Indigenous people of Lagos State have said they will never be part of the Western Region or Province, should a purported Bill seeking Nigeria’s return to the regional government system turn out to be true.

The natives, under the aegis of the De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, said this in a statement released by Prince Adelani Adeniji-Adele.

The statement was reacting to a proposed Bill seeking approval of the National Assembly to return Nigeria to an already defunct regional system, which it said is set to be considered by the House of Representatives. 

Although the National Assembly has distanced itself from such a Bill, the group insisted that Lagos State people will not go with the Western Region.

The purported Bill which went viral on social media was titled: “A bill for an act to substitute the annexure to Decree 24 of 1999 with a new governance model for the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

According to the group, the purported Bill was said to have been drafted by an individual, who is reportedly not a federal lawmaker and from whose mouth it slipped that “if Nigeria could return to the old national anthem, why should it not also return to the regional state system of government?”

But De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, unconvinced by the denial, insisted on its position informed by the experience of its leaders in the character of South West people who are now finding it difficult to own up to their plans after they were exposed and what they planned to do with the bill, for reasons best known to them, has been revealed before the plan is hatched.

The group said, “This bill that is being proposed or suggested spells an ominous sign to us from Lagos State. It is a further attempt to subsume our aspiration into a larger group that is antithetical to whatever we believe in as indigenes of the state. The first and most important is that vast consultations were not held on the matter to find out if being submerged into another subgroup is a thing we desire. It cannot be generally assumed. Generally, and since Lagos and its environs became a colony, we have always maintained that we prefer a stand-alone status and not be part of any Western Region or Province.”

[Leadership]

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr. Adewale Bashir Adeniyi has raised an alarm over alleged moves by some people he described as “faceless individuals” to distract him from his duties by attempting to spread misleading information about his record of service.

Adeniyi made the allegation while reacting to an enquiry by the Daily Trust on his record of public service since leaving school, based on some documents made available to this newspaper, including his academic qualifications, and records of his days at the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) before joining the NCS.

Asked whether there were some irregularities in his records as alleged by some individuals, he said that he had nothing to hide, saying that he was aware that certain individuals (not named) were out to distract him from carrying out his lawful duties.

He said that he rose to the pinnacle of his career through hard work, dedication and sacrifice, with unblemished record of service, adding that “when you set out to fight corruption in a clime like ours, corruption will always fight back”.

The Customs CG said together with his team, he is dedicating his energy and expertise to helping to actualise President Bola Tinubu’s agenda of building a stronger and more virile economy for the country. 

“I want to assure you that I will not be distracted at all,” he said.

One of the documents made available to Daily Trust indicated that in documenting for the Customs job, Adeniyi did not carry forward his years of service in the NRC.

Those who made available the documents alleged that he ought to have eased himself from the public service, as he had attained the retirement ceiling both by age and his years in service.

According to the documents, the Customs CG was born on January 19, 1964, and he reached 60 years of age on January 19, 2024, by which time he should have retired based on public service rules.

Another document showed that after graduating from the Modakeke High School, in 1979, when he wrote the West African School Certificate, he was employed into the service of the Nigerian Railway Corporation in 1981.

It indicated that he was with the NRC as a casual worker up till 1990, when he was employed into the service of the NCS as an officer. 

Daily Trust confirmed from some sources that it was midway into his engagement with the NRC as a casual worker that Adeniyi applied and secured permission to pursue further studies to foster his chances of upward mobility in public service.

He was admitted into the Obafemi Awolowo University, where he read International Relations from 1984 to 1988, after which he returned to continue work until his employment in the Nigeria Customs Service in 1990.

Thereafter, he bagged a Master of Arts Degree in Communication Science at the Universitaire Svizzera D’Italiana (USI) – Lugano-Switzerland, in November 2013.

A summary of his career profile showed that he was a deputy comptroller-general with cognate experience in Customs administration covering strategic and operational responsibilities.

“He possesses a deep understanding of the complex and constantly evolving international trade landscape. He has a strong command of customs regulations, laws, and procedures as well as the ability to navigate and adapt to changing policies and regulations. 

“He has demonstrated excellent communication and leadership skills responsible for leading teams of customs officials, working closely with stakeholders across a variety of industries,” it said.

His record of service showed that he won former President Muhammadu Buhari’s admiration for bursting an attempt to smuggle $8.07 million out of the country sometime in February, 2020, through the E-Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport’s tarmac, while he was Comptroller at the airport.

