The Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Kolapo Sulu-Gambari, as a former Justice of the Court of Appeal, ought to know that Nigeria is a secular country. As a graduate of the Nigeria Law School, he should know that Section 10 of our country’s Constitution states in simple English that: The government of the federation or of a state shall not adopt any religion as state religion.”

As a leader in the country, he ought to know that every Nigerian has a constitutional right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. As a lawyer trained in England he ought to know all these because they constitute part of the United Nations Fundamental Human Rights Convention.

 As leader of a faith, the Emir should know that there is no compulsion in Islam. As a traditional ruler, he is expected to promote peaceful co-existence, and as an elder statesman who should be a societal role model, he ought neither to resort to self-help nor engage in impunity.

 Unfortunately, this is the path he chose by banning Isese, a religious festival scheduled to hold between July 22 and July 24, 2023 simply because he does not share the beliefs of that religion.

Rather than be angry, I actually feel sorry for him because his actions and reasons he advances do not do justice to his training, knowledge, expertise and legacy.

First, assuming, without conceding that the African Traditional Religion, is a crime, he ought to report it to the police, not to send a rabble to invade the home of a lady, Yeye Ajesikemi Olokun Omolara Olatunji and threaten her life if she worshipped God in her religious belief.

The Emir exhibited little knowledge of Ilorin and the origins of the emirate when he claimed that such indigenous festivals had never “been associated or held in Ilorin, or within Ilorin Emirate”. Contrary to such claims, Ilorin, its indigenous religions and festivals, had existed by 1450, that is some 400 years before the Uthman Dan Fodio family with whom Alhaji Gambari claims lineage, migrated from the Toronkawa clan in Senegal.

Therefore, Alhaji Gambari’s claim that: “Our culture is Islamic-based, so we don’t promote idolatry at all”, has no foundation in fact and history. In any case, we know Ilorin, indeed Kwara State, is home to millions of Christians and other religious adherents.

So his utterances and claims are an invitation to anarchism. I do not think his claims that the Kwara State Governor and security agencies in the state back his illegal and unconstitutional actions, deserve any response.

Also, his claims to have given directives to security agencies to stop the traditional worship, deserves no response because not even a police constable would take unlawful directives from him.

The retired justice also claims that for such traditional festival to take place, the worshippers must get clearance from the police for them to have a lawful or, legal assembly. This, with all due respect, is incorrect. Sections 38 and 40 of the Constitution grants Nigerians the right to freely associate and assemble. Also, Articles 9 and 10 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right Act, grants Nigerians those basic rights.

Thirdly, Honourable Justice Anwuri Chiyere had in the All Nigeria Peoples Party v Inspector General of Police (2006) ruled that police permit for Nigerians to hold rallies is illegal and unconstitutional.

Fourthly, when the Police appealed this judgement, the Court of Appeal in December, 2007 dismissed it on the basis that that police permit is “a relic of colonialism” which is incongruous in a democracy.

Based on the Appeal Court decision, the National Assembly in 2015 amended the Electoral Act 2010. Section 94 (4) of the amended Act states that the role of the police at rallies, processions and meetings… “shall be limited to the provision of adequate security…”

Also, Section 83 (4) of the Police Establishment Act 2020 provides that: “Where a person or organization notifies the police of his or its intention to hold a public meeting, rally or procession … the police officer responsible for the area where the meeting rally or procession will take place shall mobilize personnel to provide security cover for the meeting, rally or the procession.”

In any case, what police permit do worshippers of other religions obtain before they observe their festivals?

Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka, who is Alhaji Gambari’s senior by six years, gave a brotherly advice to the Emir not to turn Ilorin into another scene of bloody religious and ethnic conflicts as was done in Kaduna. He had advised the Emir to learn from the United Arab Emirates which despite being an Islamic country, promotes other religions like Christianity.

But Alhaji Gambari responded that Soyinka is being “economical with facts”. The Emir claimed that his provocative acts and suppression of other religious beliefs and cultures “is to prevent crisis and not wait until it erupts…”. So how do you respond to a delusional argument?

Alhaji Gambari had attended Offa Grammar School, Offa and passed out in 1960. Moremi Ajasoro was an Offa, Kwara State lady of the 12th Century who was married to Oranmiyan, the king of Ile Ife. At that time, the Ifes had an existential challenge: some spirit-like characters used to invade the city and cart away humans and property. Moremi decided to act. She had a simple plan: to be captured by the invaders and possibly infiltrate their ranks, find out who they are and how they can be defeated. She made a vow that if she succeeded, she would sacrifice her only son, Oluorogbo, to the Spirit of the Esimirin river.

She was captured, the king of the invaders found her irresistible and married her. As the favourite wife, the King revealed that his soldiers were humans who merely wore raffia leaves from head to toe to frighten their opponents. She discovered that all that was necessary to defeat the invaders was for the Ife people to light torches and throw them at the invaders.

Moremi escaped and revealed the secret to the Ifes who roundly defeated the invaders. After the victory songs and praises, reality dawned on Moremi: she had to sacrifice her son. She became a legend in Yorubaland. One of the most famous festivals in Yorubaland, the Edi Festival, is in her honour and it attracts tourists.

A monument was also built in her honour in her home town, Offa, which should be the biggest tourist attraction. But religious fanatics turned it into a war continually attacking it. For them, it is a pagan shrine which should not exist, or be close to the mosque. Now, the shrine has been turned into the Moremi Hall of Fame. Ignorance, lack of knowledge, fanaticism, religious intolerance reigns.

It is a sad day and a sadder period for sports in Nigeria.

A few days ago, Jeremiah Okorodudu, a famous Nigerian boxer, probably the most flamboyant and loquacious boxer in the country’s boxing history, died in a private hospital in the outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria.

He was only 64 years of age.

His death attracts special attention. It followed a mostly-silent, 2-year battle with poor health described by some media reports as the product of Stroke and Diabetes. In the past two weeks, the public was drawn to Jerry’s plight through the social media. Pictures of him lying on a bed in a local hospital in Ikorodu, Lagos, with headlines screaming for help for the celebrated former athlete, were very pitiable, a sad commentary on the general life-after-sport of many national sports heroes. There was also a video of Jeremiah gasping, struggling to speak through obvious pain, inaudible mumbling through laboured breath. He was shown crying and appealing to the government and to Nigerians not to let him die, like that.

All that he needed at the time were about the equivalent of $2000:00 to pay for an essential life-saving surgery – amputation of his foot.  This meagre amount was‘change-money’, even for any one of those in the corridors of sports at different levels of government, particularly. Obviously, the era of sports administrators that spent their personal funds to support sports and athletes is a long way back in the dungeons of history. These days, sport is a sector to be milked of any sweet harvests.  That’s why there is a fight-to-the-finish in the scramble for positions of leadership in sports by those with the least stakes in sport.

Jeremiah Okorodudu, needed that paltry sum to save his life. His family could not raise it till he died despite appeals to the public. His painful death reminds me that there is a whole legion in Jerry’s shoes languishing around the country waiting for help that may not come quickly. 

