It takes decisive leadership to roll back the forays of terror. Terror understands the language of terror. The recent successful operations of Nigeria’s security forces across the country bear a defining mark of resolute leadership.

On Thursday, troops of Operation Hadarin Daji made a quick delivery. They dispatched terrorist leader, Halilu Sububu, and his gang of death-dealers in a five-star caravan of wry irony to the netherworld.   

Bandit leader Sububu had risen in notoriety with the savagery he dealt on citizens in Zamfara, Sokoto, and other parts of north-western Nigeria. He was loud, imperious, and brutal, issuing threats and making crowing pronouncements on videos. Lives have been lost, communities displaced, property destroyed, and citizens maimed by the sheer industry of Sububu and his gang.

The troops also scored another victory, neutralising Sani Wala Burki, kin of Sububu in the terror business, and his gang, as well as extirpated a terrorist hideaway in Kaduna, freeing 13 kidnapped students.

According to PRNigeria, an authoritative news source on security operations, the troops of Operation Hadarin Daji also eliminated four terrorists in Zamfara state -- Ibrahim Nagure, Lawali Dodo, Kadiri, and Jambaleri.

The troops further launched offensives against fleeing terrorists in Sambisa Forest, neutralising many of them.

This string of propitious outcomes in the north-west and the north-east follow President Bola Tinubu’s directive to the service chiefs to relocate to the zone and his consistent support to the security agencies.

President Tinubu is a renowned democrat, but also a firm and bold Commander-in-Chief.

On September 3, in a decisive response to the killings in Yobe state, the President had said: ‘’The perpetrators of this sinister act will have an inevitable encounter with justice.’’ And true to his promise, the troublers of the nation are having fated encounters with justice, and so will all those visiting terror on Nigerians.

Additionally, the successful operations also show that there is synergy and proper coordination among the security agencies and the intelligence agencies. Intelligence is a fundamental piece in the counter-terrorism puzzle.

In the past, inter-agency rivalry had been a detraction to the counter-terrorism effort. The effective coordination and deployment of security resources attests to a strong and reinvigorated leadership.

Fundamentally, successive actions against terrorism will not be effective or be permanent solutions without a conscientious plan to address the underlying cause. A prominent contributor to the challenge is youth illiteracy and socio-economic dislocation. Economic and social security is essential for corporeal security.

This is the reason the President Tinubu-led administration is making critical investments in education. The federal government through its out-of-school initiative recently reintegrated four million children into the educational system. Also, the Out-of-School Children Commission, set to commence this month, will provide training to approximately 10,000 young Nigerians.

The Tinubu administration is addressing the bottom-line precipitates of social-economic insecurity through seminal policies and programmes while redistributing wealth to the vulnerable and the most vulnerable through revamped social welfare schemes.

As the President re-affirmed, immediate and latent security threats will be decisively dealt with.

Fredrick Nwabufo is Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Engagement

Just as they say that social media neither sleep nor slumber, history also never forgets! The saying goes that today’s happenings constitute tomorrow’s history. Some of my contemporaries at Great Ife used to summarise History, my course of study, as “Oba ku; Oba je” meaning, one king dies and another reigns in his stead. Or they would say History is the study of the rise and fall of empires. That is not exactly true, though; but these cliches remind us that words and actions perisheth not. There is no “a-se-gbe”or “a-so-gbe” but every word and action lies in wait for us, to bare their fangs at a later date. So watch your word! Weigh it before you utter it. For, once uttered, it cannot be retrieved. “Ohun l’eyin” The words that we speak are like an egg; once it breaks, no Jupiter can collect and put it back in its shell.

In today’s Nigeria, no set of people get more careless with the spoken word as well as with their actions as the politicians. Often, they speak before they think and leap before they look. They are so audacious and reckless that they get entangled now and again when reference is made to their past statements and deeds. The one who said he would go on exile if a particular politician won the last presidential election not only still sits pretty in his Lagos home, he has also become a defender of the same politician he lambasted again and again! The pastor who said “Cut off one of my arms…” if so, so, and so, a politician wins the last presidential election has failed to submit himself for amputation! Or the one that said he would stop worshipping God and become an idol worshiper if the elected presidential candidate got sworn-in has not made good his threat. One who asked Amadiora, the god of thunder, to fire him if he ever defects from his political party has defected! Another who described the opposition party in the most flattering manner today sits and eats on the same party’s dining table!

It is good to keep records! I came across two documents that fascinated me last weekend as I turned around my library. I have a collection of newspapers, magazines and other publications, foreign and local, many of which are no longer in print, that I am putting together as a Journalism Library that students and teachers of journalism, journalists themselves and those in search of knowledge can consult in due course. My first find was an exchange between cerebral and ideological Dr. Segun Osoba (as he then was) and Professor L. Beverley Halstead, both of the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile-fe. It was dated February 1974, more than four years before I gained admission into the same institution as an undergraduate student.

The Segun Osoba referred to here is not Chief Segun Osoba, the celebrated journalist, one-time civilian governor of Ogun State, and now chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Dr. Osoba was one of the leading ideological puritans of the 1970s and 80s who can rightly be described as one of the lecturers accused by Nigeria’s expired military junta of those years of the locusts as teaching (Nigerian youths) what they (the lecturers) were not paid to teach! And what was that? Social consciousness and decolonization of the mind. Dr. Osoba, together with his ideological soulmate, Dr. Yusufu Bala Usman of the Ahmadu Bello University, authoured the 1976 minority report and draft constitution arising from the Constitution Drafting Committee empaneled by the then military Head of State, Gen. Murtala Muhammed. We shall soon return to that.

The second document was a Saturday PUNCH newspaper report of August 20, 2016 with a screaming front page headline titled: “I and others brought Buhari to salvage Nigeria - Obasanjo". The story, which carried the byline of Hindi Livinus reporting from Yola in Adamawa State, was credited to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and it ran fully on page 29 thus: “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that he and four other eminent Nigerians brought President Muhammadu Buhari to salvage Nigeria from its current challenges. He said they took the decision when they felt that the country stood at a crossroads. Obasanjo said, ‘Three or four of us from different parts of the country got together and said to ourselves: what do we do? We said, what is the problem with us and why are we still not growing? We got talking and knew we needed to do something. What do we need to deal with, for this Nigeria of ours to become what God has created it to be? A land flowing with milk and honey - that is the intention of God for creating Nigeria”. The former president, who spoke on Thursday at a reception held in his honour at the Government House, Yola, Adamawa State, said, so far, Buhari has not disappointed the country. He said, ‘So far, Buhari has not disappointed us. I trust him; he will not fail Nigerians. I know he will overcome the challenges the country is currently facing’. He, however, said Nigeria needed to get its acts right in the areas of policies, governance and leadership for the country to develop….”

