OTHERS' VIEWS
Ile Ife and Oyo Ile were at the very core of the cultural and political essence of the Yoruba. While the whole of the Yoruba have managed to preserve Ile-Ife as home for all, Oyo Ile, some 200 plus years ago, was lost to the pillage of the Fulani and to its own internal political sins and crimes. Ile-Ife and (New) Oyo have remained polar powers; sometimes they compete bitterly with their leaders playing captains for opposing forces. In good times, they ‘giraffe’ and do copy-and-paste. I was present when the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II, crowned his senior chiefs and Baales in February 2009. I was the spokesman of the Olagunsoye Oyinlola government in Osun State which approved the crowning of those chiefs and Baale from one end of the ancient kingdom to the other. The Ooni today, in his majesty and glory, wears his crown; his top chiefs wear their own crowns with the understanding that Cat will remain Cat and Tiger will remain Tiger. It was an unusual arrangement but the decision was a compromise for peace; a key component of the package that resolved the 100-year-old Ife-Modakeke problem. Ife senior chiefs got beaded crowns; Ogunsua of Modakeke got his too – all on the same day and directly from the hands of the Ooni of Ife. Since then, there has been peace now and forever more.
Ibadan as the successor-city to the power and glory of Old Oyo is never tired of being in the news. Eleven High Chiefs became oba in Ibadan last Friday. A similar event was held in the same place for the same purpose in August 2017 – six years ago. The 2017 mass coronation unraveled soon after it was done. That it failed with the last government and is successful with the incumbent is a testament to two factors: approach and lessons taught by history. In Ile-Ife in 2009, it was the Ooni who granted and gave the crowns to the chiefs – with the approval of the governor. In Ibadan in 2017, the governor did the crowning directly; the reigning Olubadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, kicked and told Governor Abiola Ajimobi that it would be “an exercise in futility” for the governor to crown Ibadan chiefs and Baales without the consent of the Olubadan. And it was. In 2023, the reigning Olubadan, Oba Lekan Balogun, learnt from history and wrote to Governor Seyi Makinde, seeking approval to crown his chiefs. The Olubadan got the approval and did the crowning of his chiefs himself on Friday, 7 July, 2023. Unlike what we saw in 2017, the sea of Ibadan has been remarkably calm.
The peace of the twig is the peace of the bird. When chiefs fight the king, the town feels the tremor. The late Olubadan Adetunji saw the coronation of his chiefs by Ajimobi in 2017 without his consent as a rebellion, a direct assault on his paramountcy in Ibadan. With the backing of the state government, the High Chiefs actually rebelled; they stopped attending meetings and functions. The ‘rebellion’ endured till there was a change of government in May 2019. Such a ‘rebellion’ wasn’t a new thing in Ibadan. In 1936, Ibadan chiefs waged a ceaseless war against Olubadan Okunola Abasi Aleshinloye. They stopped attending meetings where their lord presided. The colonial government responded by not giving them their monthly allowance because “they did not work.” But that did not deter them from carrying on with their ‘war’. On one occasion, the chiefs appeared before the Resident without Olubadan and the white man asked them: “Have you ever seen a man who cuts off his head and still walks on the road without his head? They answered: ‘We’ve never seen such’. He then said to them: ‘Do not ever return to me without the Olubadan (i.e. your head) coming with you.'” (See Isaac Ogunbiyi and Stefan Reichmuth’s ‘Arabic Papers from the Olubadan Chancery I: A Rebellion of the Ibadan Chieftains’; 1997 on page 118).
A number of friends outside Ibadan have asked me what having more kings meant for Ibadan as a city and for its uncountable struggling millions. My response has been a riposte interrogating the importance of change in life and of reforms in human institutions. If the latest innovation in the city’s traditional setup results in better management of its culture and more, its inhabitants may be inoculated from the city’s disease of civil disorder. That would mean peace which William Shakespeare likens to “a conquest” in which “both parties nobly are subdued, and neither party loser.”
The ascendancy of Ibadan from war camp to city and the distinctiveness of its Olubadan kingship are products of constant change and reforms. All through its modern history, every major improvement or amendment or adjustment to the Ibadan chieftaincy law has had streaks of controversies. In 1936, Ibadan as a city was tired of dragging the Baale title with minions in charge of its villages. It wanted its traditional head to be called and known as Olubadan instead of the lowly Baale title. The colonial government approved it on 18 June, 1936 but put it on hold on 7 July for the fear that an Olubadan could claim to be oba and challenge the authority of the Alaafin. On 9 July, fifty-seven Ibadan chiefs signed a petition asking the authorities to “bring about the desired change” they all longed for. They explained that changing the title of their ruler from Baale to Olubadan was “a mere nomenclature” conferring no right upon “the holder to wear a beaded crown and it is hoped that no holder of it in future shall have such aspirations.” The chiefs boasted that “if we had cared for the beaded crown, we would have assumed one before the advent of the British Government. We have been democratic since the establishment of the third Ibadan, and we like our constitution to continue so” (See Ruth Watson’s Civil Disorder is the Disease of Ibadan: Chieftaincy and Civic Culture in a Yoruba City, 2003, from page 142 to 145). The final approval for the title-change came on 21 October, 1936 with the colonial government emphasizing that the title was cosmetic, that it could only massage the ego of the bearer, it contained no potency that could make the bearer a king with a beaded crown to match.
But those who boasted in 1936 that they needed no king with a beaded crown attempted a change in tune just three years after. A Conference of Yoruba Chiefs was to be held in Ibadan in May 1939 but certain Ibadan merchants caused to be made abroad and imported into the country 3,000 yards of a purpose-made ‘Olubadan Damask’ – today’s Aso Ebi. It was to be worn in the city during the conference. Watson (2003: 154) describes the cloth as “so dense in cultural meaning and political symbolism” that the authorities believed it was a threat to public peace. Emblazoned on the Aso Ebi for distribution in the city was a drawing of Olubadan Abasi leading a leopard by a cord amidst a design with “a coloured ground bearing at the top, a crown, and in the border the words: Olubadan d’oba, abuse buse (Olubadan has become king, end of discussions).” The Leopard on a leash in Olubadan’s hand was interpreted to be the Alaafin. The Lion in Oyo saw the cloth and roared from Oyo; the colonial government heard the loud protest in Lagos and banned the distribution and use of that cloth everywhere – and forever. That incident and similar others were what the late Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III referred to as “the skirmishes of the 1930s” in his historic motion of 1976 at the Oyo State House of Chiefs while pleading that the council grant the Olubadan the right and privilege to wear a beaded crown.
Ibadan’s ways will continue to excite the human sense. The city won’t be tired of stirring crises and controversies that are soon resolved in its own peculiar way. And that is because it is a composite city of varieties in human values and opinions. I will insert Ayinde Barrister’s ‘Garbage’ guidedly here. Ibadan accommodates all and impacts all – the hardworking and the indolent. It is a ferment; a melting pot for all and for every culture that is connected with its history. Eminent historian, Professor I. A. Akinjogbin, put it very succinctly at the centenary conference of the Yoruba Peace Treaty of 1886 held at the then University of Ife in September 1986. He described Ibadan as a successful example of the mixing and mingling of all Yoruba groups. When you have such a phenomenal pool of people, you get a multiplicity of values and character traits. Akinjogbin said: “Virtually every town and village in Yorubaland lost at least a son to Ibadan. In other words, the Ibadan today are a thorough mixing and mingling of all Yoruba groups. Indeed, the Nupe, the Hausa, the Bariba were also successfully integrated into Ibadan. And by the end of the 19th century, even the Fulani were seeking to be accepted as full-fledged Ibadan when they sang “e ma pewa I’ajoji moo, a jo ni le yi ni” (see I.A. Akinjogbin in ‘War and Peace in Yorubaland 1793-1893’, page 5).
Have we heard the last of the emergence of multiple kings in Ibadan? If history is a guide, it won’t support such optimism. But it does appear that a revisit of the reforms will likely look forward rather than backward. You would expect constant demand for reforms and restructuring here. Lagos may be the business capital of Nigeria but Ibadan is the country’s knowledge and books capital. It hosts Nigeria’s first university and in its bosom is the first of every other thing about learning and wisdom. Maybe that is why I will also describe it as Nigeria’s agitation and protests capital. ‘Ija Igboro l’arun Ibadan’ is the sub-title (and meaning) of Ruth Watson’s ‘Civil Disturbance is the Disease of Ibadan’. The general history of Ibadan from 1830 to 2023 has been a celebration of chivalry and conspiracies; protests and protestations. Oba I.B Akinyele’s 304-page ‘Iwe Itan Ibadan’ is filled with such intrigues and rebellions. He used the words ‘tembelekun’ and ‘ote’ repeatedly to end-note the reign of almost every Baale of the town in the era his account covers.
English poet and politician, John Milton (1608-1674), wrote on kings and their powers. He describes the scepters they wield as very much in the character of the staff in the hands of shepherds. The poet says kings love their people so that they could manipulate and fleece them. He says a king’s interest in a system is limited to how it makes it “easiest [for the people] to be kept under; and not only in fleece, but in minde also sheepishest.” I know that many wonder if it is not a contradiction – and they ask why we need kings in a democracy. It is a legitimate question that cannot be asked (and answered) in isolation of where we are coming from as a people. British colonialism retained and energized traditional rulers for its use and advantage. Post-colonial Nigeria maintains them not as “museum materials” but as links to the past and (possible) instruments of stability and development. As I write this, I could see with my mind’s eyes monarchs who are rewriting those negative lines of Milton on the use(fulness) of monarchy. Amidst failure of politics and politicians, kings now influence and attract development to their kingdoms. There are kings who are building schools for children of the poor, clothing and feeding them. There is one in Oke Ila, Osun State. The more progressive obas we have, the more likely the land gets better. So, beyond the ecstasy on the hills of Mapo, we wait to see the multiplicity of crowns in Ibadan translating to multiplicity of goodies and goodness in the traditional administration of the city. Otherwise, the 12 crowns will be less of value than the beads strewn on them.
Ibadan now has a senior king and many junior kings. I wish them very long reigns. But if I say that prayer in an assemblage of Ibadan’s kingly heads, only the one at the head of the pyramid will say amen with all his heart. Why? Ibadan is probably the only Yoruba city where the news of death is good news. Agbotikuyo (hear-news-of-death-and-rejoice) is the word they proudly use to explain away the uniqueness of their monarchy. There are eleven junior kings now in Ibadan. It has evolved from a city of knights with a reluctant crown to a city of major and minor royals in competition for eras. What does it mean for a kingdom to have a king sharing his royalty with junior kings? There was a co-regency in England when King Henry II crowned his eldest surviving son as junior king. The young co-king not only exercised zero royal authority, he pre-deceased his father. Co-regency was practised during Egypt’s 12th dynasty and across history in other lands. If co-kingship works for Ibadan, co-presidency may for Nigeria to address charges of marginalization. But sometimes the result is the opposite of the intended goal. There was a co-regency in the Garden of Eden between the first man and the first lady. Should I pray, therefore, that Ibadan’s co-regency will not be like the one between Adam and Eve which ended with Satan’s coup de grâce?
The Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Kolapo Sulu-Gambari, as a former Justice of the Court of Appeal, ought to know that Nigeria is a secular country. As a graduate of the Nigeria Law School, he should know that Section 10 of our country’s Constitution states in simple English that: The government of the federation or of a state shall not adopt any religion as state religion.”
As a leader in the country, he ought to know that every Nigerian has a constitutional right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. As a lawyer trained in England he ought to know all these because they constitute part of the United Nations Fundamental Human Rights Convention.
As leader of a faith, the Emir should know that there is no compulsion in Islam. As a traditional ruler, he is expected to promote peaceful co-existence, and as an elder statesman who should be a societal role model, he ought neither to resort to self-help nor engage in impunity.
Unfortunately, this is the path he chose by banning Isese, a religious festival scheduled to hold between July 22 and July 24, 2023 simply because he does not share the beliefs of that religion.
Rather than be angry, I actually feel sorry for him because his actions and reasons he advances do not do justice to his training, knowledge, expertise and legacy.
First, assuming, without conceding that the African Traditional Religion, is a crime, he ought to report it to the police, not to send a rabble to invade the home of a lady, Yeye Ajesikemi Olokun Omolara Olatunji and threaten her life if she worshipped God in her religious belief.
The Emir exhibited little knowledge of Ilorin and the origins of the emirate when he claimed that such indigenous festivals had never “been associated or held in Ilorin, or within Ilorin Emirate”. Contrary to such claims, Ilorin, its indigenous religions and festivals, had existed by 1450, that is some 400 years before the Uthman Dan Fodio family with whom Alhaji Gambari claims lineage, migrated from the Toronkawa clan in Senegal.