There are: Ngozika Ekwelum, African boxing champion, in his lonely bed in Anambra, suffering for over a decade with a case of urinary incontinence and other depression-related issues that have made his life miserable; Kenneth Abana, mercurial goal-poacher for Rangers International and the Green Eagles, with one foot already amputated, lying critically ill in a hospital in Enugu; Christopher Friday, ex- Shooting Stars and Super Eagles, completely blind and living in perpetual darkness; Dahiru Sadi, former national team football Captain, downed by Stroke  and now confined to the four corners of his room; Siji Lagunju, former Shooting Stars, national football assistant coach and player, downed in the past two years by Stroke; Christian Chukwu, Emmanuel Okala and Charles Bassey who can no longer work or walk unaided for the rest of their lives; an innumerable number of other athletes all around us in 40 other sports, neglected, forgotten, living poorly and in pain, with nothing in place within the Nigerian sports architecture to take care of their welfare when their careers in sport end. 

Jeremiah’s situation is not an isolated one. The Nigerian sports landscape is littered with similar stories of the abject poverty of former athletes, with most ending up victims of neglect and societal amnesia, forced to accept a life in abject poverty and of dying young.

This last aspect struck me when I checked Jeremiah’s age at death again – 64! He is of a common tribe in sport. One that deserves scientific interrogation and study – Do Nigerian athletes die young?

I am in the process of compiling a list of Nigerian athletes that went to represent the country some 47 years ago at the 1976 Olympics. The NIIA and Airpeace Airline are planning an uncommon re-union and celebration for the athletes outside sport. I was a young member of that contingent, a freshly minted graduate at the time.

Even as I look back now, it seems like yesterday. Most of the surviving athletes now in their late 60s and early 70s.

I am looking at the list of the 45 athletes whose action (or inaction) created a diplomatic tsunami that changed the course of history in the world, and I ask: where are they now?

There were 3 registered boxers in that contingent. All three are dead.

All must have died before they turned 60! They all died in Nigeria.

There were 20 football players in that contingent. 9 of them are dead. All died in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. One died in his 60s. Most died in Nigeria.

There were 20 Track and Field athletes. 5 of them died in their 40s and 50s. 3 of the 5 died in Nigeria. Now the observations and questions:

Most of the athletes in track and field that are still alive have lived in the USA.

Do high-performance athletes die so young? Is that really the case? If so, why? Is it the United States general (or sports) welfare system that has kept the Nigerian athletes alive? These should be a subject for intellectual interrogation.

Of those that stayed back in Nigeria, their stories have been pathetic, gory tales of neglect, poverty and early death, afar departure from the promise in the national Anthem that fires up their spirit before and after competitions:‘the labour of our heroes past, shall never be in vain’ -a promise hardly ever delivered!

It is hard to understand why establishing a simple welfare scheme for athletes should become rocket science.

Several welfare schemes that could serve as models exist everywhere on the planet, and, indeed, have been created in Nigeria in the past. They were misused, abused or unused for the purpose. One or two of the Welfare schemes still exist but as private estates of those in the original committees set up to manage them. They may still keep the huge financial contributions made by Nigerians in their vaults, never accounting to anybody for anything, remaining in ‘office’ in perpetuity, their silence like that of the graveyard, their ‘reward’ or ‘punishment reserved for the gates of heaven, or of hell, depending on what use they put the funds contributed by Nigerians for the amelioration of the painful conditions of suffering athletes in need of help. Through the decades, the shallowness of the instruments that set them up did not protect their sustainability and supervision. So, they went into convenient hibernation, resurrecting only occasionally to service personal, narrow interests and purposes. 

Jeremiah fought many battles of neglect and injustice against the sports establishment in the past, always drawing attention to his suffering. He was punished several times for his effrontery to be his own one-man army when fighting his causes.

Those leading the sector, mostly drawn from the political class, with all their good intentions to do well for sports, do not understand enough about what needs to be done to arrest this ugly scourge.

Otherwise, there is no reason on earth why a Jeremiah Okorodudu should spend two whole years in pain and suffering and neglect, and now die needlessly. His corpse, it has been reported, is still held up in a morgue and will not be released to his family because they could not pay outstanding hospital bills of less than $1000 Dollars.

Jeremiah Okorodudu’s death could have been avoided with a little more care and concern.  The sports sector failed him. His colleagues failed him. Government failed him. Those who could have helped but did not, failed him.

As Jeremiah takes his place amongst the saints, amongst resting heroes of Nigerian sports, I pray that the great pugilist who won a Bronze medal for Nigeria at the Commonwealth Games, who narrowly failed to win a medal for Nigeria at the 1984 Olympic games, who graced several rings around Nigeria during his prime, who trained and took several Nigerian boxers to international competitions, who served boxing passionately throughout his life, who died in misery, pain and penury, will find the divine peace of the Creator of us all, to forgive Nigeria.

In the uncivilized hours of Saturday, I was wide awake. Sleep eluded me. This lasted for about two hours – between 1.O0am and 3.15am.

Like a number of people, I have formed the very bad habit of looking at my Whatsaap messages each time I visit the rest room at night. Once I see any good story, it is goodbye to sleep until whenever because I would start a visit to all the sites for every “A, B, and C” of the story. How did we survive witout these phones and apps? I don’t want to curse whoever brought the idea of mobile phones and social media but see what it has done to us without prejudice to the, I admit, their many good sides. But, no thanks to them, our lives have been turned inside out and upside down. No secrets. No hiding place. No rest, especially for the eyes, fingers, brain. As Zebrudaya of the comedy, Masquerade would say: “God forbid bad thing.” They have taught and shown us nonsense, and more nonsense.

Now, it is because of them that a bad behavior by a wayward teenager has caused an uproar, disrupted our lives and opened the door for the barrage of insults being hauled at an industrious, intelligent and gifted tribe.

For Journalists, a bad story is a good story. When such stories break, my heart just pumps. My eyes glitter. Excitement sets in. But I experienced none of the three as I read, Saturday morning, the sad story of Miss Mmesoma Ejikeme – the young adult (19 years, not 16) who has occupied the media space in the past one week.

What I experienced was sadness and a large dose of anger. My anger was targeted at those who reduced a disturbing incident to the bashing of an ethnic group. I also experienced weakness. And hopelessness. And numbness of my fingers. And just before I dozed off to a fitful sleep, I muttered to myself: The loss of innocence, triggered by delinquent adults.

You know Mmesoma’s story. So, there is no point repeating it here, only just to, for the purpose of this write-up, briefly introduce the young girl who, brazenly, in a moment of criminal mischief, inflated her scores in the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, from 249 to 362.

