Joshua Beckford gained worldwide recognition as the youngest person ever to study at Oxford University.

The youngster was admitted at age six (taking part in courses which were part of an online learning platform for gifted children) and gained distinctions in both Philosophy and History.

When Beckford’s father, Knox Daniel, wrote to Oxford University advocating for his son’s admission, it was a bold move to challenge the conventional age limits for a programme aimed at children aged eight to 13.

His record remains unmatched, with the next youngest Oxford student being at least two years older at the time of admission.

By 10 months old, Beckford could already identify letters and numbers. At age two and a half, he could read fluently using phonics and had begun learning Japanese and some Mandarin.

Aspiring to become a neurosurgeon, Beckford has already demonstrated remarkable medical knowledge. Using the Microsoft Surgery Simulator, he has mastered complex surgical procedures, including cataract removal, hernia repair and leg fracture correction. His proficiency with surgical instruments showcases his extraordinary abilities beyond his years.

Beyond medicine, Beckford is multi-talented, excelling in art, Information Technology (IT), sports and foreign languages.

In 2017, Beckford was named Positive Role Model of the Year at the UK’s National Diversity Awards.

The Illumination Foundation of North Carolina also listed him among the Top 30 Most Extraordinary People worldwide who have made societal impact.

Beckford serves as an ambassador for the Boys Mentoring Advocacy Network (BMAN), a non-governmental organisation dedicated to mentoring young boys and adolescents in Africa. Within BMAN, he holds the role of Low-Income Families Education (L.I.F.E) Support Ambassador across six countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and the United Kingdom where he was born.

Joshua Beckford also serves as the face of the National Autistic Society’s Black and Minority (BME) campaign. Diagnosed with high-functioning autism himself, he helps to spread the campaign’s mission.

In 2019, Beckford and his father travelled to Nigeria to launch a live mentoring session, delivering a keynote speech at the University of Lagos before an audience of nearly 5,000 people. Their visit was to raise funds for building a secondary school in Kaduna State, providing education to children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

According to a statement on UNILAG’s website, the proposed school was to include classrooms, an administrative block, a laboratory, an ICT Centre and an agriculture green garden and was to be named Joshua Beckford Community School.

[Opinion Nigeria]

The grouse Nigerians hold against their government has never been limited to the executive arm of government despite the abundance of evidence that it is the most powerful arm of government which usually dictates the direction other arms of government will take.

While democracy predicts and prescribes separation of powers and checks and balances as necessary preservatives for democracy, these lines as salutary as they are or promise to be become easily blurred or pale into insignificance, especially when the executive is a bully, which bludgeons other arms of government into submission.

Thus, over the years, as much as Nigerians have learnt to make the executive consisting of the presidency and governors and all agencies of state at all levels the target of their ire, the judiciary, and legislature have not been spare and for good reason. For it should never be the case that democracy is weaned of the vigilance of citizens which makes it so effective.

Historically, Nigerians take a dim view of their legislators. This view only grew dimmer on the 6th day of March 2025 when the Nigerian senate suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central senatorial zone in the senate for six months. In imposing what is a draconian punishment by any measure, the senate ruled that Senator Natasha breached its standing rules, thereby subjecting the senate to opprobrium.

The suspension whichh came only after the senator accused Godswill Akpabio, the senate president, of sexual harassment and even submitted a petition to that effect has mobilized large sections of Nigerians against the senate, especially its leadership.
Nigeria’s senate which is made up of 109 members can call on only four women. With the suspension now whittling down that number to three, many have interpreted the move which came days before the annual celebration of International Women’s Day (March 8) as an attack on women, especially on the dwindling representation of women in politics.

On her part, Senator Natasha has refused to take her suspension lying down. On March 11, 2025, she took her case to the Women in Parliament session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Meeting in New York where she broke down in tears while narrating her ordeal.

There is no doubt that this case is the most embarrassing case to involve the Nigerian senate in recent times. On the one hand, is a woman raising the weighty matter of sexual harassment. From all indications, not only has the senate which is dominated by men, given very short shrift to a serious allegation of sexual harassment, it is determined to send a message that any future and further smear will not be tolerated.

What should not be tolerated in Nigeria today is institutional impunity. What should have absolutely no place in Nigeria if the country wants to grow is systemic manipulation and oppression.

What is happening with Senator Natasha is a situation where an institution and its men are arrayed against a woman who is also clearly a victim. Experience shows that the victim in such situations hardly ever wins. But the victory is hardly ever in the outcome. Instead, it shines forth more in the fight.

The Nigerian. Senate may think that having heavily pummeled a first-time senator for daring to step out of line, others will watch their steps next time.

However, with Senator Natasha having aired the dirty linens of the senate in far away New York before a gaping world, there is surely no coming back from this catastrophic loss of face for the senate in the 10th National Assembly.
Even if Senator Natasha is peddling falsehood to damage the reputation of the senate president, and this is highly unlikely, it is not unthinkable that women should get away with some things. Men have been getting away with countless things for as long as the world has existed and the world has not ended because of that.

Like a stranded mariner gasping on the shores of irrelevance, former Kaduna State governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai writhes in the uneasy throes of power’s withdrawal. His disquiet, however, is less the quiet lament of a fallen statesman and more the tempestuous fury of a Shakespearean woman scorned. 

He has become fiery, irascible, indignant, and unrelenting in his public expressions of rage towards his former friends in power who have isolated him. He is throwing the kitchen sink at the power structures in Kaduna and Abuja in an all-out effort to extract vengeance and to ward off potential ensnarement. 

The former cushy, self-satisfied, and illiberal denizen of power who was the scourge of dissenters railing against tyranny, now finds himself wielding the very defiance he once crushed with arrogance and malevolent glee. He has become an accidental insurgent (a la “accidental public servant”) forged in the crucible of his own contradictions.

