Afrobeats artiste, Davido, has revealed that he and his wife, Chioma, are taking a break from childbearing.

The father of 5 said he is not ready to have more children, stressing that Chioma deserves a break to pursue her career after three children.

The Omo Baba Olowo hitmaker disclosed this in a recent episode of Ride Along With Darryl.

He said, “I don’t want more children now. Me and my wife are taking a break. She needs to get out to work. She wants to do a lot of things like opening her restaurant and launching her spices. I feel she deserves a couple of years off after having 3 kids.”
DAILY POST recalls that the couple welcomed a set of twins, a boy and a girl, in 2023, a year after they lost their first son, Ifeanyi, in a swimming pool accident.

[DailyPost]

The Nigeria Police Force has confirmed the extradition of Benjamin Best Nnayereugo, popularly known as Killaboi, from Doha, Qatar, where he will face prosecution for the alleged murder of 21-year-old Miss Augusta Onuwabhagbe, a first-class student at Lead City University, Ibadan.

Nnayereugo, who was declared wanted by police in October 2023, arrived in Nigeria in the early hours of Saturday following coordinated efforts by the Nigeria Police Force, the Federal Ministry of Justice, INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) Abuja, and judicial authorities in Qatar.

In a statement on via X (formerly Twitter), Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, explained that the extradition followed “a petition from the family of the deceased, submitted through their legal representatives dated 29th September 2024.” The case was assigned to INTERPOL NCB Abuja for investigation.

According to police findings, Nnayereugo allegedly murdered Onuwabhagbe at his residence at 24A Abiola Apooyi Street, Oral Estate, Ajah, Lagos on July 13, 2023 before fleeing the country. 

The victim was a promising student with a first-class academic record at Lead City University.

Authorities said the suspect later released an online video purporting to confess to the crime — a move the police described as “a deceptive strategy to derail investigative efforts.”

The police also confirmed that after the suspect was declared wanted by the Lagos State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) on October 13, 2023, an INTERPOL Red Notice was issued for his global apprehension.

Nnayereugo was arrested in Freetown, Sierra Leone on October 20, 2023, under a false identity, “KANU PRINCETON SAMUEL,” but escaped from custody during a prison break on November 26, 2023.

“Further intelligence gathering revealed that the suspect continued to evade law enforcement, traversing multiple regions including West Africa, East Asia and the Middle East, under forged identities before eventually relocating to Doha, Qatar on 24th January, 2025,” the statement added.

The police said he lived in Qatar under the alias “TOURE ABDOULAYE” and used a forged Guinean passport to secure illegal employment and conceal his identity.

“Through robust international cooperation and the use of advanced biometrics, INTERPOL NCB Abuja, in collaboration with INTERPOL NCB Doha, confirmed his identity, leading to his arrest by Qatari authorities in February 2025,” the statement noted.

His extradition was secured after an official request was approved by Qatari judicial authorities, following due process coordinated through the Federal Ministry of Justice.

Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, commended the international collaboration that led to the suspect’s return, describing it as a testament to global cooperation against trans-border crimes.

“The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM, while recognising the strength in the synergy amongst nations to curb trans-border crimes, commended the diligence of INTERPOL NCB Abuja and extended sincere appreciation to the Honorable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Government of Qatar, INTERPOL NCB Doha, and the Nigerian Embassy in Qatar for their invaluable collaboration in securing the fugitive’s return,” the statement read.

Egbetokun also assured the public that the Nigeria Police Force remains committed to ensuring justice in the case, stating, “The Inspector-General of Police further assured the general public of the Nigeria Police Force’s commitment to ensuring that the suspect faces diligent prosecution, as part of the NPF’s dedication to justice and the safety of all Nigerians.”

In October 2023, the Lagos State Police Command declared Nnayereugo wanted for Onuwabhagbe’s death. 

At the time, the state police spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, described him as “26 years old, approximately 5’9 ft tall and hails from Abia State. He is dark in complexion and speaks English, Igbo and pidgin English fluently.”

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has officially announced a change in the commencement date of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, now scheduled to begin on Thursday, April 24, 2025, instead of the previously slated Friday, April 25, 2025.

This development was disclosed in a statement signed by JAMB’s Public Communication Advisor, Fabian Benjamin, and shared on the Board’s official X handle on Saturday.

“The 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) is now set to commence on Thursday, April 24, 2025, instead of the previously scheduled date of Friday, April 25, 2025. This adjustment has been made to accommodate essential commitments by the Board and its partner agencies,” the statement partly read.

In preparation for the exam, JAMB also announced that prospective candidates can now print their Notification Slips, which contain crucial details such as the examination date, venue (centre), time, and other instructions necessary for a smooth examination experience.

“What’s included in the Notification Slip: Examination date, venue (centre), time, other essential details necessary for successfully sitting for the examination,” the statement further explained.

Candidates are encouraged to begin printing their Notification Slips starting Saturday, April 19, 2025 (Today).

“Candidates are encouraged to print their Notification Slips starting today, Saturday, April 19, 2025. This will provide ample time for logistical arrangements to access their assigned centres within the chosen examination towns,” it added.

To print the examination slip, candidates are required to: “Visit www.jamb.gov.ng, click on ‘2025 UTME Slip Printing.’ Enter your registration number and click on ‘Print Examination Slip”, the statement advised.

JAMB strongly urged candidates to visit their assigned centres ahead of time.

“It is strongly advised that candidates print their slips and familiarise themselves with their examination centres at least one or two days before the examination date. This preparation will help ensure a smooth experience on exam day,” the Board said.

The Board reiterated that no candidate would be posted outside their selected examination town.

“Examination Schedule: To reiterate, the 2025 UTME will begin on Thursday, April 24, 2025. Candidates are advised to print their Examination Notification Slips at least a day before the exam to confirm their examination dates and locations, making it easier to access their centres on the day of the examination. Please note that candidates will be assigned to centres within their chosen examination towns; no candidate will be placed in a centre outside their selected town”, the statement concluded.

[Punch]

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN), has voiced his strong disapproval of the rehabilitation work carried out on the runway of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, describing it as substandard and unsafe.

In a statement posted on his official X handle on Saturday, Keyamo announced that the federal government decided to shut down the airport’s runway for two weeks starting April 22, 2025, to address critical safety concerns.

