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![[OPINION] Tinubu’s Lagos-Centric Yorubaization of Nigeria - Farooq A. Kperogi](/media/k2/items/cache/28a1ac9a41178905817ea9680395aabc_L.jpg)
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.
![[OPINION] Why men are afraid of ‘omugwo’ - Funke Egbemode](/media/k2/items/cache/9e37e7adaed17795ccb2539290beb058_L.jpg)
He was the lord of his manor. Whatever he said was law. His children feared him. His wife trembled at his feet. He was a god in his private shrine and decreed that he be accorded the appropriate worship and sacrifice or he breathed fire from both nostrils. He ruled his home with an iron fist and he was feared more than respected, avoided not loved. For 33 straight years, his wife put up with his excesses. His children watched their mother endure her marriage. She wore a smile that eventually became a grimace but she soldiered on. Nobody was going to raise her children while she still had breath. She cried herself to sleep most nights, most of those nights were lonely ones anyway but she stayed the course. She bore it for her children.
Now at 59, she’s in Canada on her first ‘omugwo’ journey ( omugwo in Igbo or ojojo omo in Yoruba are terms for traditional after-birth care of new borns) to take care of her first grandchild. There were grunts and whispers about how she left ‘Daddy’ alone to fend for himself while she enjoyed all the fruits of the labour of the old man. But her version of the story revealed that ‘Daddy and Mummy’ stopped being a real couple a long time ago.
‘When our twins arrived, he said I had to quit my job so I could take care of them. They were a handful, so it was not difficult for me to agree. But even when they started school, he refused to let me go back to work. He had a repertoire of reasons why I could not or should not hold a nine-to-five job. I wouldn’t have minded but I eventually concluded that my husband simply wanted me to be dependent on him for every penny I needed. I needed his permission to use the car because he had to fuel it. I had to agree to his choice of school for the children because he was paying the fees. We rented apartments that suited him and eventually built our house in a rural area. I had no say in anything. I was unhappy for years. I did not want to raise my children without their father, so I stayed in there, sick both physically and emotionally. My husband lived a full life while I lived like a glorified maid. He travelled within and outside the country on business but I never left Nigeria until I became a grandmother. My son, Kehinde hauled me off to Canada. I was there for six straight months until the family doctor blackmailed me with my husband’s health, saying it could would worsen if he continued to eat junk food and stare at the wall and ceiling all day. I must confess that I didn’t miss him and totally enjoyed being away from under his thumb and bullying for those six months. I’m already looking forward to accompanying Taiwo’s wife to the US to have her baby. If I was fine with Daddy’s way of doing things for 33 years, he will be fine with me doing my grandma duties ’
Molayo’s abuse was physical. Her husband beat her regularly, even in front the children, sometimes with neighbours as spectators.
‘I thought the abuse would stop as we grew older but it didn’t and each time the children tried to defend me or correct him, he would threaten to lay a curse on them. I warned them to stay off his path of anger. After beating me, my children and I would go into my room and cry together as they massaged my arm or put cold compress on my swollen jaw. He would deny me of housekeeping allowance if I crossed him or refuse to talk to me for days for not waiting up for him if he got home late. And he kept many late nights, slept out many nights too. If I dared to ask him questions about his whereabouts, he either beat me or gave me the silent treatment. My marriage was harsh and hard. It also took a toll on my health eventually, for which my children blame their father. I made sure they never disrespected their father for as long as I could. But the day my first daughter gave birth was the day they moved me to her house. It was the perfect excuse to rescue me. I returned home after three months for about two weeks and I’m back in my daughter’s place. My medications are more effective now that I sleep better and nobody is bullying me.’
The seed for this piece was actually planted in August 2022. It was at a party and I found myself at the same table with four gentlemen who were worried at the rate at which wives were ‘abandoning’ their husbands to go and do grandma duties. They are all in their 50s and fairly comfortable financially.
‘It is becoming a fad. These women just wait for you to pay the hefty school fees in dollars and then they disappear for months to do that omugwo thing.’
‘Yeah, and you have to learn to eat fast food.’
‘And sleep alone.’
‘Maybe we should get new wives to bridge the gap.’
‘Nice idea, my guy. A young girl to warm you up on rainy nights when madam abandons you,’
Men, why do they think all problems can be solved by newer models and fuller bosoms?
I did my best to explain the logic of laying your bed the way you want it to feel when you lie on it.
You see, not all wives disappear for omugwo without a backward glance. Not all wives make irreversible transition from wives to grandmothers. Some women, and I know quite a few, just want to be wives and remain wives of their husbands all the days of their lives. They do not know how to be anything else. These are women who will be lost without their husbands. Their husbands are their lives because they are men loving and devoted. Yes, they feel blessed and privileged to live long enough to transit from wives to mothers and then grandmothers but this set of women never forget they started as wives, that the vows they took before God, men and tradition was as wives, before all other functions. I also admit that this group of wives are fast fading. But they are still here.
Now, don’t you go jumping to conclusions that those forever wives are obeying the Bible or the Koran. No, they are just responding to their environment, to their marriages. They are just providing the second palm with which to effect a clap.
I have friends, peers who will go and do their omugwo and be back in a jiffy. One month tops and they are back in the arms of their husbands. I also have friends who are just waiting for their first grandchildren to ‘pop’ and they will, like bat out of hell, disappear, relocate for at least six months. There it is, omugwo for many women is a legit escape from marriages and men they had been wanting to escape from for years. Omugwo is like a release, albeit a temporary one from the men they did not have the courage to leave for years. The situation is even made worse if the children see the arrival of their babies as opportunities ‘to free mummy from daddy for a while.’
My dear brothers, how are you preparing for your old age, those twilight years when the only real faithful friends you’d be able to rely on are your wives and children? Are you your wife’s friend or albatross? Do your children see their mother as your wife and partner or a slave to be rescued as soon as they can muster the requisite fund? Are you living as if there is no tomorrow? Your wife of 35 years should not feel and flee like a free bird just because you both have become grandparents. If she has been in London for the past five months, leaving your 72-year-old ass, pardon my French, in the care of a maid and gateman, you were not a good man. Period. If at 75, your children feel it is time to bail their mother out of your cell, who can you blame? A man who mismanaged his yesterday will pay the price tomorrow.
![[OPINION] The other side of anguish - Monday Philips Ekpe](/media/k2/items/cache/6fd24a6857e126dfbf4c35e3f2c24c31_M.jpg)
Here comes another Good Friday and Easter. Familiar stories of the torment, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. Stubborn facts that have refused to lose their meaning, relevance and efficacy more than two millennia since the events occurred. Soon after Jesus defeated the powers of the grave, the heavy stone used to hedge him in and the soldiers on guard, the authorities became jittery about the outcomes of those unprecedented episodes, notably his rise. Everything was done to twist the narrative. Even today, attempts to either trivialise or deny it altogether haven’t stopped. Luckily, history remains a witness to the potency of that epic moment; a collector of an abiding illustration of the eternal triumph of good over evil.
Commemorating those distinctive happenings in Jerusalem, therefore, goes beyond the surface. People, particularly believers in Christ, do utilise this moment to revitalise their inner strength – a vital asset that can’t be taken for granted in these troubling times. For most Nigerians, life has not been the same especially since President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy at his presidential inauguration nearly two years ago and followed it up with the floating of the currency. Those punches have knocked down majority of the people and the main things they’ve received in abundance are excuses, explanations and more excuses from the president and his lieutenants.
There is hardly any aspect of the nation’s essential social and economic indices and their accompanying figures that compares favourably with what had obtained under the previous administration(s). This becomes even more painful when weighed against the equally tough adversities experienced under President Muhammadu Buhari. The prospect of looking back at that period with nostalgia the way some people do now was unthinkable. But here we are.
President Tinubu has been a better public communicator than his predecessor, though. But months of continual pledging and exhortations to Nigerians to make the “necessary sacrifices” haven’t achieved real-time healing and any genuine hope for tomorrow. “I know how you feel”, a refrain in most of his speeches, hasn’t also succeeded in producing the desired atmosphere of empathy. I recommend that the statement be dropped from his future outings as it’s beginning to appear fake. One can actually argue that Tinubu can’t seriously understand the depth into which most of his fellow citizens have sunk. Living, for most of them, is now more traumatic than members of the ruling elite can contemplate. If they do, there’s virtually nothing to show that they care about the fate of their disadvantaged compatriots.
The fortunate and “hardworking” could easily dismiss this gloomy picture as extreme but the victims of the vicissitudes which test the very souls of men and women to their limits know the true current colour of survival. Hyper-inflation, a grossly diminished naira, scarce jobs, real concerns about multifaceted insecurity, growing loss of faith in the system, a political class that’s unwilling or incapable of exhibiting exemplary leadership, and a steady diminution of hope for tomorrow have all ganged up against the usually robust Nigerian spirit. But as I often readily concede, these negative energies are neither creations of this government nor originated by Buhari’s. Why our leaders are unable to translate their much-touted good intentions to practicable policies, programmes and projects for the benefit of all, however, further deepens the exasperation of the long-suffering masses.
The cross our nation has had to bear over time is opposition parties that are high on rhetoric only to mellow into underperformance and ineptitude as soon as they assume power. It’s easy to advise the citizenry to look inwards and not expect the government to do everything for them. I’m still searching for the list of the things governments at various levels do for the people. The country is saddled with an overburdened populace. Some have become emergency philosophers, others have succumbed to sinister forces like depression, and many have resigned to an uncertain fate. But how long will it take before the few surviving or thriving ones are overwhelmed by primary and collateral responsibilities?
Naturally, people are compelled to embrace some sort of soul-searching one way or the other in times of chaos and ennui. What better means than seeking solace or solutions from loftier heights. For Christians, these most significant days present an opportunity to look upwards too. My piece on this page during the holy week in 2022 titled, “Maximising This Passion Week”, validates the aphorism that the more things change, the more they remain the same.
