The Nigeria Police Force has dismissed allegations made by Amnesty International in its report, describing the claims as false, misleading, and damaging to the image of the force.

The report, dated November 28, 2024, accused the police of extrajudicial killings during the protests, claiming that at least 24 people were killed in six northern states.

Titled “Bloody August: Nigeria Government’s Violent Crackdown on #EndBadGovernance Protests,” the report has been refuted by the police, who assert that their findings contradict Amnesty International’s allegations.

Addressing a press briefing on the matter on Sunday, Force Spokesperson Muyiwa Adejobi revealed that a special investigative panel had been constituted to verify the claims.

“Amnesty International is advised to reflect on its frequent false reporting on Nigeria’s law enforcement activities and ensure its reports are accurate and contain a true and fair representation of events affecting national security and public safety. Accurate reporting of facts is essential to the integrity of any international organisation, and Amnesty International should not be an exception,” Adejobi said.

He added that the police would write to demand a retraction of the report as well as a public apology for the alleged inaccuracies.

“The Nigeria Police Force will, in due course, write to Amnesty International to demand the retraction of this report from the public domain along with a public apology. The Nigeria Police Force remains resolute in protecting the rights of all citizens while ensuring the security and stability of the nation. We, therefore, urge the public to be wary of sensational reports designed to incite mistrust and weaken confidence in law enforcement institutions,” Adejobi said.

Reeling out the police findings in Borno, Adejobi said the police didn’t use grenades as claimed by the organisation.

He said, “In Borno State, it was established that the protesters were violent, engaging in widespread looting, pillaging, and wanton destruction of public and private property. For example, the Skill Acquisition Centre of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees was looted and vandalised.

“The warehouse of the World Food Programme, located on Baga/Maimalari Barracks Road, Maiduguri, was also looted, with several items belonging to the international organisation destroyed and stolen by some of the protesters.

“Therefore, the claims by Amnesty International that the police threw a hand grenade from a convoy of vehicles into a filling station killing three persons is a blatant falsehood and leaves right-thinking members of society dismayed at this reported falsehood by an international agency that ought to act in accordance with international norms and standards of fair and honest reporting of human rights violations in the country.”

In Niger State, Adejobi said the claim that three individuals were shot dead in Suleja was debunked in the police findings.

Adejobi said the alleged killing of a 21-year-old in Katsina was also found to be unsubstantiated, adding that local sources confirmed that no such incident occurred.

Also in Kaduna State, Adejobi said contrary to Amnesty International’s report, no protests occurred in Kaduna on October 1, 2024, and no police killings were recorded.

He said instead, an incident involving the Nigerian Army was identified and openly investigated.

Adejobi said Amnesty International reported the deaths of two women and a man during protests in Jigawa, but the police investigations revealed no such killings, and evidence suggested that the lone fatality was caused by protester violence, not police action.

In Kano State, Adejobi said the report alleged 12 deaths in Kano due to police actions, stating that investigations indicated that these deaths resulted from violent confrontations involving looters and criminals, not police activity.

The handling of the on-going defamation case between legal giant, Afe Babalola and social activist, Dele Farotimi has provided strong evidence that Nigeria has probably lost its fight against media trial. Many years back, there was the well-articulated viewpoint that because the word “trial” is associated with the process of justice, trial by the media constitutes an undue interference in the process of justice delivery.

The argument has since been overtaken by the nature of social media which has made public communication exceedingly rampant, just as lawyers have themselves contributed to the development by engaging in the new wave of minute-by-minute commentary on cases already before a court of justice. Apart from publicity-seeking lawyers, some others with scanty briefs are too anxious to let the public know that they are learned.

Unfortunately, the Nigerian public has not been well served by the trend in which both parties in the case have already found one another guilty. In the process, the parties have also made it easy to identify the bias of each commentator while establishing that Nigerian law was in a state of confusion. The original point made was that Farotimi was smuggled into Ekiti from Lagos for trial because libel had been decriminalized in Lagos state.

Another version said Lagos and Edo states were the only two states where libel had been downgraded to civil wrong before it was realized that Ekiti itself had done same in 2021. Those who were thus unable to comprehend why the charge was read in Ekiti were later informed that it was still a crime as a federal offence. So, how can anyone pacify the social media mob with the gossip that a federal crime was being happily prosecuted in Ekiti which had decriminalized same offence in her own territory? 

Here, one can say that the irrepressible prolific writer Chidi Odinkalu may have greatly influenced some of the views of the social media activists. Odinkalu had recalled the story of Paul Anyebe a judge in Benue state who was once prosecuted on a-two count charge of attempted murder and illegal possession of firearms. On the latter, he was convicted in the lower courts but freed at the Supreme Court. What the apex court established was that the illegal possession of firearms being a federal offence could only be prosecuted by the Attorney General of the Federation. Expectedly, the public may not have understood why Dele Farotimi was being tried in Ekiti state for criminal libel which is a federal offence. In the circumstance, any person was free to believe that the trial of Farotimi in Ado Ekiti was influenced by some big personality.

The views of a few conservative intellectuals on Babalola’s side did not convince some ‘diehards.’ As one commentator on social media observed, the write-up with the title “Dele Farotimi: When activism is no licence to defame” gave an impression that the accused had already been found guilty hence the conclusion that activism was no licence to defame others. No one could have defamed anybody yet until after judgment.

As a matter of fact, with a few people already volunteering to testify in favour of Farotimi, the presumption of guilt is shaken. At the same time, writers on the side of the complainant have spent ample time telling us about the great achievements of Babalola as if the man’s career and feat were in doubt. There is nothing strange about people seeking to bring down a great character because it is only those on top that can be brought down. One commentator was so incensed that he reduced the issue to how African culture expects young people to respect elders.

Those who were unable to immediately comprehend the overwhelming public interest in the matter were wrongly thinking of Babalola and Farotimi. They greatly missed the point because what attracted everyone to the subject was the common public pain of judicial corruption in the country. Nigerians are not pleased with the judiciary. The other day when Chief Justice Kekere Ekun tried to explain the problem of conflicting judgments, one critic on radio merely reminded listeners that the ugly trend was a recent phenomenon. To be honest, too many inexplicable things have happened in Nigeria of recent; a good example being the case of a governorship election petition in which the oral judgment was the opposite of the certified true copy of the same judgment.

Again, although criminal libel is a written law that can be located and read, it still did not make sense to many people. On the other hand, it is easy to appreciate civil defamation where anyone who was defamed could sue and be compensated for whatever damage was done. It is truly hard to convince people that Farotimi’s alleged defamation against Babalola should be punished as if he defamed every other person whose names he never mentioned in his book. Consequently, social media mob can never understand how the attack on a particular person’s reputation can adversely affect the reputation of another person who was not referred to in the statement that was considered to be defamatory.  For as long as it exists, criminal libel will always be perceived more as bad law.

From the above, it is obvious that decriminalizing libel in Nigeria is overdue. It is indeed one of the failings of our national assembly that obsolete colonial laws of sedition and criminal libel are still in our law books more than half a century after the colonialists who originated them had left Nigeria. The obsolete laws are no doubt an affront on free speech provided for by Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic 1999 and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights Act. Each time this argument is presented, it is countered by the purpose of Section 45 of our constitution which recognizes that certain laws are reasonably justifiable in a democracy. Is it justifiably reasonable to take aspects of the law of sedition and incorporate them into the Cybercrimes act to harass citizens? Is it not repugnant to criminalize libel and equate an attack on a person’s reputation to an attack on government and the entire society? 