President Tinubu, on Monday, 19 June 2023, appointed Adeniyi as the new Acting Comptroller General of the NCS.

He was appointed alongside other service chiefs. He succeeded Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd).

In a statement issued by the then Director of Information, Mr Willie Bassey, on behalf of the Office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation, the appointed service chiefs including that of the CGC, were in acting capacity pending their confirmation in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

It said Adeniyi joined the Customs Service over three decades ago, and had served in different capacities, including being the longest-serving National Public Relations Officer from June 2003 to May 2011; he also served as Commandant of the Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada, Abuja,” the statement had said. 

Subsequently, on October 20, 2023, President Tinubu confirmed Adeniyi as the substantive Comptroller General of Customs.

[DailyTrust]

Kylian Mbappe is likely to wear the No.9 shirt at Real Madrid, with his two preferred shirt numbers not available.

Los Blancos’ No.9 shirt has remained vacant since Karim Benzema left last summer.

But according to Le Parisien, that is just a temporary solution for Mbappe, who has become synonymous with No.7 at club level and No.10 at international level during his career.

Vinicius Jr currently dons the No.7 shirt for Madrid, while Modric has the no.10.

With Modric looking to sign a one-year contract extension, Mbappe might only have to be a little bit patient.

Therefore, come the 2025/2026, Mbappe should be Madrid’s new No.10, following in the footsteps of players like Luis Figo, Clarence Seedorf, Ricardo Gallego and Ferenc Puskas.

[DailyPost]

The recent policy decision by the Tinubu administration to revert to Nigeria’s old national anthem has generated lots of furors on social media and in the public space. And this is for obvious reason. Many Nigerians are wondering as to the appropriateness of such a decision at a time when the governance indices are all seemingly on the downward spiral. The questions being asked include: why is this policy necessary now? What does it add to the urgency of articulating good governance policies around inclusive growth and sustainable development that can positively affect the lives of Nigerians? Even if we are to change the national anthem, why adopt one with colonial burdens?

I agree that these are genuine concerns. No one can fault majority of Nigerians eagerly awaiting the dividends of democratic governance. And the Tinubu administration has set itself up as the harbinger of renewed hope that most Nigerians expect to have started yielding tangibles. And within the curves of this expectations, changing the national anthem is the least of the least of what Nigerians want to be saddled with. And the rate at which the new policy about an old issue degenerated into the butt of jokes and memes on social media seem like an indication of how many Nigerians thumped the nose of government for such an ‘inconsiderate’ policy. However, derisive comments by the citizens do not always come close to aggregating the best reactions to government decisions. We need do more to be able to situate one policy against the others in the grand architecture of what governance entails.   

Nation-building is not a business that can be conducted with peripheral analysis. Or with social media mudslinging. It is a very serious business that demands both the government and citizens to explore intricate and nuanced implications and consequences of considered policy choices. And there is, as usual, no one single story as to what could or should have been done within the general architecture of governance policies. Governance is a complex business and the government of the day has to juggle so many seemingly contradictory policies that needed to be attended to even if the citizens do not think so. And many of us, as citizens, are only open to the outcomes of policies without a deep understanding of what goes on behind the curtain. This is the way all governments work, even the most transparent of them all. I take two issues to be crucial to democratic government: trust and transparency. Due to its representative nature, democratic government must necessarily be about trust. Citizens elected their leaders with a modicum of trust, especially with regard to certain policy choices. But then the government also owe the citizens a level of transparency that must often draw the latter into the policy design process.

This brings us to the national anthem issue. Part of that nuanced analysis is that government everywhere need symbolic gestures and policies that might not immediately have any relation to the tangible matter of economics and development. And such policies also require that the citizens trust the government. The key issue about governance is simply that government cannot always be unilinear in its focus. While the fate of most nations is determined by economic policies and decisions, such policies are not mutually excluded from being side-by-side with non-economic intangible policies—like changing the national anthem. It might seem inconsiderate at this time to introduce this legislation, but it does not seem so if government needs an arsenal of ideological weapons around which to ground its developmental progress. And the national anthem is one such potent template for focusing the patriotic energy of the citizens.

The second issue for me is what the government has the capacity to make of whatever it has inherited. In this sense, I see the old national anthem the same way I see the civil service institution and the English language, Nigeria’s lingua franca. These are all colonial inheritances. The discourses about the civil service structures and the English language still rage on in public administration and African cultural studies. And yet, we have made some national senses of these two structures. My point is that the old national anthem is equally a colonial inheritance that could be fashioned to suit our national ideological design. It was rejected by the Obasanjo administration in 1978 in the fervor of nationalism immediately after independence, and not for any other reason. And so, the fact that it originated from the British is a weak argument against its readoption. If the old anthem captures our national longing better than the current one, nothing stops us from re-adopting it.

