Yet, we remain here. To whom or to where shall we turn? “We must make Nigeria a viable place for people to stay, and not a place to run away from.” I heard that counsel from African Development Bank Group’s president, Akinwumi Adesina, last week Wednesday in his lecture after receiving the Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership in Lagos. I heard him and asked myself who would make Nigeria “a viable place for people to stay.” Those who print money and steal what they print? Those who serenade banditry with negotiation? Where are the leaders? Adesina in that same lecture looked deep into the past and declared that “Nigeria missed its best opportunity to be great under a ‘President’ Awolowo.” I heard that truth and whispered to myself that Nigeria is an expert at missing ways. Yoruba musician, Ayinla Omowura, sings about the one destined to eat hideous vulture, forbidden bird of carrion. Omowura sings that “the head that will eat vulture will not listen. If we give him chicken to eat, he will reject it. 

“What is the State?” Louis Blanc, politician and historian in 19th century France, asks himself.

He answers:

“The State, under democratic rule, is the power of all the people, served by their elect; it is the reign of liberty.

“The State, under monarchical rule, is the power of one man, the tyranny of a single individual.

“The State, under oligarchical rule, is the power of a small number of men, the tyranny of a few.

“The State, under aristocratic rule, is the power of a class, the tyranny of many.

“The State, under anarchical rule, is the power of the first comer who happens to be the most intelligent and the strongest; it is the tyranny of chaos.”

 The lines above I took from Pierre-Joseph Proudhon’s ‘The State: Its Nature, Object, and Destiny’ (1849). Nigeria is a fine combination of four of the five Louis Blanc’s definitions of the state. In case you pretend not knowing what the four are, this should be a guide: Last week, Finance Minister, Olawale Edun, frontally accused the defunct Muhammadu Buhari regime of criminal printing of about N23 trillion naira. Northern senators on Saturday alleged a criminal infusion of N3 trillion into the 2024 budget of Nigeria by powerful ghosts in Abuja. On Friday, in one northern state, a judge sentenced two kidnappers to death by hanging but quickly undermined himself with an advice to the felons to seek pardon from the executive “since no life was lost in the process of kidnapping.” On Thursday, bandits abducted 287 students in Kaduna. On Saturday, bandits invaded a Zamfara school and stole 15 students. Before the school abductions, senior brothers of the bandits, Boko Haram, had kidnapped over 400 displaced persons in Borno. In Benue and Plateau, a murderous campaign against helpless people is on without ceasing. From the desert to the coast, agonizing cries of existential woes rend the land. What we have is chaos pro-max.

Yet, we remain here. To whom or to where shall we turn? “We must make Nigeria a viable place for people to stay, and not a place to run away from.” I heard that counsel from African Development Bank Group’s president, Akinwumi Adesina, last week Wednesday in his lecture after receiving the Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership in Lagos. I heard him and asked myself who would make Nigeria “a viable place for people to stay.” Those who print money and steal what they print? Those who serenade banditry with negotiation? Where are the leaders? Adesina in that same lecture looked deep into the past and declared that “Nigeria missed its best opportunity to be great under a ‘President’ Awolowo.” I heard that truth and whispered to myself that Nigeria is an expert at missing ways. Yoruba musician, Ayinla Omowura, sings about the one destined to eat hideous vulture, forbidden bird of carrion. Omowura sings that “the head that will eat vulture will not listen. If we give him chicken to eat, he will reject it.”

That is the nature of destiny – determinist philosophers say it is inevitable; people of religion agree but add that it is also inscrutable. Should it be Nigeria’s destiny to be a jungle forever? It looks like there is nothing we can do about it. Arab folklore character, Nasrudin, walks with utmost innocence along an alleyway. He is deep in thought and careful about not putting his feet where he may have them injured. But a man falls from a nearby roof and lands on Nasrudin’s neck. The fallen man is unhurt; innocent Nasrudin has a broken neck. He is asked what lessons he learnt from that experience. Nasrudin tells his disciples to note the place of fate in his fate. He asks them to note that the other man “fell — but my neck is broken!” At independence, Nigeria had all the chances to be great, but it soon had the ill-luck of falling into the mouths of big cats of the jungle. They’ve finished with the flesh, they are cracking the bones.

Adesina’s lecture focused on what he called five critical areas that would save Nigeria and transform the people’s lives. He said the government should make rural economy work and provide food security. He said our rural areas “have become zones of economic misery.” He is right and correct. He said the city falters today because the village has been abandoned to faltering. The result is “the spread of anarchy, banditry, and terrorism” – what he called the “troika of social disruption” entrenching themselves to our collective sorrow. Adesina said our leaders should give health security for all, provide education for all, give affordable housing for all. He told us quoting data by UN-Habitat, that “in Nigeria, 49 percent of the population live in slums …That is a staggering 102 million people!” He exclaimed and told our leaders that what Nigerians needed “is decent housing and not upgrading of slums…There is nothing like a 5-star slum. A slum is a slum… ”

Then, Adesina reached the fifth of his points: Our leaders should be accountable: “If people pay taxes, governments must deliver services,” he said and quickly added that “taxation in the absence of a social contract between governments and citizens is simply fiscal extortion.” He stressed that Nigeria must enthrone fiscal decentralisation for a true federalism.: “To get out of the economic quagmire, there is a compelling need for the restructuring of Nigeria…Instead of a Federal Government of Nigeria, we could think of the United States of Nigeria.”

Those are great ideas. But in this country, the bush is the way – because the blind is the guide. Leadership will always make a difference. In a 2002 academic piece, psychologists Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzio and Annie Mckee speak on the imperative of societies enthroning leaders with positive emotions. They say the society achieves equilibrium when it is governed by leaders with a sense of accountability; leaders who know how to transform “the art of leadership to the science of results.” One writer said “the executive mind is impotent without power, power is dangerous without vision, and neither is lasting or significant in any human broad sense without the force of integrity.”

