Lagos, Nigeria - We are pleased to announce that Ehi Braimah, the publisher of Naija Times, has been selected as a recipient of the University of Roehampton's 20th Anniversary Chancellor Alumni Award.

This prestigious recognition is a testament to Braimah's dedication, passion, and outstanding contributions to his field. He will be honoured at an exclusive event on October 22, 2024, at the Lime Tree Suite, Elm Grove, University of Roehampton, London.

Braimah completed his MBA degree at the University of Roehampton in 2016 and is excited to be recognised among an impressive pool of talented alumni. He expressed his gratitude, saying, "This recognition means so much to me, especially being part of a large community of alumni comprising great minds and talented professionals."

The Chancellor's Alumni Award recognises the outstanding achievements, success, and impact of Roehampton alumni worldwide. Braimah's selection is a reflection of his hard work and commitment to excellence.

We congratulate him on this well-deserved recognition and look forward to celebrating his success on October 22.

Signed,

Toby Udo

For Naija Times Newspaper

Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has announced the appointment of Engr. Chijioke Okwuokenye as the acting Managing Director, with immediate effect.

This appointment, which is part of the transformation agenda of the company, will see Engr. Okwuokenye drive the positioning of AEDC as the foremost, customer-focused electricity distribution company in the Nigerian power sector.

Prior to his appointment, he served as the company’s Chief Operating Officer, where he oversaw strategic support units and embedded generation projects of the company. He brings to the role a wealth of experience and expertise in the power sector, as well as a passion for the attainment of the vision for the Nigerian electricity supply industry.

Speaking on the appointment, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Stanley I. Lawson, said, “Chijioke Okwuokenye is an experienced leader who has been a part of the company’s transformation agenda and is well suited to drive its corporate turnaround. I am confident that, with his technical and commercial background, he will continue to drive value for all AEDC stakeholders”.

The company also announced the appointment of Olumide Jerome as the Chief Operating Officer. Prior to this, he served as one of the company’s Chief Business Officers. He will drive efficiency and operational excellence across the company as part of his new responsibilities.

Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc (AEDC) is an electricity distribution company in Nigeria, committed to delivering dependable electricity to millions across the nation's key commercial centres - Federal Capital Territory (Abuja), Kogi, Niger, and Nasarawa states.

In May 2023, a Transcorp-led consortium, became the core investor in AEDC, following its 60% acquisition of the company's shares. Since this strategic acquisition, the company has intensified efforts to upgrade substations, expand distribution networks, and integrate cutting-edge technologies, to enhance power supply reliability and operational efficiency. AEDC prioritizes customer experience and consistently strives to create value for all stakeholders, while contributing to the socioeconomic development of the regions it serves.

For inquiries, please contact:
Adefisayo Akinsanya
Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Abuja Electricity
Distribution Company (AEDC)
08030507514 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

“The West prescribed the bitter medicine which Tinubu has been administering to us. The western press hailed Tinubu when he pronounced subsidy dead on May 29, 2023 and pushed the naira downhill. They described him as a star reformer, almost putting on him the messiah’s cassock. But the patient is now in a coma and they say something else about their lovely doctor and his competence. Read this: “In the nearly 15 months since Bola Tinubu became president, he has forced his 220 million fellow Nigerians to swallow some bitter medicine. He removed a generous fuel subsidy, one of the few benefits citizens receive from their inefficient and corrupt state. He allowed the country’s currency, the naira, to enter free fall, fuelling imported inflation and triggering the worst cost of living crisis in a generation.” It is difficult to believe that this statement you just read came from an editorial published last week by the Financial Times. That is a newspaper that hailed Tinubu last year when he withdrew subsidy on petrol and floated the naira. In an October 3, 2023 editorial, the newspaper said he “started well” and “with a bang” by removing “a costly fuel subsidy and in shifting towards a market-driven exchange rate which has sharply weakened a previously overvalued currency…” Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.”

An old friend reviewed the ways of this government and said he thought Bola Tinubu should be afraid of the Greeks. “Yes, especially if they come with gifts,” I added to my friend’s warning. He smiled; I nodded. In that short conversation, we had just gone through the mythical Trojan War, the Greek story of a siege, a gift, a city and its destruction.

