• Gold price jumps over 2.5% on Wednesday with US tariffs being switched on. 
• China meanwhile retaliated while secretary Bessent issues a warning for China on devaluing its currency.
• Gold bounces from the sub-$3,000 region to just below $3,070 at the time of writing. 

Gold price (XAU/USD) bounces higher and recovers to $3,045 at the time of writing on Wednesday after United States (US) President Donald Trump’s tariffs came into effect. At one point this week, markets were hoping for a last-minute solution as several news outlets informed on Monday that President Trump was considering a 90-day pause in tariffs for all countries except China. However, the White House stated that any suggestion that President Trump was considering a 90-day pause in tariffs was “fake news.”  

“Gold’s rebound reflects growing investor anxiety over tariff threats and the potential reshaping of global trade norms,” says Christopher Wong, a foreign currency strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Bullion remains a good hedge against a more disorderly global economy, Wong said, Bloomberg reports. The market also speculates that heightened volatility may prompt the Federal Reserve (Fed)  to speed up interest rate cuts to prevent a recession. Lower rates typically benefit Gold, which doesn’t pay interest. 

Halfway through the European trading session, headlines emerge that China is retaliating against the US imposed tariffs. Chinese Finance Minister Lan Fo'an said an additional 84% of tariffs will be imposed on all US goods. The tariffs will take place as of April 10th.

United States Secretary of the Treasury Scot Bessent meanwhile said China should rather come to the table instead of retaliating. Bessent also said the country will be the biggest loser with these counter-tariffs. Bessent also called out and warned China should not devalue its currency as an additional measure to circumvent the US tariffs, Bloomberg reports.

Daily digest market movers: FOMC Minutes will not move the needle

• Shares of Muthoot Finance, an Indian financial corporation and the largest Gold loan non-bank financial company in the country, declined as much as 6.3% after the Indian central bank said it would undertake a comprehensive review of gold loan regulations, which could potentially increase competition in the sector.
• The CME FedWatch tool shows the chance of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed) in May’s meeting surging to 53.5%, compared with only 10.6% a week ago. For June, the chances of lower borrowing costs are 100%, with 55.2% anticipating a 50 basis point (bp) rate cut. 
• Chinese investors funneled a record amount of cash into Gold-backed Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) last week, drawn by the asset's safety as combative trade war rhetoric from the world’s biggest economies shakes global markets. Inflows to four major onshore Gold ETFs, including Huaan Yifu Gold ETF, hit a record of 7.6 billion yuan ($1 billion) last week, according to Bloomberg’s calculations, with strong inflows continuing this week, Bloomberg reports. 
• Later this Wednesday, around 18:00 GMT, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will release its latest Minutes from the rate decision meeting in March.

Gold Price Technical Analysis: Will it really get resolved?

With the US tariffs taking effect this Wednesday, the markets' reaction is one still with some surprise. It seems that markets were positioned for some last-minute solution or delay, which would soften the actual blow and impact of the tariffs. Nonetheless, duties are taking effect immediately, and that is enough for last-minute investors to head back into Gold. 

Looking up, resistances are a bit spread out, with the first cap of the R1 resistance at $3,041 being tested when writing, followed by $3,057, a pivotal level since March 20. Further up, the R2 resistance at $3,089 precedes the current all-time high of $3,167.

On the downside, the pivotal level of the March 14 high at $3,004 roughly coincides with the $3,000 round number. If this area does not hold as support, bears can target the S1 support at $2,964 and the $2,955 level, where clearly many buyers were interested in scooping up Gold on Monday. Further down, the S2 support at $2,945 is the last line of defense before the 55-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) at $2,935.

[fxstreet]

Nigerian singer and songwriter, Damini Ogulu, popularly known as Burnaboy, has said that Nigerian artists earn significantly less for streams from their local audience compared to those from U.S. and U.K. listeners, with payouts up to 90% lower.

The 33-year-old musician shared his thoughts via Instagram, revealing that Nigerian artists typically earn just $400 for 1 million local streams, compared to the $3,000 to $4,000 that artists from the UK and US receive for the same number of streams.

Burna Boy, known for hits like Ye and Anybody, explained the pay disparity between different regions, saying, “1 million Nigerian streams: $300-$400. 1 million UK streams: $3,000-$4,000. 1 million US streams: $3,000-$4,000. 1 million euro streams: $3,000-$4,000.”