No enduring structure can stand on a faulty foundation. American singer and songwriter, David Allan Coe, asked us not to look at the beauty of a building. He said “it is the construction of the foundation that will stand the test of time.” British architect, Stephen Gardiner, was more philosophical about the place of foundation in people’s affairs. He wrote that “good buildings come from good people, and all problems are solved by good design.” We cannot solve Nigeria’s problem by ignoring the fissures in its foundation.

We tell the knock-kneed that what he carries on his head threatens a fall, he asks us to stop looking at the top. “Look at the base!” He points at his impairment, the awkward gait of his lower limbs. Think about how every road taken has led to nowhere. Think about our propensity to leave the vaults of our destiny open and complain about theft later. The Monday, October 10, 1960 edition of TIME magazine contained a report with the title: ‘Nigeria: The Free Giant.’ It was supposed to be a celebration of Nigeria’s independence which happened ten days earlier. But the author of the piece nursed a fear about the future of the brand new country. He wrote that “backward African nations inevitably must suffer the chaos of a Congo when the blacks take over.” Congo got its independence from Belgium on June 30, 1960. It fell apart on July 5, 1960 – less than a week after independence. The TIME magazine described that Congo as “a panorama of disaster.” How do we describe our Nigeria since independence?

A dark prophecy of inevitable chaos was published for Nigeria ten days after independence. To “inevitably suffer the chaos of the Congo” was a strong statement. The dictionary meaning of ‘chaos’ is “complete disorder”. If you like you can replace the word with “mayhem” or “bedlam” or “a mess.” There are a million other words that share meanings of madness with the chaotic. ‘Inevitable’ means “certain to happen.” Its other synonyms are ‘unavoidable’; ‘inescapable’; ‘fated’. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet we hear the protagonist, Hamlet, King of Denmark, seeing “providence in the fall of a sparrow.” In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare says the love birds are “star-cross’d” – stuck with their tragic end, their fate. It was the destiny of the Congo to explode within a week of its freedom from foreign rule. It has been Nigeria’s destiny to hop from disaster to catastrophe. But why?

If destiny will manifest itself in a disaster, it presages itself. It is not rain that falls without warning the blind and tapping the deaf. Thirty-eight years ago, Chief Awolowo himself spoke on the evils which dominated the hearts of Nigerians “at all levels and in all sectors of our political, business and governmental activities.” In his famous letter to the political bureau set up by the military in 1986, Chief Awolowo spoke about “the abominable filth that abounds in our society.” He said as long as Nigerians remained “what they are, nothing clean, principled, ethical, and idealistic can work with them.” He warned that unless we allowed our hearts to be impelled “to make drastic changes for the better,” Nigeria stood the chance of succumbing to what he described as “permanent social instability and chaos.”

The chaos is here. We feel it in the price of food and drugs and in the cost of life itself. It is overwhelming. Today’s government reacts by grumbling about the malfeasance of its predecessor. Yet, the past was a disaster that came dancing without a mask. After Muhammadu Buhari was declared reelected in 2019, the late Dr. Obadiah Mailafia said in his March 4, 2019 Nigerian Tribune column titled ‘A guide for the Perplexed’ that Nigeria faced “what amounts to a peace of the graveyard.” He said he saw “fear and alarm in the eyes of certified patriots.” He noted that “only Almajirai in tattered rags from the president’s home region are celebrating with daggers and bayonets spoiling for a fight that nobody is really interested in.” He called on “genuine statesmen to (come and) salvage our democracy from the jaws of catastrophe.” History should have guided the public intellectual. Mailafia should have read Chief Awolowo. Nigeria is not structured to have “genuine statesmen” as its managers. Vulture does not eat clean meat; its meal is carrion.

Adesina declared that “Chief Awolowo was bigger than Nigeria. He said Awo “was the pacesetter and forerunner for development in Africa.” He spoke about Awolowo’s “intellectual capacity, vision, pragmatic social welfarism (which) helped him accomplish what was seemingly unimaginable at the time.” Adesina listed Awolowo’s firsts: “He built the first skyscraper in Africa — the Cocoa House. He built the first television station in Africa, WNTV. He built the Liberty Stadium, the first of its kind in Africa. He implemented a blueprint for development that focused on building human capacity through massive programs to educate the people, develop skills, lift people out of poverty, provide massive rural infrastructure, and develop institutions that turned farmers into wealthy entrepreneurs…Chief Awolowo implemented the sustainable development goals decades before the phrase was coined. He was an inspiration for Africa, far beyond the shores of Nigeria. His philosophy…helped shape programs and policies in other countries.”

Where I sat was some seats away from where Adesina stood and spoke from. Where he stood was a few seats away from where the government of Nigeria sat, expressionless. I heard Adesina; I turned and asked a colleague who sat beside me if he thought Nigeria could benefit from the wisdom of the bow-tied. I told my friend that Adesina’s first four points rested on the fifth. Nothing positive will happen unless Nigeria’s crooked structure is worked on by surgeons. But, where are the physicians? Even if the surgeon is found and present, Nigeria is as difficult and dangerous as danger could be. The country is that mental patient who hates his doctor because he hates being cured of his ailment. Nigeria kills its prophets.

Adesina’s five pills are capable of healing Nigeria. But Nigeria won’t listen to him. It did not listen to Awolowo. It doesn’t listen to the wise. It is a conundrum – an abductee of its crooked structure. In the 1999 Yoruba political film, Saworoide, we hear the old man Adebayo Faleti (Bàbá Òpálábá) chanting the praise name of his Jogbo Kingdom: “Jogbo bí orógbó, Jogbo bí orò (Jogbo, bitter as bitter kola; dangerous as oro cult). With two eyes, you can cope at the riverside; with two eyes, you will survive Kaduna; but you need twelve eyes to survive in Jogbo. With two mouths, you get by in Ibadan; with two mouths you get by in Lagos; but you need 18 mouths to survive in Jogbo…” Nigeria is that Jogbo – a sick, deformed, bitter country in need of a surgeon.

Heirs Holdings, a leading African investment company dedicated to improving lives and transforming Africa through strategic long-term investments, announced the launch of its new subsidiary, Heirs Technologies Limited, with an ambition to empower Africa's digital transformation through innovative and locally tailored solutions.