“Dear compatriots, we have been compelled to take this decision to close the runway of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, for two weeks starting from April 22nd, 2025, in order to carry out major repair works on it, he stated.

The minister noted that although the airport underwent a significant year-long rehabilitation in 2019, the core issue of waterlogging was never effectively resolved. According to him, this oversight has led to persistent cracks and potholes on the runway, which now threaten the safety of passengers.

“Unfortunately, when we came to the office, we discovered that the waterlogged part of the runway was not properly constructed to take care of the problem, leading to constant cracks and potholes on the runway. These obviously put the lives of the travelling public at great risk,” he said.

Keyamo, who visited the site personally, said he was totally displeased with the contractor’s work.

“I personally visited the airport some months after assuming office and expressed my total displeasure with the work done by the contractor,” he revealed.

Keyamo said that despite ongoing palliative repairs, the condition of the runway has worsened to the point where the cracks have turned into “craters,” prompting the urgent closure.

“We have been carrying out constant palliative works on it, but the problem has not abated, and the cracks on the runway are becoming craters,” he added.

While apologising to the public for the inconvenience, Keyamo assured that flight operations would be rerouted to neighbouring airports during the repair period.

“We sincerely apologise to Nigerians over this development as the airport is our major international gateway in the Southeastern part of Nigeria.

“In the meantime, scheduled flight operations to Enugu will be diverted to other neighbouring airports. We are going to work tirelessly to meet the timeline in order to mitigate the inconvenience this closure will cause the travelling public,” he said.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) announced the temporary closure in a statement issued by its Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Obiageli Orah.

[Opinion nigeria]

According to history, tradition, and Nigerian media narratives—when all else fails, when the presidency, legislature, and courts betray, when the police turn against the people, when those in power like Tinubu, Akpabio, Wike and others silence the truth—Nigerians have always turned to the gods, spirits, and ancestral forces for justice.

This pattern is not new. It is cultural. It is psychological. It is historical.

And in that spirit, this moment reflects the collective cry of a people who have been betrayed by every arm of modern governance—and are now turning, once again, to the powers beyond man.

The Phrase That Became a Curse: “Go to Court”

There was a time in Nigeria’s life when the words “go to court” reflected faith in the nation. A belief that the Constitution was not just a document, but a covenant. That the judge’s bench was a sacred altar where truth could still find a home.

But today, those words have been defiled. They are no longer said with humility. They are thrown like stones, soaked in arrogance, used as weapons of psychological domination.

When Tinubu says it, he does not mean it.

When Wike repeats it, he knows it is a trap.

When Ibas parrots it, he’s already benefitting from its emptiness.

And when the Senate says it, it is not advice—it is laughter behind power.

They say go to court not because they believe justice will be served, but because they believe they own the court.

And most tragically, they are often right.

Ibok-Ete Ibas: The Military Man Who Now Sits in a Throne Never Meant for Him

In the heart of Rivers State, the people woke up to find that their democracy had been suspended without warning, without vote, without law. The elected governor, Sim Fubara, was sidelined. Elected officials were removed. And in their place stood one man—Ibok-Ete Ibas, a retired Chief of Naval Staff.

He did not campaign. He did not swear an oath to the people. He was not chosen—he was planted.

Under a cloak of “emergency rule,” he governs not like a caretaker, but like a military emperor. He installs. He dissolves. He allocates. He threatens. He mocks. And when the people resist, when the NBA relocates its entire national conference in protest, when the women march in agony, his response is chillingly consistent:

“Go to court.”

The cruelty of it is unbearable.

Yes, the People Are Going to Court—But They Know the Game Is Rigged

Now, in the face of these abuses, the PDP has gone to court. Human rights groups, constitutional lawyers, and civil society coalitions have followed. They have filed suits asking the judiciary to declare the emergency rule in Rivers unconstitutional. They are trying to hold onto the last shred of constitutionalism.

But even they—the plaintiffs themselves—know that this path is littered with obstacles, and the outcome has already been whispered among the corridors of Abuja.

It is almost theatrical now.

The court proceedings are performed for optics.

The robes are clean, but the bench is trembling.

The legal filings are submitted, but the judgments may be pre-ordered.

And the phrase “go to court” continues to echo—not as a solution, but as psychological warfare.

It is the elite saying to the people, “We dare you. Try it. Watch what happens.”

The Judiciary Is Silenced. The Media Is Bought. The People Are Alone.

In a healthy nation, the judiciary is the conscience of democracy.

But in Nigeria today, the courts have become decorative institutions, often used not to protect the oppressed, but to validate the plans of the powerful.

The media, once the loudest voice of the people, has become a soft murmur.

Brown envelopes have muted the headlines.

Political favors have re-written the editorials.

Truth has been sacrificed on the altar of access.

Even traditional media—local elders, town criers, palace voices—have either been silenced by fear or invited into the patronage network.

So now, the people look around and see:

The law does not serve us.

The police do not protect us.

The journalists do not report us.

And the soldiers do not stand behind the flag—they stand behind orders.

And So, the Women Rise in a Way That No Government Can Contain

The women of Nigeria have risen. Not with weapons, not with votes, but with ancestral vengeance.

In one protest, they wore black. Mourning not just for lives lost, but for democracy itself. For justice buried. For truth erased.

In another protest, they wore red. A spiritual color of battle. A declaration that this is no longer negotiation—this is resistance. This is war.

They marched barefoot—not out of spectacle, but out of sacred urgency. Their feet kissed the earth with each step, not in strength but in surrender, as if pleading directly to the soil to remember their pain. The hot ground beneath them bore witness. Every footprint became an imprint of unanswered prayers.

They held no placards in some moments—only grief, only portraits of children lost, only cloth soaked in tears.

And yet, **they did hold microphones—**but not for politics.

They used them to sing.

They used them to cry.

They used them to chant the names of the forgotten.

They used them to call on powers greater than the state.

Their voices cracked, but they sang.

They wailed songs of mourning.

They sang psalms, they sang laments.

They cried into the speaker not for attention—but for justice.

The microphone became not a tool of protest—but an altar of invocation.

Each amplified word was not just sound—it was sorrow with a target.

And yes, they cursed.

Not in wickedness.

Not with malice.

But with trembling hands and broken hearts.

They cursed because every formal channel had betrayed them.