There is a part of me that loves this new insurrectionary, rebellious, activist, and intensely irate one-man band opposition that El-Rufai has opportunistically transmogrified into. 

For one, he is providing the first real opposition to the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration. Every democracy needs the well-aimed slings and well-informed counsel of a sharp-witted opposition to keep its leaders from sinking into the depths of self-satisfaction and insouciance. 

Say what you will about El-Rufai, but his intellect, erudition, and rhetorical dexterity are top-notch and undeniable. Imagine if figures of his political stature, institutional access, and strategic acumen had chosen to be thorns in the current corridors of power. Perhaps, the Tinubu administration would have thought twice before treating Nigerians with the cavalier disregard that has become its trademark in the last two years.

For another, he has an opportunity to experience what his critics went through when he was a governor for eight years. He abducted critics, caused opponents to be tortured, bragged about reducing politicians he has displaced to mere “bloggers,” instrumentalized the courts to squelch dissent, etc.

 Now, he posts social media updates about his former commissioners being “abducted,” about the judiciary being weaponized against his supporters and his past administration, about the “misuse of federal security agencies in the persecution of opposition leaders,” etc.

Not only has El-Rufai become a “blogger,” once his favorite pejorative for social-media-active politicians he has dislocated in Kaduna, he has now plunged deeper into a lowly “content creator.” With the launch of a TikTok account, he’s gone from being a mere “blogger” to a digital hustler, complete with the undignified ritual of soliciting Nigerians to subscribe to his channel.

Yet, I am delighted that El-Rufai has joined our ranks. Professional “wailing wailers” like me (to use former presidential spokesman Femi Adesina’s agonizingly asinine and illiterate insult for government critics) welcome him to the club.

  Nonetheless, my joy that he is inadvertently rendering a democratic service by the constancy and stridency of his strictures against the government has not blunted the acuteness of my awareness that he is an unbearably devious, self-seeking, hateful scoundrel who is only on a mission to avenge what he perceives as a personal affront to him.

As most people have already observed, had El-Rufai secured the minister of power position he was promised, his current antagonism toward the government would be as unimaginable as a cat lobbying for the rights of rats.

 Not only would he have been a staunch defender of every government action, but he would have also directed his trademark vitriol at ordinary Nigerians suffocating under economic hardship. He would dismiss their grievances with characteristic scorn and cruelty. 

Indeed, the same northern establishment he now courts and seeks to mobilize as a political cudgel would have been his favorite punching bag—just as it was in 2023, when he enthusiastically championed Bola Tinubu’s candidacy.

 It takes an unnatural degree of slow-wittedness not to see that El-Rufai’s newfound disillusionment with the governments in Kaduna and Abuja reeks less of principle and more of a bruised ego nursing its wounds.

In my July 27, 2019, column titled, “How Political Power Damages the Brain—and How to Reverse it,” I called attention to (temporarily) politically displaced whores of power like El-Rufai who pretend to identify with ordinary people in their moments of political trauma. 

“Also look at previously arrogant, narcissistic, power-drunk prigs who have been kicked out of the orbit of power for any number of reasons. You’ll discover that they are suddenly normal again. 

“They share our pains, make pious noises, condemn abuse of power, and identify with popular causes. The legendary amnesia of Nigerians causes the past misdeeds of these previous monsters of power to be explained away, lessened, forgiven, and ultimately forgotten. But when they get back to power again, they become the same insensitive beasts of power that they once were.”

Get El-Rufai back into power now or in 2017, he would be the same villainous backstabber he has always been. He would be the same annihilator of the homes of poor people. He would be the same horrid tormentor and abductor of critics.

 He would be the same inciter and instigator of genocide in the name of defending his people. Recall his 2012 tweet, "We will write this for all to read. Anyone, soldier or not that kills the Fulani takes a loan payable one day no matter how long it takes" and his admission that he paid bandits to stop attacking southern Kaduna?

In a September 20, 2019, article, I described him as “straight-up Nigeria's most bigoted and most dangerous public official alive.”

I said he “detains and torments people who criticize him. Abu Hanifa Dadiyata, a critic of his, just disappeared in Kaduna without a trace. Several other critics are in detention. And he recently threatened: ‘If you want to tweet anything about Kaduna be very careful because I'm watching...’”

He has a deep, visceral hatred for the people of southern Kaduna, leading to write this August 18, 2020, social media status update: “Why does El-Rufai hate and despise the people of Southern Kaduna with such unnaturally infernal intensity? He strains hard, often too hard, to be seen as ‘cosmopolitan’ when he relates with southern Christians. Why can't he even pretend to be prepared to get along with the people of Southern Kaduna? I don't get it.”

He is also a rhetorically violent man. In October 2015, he told his critics to “climb Kufena Hill and fall.” At a Kaduna APC stakeholders’ meeting in September 2017, El-Rufai told political opponents that death is a possible outcome for fighting him. “I had fought with two presidents,” he said. “Umaru Yar’Adua ended in his grave, while President Goodluck Jonathan ended in Otueke.”

He repeated this a few days ago. In my September 23, 2017, column titled “El-Rufai’s Morbid Fixation with Death of His Political Opponents,” I pointed out that El-Rufai betrays a disturbingly shallow humanity and a murderous inner disposition. In addition to many examples of his embrace of the rhetoric of violence, he endorsed, defended, and even celebrated the brutal, cold-blooded, and unjustified mass slaughter of hundreds of Shiite Muslims in his state.

El-Rufai’s latest political metamorphosis is less a transformation than a temporary realignment born of personal grievance rather than ideological conviction. His brand-new zeal for opposition, while inadvertently serving the democratic process, is unmistakably fueled by wounded pride and thwarted ambition. 