To make matters worse the procedure attached to criminal libel can hardly meet the course of justice making it clearly undesirable. What usually happens is that when a person files a petition, accusing someone of making a false or damaging statement against him or her, the accused is usually brutalized even before the case is determined or indeed before getting to the point of saying anything. In the case of Farotimi for example, he was placed on handcuffs, denied bail and imprisoned for no less than two weeks without any opportunity to even show that he can prove the truth of his allegation.  Yet, the law accepts truth as an absolute defence. Such a procedure can only be forcefully justified in a dictatorship and not a democracy.

Since we are no longer under colonial or military rule, it is important to repeal criminal libel so that a party that can win a case at the end is not first brutalized before the case starts just as the loser’s sanction comes only after conviction. Nigeria would certainly be better off if sufficient attention is paid to law reforms. One of the advantages of such is that it produces a uniform system of laws and justice delivery. The situation of a few states decriminalizing libel while the federal system remains stagnant is ill advisable. Besides, it is not in the interest of the nation to focus on yearly review of electoral act while obsolete colonial laws remain in our books. 

We have had ample time to change the situation. As far back as 1985 when former governor Jim Nwobodo sued one writer, Arthur Nwankwo over an article he wrote criticising the governor, Hon Justice Olatawura JCA made the following profound statements: “we are no longer the illiterates or the mob society our colonial masters had in mind when certain laws were promulgated. Let us not diminish from the freedom gained from our colonial masters by resorting to laws enacted by them to suit their purpose.” Instead, let us enjoy the freedom of democracy that at the same time abhors reckless statements that can hurt the reputation that some citizens have built over the years.

“It takes your enemy and your friend, working together, to hurt you: the one to slander you, and the other to bring the news to you” – Mark Twain, 1835-1910.

“It takes 20 years [or more] to make a reputation; and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’II do things differently” – Warren Buffett, 2022.

A few issues occur in our lives which call for more than one lead off quotation from sages. The legal battle pitching Pa Afe Babalola, SAN, against Barrister Dele Farotimi is one of them. I was startled the first time the statement by Twain came to my notice. It was probably in one of his classics, probably, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It didn’t make sense to me then, only 21 years old. Since then, and now at 80+, it appears to be incomparable wisdom – when alleged libel or slander is involved.

A senior colleague once approached me to help find a good lawyer to prosecute a case of alleged defamation. First, I asked him one question: “Did you read the statement yourself?” He said “No, a friend read it”. My next question was: “How many people do you think would read it?” He was not sure. “Then, forget it.

Start a case and more people will go and read it”. He ignored my advice; went to court and he is still there eleven years after starting. The cases involved in the Babalola versus Farotimi legal war are destined to be tied up in courts for years to come. Furthermore, one or the two might be dead before the final verdicts at the Supreme Court. I have an idea who might not last the distance – irrespective of the merits of their case.

I might be wrong on this; but, it is quite possible that Pa Afe Babalola did not read Dele’s book until somebody else drew his attention to it. That was his friend; bringing the news to chief. Well, if that is the case, the “friend” had succeeded mightily in getting Pa very angry; to the point of litigation. But, he has also got thousands of people who would not have read the book to read it. I certainly would not have bothered; for the simple reason that the Nigerian judiciary has become a scandal in many respects – given their judgments.

Permit me to state upfront that I am not prejudging any of the multiple cases that would arise out of the legal warfare involving Pa Afe Babalola and lawyer Farotimi. I am quite contented to allow the justices assigned to handle them to do their work. To be quite candid, when cases like this come up, I am inclined to agree with Shakespeare once again that, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”. Since the news of Farotimi’s arrest broke, I have read mountains of stuff sent to me by friends; who got the originals from lawyers from both sides. I am sick and tired of the legal cross-fire. Only one thing interests me in this matter; and that is consideration for Chief Babalola’s age. I would feel the same if it was Farotimi who is 95 years old.

My sympathy for Chief Babalola rests on the fact that this case will not end in a long time. Right now, the two combatants, like wrestlers on the Wild World of Wrestling, WWW, have acquired tag team partners, willingly or inadvertently, doing everything fair and foul to influence public opinion. Nothing suggests that they would limit themselves to just that and not mobilise corrupt police and judiciary officials. A lot of dirt, true or false, will be dug up and splashed around long before this fight is over – if nobody mediates it.

I strongly believe that regardless of the merits of the cases, Chief is at a social and political disadvantage. His powerful friends are far from popular; and they are reluctant to speak out on matters such as this. His adversaries, most of them who really are indifferent to the facts of the case, are deeply experienced in street fighting. They are numerous, unrelenting and vicious attackers. Blows below the belt will be delivered. As a friend writing for the BOSTON GLOBE told me in 1972, “If you dig deep enough into anybody’s past, you will find sh*t”.

The spades are out digging; and for at least one human reason. “You’ll find envy where there’s good fortune. There are people who will envy you if you’re happy” – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 1918-2008, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p 49. Again, let me state upfront that the comments which follow don’t apply to Dele Farotimi – who might have a genuine grievance. It just happens to be a fact that successful people attract a great deal of envy. It is impossible to be a world champion without beating a lot of contestants.

Few competitors in any field of endeavour are gallant losers. Thousands of lawyers and litigants who lost cases against Chief Babalola would have their feelings assuaged by clinging to the idea, rightly or wrongly, that they were rigged out of justice. They have already judged this case. Nothing pleaded in the courts will persuade them if the verdict favours Chief Babalola. There’s another reason for which lawyers account in every case such as this.

“And, whether you’re a honest man or whether you’re a thief depends on whose solicitor has given me my brief” – Sir William Gilbert, 1836-1911, VBQ p 123. A clergyman, who detests lawyers as much as Shakespeare, repeatedly describes all of them as the devil’s advocates. For the right amount, they will defend the most heinous criminal and attempt to get him off the hook. It is, therefore, not surprising that they have lined up on the two sides ready for action. Lay men and women, like me, will have to wade through a lot of twaddle to obtain a viewpoint which can be rendered in one sentence.

EX-PARTE JUDGMENTS AND ORS

“Never go to excess; but, let moderation be your guide” -Cicero Though Oscar Wilde, had, with tongue in cheek, announced that “Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess”. I belong to the old school whose values align with those of Cicero in the belief that anything carried to excess is not good. Chief Babalola’s allies have taken steps which, at this stage of the case, are to me worrisome. The ex-parte judgment obtained, empowering them to seize copies of the book, if allowed to stand, will represent a questionable step. As a rule, and as a writer, five books so far, I regard ex-parte rulings injustice codified. I raised objections when the Bubari administration obtained an ex-parte injunction to proscribe the Shites and to arrest El-Zakzakky and his wife.

I am a Christian, but, to me fairness in any case starts with letting both parties be heard. Ex-parte applications deny fair hearing to one party; and can, therefore, not be just – irrespective of why and how it is obtained. Furthermore, the decisions impose punishment on a party which had not been allowed to defend himself. How, on Earth, can that be just? As it is, the court order is of severely limited value. It only inhibits Nigerians from going to bookshops to buy the book. That is small gain; in exchange for great damage. Nigerians don’t buy a lot of books. Most of the sales will be abroad. It is doubtful if the Inspector General of Police, IGP, will travel to the US, or Europe to stop the sale of the books there. Meanwhile, the entire step smacks of bullying using the judiciary as an accomplice and creating sympathy for the other side.