She is the girl who effortlessly forged her JAMB results and took the Nigerian Nation for a ride. She is the girl who looked her school Principal in the eyes and lied through her teeth. She is the girl who, publicly, dragged her school, a faith-based school, Anglican Girls Secondary School, Nnewi, in the mud. She is the girl who lied to, her parents, and deceived, almost, the leadership of her State Government. She is the girl, who knowing quite well the crime she committed, took on both her State Government and a federal institution, JAMB, and almost stripped the Board of its credibility. She is the girl who deceived well-meaning Nigerians, had them line up behind her, especially, after she appeared on Channels Television, looking disarmingly innocent, and told us how traumatized she was over the JAMB allegation. “I am traumatized. JAMB is accusing me of forging my own result”, she said with confidence, innocence written all over her face.

Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma

There was Dr Oby Ezekwesili, a former Minister for Education, who, after watching that interview, reached out to JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, and called for an investigation by technological experts. There was Mr Charles Oputa, popular as Charlie Boy, who weighed-in for her. There was a firm, (aside from Innoson Automobile Manufacturing Company which had offered her three million Naira in scholarship) which offered her free education in the USA, Canada or United Kingdom. There was, yet, another, which offered her same scholarship. There was the Commissioner for Education, Anambra State, who felt so compelled by her story that she called JAMB to query Mmesoma’s non- recognition as the highest “JAMB scorer.”

There was a lawyer who threatened to sue JAMB over her. And, I read a story to the effect that Mmesoma “has sued JAMB for N20b!

All these people lined up behind her.

There is my younger sister, a retired Military Officer, who because of her training, hardly gives in to emotions. But not in Mmesoma’s case. After watching her interview on Channels Television, with a deceptive low voice, she called to tell me: “Sister, this girl is innocent. She does not look like somebody who can get involved in forgery. She does not even understand what the case is all about. They are dragging her because they think she is a nobody.” When I asked her, Saturday morning, if she had seen Mmesoma’s confession to her guilt, she sighed and replied: “Mmesoma fall my hand.”

She is not the only one whose hands Mmesoma forced “to fall.”

There are Mmesoma’s army of supporters in the social media who started reading meaning, the Nigerian way, into why JAMB disputed her result. “It is because she is Igbo”, some said, cleanly forgetting that the rightful highest scorer, declared by JAMB, Miss Kamsiyochukwu Umeh, is also Igbo, from same State.

There was yours sincerely, who was so taken-in by Mmesoma’s innocent looks that I literally blocked, within me, any negative story on her. But that was until I read Osita Chidoka, former Aviation Minister, who dismissed Mmesoma’s scores and story as fake, and asked her to “come clean”. It woke me up to reality.

And there were the stupid, narrow-minded, individuals who, based on Mmesoma’s criminal behavior, dismissed her tribe, the Igbo, as a tribe of same character. “It runs in their blood”, they wrote and professed on social media. For this group of people, I had a good laugh. They left the big bag of forgeries they are carrying, and are accusing those who took a little from their bag of collective guilt! I will get back to this later.

The questions are: Why did Mmesoma do it? What gave her the courage to do it? We can no longer ask who helped her, or connived with her, because she has confessed to doing it alone with her Airtel phone number. What pushed her? Why did she, without a second thought, ruin her future? The 249 she genuinely scored was good enough to get her an admission into any university of her choice. JAMB’s cut-off mark is 140. So, why? I can only think of three reasons.

Firstly, I think Mmesoma’s physical appearance is deceptive. She is not an innocent girl by any stretch of imagination. She is “waywardly” hardened. She is street-wise. Only that could make her, knowing fully what she did, to contact the Ministry of Education, Anambra, and report JAMB for not announcing her as the highest scorer. A less crooked-minded teenager would not have the courage to do that. Or the courage to call JAMB the number of times she did, and still stuck to her claims even when JAMB had told her she scored 249.

Secondly, (and this is where I have sympathy for her) given her poor background, she was desperately looking for help to go through University. Knowing that every JAMB highest scorer usually gets a scholarship award, she decided to go rogue, and added two marks to the score recorded by Miss Umeh.

Thirdly, Mmesoma knows she is from a country where forgery is like a second skin, where forgery seems to be in the Nations DNA, a country forgery and manipulation are celebrated.

She knows she lives in a country where many of its leaders and VIPs are products of forgery and manipulation. They forge their birth certificates. They forge their educational certificates. Many say they have PhDs without having a first degree. They manufacture names of non-existing Universities. They forge their company papers. They forge customs papers.They forge land papers. They forge marriage certificates, divorce papers. Was it not in Nigeria that a Speaker of the House of Representatives forged a first degree certificate? We have seen Federal Ministers with forged certificates. Governors, too, who wouldn’t answer questions on the degree certificates they parade because they are fake. It is a country where everything, anything is “forgeable.” Mmesoma knows some of these things, and knows there are no consequences for such ugly behaviors.

Most recently, Mmesoma witnessed the 2023 General elections. She is 19 years old. And, perhaps, if she was lucky to get her PVC, some of which were manipulated out of reach, she voted. So, she must have witnessed all the manipulations, the rigging, the forgeries, the snatching of ballot boxes which went on. The violence in order to cheat. There were no consequences. There are still are no consequences. And, most likely, there will be no consequences. So, for her, the crime she committed pales before all that. Forgery has become the way of life in our dear country. And, we are not ashamed of it.

Those who say Mmesoma’s condemnable behavior runs in Igbo blood should pause and count their teeth with their tongue. They should count the number of high profile forgeries in Nigeria and from which tribe the “forgers” are from.

To insult the Igbo tribe because of a misdemeanor by a teenager is the height of irresponsibility. Who will cast the first stone?

When the Igbo produce an Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, it does not run in their blood. When they produce a Chimamanda Adichie, it does not run in their blood. When they produce some of the best brains in Nigeria and in the Diaspora, it does not run in their blood. When Igbo children like Mmesoma excel in some of the best Univerties in the world and become valedictorians, it does not run in their blood. But when an Igbo teenager stupidly goes rogue, just as a few others in other tribes did, it runs in the Igbo blood.

Haba!

For the records, all the vices in Igboland today – 419, yahoo-yahoo, drugs trafficking, human trafficking, human rituals, kidnapping, killings – were copied from other places. Until recently, they were alien to Igboland.

A word of advice: the old addage that “those who live in glass houses do not throw stones” still holds.

But back to Mmesoma. Let it be noted that she learnt at the feet of the many grandmasters in Nigeria. The punishment given to her by JAMB, considering the grave offence she committed, is appropriate. The recommendations by the Panel set-up by the Anambra State Government that she undergoes counseling and apologises publicly to JAMB and her school are also appropriate. She should strictly adhere to that. She also owes her parents an unadulterated apology if she has not offered it to them already. They must be finding it difficult to show their faces in public. Not a few people will point at them and snigger.

Finally, to JAMB. The Registrar says there are others who were also caught in the act. Why their names were not made public is what many people don’t still understand. True, Mmesoma opened her own can of worms by her desperation, but a crime whether hidden or open is a crime. Let’s have the names of other culprits. Here’s my plea: Unless the same punishment- three years ban – given to Mmesoma is the same given to her fellow culprits, the Board should temper justice with mercy in her case. She is in a mess already. Her name and her crime have gone viral. Her face too. For life, she will be referred to as “Mmesoma the forger, the fraudulent.” She is tainted. She may need a legal change of name to get on in life. Her name has been stigmatized.

