— As Vice President Bags Honourary Doctorate Degree

Vice President Kashim Shettima has challenged graduates of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) to embrace entrepreneurship and self-employment instead of waiting for government jobs.

Shettima gave the charge on Saturday at the 24th combined convocation ceremony of UNIMAID where he was also conferred with an honorary doctorate degree.

The VP said the era where graduates rely solely on the government for employment was over, adding that they must use their education and entrepreneurial skills to make a positive impact on society.

“Every success in life brings with it challenges. You are graduating today, our nation is faced with myriads of problems. I believe the university has adequately prepared you to contribute to proffering solutions to these problems.

“The era when graduates look up to the government for answers to all problems is fast fading. I encourage you to specifically utilise your entrepreneurial training in the university to decide your employability status. Start an enterprise, no matter how small your capital or idea is,” Shettima was quoted by his media aide, Stanley Nkwocha, as advising the graduating students.

Speaking on his conferment with a honourary doctorate, the VP acknowledged the impact of his educational journey at UNIMAID, describing the institution as instrumental in shaping his formative years as a student.

Shettima expressed gratitude to his lecturers and mentors for imparting knowledge and values that prepared him for leadership and service.

“This homecoming is to express my gratitude for the lessons learned in the halls, the premises, and in the service of this esteemed institution.

“The choices I’ve made since being certified by this institution to pursue my dream have taken me to heights I could have only imagined. In each room and at every event, I find a reason to utter a prayer for the training acquired here. I am a child of a collection of patient teachers and mentors, so I’m acutely aware that this honour is not mine alone to claim,” he added.

He continued: “To you, I will always be a student, and with all the privilege to remind me of my ambassadorial duty to the University of Maiduguri. This is why I am excited that I am not here today for defying a code of conduct, for that would have meant that I failed as a flag-bearer of my alma mater.

“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, receiving an honorary doctorate from the institution that has been instrumental in shaping one’s formative years can only signify that one has followed the path of an indescribable principle. However, this honour is neither for me nor for you alone; it is a grand testament to the equalizing power of the education fostered here. This gathering symbolizes our collective aspirations as an institution.

“Here, on the fine sands and under the lush trees of Unimaid, I was taught that education is the brick with which a purposeful life is built. However, the education in question isn’t what you cram to pass your examinations; it’s what you do with what you have learned. I am where I am today because I learned here that intellectual curiosity is the preservative of every enduring civilization,” Sen. Shettima

In his remarks, the Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, commended UNIMAID for equipping the students to contribute to national development while assuring the university’s management of the state government’s continued support.

The convocation ceremony was attended by dignitaries including state governors, federal lawmakers, and the Shehu of Borno.

“Gaza, you BLACK woman! Gaza, you trash! Gaza, you bitch! Gaza, you daughter of a huge whore; just like your mother Gaza!” –  Lior Narkis. 

The popular Israeli singer, Lior Narkis, sang these disturbing and deeply insulting words to a wild and ecstatic crowd of dancing and cheering Israeli soldiers who received them with wild and loud expressions of joy, adulation, praise and adoration as he went on a tour of numerous Israeli military camps whilst Gaza was being bombed and a few days before they began their ground offensive. 

I am constrained to ask the American Jew, Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro), who is the leading Zionist, pro-Israeli columnist, author and commentator in the United States of America (USA) and a man who has enormous influence throughout the world, given the fact that millions of people read his write-ups, value his opinion and follow him on both the social and traditional media, the following question: Is this the sort of rhetoric and sentiment and the type of people that you and your Zionist collaborators expect the civilized world to offer their unquestioning support and applaud? 

As someone rightly asked, why is this vile and racist singer touring IDF bases rather than facing charges for hate crime?

The answer is simple: He reflects the mindset and thinking of the Zionists and their views, not just about the Palestinians and the Arabs, but also about people of colour. 

His songs and views are SICKENING and unacceptable and my Christian faith compels me to resist it and those that encourage and applaud it with every fiber of my being.

I wonder whether you, as the greatest defender and apologist of Israeli genocide and the wholesale slaughter of Palestinian children in America today, have anything to say about this or can muster the courage and moral gravitas to condemn it.

Sadly, judging from your consistently obstinate, implicitly racist, intellectually bankrupt, logically flawed, constantly shallow and habitually bigoted contributions in your inglorious column in the American Daily Wire and your handle on X, I doubt it very much. 

Unheard of in war

 Permit me to share another relevant contribution from no less a figure than Brazilian President Lula Da Silva for your consideration as well. He said, “If Hamas committed acts of terrorism when it did what it did, the State of Israel is also committing acts of terrorism. I have never heard of children being the preferred victims in a war. The number of women and children who have been killed in Gaza is unheard of in any other war. They (Israelis) are killing innocent people.”

I would suggest that you carefully ponder on these profound and deeply insightful words and take them very seriously, indeed, because they reflect the thinking of the entire civilized world. Now to the point!

My dear Ben, I am sharing my concerns with you in this open letter simply because I am inclined to take you more seriously than others of your ilk due to the fact that your level of doublespeak, deceit, misinformation, disinformation, historical revisionism, mendacity and propaganda are second to none and this makes you very dangerous.

Version of Josef Goebels

 To put it mildly, you are literally America’s version of Josef Goebels (Hitler’s Nazi Minister of Propaganda & Information) on steroids; only your target audience is not just Nazi Germany or America but rather the entire world.

Yours is to defend the indefensible and to justify the unjustifiable.

You continue to mislead and confuse millions of people all over the world with your pro-war, pro-apartheid, ultra-conservative and ultra-Zionist essays, podcast and social media contributions when you present falsehood as truth and truth as falsehood.

Had it not been for the fact that so many gullible and naive individuals read and listen to your every word and consider them as gospel truth, I would not have bothered putting pen to paper and writing this epistle to you.

However, your constant disrespect and contemptuous disdain for the basic facts and plain truth when it comes to the abominable atrocities that are being perpetuated in Gaza by the Israeli Government and Armed Forces, coupled with your constant bullying, arm-twisting and misplaced rage and wrath visited on anyone and everyone that does not accept or propagate your false and perfidious narrative constrains me to do so.

Ugly events

Before I go into the ugly events in Gaza, permit me to remind you of just one example of the expression of your inherent racism and debilitating insolence.

On September 27th, 2010, you posted the following on your X handle: “Israelis like to build. Arabs like to bomb crap and live in open sewage. This is not a difficult issue”.

Kindly tell me what you would call this type of rhetoric if not hateful racial stereotyping and bigoted and ignorant racism in its most vulgar, crass, primitive and crude form? 

Racial slurs

Your racial slurs against Arabs remind me of the language employed by the Afrikaans-speaking White Boers of apartheid South Africa who regarded black South Africans and black people generally as nothing but “sub-human, low born field hands and slaves”, and who described them in their apartheid Constitution as nothing but the Biblical “hewers of the wood and drawers of the water”.

Again your words remind me of those of the infamous Dutchman, navigator and sailor Jan Van Reebeck, who was one of the earliest Europeans to arrive in South Africa and who upon landing on the beaches of the South African Cape in 1652, referred to our African brothers and sisters as “stinking black dogs”.

The truth is that those that speak and think like you are worse than the German Nazis who subjected your forefathers to such horrendous treatment and sought to wipe them out.

Quite apart from that, given your racist disposition, I suspect strongly that you were conceived, born, bred and raised in the same crap and open sewage that you have accused the Arabs of living in. Now to Gaza!

Support for Israeli occupation

 Permit me to begin with the graphic and moving words of His Excellency Abdullah Abu Sawesh, who is the High Commissioner for the State of Palestine to my country Nigeria.

In a press statement, which was released earlier this week, he wrote, inter alia, the following: “The unconditional, unshakeable political, military and media support that the Israeli occupation is receiving from Western countries has perpetrated the current textbook genocide and the continuance of the Palestinian NAKBA that started in 1948.

“By continuing airing and screening the occupier’s propaganda and picking the side of the executioners, the main Western media outlets are completely complicit in the current textbook genocide.

“On the 40th day of this frenzy textbook genocide, all the news that still came from the occupied Palestinian territories and in particular from Gaza are heartbreaking.

“As unfortunate as it is, I have no other choice except to start with the bloody statistical figures.

“With the deepest sorrow, the death toll among the Palestinian civilians has exceeded twelve thousand (12,000) and the majority of them are children and women.

“Out of more than two thousand still missing, there has been groaning still coming from under the rubble which means that some are still breathing and fighting for their lives.

“The casualty toll in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has also climbed up as Israeli occupying forces and settlers ratchet up their violence on Palestinian civilians, now 186 killed, including 46 children, and 2,400 injured. “Hundreds of bodies of Palestinian victims are decomposing in the courtyard of Al-Shifa Hospital, on the streets and under the rubble and there is no opportunity to bury them with the respect they deserve.

“More than 750 journalists from dozens of news organizations signed an open letter, condemning Israel’s killing of journalists in Gaza and criticizing the Western media coverage of the aggression against the Strip.

“The letter, amongst many other things, said newsrooms are ‘accountable for dehumanising rhetoric that has served to justify ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.’”

 Secret tear

Can anyone hear such words and not shed a secret tear for the people of Palestine?

Can we not acknowledge and recognise the fact that there is indeed a grand plan and not so hidden agenda to exterminate them and wipe them off the face of the earth?

This is not about fighting Hamas or seeking the terrorists out for destruction: This is about killing or displacing every single Palestinian man, woman and child and turning their entire race into a distant and fading memory.

What the white Americans of the old “wild west” did to the native “red” Indians of the mid western and western prairies is precisely what the Jews, the Zionists and the State of Israel wish to do to the Palestinian people.

They wish to break them, kill them, displace them, destroy them and herd those that are left alive into barren reservation camps in the Sinai desert where they will be treated like worthless slaves and beggars and turned into feeble-minded and pitiful drug addicts and alcoholics. May God forbid that this should ever happen!

Yet, this is precisely what degenerate and twisted little Zionist monsters like you Ben actually pray for and crave in your lust for land, power, hegemony, expansion, domination, control, subjugation, conquest, treasure, gas and oil, plenty of which lies below the soil of Gaza and off its coast. 

 Evidence

 A few days ago, you posted a picture of a hole in the ground on the same X account for your 6 million followers.

You claimed that this hole is under a Gaza hospital & you alleged that it leads to a web of military tunnels below the hospital.

As usual you have provided no evidence to substantiate your allegation or the veracity of your assertion but the truth is that such “trivial” matters like the provision of credible evidence means little or nothing to you.

You expect us to believe what you have said and regard it as truth simply because YOU said so and YOU must never be doubted, disbelieved, denied or challenged in the presentation of YOUR so-called facts.

Worse still, anyone that challenges those “facts”, in your twisted, warped and intellectually anemic mind must be “antisemitic”, “an enemy of the State of Israel” and “a Jew hater”.

Such base and infantile poppycock is rarely seen in serious public discourse or intellectual debate but, of course, people like you always lower the bar. 

The truth is that the hole, which picture you shared and passed off as a passage to a tunnel used by Hamas terrorists, may well be one that simply leads to the hospital sewers or to the hospital basement.

Yet you expect us, nay command us and demand of us, to believe your assertion and categorization that it leads to a complex network of Hamas military bases & tunnels simply because you & the Israeli Defence Force @IDF have said so. 