It reads in part: “Jesus of Nazareth. The uniqueness of his person is, without doubt, superlative and incomparable. His public service lasted for just about three years, something that started at the age of 30. His only record of writing was when an angry mob brought a woman caught in adultery to him, threatening to stone her to death in fulfilment of the Law of Moses. He wrote on sand at a point but even the content was never captured. Yet, as many scholars have argued, Jesus has inspired more writings than any other person. And, what is more elevating than having a number of the world’s religions speak, usually reverentially, about one particular man in their own sacred books?”
He is in heaven now, according to the Bible. That effectively changed his physical address and placed him on a much higher pedestal. His immediate followers? We can, at least, identify with those men whose earthly sojourns were mostly truncated abruptly and brutally. The article continues: “As soon as he (Jesus) was arrested, the men he had worked and closely interacted with took off for the love of their own lives. That act of abandonment initially encouraged the Roman authorities and religious leaders to attempt to influence them into denying the authenticity of the resurrection of their master.
“In a turn of events and with the passage of time, however, the same disciples rediscovered their courage and voices and stood firm for what they believed, against the intimidating odds that were rapidly cropping up mainly from the political and religious hierarchies. A deep reflection on the lives, activities and end of those men, long after Jesus had departed, could set us, Nigerians, on the path of true loyalty to causes that have extra-mundane, more enduring values. Life, after all, has much more to do with convictions about ideals and the common good. The lead apostle, Peter, for instance, begged his tormentors who were about to crucify him to do so upside down since, he reasoned, he was not qualified to die in the same position as his boss.” That bravery in the face of danger was replicated by the rest disciples – human beings like us who refused to bend to the wiles and coercion of their persecutors. They demonstrated till they exited the planet that bliss wasn’t always sensuous.
They were probably preserved by the words of their lord who once told them that, “Except a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. He who loves his life shall lose it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” Meaning, there’s no circumventing the path to lasting fulfilment and rewards.
So, pain as a prerequisite for gain is one truism that Nigerians must keep in view. Not as an empty admonition by politicians but an indispensable tool for resilience which usually pays off. A reliable armour against these testy times. An assurance against the external pressures that seek to strangle the divine drive within. And the staying ability to persevere against diverse hurdles while awaiting fruition.
Ekpe, PhD, is a member of THISDAY editorial board.
![[OPINION] Soludo’s town halls and the all-embracing vote of confidence - Law Mefor](/media/k2/items/cache/a47d30333e6d5827c28114cf4a069b9a_M.jpg)
Approval rating is of pivotal importance in the re-election of an incumbent. Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR, is enjoying an unprecedented universal approval rating as per the coming Anambra State gubernatorial election, billed for November 8, 2025. Soludo’s stellar scorecard puts him out of sight ahead of any intending contender as the vote of confidence of Ndi Anambra across the globe has guaranteed.
The crème de la crème of Ndi Anambra within and outside the state have been reviewing the scorecard of Governor Soludo and have unanimously returned a resounding vote of confidence. It’s indeed remarkable that the principal figures in the opposition parties are not left out in the endorsement of the re-election of Governor Soludo. A typical example is the former Governor of Anambra State, former Senator and former Minister, Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige, who, in our local parlance, told Governor Soludo at the Abuja town-hall meeting: “Carry go!”
Dr. Ngige revealed that he had been begged by the remaining minuscule number of APC faithful in Anambra State not to endorse Governor Soludo. The irrepressible Dr. Ngige addressed Governor Soludo pointedly at the Abuja town-hall meeting by saying that he had gone to Anambra to see things for himself, thusly: “I came. I saw. But I did not conquer. I confirmed. Odenigbo, carry go!”
Before the Lagos and Abuja town-hall meetings where Governor Soludo went to present his scorecard to his people, pending the London town-hall meeting as well, there was an avalanche of endorsements by a wide range of organisations, from students, youths and scores of support groups.
This is beyond politics, as even students were among groups contributing money to persuade Governor Soludo to purchase the nomination form and contest the November election. The progressive governor, in tandem with the people’s will, graciously accepted to run, given the vote of confidence pouring in from all sides. It’s not in the constitution of Mr. Governor not to answer the call of the people.
The Lagos town-hall meeting came a day after the esteemed Vanguard Newspaper honoured Governor Soludo as the Vanguard Governor of the Year for Good Governance. The Lagos town-hall was a bang as the Habour Point Marquee Event Centre that got filled kept erupting intermittently with rapturous applauses as the gathered personages watched the 30-minute documentary. There was further uplifting exultation as Soludo took to the stage to talk about his stewardship in the last three years.
The following day, Sunday, the tireless Governor Soludo, who had been nicknamed “Ọlụatụegwu”, to wit, “One who is not afraid of duty”, was in Abuja, at the Bolton White Event Centre, for the Abuja version. Like in Lagos, Abuja was equally well-attended by Ndi Anambra who-is-who resident in the federal capital city. At the end of it all, the outcome matched that of Lagos, if not surpassing it, especially with the crowning glory of the endorsements of even opposition figures, including APC chieftains.
I recall a female commissioner asking us to rate the Lagos and Abuja town halls and determine which was greater. It was quite a difficult task as most of us could not agree. Both were epochal indeed, but differing in their uniqueness: Lagos town hall was massively attended by the business class and captains of industry, while Abuja town hall was mainly attended by the political class.
With Abuja and Lagos adding their voices to the endorsement galore – and that of the UK positively loading – Governor Soludo’s re-election is quite certain. It can be safely deduced that there is no coherent and viable opposition for Governor Soludo in Anambra State, as had been earlier stated by the Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi, who, like Dr. Ngige, is a prominent APC leader.
Ndi Anambra at home and abroad are telling the opposition candidates seeking to take over the government in Anambra to tarry till 2029. With their resounding vote of confidence in the performing Solution Government of Governor Soludo, Anambra people have handed a fresh mandate in advance, to be validated on November 8.
The vote of confidence from home and abroad is a clear way of saying again and again: there is no vacancy in Awka Government House. However, there is still history to be made in this November 8 guber election if the feeble contenders and pretenders step down for Soludo to run unopposed.
Governor Soludo grandly deserves his occupation of Obi-Ndi-Anambra, the Government House and Lodge he built to break a 34-year-old jinx. So, if the guber runners decide to go the whole hog with Prof Soludo, the performing governor should also go the entire length: win in the 5700 polling units, 326 wards and in the entire 21 local governments. It is within reach.
A word, they say, is enough for the wise, for as the Americans say, if it is not broken, why mend it?
Law Mefor, PhD, is the Anambra state commissioner for information.
[OPINION] Anambra’s 3-Year Renaissance: How Governor Soludo Is Transforming A State - Christian Aburime
Admin![[OPINION] Anambra’s 3-Year Renaissance: How Governor Soludo Is Transforming A State - Christian Aburime](/media/k2/items/cache/6a802bdd5e4531d22983fa4378f86746_M.jpg)
Anambra State, once a region plagued by dire insecurity and underdevelopment, is now on the marble of a remarkable transformation. Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR, with his innovative leadership, has laid the foundation for what could be the next African Dubai-Taiwan-Silicon Valley.
In just three years, Governor Soludo’s administration has not only addressed long-standing issues but has also set the stage for a prosperous future.
This summative exposition is just a glimpse of the multifaceted achievements of Governor Soludo, exploring how his administration has redefined governance, infrastructure, security, and economic development in Anambra State.
As many already know, Governor Soludo’s vision for Anambra is encapsulated in the ambitious African Dubai-Taiwan-Silicon Valley (ADTS) project. This vision is supported by a youthful and dynamic ‘Solution Team’ that has been instrumental in redefining governance. The administration’s focus on integrity, equity, and inclusiveness has led to significant strides in infrastructure, security, and economic development.
Governor Soludo’s mantra, “One State, One People, One Agenda,” underpins his commitment to unity and collective progress.
In terms of infrastructure, Anambra has seen a massive road and transportation revolution. Over 754 kilometres of new roads have been contracted, with 462 kilometres asphalted and completed. The state government has also rehabilitated five major water schemes, ensuring access to piped water for its residents. Additionally, the administration has embarked on a renewable energy initiative, converting over 26,000 diesel-powered streetlights to solar power. The construction of the state-of-the-art Government House complex and the remodeling and expansion of the Three Arms Zone are further strong pointers to the administration’s commitment to modernisation.
Economically, Anambra is positioning itself as a commercial and logistics hub. The establishment of the Anambra Mixed-Use Industrial City (AMIC) and the Pharmaceutical Distribution and Manufacturing Hub are proofs of the state’s commitment to industrialisation. These projects are expected to attract significant investment and create numerous job opportunities. The administration’s focus on digitalisation, including the establishment of the Solution Innovation District (SID), is driving the growth of the tech and digital economy. The SID has trained over 30,000 people in digital skills and supported over 100 new business ideas.
Governor Soludo’s administration has prioritised security, establishing new ‘Agunechemba’ security architecture anchored in technology and the “Homeland Security Law.” This has led to a significant reduction in criminal activities, with the dismantling of over 60 criminal camps and the arrest of numerous suspects. The administration has also made significant impact in justice delivery, including the full automation of the Anambra State Judiciary System and the establishment of virtual hearing facilities in 30 High Courts and four Correctional Centres.
The Soludo administration has made significant investments in human capital, focusing on education and healthcare. The introduction of free and qualitative education has led to a remarkable increase in school enrollment. The administration has also prioritised healthcare, building new general hospitals, introducing initiatives such as free antenatal and delivery services, and the renovation and equipping of primary healthcare centres.
Environmental sustainability is a key pillar of Soludo’s administration. The state government has implemented a vigorous tree planting policy, committing to planting over 1,000,000 trees annually. The administration has also embarked on a solar revolution in the power sector, installing solar streetlights and powering government offices through solar energy sources. Efforts to control erosion and improve waste management have resulted in significant environmental improvements.
Thus far, Governor Soludo’s progressive leadership has set Anambra State on a path of sustainable growth and development. The state’s progress in just three years is a tribute to the power of dynamic leadership and strategic planning. As Anambra continues to rise, the foundations laid by Governor Soludo’s administration will undoubtedly lead to a prosperous and sustainable future for its citizens. The journey towards a livable and prosperous homeland, anchored on the mantra of "One State, One People, One Agenda" envisioned to become the African Dubai-Taiwan Silicon valley of Nigeria is fully on course!
