No fewer than 78,148 Nigerians were killed across the country in the last 10 years, a security report says.

A yearly breakdown of the killings according to a 2023 Nigeria Security Report by Beacon Consulting; a security risk management and intelligence consulting company, revealed that 11,389 Nigerians were killed in 2014; 11,119 in 2015; 4,896 in 2016; 4,949 in 2017; 6,162 in 2018; 5,948 in 2019; 8,459 in 2020; 10,887 in 2021; 10,754 in 2022; and 3,585 in 2023.

Of the figure, 16,644 Nigerians were killed by terrorism; 8,475 Nigerians by banditry; 1,897 by farmers/herders clashes; and 1,410 Nigerians by social upheaval.

The report also revealed that in the eight years of former President Muhammadu Buhari, budgetary spending on security increased from N900bn to N2.3tn.

It added that the increased budgetary allocation resulted in an enhanced equipment repository for armed forces and other security agencies as well as the recruitment of personnel, and improved training.

The report added, “The above achievements were not successful in reducing the fatalities and abductions caused by the several threat elements within the Nigerian security eco-space. In 2022, over 11,000 Nigerians died as a result of these security dynamics.”

The CEO, Beacon Consulting, Kabir Adamu, advised that the interface between the various determinants and the causative elements for the fatalities should provide the new administration with a basis for putting forward a more effective and efficient approach to addressing insecurity in the country.

Adamu said, “To achieve this, the new administration’s seven-point agenda as listed in its ‘Renewed Hope’ manifesto will have to be expanded to include a review of the national security structure, which is currently convoluted and does not allow coordination, collaboration and cooperation among the various security ministries, departments and agencies.”

He said the new administration should ensure the appointment of professionals in the key offices of the NSA and the Ministries of Defence and Interior, while ensuring that the various policing agencies were harmonised with the Ministry of Interior to ensure improved coordination.

Microsoft founder and philanthropist, Bill Gates, will visit Nigeria and Niger next week to have discussions on global health and other pertinent issues with national and local leaders, grantees, foundation partners, young innovators, and others.

Gates, who is the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will be speaking to national and regional leaders to encourage them to invest in policies that promote innovation and provide equitable opportunity, despite challenging economic conditions.

This was revealed in a statement by the foundation on Saturday.

The visit is part of the Foundation’s commitment to work with African communities and leaders on ways to support innovation that can improve life for its citizens.

Gates and other members of the foundation’s leadership will be learning from partners helping to address polio, anemia, and other health threats; scientists applying research to develop agricultural innovations that will help with food security and climate adaptation; innovators using technology to improve access to financial services; and others working to improve lives in Niger and Nigeria and throughout the continent.

“Gates will also participate in a conversation with students and young leaders to gather insights and share perspectives on how science and innovation can accelerate positive change and contribute to a brighter outlook for Africa.

“The moderated event, Advancing Africa: Unleashing the Power of Youth in Science and Innovation, will be co-hosted by the Co-Creation Hub Nigeria and Lagos Business School and live-streamed across Africa by media partners Africa.com and Channels Television. It will take place at 10 am WAT (Lagos) on 21 June. You can register here to attend virtually.

“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation believes that solutions to Africa’s greatest challenges can come from within Africa, hence its support for African partners “whose bold ideas and creative approaches have the potential to save lives, improve health, and help families across the continent,” the statement said.

The Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, has admonished Nigerians especially Christians to remain steadfast in the face of many challenges facing the country and to be promoters of peace wherever they find themselves.

He was speaking at a mission congress in Sokoto, organised by the Sokoto Catholic Diocese in collaboration with the pontifical mission societies and aimed at expanding the frontiers of the gospel.

The cleric called on Christians to be wary of those who specialise in manipulating religion for political and other pecuniary gains.

According to him, the inability of Nigerian political leaders to manage the country’s diversity has in many ways contributed to the present-day challenges faced by most parts of the country.

He added that Nigeria had witnessed a number of conflicts with ethnic and religious coloration, especially in the northern parts of the country, saying this had affected the country’s unity, peace, growth and development.