Bombing hospitals, butchering civilians

 Whatever the case, is this your justification for bombing hospitals & butchering 12,000 civilians, 6, 000 of whom are children in Gaza and 186 others, 46 of whom are children, in the West Bank all in 5 weeks?

Is this your rationalization for killing or causing the death of one child in Gaza every ten minutes? 

Is this your justification for turning Al-Shifa Hospital into a stinking and death-stench cemetery for children and babies and a concentration camp filled with rotting and maggot-infested bodies?

Is this your reason for targeting hospitals, killing little babies in incubators by denying them oxygen and electricity and turning them into what can best be described as little mice being prepared for the slaughter? 

Is this your rationalization for slaughtering over 1/2% of the entire population of Gaza & flattening 60% of its infrastructures in that same space of time?

As Professor Norman Finklestein, the respected Jewish-American scholar and author, posted on X, “It is now 24 hours since Israel invaded Al-Shifa Hospital.  “No sprawling Hamas command-and-control center. No arms caches in the tunnels. No secret passageways. No nothing except DEAD BABIES IN INCUBATORS WITHOUT FUEL.”

Can you Ben Shapiro or your Zionist collaborators and co-conspirators legitimately dispute this?

 Mass murder, genocide, ethnic cleansing

 Frankly you make me sick. You are not only a delusional & blood thirsty degenerate but you are also a psychopath who has a craving for the spilling of human blood.

Whilst the world is sickened by the heartless slaughter of Palestinian women, children & babies you, like the twisted voyeur and perverted sexual deviant that you are, sit back in your chair, bring out the popcorn & enjoy watching it every night. 

You are a troubled little man who has an insatiable appetite for the spilling of children’s blood & whose secret desire is to subject every single Arab (both Christian & Muslim) to mass murder, genocide & ethnic cleansing & wipe them all off the face of the earth.

You are worse than Hamas, ISIS, Boko Haram, Daesh, Al Shabab, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah & Al Qaeda all put together because you are not only a brutal, blood lusting, merciless beast & terrorist enabler & sympathizer that has no value for life & no interest in peace but you, like Hitler’s Nazis, also seek to rationalize your unrelenting barbarity with a pseudo-intellectual garb trying to defend & present as acceptable something that no civilized or sane individual with even the tiniest modicum of humanity can EVER accept as being normal.

Your hateful and provocative rhetoric and disgraceful & deeply insulting commentary about the Islamic & Christian faiths over the years & your unacceptable insults on the greatest, most noble, most righteous and most revered Prophet of Islam, Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu ‘Alayhi Wa Sallam), coupled with your denigrating and demeaning description of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Lord of Hosts, the Ancient of Days, the Creator of all that is, the Lord of the Universe, the El Shaddai, the Elohim, the Adonai, the Alpha and the Omega and the Resurrected Lord, as “just another Jew who died for a cause”, has not gone unnoticed.

You are, of course, entitled to your views but, let me tell you, frankly, that if every Jew had your deplorable, warped, bigoted, racist, asinine & utterly despicable mindset & deplorable disposition about the two greatest & most popular faiths on earth, the world would be filled with anti-semites & Hitler would have been celebrated as a saint & a hero even though we all regard him as one of the worse monsters & tyrants that ever lived. 

You are the biggest & single most repugnant, perfidious, malevolent, deceitful, malicious, insincere, wicked, malodrous, dangerous & intellectually dishonest voice in the Zionist camp today & you have made more enemies for the State of Israel by your vicious & unrelenting racism, your endorsement of apartheid, your blatant lies, your pathological mendacities & your inexplicable & unfathomable fabrications than any other human being on earth.

  I do not agree with everything that men & women like Dominique De Villepin, Professor Norman Finklestein, David Icke, Professor Naom Chomsky, Jackson Hinkle, Mehdi Hassan, Clare Daley MEP, William Scott Ritter Jnr., Colonel Douglas Macgregor, Andrew Tate, Professor John Mearsheimer, James Corbyn MP, Julius Malema MP,

Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Oman, Professor Cornel West, the Torah Jews, Professor Isa Pantami, Antonio Gutteras, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus & all the other pro-ceasefire, pro-peace voices say but every single one of them displays a level of logic, foresight, justice, equity, compassion, sensitivity & humanity that you are incapable of doing & they are better & far more enlightened than you in their rationalisations, reasoning & historical knowledge of the events in the Middle East and Palestine.

Tunnel vision

Unlike you, they do not suffer from tunnel vision and they are not blinded and encumbered by their own subjectivity or delusional emotions. 

Even the hitherto reticent Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, who all along had refused to criticize the genocidal excesses of Israel, appears to have finally found the courage to join the ranks of these noble men and women, the forces of light and the legions of the righteous and speak up for the oppressed and suffering people of Gaza when, just a few days ago, he said the following during the course of a press conference. He said, ”I urge the Government of Israel to exercise maximum restraint.

“The world is watching on TV, on social media. We are hearing the testimonies of doctors, family members, survivors, kids who have lost their parents.

“The world is witnessing this killing of women, of children, of babies. This has to stop”.

Let us hope he goes even further and calls for a total and complete ceasefire.

Unlike you, each of these men and women are motivated by truth & guided by their consciences and the quest for justice & fairness.

You do not share these noble qualities, virtues or motivations.

You are no better than a primitive, half naked cheerleader & court jester dancing naked in the town centre and attempting to get noticed like a stale & out of fashion village idiot and lady of easy virtue that is well past her expiry date. 

You are just a lost, irredeemable, unconscionable soul that has no conscience, that has lost his humanity and moral compass and that is being paid and sponsored to write unadulterated rubbish by the pro-Israeli lobby in the United States of America and the State of Israel.

By all means, defend Israel if that is your decision, but you do not need to throw away your humanity and fully embrace depravity to do so.

Sadly, that is what you have done but what the hell do you care because you sold your soul to Satan years ago in return for notoriety and infamy.

Hell awaits you Ben and when you get there you can exchange notes with your soul-mates and fellow beasts like Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, King Leopold 11 of Belgium, Genghis Khan, Mohammed Al Baghdadi, Idi Amin, Jeanne Bedie Bokassa, Christopher Colombus, King Herod, Pharaoh, Osama Bin Ladin, Saddam Hussein, Nebuchadnezzar, Vlad the Impaler and so many others.

Consequences

You will learn the hard way that supporting the evil that is being perpetuated in Gaza today by Israel will eventually have dire consequences for the Jewish state herself and indeed the entire world.

I have always loved Israel and a part of me still does. Together with millions of others all over the world, I wept for her when she was attacked and brutally savaged by those that are worse than animals on October 7th and I not only condemned it but share the view that Hamas must be eradicated from the face of the earth. 

Despite that, I simply cannot bear what the Jewish state is doing in Gaza and I hate those who are cheering them on in their barbaric slaughter of innocent civilians.

Posers

Permit me to garner this contribution with a few posers.

Are we supposed to stand by Israel even when she is indulging in blind, rage-induced and vengeance-motivated genocide?

Are we supposed to join the Americans and say that Israel can do and get away with ANYTHING and not demand for a ceasefire?

Are we supposed to clap for the Israeli Minister of Heritage when he says “anyone who carries a Palestinian flag should not be allowed to live?” or when he says a “nuclear bomb should be dropped on Gaza” or when he says “Gaza’s 2.5 million people should be pushed in the desert or sent to 100 different countries as refugees at 25,000 Gazans per country?”

Is this the sort of rhetoric we are expected to espouse, endorse and support?

Is this what criminally insane, genocidal maniacs and complicit religious bigots and messianic zealots like you Ben Shapiro expect us to embrace? 

Are we expected to jump with joy and applaud him when the Israeli Minister of National Security says “even those that are sharing sweets on the streets of Gaza should be targeted and slaughtered as well?”

Are we supposed to express our approval when the Minister of Defence of Israel says “what is being done to Gaza may also be done to Beirut?”

Is this wholesale espousal of barbarity, slaughter and savagery to be regarded as the new norm? Are we expected to accept and celebrate it?

Is there no more sanity in the world?

Are we supposed to accept it as the norm when the Israeli Finance Minister says “there is no such thing as a Palestinian nation, there is no such thing as Palestinian history and there is no such thing as a Palestinian language”?

Are we supposed to hop up and down with joy and express our unending adoration when a Member of the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) is questioned about the fact that thousands of innocent Palestinian women and children are being killed by Israeli bombs in Gaza and his response was “there is no such thing as an innocent Palestinian”, meaning that every single Palestinian, whether man, woman, child or infant, should be bombed, crushed and wiped off the face of the earth?

Where is this hateful and genocidal rhetoric coming from and why should we shy away from challenging it?

Are we cowards? Should we be filled with fear and trepidation and shy away from speaking the bitter truth about what Zionism has done to the Jewish state?

Does the Bible not tell us that “God has not given us a spirit of fear but one of power, love and sound mind”?

Does is not admonish us not to fear the one that can kill the body but “only He that can throw the soul into hell”? 

Today, the Jews that have taken objection to others saying “from the river to the sea, Palestine must be free” and that claim that such words are nothing but genocidal hate speech and an expression of a sinister and subterranean desire to wipe the State of Israel off the face of the earth are themselves saying that Gaza and the Palestinian people should be totally eradicated.

They are themselves wiping out Christian and Muslim children in Gaza and, judging from what the Israeli Defence Minister is saying, it may soon be Lebanon and Beirut as well. 

Does this double standard make any sense? Is it just? Is it fair? Does it not make any right thinking person sick? Is it right or proper for anyone to be talking about wiping out any race in this day and age?

Are Israel, the Zionists and the Jews above the law and do they have the right to do unto others what they do not want others to do unto them?

Has Israel not taken us down the sanguine and bloody path of carnage and madness where restraint and the application of even the most basic norms of military engagement, international law and the law of war no longer apply?

Are crimes against humanity and war crimes against innocent civilians, including women and children, now acceptable forms of combat? 

This may be so in Ben Shapiro’s Zionist controlled insane world but not in mine. 

Today it is Gaza; tomorrow it could be your city or country. Think about that whilst you are watching the show of shame and unprecedented carnage from the comfort of your home and bedroom on CNN, Al Jazeera or the BBC! May God have mercy on us all!

October 7th

Permit me to conclude this contribution with the following: I have written thousands of words over the last few weeks about the horrendous slaughter that the State of Israel was subjected to by a group of savage and barbaric demons in human flesh on October 7th.

The attack was unprovoked and indefensible and the carnage that it left in its wake beggars belief and was second to none.

It was undoubtedly the worst and most devastating attack on the Jewish state and the Jewish people since the holocaust and I joined millions of Nigerians and indeed people from all over the civilized world of every faith, including Muslims and Christians, in condemning it and insisting that Israel not only has the right to defend herself but also a duty to totally and completely wipe out the terrorist organisation known as Hamas.