Similarly, asking that Dele Farotimi be dis-barred before the original suit has been decided is even more perplexing. The question here is: Which court of law has convicted him of any crime which could call for such action? The case is still too fresh for that. I understand how Pa Babalola feels on this matter. Rightly or wrongly, he feels disgraced and wants the offender punished severely. But, Chief grew up in the age when Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice was widely read in schools. He should remember what happened to the man who asked for his “pound of flesh close to the heart”. A legal victory, if secured in his life time, might be outweighed by social repercussions which nullify the results. It might be a pyrrhic victory.

BADENOCH IS A POLITICIAN

“Politicians neither love nor hate” – Babylonian Valmud BReW

So much energy and time has been spent by Nigerians on what Keni Badenoch, the UK Tory leader, said about Nigeria. Most of it is emotional and meant for domestic consumption. It will in no way affect the next election in the UK. As far as I am concerned, the young lady is a politician – who, like others, will gladly piss on Mum and Dad; if it will help win the next election. That’s all.

One of the most distressing acts in the suppression of democratic expression since the advent of the Fourth Republic was the inconsiderate lock-out of 14 elected members of the Edo State House of Assembly in 2019.

After winning their elections in the 2019 General Election, the 14 elected members were refused inauguration in an egregious act of democratic perfidy that prayerfully should not be equaled in Nigeria.

Shockingly, the nation kept mute as Governor Godwin Obaseki in a visible validation of accusations of intolerance, nay lack of self-confidence, reportedly formed a ring to keep perceived political naysayers away from parliament.

Interestingly, the refusal to inaugurate the 14 members of the House reduced the 24-member legislative body to a 10-member body.

The bone of contention as speculated was Governor Obaseki’s fear that the 14 members-elect refused to heed his choice of a speaker. The 14 members-elect it was alleged, were aligned to Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the very man who groomed Obaseki and many of the 14 for political office.

 Obaseki known for his reprise of “I am governor, I am governor,” is today no longer governor. Commendably, the man who is governor today, Senator Monday Okpebholo has vowed to investigate that violent disruption of the governance space that forced 14 constituencies to go without representation for four years.

It is expected that the enquiry should come up with strict sanctions against all those who collaborated with “I am governor, I am governor” to truncate the democratic expression of the 14 different constituencies.

How one man sitting in his office can willfully exclude 14, nay, the majority of the constituencies from parliament and the country watched agape, goes a long way to show how laid-back Nigerians are.

The judiciary which should have been the resort of the aggrieved 14 members-elect was not spared as Governor Obaseki in his fantasies as political overlord refused to inaugurate some of the judges recommended for appointment by the National Judicial Council, NJC.

Thankfully, just as the 14 members elect are getting ‘delayed’ justice from Governor Okpebholo, those justices are also getting justice.

In the light of the vagaries seen in the eight years of “I am governor, I am governor” it is shocking that Governor Okpebholo is in his first month in office being drawn into desecrating the political configuration of Edo State.

His exemplification of Obaseki in the recent suspension of the 18 elected local government chairmen is to say the least inexcusable irrespective of the candour and the fresh air he has brought to the polity in Edo State.

The suspension by the Edo State House of Assembly followed a petition in which the governor claimed that the 18 elected chairmen refused to submit details of their accounts to him.

The instruction to submit the accounts was given through his deputy, Dennis Idahosa when the chairmen paid a courtesy visit to welcome him to office. The governor apparently knowing what was in his mind and not wanting to look them in the face given the popular claim that he is a good man, passed the instruction through his deputy.

 Whatever, there is no basis for a governor to demand the accounts of a local government from a chairman. It is just like the president ordering state governors to submit their state accounts to him.

Nigeria must trudge the path of respect for the constitution. Indeed, each political actor must learn to live within his or her space. Just as the governor was elected by a constituency, the local government chairmen were elected by their respective constituencies and must not be subjected to the impulses of any political actor, governor or not.

It is interesting that despite its own foibles, that the Bola Tinubu administration has demonstrated courage in tackling governors on their overlordship of local governments.

The July Supreme Court judgment, untidy as it is, is a beckon to redress the lethargy in our local governments.

Remarkably, the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi has boldly rejected the suspension of the local government chairmen in Edo State.

It may look inhospitable for Governor Okpebholo to tolerate the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP local government chairmen, especially given the rogue election that brought them to power. But the fact is that the elections that brought them to power were not judicially overturned.

Political actors everywhere must learn to tolerate one another and must not because of political fads violate the letters of the constitution to achieve personal goals.

The imprint of the constitution is that the system of democratically elected local governments is guaranteed. It must not be vitiated by anyone, no matter how popular such a person may be.

Obaseki’s politics was particularly noxious, a fact epitomized by his pitiful isolation at the INEC headquarters, the night his successor was chosen. But throwing away his baby and the bathwater is not the way to go.

2024 is about to drop into the archives of history. The year has had some significant moments and developments that provide a good indication of things to come in the New Year.

On the eve of 2025, from my observatory high up in the hills of Wasimi, I can testify that life has been manifesting in accordance to the unchangeable Universal law of action and reaction (not reward and punishment), reaping as one sows. Nigeria reaped only as much as the country sowed in sports.

In 2024, I took my time to observe the country a little bit closer than usual, even if my view is rather narrow looking at everything through the microscopic lens of sports. I saw politics, religion, governance, diplomacy, education, culture, youth matters, health, leisure, sport, etc. all intertwining, creating my greatest and clearest awareness of the inter connectivity of life as one seamless experience ‘divided’ in ‘compartments’ by humanity only for the convenience of better understanding of the complex, perpetual ‘machine’ of existence.

So, looking through that prism, how did Nigeria fare in sports in 2024? A few specific events tell the rest of the story.

AFCON 2023 and Nigerian football
The year started on an uncertain note. Nigeria’s biggest international brand, the Super Eagles, were at the lowest ebb of their confidence with poor performances and results throughout 2023 as a depressant. Against all expectations, come AFCON 2023 (played in 2024); they surprised even themselves, treating the entire country to some good performances that took the team, deservedly, all the way to the finals in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

The team could have won the most coveted trophy in African football at the start of the year but for one or two unfortunate moments during the final match that changed the tide in favour of the more determined and luckier Ivorian.

Worthy of note is that Nigeria still produced Africa’s Player of 2023 after a very long time in the doldrums of African football greats. Victor Osimhen’s rise as the biggest star of AFCON 2023 must have been a watershed for Nigerian players.

Although, the pressure of expectation mounted by the public must have weighed him down, he still treated the fans to a few isolated moments of brilliance.

Unfortunately, he did not leave the championship with a single moment of a truly outstanding performance throughout the championship. His smoke had no fire!

Yet, the championship birthed two new Nigeria heroes – ‘Captain Marvel’ William Troost-Ekong and the revelation of the year, Ademola Lookman who shone like a million stars through most of the matches until the final game against home team Cote D’Ivoire where his bright light was dimmed.

For coming second, against the run of all expectations, the Super Eagles were lavishly rewarded by the government of Nigeria with a heroic welcome and rewards unmatched in the country’s football history. Each player received a National Honour, a plot of land, a house in Abuja and an undisclosed financial bonus.

Since then, until arriving at the eve of the year’s end, the Eagles have oscillated between good and poor performances, with the issue of a permanent coach for the team still unresolved and Nigeria’s chances at the 2026 hanging in the balance.

At the tail end of the year, however, the emergence of Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman as the African Player of 2024 underlines Nigeria’s improving profile in Africa, and is an indication of a brighter future for the team into 2025! Until now, the country has not had two different back-to-back winners of that coveted award.

