjoyed the privileges of a former head of state: the highest national honour, GCFR, permanent membership of the Council of State, numerous financial and other material benefits, and the prestige of being treated as an “institution”. So, what else did Buhari want? Why did he want to inflict himself on Nigeria as president, despite his irredeemable leadership flaws and acute intellectual weakness?

A comparison with General Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s other military-cum-civilian leader, is opposite. When General Obasanjo left office as military head of state in 1979, he threw himself into policy analysis, founded the Africa Leadership Forum, a policy think-tank, engaged in international diplomacy, read and wrote. Obasanjo didn’t plan to be president. Serendipitously, he became president in 1999. With his experience and exposure, he hit the ground running, embarked on radical institution-building, negotiated and secured debt relief for Nigeria. Obasanjo had flaws, but inept or ineffectual government wasn’t one of them!

By contrast, after his failed military regime, Buhari’s consuming passion was to become a civilian president. But he did nothing to improve himself intellectually; nothing to develop a vision of governance, a vision for Nigeria. Indeed, according to the late Junaid Mohammed, an ally-turned-critic, Buhari “never read a book in his adult life”. Yet, such an intellectually lazy person wanted desperately to be Nigeria’s president.

So desperate, in fact, he entered into a Faustian pact to achieve the selfish, inordinate ambition. Buhari ran for president three times and failed! After the third attempt, he wept on national television. Bola Tinubu’s immortal words: “I told him, ‘Don’t cry. You will contest and win.’” But Tinubu had his price. If he helped Buhari to become president, Buhari would, once in power, help him to become president. Both traded the presidency of Nigeria between each other on the altar of personal ambitions!

In 1984, Buhari jailed Tinubu’s ally, Bisi Akande, for 42 years for “unlawful enrichment of his party”. If 2015 were1984, Buhari would have jailed Tinubu for hundreds of years for far worse: state capture, unexplained and inexplicable wealth. But, no, 2015 was not 1984. In the intervening years, Buhari had become a politician and desperately wanted to be president. His famed no-nonsense anti-graft zeal, as a military ruler, had gone, and he was willing to make “a pact with the Devil” and sell his soul. That’s how he became president!

But if someone was so desperate to be president and willing to compromise his values and fraternise with those he would have jailed for corruption in another dispensation, he must be pursuing power for power’s sake. And truth is, power was an end in itself for Buhari. Otherwise, why was there no fidelity between what he promised when seeking power in 2015 and what he did after gaining power?

Take the seemingly mundane: trappings of power. Buhari had a reputation for asceticism and frugality with money, but, as president, became utterly profligate, spending like a drunken sailor, including on wasteful overseas trips. Buhari vowed to sell off some presidential jets but bought more and spent billions annually to maintain them. Buhari said his wife won’t be called First Lady, yet created the Office of First Lady and lavishly resourced it.

Recently, Buhari gloated: “I got all I wanted.” Of course, he did: for himself, his family, his cronies, and his party. But what about Nigeria? What about majority of Nigerians? With N77trn or $42bn debt, 22 per cent inflation and just 1.4 per cent growth, Nigeria is economically worse under Buhari. With 63,111 killed since 2015, 133 million multidimensionally poor and nearly 60 per cent youth unemployment, Nigerians are socio-economically worse. Indeed, under Buhari, Nigeria became the “poverty capital of the world”. Yet, despite his abysmal failure, Buhari craved praise-singing, basked in dishonest adulation.

Last week, two books were launched to honour Buhari. One, by Anthony Goldman, one-time Africa Editor of Financial Times, is titled State of Repair: How Muhammadu Buhari tried to change Nigeria for good.

The author couldn’t bring himself to say Buhari “changed Nigeria”, but “tried to”, which is even false. But if Buhari hired a former Africa Editor of the FT to burnish his image, what does the newspaper’s current Africa Editor think of him? In a scathing article titled: “What is Nigeria’s Government for?”, David Pilling pilloried Buhari “on whose somnolent watch Nigeria has sleep- walked closer to disaster.”