Therefore, Alhaji Gambari’s claim that: “Our culture is Islamic-based, so we don’t promote idolatry at all”, has no foundation in fact and history. In any case, we know Ilorin, indeed Kwara State, is home to millions of Christians and other religious adherents.
So his utterances and claims are an invitation to anarchism. I do not think his claims that the Kwara State Governor and security agencies in the state back his illegal and unconstitutional actions, deserve any response.
Also, his claims to have given directives to security agencies to stop the traditional worship, deserves no response because not even a police constable would take unlawful directives from him.
The retired justice also claims that for such traditional festival to take place, the worshippers must get clearance from the police for them to have a lawful or, legal assembly. This, with all due respect, is incorrect. Sections 38 and 40 of the Constitution grants Nigerians the right to freely associate and assemble. Also, Articles 9 and 10 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right Act, grants Nigerians those basic rights.
Thirdly, Honourable Justice Anwuri Chiyere had in the All Nigeria Peoples Party v Inspector General of Police (2006) ruled that police permit for Nigerians to hold rallies is illegal and unconstitutional.
Fourthly, when the Police appealed this judgement, the Court of Appeal in December, 2007 dismissed it on the basis that that police permit is “a relic of colonialism” which is incongruous in a democracy.
Based on the Appeal Court decision, the National Assembly in 2015 amended the Electoral Act 2010. Section 94 (4) of the amended Act states that the role of the police at rallies, processions and meetings… “shall be limited to the provision of adequate security…”
Also, Section 83 (4) of the Police Establishment Act 2020 provides that: “Where a person or organization notifies the police of his or its intention to hold a public meeting, rally or procession … the police officer responsible for the area where the meeting rally or procession will take place shall mobilize personnel to provide security cover for the meeting, rally or the procession.”
In any case, what police permit do worshippers of other religions obtain before they observe their festivals?
Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka, who is Alhaji Gambari’s senior by six years, gave a brotherly advice to the Emir not to turn Ilorin into another scene of bloody religious and ethnic conflicts as was done in Kaduna. He had advised the Emir to learn from the United Arab Emirates which despite being an Islamic country, promotes other religions like Christianity.
But Alhaji Gambari responded that Soyinka is being “economical with facts”. The Emir claimed that his provocative acts and suppression of other religious beliefs and cultures “is to prevent crisis and not wait until it erupts…”. So how do you respond to a delusional argument?
Alhaji Gambari had attended Offa Grammar School, Offa and passed out in 1960. Moremi Ajasoro was an Offa, Kwara State lady of the 12th Century who was married to Oranmiyan, the king of Ile Ife. At that time, the Ifes had an existential challenge: some spirit-like characters used to invade the city and cart away humans and property. Moremi decided to act. She had a simple plan: to be captured by the invaders and possibly infiltrate their ranks, find out who they are and how they can be defeated. She made a vow that if she succeeded, she would sacrifice her only son, Oluorogbo, to the Spirit of the Esimirin river.
She was captured, the king of the invaders found her irresistible and married her. As the favourite wife, the King revealed that his soldiers were humans who merely wore raffia leaves from head to toe to frighten their opponents. She discovered that all that was necessary to defeat the invaders was for the Ife people to light torches and throw them at the invaders.
Moremi escaped and revealed the secret to the Ifes who roundly defeated the invaders. After the victory songs and praises, reality dawned on Moremi: she had to sacrifice her son. She became a legend in Yorubaland. One of the most famous festivals in Yorubaland, the Edi Festival, is in her honour and it attracts tourists.
A monument was also built in her honour in her home town, Offa, which should be the biggest tourist attraction. But religious fanatics turned it into a war continually attacking it. For them, it is a pagan shrine which should not exist, or be close to the mosque. Now, the shrine has been turned into the Moremi Hall of Fame. Ignorance, lack of knowledge, fanaticism, religious intolerance reigns.
In the uncivilized hours of Saturday, I was wide awake. Sleep eluded me. This lasted for about two hours – between 1.O0am and 3.15am.
Like a number of people, I have formed the very bad habit of looking at my Whatsaap messages each time I visit the rest room at night. Once I see any good story, it is goodbye to sleep until whenever because I would start a visit to all the sites for every “A, B, and C” of the story. How did we survive witout these phones and apps? I don’t want to curse whoever brought the idea of mobile phones and social media but see what it has done to us without prejudice to the, I admit, their many good sides. But, no thanks to them, our lives have been turned inside out and upside down. No secrets. No hiding place. No rest, especially for the eyes, fingers, brain. As Zebrudaya of the comedy, Masquerade would say: “God forbid bad thing.” They have taught and shown us nonsense, and more nonsense.
Now, it is because of them that a bad behavior by a wayward teenager has caused an uproar, disrupted our lives and opened the door for the barrage of insults being hauled at an industrious, intelligent and gifted tribe.
For Journalists, a bad story is a good story. When such stories break, my heart just pumps. My eyes glitter. Excitement sets in. But I experienced none of the three as I read, Saturday morning, the sad story of Miss Mmesoma Ejikeme – the young adult (19 years, not 16) who has occupied the media space in the past one week.
What I experienced was sadness and a large dose of anger. My anger was targeted at those who reduced a disturbing incident to the bashing of an ethnic group. I also experienced weakness. And hopelessness. And numbness of my fingers. And just before I dozed off to a fitful sleep, I muttered to myself: The loss of innocence, triggered by delinquent adults.
You know Mmesoma’s story. So, there is no point repeating it here, only just to, for the purpose of this write-up, briefly introduce the young girl who, brazenly, in a moment of criminal mischief, inflated her scores in the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, from 249 to 362.
She is the girl who effortlessly forged her JAMB results and took the Nigerian Nation for a ride. She is the girl who looked her school Principal in the eyes and lied through her teeth. She is the girl who, publicly, dragged her school, a faith-based school, Anglican Girls Secondary School, Nnewi, in the mud. She is the girl who lied to, her parents, and deceived, almost, the leadership of her State Government. She is the girl, who knowing quite well the crime she committed, took on both her State Government and a federal institution, JAMB, and almost stripped the Board of its credibility. She is the girl who deceived well-meaning Nigerians, had them line up behind her, especially, after she appeared on Channels Television, looking disarmingly innocent, and told us how traumatized she was over the JAMB allegation. “I am traumatized. JAMB is accusing me of forging my own result”, she said with confidence, innocence written all over her face.
Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma
There was Dr Oby Ezekwesili, a former Minister for Education, who, after watching that interview, reached out to JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, and called for an investigation by technological experts. There was Mr Charles Oputa, popular as Charlie Boy, who weighed-in for her. There was a firm, (aside from Innoson Automobile Manufacturing Company which had offered her three million Naira in scholarship) which offered her free education in the USA, Canada or United Kingdom. There was, yet, another, which offered her same scholarship. There was the Commissioner for Education, Anambra State, who felt so compelled by her story that she called JAMB to query Mmesoma’s non- recognition as the highest “JAMB scorer.”
There was a lawyer who threatened to sue JAMB over her. And, I read a story to the effect that Mmesoma “has sued JAMB for N20b!
All these people lined up behind her.
There is my younger sister, a retired Military Officer, who because of her training, hardly gives in to emotions. But not in Mmesoma’s case. After watching her interview on Channels Television, with a deceptive low voice, she called to tell me: “Sister, this girl is innocent. She does not look like somebody who can get involved in forgery. She does not even understand what the case is all about. They are dragging her because they think she is a nobody.” When I asked her, Saturday morning, if she had seen Mmesoma’s confession to her guilt, she sighed and replied: “Mmesoma fall my hand.”
She is not the only one whose hands Mmesoma forced “to fall.”
There are Mmesoma’s army of supporters in the social media who started reading meaning, the Nigerian way, into why JAMB disputed her result. “It is because she is Igbo”, some said, cleanly forgetting that the rightful highest scorer, declared by JAMB, Miss Kamsiyochukwu Umeh, is also Igbo, from same State.
There was yours sincerely, who was so taken-in by Mmesoma’s innocent looks that I literally blocked, within me, any negative story on her. But that was until I read Osita Chidoka, former Aviation Minister, who dismissed Mmesoma’s scores and story as fake, and asked her to “come clean”. It woke me up to reality.
And there were the stupid, narrow-minded, individuals who, based on Mmesoma’s criminal behavior, dismissed her tribe, the Igbo, as a tribe of same character. “It runs in their blood”, they wrote and professed on social media. For this group of people, I had a good laugh. They left the big bag of forgeries they are carrying, and are accusing those who took a little from their bag of collective guilt! I will get back to this later.
The questions are: Why did Mmesoma do it? What gave her the courage to do it? We can no longer ask who helped her, or connived with her, because she has confessed to doing it alone with her Airtel phone number. What pushed her? Why did she, without a second thought, ruin her future? The 249 she genuinely scored was good enough to get her an admission into any university of her choice. JAMB’s cut-off mark is 140. So, why? I can only think of three reasons.
Firstly, I think Mmesoma’s physical appearance is deceptive. She is not an innocent girl by any stretch of imagination. She is “waywardly” hardened. She is street-wise. Only that could make her, knowing fully what she did, to contact the Ministry of Education, Anambra, and report JAMB for not announcing her as the highest scorer. A less crooked-minded teenager would not have the courage to do that. Or the courage to call JAMB the number of times she did, and still stuck to her claims even when JAMB had told her she scored 249.
Secondly, (and this is where I have sympathy for her) given her poor background, she was desperately looking for help to go through University. Knowing that every JAMB highest scorer usually gets a scholarship award, she decided to go rogue, and added two marks to the score recorded by Miss Umeh.
Thirdly, Mmesoma knows she is from a country where forgery is like a second skin, where forgery seems to be in the Nations DNA, a country forgery and manipulation are celebrated.
She knows she lives in a country where many of its leaders and VIPs are products of forgery and manipulation. They forge their birth certificates. They forge their educational certificates. Many say they have PhDs without having a first degree. They manufacture names of non-existing Universities. They forge their company papers. They forge customs papers.They forge land papers. They forge marriage certificates, divorce papers. Was it not in Nigeria that a Speaker of the House of Representatives forged a first degree certificate? We have seen Federal Ministers with forged certificates. Governors, too, who wouldn’t answer questions on the degree certificates they parade because they are fake. It is a country where everything, anything is “forgeable.” Mmesoma knows some of these things, and knows there are no consequences for such ugly behaviors.
Most recently, Mmesoma witnessed the 2023 General elections. She is 19 years old. And, perhaps, if she was lucky to get her PVC, some of which were manipulated out of reach, she voted. So, she must have witnessed all the manipulations, the rigging, the forgeries, the snatching of ballot boxes which went on. The violence in order to cheat. There were no consequences. There are still are no consequences. And, most likely, there will be no consequences. So, for her, the crime she committed pales before all that. Forgery has become the way of life in our dear country. And, we are not ashamed of it.
Those who say Mmesoma’s condemnable behavior runs in Igbo blood should pause and count their teeth with their tongue. They should count the number of high profile forgeries in Nigeria and from which tribe the “forgers” are from.
To insult the Igbo tribe because of a misdemeanor by a teenager is the height of irresponsibility. Who will cast the first stone?
When the Igbo produce an Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, it does not run in their blood. When they produce a Chimamanda Adichie, it does not run in their blood. When they produce some of the best brains in Nigeria and in the Diaspora, it does not run in their blood. When Igbo children like Mmesoma excel in some of the best Univerties in the world and become valedictorians, it does not run in their blood. But when an Igbo teenager stupidly goes rogue, just as a few others in other tribes did, it runs in the Igbo blood.
Haba!
For the records, all the vices in Igboland today – 419, yahoo-yahoo, drugs trafficking, human trafficking, human rituals, kidnapping, killings – were copied from other places. Until recently, they were alien to Igboland.
A word of advice: the old addage that “those who live in glass houses do not throw stones” still holds.
But back to Mmesoma. Let it be noted that she learnt at the feet of the many grandmasters in Nigeria. The punishment given to her by JAMB, considering the grave offence she committed, is appropriate. The recommendations by the Panel set-up by the Anambra State Government that she undergoes counseling and apologises publicly to JAMB and her school are also appropriate. She should strictly adhere to that. She also owes her parents an unadulterated apology if she has not offered it to them already. They must be finding it difficult to show their faces in public. Not a few people will point at them and snigger.