![[OPINION] And the Light shineth in Darkness… - Abdu Rafiu](/media/k2/items/cache/de8346c9cadacf1fb73559d511ebaf71_M.jpg)
Every student of the Bible will be presumed to be familiar with the Great Sanhedrin that can be regarded as equivalent to the modern-day Supreme Court in most countries of the world that pride themselves as subscribers to the doctrine and practice of the Rule of Law. Cases move from lower courts to the highest court in such countries, a court taken to be infallible and final! Our own thoughtful Justice Chukwudi Oputa we called Socrates drummed this into our ears when he said: “We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final”. So was it in Israel at the time of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are cases that go straight to the Supreme Court if we take Nigeria as an example, matters such as States versus States or States versus the Federal Government. In Israel at the time each town was seat of Sanhedrin, a court of justice consisting of 23 members. Originally, members were a gathering of elders to settle disputes. According to records, it was established by Moses but became courts after the Jews came back from Babylonian captivity. The Great Sanhedrin based in Jerusalem had 70 members saddled with, predictably, religious affairs, then law and the state. On edge following experiences from captivity, the Great Sanhedrin members were also charged with the protection and representation of all the Jews. At its head was the High Priest who as of the time of the Lord was called Caiaphas.
Torah being the body of laws and general rules of conduct purportedly drawn principally from the Divine Revelation of the Commandments and Prohibitions to the chosen Jewish race was the “guidebook” for them. These were read in the Synagogues every Sabbath day. Of the 82 articles of the penal code, Caiaphas had 12 ready to entrap and convict at all costs the Lord Whom the priestly and political establishments had regarded as a threat to their authority, to their hold on power and influence over the people.
The Scribes and Pharisees took exception to Christ making a self-revelation of Himself and to healing on the Sabbath Day. The Lord Christ had said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14, 6). He healed a man who had been infirm for 38 years in Jerusalem. The man could not enter a Bethesda pool by a sheep market to bathe and be cleansed, (John 5: 2, 8, 9). He also healed the son of a nobleman sick and close to death at Capernaum (John 4:50). These took place on a Sabbath Day and the Torah fanatics took umbrage. The situation worsened when He said to them: “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore, the Jews sought the more to kill him, because not only had He broken the sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5: 17-18). “Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you. The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son and sheweth Him all things that Himself doeth: and He will shew Him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.” (John 19-20). Those who witnessed the Lord heal a man who had been blind from birth made similar remarks as those who were disturbed in the earlier cases: “This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. (John 9: 16).
These were not all; they sought to put Him on a collision course with Rome by asking Him questions about payment of taxes, “And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. And when they were come, they say unto Him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Ceasar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt me? Bring me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought it. And He saith unto them. Who is this image and superscription? And they said unto Him, Cesser’s. And Jesus answering said unto them, Render unto Ceasar the things that are Ceasar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at Him” (Mark 12: 13-17). Drake’s Annotated Reference Bible.
Several instances to entrap the Lord. Consider also the betrayal of Judas Iscariot who had linked with the Resistant Movement to rope Him and pass Him as leader of the armed rebellious group. Part of the plot was to give Him an unforgettable reception during which He would be haled as the King of Israel. The country had long sought to throw off the yoke of Rome and the Resistant Movement thought the time to get the Lord Jesus endorse and present Him as the leader in their quest was during the Passover in Jerusalem when pilgrims in multitudes would gather. And indeed, they staged the reception that surprised the Lord. On the occasion there were cries and there was rejoicing: “Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
The Lord rode on camel’s back quite all right, but these praise-singing and hailing meant absolutely nothing to Him. He had no use of earthly power. His Mission was far too sublime. It was not to enslave but to free; it was to release human beings from their errors, weaknesses and attendant guilt that hinders ascent to the luminous Kingdom of His Father that is Paradise. He could see through the plot. He headed for the Temple and in addressing the congregation among whom were the warriors who had come to do battle, said that submission to the Will of the Father was paramount and that all should love their fellowmen. He even commanded them to love their enemies. Members of the resistant movement could not believe their ears and they concluded that they had been conned by Judas. Caiaphas was lurking in the shadows in all these. Although disappointed, but convinced, however, that Judas hated his Master no end, and could still be useful. He quickly buried his disappointment and struck a deal with him to return to the Master so that when it was time to get Him, the disloyal Disciple would be able to reveal the Lord’s whereabouts.
How did the hatred of Judas arise? Hatred for Him Who had, at every turn, been overwhelming His helper with love! But Judas had his firm gaze elsewhere, on materialism. He was always disappointed at how some of the people healed and many grateful listeners deeply touched by the Lord’s address had attempted to demonstrate their gratitude by offering Him their wealth but which the Lord would not accept. His Master always rejected the gifts. Judas found this inexplicable. When they should be swimming in material comfort, Judas reasoned, murmuring, they were going about like vagrants living from hand to mouth!
The Penal Code Caiaphas had ready for reference and to invoke against the Son of God read as follows Article by Article:
1). He who knowingly and deliberately transgresses the Sabbath commandment or any other precept of the Torah is an impious person;
2). He must be warned;
3). If he does not heed the warning, and continues to offend against the Torah, he must be sentenced to death and stoned.
4). He who doubts the Divine origin of the Torah will suffer death by burning.
6). The Great Sanhedrin in the Temple of Jerusalem dispenses justice in the full authority of God. God Himself respects these judicial decisions.
13). He who rebels against the officiating clergy in Jerusalem is deserving of death.
16). He who openly utters the name of Jahveh is a blasphemer.
21). The convicted blasphemer will be stoned.
52). A pseudo-prophet is a renegade preacher who seeks by means of visions, illusions, false oracles, magic, exorcism, hallucination or genuine miracles to seduce Israel to apostasy.
55). A pseudo-prophet must be judged by the Great Sanhedrin, and be executed in Jerusalem.
76). The President of the Great Sanhedrin has the right in exceptional cases to pass over any obstructive regulations in order to put a swift and radical end to apostasy. Such an action is called the Horaath Schaah, an action according to the need of the moment.
82). Even the execution of an innocent person can serve in the maintenance of law and order, and the salvation of god’s people.
The trial of the Son of God became urgent after He raised Lazarus back to life in Bethany after Mary and Martha asked Him for help over their brother who had taken seriously ill. The act stirred up great sensation on the one hand and raised hope of the imminent coming of the Messiah on the other in the widespread belief they had harboured that the calling of dead people to life was to precede His emergence and that the liberation from Rome was in the offing. While it generated the enheartening feeling of the liberation it struck alarm in the hearts of the Jewish leaders who feared for their own power and influence being taken away. And they asked the Envoy of God: “Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things or who is he that gave thee this authority?” The leaders consisted of the High Priest, scribes and elders who also constituted the Great Sanhedrin. An urgent and special meeting was convened at the behest of Caiaphas to discuss the Lazarus situation: “What do we? For this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.” (John 11, 47-48). Exploiting the confusion in the minds of his colleagues, Caiaphas convinced them that the Son of God Whom he described as troublesome and dangerous must be done away with. He referred them to Article 82 of the penal code so they could invoke it: “Even the execution of an innocent person can serve in the maintenance of law and order, and the salvation of God’s people.” “It is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.”
An announcement was made for all the Jews to give information about the whereabouts of the Lord Jesus; town-criers read out the announcement by the priests in the streets of Jerusalem that the Lord Jesus of Nazareth had been sentenced to death for blasphemy by the supreme court of justice. The announcement was crafted in a way that the pilgrims and the people normally resident in Jerusalem who had only a few days hailed the Son of the Most high as the King of the Israel on whom they had pinned hopes for national liberation changed their attitude and felt that they had been deceived. Practically every who-was-who from members of the Sanhedrin to Temple priests, scribes, pharisees and Sadducees joined the crowd in their hostility. The wife of Pontious Pilate had been disturbed and she warned her husband: “Have thou nothing to do with the death of that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.” The Jews were unrelenting. They lied against the Son of the Most High. Pilate washed off his hands. The Lord was humiliated, He carried the cross on which He was to be nailed, He was jeered…in the end He was executed like a common criminal. The Prince of Peace: the Personification of Love as the Love Arm of the Father Who had sent Him to bring the Truth to erring mankind and lay open the way back to Paradise. Until His Coming no human spirit had succeeded in getting back to Paradise. His Coming provided the keys to the Golden Gate of the Spiritual Realm more known as Paradise.
French writer Ernest Schmitt wrote: “Life-giving Word of God against dead-letter belief and intellectual sophistry. Divine Love defeated by the hatred of those whom It wished to save. The Son of God sentenced as blasphemer, because He neither could nor would deny His Origin, even at the price of His earth-life. A drama of comic dimensions, and the gravest crime that was ever committed.”
John the Apostle wrote: “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (John 1, 4-5).
Up till today, a great many in Christendom do say the Son of God died for the sins of mankind with all the tribulations and humiliation He went through when it should have been: He died because of our sins. Mankind did not recognise the Son of God how much more think of protecting Him from persecution and harm. Indeed, punny human beings dared to lay hands on Him. It is revealed in higher knowledge on earth today that in not one case has it occurred in which an Envoy of God was recognized or made welcome. The Mission is always entangled in recrimination befuddled by man’s own ideas and expectations. Whether they are Prophets, Teachers of Mankind or Forerunners, from lack of recognition they had been faced with hostilities and incalculable suffering. Every time the expectation of mankind never accorded with God’s design and His Will.
There have been tremendously shaken events on earth manifesting in seven Light Manifestations over millennia. And 150 years ago today, mankind still in slumber were launched into the Age of Everlasting Testament with a most unique occurrence which will lead into the complete enthronement of the Will of God; when only what is in harmony with It shall stand no matter what it may be, man or systems—social, political or economic. The wars, chaos and confusion; political instability and economic collapse, are gales of purification and the trumpets of the proverbial World Judgment to install the new order according to His Will. We mankind are never on the alert; we are ever in slumber and the picture of the wakeful has never corresponded with the reality of God’s Will! What are these times saying to us?
“In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and darkness comprehended it not!”