His comments highlight a significant income gap between African musicians and their international counterparts, driven by various factors including the market size, revenue-sharing models, and currency exchange rates.

One of the primary reasons for this disparity is the revenue-sharing model used by music streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and TIDAL. These platforms operate on a system where artists earn a percentage of the revenue generated from ads, subscriptions, and other services.

In larger markets like the U.S. and the U.K., where subscription fees are higher, there is more ad revenue and a larger paying user base, which results in higher payouts for artists in these regions.

Some context 

The subscription models in these regions further amplify the earnings gap. In the US, Apple Music charges $10.99 per month for an individual subscription, $5.99 for students, and $16.99 for family plans. Similarly, YouTube Music Premium in the US costs $11.99 per month or $119.99 annually.

• In contrast, Nigerian users pay significantly lower fees. Spotify Premium costs just N1,300 (about $0.82) per month in Nigeria, and YouTube Music Premium is part of a YouTube Premium subscription, priced at N1,300($0.82) for individuals and N2,000($1.27) for family plans.
• The Nigerian market is relatively smaller, with fewer paying subscribers and less ad revenue, which directly impacts the amount local artists receive per stream in the country. Additionally, the value of local currencies plays a role in the disparity. The Nigerian Naira is significantly weaker than the US Dollar or British Pound.
• Also, the exchange rate opened 2023 at N461.5/$1, closed the year at N907.11/$1, and ended 2024 at N1,535/$1. While the payment per stream for Nigerian artists remains comparatively low, the growth of Nigerian music on global platforms has been substantial.

According to Spotify’s 2024 Loud & Clear report, Nigerian artists earned more than N58 billion in royalties from the platform alone in 2024, a figure that more than doubled from the previous year and was five times greater than the amount earned in 2022. This marks a major milestone for Nigerian music, reflecting the growing influence of Afrobeats and other local genres on the international stage.

What to know 

However, despite these significant earnings, the financial gap between Nigerian artists and their international peers remains substantial. As Burna Boy pointed out, having the number one song on a Nigerian streaming platform is not necessarily something to celebrate, as the financial rewards from local streams pale in comparison to those earned in the UK, US, and European markets.

Instead, he encourages Nigerian artists to look beyond their local scene and explore opportunities in international markets, where higher payouts can provide better financial sustainability.

Despite these challenges, Nigerian artists continue to gain global recognition, and platforms like Spotify have helped amplify their music worldwide.

[Nairametrics]

Kemi Olunloyo, the daughter of the late former Oyo State governor, Dr. Victor Omololu Olunloyo, has publicly stated that she will not be accepting condolences following her father's passing on Sunday, April 6.

In a Facebook post, the social media personality revealed personal events that she claims affected her family before her father's death. "I am uploading video statements on my father's death on TikTok," she wrote. "I am NOT part of the Olunloyo family anymore, and I told you that in 2024, that I will never return to Nigeria even if my parents died."

In a subsequent video, Kemi discussed the family dynamics, blaming her late father for allegedly causing turmoil within the family. "I am not accepting anybody's condolences because I am not condoling with anybody," she said. "If you want to condole with my father on his death or his family, you need to go to (link unavailable)."

Kemi stated that she had forgiven her father, saying, "I have forgiven my Dad for everything he did." However, she continued to express her grievances, claiming that her father presented a different persona to the world and to their family.

"My father, Victor Omololu Olunloyo, is two different people," she said. "He was one person to the world; he was another person to the family. My father destroyed our family unit; my father tortured us as kids. He tortured us emotionally and physically. My father ruined the family unit."

Kemi also shared her feelings of betrayal, noting that although her father presented her as his "favourite daughter" to the public, she felt far from it. "My father used me for a lot of things," she claimed. "My father did a lot for all of us. When I said used me, he took advantage of my own positive energies."

Additionally, Kemi discussed her father's involvement in occult practices, claiming that he was "into 'juju' heavily" and "occult practices." She also alleged that her father's issues began after he married Ronke Sonaike, who later became Aderonke Olunloyo.

"My mother married an intellectual, a man who got his Ph.D. at 26 years old," Kemi said. "And he turned into a polygamist. Not that polygamists are not good, but the way it happened to my family."