These are all “givens” or what lawyers  describe as “settled law”, but what puzzles me is the fact that when some of us express our angst, disgust, opprobrium and horror at the disproportionate and sickening overreaction and incontrovertible savagery and barbarity that the State of Israel is subjecting the innocent people of Gaza to in the name of fighting and crushing Hamas and the fact that we are utterly mortified by the sight of Palestinian women, children and infant babies being blown to pieces and slaughtered like Sallah goats and Christmas turkeys whilst in their homes, hospitals, streets, ambulances, schools, churches and mosques and when we cry out in horror and say enough is enough and that this must stop, we are treated with disdain and contempt by the pro-Zionist and pro-Israel lobby and declared as being anti-semitic, anti-Jewish and anti-Israel. Is this not absurd? Should the wholesale slaughter of Muslim and Christian babies and infants not attract the same level and degree of anger and horror as the wholesale butchery of Jewish and Israeli ones?

Are they not all babies before being Muslims, Christians or Jews?

Do Christian and Muslim babies, women and children not have the right to life as well and are they not worthy of being considered for protection at a time of war or should such consideration be offered to only the Jews and citizens of Israel?

Does the Holy Bible tell us that killing babies of ANY race or religion is the right thing to do?

Injustice

Does the New Testament of the Word of God not specifically and clearly tell us that the violent abominations of the Old Testament such as ethnic cleansing, mass murder, genocide, racism, religious bigotry, injustice, inequity, racial and religious intolerance and the slaughter of our fellow human beings for ANY reason whatsoever is no longer acceptable and that instead we must treat one another with compassion, kindness, mercy, charity, forgiveness, patience and love?

Does it not say that we should “suffer not the children” and that we should treat women, the young, the elderly, the defenceless, the poor, the sick and the vulnerable with kindness and sensitivity?

Is it not for this specific reason and purpose that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ came and sacrificed Himself on the cross?

Did He not say that the greatest display of love is to treat our fellow human beings as we would treat ourselves and that we should be ready to sacrifice our lives for the sake of others?

Did He not say that “vengeance is mine, I will repay” and that we should “turn the other cheek” when assaulted or insulted? 

Those that have overlooked these biblical admonitions and that refuse to acknowledge them or that are still stuck in the angry, violent, frightful and vengeful rhetoric of the Old Testament of the Holy Bible are truly lost.

They forget that the New Testament is not only a fulfillment of the Old but was also established to ameliorate its harshness and excesses and those that think otherwise must be reading a different Bible to mine.

The Christian that says that Jews and the State of Israel can do no wrong simply because they are supposedly “God’s chosen people” and that it is alright for them to commit mass murder and kill babies is not only a lost and pitiful soul but also an accomplice to and enabler of genocide.

Such a person is not a real Christian but an insensitive, misguided, ignorant and deluded barbarian.

Christianity can NEVER support injustice or the murder of innocents and neither can Islam.

Why should the Jews believe they can do so under ANY circumstances and get away with it? Why should they regard themselves as being infallible and untouchable? 

Should a Jew bear hatred or resentment for Christians or Muslims simply because his people have suffered persecution in the past given the fact that millions of members of both of these great faiths have stood by Israel on several occasions, defended her and acknowledged her right to exist?

 Two-state-solution

 Is this not what the ‘two-state-solution’ is all about?

Was that not the basis on which Camp David and the Oslo Accords were established?

Is this not enough to prove that not all Muslims are ISIS and Hamas and that not all Christians are Nazis?

Did millions of Christians and Muslims from all over the world not sacrifice their lives during WW11 fighting against the German, Italian and Japanese Nazis whose sole purpose and intention was to wipe out the Jewish race and erase them from the face of the earth? 

Has humanity not paid its dues to the Jews by re-establishing the State of Israel in 1948 and displacing millions of Palestinians from their homeland just to do so?

Pertinent questions

These are pertinent and relevant questions given what Israel is doing in Gaza and given the fact that those of us that have said they have gone too far and that it must stop are now being branded and labeled as anti-Jewish by the likes of Ben Shapiro and the Prime Minister of Israel himself, Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Must the barbarity and obscenity of infant and child slaughter be considered acceptable when it is perpetrated by the Jews and only condemned when unleashed on Jewish children? Is this right and proper? I think not. Surely all life and all children are precious and the burchering of ANY, regardless of race or faith, MUST be condemned by ALL. 

And those that think otherwise like Ben Shapiro are obviously suffering from a rare form of mental illness which needs to be exposed, challenged and contained lest they plunge the entire world into WW111.

Just how long do they think the Muslim world particularly will sit by idly and watch members of their faith being slaughtered in this way?

Do they not know that everyone has a limit to what they can take and that if this madness does not stop, there will be a terrible and irresistible reaction which Israel may not survive?

Can people like Ben Shapiro and the Jewish extremists and Zioninsts that think like him not see this coming?

Can Israel fight against the whole world, bar America and survive it? Will America herself risk her survival for an Israeli state that has gone rogue, lost its mind and become a terror to the citizens of the world?

Do Christian and Muslim lives not matter too and is Jewish blood any more precious than ours?

Again are Jewish babies more important than that of the Arabs or ours?

Where is this madness coming from and why are so many egging it on in the name of political correctness and out of fear of the Jewish lobby and America?

Chilling response

And if the truth be told this madness, hypocrisy and double standard is driving the world to the precipice of a conflagration the likes of which have never been witnessed before. 

I say this because the entire Muslim world is boiling with rage and anger.

Nothing reflects this growing anger and grave danger better than the words of the Afghan Taliban Government when they were asked why they did not attend the recently concluded summit of Arab and Muslim leaders in Riyadh Saudi Arabia last week.

Afghanistan was the only Muslim country that did not attend. 

They offered an explanation for their absence by writing the following on X: “Saudi Arabia sent us an invitation to which our Supreme Leader replied, ‘We don’t need an invitation: send us the location where Muslim armies will be gathering.’”

This was indeed a chilling and sobering response if I ever saw one.

Thankfully Saudi Arabia withdrew their invitation after that, but the words of the Afghan Government have eloquently and graphically depicted the rage and extremely dangerous sentiments of the overwhelming number of Muslims in the world.

And, frankly, who can blame them? 

Israel needs to sheath her bloody sword and stop the carnage in Gaza and the West Bank before the more moderate Arab Governments and Muslim leaders, who can no longer hold the line, are swept away and the whole world is confronted with a massive and irresistible jihad in which literally millions of people on all sides of the political, religious and ethnic divide will be killed and after which the world will never be the same again. 

For the record, it is not just the Muslim world that is enraged. South Africa, along with a number of other countries, has not just broken diplomatic ties with Israel as a direct consequence of their barbarism in Gaza but they have also called for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

 Ticking clock

 Clearly the clock is ticking for the Zionists who take pleasure and pride in the slaughter of infants.

By her despicable, graphic and morbid display of savagery and her clear reflection of what can best be described as a psychopathic, murderous and barbaric disposition, the State of Israel has now become a danger to the peace and security of the world.

The world is now left with a choice about what to do with her but, in my view, the bottom line is best reflected by the following anecdote.

Consider this: When a lion runs mad and seeks to kill every single living thing because its cubs were attacked and killed by a rogue pride, you can understand its rage, but you cannot allow it to kill and decimate every single living thing in the jungle as an act of vengeance. 

You must save it from its momentary madness and violent grieving rage by putting a bullet in its head before it wipes out everything that has life including itself. 

That is the story of Israel and if she is not reigned in at the soonest and compelled to regain her senses, that is what her fate may ultimately come to.

This is a hard and bitter truth which many do not wish to acknowledge or accept. 

Permit me to end with the following points:

On the 3rd of October 2022, Hilary Rodham Clinton, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs (Secretary of State) of the United States of America (USA) and a former presidential candidate, posted the following on her X handle. She wrote, “If the Russian leadership would rather not be accused of war crimes they should stop bombing hospitals”.

I urge Mrs. Clinton, the lady that rejoiced when Muammar Ghadaffi was brutally murdered, to refrain from her application of double standards and cowardly and complicit silence when it comes to Gaza and offer the same counsel to the Israeli Government and to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This would go a very long way, indeed, in helping the situation and redeeming her utterly battered and discredited image. 

An Israeli-American activist, Miko Peled, offered the following insight about the mindset of the Israeli war machine. He said, “The Israeli Army’s entire purpose is terrorism”.

Given what is happening in Gaza, the West Bank and Southern Lebanon today, can anyone dispute this? Is what he has said not the bitter truth?

Have the events in Gaza not proved that and provided ample evidence to substantiate Peled’s allegation?

And just in case anyone is inclined to dismiss him as being delusional or just another self-hating, liberal American Jew that does not care for Israel, they should consider his antecedents and noble lineage.

His grandfather, Avraham Katsnelson, signed Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

His father, General Mattiyahu Peled, fought in the war of 1948 and 1967 and later condemned the Israeli military for seizing the West Bank, Gaza, the Egyptian Sinai and the Syrian Golan Heights.

This is, indeed, a distinguished family of warriors and achievers. They are men of truth, courage, conscience and character, they are forthright and righteous souls and they are notable heroes who risked their lives for Israel and who never shied away from speaking the truth to her leaders when they got it wrong. 

Peled is far more worthy of our attention and respect and needs to be taken far more seriously than pin size, puppet propagandists with a questionable pedigree and a thoroughly uninspiring lineage like little Ben Shapiro.

Biden and Zionist hawks

On his part, Major Scot Ritter, a retired US Marine and former Military Intelligence Officer, offered some laudable and timely counsel and advice. He posted the following on X: ”The United States needs to bring this to an end. An immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the deployment of Turkish peacekeepers to protect the Palestinians from the IDF is a must.

“The Israelis simply don’t care anymore. They are a nation consumed with bloodlust”.

Ritter has hit the nail on the head. Let us hope President Joe Biden and the Zionist hawks around him will listen.

Finally, President Erdoðan of Turkey issued the following warning to the Zionists and the State of Israel. He said, “I would like to speak very bluntly. Israel is a terrorist state. They consider Hamas to be a terrorist organisation but Hamas is a political party that won the collective vote in Palestine and, after they won the election, you have seized and usurped their rights. Israel and the US have seized those rights.

“Two-thirds of the 12,000 people who have been murdered by Israel in Gaza are women and children.

Heinous attack against women, children

 “Israel is carrying out the most heinous attack against women and children in all of history. They [Israel] have been speaking about murdering all those people using nuclear weapons, so let me call on Benjamin Netanyahu: Do you have nuclear weapons or not? Explain this if you have the courage! You are threatening people with atomic bombs, nuclear bombs. It does not matter what you have, you are a goner!”

It appears that the quest to exterminate the Palestinian people will not go unchallenged and cannot be fully implemented without strong resistance and a bloody fight. 

Let us hope that Ben Shapiro and his Zionist co-travellers whose intention is to rid the world of the Palestinian people are listening.

A word is enough for the wise.

Amalek and Intentions of Israel 

Sadly, despite all, “listening” does not appear to be on the horizon given the fact that, despite the gathering clouds, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel appears to have thrown all caution to the wind and refused to even attempt to hide his bellicose and murderous disposition and genocidal intentions.

He confirmed this two weeks ago when he said, with reference to the attack on Gaza, that the State of Israel was “waging a war against Amalek”.

The import of this utterly chilling, frightful and utterly comment is not lost on many and it is highly instructive. 

For those who do not fully appreciate what he means, I would suggest that they read the Old Testament of the Holy Bible which tells us that the Jews were ordered by God and, therefore, have a divine obligation to wipe out and exterminate every man, woman and child that is a descendant of Amalek in their quest to enter and occupy the Promise Land and establish, protect, defend and secure the State of Israel. 