We should end the story there! In retrospect, what will Obasanjo say of his vouching for Buhari and of his bringing him to power? I am sure you know that the coming of Buhari was where the rain that was beating us in drizzles in the time of Goodluck Jonathan began to pour in torrents. Now that it rains brimstones and fire under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we still cannot exonerate Buhari. Who were the two or three other people that, together with Obasanjo, brought Buhari to “salvage” Nigeria? Is President Tinubu one of them or did he act solo, since he, too, has told us he played an important role in Buhari’s emergence as president? Rather than salvage, Buhari savaged Nigeria! As my people would say, when you mention a tortoise, you also mention the forest from which you picked it. The tortoise in this way is Buhari and the forest are those who helped him into office.

Back to the Osoba/Halstead tango. Halstead (whispering into Osoba’s ears, almost in a conspiratorial tone): Do you know that there is considerable unease about the address you are to give to the students tomorrow morning? Osoba (in normal conversational voice audible to all): In which quarters is this unease? Halstead: In the highest quarters in the administration of the university. Osoba: Do you know why they feel uneasy? Halstead: I believe they fear that you would incite the students to commit acts of violence. Osoba: If these people do not know what I am capable of doing in a situation like this, then, I cannot be held responsible for their paranoia! Halstead: What are you addressing the students on? Osoba: Student power in a situation of public moral crisis. Halstead: What is student power? Osoba: I am surprised that you don’t know what student power is! It is this kind of attitude that makes conversation between two people impossible - when one party constantly asks the other to define terms that are generally understood. Halstead: I am not just concerned with definitions; I want your view of what student power is. Osoba: I cannot help you but I believe you have seen the notice issued from the Vice-Chancellor’s office earlier today, informing College chairmen, Deans, Heads of Departments, etc. about the decisions of the students to make tomorrow a lecture-free day. If you want to know student power in its crudest form, try tomorrow to deliver your Zoology lecture to an empty room. This is the most concrete form of student power. Halstead: In any case, why should you, a senior member of the academic staff, be involved in what is exclusively a student affairs? Osoba: Because I owe a responsibility to the students. If they invite me to address them, as they have done on this occasion, I consider it my responsibility to respond to their call as it would give me an opportunity to focus their attention on serious and creative, rather than trivial and destructive, issues. Halstead: My own responsibility to the students is to teach them Biology; no more, no less. Osoba: I am not surprised that your responsibility does not go beyond that because, as a soldier of fortune, you have no stake in this society and, therefore, no commitment to anything other than your career as a Biology professor. My own view of studentship is that it affords our young men and women an opportunity not only to acquire specialised and professional skills but also to undergo training in responsible leadership and citizenship; and it is the duty of those of us who have a stake in this country to contribute to their development in the two main areas of their education. Halstead: But they are not all going to be leaders. Osoba: That is true but by the logic of natural selection, many of them are going to play significant leadership roles in this society and, in any case, they are all going to be citizens of this country. Hence, the responsibility one has in contributing to their development as responsible citizens and leaders. Halstead: But you also have a responsibility to the authorities of this university; haven’t you? Osoba: Yes, but I have my priorities in this regard. My first responsibility is to my conscience; second is to the tax-payers of this country without whose sacrifice there can be no university; third, is to the students without whom none of us - administrators, professors, and lecturers - will be here, and fourth to the administration. Halstead: In any case, what are the serious and creative issues you will be talking about tomorrow?”

One of the lecturers also present at the debate then cut in: "Why don’t you take a look at the text of his (Osoba’s) address?” Osoba: No, he cannot! If he is interested in learning about the responsible use of student power, he should come to the ceremony at the Sports Centre tomorrow at 10.15am. Halstead: I would like to come but I may be held up by the current Geology conference. Osoba: If you cannot come, you can always ask me for the text of the address, which is typewritten, but that would be after the ceremony. Halstead: That's alright. I’ll try to come but if not, I will be glad to read the text. Goodnight! Osoba: Goodnight!”

Dr. Osoba eventually went ahead to deliver his address to the “Great Ife” students on Friday, 1st February, 1974, which was the 3rd anniversary of the gruesome murder of the University of Ibadan undergraduate, Adekunle Adepeju, felled by police bullet during a student demonstration in 1971.

The Osoba lecture itself and the ding-dong afterwards between him and Professor Halstead will be another discussion for another day!

Before I get badgered by those unwilling to read or lacking in the discipline to digest concepts, let me announce upfront that no insults are intended by either the title or the message below. But I have seen enough of the rush to abuse, by those who miss the meaning of concepts different from their everyday usage, that I suspect an upfront caveat may slow down the rush to conclusion by those who give meaning to the real insult, which is that the best way to hide something from most of us is to write it down in a book. The fear of reading should be overcome so we can find meaning and understanding. I know Nigeria is in grave danger from cleavages separating us from them, as emotion steps down reason, in many, including some very well educated and even a few I know of who built reputations as cosmopolitan thought leaders. These  may sometime soon confront the puzzle and the shame the German elite dealt with after World War II. 

That was also the lot of some in Rwanda who were confronted with their past after the Genocide and the triumph of Paul Kagame. 

I have chosen therefore to leave everyday meaning of the words Idiot and stupid and use them in context, as conceptual expressions of phenomena by philosophers and social scientists.

To the wise men of Ancient Greece we  first turn for their typology of men in society. Those who think of themselves alone as the basis for engagement  they called Idiots. Not an insult. Just a category.

Those who think of and empathise with others so long as those others share paroachial bonds, like blood lines, language or religion, they called tribesmen. As Joshua Greene elucidates in the book: Moral Tribes, exploring emotion, reason and the growing gap between us and them, the tribes man is threatened by outside groups and is perpetually at war with those outside his tribe.

When people mature to a universal sense of the dignity of the human person and live human solidarity, they move up to the category of citizen. All you need do is navigate social media today and you will encounter the reign of tribesmen in extant Nigeria. 

Make a trick statement and you will discover they don’t read. Once your name fits those they are programmed to insult they hit the keyboard saying the same things they said yesterday. And the day before. Many were deployed there by politicians purportedly trying to build a nation. 

Then there is the concept of stupidity. Back in my days in Grad School in the late 1970s I was struck by the work of several academics at the University of California, Berkeley. One was a public policy scholar, Aaron Wildavsky, and the other was Carlo M Cipolla. The former gave us the value of complex redundancy in policy formulation and the latter gave us the five laws of human stupidity.

Cipolla defined a stupid person as one who causes losses to others when he or she may not benefit from the action they chant for and may, in fact, suffer loss from that action.