Kemi shared disturbing memories of the tension caused by Ronke's entry into the family, including claims that her stepmother had attempted to poison her mother. "Ronke said it's my mom that put it there," she recalled, referring to a time when her mother allegedly placed a miniature coffin under Ronke's son, Olumide's bed.

Kemi concluded by stating that she had no contact with her stepmother and revealed that, according to her older sister, "Towards the end of Daddy's life, nobody had access to him after the 2021 stroke. They couldn't talk to Daddy on the phone because Ronke did not give anybody access

Supporters of the Senator Esther Nenadi Usman-led National Caretaker Committee (NCC) of the Labour Party (LP) on Wednesday in Abuja broke into jubilation following the release of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the last week’s Supreme Court judgment on the party’s leadership dispute.

Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, who read excerpts from the document, announced that the court affirmed the leadership of Senator Usman.

He was speaking at the National Executives Committee (NEC) meeting and expanded stakeholders summit held at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

The meeting also attended by the LP national leader and it’s presidential candidate in 2023 elections, Peter Obi, came two days after a fractional national chairman of the party, Barrister Julius Abure, threatened to sanction Otti and Obi for anti-party activities and the planned parallel NEC which held today.

“The Supreme Court has affirmed that the plaintiff (Usman and others) were right in their appeal and went further to admonish politicians to respect the tenures of office as stipulated in their respective political party constitutions,” Otti said.

He also faulted Abure for insisting on staying as the LP national chairman, even when his tenure had expired and the party members also don’t want him again.

He said, “I had a meeting with him (Abure) and asked him, what he wanted, he said he didn’t want anything, we offered him the Chairmanship of the party’s board of trustees (BoT). He went ahead to want to stay when his tenure and those of the NWC (National Working Committee) had expired.

“The correct procedure of you still want to be national chairman is to start from the ward congress, state congress, zonal congress, where the delegates would emerge for the national convention and everyone member is free to contest,” Otti said.

[DailyTrust]

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has a Seyi Tinubu decision to make. He could appoint the younger Tinubu to a cabinet position, or he could keep things as they are and continue to violate the constitution on at least two counts. Either way, Nigerians deserve clarity about the position of the son within the father’s government.

If the president chooses the first option, he will only be giving legal recognition to what effectively exists as a political fact, since his son is already deeply involved in government and national politics. If, on the other hand, the president sticks with the status quo, then we must raise the unprecedented constitutional issues, as I shall argue presently. Whatever the president does on this, the operative terms here are the Nigerian constitution, presidential convention, and the violation of either.

For the first time in Nigeria, we have a presidential son who wants to be fully, openly and directly part of the gig, and a president-father who would let him, or at least who would not issue a firm “No”.

Nigerian leaders from Tafawa Balewa in 1960 to Buhari in 2023 generally refrained from directly involving their children in their own government beyond the symbolic perks of a “First Family”. This practice has grown into a strong tradition and convention, and in any case, many presidential children were young or still in school when their parents served. Of course, quite a few adult children of our past leaders were influential in politics and business particularly, as Abacha and Obasanjo’s children reportedly were. Iyabo Obasanjo was commissioner for health in their home state, Ogun, and was elected a senator when her father was president. Presidential daughters and sons have also often married into prominent political, business or royal families when their parents are in office, as was the case with Yar’adua and Buhari.

None of this, however, is in the same proportion or category as Seyi Tinubu’s role in his father’s government is shaping up to be. Seyi clearly wants to be more than just a president’s son, but to be front and centre of politics and government alongside his parents. He is also not content with the conventional approach of operating and wielding influence in the shadows, as some presidential children before him had done.

He has been a presidential spokesman, lashing out at critics of his father, “the greatest president in Nigerian history”. He has been a goodwill ambassador, helping to build or mend bridges between his father and former heads of state and governors. He has been an envoy of peace, doling out ‘Ramadan baskets’ all across northern Nigeria and donations to victims of flood. He has reportedly influenced his father’s appointment of ministers and presidential advisers. Above all, Seyi wants a seat at the cabinet table to be part of it all at the Federal Executive Council. All of these are cabinet-level roles, which then raise the question; what precisely is Seyi Tinubu’s official role within his father’s presidency?