For ten years, the Greeks and the Trojans fought a war which you and I would describe today as senseless. A Trojan prince eloped with the wife of a Greek (Spartan) king and because of that, a decade-long war had to ensue and thousands had to die. David Bevington, Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago and world authority on Shakespeare, says the causes of the Trojan war were “the betrayal of love, the absence of heroism and the emptiness of honour.”

More than once, you’ve read and heard about ‘Greek Gift’. That expression is from that war of the stone walls of the city of Troy and a grueling Greek siege on the city for a full decade. Troy’s igneous walls won’t let the Greeks in for ten bad years, the besieging warrior king dropped his spears and shields; he changed his strategy and tactics. He went for guileful warmth to get what swords and fires couldn’t fetch him. The Greek built a giant wooden horse and donated it to the gates of Troy. The Greek king dropped the artful gift and then sailed his army’s ships out of sight.

The Trojans thought the Greek had gone back home in frustration. The Trojans took the horse as a gift of peace from their enemy. They thought wheeling it into their city and even worshipping it wouldn’t be a bad idea. A lone voice belonging to a priest warned the Trojan General and his troops against having anything to do with the horse gift from the Greeks: “Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes (Fear the Greeks, even those bearing gifts).” The priest’s warning rang round the city. But the voice of caution was drowned in the Trojan ocean of a binge party. They said what is this one saying? They had defeated the Greeks who even left the horse as a gesture of peace. The ‘valiant’ Trojans wined, they dined and danced in a celebration of victory. Then they all went to sleep, blind drunk. One historian wrote that while they were in that state of stupid stupor, “a host of armed soldiers crept out from the belly of the horse and opened the city gates. Troy was overrun and destroyed and the ‘Trojan Horse’ became revered as one of the most successful military tactics ever.” The story is told in Homer’s Iliad; in Shakespeare’s ‘Troilus and Cressida’ and in Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘Troilus and Criseyde.’

Now, the Greeks are surrounding the Nigerian Troy. Some persons clapped or feigned sleep while Muhammadu Buhari’s regime raped town and gown, forest and flowers. They are now crying war and threatening to cross the Rubicon and confront Pompey. It is interesting. They are threatening a protest for early next month. “It is treason,” the government has warned. It has also told the dog handlers to put their canine on a leash. We hope they listen. We also hope the government shuts them up by doing good and draining its swamp of excessive wetland of mosquitoes.

The protest pledgers, like master wrestlers, even gave a definite date – August 1. We call it Ogun Àwítélè (Foretold War). There is a popular play of that title by Adebayo Faleti, late Yoruba playwright of excellence. A band of robbers write to a town of hunters that they are coming to rob and pillage the people and their palace. And the thieves truly come as promised. But how are they received? Well, the robbers fail, not because they are not worthy of their promise, but because their intended victims are not led by arrogance and ignorance. The community of hunters win because it is not commanded by chiefs who are deaf to reason and receptive to disruptive flattery.

The Nigeria we have today is a forest of the heartless – Igbó òdájú in Yoruba. In the last years of Goodluck Jonathan as president of Nigeria, he received many Greeks into his fold. And almost all of them came with one ‘gift’ or the other. A prominent politician (from the North) told one of my female friends: We will help him to make enemies. We will turn him against his true friends and turn the people against him. Nothing he works on will work. My friend reported that encounter to me and we agreed to watch as events unfolded. It turned out that the promise was delivered as promised. As I type this, I see Troy and its history repeating themselves.

I hope Tinubu takes ownership of himself at this moment and listens to his inner voice. I think his wife should get for him ‘Iwe Itan Ibadan’ published in 1911 by Oba I. B. Akinyele. It is a book of ambition, gallantry, treachery, bravery,
conspiracy, flattery, rebellion, private and public protests, justice and fairness, deposition, even, forced suicide. Tèmbèlèkun is the Yoruba word for mixtures of conspiracies and insurrections. There are more than a slew of it in the book. Reading it may help our man now that the jungle is maturing. But, why am I even writing this? Meddlesome interloper. A Lilliputian reporter telling the powerful how to use his limitless powers.