JAMB should do two things: discard the idea of prosecuting her. And two, reduce the period she has been barred from UTME from three years to one year. One never knows.

After undergoing counseling, she could become a “JAMB Ambassador Against Forgery Of Scores.” It happens.

A mighty tree has fallen! Ijebu-land and Nigeria has lost one of her greatest sons of our time.

I have read several tributes of this great man full of accolades but I would take a detour by providing a few of my personal memorable accounts with him.

First, I have been a Subomi Balogun adherent for as long as I can remember with no apologies.

As a young boy, I had one of his unique pictures on my bedroom wall. He was clad in a white outfit with a coloured embroidery, a departure from his usual all-white agbada. On that occasion, Chief MKO Abiola/Concord Newspaper awarded him the African Business Man of the Decade.

During my school days, my friends knew no one could speak ill of him in my presence.

I was ever ready to defend Otunba Tunwase. A man of many parts, admired and loved by many. Even the few who dislike him still want to be associated with him in public because of the special grace upon him. According to Proverbs 16:9, “When a man’s way pleases the Lord, he would make his enemies be at peace with him.”

Coincidentally, my maternal grandmother of blessed memory Alhaja Adebukonla Adeniji and Otunba’s mother Alhaja Adebukonla Ashiru-Balogun are from the same root. I used to drive my Grandma and Mom to visit Mama at Otunba’s initial white bungalow (Adebukonla Lodge) before he rebuilt it into the current Otunba Tunwase Court.

On every occasion my sister and I met with Otunba, he would always remind us that he is our Uncle on both sides of our lineage. My Dad and I were with him shortly after I secured my admission into Ogun State University, so he proudly shared the news with him. He asked what I would be studying I told him Accounting, and he said, make sure you get good grades and I will get you a good job even though all I wanted then was to jet out and study in the United States.

I remember on Christmas Eve 1991, my Uncle of blessed memory Ambassador Olu Adeniji hosted one of his usual get-togethers on this occasion at his Ijebu-Ode GRA home. My Uncle was a great host and family man, he loved to gather the family together either at my grandpa’s home on Gbelegbuwa street or at his abode frequently.

On this occasion, he hosted Otunba Subomi Balogun & Olori, my parents, Engineer & Mrs Deoye Fowora, Ambassador & Mrs Femi Fowora, Chief Olu Okuboyejo, Uncle Bayo (Brigadier) & Aunty Lolade Oduwole, Professor Bayo Adedeji, Oba Sunday Sonoiki (Molipa), Professor Kogbe, Uncle Bode Ladejobi and a few others.

The ladies were all together in one living room while the men occupied the larger one. I was the only young boy in the midst of these great men. As usual, I was running errands with great pleasure from hanging their Agbadas when they wanted to get comfortable to helping them mix their drinks. I was a fly on the wall as you should expect learning and enjoying their conversations. Amidst all the conversations, one stood out when Otunba Subomi said at age 36 he had built four houses. My jaw dropped I wondered if he just misspoke but Chief Okuboyejo confirmed it and went down memory lane when they were colleagues at the Justice Ministry and their old times residing at Apapa, Lagos.

My admiration for him triple-doubled, I was inspired wondering how he did it? On our way home since my Dad was part of the conversation I directed my first question to my Mom saying “did you hear what your brother (Broda mi) as she normally calls him said?” So I asked if Otunba could have built four houses before age 36, my Mom said it’s very possible though she was in the United States studying during those years but “Broda mi Olu” (her brother and host) would definitely know better. Then she asked why I was so surprised, and she said don’t be he has always been different since they were very young with a myriad of instances.

Otunba was blessed with an embracing charm and nature, every time I had an opportunity to meet him or visit his home he made me feel so important and welcome.

Several years ago, my lovely Mom served as one of the ANCOPPS (Conference of Principals) executives and they were trying to raise money for a project. She decided to contact her Egbon (Broda Subomi) so my Sister Remi and I went with her to see him. We spent ample time with him and Aunty (Olori). Coincidentally, his donation marched the Chairman of the Day – Prince Adewale Abimbola’s contribution and the highest that evening. He told me to represent him at the occasion as the Special Guest of Honor, I was 17 years old. I was euphoric!

My Mom’s colleagues (Principals) were jubilant when I presented the cheque. The event was held at the Gateway Hotel, Ijebu-Ode. Major General Ogundeko (rtd.) a VIP, who sat to my left at the event was very engaging. I never knew then I would become a Commissioned Officer just like him someday.

Otunba is a spiritual man. He was very prayerful and attributed all his success to God’s favor. He did not claim to be a self-made man, a common cliche in our society. He continually acknowledged that God’s mercy from above made him grow in wisdom, stature and favor with God and man.

Otunba was a very meticulous man in conduct and appearance. His style of dressing gives that away easily. One such instance was at my Uncle Olu’s 60th birthday service at Our Savior’s Church by Tafa Balewa Square. We arrived early, a few minutes after us, Baba Chris Ogunbanjo arrived, my cousin, Segun Adeniji ushered him into the sanctuary then Otunba arrived and told us he came early to receive the Kabiyesi Awujale and his entourage.

He immediately reserved a room for the entourage. He went further and coordinated the seating arrangement in the sanctuary and a few minutes before the service commenced he led the entourage into the sanctuary. He made sure the Lead Cleric had the correct appellation for the recognized dignitaries.

In 1993, Otunba was the Chairman at my Sister’s wedding. I remember his promptness to the ceremony and support for my parents. He reminded the guests during his speech that he was the Chairman at my Mom’s 21st Birthday party reception in 1964. We still have an album with several black-and-white pictures of the event.

In 2000, my loving mother – Mrs Olabisi Okuwa – passed on at a relatively young age after a battle with cancer. My family was devastated, Otunba stood by us as a pillar of encouragement and support.

According to the book of Matthew 22:14, “For many are called but a few are chosen”.

In my book, I believe Michael Olasubomi Balogun was chosen. He possessed a special Grace but that grace upon him attracted obvious envy.

By dint of hard work and God’s favor, he is the only Nigerian who has successfully built an indigenous Merchant Bank cum Commercial Bank from scratch and handed it over to his son (second generation), who has since completed a successful 10-year tenure and handed over same to an accomplished female successor. What a great precedent! FCMB has been operating for more than four decades with 200 plus branches and over 11 million customers.

More than seven prominent families have attempted to run a Nigerian bank none has been able to achieve this feat. Today all those banks are either acquired by new owners or liquidated.

Otunba Subomi Balogun is a leader of men and the Doyen of Entrepreneurial Nigerian Banking. An exceptional personality, whose life exemplifies Peter Drucker’s definition of leadership as “the lifting of a man’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a man’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a man’s personality beyond its normal limitations”.

May the Good Lord accept you into his bosom with open arms. May he say unto you welcome my son you have exuded the glory I bestowed unto you exceptionally well.