This year’s unique Easter Festival on 18 April, 2025, has provided a most opportune time for deep reflection over the waves of the Rays of Light around us and our world.
![[OPINION] Two hundred years after: The evil French freedom tax on Haiti - Owei Lakemfa](/media/k2/items/cache/8804cf7277fbf08d350ac624257139ab_S.jpg)
It was a day of mourning. Thursday, April 17, 2025 was exactly 200 years France imposed an evil tax on Haiti for daring to stop slavery and securing its independence. Haiti, until today, is in deep crises mainly due to the debilitating effects of that criminal tax and, interferences by Europe and the United States, US.
Haiti struck a death blow against slavery and colonialism by militarily defeating combined French and British forces after a 13-year war of liberation which began on August 21, 1791. It was initially an uneven war in which the European armies had vastly superior military advantages, and the revolt was thought a walkover. But the enslaving countries did not factor in the determination of a people to free themselves from being owned like cattle. Despite the frightening casualties of over 350,000 Black people killed in the revolt, the revolutionaries never gave up. For them, it was either victory or death. The Europeans did not concede defeat until about 75,000 of them had been killed. The British were the first to flee, abandoning their French first cousins. Then the French followed, and the heroic Haitians on January 1, 1804 declared independence.
The revolution produced some of the most brilliant fighters in world history: Toussaint Louverture, who led the revolt until his capture in 1802 and subsequent death in a French prison, and his successor, Jean-Jacques Dessalines.
After militarily breaking the back of the Europeans, Dessalines on June 23, 1803 wrote US President Thomas Jefferson. The revolutionaries had seized a US ship, The Federal. Dessalines in releasing the ship, sent the letter through its captain, Nehemiah Barr. In it, he indirectly justified the Haitian Revolution on the basis of the US revolt against British colonialism. He also gave an update: “The people of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) tired of paying with our blood the price of our blind allegiance to a mother country that cuts her children’s throats, and following the example of the wisest nations, have thrown off the yoke of tyranny and sworn to expel the torturers. Our countryside is already purged of their sight. A few cities are still under their domination but have nothing further to offer to their avid rapacity.” He then assured Jefferson of good trade between their nations.
After independence, Dessalines the new leader declared: “It is not enough to have expelled the barbarians who have bloodied our land for two centuries … We must, with one last act of national authority, forever assure the empire of liberty in the country of our birth; we must take any hope of re-enslaving us away from the inhuman government …. In the end we must live independent or die.”
However, the sins of Haiti were not just its humiliation of European super powers by Black people employing superior military strategies and powers. For the Europeans, this first successful slave revolt was a bad example for all enslaved, colonised or oppressed peoples. The pointed lesson of the Haitian Revolution is that all oppressed people can liberate themselves no matter how powerful their oppressors.
Perhaps the greatest danger the Haitian Revolution posed to the European enslavers and colonialists was its helping to free some other colonies like Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Northern Peru and Guyana.
The Europeans were also alarmed that the Haitians planned to send liberation fighters to free Africa from the colonial masters. Dessalines had asked rhetorically: “The Blacks whose fathers are in Africa, will they have nothing? He was assassinated two years after independence.
But the Europeans would not allow Haiti breathe; France and Britain imposed a blockade making it difficult for Haiti to trade. Finally in 1825, France, with the backing of some European countries, sent a massive expedition to Haiti and, with military threat to invade the young nation, imposed a tax of 150 million francs or today’s US$105 billion. It said the tax was compensation to the French government and former French slave owners for their loss of revenue from colonialism and slavery.
The amount was three times the GDP of Haiti and the country, faced with military invasion and an economy weakened by blockade, was forced to agree. It took Haiti 122 years to pay this evil tax through French banks and the US Citibank.
The French ransom tax was paid off in 1947 leaving the Haitian economy in poor shape. But tragically, a conscienceless dictatorship backed by the Europeans took over the country ten years later. It was led by Francois Duvalier alias “Papa Doc” which not only brutalised the citizenry and stole the country blind, but also vastly increased its debts. When he died in 1971, his son, Jean-Claude Duvalier alias “Baby Doc” continued the brutal dictatorship. He ruled for 15 years until a mass revolt in February, 1986 ended his rule.
In the 29-year iron rule by the Duvaliers, 40,000 – 60,000 Haitians were killed and many more tortured and injured. To achieve this level of bestiality, the Duvalier dynasty ran its own private militia called the Tontons Macoutes. Also, hundreds of thousands fled the country.
The post-Duvalier era was not so bright. By 1990, the country used 80 per cent of its income for debt repayment. The main leader that made a difference was Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide who was elected President in December, 1990 after winning 67 per cent of the votes. He was overthrown in September 1991 for embarking on pro-poor schemes such massive education, healthcare and empowerment programmes. He was reinstated in 1994 through US pressures. He lost elections the following year but was re-elected in 2000 with 92 per cent of the votes. However, Aristide was again overthrown in a 2004 coup which he said was carried out by France and the US.
Meanwhile the centre could no longer hold in Haiti, a situation worsened by a 2010 category 7 earthquake in which 222, 570 were killed, over 300,000 injured and 1.3 million displaced.
Haitian President Jovenel Moise was on July 7, 2021 assassinated in his home by foreign mercenaries. Haiti has since degenerated into a state of lawlessness under the control of armed gangs.
There is the need for the African Union, AU, in collaboration with the Caribbean Community, CARICOM, to fund a solution.
They should also get the United Nations to resume its stabilisation mission which it has abandoned since April 13, 2017. This will be an independent force compared to Kenyan policemen backed by countries with private interests. The Haitian situation is a human, not race problem. So, all humanity should join hands in ensuring a solution.
Meanwhile, France should refund the freedom tax it started extorting from Haiti, 200 years ago. You want to see the face of a thief? Look at France.
![[OPINION] Why naira-for-crude policy is best for the economy - Aderonke Atoyebi](/media/k2/items/cache/db743e06327147b352fc327c75cb0934_S.jpg)
The oil sector in Nigeria has always been the topic of the day. Online. Offline. On the radio. Even in public transport. If you want to start a heated conversation anywhere in this country, just mention “fuel.” The reactions will start coming in. The price. The scarcity. The queues. The corruption. It’s personal for everyone because we have built a whole nation that depends on oil as if it’s the only thing keeping Nigeria alive. We cannot discuss infrastructure, healthcare, education, or even pay salaries in many states without relying on oil revenue.
Before the removal of fuel subsidy under the current administration (President Bola Ahmed Tinubu), Nigeria was already burdened by an unsustainable level of debt. Year after year, billions were spent to maintain the appearance of affordable fuel. This reality disproportionately benefited the wealthy and even some politicians while leaving the poor at a disadvantage. It was a system that forced the country to import what it could produce. In an attempt to correct this longstanding imbalance, the government introduced a new approach: the Naira-for-Crude policy.
The policy emerged as a response to Nigeria’s over-reliance on imported refined petroleum products, persistent FX pressures, and underutilized local refining capacity. It was approved by the Federal Executive Council to promote the sale of crude oil and refined petroleum products in Naira, specifically for domestic consumption, to strengthen local production, reduce dollar demand, and support broader reforms following the removal of fuel subsidies.
It is one of those things that sounds very technical on paper, but when you break it down, it’s about making Nigeria act like a country that actually owns oil. The idea is this: sell our crude oil to local refineries in Naira. Refine it. Sell the products within Nigeria, still in Naira. Not dollars. Not IOUs. Actual Naira transactions. No more running around trying to source dollars just to trade our own resources at home.
In August 2024, the federal government inaugurated the Implementation Committee for the Naira-for-Crude policy. The policy officially commenced on October 1, 2024, when the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) began supplying approximately 385,000 barrels per day of crude oil to the Dangote Refinery, with payments made in Naira.
Many stakeholders are involved in the Naira-for-Crude policy. The Implementation Committee oversees its rollout, with Dr. Zacch Adedeji, Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), leading the Technical Sub-Committee. The policy is built on four main principles: crude oil allocation to local refineries, transactions conducted in Naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria setting a reference exchange rate, and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) overseeing the process through a One-Stop Shop for clearances and levies.
The Technical Sub-Committee ensures these principles are upheld while managing the regulatory process and aligning the policy with national objectives such as reducing reliance on foreign currency, achieving self-sufficiency, and maintaining market stability.
The Naira for Crude policy is meant to ease the burden on our economy while strengthening relevant sectors. For Nigeria, as a country, it reduces the pressure on the dollar, helps us save our foreign reserves, and makes room for a more stable financial system. For stakeholders such as refineries, marketers, and government bodies, it simplifies how business is done, makes transactions easy, and encourages more investment. And for the everyday Nigerian, the goal is to ensure fuel is more available, reduce how much we rely on imports, and secure our energy needs in a way that actually works for us.
The naira for crude policy fosters a conducive business environment, reduces monopoly power, and ensures competitive pump pricing. It provides citizens with a strong sense of inclusion and the freedom to choose.
Naira-for-Crude makes a lot of sense. We have been doing things the hard way for too long, buying back what we produce and spending dollars we don’t have. This new policy is Nigeria finally saying, “Let us fix this from inside.” As mentioned earlier, It’s not just policy. It’s common sense.
The policy is a blueprint for the future. By changing how we handle our resources, we are taking back control. It’s time for Nigeria to move from just managing to thriving. We are doing it big, no going back!
Atoyebi is the technical assistant on broadcast media to the executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service
![[OPINION] Beyond The President - Akin Osuntokun](/media/k2/items/cache/f84baa6928c651577d771e529c158a5a_S.jpg)
There are two perspectives from which the apparent lopsidedness of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s appointments can be understood.There is the power politics perspective and there is the federalism compliant dimension.
The emergent casus belli between the President and the custodians of the Northern Muslim electorate devolves on this lapse. It is amenable to being cited as the enactment of Yoruba/ Tinubu triumphalism on one end and the entitlement syndrome of the hegemonic North on the other.