Finally, to JAMB. The Registrar says there are others who were also caught in the act. Why their names were not made public is what many people don’t still understand. True, Mmesoma opened her own can of worms by her desperation, but a crime whether hidden or open is a crime. Let’s have the names of other culprits. Here’s my plea: Unless the same punishment- three years ban – given to Mmesoma is the same given to her fellow culprits, the Board should temper justice with mercy in her case. She is in a mess already. Her name and her crime have gone viral. Her face too. For life, she will be referred to as “Mmesoma the forger, the fraudulent.” She is tainted. She may need a legal change of name to get on in life. Her name has been stigmatized.
JAMB should do two things: discard the idea of prosecuting her. And two, reduce the period she has been barred from UTME from three years to one year. One never knows.
After undergoing counseling, she could become a “JAMB Ambassador Against Forgery Of Scores.” It happens.
A mighty tree has fallen! Ijebu-land and Nigeria has lost one of her greatest sons of our time.
I have read several tributes of this great man full of accolades but I would take a detour by providing a few of my personal memorable accounts with him.
First, I have been a Subomi Balogun adherent for as long as I can remember with no apologies.
As a young boy, I had one of his unique pictures on my bedroom wall. He was clad in a white outfit with a coloured embroidery, a departure from his usual all-white agbada. On that occasion, Chief MKO Abiola/Concord Newspaper awarded him the African Business Man of the Decade.
During my school days, my friends knew no one could speak ill of him in my presence.
I was ever ready to defend Otunba Tunwase. A man of many parts, admired and loved by many. Even the few who dislike him still want to be associated with him in public because of the special grace upon him. According to Proverbs 16:9, “When a man’s way pleases the Lord, he would make his enemies be at peace with him.”
Coincidentally, my maternal grandmother of blessed memory Alhaja Adebukonla Adeniji and Otunba’s mother Alhaja Adebukonla Ashiru-Balogun are from the same root. I used to drive my Grandma and Mom to visit Mama at Otunba’s initial white bungalow (Adebukonla Lodge) before he rebuilt it into the current Otunba Tunwase Court.
On every occasion my sister and I met with Otunba, he would always remind us that he is our Uncle on both sides of our lineage. My Dad and I were with him shortly after I secured my admission into Ogun State University, so he proudly shared the news with him. He asked what I would be studying I told him Accounting, and he said, make sure you get good grades and I will get you a good job even though all I wanted then was to jet out and study in the United States.
I remember on Christmas Eve 1991, my Uncle of blessed memory Ambassador Olu Adeniji hosted one of his usual get-togethers on this occasion at his Ijebu-Ode GRA home. My Uncle was a great host and family man, he loved to gather the family together either at my grandpa’s home on Gbelegbuwa street or at his abode frequently.
On this occasion, he hosted Otunba Subomi Balogun & Olori, my parents, Engineer & Mrs Deoye Fowora, Ambassador & Mrs Femi Fowora, Chief Olu Okuboyejo, Uncle Bayo (Brigadier) & Aunty Lolade Oduwole, Professor Bayo Adedeji, Oba Sunday Sonoiki (Molipa), Professor Kogbe, Uncle Bode Ladejobi and a few others.
The ladies were all together in one living room while the men occupied the larger one. I was the only young boy in the midst of these great men. As usual, I was running errands with great pleasure from hanging their Agbadas when they wanted to get comfortable to helping them mix their drinks. I was a fly on the wall as you should expect learning and enjoying their conversations. Amidst all the conversations, one stood out when Otunba Subomi said at age 36 he had built four houses. My jaw dropped I wondered if he just misspoke but Chief Okuboyejo confirmed it and went down memory lane when they were colleagues at the Justice Ministry and their old times residing at Apapa, Lagos.
My admiration for him triple-doubled, I was inspired wondering how he did it? On our way home since my Dad was part of the conversation I directed my first question to my Mom saying “did you hear what your brother (Broda mi) as she normally calls him said?” So I asked if Otunba could have built four houses before age 36, my Mom said it’s very possible though she was in the United States studying during those years but “Broda mi Olu” (her brother and host) would definitely know better. Then she asked why I was so surprised, and she said don’t be he has always been different since they were very young with a myriad of instances.
Otunba was blessed with an embracing charm and nature, every time I had an opportunity to meet him or visit his home he made me feel so important and welcome.
Several years ago, my lovely Mom served as one of the ANCOPPS (Conference of Principals) executives and they were trying to raise money for a project. She decided to contact her Egbon (Broda Subomi) so my Sister Remi and I went with her to see him. We spent ample time with him and Aunty (Olori). Coincidentally, his donation marched the Chairman of the Day – Prince Adewale Abimbola’s contribution and the highest that evening. He told me to represent him at the occasion as the Special Guest of Honor, I was 17 years old. I was euphoric!
My Mom’s colleagues (Principals) were jubilant when I presented the cheque. The event was held at the Gateway Hotel, Ijebu-Ode. Major General Ogundeko (rtd.) a VIP, who sat to my left at the event was very engaging. I never knew then I would become a Commissioned Officer just like him someday.
Otunba is a spiritual man. He was very prayerful and attributed all his success to God’s favor. He did not claim to be a self-made man, a common cliche in our society. He continually acknowledged that God’s mercy from above made him grow in wisdom, stature and favor with God and man.
Otunba was a very meticulous man in conduct and appearance. His style of dressing gives that away easily. One such instance was at my Uncle Olu’s 60th birthday service at Our Savior’s Church by Tafa Balewa Square. We arrived early, a few minutes after us, Baba Chris Ogunbanjo arrived, my cousin, Segun Adeniji ushered him into the sanctuary then Otunba arrived and told us he came early to receive the Kabiyesi Awujale and his entourage.
He immediately reserved a room for the entourage. He went further and coordinated the seating arrangement in the sanctuary and a few minutes before the service commenced he led the entourage into the sanctuary. He made sure the Lead Cleric had the correct appellation for the recognized dignitaries.
In 1993, Otunba was the Chairman at my Sister’s wedding. I remember his promptness to the ceremony and support for my parents. He reminded the guests during his speech that he was the Chairman at my Mom’s 21st Birthday party reception in 1964. We still have an album with several black-and-white pictures of the event.
In 2000, my loving mother – Mrs Olabisi Okuwa – passed on at a relatively young age after a battle with cancer. My family was devastated, Otunba stood by us as a pillar of encouragement and support.
According to the book of Matthew 22:14, “For many are called but a few are chosen”.
In my book, I believe Michael Olasubomi Balogun was chosen. He possessed a special Grace but that grace upon him attracted obvious envy.
By dint of hard work and God’s favor, he is the only Nigerian who has successfully built an indigenous Merchant Bank cum Commercial Bank from scratch and handed it over to his son (second generation), who has since completed a successful 10-year tenure and handed over same to an accomplished female successor. What a great precedent! FCMB has been operating for more than four decades with 200 plus branches and over 11 million customers.
More than seven prominent families have attempted to run a Nigerian bank none has been able to achieve this feat. Today all those banks are either acquired by new owners or liquidated.
Otunba Subomi Balogun is a leader of men and the Doyen of Entrepreneurial Nigerian Banking. An exceptional personality, whose life exemplifies Peter Drucker’s definition of leadership as “the lifting of a man’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a man’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a man’s personality beyond its normal limitations”.
May the Good Lord accept you into his bosom with open arms. May he say unto you welcome my son you have exuded the glory I bestowed unto you exceptionally well.
A video clip of the Prayer Breakfast you host annually which went viral around the world is a testament to God’s approval of your work on earth. You said goodbye in a glorious way to the world praising God, dancing and praying for more glorious years.
Omo Arojojoye Omo Adeletejiteji
Omo afi Aran pojo!
The Asiwaju of Ijebu Christians!
My father, siblings and I shall miss you dearly. We pray the Lord comfort Olori Abimbola, children, grandchildren, Aunty Ronke Atere and her children.
Okuwa, a retired major, wrote from the United States.
I’ll rather be a name dropper than be the one who pulls down names. According to the Oxford Web Dictionary, name-dropping is the practice of casually mentioning the names of famous people one knows or claims to know in order to impress others. So how is that a bad thing? Isn’t that better than criticizing the rich and famous for being successful in business, politics and the professions based on assumptions?
So why shouldn’t I make a billboard advertisement showcasing when I had a handshake with a sitting American President or, as a matter of factly, claim that Ebuka Uchendu was my classmate at the Nigerian Law School because he is now the king of silver screen talk shows and Bill Gates visited him recently? Meanwhile, my classmates during my primary, secondary and university times often call me after my usual news analysis on Arise News, to say that they just proudly told their children that they were once my classmates. Call it namedropping, but that’s better than reminding their children that I once stole another student’s well-updated notebook a few days before the promotion examination so that I could pass. What a shame that was! Or that I was once a Christian fanatic who once preferred being a crude evangelist to being a law student. Imagine such misguidance!
Anyhow, namedropping is better than cynicism and criticism, which often cause one to be a bitter person. It is better to associate yourself with the success of successful people than disregard them. That way, you become more at peace, being without envy and are gravitated to becoming a distinguished personality of your own that people would also want to namedrop. Rather than look at namedropping as a sign of an inferiority complex, consider it as a way of persons trying to make you know who and what’s important to them, hoping you can share a part of their worldview in their pursuits of business, professional or social success and enjoyment of life in general. Therefore do no longer consider namedropping as undignifying. It is simply a way of communicating essence.
So if there are other things you consider undignifying as a successful or upwardly mobile person, let not dancing be one of them because it can practically make you live a long, happy and healthy life. That is what regular exercise does for the human body. It has been medically proven that an obese person who does regular exercise has a far greater chance of living much longer than a person of average weight or proper body mass index (BMI) who doesn't do regular exercise.
But to do regular exercise is challenging, at least at the starting stage. In my own case, possessing a retinue of exercise machines, including a treadmill, static bike, springboard, rollers, electric tummy belt, dumbbells, weight bag straps and more, yet I could hardly sustain a 20-minute activity to generate enough heat and sweat that would amount to anything healthy for the body. Exercise is very dull compared to reading a book. That was before I adopted dancing. Thanks to the motivation I got from the YouTube channel of a friend, Lillian Aikpitanyi, a chartered accountant, university lecturer and doctoral candidate. She has become prettier and healthier since she began her exercise thrill, and now she is a health and lifestyle consultant. Check out her link: https://youtu.be/20IxwqEbY7U and be sure to encourage her by clicking the subscribe button.
So one would have thought of Lillian starting a fitness YouTube Channel on which she dances to techno music as undignifying for a chartered accountant and a university lecturer. The same way Nigerian lawyers cringed in their conservative prisms (not prisons) when they saw the video of the Law Firm of Mtetwa and Nyambirai joining the Jerusalema Dance Challenge and set YouTube on fire:
https://youtu.be/dDc4wANp80o .
The sober common law legal tradition of English origin considers it to be very undignified for a lawyer to be dancing in public with reckless abandon, yet Olumide Akpata, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association care less and holds a record as the best dancing NBA President ever when he proved he could beat MC Hammer in a dance challenge but he has not been spared the chastisement of the so-called elders of the profession. Trust them! But the highly successful Zimbabwean law Firm, which took to dancing publicly in a viral video, became the envy of many other law firms worldwide who once thought dancing for lawyers was undignifying.
Beyond the showmanship of dancing in public, taking time in private to rigorously dance to a favourite fast pace music is a perfect and effective way to exercise, especially for persons like me who have passed half-time. I specifically recommend dancing to the rhythm of the following tracks:
1. Strafe-Set it Off
The Jacksons- Can You Feel It
2. Culture Club - Karma Chameleon
3. Dirtsman- Hot Dis Year
4. Promise Circle - Be Mine Tonight
5. Avicii - Without You “Audio” ft. Sandro
6. David Guetta - Titanium ft. Sia
Set if Off for me is particularly, the best of all for the dancing exercise challenge is always by the group called Strafe. The track lasts for over 9 minutes, and with a solid resolve to dance its rhythm from its beginning to the end surely satisfies a daily dose of bodily exercise.
Music is enjoyable, and exercise is a necessity. Dancing combines both. Therefore, add dancing to the list of healthy ways of living.
While I have always included dancing as part of the Human Rights Fiesta when I was organizing it in the past, it was simply for show. In the near future, I will organize dance programmes for the personal value of groups of people. Not for show but to promote health and the social needs of expression and connection. There is a need to stay healthy, live long and be happy, especially when your work here in this dimension is yet unfinished.