The bishop criticised politicians in the country for still exploiting religion as a tool for political campaigns, a situation he says that has increased tension and animosity among Nigerians.

He admonished Nigerians to remain steadfast in the face of these many challenges and to be peace ambassadors wherever they find themselves.

Kukah noted that peace-building mission in Nigeria required the effort of all citizens, especially those in leadership positions who are expected to lead by example and treat all citizens equally, irrespective of their religion, ethnic and or political affiliation.

The Lagos State Police Command has uncovered a syndicate that specialised in swindling filling stations of millions of money with fake alerts.

Already, a member of the syndicate is in police custody helping them on how to arrest other members of the syndicate who are on the run.

Giving a graphic account of how the syndicate was cracked, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Benjamin Hundeyin, said the suspect was arrested by operatives of Isheri Police Division.

He said the police received complaint on May 17, 2023, at about 2.30pm, from the Manager of Enyo Filling Station, located along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, that a man, who was later identified as Anthony Ofikwu, and others now at large, were in the habit of buying fuel at the filling station with fake bank alerts.

Hundeyin said: “The complainant alleged that whenever the syndicate visited, their members would, in addition to fake bank alerts, ask for cash transfers, and all the transactions would later be reverted to them within minutes. Detectives were mobilised to the scene where the suspect was intercepted and taken to the station. During interrogation, however, he allegedly confessed to being a member of a fraud syndicate, defrauding filling stations.

“A total of 13 different bank ATM debit cards bearing different names were recovered from him. He equally admitted defrauding Enyo Filling Station to the tune of N5.1 million since their operations started. The suspect is presently detained at the Isheri Police Station, while efforts are ongoing to apprehend other members of the syndicate who are at large, after which we shall charge them to court.”

The Department of State Services (DSS) says Godwin Emefiele, suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had access to family and medical officials.

On Friday, a federal capital territory (FCT) high court sitting in Maitama had ordered the DSS to allow Emefiele to have access to his lawyers and family.

In a statement by Peter Afunanya, DSS spokesperson, on Saturday, the secret service agency said Emefiele had access to his family and doctors before the court order.

The DSS also said it has uncovered “planned campaign of calumny” by some individuals against the government over Emefiele’s suspension.

“Such groups intend to gather at different points in Abuja and Lagos in the coming week with placards depicting the service and government in bad light as well as calling for the immediate release of Emefiele,” Afunanya said.

“The service is, therefore, aware of a cheap propaganda aimed at demotivating and distracting it from professionally executing the onerous responsibilities assigned to it.

“It has also noted the misleading commentaries, speculative narratives, storylines and videos being circulated in the social media by uninformed parties, critics and/or desperadoes. It is mindful of orchestrations to infiltrate its fold for the purpose of using disloyal staff for subversive aims against its leadership.

“While these efforts are considered as hatchet jobs designed to distract, the service warns the plotters to desist forthwith from their plans. This is more so that the arrow heads are already under watch and will be apprehended when and if it becomes necessary.

“It is instructive to state that the service had granted the family of Emefiele, medical officials and appropriate persons access to him, right from the day he was taken in and long before the court order requesting so. The service implements standard operating procedures on suspect handling and investigation to the latter. It conducts its affairs transparently, professionally and respects the rule of law in compliance with democratic governance.

“For the avoidance of doubt, it assures of its professionalism in the current matter(s) under its purview. It will, however, not be distracted or intimidated.”

On June 9, President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele and asked him to transfer his responsibilities to Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, deputy governor, operations directorate.

The DSS had announced that Emefiele was in its custody for “some investigative reasons”.

Garba Madami, a member of the Kaduna state house of assembly, is dead.

Madami, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker representing Chikun constituency, died in a hospital in Kaduna.

The cause of his death is unknown.

In a Facebook post, David Madami, the lawmaker’s son, described his father’s demise as shocking.

“Your demise is most shocking,” he said.