The Olympics Games

Mid-2024, Nigeria went to the Paris Olympic Games with very high expectations of returning with a few medals. After all, the country had in its fold the fastest woman over the 100 meters hurdles in the world (Tobi Amusan) as well as one of the best female long jumpers (Ese Brume). Between both of them, the country assumed a ‘sure-banker’ medal.

When both failed to win any medals, and no other Nigerian athlete could raise their game and spirit to Olympian heights, the country went into depression and anger set in. It was clear that something had to give for the people to be appeased and the dwindling spirit of Nigerians in sport to be revived.

Towards the end of the year, the federal government changed the guards at the helm of Nigerian sports. The pending matter of the National Sports Commission, NSC, as the preferred structure for Nigeria’s sports development (from previous varied experiences) was dusted. The federal government abolished the Ministry of Sports Development and announced the re-introduction of the National Sports Commission.

Unfortunately, in Nigeria’s sports story, there were two variants of the NSC – one with a sole administrator at the top, and the other with a board of members drawn from critical stakeholders.

One was a failure, and the other, the greatest success story in sports development in Nigeria’s history. It is no rocket science that two heads are better than one, particularly in a field where everyone claims to be an expert and arrogantly insists their way is the only way. The NSC with board of members is what was prescribed and what is needed.

So far, the new NSC is fundamentally a change in name and leadership only. The issue of a commission of board members serving as think-tank and clearing house is still pending! It is foolhardy to expect a different result from a previous failed system, even with new leaders with good credentials driving it.

The Military and Nigerian Sports
The return of the military establishment to national sports consciousness is an interesting development of 2024. The African Military Games, hosted by Nigeria in October 2024 has revived a forgotten tradition where the military played a very significant role in the development of sports in the country.

Hosting the Games in Abuja also opened up new vistas of possibilities for reviving the national sports facilities in the Federal Capital Territory, reminding everyone of the successful practice of involving the military as bona fide members of the Nigerian sports architecture. The success of the games has become a blueprint for future hosting of major international events, an essential catalyst for development.

In 2025, the relationship between the National Sports Commission and the Military would be interesting to observe.

Other sports and the future

Otherwise, in 2024, with all other sports, there is really nothing huge and transformative to report. The sports federations are still grappling with how to generate funds to run their programmes, how to elect genuine sports leaders, how to work and share responsibilities with government, and so on. These are issues that the board of the new NSC should interrogate and provide answers to in 2025.

In 2025, Nigeria must now start to look beneath the surface of things, at the crux of matters, at the opportunities… and start to think and dream big.

The rest of the world (except Nigerians themselves) knows Nigeria’s potentials as a great force in the world in virtually all fields. The Universe has endowed the country with raw materials waiting to be nurtured and deployed to yield rich harvests.

It will not be easy. It will not be a stroll in the park. Considering the squandered riches and opportunities in the past, it will take passing through the crucible of fire, hard decisions and hard choices, pain and sacrifice, to reset the buttons of proper development and for Nigeria to assume its rightful place again in the world.

It takes looking beneath the surface of things, beneath the current hardships that must be endured, riding on the crest of self-belief, fearless against the tide of external opposition and distractions, and making development from home in Nigeria a priority strategy, for the path to a bright future to be illuminated once again.

Nigeria is heading where no one can claim to have been before. It will be sheer arrogance for anyone in sport to think or claim that theirs is the only way to Nigeria’s future emergence as a global player in sports. Such humility is what is needed from 2025.

Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has decried the loss of over 105 lives in stampedes during food and cash distribution events in Nigeria, attributing the tragedies to “poverty-induced neoliberal economic policies” and “criminal negligence.”

In a statement released on Sunday, Falana, who chairs the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), detailed the incidents and called for justice.

“These tragic events are a national shame,” he said. “The victims were not just statistics but human beings driven to desperation by systemic poverty and the gross incompetence of those entrusted with their safety.”

The latest tragedies occurred on December 21, 2024. In Okija, Anambra State, 12 people died, and 32 others were injured during a scramble for rice distributed by a philanthropist. On the same day, a stampede at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Maitama, Abuja, claimed 10 lives, including children, as over 3,000 people jostled for palliatives.

Two days earlier, on December 19, 35 children were crushed to death at a Christmas funfair in Ibadan, Oyo State. The tragedy unfolded as the event began at Islamic High School, Basorun. “The loss of these innocent lives is heart-wrenching,” Falana said. “It underscores the indignity that poverty imposes on our people.”

In April 2024, nine people died in Sokoto at the residence of former governor Aliyu Wamakko during a chaotic palliative distribution. Similarly, in March 2024, seven people, including an eight-year-old girl, lost their lives at a charity event in Bauchi where ₦5,000 cash gifts were being distributed. Days earlier, two students died and 23 were injured during a state government palliative distribution at Nasarawa State University, Keffi.

The grim pattern dates back to May 22, 2022, when 30 people died in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at a church charity event marred by overcrowding.

Falana criticised the elite for their treatment of the poor during such events. “No member of the elite invites others to lunch by throwing the food,” he remarked, condemning what he described as “class prejudice” in humanitarian aid distribution.

The Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond announced plans to mobilise lawyers to pursue civil suits against organisers of these events. “We will ensure survivors and families of the deceased are adequately compensated,” Falana said. “Those responsible for these avoidable tragedies must be held accountable.”

He also called on the government to take decisive action to prevent further loss of lives.

“Enough is enough!” he declared. “These events reflect the harsh realities of inequality in our nation and the urgent need for systemic reforms to protect the dignity and lives of our citizens.”

Falana’s statement serves as a rallying cry for justice and reform, spotlighting Nigeria’s deepening poverty crisis and the human cost of neglect.

In 1991, Nigeria was in the full throes of the interminable transition to civil rule programme of General Ibrahim Babangida. The effort by the regime in 1991 to relocate their terminal date from 1992 to 1993 coincided with a planned meeting in Ibadan, south-west Nigeria, of the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS). 

At the time, the security agencies had secreted on major campuses around the country assets masquerading as students. The University of Ibadan was no exception. The unsuspecting NANS leadership were taken by surprise when the SSS swooped on their meeting, abducted their entire lot and dumped them at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison in Lagos with notice to no one. The abductees included then-president of the NANS, Mahmud Aminu; their Svengali, Bamidele Aturu, as well as other notables in the movement such as Naseer Kura and Funso Omogbehin.

To make the grab look lawful, the regime issued a back-dated order for their detention under the State Security (Detention of Persons) Decree No. 2 of 1984 effectively making them hostages in law. On a routine professional visit to the Kirikiri Prisons in 1991 to see some other detainees, the then officer in charge (O/C) of records at the facility pulled me aside and whispered about the presence in the prison of the leadership of the NANS. Until then, nearly 10 days after they went missing, no one knew where they were. If Mungo Park had made the journey, the history books would probably have recorded that he “discovered” the then leadership of the NANS in Kirikiri Prisons. 

The lead lawyer for such matters then was Kanmi Isola-Osobu, a brilliant life bencher who was also a lawyer to Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Kanmi’s office was opposite Adekunle Police Station in Yaba, Lagos; beside Dr. Tunji Otegbeye’s hospital. There were no cellular phones. I visited Kanmi’s office on a Monday afternoon to brief him about the students in the hope that he could lead the legal proceedings on their behalf. He was busy. With a familiar glint lighting up his face, Kanmi later informed me that he had been busy lubricating the struggle.

The case went before Nureini Abiodun Kessington, whose court at the time had a deserved reputation as the graveyard of bloated professional egos. With subversive invention, Kessington promptly ended the abduction of the student leaders and ensured that they were released with no substantial interruption to their academic careers or lives thereafter. 