Some people advised President Muhammadu Buhari not to withdraw subsidy on petrol during the pendency of his presidency. They said if he did it, it would make him hugely unpopular. He sidestepped it. The same people are around his successor now telling him that today’s excessively expensive petrol can still sell for any amount per litre, and that nothing will happen if he endorses it. That is how you charge a child that is not yours – you send them on an errand with an order that they must come back home no matter how late. A child who would not get lost in the darkness of the way would take direct charge of his journey.

The West prescribed the bitter medicine which Tinubu has been administering to us. The western press hailed Tinubu when he pronounced subsidy dead on May 29, 2023 and pushed the naira downhill. They described him as a star reformer, almost putting on him the messiah’s cassock. But the patient is now in a coma and they say something else about their lovely doctor and his competence. Read this: “In the nearly 15 months since Bola Tinubu became president, he has forced his 220 million fellow Nigerians to swallow some bitter medicine. He removed a generous fuel subsidy, one of the few benefits citizens receive from their inefficient and corrupt state. He allowed the country’s currency, the naira, to enter free fall, fuelling imported inflation and triggering the worst cost of living crisis in a generation.” It is difficult to believe that this statement you just read came from an editorial published last week by the Financial Times. That is a newspaper that hailed Tinubu last year when he withdrew subsidy on petrol and floated the naira. In an October 3, 2023 editorial, the newspaper said he “started well” and “with a bang” by removing “a costly fuel subsidy and in shifting towards a market-driven exchange rate which has sharply weakened a previously overvalued currency…” Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.

Today’s lord of Abuja, just like his predecessors, loves Greeks and their graven gifts. Among the Greeks are the lawmakers housed in our federal capital. They enact any law that gives erection to their purse. Tinubu so much loves them because the gifts they give are what Caesar craved – imperator perpetuo. The losers, ultimately, are the lawmakers. Almost a century ago, Roger V. Shumate in his ‘A Reappraisal of State Legislatures’ published in January 1938 said the legislature was largely seen as a haven for “ward heelers, petty politicians and yokels”. He adds that the disquisition could even be worse with some people saying lawmakers “are more or less equally engaged in clowning and enacting laws designed to loot the public treasury or to favour some special interest at the expense of the common good.”

The battle for Abuja has always been intense because it is a Treasure Island. Read Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 classic adventure novel of that title; read the sequel, ‘Return to Treasure Island’ (1985) by John Goldsmith; read the sequel to the sequel – ‘Silver: Return to Treasure Island’ (2012) by Andrew Motion. Read all about the ugliness of the pirates in those stories. Read about mutiny, about murder, sword fights, about treachery and – blood-curdling romance. The island called Abuja will always be in turmoil as long as unearned treasures are there for pirates to pillage.

All these take us back to the urgent need to make Nigeria work as a federation. At independence, our constitution provided enough safeguards and guardrails against ambitious corrosion from an excessively opulent centre. John P. Mackintosh’s ‘Nigeria Since Independence’ (1964) says it well. He says the independence constitution provided “both the Federal Government and the regions with adequate independent sources of revenue. The central government was allocated most of the import and excise duties, corporation taxes, and death duties, while the regions had income tax, export duties on primary produce, import duties on tobacco and petrol, and a half of mineral royalties and rents. Some revenues had to be paid by the central government into a distributable pool and this was then allocated according to fixed proportions among the regions.”

Read the above again: The regions took half of mineral royalties and rents. Crude oil and gold and other precious stones are minerals. The regions took export duties on primary produce. Cocoa, cotton, groundnuts and palm oil are primary produce. These are what a centralised structure took away from the regions when it splintered them into states. The federal government bites more than its share of the Nigerian cake. Yet, it wants more.

The federal government keeps creating offices and duties for itself because it has careless, excess funds in its kitty. The creation of a livestock ministry is one of such errant actions. The bill on federal agency for local government election is another. We don’t know what else is yet on their to-do list on how to undo this federation. At independence, the centre knew its limits and rarely went beyond its bounds. On the powers of the constituent units, Mackintosh recalls that the constitution provided as follows: “The Federal Government was charged with foreign affairs, defence, external borrowing, the currency, capital issues, customs and excise, control of the exchange rate, shipping, railways, trunk A roads, posts and telegraphs, and aviation. There was a concurrent list, the main items being industrial development, labour conditions and relations, water, power, and higher education, while the regions were left all residual powers. Of these, the most important were health, education, agriculture, public works, and secondary roads, so that the regions could engage in their own economic development.” That was the constitution the British gave us.