Heirs Technologies endeavours to provide value added services that capitalise on top-tier expertise while guaranteeing accessibility locally. The company's range of offerings include IT consulting, which encompasses advisory services, business transformation, system integration, licencing, and partnerships. Additionally, Heirs Technologies will offer various managed services covering IT operations and business process outsourcing.

To achieve its vision of propelling Africa to the forefront of the global technology landscape, Heirs Technologies will strategically invest in cutting edge technological solutions and develop platforms that foster collaboration among diverse stakeholders. Central to the company’s plans is to develop local capacity through meticulously tailored skills development programmes.

Heirs Holdings’ Group Chief Executive Officer, Emmanuel Nnorom, expressed his excitement about the launch while reiterating the company’s mission, "We are embarking on a journey fueled by innovation and driven by purpose. Our mission isn't solely about creating products; it's about shaping the future of technology, one groundbreaking solution at a time."

The launch of Heirs Technologies reaffirms Heirs Holdings' steadfast commitment to invest in sectors that provide long-term returns and have the ability to transform Africa’s economy. Heirs Holdings has been a pivotal player in various sectors critical for Africa’s development including financial services, energy, power, healthcare, real estate, and hospitality.

"The introduction of Heirs Technologies marks a significant milestone in our journey towards accelerating progress for future generations across Africa," said Tony O. Elumelu, CFR, Founder & Group Chairman, Heirs Holdings. "Technology has the power to catalyse development, and we are committed to harnessing this potential to unlock new innovations that will improve lives and transform our continent.”

For more information about Heirs Technologies, please visit www.heirstechnologies.com

Heirs Holdings is a leading African investment company committed to improving lives and transforming Africa through strategic investments and sustainable development initiatives. With a diverse portfolio spanning multiple sectors, including financial services, energy, power, healthcare, real estate, hospitality and technology, Heirs Holdings is dedicated to driving inclusive growth and building a prosperous future for Africa.

Following the adoption of red berets as an insignia by the supporters of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, some residents of the state have been raising eyebrows.

Supporters of the governor, under the umbrella of Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation Foot Soldiers (LACO-FS), have been wearing red berets as their symbol.

While inaugurating the group, Aiyedatiwa was seen putting on the beret, which has been described as a symbol of cultism.

With the development causing uproar within the social media space of the state, some people stated that such a move will further embolden cultists in their activities across the state.

They also stated that cultists can use the avenue to perpetrate crime by disguising themselves as supporters of the governor.

Speaking on the issue, a public affairs analyst, Oluwagbega Ajongbolo, said, “What exactly are Lucky Aiyedatiwa and his supporters bringing into Ondo State with their berets? What’s the idea and ideology behind donning red berets on the streets of Akure and Akoko? What’s the socioeconomic belief of a typical Aiyedatiwa supporter? What does Aiyedatiwa stand for?

“If this is not about their economic and political beliefs, should we be scared that a set of people, led by Mr Governor, have now adopted a style of clothing that has significant meaning and messages it is passing across? Are we safe in Ondo State?”

On his part, Sunday Terebo said, “Ondo State, which way, when I saw this in Ondo town yesterday, I thought Vikings were having converged in Ondo state. Make una fear God ooo, but no withstanding fight, no dey always guiding yellow still remains the victory colour.”

For Niyi Arogbo, “Now that Aiyedatiwa has adopted a red beret, let Chief Olusola Oke use a yellow beret, while Senator Jimoh Ibrahim uses a blue beret, and Wale Akinterinwa chooses black. Make sure we systematize everything. Make sure we start the battle from there. Ondo 2024 will be so interesting.”

Omoduni Olamide: “Red Beret is known for cultism and violence. Now that the state governor has aligned with the brand. Are we safe in Ondo State?”

Reacting, the State Director of Information of LACO-FS, Kayode Fasua, distanced the group from cultism-related activities.

“It is benumbing to come across grave expressions on social media, especially through some Twitter handles (now rebranded as X), that our group is bringing cultism to Ondo State for the simple reason that we don red berets to our campaign rallies.

“While those bandying the insinuations of thuggery or cultism have bombarded the net with their tar brushes, they fail woefully to prove any instance of violence in our activities and find it hard to produce any pictorial or camera evidence of where Aiyedatiwa supporters under the aegis of LACO-FS are armed with any weapon at all, much less a dangerous one.”

[DailyPost]

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has strengthened its pre-emptive surveillance of banks to unearth infractions and ensure compliance with extant rules and guidelines.

The banks have been under intense criticism in recent periods for alleged complicity in economic crimes. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) estimated that some 70 per cent of financial crimes in the country could be traced to the banking sector.

Financial industry sources yesterday said the apex bank has rejigged its surveillance mechanism to appropriately focus on banks’ financial statements and audit reports.

They told The Nation that each report will pass through multiple-level examinations.

One of the sources said the delay in the submission of the audited reports and accounts of many of the banks for last year might not be unconnected with the rigorous screening of the banks’ financial statements.

Banks that had approved their audited results and submitted the same for onward examination and approval by the CBN since the end of January 2024 are still awaiting final approval of the apex bank.

 Banks cannot make public their audited reports and accounts without prior and final approval of the CBN.

The delay in the release of the banks’ results has put them in default of the corporate governance rules at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), where most banks are listed.

When asked about the delay in submission of their banks’ results, spokesmen for two major banks, who craved anonymity, said they were waiting for the apex bank’s approvals.

Post-listing rules at the NGX provide two compliance options for the submission of results. Most quoted companies including all banks, major manufacturers, oil and gas companies, breweries and cement companies use the 12-month Gregorian calendar year as their business year.

Under the first option, companies are required to submit interim or unaudited quarterly reports not later than 30 calendar days after the end of the relevant period. Such companies then have extended 90 days, after the end of the relevant period, to submit their full-year audited reports and accounts.

However, where a company chooses to audit its quarterly accounts, it shall be required to file such accounts not later than 60 calendar days after the relevant quarter. For the first set of companies, the deadline for the submission of the audited report and accounts for the year ended December 31, 2023, is March 30, 2024. Many banks such as Jaiz Bank, Fidelity Bank and FBN Holdings adopted this option and submitted the interim results for the fourth quarter that ended December 31, 2023.