This argument therefore demands a serious philosophical analysis of the content of the old anthem. From the analyses that I have read so far, two items seem offensive to many—“Our own dear native land” and “Though tribes and tongues may differ.” The first two have been considered to possess the racist connotation that justified Britain’s colonial enterprise. I agree that given the provenance of the song, the term “native” would evoke the unsalutary connotation it accrued through colonialism. However, “native” has a simple lexical sense; that which belongs to a particular place by birth. And that is what we want to make Nigeria, a place where we all can call ours—a country we collectively built by dint of civic loyalty and unstinting patriotism despite all odds. The word “tribe” suffers the same racist connotation, unfortunately. But over time, we all use this word freely and have adapted it to our sense of ethnic identity. Both “tribe” and “native” have both been re-semanticized in ways that ought to dissuade us from the angst about colonial tutelage or overlordship. We can even further argue that the reference to “Our sovereign Motherland” and “In brotherhood we stand” constitutes a subtle lexical canceling out of any gender derogation that anyone might read into the old anthem. But even making this argument should not blind us to the lexical fact that both “brotherhood” and “motherland” are used to shorn off their gender connotations.   

Outside of these two words, and the fixation on colonial burdens in our national affairs, the old anthem, like the current, is a fine piece of national projection. I even make bold to argue that the re-adoption of the old one portends a subversion. Scholars like Prof. Biodun Jeyifo have argued that English is now an African language (and demonstrated by Chinua Achebe), and I among public administration scholars have joined others in the long discourse over the reform of the colonial civil service system. This is the same subversive way the old national anthem can also be made ours through a deconstructed piece of national ownership that enable us to align the values and imageries embedded within the anthem to our understanding and aspirations about who we are as a people. Given the Tinubu administration’s drive to transform the Nigerian situation, grounding that renewed hope agenda on a national anthem that many excoriate for being a colonial fabrication would be a governance and symbolic coup of the century for Nigeria. That will be one way of saying we can reinvent ourselves as a people even through the structures and institutions that were meant to subjugate us. It further implies that we are by ourselves owning and molding our destiny in our own unique way by insisting that colonialism can no longer be blamed for what is wrong with us. 

Overall, a dispassionate analysis demonstrates that this old anthem possesses an aspirational sense that could rally Nigerians towards the understanding of our collective identity as Nigerians. Taken holistically, and outside the anxiety about self-flagellation, the anthem possesses all the key lexical items that could carry the burden of valuating our collective desire to build one nation that would no longer be saddled with the albatross of colonialism and underdevelopment. While the current anthem is a call to action and a prayer, the old one is both an aspiration and a prayer. The first two verses speak to values and visions of what a great nation Nigeria can turn out to be if we dare to renew the hope that Nigeria’s founding nationalists had at independence. We hail a nation that is still a work in progress; a projection of unity in diversity. We hail a nation whose cornerstones would be truth and justice. We hail a nation where the politicians would develop generational proactiveness that govern with future generations in mind.   

If there was once a country as Chinua Achebe lamented in his last lamentation of that same title, then there can still be one that we all can agree to build together—a nation where, with the concerted efforts of the government and the governed, “no man is oppressed/And so with peace and plenty/Nigeria may be blessed.” Whether we retain the current anthem or re-adopt the old one, the issue of colonialism should no longer feature in our collective will to make of Nigeria what we all together have patriotically decided to. We can make of Nigeria something all of us and posterity can be proud of.       

• Why CBN revoked bank’s licence
• Reps step in

Payment to depositors with liquidated Heritage Bank having N5 million and below will begin on Monday, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) said yesterday.

Depositors with more than N5 million will wait for their balance until assets of the liquidated bank are disposed off and money generated, before they are paid.

The Central Bank of  Nigeria (CBN) yesterday revoked the operating licence of Heritage Bank.

According to the apex bank, Heritage failed in its obligations.

A statement by CBN spokesperson Hakama Sidi-Ali said: “The bank’s Board and Management failed to improve its financial performance, posing a risk to the financial stability of the country. Despite various supervisory measures taken by the CBN to help the bank recover, Heritage Bank continued to struggle without any reasonable prospects of recovery”.

