THE 10-day nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests that end today, known by the reduplicative compound “Zanga-Zanga” in Hausaphone northern Nigeria, have ruptured the coalition that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu managed to build with a portion of the northern Muslim political establishment since 2014, which put Muhammadu Buhari in power in 2015 and 2019 and him in 2023. 

But this Zanga-Zanga-inspired rupture also reveals the initial precarity and fragility of the strange-bedfellows coalition. Buhari and Tinubu were previously fierce political adversaries who distrusted each other’s motives and undermined each other. Their alliance was more accurately a political scaffold that papered over their contradictions for a temporary gain, which was the ouster of Goodluck Jonathan from power.

Tinubu’s associates and acolytes in the Southwest, who said they protected Buhari from revolt in their region even when he bungled governance with uncommon ineptitude, are understandably miffed at the rawness, fierce intensity, and undiluted anti-Tinubu fervor of the protests in northern Nigeria.

They are wondering why Buhari, his associates, and even the APC establishment in the North didn’t return the favor. The answers are obvious, but people in power are often blind to the obvious, especially if the obvious is disquieting. 

First, Buhari and his supporters know that the Tinubu group, which had a tight leash on the Southwest political space, didn’t protect Buhari from the consequences of his infernal incompetence out of any high-minded considerations. They did so because they needed power after Buhari’s term in office. It was unvarnished calculative opportunism. 

Since Buhari’s people have no expectation of any kind of requital from Tinubu, like Tinubu did from them, they felt no obligation to protect or explain away Tinubu’s own hard-hearted incompetence. The chase often stops after a conquest. Men who woo women can relate to this sentiment.

Second, the misery that Tinubu’s simultaneous policies of never-before-seen astronomical petrol price increase and devaluation of the naira unleashed on the country are felt more deeply in the North than in any part of the country because of the preexisting multidimensional poverty in the region and the pervading insecurity that makes farming almost impossible. 

Money is now both hard to find and worthless when it is found, and food is both hard to find and unaffordable when it is found. That is an unprecedentedly profound, not to mention unsurvivable, existential torment.

Two days after the #EndBadGovernance protests started, I told someone that many people in the North have been rendered so desolate, so destitute, and so despondent by the economic crunch that they are looking to cash in on the protests to commit suicide by police bullets because Islam forbids suicide.

Islam teaches that committing suicide guarantees an unfettered passage to the hottest depths of hellfire in the hereafter. I said many people who couldn’t survive the pain and humiliation of perpetual hunger might tempt security forces to shoot them so they could end it all and not fear that they would provoke the wrath of their Creator for committing suicide.

Of course, this is twisted thinking because a famous hadith, which every Muslim who took Islamic Studies in secondary school knows, says “Actions shall be judged according to intention.”

Well, my predictions turned out to be accurate. A friend shared a video of scores of protesters in a northern city chanting, “da yunwa ta kashe mu, da ma bullet yakashe mu” (rough translation: “Instead of dying of hunger, we would rather be killed by a bullet”) as they confronted gun-wielding military and police officers.

There is also the viral video of protesters bursting into the Zamfara State Government House in Gusau and defying, even daring, menacing, gun-toting soldiers who tried to stop them. Several such scenes have been replicated throughout the North.

The mistake the government is making is to dismiss the protests as entirely politically motivated. They are not. Even if they wanted, Buhari and his associates couldn’t stop the protests both because the shelf life of Buhari’s “magic” has expired (his own house was besieged in Daura, and he had been pelted with stones while he was in power in cities like Kano and Maiduguri where he had been idolized) and because the extent of anguish people are going through now is unappeasable.

Apart from the usual criminals of opportunity (who exploit every unrest to steal and destroy), the vast majority of protesters think their only hope of living is to risk death and push back at policies that kill them slowly but surely. You can’t persuade people who have nothing to lose by dying.

That was why American author Dan Groat pointed out in his 2014 book titled In Monarchs and Mendicants, “Not interested in scarin’ anybody, but people with good sense are afraid of a man with nothin’ to lose.” Lance Conrad echoed this in his book The Price of Nobility when he said, “Only a fool would underestimate a man with nothing to lose.”

People who weren’t exempt from the rage of protesters can’t stop protesters from protesting.

The self-inflicted attenuation of Tinubu’s political capital in the North plays into the old debate in the Southwest about the best coalitional strategy to attain and retain power for the Yoruba.

The Chief Obafemi Awolowo strategy, which Afenifere still believes in, sees the Muslim North as a competitor and not an ally. The Awo strategy for getting power is to build an alliance between the entire South and Northern Christians.

