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[OPINION] Oronto Natei Douglas (1966 – 2015): The Man, The Land and The People - Ipigansi Okumo
Admin“Fading away like the stars of the morning,
Losing their light in the glorious sun,
Thus would we pass from the earth and its toiling,
Only remembered by what we have done.”
I am certain that Horatius Bonar, the prince of Scottish hymn writers did imagine less as to how this inspirational work of his, will become so famous, centuries after him. Indeed, only minds infected with insanity can argue the contrary with reference to this great hymn of Dr Bonar. Truth be told! Men, women, boys or girls, especially those whose journeys have ended on planet earth, will only be remembered by what they have done, be it good or evil.
The lyrics of this remarkable hymn suggest that we all have our choices as to what we want humanity to remember us for when we are no more. For my dear mentor, master, friend and brother, Barr. Oronto Natei Douglas (OND), he chose the part and path of good. Since 9th April 2015 when Oronto transited to the heavenly realm, friends, acquaintances, family members, relatives and loved ones have continued to remember him for his good works when he lived on earth.
9th April 2024 is Oronto’s ninth memorial. To many of us who had the rare privilege to interact and work closely with this amiable soul, our hearts are heavy with remembrance and reverence for a man who left indelible marks on the landscape of environmental activism, political and social justice in Nigeria. Oronto Douglas, a prominent lawyer, environmentalist, and human rights advocate, continues to be celebrated for his unwavering commitment to defending the rights of marginalized communities and protecting the natural heritage of the Niger Delta region. As Nigerians honor Oronto’s ninth memorial, it's essential to reflect on his remarkable legacy and the enduring impact he had on the land and its people.
Born on the 9th of October 1966, in Okoroba Community of the great Ebela Kingdom of the Ogbia Nation in Southern Nigeria, Oronto Douglas was intimately connected to the land and its people from a young age. As he grew, he learnt about his beautiful environment with kin interest. The more he learned, the deeper he fell in love until he became one with the land. Growing up in the midst of the region's rich biodiversity and witnessing firsthand the social and environmental injustices perpetrated against its inhabitants, he developed a deep sense of responsibility towards both the land and its people. This profound connection shaped his life's work and inspire him to become one of Nigeria's most vocal advocates for environmental sustainability and social equity.
Oronto Douglas's journey as an activist began as a child in his native home of Okoroba and gained momentum during his time as a student at the Rivers University of Science & Technology Port Harcourt, where he became actively involved in Civil Liberty Organization, student politics and grassroots movements advocating for democracy and human rights. It was his passion for justice and equality that led him to pursue a career in law, using the legal system as a tool to fight against oppression and exploitation. However, it was his tireless efforts to address the environmental devastation in the Niger Delta that would define his legacy.
The Niger Delta, often referred to as the "Heart of Nigeria," is a region of immense ecological significance, blessed with abundant natural resources, including oil and gas reserves. Yet, paradoxically, it is also one of the most environmentally degraded and economically impoverished regions in the world, largely due to decades of oil exploration and exploitation by multinational corporations. Douglas was at the forefront of the struggle to hold these corporations accountable for their actions and to demand justice for the communities affected by their operations.
As a founding member of the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Douglas played a pivotal role in raising awareness about the environmental and social impacts of oil extraction in the Niger Delta. Through grassroots mobilization, legal advocacy, and international networking, he effectively challenged the impunity of oil companies and government agencies complicit in environmental degradation and human rights abuses. His efforts helped to galvanize a global movement in support of environmental justice and the rights of indigenous peoples.
Beyond his environmental activism, Douglas was also deeply committed to promoting sustainable development and empowering local communities to assert their rights and assert control over their resources. He believed fervently in the principles of environmental stewardship and community self-determination, advocating for participatory decision-making processes that prioritize the needs and aspirations of ordinary Nigerians. His vision of a just and equitable society where both people and the planet thrive continues to inspire generations of activists and changemakers.
Additionally, OND’s contributions to the enthronement and strengthening of democracy in Nigeria are as significant as his environmental activism. His commitment to justice extended beyond environmental concerns to encompass broader societal issues, including the struggle for democracy and good governance.
In the tumultuous era of military rule in Nigeria, Douglas emerged as a fearless pro-democracy activist, using his legal expertise and grassroots organizing skills to challenge the authoritarian regime of that time. He was actively involved in the pro-democracy movements of the 1990s, which sought to restore democratic governance and respect for human rights in Nigeria.
During the dark days of military dictatorship, Douglas risked his personal safety and freedom to speak truth to power, advocating for the rule of law, freedom of expression, and the rights of citizens to participate in the political process. He played a crucial role in mobilizing civil society groups, student organizations, and other stakeholders in the struggle against military oppression, often at great personal sacrifice. The dictators tried to stop him. They locked him up and tortured him, but once they let him go, he spoke even louder and wrote even stronger against them. Oronto’s words were a great source of strength to the oppressed people of Nigeria. In him, communities and minority groups found their voice.
One of Douglas's most notable contributions to the democratization process in Nigeria was his involvement in the legal defense of political activists and prisoners of conscience including Ken Saro Wiwa. As a human rights lawyer, he provided legal representation to individuals who were detained or persecuted for their opposition to the military regime, ensuring that their voices were heard and their rights protected in the face of state repression.
Moreover, OND was among those instrumental in advocating for electoral reform and the establishment of democratic institutions that would uphold the principles of transparency, accountability, and electoral integrity. He recognized that free and fair elections were essential for the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria and tirelessly campaigned for electoral justice and reforms that would ensure the people's right to choose their leaders without interference or manipulation.