The deadline for the second set of companies, where several major banks belong, was February 29, 2024.  While the rules allow the NGX to grant specific waivers to relevant companies or a general waiver of the deadline under some specific circumstances, a review yesterday indicated that the NGX has not issued any general waiver or specific, publicly announced waiver to the banks.

General waiver is usually given in the event of general disruption to industrial activities such as strikes, national crises, many public holidays and other circumstances that in the judgement of the Exchange may significantly impact the timeline given to companies to prepare and submit the quarterly report.

A review yesterday indicated that the banks had completed their internal approval process and transmitted their results to the apex bank some 40 days ago.

[TheNation]

Against the backdrop of the resurgence of the mass abduction of pupils, the Federal Government has said schools in 14 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, are at risk of attacks by bandits and insurgents.

The National Coordinator of Financing Safe Schools in Nigeria, Hajia Halima Iliya, confirmed to The PUNCH on Sunday, that the data of at-risk schools had been collected for intervention.

Iliya declined to identify the states, but the Commander of the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre, Nigeria Security, and Civil Defence Corps, Hammed Abodunrin, said they included Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Benue, Yobe, Katsina, FCT, Kebbi, Sokoto, Plateau, Zamfara and three others.

No fewer than 465 pupils, teachers, and women abducted in the past week are still in the custody of their captors.

Fifteen pupils of an Islamiya school in Sokoto State were kidnapped in the early hours of Saturday, less than 72 hours after 287 schoolchildren and teachers were abducted from the LEA primary school and the Government Secondary School both at Kuriga, in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

However, 28 of them were on Sunday reported to have escaped 259 in captivity.

A few days before the Kaduna incident, 200 female Internally Displaced Persons were taken away by terrorists in Borno State.

The women were kidnapped in Ngala, the headquarters of Gambarou Ngala in Borno state while fetching firewood in the bush.

On Sunday, there were reports that nine of them had regained freedom remaining 191 in captivity.

Penultimate Thursday, bandits abducted an undisclosed number of people in the Gonin-Gora community in the same Chikun LGA of Kaduna, prompting residents to barricade the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway in protest.

As a response to the April 2014 abduction of the Chibok school girls, the Safe Schools Initiative was launched by the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, alongside the Nigerian Global Business Coalition for Education and private sector leaders at the World Economic Forum Africa.

Safe schools

The initiative entails a combination of school-based interventions, community interventions to protect schools, and special measures for at-risk populations.

The Federal Government inaugurated the Safe Schools Fund with a $10m contribution and another $10m pledge from the private sector.

In further support for the programme, the Federal Government budgeted N15bn for the SSI in the 2023 fiscal year.

Speaking on the programme in an interview with one of our correspondents on Sunday, Iliya explained that the implementation of the SSI had started in several states.

Responding to questions on what was being done to fortify schools against bandit attacks, she said, “The project has taken off. We commenced implementation in 2023 with the flag off of the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre, which we intend to replicate at state and local government levels.

“The states have selected most at-risk schools in each senatorial zone for the implementation of National Plan on Financing Safe Schools Programme (2023-2026).’’

In response to the development, the coordinator explained that state governors had expressed plans to provide funding for the SSI for the protection of pupils and teachers in the identified locations.

She added, “Some states have made provision for the Safe Schools Programme in their 2024 budget in line with the National Plan. We intend to engage the states to guide them through the implementation.

“We’ve communicated to all the states; letters have been written for inclusion of Safe Schools in their budget and for them to select the most at-risk schools. More than 11 states have responded. The budget from states is for them to work on physical infrastructure such as fencing state schools and put other control measures.’’

Iliya further disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Education and the NSCDC had conducted some training for their men, adding that the Nigeria Police had trained senior officers, including all divisional police officers across the country on Safe Schools.

According to her, the security forces have commissioned equipment that would be deployed to various state commands for the operations.

“Data of at-risk schools from 14 states, including the FCT have so far been collected for intervention. The Defence headquarters and DSS (Department of Security Services) are expected to mainstream Safe Schools through capacity building of their officers. N15b was provided and released as takeoff in 2023; utilisation is still ongoing,’’ she stated.

The Commander of the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre, NSCDC, Abodunrin, said the four-year project was being implemented simultaneously in all the states but in phases, adding that it began with the sensitisation and training of security personnel late last year.

He condemned the latest abductions of school pupils, noting that the attackers operated in locations with poor telecommunication service.

Abodunrin said, “The attacks are unfortunate. What the attackers do is to look for soft targets. They now go to villages where they feel they can quickly operate before help can come. They also target when communication networks are bad. The cases in Ekiti and Kaduna are examples where community members could not quickly call for help. There is also the need to raise more awareness in the communities.

“There is a need for more cooperation. Schools are to register on www.nssrcc.gov.ng detailing their addresses and at least a phone number. Registration is free. Any registered school will automatically be on a database with their coordinates for easy accessibility.

“There are patrols. Global standards do not allow security operatives to be in schools for various reasons. Those who want to target them may kill or injure students and other members of the school communities in the process. There will be more patrols.’’

The commander also said that since security requires personal attention, students and teachers would be given training on personal safety and protection.

“Equipment and platforms are also being developed to facilitate easy communication even without a network. They will be trained on this too. Capacity of various communities are being built in the areas of personal security and information management for effective preventive and response efforts,’’ he disclosed.

Adamawa, Kebbi

On the states that have been identified to be at risk of attacks, Abodunrin said, “Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Benue, Yobe, Katsina, FCT, Kebbi, Sokoto, the Plateau, Zamfara.

“These are the states where the state governments have submitted the list of vulnerable schools to Safe School Financing and some of them have already donated Response centres to NSCDC for coordination.

“Some commit to including Safe School in their budgets for the centre to commence operations. Note that all states’ commissioners for finance were addressed by Safe School Finance for cooperation. You may still seek further clarification from Finance (ministry).’’