NDIC Director of Communication and Public Affairs Bashir Nuhu, confirmed that payments to depositors will begin on Monday.

Nuhu said Heritage Bank customers with alternate accounts in other banks will be paid up to the insured amount of N5 million per depositor.

Payments will be facilitated using the depositors’ Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) to identify their alternate accounts. Those with deposits exceeding N5 million will receive additional payments, known as liquidation dividends, after the bank’s assets are sold and debts are recovered.

To facilitate this process, the NDIC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are working this week to identify depositors with alternate bank accounts, ensuring they receive their funds promptly starting on Monday.

Nuhu emphasized that depositors with verified BVNs and alternate bank accounts do not need to visit their banks or the NDIC to receive their payments.

For depositors without alternate bank accounts, Nuhu advised them to visit the nearest branch of Heritage Bank with proof of account ownership, a verifiable means of identification (such as a driver’s license, permanent voter card, or National Identity Card), and their BVN.

They can also file their claims online by visiting the NDIC website, downloading the claims form, and upload the required documents.

Creditors of Heritage Bank are also advised to visit the nearest bank branch or use the online platform to file their claims. Payments to creditors will begin immediately after all depositors have been paid.

Debtors of Heritage Bank who have not yet completed their loan repayments have been instructed to contact the NDIC’s Asset Management Department (AMD) and visit the NDIC website to fill out the required documents. Assets recovered from these debtors will be used to pay depositors and creditors of Heritage Bank.

The NDIC reassured the banking public of its commitment to protecting depositors’ funds in all licensed banks. Depositors are encouraged to continue their banking activities without fear, as banks with valid licenses remain safe and sound.

Last month, the NDIC announced an increase in deposit coverage from N500,000 to N5,000,000, now fully covering 98.98 percent of depositors.

NDIC’s Managing Director Bello Hassan stated that the corporation collects premiums annually to fund the deposit insurance system, maintaining over N2 trillion in these funds.

This increase in insured deposit coverage was as a result of factors such as inflation, exchange rates, and per capita GDP. Ensuring swift payment to depositors, often within seven days has become a global best practice.

Hassan clarified that the increase in coverage will not necessarily lead to higher premiums for banks. The NDIC has moved to a risk-based premium framework, where banks managing risks effectively will pay the base rate of 35 basis points, while those with higher risk profiles could face premiums up to 65 basis points.

The NDIC’s actions is meant to ensure the stability and confidence in Nigeria’s banking system, providing a safety net for depositors and maintaining public trust in the financial sector.

Reps to engage CBN, NDIC, stakeholders

The House of Representatives committee will look into the liquidation of Heritage Bank by the CBN to provide necessary support to mitigate any potential negative impact on the public.

Spokesman  of the House, Akintunde Rotimi said in a statement that “the House of Representatives is aware of the revocation of the licence of Heritage Bank (under liquidation) by the CBN and the appointment of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) as the liquidators, in accordance with the provisions of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA).

“We assure the public, particularly depositors and stakeholders of Heritage Bank, that the House is committed to carrying out its constitutional oversight functions to ensure that this development does not negatively impact Nigerians.

“The relevant House Committees on Banking Regulations; and Insurance will be up to their duty, thoroughly examining the circumstances surrounding this decision and the subsequent steps taken by the NDIC.”

The Organised Labour has called on its members to remind them that the strike which commenced yesterday will continue today pending the outcome of a meeting with the tripartite committee on the new national minimum wage by 10am.

Labour whose leaders had a successful meeting with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, George Akume,  and other government officials on Monday reached a resolution that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is committed to a new minimum wage higher than N60,000.

Vanguard had reported how Organised Labour negotiators had walked out of the meeting for a third time, over the refusal by the government to make a new offer beyond N60,000.

It was gathered that the negotiations hit a brick wall when the government and the organized private sector, OPS, remained adamant on the N60,000 offer they made earlier on last week.

In view of the above, FG through SGF resolved that it would offer a new minimum wage higher than 60,000 proposed earlier.

However, reminding its members that the strike continues today, Labour via its X Platform, said: “Until we hear from Our Organs at our Meeting scheduled for today 4th June , We are still on Strike”.

Recall that banks, schools, markets and other business activities across the country were grounded yesterday due to the nationwide strike declared by the Organised Labour.

Like the Portuguese phrase “A luta continua; vitória é certa”, meaning “The struggle continues; victory is certain”, Labour hopes to be victorious in its quest for a living minimum wage for all Nigerians.