The President has been quite deliberate and systematic in wielding this power politics instrument. There have been repeated pronouncements of the arrival of a new sheriff in town and a pharaoh who does not know Joseph. Thereby, Tinubu and Nigeria have embarked on a journey of no return to the status quo ante. This is the first time in the history of Nigeria that a President of Southern origins, will deliberately engage the custodians of the Northern Muslim electorate in a zero sum game. The latter has a vested interest in preserving the myth of Northern hegemony against which the former has thrown the gauntlet.
If the Tinubu Presidency is having problems with this constituency today it is largely on account of not adequately yielding to this entitlement syndrome. In so doing, he must have factored the potential consequences (including especially the challenge of seeking reelection) into the equation.
The role of the Yoruba intelligentsia in this dogfight is uncertain but when push comes to shove there is a limit to which a fellow Yoruba can lead the charge against a Nigerian President of Yoruba origins for the sin of overcompensating his Yoruba kith and kin within the context of the turn by turn predicate of Nigerian politics. Moreso at a time when the division across ethno regional lines is at a record high and when no silver lining is discernible in the horizon.
Without the awful precedent set by Buhari, it is well nigh impossible that his successor will ply the same route. Buhari has set the benchmark for how a divisive political leader can find the winning formula from the standpoint of exclusive discriminatory leadership. You would have noticed that notwithstanding his disastrous outing as President, his residence increasingly teems with vengeful and bitter anti-Tinubu standard bearers.
There is now an established Muhammadu Buhari model in which the political leader is wildly popular and commands a cult followership on account of his personification of ethno national irredentism. In a discussion with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu several years ago, he said he was realistically constrained to ally himself with the former President, on account of the “cult followership”the latter commands amongst the Muslim North electorate. In the effluxion of time, this realpolitik vision has been vindicated and amply rewarded.
Upon his ascension to the high office,Tinubu wasted no time in putting the Buhari model practice. In a cynical rationalisation of his nepotism, the argument was made (for Buhari) that the seeming lopsidedness of his appointments is extenuated by the rationale that those appointees are spread over the three Northern zones, North West, North Central and North East. In pursuit of this phantom explanation, Buhari actually argued on one or two occasions that he was compelled to make the appointments (the chief of Army staff in particular) because no officer of Southern origin was competent and capable enough.
In a similar replay of the Buhari mischief, Tinubu has proposed that the Yoruba lopsidedness of his appointments is merely a reflection of the fact that his appointees from kogi and kwara are only Yoruba in name but are Northern Nigerians by citizenship
Typical of such Yoruba Northerners is the newly appointed Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mr Bayo Ojulari. Ulterior motives notwithstanding, I should not forget to commend the President for finally summoning the courage to get rid of Malam Mele Kyari from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. How a man who embodied all that was wrong with the NCNC, merits being reappointed, in the first place, beats the imagination hollow.
Albert Einstein must have had Nigeria in mind when he concluded that it is only a mad man who keeps doing the same thing and expects a different outcome. It is in the evasion of the fundamental issue at stake (federalism) that the federal character principle was manufactured. The failure of this escapist construct was heralded by the artful dodger propensities of Nigerian leaders (circumventing the law while studiously breaching the spirit). In its manifest inadequacy in addressing the problem of the Nigerian dysfunctional pluralism, the federal character principle is akin to the employment of a table knife to cut a tree; of mistaking the forest for the tree; of misconstruing leprosy as eczema.
The doctrine of ‘Federal Character’ emerged from the 1979 Constitution, and it calls for the distribution of federal appointments to reflect equitably the different dimensions of the nation’s ethnic, regional and religious, heterogeneity, in order to ‘promote a sense of belonging and loyalty” among the diverse peoples of Nigeria. The doctrine did not stand up to scrutiny. In the assessment of the principle, Peter Ekeh denounces it (‘Federal Character)’ as the ‘solution that has deepened the problem it was devised to tackle’. Afigbo believes that the present structure of the Nigerian federation has not succeeded in meeting and solving the problems which necessitated the emergence of ‘ Federal Character’. He is of the view that the Nigerian North-South dichotomy remains a thorny issue, in spite of attempts to obliterate it by demarcating the nation into smaller states
The principle did not self-destruct, it was subverted by those who were contracted to ensure its application. And this is the problem with those who argue that the random variable of good leadership rather than the restoration of federalism (the relationship between the center of a political regime and its constituent parts, however those parts are conceived) holds the key to the solution of the problem of Nigeria. Let us apply this argument to the fourth Republic and ask of the extent to which leadership has complied with the implementation of the federal character principle.
I think that of the five Presidents who had governed Nigeria since 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo is the only one who can be fairly judged as passing the implementation of the federal character litmus test. The extrapolation here is that, in generic terms, the chances of getting a good Nigerian President is 20%. In other words, for every successful Nigerian President, you are going to get four failures.
In this scenario the realistic and scientific attitude (otherwise known as the worst case scenario) is to hope and not expect that Nigeria will get good leadership. If the problem is formulated in this manner, you will then put your expectation first on constitutional guardrails and secondarily on the hope for the elusive good leadership.
Potentially and notionally, you assume that the likelihood is that bad (not good people who need to be curtailed and constrained) will find their way to power. Such constraints are what you call checks and balances. In the case of Nigeria, the risk of national damage is directly proportional to centralisation. In other words, bad leadership will have limited capacity (especially at the centre) to wreak damage the less centralised the system.
Because of the inevitability of bad leadership and the dictum that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, the less the concentration of power at one source and the more the dispersal of power, the more constrained is the wielder of power. According to Rotimi Suberu “federalism in Nigeria is subverted by de facto hypercentralization, as resource distribution devolves top-down from the center. Second, politics within Nigeria’s federal order focuses on access to and distribution of the centrally distributed wealth, rather than on its production”
It is a constant in the history of mankind that the development of any society is founded on the extent to which the two variables of hard work and reward are wedded in a direct proportional relationship. And since this is a rational concept, it follows that the ethic abides as the organising principle of rationally designed societies. Nigeria has chosen to be an exception to this rationality – with dire consequences.
Let me call it a day with a helicopter view of the concept, applicability and indispensability of federalism to Nigeria.
Professor Wole Soyinka, has been criticised for being tepid in his reaction to the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers state yet he made the important point that an unintended consequence is the impoverishment of federalism. My position is that any structure that makes it possible for the President to be this powerful cannot be right for Nigeria
“ Federalism, according to our definition, is a means of governing that grants partial autonomy to a polity’s geographically defined subunits. Combined, the elements of geography and autonomy distinguish federalism from other consociative strategies. The issue is the relationship between the center of a political regime and its constituent parts, however those parts are conceived. (Feeley, Malcolm M., and Edward L. Rubin).
The basic political dilemma of pluralism is to reconcile the common interests of the society as a whole with the particular interests of its subgroups. The spatial basis for social partitioning inherent in regionalism offers a very attractive solution to this problem, for territoriality provides clearly demarcated zones of jurisdiction. Central to the logic of the federalist solution, therefore, is the concept of regionalism. However, its intrinsic simplicity may create difficulties”. (H. LITHWICK )
“Federalism becomes useful when people’s political identities conflict but their political lives are intertwined as members of a single polity or as members of different polities that want to join together. Inevitably, it involves a compromise; a central government is established or maintained, but some or all regions of the polity are granted autonomy over specified governmental functions”
“Federalism has to do with the need of people and polities to unite for common purposes yet remain separate to preserve their respective integrities. Federalism itself is not optimal; it is a suboptimal compromise designed to resolve situations that threaten to descend into even less attractive possibilities” Nigerian pluralism is, for instance, uniquely bound to conflict and crisis and highly resistant to national integration. (Dan Elazar)
“Most of the problems confronting Nigeria were results of the structure. if a structure is not working we have a responsibility to make adjustments to that structure.”(Agboola Gambari)
Rather than animus and mutually assured destruction, If this moment can serve to indicate that in the present dispensation of pseudo-federalism, all of us are losers, the purpose of reinventing Nigeria would have been achieved.
![[OPINION] Do children of politicians in power make sense? - Azu Ishiekwene](/media/k2/items/cache/d6ce2aa9c7ed678d30be358ee4cf36d9_S.jpg)
It’s understandable if you have not paid attention. I can’t help noticing because minding other people’s business is a part of my job description. On Tuesday, the newspapers reported a spat between the children of two leading politicians, Mohammed Abubakar and Shamsudeen Bala Mohammed.
Mohammed and Shamsudeen are the children of Atiku and Bala. Atiku was Nigeria’s vice president, and Bala is the Bauchi State governor and chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum.
Both are ranking members of the main opposition, PDP, a party making as much effort to find its way as it is desperate to lose it. The tweetstorm between the children of these leaders has only piled on the party’s misery, and what lies ahead doesn’t look pretty, especially after the PDP governors’ meeting in Ibadan.
Back story
The fight between both sons is the political equivalent in the music industry of the bitter sibling rivalry between Peter and Jude Okoye, siblings now dragging themselves publicly over royalty from their once famous band, P-Square. If PDP had any royalty left, it squandered it on the insatiable appetite of its leaders, who have eaten the present and future of the party.
Atiku’s son is accusing Governor Mohammed of stabbing his father in the back when he ran for the presidency in 2023. The governor’s son responded that nobody plays as dirty as Atiku, whom he accused of undermining his father’s bid for a second term in Bauchi.
The tweet rage has sparked discussions about how far the children of politicians in power should go to fight publicly for or against their parents’ political interests and whether or not such brawls hinder or help their parents’ political fortunes.
In another life, it would have been considered poor breeding for teenagers or young adults to insert themselves in a fight between adults.
For example, despite the fight-to-the-finish between MKO Abiola and military president General Ibrahim Babangida, who cancelled the 1993 presidential election won by Abiola, their children stayed mainly out of the fray. The equivalence of social media has changed all that.
Born to rage
The pervasiveness of social media and its popularity, especially among teenagers and young adults, has increased the sense of agency among these groups and amplified their voices, however strident and deeply worrying they may get sometimes.
From the blogger and daughter of the famous Ibadan politician Kemi Olunloyo, who recently declared on her blog that she would have nothing to do with her family again after her father died, to Bashir, an unabashedly vile tweep and the son of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, there is an emerging activism among the children of politicians. It’s a cross between rebellion and the search for identity or the process of becoming.