Continuing, he noted, “Those selected (states) are where concentration is. What the centre is doing in conjunction with NSCDC is to be proactive by making the sensitisation and community engagement national.

“All states of the federation now have Safe School Desk Officers/Coordinators. These attackers would look for soft targets that they think the government is not considering at present.’’

Meanwhile, the state commands of the NSCDC in Gombe, Kano, Osun, Taraba and other states said they were involved in the SSI implementation.

The Gombe State Commandant, Muhammad Bello, noted that his officers were ensuring that no school child was abducted in its safe school project.

He said, “We are ready to face the problem even though we are dwelling in a serious challenge in the area of logistics, and transportation but I will not allow it to impede securing schools and our children. We are doing our best, shortage of mobility will never impede safeguarding children.’’

In a statement, the spokesperson for Osun NSCDC, Kehinde Adeleke, said the Safe School Programme was operational in the state but identified mobility challenges in covering all local government areas in the state.

The Taraba State Commissioner for Education, Dr Augustina Godwin, on Sunday, said the state government had beefed up security around schools, especially in areas prone to banditry attacks since November last year.

In a telephone interview with our correspondent in Jalingo, Godwin said the state government had embarked on the building of perimeter fencing of most schools in the state as a first layer of security.

Godwin said, “We have credible intelligence regarding the plans by bandits to carry out massive school children abduction in the state, and so, the sad incident in Kaduna did not come to us as a surprise.

“The government has engaged personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, and the state security outfit- Taraba Marshall to provide security in our schools.

“We have also formed the Safe School Security Committee as requested by Unicef. We have also identified schools with serious security needs based on their location and we have fortified such schools with more security.

“Just last week, I embarked on supervision of schools to see the level of security presence in our schools and I was impressed with what I saw on the ground.

“For the schools that are yet to get security personnel, we have provided dedicated phone numbers for school principals and teachers to call in case of any incident,” she said.

Sub-regional forces blamed

Meanwhile, the Presidency has described the recent cases of kidnapping across the country as efforts by ‘’sub-regional geopolitical forces conspiring to undermine the government of President Bola Tinubu.’’

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Ajuri Ngelale, affirmed this when he spoke on TVC’s Politics on Sunday monitored by The PUNCH.

On the programme titled ‘Counting the Cost of Presidents Tinubu’s Reforms,’ Ngelale revealed that the Federal Government was already receiving support from the United States government for the release of students kidnapped in Kaduna.

“I will say this: across the north, we understand that some of the sub-regional geopolitical forces that are currently at play are actively conspiring against the stability of Nigeria,” said the President’s spokesman.

Ngelale assured Nigerians that the Federal Government was on top of the situation and had received support from the US government to secure the release of the school children and address the regional forces at play.

“We understand that and we are not sleeping. We are responding to it and we’re doing it in a concerted way, with our neighbours.

“And it is worth noting that the United States Government has also pledged its assistance to ensure that there is a full return of all of the schoolchildren who were kidnapped recently in Kaduna.

“But the point is we are going to continue to intensify our collaboration not just within the region, but internationally to make sure that some of the regional actors that are conspiring against our nation are brought to justice and ultimately silenced in the future,” he explained.

The Presidential spokesman lamented that with increased security in major communities in the South-East and South-West, the government was working to extend coverage to vulnerable far-flung settlements in the north.

“First of all, the President has been very clear that this is an administration of no excuses. If you look at other parts of the countries that were in flames before he took office, such as the South-East and parts of the South-West for example, you will know the level of work that has gone into securing our nation.

“Where we still have some challenges is in the North-Central in the North-West and to a lesser extent in the Northeast. There’s still a lot of work to be done along the Kaduna axis. Remember the time when you could not travel by road on the Abuja-Kaduna highway? Now, you’re able to do that.

“Now the problem is when you have these far-flung communities, we do have these hit-and-run incidences of not just violence and killings, but kidnappings and hostage-taking,” Ngelale explained.

He toed the line of the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, proposing capital punishment for kidnappers, saying, “I think that there’s going to have to be some sort of robust legislative reform that makes it clear to every citizen of our country that if you kidnap anybody, you will be killed by the justice system.

“There will be a death penalty attached to it. I don’t see how this can be solved if we don’t do this and see to its implementation.”

[Punch]

THE Students Loan scheme, planned to be floated in the next few weeks, is an ingenious creation of a problem that does not exist. I explained this as the Lead Discussant at the Federal University of Technology, FUTA, Branch of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, Colloquium on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 in Akure. I had begun my submission by enquiring if a citizen has a fundamental right to be an illiterate. I did not think so, but argued that even if he does, the collective rights of society supersedes such an individual right.

I pointed out that it is in realisation of the indispensability of education to society, that Chapter Two of the Constitution directs that: “Government shall strive to eradicate illiteracy and to this end, Government shall as and when practicable provide free, compulsory and universal primary education; free secondary education; free university education; and free adult literacy programme.”

So, if education is so fundamental to human existence, and if societies need an educated citizenry to run, why should it not invest in education? Why should the citizen take a loan to be educated?

I took the audience through the trajectory of the loan and my observations. The Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act 2023, was signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on June 12, 2023, exactly 14 days after he came into office. This gives the impression that the bill was signed in a hurry. On the other hand, it might have been signed on trust since it was introduced by former House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to the new administration.

The June 12 date was also Democracy Day, marking the commemoration of the June 12, 1993 annulment of the presidential election by the military regime led by General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida. So, did President Tinubu, who played a role in the de-annulment struggle, see a correlation between democracy and the Students Loan Bill?

The title of the new law, ‘The Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act 2023’, gives the impression that it is meant to grant ‘Access to Higher Education’ in the country, which is not the case.

Nigerians access to tertiary education is limited primarily by available admission spaces. This led to the 1978 establishment of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, to manage the admission process. So, the introduction of the loan scheme would not lead to increased admission slots.

Given the fact that, generally, tuition fees are not paid in public tertiary institutions, coupled with the reality that nearly all those who send their wards to tuition fee-paying private universities can afford to do so, it is curious why the Student Loan Scheme is being introduced. This is more so when Section 3 of the Act states that the loan is “only for payment of tuition fees”.