They cursed because the courts were no longer courts. The police no longer protected. The media no longer listened.

So their curses took many forms:

Some spoke of death—not because they were vengeful, but because death had visited their own homes first.

Some spoke of illness—not out of spite, but as a mirror to the sickness of power.

Some whispered prayers for misfortune—asking the heavens to disrupt the comfort of those who live by injustice.

Some called for accidents—not for cruelty’s sake, but because the roads of Nigeria have already been painted with the blood of the innocent, while the powerful drive on untouched.

These were not the curses of witches.

These were the tears of women with no one else to turn to.

These were the curses of mothers whose sons had been beaten, whose daughters had been silenced, whose homes had been erased by silence.

Their placards said it plainly, and their microphones carried the message across the land:

“We Cannot Go to Court—So We Go to the Spirits.”

And so, they cried—not to the Chief Justice, not to the Senate President, not to the Inspector General.

They cried to the Almighty God, the one whose justice is not delayed.

The one whose courtroom has no backdoor.

They cried to:

Amadioha – god of thunder, who hears no bribe, misses no target.

Ani – the earth herself, whose back carries every lie and every unburied injustice.

Egbesu – the divine lawgiver of the Niger Delta, who waits in silence until balance must be restored.

Esu – the spiritual messenger, the trickster who delivers truth with vengeance when arrogance rises too high.

Kuri and Jam Maraki – the northern spirits feared even in the palace, whose names are never called lightly, and never ignored when invoked in grief.

These women did not gather in anger.

They gathered in sacred protest.

They sang, they cried, they knelt, they cursed—not because they wanted destruction, but because the system had destroyed them first.

When the courtrooms are silent, and justice becomes a performance, the women of Nigeria will speak to a higher court.

And now they have.

With microphones in hand and spirits at their side.

This Psychologist Does Not Practice Religion—But the People Do

Let me say this plainly:

While this writer, a psychologist, is not into religion and does not practice African traditional religions, it must be acknowledged that Nigerians, including President Tinubu, Wike, and indeed many Nigerians, have been conditioned by their cultural and religious upbringing to fear God and the spiritual realm.

The reality is that people have been conditioned to believe that higher forces—be they deities, divine beings, or the Almighty—have the power to intervene in human affairs.

Nigerians in general, including those in positions of power, understand that their actions and decisions are never far from the gaze of a higher spiritual presence, one that has the power to shape outcomes far beyond human influence.

And the women who protest—they know this.

They are not foolish. They are not weak.

They have simply gone to the final court. The one without bail. The one without technicalities. The one that judges not with delay, but with fire and finality.

Conclusion: You Own the Courts, But You Cannot Silence the Cry of the Earth

To those in power—Tinubu, Gbaja, Wike, Akpabio, Egbetokun, Ibas, and the hidden hands behind the judiciary, the uniformed men with weapons, the shadowed voices controlling the police, and the media brokers who trade silence for coin—you may believe you own everything.

Yes, you may command the courts, but the law no longer lives there.

Yes, you may control the military, but the soldiers no longer march with justice.

Yes, you may distribute the money—but much of it carries the quiet weight of unseen sorrow, exchanged not in service, but in silence.

Yes, you may shape the narratives, but truth has a voice that no editor can delete.

You may own the buildings.

You may own the seals.

You may own the cameras.

You may even own the men in robes.

But you do not own the cries of the people.

You do not own the trembling of the earth beneath your polished shoes.

You do not own the groan of a broken nation echoing in the streets and rivers and farmlands.

You do not own the gods, whom you may pretend not to fear, but still whisper about in the dark.

You do not own the curse of a mother in black, whose child has been swallowed by your greed, your silence, your lies.

You do not own the rage behind the red wrapper, worn not for style, but for spiritual war.

You do not own the ancestors who have risen with fire in their bones and judgment in their mouths.

You do not own the women who have passed beyond complaint, beyond petition, beyond fear.

You may keep saying “go to court.”

Say it on your podiums. Say it in the Senate. Say it in your media-sponsored interviews.

But know this:

The women have gone beyond that now.

They have gone to God—the one not elected, not influenced, not corruptible.

They have gone to the gods—those whose names cannot be summoned without consequence.

They have gone to the spirits—those who judge beyond the noise, beyond the television, beyond the courts.

And they have cried out in ways that no soldier, no lawmaker, no court clerk, no police commissioner can intercept.

And when the spirits respond—they do not delay. They do not consult. They do not miss.

When they answer,

no microphone will shield you.

No robe will protect you.

No army will defend you.

No press release will erase you.

No alliance will save you.

No political godfather will stand between you and what is coming.

Because when justice is denied for too long, and the people are mocked too deeply, the cry of the earth becomes a weapon— and those who ignored it shall taste its dust.

Buba Galadima, a former political ally of former President Muhammadu Buhari, in this encounter, laments that all those who are in power in the country are only concerned about themselves rather than the people.

He says we should forget the 2027 general elections because the votes would not count unless Nigerians rise up and demand an amendment to the Electoral Act.

He also cautions President Bola Tinubu to be wary of those around him, saying they may pull down his government, even as he bares his mind on the emergency rule in Rivers State, hunger in the land, among other issues.
Excerpts:

How would you assess your party APC after almost 10 years in office?

I’m no longer in APC. When Buhari was still in power, he set up a committee under Bola Tinubu, who is now the President, to remove my name from the Board of Trustees of APC and to remove my name from the National Caucus of APC because he said I talked too much, and that I looked at him in the eye and said my mind. When I saw that it was what the president (Buhari) liked that was going to happen, I just left the party for them. But let me tell you something, there is nothing anybody can do except one thing.

It is for us to come together and ensure that we get a proper Electoral Act that will ensure that everybody’s vote counts. That’s the only thing we can do. If we can’t do that one, then let’s forget it, because if Nigerians don’t come together, some people will continue to write the results of the election.

The way we are going presently, votes are not counting in Nigeria.

If we don’t amend the Electoral Act, the courts will continue to give everything to them, like they did in Edo. Somebody won an election, they gave the result to another person and the courts affirmed it. Look at what happened in Kano. Everybody knows that it’s the responsibility of the governor to approve the appointment of an Emir. He doesn’t appoint, he approves and gives suggestions. But somebody wants to install an Emir from Abuja, and nobody is talking. So, why should I waste my time talking?

