Speaking of late Chiefs Obafemi Awolowo and Ladoke Akintola politics, I have a pertinent personal testimony to tender. I had a pretty early and unique exposure to Nigerian politics which can be literally cited as baptism of fire. I was born into one of the contradictions of Yoruba politics which fostered in me a lifelong skeptical attitude towards the totality of Nigerian politics and its received wisdoms. 

My first memory of life on this planet was as a witness to an arson attack on our residence, as me and my grandmother fled the scene. She had earlier refused entreaties to leave the compound because in her consideration, her son had not committed any crime, let alone, the generic accusation of public office theft, with which, the Western regional political leadership under the premiership of Ladoke Akintola were collectively tarred. Her son and my father, was Chief Oduola Osuntokun, who served as cabinet minister from 1955 to 1966 straddling the premiership of Chiefs Obafemi Awolowo and Ladoke Akintola. 

Why would, perhaps, one of the most ethically upright and conscientious public servant of his generation be subjected to the censure and demonisation that was visited on those who took sides with Akintola in the violent Awolowo/Akintola schism that rocked the Western region from 1962 to 1966? It is on record that, as Minister, he midwifed the establishment of the ikeja, ilupeju and bodija housing estates without allocating a single plot of land, directly or by proxy to himself. 

More significant was the character witness of being the only Minister exonerated by the Justice Kayode Esho panel that was charged by the first military governor of the Western region, Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi to probe the preceding Akintola government. Neither did he partake of the widespread election rigging that characterised the 1965 regional elections in the Western region were the testimonies of his opponents in the four general elections he contested to be believed. 

This was the riddle I had to grapple with as a child growing up in the Yoruba society of the late sixties and early seventies. Yet, in acknowledgement of one of those rare moments of ‘good things happening to good people’ 

I would, at this juncture, want to express my immense appreciation and gratitude to the Odua group of companies, for deeming my dad worthy of adoption as a political role model in its memorialisation of Yoruba exemplars. The debt of gratitude I owe, commensurately escalates, with the choice of my uncle, Professor Olukayode Osuntokun for the same recognition in the academic/ professional category. 

In earnest, the phenomenon of Awolowo’s embodiment of Yoruba politics, began with the formation of the egbe omo Oduduwa in 1948. ‘In 1951 he founded the Action Group, with some of the Egbe’s members as its nucleus, and in the process became the party’s first president. In the same year, the party won the first elections held in the Western Region, and Awolowo subsequently served as leader of government business and minister for local government. 

From 1954 to 1959, as premier of the Western Region, he worked, assiduously, to establish the imperishable legacy of the socioeconomic transformation of the Western region with such enormously successful progressive policies as free universal primary education and free health care for children. The constitutional provision of 

regional autonomy that undergirded the practice of Nigerian federalism gave him the latitude to make a peerless impact on the socioeconomic development of the Western region and thereby eternally capture the imagination of the Yoruba people.

From the authentic and the original to the mutant and superficial, the Awolowo political brand has run the gamut of the Action Group, AG, Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, Social Democratic Party, SDP, and the Alliance for Democracy, AD until all pretences and affectation of any such brand were thrown overboard at the formation of the All Progressives Congress, APC in 2015. 

The stillborn outreach of Awolowo to the similarly rigorous modernisation platform of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and the NCNC was resurrected in the formation of the United Progressives Grand Alliance between the AG and the NCNC (shorn of its Western region component) in 1964. ‘Up until the eve of the civil war, argues Ralph Uwechue, Nigerian politics was dominated by the big three tribes….In this triangular fight the key to victory was the combination of any two sides. It did not matter which two’

This was the political challenge and context that subsequently tasked Awolowo in his bid to become the Prime Minister of Nigeria in 1960. Thus advised, he reached out for a coalition with Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and the National Council of Nigerian Citizens, NCNC (dominated by the Igbo writ large Eastern region). For reasons that were not quite clear, his hands of fellowship were spurned by Azikiwe in preference for Ahmadu Bello and the Northern Peoples Congress, NPC. 