The answer is so far unclear. What is clear, however, is that clarity is needed. First, no presidential children or family members have assumed such wide-ranging public roles in their father’s government. The most we have seen is Buhari’s appointment of his nephew, Tunde Sabiu Yusuf, as his personal secretary, which, in fact, is a good example precisely because it was made official. Secondly, the current situation of having Seyi Tinubu perform senior-level political and government duties without official recognition raises the issue of accountability. Since no one outside of government can spend government funds, where are the funds for Seyi’s political activities coming from? Are they federal, party, or personal funds? Nigerians must know. After all, Buhari was lampooned for allowing his daughter, Hanan, to use a presidential jet for personal business. Where are the same critics now?

Third, it is clear that Seyi Tinubu has serious political ambitions of his own, and that his father approves and supports those ambitions. The younger Tinubu appears to want to follow in the political footsteps of his father to become the governor of Lagos State, as rumoured, and perhaps thereafter, launch a presidential bid of his own. And the Tinubus, it seems, aim to use this presidency as a training ground for the younger man to gain experience and learn on the job. That is the only logical explanation for this extent of overreach by a son in their father’s government.

This is where the constitutional issues come into play. On the one hand, there is nothing constitutionally wrong with a president appointing his son or daughter to a cabinet position within their government. There is also nothing constitutionally wrong for any president’s sons or daughters to hold political aspirations of their own, and nothing wrong for the parents to support such ambitions. Dynastic political families are common in democracies. Many American presidents appointed one or more of their own children or other family members to various positions, from private secretaries to influential advisers. John F. Kennedy, for example, made his brother, Robert, as the US Attorney General, and was so confirmed by the US Senate.

The key issue is clarity, which comes from official notice, as in Tunde Sabiu’s case. Were Sabiu a son, rather than a nephew, of Buhari (is there any difference in our African context?), it would just have been as well, since everyone knows what his specific roles are in the government. Likewise, Tinubu could appoint Seyi as Presidential Envoy on Domestic Affairs or Minister of Special Duties, or whatever he sees fit, with a clear delineation of responsibilities and powers, like any other cabinet position. That would help to absorb the son’s energies and give a platform for any further political aspirations. Most importantly, such clarity will avoid the president’s infringement on the constitution as is currently the case with his son’s undefined public roles.

As things stand, Nigeria effectively has two presidents and two vice-presidents at the same time. The difference is that Seyi Tinubu is both a co-president to his father, and a co-vice president to Vice President Kashim Shettima. Certainly, the Nigerian constitution did not intend such an arrangement. In order to accommodate his son’s energies and aspirations, the president has had to withdraw from some of his own roles, and at the same time, weaken the office and person of the vice president. In my view, these directly violate the spirit and letter of our constitution.

Nigerians have made funny and not-so-funny jokes on social media about the position of the vice president in relation to Seyi Tinubu’s increasing public roles and visibility in government. Some memes have even described Shettima as the “former vice president of Nigeria”, just to indicate the extent of his perceived or real alienation from the government of which he is a part.  A lot of the concerns expressed by such jokes are valid. In my view, however, the real problem lies a degree higher up.

In our presidential system, the president has three roles: as head of the government, as commander of the armed forces, and as the political, symbolic and ceremonial head of state. Seyi Tinubu performs quite a lot of this third role of head of state. He has taken salutes and stood for parades by our police and military officers. He has been the more politically visible of the pair across the country. He has had governors receive him across the states as exactly as they would President Tinubu himself.

All of these are part of the president’s own job, but which he has unofficially delegated to his son against the intent of our constitution. This is why President Tinubu has a decision to make. Give Seyi a seat at the table officially, or let him officially stay out.

The 2023 Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has urged party members not to fear anyone, stressing that Nigeria is in a state of collapse and urgently needs rescue.

He made this statement while addressing party members during the ongoing National Executive Council, NEC, meeting in Abuja.

“Do not fear anybody. Those who were afraid yesterday didn’t do any better,” Obi said. “We must speak out when things are going wrong. Nigeria is collapsing. The numbers are clear; the indices are clear—people are getting poorer every day.”

The former Anambra State governor stressed the need for unity and inclusion within the party.

“The Labour Party has chosen to be a family, and we must do everything as a family. It’s not about Peter Obi’s choice; it’s everyone’s choice. This family excludes no one. We want to build a party that is fair and just.

“We want to go into the next election fully prepared, offering Nigerians the best and most competent candidates for the House of Representatives, the Senate, Governorships, and the Presidency.”

He also emphasised the relevance of party loyalty and competence among aspirants, adding that they want to correct the mistakes they made in the past.