“But as mortals, we must accept the will of God. Your remarkable footprints will always be there for many to see and admire.”

Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna, said Madami was known for promoting peaceful coexistence and was greatly respected.

“I pray that God grant the soul of Madami eternal rest and comfort his family, associates, friends and constituents he left behind,” Sani was quoted as saying.

The late lawmaker was a former commissioner of planning and budget, and special adviser on political affairs to late Patrick Yakowa, a former governor of the state.

He was also one time former LGA chairman of Chikun LGA.

Motorists travelling along Gusau-Funtua Road were stranded on Saturday as students of Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State blocked the ever-busy highway in protest of incessant abductions of their schoolmates by bandits.

Defying armed security personnel in the state capital, hundreds of students blocked the major road linking Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna states.

The protesting students started marching from Damba to Sabon-Gida, the community opposite the main campus of the university.

They said five of their colleagues were kidnapped on Friday night in the Damba area, a community on the outskirts of Gusau.

The federal university is expected to commence its second semester examinations on Monday, however, the protesting students said the examinations would not be held as planned until the abducted colleagues regain their freedom.

Expressing their displeasure over the incessant abductions of their colleagues, the students said, “No students, no exams!”

An eyewitness, who gave her name simply as Rejoice, recounted the abduction incident.

Recently, several students of the university have been kidnapped with ransom paid to secure their release while some are still in captivity.

The students appealed to the relevant authorities to come to their aid as they could no longer concentrate on their studies.

Stakeholders of the students union in charge of Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara states called on the management of the university to put security measures in place to avert a future occurrence.

The angry students blocked the highway for several hours before the security agents forcefully dispersed the protesters.

One of the students reportedly beaten by security operatives was seen on the floor.

The Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Muazu Abubakar, who was also at the protesting ground, declined an interview when approached.

Militants linked to the Islamic State group massacred at least 41 people, mostly students, in western Uganda, in the country’s deadliest such attack in over a decade, officials said Saturday.

The military said it was pursuing the attackers from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), who also abducted six people during a raid on a school late Friday before fleeing back towards the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Officials and witnesses said guns and knives were used in a grisly late-night assault and dormitories set ablaze at Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe.

Police and army officials blamed the ADF, one of the deadliest militias over the border in DR Congo’s strife-torn east, which the Islamic State group has called its local offshoot.

Sylvester Mapozi, the town council mayor of Mpondwe-Lhubiriha where the attack occurred, said 39 students were killed at the school.

“Within the community, as they (attackers) were going back, they also murdered two people, a female and a male. This is bringing up the number to 41,” he said.

Many of the deceased were burned beyond recognition while other students were still unaccounted for, he said: “We are yet to identify and establish their whereabouts.”

Mumbere Edgar Dido, 16, said the attackers arrived at his dormitory carrying machetes and guns and opened fire from outside, sending everyone diving under their beds.

“They continued to shoot through the windows, then set fire to our room while we were inside, before going to the girls’ dormitory,” he said.

Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesman Felix Kulayigye said the six kidnapped were taken towards Virunga National Park, a vast expanse which straddles the border.

“UPDF embarked on pursuing the perpetrators to rescue the abducted students.”

Police have not released details about the victims’ ages or how many were students.

Outside the school, heavily armed soldiers and police stood guard, where a large crowd gathered and distraught survivors were comforted by loved ones.

It is the deadliest attack in Uganda since twin bombings in Kampala in 2010 killed 76 in a strike claimed by the Somalia-based Al-Shabaab group.

‘Big attack’

According to a police report seen by AFP, police and military units were alerted to a “big attack” at the school around 11:00 pm (2000 GMT) on Friday evening.

“On arrival the school was found burning and the dead bodies of students were found lying in the compound and the school’s food store broken into” with items missing, the report stated.

The school is less than two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the border of the DR Congo, where ADF is primarily active and has been accused of killing thousands of civilians since the 1990s.

Major General Dick Olum told AFP that intelligence suggested the presence of the ADF in the area at least two days before the attack, and an investigation would be needed to establish what went wrong.