Look at what is happening in Rivers. An unelected person will uproot an elected person. Look at what is happening in the Senate. An elected Senator will uproot an elected senator.

I say, whose fault is it now? It’s our fault. Nigerians allow them to have their way and if you are talking, and they catch you, they put you underground, like the one I tasted. Does poverty or hunger know a Yoruba man or an Igbo man or Hausa man? We are all in it. So, we have to remove certain sentiments and work for the good of the system, not for an individual.

We have to do that, we have to come together and fight for a better society, fight for a better system, where justice would prevail, irrespective of whatever.

If it affects the Igbo man, we all should shout that it’s not good. If it affects the Hausa man, we all should come around to say this. The point is that what happened to an Igbo man can happen to a Hausa man and a Yoruba man.

So, you are talking about our unity as a people…

That’s what I’m saying. Do we believe in that? Unless we believe that it’s okay. Some people were killed in Edo.

We must find out who did that. It doesn’t matter where they are. Human lives were wasted. Human lives are sacred and you can’t just waste lives like that. We should all talk about it and find the culprits and punish them, whether it affects you, whether it doesn’t affect you, you need to handle it. Look at Plateau State, people are being butchered. If we keep quiet or keep playing politics with human lives, it will keep spreading.

What do you think of what happened in Edo?

I wasn’t in the country, so I didn’t even know the details. I just saw the video while I was outside the country. But my point is that it doesn’t matter to whom it happened. When something bad is done to anybody, it is our responsibility to condemn it and seek justice. But when these people in power all over know that they can divide us by religion, by tribe, by section, by where you come from, by state, then, we are out. They will do what they want. Democracy was not built based on religion or tribe. It was built on certain principles which are sacrosanct.

But the opposition is not strong enough to tackle these issues…

How can the opposition be strong when they don’t have money to face the government? When all the money is in the control of those in power and not the people, not the country, how can they be strong? I went to the hospital outside the country and I almost shed tears. I went for treatment, for the evaluation of an operation done on me in October 2023. Hospitals in Nigeria are just graveyards; when you go there, you are waiting to be buried. You talked about the opposition; many are decamping to the APC.

Do you think that they are decamping because the APC is doing well? You and I don’t have money, but they have and it doesn’t satisfy them. They want to win and get more money. Have you seen what we are seeing? That they are strengthening the oppressors?

If they are in the office, even what they get is more than what your whole community can get. But they are still not satisfied.

They want to rush there to steal more. I just got back from a trip. I landed in Kano and drove to Abuja and I learned that during the Sallah, there was a fight between the Emir’s bodyguards and some people. And somebody died.

Now the Police are inviting the Emir. Do you think it is right to invite the Emir who was riding on a horseback, one kilometre away, to ask him what happened, and why somebody was killed during his procession? Nobody is talking. Can the IGP invite the Oba of Lagos when somebody is killed during an event where the Oba is present? But it is okay, it is Kano, let them go and kill themselves.

It may happen to me one day, or it may happen to my Emirate. The police planned to cause commotion in Kano so that they could declare a state of emergency.

That was what they wanted to do by banning the Durbar. They invited the Emir on a Tuesday before Sallah and if the Emir reported on Tuesday, they would have brought the other one from Mecca who went for the Lesser Hajj to come and plant him so that the commotion would start. That was what they planned to do.

Does the Federal Government have powers over the choice of traditional rulers?

Some people have powers over the Chief Justice of the Federation. Ganduje removed an Emir because he was the governor of Kano; if another person becomes the governor of Kano, doesn’t he have the right to remove the person that Ganduje also put there? He didn’t remove him because he committed any offence. He removed him because of politics. Now they want to force people to be killed.

They want to invite the Emir and enthrone another one by force. That is why they came to the Court of Appeal for the court to swallow its vomit. Even when they thought that what the Governor did was right, they said the implementation should wait until the Supreme Court makes a pronouncement.

Is that correct? Supreme Court? How many people? Is it not a decision of a few men under the influence of the government? I’m over 70; I speak the truth at all times. Inviting the Emir of Kano to a police station is wrong.

How can the government right the wrongs?

All these things are based on one issue, justice. Because if there is justice and there is a human feeling, everything will fall in place. Our leaders must be compassionate about the sufferings of the people.

Some people cannot afford to eat one meal per day. That should be their concern. But it looks like those who claimed we voted for them are only concerned about what they will get from governance rather than how much sacrifice they can make on behalf of the people. Governance in multi-ethnic and religious societies, communities like Nigeria, need 24-hour surveillance.

You have to make a real sacrifice for you to speak to all shades of opinion to find out exactly how things go and how they can work out. This is not obtainable now because all those in power are only concerned about themselves rather than about the people. That’s our problem.

Are we going to endure this till 2027?

Our issue is that we, as a nation, must sit down and define a minimum code of behaviour for all our leaders. Unless we do that, it will continue for eternity. That is why people like me, who are above 70, are almost giving up. There is this adage in Hausa that says when you are talking about the thief, also talk about those who try to catch the thief. We are all the same. Once somebody gets his minimum requirement for one day, he can forsake you.

So, they don’t even care about those who fight for them as long as they can get a stipend from those who oppress them. The people have not decided what they want from the leaders. If they decide to bring a change for the better, they could do that.

And the change for the better does not mean that you will support somebody from your religion, somebody from your tribe or somebody from where you come from. No! You make a universal minimum good for all the people. And you fight for it. Nobody, no military, no police, no judiciary can overturn the will of the people when we stand together. If we say that this is wrong and it must stop, it should stop.

We have two other arms of government apart from the executive, like the legislature and the judiciary. Those seem to be failing too..

Not that they seem to be failing. They have buckled to the executive. When these very arms of government work, everybody does their little bit. Our problem is multifaceted, and we have a division. I saw, just now, one foreigner berating the Middle Belt Forum on the position they released on the killings in Edo. The foreigner was damn right that what is wrong is wrong even if it was done against your enemy.

The Middle Belt Forum was happy that they did that to these people because they should remember that Deborah was killed in Sokoto. Was it these people who were killed in Edo that killed Deborah? We should have condemned Deborah’s issue as well as condemned this one in Edo. So, what kind of country or what kind of people do we have in Nigeria? And they said they are a regional bloc fighting for justice.