My conclusion was that the Tinubu administration intends to introduce tuition fees into public tertiary institutions through the backdoor. I also pointed out that the challenge students face in our tertiary institutions is primarily upkeep. More so with hyperinflation. But the Act forbids students from accessing the loan for anything other than payment of tuition fees that do not exist in public schools.

If the loan is for only tuition, how will indigent students feed and accommodate themselves in the campuses? How would they buy books and other materials for their studies? How would they carry out necessary research? So, I submitted that the interests of the students and the government do not coincide. Also, the Act disqualifies a loan applicant if “any of the parents had defaulted in respect of students loan or any loan granted the person”. This is like visiting the sins of the parents on the children.

Another aspect is that the new law grants beneficiaries a two-year post National Youth Service Corps moratorium before the repayment begins. Working beneficiaries who dodge repayment risk a N500, 000 fine or two-year jail or both fine and imprisonment.

I pointed out that given the reality of mass unemployment , many beneficiaries are likely to default as unemployed graduates will be unable to repay the loans. I pointed that in the United States, students loan has become like an albatross. The outstanding debts in 2021 stood at $1.7 trillion. Secondly, some youths are not getting married because of the burden of the students loan. The sociological implications of this include the promotion of depopulation, burden of single motherhood and increase in absentee fathers. Also, some American youths do not go to college because they want to avoid the loan trap. This partly informs why some developed countries are seeking professionals from the underdeveloped countries to run their system.

I concluded that the scheme may endanger the future of the students and, by extension, society. As alternative, I submitted that government should live up to its responsibility of funding education. This I pointed out it can do, amongst other ways, by restoring the scholarship and bursary awards to students which used to be provided by all tiers of government.

Professor Bayo Aborishade while also opposing the scheme, narrated his experience in the scheme in the country before it was abolished in the late 1970s.

“I took a students’ loan scheme in 1974.It was N400 per annum. I paid back to the last Kobo, but most students never paid back a Kobo. Many of them were children of rich Nigerians who had the means, but saw the scheme as free money. On the loans form, they filled fake guarantors, the state never checked, and the loans were never repaid.

“In my days, the loan was for upkeep. There was no tuition fee, nor is there tuition fee today. The intention of the government is quite obvious: that it is going to introduce tuition fees. But there are enough funds in Nigeria to fund education in a country where a single minister could within weeks of being in office, have access to billions of Naira. The politicians know how to take care of themselves. It is a class issue; if you don’t belong, you are finished.”

Dr Olawale Bello, concurred that government is trying to introduce tuition fees, adding that it has commenced the process by pushing the universities to increase sundry fees.

FUTA Vice Chancellor, Professor Adenike Oladiji, said government should not be judged by what people assume are its intentions. She is confident that the Act will be revisited in line with the intentions of government.

The FUTA SSSANU led by Comrade Felix Adunbi conferred ‘Labour Friendly Award’ on Ondo State Governor, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, who was represented by Head of Service, Bayo Philip. The union also conferred the Labour Activist Award on me.

On Sunday, March 10, Jimmy Kimmel hosted the 96th Oscars live from the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

Heading into the evening, Christopher Nolan’s IMAX-sized biopic Oppenheimer was the year’s most-nominated film, with 13 total nominations, followed by Yorgos Lanthimos’ mad comedy Poor Things with 11 nominations and Martin Scorsese’s historical crime drama Killers of the Flower Moon with 10.

Here’s the full list:

Best picture
“American Fiction”

“Anatomy of a Fall”

“Barbie”

“The Holdovers”

“Killers of the Flower Moon”

“Maestro”

“Oppenheimer” – WINNER

“Past Lives”

“Poor Things”

“The Zone of Interest”

Best actor in a leading role
Bradley Cooper, “Maestro”

Colman Domingo, “Rustin”

Paul Giamatti, “The Holdovers”

Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer” – WINNER

Jeffrey Wright, “American Fiction”

Best actress in a leading role

Annette Bening, “Nyad”

Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon”

Sandra Hüller, “Anatomy of a Fall”

Carey Mulligan, “Maestro”

Emma Stone, “Poor Things” – WINNER

Best actor in a supporting role
Sterling K. Brown, “American Fiction”

Robert De Niro, “Killers of the Flower Moon”

Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer” – WINNER

Ryan Gosling, “Barbie”

Mark Ruffalo, “Poor Things”

Best actress in a supporting role

Emily Blunt, “Oppenheimer”

Danielle Brooks, “The Color Purple”

America Ferrera, “Barbie”

Jodie Foster, “Nyad”

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers” – WINNER

Best director

Justine Triet, “Anatomy of a Fall”

Martin Scorsese, “Killers of the Flower Moon”

Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer” – WINNER

Yorgos Lanthimos, “Poor Things”

Jonathan Glazer, “The Zone of Interest”

Best cinematography

“El Conde”

“Killers of the Flower Moon”

“Maestro”

“Oppenheimer” – WINNER

“Poor Things”

Best international feature film
“The Teachers’ Lounge,” Germany

“Io Capitano,” Italy

“Perfect Days,” Japan

“Society of the Snow,” Spain

“The Zone of Interest,” United Kingdom – WINNER

Best adapted screenplay

“American Fiction” – WINNER

“Barbie”

“Oppenheimer”

“Poor Things”

“The Zone of Interest”

Best original screenplay

“Anatomy of a Fall” – WINNER

“The Holdovers”

“Maestro”

“May December”

“Past Lives”

Best live action short film

“The After”

“Invincible”

“Knight of Fortune”

“Red, White and Blue”

“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” – WINNER

Best animated short film

“Letter to a Pig”

“Ninety-Five Senses”

“Our Uniform”

“Pachyderme”

“War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko” – WINNER

Best animated feature film

“The Boy and the Heron” – WINNER

“Elemental”

“Nimona”

“Robot Dreams”

“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”

Best documentary short

“The ABCs of Book Banning”

“The Barber of Little Rock”