Cipolla studied human history and found a pervasive influence of stupid people. He then offers us the five laws of human stupidity. The first law is that we always underestimate the number of stupid people in circulation. The second is that the probability of stupidity in a person is independent of his other characteristics such as his education or wealth. The third is that this person supporting wrong that cause harm to others may not even think of personal benefit from that harm. Fourth is that non stupid people always underestimate the danger of being associated with the stance of the stupid and how that underestimation will eventually impact them at very high cost. The  fifth law states that the stupid person is a most dangerous person; often more dangerous than bandits.

The Berkeley Economic historian had categorized man in society just like the Greeks did, and found four types of people: The Intelligent, the bandits, the unfortunate and the stupid. 

The Intelligent are those who aim to benefit themselves and others (win/win); the bandits are those who benefit themselves by harming others, the unfortunate are those who do harm while trying to benefit others, The stupid are those who seek harm to others without benefiting from it.

Any time you see a person cheering passionately for a politician whose conduct does not make sense or who harm the common good,  you are looking at a stupid person, no matter their other characteristics of education, wealth or social status. Even more troubling, as Cipolla  tells us is that there are so many more of them than we like to believe. So take a good look at the fellow next to you.

When Idiots from the Greek typology become stupid, as in  the Ciipolla  thesis, society is in grave crisis. 

All you have to do to recognise we live in dangerous times in Nigeria is to step back and examine the scene that is Nigeria today and you will see an army of stupid idiots marching as Hitler youth did, to the drums of harm to others. A few may be bandits but the majority are simple stupid idiots. Please remember no insult  is intended here. Just a social scientist pointing to phenomena that fit existing theory. 

Highly educated German professionals went that way with ultimately devastating costs to humanity and their country in the Weimar Republic as Hitler, powered by Goebbels propaganda, went to work.. One of them stopped midway into his support of the words of harm to others, and began to ask why, of the Nazis. It did not matter that he was once a supporter.  The Lutheran Priest, Martin Niemoller, who questioned things, spent most of the war years in Concentration camps and prisons. 

After the war he spoke those immortal words of the imperative of speaking up…first they came for the socialists and I did not speak up because I was not a socialist…Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak up..,when finally they came for me there was no one left to speak up.

His moral imperative for speaking up in times of moral crisis has always led me to Dante’s inferno and the hottest part of hell being reserved for those who in a moral crisis seek refuge in neutrality. But it is to Dietrich  Bonhoeffer we must reserve the glory of the Quatto on this matter. He insists we have more to fear from stupid people than evil ones, for evil is easy to identify and fight but not so for stupidity. Stupidity comes dressed up as journalists, academics and even as men of God. Bonhoeffer states unequivocally that silence in the face of evil is itself evil., and not to speak is to speak as not to act is actually to act.

This is why I try to act not necessarily to be seen as acting but because as Bonhoeffer mused, if you board the wrong train it is no use going to the corridor and start running in the opposite direction.

With passionate commitment to the mantra that Nigeria will rise up again and the conviction that this phase will pass away, if we act right, I have Labored on. I have helped found the new tribe, a movement of Nigerians seeking a values driven society based on personal integrity, the work ethic, merit, inclusion and a push back on Ghandi’s deadly social sins like politics without principles, wealth without work, education without character, etc. All who are minded are not to escape the stupid idiot tag are welcome to check the portal thenewtribe.ng and find a cohort to act in concert with. But a person can also act alone so long as they assert the dignity of the human person and seek the common good.

If there is one thing Nigeria needs now, in the face of today’s crisis, it is people who can speak truth to power as we are preyed on by state capture , creeping fascism and the criminal hijack of politics, and a collapse of the checks and balances of the estates of the realm. When people who were known for protests threaten to try those who follow in their footsteps for treason you do not need to be told that there are snakes in the Rafia roof.

. Patrick Okedinachi Utomi is a professor of Political Economy and founder of the Centre for Values in Leadership.

In the early hours of dawn, before the world stirs to life, a rooster breaks the stillness with its crow. This ritual, as ancient as time itself, signifies more than just the start of a new day; it is a testament to instinct and fulfillment of purpose. In many ways, the relentless urge to write mirrors this fundamental behavior. Just as the rooster cannot resist the pull to announce the day, writers around the globe feel an innate compulsion to express themselves through words. It begs the question: why do we suppress this natural instinct, and what would happen if we allowed it to thrive?

The analogy of the rooster’s crow powerfully encapsulates the essence of the writing process. Writing is not merely a mechanical task, nor is it confined to those who proudly claim the title of “writer.” It is a primal, instinctive act that is deeply rooted in our humanity. As children, we scribbled our thoughts and dreams without inhibition. Over time, societal expectations and self-doubt often obscure this initial joy. Yet, underneath it all, the calling to create remains, a voice waiting to be unleashed.

When we allow ourselves to embrace this natural urge to write, we engage in a form of catharsis. Many writers describe the experience of putting words on paper as a release, an opportunity to articulate thoughts that might otherwise remain dormant. The process becomes transformative, turning raw emotion into carefully crafted prose or poetry. It is a means of processing life’s complexities, a sanctuary for the troubled mind, and a celebration of joy. Just as the rooster awakens the world, writing allows us to confront our fears, share our triumphs, and connect with others on a profound level.

Moreover, writing serves as a powerful tool for awakening consciousness. In an age characterized by rapid technological advances and relentless digital distractions, the act of writing invites readers to slow down, reflect, and engage. It fosters conversations that might otherwise be lost in the cacophony of modern life. Each word penned has the potential to ignite change, spark dialogue, and inspire movements, powerful testaments to the idea that writing is not just a solitary endeavor but a collective one. The stories we tell can bridge divides, challenge societal norms, and cultivate empathy. They are conversations waiting to unfold across boundaries and generations.

Yet, despite the proven benefits of writing, many people remain hesitant to engage in the practice. The fear of inadequacy, the belief that they are not “real” writers or the dread of facing a blank page can serve as formidable obstacles. This is where we must draw inspiration from the rooster: it crows because it must, not because it seeks validation. Writers, too, must learn to silence the inner critic and honor their instinctual compulsion to create. Whether it is through journaling, storytelling, poetry, or any form of written expression, each individual has a voice that deserves to be heard.

In a world that often prioritizes silence over expression, it is vital to encourage a culture that celebrates the act of writing. We must create spaces, both physical and mental, where individuals feel safe to explore their thoughts and emotions freely. Schools, communities, and organizations should champion writing programs and workshops aimed at fostering creativity and self-expression. Encouraging the next generation to embrace their voices will only enrich our society.

Furthermore, embracing the natural call to write is a step toward self-discovery. It allows individuals to explore their identities, values, and experiences, leading to greater self-awareness. In a time when disconnection and isolation seem pervasive, writing can act as a bridge, connecting us to ourselves and to one another. The stories we share hold the power to unite us in our shared humanity, reminding us that we are not alone in our struggles and triumphs.