Beyond the speculation of a tit for tat display of ethnic chauvinism, semblance of an explanation may be found in the calculations of patronage politics and benefits accruable to any of the southern regional rivals that secures an alliance with the Northern region partnership. In the event, the most insidious by-product of this alliance was the lapse into ideological normlessness and a resultant prioritisation of the politics of consumption over the sacrificial and tasking politics of development.  

The coup and counter coup of 1966 and its ultimate degeneration into the civil war in 1967 required Awolowo and the Yoruba to make a choice of which side to support between the North and the East. It was a no easy choice and it would take the strategic cultivation of Awolowo by the northern dominated federal government and the non strategic implacability of Ojukwu and the Eastern regional political elite to break the tie. Integral to the choice was the notion that whichever party that released Awolowo from prison was always guaranteed to reap a debt of gratitude from the Yoruba political leader. 

Nonetheless, the natural allies of the North among the Yoruba was the Akintola faction and this dialectical contradiction reasserted itself in the political isolation of Awolowo to its regional stronghold in the 1979 presidential election. The fact that he felt compelled to seek recourse to the incredulous (and non-starter) presidential ticket comprising himself and Philip Umeadi from the South East was an indication of his

insurmountable political distance from the north. The futile defiant gesture of this presidential ticket ironically bolstered his credentials as the avenging angel of the progressive political movement of Nigeria. 

The bitter political reality of Nigeria was that Awolowo would only have a fighting chance of realising his presidential ambition once he was ready to capitulate and played the protégé to the mentorship of the feudal conservative North. This option of self-abnegation (otherwise coined political compromise) was, of course, one step too far for Awolowo to contemplate and the reality must have dawned on him even if he gave the impression of being oblivious of it. 

Out of the ashes of Awolowo’s frustrations as leader of opposition at the national Parliament, rose his belligerent backward glance at the position he voluntarily relinquished and bestowed on Akintola. As the tension between the two intensified, so did pressure grow on Akintola to seek a powerful external ally in the regionally controlled federal government. In the circumstance, Akintola entertained no compunction in accepting the terms of the relationship including, especially, the implication to serve as proxy for Sir Ahmadu Bello and Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa. 

A critical aspect of the ensuing patron/client relationship was the entitlement to increased patronage (appointments, scholarships etc) from the federal government. This sense of entitlement played out in a chauvinistic inter ethnic jostling between the East and the West for the dispensation of pork from the senior partner. 

The struggle was theatrically captured in a witty rendition by Akintola in his peerless mastery of Yoruba illocution and lores. It was accomplished through a dexterous manipulation of the surname of Dr Ikechukwu Ikejiani who was the chairman of the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria, ECN. Intended to illustrate the lopsided patronage of the Igbo to the disadvantage of the Yoruba at the federal government level, Akintola parodies “Ikinni a ni, ikeji a ni, iketa a ni”. Pronounced in Yoruba tonation, Ikejiani means, the ‘second one is given’. 

Deriving from this deliberate malappropriation, the late Premier draws a sketch of a tendentious marginalisation of the Yoruba corresponding to the gluttonous satiety of the Igbo. He then contrived a three line stanza to prove the point, with a preceding ‘Ikinni a ni’ (the first is given) to Ikeji a ni (the second one is given) followed by Iketa a ni (the third one equally takes!). 

Ultimately, the objective of Akintola was (for the Yoruba) to supplant the Igbo as the new favoured beneficiary of federal government largesse

The incendiary tribal jingoism was perniciously echoed in the ivory towers and the point of incidence was the university of Lagos. In the words of Tim Livsey, “The University of Lagos, like the universities at Ibadan and Ife, was affected by the rise of the NNDP (Akintola’s party), which had formed a coalition with the NPC in the federal government. The NNDP took the federal education portfolio, and installed nominees on the University of Lagos council”. 

“A crisis broke out in February 1965 when the university council announced that Prof Eni Njoku, the founding vice-chancellor, would be replaced by Dr Saburi Biobaku. Njoku was considered a capable administrator, and his dismissal was widely understood in ethno-political terms because he was Igbo and supported the NCNC. ‘It will be difficult for the Council’, noted the ‘West African Pilot’, ‘to escape the charge that it has practised naked tribalism’’.