He said it appeared the attackers had detailed information about the school.

“They knew where the boys and girls’ dormitories resided,” said Olum from Mpondwe, who has been leading an army operation against the ADF in Uganda and the DR Congo.

“This is why the rebels locked the boys’ dormitory and set it on fire. The rebels did not lock girls’ section and the girls managed to get out, but they were cut with machetes as they ran for safety, and others shot”.

“We have called for more firepower, planes to help in the rescue operation of those abducted, and locating the rebel hideouts for military action,” he said.

‘Killed brutally’
The rebels fled towards Virunga on the border with Uganda and Rwanda, a globally renowned sanctuary for rare species including mountain gorillas.

Militias — of which dozens are active in the mineral-rich eastern DR Congo — also use the park as a hideout.

Originally made up of mainly Muslim Ugandan rebels, ADF gained a foothold in eastern DR Congo in the 1990s.

Since 2019, some ADF attacks in eastern DR Congo have been claimed by the Islamic State group, which calls the fighters the Islamic State Central Africa Province.

ADF strikes in Uganda are less common and Friday’s sent shockwaves through the country.

“They were killed brutally… It is pathetic and regrettable,” Vice President Jessica Alupo told a graduation ceremony in Kampala on Saturday.

But Florence Kabugho, an MP for Kasese, told reporters there were “very many unanswered questions” given the heavy military presence so close to the border.

“Where was this security when these killers came to Uganda?” she said.

Uganda and DR Congo launched a joint offensive in 2021 to drive the ADF out of their Congolese strongholds, but the measures have failed to blunt the group’s violence.

It is not ADF’s first attack on a school in Uganda.

In June 1998, 80 students were burnt to death in their dormitories in an ADF attack on Kichwamba Technical Institute near the DR Congo border. More than 100 students were abducted.

AFP

Within a fortnight in power, President Bola Tinubu may have set the tone and tempo for what promises to be a dizzying presidency. Right from the inauguration ground at Eagle Square, he could not suppress his anxiety to be in power and in control at the same time. Most classical concepts of power lament that it is hard to be in power and in control simultaneously.  Tinubu seems out to smash that conundrum from the outset. His immediate predecessor was in office, a bit in power but hardly ever in control.

To be in office, in power and in absolute control may well be the feature that sets Tinubu apart among the pantheon of Nigeria’s elected leaders. In fact, the haste and immediacy in his tone and temper places him closer to the tradition  of our past military leadership. This the tradition popularized by the late General Murtala Muhammed (“with immediate effect!”). It is a haste to right the wrongs, to correct the path of national leadership and followership by restoring a path of sanity lost by recent deviations. This haste to reform, to correct and get the system to obey a leader’s deeply felt reformist zeal usually cuts both ways. It might end up as both the leader’s unique selling point as well as the source of the mistakes and errors that may make or mar his legacy in the fullness of time. For Tinubu, the clock has started ticking!

In rapid succession, he has used an off-script proclamation right at inauguration ground to take off the controversial and longstanding subsidy on gasoline. This single policy measure has put the already troubled Nigerian economy into an initial  tailspin. Inflation has automatically jumped to the mid 22.4 % as gasoline prices have skyrocketed by 300% and more. Transportation costs have gone up  while food inflation and general  inflation have obeyed the laws of the market. 

Organised labour has flexed its familiar muscle by threatening a general strike that was quickly stopped by government through the courts. It is a measure of Tinubu’s luck with the Nigerian public that the resistance to gasoline price hikes has not yet produced a general social upheaval. Nigerians seem to understand the logic of the subsidy removal but are anxiously awaiting palliative measures to cushion the pain. The hope is that the proceeds of the subsidy removal will be ploughed into more social investment in education, health and infrastructure instead of being creamed off by thievish politicians and crafty bureaucrats.