A video clip of the Prayer Breakfast you host annually which went viral around the world is a testament to God’s approval of your work on earth. You said goodbye in a glorious way to the world praising God, dancing and praying for more glorious years.

Omo Arojojoye Omo Adeletejiteji

Omo afi Aran pojo!

The Asiwaju of Ijebu Christians!

My father, siblings and I shall miss you dearly. We pray the Lord comfort Olori Abimbola, children, grandchildren, Aunty Ronke Atere and her children.

Okuwa, a retired major, wrote from the United States.

I’ll rather be a name dropper than be the one who pulls down names. According to the Oxford Web Dictionary, name-dropping is the practice of casually mentioning the names of famous people one knows or claims to know in order to impress others. So how is that a bad thing? Isn’t that better than criticizing the rich and famous for being successful in business, politics and the professions based on assumptions?

So why shouldn’t I make a billboard advertisement showcasing when I had a handshake with a sitting American President or, as a matter of factly, claim that Ebuka Uchendu was my classmate at the Nigerian Law School because he is now the king of silver screen talk shows and Bill Gates visited him recently? Meanwhile, my classmates during my primary, secondary and university times often call me after my usual news analysis on Arise News, to say that they just proudly told their children that they were once my classmates. Call it namedropping, but that’s better than reminding their children that I once stole another student’s well-updated notebook a few days before the promotion examination so that I could pass. What a shame that was! Or that I was once a Christian fanatic who once preferred being a crude evangelist to being a law student. Imagine such misguidance!

Anyhow, namedropping is better than cynicism and criticism, which often cause one to be a bitter person. It is better to associate yourself with the success of successful people than disregard them. That way, you become more at peace, being without envy and are gravitated to becoming a distinguished personality of your own that people would also want to namedrop. Rather than look at namedropping as a sign of an inferiority complex, consider it as a way of persons trying to make you know who and what’s important to them, hoping you can share a part of their worldview in their pursuits of business, professional or social success and enjoyment of life in general. Therefore do no longer consider namedropping as undignifying. It is simply a way of communicating essence.

So if there are other things you consider undignifying as a successful or upwardly mobile person, let not dancing be one of them because it can practically make you live a long, happy and healthy life. That is what regular exercise does for the human body. It has been medically proven that an obese person who does regular exercise has a far greater chance of living much longer than a person of average weight or proper body mass index (BMI) who doesn't do regular exercise.

But to do regular exercise is challenging, at least at the starting stage. In my own case, possessing a retinue of exercise machines, including a treadmill, static bike, springboard, rollers, electric tummy belt, dumbbells, weight bag straps and more, yet I could hardly sustain a 20-minute activity to generate enough heat and sweat that would amount to anything healthy for the body. Exercise is very dull compared to reading a book. That was before I adopted dancing. Thanks to the motivation I got from the YouTube channel of a friend, Lillian Aikpitanyi, a chartered accountant, university lecturer and doctoral candidate. She has become prettier and healthier since she began her exercise thrill, and now she is a health and lifestyle consultant. Check out her link: https://youtu.be/20IxwqEbY7U and be sure to encourage her by clicking the subscribe button.

So one would have thought of Lillian starting a fitness YouTube Channel on which she dances to techno music as undignifying for a chartered accountant and a university lecturer. The same way Nigerian lawyers cringed in their conservative prisms (not prisons) when they saw the video of the Law Firm of Mtetwa and Nyambirai joining the Jerusalema Dance Challenge and set YouTube on fire: 

https://youtu.be/dDc4wANp80o .

The sober common law legal tradition of English origin considers it to be very undignified for a lawyer to be dancing in public with reckless abandon, yet Olumide Akpata, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association care less and holds a record as the best dancing NBA President ever when he proved he could beat MC Hammer in a dance challenge but he has not been spared the chastisement of the so-called elders of the profession. Trust them! But the highly successful Zimbabwean law Firm, which took to dancing publicly in a viral video, became the envy of many other law firms worldwide who once thought dancing for lawyers was undignifying.

Beyond the showmanship of dancing in public, taking time in private to rigorously dance to a favourite fast pace music is a perfect and effective way to exercise, especially for persons like me who have passed half-time. I specifically recommend dancing to the rhythm of the following tracks:

1. Strafe-Set it Off

The Jacksons- Can You Feel It 

2. Culture Club - Karma Chameleon  

3. Dirtsman- Hot Dis Year 

4. Promise Circle - Be Mine Tonight 

5. Avicii - Without You “Audio” ft. Sandro

6. David Guetta - Titanium ft. Sia

Set if Off for me is particularly, the best of all for the dancing exercise challenge is always by the group called Strafe. The track lasts for over 9 minutes, and with a solid resolve to dance its rhythm from its beginning to the end surely satisfies a daily dose of bodily exercise.

Music is enjoyable, and exercise is a necessity. Dancing combines both. Therefore, add dancing to the list of healthy ways of living. 

While I have always included dancing as part of the Human Rights Fiesta when I was organizing it in the past, it was simply for show. In the near future, I will organize dance programmes for the personal value of groups of people. Not for show but to promote health and the social needs of expression and connection. There is a need to stay healthy, live long and be happy, especially when your work here in this dimension is yet unfinished.

Frank Tietie,

Lawyer and Media Personality writes from Abuja, being part of his coming book, 

Random Thoughts - Frank Expressions on Life @ 50

The spokesman of former President Muhammadu Buhari, Mallam Garba Shehu, last night described as fake the story by a national daily that the former President fled the country and now in exile.

This is as former President Buhari has congratulated his successor, President Bola Tinubu for emerging as the new Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.

Reacting to a newspaper report that Buhari has gone on exile after handing over to President Tinubu, Shehu said there was no veracity in the report and advised media offices to always confirm their reports.

He said that Buhari is with his family in his Daura hometown of Katsina state.

According to him, “For misleading the otherwise credible newspaper to falsely report on their front page that former President Muhammadu Buhari has “fled” and on “exile” when he is currently at home with family in Daura, Katsina State, BusinessDay newspaper should sack their reporter who didn’t do the job of checking his facts.

“BusinessDay should think 10 times before running any information from the particular reporter and verify it before believing him. Every platform has tools to verify any information and we don’t expect anything less from BusinessDay.

“If they had browsed through different sources, they will have seen reports of the former President having come back home and enjoying the company of his family.

“A single fake news in a newspaper has the capability to destroy a reputation built on years of hard work.”

Strong indications have emerged more Nigerians may relocate from the country in 2023 and beyond as the nation’s socio-economic conditions worsen, and hope remains bleak.

This came on the heels of the recent removal of fuel subsidy, further depreciation of the naira, impending increase in electricity tariff, and the introduction of Value Added Tax on diesel amid an already battered economy.

The Nigerian economy has been exposed to numerous economic shocks in recent times and this has led to a surge in the number of Nigerians leaving the shores of the country in search of greener pastures overseas.

Multiple travel agency officials confirmed to The PUNCH on Friday that ticket booking showed several Nigerians would leave the country during this summer.