Amalek’s descendants were collectively referred to in the Bible as the Amalekites and today they are known as the Palestinians.

Can you put two and two together? 

Do we need any more evidence about what the intentions of Israel really are?

Need I say any more?

May God deliver the people of Gaza, the Palestinian people, the Middle East and the entire world from evil and bloodthirsty men, whether they be the animals and terrorists of Hamas, the barbaric hordes of ISIS and Islamic Jihad, the butchers and child killers of the Israeli Defence Force or the fanatical zealots and extremist disciples of the divisive, racist and cancerous philosophy and plague known as Zionism.

· Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, the Sadaukin of Shinkafi and the Wakilin Doka Potiskum, is a lawyer, a former Minister of Aviation and a former Minister of Culture and Tourism.

Comrade Joe Ajaero, a former Labour reporter who has risen to lead the Labour movement in Nigeria as the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), was recently battered in his line of duty by hoodlums while in police custody. Imo State Police Command spokesman, Okoye Henry, had claimed that Ajaero was not arrested during the November 1, 2023 protest in Owerri over unpaid workers’ salaries. Henry said Ajaero was in “protective custody”. The sort of “protection” he received shocked well-meaning Nigerians. In this interview, Ajaero addresses issues that have featured between Labour and government since President Bola Tinubu was sworn-in on May 29, 2023 till date.

Why did you go to Owerri where you had this rough experience?

 I went to Owerri in furtherance of my trade union activities. That’s how I move, from state to state. That’s how every trade union moves to where there are challenges. I am not the first President of the NLC, and I will not be the last. Where there are problems, either at the industrial council level or the state council level…we have 36 state councils and Abuja. Where the problem seems bigger than them, the national body wades in. We were in Kaduna on an issue like this. We were in Imo during the time of Governor Rochas Okorocha. A similar situation arose in the case of Governor Nyesom Wike in Rivers. I went to Imo because workers in the state were declared “ghost workers”.

The first set of victims told us that Governor Uzodimma said the wage bill of the state was N1.2 billion and that he was only prepared to pay N700 million. Between that time and now, it has been back and forth. But the thing assumed a dangerous dimension when the governor claimed that he had paid everybody. Had he paid something and promised to the rest when the economy improves, there would have been a way out.

The second reason we went there was the issue of violence. During Rochas’ time, he appointed someone as Chairman of the NLC, someone who was not within the hierarchy of the union. He moved into that place, took it over for over nine months. The legitimate Chairman left the state and we didn’t have Chairman. When we wanted to elect officers in Imo State this year, Uzodimma’s Commissioner for Information, Declan Emelumba, called me. They said they did not want ‘candidate A’. I said “OK, let me give you free advice. If you want candidate B, support him. If you like, give him money. NLC as a body cannot disqualify any candidate if he has met the criteria for election”.

On the day of election, thugs and the police led by a DPO came to disrupt the election. When the election became inconclusive, we appointed a caretaker committee in Imo, Abia and Osun where similar situation obtained. Some people who called themselves Elders in Imo asked us to give them two weeks; that they will talk to the governor and make peace. Even in industrial relations, we can have informal conciliators. It is allowed all over the world. Till today, those Elders have not gotten back to us. During May Day this year, Governor Uzodimma brought some people as “Labour leaders”. He sent letters to leaders of town unions and market unions so they will stand as workers unions at the Heroes Square. Our members and genuine workers went to do their own at our secretariat. The law enforcement agencies and thugs went there and beat our people, and some of them were hospitalized. They vandalized and destroyed everything. The governor of Ogun State called me on Whatsapp and said “speak to your brother”. I said “who is my brother?” Uzodimma asked, “Why are you fighting me? I said “I am not fighting you. I have not met you in my entire life. Pay workers”. We started negotiations. As we were negotiating, Uzodimma said he would like to see every paragraph. And I said “give him”. He was cancelling them. When he was done, I said “is that what you want?” We agreed to sign. Still he did not honour what he signed. People were calling me every day. People were dying. A husband and wife died because both of them were categorized as “ghost workers”. He later claimed that he did not implement the agreement because he had been very busy. It was the DSS that told us that Governor Uzodimma said he was not owing anybody. I said no, that even the headmistress in the primary school I attended had not been paid. Early this year, this lady had been invited for promotion interview which means she is in the system, contrary to the claim that she is a ghost worker. She is retiring this month, and she has not been paid for over three years. If she retires she will equally become a ghost pensioner. So when we arrived for the mass action, we talked to the workers. There were thousands of them. I told them to come back the following day for us to march together and submit a protest letter. The following day when these workers were trooping out they were being beaten up. Around nine a.m., I decided to go and talk to the press. I got there with about 20 security personnel.

The governor also sent security men and his people and they all descended there. They withdrew my security personnel and ordered my arrest. The Police Area Commander arrested me and handed me over to thugs who then had a field day. They blindfolded me and were beating me throughout. They said I should say my last prayer and tell them why I was challenging Hope Uzodimma; that they were taking me to Njaba River. Later they took me to the office of the Commissioner of Police where the blindfold was removed.

They had also arrested and handcuffed two TVC cameramen. They ordered me into another bus. The bus took me to Tiger Base, which is reputed as a very dangerous area. Later they took me back to the office of the CP. The CP apologized and pretended to be harassing the officers who were manhandling me. I was taken to the police clinic where I established contact with my people, and I was taken to the Federal Medical Centre. All the security agencies were acting out a script.

Who do you think gave the order for you to be beaten? Some have insinuated that it could have been an order from “above”, meaning Aso Villa over residual political grievances?

 Even if it was an order from Abuja, it was Uzodimma who carried it out. Mr President couldn’t do this. The day we had a rally in Abuja, he sent for us. I was still wearing the clothes I wore to the rally when we went to see him. We articulated all the issues that led to the protest. The other time we gave notice for action, he came with a nationwide broadcast and offered N25, 000, and we said no. He conceded to N35, 000, conceded to not just making it for six months, conceded to not giving it only to the least paid worker. You can see that the President is open for negotiations. He did not say go and beat them up. Up till yesterday that Uzodimma was declared or appointed by INEC for a second term, he has been giving reasons why Joe Ajaero must be killed. Even after the apology that is on the internet, he keeps talking about why Joe Ajaero should not come to Imo State. 

What has been your experience with the Bola Tinubu government since he assumed power? Would you say he is Labour-friendly?

I have earlier hinted you that President Bola Tinubu is a leader who believes in dialogue and negotiations, and he is capable of give-and-take. But the Bola Tinubu government is another story. There is a lot of confusion in the administration on who handles Labour matters. Over the years, right from the regime of Obasanjo, Labour affairs rested on the shoulders of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Labour Minister. When Yar’ Adua came, it was Babagana Kingibe, the SGF. When Jonathan was President, it was Anyim Pius Anyim. And during Buhari’s presidency, it was Boss Mustapha. I don’t know the system of engagement that the Tinubu government is evolving. The Minister of Labour in the Tinubu government is not there. Apart from an introductory meeting in his office, he does not call the shots. The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, calls the shots. Meetings take place in his office. He is a personal staff of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He was not among the people the National Assembly cleared. Therefore, whatever he signs off on is strictly for his principal, not for the Federal Government of Nigeria. The second worrying signal is the use of courts. It is only in this administration that any time we serve notice of strike or protest, a competent court gives warning for us not to proceed. An Appeal Court ruling has affirmed that protests are allowed all over the world. The duty of the police is to protect protesters. Court gives order to precede negotiations, so that the negotiators will be under duress. These two or three areas are worrying signals. And they have destroyed the courts. The Minister of Labour, Simon Lalong, is a lawyer. He should know that the right to strike is an inalienable one. The Nigerian government must learn to allow the sanctity of agreements to prevail. These are some of the challenges we are having in our democratic dispensation. 

There have been a number of exchanges between Labour and government is the past six months. Most of the time, Labour threatens to go on strike. Many Nigerians are saying that Labour is a sellout, and Labour should no longer be taken seriously to stand for the common man. What is your response to that?

 The credibility of Labour under my watch can’t be questioned. This notion is coming from misinformation from within this government. Government and their handlers are touting the misinformation that Labour has been compromised, that Labour has been given money, to discredit some of us, which they have failed to succeed in doing. I was Secretary and Chairman of Labour in Vanguard before I pulled out and joined the mainstream Labour and, because of my interest, not because that is where the money is. It is unfortunate that 99.9% of Nigerians have not received Labour and industrial education. If my members say they want N5, 000, and we meet government, ask for it, negotiate for it and government is not ready to give it to us, we will declare a strike. And the whole country is hearing about it. If a day to the strike, government invites us to a meeting, we will attend that meeting. If the government gives us that N5, 000, there will be no strike. If we attend that meeting, and government says it cannot afford that N5, 000 and it brings out the data, we will consider that, because ability to pay is at the centre of negotiations. If the government earns N10 million and the wage bill is N12 million, the demand for N5, 000 cannot work. We may sign agreement and collect N3, 000 subject to upward review when the economy gets better. You will hear that Labour has signed agreement. These are the issues that people out there need to understand. But now they carry our burden on their heads, that Labour has been compromised. This is the way it is done in industrial relations. The essence of bargaining is to reach agreement that is implementable. 

A radio analyst said Labour should have occupied the National Assembly over the N200 million cars for members of the National Assembly…

 For some time now, Nigerians have abdicated their responsibilities. Labour does not have more than ten million Nigerians who are our members. Other Nigerians are shouting Labour. But they have not given us the constitutional responsibility to be the policemen of this country. When I was a student, I was a students’ union leader. That time, in 1988, Labour was dissolved. It was students – National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) – that made sure that the country was shut down. Babangida came out to say that this was a civilian coup. There was general hardship in the country. He created DFRRI, MAMSER, People’s Bank, Road Safety, and so on, in order to create one million jobs. Nigerians came out to say enough is enough. It wasn’t Labour. In 1993 when the June 12 election was annulled, Babangida and Abacha dissolved Labour. It was the civil society groups, such as the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Campaign for Democracy (CD) and independent Labour groups like NUPENG and PENGASSAN that came out. I say this because an action that all Nigerians should come out to challenge, they say Labour. During the EndSARS protests, it wasn’t Labour. The youth of this country said “enough is enough”. There may be some Labour people there. There may be students there. There may be everybody there. Everybody saw how effective the EndSARS protest was. The Buhari government was forced to make lot of concessions. People are saying, “Labour, go and seize the National Assembly”. Is it only Labour money that they are using to buy those cars? When Labour occupied the National Assembly, most Nigerians behaved as if it did not concern them. The Nigerian people elected those people to represent them. Our own members elected us to represent them. Did Labour ask you to elect those people? And all the political parties, none of their members will say “no, I am APC, PDP, I will not collect this money”. All hands must be on deck to face the challenges that confront the nation, and not to leave them to Labour alone when we already have our hands full. 

 How far is Labour preparing to go for the big battle ahead, the battle over the new national minimum wage? How much are you going to ask as the new NMW? I ask this against the background of the profligate tendencies of the Tinubu regime amidst scarce resources.