Following the transition to civilian rule in 1999, Douglas continued his efforts to strengthen democracy in Nigeria by monitoring elections, promoting civic education, and advocating for political participation among marginalized groups, including women and youth. He understood that democracy is not merely about holding elections but also about fostering a culture of democratic governance, respect for human rights, and inclusive development.
In addition to his grassroots activism, Douglas also served in various official capacities within the Nigerian government, including as a Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Research, Documentation and Strategy. In this role, he worked to promote good governance, transparency, and accountability in the administration while advocating for policies that would benefit the Nigerian people, particularly those in marginalized communities.
Oronto Douglas's dedication to democracy and human rights in Nigeria earned him admiration and respect both at home and abroad. His unwavering commitment to justice, coupled with his courage and integrity, made him a beacon of hope for all those who yearned for a democratic and egalitarian society. Though he may no longer walk among us, his legacy continues to inspire Nigerians to strive for a future where democracy thrives, and the rights and dignity of all citizens are upheld.
The man Oronto was a man of the land and the people. His love for the land was to the extent that everywhere he travelled to, he took his love with him such that strangers were drawn to the land, and they saw what he saw and felt what he felt. He fought for the land and the oppressed people of Nigeria. He fought with words and not the bullet. He spoke and wrote, and the world heard from him about the wicked attacks on the land and its people.
In his works, children were given their pride of place and honour. He built and equipped schools with modern facilities for them. The objective was to create an enabling environment for teaching and learning so that the children would grow to use words like him in continuation of the call for environmental and social justice. He gathered the entertainers and artists of the land and provided a stage for plays and songs to be written about the land.
Oronto Douglas's untimely passing on the 9th of April 2015 robbed Nigeria of one of its most passionate voices for justice and sustainability. However, his spirit lives on in the countless lives he touched and the enduring impact of his advocacy. As we commemorate his ninth memorial, let us not only honor his memory but also recommit ourselves to the ideals for which he so passionately fought. The struggle for environmental justice and human rights in the Niger Delta and beyond continues, and Oronto Douglas's legacy serves as a guiding light for all those who dare to dream of a better world.Top of Form
In the words of Dimeari Von Kemedi, “Once there lived a man, Oronto Natei Douglas, we called him OND and he really lived”.
May the Almighty God continue to rest OND’s soul in perfect peace and uphold his family in safety and progress.
Engr. (Chief) Ipigansi Okumo is the Chairman of the Ogbia Brotherhood Unity Branch – Abuja & Northern Nigeria, and a member of the Ogbia Study Group. He worked with Oronto Douglas for about two decades.
No doubt, the over-arching need to reform the Nigerian Civil Service for general efficiency was long tardy. Apart from being largely over-bloated, the service known as a hub for administrative dexterity and excellence over the years is now a shadow of itself. It has become a centre for mediocrity known for promoting nepotism. To make matters worse various policies of government leading to duplication of Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have further pushed the cost of governance to all time high. The time-tested rules guiding the service was recklessly circumvented and the worse eventually took the shine off the system. For the above reasons and more, former President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated the Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies to streamline the operations of MDAs in 2012. Stephen Oronsaye, the then Head of Service of the federation was appointed head of the committee.
The terms of reference included: (a) study and review all previous reports and records on the restructuring of Federal Parastatals and advise on whether they were still relevant; (b) examine the enabling Acts of all the Federal Agencies, Parastatals and Commissions and classify them into various sectors; (c) examine critically, the mandate of the existing Federal Agencies, Parastatals and Commissions and determine areas of overlap or duplication of functions and make appropriate recommendations to either restructure, merge or scrap some to eliminate such overlaps, duplications or redundancies; and (d) advise on any other matter incidental to the foregoing which might be relevant to the desire of Government to prune down the cost of governance.
Expectedly, the committee's 800-page report recommended the scrapping of some agencies and merger of 220 out of the then-existing 541 government parastatals. This means that if the report was implemented then, more than 100 heads and many staff of agencies and parastatals would have lost their jobs. It also recommended the reduction of statutory agencies from 263 to 161 as well as the abolition of 38 agencies, the merger of 52 and the reversion of 14 to departments in ministries. The document proposed the audit of 89 agencies with biometric capture of staff as well as cessation of government funding of professional bodies and councils.
The report revealed that government would save over N862 billion between 2012 and 2015 when implemented. The above expected savings is tied to the combined allocation accruable to agencies penciled down for scrapping or merger. At the end, a white paper committee set up afterwards by Jonathan’s administration rejected most of the recommendations, while those accepted were not even implemented. It seemed Goodluck Jonathan intentionally kept the report in view as a result of the public outcry against it and the backlash it could generate if fully implemented. Muhammadu Buhari never remembered such a report existed. He carefully shied away from implementing the recommendations considering the adverse effect it will bring to bear on the society.
The federal civil service is the key driver of the overall policy actions of government. And a productive civil service is the administrative pride of every nation. However, the resurrection of Oronsanye's report as a measure for cutting down the cost of governance does not seem to be the best of decisions. There is every need for cautious optimism on the side of government before implementation of the committee's report. In fact, government should step down the implementation of the report. The nation cannot tolerate any further adverse policies and reforms that will compound the woes of citizens. More emphasis should be laid on promoting the culture of merit, hard work, discipline, transparency, professionalism and good work ethics to achieve the envisaged results. One recurring decimal which halted the implementation of the report by previous administrations was the constant feature of job loss.