[Vanguard]

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says the strike which began on June 3 and paralysed government and commercial activities nationwide will enter its second day today.

Labour had declared the strike over a new minimum wage and the recent hike in electricity tariff for Band A customers.

On Monday night, the federal government and organised labour reached an agreement on a new minimum wage that will be “above N60,000”.

The statement from the meeting was however silent on the duration of the strike and electricity tariff hike.

“The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria is committed to a National Minimum Wage that is higher than N60,000,” the statement from the meeting reads.

“II. Arising from the above, the Tripartite Committee is to meet everyday for the next one week with a view to arriving at an agreeable National Minimum Wage;

“III. Labour in deference to the high esteem of the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria’s commitment in (ii) above undertakes to convene a meeting of its organs immediately to consider this commitment;

“IV. No worker would be victimized as a result of the industrial action.”

The agreement was signed by representatives of government and leaders of organised labour.

On Tuesday, the NLC announced on X that the strike was still on.

“Until we hear from Our Organs at our Meeting scheduled for today 4th June, We are still on Strike,” the post reads. 

“Until we get Consent from our NEC meeting, We are still on strike.”

The strike by labour has affected health services, the power sector, the national assembly and airport operations.

[TheCable]

Wole Soyinka, arguably Africa’s best known writer, has once again stirred the hornet’s nest by his proclamation that Peter Obi, the 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party is not fit to be President of the country.  He was quoted as saying that Obi’s failure to reign on his supporters from attacking others with opposing views online was a pointer that he is unfit to lead a country like Nigeria.

Soyinka’s intervention raises a number of interesting issues:

One, there are two heavy burdens most famous writers, activists and public intellectuals bear: the first is that they are expected to be permanently anti-establishment even when they have friends and family members in the establishment. In fact, Camilo Cela, the 1989 Spanish Nobel Laureate in Literature, helped to popularize this notion when he declared that a writer should be a denunciation of the times in which he or she lives. The second burden is that there is often a failure by critics to take into consideration the fact that such activist writers and public intellectuals (like all living systems) evolve and may have consciously or unconsciously moved away from their earlier convictions. The point is that critics often make the mistake of abstracting and freezing a period from a writer’s or public intellectual’s career trajectory and insist on using that to define such a person. For instance, is the Soyinka of the Man Died (1972), The Telephone Conversation (1963), The Trial of Brothers Jero (1963), Ake: The Boyhood Years (1981) the same as the later Soyinka whose anti-establishment activism seemed to have stopped in 2015 when the APC came to power? One of Soyinka’s harshest critics is Adamu, the immediate past Minister of Education and one of Nigeria’s finest prose writers (though I disagree with most of his views which I find too conservative and too hard-line). Adamu Adamu consistently accused Soyinka of paganism and nativism even in his literary works.

Two, what people call an ‘insult’ is often subjectively determined.  While no one wants to promote the use of rude language, the truth is that insult – defined as an offensive language that provokes one to anger –  is protected speech in several jurisdictions including the USA. This is contrasted with what the US Constitution calls ‘fighting words’, defined as words “which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace.” While rude language is protected speech in several jurisdictions, fighting words are usually criminalized as they pose “real and immediate” danger of triggering violence. Some have in fact argued that just as anger is an art form, rudeness is also an art form. There is also the notion of ‘righteous incivility’, that is, rudeness motivated by moral concerns or the quest for justice by a weaker party in asymmetrical exchanges. Usually, if supporters of any candidate feel there is a deliberate attempt to de-market their candidate by a powerful person, some will invariably resort to ‘righteous incivility’, to also de-market the purveyor of such a hatchet job, hoping that through the aphorism of ‘the messenger is the message’, the impact of the attack on the person they support will be mitigated. This is probably one of the reasons why rudeness is never regarded as defamatory in any jurisdiction.

Three, most people who complain of being insulted by ‘social media warriors’ are ‘powerful’ people who throw the first punch and when their victims or their supporters respond, they turn around to play the victim. For instance, when the respected Soyinka called supporters of Peter Obi ‘fascists’ or declared that Peter Obi was not fit to rule the country, did he not realize that such were also insults? Certainly anyone who does not want to be insulted by people online can simply block such people from sending messages to them or refrain from throwing the first punch. In essence, most of the people claiming to have been insulted by social media activists want to use such allegations to achieve an ulterior end – usually to de-market a candidate through de-marketing the candidate’s supporters – which I honestly believe was what Soyinka set out to do despite masking his intentions in Soyinkarist obfuscations and demagoguery.  Any honest political observer knows that the supporters of the three main political parties are equally guilty of whatever anyone can accuse one group of. Therefore, to isolate one group of supporters and pretend the others are saints is a clear give-away of the person’s partisanship.