 There was a time we said we were going to ask for $200. Then it was translated to about N200, 000. It depends on the indices which will unfold at the time we negotiate. It will be wrong for somebody to announce a figure now. Unless the issues of inflation rate, value of the Naira, cost energy, food inflation are dealt with, whatever they give as the NMW will be practically worthless within a short time. If we were paid N30, 000 and our currency was at par with the dollar or even N5 to the dollar, we are blest. The cost of living index is central. How can I buy a bag of rice for N50, 000 and collect a salary of N30,000? How can I buy bread at N1, 000 when I earn N30,000? That means me and my family will only eat bread throughout the month, no pure water, transport, rent, school fees, medicare and other necessities. If we refine crude oil here in Nigeria, the pressure on the Naira will reduce, and it is bound to positively affect the cost of energy. These are the things government must pursue. Right now, we are selling crude oil high and buying its finished product higher because we import. Government used to pay for the difference, but now it has been passed over to the people. When that time comes, all these factors will be at play to determine what we will do.

 There was this question we put to President Tinubu. We asked him why he is running a bloated government. He said he was creating jobs!Who said that?

 President Tinubu. He said all the people being appointed, that is a form of job creation. My colleague in the TUC now reminded him that those appointees will have their own aides, and the President said yes, it is job creation. That was how he responded to us.

Did he say it as a joke?

 That was his response to us. He said nothing else on a serious note.

 The affiliation of Labour to the Labour Party seems to be a tool of political blackmail, especially in the hands of the Federal Government and ruling APC, who now say you are playing partisan politics. Do you think it was a mistake for the NLC to associate itself with a political party, or have a partisan agenda?

One, it is what Labour parties all over the world do. Two, if Labour does not play politics, who will play politics? Labour is politics, politics is Labour. 419 people, scammers are now governors who refuse to pay workers their legitimate wages. Politics should be left for armed robbers?

A former IGP went to the Senate and was shocked at the number of fraudsters he prosecuted sitting in the hallowed chambers as senators. Soldiers are politicians. Two retired generals have been Presidents of this country. Are they more qualified than Labour? Bring all those people who are criticizing Labour’s role in politics and let us compare their consciousness and my consciousness and see if they can talk when we are talking. Labour’s involvement in politics started as far back as 1917 or 1918. Wallace Johnson, a journalist from Sierra Leone, was the first to set up a Labour Party in Nigeria. He lived in Lagos. In the 1930s and 1940s it took an alliance between the Michael Imoudu-led Labour, the Zikist Movement and Aminu Kano’s party, after the 1945 Nigerian Railway workers’ strike, to fight for Nigeria’s independence with great consciousness. In 1954, the same Imoudu and others set up Labour Party which existed till the intervention of the military in 1966. In 1987, Comrade Paschal Bafyau set up Labour Party that came fourth during Babangida’s political experiment.

That Labour Party merged with the SDP which won the 1993 presidential election. Frank Kokori was the National Publicity Secretary of the SDP. Paschal Bafyau was to be the vice presidential candidate of the SDP. When Chief Abiola was in detention, it took Paschal Bafyau to go to court to secure Abiola’s bail, but his supporters prevailed on him not to come out because the bail was conditional. In 2003, Adams Oshiomhole, as NLC President, set up the current Labour Party, LP. An alliance between Oshiomhole’s Labour Party and Tinubu’s Action Congress made Oshiomhole the Governor of Edo State. The same Oshiomhole later became the APC National Chairman. Each time Labour is taking a stand for the salvation of this country, you see a lot of blackmail trailing it. My colleague, Comrade Nasir Irish, is the Governor of Kebbi State; we were both Deputy Presidents. He is in the APC. Another person who was the state Chairman of the NLC is now the Deputy Governor of Niger State. Nobody says every Labour person must be in Labour Party. I have attended two political rallies. One for Oshiomhole during his inauguration as the Governor of Edo State, and the second was for the Governor of Kebbi State. Many people told me they were expecting me to be at the inauguration of Dr Alex Otii as the Labour Party Governor of Abia State. We formed Labour Party so as to provide easy tickets for struggling Nigerians who wanted to contest elections. A political party sold its presidential nomination form for N100 million! When we analysed the situation, we said we needed a political party where the son of nobody can achieve any height in Nigeria. We have achieved that. As we talk today, two Okada riders are members of the National Assembly on Labour Party tickets. A messenger, a clerk can come and we will give him form. We have no apologies for that. The Governor of Imo State, was he a messenger anywhere? Was he a clerk anywhere? If you bring a clerk here, he will know there is admin department, there is finance department, he must come to work at a particular time in the morning, and if he comes late, he knows what is waiting for him. If a person like that becomes a public officer, he will know the sacredness of certain things, like ensuring that those who work get their wages. Let me make it clear. The NLC cannot be part of any political party except the Labour Party. 

However, our members are free to join any party of their choice. Indeed, majority of our members are affiliated with other parties. Peter Obi who is always being mentioned became the presidential candidate of the Labour Party before I emerged as NLC President. We will not be deterred in our effort to help make the Labour Party the party that will meet the aspirations of all Nigerians. There is fear about anything Labour. That was why when we registered a political party we called it the Party for Social Democracy (PSD). It was during our national conference that we changed the name to Labour Party. For political jobbers to be attacking us because of our legitimate affiliations, it is uncalled for.

Liberia’s President Goerge Weah has conceded victory to his longtime political rival, former vice President Joseph Boakai even before the official announcement of results of their tightly fought 14 November presidential run-off contest, thereby demonstrating good sportsmanship as an ex-World footballer.

In his concession speech, Weah, 47, confirmed that he had telephoned “President-elect” Boakai, 78, to congratulate him on his victory, hours after Liberia’s National Elections Commission (NEC) announced that Boakai had edged the former footballer by 50.89% to 49.11% from 99.58% of the poll results processed by Friday 17 November.

The Commission has still to announce the complete official results, but Weah said although his “(Coalition for Democratic Change) CDC has lost the election, but Liberia has won.”

“Under my leadership, these elections were organized with a promise to the Liberian people - a promise of fairness, peace, inclusiveness, transparency, and credibility,” Weah said, adding: “I am proud to say that we have fulfilled that promise. The Liberian people have spoken, and we have heard their voice.”

He affirmed “I remain your President until the handover of power, and I will continue to work for the good of Liberia. Let us heal the divisions caused by the campaign and come together as One Nation and One United People.”

As it rained in the nation’s capital, Monrovia, on Friday, the mood at the CDC headquarters was subdued in contrast to jubilations by victorious opposition Unity Party (UP) supporters.

Both men have been involved in four presidential contests dating back to 2017, when Weah defeated Boakai, then deputy to former President Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson, Africa’s first elected female President.

Unlike in 2017 when Weah won with 61%, Boakai takes a slim margin of electoral victory to Liberia’s Executive Masion.
In his speech Friday, he called for unity, saying the closeness of the election results “reveals a deep division within our country.”

“Now more than ever, unity is paramount for the love of Mama Liberia,” said the outgoing president of Africa’s oldest republic founded by freed slaves from America in 1847.

The last time politically restive West Africa witnessed what promises to be a peaceful transfer of power was in 2015, when Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat to then opposition candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, who completed his two terms of eight years in May 2023.

Otherwise, most presidential elections in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region have ended in polarising legal disputes.

In recent years, the region has also been rocked by more than half a dozen military coups that ousted elected governments, and a series of divisive electoral contestations from Ghana to Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Benin, Nigeria, and lately, Sierra Leone.

Credit is due to the Mrs. Davidetta Browne Lansanah-led NEC Liberia, which has been generally commended for its professionalism and the transparency in the electoral process.

The Commission is also praised for its doggedness, commitment, patriotism and for “resisting political pressures” from the politicians.

This feat is particularly noteworthy, given the inadequacy and late release of funds to the Commission as well as disruptive infrastructure deficit, particularly the country’s bad road network and the inclement weather (rainy season), under which the presidential and legislative elections were held.

It was also the first time that Liberia would conduct post-war elections without support/presence of the United Nations Mission, which ended its stabilising operations in the country in 2018 following two devastating civil wars that ended in 2002.

ECOWAS-led international support and preventive diplomacy also contributed to Liberia’s current electoral success.

Apart from dispatching more than 200 Election Observation Missions led by Prof Attahiru Jega, former Chair of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to the first and second-round elections, ECOWAS also supported Liberia with US$500,000, and along with the African Union, recruited election experts to assist NEC Liberia during the elections.

Liberia’s lingering post-war reconstruction challenges and the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic might have overwhelmed Weah’s six-year administration, which was also dogged by high rate of youth unemployment, spiralling inflation, and economic hardships, the government also endured allegations of official corruption.

It remains to be seen how a Boakai presidency would fair.

In the meantime, Liberian political stakeholders - the government, NEC, the candidates, political parties and their supporters, security agencies, and the electorate, should be proud of themselves for succeeding where other countries in the region have failed - conducting less-contentious elections.

Going forward, ECOWAS and especially, four of its member States - Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Niger - which are under military dictatorships must draw useful lessons to guide the restoration of constitutional order in those countries.

Now that Liberia has shown exemplary leadership, it is up to ECOWAS and the political class to arrest the dangerous democratic deconsolidation drift and the need to eschew “political, constitutional, or ballot box coups,” coupled with deliberate efforts to enthrone good governance across the region.

West African armed forces must also discipline themselves by sticking to their constitutional responsibility, which does not include political governance.

Paul Ejime is a Global Affairs Analyst and Consultant on Peace & Security and Governance Communications

The Federal Government has commenced the release of 4,068 inmates across the country in an effort to relieve overcrowding in the country’s correctional centers.

On Saturday, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, visited the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kuje, Abuja to commence payment of fines and compensations on behalf of inmates who were unable to settle their penalties.

The initiative is targeted at those serving jail terms due to their inability to pay fines or compensations owed.

“As of yesterday, the 17th day of November 2023, there were about 80,804 inmates in 253 custodial facilities nationwide, whose total installed capacity for the 253 Custodial Centres adds up to less than 50,000. This shows that our Custodial facilities are over-crowded; necessitating this initiative we are flagging off today, which is targeted towards addressing the overcrowding conundrum bedevilling our Custodial Centres and their reformatory function,” the minister said during the flag off of the initiative.

He added, “Most of the benefitting inmates on the verge of their freedom are indigents who cannot afford to pay their fines and are languishing in custody.

“The sum of N585,000,000.00 was raised by philanthropic individuals, groups and corporate bodies, as part of their corporate social responsibility, for this purpose.

“Hence, all inmates in custodial centres who have fines and/or compensation not exceeding N1,000,000 are qualified and would benefit from this gesture,” he said.

In addition to securing their release, each freed inmate will receive a stipend to aid their reintegration into society. They would also be provided essential training to equip them with the skills and knowledge necessary to be productive upon discharge.

Tunji-Ojo urged communities to welcome returning inmates without stigma or bias, noting that rejection could drive them back to crime.

In his remarks, Controller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa, emphasized the importance of the NCoS Act, 2019, in addressing the overcrowding issue.

The Act outlines non-custodial measures and authorizes the rejection of inmates when facilities exceed their capacity

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on governments and finance ministers of member states to use fiscal policy tools to curb the rate at which they borrow to finance their budgets.

The IMF’s Deputy Managing Director, Gita Gopinath made the call in her introductory remarks for the conference, “Fiscal Policy in an Era of High Debt,” in Washington, obtained by THE WHISTLER.

Gopinath said debt levels had been rising across countries for some time which she said calls for caution as to where countries borrow from especially the non-Paris club creditors like China, India, and Saudi Arabia.