But the Chief Ladoke Akintola template sees the Muslim North as a strategic partner in light of the deep historical and cultural ties that bind Yoruba people and several linguistic, ethnic and cultural groups in the Muslim North, such as Borgu, Nupe, Igala, and Hausa people. (Read my October 9, 2021, column titled “Arewa and Oduduwa More Alike than Unlike.”) This is hardly surprising because even though Akintola was a Christian, he was from Ogbomoso whose traditional ruler traces ancestral roots to Borgu.

Chief MKO Abiola—and now President Tinubu—subscribe to the Akintola template. Abiola was briefly vindicated when he won the June 12, 1993, presidential election with enormous support from the North, including Kano, his opponent’s home state.

But the revocation of his epochal electoral triumph by a Northern military head of state—and the decidedly ethnic and regional character the fight for and the opposition to his mandate later took—appeared to justify the distrust of the Muslim North by the Awo group, which nonetheless gave full-throated support to Abiola to reclaim his mandate.

Tinubu, undeterred by Abiola’s experience, reinvented the Akintola template. It’s as if he wanted to prove that he could tread the same path and get to the destination that Abiola couldn’t get to. That must be why he called his presidential bid “Renewed Hope.” Abiola’s was “Hope.” Like Abiola, he chose a Muslim running mate. And, like Abiola, his running mate is a Kanuri man from Borno.

With the Muslim North now souring on him only one year into his first term and the unlikelihood of his ever recovering whatever goodwill he had from the region if he continues with his economic policies that push people to the brink of the existential precipice, the Awo/Afenifere group may be having the last laugh.

So, what should he do? The best option is to discard the IMF/World Bank neoliberal policies he’s enamored with (which have never worked anywhere in the world) and embrace Awolowo’s welfarist capitalist template of governance that puts the development and wellbeing of people at the center of policies. That may restore his goodwill with the North—and even earn him more support elsewhere.

The other options are non-starters, but I’ll mention them anyway. Like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who won his first term with the support of the Muslim North, but who later used the Awo/Afenifere template to get a second term, Tinubu can court the Christian North and galvanize the South. Goodluck Jonathan used this template in 2011 and won.

The problem is that if Peter Obi runs in 2027, and I don’t see any reason why he won’t, Tinubu won’t be able to galvanize the South into a unified voting bloc. And, although the worst fears of his Muslim-Muslim ticket among Christians hasn’t materialized, northern Christians are unlikely to embrace him wholeheartedly, however hard he tries to woo them.

In other words, Tinubu is cooked, as Gen Zs say. Anything short of bringing down the cost of petrol, restoring the value of the naira, making everyday things affordable will doom Tinubu’s first term and deny him a second term because he is now effectively a political orphan.

Music superstar Wizkid has reemerged on social media to back his fellow artist, Ahmed Ololade, popularly known as Asake, following the release of Asake’s latest album, Lungu Boy.

Wizkid, who is featured on the album, took to his social media page to promote the new project, marking a rare public endorsement from the typically private artist.

In a show of solidarity, Wizkid retweeted the cover art of Lungu Boy, using the album title as his caption.

This move is particularly noteworthy given Wizkid’s reputation for being reserved on social media, often preferring to support his peers through retweets rather than direct posts.

His endorsement is seen as a significant boost for Asake’s new release.

The tweet has garnered considerable attention and engagement from fans and the music community.

The support comes amid widespread acclaim for Wizkid’s contribution to the album, with his verse on the track “MMS” being highlighted as a standout moment, stirring emotional reactions from listeners.

The Chief Magistrate’s Court, Wuse Zone 6, has summoned popular Nollywood actress Tonto Dikeh and her bodyguard, one Gbenga, for alleged assault and trespass.

The suit, with case number CR/359/2024, was filed by the Chief Executive of Skyewise Group Limited, Elvis Abuyere, the owner of an Abuja-based car dealership company.

In the court summons dated August 6, 2024, Iyanna ordered the two defendants to appear before the court on August 24, 2024, to answer the charges against them.

He stated that Dikeh had, in January, approached the car company for the purchase of a brand-new Changan Uni-K 2023 model from Mikano Motors.

The complainant, who was reported to have a dealership relationship with Mikano, subsequently paid N85 million as full payment for the car to Mikano, with an agreement that Dikeh would pay the balance in installments within three months upon receiving the car.

The first deposit by Dikeh was her used 2008/2009 Lexus, which was worth N37 million. She made an additional payment of N3.5 million but failed to settle the balance by the end of April, at the expiration of the payment window, thereby breaching the agreement.