Four, during the 2023 elections, the likes of Bayo Onanuga and Femi Fani Kayode used fighting words, clearly criminalized in most jurisdictions, to weaponise ethnicity in Lagos State (of course there are also people on the other side who did the same but they are not of interest here since their party is not in power).  Yet, despite Onanuga openly proclaiming himself a Yoruba irredentist, the Tinubu government rewarded him with a frontline position in his government, suggesting an endorsement of his abominable actions during the elections. Similarly, one Reno Omokri, who in the run-up to the 2023 presidential election constantly translated into Hausa language issues that he knew were capable of inciting Northern youths against the Igbo, and who recently seemed to have been commissioned to attack Peter Obi and by innuendo the Igbo race, appear to have been embraced by the Tinubu government. He not only had a photo-op with Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser, but the government also sent a congratulatory message to him on his birthday – even though his highest accomplishment in life seemed to be the minor role he played in the Jonathan government. The well-respected Soyinka saw no evil and spoke no evil.

Five, from identity studies we learn that identities that are perceived to be under threat are the ones most vociferously defended.  For this, when Wole Soyinka attacks Peter Obi in a barely concealed partisan manner, many people who share the same ethnic identity with Obi will feel also attacked by innuendo. The same also goes when Soyinka is attacked by the Igbos – several people who share the same Yoruba ancestry with Soyinka will similarly feel insulted by innuendo. The consequence will be an exacerbation of the already problematic relationship between the Igbo and the Yoruba. Soyinka ought to have been mindful of this fact. Not surprising, whenever Soyinka or Achebe is dragged into the Igbo-Yoruba rivalry, a concomitant question of who ought to have won the Nobel Prize that Soyinka won in 1986 would also crop up. I think such a debate is irrelevant as Soyinka and Achebe play in different arenas of literature – Soyinka is primarily a playwright while Achebe is primarily a novelist. JP Clarke and Christopher Okigbo were dominant in poetry.  Again, while Soyinka is regarded as probably Africa’s best known writer (a term broader than literature), Achebe is by far Africa’s most read novelist (a term narrower than literature).

Six, many people are attracted to Soyinka not necessarily because of his literary works but more because of his activism, self-assuredness that borders on artistic mischief, originality of thoughts, defiance and even what some called his elevation of rudeness as an art form. For instance, at a conference in Berlin in 1964, Soyinka famously dismissed the self-promotion of the Negritude movement with this inimitable quote: “A tiger does not proclaim its tigeritude. he pounces.” In his prison notes, The Man Died (1972), he told us that “in him who keeps silent in the face of tyranny, the man dies”.  Recently, I watched Soyinka in a TV interview warning the ‘Obidients’ that if he ever met them in a blind alley, they would feel the strength of his 90-year-old fist. It is difficult to resist chuckling as I imagined Soyinka, who would be 90 years old on 13July 2024, in a fisticuff with the youngsters that could be his grandchildren. But it is vintage Soyinka.  Even at his age, he remains strong and intellectually alert – to the glory of God!

Between 2007 and 2010, my publishing firm, Adonis & Abbey Publishers (www.adonis-abbey.com), incubated and published the journal, African Performance Review, for the African Theatre Association, which listed Wole Soyinka as one of its patrons. Many members of the Association were ardent Soyinka ‘disciples’ and they regaled me with stories of Soyinka’s reported ‘artistic mischiefs’. Let me share just a few: Soyinka reportedly said that several women kept pestering him to have children with him in the hope that they would beget geniuses. He was said to have told them, “whenever I can, I help’. In another story, he was reportedly asked why he did not try to get a PhD, given his obvious brilliance. He was said to have retorted, “But who would mark it?”.

Let me mention that while my firm was publishing African Performance Reviews for the African Theatre Association, one of Soyinka’s most ardent ‘disciples’, the late Esiaba Irobi, was pressurizing me to start a journal, which he called the ‘Soyinka Journal’. Apart from my discomfort in having to deal with Esiaba’s famed ‘artistic temperament’, I pleaded with him that an academic journal built around the works of one scholar would not be sustainable. I favoured a journal of African literary studies which would deal with the works of several African writers. We were still having the conversation when Esiaba transited on 3 May 2010, aged 50.  Probably inspired by that conversation, several years later, precisely in 2020, I honoured that discussion by setting up the Journal of African Languages and Literary Studies, which in December 2024, was accepted for indexing by the highly regarded SCOPUS, one of the two dominant global benchmarks for measuring the standard and impact of academic journals.