Any reforms mostly targeted at rationalisation of the staff serves no better purpose. In fact, majority of Nigerians saw the Oronsaye's Committee as one primarily constituted to find reasons to lay off staff in the federal civil service. The priority of government at this critical juncture should be to focus on creating jobs and a conducive environment for businesses to thrive. Labour unions, civil society groups and well meaning Nigerians had kicked and are kicking against implementation of the report citing the same negative effects of jobs loss that comes with it.
Before moving on with administering this bitter pill which will throw more Nigerians into poverty and misery, it is hoped that this burning issue of job loss will be addressed accordingly. Government is also challenged to pay living wage and stabilise the ailing economy. Majority of Nigerians are battling to survive the adverse effects of high cost of living occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy, electricity tariff review, hasty and externally induced implementation of monetary and fiscal policies. Therefore, disengaging those already working in the name of reform when there is obvious high unemployment rate in the country is insensitive.
The private sector is already in troubled waters. According to reports, more than 15 multinational companies have left Nigeria on account of poor ease of doing business and rising cost of production. The Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) has also reported that about 767 manufacturing companies shut down operations while 335 experienced distress in 2023. This goes with the attendant consequence of job loss. The negative effect this brings to bear on the entire society is better imagined than experienced. The amount of money government hopes to save going forward with the report is nothing compare to the pain this implementation will inflict on the society and discontent it will generate. The uncommon patience of Nigerians should not be taken for granted.
Government whose responsibility it is to find solutions to the economic quagmire should not stoke the fire of disengaging staff in any guise with its hands. If government is serious about good governance, fiscal discipline and onslaught against corruption, it has to begin with the president and other top government officials. Honest and deliberate plans to stem the tide of endemic corruption in the federal civil service should top the agenda of reforms. Lack of discipline, hard work and integrity which has become the bane of civil service should be reformed.
Almost, if not all the MDAs were established by Act of the National Assembly, therefore, it is pertinent to confer with the Assembly for legislative action if need be before implementation to achieve the desired result and for better consensus building. The minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the federation, Lateef Fagbemi who leads the implementation team should critically reflect on the general societal dislocation this implementation will throw up and the ripple effect on citizenry.
Sunday Onyemaechi Eze is a Media and Development Communication Specialist. He writes via sunnyeze02@yahoo.com and can be reached on 08060901201
Strangely this essay had its foundations in 1968 and was in its original form published in the old Daily Times. Writing under the topic 'THE EDUCATION WE WANT MUST HAVE TECHNICAL BIAS' Tai Solarin said "I have been asked to say briefly what I think of our education now and in the future.
Quite strange that we are already in that future and we still do not know what kind of education we want to run, is it Universal Basic, or Universal Primary, is it Unity Schools owned by government or the Unity schools owned by Businessmen that want to declare profit after each academic calendar year rather than improve the quality of students and teachers and the education dispensed.
In 1968 Solarin wrote "A good many of us spat on the education we had yesterday, and ofcourse what passes for education today. And there is, certainly, a stratum of our society that looks back, nostalgically, at the quality of yesterday's education". How many of us today can argue that this is not the truth, even the generation that had its education in 1990 now looks back with nostalgia.
In 1968, he opined that by and large, most of us believed that there was very much missing in the content of our yesterdays' education. What we have today, in spite of innovations and the bold attempts to re-orientate it, remains, as it was yesterday, orthodox, slow foot, myopic.
It is 2024, can we honestly call the situation any better, rather after the billions of Naira committed at a rate incomparable, the system, the sector is more slow foot, myopic and orthodox than then.
Our educational system today only sharpens the head to near pin end quality and this is even rare but it also makes the possessors limb atrophied by long disuse. Our education is money centered. It is an education which goads the possessor asking "what can my country do for me?" not as J.F.Kennedy requests immortally, "what can I do for my country?
In 2024, we are left to define the quality of education we want for tomorrow when our peers have gone far in Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, neighboring Ghana has even refused to wait for us.
Solarin had asked that we bring functionality into our education. He said that "There is, I think, only one significant thing we want in our education for tomorrow-FUNCTION. That we arm our children with functional education" In my words, today the education is not functional, we have unemployable graduates, and my apologies, totally useless school leavers.
While Tai anchored his stand on State owned schools as an atheist, I advocate government's participation as a matter of social contract and responsibility to the people. That way we could boast an education that 'LIVES'.
Do we have an education in which a possessor wants to elevate the less privileged that surge him round, the answer is no. Today what is the value of the education given to a young man who lives or is doing his mandatory service year in a guinea worm infested area and yet is incapable of causing a revolution in the lives of the villagers by transforming their drinking water into healthy supply? Today every graduate desires Shell, Chevron, MTN, GTBank and the rest jostle for pensionable Ministry jobs; excluding those not in politics as educated thugs.
What is the use of education given in physics to a young girl when the lights go out; she does not know what to do to get light again. In Nigerian education, how many graduates can carry aloft an oasis of light, very few because the education is short on quality and is therefore poor?
We are of the opinion that our education should be one that gives the 3-Rs Reading, Writing and Rithmetic. During the formative years, our kids should be made to know that they are members of a society to which they owe so much not the present Tokunboh arrangement, they must be initiated into all the faculties of operations carried out by adults only that sadly and unfortunately the operations of this generation is corruption.