Frank Tietie,
Lawyer and Media Personality writes from Abuja, being part of his coming book,
Random Thoughts - Frank Expressions on Life @ 50
Since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office on May 29, we have seen courageous leadership in action and hard decisions are being taken which were expected, except we want to deceive ourselves. Our economy is in bad shape and there are no easy answers on the way forward. There will be short-term pains but the long-term gains will be beneficial to everyone.
We have witnessed quick hits resulting in small and big wins as a deliberate strategy – what is now famously called “Tinubunomics.” However, what is important is the sincerity of the Tinubu administration to turn things around and bring about a new lease of life. So far, we can see that the president is on the right track. But the task of nation building is for all Nigerians – we must have a sense of shared ownership in problem solving and take responsibility for our individual decisions and actions.
These are still early days in the life of the Tinubu presidency but in rallying support for the president to succeed and finish well, we must not overlook the civil service where comprehensive reforms are long overdue.
When we say the cost of governance is high, it is not limited only to the civil service but civil servants behave like Lords of the Manor and it is disgusting. Each time political appointees share their experiences in the various ministries, departments and agencies, you will feel sorry for them.
They are seen as outsiders (accidental public servants) and their ideas to uplift standards and enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the MDAs are often resisted or sabotaged. What follows is frustration, and pray not to step on banana peels.
The decadent and inefficient cash-and-carry civil service culture is the product of an over-bloated and opaque bureaucracy that is corrupt. Civil servants are permanent employees who retire after 35 years on the job or when they attain 60 years of age – whichever comes first.
These civil servants, it has been alleged, award contract to themselves and they have a way of ring-fencing others. They are so rich that they can point to fat bank accounts and choice real estate in different parts of the world as benefits even before retirement.
Can civil servants honestly explain the source of their wealth?
The budget for every MDA is an open secret and it is controlled by the rank and file of each ministry and agency. Sometimes, a permanent secretary and his colleagues in the ministry would award contracts and make payments without the supervising minister having a clue of what has happened.
With 42 ministers based on the current structure where some ministries have two ministers, there are too many parastatals, commissions and agencies under each ministry. What are we doing with as many as 20 parastatals or more under a ministry if it is not just another way of throwing money away?
A few years back, it was rumoured that the director of finance (DFA) in one of the ministries lodged over N4 billion in a single bank account. This discovery was made only after he died. I am sure there are several other rogue civil servants who compromise their positions and steal our money.
The civil service has been turned into one huge bazaar where civil servants just “share” money among themselves and they believe it is their birth right to do so. This is clearly an egregious sense of entitlement that is on full display because they know there are no consequences for their bad behaviour.
The tragedy of our country is that a pervasive culture of impunity exists which encourages people to do whatever they like and get away with it. The craze for money has debased the values of a decent society and there is nothing like “ethical standards” anymore.
We live in a world where might is right and if you cannot beat them, it is better to join them. Now, when the treasury is looted the way we have seen it over the years, what is the moral justification to ask tax payers to continue to pay taxes?
Where there’s no accountability, the tax payer will be reluctant to perform a basic statutory obligation. What they need is the assurance that every kobo paid as tax will be properly accounted for. This is why the recent announcement that President Tinubu approved the establishment of a Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms is salutary.
The committee’s primary objective, according to a statement issued by Dele Alake, presidential spokesman, is to “enhance revenue collection efficiency, ensue transparent reporting, and promote the efficient utilization of tax and other revenues to boost citizens’ morale, foster a healthy tax culture and drive voluntary compliance.”
Apart from the minister, perm sec, directors, deputy directors and other senior officers in each ministry, parastatals/agencies under the ministry also have their own set of directors-general and directors.
These DGs have personal assistants and when they travel overseas, they fly business class fully paid for by the government and sign for estacodes as part of their statutory entitlements. They also have two drivers for an SUV and a backup car in Abuja and one driver with a standby car in Lagos. Some DGs have one car in Abuja and one in Lagos.
A director in each agency has an official car with aides amongst other benefits. No doubt, the perks of office are attractive and, truth be told, I do not have a problem with benefits that are statutory. But what are we doing with over 540 parastatals, commissions and agencies when we are owing over N49 trillion in public debt?
I am fully persuaded that the Tinubu administration will have the courage and political will to carry out the necessary reforms based on the Stephen Oronsaye Report that has been ignored since 2012 and trim the civil service to a manageable size.
It was former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan that set up the Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies on August 18, 2011. It was headed by Stephen Oronsaye, a former head of the civil service of the federation.
The aim was to reduce the size of the bureaucracy and enhance the efficiency of the civil service. Eight months later (April 16, 2012), the Oronsaye Committee submitted its 800-page report with wide-ranging recommendations.
The committee identified 541 parastatals, commissions and agencies – statutory and non-statutory – and recommended a reduction in the number of statutory agencies from 263 to 161; 38 agencies were recommended for abolition, 52 for merger (most agencies and parastatals have duplicated roles/functions) and 14 to revert to departments in existing ministries.
What happened next? A White Paper Drafting Committee headed by Mohammed Bello Adoke, attorney-general and minister of justice, was set up to review the Oronsaye Report. When the government is not ready to act in the public interest, it creates smokescreens in the name of committees that go on a wild goose chase and deflect the main issue.
By the time a Government White Paper was released in March 2014, the Jonathan administration still had one full year to act on the report but it did not. As you would expect, the white paper rejected most of the recommendations, confirming that Nigeria is a “hesitant” reformer.
The Buhari administration (from 2015 – 2023) also refused to implement any part of the Oronsaye Report and save us billions of Naira. It was not surprising. The failure to act on the report could be attributed to lack of political will, and politicians love playing to the gallery just to satisfy narrow and selfish interests.
Why do our leaders fail to take tough decisions in the public interest when it is absolutely necessary to do so? It is evident that the cost of governance must come down and I have no doubt President Tinubu and his team will act on the Oronsaye Report.
The budgets of all the 774 local councils, 36 states, the FCT and, of course, the presidency and national assembly must also be reduced because the country is flat broke. All inefficiencies have to be uprooted and “leakages” blocked.
Do we still have ghost workers in the civil service? Technology (data capture, biometrics, etc.) can be used to address the problem.
Besides the Oronsaye Report, I agree with Eric Teniola, a retired director at the presidency and public affairs commentator, that the Tinubu administration should act on two other reports: the 1999 Ahmed Joda’s Report on Streamlining and Rationalisation of Poverty Alleviation Institutions and Agencies, and the 2014 National Conference Report.
According to Teniola, the Ahmed Joda Report identified ministries and 18 institutions/agencies that have a mandate directly on poverty alleviation. The story on eradicating poverty in Nigeria did not start today but when panels are set up, their recommendations are never implemented.
The National Conference on the other hand, was broken into 20 committees and I can testify that they produced excellent reports. Prominent among the committees were devolution of power, political restructuring and forms of government, national security, public finance and revenue generation, public service, electoral matters, and trade and investment.
The Ahmed Joda Panel was set up in June 1999 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo while former President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated the National Conference on March 14, 2014 in Abuja. It was headed by Chief Justice Legbo Kutigi who passed away on October 21, 2018. Ahmed Joda has also passed on; he died on August 13, 2021.
These great Nigerians served their country with grace, humility, courage and integrity; we should not allow them to die in vain. We can honour their memory by recognising their work and implementing the recommendations contained in their reports.
President Tinubu’s administration should review these reports – which are, by the way, low-hanging fruits – and act on them as quickly as possible.
There’s no need to re-invent the will.
Braimah is a global public relations and marketing strategist. He is also the publisher/editor-in-chief of Naija Times (https://ntm.ng) and Lagos Post (https://lagospost.ng), and he can be reached via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
On July 3, 2023, Senegal’s president, Macky Sall, in power since 2012, publicly renounced his aspiration for a constitutionally prohibited third term, sparking a synchronised outbreak of ostentatious back-slapping. Nigeria’s former president, Goodluck Jonathan, convener of the impressively-named West African Elders Forum (WAEF), fired off a letter describing Macky Sall as a paragon of “sacrificial leadership”. Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, Moussa Faki Mahamat, was full of “admiration for statesmanship which privileged Senegal’s interests”.
Describing President Sall’s announcement as an act of “courage, humility, and deep faith in Senegalese democracy”, executive director of UNAIDS, Winnie Byanyima, claimed that he had told her in confidence two years ago that “he was not going to run for a third term but that he would announce this towards the end of his term”.
Byanyima did not say whether President Sall had also told her that he would wait for enough Senegalese to die on the altar of his presidential vanities before renouncing them. Her testimony had a tiresome Pentecostal whiff to it.
In announcing the renunciation of his ambitions, Macky Sall claimed that Senegal’s constitution, whose text is explicit to the contrary, would have permitted his violation of it. He sounded deflated and he was. President Sall’s hitherto undisguised ambitions had already killed “dozens” in popular resistance and protests. The latest, at the beginning of June 2023, led to the killing of between 16 to 30 protesters.
In the end, the people forced him to blink. In his campaign to succeed himself, Macky Sall’s party had procured paid demonstrations in support of his ill-fated ambition. But, ahead of his announcement, opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, whom Sall seeks to preclude from next year’s ballot, had called out the country to mass action.
Senegal’s citizens were determined to make the price of Sall’s self-succession ambition impermissibly prohibitive. The Council on Foreign Relations rightly described Sall’s disavowal of his ambition as rather “belated”.
Macky Sall’s self-succession put Senegal’s proud record of democratic exceptionalism in West Africa to the test and is a rare instance of failure in Africa’s new brand of constitutional coups. In retrospect, events in Dakar this past week show that while the optics of the region’s democratic landscape may appear different, the narcissism of political power remains durable.
On May 28, 1975, the rulers of 15 countries in West Africa concluded a summit in Lagos, then the capital of Nigeria, with the adoption of the Treaty of the Economic Community of West African States, (ECOWAS). It established a regional economic community among the 15 countries, with an undertaking to shrink the zone of sovereign prerogative that they could claim at a time when relations among Africa’s rulers were defined by mutual suspicion and mutual trade in accusations of interference or subversion.
For proof of this then-existing trend, you only had to look at the composition of the rulers who established ECOWAS. Their host was Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria’s then head of state, a dashing four-star general since the age of 34, who was barely 40. Basking in the after-glow of the accomplishment that the establishment of ECOWAS clearly was, General Gowon travelled to Kampala, Uganda, two months later in July 1975 for the 12th summit of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). It was his last. Gowon’s host in Kampala was Idi Amin Dada, another soldier and Uganda’s then ruler, who had chosen to go one better than Gowon by gratifying his vanities with the epaulettes of a Field Marshall.
While he was in Kampala, soldiers back home in Nigeria, led by Murtala Mohammed, then a Brigadier-General in the Nigerian Army, decided to relieve Gowon of his command and overthrow him. Nanven Joseph Garba, the army colonel who announced the coup, was Gowon’s kinsman who also commanded the Brigade of Guards responsible for the protection of the head of state.
Yakubu Gowon was not the only soldier at the creation of ECOWAS in 1975 nor was he the only one overthrown by them. Six others among the 15 original signatories to the treaty were soldiers including Lt-Col Mathieu Kérékou (Benin); Gen. Ignatius Acheampong (Ghana, represented by Lt-Col RJA Falli, Minister for Economic Planning); Col. Moussa Traoré (Mali, represented by Major Baba Diarra, Vice-Chairman of the Military Committee of National Liberation); Lt-Col. Seyni Kountché (Niger); Gen. Gnassingbe Eyadema (Togo), and Gen. Aboubakar Sangoulé Lamizana (Upper Volta, now Burkina Faso)
Of the remaining eight, Presidents Dawda Jawara (Gambia); Sekou Toure (Guinea); Luiz Cabral (Guinea Bissau); William Tolbert (Liberia); Moktar Ould Daddah (Mauritania); and Siaka Stevens (Sierra Leone) were all succeeded by soldiers. President Felix Houphöuet-Boigny of Côte d’Ivoire was the only president as such among the original signatories who was neither a soldier nor directly succeeded by one. Abdou Diouf who represented Senegal at the adoption of the treaty was then prime minister to President Leopold Senghor, whom he later succeeded as president on April 1, 1981.
Looking back at that era from the vantage of nearly five decades later, the appearance of progress in the optics of government in West Africa looks assured. Mauritania is no longer part of ECOWAS but Cape Verde, which joined in 1976, ensures that the regional bloc remains comprised of 15 members. In the half-century to 2004, West African countries witnessed “169 military interventions of some sort”. The only countries spared this scourge were Cape Verde and Senegal.