_____________

Jidofor Adibe is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Nasarawa State University and founder of Adonis & Abbey Publishers (www.adonis-abbey.com). He can be reached at: 0705 807 8841 (WhatssApp and Text messages only).

Access Bank Group is in a jubilant mood. It’s about to open its rights issue through which it hopes to raise a whopping N356 billion that would shore up its capital base above the mandatory N500 billion. Just as the executives were working hard to finalize the fine details of regulatory requirements, the group received two pieces of exciting news last week. First, chairman of Access Holdings Plc, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede was honoured with the prestigious African Banker Lifetime Achievement Award.

The honour was presented at the African Banker Awards gala dinner and awards ceremony held in Nairobi, Kenya, on the sidelines of the 2024 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank, and in the same week, the bank was recognised, for the third time, as Nigeria's most valuable brand, according to the latest data from Brand Finance. The 2024 report reveals a remarkable 73% increase in Access Bank's brand value, solidifying its position as the most valuable banking brand in Nigeria.

If many in the industry were surprised, they did not show it. The bank has always outperformed expectations in many ways since 2002: profitability; asset size; customer volume and efficiency rations. But clinching the top spot in Brand Finance’s annual ranking of the world’s Top 500 Banking Brands for the third consecutive year is a spectacular triumph. Roosevelt Ogbonna, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank, stated: “We are proud to once again be recognised as Nigeria's most valuable brand. This accolade is a testament to our commitment to excellence, innovation, and sustainable growth. We will continue to focus on delivering exceptional value to our customers and stakeholders, driving positive impact across the communities we serve.” The values of brands in the ranking are calculated using the Royalty Relief approach, a method compliant with ISO 10668 standards. This approach estimates future revenues attributable to a brand by calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for its use, arriving at a ‘brand value’ that reflects the net economic benefit achievable by licensing the brand in the open market.

Brand Finance, the world's leading brand valuation consultancy, reported that banking brands contributed a substantial 50% of the overall brand value among Nigeria’s top 25 brands. Within the Nigeria 25 2024 ranking, banking brands not only emerged as the most valuable, but also the strongest and fastest growing.

Access Bank’s brand value soared to N355.3 billion, making it the 31st most valuable brand in Africa according to the Brand Finance Africa 200 2024. This impressive growth is primarily driven by significant increases in interest-based income, reflecting improved revenues and robust financial performance.

For Aig-Imoukhuede, the lifetime laurel speaks to his dedication to transforming the African banking and financial landscape. His illustrious career, spanning over three decades, has been marked by exceptional leadership and transformative accomplishments. As the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank from 2002 to 2013, he led the lender’s transformation from a minor player into one of Nigeria’s top five banks, extending its presence to nine other African countries and the United Kingdom. With a vision to democratise wealth creation opportunities for millions in Africa, Aigboje established Coronation Group – a conglomerate encompassing most aspects of investing, lending, and insurance with a presence in Nigeria and other African countries.

Speaking on the award, Aig-Imoukhuede said: “This award honours the collective efforts of over 10,000 talented individuals, mostly Africans whom I have had the privilege to work with throughout my journey. As professionals, recognition spurs us to strive for greater levels of excellence. I am deeply humbled and motivated to continue contributing to Africa’s growth and development.” Omar Ben Yedder, Group Publisher & Managing Director, African Banker magazine, put it more succinctly, “We would like to honour your remarkable career achievements as a leader in Africa. Today, Access Bank stands as a behemoth in African banking. As brilliantly described in your book, “Leaving the Tarmac” Access bank started its life as a third-tier bank, but your visionary leadership, as well as that of the late Herbert Wigwe, transformed it into an institution that commands immense respect and admiration.”

As part of the celebrations, Aig-Imoukhuede visited Kenya’s President William Ruto, at the state house in Nairobi. Their discussions centred on strengthening financial markets, enhancing public sector effectiveness, and fostering sustainable economic growth across Africa. This visit exemplifies Aigboje’s belief in the power of collaborative leadership and the pivotal role that strong financial institutions play in driving national development.