The bitter truth is that we are reeling out nonsense from our Primary stage to the highest level of education. We are cursed with a leadership that is at loss to what the cure is. We have developed a set of students whose parents bribe up the academic ladder because teachers will teach nonsense after all. Our schools today at best are filled with frustrated persons that are still holding the chalk for lack of what to do next. Every year no one is really taking stock of the number of University manpower leaving the shores of this nation never to return and we just sit and term it brain drain, when in truth it has become a complete DRAIN, brain and belly, soul and spirit.
Today, how many young people want to go home and at the beginning of the year cut the bush in readiness for the New Year’s planting; making of garri or pounding the yam or preparing the 'ewedu' soup? If these children do not participate how can they be integrated into the society, if all the values they see are big cars, big mansion, how they integrate should not be surprising.
We cannot guarantee any form of free education, most Governors have turned state bursary allocations into political tools, that is when it is not intelligently and crookedly sent to England to buy a mansion in cash. Government at the center is confused, one minute it is a 6-3-3-4 system, now we hear it would be 9-3-4, only Allah knows if the next one won’t be 16-16-16.
Till this moment no one has explained the rationale behind the change, the merits or otherwise why we had to abandon the last system which was barely practiced for a decade plus. A nation that jokes with the education of its youth and its citizens would have itself to blame not just in the future but in the immediate.
Today, agricultural science is a theoretical subject and schools do not even have farms any more, University of Agriculture takes more students for law than Agricultural Extension courses.
Why do we like to lie to ourselves.I never will know, I can authoritatively tell you that in the whole of Plateau State, Abia, Kano and Osun States by random sampling no public school has a functional up to date complete computer unit, internet with functional printers, and Governors will tell you how they have transverse from Galilee to Riyadh in improving education and the government at the center is preaching info-tech and AI.
Parents do not even know what their wards are doing in school; “let me see your homework” is now a strange phrase in families. Who really cares, the Ibos to Alaba in droves, and our Yoruba brothers to the mechanic workshop and how about us in the North, it is worse because our leaders are fighting for a place at the center.
There are no apprentices by calling but because of a lack of choice. An uneducated populace is one of the recipes for catastrophic socio-eco-political, cultural and steady decline, a nation where anything will always go.
The Boarding system in which was the best is gradually fading or negatively modernized, it was where we learnt to queue up, collect our food, sit down at prescribed tables and organize the cleaning of those tables; washing up by all who partook of the food. It was a system that inculcated in students honesty PROMAX!
So, very recently one of my adult sons, was at the park, having dropped his friend off to board a vehicle to Abuja, he was accosted by a deaf and dumb woman who asked for a token, I am sure many of us must have experienced them. He dipped his hands into his pocket and gave her a token, and as he walked into his car. He heard the woman say “Thank you”!
The words of Tai Solarin should conclude this essay..."the education being given to our children today, will give us a newer and nobler Nigeria." If that today was 1968, suffice to say that there is a problem in the land educationally with the kind of education being given in 2024 where dumb people speak— May Nigeria win!
Yesterday marked his golden priestly anniversary (50 years). I was among those who were under his guidance, both as a mass server and in the seminary. Unfortunately, after representing Mr. Peter Obi at three events, I arrived late as his representative at the event after the homily by another of our great teachers, Bishop Jonas Benson Okoye. However, I caught the reverberations of the sermon upon my arrival. OSTENDE said it was the first time he observed the emotional side of our Lord Bishop, thus prompting my request for the video. I just finished listening to it after today's 6 am mass. I appreciate the sentiments expressed by the bishop. The sermon's summary is that Monsignor Mgbemfulu is a priest in both fact and name.Prompted by the foregoing, may I repost my article on him in 2020, when he retired after 40 years in the seminary? I was humbled when Msgr said that this article inspired him to pen down his autobiography, which was one of the books presented at the anniversary. Read on!
Sylvester Mgbemfulu: a Priest and a Teacher - Valentine Obienyem
We cannot study our subject, Monsignor Sylvester Mgbemfulu in isolation, but must first look at the subtle interplay of culture, tradition and heritage all of which helped shape his outlook and even concept of reality.
Among these influences, perhaps after his parents, there is his home-town. Born on the 30th of September, 1945 inUgbene, in today’s ANorth Local Government Area of Anambra State, he attended primary schools in Ugbene, Ugbenu and Nando. These towns of relatively same level of development, tucked away from civilization at that time, may have contributed to his shyness. After his primary education, he stayed in the village helping his parents in their vocations, especially farming and fishing. He still recognizes the species of fish by their silent cries, speed and other aquatic characters which only fishermen understand.
While in the village, like other children, as testified by some of his age-mates such as Chief Simeon Dilinyeru, he was awed by the periodic visit of early priests to the area for spiritual ministration. At this point, he started yearning to become like them, particularly, as revealed by his immediate elder brother, Mr. Longinus Mgbemfulu, with the support of his father who saw it as a good omen that he was born on a day one of those priests first visited their community. Fortune smiled his way when, in 1962, another of his elder brothers, Hon. Mmee David Mgbemfulu took him to Aba to join him as a vendor of newspapers. The movement to Aba exposed him to another stream of influence as one experiences with the movement from primitivism to modernism.
As a young boy, Mons as he is fondly called by his people, seemed ready-made for the priesthood. This was attested to by his people of Ugbene, including his brothers and age mates and brothers who contend that he was made for the priesthood and nothing else. Speaking to them, this writer figured out that Mons has always been calm, reserved, soft-spoken and inclined to sanctity. Simeon Dilinyeru reveals that they “grew up together and went to school at the same time. At that time some people were against his becoming a priest but we knew that he would eventually become one because of the holiness of life that was decipherable even at that young age. Rather than struggle for anything, he would let it go”.