With commendable courage and fresh reformist zeal, Mr. Tinubu has also abolished the dubious multiple exchange rate regime. This was a convenient mechanism with which his predecessor bribed cohorts and indirectly powered grievous corruption through arbitrage and uncontrolled patronage. The over valued Naira has fallen in value overnight while the foreign exchange market has been further liberalized by opening up the market to multiple sources of supply ranging from the  banks to the bureaux de change. The anticipation is that a widened and liberalized foreign exchange market will encourage the freeing of foreign currency held by individual citizens, politicians, companies and others to eventually drive down the exchange rate to a more friendly territory. More importantly, this reform of the exchange market should, over time, encourage more external investment and foreign participation in the economy freed at last from lack of transparency and dubious manipulation by government. Over time, it is expected that a more reasonable and sustainable market driven exchange rate will emerge.

Taken together, both the fuel subsidy removal and the unification of the exchange rate regime are clear indications of much needed reform of the Nigerian economy in the direction of a more sensible open market. The logic seems to be that you need a functioning market before you can decide on whether it is working or not. Enlightened economic policies will, over time, create a more elite friendly atmosphere in which perhaps the middle class can begin to return. It is expected that middle class creature benefits such as consumer credits, basic indicators of prosperity such as new homes, new cars , affordable holidays and the restoration of the swagger of the middle class. The expectation is normal that when the economy is working, the benefits will trickle down to the popular masses thus making the president a little more popular and acceptable across board. These benefits will of course require  some time to translate into perceivable benefits.

In tandem, Mr. Tinubu has signed a Students Loan Bill that had been on the presidential in-tray. This should grant access to borrowed funding for indigent students in tertiary institutions  whose career goals may be threatened by lack of funds. This legislation in its present form may make it impossible for the target students to access any loans as the conditions are both stringent and unrealistic.

Surely, a bit more thinking needs to go into the implementation of this loan scheme lest the expediency of policy be sacrificed at the altar of populist politics. But even with its defects, this bill indicates a concern for the welfare of youth in line with what he promised during the campaigns.

The indirect political benefit of these economic and social reforms is to earn Mr. Tinubu both the elite consensus and popular acceptability which he needs  to consolidate his legitimacy and general acceptability. A president who came to power in a storm of still raging electoral disputations and with a little over 30% popular vote count cannot  rest on his oars when it comes to mining elite consensus and courting popular  support.

In the direction of troubled institutional leadership, Mr. Tinubu has suspended the troublesome Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele. He has allowed the secret police , the DSS, to cart the ambitious fellow into detention and possibly a series of lengthy interrogations. No one knows exactly what Mr. Emefiele is being grilled for but the public harbors a cocktail of grievances against Mr. Emefiele’s conduct as the custodian of our collective treasury. He scored a first in being the first Central Bank governor in Nigeria to sit in office while carrying a party card and expressing active interest in vying for the office of president. He is also one CBN governor to have openly canvassed a series of partisan policy preferences as against transparent objective economic policies.

On his own, Emefiele is  a fertile source of multiple tales and scandals. Ranging from meddling with lucrative exchange rate deals and contracts to  floating opaque agricultural loan schemes to illiterate farmers who can no longer tell whether they got any loans or made any repayments to the Central Bank. He committed the less heinous crime of sometimes openly insulting state house reporters. Some less gracious beer parlor versions of the Emefiele saga accuse him of colluding with former president Muhammadu Buhari to confiscate the monies of Nigerians under the disastrous Naira redesign gambit.

In the process, both men impoverished most Nigerians overnight while promising the redesigned Naira notes that hardly ever came. Unverified rumours, including those once canvassed in court by the DSS fingered the man in matters as dangerous and frightful as terrorist financing. All these are ahead of a formal charge and possible arraignment of the man before a competent court. The best service to the rule of law is to quickly complete interrogations and investigations and arraign the man to prove his presumed innocence in open court.