The more you look
Does it make sense? Is it always an indication of parental values or a measure of the family’s stand on political issues? Neither Atiku Abubakar nor Bala Mohammed has weighed in yet. Even though their children’s public fight feels like a scene from “Sons of the Caliphate”, nothing they said was false. Perhaps, it was how and the speed of the venom that raised eyebrows.
Before the 2023 elections, when Atiku’s protégé and prominent traditional titleholder in Bauchi, Bello Kirfi, fell out with Bala, the latter (with former Speaker Yakubu Dogara) openly worked against Bala’s reelection. During the presidential primaries in Port Harcourt, Bala ran against Atiku.
The proxy war between Atiku’s man, Kirfi, and Bala almost cost the governor his reelection, an offence the governor will not forgive. He was saved by the skin of his teeth and the support of former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and the G5, after which Mohammed stripped Kirfi of his traditional title.
Rise of social media
Older adults who are used to nuanced, conservative methods of airing their grievances may be embarrassed, even offended, by the tweet brawl between Mohammed and Shamsudeen. Still, in the last two decades, we have seen that social media, the playground for teenagers and young adults, has also become a legitimate sphere of politics – and in the current Trumpoverse, it’s even a tool of diplomacy, thanks to US President Donald Trump.
But should blog posts, often typically lacking in depth and context, become the measure of what is truly important and enduring? Do they represent more than what they are – random outbursts of fleeting thoughts from entitled or angry tribes? Or do they teach us something we need to pay attention to?
Price of feuds
Some years ago, Bobby Goodlatte took a stand on Twitter against his father, Bob, a Republican, whom he accused of “political grandstanding” that led to the sacking of an FBI agent Bobby described as “a patriot.” For that reason, he sided with a Democrat running against his father and used social media to mobilise votes for him.
We don’t even need to go far. In 2017, Moremi, daughter of Babafemi Ojudu, the former Special Adviser (Political Matters) to President Muhammadu Buhari, attacked the government, her father’s employer. Although she later apologised to her father, her action raised questions about who she was speaking for. Yet everyone knows it’s a generation that wears its emotions on its sleeve.
Who pays?
Seyi, son of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who uses the handle @STinubu, last tweeted in May 2023. But his activities offline, which invariably become rich social media harvests, have generated no less interest than that of the more social-media active children of other politicians. Do these children’s actions, especially online, carry any significant political risk for their parents?
The answer is, sometimes. A 2020 media psychology study said, “When people believe they are not alone in their cause, it encourages them to take action. For the children of well-known or newsworthy parents in the contentious political arena, their actions also become newsworthy by virtue of proximity to their parents and the unceasing demand for news content that will attract audience attention.”
The potential impact of such feuds could range from damage to political image to loss of credibility arising from a perception of lack of parental authority and a house divided against itself.
High-profile family disputes or squabbles amongst the children of political heavyweights can amplify the controversy and undermine the politician’s agenda. An example is the spectacular case of Bukola and Gbemisola in the Saraki dynasty. In cases where such children are viewed as potential successors, it could haunt them and fracture support.
“Sins” of the children
Even when children are old enough to answer their own names, in largely conservative societies, the “sins” of the children may weigh heavily on how their parents are perceived.
The tweet by Bashir El-Rufai, for example, that the killings in Southern Kaduna would continue until the attacks on Fulani herdsmen ceased was considered inflammatory and insensitive. It was also deemed a reflection of his father’s politics as governor for eight years.
Seyi Tinubu’s offline comment that his father is the greatest president in Nigeria’s history raised a firestorm on social media. Whatever the cost of his comment, he is unlikely to be deterred, and his actions will continue to enrich social media content in the days ahead.
As we move closer to 2027, the actions of the children of newsworthy politicians will be a valuable lens by which we try to view and understand the political space. We’ll wait to see how much this currency will shape the future.
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![[OPINION] The Vice President’s visit to Uyo - Etim Etim](/media/k2/items/cache/48b4a23863f09573e73d148fffc5aacc_XS.jpg)
Vice President Kashim Shettima visited Akwa Ibom on Monday to launch the second phase of the federal government’s National Human Capital Development programme (HCD); but the visit underscored a few subtexts that require further examination. In the first place, many people, including President Tinubu’s ardent supporters, do not know that the federal government has such a programme, and a lot more would not imagine why Akwa Ibom was chosen for its launch. The expression ‘Human Capital Development’ has been loosely used by many politicians during campaigns, but I’m not quite sure if its significance is well understood.
In the private sector, HCD refers simply to a range of functions that pertain to staff recruitment, training, promotion and career planning and development; but as a government programme, it has far broader scope and connotation, indicating the process of developing skills, knowledge and competencies that enhance an individual’s productivity and earning potential. It therefore involves investments in education; training and health that improve a person’s ability to contribute to economy and society. The National HCD programme which Shettima unveiled in Uyo is a federal government programme domiciled in the office of the Vice President to promote education, health, nutrition, labour, climate change adaption, clean energy and gender inclusivity. Over the years, Akwa Ibom State has made significant strides in these areas - Gov. Eno has even incorporated them into his ARISE Agenda – to warrant the VP’s public acknowledgement and endorsement.
The government has been implementing free and compulsory primary and secondary education for over 20 years now. The programme was later expanded to include payment of WAEC and NECO fees for all students registered in its public schools. Every year, the government spends between N600 million and N800 million every year to pay for these exam fees for graduating secondary students. Very few states in the federation have sustained such a policy in the last 26 years. The Eno administration has gone further by remodeling some of the 1,110 primary schools in the state into well-equipped world-class leaning centres. I hope that very soon all primary schools in the state would be of this standard.
How about health? The state has some of the best health facilities in the country. Primary health centres in every LGA are being overhauled and reequipped by the current administration, coming in the footsteps of the last administration which invested heavily in upgrading general hospitals across the state. The outcome of these investments in primary and secondary healthcare was announced by the VP himself. ‘’With an under-five mortality rate of 80, compared to the national average of 110, and with only 3.5% of primary school-age children out of school – far below the national average of 25.6% - your state is not merely compliant with our national vision. You are ahead of the national curve. And I assure you the federal government stands ready to partner hand-in-hand with you’’, the VP said at the launch of the HCD in Uyo.
What this means is that out of every 1,000 under-five children in Akwa Ibom State, 80 die before they reach five years of age. This is a far better performance than the national average of 110. But we should do far better. No child in Akwa Ibom should die. When Obong Victor Attah was governor, his wife Mrs Allisson Attah recognized childhood malnutrition as a big problem in the state. To address this, she implemented a scheme that taught our rural women how to augment infant feeding with protein. In charge of that programme was the late Prof (Mrs) Etuk, a biochemist and daughter of late Dr. Clement Isong.
I interviewed the late Prof (Mrs) Etuk several years ago, and was moved by the ingenuity of Allison Attah in eradicating incidents of childhood malnutrition in the state. Another First Lady later came up with another brilliant idea that further enhanced HCD in the state. Mrs Unoma Ekaette Akpabio introduced a programme that supports women with multiple-births. Any Akwa Ibom woman who gave birth to twins; triplets or more received visits and financial support from the government. I hope this programme is still alive in the Ministry of Women Affairs. My wife was so impressed by this programme that she thought all the other states should emulate Akwa Ibom.
Enter Gov. Umo Eno. Right from inception, this ordained pastor has made it clear that his administration would be heavily tilted towards human capital development and at the core is uplifting the less privileged and the poor. He has established Ibom Leadership and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (Ibom-LED) to train and offer financial support to young businessmen and women in different fields. He’s also supporting thousands of artisans and farmers across the state with cash and equipment worth about N5 billion in a massive empowerment programme. This is meant to stimulate rural economy; create jobs and augment standards of living.
But unfortunately, some elite members of the society are displeased with this because they think that it’s a waste of resources. What’s wrong with the government providing assistance to farmers; micro and small businesses operating at the LGAs? These are the people who produce the food we eat and create jobs for themselves and others. yet, the government is only spending N5 billion of the N950 billion budgeted for the state this year – that’s just 0.5% of the total budget. As I said to some friends, it is better for the government to invest N5 billion on farmers and small businesses across the state than spend that much to purchase high-end SUVs and houses as gifts to some ‘’political stakeholders’’ in Abuja.
Vice President Shettima has commended the governor ‘’for not only adopting the HCD framework but also localizing its operation and placing people in the centre of public policies’’. The VP said Akwa Ibom is the first state ‘’in the nation to localize the HCD vision in its truest form…by adopting the strategies in local government areas’’. I congratulate the state for this achievement.
[OPINION] Soludo’s Townhall Meetings: A Demonstration Of Confidence In Stewardship - Christian Aburime
Admin![[OPINION] Soludo’s Townhall Meetings: A Demonstration Of Confidence In Stewardship - Christian Aburime](/media/k2/items/cache/2b19df7d82fda76440f0028423fbdb2d_XS.jpg?t=20250417_093903)
Governance is more about responsibility than just holding an office. It is more about making impact and not merely making a show of power with all its paraphernalia. In an era where political rhetoric often eclipses concrete achievement, Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo’s recent town hall meetings with Anambra’s Diaspora communities in Lagos and Abuja capture the true essence of governance. The well-attended meetings were beyond political grandstanding and represented something far more significant: the embodiment of accountability, transparency, and integrity in governance.
The packed venues in both cities testified to the governor’s drawing power and positive perception among Ndi Anambra living outside their home state. Indeed, what unfolded during the interactive sessions was not the typical political theatre of vague promises and evasive answers, but rather a logical presentation of a three-year scorecard backed by verifiable data and tangible results.
Professor Soludo, leveraging his academic background, approached these town halls with the precision of a scholar presenting research findings. His detailed exposition of achievements across infrastructure, education, healthcare, security, economic transformation, tourism, and more painted a picture of an administration guided by strategic vision rather than political expediency.
Particularly noteworthy was the genuine interactive engagement that characterised these meetings. Far from the scripted questions and rehearsed responses that often dominate such forums, attendees engaged in robust, spontaneous, sometimes challenging dialogues with their governor. This willingness to face direct questioning from citizens demonstrates a level of confidence that comes only from having substantial accomplishments to defend.