“Island in Between”

“The Last Repair Shop” – WINNER

“Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó”

Best documentary feature film

“Bobi Wine: The People’s President”

“The Eternal Memory”

“Four Daughters”

“To Kill a Tiger”

“20 Days in Mariupol” – WINNER

Best original song

“The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot”

“I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie”

“It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony”

“Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from “Killers of the Flower Moon”

“What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie” – WINNER

Best original score

“American Fiction”

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”

“Killers of the Flower Moon”

“Oppenheimer” – WINNER

“Poor Things”

Best makeup and hairstyling

“Golda”

“Maestro”

“Oppenheimer”

“Poor Things” – WINNER

“Society of the Snow”

Best costume design
“Barbie”

“Killers of the Flower Moon”

“Napoleon”

“Oppenheimer”

“Poor Things” – WINNER

Best editing

“Anatomy of a Fall”

“The Holdovers”

“Killers of the Flower Moon”

“Oppenheimer” – WINNER

“Poor Things”

Best sound
“The Creator”

“Maestro”

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”

“Oppenheimer”

“The Zone of Interest” – WINNER

Best production design
“Barbie”

“Killers of the Flower Moon”

“Napoleon”

“Oppenheimer”

“Poor Things” – WINNER

Best visual effects

“The Creator”

“Godzilla Minus One” – WINNER

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”

“Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One”

“Napoleon”

Vanguard News

On October 15, 1965, as political uncertainty and violence raged in Western Nigeria, Ladoke Akintola, the regional Premier, was due to deliver a primetime radio broadcast to his people at 19:00. Some minutes before the appointed hour, an armed, unmasked and bearded young man appeared in the studio and required Akinwande Oshin, head of the newsroom at the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (WNBC) to substitute the recorded broadcast of the Premier with a tape provided by the gunman. At the appointed hour, the entire region – including the Premier – listened as the voice from the gunman’s tape exhorted the Premier to spare the region further turmoil and go. 

His mission accomplished, the gunman promptly vanished into the night, leaving Mr. Oshin and his crew in the newsroom with some questions to answer. The incident would later result in criminal proceedings against a suspect, later identified as Wole Soyinka, at the time a lecturer at the University of Ibadan. In his defence, Mr. Soyinka set up an alibi, claiming that he was in Enugu in the then Eastern Region of Nigeria at the time of the incident. In his testimony, Soyinka’s Head of Department at the university, Professor Axworthy, said that they had both attended a departmental meeting in Ibadan less than two hours before the incident but the Wole Soyinka with whom he attended the meeting, according to the professor, was clean shaven.

The mystery of how a clean-shaven man could grow a bushy beard in less than two hours was too much for the trial Magistrate, who felt obliged to acquit the suspect. Kayode Eso, the trial Magistrate, who would go on to a storied judicial career within and beyond Nigeria, immortalized this story in his book fittingly titled “The Mystery Gunman.”

The mystery gunman is a figure of considerable antiquity in the history of crime and impunity in Nigeria and of myths about both. A mere 11 and a half years after that incident in Ibadan, soldiers brutally attacked Wole Soyinka’s aunt, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, in the Kalakuta Republic base of her famous son and Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. A judicial commission of inquiry established to identify the perpetrators and recommend suitable measures of accountability concluded that the attack was the handiwork of the “unknown soldier”. With the act attributed to so ghostly a figure, suggestions of accountability became illusory.

In south-east Nigeria, where a metastasis of murderous violence is widely perceived to have held sway for the better part of the last five years, responsibility for this state of affairs is laid at the feet of the Unknown Gunman. Tired of having to repeat the name with the frequency with which murders, abductions, and violence occur in and around the region, many people have taken to abbreviating the nomenclature to “UGM”. With no memory of what transpired before, the UGM is mostly seen as a novelty in the contemporary ecosystem of violence in Nigeria generally and in the south-east more particularly. In reality, he is neither new nor indeed unknown.

Nearly 10 years ago, when he disappeared on his way to his community in Nanka, Orumba North Local Government Area (LGA) of Anambra State in May 2014, it was reported that former Anambra State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Chike Okoli, had been “abducted by unknown gunmen.” But one month later, the Anambra State directorate of the State Security Service (SSS) arrested a 10-man kidnap-for-ransom gang, whom they alleged was responsible for the kidnap and disappearance of Mr Okoli. It was led by one Kingsley Chukwuemeka Eze, a local politician from Enugu state.

The abduction and disappearance of Igwe Oliver Nnaji, traditional ruler of Ogwu Aniocha in Ogbaru LGA in November 2021, was similarly reported at first as the handiwork of the “UGM”. However, at the beginning of January 2023, a raid by a Special Forces assault team on the Ochan Forest in the community reportedly led to the killing of ten members of a crime gang led by one Victor Ibenegbu (alias “Network”), who claimed that “his group was behind the serial killings and arsons in the community”, including the abduction of the traditional ruler.

With the police decimated and devoid of confidence, the investigation of the violence does not receive the kind of assets or commitment it deserves. Most victims and witnesses are not unaware of the authors of the violence in their neighbourhoods. But they are equally mostly unwilling to go on record for fear of suffering reprisals. The use of “unknown gunmen” to describe the perpetrators is a misnomer. In most cases, they are known but the expression, UGM, describes a tyranny of despondency in the face of widely held perceptions of state incapacity or impunity for these atrocities.

Over nearly 20 months of leading the Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission (TJPC) into the violence in the south-east of Nigeria, it has become evident to me that the UGM is one of the narrative myths and constraints in the crisis of violence and insecurity in the region. It is by no means the only one. You also have the reality of a population forced by the violence into a habit of fear of candour on the subject; an absence of public or bureaucratic infrastructure of both memory and records of victimisation; a narrative space at both national and state levels unwilling to look beyond separatism as the explanation for the violence; and a policy space attuned only to expeditionary and kinetic responses.

These myths have sustained the misbegotten idea of a unified field theory for the violence in south-east Nigeria. Anyone interested in addressing this situation must be prepared to look beyond the myths. For whoever is prepared to do so, the pursuit could prove both revealing and richly rewarding.