From Aba, Mons was enrolled at All Hallows Seminary, Onitsha in 1963. In 1968, he moved on to Bigard Memorial Seminary, Enugu. Due to the Civil War, the Seminary was largely peripatetic, moving from one town to the other as dictated by the uncertainties of the war. Eventually, he was ordained on the 20th of April, 1974, by Francis Cardinal Arinze, then the Archbishop of Onitsha. We can, therefore, say of him just like all priests and ex-seminarians who imbibed the right training, that he was moulded by the best institution for that purpose – the Seminary. There, his body and mind, character and disposition in life were profoundly formed. He was undoubtedly presented with the usual opportunity to devour books hungrily, to imbibe sound discipline, to think clearly, to inspire holiness by living a holy life, to realize how sweet and noble it is to work for God and perhaps as sometimes the case, he got intoxicated by over-dose of religiosity.
Even as a young priest, the priestly vows of obedience, poverty and chastity made the greatest meaning for him and he resolved to succeed rather than fail with them. As a new priest, he received the gift of a motorcycle from his people, which he put to full use in the propagation of the gospel. Seeing the competition of virtues in him, Cardinal Arinze took special interest in him and sent him to St. Paul’s Seminary, Ukpor as the Rector, after a stint as the Assistant Parish Priest to Monsignor William Obelaguat St Mary’s Catholic Church, Inland Town, Onitsha. Following Mons’ progress and love for education with keen interest, the Cardinal sponsored him to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) to study Chemistry.
On graduation in 1981, while waiting to resume in the Seminary of the newly-created Awka Diocese under the pastoral care of Most Rev. Dr. Albert Obiefuna, Mons was posted as an Assistant Parish Priest to St Patrick’s Cathedral, Awka which then covered many towns. During this period, this writer served Mons at mass at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Dodo, Oji River. We then usually referred to him as the Short Priest. He was about five feet tall, but the authority and majesty of the priesthood make him seem taller. Mons has maintained his stature over the years without any extra ounce of flesh to burden him simply because he is exceedingly temperate in food, drink and other worldly indulgences.
The following year, 1982, his long sojourn in the Seminary began at St. John Bosco Seminary, Isuaniocha. Except for three years he was in the USA on sabbatical, he was in the Isuaniocha Seminary for thirty-eight years variously as the pioneer Rector, Academic Dean, Co-ordinator of Science Laboratories, Spiritual Director, from which he retired in 2020, after reaching the canonical years of seventy-five. Only priests that are manifestly free from every kind of corruption and superior to the consideration of money can stay in such an environment for almost forty years without some protest. On the 17thof December, 2020, during his send-off at Isuaniocha, Mons exposed his inspiration in his address: “One of the past Rectors of this seminary, Very Rev. Fr. Ikem Oliobi did inspire me with the newspaper cuttings he used to paste on the walls of his living and sitting rooms. One of such cuttings read: ‘Bloom where you are planted’. What a statement with lots of lessons”.
With the fore-going, the search for Mons’ secret of remaining in the seminary during his pastoral work ended. The popular view about his long stay in the seminary was captured by a priest of the diocese, Rev. Fr. Dr. Cosmas Ebebe this way: “For his many years of teaching in the Seminary, some priests used to joke that he has been ‘forgotten’ there because his location remained the same when other priests were given new postings”.
But his stay in the seminary was eventful and could be seen from the reactions of many of the students that passed through him. Each epoch had its own identity of Monsignor Mgbemfulu. During the writer’s own time, 1987 to 1989, we called him “Omo”. The set of the late 1990s nick-named him “Sawan”. The Chemistry laboratory was his second home; and the students joked he did not buy fuel for his brown Corolla panel van but rather mixed some chemicals in the lab. with which he powered the car. As a teacher, he is Chemistry-intoxicated as he could be seen now and then fiddling with specimen, opening and closing the descanter or pouring one chemical into a test tube. His name provided chemistry with a synonym.
Fr. Obinna Dike remembers his first day in the Chemistry lab., where he usually had his lectures and how Mons welcome the class with the song: “ Come and see American Wonder”. Was it meant to frighten them? Not at all; knowing Mons, it was a joke he used to welcome some of his students who were thinking about what Chemistry had to offer.
Whatever impression students had of him, mostly informed by the exuberance of the youth, one thing is clear: Monsignor is a person that can reason and be reasoned with. He is possessed of great personal warmth and what can be called spiritual charm.
The sentiments of his former students were summed up by the Chairman of Old Boys of the seminary and a lecturer at Oko Polytechnic, Mr. Celestine Ostende Oguegbu in a compact paragraph: “Permit me to remark that throughout his stay in this Seminary, he was an outstanding tutor and committed to promoting excellence in both our education and spiritual life. Monsignor is ever smiling, always tolerant and eager to help when students have things bothering their minds”. Earlier, in an eloquent exordium, he had described Monsignor as “great teacher of teachers”. Bursting with compliments, Mr. Tochukwu Oboboegbunam described him as a “rare synthesis of ability and integrity”.
Though he occupied all positions available in the seminary, one constant thing was that he remained the Chemistry teacher and the Chemistry lab. was his office and second home, thus echoing by his life-style, the statement credited to Democritus: “I would rather discover a single demonstration in Geometry than win the throne of Persia”. Sometimes, it was even rumoured among Seminarians that the secret of his looking young every day could be explained on the possibility of Mons having discovered through chemical mixtures an elixir to look younger which he kept to himself and periodically sipped in the chemistry lab.