The same man who once ruled with an iron fist, silencing critics with impunity, now fashions himself as the voice of the oppressed, railing against the very structures of power he once upheld with ruthless enthusiasm. His current posture as an anti-establishment crusader is not the product of principle but of exclusion, making his activism less an act of courage than an elaborate act of self-preservation.

Yet, even as he momentarily aligns with the forces of resistance, history warns against mistaking his opportunistic dissent for genuine reform. Should fortune return him to the corridors of power, El-Rufai would waste no time reverting to the autocratic instincts that have long defined him. He would crush opposition, weaponize state institutions, and wield power with the same reckless abandon that now makes him a pariah. 

Today’s dissenter is often tomorrow’s despot. To embrace him uncritically is to risk aiding yet another cycle of tyranny dressed in the fleeting garb of rebellion.

In these days of questionable public discourse on governance, any attempt to speak of tolerably good performance by a state governor will attract suspicion. It will either be that the governor has procured platforms to nurse a presidential ambition, or that he is working to hoodwink the public despite his obvious poor performance.

The other sad feature of some media commentary onpublic office holders is that it sometimes presents government interventions as favours by the governor; for which the people must thank him profusely. Service delivery, for which the governor was elected in the first place, then gets presented and projected to the public as acts of benevolence. At the end of the day, state resources are seen, and treated, as the personal resources of the governor to be dispensed at his discretion. Absurd!

But here we are, about to talk about a serving governor whose first series of actions culminated in a Masterclass for would-be state officials before he began to govern. Yes.

The first thing the current governor of Taraba State didafter he emerged victorious in the elections was to patiently scrutinize the human capital of his state, and then and make some key appointments. After the appointments, rather than say, “Alright, now report at your respective offices and start work”, he planned a capacity development immersion. The programme was held at the Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC), with every key official of the future Taraba State in the governor’s mind assembled in one location. His reason for doing this was quite simple: Dr. Agbu Kefas told his people that there is always a right and wrong way of doing everything.

That being the case, he maintained that the only way to work as a government official in a 21^st Century world was to give every worker the ideas and template for his specific schedule before he starts work. So, he gathered his people but not for motivational talk, boring lectures and an excuse for collecting Duty Tour allowance(DTA), no! it was for them to get Actionable Ideas for hands-on performance, in order to serve the best interests of the people of Taraba State who elected him into office.

He called it an induction course and retreat. It was organized for commissioners, special advisers, permanent secretaries, senior directors, legislators and judicial officers. The aim was to help everyone to fully understand respective roles and responsibilities in the State governance process. It was to also equip newly appointed cabinet members with the basic skills and knowledge they need to engender true service delivery for Taraba people. It was all designed to help create synergy and ensure that the executive, civil service, legislature, judiciary and other key stakeholders work together with the right team spirit.

That retreat emphasized the primacy of public policy as a tool for the developmental blue-print of Taraba State through a whole-of-government approach. It spelt out the import, impact and value of accountability, transparency, good governance and efficient budget process as drivers of sustainable economic growth. 

This way of onboarding government officials and stakeholders, on the importance and necessity to pursue excellence and good governance in Taraba State, was the grand takeoff plan of the newly elected governor.

He told them, at the retreat, that he was poised to transform the poor economic and social indices of the State so as to promote all round growth and development and wealth creation. He also emphasized the fact that he would prioritize security, because peace and prosperity for the people could only be achieved in an environment with meaningful security for life and property.

A former Vice President of the World Bank was among the resource persons. When, back thenbar the retreat in 2003, I spoke to them on “Building a New Generation of Public Sector Leaders in Taraba Through LeadershipMentoring, Emotional Intelligence and Strategic Management of Human Relations”, my emphasis was on the importance of humanizing governance, while keeping to best global practices.

The governor identified the key drivers of the Taraba State he had in view included improvements in education, health, industry, agriculture, mining, tourism and much more. The newly elected governor also placed significant emphasis on attracting FDIs andpromoting MSMEs for broad-spectrum prosperity. He used the occasion to present his vision for the State, the pillars of his government and the philosophy of his administration, as he charged everyone to translate the vision into better life for the people. 

Less than two years into his tenure, the question you sometimes here is: “So, what was Taraba State before this your new governor? It is very much like the case of Jigawa State during and after the tenure of Sule Lamido as Governor. 

Every meaningful state infrastructure, far reaching development plans, new ideas about human capital development, internally generated revenue gains and much more in Taraba today have acquired new flagellaunder the incumbent governor.

Today, Taraba State has a human capital development resource centre, patterned to some extent after NARC in its aspiration, to drill down sustainable knowledge growth in an all-round manner. To that extent, the state is turning into a reference template for far-seeing steps in social development, economic growth, responsible environmental stewardship and new vistas of responsible leadership. 

The indices are reassuring on all fronts, but the state government is fighting great retrogressive forces as it prioritizes the welfare of its citizens. It projects are broadly impactful, with policies on social stability and internal security on the upswing. The provision of operation vehicles for the military and security forces, especially also the provision of surveillance drone facility to support the army and other national security forces working in the area, are landmark gains.

While it is true that the state has made massive investments in road construction projects, this is not at the expense of healthcare facilities and healthcare personnel. Educational institutions are getting the desired attention, with a new focus on connectingcommunities with enhanced access to essential services.

Taraba that is often referred to as the “Nature’s Gift to the Nation” now seema to be everaging its fertile land to boost agricultural productivity and be true to this appellation. It has a new Green Taraba Project, which has empowered farmers, reduced food insecurity, and created thousands of jobs.

Add that to the state government’s upgrading ofhospitals, the provision of free medical services for vulnerable groups, and the implementation of robust healthcare policies. And the state is not resting on a bed of borrowed funds, having made significant strides in boosting its internally generated revenue. This has dramatically reduced reliance on federal allocations.