Today, in 12 countries out of 15 among the member states of ECOWAS the head of state, by whatever name called, enjoys democratic legitimacy. The only countries that are presently exempt from this trend are Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali, where the military installed itself in power using coups organised within the past three years.
Impressive as this picture may look, it flatters the region in many ways. First, soldiers in military fatigues may no longer be fashionable in seats of power, but soldiers in many countries in the region are not far from power. Umaro Sissoco Embaló, the current president of Guinea Bissau and Julius Maada Bio, his peer in Sierra Leone, are both former army generals. Muhammadu Buhari, another general who led the military to overthrow Nigeria’s elected government on December 31, 1983, only recently completed another tour of duty on May 29, 2023, as head of state of his country. They may have shed their fatigues, but soldiers continue in many African countries to enjoy historical advantages in the contest for political and economic power.
Second, coups are no longer the monopoly of soldiers. Civilians or incumbents with the appearance of electoral legitimacy now also implement what has been called constitutional coups by manipulating constitutions, courts, and election management bodies to destroy constitutional guardrails and keep themselves in power for as long as they please. In West Africa, the rulers of Côte d’Ivoire and Togo, for instance, have changed their constitutions in this way. In Guinea, soldiers found their excuse to launch a bid for power in fatigues after Alpha Conde, a civilian president, overthrew the constitution in a bloody exercise in 2021 to extend his tenure as president.
Third, these efforts to subvert constitutional rule in the region, whether by the military or civilians, are often accompanied by foreign support. Around Africa, Russia is a rising new force for autocracy and coups. In West Africa, Russia’s footprint has been active in the overthrow of constitutional governments in Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali. Beyond the region, its friendly presence has also been reported in Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Sudan, and Zimbabwe, among others.
In Senegal, Macky Sall’s ambitions stalled in the face of many factors. He could not rely on the army, he had no overwhelming foreign backers and Senegal’s fragility was becoming evident in the face of stout popular resistance. In the end, the people forced him to back down. The plaudits here clearly belong to the people of Senegal. For Macky Sall, he will spend the remainder of his presidency seeking post-presidential immunity. He will need it.
A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Being the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) Chairman in Nigeria and of course a Nigerian school with Nigerian parents and management can be a rewarding and challenging experience. It involves serving as a bridge between parents, teachers, and the school administration to ensure effective communication, collaboration, and the overall welfare of students.
For me, it was six years of exciting learning experience, and my apologies, I am not going to talk about the Mmesoma Joy Ejikeme and JAMB Saga, but I will share my journey, an adventure, we could all learn a few nuggets.
Some key aspects of the role and my experience:
Communication and Engagement: As PTA Chairman, one of the primary responsibilities is to facilitate communication between parents, teachers, and the school. This includes organizing meetings, workshops, and events where parents can voice their concerns, provide feedback, and actively participate in decision-making processes. Engaging parents in school activities and fostering a sense of community is crucial for a successful PTA. I won’t say that I scored a 100 or even a 90 but I learned a lot, from parents that barely attended the meetings, or parents that adopted a single parent method, (as in only one parent ever attended the meetings, in cases, siblings acted as parents, one day, I will hopefully talk about the trend where parents where parents have abdicated their responsibilities to everyone but themselves).
I did a sizable amount of advocacy and representation: Representing the collective interests of parents and advocating for their needs and concerns is an essential role of the PTA Chairman. This involves liaising with school management, attending board meetings, and actively participating in discussions and decision-making processes. Advocating for improved educational standards, infrastructure, and policies ensures that parents’ voices are heard and their children’s needs are prioritized. This never was an easy task as it exposed one to a lot of the behind the scene politics of our educational systems.
The decay, the fight to maintain standards and more, parents wanted friendly pocket tuition, schools needed to pay teachers and run allied costs, whether there was a meeting is debate for another day, on another day and on the other hand, there was the ‘crooked’ regulatory ministries and their various officials all fleecing the system, everyone developing one fraudulent fee or the other.
Despite the best of efforts, I saw that there was a lack of teacher training programs.
The quality and cost of good teachers brought with it peculiar challenges, a need to align goals, and create a conducive learning environment. Teaching itself has become a bus stop profession, how many were there for the passion, many wolves in sheep clothing being in charge of our kids don’t make for good reading when the parents themselves are nowhere to be found until there is a palaver.
We did not do much in terms of Parent Education and Involvement: Promoting parent education programs and workshops that enhance their understanding of education, child development, and parenting techniques is an important responsibility. Encouraging parents to actively participate in school activities, volunteering their time and expertise, and supporting their children’s learning at home fosters a strong partnership between parents and the school is important, but what is really in practice is a case where every parent worships his/her child, no child was ever wrong.
I saw first-hand, the “my child is good” and the “I know my child” syndrome at play, you begin to wonder so the bad kids where do they fall from, I noticed first hand as kids brought fall outs from home to school, I saw parents who were in behaviour no better than their kids. Parents who knew next to nothing other than simply birthing kids.
Conflict Resolution and Mediation: Resolving conflicts and addressing disputes that may arise within the PTA or between parents, teachers, and the school administration is a challenging yet critical aspect of the role. Acting as a mediator, facilitating constructive dialogue, and finding amicable solutions help maintain a harmonious and productive school environment. For me, this was where the real tasks hibernated.
These kids are smart, they know certainly more than we know or will ever know, there is only that tiny consolation in the adage of “what the old man sees while sitting, the child will never see even while on top of a tree”. And truth be told, these kids will always make nonsense of the above, the kinds of stories that touch “no be here”.
A teacher was so frustrated with a pupil, she complained that the boy did not pay much attention when she was teaching and he disturbed other pupils and fought them. The boy’s mother came to the school to pick him up, and the teacher met her and told her about the boy’s behaviour. It became a fight; the mother insulted the teacher that she did not know what she was saying that her child is a quiet and good boy at home. We later discovered that the woman’s children don’t play at home and were not permitted to go out and meet other children.
Therefore, school was the only way he got to express his real character. If children do not properly express themselves in the house, you will not know what they can do and cannot do. School rather than a place of learning became a playing field for the lad.
We had parents that wanted an only board facility, we had parents that would never leave their kids for more than those 7 hours of school time, we had those that wanted six teachers for one subject, and those that wanted their kids to be breast fed.
Some kids honestly had no business being in high school at a certain age, but you see every parent was a professor of parenting in their own right. We had kids that told lies, and to their parents, these kids were St. Innocent and could do no wrong. I can tell you, some parents I never knew and of course they never would have known me. Once at a meeting a parent boldly suggested we get a favourable centre to take kids to, I later found out it is called a “miracle centre”. I witnessed teachers come and go, for all sorts of reasons and no reasons. I also saw management renege on their promises, the same way parents broke their promises on paying up their ward’s school fees as we call it in these parts.
My experience as PTA Chairman has been both fulfilling and demanding. For me, I see the need for an education policy that communicates, that is diplomatic, and has the ability to balance diverse perspectives and interests.
The opportunity to contribute to the educational development of children, create a positive school culture, and witness the impact of collective efforts is truly rewarding. However, it also comes with challenges, such as managing conflicting opinions, addressing limited resources, and ensuring sustainable parent involvement. Overall, serving as PTA Chairman in Nigeria is a significant responsibility that plays a vital role in promoting a conducive learning environment and fostering strong parent-school partnerships.
I wish I could say the same of our leaders across various strata in the Nigerian Leadership—Citizenship Forum conversation especially around good governance, leadership ideals, and delivery, while that is not yet the case, I dare say—May Nigeria win!
When a leader encourages the culture of impunity, the society is lost and it makes the work harder for the rest of us (Wole Soyinka)
The powerful feed ideology to the masses like fast food while they dine on that most rarefied delicacy: impunity (Naomi Klein)
Nothing’s as dangerous as power with impunity (Isabel Allende)
But if the laws are to be so trampled upon with impunity, and a minority is to dictate to the majority, there is an end put at one stroke to republican government, and nothing but anarchy and confusion is to be expected thereafter (George Washington)
Terrorism doesn’t just blow up buildings; it blasts every other issue off the political map. The spectre of terrorism – real and exaggerated – has become a shield of impunity, protecting governments around the world from scrutiny for their human rights abuses (Naomi Klein)
The main challenge is what to do in the face of double standards. Those who should be rendered accountable under international criminal law, the Kissingers of this world, enjoy de facto impunity, while those who come from countries that have long been targets of hegemonic abuse are used as poster children of accountability (Richard A. Falk)
The ultimate enemy of Democracy is not the drug dealer or the crooked politician or the crazed skinhead. The ultimate enemy is the New King that has become so powerful that it can murder its own citizens with impunity (Gerry Spence)
There are two things. There was the moral responsibility, and that, first, is creating an atmosphere where the security forces can kill with impunity, where they can turn up at a place, shoot seven people – really at point-blank fashions – and then get away with it and be, in fact, promoted. And then there is the actual responsibility, the governmental responsibility. My aunt’s government forbade us, initially, from filing a police report – which is every Pakistani citizen’s right under the law (Fatima Bhutto)
What I fear most is power with impunity. I fear abuse of power, and the power to abuse. (Isabel Allende)
Once the law is broken with impunity, each man regains the right to any means he deems proper or necessary in order to defend himself against the new tyrant, the one who can break the law. (Allan Bloom)
In a well-governed state, there are few punishments, not because there are many pardons, but because criminals are rare; it is when a state is in decay that the multitude of crimes is a guarantee of impunity (Jean Jacques Rousseau).
The hope of impunity is the greatest inducement to do wrong (Marcus Tullius Cicero)
No nation is permitted to live in ignorance with impunity (Thomas Jefferson)
Impunity should be condemned in any corner of the world (Rigoberta Menchu)
In an Inside Stuff article on “impunity and apologies” published in The Guardian, Sunday, May 24, 2020, P.13, https://guardian.ng/opinion/buharis-5th-anniversary-apologies-and-impunity-culture/, I quoted the same words on marble above to simplify the purpose of the article then, which was to kill two birds with a stone: to mark the 5th anniversary of the Buhari administration (which came up on Friday, May 29, 2020) and to advise the official managers of Covid-19 under the aegis of Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the danger condoning lawlessness at that time too.
I had reminded Nigeria’s leader then Muhammadu Buhari who marked the fifth anniversary of his second coming into power in Nigeria that week that there was one critical factor that could prevent him from making history. And the factor I identified then was the administration’s celebration of impunity culture that was emerging then.
I had then dealt with the low hanging fruits in the culture of impunity that was becoming the signature of the Buhari administration at that time in 2020. The origin as it was written then: The head of the presidential bureaucracy, the Secretary to the Government (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha who headed the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, was constantly apologising then since April 20, 2020 for some serious lapses in handling the Covid-19 pandemic. First, he apologised for the shoddy and dangerous handling of the burial of then Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari who joined his ancestors on April 17, 2020. The burial arrangement was a classic case of celebration of impunity: The then Information Minister, (a member of the PTF on Covid -19) Alhaji Lai Mohammed had earlier told the nation that those who fell to Covid-19 power would not be buried anyhow and the remains would not be released to the family members. That rule was flagrantly flouted as Kyari’s body was flown from Lagos to his residence in Abuja where the other rule on physical (social) distancing was curiously violated up to the burial ground where undertakers and health workers were also observed to be very careless and endangered. So many senior public officers including many from the president’s office were at the burial site and they failed to observe physical distancing rule. It was quite remarkable then that the SGF indeed did the unthinkable: apologised. This was strange but noble. That calmed frayed nerves about that exhibition of impunity. But I had then asked the following rhetorical questions: “where were the queries to duty bearers whose irresponsible attitude caused the apology? Who was suspended for the mediocrity displayed on that Black Saturday?”
Again within that same week, the same SGF had to apologise on behalf of the Task Force for police authorities’ brutality on Covid-19 frontline workers including medical personnel, journalists who were detained for allegedly flouting Covid-19 curfew (order). The illegal detention of essential workers took place a day after the same SGF (on behalf of the president) paid tribute to the frontline workers and reiterated adequate protection for them.