On May 1, Abuyere retrieved the car from Dikeh after efforts to collect the balance proved futile. Dikeh later paid N20 million, N17 million, and N5 million, leaving an outstanding balance of N2.1 million.

On July 30, the actress contacted the car company to have the car serviced, and it was taken for maintenance. Upon completion of the repairs, the car company demanded the remaining N2.7 million from her. However, she was reported to have forcefully entered the business premises of the complainant in Maitama, Abuja, alongside her bodyguard and two ladies, thereby committing “criminal trespass.”

Dikeh is also accused of assaulting the complainant and some staff members of his company. The four individuals disrupted business operations at the car company, damaged property, and threatened to use social media to harm the complainant’s business.

They were later arrested by the police.

Earlier today, the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit of the Nigeria Police Force invited Dikeh to its headquarters in connection with an investigation into criminal defamation, cyberbullying, and forgery, among other charges.

In the invitation letter signed by the Head of the IGP Monitoring Unit, A.A. Elleman, it was stated that the actress’s name prominently appeared in the investigation being conducted by the unit.

In a statement on her Instagram page on Friday, Dikeh stressed that she was neither arrested nor jailed by the “police or any law enforcement agency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I am in my house enjoying the goodness of God.”

The Nollywood actress noted that she’s a “law-abiding citizen”, and that getting involved in crime and criminalities is not one of the things she can be involved in.

The statement read further, “At no point in my life has there ever been a search warrant, arrest warrant or any other form of warrant from the Good office of the Nigeria police to my humble self.

“I will always honour invitations extended to me whether to help the law enforcement agencies in their job or to provide clarifications on issues. This is without prejudice to the fact that I will exercise my rights against anyone, persons or group of persons who attempt to peddle fake stories about me or my brand or defame my character. I will come for you. This is just to let those behind this false Narrative know that they failed woefully.”

The World Bank has strongly refuted claims made by Nigeria’s Women Affairs Minister, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, alleging that the bank’s officials collect 40% of every loan granted to Nigeria as consultancy fees.

The minister was reported to have made these allegations while claiming she was being victimized for refusing to sign a $500 million World Bank loan for women’s projects.

In response to inquiries, Mansir Nasir, a senior external affairs officer with the World Bank, unequivocally denied the minister’s assertions. “World Bank staff do not receive 40 per cent of project funds as ‘consultation fees’ nor are ministers entitled to five per cent of project funds for signing loan agreements. Both assertions are unequivocally false,” Nasir stated.

The World Bank recently approved a $500 million loan for the ‘Nigeria for Women Project’ (NFWP-SU), aimed at improving the livelihoods of women in Nigeria. The project, a collaboration between the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Nigerian government, is set to run for five years, starting in six pilot states representing each geopolitical zone.

Minister Kennedy-Ohanenye reportedly claimed that her life was “at stake” for refusing to sign the loan due to unclear terms and conditions. However, days later, the ministry denied the reports, describing them as “false” and stating that the president had approved restructuring the loan to remove unnecessary expenditures and ensure direct benefits for the target beneficiaries.

The World Bank emphasized that its funded projects are implemented by recipient governments and are subject to rigorous policies to prevent misuse of funds. Nasir clarified that the recruitment of project staff is the sole responsibility of the government ministry in charge of the project, not the World Bank.

The newly-appointed Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, has promised to serve the interest of Nigerians as captured in President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Walson-Jack gave the assurance on Friday, after private talks with Tinubu at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja.

“I see it as a divine assignment, and I had the opportunity to assure Mr. President that, by the grace of God, I will not disappoint him,’ she said.

The new HoS, who was led to the Villa by her predecessor, Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan, also said she will “work together not only with the permanent secretaries but also with the directors and the entire civil service to deliver on the Renewed Hope Agenda.”

On her part, Yemi-Esan described the handover process as “seamless,” adding that the new civil service chief was “capable” of performing the task before her.

“The President has made the handing over seamless, which is very well appreciated. The incoming Head of Service has had some weeks with me learning the ropes and I am sure by now, she is ready to go and we thank Mr President for this.

“We also had a good time chatting with Mr President, sharing his vision for the country and especially for the civil service with the incoming Head of Service, and that should prepare her and should make her hit the ground running so that she can achieve all that Mr President has discussed with us.

“The newly appointed Head of Service is capable, very intelligent, hardworking, professional and empathic. I have no doubt that she will do the job very well,” said Yemi-Esan.

On July 17, Tinubu approved the appointment of Walson-Jack as Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, with effect from August 14, 2024.