Much of this was achieved through tax reforms that streamlined tax collection processes and leveragedtechnology to minimize leakages; even as the state is harnessing its agricultural potentials to attract investors and generate revenue.

Taraba State is collaborating with private sector players and consultants to unlock new revenue streams, and these efforts have increased the state’s IGR and also created a more resilient and self-sufficient economy. The revenue collection records show a 54% increasebetween 2023 and 2024; and the Taraba State Internal Revenue Service (TIRS) team was only inaugurated in June 2024. The IGR jumped from about 10 billion Naira to over 17 billion within months, after inauguration.

On environmental sustainability, the state is adopting a global model for environmental conservation. A place that is known for its lush greenery, wildlife, and natural resources is now implementing groundbreaking initiatives to protect itself in very important ways. This includes reforestation programmes, involving large-scale tree planting campaigns, to combat deforestation and climate change.

The state’s Eco-Tourism Development programme issustainable tourism, as it seeks preserves the naturalbeauty of the environment while creating economic opportunities. And this has seamlessly keyed into a waste management systems that is using modern waste disposal techniques to keep cities clean and green.

As for the Resource Centre and deliverables, its purpose is to empower Citizens Through Knowledge. The knowledge impartation resource centers haverevolutionized access to capacity building opportunities, information availability and continuous education. 

For the record, these centers serve as hubs for skill acquisition, to offer training programs in ICT, entrepreneurship, and vocational skills. There is also the matter of research and development, to provide resources for students, researchers, and innovators to drive local solutions to global challenges.

As part of community engagement for social cohesion, the hosting workshops and seminars has become a regular means of educating citizens on governance, health, and economic opportunities.

Because Taraba State is endowed with vast mineral resources, including limestone, kaolin, and gemstones, the government is taking strategic steps to harness this potential, through some Mining Sector Reforms. These reforms are creating the enabling environment for investors, while ensuring sustainable mining practices.Jobs are also being created in the process, as more hands are engaged in the overall value chain. 

All things considered, the state in now deep into the serious business of economic diversification, by leveraging its mineral wealth to boost the economy and fund developmental projects. And security in important for all of this to happen. 

There is Community Policing, which is engaging local communities in security efforts to foster trust and collaboration. The stare government is providing modern equipment and training for security agencies, in addition to Conflict Resolution Mechanisms; implementing programs to address communal clashes and promote unity.

Therw is also the Taxpayer Education Initiative, for willing compliance, through a proactive approach to taxpayer education. This is helping yhe citizenry to understand the importance of taxation in nation-building. The state is embarking on awareness campaigns, using radio, television, and social media, to educate taxpayers on their rights and civic responsibilities.

Simplified Tax Processes have also become a tool for making it easier for individuals and businesses to comply with tax regulations. Added to the foregoing are transparency and accountability parameters, which are seen in the governemnt’s open demonstration ofhow tax revenues are utilized. This further fosterertrust and willingness to pay.

In sum, Taraba State is doing well today, but it must avoid any premature celebrations. Good governance is always a work in progress. The state must remain forward looking, as it expands the frontiers of impact in every positive sphere. The retrogressive forces that have held the state down for so long are not resting. Therefore, the progressive forces of today should endeavour to stay awake 25 (not 24) hours every day. enought said.

Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) contribute to improved living standards, bring about substantial local capital formation and achieve a high level of productivity. They have also been identified as a vehicle for employment generation, as they provide opportunities for entrepreneurial training and manpower development.

Also of importance in any nation are indigenous enterprises because they offer huge opportunity for both cultural preservation and economic progress. Resilience, creativity, and the incorporation of cultural values into corporate operations are frequently linked to their success.  All over the world, governments take deliberate steps to make sure that SMEs are nurtured.

This is why a recent revelation by the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr. Adewale Adeniyi, that companies operating in the nation’s Free Trade Zones (FTZs) violate the law regulating their operations is deeply troubling.

According to Adeniyi, who disclosed this at a recent House of Representatives public hearing on the tax reform bills in Abuja, some of the companies operating in the FTZs go into Customs areas where extant tax laws are operational to conduct their businesses.

He said, “The sticky issue over the years has been the compliance of free trade zone operators with the provisions of the law. The law allows them to import every manufacturing input they need, 100 per cent sometimes, including things that are prohibited into the customs territory.

“In fact, a lot of those incentives were given to them to manufacture. However, the initial incentives were for them to export everything that they (imported OR MANUFACTURED?) inside this free zone. But from time to time, I think they started to develop loan proofs for the local markets. There have been reported violations of these provisions.”

In Nigeria, FTZs, also known as Export Processing Zones (EPZs) are geographically designated areas that offer special privileges to businesses, including tax benefits and reduced customs regulations for activities like importing, manufacturing and exporting goods. FTZs in the country include the Calabar Free Trade Zone, Kano Free Trade Zone, Lekki Free Trade Zone, Ladol Logistic Free Zone, Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone, and Snake Island Integrated Free Zone. These zones were created to support the development of industries focused on exports and also to encourage businesses to operate with as low government interference as possible.

The primary purpose is to assist companies in the manufacturing, processing, and export of goods from Nigeria as they are exempted from payment of import and export duties thereby lowering their operational cost. Presently, most of the companies operating in FTZs in Nigeria have a significant foreign interests.

Regrettably, findings have shown that some companies operating within these zones flout the rules guiding their operations. Some of those who operate in the free trade zone that ought to focus on exporting their finished goods, end up selling them in the local market, thereby denying the government the necessary revenue. Besides, this creates unfair competition and unfair trade in the market place.