As if that is not enough, Mr. Tinubu has also suspended and commenced investigation of the youthful but influential head of the anti-graft agency, the EFCC, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa. Here again, a halo of conspiracies and scandals shroud the young man’s arrest and ongoing investigation. Immediate former governor of Zamfara state, Mr. Matawalle,  had a shouting match with Mr. Bawa at the exit door over alleged a $2 million gratification negotiations that did not quite go well. There have also been leaks of stratospheric  hotel expenses incurred by the youthful chairman somewhere as well as  unprofessional interests in assets seized from corruption related persons. Since Mr. Bawa himself assumed office under the smoke trail of a predecessor fingered for similar infractions, Nigeria’s anti corruption crusade may have come to ahead somehow. An agency set up to fight corruption  has itself become a cesspool of ranking corruption.

Mr. Tinubu’s pace of reform is likely to earn him much needed political capital and international acceptability. Already, influential media opinion at home and abroad have already acknowledged his commendable pace and direction. At home, he has struck a decisive difference from his predecessor who needed many months after being elected to make even a single appointment let alone announce any policy initiative. It took Mr. Buhari more than six months to put a cabinet in place and even longer to fill other strategic federal positions. 

On the contrary, Mr. Tinubu has hit the ground running. He has taken most of these major reform measures and decisions even without having a cabinet or government in place. He has made a number of commendable appointments at the level of presidential advisers. It is expected that his cabinet nominations will follow the same track.

For a president who campaigned on the basis of continuing with the legacy of Mr. Buhari, his fellow party man and political mentor, these developments and pace raise issues. They are bold drastic reversals of the Buhari style and spirit. As against Mr. Buhari who was known for most of his eight years in office as “Baba Go-Slow” at home and abroad, some international  media headlines have already dubbed Mr. Tinubu “Baba Go-Fast”. Nigerians have taken note and are watching. What Mr. Tinubu is doing and the pace of his actions do not quite look like those of a president who is likely to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor no matter the close personal relationship they may have.

Clearly, by the strategic positions of those he has suspended  or fired and his sheer pace of policy decisions, Mr. Tinubu has struck a decisive difference from the lack lustre, slovenly and rather tepid Mr. Buhari. It is too early to fathom how the political camp of the vindictive Buhari will respond to Tinubu’s early breaking of ranks.  But there could be some kicks and backlash from the dead Buhari presidential horse

At the level of real politick, Mr. Tinubu’s preferences have been reflected in the choice of leadership of the 10th National Assembly. Last Tuesday’s leadership contests in the National Assembly was a litmus test of Mr. Tinubu’s political sagacity. In the process of pushing his preferences in that contest, he may have empowered some political Czars that will either facilitate his clout with the National Assembly or return to haunt his own political path in the days ahead.

It is noteworthy that soon after being chosen as Senate President, Mr. Akpabio paid homage to the home of immediate past Rivers State governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike. I hope Mr. Tinubu watched that footage closely. Tinubu may soon need to compare notes with Atiku Abubakar on Mr. Wike’s reliability as a political ally.

Nonetheless, for good or for ill, Tinubu has a kindred spirit in the election of Mr. Godswill Akpabio, the free wheeling and dealing former governor of Akwa Ibom state and Minister of the Niger Delta and sole prefect of the NDDC as Senate President. The indication is that in the years ahead, there is more likely going to be a serious engagement between the executive and the legislature. But even then, there was noticeable disquiet both inside the ruling APC and among the opposition parties about the choices that were made on the NASS leadership.  It is an indication that we are not likely to have a rubber stamp legislature but one in which deal making and negotiations by hard headed political animals is likely to produce better legislative compromises.

Nonetheless, Mr. Tinubu’s hurried reform pace and measures are not likely to go without some resistance or even political consequences. In the economic front, both the fuel subsidy regime and the multiple exchange rate regime were driven by deep seated business, political and bureaucratic mafias and their deep interests. The long standing fuel subsidy regime created and sustained an army of emergency billionaires and powerful oligarchs. Some of them had no other business than the massive subsidy heist with its dubious documentations and opaque accounting systems. When the oil subsidy regime was first exposed,  it was discovered that the accounts of even hair dressing salons in obscure locations were credited with huge subsidy deposits that embarrassed the real owners of the salons.