Her appointment was announced in a statement by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, titled ‘President Tinubu appoints new head of civil service of the federation.’

She succeeds Yemi-Esan who retires from service on August 13, 2024.

Walson-Jack was appointed Federal Permanent Secretary in 2017 and has served in several Ministries.

Tinubu thanked the outgoing Head of Service for her stewardship and tasked the incoming Head of Service to “discharge her duties with innovative flair, integrity, and stringent adherence to the extant rules and regulations of the Civil Service of the Federation.”

Despite the Supreme Court judgement of July 11, 2024, granting financial autonomy to the country’s 774 local government areas, state governors across the federation are yet to abolish the controversial state/ LG joint accounts.

Consequently, the third tier of government still gets its federal allocation through the joint account as against the direct payment ordered by the apex court.

However, investigations conducted by LEADERSHIP Weekend in the nation’s six geopolitical zones showed that most state governments have initiated moves to obey the Supreme Court judgement.

While some state governors have directed their LG chairmen to activate their treasury system to implement the ruling, others have adopted what they described as “guided implementation,” citing the councils’ lack of capacity to go full swing.

A top LG administrator in one of the North Central states told LEADERSHIP Weekend that the local governments have been given three months to perfect certain account documents before they can receive direct allocations.

He said, “We have been given a grace period of three months to link the local government accounts with the National Identification Number (NIN) and the Treasury Single Account (TSA). After meeting these criteria, we can get our allocations directly from the federation account. In July, we received our allocations through the state/LG Joint Account.”

He added that the local governments are ready to utilise the autonomy granted them.
In Kwara State, the problem of local government administration started in the administrations of President Muhammadu Buhari and former Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed when there were zero allocations to both the states and local government areas.
During that period the local government areas could not even pay staff salaries in full, not to talk of executing any developmental projects.

But when the administration of the incumbent Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq came on board in 2019, it injected life into the local government administration.

The AbdulRazaq administration not only cleared the backlog of salaries owed local government staff by the former administration, but also ensured the regular payment of their salaries in full.
However, the government’s inability to conduct local government elections since 2019 due to legal obstacles was a major setback for the local government administration in the state, as it was administered by unelected officials who were not accountable to the people.

LEADERSHIP Weekend observed that the local government areas in the state have structures that could aid good governance at that level and support the autonomy recently granted to them.

The local government areas have their respective secretariats: administration, works, finance, and health departments.

The chairman of Kwara State Local Government Service Commission, Alhaji Umar Shero, said the local governments are fully prepared for autonomy, adding that “this is what they have been longing for.”

On structures, Shero said the local government areas have their secretariats and various units and departments just like the state governments.

He said the legislative arm of government will oversee the financial activities of the local government administrations at that level and by the Office of the Local Government Auditor General.
In an interview with LEADERSHIP Weekend, an assistant chief planning officer of the Kano State Ministry of Local Government Affairs Garba Bello said the state is prepared for the financial autonomy of the LGAs.
He said the state has put financial memoranda on the ground for financial regulation to ensure checks and balances.

According to him, the memoranda spelt out how expenditure should be incurred or spent, with limits for local government chairman’s expenditure not exceeding N500,000. Where it exceeds, the councillors would have to give their approval.

The Ekiti State government has said there is no cause for concern over the financial autonomy recently granted to the local government.

The commissioner for local government affairs, Chief Folorunso Olabode, told LEADERSHIP Weekend in Ado Ekiti that the councils had always been autonomous.

Olabode said, “We don’t have issues with financial autonomy. The local government areas in Ekiti state are autonomous in terms of their finances.

“The governor has nothing to do with it, and due process is always followed in their spending”.

He said the state was recently commended by the national leadership of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees for its openness in managing and administering local government.

All 774 Councils Are Prepared For Financial Autonomy – ALGON President

Meanwhile, the national president of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Aminu Muazu Maifata, has declared that the 774 LGAs in the country are prepared for full autonomy granted by the Supreme Court.

He said the issue of autonomy is not new to the councils; it existed before its eventual breach.

According to him, shortly after the judgement, the association’s National Executive Council (NEC) met in Nasarawa State in July to brainstorm on strategies ahead of implementing the verdict.

“We are fully aware of the responsibility and the weight of our mandate as spelt out in the constitution, and I can assure you that the third tier of government is prepared and ready for the independent it has consistently clamoured for and got.

“And one thing we have going for us is the calibre of persons manning the councils as executive chairmen. They are persons who have vast experience in their various fields and left legacies of service where they previously worked, be it in public and private sector. So, they are ready to bring these experiences to bear now that there will be no meddlesomeness in their activities,” he assured.