For instance, manufacturers who operate outside the FTZs that import raw materials for their production are charged Customs duties which range (from)REMOVE between 10 percent and 25 percent, depending on the item they are bringing into the country. After this, they bear the cost of production associated with the country’s harsh business environment before processing these raw materials into finished goods and they are sold to the market. For those who are into export business, they are made to pay the relevant duties and levies. However, those that have their plants located within the FTZs, when they bring in their raw materials, they don’t pay duties on the assumption that whatever they produce would be exported 100 per cent.

Therefore, after production, if they then decide to move their goods to the Customs areas, they ought to pay duties on the finished items. But unfortunately, due to alleged lapses and corruption on the part pf some regulators, these manufacturers now bring in their raw materials, process them, and instead of exporting these finished items as expected, they end up selling their products in the country.

What this does is beyond the loss of revenue to the government and the denial of the country the expected forex inflows, it also creates unfair trade to those manufacturers that are not fortunate enough to site their plants within the FTZs. This act is enough to throw them out of business. 

Indeed, this is unfair (for)TO businesses trying to create jobs, most who pledge substantial part of their property and resources as collateral just to get bank loans at cut-throat interest rates and THEN some disingenuous people work round the clock to make these loans go bad because they are allowed to sell their products at cheaper price due to their low production cost. This clearly stifles innovation and undermines business growth as these struggling businesses are systematically being discouraged.

The federal government needs to take action to guarantee the continuous survival of businesses outside the FTZs by ensuring that operators abide by the rules of the game to save jobs.

Beyond the lamentation by the Customs CG, Adeniyi, there is also a need for increased supervision and monitoring by the NCS and other government agencies saddled with the responsibility of ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements and compliance by those operating within the FTZs.

Besides, some of these challenges can be dealt with through the use of technology tracking devices. The Federal Ministry of Trade and its counterpart, the Federal Ministry of Finance should deploy technological devices to track the importation of raw materials and follow through till they are processed into finished goods and exported, to address inefficiency and laziness on the part of some of the regulatory agencies and eliminate corruption.

The choice is clear: It is either the government protects these businesses outside the FTZs or watch them vanish. We cannot afford to let these economic saboteurs thrive. Therefore, its time to defend our entrepreneurs in order to build a truly resilient Nigerian economy.

    Though this piece is not about the Netanyahus, but we will forever remember the sacrifice of the indomitable Yonatan ‘Yoni’ Netanyahu; that young Israeli Special Forces commander that successful led the rescue of about hundred Jewish hostages in from Entebe Airport, Uganda in 1976. That operation remains a reference in the study of rescue missions and special operations. Just go back and read the accounts again and watch the films. And you will be amazed by the professionalism, patriotism and courage exhibited by the planners and executors of that mission and what those guys could do as far back as the 70s. Ironically, only Yoni lost his life in that most-daring operation, but that was after terminating the terrorists, rescuing the hostages, sending them home. He and his men were retreating to board the plane and leave the place when he was cowardly shot by a Ugandan soldier hiding on the airport towers. The Jewish commandoes went back and cleared the place immediately and also inflicted an irreparable damage to the Ugandan Air force by blowing up most of the fighter jets and equipment on ground. Because of my love for the boldness and sacrifice of Yonatan. I dedicated my book / audiobook Power of Sacrifice to him. And it is now in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Finish, Swedish, French, Dutch, Chinese, Italian, German, Afrikaans, Indonesian, etc. Yes, there is no better time to remind the enemies of the Jews of God’s covenant of protection with his people than the Festival of Purim.

    As you already know the Festival of Purim is an annual event to commemorate that spectacular, miraculous deliverance of the Jews from annihilation during the reign of King Ahasuerus of the Persian Empire in 5 BC. Haman; a Jew-hater was appointed a prime minister of the empire. And when Mordecai, a Jew refused to bow to him, the proud Haman got the king to sign an irrevocable decree to kill all the Jews - young and old, infants and women and confiscate their properties in a day. But God miraculously intervened when Esther and Mordecai mobilized all the Jews throughout the empire to fast and seek divine intervention. Their enemy Haman was hanged, Mordecai (a Jew was appointed in his place), and another decree was promulgated that countered the first, empowering the Jews to defend and kill their enemies. God delivered his people from certain destruction. Since then the Jews have been celebrating this dramatic deliverance and display of divine power till date. Yes, Bibi was right to remind the enemies of Israel that the God of Purim is still alive to protect his people. And also that there is still today unwavering, commitment, determined, patriotic and fearless Jews like Esther and Mordecai to sacrifice everything, including their lives to see that nobody, no nation, no interest or gang up will ever be given that chance to humiliate or threaten the existence of Israel again. This has always been sufficiently demonstrated since the establishment of the modern Jewish State. And that policy remains unchanged. Touch Israel and you burn your fingers.

   But Haman is not the only example to be given to the enemies of Israel. Pharaoh messed with Israel and he, his commanders and horsemen perished in the Red Sea after the angels of destruction and death devastated his land. At that night of Passover, men and beast mourned and wept throughout Egypt. Sennacherib boasted and tried it. He even queried the ability of the God of Israel to deliver; comparing him with the gods of other nations that he had destroyed. I love the way God responded to this, “Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel... Because you rage against me and your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.” You already know how he ended. Then, three nations came against Jehoshaphat and Judah. God took over the battle and that enemies in confusion slaughtered themselves. Not one person survived. What of the mighty and proud Goliath? After boasting, harassing and humiliating the Israelites for days, his head was cut off and his people defeated. And can go on and on. Now, every enemy harassing you or the people of God will be displaced and cut off today in the mighty name of Jesus! Till next week, Shalom!

It is always good to hear that evident improvements are taking place in one's dear state, and the March 12, 2025 report by the Kebbi State Commissioner of Information and Culture, Yakubu Ahmed BK, on the commissioning of a dedicated 180,000 litres capacity Aviation Fuel Depot at the Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport (SABIA), Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, is one such example. 