Those of us who became active against military rule then were inspired largely by two things. One was the hope that the end of military rule would see the end of such practice; the other was the dutiful resistance of some courageous judges like Kessington. In hindsight we may have been naïve about the nature of power and about the resilience of its methods. A quarter of a century after the end of military rule, the practice continues to prosper. To make matters worse, courageous judges appear to have become extinct.

First, the politicians discovered they could emulate the soldiers. In January 2017, Audu Maikori had been a lawyer for nearly sixteen years. He was a leader in entertainment law in Nigeria and president and chief executive officer of a thriving start-up in the sector known as Chocolate City Group, with interests in radio, television, events, movies, and music. A son of Southern Kaduna, Audu was also a powerful voice and amplifier for the sufferings of the people under then Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir el-Rufai.

On or around 17 February 2017, police officers from the Kaduna state command of the Nigeria Police Force abducted Audu from Lagos and embarked on a cross-country dash with him; first to Abuja where he was detained in the police cell in Asokoro. The following day they ferried him to Kaduna for further detention. After two days of detention, the police in Kaduna granted him bail.

It was in Kaduna that Audu discovered that his abduction was in connection with a post on his Twitter feed about the crisis in Southern Kaduna. A fortnight after Audu’s release on bail, Nasir el-Rufai while headlining the Social Media Week in Lagos on 4 March, promised that he was “trying to link the dates of [Audu’s tweets] to attacks that may have happened the next day on Fulanis and if we are able to establish that causation,…. we know what it means.” Under his orders, the police snatched Audu again and this time detained him in nasty conditions in the State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). He had become a hostage in law.

Audu subsequently sued el-Rufai and the police. On 27 October 2017, John Tsoho, then a judge of the federal high court, issued a judgment invalidating Audu’s abduction from Lagos. The judge held that “a warrant of arrest issued by a Magistrate in Kaduna was not valid for execution in Laos, except and until endorsed by a court in Lagos. Not even a warrant issued by a state high court can be validly executed in another state without endorsement by a competent court within the state where it is to be executed.” He awarded N40 million in damages against Governor el-Rufai. After the court of appeal reaffirmed the essence of the judgment by the federal high court, el-Rufai appealed to the supreme court to assert his right to abduct Nigerian citizens at will and hold them as his own hostages in law. 

Two years later, judges and magistrates invented jurisprudence to ground the practice of hostage-taking through law. Unlike in Audu’s case, the police officers who abducted Steven Kefason from Port Harcourt in May 2019 could not even be bothered with a warrant. After snatching Steven, they secreted him in a cell in Mini Koro, Rivers state overnight before ferrying him by road in a brutal ride to Kaduna. Over three days, they denied him food, access to communication or personal sanitation.

In Kaduna, Steven was interrogated in equally brutal conditions under the personal supervision of the governor’s legal adviser. The reason for the abduction – it turned out – was a tweet by Steven around 20 April 2019 in which he said that “while over 12k Kajuru IDPs are living in a terrible condition, their LG chairman, Cafra Caino, was hosting his old school mates to a birthday party at Kajuru Castle….” The facts were not in dispute but el-Rufai nevertheless instructed the abduction of Steven on charges of incitement and injurious falsehood. One month after Steven’s initial abduction, the magistrate in Kaduna denied him bail on 20 June 2019 because, according to the magistrate, “while on bail, [he] further made social media posts further insulting the person of the Governor and that of the Chairman of Kaduna and Kajuru LGAs respectively.”

On February 27, 2020, Peter Mallong, a judge of the federal high court in Kaduna, denied Steven’s request for judicial review of his abduction and the decision of the magistrate claiming, in an extraordinary travesty of jurisprudence that he was bound by the decision of the magistrate to deny bail because the issues were the same and the parties were largely the same. Following his abduction, Steven suffered as hostage in law for over six months with no redress and came close to losing his life. The injustice of the judgment cried out to the Heavens for redress. 

In July 2023, Peter Mallong died at 60. 

Those who wonder how the country ended up with the utterly shameful charade being orchestrated in a squalid courtroom in Ekiti in the case of Dele Farotimi have Peter Mallong to thank for having written the manual on judicial enablement of the practice of rendering citizens into hostages in law. This narrative has wider ramifications.

A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

The case of Dele Farotimi, a lawyer and author, has raised concerns about the treatment of individuals by the police and courts in Nigeria, particularly in libel cases. Farotimi who has just been granted another bail was arrested and detained following a petition by Afe Babalola, a prominent lawyer, who alleged that Farotimi’s book, “Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System,” contained defamatory statements against him. The petition led to Farotimi’s arrest by the Ekiti State Police Command, who then arraigned him before a magistrate court. The court granted an order remanding Farotimi in prison custody.

This curious case has sparked worries about free speech in a democracy. The arrest and detention of Farotimi have been seen as an attempt to silence him and stifle criticism of the Nigerian justice system. The fact that the libel case against Farotimi hasn’t been properly filed has also raised concerns about the misuse of the legal system to intimidate and harass individuals. Ultimately, this case highlights the need for greater protections for free speech in Nigeria and the importance of ensuring that the legal system is not used to silence critics and stifle dissent.

Meanwhile, as the civil society organisations including the media have been worried about the case that has led to continued detention of the lawyer is still dominating public discourse, there are some remarkable lessons about the same libel case by one of the world’s greatest complainants against the media, in fact, the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump who actually tagged the U.S mainstream media as “the enemies of the people”. The former president actually sued a major television network ABC News and here are some of the outcomes so far all of us including the elder statesman, Aare Afe Babalola can learn from.

The recent $15 million libel settlement between Donald Trump and ABC News is a significant development that offers valuable lessons for media outlets, politicians, and the public. At the heart of the dispute was a comment made by George Stephanopoulos, claiming that Trump was found liable for rape, which was said to be inaccurate.

‘Significance of the Settlement’
The settlement is a substantial win for Trump, who has long accused mainstream media of bias and defamation. The $15 million payout, along with an apology and an editor’s note from ABC News, demonstrates that media outlets can be held accountable for inaccurate reporting. This settlement also highlights the challenges of reporting on high-profile individuals, particularly in today’s polarised media landscape. The case serves as a reminder that even slight inaccuracies can lead to costly legal battles and reputational damage.

‘Lessons for media outlets’
There are significant lessons for media outlets and media law scholars in this regard:
Accuracy is paramount: The settlement emphasises the importance of accuracy in reporting. Media outlets must ensure that their reporting is thorough, accurate, and unbiased to avoid costly lawsuits.

Clear apologies and corrections: ABC News’s apology and editor’s note demonstrate the importance of clear and prompt corrections. Media outlets must be willing to acknowledge and correct mistakes to maintain credibility.

Understanding of legal nuances: The case highlights the importance of understanding legal nuances and complexities. Media outlets must ensure that their reporting accurately reflects the complexities of legal cases.

Lessons for Politicians
Consequences of litigation: The settlement demonstrates that litigation can have significant consequences, financially and can affect reputation. Politicians must be cautious when pursuing legal action, as it can backfire and damage their reputation.

Importance of media relations: The case highlights the importance of maintaining positive relationships with media outlets. Politicians must work to build trust with journalists and media outlets to avoid misreporting and defamation.

Thick skin and strategic communication: Politicians must develop a thick skin and strategic communication skills to navigate the challenges of modern media. This includes being prepared to address inaccuracies and misinformation promptly and effectively. There may not be any smooth relationship between Trump and the mainstream media in his second term as Elon Musk, Trump’s most trusted digital media baron, has already declared the mainstream media persona non grata in the new media ecosystem in the United States.