In Anambra state, for instance, the political economy of land is central to understanding the crisis of violence. It is both property and identity and the supply of land in the state is shrinking under the combined assault of fragilities from both nature and of intense land use. Revenues from land, are the focus of an intensity of competing interests. In this competition, cults and organized crime gangs are recruited. These cults and gangs bring with them guns, drugs, and even transactional idolatry. Over time, they also develop a seasonal and entrepreneurial orientation to violence, selling it to whoever is interested, from artisanal rustlers of solid minerals or hydro-carbons to private persons using it to settle scores; from community factions disputing over the stool of the Igwe or positions in the Town Union to politicians seeking offices in the state.

From the political economy of land, other shorter-term factors radiate out, including the mismanagement of transhumant pastoralism; (mis-)appropriation of a narrative vacuum created by official government policy concerning memory from Nigeria’s past; intra-state and inter-community boundary crises; transactional idolatry; the franchising of agitation by criminal cults and gangs; as well as the deployment of violence for artisanal extractive and mining activities and electoral politics.

For both politicians and security agencies, the focus on mobilizing kinetic responses preoccupies itself overly with the symptoms at the expense of addressing the real causes. The implicit idea that the country or the region can shoot its way out of the violence and its causes and consequences is in one word, delusional. Tactical options must always be on the table but, for durable solutions, the country and the region must dispense with the myths and govern their way out of the disease. That is the only way to make the symptoms finally disappear.

A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Sadly, most Nigerians will not read or appreciate this contribution because frankly, it is beyond them.

Worst still, many of them, particularly in the younger generation, find it difficult to read more than three lines even though it is to their own shame and detriment.

For those that have the gravitas, insight, foresight, profundity and intellectual virility to read and comprehend the counsel I have offered in this write-up, I urge you to bookmark it and wait and see what unfolds unless and until we quickly identify and recognise the problem and address the issues raised.

There are two reasons for the mass abductions and kidnappings that we are witnessing in our country today.

Firstly, to garner cash which is then sent abroad to buy more arms and fund terror and secondly to destabilise our country and to discredit and undermine the credibility of our president and the federal government.

I hope and pray that someone is listening because this is precisely what we witnessed when the Chibok girls and other children were abducted over the years and the motives are the same. Those who think it is only about the acquisition of money are naive and ignorant.

There is far more to it than that and there are numerous shady and sinister characters, international criminal cartels, foreign governments and intelligence agencies and local accomplices and facilitators that are involved in this great evil.

Nigeria has been targeted for destruction, division and disintegration by those who see us as a threat to their regional hegemony, strategic national interests and imperialist aspirations, but most of us still don’t get it and perhaps never will.

They do not want a strong, united, prosperous and regionally dominant Nigeria but would rather turn us into a pathetic and pitiful shadow of our former selves, a cowardly and quivering caricature of what we once were and a weak, divided, incredulous and headless pawn and set us up for self-destructive economic and military annihilation.

They know that a strong Nigeria, like a strong South Africa, would stand up to them in the arena of world politics and international affairs and ensure that our collective interests as Nigerians and Africans would be protected and they do not want this.

As a matter of fact, for us to achieve that enviable status is not just their greatest fear but their worst nightmare.

They ask themselves in their corporate boardrooms, presidential palaces, cabinet meetings and legislative chambers, who can stand up to a strong Nigeria?

They wonder where else they would get their free mineral resources and be in a position to manipulate and dictate to servile leaders if not Nigeria.

And if Nigeria were to fail, fall and go the way they want us to, who would stand and speak for Africa and the black man in the comity of nations?

If the truth be told without a strong, flourishing and virile Nigeria, Africa is nothing and the black man is nowhere and this is precisely why the powers that be, when it comes to world politics and the international community, do not want us to succeed.

As far as they are concerned we are too weak, corrupt, ignorant, primitive, backward, servile, self-hating and dumb to achieve anything meaningful and we are more than happy to spend the next 100 years as a nation and a people that seek nothing but validation, leadership and guidance from them.

Yet how wrong they are. They have no idea who and what we are and deep down they fear us and recognise the fact that an unbound and unfettered Nigeria with strong, bold, articulate, confident and fearless leaders who do not seek their approval or validation and who have no interest in remaining as their slaves would be their worse nightmare. Such leaders would be dangerous to their evil cause and their attempt to sow the seeds of civil war, hardship and economic paralysis in our country.

It is time for us to get off our knees, to throw away the begging bowl, to stop constantly seeking validation from those who do not wish us well, to stop blindly implementing their disastrous economic models which seek to impoverish and destroy our people, to uproot and reject their well-planted seeds of division and to stop tolerating their subversive activities.

Ask yourself, who funds the terrorists and bandits and where do they get their weapons from?

They did it in Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Algeria, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Syria and so many other countries over the years and decades and now they are doing it here.

Ask yourself who was behind the attack on a mosque in which worshippers were killed just yesterday in Kaduna and what was the purpose of this abominable and condemnable act of terror if not to destabilise us and create panic and chaos in our nation?

All this must stop and we must desist from refusing to acknowledge that we now have and indeed have always had a major problem which needs to be acknowledged and be solved.

None of these things happen by chance and what we are witnessing is a deep-seated and long-term conspiracy to literally end our nation as we know it and throw us into a state of fear, poverty, anomie, anarchy, fratricidal butchery and carnage.

Worst of all is the fact that our so-called “best friends” and “allies” in the West and the international community are the ones behind it.

We need help and if we can get it from the Russians, the Chinese and even the Iranians in order to restore our peace, self-respect, freedom, dignity and prosperity, we should do so.

Asking the West for help either in intelligence gathering, advice or covert military operations when it comes to the fight against the terrorists and insurgents in Nigeria is like asking the big bad wolf to save Little Red Riding Hood.

It cannot work because ultimately they are the hidden hand behind our numerous travails and they are the enemy.

May God open our eyes and deliver our nation and may we cultivate the fortitude and courage to come together as a people, eschew our differences, resist the evil and save our nation.