The endorsement from former Governor and Senator Chris Ngige at the Abuja town hall carried special weight. When Senator Ngige declared that he “came, saw and confirmed” that all the stories about Governor Soludo’s monumental strides are not mere publicity stunts, it represented another poignant cross-verification of Governor Soludo’s claims. Coming from a political figure with his own significant legacy in the state, this validation transcended partisan lines and spoke to observable realities on the ground, affirming the well-known fact there is no opposition in Anambra that can stop Governor Soludo’s re-election.
Throughout the Lagos and Abuja engagements, Governor Soludo consistently emphasized his unifying vision captured in the mantra: “One State, One People, One Agenda.” This philosophy directly challenges the divisive politics of regional favouritism that has plagued many Nigerian states. By declaring that he does not see Anambra as north, south, or central districts but as a unified entity with shared destiny, Governor Soludo is promoting a new political identity based on common interests rather than geographic divides.
The governor’s assertion that “Anambra is Rising” was not another fancy slogan but was substantiated through comprehensive data on economic indicators, infrastructure development, and social metrics. This evidence-based approach to governance reporting stands in stark contrast to the emotional appeals and sentimental narratives that typically dominate political discourse in our polity.
What makes these Diaspora town halls particularly significant is their recognition of the crucial role that Anambra citizens living outside the state play in its development. By actively seeking their input and support, Governor Soludo acknowledges that governance extends beyond Awka to encompass all who have a stake in the state’s progress, no matter where they live and do business in the world.
Also, the enthusiastic reception from attendees suggests that many Anambra indigenes see in Governor Soludo’s administration a departure from business-as-usual politics. Several participants expressed surprise at the level of detail provided about ongoing projects and their implementation timelines, information that empowers citizens to hold their government accountable. And by voluntarily submitting his administration’s record to the scrutiny of some of the state’s most accomplished sons and daughters, Governor Soludo demonstrates confidence in his stewardship and respect for citizens’ intelligence.
The true test of Governor Soludo’s governance model, however, will be when these engaging dialogues translate into a Second Term election of him to continue acceleration of transformation across Anambra State. For now, Governor Soludo’s unique Diaspora town hall engagements confirm that accountability must go beyond being a governance principle and assumes a practical approach that can rebuild trust between citizens and their elected leaders. As Anambra State continues its upward trajectory, the governor’s commitment to keeping stakeholders informed and engaged will be as important as the projects themselves.
![[OPINION] When Native Doctors ‘Mint’ Money - Olusegun Adeniyi](/media/k2/items/cache/73e2496520cfe521c3171b544740eff9_XS.jpg)
The superstitious belief that instant wealth can be conjured by herbalists or ‘native doctors’ has sent an inordinate number of innocent people to their untimely death in Nigeria. But how desperate or gullible must someone be not to understand that if these ‘native doctors’ could create money by performing rituals, they themselves would not be so poor? That precisely is the question being posed by Governor Chukwuma Soludo, who has been waging a war against crooked ‘native doctors’ in Anambra State. It is a battle other stakeholders must join if we are to rid our country of these charlatans who are wreaking serious havoc on young people’s lives.
Soludo concedes that there are traditional healers who use herbs to cure ailments, but his battle is against those who sell charms and rituals as ‘immunities’ against criminal enterprises like armed robbery, kidnapping, cyber fraud etc. He is therefore not fighting genuine traditional medicine practitioners but rather those who prey on the greed or ignorance of our young people. “Go to Indonesia, 23 Ndi Anambra are on death row there for drug related offenses. These native doctors will deceive you that they will prepare a charm that when you carry drugs and enter the airport, the white man’s scanner will go blind. These young people believe them and today, many of our people are languishing in jail across the world,” Soludo said last week, while explaining the motivation for his campaign. “If you see anyone who is professing to have the powers to make people rich, tell us, we will bring him to Awka. If he makes one person a millionaire, we will bring Anambra people and line them up. I will equally present myself because I need money too.”
What Soludo is dealing with is a serious moral crisis that is not peculiar to Anambra State. These ‘native doctors’ are everywhere and many are complicit in the crime of kidnapping that is now rampant across the country. In February, the recently installed Asagba of Asaba, Professor Epiphany Azinge, SAN, banned the activities of ‘Eze-Nwanyi’ (female native doctors/goddesses) within his domain, following reports linking one of them to the murder of a kidnap victim whose body was discovered on the Niger Bridge. “The murder of the Anambra lawmaker points to Asaba, where money was cleared, and where the shrine harbouring the kingpin was located,” said the traditional ruler. “These native doctors seem to be aiding not only internet fraudsters (Yahoo Yahoo boys) but also kidnappers and other criminals. Therefore, we are banning them effective immediately.”
While dark powers exist, the notion that anybody could carry drugs and evade detection at airports or conjure money after killing and harvesting the head/internal organs of another human being or that they could be ‘fortified’ against arrest after committing heinous crimes is beyond ludicrous. Unfortunately, these beliefs are now very prevalent among many of our young people who look for easy answers to life’s questions, especially in the desperate times we live in. That has also created a huge industry for these so-called native doctors who are setting up their shops everywhere and luring young people into lives of crime. In the process, many also lose their lives. For instance, following a stranger-than-fiction tragedy involving a teenager in a community in Esan Southeast local government area of Edo State last week, the Police have arrested a ‘native doctor’ and an accomplish. What was their alleged crime?
To prove the efficacy of a charm ritual they had performed on a 14-year-old boy who sought powers that would make him “invulnerable to bottles”, they struck his head with a bottle. Regrettably, the body of the teenager is now in the morgue. For a 14-year-old boy to be looking for a charm that would make his head ‘bottle-proof’, I expect there is a catch somewhere about illicit gain. Otherwise, what would be the point? Six months ago in the same state, there was a similar incident involving a 19-year-old self-acclaimed native doctor. “One Alex Ezekiel, now deceased, went to the ‘native doctor’ to have (bullet-proof) charms prepared for him. After preparing the charms, the native doctor tried to test the efficacy by shooting the deceased with a gun,” according to a statement by the state police command spokesman, SP Moses Yamu. “Unfortunately, the deceased sustained fatal injuries and was rushed to Ifejola Hospital, Igarra, where he was certified dead by a medical Doctor.”
I am almost certain that the young man was looking for ‘insurance’ against bullets with his eyes on a life of crime, possibly armed robbery or kidnapping. So commonplace is the lure of instant wealth that there is a growing belief that some people can create billionaires from charms or ‘fortify’ criminals against detection. Rooted in ignorance and superstition, this is also an African challenge which then explains why albino and people suffering with a hunched back are perpetually endangered on the continent. In 2017, for instance, bald men in Mozambique were warned by the police that they could be targets of ritual attacks, after five such men were murdered within a week. “The belief is that the head of a bald man contains gold,” Afonso Dias, a police commander in Mozambique’s central Zambezia province, explained at the time.
This belief has also led to the creation of ‘professionals’ in the field of ‘head hunting’—people who go in search of body parts, particularly the head and sexual organs, for money-making rituals. Since the only way to get such human parts is by committing murder, it is no surprise that ritual killings are now rampant in cities like Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Benin and Kano. Hardly a week passes without the story of someone being a victim of ritual murder. Indeed, incidence of ritual killings is said to account for many missing people in Nigeria today.
Meanwhile, nobody has been able to prove that the charms by these crafty ‘witch doctors’, can catapult people from penury into instant wealth. At least for now, there is no single person who can be pointed to as having become rich because of human sacrifices, except characters in Nollywood movies. The son of one of the native doctors who is in detention, according to Soludo, is a waiter in a hotel in Nnewi. “If it was that simple, why didn’t he make his son a millionaire?” asked Soludo whose intervention on this matter deserves the support of critical stakeholders because it has brought out the sociological dimensions to serious crimes in Nigeria. “One of them (native doctor who is active on social media) has used things like these to deceive our young people that you can become rich without doing any work, as far as you have done Oke Ite (money rituals)”, he explained. “That is why you see young people who wake up in the morning and retire to a beer parlour drinking, hoping to get rich later in life.”
In his lecture at the 2019 convocation of the Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL), respected Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Godwin Sogolo, FNAL, spoke to the factors that render a social system dysfunctional, using Nigeria as an illustration. While moral disruptions due to ineffective education or damage caused by failure in governance tend to be more gradual and less perceptible, according to Sogolo, “the effects of disruptions caused by severe material needs and cultural invasions are more dramatic and impactful on human character.” Because, as he argued, such “derails the mind of the individual and causes havoc to the collective psyche. The result, in most cases, is the failure to comprehend the purpose of life, leading to moral apathy and unwholesome acts of violence, aggression and criminality, especially among the youths.”
As I have argued in the past on this page, the tragedy of Nigeria is beyond the failure of government; it is that our society is also failing. Although money rituals have been with us for a long time, the current prevalence can be situated within the context of Sogolo’s thesis. If you listen to the lyrics of most of the artistes who now rule the airwaves and are idolized in social media, dishonest living to make money is what most of them now glorify, in addition to peddling obscenities. And many of their young followers are being conditioned to believe that in life, only the end justifies the means.
Last September, the Kogi State Police Command paraded four suspects in connection with killing a 19-year-old female level student at the Federal University Lokoja. All the interactions that led to the tragic drama started on social media where the prime suspect first befriended his victim before they met physically. In his chilling confessional statement, the 20-year-old boy who lured the deceased girl to the bush before killing her for the purpose of ritual money, also said he met the native doctor—to whom he took her eyes, lungs, liver, tongue and other body parts—on TikTok before they then exchanged messages on WhatsApp.
Although the boy hails from Chikun local government of Kaduna State, he admitted coming to Lokoja to ‘hustle’, and then met the girl who fell for his tricks. “I already had it in mind that I want to use her for ritual. I bought codeine and Sprite and mixed it up and gave it to her. When she drank it, I told her, let us go to my house and she agreed. When she felt weak, I took her to an uncompleted building close to my place and strangled her to death…” he told the police. “The native doctor who resides in Ibadan sent a driver and brought calabash and a knife. It is the knife I used to remove parts of her body…” which the driver took back to Ibadan. These body parts were then processed into making a soap that was sent to the boy. Interested readers can consult Mr Google for the gory details and names of culprits in all the cases I have cited.