“Anyone seeking to contest under our party must be a committed member, not just someone passing through. They must be competent,” he added.

[DailyPost]

A former president of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, Engr. Udengs Eradiri, has told the Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, to stop dragging the entire Ijaw nation into his fight for political survival in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Eradiri, a former governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Bayelsa, said Diri should go and grind his political axe with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike, and stop making it look like the Ijaw was at war with Wike.

He said it was unfortunate that the likes of Diri were attempting to drag the entire ethnic group into political fight.

Eradiri, a former Commissioner for Youths and later Environment in Bayelsa clarified that he was neither a Wike’s man nor looking for the Minister’s endorsement, recalling that he tried to get Wike’s nod as a candidate of the LP during the last governorship election in Bayelsa, but that some persons around the Minister blocked him.

He said: “I guess it was the game at the time because a Wike’s endorsement would have perhaps made the outcome of the governorship election different as evident his support led to the victory of Douye diri because if not for the cancellation of Chief Timipre Sylva’s stronghold made possible by Wike’s support things would have been different.

“This is why I am talking about the hypocrisy in display today. When Douye Diri, ‘Governor-General of the Ijaw Nation’, went down to kneel down for Wike to collect power he used in ijawland to win Sylva and myself where was the Ijaw pride they so profess today?”

Eradiri queried the whereabouts of today’s so-called Ijaw lovers, when Wike splashed N5bn on the dilapidated Law School in Yenagoa, which was abandoned by those claiming to love Ijaw more than others.

He asked those fighting Wike to take a trip to Port Harcourt in Rivers and behold the magnificent Law School Wike built in Ikwerre land.

Eradiri asked persons, who claimed Wike insulted the Ijaw nation to replay the Minister’s statements and judge for themselves without biases if what the Minister said they was not bitter truth.

Eradiri said: “As usual, our people don’t read or listen. They simply went to the ijaw square to sentence Wike. Without even knowing what the issues were, they jumped into bandwagon of crucification.

“Lets even ask ourselves, this our ijawness, why is it not in the development and progress of our nation and people? Why always solidarity at war but not for development?

“Look at Yenagoa, the capital of ijaw nation, like a place where mad people reside replete with abandoned projects courtesy of some ijaw leaders, yet no solidarity is shown for the development , light up and progress of ijaw nation.

“Our airport is moribund and our schools are a disgrace to education. Young talents are deliberately not encouraged to stardom; jobless youths roam the streets due to visionless leadership; no hope of survival but you are very active for solidarity to fight political battles of those impoverishing them.

“There are herdsmen in our bushes killing and destroying our crops yet no solidarity to deal with such a menace but same youths can gather against a speech of fact from deputy governor but they cannot gather for their progress but easy to gather against a perceived political enemy?”

Eradiri said Wike suddenly became an enemy of Ijaw simply because he took the PDP from Douye Diri and his colleague governors.

“When did ijaw people choose PDP as ijaw party? Diri should go and deal with his issues in PDP and stop dragging ijaw people into what does not concern us”, he said.

Eradiri insisted that lack of leadership tact on the part of the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, caused the crisis in his state and asked the governor to stop etnicising the impasse.

He said: “As for Governor Siminalayi Fubara, he is incompetent and that is what has brought all this negative energy. He should not involve ijaw in his political issues and affairs. Let him tell us how he has supported the ijaws or ijaw activities? 

“How many ijaws of Rivers State did he empower that he is demanding Ijaw support now? How many of the IYC comrades in Eastern zone were LGA chairmen, commissioners and appointees in his government?

“Or are all the ijaw youths of Eastern Zone only good at supporting political fights but not good enough for appointment and empowerment? When Chief Wike visited Abalama, how much did Fubara mobilise his people? Wike is a fighter and i like his style.

“I advise Fubara to go and kneel before Wike and beg for forgiveness. Those, who are deceiving him have no balls. They go cap in hand kneeling and begging same Wike when they get it they come in the open to claim ijaw lions.

“Now, Fubara is the one outside they are there ranting. Mr. President used the state of emergency to save Fubara and the ijaw nation the embarrassment of impeachment. He should go thank and appreciate President Bola Tinubu.”

Eradiri recalled that when Wike singlehandedly made Fubara Rivers governor, no ijaw gathered or even went to thank him.