A leader is as good (and bad) as his advisers are. Look at how the planners of Abuja designed the axle of power there. There is in there the three-arms zone: The lawmaker, the law giver and the law breaker. The principalities of Nigeria lie right there – with all the puns embedded. Collectively they are leading us into a situation almost like Ruben Östlund’s ‘Triangle of Sadness’ – a 2022 comedy drama in which a couple “sails on a lavish cruise ship” led by a drunk captain. And, as a reviewer says “what seems glamorous at first comes to a horrific end, with survivors battling for life on a barren island.”

Former United States President and Republican Party candidate in the upcoming election, Donald Trump, has revealed that billionaire businessman, Elon Musk, donates $45 million to his campaign fund monthly.

Trump disclosed this while speaking at a recent rally in Michigan.

“Elon [Musk] endorsed me the other day, and I read, I didn’t even know this, he didn’t even tells me about this but he gives me $45 million a month.

“I just talked to him a while ago that I was coming here and he didn’t even mention it. I mean, other guys, they give you $2 and you gotta to take them to lunch, you gotta wine and dine them. No, this [Elon Musk] is a great guy. He really is.”

Newspot recalls that President Joe Biden accused Elon Musk and other billionaires of trying to “buy” electoral victory for Trump days before he steeped down as the Democratic Party’s candidate.

[Newspot]

Africa’s wealthiest man, Aliko Dangote, says one of his friends who started investing abroad four years ago, has been taunting him over the back and forth with the government in recent times.

Dangote has been having issues with the government over his refinery project in Lagos.

He had earlier narrated how a cabal was blocking his moves to import crude and how it has been difficult to get products, slowing down operations.

But last week, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) said the Nigerian government was yet to license the Dangote refinery to begin operations in the country.

Farouk Ahmed, the chief executive officer (CEO) of NMDPRA, disclosed this while speaking with journalists at the state House on Thursday.

According to Ahmed, the claims of ongoing efforts to scuttle the operations of Dangote refinery due to lack of supply of crude oil by International Oil Companies were not true, adding that the refinery was still at the pre-commissioning stage and has not been licensed yet.

Ahmed added that the diesel product of Dangote was below international standard, a claim which the businessman refuted during an interactive session at the weekend.

In an interview with online newspaper, PREMIUM TIMES, Dangote narrated how a friend whom he tried to talk into being patriotic about Nigeria is now taunting him.

“Four years ago, one of my very wealthy friends began to invest his money abroad. I disagreed with him and urged him to rethink his action in the interest of his country. He blamed his action on policy inconsistencies and shenanigans of interest groups. That friend has been taunting me in the past few days, saying he warned me and that he has been proven right,” Dangote was quoted to have said.

He emphasised that he invested in the project to help solve a major issue in the country, wondering why some persons were working against him.

“As you probably know, I am 67 years old, in less than three years, I will be 70. I need very little to live the rest of my life. I can’t take the refinery or any other property or asset to my grave. Everything I do is in the interest of my country.”

“We have been facing fuel crisis since the 70s. This refinery can help in resolving the problem but it does appear some people are uncomfortable that I am in the picture. So I am ready to let go, let the NNPC buy me out, run the refinery.

“This refinery can help in resolving the problem but it does appear some people are uncomfortable that I am in the picture. So I am ready to let go, let the NNPC buy me out, run the refinery. At least the country will have high-quality products and create jobs,” he added.

The 650,000 barrel-per-day refinery, which came to life last year after a decade of prolonged construction, cost $19 billion, more than double the initial estimate, promising to help wean Africa’s biggest oil producer off its reliance on fuel from overseas and save up 30 per cent of the total foreign exchange spent on importing goods.

[DailyTrust]

The Nigerian government said the era of buying Premium Motor Spirit, known as fuel between N750 to N1000 per liter, is over as it will commission 30,000 Compressed Natural Gas powered vehicles in the next 90 days.

The Project Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, Michael Oluwagbemi, disclosed this during the Park to Park CNG Mobilisation program held at the Ojota Park in Lagos on Saturday.