Broader Implications
The settlement has broader implications for the media landscape and the relationship between politicians and the press. It highlights the challenges of reporting on high-profile individuals and the importance of accuracy, fairness, and transparency in journalism.

In the main, the ABC News $15 million libel settlement to Trump serves as a reminder of the importance of responsible journalism and the need for media outlets to prioritise accuracy and fairness in their reporting.

The nexus between strategy of Trump and Babalola
The ABC $15 million libel settlement to Trump and Afe Babalola’s use of the court and police to detain Dele Farotimi, author of a book he claims defames him, may seem like unrelated cases, but they share some common lessons.

Power of libel laws: Both cases highlight the power of libel laws in holding individuals and media outlets accountable for false or damaging statements. Afe Babalola’s actions demonstrate that individuals can use libel laws to protect their reputation but without having to use the police to torture the accused, while the ABC settlement shows that media outlets can also be held liable for false reporting.

Importance of fact-checking: The ABC settlement payment to Trump emphasises the importance of fact-checking in journalism. Similarly, Afe Babalola’s case against Dele Farotimi highlights the need for authors and publishers to verify the accuracy of their content to avoid libel claims.

Consequences of false reporting: Both cases demonstrate the consequences of alleged false reporting, which can lead to financial losses, damage to reputation, and even long-drawn litigation.

Need for media literacy: The ABC News settlement case underscores the need for media literacy and critical thinking in consuming information. The ABC News case, for instance highlights the importance of verifying information through reputable sources to avoid spreading misinformation.

In conclusion, while the ABC settlement payment to Trump and Afe Babalola’s case against Dele Farotimi may seem like unrelated cases, they share common lessons about the power of libel laws, the importance of fact-checking, the consequences of inaccurate reporting, and the need for media (law) literacy.

But Elder Babalola should also consider 10 reasons most leaders, politicians and business barons avoid defamation lawsuit:

Fear of scrutiny: Defamation lawsuits can lead to increased scrutiny of their activities, which may expose their corrupt and unethical practices.

Loss of reputation: A defamation lawsuit can damage their reputation, even if they win the case.

The negative publicity surrounding the lawsuit can be detrimental to their business and personal interests.

Financial consequences: Defamation lawsuits can be costly, and the financial consequences of losing a case can be significant.

Fear of discovery: During a defamation lawsuit, the discovery process may reveal information that the corrupt and unethical barons would rather keep hidden.

Intimidation tactics: Corrupt and unethical barons may use intimidation tactics, such as threatening to sue for defamation, to silence critics and avoid accountability.

Lack of transparency: Unclean barons may operate in opaque environments, making it difficult for critics to gather evidence and build a strong case against them.

Influence and power: Corrupt barons may have significant influence and power, which can be used to silence critics and avoid accountability.

Fear of retaliation: Critics may fear retaliation from filthy barons, including physical harm, financial ruin, or damage to their reputation.

Limited access to justice: In some cases, corrupt barons may have significant resources and influence, making it difficult for critics to access justice.

Culture of impunity: In some environments, corrupt barons may operate with a sense of impunity, believing that they are above the law and that they can avoid accountability.

Meanwhile, appeals for Dele Farotimi to apologize to Afe Babalola before a proper trial are misguided and can undermine the principles of justice and free speech. Here are several reasons why:
Presumption of innocence: In any democratic society, an individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty. By demanding an apology before a trial, Babalola’s supporters are essentially presuming Farotimi’s guilt.

Undermining free speech: The demand for an apology can be seen as an attempt to stifle free speech and criticism. Farotimi, as an author and lawyer, has the right to express his opinions and critique the justice system.

Lack of due process: A proper trial ensures that due process is followed, and both parties have an opportunity to present their cases. By demanding an apology before a trial, Babalola’s supporters are circumventing this process.

Apology as admission of guilt: An apology can be perceived as an admission of guilt. By demanding an apology before a trial, Babalola’s supporters are essentially asking Farotimi to admit to defamation without a proper investigation or trial.

Precedent for Intimidation: If Farotimi is pressured into apologising before a trial, it sets a dangerous precedent for intimidation and silencing of critics. This can have a chilling effect on free speech and open criticism.

Disregard for the rule of law: The demand for an apology before a trial disregards the rule of law and the principles of justice. It is essential to allow the legal process to unfold without external pressure or interference.

Let’s examine why libel case should not be treated as if we were going to war: Already, there are curiosities surrounding the claims by Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, that a younger lawyer, Dele Farotimi, defamed him in a book on the judiciary. For this, the police had invaded Farotimi’s chambers, assaulted his staff, threatened two of his lawyers with guns and, practically abducted the lawyer. He was first dragged in handcuffs before a Magistrate Court in Ado Ekiti, Chief Babalola’s hometown where he is a legend. The Magistrate first denied Farotimi bail. While the bail conditions were being argued, the Inspector General of Police Kayode Egebtokun had Farotimi brought from prison to a High Court to face new charges: cybercrimes. Another bail was granted in this case which Farotimi had not perfected at press time.  Then while still being held in prison, Babalola and his supporters filed more charges against Farotimi before courts in Abuja, Ibadan and Port Harcourt.

The Babalola Chambers additionally, petitioned the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee to remove Farotimi from the roll of Nigerian legal practitioners. But in the case of Donald Trump vs ABC News, the ABC News anchor, George Staphanopoulos who allegedly claimed that Trump was found guilty for rape wasn’t arrested by the U.S police high command, nor was the ABC News operations disrupted at any time before the influential news organisation opted for the settlement of $16m dollars. What if elder Afe Babalola had filed a lawsuit against Dele Farotimi without humiliating him, would that have made any difference? Why is the accused being tried in Ado-Ekiti at the instance of the accuser in a democracy? Is this a warning signal to those who would like to deconstruct and critique the current systemic malaise in the country? Let’s manage allegation of defamation like Trump and his supporters. The trial of Dele is becoming messy and complicated. Simplify and dignify it, AGF!

Very soon, Chinese boys and girls will be selling pure water on our highways. Many of them will out-sprint our own hawkers and there will be messy street fights. Write down that prediction and remember to acknowledge my copyright to that prophecy when it comes to pass.

But, wait! What prediction are we talking about when we already have hundreds of thousands of Chinese nationals all over Nigeria – from the aquatic splendour of Lagos to the arid wonders of Sokoto. The Chinese have embedded themselves into our society unobtrusively. They have meshed with our communities and, if I may borrow an expression invented by Prof Wole Soyinka, many of them have not only frolicked here but also wifed here.

I have seen mixed race children with Chinese features in many rural communities in Northern Nigeria. You can’t miss their facial features – almond-shaped or slanted eyes with pronounced epicanthic folds, dark irises, flat noses, prominent cheekbones and flat facial features. The Chinese are members of the Mongoloid race – one of the three main races in the world, the others being Negroids and Caucasoids.

Invasion

The current Chinese invasion of our urban and rural spaces is intriguing because the Asian immigrants, unlike their caucasian counterparts, live, wine and dine with the local people and are therefore, to some extent, stakeholders in the affairs of those communities. Their children won’t be regarded as immigrants but as locals. Someday, they will claim their political and traditional rights and provide leadership for fellow local “brothers and sisters”.

That, however, is not the worrying aspect of the massive emigration of Chinese nationals to Nigeria. It is normal for people all over the world to seek better livelihood in other lands. What is worrisome is the capacity of the newcomers to outnumber the original natives. When you’re talking numbers, the Chinese are heavyweight champions. I checked the current population of that country in real time as I was writing this piece and it was 1,417,794,773. The US comedian, Richard Pryor, would tell you the hidden connotation of having that huge population, “A billion people, that’s some…!