“Fubara did not buy form or even spoke a word during campaigns. Why should he now be disobeying and reneging on agreement? Men are those who keep their words and abide by agreements”, he said.

Eradiri criticised the way and manner the Ijaw National Congress (INC) handled the Rivers crisis and warned the body against ethnicizing political issues, insisting that the INC brought the Rivers embarrassment on the Ijaw nation.

He said: “The INC failed to realize that those supporting Wike are ijaws too, Abalama chiefs and youths lined up to welcome Wike, are you saying they are no longer ijaws? George kelly and the numerous ijaw sons empowered by Wike are they not ijaws?

 “INC should not be romancing governors’ egos. The institution is bigger than them and once you belittle the INC before these incompetent governors then the institutions will be ripe for ridicule and insults. Nobody is more ijaw than any other, so INC should protect all interest and stay away from politics. 

“Non of these governors have empowered ijaw nation more than Wike , the peanuts they give to our platforms cannot be mentioned anywhere as support. Cant you see how Wike developed his people and empowered them? If they want challenge they should brag with their work on ground. Wike’s work is visible for the blind to see even in our ijawland.

Eradiri said the NDDC Forensic Report revealed that those so-called lovers of ijaw nation looted the commission and stole money meant to develop same ijawland, adding that they got paid for contracts but refused to execute them.

He said they deliberately underdeveloped the only ijaw state, noting that they collapsed the educational system and resorted to sending their children abroad.

Eradiri said: “Just look at the Atala Marginal Field, the one owned by ijaw state but taken away from ijaw youths and sold to outsiders by ijaw leaders to the detriment of ijaws. We lost jobs and opportunity for economic growth of the same ijaw nation.

“See the darkness in ijaw land no power to drive growth, if not for the NDDC led by Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, who is not in their league but they continue to fight to bring him down, all our communities will have still been in darkness at night

“Please, lets stop ethnicising political issues, Diri and Fubara should go fight their political party battles and leave ijaw nation out of politics. When it favors you you laugh and dance in thanksgiving , when it doesn’t favor you it becomes ijaw affair. Wike is not the ijaw enemy, you people are the real enemies”.

Niger military government has officially made Hausa the country’s new national language, moving away from its colonial past where French played a central role.

The change was announced in a new charter released on March 31, published in a special edition of the government’s official journal.

According to the document, “The national language is Hausa,” and “the working languages are English and French.”

Hausa is already the most commonly spoken language across Niger, especially in the Zinder, Maradi, and Tahoua regions. 

Most of the country’s population of about 26 million people understand and speak Hausa. In comparison, only around three million people, just 13 per cent, can speak French.

The new charter also officially lists nine other local languages, including Zarma-Songhay, Fula, Kanuri, Gourmanche, and Arabic, as “the spoken languages of Niger.”

This language switch follows a national meeting held in February.

During that event, the military government received more support and General Abdourahamane Tiani, the junta leader, was given approval to stay in power for five more years.

Since taking over in a coup in July 2023, which removed the country’s civilian president, Mohamed Bazoum, the junta has been cutting off ties with France.

These actions include removing French troops from the country, ending diplomatic relations, and changing the names of roads and buildings that used to carry French names.

Like Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, which also have military governments and used to be French colonies, are taking similar steps.

They’ve also pulled out of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, a group similar to the Commonwealth that supports French-speaking nations.

[Punch]

When I was admitted to the Department of Political Science in 1980 as a freshman, straight from secondary school, Professor Humphrey Nwosu was one of the lecturers we encountered. He was the Head of the Sub-department of Public Administration which owned the Local Government building that housed the Department of Political Science.

Though he was an energetic and ebullient man, he wasn’t exactly very popular with us for two main reasons: One, is that he normally fixed his lectures at 7am, and he never failed to show up for classes. He would in fact often be in the class before that 7am, which led to some of  us gossiping behind his back about a man who preferred to come jumping up and down in the class at a time in the morning that he should be keeping his wife company.

The second reason Professor Nwosu wasn’t quite popular with us was that Nigerian universities in the 1980s and early 1990s were very ideologically driven, essentially between the Marxists (also called the ‘radical scholars’) and those that were variously called ‘bourgeois scholars’ or derided as the “educated representatives of the propertied class”. Unfortunately Professor Nwosu was among those we called “bourgeois scholars”.