The end of the story is that Mons was married to Chemistry as to the priestly vocation; and for years was one of the resource persons for JAMB and WAEC on the subject. Unable to separate himself from Chemistry, let us sample some lines in his address during his send-off party, where, referring to his preceding statement, reduced it to some Chemical analysis: “… the statement takes me to one of the topics of study in practical Chemistry, ‘Theory of Indicators’. Under the topic, we observe that an indicator is selected such that its end-point will be close to the stoichiometric point of the acid-base titration it indicates and that choice of an indicator depends on the strength of acid and base to be titrated. Due to the fact that many acid-base indicators are plant pigments, plants of the same type have flowers of different colours in soils of different pH. So every indicator has a pH range at which it changes colour, i.e., at which it indicates and this is the basis for choice of indicator in volumetric analysis. When this natural law of behaviour of plants is applied in the deployment of personnel in the Church and government, the result will be a wonderful beautiful mosaic of outcome. Let every administrator take good note of this. Everyone has the potential to bloom where he/she is planted and if planted within the right pH range of his God-given talents”.
From the fore-going, we imagine what long marriage to Chemistry has done to Mons! He sees life and living from the prisms of Chemistry. Fr Ebebe got it right when he said: “He was perhaps the best Chemistry teacher of his days”. He reminds us of Napoleon Bonaparte, who expressed part of his strategy in mathematical formula: “The strength of an army, like the amount of momentum in mechanics, is estimated by the mass times the velocity”. We are profoundly influenced by what we do well.
Mons was kept in the Seminary precisely because of his virtues and the seminary provided the right pH range for his development through time and he really bloomed through his work. Again, Fr. Cosmas Ebebe was apt: “Msgr. Sylvester Mgbemfulu is a consummate, humble, hardworking and service-oriented priest. He was called to the altar of the Lord as a priest but he ascended to altar of holiness by his submission to God and to authority in the Church. He keeps the laws of God and so does not find it impossible to keep human regulations”. Mons’ Parish Priest and a retired Army Officer, Rev. Fr. Ignatius Ukoh said of him: “Monsignor is an example of what priests should be: obedient and completely detached from material things. He stayed long in the seminary with apostolic patience, forming the young ones, teaching and being faithful to the Church”.
In 2015, some old priests, including Mons that had served the Church in various capacities were elevated to Monsignors. What are the attributes that qualifies one to become a Monsignor and what are the criteria? Purely an honorary title, it is often bestowed by the Pope on the recommendation of bishops, on priests who have distinguished themselves in the service of the Church. Monsignor Sylvester Mgbemfulu’s elevation shows that he really bloomed to fruition where he was dropped.
Another criterion for naming one a Monsignor is the age factor. At a time we started witnessing very young priests being named Monsignors, Pope Francis in 2014 made it mandatory that for any priest to be so named, he must have reached the age of sixty-five. Yes, at sixty five, everybody can effectively and objectively measure one’s contributions on its own very terms. This is a welcome development. It is not about the magnitude of our achievements, but the fact that we did our best and put up utmost sacrifice where we found ourselves. The children of these days and those that attended Isuaniocha in late 2000 may not understand what the town was or looked like when Monsignor started his apostolate there. It was then devoid of all the trappings of modern development including electricity. As a student, when it rained, no vehicle plied the road to the town from Awka. One could just imagine how many times Mons slept outside the school because the rains prevented him from getting back to the station. For a priest like Mgbemfulu, his apostolic triumphs lay neither in the Naira he has made nor the mansions he has erected, but on how many times rains denied him access, how many priests he has formed for God and how many souls he has saved. Even in his home-town of Ugbene, his people said of him: “Mons was instrumental to so many people that embraced Christianity in Ugbene, our town”. His niece, Onyinye Mgbemfulu said: “Mons taught us so many things, namely, how to pray, respect for sound values and love for education”. Profoundly fond of him, his elder brother, Mr. Longinus Mgbemfulu said he was the best brother anyone could ever hope to have; not in terms of material things to gain from him, but his concern for one’s salvation.
Beyond preaching Christ to his people, he also identifies with them in various other ways, especially in infrastructural development. He loves his town, attends meetings with them and contributes to the development of the area. He was the Special Assistant to Archbishop Albert Obiefuna on the construction of access road to the Ugbene and other neighbouring communities in the 1980s. He contributed perhaps more than any other person to the construction of the bridge over the Ezu River to access Ugbene from Amanuke. Simeon Dilinyeru reveals that he was granted the honorific title of Ike Ugbene because of his devotion to the progress of the town: “He joins the town’s meeting every December, and we rely on him to know the truth at times of doubt or deliberate falsehood. Once he says what he knows, everybody believes. There is nothing that goes on in the town that he is not rightly informed”.
On their expectations, still representing the voice of this people, Dilinyeru said they had long awaited his ascendancy to the Episcopacy, but are handicapped to do anything about that since it is the prerogative of Rome.
If popularity is determined by how widely one is known, Msgr. Mgbemfulu, from his little corner, is unarguably the most-known priests among other priests of Awka and Ekwulobia Dioceses. This is so because priests ordained in the 1990s till date in both dioceses passed through him.