Specifically, on Monday, May 18, the SGF and PTF Chairman said, “…specific directives had been issued to security agencies to strictly enforce the measures…I therefore admonish Nigerians to observe the restrictions in full. I however wish to assure our essential workers such as the frontline medical personnel, the media, the environmental health workers, farmers and agro-allied service providers, oil and gas services, aviation, the power sector and a host of others that they will be adequately protected. Your obligation is to always carry your valid means of identification…”
There was no ambiguity in this reiteration of an extant protocol. So, where did the police get their directive for “stricter enforcement of the curfew without exemption”, which the IGP had to reverse that same night after more than 50 essential workers were detained in Alausa, Lagos police station for allegedly violating the order? The SGF again apologised for this police strange overzealousness and gross violation of a presidential order. Yet no one was queried. No one was punished after a series of apologies. Are the police too big to be queried? Who authorised the unlawful order that SGF had to apologise for? Those acts appeared then as part of low hanging fruits at issue. Yes they are but they are fruits. The SGF’s remarkable apologies would have been more meaningful if there had been concomitant suspension of some top officials in the presidency and some senior police officers as I was saying. After all, once upon a time, President Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007) one day showed that the law must rule even the Inspector General of Police when an IGP, Tafa Balogun was arrested by an officer of the law who was an Assistant Commissioner of Police and Chairman of the anti-graft commission, the EFCC then, Malam Nuhu Ribadu (now National Security Adviser), IGP Balogun was promptly prosecuted and jailed. This happened in this same Abuja.
As the question continued then: “Why has the controversial role of the police, specifically in this Covid-19 warfare not attracted the attention of authorities in Abuja? Haven’t they read reports across platforms that the police have been compromising all the rules of lockdown in the cities and along inter-state routes? Who allowed the Almajirai curious migration from the core North to even the remote parts of the Niger Delta? Who have been permitting night bus travels (daily) from even Lagos to different parts of the country during/since the so-called lockdown? Why have the police become so lawless and uncontrollable in this dispensation?”
And so I had then noted: “So, as Mr. President is warming up to cross over to his sixth year in office, he should note that a culture of impunity, which has given rise to mediocrity everywhere we go, should be deftly dealt with – beyond rhetoric. Our leader should not celebrate the fact that all the professional bodies and civil society organisations and the vibrant media that fought for this democracy that he and his people are enjoying have since dozed off. Curiously, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) could not even bark in early 2019 when Abuja powers through an Administrative Tribunal (Code of Conduct Tribunal), went on rampage, set aside constitutional provisions for removing the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon Justice Walter Onnoghen. They removed Nigeria’s CJN in a twinkling of an eye without allowing even one judicial pronouncement. To me, this was the greatest celebration of impunity culture since we returned to democracy in 1999. What was worse, even a section of the media published blatant lies against Justice Onnoghen. That section of the media published fake news items in support of ‘state terror’ that the then CJN allegedly kept $3 million dollars in a foreign account and registered 55 houses in Nigeria – all in a bid to remove him before the last election (2019). They did. Till the present, nobody has sued the media that published that damaging lead story even the Tribunal discovered was indeed fake. How can the powers that be and even the NBA and the complicit media organs seek or find peace after unleashing this jungle justice on Nigeria’s Chief Justice? Some day, when we have a nation, one hopes there will be genuine remorse and then an apology to Justice Onnoghen who is still not free to travel to even Ghana.”
Now that Ejikeme, Joy Mmesoma, the 19-year-old student of Anglican Girls Secondary School, Uruagu Nnewi, Anambra State, has confirmed the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board’s (JAMB’s) allegation and confessed that she actually manipulated her 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME result, it is a time for another introspection on our growing culture of impunity. Will she and others who committed these grievous offences be punished? Impunity means freedom from punishment or from the unpleasant results of something that has been done… It denotes exemption from punishment or loss. It means exemption, freedom – immunity from an obligation or duty.
The new administration in Nigeria needs to deal with this emerging culture that has made us to forget the fact that even the Chairman of an anti-graft agency in our country is on suspension over allegation that the institution he presides over is corrupt and so he too may not be above board. What is worse, the predecessor of the suspended EFCC Chairman too was curiously retired from office after serous alllegations that he too was corrupt and a Judicial Commission of Enquiry’s report on the Acting Chairman was never made public.
***We will continue with more examples of this terrible culture next week
Congratulations to Umeh Kamsiyochukwu Nkechinyere, who came tops in the 2023 JAMB UTME examinations. I was doubly delighted to see her on national television fielding questions from an interview panel. Brilliant girl!
It is also my pleasure to celebrate Achunike Okafor, another Nigerian teenager who scored the highest among 2,649 graduates in the Class of 2023 in Newark, United States. Both teenagers are among the best of our children. Their trajectory suggests that our future is assured.
When the management of the Deeper Life High School, Mowe, Ogun State, rolled out the drums to celebrate the 16-year-old who had brought honour to the school, her achievement attracted national attention because a totally different person, Ejikeme Mmesoma, was attempting to steal the glory of being the highest scorer. JAMB had declared Kamsiyochukwu the top scorer with an aggregate score of 360 and the government of Anambra State, her home state, had decided to honour her as is customary every year, but one Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma, a 19-year-old student of Anglican Girls’ Secondary School, Uruagu Nnewi, protested to the state government that she scored 362 and ought to have been honoured with the highest scorer’s award.
The Anambra State government decided to seek confirmation of Mmesoma’s claim of scoring 362 from JAMB. The printout she was flaunting as proof of her scores was an old format last used in 2021. Out of the 1,5586,765 candidates who took the 2023 examination, only Mmesoma printed out the old format with a cloned QR code pinched from another person’s 2021 result. The fortuitous change in the design of the result notification in 2021 gave away the game immediately. How could only one person, out of 1.5 million candidates, be parading a different certification or proof of scores?
It is natural that one tends to side with the underdog. That explains the outpouring of emotional support on social media for the ‘poor’ student. Anything that has to do with government evokes the basest of emotions in people who have been at the receiving end of many anti-people policies and incompetencies of government.
The errant girl’s case was further convoluted by do-gooders who did not bother to verify the facts they flaunted. Those among them who flayed JAMB for terrorising a ‘minor’ could easily have checked her real age if truth was their goal. A 19-year-old cannot be described as a minor!
Some said JAMB had no right to parade the girl before the world as a fraudster. However, the girl was the one parading herself. I didn’t know what she looked like until she was misadvised to release a video which, ironically, confirmed her fraud rather than indict JAMB. Even the document she was parading stated her examination centre wrongly. Since 2021, the Centre’s name had been changed from Thomas Chidoka Center for Human Development to “Nkemefuna Foundation (Thomas Chidoka Center for Human Development)”. How come Mmesoma’s document reflects the centre’s former name?
Nobody would have heard of her if she had not presented herself to the Anambra State government as the highest scorer in JAMB of 2023. She had already collected a prize money of N3 million from Innoson Motors before her misadventure with the state government. It was in the process of verification by the Anambra State government that her lie was exposed.
The truth, without any padding or frills, is that Mmesoma, having already fraudulently collected N3 million from the proprietor of Innoson Motors heard that the Anambra State government was going to honour Kamsiyochukwu Umeh as the highest scorer in UTME 2023, and decided to waylay her by claiming to be the rightful winner. She did not reckon with the layers of verification embedded in the JAMB system.
Some critics accused JAMB of playing accuser, investigator and judge. That is untrue. JAMB merely exposed the fact that the result being paraded was fraudulent. Fraud is fraud. There is no softer name for fraud committed by a teenager. And the attempt to ethnicise the matter was so gut-wrenchingly odious. Mercifully, we now know that the authentic winner, Kamsiyochukwu, is also from the same Southeast geopolitical zone as Mmesoma. Many people did not even know that Mmesoma hails from Enugu State until the report of the investigative panel was released, showing that she is an Enugu State indigene resident in Anambra. The world loves a winner; a villain is quickly shown the road to her father’s compound!
It is instructive that Mmesoma did not confess to her fraudulent activities until she was literally confronted with the jailhouse. Had she persisted in her lies, the case would have gone to court and she would have bagged seven years imprisonment if convicted. “There is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face”, says Shakespeare. Mmesoma is a classic example.
JAMB’s claim that its system is transparent and user-friendly can actually be verified by any interested party. One can check any result via phone by sending UTMERESULT to 55019 or 66019 on the phone number the candidate used to register for the exam. The result will be transmitted immediately to the registered phone number.
Also, anyone interested in finding out the various tricks available to crooked candidates can google websites advertising ‘miracle centres’, ‘high JAMB scores’, ‘how to improve UTME scores’ , etc. There are all sorts of offers available and no one is more aware of their existence than innocent-looking students like Mmesoma. Something tells me that her accomplices are still at large.
For the records, here are the champions in the 2023 UTME as announced by JAMB:
Umeh Kamsiyochukwu Nkechinyere, 360
Aguele Stephen Osezuha, 358
Ositade Oluwafemi Anthony, 358
Gbolahan Azeem Ayinde, 357
John Fulfilment Ibhanfiodon, 356,
Duruji Chimdubem Ugonna, 355
Adesanya Jermaine Oluwaiomiloiu, 355
Shittu Priscilla Adedunni, 355
Atenisumen Enoch Oluwagbemisoke 355
Adetunji Victor Adewale, 355
Ofonime Iniobon Idongesit, 355
Imoukhuede Andrew Onayeme, 355
Truth be told, we have a social problem that makes people want to pass examinations at all costs. Part of the problem is the emphasis that the society places on any kind of formal test and the certification that goes with it. Many people don’t care that there is a marked difference between an aptitude test like JAMB and an achievement test such as WAEC, even though both achievement and aptitude tests measure the strengths and abilities of the test-taker. Aptitude tests focus on the potential someone has to learn new things while achievement tests focus on what has already been learned.
The fact that a student usually comes first in class does not necessarily mean that he/she will excel in an aptitude test like JAMB. The three-year ban handed down to Mmesoma as punishment is lenient considering that the penalty on conviction is seven years imprisonment.
Let’s light a candle rather than continue to curse the darkness. What is the secret behind the success of the 2023 UTME highest scorer, Kamsiyochukwu Umeh?
She said the secret of her success is adequate preparation and discipline instilled by her school, the Deeper Life High School, Mowe. According to her, “We started preparation immediately after we entered SSS3. This was when we started receiving pep talks on the exam; the school organised special UTME classes for us. I also practised a lot of past questions to familiarise myself with the kind of questions JAMB could bring out. I also read my textbooks and then, I paid attention when the teachers took us through classes… I have applied to the University of Lagos, and I aspire to study Chemical Engineering.I feel very excited and grateful to all my supporters and encouragers….”
Mrs. Umeh, Kamsiyochukwu’s mother, is justifiably proud of her daughter.
“When she is studying, I also make sure to involve her in household chores. I believe that a child’s success should be holistic, not just limited to academics.…”
Congratulations, Kamsiyochukwu! You are in good company with Achunike Okafor, another Nigerian teenager, who recently received an International Baccalaureate diploma with a record-shattering 4.625 grade-point average from the Science Park High School at Newark in New Jersey, USA. Achunike’s father, Godfrey Okafor, said his son’s achievements are also a source of family pride.
His GPA is the highest among Newark’s 2,649 graduates in the Class of 2023. It earned him more than 40 scholarship offers, many from the nation’s top universities: Spoilt for choices, the 18-year-old plans to attend Harvard University to pursue a neuroscience degree.
To our two worthy role models, Kamsiyochukwu and Achunike, let me re-echo those old-fashioned words made popular by the inimitable football king, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, a.k.a Pele: “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”
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We should congratulate the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) for proving the integrity of its result release process this week. In a country where the non-performance and self-sabotage of national institutions are an ever-present embarrassment, demonstrating the forgery of the result presented by a candidate in its last United Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) is a feat!
I say that because many Nigerians, including yours truly, did not see it coming. Years of abuse of the people’s trust have turned us into sceptics who only expect the worst from our government and its agencies.
There are countless reasons to justify our cynicism. As recently as the 2023 general elections, scandalous images were sighted on the Independent Electoral Commission’s (INEC) portal. That is not to speak of non-existent names on the voters’ list or thousands of voters’ cards discovered in the forests by hunters in Anambra State.
Nigeria cannot conduct a credible census amidst so many other scandalous incapacities. I laughed when JAMB spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, painted the quick response (QR) code as the magic bullet to unravelling the truth in the Miss Mmesoma Ejikeme result controversy.
I recalled the experience of many Nigerians with the QR code on the COVID-19 vaccination card between 2020 and 2021. Many people got to the places where they needed to use these cards to discover that their names, dates of birth, and other vital statistics had been muddled up. Some Nigerians still have sour stories to tell about their national identification numbers (NIN). We are a country that makes a mess of producing travel documents for its people, guarding its people properly, securing the borders effectively and even correctly educating its children. It has been a lifetime of sub-optimal service delivery for a significant number of our population, they are used to it, and it is the only way they know!