He said the initiative is expected to gulp N36 billion for 30,000 CNG conversion kits for distribution free of charge nationwide within the period.

The kits and the conversion costs were valued at the rate of N1.2m per vehicle, making a total of N36bn within the next three months.

He stressed that the move was to ensure the adoption of CNG as an alternative fuel for transportation.

“Today, we are here with conversion kits. We have bought over 30,000 of these kits, mainly for distribution in the next 90 days.

“The President has told us that this is not just to end with 30,000 kits, the target is one million kits. We want to make sure all of you can benefit from this government initiative,” he stated.

“The era of buying N750, N800, or N1,000/liter fuel is over. We are not doing that again. We will start using the gas under our feet so that we can buy it at N230/kg,” he stated.

Recall that President Bola Tinubu had ordered all Ministries, Departments and Agencies to procure CNG-powered vehicles as palliative to ease the impact of fuel subsidy removal.

United States Democratic Party presidential hopeful Kamala Harris on Sunday kicked off fundraising activities to succeed President Joe Biden.

Biden dropped off the race on Sunday morning.

Harris, who is the Vice President and Biden’s anointed, sent messages to Americans calling for donations to her campaign.

She described Biden as “one of the finest public servants we will ever know”.

She said she is honoured to have Biden’s support and endorsement.

“And I am eager to run on the record of what Joe and I have accomplished together. We built our country back after our predecessor left it in shambles — making historic progress in reducing prescription drug costs, upgrading our nation’s infrastructure, fighting climate change, and more. We are stronger today because we took action — together — to invest in America’s future.

“I am excited to continue to work toward our vision for a better future for all. If that’s all you need to hear, then make your first donation to fund my campaign today,” Harris added.

[TheNation]

Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, has warned protesters planning an anti-corruption march on Tuesday that they are “playing with fire” and will not be tolerated.

BBC reports on Sunday that the protesters, mostly young Ugandans, are demanding an end to corruption in government and have been inspired by recent demonstrations in neighbouring Kenya.

Museveni was reported to have accused the protest organisers of working with foreigners to cause chaos in Uganda in a televised address, and warned that the government will not allow disruptions to the country’s progress.

“We are busy producing wealth… and you here want to disturb us. You are playing with fire because we cannot allow you to disturb us,” he said.

Police have refused to grant permission for the march, but protest leaders have said they will proceed anyway, citing their constitutional right to peaceful demonstration.

“We don’t need police permission to carry out a peaceful demonstration. It is our constitutional right,” one of the main protest leaders, Louez Opolose, told AFP.

A protester, Shamim Nambasa, speaking with AFP, said, “Our starting point in the fight against corruption is parliament… and the demonstration is on irrespective of what police is saying.”

The march comes amid growing discontent over corruption in Uganda, with the US and UK recently imposing sanctions on high-ranking officials, including parliamentary speaker Anita Annet Among, over allegations of corruption.

Meanwhile, in Kenya, President William Ruto, has called for an end to protests demanding his resignation and an end to “bad governance.”

The protests, which have turned violent at times, have resulted in at least 50 deaths and 413 injuries since June 18, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.

In Nigeria, PUNCH Online understands that a planned protest, scheduled to take place from August 1 to 10, 2024, is gaining momentum across the country.

The demonstration is aimed at drawing attention to the economic challenges faced by Nigerians.

While the protest has garnered support from some quarters, it has also attracted mixed reactions and concerns from various stakeholders.

The Presidency has described calls for the nationwide protests as treasonable.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a post on his X account, claimed that those organising the protests were also behind the “destructive” #EndSARS protests of October 2020.

[Punch]

A New Zealand coroner has formally linked four deaths to the sale of “suicide kits” bought online from a former Canadian chef, according to findings published Monday.

Coroner Alexandra Cunninghame found that three students, aged 18 to 21, and one 40-year-old personal trainer killed themselves after buying kits from businesses linked to Canadian Kenneth Law.

Canadian police believe Law sent as many as 1,200 “suicide kits” to people in more than 40 countries between 2020 and his arrest last year – specifically targeting vulnerable people online.

Canadian prosecutors allege the kits contained a food additive that can kill if misused.

Law was arrested in May 2023 and charged in Canada with 14 counts of murder and a further 14 counts of aiding and counselling suicide.