Justice means that even if an injustice is committed against your enemy, you fight for him. When you finish and obtain justice for him, you can continue your quarrel. So, we are the architects of our problems. I am getting fed up. I can’t see the Nigeria I dreamt of.

What is your take on what is happening in Rivers and the declaration of an emergency rule?

Is there any one single person except Nyesom Wike who supported what is happening in Rivers? No, I’m asking whether you know anybody.

There’s this video released by the Emir of Muri berating politicians in Taraba.

Yes, Abbas Tafida, the Emir of Muri. You need to listen to that one. When you listen to him, you now find out whether the politicians are okay. He said you sit down, all of you, and say you promulgate a law called your constitution to guide your conduct. And you had come together to form a political party because you all believe in one thing. Then, as idiots, when we quarrel, you go to another person who was not a participant in the formulation of the constitution to interpret the constitution for you.

Are you well? That’s what the Emir of Muri said. Look, there is something wrong with us, but you, the mass media, you carry the greatest burden. You are divisive; you should sit down and agree never to mention religion, never to mention tribe and never to mention where somebody comes from. Talk of Nigeria and talk of justice for all and Nigeria will be different. But you are promoting these things by reminding people that they belong to a certain tribe, they belong to a certain religion, they belong to a certain section, they belong to this or belong to that. We can’t run a country like that. If we keep having emergency rule because of the way it is now, if they extend the emergency rule to Kano, that means Nigeria is finished. But I believe common sense may prevail because they should know that there are certain things they ought not to do. It’s not everything that suits you that can in the end benefit you.

Look at what is happening in the Senate. The Senate is not deliberating on what will benefit the people anymore. We left that issue several years ago. Everybody knows Godswill Akpabio. If you don’t know him, go and ask Victor Attah, who was his Governor when he was a Commissioner. I don’t need to tell you anything. You should know better.

Are you saying nobody knows where Nigeria is headed?

No, we are going somewhere. I may not be around when we get there but we are going somewhere. Something has got to reach its elastic limit before it breaks. It happened in Ghana one day. They became a saner society. It happened in Iran during Reza Pahlavi. They are sane people now. It happened in the Soviet Union. So, things must reach their elastic limit. All this useless power that you see, just wait one day. It’s just that we don’t have patience.

What happened in those places was a revolution…

I don’t want to mention the word revolution. Leave that word to Omoyele Sowore. He can educate you better on that.

Sowore?

Yes. He is my role model. He is a courageous young man just like Malema of South Africa. I wish there would be a free and fair election. If there is a free and fair election, Sowore can win the election and come to the National Assembly. Then he becomes a Malema, a conscience of the nation. But how can he, now under these circumstances? When he doesn’t have what to give, or maybe he has, but he doesn’t give.

There is this belief in many quarters that the North is not happy with Buhari, Tinubu or the APC. How true is it?

Well, you read them in the newspapers. You read them on social media. You will get their mood. Have you gone to see the social media on this invitation to Emir Sanusi to come and see the Inspector General of Police? Have you seen what people are doing in Kano now? The Nigeria of today is not the Nigeria of yesterday. People are becoming conscious and we are only appealing to them and educating them more about their rights. But at the appropriate time, when hardship brings them together, they can react in a manner that you cannot control. This is a prophecy that I am giving.

The people have only one way out, they must stand up for their rights. For the government, my advice is that they should not joke with the feelings of the people because they are in control; they feel nothing can happen to them and that could be foolishness.

If all of us come out, they will all run away including the IGP and the defence corps. They will run, tell them I said so. They have nothing, they have only one life. The gun which the police and military are carrying is something anyone can buy in the market now.

Can the IGP invite the Oba of Lagos on something that the Oba doesn’t know about? How can he? We know what happened. We know who did that. We know who met who to make that decision. The IGP was given an instruction and he was following an unlawful instruction. You should go and find out from General Theophilus Danjuma after the Gideon Orkar coup when he said the military is not obliged to carry out illegal orders. He should be reminded.

Why is the IGP so interested in Kano that some idiots would give him instructions to cause problems for Tinubu?

The IGP is being teleguided by the people that we know. It’s not Tinubu himself. They are working for a state of emergency in Kano. It will consume all of them, including himself. Let him remember Tafa Balogun. There is nothing in Nigeria that doesn’t have a history. I’ve never seen an IGP like this.

Could it be Ganduje who is doing this?

The IGP knows those who give him instructions. I don’t need to say it publicly, everybody should know.

How do we get out of this now, because it’s creating another problem?

My parents told me something, that anybody who is in power should be working for peace. No rich man wants a fire to break out. No peaceful man wants violence. That’s what my parents educated me on. And I think they are right. How can a rich man set fire to his house? If it’s not controlled, it can explode.

Look at what is happening in Rivers, the explosion of gas pipelines, and oil pipelines. If such a thing starts happening, Nigeria is finished. And who caused it? You know that those that the gods want to destroy, they first make mad. They don’t know that when they do what they did in Rivers, this will happen. And who is the loser? But I have only one thing to tell the President: he should be very careful with certain people around him. They are trying to destroy him and destroy his government.

Anybody who is his friend will pray for a peaceful Nigeria. It is only a loyal person to him that wants a peaceful Nigeria. The person causing the commotion in Rivers does not like Tinubu and his

[OPinion Nigeria] 

The latest outburst from the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, should worry every Nigerian who still holds democracy dear. In his own words, Wike said that Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State was “gone,” boasting that he had wanted him removed from office and thanking President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for saving the situation by suspending the governor and declaring an emergency rule.

These statements are not only reckless, they are an egregious affront to democracy, a slap to the face of every Rivers voter, and an insult to the very idea of constitutional governance. Wike, by every appearance, is trying to play god over the affairs of a state he no longer governs. And that cannot, and must not, stand.

Let’s start with the basics: Siminalayi Fubara was elected, not selected. He was not plucked from obscurity to serve as a proxy governor. He was voted into power by the people of Rivers State, who trusted him enough to hand him the keys to the state’s affairs. He received his mandate through the ballot box, not from a political godfather. Therefore, any attempt, rhetorical or practical, to delegitimize his tenure is a direct assault on the people’s will.