Against the foregoing the backdrop, it is germane to opine that the urge to write is as natural and vital as the dawn itself. Like the rooster’s crow, it is a proclamation of existence, an invitation to wake up to our thoughts and to share them with the world. As we learn to embrace and celebrate our instinct to write, we unlock the potential within ourselves and those around us. Let us honor this innate call and allow our voices to ring out, filling the silence with the beauty of our stories. Let us create a world where writing is not just an act of communication but a celebration of our shared journey through life. In doing so, we may find that, like the morning sun, our words have the power to illuminate even the darkest corners of existence.

Personally, I write because it serves as a vital outlet for my thoughts and emotions, allowing me to articulate my feelings about society and government in ways that resonate both personally and collectively. In a world where opinions are often drowned out by noise, the written word provides clarity and precision. Through writing, I can delve into the complexities of our social structures, examining the nuances of inequality, injustice, and the challenges faced by various communities. Each piece I craft becomes an exploration of societal norms, shining a light on issues that demand attention and dialogue.

Moreover, writing empowers me to hold leaders accountable. In democracies and beyond, those in positions of power must be scrutinized; their actions and policies should be examined through a critical lens. My words serve as a tool of accountability, enabling me to question decisions, highlight failures, and advocate for transparency. By expressing my opinions in written form, I contribute to a necessary discourse, one that can influence public perception and encourage civic engagement.

My writing is not just a reflection of my individual perspective; it is part of a larger conversation that seeks to inspire change. Each article or essay becomes a means of rallying others to notice and confront social and political issues that impact our lives. Through the power of words, I aspire to foster awareness and provoke thought, encouraging others to join the movement for justice and equality. In this way, writing becomes both a personal journey and a collective mission, one that echoes far beyond my own experience, amplifying the voices of those who might otherwise go unheard.

In the world of journalism and public discourse, writing serves as both a reflection of society and a tool for shaping it. Opinion article, in particular, and which happens to be my forte, is essential for challenging perspectives, offering insights, and encouraging dialogue on important issues. It is through these written words that I can voice concerns, propose solutions, and provoke thought, all of which are necessary for growth, both personal and societal. Writing is my means of contributing to the conversations that shape our future.

To those who often criticize my consistent writing, I encourage you to see the purpose behind it. My goal is not to simply fill pages, but to inspire change, invoke discussion, and provide clarity where there is confusion. In each article, there is a responsibility to truth, progress, and understanding. Writing is how I engage with the world, and I hope in time, you will see its value as well.

One of the thematic preoccupations of the book, What the forest told me: Yoruba hunter, culture and narrative performance, (2014) is that, inside the forest, there is a consistent superiority war, often fierce, between man and animals. Written by Ayo Adeduntan, Research Fellow at the University of Ibadan, the book averred that, while animals sometimes win this war, succeeding in crushing hunters for supper, many atimes, hunters vanquish these forest dwellers. They fell these notorious animals renowned for bathing in the blood of their human victims. In pursuit of this theme of a superiority duel in the wild, Adeduntan was in a forest called Ìgbẹ́ Alágogo. Hunting expeditions to the Ìgbẹ́ are seasonal excursions that take hunters to Òj̣é-̣Owódé in the Òkè Ògùn area of Oyo State. There, Adeduntan interviewed a hunter called Òjó Ògúnkúnlé of Agúnrege village. Ògúnkúnlé’s narration of how his hunter-master, named Ògúnòṣ̣un, a very powerful hunter, married a buffalo and was eventually demystified by the animal, painted the picture that a mutual damage often occurs in the duel between animal and man.

The narration goes thus: One day, Ògúnkúnlé went hunting and felled a huge buffalo with his gun. Unable to process what to do with his mountainous game, the young hunter walked back kilometers to announce his kill to his master named Ògúnòṣ̣un. While they were both walking back to where the buffalo was felled, about a mile to the scene, a pretty lady walked past them and saluted on her two knees. In a magical reality that may be hard to believe, Ògúnkúnlé inferred that the buffalo was the one who morphed into the pretty lady. He told the researcher, “all of a sudden, we met the animal, the pretty woman” – “àfi pẹ̀kí n la bá pàdé ẹran l’ọ́nà, èyuùn ìyàwó. Arẹwa obinrin ni”. If Ògúnòṣ̣un had listened to Odolaye Aremu, the Ilorin musician who warned that there is always a suddenness to calamity, (pèkí làá ko èèmò) he probably would have been wary of a beautiful woman suddenly encountered in a dense forest. From wooing the buffalo-woman and taking her home, Ògúnòṣ̣un ended up marrying her. Before the marriage solemnization, according to Adeduntan’s account, the buffalo-woman gave a caveat, which I paraphrase: “Now that I’ve agreed to marry you, the day you recklessly call me an animal, you are done for.”

The buffalo-woman gave birth to children for Ògúnòṣ̣un. However, one day, the wife enraged her husband, so much that he thundered, “You good-for-nothing unlucky daughter of an animal!” (‘Àb’órí ì rẹ burú ni, ìwọ ọmọ ẹranko yìí!). A very mysterious anger immediately seized the woman who instantly morphed into her original buffalo form. As she charged at Ògúnòṣ̣un with her menacing horns, the hunter quickly reached for his hunter talisman (Ìgbàdì).The Ìgbàdì is the phial belt which hunters have recourse to, while on hunting expedition. If a ferocious animal suddenly attempted to harm them, they untied the belt. They then chanted some metaphysical verses which enabled them escape the animal’s deadly ferocity. As Ògúnòṣ̣un chanted the incantations, he landed in a prehistoric mountain on the outskirts of the village. He was however not fast enough for the buffalo which used its horn to gore him and tear his ligaments. The buffalo thereafter ran into the mountains and never returned. Ògúnòṣ̣un, said the narrator, as reported by Adeduntan, carried with him for life the cicatrices of a fractured leg. This motif of a superiority duel between animals of the forest and man is also present in D. O. Fagunwa’s Igbo Olódùmarè where the hero of the book, Olówó-Aiyé, fought the spirit, Anjonnu-Iberu, who transformed into a boa and, helped by a ravishingly beauty witch named àjẹ́diran, who gave him a magic fruit, Olówó-Aiyé transformed into an elephant and crushed the boa constrictor.

What provoked this excursion into the world of animals is a discussion said to be gaining currency among some intellectuals in Southwest Nigeria today. It is themed around the rhetorical question: Have current runners of Nigeria, led by a Yoruba, with their prodigal handling of Nigerian economy and society, not succeeded in demystifying the Yoruba myth of administrative and leadership competence? Same discussion, I learnt, is bandied in banters in Northern Nigeria today, amid sniggering laughter. So, in the ancient “war” between Yoruba and Northern Nigeria about administrative and leadership competence, has the North succeeded, like Ògúnòṣ̣un’s buffalo-woman wife, in demystifying the Yoruba buffalo?

Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Premiership of Western Region, with its sterling and highly commended leadership, opened the trough of that narrative. That leadership was followed by another one provided by UPN governors of the Second Republic. Watched over by their leader, Awolowo, those governors also significantly showed the world the colour of developmental leadership. That was the last time the Yoruba had the opportunity to showcase their ability, until Olusegun Obasanjo came in 1999. Though he demonstrated comparative competence to lead Nigeria above all his successors, Obasanjo’s pan-Nigerian claim and overt attack on Awolowo’s leadership of Nigeria made his Yoruba people disown him as theirs. In overt flaunt and gloat, Yoruba had often said to the hearing of whoever wanted to listen that, with their centuries-old sophistication, urbane character, western education and grasp of the modern system of administration, if ever they had the opportunity to lead Nigeria, Yoruba would show the world the stuff they were made of.

2023 was that opportunity. Today, under 15 months, Nigeria has fallen into tatters under a man who answers to all the physical attributes of a Yoruba. The question being asked now is, what happened? Why did people who have always held themselves as crocodiles, suddenly turn out to be lizards? Why are people with reputation of lion, King of the Jungle, now being exposed as mere rodents-eating cats? Muhammadu Buhari, whose leadership is compared to an affliction, is almost celebrated as a mascot now by Nigerians in comparison. Aso Rock claims its reforms are like a surgical operation to correct a medical anomaly. It also says that the pains Nigerians undergo are comparable to one inflicted by the Olóólà, facemark maker, whose knife, which cuts painfully deep down into the bosom of the skin, is a precursor to beauty. To the Villa, our pain is a desirable agony. None of the reform evangelists has however been able to explain the optics we see of reformers living in stupendous comfort while targets of reforms are enmeshed in indescribable hunger. Only yesterday, we were told that the First Lady, Remi Tinubu, spent N701 million on foreign trips, in a Nigeria where the people are dying and hungry.

When they are boxed to a corner, in fitful explanations, Yoruba flaunt an explanation which demarcates the Yorubaness of present Nigerian rulers from theirs. They say occupiers of Aso Rock today are mainly coastal Yoruba. These are people, they say, who are a corrupted version of their own ancestry. Theirs, they go further to say, approximates all those qualities of the Awolowo Yoruba and it is because they are from the hinterland. In my piece of April 14, 2024 entitled The Lagos Boy’s coastal highway, I attempted a description of the coastal Yoruba thus: “Writers like Cyprian Ekwensi drew the picture of a dreadful Lagos. The ‘Lagos Boy’ could mean smartness, suavity, celebration of inanity, fraudulence, erection of facades on dross to make it look real…Even before the colonialists came, Lagos, once known as the ‘Venice of West Africa,’ was dreaded by inhabitants of the hinterland… Lagos was home to money-doublers and soul-scarred gamblers. It was where you could make quick money through mere hubris. Some other writers have described Lagos as ‘a place of desperation to make it by hook or crook,’ with some others giving it the fitting description of ‘a huge Dickensian space full of heartbreak.’

Paul French, in his ‘Lagos: Africa’s Capital of Noir’, said Lagos had popularly been described as ‘the capital of crimes such as 419 and internet fraud also known as the ‘Yahoo Yahoo’’. I also made the incontrovertible claim that, “If Tinubu lost some votes of his Yoruba people in the 2023 presidential election, it may not be too far from the truth to say that his morally prude Yoruba kinsmen from the hinterland who believed that anything Lagos was fraud were the ones who withdrew their votes.” I also said “the Lagosian has come to be classified as immune to some of the traits associated with a Yorubaman. He didn’t totally represent the gentlemanly Omoluabi ethos that undergirds the value system of the children of Oduduwa. A trustworthy Lagosian is as scarce as a hen’s teeth. He would grab and run with what doesn’t belong to him. It is repeatedly said that a Lagosian would sell particle to you as an article.” There are however many exceptions to this as there are equally Lagosians of sterling pedigrees.

By trying to remove themselves from the stain of this leadership calamity, the Yoruba seem to be answering a question posed by William Butler Yeats in one of his poems entitled ‘Among School Children’. In it, Yeats had asked, ‘How can we know the dancer from the dance?’ I am of the opinion that, rather than engage in demarcation of hinterland and coastal Yorubaness, (thereby seeking to remove the dancer from the dance) Yoruba should be more frontal in demanding that those in government today should not stain their leadership reputation’s white apparel bequeathed by Awolowo. This will necessitate that they disclaim some Yoruba who have consistently licked the spittle of Aso Rock, all in the name of clapping-on an obvious failure of a child whose waist we adorn with beads not deserved. The Yoruba case in Nigerian leadership is synonymous with the narrative of a head hunter (Oluode) who was caught mourning his hunting dog killed by a tiger. Asked why he mourned, Oluode told them that a valiant tree does not ooze out cowardly secretions (ako igi kìì s’oje) and that what he mourned was his reputation that was at stake. How would the world reconcile itself to the story of a brave hunter’s dog killed by a mere tiger? It was the hunter who was literally killed!

The other explanation Yoruba could give is that what Nigeria has today isn’t the original, certainly nothing of the variant of Awolowo, Bola Ige or any of their leaders’ original copy of leadership. The owners of that original have gone with their slough. It reminds me, again, of one of the hunter-animal liaisons and contests for primacy narratives in Adeduntan’s book. Another hunter, Kìlání Alápó of Alápó village, Ibadan, tells it perfectly. For eight years, Alápó had killed a python under an àràbà tree in a forest called Ẹléṛè.̣ However, in the ninth year of harvesting the python, the snake was nowhere to be found under the àràbà. In its stead, he found the skin of a deer (awo ̣̣ ìgalà). Alápó however went home with his strange find, the àwọ̀. Apprehensive about the slough he kept and its probable consequences, he inquired of a Babalawo who warned him not to destroy it as its owner would someday ask for it (aláwò ̣ ó ̣ wàá bééré áwó). Seven days after, a pretty lady walked into Alápó village, demanding Kìlání Alápó’s home. Seeing this woman, dogs began to bark mysteriously. Adeduntan explained this as the capacity of dogs to “see the numinous.” On meeting Alápó, the woman promptly demanded, “could you please return my slough?” (Ẹ dákun, àwò ̣ mi t’éẹ̣ kó, mọ fé ̣ k’éẹ̣ kó o fún mi). The hunter walked in and handed her the skin. According to the narration, for fifteen years, Alápó consistently killed a deer under the àràbà tree.