According to her, since the mid-1970s, global public debt tripled to reach 92 percent of GDP by the end of 2022.

She said, “Rising deficits and debts in countries such as the United States have serious ramifications for emerging and developing economies, who are hit by rising rates and weaker currencies. And many economies, particularly low-income countries, are already in debt distress.

“The combination of record-high global debt levels, higher for longer interest rates, and weak growth prospects poses a triple challenge for policymakers. In a shock-prone world, very few countries will have the fiscal space to support their economies.

“To help our 190 member countries navigate these challenges, we need a renewed focus on fiscal policy to make sure it is fit for purpose.”

The IMF Deputy MD explained that demands on government budgets are increasing—from delivering social support to financing the green transition, to bolstering defense spending and a renewed push for industrial policies.

She said, “It is politically difficult to cut spending or raise taxes—debt-financed spending may still seem tempting. But that would be a grave mistake, setting debt on an unsustainable trajectory as borrowing costs rise sharply.

“Revenues also need to keep up with spending. For our part, the IMF must balance our cautionary policy advice with an understanding of the economic and social forces underpinning these political choices.”

She alluded to how in the past two years, central banks have grappled with how to address elevated and persistent inflation levels.

Gopinath said in several cases, fiscal policymakers have not been in sync with monetary policymakers which she believes has complicated the fight against inflation.

She advised governments to evaluate vulnerabilities arising not only from public debt levels, but also from the composition of debt including the identity of creditors, currency and maturity composition that apply.

The IMF Deputy MD added, “The change in the creditor landscape, with a growing number of non-Paris club creditors like China, India, and Saudi Arabia, has implications for the processes involved in debt restructuring.

“While important progress has been made, a lot more is needed for countries to receive timely debt relief.”

Penultimate week; I travelled home to be part of the 60th anniversary celebration of my alma mater, Owo High School (OHS), founded by Pa Michael Adekunle Ajasin, that great educationist credited as one of the brains behind the Free Education programme of the Action Group in the First Republic. Ajasin was also the inimitable NADECO and Afenifere leader who stood ram-rod against rampaging military dictatorship in the struggle for the democracy that we enjoy today. Sadly, it is the same democracy that the politicians that took power since 1999 have done everything imaginable, even bizarre, to undermine. The journey to Owo and back was hellish; the stretch from Ibadan to Ilesha was a death trap, to say the least. The potholes did serious damage to my SUV and the verdict of the mechanic who came to examine the damage was that the two front shock absorbers are gone!

This is not to talk of the prohibitive cost of filling my car tank. To save costs, I bought a full tank in Lagos and refilled it again at Ibadan. I got to Owo with half-tank left. Bovas had no fuel for the period I spent at home, so I got to Akure before buying some more fuel. At Ilesha, on the road to Osogbo, Bovas had fuel and I filled up my tank again. Despite my best efforts to economize on fuel, I spent a whopping N160,000 on fuel to and from Owo. I detoured into Ilesha enroute to Osogbo to drop a friend. From Osogbo through Ode-Omu, I came out again at Gbongan junction on the homeward stretch to Lagos.

Having lost the two front shock absorbers as a result of bad roads, the vehicle’s balance became suspect and I had to drive with utmost caution. I am sure you understand that I cannot heap the blame on the deplorable state of our roads on the six-month-old administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu but the person who sits on the throne is the one we still must cry out to for help. So, President Tinubu has to do everything possible to fix our roads. In case he did not know, the carnage on them and the monumental waste incurred by the citizenry have become unbearable.

Otherwise, the anniversary was fun! Old classmates met; for many, for the first time since we departed OHS 49 years ago. We also met old seniors and juniors. Those seniors who towered over us like “Iroko” trees in those days now look like Lilliputians! Faces have changed and it took some time for old mates to recognize one another again. My 1970/74 Set had our own special reunion dinner on Friday, a day before the general dinner. Just a fraction of us were able to make it. A few others phoned in from across the globe. We threw banters, embraced and went back memory lane, but not before we had observed a one-minute silence in memory of some of our colleagues that have transited. It was a solemn and somber moment. We also took note of classmates that are battling with health challenges and a decision was taken to identify with them.

One of the major decisions taken was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our 70/74 Set’s passing out of OHS next year. Everyone without an exception has keyed into this project. At the St Andrew’s Anglican Church, Imola Street, Owo where we held a thanksgiving service to round up the 60th anniversary celebrations, we intimated the National President, Dr. Foluso Falaye, of our Set’s plan and he was elated. The idea to have every set celebrate their 40th anniversary had earlier been muted but nothing came out of it. So, if we pioneer this next year, other Sets coming behind us can fall in line. The beauty in this is that every year, OHS will have something to celebrate and something new will be added to the school.

Our 70/74 Set’s dinner was fun. The food was good: pounded yam served with efo riro and bush meat; ofada rice served with goat meat and orisi-risi; jollof rice served with local chicken and fish; garnished snails washed down with exotic wines and drinks “imported” from Apongbon in Lagos. Lilijo Motels, owned by our classmate, Gbenga Samuel Arowele, provided an ambience that complimented the efforts of everyone to make the occasion a memorable one.

The 60th anniversary ended on a glorious note. The organizing committee led by Akinwale Ojomo did an excellent job. The executive led by Dr. Foluso Falaye provided the required leadership and every old student played the role expected of them. The school, led by the principal, himself an old student, cooperated fully. Whereas the one-week event has come and gone, with scores of projects commissioned, work still continues on two major projects – a multi-purpose Hall and the school gate. At the general dinner held at MIDAS, close to N10 million was raised in donations and pledges towards the school gate project.

I returned to Lagos late on Sunday night and decided I needed some rest. I threw my phone far away. The opportunity cost, however, was that I missed out on a lot of breaking news. When I switched my phones on again, the first caller was an avid reader of my columns. He said: “Thank God you are now back from Owo” Before I could respond, he added: “How was your celebration? I hope you enjoyed yourself” Again, before I could respond, he said: “I am very eager to hear what you have to say about goings-on in this country of ours” What could the goings-on be? I have been out of tune with breaking news for days. So, what could the matter be, I asked.

“I want to find out from you when Nigeria suddenly became an Animal Rights country. I know we used to be a human rights country. We used to have the likes of Tai Solarin, Gani Fawehinmi, Fela and his brother Beko, Femi Falana, Femi Aborisade, husband and wife Odumakin and many others fighting for human rights but I did not know when we began to fight for Animal Rights like they do in Europe and America”

I was at sea and I told him so. “So, you did not hear that they said one dog ventured into a big man’s compound and they arrested the dog and beat it blue and black. As a result, people are now protesting and threatening hail and brimstone. They are even threatening to go on nationwide strike because of this. I just cannot understand”

By this time, I had started trying to figure out his narrative. So, I asked him: “But what kind of dog is this dog that you are talking about? Who is the owner of the dog? And what is so special about a dog, anyway?”

“That is my own worry, too. Of all the problems that Nigerians grapple with, why did the problems of a dog become the centre of everyone’s attraction?”

“Does this dog belong to a VIP? The president, senate president, one big man or woman?” I tried to find out the status of the dog in question. Then he said: “From what I understand, the dog appears to belong to a lot of people, a multitude of people. They said it is “aja – ero”, and “ero” in Yoruba means multitude of people. How can a single dog belong to…”

I did not let him complete the statement! I now understood what he had been trying to say! “See, sir, they are not talking of any dog here; they are talking of a human being; in fact, a very important human being for that matter – the leader of Nigerian workers saddled with the responsibility of fighting for their rights, albeit responsibly. He was badly treated, whatever may have been their reason for doing so is wrong. And whatever may have been his shortcomings or overzealousness…”

It was now his own turn to cut me short… “I see… Who, then, is this man, since you say it is not a dog that is the object of the nationwide strike that disrupted activities all over the country” I did my best to explain to him that “aja” in the Yoruba language may mean “dog” but it does not necessarily mean the same in other Nigerian languages and that Ajaero is one word, not two words (Aja ero) and that is has a beautiful meaning.

“Tell me the meaning. I am eager to know” I told him: “Google says it means ‘sacrifice well received…’” He did not let me finish before he snarled: “But is it not dogs that are used for sacrifice?” Not in all climes, I told him. Human beings have found many uses for dogs: As pets, as breeds for home security, and as delicacies, among others. I then told him to perish the thought that the wahala that led to a nationwide strike had anything to do with a dog and that Ajaero is a very important, even if misguided, Nigerian. His rights must be protected, even when it is obvious that his intentions are not as altruistic as he pretends that they are.

We must note, however, that the government ought not to have waited for Labour to declare a strike before condemning the Gestapo-style treatment meted out to the NLC president, Joe Ajaero, in his home state of Imo. Those responsible for the beating Ajaero received must be brought to book. Nigeria is not yet a banana republic for such bestiality to go unchallenged and unpunished.

But should Labour be contemplating joining our “oppressors” by flying Ajaero abroad for treatment? They are all birds of a feather! What is unfolding before our very eyes is not workers’ struggle or class struggle but intra-class struggle of different sections of the Nigerian comprador bourgeoisie to corner political power for the sole purpose of controlling and monopolizing the sharing of State resources.

If there is any Labour leader that has dragged the union in the mud this much, it is the present crop of Labour leaders – NLC, TUC, with the ASUU tagging along – whose tribalism has shone like a million stars. There is an undertone of partisan politics in all they do. They leave no one in doubt where they stand on the political divide. But what is “Labour” in Peter Obi? Let someone show us his “Labour” antecedents or credentials. And what is even “Christian” about him? The next time you will see him make the rounds of churches and call church leaders “Daddy” is at the next presidential election in 2027! I begi, let Tinubu breathe!

The off cycle governorship elections in the three states of Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi have come to a rowdy and contentious end. As is typical of all Nigerian elections in recent times, the electoral battlefront may have paused in those states. The scene will soon shift to the futility of mostly compromised courts and tribunals with the predictable outcomes . As elections go, most estimates have concluded that what took place last Saturday is basically a compressed edition of the contentious February 25th presidential election. All the footprints are complete. As it were, we have just witnessed a small parade of everything that is wrong with our fledgling democracy.

Vote trading was on open display. Political retail traders were out at the polling stations brandishing bales of Naira notes and a few dollars to buy and sell votes as necessary. For hungry voters, it was simple demand and supply of ‘stomach infrastructure’ and its accompanying cash backup. EFCC operatives and other likeminded security agencies who wanted to appear busy reported that they confiscated a paltry N14 million (a little over US$12,000) in cash from the vote traders in all three states! 

Intimidation of election officials and sabotage plots were in abundant evidence as well. Somewhere in the creeks of Bayelsa, for instance, some INEC official was abducted and his voting materials confiscated by unknown hoodlums. He later reappeared to say that he had been released by his captors. End of drama!

Violence and intimidation featured predictably as well. In Imo, some polling units became battlefronts with gun wielding persons firing shots in no particular direction to scare off voters and party agents in familiar bold armed robbery operations. Apparently, paid political thugs in the service of party chieftains found other uses for their weapons in the ensuing confusion.

There were also reports of result falsification and tally tampering. In some local government areas in Kogi, results were reportedly ready before voting commenced!  Pre-completed INEC result sheets were on display. Even INEC later confessed that something on the scale of a ‘sabotage’ went wrong in Kogi and so ordered fresh elections in parts of the state for yesterday, Saturday the 18th of November.