Mons is also profoundly charitable within his limited means. He made a lot of sacrifices for the good of students but always within what he could afford; and that defines true charity. Again, let Fr. Ebebe who worked with him as Auxiliary let us into Mons’ considerate nature: “His selflessness is perhaps his most hidden virtue but counting in his Favour before God. When I did one year apostolic work at St. John Bosco Seminary, after graduating in Philosophy in 1984/1985, Fr Sylvester Mgbemfulu was on the staff as the Chemistry teacher. A senior Seminarian, Mr. Peter Okoye from Nanka had severe liver problem and was declared terminally ill. The course of his treatment entailed taking him to University Teaching Hospital Enugu once a week while he remained hospitalized at St Joseph’s Hospital, Adazi Nnukwu. The problem of taking the seminarian to Enugu in a private vehicle rather than use of public transport came up for discussion. Fr. Mgbemfulu donated his one and only panel van for the service. He gave what he had for the course of charity. When I got to Adazi Hospital, the hospital Chaplain and manager who had a relatively brand new Peugeot 504 was touched by the kind gesture of Fr. Mgbemfulu and in following his footsteps asked that I left the panel van at Adazi and conveyed the sick seminarian with his 504. That began my weekly journey of driving Fr. Mgbemfulu’s car to Adazi and driving the 504 to Enugu with the sick seminarian. It lasted for some months before the seminarian later died. His selflessness spoke loudly to other priests. Secretly, many of us admire him for his obedience, humility, and holiness of life. We cherish his whole-hearted cheerfulness and his detachment from material things. He is a loving saint for whom we are praying for his final perseverance. Sometimes, some of us say, ‘I wish I had the good disposition of Fr. Mgbemfulu’.”
Many people corroborate Fr. Ebebe’s position. I heard a former Acting Rector of the institution telling how Mgbemfulu challenged the spirituality of the priests that worked with him. He said that while in the Seminary, Mons’ magna silencia started at 4am daily, when he would always be seen in the Fathers’ chapel meditating and praying even before others woke up. Most Fathers who worked with him, like Fr. Barr. Clement Muozoba, remembers him very well as a priest who hates oppression, extravagance and display. “No one”, Fr. Muozoba says, “ever questioned his assiduous devotion to his many tasks”. Fr. Anthony Umeh also expressed the character of Mons with great exactness: “His quiet, staid character, his modest simplicity and indiscourageable honesty and just nature won him the hearts of many who have worked with him”. Indeed, he is the living embodiment of Aeschylus poetic line: “for not seeming just, but being so”.
Mons has a shy disposition and that could be noticed even at first meeting with him, but like St. Francis of Assisi, he loves nature and cherishes its company. Once not in the lab., he would be busy under the mango trees watching and appreciating nature. The guinea fowls that found sanctuary in the Seminary fly off when anybody is at sight except Monsignor Mgbemfulu. Even at the point of leaving the Seminary, he was thinking about what happens to them and made a final plea for the animals in the following words: “As I retire from the seminary, I shall miss the fraternal company of the priests on the staff, my classes, the chemistry laboratory which has become my second home, the mango trees especially those behind the lawn tennis courts and our harmattan season cherished and welcome but evasive guests: the guinea fowls who have been given sanctuary in the Seminary over the years and for whom I plead on their behalf that the tradition is not allowed to die”.
As a priest, though soft-spoken, every word that came out of his mouth is loaded with wisdom. As a student, this writer carried a note-book and biro at all times to catch ideas or wise sayings in their flight. I just came across one of my jottings thus: “Today being Sunday, the 25th of September, 1988, Fr. Mgbemfulu during his Sunday Homily said that ‘self-preservation is the greatest instinct in man’.” Such are bits of wisdom contained in his utterances and those of formators everywhere. Such words leave powerful impressions upon one’s emotions.
As he enjoys his deserved retirement at St. Felix’s Catholic Church, Nibo, I am sure the place will become a pilgrimage for the Old boys and others in society. Who would not like to visit such a person for diverse reasons: to thank him for remaining an exemplary priest, for his contribution to education in the State, for the training received under him, among others?
The first pilgrimage to the great priest was on the 4th of January, 2021 by the former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi. During the visit, he thanked Mons for his contributions to education in Nigeria. In reply, Mons, pleasantly surprised, thanked Mr. Obi for championing education revolution in the State through the return of school to the church.
As we cherish the example of Msgr. Mgbemfulu’s life, let us endeavour to learn from him and pattern our lives after his. This is the best legacy to learn from him.
Obienyem, Special Adviser to Mr. Peter Obi, wrote from Lagos.
In the 19th century and even before, Bobriskys were lynched like common criminals. Their sin was their considered unusual sexuality. Until then, homosexual activities were classified as “unnatural crime against nature” while sodomy got punished with, sometimes death. In comparison, Okuneye Idris Olanrewaju, famously known as Bobrisky, has suffered one of the mildest fates. Between 1877 and 1950, over 4000 of such lynching occurred. As recently as April 2017, Kenne McFadden, a black transgender woman who didn’t have experience of swimming, got drowned when she was pushed into the San Antonio River in Texas on account of her “nauseating” sexuality. That much was said in 2020 by Emily Lenning, Sara Brightman and Carrie Buist in their “The Trifecta of Violence: A Socio‑Historical Comparison of Lynching and Violence Against Transgender Women.” Writing for Critical Criminology, they said five months after the McFadden case, specifically in September, 2017, Ally Lee Steinfeld, a white 17-year-old transgender teen, also got brutally murdered. Her cruel fate was brought about by three teenagers. She was stabbed in the genitals, her eyes gouged out, her body set alight and her remains dumped “in a chicken coop near a mobile home park in Missouri.”