Yoruba are in a dilemma. They have an impostor child who, unfortunately, hails from their home of noble leadership pedigree and honour. Like relished epaulettes, the honour of excellence in leadership and administration is what the Yoruba still cling on today. In the same way the python-woman walked back to Kìlání Alápó to demand what rightly belonged to her, the race must demand its àwọ̀ from the impostor.

Good night, Omodewu

On Thursday last week, in Ibadan, Oyo State, I was at the wake and tributes service in honour of Isaac Ajiboye Omodewu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Oyo State Chairman. The news of his passage on August 18, 2024, in New York, USA hit his home state almost immediately it occurred. It was like a thunderbolt, a blow to many who knew his dove-like character. It was a moment to cower at the feet of the invisible hand of death that plucked a friend, a gentleman personified. Omodewu was laid to rest the second day in his Otu town.

In the events hall where the service took place, you could feel Omodewu’s gentle voice and coy, harmless look. He almost couldn’t hurt a fly. In life, Omodewu was a dependable ally who sought out the comfort of his friends. Until you read about his pedigree, having come out of a home of politicians, Omodewu didn’t strike you as a politician, with all the combativeness and duplicity of politics. I could understand Omodewu’s service as a government appointee but it took a long time for me to connect with his subsequent and unfortunately, last political career path when he became the Oyo State APC Party Chairman. Those who witnessed him in action as party chairman pointed to a leadership he ran marked by unity and consensus-building.

I knew Omodewu in 2011 while we both served under late Governor Abiola Ajimobi. From the way he wove his “been to” status into his utterances, you knew immediately he was one of the Oyo State indigenes who came from abroad to participate in politics. It was later I learnt that he schooled at the City University of New York, USA. He subsequently served as commissioner for local government and thereafter, lands. He was humble and self-effacing.

One thing that I often remember about him was how he, at close to 60 years of age, chose to study law. When he began the course of study at the Lead City University in Ibadan, he told me bluntly that, looking at my example, he was encouraged to go back to school. We also spoke frequently when he was about to go to the Nigerian Law School, which culminated in his being called to the Nigerian Bar in 2023.

Omodewu’s passage tells all of us that death is a bus stop where all of us would alight someday. That gentleman has alighted by his own bus stop. Sleep well, brother.

The Kano State High Court, under the leadership of Chief Judge Justice Dije Aboki, has issued an order restraining the 15th Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, from proceeding with renovations at the Nassarawa mini palace.

The court granted the injunction following a motion exparte filed by the plaintiffs/applicants, which include the Kano State government, the Attorney General of Kano State, and the Kano State Emirate Council.

The plaintiffs were represented by Rilwanu Umar Esq. and three other legal counsels.

In the court order, Justice Aboki directed all parties involved to maintain the status quo regarding the structural and architectural design of the palace until the motion on notice is heard and determined.

Reports had previously indicated that Emir Bayero began a facelift of the mini palace, showcasing a prototype of the planned renovations.

This development follows Bayero’s dethronement by Governor Abba Yusuf while he was away from the state, which led to the reinstatement of the 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, who subsequently moved into the Kofar-Kudu palace.

Upon his return, Bayero was relocated to the Nassarawa mini palace, where he has continued to conduct court activities despite the ongoing legal battle over the palace renovations.

However, the court order reads, “That an order of Interim injunction is hereby made restraining the Defendant, his agents, privies, or anyone acting under the instruction and command of the Defendant in whatever manner from further demolishing, renovating, repairing, reconstructing and refurbishing the property known as Gidan Sarki Nassarawa situated along State Road, Kano pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice before this court.

“That an order is made directing parties to this suit to maintain status quo in respect of the structural and architectural design of the Res pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice filed before this Honourable Court.

“Plaintiffs/Applicants to serve the Originating Process, Motion on Notice and other subsequent processes in this suit on the Defendant via substituted means to wit, by Pasting and or leaving same at the frontage of the Property Gidan Sarki Nassarawa or give the said Originating Process and other subsequent processes to any Adult aide of the Defendant in the property known as Gidan Sarki Nassarawa situate along State Road, Kano.

“That the case is adjourned to 2/10/2024 for hearing of the motion on notice@

At the just concluded 65th annual conference of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES) in Abuja, one of the highlights of the annual ritual was the conferment of the 2024 Distinguished Economic Service Award on seven eminent Nigerians. And yours sincerely is one of the awardees. This is one award that holds a fundamental significance among all the other ones I have been conferred with. And the singular reason is that this conferment articulates a significant plank in my institutional and governance reforms campaign in Nigeria. That plank insists that there is an intellectual component in the imperative of institutional reform that demands a collaborative engagement between professionals and academics/intellectual. This is because a crucial part of the diagnosis of reform failure in Nigeria is the failure to understand that reform itself has an intellectual and theoretical basis that many reformers are not aware of. We deride theories as if they have no practical import. There is no one engaging with Nigeria and her development dynamics that would not get involved in conversation with economics and economists. This is why associations like NES and the National Economic Summit Group (NESG) are critical to the understanding of Nigeria’s governance and economic predicaments, and how we can find a way or ways out of the woods.

I deeply appreciate Prof. Adeola Adenikinju, president of NES and the entire governing council for this unquantifiable honor. It is an honor I would never have expected, but one I am delighted about so much. That my essentially basic understanding of the economic and developmental component of institutional reform is noticed by an erudite association is no mean feat. My reflection on this critical award therefore enables me to connect my conversations and collaborations with economists and economic discourses with my institutional reform agenda. And all these come together around the trajectory of the mentoring experience I had with the late Prof. Ojetunji Aboyade, great economist, erudite scholar and president of the NES from 1973 to 1974, and indeed my townsman and a singular influence on my professional and intellectual maturation. Those who understand my relationship with Aboyade—the fact that I literally grew up in his formidable but mentoring shadows at Aáwé and in the presidency—would immediately understand why I had no choice in my reverence for economists.

Under the tutelage of Aboyade, my entry point into the public administration scholarship was through public policy implementation research, which had the likes of Jeffrey Pressman and Aaron Wildavsky as the key pioneers. Their groundbreaking 1973 book, Implementation, grounds implementation studies as a subfield of public policy research. Indeed, from that book, I began to notice early in time the role that politics and policymaking play in facilitating a near-seamless implementation process in administrative reforms. Most significantly, the authors insisted that the evaluation of policies and their implementation are two different issues that must not be conflated. As a young researcher, I immediately saw the sense in seeing implementation, according to Pressman and Wildavsky, as “the ability to forge subsequent links in the causal chains so as to obtain the desired results.” Hence, once this causal chain involved in implementation is longer necessary, the more complex the implementation becomes. Or, in the case of Nigeria—as I would eventually see, the longer the implementation chain, the more definite it becomes that bad politics has intervened.