Well, not for Abu Ibrahim, a former senator, who wrote the second book, a hagiography, titled: The legacy of Muhammadu Buhari. But what “legacy”? Buhari promised to tackle insecurity, fix the economy and “give corruption a bloody nose”. He failed woefully. His government bungled a currency redesign and conducted a sham presidential election. So, what legacy? What about infrastructure, some ask? But only the economically illiterate will hail infrastructure funded entirely with debts, still payable decades after the roads, rails, ports, etc., have become decrepit, with over 95 per cent debt service to revenue ratio.

So, as Buhari exits power on Monday, he leaves behind a far less secure, stable, united and prosperous country. That’s the legacy of his presidency, of eight wasted years. Good riddance, indeed!

The sublime and evergreen words of Williams Shakespeare “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts; a justification therefrom alludes to a man who truly, justly, consciously and genuinely in his time has played a million and one parts as a distinct Nigerian lawyer, renowned political figure who is a symbol of Nationalism. A distinctive personality, global asset in public leadership, both within and beyond the shores of this great country. A man of distinct wisdom, inquired and sought by several governments, as an official appointee and otherwise for the contribution of his esteemed quota to the development of the country, since the days of General Yakubu Gowon up till today, an unrelenting fighter and comprehensively a builder of not just men but structures as well the founder of Edwin Clark University.

Papa’s life aptly illustrates a charge made by Williams Shakespeare that ‘Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them’.

The existence of this rare gem and living legend radiates greatness that’s truly, largely and chiefly exists in his DNA, not only since birth, but as evident in his accomplishments.

This would further be appreciated looking through his enviable pedigree and intimidating profile of this man of valor who was once a Commissioner for Education, Finance and Establishment in the old Bendel State in the 70s, Federal Minister for Information and National Orientation during the civil war till 1975, when General Gowon’s regime was terminated. Also, as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1983, and today, indisputable leader of the Ijaw Nation among others.

Knowing and having a rare privilege of being closely associated with His Eminence, Senator, Chief, Sir, Dr, Edwin Kiagbodo Clark for about a score of years has not only aided in grooming me, but has laid within me an imprint of this great personality in my career as a Legal Practitioner, as some of his enormous principles and unquenchable thirsts and foresights till date still guide in some of my approaches to becoming greater daily.

Sire, on this day, of your 96th birthday anniversary, I join the conglomerate of your children, associates and the world at large to celebrate you, the man of the moment, the voice to the voiceless, the peace in the turbulent storm, the quantum of social justice and the definition of a worthy patriot.

PIn accordance to the words of the holy Bible in Psalm 90:12 “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom”. I pray that your wisdom will never diminish as you age, that the Almighty who has kept you this far will further preserve you with long life, good health, continuous joy and all-round blessings in accordance to your heart desires.

Happy Birthday, G-O-G-O-R-O-G-O, may your light continue to shine!

Dated Thursday, 25th May, 2923

Signed
Dr Kayode Ajulo, FCIArb. UK

CASTLE OF LAW,
21, Amazon Street,
Maitama District, Abuja-Nigeria
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The thought alone of travelling from Lagos to Ibadan using the Expressway is nightmarish. As you get to Oworonsoki the sensing of what may lie ahead hits you, and this develops into fears as you surmount the Ojota flyover. Then comes the sight of long stretches of vehicles on both sides of the road from the old Toll Gate—heavy-duty vehicles: fuel tankers, trailers and tippers; cars of all shades and of all kinds; different models and varied sizes. The Otedola/Berger axis gives palpitations. By the time you approach the Isheri Bridge and overlooking OPIC Estate to the left, it is the face of ugliness and national shame. By the time you get into the thick of the traffic jam, the legs are already aching. When it gets to this stage, totally entrapped, you surrender and say to yourself, and loud enough to the hearing of the driver: We are in it; we have no choice. Tempers rise to your left and to your right, and there is hissing; there is foul language. It is confusion galore. And typical of Nigerians, everywhere is road. Orderliness is alien to our lexicon. A neighbour of mine, a retired school principal, almost lost one of his legs on the road. He and his wife were returning from Ibadan last year. They had sat for two hours in the traffic after the now famous Long Bridge. The man got down from their vehicle to stretch his legs. He said to the driver: “You catch up with me in front; I want to stretch my legs.” He followed a footpath. Unsuspecting that any vehicle would want to use the rough patch, he walked confidently. Alas, a commercial mini-bus we call ‘Danfo’ came stealthily behind him, no blasting of horn, nothing, pushed him down and ran over his left foot!