Wike’s assertion that he “wanted Fubara gone” and that the president did Rivers people a favor by suspending him reeks of tyranny. In a sane democracy, such remarks would trigger calls for investigation, not applause. If Wike, a minister of the Federal Republic, can so brazenly admit to engineering the removal of a sitting governor, then what separates Nigeria from a banana republic?

Let’s not forget: Wike is a product of the democratic process. He served as governor for eight years, two full terms. During those years, he enjoyed the privileges and immunity of the office, even amid criticisms of his own highhandedness. Yet, the people of Rivers State endured him and respected the office he occupied. Now, as soon as he vacates that office, he turns around and seeks to lord over his successor as though governance is a family inheritance.

The democratic process is not a relay race where one passes the baton only to shadow the runner and trip him mid-track. No. Once your time is up, you step aside and allow your successor to govern, whether he chooses to follow your legacy or not. Wike had his time; Fubara is having his. That’s the natural, democratic order of things.

But what we’ve seen in Rivers is nothing short of a political ambush. As soon as Fubara dared to exercise independence, Wike and his loyalists began a campaign of sabotage. From scheming through the House of Assembly to orchestrating threats of impeachment, to fostering chaos in local governance, Wike has tried to turn Rivers State into a personal fiefdom, one that must be ruled from Abuja.

And now, to add insult to injury, he praises President Tinubu for declaring an unconstitutional emergency rule and suspending not only the governor but also his deputy and the entire state legislature. For context, Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution is clear: the president cannot unilaterally suspend a governor or dissolve state institutions. Any declaration of emergency must follow due process, it must be presented to the National Assembly and must meet the threshold of an actual breakdown of law and order.

The so-called “state of emergency” in Rivers, declared in March 2025, was clearly a political move dressed in constitutional garb. It was designed not to save the state, but to clip the wings of a governor who refused to kowtow to his predecessor. And Wike, in his own words, has validated that assumption. He said, “The governor was gone. Yes, he was gone,” and added that Rivers people should be grateful to Tinubu. In fact, he went as far as saying they should “wash the president’s feet.”

That statement alone tells you the mentality of Nigeria’s political elite. They don’t see power as something derived from the people; they see it as a privilege handed down by the president or controlled by godfathers like Wike.

They must stand up and remind Wike that they, not Tinubu and certainly not Wike, gave Fubara the mandate. And unless the courts say otherwise, he remains the legitimate governor of Rivers State. The idea that a sitting governor can be “suspended” based on political disagreements is not only unconstitutional, it is criminal.

To reduce a governor’s mandate to a political favor is to tell Nigerians that their votes do not count. It is to delegitimize the electoral process and make a mockery of democracy. It is to say that unless a governor plays puppet, his tenure will be truncated, by hook or crook.

Wike’s behavior is a classic case of political overreach. He has gone from being a former governor to a federal minister, but he has refused to relinquish control over Rivers State. He continues to act as if the levers of government in Port Harcourt still run through his hands. And sadly, those around him, in the corridors of power, are enabling this dangerous game.

If democracy must survive in Nigeria, we must do away with this culture of political godfatherism. We must respect the sanctity of the ballot and defend the independence of elected officials. A governor is not answerable to his predecessor. He is answerable to the people who voted him in. That’s the principle we must uphold.

What Wike is doing, and what Tinubu’s administration has allowed to fester, is not only dangerous but contagious. If this type of political interference is allowed to continue in Rivers, it could easily spread to other states. Tomorrow, it may be Enugu, Benue, or Zamfara. The disease of political meddling is contagious, and if unchecked, it will eat deep into the fabric of our democracy.

The people of Rivers State deserve peace. They deserve a governor who is allowed to govern. They deserve institutions that are not puppets of Abuja or minions of retired political emperors.

And to Wike,  let it be known: you are no more the governor of Rivers State. You had your opportunity. You served. You may not like Fubara’s style, you may disagree with his decisions, but you must accept that he is no longer under your political tutelage. Democracy does not revolve around your approval.

Stop insulting the people who voted. Stop undermining the very system that gave you relevance. And above all, stop acting like Rivers State is your personal property.

Fubara may have his flaws, as every politician does, but his right to govern is not up for debate. He was elected. And that is all that matters.

Is it possible that some of the actions, and inactions, of the Governor of Borno State have helped within the last three years to breed some of the problems that led to his recent outburst and sense of alarm over the return of serious security challenges in the state? Was his approach to making the problems public the best, in the circumstances? Was his characterization of the comments of the Minister of Information and National Orientation, in reaction to the latter’s characterization of the issues a bit out of context. Should he have still gone further on the matter, after the Minister’s office gave further clarification on the actual intents of the message?

But that all the forgoing is not our main concern today.

On September 10, 2021, this column had an article titled, “Why Zulum Needs Help and Support”, wherein it was said: “Several media platforms have called out the Nigerian state on the negative security implications, and likely disruptive impact, of the ongoing surrendering and reintegration of repentant insurgents. The subsisting perception, and fear, is that we may be making a grievous mistake. I share this perception and fear”.

Reacting to the clear of possible questionable backlash from the strange carrying on at the time, I also said in that article that “I almost have no doubt that there may yet be a catastrophic fallout from what we a seeing today. But is it not also true that the Borno State governor once expressed optimism while receiving the repentant returnee. But it is also true that the possibility of a cataclysmic threat to social stability to Borno State, and the nation, may be embedded in this development”?

That article was written mainly in order to draw the attention of Governor Zulum to the type of good he was ordering from Ariaria Market. The idea was to warn him that the neat invoice paper will not show the colour and smell of the goods being penciled down for procurement. But he was apparently not paying attention, I suppose. Instead he doubled down on providing relief for refugees, projecting very elaborate efforts at bringing normalcy to trouble communities and settlements by spending on rehabilitation, provision of food and comfort, etc. He was cheerfully running massive expenditure headings on a demographic group that would, to all intents and purposes, produce nothing and contribute nothing to the economy of the state.

For good measure, the demographic group in question also possessed very poor social skills, whether religious or communal. They would become a burden, one way or another. And that it what have now turned out to be, three and a half years down the road.

Here is the caption of a BBC story arising from Governor Zulum’s recent outcry about the resurrection of unmanageable criminality and disruptive kidnapping industry: “Nigerian Governor warns of Boko Haram Comeback”. The question not raised, and therefore not reported upon, is “Are there actions by the state government, besides the challenges facing military and security authorities, that led to the comeback?”