The same was the case with the multiple exchange rate regime. Quite a number of ‘businessmen’ were people with high value political connections who made huge amounts from arbitrage and foreign exchange racketeering. All it took was to be allocated foreign exchange on paper by the Central Bank at the official exchange rate of N430 to the dollar which the beneficiary then sold off at the parallel market rate of N750 to the dollar or near that. The arbitrage recipient could make billions of Naira just by making a few phone calls to instruct his bankers accordingly without leaving the comfort of his/her bedroom.

These interests are deep. Big business is involved. Big money is at stake. By last Friday, some analysts indicated that three leading Nigerian financial oligarchs may have lost close to $6 billion each in a single day from the merger of exchange rates. No one knows exactly how much major oil traders have lost in the last fortnight from the removal of subsidy on gasoline. The interests involved in these losses are a network of economic, political and bureaucratic special interests. The deep state is already rattled. Their fighting methods and capacities are often nasty and far reaching. Having become so used to huge easy money over the years, the probability that these interests will fight back politically is quite high.

As the encomiums build up for Mr. Tinubu’s speedy reformist style, I see some major roads to somewhere for Mr. Tinubu. He could be speeding up Nigeria’s return to true development after the last eight horrible years. He may be driven by the need to catch up on Nigeria’s lost time in the direction of sensible development. It could also be a journey to reverse the tragic missteps of Mr. Buhari’s lost eight years  and thus salvage whatever is left of the integrity of the APC.

Mr. Tinubu could also be openly inviting  a head on collusion with the forces of Nigerian business as usual whose interests are likely to be deeply hurt . Whichever road the Tinubu presidency travels from here, I  can only repeat the caution that formed the title of my column last week: Watch the thorns and “Mind the Gaps”, Mr. President!

he National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has pledged total support for the programmes and policies of the administration of President Bola Tinubu to enhance the living standards of Nigerians.

President of the Union, Alhaji Tajudeen Baruwa, said this while addressing zonal leaders of the Union who paid him a solidarity visit in Abuja.

The NURTW zonal leaders passed a vote of confidence on Baruwaand pledged support for his second term bid as president of the union.

The NURTW president was represented by his Special Assistant, Labour and Industrial Relations, Mr Abuul Boga.

Baruwa said that the union believed that the removal of fuel subsidy would make more money available for development, including the reconstruction of dilapidated roads in the country.

Read Also: Refinery owners urge Tinubu to accept naira for crude oil
He however said that the union would continue to support organised labour’s demands on government to ameliorate the effect of the fuel subsidy removal on Nigerians.

The NURTW president also stressed the need for state governments, particularly South West Governors, to reconsider replacing NURTW with Parks and Garage Management Committees (PGMC).

He maintained that the Union remained the only registered umbrella trade union for commercial drivers in Nigeria.

“We want to therefore, make it categorically clear, that parks and garages management committee is not a trade union known by any labour law in Nigeria.

“Their activities are not only illegal but also a usurpation of the Union (NURTW) functions.

“Members of the Union in the South west are hereby advised to embrace the NURTW which is the only registered and recognised umbrella trade union for all commercial drivers in Nigeria.

“We equally call on well-meaning people of the south west to intervene and advise those state governments that have replaced NURTW with PGMC, to have a rethink.

“We call on them to allow the operations of the Union in their various motor parks and garages just like it is being done in other parts of the country,” he said.

Baruwa reiterated the commitment to the welfare of the union members, adding that the leadership had initiated 100 per cent increase in staff salaries and general promotion of staff aimed at motivating them.

He also said that the union had remodelled the dilapidated National Secretariat to international standard, which was fully furnished with state of the art facilities.

This, he said, was to ensure conducive environment for officers and staff of the union.

“There has been 100 per cent increase in the allowances of National Administrative Council members, Zonal Chairmen, Zonal Secretaries, State Secretaries and State Treasurers who are also members of the National Executive Council of the Union.

“We will continue to ensure that our staff are well motivated for greater productivity and also enable them carry out the mandate of the union,” Baruwa said.