We were told that the bourgeois scholars  were not able to appreciate the “dialectics of class struggle”, that their works were very “ahistorical”, with a “tendency to be arbitrary in their choice of analytical categories”, and that they  failed to appreciate that the nature of the “productive force” and “social relations of production” were the motif forces of history. Though we knew that Professor Nwosu made first class honours, however, because we saw him as a “bourgeois scholar”, we ridiculed that accomplishment as being merely a First Class Honours in ‘Elements of Government’, not the sort of proper political science that the ‘radical scholars’ were teaching us. 

Professor Nwosu, on his own, blamed the ‘radical scholars’, the “Nnoli boys”, of exposing students to only one side of a complex reality. Though we regarded Prof Nwosu as a ‘bourgeois scholar’ we respected him because of the sheer force of his presence, or charisma if you like – unlike most of the other lecturers we regarded as ‘bourgeois scholars’.

I recall an incident with one of the ‘bourgeois scholars’. He was teaching us something about “colonialism” which was at that time the favourite whipping boy of the radical scholars who made it compulsory that we should read and master such works as Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Okwudiba Nnoli’s Ethnic Politics in Nigeria, and Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth. In fact, from Nnoli’s book we learnt that ethnicity in Nigeria started in the colonial urban centres and was fuelled by the colonial policy of ‘divide and rule’. Rodney’s book squarely blamed colonialism for Africa’s underdevelopment, while Fanon’s book provided a psychoanalysis of the dehumanising effects of colonisation upon the individual and the nation.

With our understanding of colonialism from these three books and similar ones, I think we were tolerating the ‘bourgeois scholar’,  until he wrote on the black board: “The benefits of colonialism”. We felt we have heard enough.  One of us from the back of the class shouted: “Whaat?” In anger, the entire  class walked out on him, believing that he did not know enough to teach us, or was teaching us the wrong stuff,  despite the fact  that we were just in our first year, or ‘Class 1’ as some of us liked to call it in those days. 

Though we regarded Professor Nwosu as a “bourgeois scholar”, we also respected him as an effective administrator. In fact, behind the backs of the radical scholars, we mocked their relative lack of administrative capacity compared to Professor Nwosu. Professor Nnoli, leader of the radical scholars, was the Head of Department of Political Science in our first year in the Department.

Professor Nwosu – a brief biography

Humphrey Nwosu is an astute and charismatic public administrator, academic, technocrat, and political scientist. He studied political science at the University of California at Berkeley where he earned Master’s and doctoral degrees in political science ((Magna Cum Laude) in 1973 and 1976 respectively. He subsequently returned to teach at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka where he rose to become a full-time tenured professor. In 1986, he was appointed by the Anambra State Government to serve as Commissioner of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters and later Commissioner of Agriculture. He was appointed Chairman of the Nigeria Electoral Commission in 1989, to replace Professor Eme Awa, his former lecturer and mentor, who had fallen out of favour with the Babangida government.  

When Prof. Nwosu left office in 1993 after the annulment of June 12 presidential election, he returned to teaching at the Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka where he formally retired in 1999. Professor Nwosu has published several books and peer-reviewed articles in both local and international journals. His books include  Political Authority and Nigerian Civil Service (1977); Problems of Nigerian Administration(edited, 1985);  A Book of Reading; Introduction to Politics; Moral Education in Nigeria; Conduct of Free and Fair Election in Nigeria: Speeches, Comments and Reflections (1991) and  Laying the Foundation for Nigeria’s Democracy: My Account of June 12, 1993 Presidential Election and its Annulment (2008).  Professor Humphrey Nwosu, breathed his last on Thursday, October 24, in the United States of America, at the age of 83

What does it mean to be a reformer at the crossroads?

A reformer is a change agent who is deliberate and intentional about improving the way things work.  As an expression, the imagery often invoked is that of an intersection of two roads in which a person has to make a decision on which of the roads to take. Essentially it means being at a stage when one has to take a critical or an important decision.

The above raises two important questions:  which reforms are we talking about in relations to Professor Nwosu? And at which crossroads?

Though it is obvious that Professor Nwosu, given the number of public positions he had held would have been at several crossroads, for most Nigerians, he is known for his role as the Chairman of the National Election Commissions from 1989-1993. So which crossroads are we talking about?