According to them, several intending travelers are relocating to London, Canada and the United States of America via study route while others are leaving to take up new jobs in the Western countries.

The National Chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agents, Susan Akporiaye, confirmed to The PUNCH that there has been a massive increase in the number of Nigerians travelling outside the country lately.

According to her, most travel bookings have ranged from Nigerians looking to relocate for educational to professional reasons.

Susan said, “A lot of countries, especially Canada, have made it clear that they need more hands. There is a crisis in the UK, where they don’t have enough hands to take care of the elderly. So, they opened up that they want caregivers. So, there is a massive movement in that angle, for caregiving. So this has contributed to a large number of people who want to migrate.”

The Founder of Travels N Tours, Biola Abimbola, said more people were leaving Nigeria than ever before.

He said, “Yes. More people want to travel now because the state of the economy is bad and the youths are looking for where there are opportunities, especially the middle class. The problem is that more people are leaving than ever before.”

Relocation plans

One of the Nigerians seeking to relocate abroad, who spoke to The PUNCH, said, “Not having a job is what is motivating my Japa. I am leaving for a better chance of finding work.”

The lady, who only gave her name as Doyin because she didn’t want her name in print, stated that she was set to proceed to the United States later this month to find better work and improve her life.

She added, “The day I went for my visa interview, there were about a hundred people there.”

A customer care representative with Sterling Bank, Chiamaka Steven, who is set to move to the United Kingdom by the end of the year told The PUNCH that the decision to leave Nigeria was inspired by the high cost of living and a dwindling standard of living in recent times.

She said, “You don’t need to look very far. Look at inflation. Look at the high cost of living and the low standard of living.

“Also, even if they pay you N1m today, in the next ten years, they will employ another person who is younger than you to replace you. They know that your clock is ticking. So, it’s better I save what they are paying me, and use it to Japa instead of waiting for them to tell me that my services are no longer needed.”

Victor Thompson, an Uber driver who recently had his application for temporary residence in Canada approved, said the present cost of living crisis was a major factor that influenced his decision to leave Nigeria.

According to him, the e-hailing business has become unprofitable. He said, “I bought fuel N15,000 yesterday and it was just a half tank. Before the removal of fuel subsidy, I needed about N12,000 to N13,000 to fill my tank.

“I worked yesterday and made about N31,000 but the fuel finished and got to reserve. I had to go and buy another N15,000 fuel today. I have just closed from work. I made N20,000.

“This my Japa plan started before Covid in 2020, but I abandoned it. But with everything that is happening now, I started pursuing it more seriously, and thank God there’s headway now.”

A senior lecturer in a private university who pleaded to be quoted anonymously revealed to The PUNCH that he has relocated his family to the UK and would be joining them soon.

He said, “My family is no longer in this country. I took them out of the country last month. So, as we are speaking, I am planning to leave.

“The truth is that things are quite unbearable for people, and when things are unbearable, people will want to go to climes or environments where they can have a better life. My family is in the UK as we speak. I have a very big house here and I’m relocating into one small two-bedroom apartment in the UK. The tendency is that when people leave, they know that there is going to be better security, healthcare, and education.”

Poor economic growth

Data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics and the Central Bank of Nigeria showed that Nigeria was struggling with poor economic growth.

The Gross Domestic Product growth has hovered below five per cent, The PUNCH has learnt.

The World Bank recently warned that Nigeria’s economic growth was too slow to address the challenge of extreme poverty in the country.

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Meanwhile, the bank retained its economic growth forecast of 2.8% for Nigeria in 2023, citing challenges of high inflation, foreign exchange shortages, and shortages of banknotes caused by currency redesign.

The PUNCH also observed that the country has been battling with rising inflation, which has led to a decline in consumers’ purchasing power.

Data from the NBS put the inflation figure at 11.61 per cent in May 2018, but this has increased by 10.8 percentage points, hitting 22.41 per cent in May 2023, which was the most recent data.

In its December 2022 Nigeria Development Update, the World Bank said that inflation pushed five million Nigerians into poverty between January and October 2022.

During his presentation of the reports, the World Bank Lead Economist for Nigeria, Alex Sienaert, noted that the Nigerian minimum wage, which was worth N30,000 in 2019, could be valued at N19,355 today.

In the June 2023 Nigeria Development Update, the World Bank said that the accelerating inflation pushed an additional four million Nigerians into poverty in the first five months of 2023.

This means that between 2022 and 2023, not less than nine million Nigerians have been pushed into poverty as a result of inflation.

The NBS recently stated that 133 million Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor. According to the World Bank, Nigeria’s GDP only grew by 1.1 per cent between 2015 and 2021 and it would take about a decade for Nigeria to return to the level of GDP per capita seen in 2014.

Amid the rising poverty, a number of Nigerians are still unemployed, according to available data.

The NBS put the unemployment figure at 23.13 per cent in Q3 2018, and by Q4 2020 (which was the most recent by the NBS), the unemployment rate was 33.28 per cent.

The NBS, despite stating that it would release an updated figure in May 2023 has failed to release any new unemployment figure since 2020.

New policies’ challenges

However, the new administration has introduced a number of policies, which have had a significant impact on many Nigerians.

Such policies include the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of multiple exchange rates.

Since President Bola Tinubu affirmed the removal of fuel subsidy, the price of petrol has risen from less than N200 per litre to almost N500. Also, since the CBN adopted a more market-friendly foreign exchange regime, the naira has lost about 40 per cent of its value, falling from about N463/dollar to N750/dollar.

The increase in the price of petrol has boomeranged into an increase in the cost of food, other goods and services. Since Nigeria is an import-dependent country, the devaluation of the naira has led to further hardship for many Nigerians.

The World Bank has disclosed that 7.1 million Nigerians would become poor because of the removal of subsidy if the government doesn’t provide palliative.

According to the bank, this would take the total number of poor Nigerians in the country to 100.9 million. It noted that many households would lose N5,7000 per month from their income.

World Bank said, “Petrol prices appear to have almost tripled following the subsidy removal. The poor and economically insecure households, who directly purchase and use petrol as well as those that indirectly consume petrol, are adversely affected by the price increase.”

It added, “Among the poor and economically insecure, 38 percent own a motorcycle and 23 percent own a generator that depends on petrol. Many more use petrol-dependent transportation. The poor and economically insecure households will face an equivalent income loss of N5,700 per month, and without compensation, an additional 7.1 million people will be pushed into poverty.”

The hardships have fuelled a situation where more Nigerians are planning to leave in 2023 and beyond as inflation rose to 22.41 per cent as of May 2023, a 17-year high.

This is coming as purchasing power decreases, and a cloud of uncertainty hovers over the Nigerian economy.

Studies reveal

A recent survey by the Africa Polling Institute revealed that 69 per cent of Nigerians would relocate if given the opportunity. A 2023 report by Phillips Consulting disclosed that over 52 per cent of professionals in Nigeria are contemplating leaving their current jobs for opportunities overseas within the next year.

It stated that this is due to market uncertainty, inflation, digitisation acceleration, changes in consumer behaviour, increased operational expenses, and complexity.