With this as my starting point, it was not too long for me to make a research entry into the discursive space of institutional economics, and the relationship between institutions and the capacities they generate in economic actors that lead to innovation, performance and productivity. The theoretical relationship and disagreements between the old and new institutionalism, especially on the compatibility of individual agency and social structure eventually would play a deep role in articulating the emergence of the managerial revolution that backstopped the new public management (NPM) movement around which the global public administration praxis was designed. The NPM is the managerial attempt to unseat the bureaucratic stasis that has kept the Weberian system ineffective, inefficient and unproductive. Indeed, within the Nigerian administrative context, it has made it quite difficult to birth a developmental state.

The idea of the developmental state clearly serves as the focal point for an ongoing conversation between economists and institutional reformers. The idea of the developmental state tasks the public service system on the need to achieve the efficiency that will operationalize democratic governance to deliver infrastructural development for the citizens. Thus, to achieve economic development, such a state must first be oriented towards institutional reforms that bring the structures and institutions to capability readiness.

From the vantage point of my research into institutional reforms and development policy management, it was so easy but unnerving to work out the historical trajectory as well as the administrative dynamics that facilitated the series of aborted transitions, policy somersaults, the conception-reality gap, the motion-without-movement development hiccups that translate into protracted state and governance failures in Nigeria. And we see the basis of these failures in the (non)performance of the Nigerian economy and the debilitating effects on Nigerians. It therefore should come as no surprise that the role of economists in the Nigerian predicament became all the more heightened. This is where I think my experience as the directing staff coordinating the public policy executive education component of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) remit for three years was so professionally fulfilling. That professional status brought me close to the economic and policy sides of understanding the Nigerian predicament as well as the connection with my expertise in institutional reform. I had the opportunity to facilitate at once policy conversations and discourses around critical issues of the fundamentals of public policy, the public policy design and formulation process, policy implementation and decision science, policy evaluation and tracking, the political undercurrent of policy decision-making, as well as policy exploration and scenario projection that factor the VUCA (vulnerable, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) administrative environment into the urgency of building a twenty-first-century policy architecture that the Nigerian state requires to achieve democratic service delivery.

All the above therefore makes the theme of the NES 65th annual conference—“Socio-Economic Development in Nigeria: Imperatives, Implications and Impacts”—all the more fundamental given the present state of the Nigerian economic change management challenges. The conference theme is ready-made as the instigating forum that could have served some brainstorming and learning context for the PBAT governance and economic teams. It was especially a grand tutorial for me as a member of that team in terms of the analyses, forecasting and incisive critiques around the implementation possibilities and prospects of delivering the Renewed Hope Agenda from the perspectives of Nigerian economists. There are two crucial takeovers that my attendance at the NES Conference brought out into very stark relief.

One, it has now become imperative that government needs an ongoing and consummate engagement with Nigerian experienced economists and other intellectuals and experts. This becomes critical, especially with regard to the near absence of a political economy framework that could have served as the analytical and technical perspectives for articulating and sequencing the two major policies of the federal government, namely, the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira. While these two policies have a sound basis, they are flawed in terms of change management detailing and technical correctness, and their disruptive consequences could have been averted with the benefit of deep economic intelligence and the possible analytical frameworks and policy instruments that competent policy analysis could have been provided for risk analysis, mitigation and management. Here, we already begin to see how the implementation chain—and the possibility of success—is already compromised. Policy implementation and impact cannot just be the result of just policy correctness. On the contrary, it must reflect a dynamic and holistic and not a partial understanding of Nigeria’s economic structure and predicaments.

Two, we have to deal with the critical disjuncture that is playing out between the Renewed Hope Agenda and the policy implementation detailing of the government. We cannot ever hope to make that agenda work if the policies that would empower it are out of joint in terms of implementation sequence. The implementation of policies raises the crucial issue of those for whom the policies are meant in the first place. Thus, if, as democratic governance demands, these policies are meant to be people-oriented, then it implies that the change management strategy must be fashioned in a way that puts the people at the centre without necessarily yielding to unreflective populism. For example, to achieve a reasonable buy-in by Nigerians, the change vision and objectives must embed much more inclusive instruments which are however strategically communicated to Nigerians.

While receiving the award, it dawned on me that I have been drawn into the circle of a wider reform cohort that would further challenge my understanding of what it takes to articulate, track and evaluate institutional reforms in Nigeria. I am very glad for this incorporation, and the opportunity it affords me to sharpen my learning capacity and keep the discussion on the future of the Nigerian state in the right direction.

Olaopa, a Professor of Public Administration, is the Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, Abuja

It seems the contrived, ill-advised controversy over the ‘ownership’ of Lagos will not go away anytime soon as more and more agent provocateurs are deployed on the worldwide web to drive a wedge between the historically liberal aborigines of Lagos and non-Yoruba residents of the mega city. That development is an unkind payback to the aborigines who are, by nature, one of the most liberal people on the surface of the earth.

There are Lagosians and there are Lagosians. Some Lagosians are aborigines, some are Lagosians by birth and acculturation, while some are just residents of Lagos. Don’t confuse one with the other. When you encounter a Lagosian of any hue, his comportment will tell you where he belongs in the classification above, even if we agree to call all of them Lagosians. There is a marked difference between an ‘Omo Eko’ (the Lagosian) and an ‘Ara Eko’ (the migrant resident).

Lagos is like a lagoon. It tolerates any kind of filth but also harbours some choice marine life. In line with its Yoruba linguistic and cultural heritage, its Oríkì says it all: It is the city of wisdom, ready to bend and contort but not break. Who’s contending with Lagos? If you go to Lagos and don’t end up wiser, throw in the towel – you’re unteachable! Lagos, where the man on stilts runs faster than the prized athlete. City of aquatic splendour, solid in the knowledge that if its marshes are not denuded, neither will Lagos. Eko will prevail!

Half-Lagosian
I am as proud of my half-Lagosian maternal heritage as I am of my father’s Oyo ancestry. Growing up in the melting pot that Lagos was, one couldn’t avoid noticing that the temperament of the average Lagosian was founded on the principle of live and let live. Before the early colonial days, Yoruba people from other parts of today’s southwest had been migrating to Lagos in such numbers that the local chiefs and kings gave them large parcels of land to settle. That’s how you have names like Abule Egba (village of the Egbas of Abeokuta) Ijeshatedo, (named after ethnic Ijeshas from today’s Osun State).

Lagos means “lakes” in Portuguese, the language of the first Europeans to arrive at the land already inhabited by the Awori who are a sub-ethnic group of the Yoruba people. By the early 19th Century, it was a small kingdom and a tributary to the Oyo Empire. It sent embassies to the Portuguese colony of Brazil, and became one of the first countries to recognise the independence of Brazil in 1823. With the collapse of the Oyo Empire, Lagos assumed the leading economic position regionally, becoming the most important market in the Yoruba territories as well as growing substantially.