Professor Nwosu’s crossroads

Professor Nwosu’s challenge was not just helping to manage a transition to a full civilian rule  but also to  facilitate the process of de-militarisation –  that is the military handing over power to civilian authorities and accepting subordination to a civilian authority. This means that unlike the electoral bodies since 1999 which dealt with only with the political class and their mode of competition for power, Professor Nwosu had to deal with two humongous groups – the political class and the military establishment, including a faction of that establishment which did not want to lose their privileges by accepting a handover to a civilian political class.  

The job of being the country’s chief electoral umpire is often called a poisoned chalice, in which rarely any umpire would come out of it with his reputation being intact (Professor Jega who organised the 2015 election was mostly lucky that Jonathan conceded defeat). If just dealing with the political class makes the job of the chief electoral umpire to be a poisoned chalice, you can then imagine what it means to be an electoral umpire for both the political class and a politicised military.

De-militarisation would often raise the question of de-politicisation. How do you professionalise soldiers who had become used to political power and its appurtenances and to being superordinate to civilian authorities? As Elaigwu (2015:232) argued: “The demilitarization of the polity without adequate de-politicisation of the military is an invitation to chaos; yet paradoxically, that process of de-politicisation of the military involves the politicization of the military”.

Essentially Babangida’s transition programme, in which at a point the country was running a diarchy, meant that the military as an establishment had become more politically conscious and was factionalised between those who wanted a handover to a civilian government and those who resented such. In fact, Babangida, in his recent autobiography admitted that much when he declared that “there were fears, even at that early stage of the transition programme, that some members of the top hierarchy of the military were reluctant to relinquish power” (Babangida, 2025: 258).  

The paper was originally presented at a Colloquium on the Life and Times of Professor Humphrey Nwosu at Abuja on March 25 2025. 

*Jideofor Adibe is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Nasarawa State University 

Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, has called on President Bola Tinubu to adopt a rapid, decisive implementation strategy—similar to that of former U.S. President Donald Trump—to achieve an ambitious ₦500 trillion national budget by 2026/2027.

In a 35-page policy report titled “OAL Governance and Economic Analysis and Forecast 2025: To Nigeria Can Succeed,” Agbakoba commended Tinubu’s fuel subsidy removal but stressed that economic reforms must translate into tangible improvements for everyday Nigerians.

“The paper presents a comprehensive strategy for transforming Nigeria from a resource-dependent to a production-driven economy capable of generating a ₦500 trillion budget,” he said.

“This target requires reimagining Nigeria’s economic architecture and governance to reduce debt and boost revenue.”

Agbakoba cited the need to replace extractive institutions—those concentrating wealth among elites—with inclusive ones that spread economic and political power more broadly, drawing on the book “Why Nations Fail” by Acemoglu and Robinson.

Two Imperatives for Economic Transformation:

Restructure Governance:

Devolve power to states and local governments

Enact constitutional reforms to reflect true federalism

Ensure judicial independence

Tackle corruption and reform public services

Sectoral Interventions to Unlock ₦500 Trillion:

₦85tn: Oil & gas reform (shift from “Contract Oil” to “Development Oil”)

₦65tn: Tax reform and revenue collection

₦50tn: Asset monetization via MOFI and PPPs

₦45tn: Development of critical minerals

₦40tn: Unlocking dead capital through property rights

₦35tn: Maritime and blue economy

₦30tn each: Aviation sector and digital economy

₦25tn each: Local content enforcement and strategic trade policy

₦10tn: Space industry development

Agbakoba emphasized that executing this plan requires “Trumpian speed”—rapid, concurrent actions across multiple fronts, bureaucratic streamlining, and leveraging technology.

“The success of these policies will not be judged by statistics or international praise, but by their impact on ordinary Nigerians,” he stated.

“Can the market trader in Onitsha earn more? Is food more affordable in Kano? Can a farmer in Benue access healthcare and education?”

He reiterated that Nigeria’s economic underperformance is due more to institutional failure than resource scarcity.

“With strategic reforms across sectors like maritime, aviation, oil and gas, digital economy, and trade, Nigeria can become a ₦500 trillion economic powerhouse,” Agbakoba said.

“This transformation is not just necessary—it is the moral imperative of our time.”

He concluded with a rallying call: “With our natural resources, strategic location, and resilient people, Nigeria has all it takes for economic greatness. It’s time to make Nigeria and Africa great again.”

[Vanguard]