To further contextualise the matter, we simply have to remember that the population of the entire continent of Africa is 1.5 billion.

China has the capacity to “neutralize” the numerical strength of several Nigerian ethnic nationalities. If the Chinese decide on a programme of encouraging 15 percent of their population to settle in Africa with Nigeria as a favourite honey pot, they will be the largest single homogenous ethnic block within most of the individual countries and will rightly determine its fortunes, based on the mantra of one-man-one-vote.

Just consider the figures: 15 percent of their population is 212,700,000, enough to distribute all over Africa and emerge as the most populous ethnic group in many countries of the continent. Imagine if there was a 40 million Chinese population in Nigeria! If you analyse figures coming out of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), it will take some doing to outvote or out-rig the hypothetical Chinese!

I’m not advocating a Trump-style “nationalist” racial cleansing, neither am I oblivious of the positive contribution of some foreigners of Chinese descent to the manufacturing sector of Nigeria’s economy. I am rather interested in seeing the bad eggs among the lot identified and removed from circulation as the law demands.

Demarketing Nigeria

I have been a victim of racial profiling in some foreign airports on account of the categorisation of Nigerians as pathological criminals. To discover that some of the cybercrime for which Nigerians have been classified as past masters were actually designed, orchestrated and supervised by Chinese nationals operating in Nigeria in plain sight is, therefore, galling.

Just the other day, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) blew the lid off one of such Chinese-led criminal outfits operating from a seven-storey building in Victoria Island, Lagos.

There were 792 suspects in all, including 148 Chinese, 40 Filipinos, two Kazakhstani, one Pakistani and one Indonesian.

The foreign nationals used the facility to train their Nigerian accomplices on how to initiate romance and investment scams and also used the identities of their Nigerian accomplices to perpetrate criminal activities. It is a massive computer-based operation.

Nigerian accomplices, who are assigned WhatsApp accounts linked to foreign telephone numbers, especially from Germany and Italy, engage victims in romantic conversations as well as phantom business and investment discussions to trick them to shop on the purported online investment shopping platform called www.yooto.com.

So far, the EFCC investigations have shown that the Nigerian accomplices don’t know who the real owners of the “company” they work for are, because the workers are not offered letters of appointment and are usually paid either in cash or through a private account.
I see a big problem looming in the horizon if Chinese nationals continue to come to Nigeria to establish criminal enterprises using Nigerian names. Had the shoe been on the other foot as indeed happened several times in some foreign countries in the past, the media would be agog with news of Nigerians duping the Chinese. Now it is the Chinese who are duping Nigerians and also swindling the whole world using Nigerian names to commit the crimes.

Criminals

In the northern part of the country, the Chinese are all over the mines stealing mineral resources and establishing protection rings. They have become part of the “insecurity architecture” of the country. I hear that they also run human trafficking rings operating under “Omerta-style” codes of secrecy. They sell goats and may soon start selling “pure water”. In the Southeast (Enugu) recently, one of them was nabbed for attempting to smuggle out some precious stones mined in the state.

Many of these foreign criminals enter the country on 90-day visas and remain here even though they are out of status because we don’t do due diligence after allowing them into our country. It probably would have been tolerable if they speak well of Nigeria outside. No, many of them feel superior to blacks generally. In words and deeds they show that they have no respect for Africans.

Four years ago, during the COVID scourge, blacks were singled out for special ostracisation and dehumanisation in Guangzhou Province of China. In my column in Daily Trust at the time, I wrote a piece titled “Racist China”:

“Some Africans resident in Guangzhou are now virtually destitute and are looking for any opportunity to return home. Many of them claim they are treated like lepers in public and targeted for additional COVID-19 tests without ever seeing the results. The police and public health bureau in Guangzhou claimed that officials had responded to false rumours that 300,000 black people in Guangzhou were setting off a second epidemic. How can black people be so accused when it is widely suspected that the origin of COVID-19 is linked to the Chinese propensity of eating anything with four legs except a table – maggots, scorpions, millipedes, roaches, bats, lizards, worms, etc” (https://dailytrust.com/racist-china/)

Destroy The Armada

Nigeria’s Interior Minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has his work cut out. This “Armada” of undesirables must be routed.

And I ask the Chinese, how can you treat my people like excrement in your own country and then compound my existence by coming to my country to commit crimes in my name? Whoever does that and expects to walk free in my backyard?

“But she spoke the truth.” That is the most common retort among the diehard fans and devotees of Mrs Kemi Badenoch — leader of the UK Conservative Party — who has been obsessed with saying nasty things about Nigeria since she made her way into the front row of British politics and started glowing under the klieg lights. She has said so many “truths” at a dizzying speed that I am slightly confused over what she intends to achieve. She said she left Nigeria in 1996 after “leftist policies” impoverished the middle class and caused “hyperinflation”.  She said Yoruba “have nothing in common with northern Nigeria”. She said lizards, rather than water, flow from Nigerian taps.

I intend to, hereunder, challenge some of her egregious claims. To be clear, she has every right to say anything with her mouth. If she experienced trauma in Nigeria, she is free to tell the whole world. Nobody has the right to silence her. But there is one right she doesn’t have: to tell lies, misrepresent the facts or fan ethnic hate in a delicately poised country like Nigeria. Nigerians have every right to tackle her mischief. Her defenders say those who disagree with her utterances are only defending bad governance in the land. Thankfully, Mrs Badenoch did not invent criticism of bad governance in Nigeria. Nigerians do that every day in the media and on the streets. I do it regularly on this page.

Of all the awful things she said, the most disturbing is her promotion of ethnic bigotry. This woman is dangerous. Listen to her: “I find it interesting that everybody defines me as being Nigerian. I identify less with the country than with the specific ethnicity [Yoruba]. That’s what I really am. I have nothing in common with the people from the north of the country, the Boko Haram where the Islamism is. Those were our ethnic enemies and yet you end up being lumped in with those people.” This really excited her Nigerian fan base. Her father, the late Prof Olufemi Adegoke, a Yoruba nationalist, held similar views and even campaigned for the utopian “confederalism” which no country practises.

“But she spoke the truth.” But what manner of “truth” is her claim that Yoruba and northern Nigeria “had nothing in common”? Yoruba started interacting with northerners through commerce as far back as the 1500s. Fact. For centuries, they traded in cattle, kola nuts, horses, yams, cowries, firearms and glass beads. According to historians, the ethnonym ‘Yoruba’ — which Mrs Badenoch says defines her — was coined by northerners. I know some people are trying to re-write this fact but they have to travel back in time to erase history. They can argue that Yoruba and northerners should never have been in the same country, but they are not allowed to cannibalise the facts of history.

I have a sense that Mrs Badenoch is only repeating what she was told at home or what she read on social media. I will encourage her to go beyond hearsay and read good books. I recommend ‘A History of the Yoruba People’, authored by Prof Adebanji Akintoye, a supporter of Sunday Igboho, the Yoruba Nation separatist. Her father once described Igboho as “brave” for his secessionist rhetoric. She can also read ‘The Yoruba: A New History’, authored by Dr Akinwumi Ogundiran, a history professor at the Northwestern University, the US. Mrs Badenoch will be sad to discover the history of Yoruba intercourse with northerners and how this influenced culture and the Yoruba language.