The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was commissioned by General Olusegun Obasanjo in 1978, built by the Murtala Mohammed-Obasanjo Military Administration. A dual carriageway, it stretches from Apapa Port running through Liverpool Street, Oshodi, Oworonsoki off to the old Toll Gate and from there to Ibadan. By the time Obasanjo staged his second coming 21 years after, that is 1999, parts of the road had started to give way. By 2006 and 2007, he developed thoughts of fixing the road through the novel public –private partnership. When Umaru Yar’Adua came into the saddle in 2007, he took over from there. Yar’Adua’s plan was to manifest properly in 2009. Thus, 31 years after the commissioning, the civilian Administration of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua commenced moves to reconstruct the damaged road through the public-private arrangement. The expressway is 127.6 kilometres long, that is 79.3 miles. The concession bid was won by Bi-Courtney Highway Services Limited. The content of the 25-year concessionary agreement signed by the Federal Government in 2009 was Build, Operate, and Transfer. When after four years the signing of the agreement and the project could not take off, Yar’Adua’s successor, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan revoked the concession arrangement. He gave the project on contract to Julius Berger and Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) Limited in 2013 for a sum of N167 billion, equivalent to $838, 986,290 million US Dollars. Dr. Wale Babalakin as company chairman and the concessionaire was expected to source for his own funds and recoup his investment by mounting toll gates on the expressway upon completion of the reconstructuring.

Julius Berger was given the Lagos end to handle while RCC was given the Ibadan end to handle. President Jonathan promised that the work would be delivered within 48 months. Jonathan, too, did not get the contractors to deliver. The project was inherited by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. Since then he has been struggling with it, announcing delivery dates three times. He is leaving on Monday with promises made three times and three times, promises not kept. He is passing the baton to Bola Ahmed Tinubu from that date.

For 14 years, Nigerians have had to endure pains daily in untold harrowing gridlocks on the expressway that has also claimed several lives, and there is not yet light at the end of the long dark tunnel. Following are complaints uploaded and mailed to me from a platform being run by some of the people who live in areas abutting the expressway:

*I just enter office now oo… (16: 53pm) from 6.18am wey I comot house..jbn God dey o. Na so my hubby spent over 7hrs on Monday. People wey still dey road, una go land safely oo.

*“Are JBN not tired of partitioning? In short, if a genuine, effective and efficient constructing six lanes from Benin Republic to Ghana, they would have finished by now but JBN wants to incapacitate Nigerians before completion of less than four kilometre road. God will help us, but we need to shout if possible or else,the gridlock will consume road users.”

*The truth is that they care less about the wellbeing of the masses. Lives have lost in the course of this so-called road rehabilitation and the government has decided to turn a deaf ear to the cry of the people,”

*For me, I’m not happy with JB lackadaisical attitude. After about 1hour 30mins spent between Kara to Otedola. I saw LASMA officials using leg to remove blockages on Otedola Bridge around 8.30am. I think JB can do better than this.

*Three hours from Magboro and still counting. Now at Kara Bridge. If you have little or nothing urgent to do in Lagos just rest today and save your life from stress.