The truth is that Lagos, over the years, has emerged as a forward-looking Yoruba city which opens its hands wide to welcome all manner of people.

Contrary to what obtains in most parts of Nigeria, Lagosians don’t discriminate against non-indigenes. That is why, from time immemorial, they allowed outsiders to acquire properties and settle down. They are so self-assured that they don’t feel threatened by the prosperity of migrants who choose to make the place home.

Tolerance
A visit to Ajegunle will show the extent of the tolerance of aboriginal Lagos people. There, you’d see Ijaws, Ilajes, Uhrobos, Itsekiris, Igbos, Etsakos, Ikas and other micro-nationals who are, to all intents and purposes, now Lagosians. Musician Daddy Shokey, whose forebears hailed from Olomoro Kingdom in Isoko South LGA of Delta State, is an Ajegunle Boy and is celebrated by Lagosians as one of their own. He has earned his stripes.

In terms of jobs, I wager that there is no other state in Nigeria with the number of non-indigenes that Lagos employs. And their promotion and retirement prospects are the same with the locals. Contrast this with what obtains in some parts of the country where non-indigenes are employed only by contract, never on a permanent or pensionable basis, and are not allowed to own landed properties.
I think what has fuelled the fire of the current rancour is the renewed drive to abuse the tolerance of Lagos aborigines after the last elections and the “Oro” festival that accompanied it. Last week witnessed the wide distribution of a podcast claiming that Lagos was a No-Man’s-Land. According to the misguided fellow, all Yoruba towns were founded by Igbos. He went on to stand history on its head, making one wonder why we haven’t restored history to its pride of place in our schools from primary to university level.

Lagosians have refused to tolerate the reinvented insults to their heritage and some of the most unlikely, otherwise taciturn, indigenes have publicly intervened to call the migrant cyberwarriors to order.

Conspiracy Theory
It is quite possible, as some have argued (considering the irrationality of the podcast and other such irritants), that there is an orchestrated attempt to smash the cordiality existing between the indigenes of Lagos and Igbos who, together with other micro-national groups, have contributed positively to the development of the megacity.

Could there be an agenda to set up the Igbos for extermination when the doomsday predicted by Igbophobes finally arrives? If there is, it won’t be the first time such a thing was used to demonise a people and set them up for extermination as happened in the run-up to the Rwandan massacre.
A visit to the genocide museum in Rwanda convinced me that any kind of ethnic phobia built on ultra micro-nationalism is bound to lead to mass depopulation. I had never seen so many human skeletons (and the last clothes worn by the butchered victims) under one roof!

The Other Side
Those propounding the theory of a possible setup of Igbos for mass attack are countered by others who argue that the Igbos are their own worst enemies because their style is grating, chauvinistic and pompous. They also point to the anti-Yoruba, anti-Fulani, anti-Nigeria broadcasts of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu and his acolyte, Simon Ekpa. But would that be sufficient reason to target them for destruction?
They wonder why it is only Igbos who complain of harassment when they are not the only set of non-indigenes living in Lagos. They insist that latter day arrivals among the Igbos are the ones fuelling the problem because they are not acculturated, bringing their gruff attitudes to a cosmopolitan setting. They don’t want Igbos to be chased out of their land; rather they want them to imbibe the Lagos spirit. Whichever way you look at it, you’ve got to salute the generosity of the Lagos aborigine.

As I straddle both sides of the divide, I often wonder what the political elite are doing about these kinds of development. These are the issues that ought to engage the attention of the major socio-cultural groups. Igbos need Lagos as much as Lagos needs everybody, thanks to its magnanimous spirit.
The renewed brickbat over the ownership of Lagos is dangerous because if the aborigines of Lagos (the most welcoming, most expansive, most cosmopolitan people in southwest Nigeria) decide to move against the interests of any single group in Lagos, the sight won’t be pretty at all — and the fount of amity existing between that group and the aborigines of Lagos would have been poisoned for all time.

Leaders of the All Progressives Congress led by Vice President Kashim Shettima; Senate President Godswill Akpabio; Imo Governor Hope Uzodima; Cross River Governor Bassey Edet Otu, Ondo Governor Lucky Oyedatiwa and Nassarawa Governor Abdullahi Sule were in Benin City yesterday, vowing to take over power from the Peoples Democratic Party.

Addressing supporters at the University of Benin Indoors Sports Complex, Ugbowo Campus, Shettima said Edo State needs a strategic thinker, builder and a man with a compassionate heart that can lead his people aright.

He said intelligence is not determined by the size of the head but one’s ability to solve problems that affect the people.

He added he had absolute confidence in Senator Monday Okpebholo and his running mate, Dennis Idahosa, to deliver the dividends of democracy to people of the state.

Shettima urged the people to come out and vote for the candidates of the APC on September 21.
Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, also said he believes in Okpebholo and his running mate, Dennis Idahosa, to deliver on their electoral mandate.
He said he doesn’t need somebody who can speak “grammar” but one who can perform.

Akpabio said Okpebholo as a senator had been living up to his billings in the Senate, stressing that there is no doubt about his ability to deliver the dividends of democracy at all.

The senator representing Edo North Senatorial District, Adams Oshiomhole, said Governor Godwin Obaseki had been insensitive to the plight of people of the state and there is nothing to write home about on his eight years in office as the governor of the state.

The party’s national chairman, Umar Ganduje, said the state had been mismanaged for the past eight years, marred by insecurity and unemployment, and it was time for them to take it back by voting for the APC.

Okpebholo said he would employ 5000 teachers within his 100 days in office as governor of the state.

He assured market women of soft loans to boost their businesses and promised to build primary healthcare centers in the state’s 192 wards.

Erling Haaland’s double sent Manchester City three points clear at the top of the Premier League in a 2-1 win over Brentford.

City took full advantage of Liverpool’s defeat to move clear at the top by stretching their 100 per cent record to four games despite a disastrous start.

However, Haaland’s form at the start of the season remains unstoppable, even if the Norwegian just missed out on a record third consecutive hat-trick in the Premier League.

The 24-year-old’s powerful deflected effort brought City level before he showed a combination of strength and skill to shrug off Ethan Pinnock and dink the ball over the onrushing Mark Flekken.

Only the post denied Haaland another hat-trick after half-time but he now has a Premier League record nine goals in the first four games of the season.

“He’s just an absolute machine in front of goal and I can’t speak highly enough of him,” said City’s Jack Grealish of Haaland, who had been doubtful due to the death this week of a close family friend.

“It does speak volumes about him as a person and his mental strength.”

[DailyTrust]