JAMB is not exempt from the logistical disorder that has become our albatross. It is doubtful that any Nigerian family exists without some story about JAMB’s tackiness. For instance, the board has for some years insisted that candidates take exclusive computer-based tests. But even as recent as its last examination, there were complaints of logistics issues where candidates to far-flung centres other than their choice, even though they were meant to start examinations as early 6:30am.
There are also problems with students at public schools who do not have access to computers before the exams. We heard stories about the failure of biometrics, login details and outright postponement of examinations. In some cases, the facilities did not even have the capacity to take the number of candidates they had. That is not to speak about the exploitative levels of expenditure to which parents are exposed.
So, if you wondered where the attack poured out against JAMB this week came from, it is from the groundswell of disappointment that Nigerians have endured from national institutions over the years. Stemming from these inefficiencies, when a Nigerian conflicts with an institution of the state, the tendency is for many people to take sides with the citizen without even thinking about it!
Why is this so?
The country and its institutions work for only a few people who have captured the state. We have a criminally run society where the commonwealth is in the custody of a few, such that every other person is left in a rat race to survive. It is a country where almost nothing works, everyone is on his own, and only God is for us all. This is why JAMB’s success in justifying its position on the Mmesoma case warms the heart.
Yet the entire event raises a few questions about the operations of JAMB. One wonders why the board has yet to find a permanent solution to the unceasing attempts to manipulate its process over the years. This failure is one of the reasons stakeholders, including higher institutions of learning, don’t trust JAMB. Otherwise, why do the institutions organise post-UTME examinations? Shouldn’t the UMTE just be enough?
There are also speculations about collusions between JAMB staffers on the one hand, and candidates and their parents on the other, to compromise processes. These opportunities were usually for the highest bidders and out of the reach of many poor people who desired higher education for their children.
Not to be left out, many parents have also learnt to do whatever they can for their children to pass examinations and gain admission. So, we have heard of special centres where invigilators and schoolteachers are paid to “assist” candidates during examinations. Apparently, the fake app revealed a few days ago is another attempt on how to beat the system and cheat other Nigerians. It is a country where the end justifies the means, where success by any means possible is the deal.
And while it is convenient to blame candidates and their parents for the desperation that precipitates these compromises, we must consider society’s role in the frustration of families.
First off, Nigeria suggests to its people that life can only be meaningful with formal education leading to a degree. Even though most progressive societies show that this is a fallacy. People only need a measure of basic education, after which society should avail them of options which fit their natural endowments. But Nigeria has tuned its people to believe that educational certificates are their only tickets to livelihood. Now, that probably wouldn’t be such a terrible proposition, except that the country cannot even live up to the idea.
This is so because the country only has placements for some of those who sit for the UTME examination annually. For instance, JAMB says that 1.6 million candidates wrote the examination this year; but there is space for less than 50% of these numbers. So, you make everyone in your country aspire for higher education but do not provide enough opportunities.
To make things worse, merit and hard work count for little or nothing here. The result is that citizens throw their best effort into surviving since the country cares for no one. It is like a jungle where only the fittest survive. Unwitting you bring your children up in this environment, making them believe it is the right way to do things.
This is why it is a shame that people reduce these incidents to ethnic or religious levels. The country has been grossly unfair to majority of citizens and in essence, it has lost the loyalty of the average man and woman. The reality is that we all find ways to get the better of Nigeria. Regardless of tribe and tongue, we position ourselves and our families to exploit the country and other citizens. the average Nigerian only cares about himself and his family.
We do this in so many ways that we may not take cognisance of. The civil servants who will not move files without a greased palm; the director who would not approve payment for a contract unless ten per cent is added; the company director who marks up a project budget by 30 per cent; the clergy whose God is money; the doctor in a public facility who demands money for appointments and diverts resources to his private clinic; the immigration officer who manipulates procedures for procurement of passports; the customs officer who allows contrabands into the country; the teacher who awards marks after “obtaining” the student; the parent who purchases questions for his child; the student who cheats in examinations; the reporter who pushes his conscience out of the way and sells his newspaper space to the highest bidder in betrayal of public trust; the traditional ruler who scarifies the interest of his people for a bowl of pottage and so on, all contribute to the sorry state of our country. It is sheer hypocrisy for anyone to suggest that only a group of people are the trouble with the country. And we should stop such parochialism in the interest of our children.
The JAMB/Ejikeme debacle tells us that we are building a country without values. Rather than tear us apart and cause us to take sides one way or the other, citizens should demand leadership that works for and restores the people’s confidence in their country. Government, parents, schools, and religious establishments should be concerned about the values we instil in our children. It is the only way this country will not crash on us all, as it surely will if we go on this way.
Nigerians are in for a few surprises as President Bola Tinubu unveils his new cabinet in a few days. Both in composition, size and structure, the next federal executive council would far different from what we’ve always known.
A Lagos banker and politician, Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru will likely emerge as the new finance minister when President Bola Tinubu unveils his cabinet in a few days. The president has only 20 days left out of the 60 allowed by the constitution for him to send his list of ministers to the senate.
Senator Abiru currently represents Lagos East senatorial district in the senate. Born March 25, 1964, he was also the group managing director & chief executive of Polaris Bank. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Lagos State University and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). In addition, Senator Abiru had also attended several courses at Harvard Business School and Lagos Business School. He was executive director at First Bank (2013-2016) and commissioner of finance in Lagos state (2011-2013) under the Babatunde Fashola administration. He resigned as the bank CEO in 2020 to run for the senatorial seat.
Contrary to expectations, the new cabinet would be a large one, consisting of 42 ministers and 20 special advisers. But unlike in the past administrations, there will be no minister of state in the Tinubu government. Special advisers will contribute to discussions of FEC, unlike in the past when they were only silent participants.
Some large ministries would be broken into two and some into three to create enough portfolios for the cabinet members. Those to be split include works & housing; agriculture & rural development; humanitarian affairs, disaster management & social development; sports & youth; health; education; transport; finance, national planning & budget; petroleum and a few others.
Dele Alake, currently special adviser on special duties, communication & strategy will move up as minister of public communication, a new name for the information ministry. He will also double as the presidential spokesman and may continue to work out of the presidential villa or split his time between the villa and the ministry at Radio House. So far, Alake is one of the closest persons to the president and a very influential member of the administration. In a way, renaming the information ministry and combining it with the function of the presidential spokesperson is akin to what obtains in many advanced democracies where the press secretary is the only official responsible for the public communication of the government.
In addition to restructuring the government, the president has also been busy trying to sift his preferred nominees from a long list of interested party officials, some of whom were recommended by party bigwigs in different states. Former Ekiti governor Kayode Fayemi is being considered as the new foreign affairs minister. It is a portfolio he’s always craved even in the Buhari administration in which he served as minister of mines and steel. But he lost out to Geoffrey Onyema, who came highly recommended by the late chief of staff to the President. Both Onyeama and the late Abba Kyari were childhood friends, dating back to their school days in the UK.
Bayo Onanuga, who also worked hard for the president’s election, is also being considered for a job in the government. Onanuga was one of the spokesmen of the Tinubu campaign, but Nigerians will readily remember him by the inflammatory statements and ethnically insensitive outburst that he made in the immediate aftermath of the elections in Lagos. A versatile journalist, he was the managing director of NAN in the early days of the Buhari administration. “Although Bayo embarrassed himself and the president with his incendiary outbursts, he may not be left behind,” a political leader from Oyo state told me in the course of researching this article.
Festus Keyamo, SAN, has been fighting tooth and nail to be the new minister of justice & attorney-general. He wanted that position badly in the Buhari government, but he stood no chance against the all-powerful Abubakar Malami, another SAN. At his senate confirmation hearing in July 2019, Keyamo told the lawmakers that his priority would be to decentralise the supreme court into six, one for each geopolitical zone. It is not clear if Keyamo would be lucky this time.
Another new face to look out for in the Tinubu cabinet is Tunji Bello, a veteran journalist of impressive track record, who is also a longtime associate of the president’s. Like Dele Alake, Bello was also editor of the National Concord, the defunct newspaper owned by the late MKO Abiola. Bello later served as a commissioner under Tinubu and Fashola, and SSG under Ambode and returned as a commissioner under Sanwo-Olu. He has been in the government of Lagos state since May 1999. His wife was appointed the VC of Lagos State University in 2021. Don’t mess with some Lagosians!
What will also surprise many Nigerians would be the emergence of some very senior politicians, who had held almost all leadership positions in the past, in the cabinet. Two former governors of Kano, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso and Abdullai Umar Ganduje, are fighting hard to join the cabinet. The former was the presidential candidate of NNPP in the February elections. He was minister of internal affairs (now interior) in the first term of President Obasanjo. Of course, former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, is also interested in returning as a minister. He served President Jonathan as minister of state, education. Nigerians usually scoff at the “recycling” of old politicians into government. But their experience could also be useful. “These people are not looking for a job in that sense of the word. They just cannot shake off the urge to be in public office all the time, for whatever reasons,” a senior government official told me last night.
I have also been told that the president may rationalise some agencies and parastatals to achieve optimum functionality. For instance, three important revenue earners – FIRS, NIMASA and Customs – could be consolidated under one big group to be headed by the special adviser on revenue, Zacchaeus Adedeji. “This is essentially to block leakages and tighten fiscal control,” one of the highbrow members of the administrations said this morning.
Journalists will be pleased with the preponderance of their colleagues in the new administration: Alake, Bello, Onanuga and Tunde Rahman. Rahman is a former editor of Thisday newspaper who has served Bola Tinubu as a media staff for a long time. He has since assumed duties as the president’s principal private secretary. Certainly, a good journalist can fit into any role. But in which other administration have journalists been this plenty, and how will this help the profession?
Remember my article a few weeks ago on the appointment of Wale Edun as the special adviser on monetary matters? I had argued that the rather unusual designation could be a pointer to his eventual elevation as the new CBN Governor. I have nothing more to add.
In the life of a nation, especially in the third world, some strange occurrences occasionally take the centre stage to the anxiety of the people. No one is usually able to dissuade everyone from superstition during such periods especially because the occurrences are felt across board in the relevant community.
From history, we know for example, that a short period after the annulment of the famous June 12, 1993 presidential elections in Nigeria, two major leaders associated with the development died suddenly. The two leaders, General Sani Abacha who was then Head of State and Chief Moshood Abiola from whom the electoral victory was snatched reportedly died within the space of one-month in 1998. Their dissimilar deaths were attributed to what was called cardiac arrest.
Not many believed the story. Indeed, there were people who imagined that those in government who announced the cause of the death of both leaders did not themselves believe in what they told the rest of us. This was worsened by a report credited to Hamza Al-Mustapha, who served as Chief Security Officer to late General Abacha that it was what killed his late boss that killed Chief Abiola.
The sad conclusion till today is that it was an era of cardiac arrest which health sector workers see as a normal and critical health challenge.But to the layman in Nigeria cardiac arrest was the era’s way of explaining something off. This happens quite often in the country in several service areas where some inexplicable occurrences are attributed to what the rest of us cannot verify. The unending ‘due operational reasons’ in our air transportation system which is hardly ever at play in other climes is a good example.
An important narrative of the cardiac arrest stories is that they quite often concern notable political leaders. When foremost governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha died in 2015, the explanation that it was due to cardiac arrest was doubted by some of our common friends. Perhaps there is ample sense after all in discouraging the use of terms that the ordinary person impulsively disbelieves. It is in fact more critical when it concerns technology that works like magic.
The 2019 presidential election in Nigeria for instance, was believed in several circles to have been won by Atiku Abubakar,the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). All efforts to technically verify the results failed because it was not in the interest of the ruling party to continue the search beyond the official statement by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC.
Many Nigerians still believe that the INEC server would have given a better record of the transactions but lawyers of the ruling party held on to a claim that INEC did not have a server. As is usual when explaining things off, no one was able to convince many that INEC truly had no server. In any case, there were reports that the electoral body’s budget which was approved and fully released included the procurement of a server. References were made to the fact that INEC did not only acquire a server, it appointed and trained operators on it. There was even an official plan that the commission would have two collation officers, one for manual and the other for digital thereby suggesting that there was indeed, a server.