Having said that, however, his mode of presentation on the significance of the said fuel depot has been grossly exaggerated beyond what is practicable, and it sure didn’t need to be so. Granted, government press handlers have this general tendency to want to always make their principal look good at every opportunity, but even that needs to be done with some reasonable degree of decorum, which has sadly not been the case here.

To a very large extent, the Commissioner may have achieved his primary objective of portraying his principal to the teeming familiar crowd of the gullible ones out there in the intended larger-than-life fashion.  But to that same extent, he has also exposed his manifest lack of understanding and appreciation of the Aviation sector, especially as it relates to aircraft refueling operations and the strict sets of rules and procedures guiding it. 

That fact alone has now presented a veritable opportunity in the form of a teachable moment of sorts that I would like to take advantage of to correct some of the obvious errors in his entire communication around the said aviation fuel depot at SABIA. To do that, we need to dispense with his ludicrous claims about the reported transformation of SABIA "from an unrecognized terminal to a hub of global aviation where flights now land not just for pilgrims, but also for refueling from various International destinations".

An online dictionary source defines an "international hub" as a "... central location, often an airport or a port, that serves as a major point of connection for international travel, trade, or logistics, facilitating the movement of people or goods between different countries*". 

The question then is, when exactly did SABIA, Birnin Kebbi become an international hub, or a hub for global aviation, to use his exact words? Apart from the annual Hajj airlift operations involving a few dedicated flights as approved by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), and perhaps the occasional chartered Umrah flights here and there, which other international airlines land in Birnin Kebbi? Which destinations do those flights connect from there?

Secondly, I do not regard myself as an expert on aviation fuel refueling operations by any stretch of the imagination. But having headed the nationwide refueling operations of a major oil marketer for a number of years, during which I also doubled as the Secretary of the Aviation Managers Forum of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), I should certainly know a thing or two about the subject. 

The aviation industry is one of the most regulated industries in the world for obvious reasons, and aircraft refueling operations are no less so. There are strict standards, processes and procedures guiding the establishment and operation of Aviation Depots, which the industry regulators and the airlines themselves do not joke with.

That is precisely why there are mandatory stipulated daily early morning checks in place that must be carried out by the jet fuel suppliers at their respective depots, along with the usual parameter tests at the foot of the aircraft that must be witnessed by the airline representatives before each refueling operation. The international airlines, on their part, do also carry out scheduled annual or spot inspection audits at the depots to ascertain their continuing adherence to the stipulated standards for such operations.

Even before such routine visits by the airline customers happen, the IATA Fuel Quality Pool (IFQP) inspectors, comprising a group of airlines that actively share fuel inspection workload and reports globally, must have inspected and certified your depot handling and refueling operations and processes and published their findings on the International Air Transport Association (IATA) portal for all member airlines to see. The initial and routine annual IFQP inspections are done using the Joint Inspection Group (JIG) standards, which is an international organisation that monitors and ensures that the transportation and storage of jet fuel in a safe manner across the world's largest airports.

The IFQP inspection and eventual certification, without which no international airline will ever patronise your refueling operations, remains one of the most eagerly anticipated and challenging periods for any Aviation Manager. It will be great to hear from the Commissioner when that took place in the case of the new aviation fuel mini depot at SABIA. 

Away from the quality side of things, there is also the small matter of the constant availability of the product that, in addition to regular and timely replenishment, can only be guaranteed by the relative size of a marketer's secondary storage facility at the airports. The relative proximity of the secondary storage to the primary storage facilities is also a huge factor. And the farther away one is from the other, the bigger the secondary storage necessarily needs to be to guarantee a reasonable stockholding of a minimum of 6 days’ supply to your contracted airline customers on average at any point in time.

To address the all-important airport storage issue in a more cost-effective and holistic manner, marketers have been known to come together to jointly build and operate shared common storages like the Joint Users Hydrant Installation (JUHI) at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, and the Joint Aviation Facility (JAF) at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano, for example. Just recently, on October 17th, 2024, the Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, commissioned the long-awaited 15 million litres capacity JUHI 2 in Ikeja, which adds to the JUHI 1 and the respective marketers’ individual storages there.

Again, the standard practice is that all airlines, both local and international, do have in place executed fuel supply contracts with the respective marketers that are renewed annually, even though some small operators and one-time visitors do make ad hoc purchases occasionally. The airlines execute such contracts with more than one marketer to spread their risks, as opposed to putting all their eggs in a single basket by way of having only one dedicated supplier. That way, in the event that one supplier runs out of Jet Fuel or Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK), as it is also called, the other(s) can easily supply them. The suppliers must always put them on notice well in advance in the event of any anticipated supply disruptions, in order not to disrupt their schedules. For international airlines specifically, they usually have programmed slots on specific days of the week for their suppliers, and any of them can cover for the other in the event of supply disruptions affecting either of them. In the (un)likely event of a general scarcity affecting all marketers, however, the airlines are usually notified to come with enough jet fuel in their tanks and only top up with just about enough volumes to fly to the next destination to take in more.

I, therefore, struggle to rationalise the outrageous claim by the Kebbi Commissioner of Information and Culture where he stressed for emphasis that “it is on record that aircraft on international routes land at the airport for the sole purpose of refueling and moving on”. Apart from the requirement of the IFQP certification and the prerequisite of a subsisting business relationship between the depot operator at SABIA and the individual airlines that are both required to make that possible, the miserly 180,000 litres capacity storage does not even support such a claim. More so when there are numerous other marketers-owned and operated storage facilities with combined capacities running into millions of litres at the nation’s major international airports in Abuja, Kano, Lagos and Port Harcourt, where these airlines usually land and operate at.