Those who may be quick to ask: “How could any actions, or inactions, of the state government have helped create any of the problems on the ground at the moment?” Should consider the following. At the time governor Zulum was receiving repentant Boko Haram insurgents a few years ago, some of us were warning the state about the possible future challenges that might arise therefrom. At the time the Borno State, in collaboration with some agencies of government, was announcing successful deradicalization programmes, some of us were crying ‘foul’ and pointing out that it would all eventually lead to an unsustainable living environment in Borno State.

Today, the chickens are all coming home to roost.

When, as member of a team from the Centre for Crisis Communication, we organized a programme on for all military, security and paramilitary personnel in Borno State about ten years ago, the Shehu of Borno raised serious issues about what he called “the pretense that a confirmed serial murderer who even killed his neighbour’s parents will suddenly change after spending two weeks half-listening to some people in an overcrowded hall”. This was during our courtesy visit to his palace, where he received us with all the members of his traditional council.

He noted with dismay the undue attention being given to the perpetrators of heinous crimes, while their victims who need rehabilitation are neglected. “Who told you they have changed in any way?”, he quipped at some point during the visit. For him, the actions of government needed some input from the traditional institutions that could be the link for lasting peace

Regarding Zulum’s recent utterances, local regular and digital media had several disconcerting titles and reports, just like that of the BBC. The reports were all in reaction to two developments, namely (1) Zulum’s justified outcry about increasing insecurity in his state and (2) Zulum’s reaction to a statement by the Minister of Information and National Orientation on the matter of security challenges in Borno State. All things considered; Governor Zulum may well have been in the news in recent times in the way some of us would have loved for him not to be. 

Matters were not helped by the fact that the governor’s own personal utterances including, especially insinuations about the capacity of some principal officers of state at the federal level, were taken up by a few other people around him. These have been mostly strategically unhelpful media interventions, from the angle of effective problem management. As things stand now, Governor Zulum needs to review his understanding of some aspects of the security problems of his state. He should also recalibrate his utterances, especially in connection with the Boko Haram resurgence.

The emerging events about which he was raising both hell and dust took a long time in brewing. He can also be calmly described as having inadvertently contributed to the problems he is complaining about.

It is true that insurgents who put down their guns deserve both consideration and forgiveness; especially where they are seen to be truly repentant. But, and this is where the problem begins, who is the seer that was consulted to confirm the genuine repentance of those who surrendered? How was it possible that Borno state received repentant Insurgents by the thousands and yet no one in government got any information about the whereabouts of their leaders, and their strongholds, from these repentants?

The aforementioned article said: “Acceptance, forgiveness and reintegration must be part of a holistic, well-choreographed intervention template”. Concerning the expected benefits of pandering to surrendering insurgents, the article went on to ask: “But what if all we are likely to get out of this is organized Capital Consumption and the opening up of supply lines for relief materials? An unhealthy increase in expenditure and consumption, and the fanning of public ceremonies will not give Borno State any lasting results, or promote Wealth Creation. So, no one should open up massive and unsustainable expenditure headings and leave a mess for Zulum to deal with.

Can we say for sure, today, that anyone really knew why thousands of insurgents suddenly “repented”. Can we say why the rare epidemic of droves of repentants later declined?

The earlier referenced article also observed: “Did the same Boko Haram not once call for a ceasefire, during the tenure of Badeh as Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), only to use the period to re-arm and re-group before resuming its attacks? Can Borno State speak of peace when sections of a group that has been living for too long outside the bounds of civility and rationality surrender (possibly) because of hunger, death of munitions, loss of leadership, or leadership acrimony, or all of the above? Are law abiding citizens wrong if they express reservations about having their former feared predators in their midst? Are Nigerians wrong in wondering aloud what such persons still really believe and want in the depths of their hearts? It all raises questions about how even the genuinely repentant ones among them are to be properly integrated into civil society”.

Some of the allegedly deradicalized insurgents do not want to return to their former communities, because of the types of heinous crimes they committed before fleeing. Has Zulum ever asked himself what sort of integration could have possibly taken place such that a man who wiped out an entire family, or even several families in a community, returns to the same community? How was Zulum able to confirm the successful deradicalization of those he reintegrated into society? How was the success endeavour measured, and by which team of trauma psychology experts? Is it possible to create a fundamental mind shift for thousands of religiously, politically, culturally and socially disoriented people in a matter of days, or weeks?

How was it possible to quickly find resources to rehabilitate the New Brides, even as some of them were seen almost immediately returning to the forest after a few days, or weeks, of good feeding? So, were they now actually sent to infiltrate the society, towards executing a final onslaught, for a complete takeover?

It is true that the governor was being realistic when he called on all to see the need to “… choose between an endless war or to cautiously accept the surrendered terrorists which is really painful and difficult for anyone that has lost loved ones, difficult for all of us and even for the military whose colleagues have died and for volunteers.” What was his follow-through action, though.

Besides the fact that Borno State has been a refugee/insurgents funds absorption basket, the resource going into managing security can be better deployed. So, let Governo Zulum not get too excited, so that he does not end up shooting himself in the foot. Let him use his own records to trace the insurgents he has reintegrated over time, find out their current means of livelihood and what they do with their free time; including taking part in some form of worship. That would be a good way to begin to get a sense of the success or failure of his leadership in this particular regard.

QUOTE:

As things stand now, Governor Zulum needs to review his understanding of some aspects of the security problems of his state. He should also recalibrate his utterances, especially in connection with the Boko Haram resurgence.

Last week, in response to mounting, difficult-to-controvert, empirically impregnable accusations that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu disproportionately favors his Yoruba ethnic group in consequential federal appointments, the presidency circulated a list of Tinubu’s appointments to countermine the firmly fixed national narrative of Tinubu’s unexampled ethnocentrism but was compelled to withdraw it because it was embarrassingly error-ridden and factually inaccurate.

 Sunday Dare, the President’s Media Adviser on Media and Public Communication, tweeted on April 10 that the presidency had “noticed a number of errors in the list of appointments tweeted,” said they were “sorry,” and that they would “provide an updated list later.”

More than a week later, we haven’t seen the updated list that Dare promised, which will supposedly show that, in spite of incontestable evidence to the contrary, Tinubu’s appointments reflect fairness to the ethnic and regional complexities of Nigeria and that the Yoruba people don’t dominate appointments and control the commanding heights of the economy. 