Like Akintola before him, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s politics is predicated on the victimisation of the Igbo on one hand and voluntary (albeit gainful) submission to the protective custody of the Muslim North on another. The former was unfurled in raw and open display of latent genocidal threat to the Igbo during the 2023 general elections in Lagos while the latter was heralded by a subordinate partnership in the formation of the APC and a crowning Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket. 

Substantially and within the context of Yoruba politics, the emergence of Tinubu as the President of Nigeria is an epiphenomenon of the transition from Awolowo politics to Akintola politics. Indeed, it is the ultimate triumph of Akintola’s vision of Nigerian politics encapsulated in a menu comprising pragmatic hostility against the Igbo; pragmatic deference to the north and pragmatic monetisation of politics. 

Controversial Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, was on Friday, suspended by President Bola Tinubu.

Following his suspension, Emefiele has been directed to hand over the affairs of the CBN to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), Mr Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, who will act as the apex bank Governor.

Here are nine things you should know about Shonubi:

1. Shonubi holds double Master’s Degrees in Business Administration and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Lagos.
2. He is a resourceful Information Technology-driven banker with over 22 years professional experience.
3. He was Executive Director, Information Technology, and Operations at Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, a member of the Board of Union Homes.
4. He was the Managing Director/CEO in the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) from 2012 – 2018.
5. Between 1999 and 2007, he worked in MBC International as Deputy General Manager and supervised their IT operational platforms.
6. He was a one-time Director, Information Technology and Corporate Services in Renaissance Securities Nigeria limited.
7. He also had a stint with Citibank Nigeria Limited as its Head, Treasury Operations (1990-1993).
8. He served in First City Monument Bank Limited (FCMB) as Vice President and in Ecobank Nigeria Limited as Executive Director.
9. He has served on a number of sub-committees of the Bankers’ Committee, including the Ethics and Professionalism Sub-Committee.

- Bank Seeks Court Order To Freeze Affected Accounts And Reverse Monies Fraudulently Transferred

Globus bank Limited has filed an application before a Lagos high court seeking an order for recovery of a total sum of N962,019,843.35 fraudulently transferred electronically from its vault into accounts domiciled in eight commercial banks.

The N962m is part of the total N1,755,376,156.34 transferred from the bank between Monday 6th and Saturday 11th of June 2022. The bank has already recovered the sum of N817,998,969.85 from the accounts of the fraudsters.

In an affidavit sworn to by the legal officer, Kosisochukwu Ngene, Globus bank said fraudsters took advantage of system glitch in its USSD application between Monday 6th and Saturday 11th of June 2022 to process several fraudulent and unauthorized electronic transfer totalling N1,755,376,156.34 (One Billion, Seven Hundred and Fifty-Five Million, Three Hundred and Seventy-Six Thousand, One Hundred Fifty-Six Naira thirty four kobo.

The bank said 709 people who were its customers were involved in the fraudulent transfer of the funds to accounts domiciled in eight commercial banks.

It added that immediately it discovered the glitch, it instantaneously notified all the banks involved and requested that the beneficiary accounts be restricted.

This, Globus Bank said was in line with Central bank of Nigeria regulation to avoid dissipation of the funds fraudulently transferred into the accounts domiciled with the banks.

“Subsequently, Globus bank immediately approached the Magistrate Court, in the Yaba Magisterial District and obtained an order directing the banks to freeze and reverse the amount fraudulently transferred into various accounts domiciled in the banks.

“That in response to the order served on the respondents some of the respondents were able to salvage certain sum wherein the total sum of N817,998,969.85 were returned to the bank while the total sum of N962,019,843.35 is still outstanding and yet to be returned to the bank by the respondents banks.

The Excel sheet which contains the names of the respondents the total amount fraudulently transferred from Globus bank, the total amount salvaged and returned to the Globus and the total amount outstanding is analyze was also filed before the court.

Globus Bank said it still requires the order of the high court to enable the other banks to reverse and remit the salvaged funds to it.