With such readily accessible larger storage facilities at these four strategically located major airports across the country, I wonder what level of tomfoolery will push any serious international airline pilot to make a detour to Birnin Kebbi just to refuel at its mini depot that is the equivalent of a few of fuel tankers in terms of capacity. Aviation refueling is not your typical petrol or diesel refueling by Damfo or Molue commercial drivers, who may be at liberty to break their journey at will to refuel at any available roadside filling station, enroute their respective destinations.

Plus, the average ATK volumes consumed by these international flights in a single refueling operation is such that SABIA’s 180,000-litre capacity storage will not even be attractive enough. Just by way of illustration, a DHL Cargo flight from Lagos to Johannesburg will take an average of 65,000 litres of jet fuel during refueling, for example; a British Airways flight to London Heathrow with require around 70,000 litres; just as a Delta Airlines non-stop flight from Lagos to Atlanta will consume between 120,000 to 130,000 litres. Pray, what will be left for the depot operators’ local airline customers after a single refueling operation?

The fact that one or two local airlines flying into Sokoto might have ran into a possible stockout situation at the Sir Abubakar III International Airport and detoured to Birnin Kebbi to take a few thousands of litres is not enough justification to make such wild claims about international airlines refueling there. If it holds true, the Commissioner should please release the names of those airlines and the respective dates they stopped over just to refuel.

In conclusion, I am saying all this just to let the author understand and recognise the untenable slant to his wide-off-the-mark claims, and to urge him to please desist from making such embarrassing submissions that are not backed by logic or facts in the future. 

There is fire on the mountain
And nobody seems to be on the run
Oh, there is fire on the mountain top
And no one is a-running

I wake up in the morning
Tell you what I see on my TV screen
I see the blood of an innocent child and everybody’s watching
Now I’m looking out my window
And what do I see?
I see an army of a soldier man marching across the street, hey
Hey, Mr. Soldier man
Tomorrow is the day you go to war
But you are fighting for another man’s cause and you don’t even know him
Oooh, what did he say to make you so blind to your conscience and reason?
Could it be love for your country? Or for the gun you use in killing?

So, there is fire on the mountain
And nobody seems to be on the run
Oh, there is fire on the mountain top and no one is a running…
(Asa on ‘Fire on the mountain’ (2007)

Everyone can see clearly now that there is fire on the mountain in Rivers state and nobody in authority in the state and national capitals seems to be on the run. Oooh, we can wake up in the morning and can see on television live stream how a governor can be locked out of the parliament in the state he governs. And the hit-man in the power struggle in the federal capital can be seen at the same time on the same television screens, vibrating that if the humiliated governor is impeached, heavens will not fall. Indeed we now have a country of anything is possible. That is why it is important to appeal to our leaders in Abuja and Port Harcourt to borrow from the brilliance and light of the ancient word that the bush is still burning with fire, but behold the bush isn’t consumed yet.

Yes, it isn’t a time to beat chests – to damn consequences of fire because we have the power and cruise control over violence. It is a time to build the peace in the interest of our country of complex diversity. It is a time to recall the warnings through the ancient words that our tongue is the most sensitive part of our body and so can trigger the wildest of fire that can reach the mountain top that Asa’s allegory teaches today. There is power in the words our leaders in Port Harcourt and Abuja use at this time. What is more, our leaders in Abuja should note too that this is a time to invoke the power of this phenomenon called attitude, yes attitude! That is the weapon needed at this time to quench the fire on the mountain in Rivers state, not to become ‘Rivers of Blood’. We don’t want Asa to see an army of a soldier man marching across the street, hey
Hey, Mr. Soldier man, Tomorrow is the day you go to war…’

We should heed the warning of our daughter, Asa and ask our careless leaders everywhere Oooh, what did he say to make you so blind to your conscience and reason? Could it be love for your country? Or for the gun you use in killing?

We have seen the fire on the mountain. Let’ us with a gladsome mind, denounce our leaders who say we should not be on the run. Let’s not wait for the fire to consume us, as it did in 1966, when the same fire in the form of ‘operation wetie”, consequentially diminished our independence, took away our federalism after consuming some of our founding fathers. There is already a great deal of crisis of coherence between Abuja and Port Harcourt where our great son, Chinua Achebe would have recast W. B Yeat’s poem: “The second coming” he used in ‘Things Fall Apart’ to our leaders: “Excuse me Sirs, behold, things are falling apart in the Garden City; the centre cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world…”

Even observers who are not part of the crisis would want the powers in Abuja to note that the reason they are in office and in power is to settle conflicts arising from our development strides. They should not be part of the problem in the interest of next elections. The optics isn’t quite good for our leaders at this time because we the people are seeing the way they place politics over governance. The President has appealed that the law should rule in Rivers State where there is a political crisis that involves a member of his cabinet and the governor of the state. But let’s review what happened on the day the Governor reportedly appeared to begin implementation of the president’s appeal. Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, via a live media chat, scoffed at threats of consequences over purported plans to impeach Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, saying the sky isn’t going to fall if he is impeached.

The minister’s comments came after the Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Martins Amaewhule denied Fubara access to the Assembly premises for a re-presentation of the 2025 appropriation bill, which was ordered by the Supreme Court. The governor said he was prevented from entering the compound, despite the fact that he had notified the Assembly of his intention to visit in view of their request that he re-presented the 2025 appropriation bill. In response to the Governor’s claim, the Rivers State Assembly officials said the Governor didn’t inform them as claimed. While this drama was taking place in Rivers state capital, former Governor of the State now FCT Minister who is now associated with the crisis in the state was on television blasting the same governor, Fubura and his cohorts in the state.