Not to talk of open displays of violent acts in full view of security agents. At the state collation centre in Imo, a big free for all fight erupted. The agent of one party was caught on video thoroughly beaten up, kicked and punched into a heap on the floor. Worse still, at the collation centre in Bayelsa, a party agent was killed in the excited brawl of clashing contested victories. Sporadic incidents of ballot snatching were similarly reported. In one instance in Kogi, some ballot snatcher was reportedly shot dead by zealous soldiers.

A few familiar electoral curiosities emerged in the process of this election. In the whole of Imo state, for instance, it has been reported by some independent observers that there was hardly any electronic transmission or collation of results. It was mostly manual. Similarly, BVAS accreditation was by-passed in many places while manual accreditation was mostly the order of the day leading to reported cases of over voting for which some parties are headed for the tribunal to protest. Yet, as early as 10 am on Sunday, barely a day after polling, INEC announced the entire result for the state. An excited re-elected Hope Uzodimma took to the dance floor with his wife in the Owerri Government House to celebrate.

As usual, INEC’s technology devices worked in fits and starts or not at all. In many places, it was reported by journalists and observers that the voter accreditation BVAS platform did not work. INEC resorted to manual accreditation or, reportedly, no accreditation in some places. The IREV uploading gimmick was hardly in evidence. Reportedly, only up to 50% of results in all three states had been uploaded on BVAS by Sunday night, 24 hours after balloting! Perhaps it is about time we asked INEC to totally eliminate its fiddling with technology and go completely manual and analogue.

Sundry independent election observers have since issued reports full of  reservations and outright indictments of the conduct of the elections in all three states. As usual, INEC continues to carry a burden of lack lustre performance, incompetence and dodgy refereeing. YIAGA Africa, for instance, has issued a report that points out, among other failings, that INEC’s announced results for all three states include returns from polling units in local governments where no voting took place! INEC is being asked to explain the mystery of these phantom results. In a statement issued at 2pm on Monday, 13th November, the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, opined that the failures witnessed in the February presidential elections repeated and even magnified themselves in this off cycle election. But so much for the parade and catalogue of bad things with Nigeria’s democracy.

On the contrary, the fact that the elections in those states have taken place is a plus for Nigeria’s continuing attachment to democracy. It is also a plus that barely two days after the elections in the three states, all the results were announced. Furthermore, the degree of violence witnessed in all three states is still lower than what was feared given the backdrop of nationwide insecurity. Imo in particular had remained a hotbed of violent thuggery and suspected IPOB separatist insurgency. It was feared that pro-Biafra elements would outrightly prevent elections in significant segments of the state. The fact that there was hardly any IPOB related violence says something of previous security assessments and conclusions. To that extent, there would seem to be some improvement in the performance of the security agencies in protecting the elections as an important national democratic event.

Yet we cannot ignore the more fundamental and dangerous signs that these elections have underlined for the future of democracy in Nigeria. In all three states, voter turnout was abysmally low. This trend is merely an intensification of what occurred in the February presidential elections which makes it all the more concerning. People who had better things to do just shunned the polling centres and went about their business. As in the presidential polls, only about 30% of registered voters showed up to vote. Less than 30 million of the registered 83 million voters nationwide actually cast their ballots for all presidential candidates in the 18 registered parties.

For instance, President Bola Tinubu’s incumbency is on the strength of  less than 10% of registered voters. The matter of low voter turnout nevertheless deserves closer examination and deeper understanding if we are to sustain a tradition of democratic participation. It is a serious commentary on the prospects of democracy in the country. To that extent, we must seek explanations and seek for remedies.

In the last decade, the spate of insecurity around the country has increased the risk involved in people going out to queue for long hours at polling stations where it has become hard to distinguish between party agents, hired thugs and plain dangerous criminals. On a few recent occasions, many who went out to vote have returned through hospital wards or come home with fractured skulls or broken ribs as a result of violent attacks by thugs. Ordinary people who have little or nothing to show for their previous exertions now weigh the risk to reward ratio of going out to vote and most prefer to stay home.

Even for the habitual voters who go out because there is an instant reward in the form of cash or food items from vote buyers have also begun to measure the value of these rewards in an inflationary situation. Inflation has eroded the value of anticipated financial or material rewards to hapless poor voters.

Even more frightening is the tendency for the ritual of voting to become a low class affair. It is often the case in high brow neighbourhoods that its is the domestic staff- gatemen, security guards, stewards, cleaners and janitors –who go to queue up for long hours to vote. As it were, the elite may have unconsciously ceded their democratic rights to the lower classes.  The exception may only be during presidential elections when the stakes are elevated to a national level where larger interests come into contention.  

In general, the elite or middle class voters are usually reluctant to go out to queue in the sun for hours to vote for a governor or state legislator whose impact on his life is questionable. For this group, there is a growing feeling of disenchantment with the ritual of democracy in a society where cycles of democratic change hardly translate into positive change in living circumstances. This feeling of democratic futility and alienation of the electorate gradually spreading among all social classes and groups. This seems to be fuelling a growing new anti democratic consensus among the populace.

The more dangerous implication of this growing sentiment is the gradual death of belief in governments at all levels in the country among the generality of ordinary citizens. Distrust in government easily translates into voter apathy and a breakdown of sense of civic obligation. The cynicism is widespread that government has become increasingly ineffectual in providing solutions to the common problems affecting the daily lives of the generality of people.  

There is a more frightful part to this alienation. Those aged 18 to 24 can be described as our ‘democracy generation’. They came of voting age after the 1999 return to democracy and so have not known any other form of political organization and expression than democracy. They ought to be the critical mass of our democracy vanguard but , alas, they are the ones mostly afflicted by cynicism and disillusionment about democracy and governance from most available evidence.

The ‘death of government’ has gradually emerged as a recurrent theme in Nigerian popular discourse. Alongside this theme is widespread cynicism about democracy itself. People are now looking back at the experience of the last 24 years and wondering whether democracy has in fact improved their lot or merely enriched a minority of politicians, public office appointees and their associates. Increasingly, the rituals of periodic voting now looks more like a sham and a charade. There is a street wisdom that politicians only remember the people in four-year cycles when they return in search of votes only to disappear into the cocoon of material comfort and privilege.

The summation of it all is therefore a tragic deficit in citizen trust in the state and the efficacy of its institutions to protect or deliver on their responsibilities. Distrust on the state and its institutions also amounts to a devaluation of the guardrails of democracy itself. Most Nigerians distrust INEC and its ability to conduct free and fair elections. Similarly, the security agencies are seen as being in the service of the rich and powerful instead of out to defend the national interest of peace, security and democracy.  In the same vein, the judiciary and the courts enjoy scant trust and respect in the minds of ordinary Nigerians.

In order to salvage Nigerian’s democracy, we need to return to fundamentals. We cannot assume that the mere existence of institutions of state designed to serve democracy is enough to sustain a democratic culture. That is not enough. They have an inbuilt tendency to degrade and self destroy or be destroyed by ambitious politicians unless they are constantly surveiled by a vigilant civil society. We therefore need to return to the rubrics of democracy to see where Nigeria has derailed in the last 24 years and how and where our experience of democracy can be saved and improved upon.

Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, authors How Democracies Die, drawing from the untidy experiences of America’s democracy under Donald Trump have provided some insight  into what could happen to even the most entrenched democracy when its guardrails and guideposts are systematically assaulted and threatened by political rascality.

Democracy is not a self-defending edifice. It is subject to sabotage and destruction if those who gain power from it are not held in check by the people and the existing constraints of democratic institutions.  In this regard, our broad conception of democracy remains that it is “a system of government with regular free and fair elections, in which all adult citizens have the right to vote and possess basic civil liberties such as freedom of speech and association”.

In the best locations of liberal democracy such as the United States and Western Europe, the key elements that power democracy are well known and consistent. They include the primacy of the constitution, a national  creed that emphasizes freedom and equality, a robust middle class, a high level of wealth and education and a large and diversified private sector. These have remained the key drivers of democracy especially in the United States. These factors are also the key guarantors of the institutional guardrails of democracy in the country over the years. With these elements, it becomes axiomatic that the press would be free, that the judiciary would observe the rule of law to the letter and elections would be free, fair and accurately reflect the true wishes of the people as expressed in the way they vote.

However, the passage of time does not necessarily  guarantee the perfection or even improvement of democracy. A democracy does not get better just because time has passed and the rituals have been observed repeatedly over time. On the contrary, even long established democracies can begin to decline with time if certain slips begin to occur as a result of the excesses of those democracy puts in power. This is when democracy begins to decline.

The indicators of the decline of democracy are clearly recognizable in all societies. When politicians begin to treat opponents as enemies in war; when politicians intimidate the press; when freely elected politicians hector and openly insult opposing candidates and parties; when parties refuse to accept the results of valid elections or the political system begins to erode the integrity of courts. Worse still, when competing politicians show open distrust of the intelligence services or seek to subvert the constitutional mandate of the security services then all is not well.  When these anomalies overwhelm the polity, then democracy is fatally injured and desperately needs to be saved lest it takes down the state in its decay.

In this descent into undemocratic ways, we can also notice increasing  authoritarianism in component states and among key political actors.  In extreme cases, it  becomes possible for politicians to begin redrawing  constituency boundaries or even attempt to rewrite election laws and rules governing voting rights. 

In the run up to the 2019 elections in the United States, nearly all these threats to democracy were on full display under Donald Trump. Even now as Trump stages a comeback to the White House, he carries with him these anti-democratic tendencies hence the 2024 US presidential election is a battle for the life of democracy in its best show place.

In Nigeria, the destruction of democracy is in progress. INEC is in self-destructive rot. Public confidence in the courts up to the Supreme Court has been eroded by corruption and incumbency compromise. Politicians are in fierce vicious factional fights at elections as in warfare. Political contestants now recruit and arm private armies to wage their political wars. The rhetoric of our political contests drips in abuse, hate and divisiveness. Lately, we have seen the rise and emergence of political emperors and apprentice authoritarians like Nyesom Wike.

Most tragically, our election victories as exemplified by the February presidential elections are now more of power grabs for state capture. Power cartels overrun the political space and occupy the vantage posts of state power to swell private vaults to the exclusion of rival factions and elites.

In general, a democracy can be salvaged if its crisis is merely institutional decay. But when a democracy is imperiled by the very politicians whom it puts in power, there is real mortal danger.

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents have attacked the convoy of Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni along Maiduguri-Dramaturg Road, killing two policemen and injuring two others.

The attack took place on Saturday after the governor attended the 24th convocation of the University of Maiduguri, Borno State.

According to an eyewitness, who was on the entourage but spoke on the condition of anonymity, the attackers opened fire on the convoy from both sides of the highway, targeting the pilot.

“We narrowly escaped death today. The convoy was attacked between Beneshiekh and Mainok, a distance of less than sixty kilometres to Damaturu after attending the 24th convocation of the University of Maiduguri.

“The insurgents opened fire on the convoy from both sides of the road, killing one policeman instantly while the other died later due to too much bleeding following bullet wounds. As a matter of fact, we left Maiduguri late, around 6.00 pm,” he said.