*Yes, the traffic from Long Bridge to Berger is thick…

*E pass thick ooo.

*Traffic starts from second Red Roof inward Lagos.

*There is a multiple accident involving a tanker truck and about five/seven cars.

*Good afternoon, JBN is working at New Garage outward Lagos; they are demarcating the road. Hmmmm, they are just compounding our stress, or have they opened any other area out of the previous demarcations?

*OPIC end of Lagos Expressway inward Lagos is experiencing heavy traffic due to diversion point at new garage as at 6.56am.

*A country full of lawlessness everywhere. Those that make the laws are seen at the fore front of breaking it. May God continue to keep us safe.

*The carnage on this their (our?) road is indescribable. Must it be this administration to commission the road? Are you commissioning the road for the living or the dead? If the tempo being used ab initio, by now we would have forgotten about the untold sufferings inflicted on us. Y are we like this as a people?”

Last year, the Federal Government announced yet another deadline for the completion of the reconstruction works on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Fielding questions on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on the way out of the perennial gridlock, the Director, Federal Highway — South-West Zone, Federal Ministry of Works, Mr. Adedamola Kuti, said: “We are working very hard to meet the December 2022 deadline for the completion of works on the road.
He added: “On the Lagos end, which is Section 1 from the old Toll Gate, around the secretariat down towards Kara, as we speak, a section up to Otedola Bridge will be completed and opened in the next few days. The OPIC Area that is just 1.3km will also be completed. On the stretch, altogether is 6.1km.

“When you go towards Section 2, we have just about 20kilometres on both sides. We are working very hard to make sure the work is completed on time, by December this year.”

Twice after Kuti’s assurances, the deadline was shifted to January and then to April 30. April ending has come and gone. This is May already running to an end. Rains have begun and meteorological service officials have alerted the nation that rains this year will be more than last year’s. The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is the busiest in Africa with 250, 000 vehicles plying the road daily. It connects the East, the North, the North-Central, South-South and South-West with Lagos, the economic hub not only of Nigeria but of West Africa as a whole. By the time Buhari vacates office on Monday, the reconstruction of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway would have passed through the hands of four Presidents. And it has taken 14 years to rebuild a road of 127.6 kilometres! What further evidence is there to prove to the world that we as Nigerians are indeed a unique people? Where there is no shame, there can be no embarrassment!

THE CREATION QUESTION
I have run what now amounts to a two-part series on how Creation came into existence. I must state that I only gave hints, leaving out the details to anyone serious about knowledge of life and existence to dig out by himself. Seek, we are admonished, and ye shall find. It is a Law of Creation that he who seeks finds. This column, as has been stated a few times, is to awaken souls to seek higher knowledge; to seek what is high and noble; to ask the most important questions of our lives: Who am I? Where does my path lead me when I depart earthly life? Treating the issue of Creation, I did not, for example, mention the roles of the Four Conscious Animals at the Throne of the Most High God in creating nor did I mention at all the Queen of Heaven Whose name is Elizabeth who is eternal nor Parsifal, a unique Name that students of Literature may claim familiarity with when they recall the Parsifal legend – -in the sublimity of His unapproachable Throne. What do we men know? The vastness of Realms and Planes in Creation which vastness is incomprehensible and, indeed, inconceivable to man! Didn’t the Lord say “In my Father’s House are many mansions”? But the modern man unable to comprehend the revelation has, in some instances, changed the word ‘mansions’ to ‘rooms’ thereby distorting the essence of the pronouncement. How can there be mansions in a house? The modern man must have said to himself. Whereas, the House the Lord refers to is Creation and the mansions, Realms and Realms in Creation that is His Father’s Work. In the Realms are also planes of existence, again so unbelievably vast. The Lord Who is Perfection can never be wrong; it is man that can be and is always wrong and obstinate! We must bow our spirits in worshipful adoration of the Lord and Creator, in adoration of His Holy Name for the Grace of His Love and Mercy.