The relationship between the governor and the legislature, peopled mainly by Wike’s loyalists, soured early in his tenure following political disagreements with his predecessor, Wike. Things seemed worsening for the governor recently after the Supreme Court reinstated the Amaewhule-led legislators. But foremost group of elders from the oil-producing region, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), asked President Bola Tinubu not to consider any party to the crisis superior. PANDEF urged Tinubu to take decisive steps to resolve the escalating crisis, contending that a win-win outcome must be sought outside the courts. The group urged the president to prevail on Wike and Fubara to prioritise peace and seek a lasting solution.

Similarly, Ijaw National Congress (INC) reiterated its position that if Fubara was impeached for any reason, the consequences would be too heavy for the Nigerian state to bear economically. Urging the president to prevail on Wike and Fubara to seek an amicable resolution for the sake of peace and stability, INC said it was concerned by the prolonged political impasse in the state.

However, addressing some of the latest concerns on the Rivers crisis, Wike described PANDEF, whose members met Tinubu to try to proffer solution to the festering political crisis in the state, as an unreliable organisation made up of political merchants, only motivated by money.

Wike, who spoke on a live television interview, said if Fubara had, indeed, breached the tenets of the constitution and the House of Assembly deemed the infraction an impeachable offence, then the governor should be impeached. He stated, “If you have committed an offence to be impeached, what’s wrong? Is it a criminal offence? It’s provided in the constitution. And let me tell you, and I have heard people say, ‘oh, if they impeach him, there’ll be breakdown’ and all that. “Rubbish. Nonsense. Who is he? Nonsense! “Who is not a militant? Who cannot blow up the pipeline? Why do you arrogate this power to a certain group of people? The Ijaw people are the only people who can blow a pipeline? What nonsense is that…?

Now in the complex logistics of everyday life, perceptions have gone far into shaping decisions. Most people have noticed that only the powers in Nigeria could have allowed enigmatic Wike to be talking the way he talks about the crisis in the state he has governed. The president keeps putting everything at the doorstep of the governor when there are two parties to the dispute. Insiders and observers, still believe that the last agreement the president asked the two parties to sign when he first intervened last year was skewed in favour of the other party and the governor’s people can thus perceive that the agreement was not drafted by neutral men. This may not represent the truth but that is what perception does when conflict resolution mechanisms are mismanaged. Besides, after the PANDEF’s meeting with the President at the Villa, officials of the socio-cultural organisation have claimed that there were various issues tabled before the president who picked only the Rivers matter and ignored the rest socio-economic and infrastructure challenges in the south-south region. They have alleged that the President kept emphasising to the governor to obey the Supreme Court’s controversial judgment as the only panacea to peace there. But critics on the other side would be quick to remind the same president that his government too hasn’t implemented the judgment of the same Supreme Court regarding local government autonomy, delivered six months ago. Critics have also quickly added that the same government has also refused to obey the judgment and order of the court of appeal against the National chairmanship of NURTW, which was against his staunch supporter, MC Oluomo who is illegally occupying the seat, against the judgment won by one Baruwa.

So, the president’s position in condoning Wike, the minister of FCT, to be insulting Niger Delta elders and even governors in the middle of strategy to resolve a dangerous crisis is what a literature in English teacher would easily call a tragic error. There can be only one consequence: emergence of a tragic hero in the denouement. From the body language of the Nigeria’s leader, the opposition leaders in this regard are bound to perceive that the president sees the governor as the problem and Wike as the victim. Would you blame the governor’s men therefore if they shout that Wike is provoking them to play into the hands of hit-men in Abuja who are in a hurry to trigger causes for a state of emergency as things get out of hands?

It is hoped that all the stakeholders and crisis merchants, in this regard, understand the dynamics of Nigeria Delta politics, particularly Rivers state that is historically crisis-prone. We need to speak this inconvenient truth to the Nigeria’s leader to take responsibility and call the hardworking and passionate Wike to order immediately. Reference to him (Wike) as a coordinator and factional leader of the now victorious legislators and the strange media chat he was allowed to address on the day and the time the Governor of Rivers state attempted to address the State Assembly according to the president’s counsel, diminished our humanity and the public space.

Our leaders in Abuja may not believe this, whatever is happening to the Governor of Rivers state who Senator Shehu Sani believes may be impeached soon despite suspicious interventions in Abuja, further diminishes the majesty of democracy and the rule of law. Security and welfare of the people of River state, is part of the remit of the Chief Executive of the Federation who cares so much about the sanctity of that responsibility. He can’t delegate his power (as president) to a clear leader of a faction in the conflict in Rivers state. The fire on the mountain in Port Harcourt requires that the President should be on the run – this time to put out the fire- before it is too late.

US President Donald Trump’s administration is mulling a new travel ban that would affect citizens from dozens of countries to varying degrees, the New York Times reported Friday.

Citing anonymous officials, it said the draft list featured 43 countries, divided into three categories of travel restrictions.

The red category of countries whose citizens would be completely barred from entering the United States includes Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.

Another 10 countries in the orange category—Belgium, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Turkmenistan—would see their visas sharply restricted.

“In those cases, affluent business travellers might be allowed to enter, but not people traveling on immigrant or tourist visas,” the New York Times said.

Citizens from countries on the orange list would also have to undergo in-person interviews to receive a visa.

Another 22 countries on a yellow list would have 60 days to address US concerns or risk being moved up to one of the more stringent categories.

“The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive internal deliberations, cautioned that the list had been developed by the State Department several weeks ago, and that changes were likely by the time it reached the White House,” the New York Times said.

As one of his first acts in office, Trump froze the United States’ refugee admission program and almost all foreign aid.

Trump ordered the US government to identify countries whose nationals should be banned from entering on security grounds, a move akin to the so-called “Muslim ban” of his first term.

That ban — which in 2017 targeted citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — ignited international outrage and lead to domestic court rulings against it.

Iraq and Sudan were dropped from the list, but in 2018 the Supreme Court upheld a later version of the ban for the other nations — as well as North Korea and Venezuela.

[AFP]