According to SAP research, 80 per cent of Nigerian companies expect to experience a skills gap in the next year. Rising unemployment, which is predicted to hit 40.6 per cent in 2023 according to KPMG will be a large contributor to this.

Medical professionals leave

The President of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, Michael Nnachi, recently told The PUNCH that over 57,000 nurses migrated from Nigeria between 2017 to 2022.

He noted that this had led to a dire outlook for health professionals. He said, “But if you’re looking at the statistics of Nigeria, it is one nurse to 1,660 patients, looking at the population of Nigeria.”

The PUNCH report recently stated that 6,068 medical doctors moved to the United Kingdom between 2015 and 2022.

The report disclosed that +the number of migrating doctors increased by 375.1a per cent from 233 in 2015 to 1,107 in 2022. Data obtained from the Higher Education Statistics Agency of the UK by The PUNCH, disclosed that 128,770 Nigerian students enrolled in universities in the United Kingdom between 2015 to 2022.

In 2022, the number of dependents (i.e. spouse/family relations of migrating students) increased to 66,796 from 27,137 in 2021. Yearly, these Nigerian students and their dependants in the United Kingdom contribute about £1.9bn to the UK economy, according to an analysis by SBM Intelligence.

Par another The PUNCH report, about 28,358 Nigerians received invitations to apply for Canadian permanent residency from 2015 to 2021. The Nigeria Immigration Service recently announced that it issued 1.83 million passports between 2020 and 2021.

According to the Executive Director of Adopt A Goal Initiative, Mr Ariyo-Dare Atoye, the rising number of Nigerians obtaining passports was connected to the high emigration rate caused by the harsh economic realities and security challenges in the country.

He told The PUNCH in a recent interview, “Numbers don’t lie.”

He added, “Check the statistics of the Nigerian Medical Association and see how many doctors have left in the last two years.”

Banking sector suffers

Every sector of the economy has been hit by the Japa wave, and one of the most glaring effects of this wave has been the increasing number of failed electronic transactions in the banking sector. A massive brain drain in this industry, particularly in IT departments, has frustrated the digital plans of many banks.

A Bloomberg report, quoted the Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank Plc, Abubakar Suleiman, “So many of our very experienced talents especially in the area of software engineering are either leaving the industry or leaving the country.”

An IT professional in one of the tier-one banks confirmed to The PUNCH that banks are losing their best hands to the Japa movement.

He said, “People just want to leave because of the economic situation of the country, The banks are trying in terms of increasing salaries to keep staff. Basically, every September and January, we have people leaving in droves. Last January, my department, the technology unit, lost about 20 of our best hands. It is much.”

Recently, the Country Manager of Tek Experts Nigeria, Olugbolahan Olusanya, disclosed that many banks are now relying on outsourcing talents to fulfill their IT needs.

The Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of truQ, Foluso Ojo, noted that it is easier for tech talents to get global opportunities than others.

She told The PUNCH, “Since the inception of the Japa boom, it is easier for tech talents to get global opportunities than any other skill set.”

She added, “The tech sector is not left out of the negative impact of people leaving, what we really need to do is create opportunities for more people to be able to learn, create more STEM courses for people to learn.”

She explained that the people leaving are also contributing to remittances and improving the country in their way.

Experts react

According to an economist at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Prof. Sheriffdeen Tella, the purchasing power of the average Nigerian household has been negatively impacted by the recent economic reforms because no buffers have been provided to mitigate the consequences of the decisions.

Tella stated that given the harsh economic environment in the country, the proposal to increase electricity tariffs as well as introduce new taxes was ill-timed and would consequently impoverish more Nigerians.

He told The PUNCH, “The fact is that the government has to think of what to do to make sure that the effect is not prolonged.

“They should start thinking of what to do immediately and in the long run. If we say the government should start giving people more money, if there is no production, the money will worsen inflation.

“We pay a lot of taxes in this country. I don’t believe that the government should be looking for ways to tax the common people now. It is not the proper thing to do.”

He warned that if deliberate and intentional efforts are not taken to address the economic hardship in the country, more Nigerians would be motivated to seek greener pastures outside the shores of the country.

On his part, the Head of Economics Department at the Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, associate Professor Olalekan Aworinde, noted that while the recent economic reforms of the government have been a necessary evil that could benefit the economy in the long run, measures ought to have been put in place to contain the hardship that would follow in the immediate aftermath of these reforms.

According to him, with more people being pushed into the poverty net, there is a high likelihood of an increase in unemployment which could further worsen social vices such as armed robbery and other forms of organised crime.

He said, “Of course, the situation will affect the expenditure pattern of Nigerians. If you look at someone who is a fixed-income earner who was earning the same salary before all these policies are made. There are no palliatives. The cost of living is on the increase. The implication of this is that it will drive down their consumption expenditure.

“Once their income does not increase and the prices of goods and services are increasing, it means that they will have to reduce their consumption to manage the little resources at their disposal. We are going to see a situation whereby the level of consumption expenditure, for the consumers and organisations as well. You’ll find out that the expenditure for the firms, which is investment expenditure, is also going to reduce.”

The Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Muda Yusuf, lamented the hardship that Nigerians are currently facing due to the fallout of the removal of fuel subsidy.

He urged the government to reverse some of its newly introduced tax measures as this would further exacerbate the hardship of the citizens.

He said, “They should reverse this new vehicle tax, this proof of ownership tax that they announced because these things can even provoke the citizens.

“They also said they want to start taxing the informal sector. All these things should be put on hold because there is only so much sacrifice that the citizens can make at a time; because whether you like it or not, this fuel subsidy situation is really biting hard. It is affecting a lot of people, especially the vulnerable people.”

Recently, a member of the House, Philip Agbese, moved a motion titled, ‘Need to Declare Emigration of Young Nigerians Abroad A.K.A Japa Syndrome a National Emergency,’ and urged the government to “convene a national summit with key stakeholders to effectively address the ‘Japa Syndrome.’

He said, “The House is concerned that the growing statistics of young Nigerians leaving Nigeria… portends a grave danger for our nation in many ways from economic to intellectual and social aspects.”

The house has since voted against the motion.

Ayodele Fayose, former Governor of Ekiti State and Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has disclosed that he worked for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the last presidential election.

According to Fayose, he chose to work against his party’s standard-bearer, Atiku Abubakar, because “PDP has not been fair to me”.

The former Ekiti State Governor said this while appearing on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme, stating that he worked for the victory of the APC and its candidate, Bola Tinubu, in Ekiti in the last general elections.

“I never worked for PDP during the last election. I cannot work for two people at the same time,” he said.

“The reality is that I worked for Asiwaju (Tinubu). He is a respectable person from the South-West. It is the time of the South,” he added.

A yet-to-be-identified man has died of electrocution while vandalising a transformer in Ogbe Quarters, Ute- Okpu community, in the Ike North-East Local Government Area of Delta State.

PUNCH Metro gathered that residents in the community raised the alarm when they saw the corpse of the man hanging on an electric pole and cables located close to a market in the community.