Governor Buni was absent in the convoy when the incident happened on their way back to Damaturu the state capital. He was said to have travelled to Abuja for an official function.

This is the first time the convoy of the Yobe State governor has been attacked since the commencement of the Boko Haram insurgency 12 years ago.

As I was saying, the 2023 presidential election was won and lost fundamentally because of the fractured opposition, even though you are free to add one million other reasons to that. Confronting a monster like the All Progressives Congress (APC) was already an uphill battle for a united Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the biggest opposition party — only for it to break into pieces before the general election. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate in the election, finally appeared to have admitted this fact when he said this on Tuesday last week: “If we don’t come together to challenge what the ruling party is trying to create, our democracy will suffer.”

Although Atiku did not go the whole hog to admit that the opposition made things easy for the APC — he remains assured that he won the election — at least, he warned that the ruling party would soon take everything if the opposition did not unite. For some context, Candidate Bola Tinubu/APC won the presidential election with 8,794,726 votes, while Atiku and two former PDP members got a combined haul of 14,582,740 votes. While I accept that adding figures together this way might be overly simplistic and counterfactual, I could still bet with my laptop that APC would not have won the presidential election if PDP had not divided its votes. I wish to remain adamant about my theory.

I may be wrong but I suppose Atiku is now reflecting on what might have been. Allow me to illustrate my argument. Historically, the south-east always voted for the PDP — since the dawn of the fourth republic in 1999. The exit of Mr Peter Obi, who was Atiku’s running mate in 2019, took significant votes in the zone from the PDP. That is the hard truth. By the official results, the overall gap between Tinubu and Atiku was about 1.8 million votes. Obi, the Labour Party candidate, got 1.96 million from the south-east, most of which, all things equal, would have gone to Atiku/PDP. The party had polled 5 million votes from the zone in 2011 (pre-biometric era), 2.5 million in 2015, and 1.6 million in 2019.

Most Northern Christians, I would argue, never liked the APC. They have been associating President Muhammadu Buhari with Islamisation since the Sharia crisis of 2000. They naturally always chose the PDP, and this was made easier for them in 2023 with APC’s Muslim/Muslim ticket. Atiku/PDP would have been the major beneficiary if not for the split. In 2019, the Atiku/Obi/PDP ticket got 1.9 million votes from the north-central, where northern Christians are concentrated. In 2023, Atiku/PDP got 1.025 million while Obi/LP got 1.4 million. That was 2.425 million votes for the “PDP”, compared to Tinubu/APC’s 1.72 million in the zone. That is exactly what happens when you split your votes.

The cracked opposition also suffered a serious injury in Lagos, where the headline news was that Obi defeated Tinubu, the state’s political godfather. But that only hurt Tinubu’s ego, not his chances. In fact, victory for Obi in Lagos was also victory for Tinubu. I would speculate that most of the 582,000 votes Obi got in Lagos would have gone to Atiku — given the pattern in recent presidential elections. In fact, the Atiku/Obi ticket got 448,015 votes in Lagos in 2019, compared to Buhari/APC’s 580,825. In 2023, the combined votes of Obi and Atiku came to 658,204 — about 100,000 more than what Tinubu got. I would wager that those who voted for Obi and Atiku would not have voted for Tinubu.

With the divided opposition, the Kano outcome also helped Tinubu. In my books, he was the biggest beneficiary in the state. Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), left the PDP in anger before the 2023 elections. His political base is Kano, where he was twice governor. His crowd followed him to NNPP. He got 997,000 votes in Kano — just 3,000 shy of one million — while Atiku managed to poll 131,716. Basically, every vote for Kwankwaso in Kano was also a vote for Tinubu because it possibly would have been Atiku’s, in my calculations. I could go on analysing every single state and showing how the opposition made things smoother for the APC.  

I hope that after all the post-election vituperations and brickbats — including a bitterly fought litigation and massive debate over iRev failure — the dust will begin to settle and there can be a proper postmortem, which should be more scientific and less emotional. As Waziri Adio, the respected columnist, would say, “Politics is a game of addition, not subtraction or division.” The PDP went into the election with subtraction and division and still expected to win. It lost erstwhile sure-banker geopolitical zones and still expected to win. I readily admit that politicians are constitutionally entitled to pre-election optimistic calculations, but the PDP’s math was simply not “mathing”.

Atiku knows quite a bit about the tendency for one-party state in Nigeria. As vice-president from 1999 to 2007, he was an insider as his party, the PDP, threatened to rule Nigeria for 60 years. By 2007, the PDP held 15 of 17 states in the south, unable to capture only Lagos and losing Anambra only because of an election litigation. The party also had 14 out of the 19 northern states — leaving only Zamfara, Kano, Bauchi, Yobe and Borno for the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). That was a total of 29 out of 36 states! By 2008, Zamfara and Bauchi governors had defected to the PDP, albeit judicial victories would later snatch Ondo, Ekiti, Osun and Edo from their hands. The PDP was too mighty.

Some of us who are interested more in democratisation than politicking expressed worries about the PDP domination. It looked like it would last forever as the opposition parties kept going into elections with a divided front. The ANPP, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) were contesting elections and winning only bits and pieces and always, predictably, complaining about rigging — until 2013, when their leaders finally came to their senses and decided to forge a united front against the PDP. Thereafter, the APC was born. We all know what happened next. I don’t think we need to reinvent the wheel.

Although Atiku was part of the breakaway PDP faction that joined in founding the APC, he returned to the PDP because of his presidential ambition. He knew there was no way he could successfully challenge a sitting president for the party’s ticket. He had tried and retreated against President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003. He had also lost the PDP primary to Jonathan in 2011. But, fair enough, the PDP was strong in 2019 and Atiku had a respectable outing against APC/Buhari. He got 11.26 million votes — or 41.2 percent — and won in 17 states, including the entire south-east and south-south, as well as the FCT. For comparison, Buhari got 15.19 million votes and won in 19 states.

Going into the 2023 elections with a divided house was PDP’s ultimate undoing at a time the APC was there for the taking after a series of missteps that angered millions of Nigeria. The exits of Obi and Kwankwaso, unfortunately, weakened the PDP. To add insult to injury, five PDP governors, led by Chief Nyesom Wike, openly worked round the clock against Atiku. How was Atiku so confident he could win with a party that had broken into pieces? Maybe he thought he would get bloc votes in the north and secure just enough elsewhere to fulfil the legal threshold. I would now think that since this strategy failed, he has finally admitted that defeating the APC needs a larger dose of reality.

Atiku’s rallying call to the opposition, no matter anyone’s misgivings, is vital. For one, democracy without multiple choice lacks a competitive edge. What it creates is complacency on the part of the almighty party. There was a time in this country that to get the PDP ticket was the most important thing — the rest was a mere formality. The primaries were more important than the elections proper. Politicians were flocking to the PDP as opposition parties were mostly for decorative purposes. The PDP did not feel the need to raise its performance in power: victory was assured in every election. That is why strong opposition is critical in a democracy, at least to keep the ruling party on its toes.

A united opposition will send strong signals to the ruling party that votes should not be taken for granted. Although we usually complain about rigging in Nigeria, there is also the little consolation that some states are difficult to rig. As strong as the PDP was, there were many states it could not rig when it was in power, especially in 2003, 2011 and 2015. The take-away from here is that without a strong opposition, the ruling party will only get stronger and stronger. Knowing that its power and might will come up against some limits in certain constituencies is a form of restraint, which is good for our democracy where the party in power unfairly controls the institutions that oversee elections.

There is a real fear that the APC might soon imitate the PDP of yore — with the help of the Nigerian political culture of defections to the ruling party. Because politics is bread and butter for most politicians, there are those who cannot imagine life out of the mainstream for long. As soon as they lose elections, they become vulnerable to the temptation of “returning home” — that is, to the ruling party. In any case, Nigerian politicians change parties with ease. You can be in the PDP in the morning and switch to the APC at noon. It is all about getting your daily bread. Some PDP governors might soon move to the APC to “align” with the political currents at the centre. This hurts democracy.

Of course, there are suspicions as to Atiku’s real motive in his call for the opposition parties to “merge”. It is being whispered that he wants to run again in 2027. Many think his latest battle cry is self-serving, that he wants Obi and Kwankwaso to return to the PDP so that he could ride on their backs to presidency. We must not forget that it was Atiku’s ambition that fractured the PDP ahead of the 2023 elections. He had also played a key role in weakening the PDP in 2013 by jumping on the bandwagon of disgruntled governors to defect to the APC. He pursued his ambition again but came third behind Buhari and Kwankwaso in the APC primary. He has a history of putting personal interest above group interest. 

If Atiku genuinely wants the opposition parties to come together in order to safeguard the future of our democracy, he has to come clean about his own motives. He would do well to be a strategist and kingmaker. Positioning himself as the flagbearer would only lead to suspicion and further divide the opposition. A more nuanced and dispassionate appraisal of the 2023 elections would point to the fact that fractionalisation was the game changer. It helped the APC keep hold of power. Today’s opposition can learn a thing or two from the APC itself. After crying about rigging for ages, the opposition parties would not have unseated the PDP without a united front and strategic thinking.

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

OIL BLOCKED

Nigeria has terminated its $1.1 billion civil claims against Shell and Eni over OPL 245 and committed to no further legal action. The saga deserves a Netflix original. Despite spending millions of dollars on legal fees, Nigeria has lost every legal challenge to the transaction which saw Malabu, the original allottees, sell the oil block to Shell/Eni for $1.1 billion in 2011. For me, the key question has always been the “code of conduct” issue around Malabu’s ownership by a sitting minister and the son of a sitting head of state when it got the oil block in 1998. Nigeria decided to pursue fraud arguments and failed in all courts and on all fronts. Meanwhile, such a rich oil block lay fallow for decades. Waste.

I-REVOLUTION

All along, we’ve been told that iRev — the result-viewing portal — is the ultimate revolution against rigging in Nigeria. The presidential poll was rigged, according to a popular theory, because the iRev was “switched off”. Up till now, INEC has not satisfactorily explained why the iRev did not work after promising us heaven and earth about the “invention”. But… but… other elections in which iRev was used — including the recent off-cycle governorship polls — were rejected and described as rigged by those who lost. You mean rigging is still possible with iRev? That is not the impression we’ve had all along. In the end, you only scan and upload signed result sheets to iRev and nothing more. Hype.

LABOUR CRUISE

So, the labour unions actually went on a national strike because Comrade Joe Ajaero, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), was attacked by locals in Imo state? Really? You grind the already fragile economy of the whole country to a halt because of a case of assault on an individual in one of the 36 states? These union leaders need to start having a frank conversation with one another, otherwise they will soon overreach themselves. Is there anywhere else in the world where the life of an entire country is put on hold in this manner? There are far more important issues that affect Nigerians but the unions are undermining themselves with this kind of behaviour. Outrageous.

NO COMMENT

In view of pressing economic needs amid a depreciating national currency, President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi on Thursday cancelled all international trips for himself and other public officials. This took immediate effect, with all cabinet members on international trips asked to return to the country immediately. In place of sending an emergency bill to the National Assembly to pay for a yacht and maintain presidential jets, Chakwera directed a 50 percent reduction in the fuel allowances of ministers, permanent secretaries, directors, and all senior officials, saying the era of spending taxpayers’ money on “useless activities in the form of allowances” has ended. Leadership.