Interestingly, while the presidency is still updating its list and eating humble pie, a more damning list of Tinubu’s appointments has emerged. It is longer and shows an even more indefensibly insidious, not to mention unexampled, ethnocentric capture of the major levers of government.

Again, while we are awaiting the updated list of Tinubu’s appointments that shows evidence of a fair distribution of federal appointments, the government chose to undermine itself and provide additional ideational ammunition for his critics who say he is beholden to advancing the unfair dominance of his ethnic group.

On April 16, the administration announced the formation of an eight-member committee to oversee preparations for the national census. Of the eight, five were Yoruba. In a country comprising over 500 ethnic groups, such a configuration reflects a troubling insensitivity to the symbolic and political weight of representation, especially in a matter as contentious and identity-laden as a national headcount.

The exclusion of the northeast, southeast, and south-south from the committee cannot be dismissed as oversight. Nor can the disproportionate Yoruba presence be defended as incidental. The demographic sensitivities surrounding census exercises in Nigeria are historically fraught. 

That the president’s team would assemble a committee so lopsided at such a politically volatile time betrays either a stunning lack of political judgment or a deeper confidence that no consequence will follow such overt ethno-regional privileging. Either way, the signal is unmistakable and deeply corrosive.

Equally emblematic was the decision to have the president’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila — a fellow Yoruba and an unelected official whose role has no constitutional standing — inaugurate the committee. This move, while procedurally permissible, was laden with semiotic overreach. 

The constitutionally designated deputy of the president, Vice President Kashim Shettima, a northerner, was bypassed despite being present in the country. The optics communicate the message of an informal inner circle displacing formal constitutional roles, with ethnicity as a defining axis of inclusion and exclusion.

 For an administration straining excessively hard to convince a skeptical nation that the evidence of ethnic bigotry in governance that stares them in the face isn't what they think it is, gestures like this do not merely raise questions; they answer them in ways that deepen cynicism and confirm suspicions.

I think honchos of the Tinubu administration shoot themselves in the foot and expose themselves to ridicule when they try to defend the administration’s Yoruba-centric favoritism because their rhetoric is often hysterically at variance with the evidence. 

They have two options. The first option is silence. There is more dignity in silence than lies, easily refutable lies. It’s better to be thought a fool, as the saying goes, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

 The second option is to be bold and point out that Tinubu is merely expanding the ethnocentric path that Buhari paved. In several previous columns where I railed against the Arewa-centric favoritism of Buhari’s appointments, I repeatedly warned that Buhari’s southern successor would expand on his bigotry and that defenders of Buhari’s favoritism who insulted me would have no moral pedestal to stand on when that happened.

That time has come. To be frank, I am enjoying seeing people who defended, explained away, or ignored Buhari’s favoritism (because they imagined that he would be in power for ever) squirming and complaining of Tinubu’s more expansive, unapologetic ethnic capture of the levers of government. 

When you initiate an action, you can’t determine the nature and contour of the reaction. Saying Buhari was less exclusionary than Tinubu is now is a weak charge. Buhari shouldn’t have started it, and the people who defended him or looked away should have known that this moment would come.

Of course, the people who benefit from or who defend Tinubu’s unabashed Yoruba-centrism should be aware that, like Buhari’s Arewa-centrism, it also has an expiration date, and that the successor to it may be worse than it. 

Defenders of the narrow-mindedness of the Tinubu regime should also be aware of other unintended consequences of their ethnic triumphalism. Just like Buhari has caused the Fulani (including poor, innocent ones) to be reviled all over Nigeria, everyday Yoruba people who also suffer the consequences of Tinubu’s economic policies, will be targets of transferred aggression. 

Like the Fulani, the Yoruba may become the objects of undeserved and unearned ethnic hate on account of the president’s inability to see beyond this ethnic enclave in appointments and symbolic actions.

It doesn’t matter that, like a Yoruba friend tells me each time this issue comes up, Tinubu’s outward Yoruba-centrism actually masks a more exclusionary Lagos-centrism. He says most of the Yoruba people Tinubu appoints to important positions have connections to Lagos. 

I don’t doubt him. In fact, in a January 24, 2024, column titled, “North and Tinubu’s Back-to-Lagos Moves,” I made that point. 

“With a few notable (and in some cases unavoidable) exceptions, Tinubu’s government is largely the re-enactment of his time as the governor of Lagos,” I wrote. “It is, for all practical purposes, an unabashed Lagos-centric Yorubacracy. To be fair, though, with the possible exception of Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, all civilian regimes since 1999 have been insular ethnocracies.”

I should also point out that in spite of appearances to the contrary, many well-informed, cosmopolitan Yoruba people are embarrassed by Tinubu’s unabashed favoritism toward Yoruba people at the expense of other ethnic groups. 

For example, when Tinubu was considering Bayo Ojulari as the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, it was a Yoruba man who is close to the Tinubu power orbit, who reached out to me, giving me the privilege to be the first person to break the news months before it was officially confirmed.

In my widely shared December 28, 2024, column titled, “Tinubu’s Buharization of the NNPC,” I wrote the following:

“Ironically, this column was inspired by a well-regarded Yoruba supporter of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is worried, in fact embarrassed, by the optics of what he says is Tinubu’s relentless Yorubacentric take-over of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).

“His concern wasn’t just partisan discomfort; it was a profound unease about how this nepotistic approach undermines national cohesion.”

However, after I discovered that Ojulari is a northern Yoruba, not a Southwestern Yoruba as my source had thought, I wrote a follow-up column (see “NNPC and Fresh Perspectives on Ojulari’s Identity,” January 04, 2025) to clarify my position and to argue that it’s disingenuous to deny the northern identity of northern Yoruba people only when they benefit from the representational benefits of being northerners. 

As I have argued many times in the past, appointments are the symbolic conduits through which citizens relate to governments. That is why representational justice is crucial for a complex, multi-ethnic country like Nigeria.

However, since our national leaders have historically chosen to find comfort only in their ethnic and regional cocoons and to abandon the hard task of building bridges and integrating our disparate but entirely collapsible identities, we will continue to sink deeper and deeper into the low watermarks of exclusion and bitter divisions.