It added that the other banks have requested an order of the high court, to enable them reverse and remit the salvaged funds.

“Consequently, Globus bank Limited is seeking the following reliefs from the court.

“An Order of the Court directing all the eight banks to immediately reverse and remit to, Globus bank Limited the total sum of N962,019,843.35 (Nine hundred and sixty two million, nineteen thousand , eight hundred and forty three naira, thirty five kobo), being the outstanding sum yet to be salvaged from the fraudulent transfer into several accounts domiciled with the eight Respondents from the Globus bank 709 customers’ accounts, less depleted sum.

“An order directing the eight commercial banks to release all account information in respect of the destination accounts and the beneficiaries of the transfer funds

“And for such further order(s) as the court may deem fit to make in the circumstances of this case.”

Zamfara State Government on Friday said that police operatives who raided the residence of the former Governor, Bello Matawalle, acted based on official directives.

The clarification was made in a statement, signed by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Zamfara Governor, Suleiman Idris.

The state government noted that the operatives had obtained a court order and search warrant contrary to reports circulating on the internet.

The statement read partly: “The Zamfara State Government has cleared the air on the operation of the Nigeria Police Force that led to the recovery of vehicles looted by the former State Governor, Bello Mohammaed Matawalle.

“In the early hours of Friday, The Nigeria Police Force stormed the residence of the former Governor, where over 40 vehicles were impounded.

“The Police acted on a court order and a search warrant was obtained for the operation. Recall that the Zamfara State Government communicated officially to former Governor Bello Matawalle and his Deputy to return all the missing vehicles within five (5) working days.

“We also lodged an official complaint with the Police on overriding public interest on wasteful looting of valuables including official vehicles.

“Consequently, the Police sought a search warrant which was duly given by the court and hence raided Matawalle’s residence in Gusau, Maradun Local Government, and another unidentified hideout.

“Over 40 vehicles were recovered including Three bulletproof vehicles and eight SUVs.

“We want to reaffirm our commitment to recover all that belongs to the people. Our common resolve is to rescue and rebuild Zamfara”.

The state government called for calm assuring residents that the recovery was a part of its critical mission to recuperate all proceeds of crime and public assets.

“We want to call on the people of Zamfara to remain calm as we continue to record massive improvements in the areas of security and the lingering water scarcity in the state,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, the All Progressive Congress (APC) had accused the Governor, Dauda Lawal of witch-hunt.

The party noted that the former governor ought to be charged in court if there is any issue against him.

THE WHISTLER had earlier reported the circumstances that led to the invasion of the residence of the former governor.

The current administration had accused Matawalle of looting public assets.

The new government had giver the ex-governor five days to return all stolen government items.

In a shocking move late Friday, the Department of State Services (DSS) apprehended Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), shortly after his suspension by President Bola Tinubu.

President Tinubu’s decision to suspend Emefiele did not come as a surprise to many, as the embattled CBN governor had been widely criticized for the way he has allegedly mismanaged the nation’s monetary policies.

A statement announcing his suspension said the move came amid “ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.”

Willie Bassey, the Director of Information at the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said Emefiele’s suspension is with immediate effect.

Following the suspension, the DSS swiftly moved to arrest Emefiele, taking him into custody supposedly for questioning.

THE WHISTLER recalls that Emefiele had been accused of allegedly aiding and abetting acts of terrorism and the DSS made unsuccessful attempts to arrest him before President Tinubu took office.

Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, on Friday gave an insight into a likely makeup of his foreign policy when he questioned the brotherly role Nigeria has adopted since independence in Africa as centrepieces of Nigeria’s foreign policy.

The president’s approach, which foreign policy experts have called realism in the face of numerous challenges confronting the country, most of which are from Africa, is putting Nigeria first.

Speaking while meeting with the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria, NCTRN, at Aso Rock, Tinubu frowned at pacifying other African countries especially the contiguous states which he referred to as “neighbours” against Nigeria’s national interest.

The president was speaking against the backdrop of emerging reports of citizens across neighbouring countries that questioned his removal of fuel subsidy.