Reflecting on the visit, Aig-Imoukhuede stated that, “in meeting with President Ruto, I was inspired by our shared commitment to driving economic growth and fostering sustainable development across Africa. Our discussions reinforced the critical role that collaborative leadership and robust financial institutions play in nation-building. I look forward to continuing our collective efforts to create a prosperous future for our continent.”

Aig-Imoukhuede’s impact extends beyond banking. Through the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation and its subsidiaries – the Africa Initiative for Governance, and the Aig-Imoukhuede Institute – Aigboje and his wife, Ofovwe, manage a $100 million family commitment aimed at building Nigeria’s next generation of government leaders, transforming public sector effectiveness, and improving access to quality primary healthcare. His vision for the Adopt-A-Healthcare-Facility Programme (ADHFP), announced in Davos in 2020, aims to establish 774 world-class primary healthcare facilities in Nigeria, showcasing his dedication to addressing critical societal needs. Aig-Imoukhuede’s advocacy for sustainable banking practices has left an indelible mark on the financial sector. As a member of Nigeria’s Bankers’ Committee, he led the adoption of the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles in 2012, an initiative that has been emulated by several countries globally. His leadership in promoting responsible and sustainable business practices underscores the critical role of financial institutions in fostering economic development while protecting the environment.

Aig-Imoukhuede’s leadership was previously recognised in 2013 when he received the ‘African Banker of the Year’ Award. Following a decade of accomplishments in banking and beyond, the African Banker Lifetime Achievement Award highlights his enduring commitment to nation-building and sustainable development. His legacy of transformative leadership, sustainable banking practices, and philanthropic dedication continues to inspire and drive positive change across Africa.

A country’s national minimum wage is the lowest wage an employer is required by law to pay any employee. The minimum wage ensures a baseline standard of living for all employees, protecting them from exploitation and severe poverty. Consequently, it has far-reaching implications for daily life, as it affects the purchasing power of workers, the cost of goods and services, and overall economic stability. The national minimum wage directly influences household income, living standards, and the ability of families to afford necessities such as food, healthcare, and education.

The negotiation on the tripartite committee on national minimum wage in Nigeria has once more reached a deadlock. Organized labour is insistent on a minimum wage of N494,000. On the other hand, the government and the organized private sector have agreed on a figure of N60,000. The end to this deadlock may not be near, given the wide disparity between the proposals. The government-organized private sector’s proposed increase is 100%, while the organized labour’s demand represents a 1647% increase from the current minimum wage of N30,000.

Organized labour has consistently emphasized that it is seeking a living wage, not just a minimum wage, the government and the organized private sector may appear to focus solely on a basic minimum. In addition to the inflation challenges the country is facing, Nigerian workers have been significantly underpaid. The organized labour seeking to address this is requesting a substantial increase in the minimum wage, which at first glance, may seem excessive. 

With the inflation rate in Nigeria standing at 33.69% as of April 2024, the proposed 100% increase in the minimum wage by the government and the organized private sector might seem like a good idea. However, in real terms, the removal of subsidies has caused the price of petrol to rise from N197 to about N680 in a place like Abuja, representing a 345% increase. It is more expensive in some other parts of the country. This increase has led people to spend as much as N200,000 to fuel a car monthly. Those who have opted for public transport have seen prices increase by 150-200%. Additionally, the floating of the naira has led to its devaluation. Prices of goods and services have risen indiscriminately, leading many to believe that the real inflation rate is much higher than the quoted 33.69%.

More compromise needs to be made by all parties involved. The government has stated that it cannot afford and sustain the proposal of N494,000 and that it is also concerned about its potential impact on the entire economy, including the possibility of job losses in the private sector. It is important to note that some state and local governments have struggled to pay the existing national minimum wage of N30,000. The organized private sector also highlighted concerns regarding the ability to pay amidst the current economic conditions in the country. With federal government workers comprising only about 1.2 million people out of Nigeria's population of over 200 million, organized labour must consider a broader perspective to avoid the perception that they are advocating solely for federal workers.

The government and organized private sector need to look beyond percentage increases. A 100% increase in a grossly inadequate minimum wage is not as beneficial as it might seem. It is imperative to prioritize employee welfare. Similarly, organized labour must understand that while their demand may seem justifiable, the affordability and sustainability of implementing such an increase are essential. Also, such a hike could further exacerbate the nation's inflation woes. There is no point in agreeing on a national minimum wage that will be frustrated by the inability to pay and that can potentially lead to massive job losses.