What should worry us is the growing sociological problem that we must address. In practically all facets of our national life, many of our young people now look for short cuts to success. Such is the moral decay that students (at all levels of our education) want to pass examination not by reading their books but through ‘microchips’, ‘sorting’ and other malpractices for which there are now fancy euphemisms. And for stupendous wealth, they want to make ‘Cheddar’ so they could ‘hammer’ through fraudulent means. Therefore, until we put a lie to this erroneous belief that money can grow out of the body parts of human beings or that there are charms against accountability, the increasing tribe of ‘native doctors’ will continue to deceive young men and women into believing that the surest way to ‘making it’ in life is not by work but rather through ‘money rituals’.
![[OPINION] Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Nigeria’s Public Service - Tunji Olaopa](/media/k2/items/cache/9ed9b103d4dd764341d678fb20153b49_XS.jpg)
There is no doubt that we are now in the age of the artificial intelligence, or precisely the Digital Age. Indeed, in scholarship, scholars are already signaling the arrival of a posthuman world within which machines and digital technologies would have taken over most of the intelligences that are usually associated with humans. Whether there will be such a world when machines would challenge human intelligence is still a moot point. What is obvious now is the rate at which artificial intelligences are deployed in the performance of several cognitive functions that are traditionally associated with human capacities. From Siri and Alexa to the driverless bicycle and car, and from social media algorithms to ChatGPT, AI is gradually getting launched in several areas of human endeavor—education, manufacturing, architecture, entertainment, governance, healthcare, sports, and many more.
It is definitely inevitable that public administration has to confront and engage with the utility of AI in achieving performance and efficiency. The pioneering innovation in both AI and public administration has already been done by Herbert Simon, 1978 Nobel Laureate, especially in his research on organizational knowledge, decision making and human performance. For example, in his theory of administrative behavior, Simon argues that since decision makers and managers are not perfect beings, public administrators cannot be expected to make perfect decisions and choices. On the contrary, this is because they do not have the capacity to think and know everything all at once at any given point. The limitations to their thinking and knowledge imply that they work within this “bounded rationality.” Thus, public managers make administrative choices that are “satisficing”—they are the smart choice not because they are the best ones, but because they are the most satisfactory given the available limitations.
Within this Herbert Simon’s understanding of administrative behavior and decision-making, we can then begin to imagine how the limitation can be reduced through the deployment of AI. In other words, how does AI intervene in administrative and managerial operations in terms of improving operational efficiency, facilitating informed and evidence-based decision-making, efficient delivery of personalise public services, resource use optimisation and therefore organisational productivity, while promoting efficient, secure, and citizen-centred and modernised systems and work processes?
Public administration 2.0 is the forerunner especially in the application and deployment of technologies in fast tracking administrative and managerial processes and operations. Through the use of data analytics, and especially user-generated content and interactivity in Web 2.0, public administration and the public sector is better enhanced in terms of citizen-engagement in the administration of government; decision-making is facilitated through data analytics, open data that makes for transparency; and administrative processes that are streamlined for efficiency through the use technologies. With the addition and application of AI, the administration of the public sector, and most significantly of the public service, is provided with a powerful tool for transforming the public sector into a mechanism for effectively and efficiently delivering democratic governance. Let me outline a few of such possibilities.
The first possibility is in the area of managing administrative routines and processes, by articulating heuristic models that reduce costs and man-hour, especially in terms of lowering labour and operational costs that have a significant bearing on performance and national productivity. For example, through AI-based virtual assistants, administrators can adequately manage their calendars, book appointments and send reminders. AI document management system streamlines document scanning, organisation, storage and retrieval processes. Second, AI provides the possibility of stimulating several scenario modelling tools that public sector administrators can utilize in simulating and evaluating various courses of actions and potential outcomes through the deployment of predictive analytics that assist in forecasting future trends, risks and opportunities. This implies therefore that administrators and managers are able to use AI tools to enhance strategic intelligence for problem-solving decision-making that anticipates challenges, gets early warning signals, and proactively devises strategies to mitigate risks or take advantage of emerging trends.
Third, AI facilitates a near-seamless workplace efficiency, communication and team relations. In using AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants, any public administrator and manager is able to significantly inject administrative sanity into the workplace to resolve complex cooperative matters, instigating effective communication, and evaluate inefficient patterns, processes and practices for critical review and improvement. AI also assists in facilitating seamless interaction among team members through the possibility of remote work dynamics, messaging, video conferencing and file sharing as enabled by such applications as Zoom, Slack and Microsoft Teams, etc.
The fourth fundamental possibility generated by AI in the workplace is the enhancement of performance management. There is the possibility of enhancing data-rooted policy intelligence and decisions through using AI to generate reports and dashboards information around key performance indicators, trends and anomalies. The automation of workflow management goes a long way in harnessing AI-powered project management tools that activate task assignment, resource allocation, the planning and tracking of projects for updates, and the identification of systemic and human-induced impediments and bottlenecks. AI can also enable regulatory governance through the automating of compliance processes and standards monitored in real-time to ensure adherence to regulatory requirements and organisational policies. This proactive approach can significantly reduce the risk of compliance violations, enhance organisational resilience and trustworthiness.
The proactive initiatives of the Tinubu administration—through the Ministry of Communication, Innovation and Digital Economy—are critical and commendable in trying to fast track Nigeria’s functional participation in the global AI ecosystem. We have the development of the national AI strategy and roadmap, from the 2023 Data Protection Act to the signing of the Bletchley Declaration on AI, that situate Nigeria within the capability readiness to deploy the best in global and national AI developments and initiatives that will energize governance and public institutions. What is needed more is the political will and the institutional reform frameworks to push the bounds of the capacity of AI to impact public administration and the public sector in Nigeria. One most immediate point of engagement for AI tools is Nigeria’s anti-corruption campaign. One need not wonder too much why this is so. The civil service all around the world specifically and the public sector at large is still plagued with systemic and structural bottlenecks that incentivise corrupt practices. It is not different in Nigeria. Bureaucratic corruption undermines and undercut budgetary and policy investments in the welfare of Nigerians through the drastic reduction in the quality of infrastructural development. Applying AI tools to the anti-corruption campaign will not only effectively enable the detection of corruption through the sophisticated analysis of financial transactions—suspected financial inflows and anomalies—in government business and the economy. These tools will also enhance government’s capacity to achieve optimal tax collection through automatic detection of tax evaders and tax audit optimisation.
AI tools and technologies can equally be deployed in achieving security objectives. This will derive from their capacity to monitor crime patterns, predict security threats and enable crime detection using algorithmic protocols and the intelligence these protocols are able to generate to improve rapid responses during emergencies. Artificial intelligence and digital technologies also have significant implications for healthcare delivery through enhanced disease diagnosis and prognosis, treatment planning and public health analysis. The same goes for the administration of service delivery in the education sector by improving personalized learning experiences and improving learning outcomes. In agriculture, AI can be deployed to analyze farming trends and patterns, optimize crop yields and improve food production.
When Elon Musk took over the running of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the US, he was aware not only that he had a herculean task ahead of him to rationalize and optimize a large federal bureaucracy. He was also aware of the capacity of AI to assist his policy intentions and objectives. When he deployed the AI-powered chatbot, GSAi, and demanded the upgrade of the technological software of entire government workforce, it was a smart move that would cut in half the possible bottlenecks that such a downgrading might experience. This is to enable federal employees efficiently create talking points, summarize text, and write code. This then becomes the basis for expanding the AI tools not only, for example, for achieving efficiency in contract management and procurement, but also for enabling a hitch-free downsizing objective. In other words, the GSAi enhance the capacity of the government to identify and deal with waste and redundancies. Elon Musk insists that “a trillion dollars can be saved just by addressing waste, fraud and abuse.”
It then becomes very clear what the lessons are that the Nigerian government can learn from this imperative of deploying AI to the urgent necessity of tackling cost of governance and waste management. And again, it requires the most pre-emptive and proactive measures that the political will of the Tinubu administration can muster to bring the public sector up to speed in terms of the benefits of AI. This requires the government taking fundamental steps in institutional and governance reforms. The public service, for example, needs to add AI to the list of its urgent twenty-first century competences, skills and literacies, especially competences in specialized data science, machine learning, AI engineering skills, and data privacy, governance and data security management. This is to the extent that Nigeria needs a critical mass of public officers who understand the technical and administrative significance and operational imperatives of AI in public administration and in the public service. Failure to do this means that despite government’s willingness to sign on to global and regional treaties on AI, not strengthening this willingness by pragmatic institutional reform steps will leave Nigeria behind in the global AI transformation. There is, for example, the need for government to put strong and attractive talent management strategies and incentives in place that will first counteract the perception of government as a terrible employer of labour, retain the talents that are already struggling in government employment, and then draw talents especially from the private sector.
As usual with almost all organizational and institutional dynamics, AI and the change management strategies required to bring it on board will meet with significant resistance by both the public servants and the citizens. It is the responsibility of government and its reform experts to articulate a change management that enable a speedy and friendly AI adoption. For instance, the government needs massive investment that ensures data availability and the need to build data culture nation-wide. The dynamic will also require the building of strong and intelligent support systems especially in the public service to enhance staff learning and for problem-solving to address critical challenges before they escalate and make a mess of the entire national programme.
Finally, the downside of digital technologies and AI usage is their vulnerability to cybersecurity threats, data breaches and hacking that compromise sensitive official and national information and data. The government therefore needs an adequate security systems and framework—and new offices and positions—that will ensure the appropriate management and protection of AI tools and government data. New roles required will be that of Chief AI Officer, AI Security Office, AI Regulator, and so on, who will be charged with the supervision and monitoring of AI deployment across the MDAs, as well as the implementation of the necessary legislation and guidelines.
AI is the future of government and public administration. It is one means by which the Tinubu administration can instigate a significant jumpstarting of the Renewed Hope Agenda by dragging AI into its implementation and into the institutional reform blueprint to make it successful.