He said the chairmen during the NEC vowed to prove skeptics wrong by working assiduously to transform the grassroots while efficiently using resources that will come their way.

On whether there are strong structure at the councils to leverage on, he explained that ALGON as a body is initiating capacity building for all actors and stakeholders to drive the process, beginning from the legislative arms and civil servants.

“Beyond that, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission displays our allocations on their website. Given that situation, we must ensure that every kobo is accounted for,” he said.

Former Nigeria President, Olusegun Obasanjo, says the attributes and characters needed to build a nation are lacking in many Nigerian leaders.

He stated that many Nigerian politicians and leaders are not fit to occupy public positions and should be languishing in prison or sent to the gallows.

Obasanjo shared this view while addressing six lawmakers from the House of Representatives on Friday.

He expressed discontent at the current state of the country, saying the country would not move forward until leaders changed their mentality.

Obasanjo asserted that in choosing good leaders, characters must be considered and questioned.

“Our main problem is ourselves and until we take care of ourselves, we may have one term of four years, one term of six years, one term of seven years, if it’s the same people and same mentality and way we do things, then it won’t change”

Obasanjo, who argued that the nation needs to rethink democracy and its style of governance, said priority needs to be given to the kind of leaders we select and their track records.

“Yes system, yes democracy, we have to rethink democracy, we have to rethink the form of government, but what is the character of the people in government?

“With all due respect, most of them should be behind bars, some should even be in the gallows and that is the truth.

“Now if these are the people that are ruling us, then what do you expect? So, the point is the character of the people that are coming to the government. Their attributes, the sort of people they truly are.

“We need to really think about how we select leaders, what should be the character of a leader we select? What should be their track record ?

“Where should we find them? Are they role models? And I think those are the first things we have to think about,” he stated.

The lawmakers’ entourage included Abdulmalik Danga from Kogi, Dr Usman Midala from Borno, Matthew Nwogu from Imo, Peter Aniekwe from Anambra, Kama Nkemkanma from Ebonyi and Ugochinyere Ikenga from Imo

The EndBadGovernance protesters have commenced a one-milion-man protest in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Abuja.

DAILY POST reports that the protest against high cost of living which began on August 1 is expected to end today, August 10.

The organizers had vowed to stage a one-milion-man protest in the 36 states and the nation’s capital to mark the grand finale of the hunder protest.

The protesters, who stormed the street early hours of Saturday morning, were seen carrying different placards and chanting “we are hungry”.

A chieftain of the People Democratic Party, PDP, Bode George, has charged President Bola Tinubu to disclose the true state of fuel subsidy to Nigerians.

George said Tinubu should tell Nigerians if his administration still pays subsidy on fuel through the back-doors.

Speaking on Arise Television, the former PDP deputy national chairman, knocked Tinubu’s administration for lack of transparency.

There have been reports that the Tinubu government secretly returned the fuel subsidy regime.

Former governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda accused the Federal Government of paying more for fuel subsidy than before.

Amid this claim, the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun disclosed that Nigeria currently spends $600m on fuel importation monthly.

Reacting, George said: “I’m so miffed about the goings on about this particular industry. On one side you hear the subsidy is still there, on another side you hear that there is no subsidy, who is telling the truth?

“Let us know the truth for God’s sake, it is our fundamental right and if the people know what the truth is, they will support you to succeed.

“The NNPCL is owned by the Federal government which means it is owned by all Nigerians, we want to know what exactly is going on there.

“I’m not in that field of operation, but I’m educated enough to listen to A and listen to B and then conclude in mind if there is need to support the operations or the policies of the government we will and if there are shortfalls in what they are telling us, we will say.”

Nigeria winger, Samuel Chukwueze has revealed the reason behind his decision to snub a move to Saudi Arabia last summer.

Chukwueze was approached by a number of clubs in the Asian country after the end of the 2022/23 season.

The 25-year-old however decided against accepting the tempting offer despite plea fron his manager.

Instead, the talented winger joined Serie A giants, AC Milan ending his five-year stay with LaLiga club, Villarreal.

“If money were a problem, I would have signed in Saudi Arabia. They wanted me a year ago,” the 25-year-old was quoted by Football Italia.

” My mind was set only on Milan. My agent told me, ‘Hey, look, there’s this money…’ But I said no: ‘I don’t want to go anywhere else.’

“So he gave up. If that money comes, it comes. The most important thing now is to believe in myself; I’m still young, I want to make it, I need to stay in Europe.”

Chukwueze scored once in 24 league appearances for AC Milan last season.