It is obvious that Mrs Badenoch does not even know that the ethnonym ‘Yoruba’ did not refer to her own ancestors before colonial rule. ‘Yoruba’ was the identity of the Oyo-speaking people in today’s Oyo state and parts of Osun and Kwara states. Not all the people who call themselves ‘Yoruba’ today were called ‘Yoruba’ before colonial rule. The example I always cite — because it is easily on record — is Nigeria’s first newspaper which was established in 1859. It was named ‘Iwe Irohin fun Awon Egba ati Yoruba’ (‘Newspaper for Egba and Yoruba’). As of 1859, Egba people were not identified as Yoruba. Today’s pan-Yoruba identity, like most ethnic identities around the world, evolved with time.

Lest I forget, Mrs Badenoch said northerners “were our ethnic enemies”. My recommended reading for her in this regard would be ‘War and Peace in Yorubaland 1793-1893’, written by the late Prof Adeagbo Akinjogbin. She will be shocked to read about the intra-Yoruba wars: the Owo War (1820-1827), the Ijaye War (1860-1865) and the Kiriji War (1877-1893). Indeed, we can argue that the advent of colonialism and the “Lord Lugard lumping” of 1914 helped bring peace to what later became known as Yorubaland. Mrs Badenoch obviously thinks there was a lovey-dovey Republic of Oduduwa before the colonial masters came and “lumped in” her people with Boko Haram. Fantasy.

“But she spoke the truth.” She classified a region of 19 states as “Boko Haram”. She does not know that the north has nearly 200 ethnic groups (and millions of non-terrorists). In Borno state, the heartland of Boko Haram, most of the terror victims are Muslims. Fact. In this age and with all her education, exposure and experience in a multi-racial and multi-cultural society like the UK, I wonder how she plans to preside over a country where the Scottish, Welsh, Irish, and English people are “lumped in” — to say nothing about the millions from ethnic and religious minorities. She acquired British citizenship by birth; maybe she needs a crash course on the complex history of the UK.

Born to Nigerian parents in a British hospital in 1980, she was named “Oluwakemi” (incidentally, one of my younger sisters answers that lovely name, which, roughly translated, means “the Lord pampers me” or “the Lord blesses me”). Baby Oluwakemi was thereafter brought to Lagos, Nigeria, where she lived the first sixteen years of her life and received her basic education. A couple of years after her birth, the Nigerian economy ran into a serious storm amid a global recession. Dwindling oil revenues and the inevitable forex crunch forced many Nigerian factories to close down or retrench workers. The Shehu Shagari administration rolled out a mini reform package nicknamed “austerity measures”.

As prices of goods and services soared and economic pains intensified, the military overthrew Shagari on December 31, 1983. Major Gen Muhammadu Buhari became the head of state. The economy still did not improve much, even though oil prices recovered — and Buhari was overthrown by Gen Ibrahim Babangida on August 27, 1985. Babangida went on to implement the structural adjustment programme (SAP) — a reform package backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. The objectives were to transit to market economy through privatisation, grow agriculture, promote local industry, ramp up exports and cut subsidies to reduce government debts.

“But she spoke the truth.” What truth? When Mrs Badenoch left Nigeria in 1996, Nigeria was neck-deep in its market transition. The second-tier foreign exchange market (SFEM) was introduced in 1986 to liberalise the forex market. The naira crashed from roughly N1/$ in 1986 to N22/$ in 1996 (N88/$ in the parallel market). With an economy tied to imports, inflation was inevitable. Was SAP a leftist policy? Is forex liberalisation a leftist policy? Is privatisation leftist? Are IMF and World Bank leftist institutions? What truth, exactly? Meanwhile, when she relocated, Nigeria was still reeling from the June 12 annulment crisis which had paralysed the country politically and economically.

Her brother’s experience with the Nigerian police (“they stole his shoes and wristwatch”) is something Nigerians can relate with. After all, our youths held the #EndSARS protests against police atrocities in 2020. Definitely, the British police, which she praised, are better trained, better resourced and far more professional than ours. No argument. But in the year up to March 31, 2024, nearly 600 police officers were sacked in England and Wales for sexual offences, possession of child exploitation material, dishonesty and discriminatory behaviour. There is the famous case of David Carrick, a police officer who raped 48 women while on duty. Yes, she spoke the truth. Selective truth.

She talks exactly like those clout-chasers who think belittling Nigeria abroad is a ticket to glory. Responding to Vice-President Kashim Shettima’s caution over her unprovoked attacks, her aide said it is not her job to do PR for Nigeria. Fair enough. Her job is to urinate on Nigeria everywhere she goes. But think about it. President Barack Obama’s father was from Kenya. Rishi Sunak, ex-UK prime minister, has Indian roots. Humza Yousaf, ex-Scotland first minister, and Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, have Pakistani origin. Despite similar “truths” about their ancestral countries, they never open their mouths, like our dear Mrs Badenoch, to savage their roots. Emotional intelligence.

Now, my final words to Mrs Badenoch: grow up. You have already made history as the first black to lead the Tories. That is monumental. Work hard to become the next prime minister. Make history again. That is all you care about. But by outing yourself as an ethnic bigot, you are hurting yourself, not Nigeria. Denigrating us will not win your party more parliamentary seats. You behave like someone with a complex — like those slaves who felt privileged to supervise fellow slaves and often treated them with more disdain than the slave masters themselves. By the way, Mrs Badenoch, there is a Yoruba noun for those who point to their family house with the left hand. Go and find out.

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

STAMPEDE SEASON

As many as 35 children were crushed to death in Ibadan, Oyo state, on Wednesday at a carnival. Three days later, several people died in stampedes in Anambra and Abuja induced by distribution of foodstuffs. These things happen all the time. In February 2024, seven people died while scrambling for subsidised rice being sold by Customs in Lagos. People blame it on economic hardship but how good are we when it comes to crowd management — hunger or no hunger? What are the protocols? Who enforces them? Who gets punished when things go south? Most importantly, what lessons do we learn from these recurring tragedies? We wail, probe, threaten, move on, rinse, repeat. Painful.

LAWLESS LAWMAKERS

You think the obstacle to Nigeria’s progress is the 1999 constitution? How do you explain the recent decision of the Edo state house of assembly to suspend all the 18 council chairpersons and their deputies? The house said it was acting on a petition by Governor Monday Okpebholo alleging misappropriation of funds. However, the Supreme Court — the highest court in the land — determined not so long ago that the local governments have financial and administrative autonomy. There is no constitutional provision for the dissolution or suspension of councils by the executive or legislature. And just five months after the landmark pronouncement, this happened. Dangerous.

BEST MAN LOOKMAN

The story of Ademola Lookman, the Nigerian international who has just been crowned CAF Men’s Player of the Year, is straight from the book of grass to grace. I started following his career in 2017 when he was at Everton in the English Premier League. Several years of being loaned out or shipped from one midtable club to the other made it look like he was not destined for the top. He finally found his mojo when he moved to Atalanta of Italy in 2022 and also got called up to the Super Eagles, despite having been born in England and having played for their youth teams. He has now turned mediocrity to excellence. At 27, his best may just be coming. Better late than never. Inspiring.

NO COMMENT

One person will steal public funds running into billions of naira and get a slap on the wrist. Another will steal groundnuts and people will shout “catch am catch am, thief thief thief” and stone him to death. One Segun Olowookere is on death row for stealing a chicken and eggs in 2010 when he was a teenager. The problem here is the archaic law. If you rob with a pen (not even with a gun), it is classified as armed robbery and punishable by death. If you steal billions without being armed, it is punishable by imprisonment. Aren’t these laws archaic? They need to be reviewed to reflect proportionality. How can someone get the death penalty for stealing chicken and eggs? Wonderful.