A resident, simply identified as Mr John, told our correspondent, a yet-to-be-identified boy was on his way to a nearby community when he saw the corpse on the pole and raised the alarm.

John said, “We were alerted by a young boy who was going to the next village that a dead body was hanging on the electric pole. We have been indoors since morning because of the rain that kept us in our beds.

“We didn’t go anywhere due to the rainfall. Even though we came out to our frontage, we did not notice the lifeless body of the young man hanging there. The corpse was holding an electric cable, which means that he was cutting the cable.

“For some time now, we didn’t have a power supply but the BEDC restored power around 3am; only God knows what happened. We alerted the vigilance members in this area and they informed the police before the corpse was brought down.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bright Edafe, on Sunday confirmed the incident.

He said, “Yes, it is confirmed. The young man is a vandal and unfortunately, he was electrocuted.”

In desperate move to ensure stability in the 10th Assembly, the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives have conceded 50 per cent of the chairmanship slots of various committees in the two chambers to lawmakers elected on the opposition platforms.

Consequently, major opposition platforms, especially Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) and Young Peoples Party (YPP) are to pick 50 per cent of the chairmanship positions of the various committees, leaving the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) with the remaining 50 per cent.

LEADERSHIP gathered that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, had allegedly sealed a deal with the opposition lawmakers on getting half of the committee chairmanship slots ahead of their elections on June 13.

Findings further revealed that the deal had been reaffirmed at subsequent meetings between the leadership of the two chambers and the leadership of the minority caucus after the June 13 inauguration of Akpabio and Abbas.

It was gathered that the sharing formula would touch on the various categories of committees, designated as Grades A, B and C.

Last Wednesday, minority leader of the House of Representatives, Hon Kingsley Chinda, told members of the minority caucus at a meeting within the National Assembly Complex that Abbas renewed his commitment to honour the deal.

He said the Speaker conceded to the agreement in his recent meeting with the helmsman of the House.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the move was meant to serve as a measure of reward for the support from the opposition lawmakers and also to provide stability valves for the new leadership.

It was learnt that the 50-50 arrangement was also meant to douse palpable tension in the National Assembly, especially in the Senate where Akpabio battled strong and fierce opposition to emerge.

But despite the lofty goals projected by the promoters of the idea, LEADERSHIP learnt that it is creating discomfort and disquiet in the APC, especially in the majority caucus of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Findings by this paper revealed that Senators and members of the House elected on the platform of the APC were not comfortable with the sharing formulae which placed their fate at par with their counterparts elected on opposition platforms.

Protesting the development in a chat with our correspondent at the weekend, an APC Senator who did not want his name in print fumed: “The leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives have conceded 50 per cent of the chairmanship seats in both chambers to our colleagues elected on the platforms of the various opposition platforms.

“The leaders of both chambers, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, had this arrangement with the opposition lawmakers before their elections.

“We thought it was just a gimmick to lure the opposition lawmakers to vote for them before the election but surprisingly Senator Akpabio and Rt. Hon. Abbas has at different meetings with the opposition caucus after their elections, renewed their commitment to honour the agreement.”

The implication, according to the aggrieved lawmaker, is that opposition lawmakers will have 50 per cent of the chairmanship slots allocated to them, while those of the governing party will have the remaining 50 per cent to jostle for.

He continued: “This arrangement cuts across all categories of committees. It means APC will share grades A, B and C committees with them at equal proportion. It is an unfair arrangement to those of us from the ruling party.

“How can APC lawmakers share these slots at par with their colleagues in the opposition parties? It’s never done and this is unprocedural. They are not even reserving a substantial number of the grade A (juicy committees) committee for those of us from in the ruling party.

“Even if we agree with them that such moves can help to ensure peace and stability in the Senate and House, the sharing shouldn’t have been at equal proportions. What do we enjoy as a ruling party? If the reverse was the case and the APC lost in the February 25 presidential election, are they saying either PDP or LP, which are strong contenders in the race, would have shared the chairmanship slots in the National Assembly with the elected APC members equally?

“The answer is no. Our leaders are just bothered about their interests – how to preserve their exalted seats. They are not bothered about the interest and survival of APC. What happens when you load the opposition parties with juicy and grade A committees? It means we are strengthening the opposition parties to clip the wings of and cripple the APC at various constituencies.

“They are ultimately plotting the weakness of APC. Quite honestly, members of the majority caucus in both chambers are grumbling and disenchanted about this arrangement. The leaders are surely and assuredly setting a stage for crisis in the National Assembly because we are going to resist any attempt to weaken APC as a ruling party”.

Also, an insider at the meeting hosted by Chinda told LEADERSHIP that the representative of Obio/Akpor federal constituency in the House gave a detailed account of his recent meeting with Abbas at the forum.

Aside from the information provided on the sharing formulae of the 50 per cent of the chairmanship of the committees in favour of the caucus, our sources quoted Chinda as disclosing that all members of the House, with the exception of those to be appointed into the appropriation committee, would be appointed as chairman and vice chairman of the various committees in the House.

Chinda, according to one of our sources, also hinted that all “parliamentary friendly bodies” in the House would be upgraded to committee status to pave the way for the creation of additional chairmanship slots.

The source who pleaded that his name should not be mentioned in print said, “The minority caucus met at Room 304 in the National Assembly complex shortly after the plenary on Wednesday, during which our minority leader, Rt. Hon. Kingsley Chinda, briefed us about the recent developments in the House, especially his recent meetings with the Honourable Speaker, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, as it affects our wellbeing and the fate of the members of the minority caucus in the scheme of things.

“First, Hon. Chinda implored us to put our house in order. He said the minority caucus should work in harmony with the government for things that are good and in the public interest. He stated that the leadership of the House had no choice than to carry every member along since there was no contest in the election of June 13th. Consequently, since everyone voted for him, Mr Speaker has offered to carry everyone along.”

Another of our sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “Hon Chinda further disclosed to us at the meeting that Mr Speaker told him that the chairmanship slots of the various committees would be shared in equal ratio between those of us elected on the platform of the opposition parties and the ruling APC.

“That it will be 50 per cent for the majority of APC and 50 per cent for the minority. That was his promise to us before we supported his election and we are glad that he has renewed that commitment and expressed his readiness to keep that promise.

“The minority leader also said that every 360 members, excluding those to be appointed into the appropriation committee, will either emerge as chairman or vice chairman in the emerging dispensation in the House. Clearly, he said anyone who finds himself in the appropriation committee will not serve as chairman or vice chairman in any other committee.

“He said the elimination of members of the appropriation committee, which is a major grade A committee, is meant to create opportunities for more members to emerge as either chairman or vice chairman of the various committees.

“To further brighten the chances of more members to clinch either chairman or vice chairman of a committee, all parliamentary friendly bodies, including inter-parliamentary, are to be upgraded to committee levels, primarily to satisfy everybody”.

Meanwhile, Chinda neither picked calls to his cell phone nor responded to messages sent to his phone in order to secure his reaction to the report.