As in the cardiac arrest story, several versions would suddenly emerge to completely confuse human understanding of the issues at stake. The ruling party at a point accused the PDP of having hacked the INEC server without recognising the irrationality of hacking a server that it had claimed to be non-existent. So, some analysts came to the conclusion that there was a server which was probably yet to be put in use. The implication of the narrative is that except utmost care is taken, it would be very easy for Nigeria to fall into the era of fake technology. Against the backdrop of an exceedingly desperate political class, new technologies which have become the redeeming feature of society; helping developed nations to attain global heights may only be used for mischief in Nigeria
Unfortunately, this has just happened during the recently concluded presidential election of February 25, 2023 in which an inexplicable technical hitch divided Nigeria into two. Incidentally, there were other elections held simultaneously with that of the presidential but which escaped the smart edgesof technical failure. With the results of the senatorial as well as that of house of representatives elections remaining technically clean, people are left to suspect that the glitches which occurred during the general electionsmay have been directional to only the presidential election. However, INEC appears certain that its failure to upload the results was due to technical glitches and not any form of sabotage or cyber attack.
According to its official spokesperson, Festus Okoye, INEC’s system especially its result viewing portal more technically called the IReV portal ‘remained well-secured with no evidence of intrusions.’ For some time to come, the term technical glitches would be used to explain things off because of the complication introduced to it by Lai Mohammed, the immediate past Nigerian Information Minister.
While in Washington to engage with international media organizations in the United States, Lai reportedly said that INEC’s decision to withhold the upload of results during the election was because of a suspected cyberattack. Although he as usual claimed to have been misquoted, delving into the subject of technical glitches was uncalled for because the electoral body is an independent entity that could better speak for itself.
Evidence that public perception of technical glitches had already turned the term into an explicable phenomenon emerged when the office of the Accountant General of the federation (OAGF) used the same term to explain its inability to pay salaries of several workers for the month of June 2023. The OAGF’s director of press, Bawa Mokwa was reported to have said that the problem was caused by technical issues with the government’s Integrated Financial Management System. To the workers who have become stranded over no salary, technical terms may neither be believed nor useful. Rather, many will continue to see it as an extension of the INEC technical glitches to them, notwithstanding the absence of any links between them and the election portal.
It is not only workers without pay that may have embraced a fixated mindset that Nigerian organizations cherish the use of technology to explain off issues; many students, parents and other groups interested in the work of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board were already warming up. The controversy concerned a young Nigerian student Joy Mmesoma Ejikeme whose Jamb score had been declared to be fake by the foremost exam body. Many critics who never get details of issues before jumping to conclusion on them were already condemning JAMB. But those who have followed the outstanding transformation of JAMB since Professor Ishaq Oloyede became its Chief Executive in 2016 must have had no doubt that JAMB’s integrity is not easy to successfully attack.
On May 10, 2019, this column’s article of the week titled “INEC should emulate Jamb’s Ishaq Oloyede” was perhaps seen as mere praise singing. But through investigative journalism it was easy to see that Oloyede had his eyes on the verdict of history. As at that time, he had built up JAMB’s technical integrity to know the following as they happen: a) when a centre registers a candidate, b) the exact time the candidate was registered, c) who registered the candidate, d) the computer system used and e) the correct and exact location of the registration centre. Without repeating the details of Ejikeme’s case because of the age of the girl, Jamb’s transparent handling instructively establishes that the only solution to irregularities in human affairs is the adoption of technology that is subjected to constant updating.
The stories of the last 6 months in Nigeria show clearly that the country has entered the era of technicalities. Organizations which do not fall in line will suddenly find that whereas technical glitches can be used to explain off their challenges, nothing would wipe off their basic failures from the immutable record in human memories. The National Population Commission (NPC) that is gearing up for the coming national population and housing census would have no excuse if like othersin the past, fail to heed caution.
My uncle recently asked me to help guide and counsel his son, who is at that discouraging state which many young Nigerians find themselves in after graduating from the university, doing the national youth service and trying their hands on a few endeavours without success. What many of them tend to do is “japa” — believing that being a toilet cleaner in “the abroad” is better than being an employer in Nigeria. I invited my cousin for lunch and had a heart-to-heart chat with him. I was almost in tears at the end. This boy plainly told me he believes in Nigeria, does not fancy “japa” as an option, and would love to stay back in the country, put his skills to use and make a decent living.
Regrettably, the country would not let him be. He told me that after his national service, he had set up a logistics business in Lagos state. He had two motorbikes he was using for the business. “I was doing quite well,” he said. “But Lagos state government officials killed the business. There were so many levies and fees and regulatory demands I just couldn’t cope with. Thugs were seizing the bikes every day. It was always one problem or the other. It was so frustrating. As you are renewing one paper, another is expiring. It was impossible to keep up. I decided to pack everything up. I had had enough. I wanted to work with my hands and create value with my ideas but they wouldn’t let me.”
This is the story of many Nigerians who want to go into business. They are not applying for CBN or NNPC jobs. They are not interested in working for Shell or MTN. They don’t want to do yahoo-yahoo. They want to work honestly and with dignity, using their hands and business acumen to create jobs and value not just for themselves but for others too. But what do they get in return? Harassment, extortion and the sledge hammer from bloodthirsty state agencies. It shows the quality of thinking among those in authority in Nigeria. In any country where the leaders truly understand how development works, they would help, not hurt, the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
All over the world, including the most developed countries, MSMEs are recognised as the engine of the economy. When aggregated, they are the biggest employers of labour. Logically, governments desirous of tackling unemployment, poverty and crime would provide incentives to make doing business less stressful for them. MSMEs can help expand the economy and create more jobs. Sensible governments would design policies to help them thrive. But in our dearly beloved Nigeria, the opposite is the case. It is as if you have killed somebody by opening a shop. The way ministries, agencies and departments (MDAs) descend on you makes you feel you are an enemy of the state.
I told my cousin I have been a victim myself. In 2014, I started a publishing company from my sweat. We did not get any incentive as a small business from either federal or state government. What we started getting were visits from tax officials, most of whom were not genuinely interested in looking into our books but how to fill their own pockets. In 2019, we got a demand notice over PAYE. It listed employees we only engaged in 2017 as having been on our payroll from 2011 when the company was registered (we started operations exactly in April 2014). They made up salaries for them and calculated their imagined PAYE in arrears, complete with penalties and compound interest.
We once got a letter from FIRS seeking to audit our accounts over a five-year period to determine our compliance with payments and remittances, including VAT. We were so sure we were compliant and had nothing to hide, but we were only being stupid. By the time they were done, the auditors slammed a liability of almost N15 million on us for “overstated expenses”. They said we did not show evidence that our reporters actually bought the internet data for which we gave them monthly allowances. They also said the weekly transport fare we gave our journalists for reportorial duties were not receipted. Imagine asking a danfo driver for receipt for a trip from Ikeja to Ketu!
To be sure, I have no issues with tax audits. I am an advocate of ethical business practices. I hate cutting corners. But Nigeria will humble you. Nigeria will make you question your values as well as your sanity. We were so frustrated one day that we asked the tax collectors why they were doing this to us. One confessed that they had targets to meet and would not go back to their bosses and say they didn’t find anything wrong with our accounts. More so, they get bonuses for meeting their targets, so the system has created a perverse incentive which works for the tax collectors but against businesses. What he did not confess was that they were also using audits to extort businesses.
I was so incensed after one of those endless audits that I asked our tax consultant to sternly dispute the assessment and let the matter end up at the tribunal. I was so sure we did not commit any infractions. It was driving me nuts. But our tax consultant said while he was not opposed to us going to the tax appeal tribunal, it would be a waste of time and money. We would have to engage subject-matter lawyers, pay legal fees and, at the end of it all, there is no guarantee that the tribunal, a government body, will not take sides with a fellow public agency. Only the big corporates have the war chest for a robust legal battle. They also have the clout to survive the warped system.
Common sense tells you to allow a seed grow first before you start harvesting. It appears government is committed to killing the seed instead, as my cousin can testify. If small businesses are allowed to grow and flourish, there will be millions of jobs created and an endless value chain unleashed. There will be plenty revenue to follow: VAT, PAYE, withholding tax and other taxes. But the starting point is to let them breathe. Is this too complicated to understand? In truth, government agents have become terrorists to small businesses. They gleefully give business owners anxiety and high blood pressure. They derive pleasure from using state power to inflict pains on Nigerians.
The most notorious government agencies operate in the FCT. I once wrote about a friend who owns a bakery in Abuja. All manner of government officials come to the bakery almost every day from all manner of agencies. Three units from the Abuja Municipal Council Area (AMAC) do “health inspection”. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSTIF) and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) also do “health inspection”. Believe me, one agency can do all the health checks — but this is Nigeria. There is an annual licence fee for “operating in FCT”. There is a fee for “using a car to distribute bread”.
That is not all. The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and AMAC charge the bakery separately for “fumigation”. You cannot engage your own fumigator — you have to use their consultants. There is also the AMAC “sanitary inspection” fee. AMAC’s department of environment collects fees yearly to inspect — you guessed it — the environment. There is also the AMAC fee for “food and water-related handling”. The list is endless. I am not suggesting that small businesses should not be regulated, inspected or asked to pay taxes. These are the functions of the state. But, for Pete’s sake, how many taxes and levies should an MSME pay? How many regulators should an MSME face?
You can now imagine my delight that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has set up a committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms. Since he has shown clearly that he is pro-business, I would be equally delighted if he would champion the cause of MSMEs. He should take it as a personal mission and rally the 36 governors to do everything to enhance the success and growth of these businesses. I understand that states and the FCT are driven by the singular motive of improving internally generated revenue (IGR). But this drive has become a toxic tonic for their agents to go totally out of control, forgetting that you need these businesses to survive and thrive first before you tax them.
My agenda for Tinubu in this regard is fairly simple: he should use his presidential power and moral authority to set the tone for all tiers of government on the need to make Nigeria business-friendly. We need to spread, not suffocate, businesses. First, I propose that there should be a one-stop centre to offer support to MSMEs in matters of registration, documentation, levies and taxes to end this hostile and suffocating system. Many agencies perform similar functions and make similar demands of businesses. Some businesses are targeted for frequent audit while many are outside the tax net. Through a robust support system, some of these complications can be streamlined and simplified.
Second, there should be a dispute resolution mechanism that is fair to all. The government is usually the accuser and the judge. If an agency inspects your factory, unfairly decides there is an infraction and shuts it down, you cannot ask for independent assessment. That is why extortion is normalised. The word of the agencies is law. And they are using this to the maximum. Some agencies engage thugs for enforcement. I would never forget when FIRS was using armed policemen to enforce tax collection in 2016. It was the height of official rascality at a time the economy was under enormous strain as a result of a recession. I pray that commonsense will reign in government someday. Amen.
AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…
JAMB BITE
Mmesoma Ejimeke, a 19-year-old Anambra student, claimed to have scored 362 in UTME, attracting accolades and cash rewards for being the “best” candidate in 2023. As it turned out after all the brouhaha, she did not come first as claimed despite the massive support for her on Twitter. She actually scored 249, as she herself finally confessed. The QR code on the result slip she paraded to the media was superimposed. Yet, the saga became a source of ethnic strife and a vicious #NotMyJAMB campaign. Ironically, the highest scorer as named by JAMB is Kamsiyochukwu Umeh, also a student from Anambra. All those involved in the crime must now face the music. Justice.
OIL-POOR COUNTRY
In my previous article, I said our share of oil export is less than 400,000 bpd. Obviously, not many Nigerians know this fact. When it is reported that we export 1.4mbpd, most of it is not ours. Under joint ventures (JVs) with the oil majors, which are onshore, Nigeria used to get the lion’s share because it owned 55-60%. Under the production sharing contract (PSC), which governs offshore, the oil companies invest all the capital and recover their costs from oil production before Nigeria gets its own share. The sad part: the JVs, which favour Nigeria, are dying because of underinvestment, theft and high costs of operation while offshore, which favours the companies, is thriving. Damned.
STONE HEARTS
Mr Olukayode Egbetokun, the acting inspector-general of police (IGP), has disbanded the police team that ran over a cuffed man with a car in Edo state. The officers are reportedly undergoing disciplinary hearing. This is heartwarming. I testify that the Nigeria Police Force is always quick to discipline erring officers and this is usually in the public domain. What I still don’t understand is why these guys still behave the way they do. Is it that the punishment is not severe enough to serve as a deterrent or they are so hardened they cannot be bothered by the consequences of their actions? I sincerely would like to know. It may help the authorities take a step ahead of them. Frustrating.
AND FINALLY…
Do you remember Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa who said on video that his wife, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, used her position to influence judgments in the favour of his senate colleagues? Although his wife, who is former president of the Court of Appeal, later denied the claim, we may not have heard the last yet. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) invited the former senator for questioning but he did not show up. Instead, he headed for the court for an injunction to stop the anti-graft agency from questioning him and declaring the invitation as “ultra vires, illegal, arbitrary, oppressive and unconstitutional”. Nigeria!