Videos of some Cameroonians circulated soon after Tinubu announced subsidy removal where they criticised the new Nigerian government lamenting that the high cost of premium motor spirit in Nigeria has also made the product unaffordable to them.

In some videos seen by THE WHISTLER, some bike riders converged at a location close to the Nigerian border with Cameroon in a protest manner where they issued a statement decrying the new petroleum policy in Nigeria.

For a long time, there have been reports of deliberate sabotage by Nigerian petroleum marketers who export imported petroleum products to other African countries where the product is expensive in order to make extra profits.

The poorly manned land routes to Cameroon, Niger and Chad have reportedly been mentioned as providing the access for illegal export.

Yet despite agelong practice of putting Africa first in her foreign policy which has often been pragmatic, Tinubu’s statement on Friday attempts a complete negation of the policy.

Nigeria had during the government of former Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, adopted the policy during his addresses of August and October 1, 1960, where he declared Africa as the centrepiece of Nigeria’s foreign policy.

This policy thrust has remained a constant variable in the country’s diplomatic engagements over the years.

Although the country attempted to take a step backwards during the cold war when it joined other countries to form a Non-Aligned Movement, her direct involvement in the decolonisation process across Africa compromised her position.

The country has over the years pursued this Africa as its centrepiece vigorously and robustly despite both internal challenges especially from the contiguous states.

Tinubu realised this on Friday noting that, before the traditional rulers, “I am grateful that you are paying attention to what I have been doing.

“You have paid attention to the subsidy removal. Why should we in good heart and sense, feed smugglers and be Father Christmas to neighbouring countries, even though they say not everyday is Christmas?

“The elephant that was going to bring Nigeria to its knees is the subsidy. A country that cannot pay salaries and we say we have potential to encourage ourselves,” Abiodun Oladunjoye, the villa’s Director of Information, quoted the president as saying.

Tinubu added; “I think we did the right thing.”

He assured the traditional rulers that, “We are all ears. We are ready to listen at any given time. I promise you an open-door policy and that is the way I will go. That open-door policy is for you to call me and send to me at any given time any concern that you might have.

“We may not have it right 100 percent of the time but we must get it right 90 percent of the time for this country.”

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended the Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, from office with immediate effect.

This is sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.

Mr Emefiele according to a statement from Willie Bassey Director, Information in the Office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), Mr. Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, who will act as the Central Bank Governor pending the conclusion of investigation and the reforms.

The statement reads, “President Ahmed Tinubu has suspended the Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, CFR, from office with immediate effect.

“This is sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.

“Mr Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), who will act as the Central Bank Governor pending the conclusion of investigation and the reforms.”

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, sealed a shop in Zuba, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory, on Thursday for allegedly selling unapproved aphrodisiacs to Nigerians.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some of the aphrodisiacs are Garin Yansun, Sabon Mai-Siket, Ruwan Jaraba, Tunkude, Fenugreek powder, and Al-Khausara herbal syrup.

Bubuchiki Godiya, a member of the Federal Taskforce, Investigation, and Enforcement Directorate of NAFDAC, said that “the agency received intel that Yunusa Adamu was manufacturing unregistered herbal preparation.”

Godiya said that the agency sent some of its team members to investigate, and on arrival, they found that there were many unregistered herbal drugs.

According to him, even though Adamu gave the invoice for some of the products to the team, he still denied producing any drugs.

“We will investigate for more evidence; the shop has more than 15 different varieties of products. Many of them have pornographic pictures, which are not acceptable, and the agency cannot register a drug or any product with pornographic pictures.

“The drugs are all over the shop; that is why we have evacuated as much as we can, and we are still going to seal the place until we conclude our investigation. We will go with the suspect in order to record his statement and investigate more to know our next line of action,” Godiya said.

He said that the agency’s standard of procedure would be to investigate the suspect.

Samples would be taken to the laboratory for analysis, and with the result, the agency would know the way forward, he said.

On his part, Adamu told NAN that he bought the drugs from Kano and Kaduna markets and that he had been in business for a very long time, saying that “it is what people know me for.”

He said that his chairman, who was not available, would bring the necessary documents to the agency.

[DailyPost]