He has denied the charges.

Alerted by Interpol, several other countries have launched investigations.

In Britain, at least 272 people purchased products from Law’s websites and 88 of them died, police there have said.

In Italy, nine buyers have been identified and at least one victim has died.

The Canadian victims were both male and female between the ages of 16 and 36, according to police.

New Zealand’s Suicide Prevention Office has asked internet service providers to block Law’s website in New Zealand, the coroner added.

PUNCH Online reports that a suicide kit typically refers to a collection of items intended to assist an individual in ending their own life.

These kits can be controversial and raise significant ethical, legal, and moral issues. They often include various substances, tools, or instructions designed to facilitate self-harm or suicide.

AFP

Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, has one straightforward advice for members of his team in the Anambra state executive council (ANSEC): “Be that one man”. The essence of this is to aim for excellence in any role they find themselves. All drivers of the ministries, departments and agencies of government ought to be at the top of their games and must never be found wanting.

Governor Soludo gave the charge after the highly successful presentation of the book, The Power of One Man: How the Soludo-Engineered Consolidation Transformed Nigerian Banks to Global Players, written by Ray Echebiri.

Soludo was that one man who had the courage of his conviction to bring about the 2004 banking revolution in Nigeria with the support of his principal at that time, President Olusegun Obasanjo.

History was made by Soludo on both fronts as an economic adviser and CBN governor. He put to work his charge from the very beginning – to be that one man! And against the unimaginable manner of threats to his safety, he eventually succeeded in transforming the system for good. So when he recently called on his team to be “that one man” he did so out of personal experience — that it is only with that level of commitment by all, that Anambra state can become the liveable and prosperous homeland we yearn for.

As Chinua Achebe, after whom Governor Soludo renamed the Anambra Airport, wrote in his famous classic, The Trouble with Nigeria, “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which is the hallmark of true leadership.”

Ray Echebiri, in his preface to the book, “The Power of One Man points to the significance of leadership recruitment, and the need to get it right in Nigeria. It is a sturdy allusion that if we can have other Nigerians transform the maritime industry, manufacturing industry, insurance industry, capital market, health sector, education sector, the oil and gas industry, etc. just the way Soludo did the banking industry, Nigeria will become the country of our dream, a land flowing with the proverbial milk and honey.”

Let’s recast our minds back in time to understand that the banking revolution that has come to be hailed as the “Soludo Shuffle” was not a piece of cake. It took utmost courage and derring-do for the struggling 89 banks then existing in Nigeria to be reduced to 25 global banking institutions competing on the world stage.

Before the coming of Soludo, Nigerian banks had been the laughing stock of comedians who joked about how Nigerians were reduced to carrying mats to sleep in banks because of delays. The inimitable comic actor, Lomaji Ugorji of “Icheoku” fame, was fond of asking “Where is my tally number?” as a mockery of the numbers then assigned to banks’ customers.

It’s indeed noteworthy that barely one month after then-President Obasanjo appointed Soludo as CBN governor in June 2004, the daring man who was destined to be that one man of change met the Bankers Committee and promptly released a 13-point agenda designed to turn around the country’s financial sector.

Before consolidation, all of the banks in existence in Nigeria put together could not match one South African bank. Through the efforts of Soludo, Nigerian banks were able to go global. The banks opened up offshore branches, thus becoming truly global players in the financial world. New York, Paris, London, and sundry capitals of African countries now count Nigerian banks and bankers among the top players.

Soludo’s revolution came at a personal price as he reveals: “At a personal level, undertaking the banking revolution in Nigeria came with 19 written threats to me and my family, including physical attacks.” He was forced to relocate his family abroad when the threats became unbearable. But his late father was not so lucky. The old man was abducted, beaten and left for dead. He survived but lost one eye to the brutal encounter.

Having demonstrated what a determined man can achieve, one can then imagine what a team of men can do. And that is the context of Soludo’s charge to his commissioners and heads of agencies.

To be that one man, or woman, therefore, it is necessary to heed Azu Ishiekwene, the book reviewer’s advice: “…to succeed and succeed outstandingly, one must be prepared to blow against the wind.”

Nwosu is the commissioner for information in Anambra state.