Two months later, in the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, Sherrell Faulkner, a 45-year-old Black transgender woman, got cruelly beaten and then dumped behind a dumpster.
Days after, the injuries she suffered led to her death in the hospital. Till today, Faulkner’s murderers have not been identified. The three cases, according to Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF) 2018, represented a tiny strand of at least 29 murders of transgenders that the United States recorded in 2017, ranked as the deadliest year for the Bobriskys in recent history. HRCF also reported that between 2013 and 2019, it tracked 157 cases of fatal anti-transgender incidents.
Perhaps this was what weird but hugely talented Nigerian singer, rapper and songwriter, Habeeb Okikiola, a.k.a. Portable, was referencing in Brotherhood, a short musical he did attacking Bobrisky recently? In the song, Portable condemned Bobrisky for morphing from “brotherhood to sisterhood.” While body-shaming the embattled cross-dresser as “a disgrace to brotherhood” and having ameoeba-shaped buttocks that looked like a clay pot worth only a pound – e wo idi e bi koko ponun kan – Portable asked that Bobrisky be stoned to death – “e le l’oko pa!”
Like Portable, from ancient times, the world has never hidden its hostility against people who profess sexual orientation different from its. Like, it says, can only be compared to likes – ohun t’o ba jo’hun l’a fi nwe’hun. The world even gave its anger towards homosexuality religious validation. Following this route, Italian priest, philosopher and theologian, Thomas Aquinas, condemned homosexuality as “unnatural.” The biblical book of Leviticus 18: 22; 20:13 is often cited: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination,” as well as Romans 1: 26 where biblical Paul hoisted up lesbianism for condemnation: “For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.”
The Bobriskys come in various names and appellations. They are either bisexual, in which case, they are attracted to persons of both sexes; Butch, male and female who dress in stereotyped male ways; “In the closet,” because they do not disclose their gender identity; Femme, due to their acting and dressing in feminine ways; gays, for their attraction to persons of same sex and as LGBTQ, a sweeping categorization of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgenders and Questionings. Bobrisky is Nigeria’s own daughter of the historical Greek woman, Sappho, an Archaic Greek poet, who hailed from Eresos on the Island of Lesbos. Sappho was the first known woman “accused by some of being irregular in her ways and a woman-lover.” She is venerated by lesbians as the foremother, the near mythical prototype of people with queer sexual cravings. Lesbianism, the community of same sex women, was forged from Lesbos, the name of the island Sappho lived on. Bobrisky patterns her life towards Sappho and has become a controversial self-confessed transgender, LGBTQ personality and campaigner.
According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (2015, 47), the umbrella term used to describe the Bobriskys of this world, called transgender, refers to “… people whose gender identity and expression does not conform to the norms and expectations traditionally associated with their sex at birth. Transgender people include individuals who have received gender reassignment surgery, individuals who have received gender-related medical interventions other than surgery (e.g. hormone therapy) and individuals who identify as having no gender, multiple genders or alternative genders. Transgender individuals may self-identify as transgender, female, male, transwoman or transman, transsexual, hijra, kathoey, waria or one of many other transgender identities, and they may express their genders in a variety of masculine, feminine and/or androgynous ways.”
Homosexuality, cross-dressing or lesbianism is as old as humanity. The holy writs seem to abet the cruelty and violence that humanity has inflicted on these creations of God. While some antiquities tolerated their sexual fates, others visited their wraths on the offspring of Sappho. Well-known lesbian Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at San Diego State University, Christine Downing, in her Lesbian Mythology, suggests that lesbianism is a grueling life of isolation, confusion and terror. This was her conclusion while re-casting Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso’s myth. Naso, simply known as Ovid, had told a story which has almost become a global lesbian epistemology. Heroine of the story, Iphis, born female, desired to be male. Her mother had hidden her gender from her father, a poor Cretan peasant who badly wanted a male child. Iphis’ mother was in despair in her pregnancy until the goddess, Isis advised her to deceive her husband about the child’s gender. At age 13, Iphis fell in love with the most beautiful girl on the island called lanthe. Raised as a male, there was confusion, making her mother cry to the god, Isis. As Iphis and Ianthe walk home one day, Iphis’ features suddenly change to a man’s and “the boy Iphis gained his own Ianthe.” Downing apparently retold this story to reduce the tension of horrific encounters of the children of Sappho.
Bobrisky leapt into the news again recently. He/she had been named winner in the ‘Best Dressed’ Female Category of popular Yoruba actress, during the premiere of Eniola Ajao’s Beast of Two Worlds, Ajakaju movie premiere. Scalding criticisms erupted on social media. Bobrisky’s choice sparked uncomplimentary reactions. Not even Eniola’s immediate apologies on her social media handles and reversal of what she declared was a stunt gone sour were enough appeasements. A few days later, the EFCC arrested Bobrisky, charging her to court for mutilation of Nigeria’s currency totaling N490,000. He/she was immediately convicted, ranking it as one of the Concorde supersonic airliner -speed convictions ever given by the Nigerian judiciary. We hope the Nigerian judiciary and the EFCC will give the Kano State government-filed criminal charges against the immediate past governor and APC chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, same expeditious trial. Kano had resorted to trying Ganduje over alleged $413,000, N1.38bn bribery during his governorship and had assembled 15 witnesses to testify against Ganduje.
In a country where mutilation of the national currency is an off-the-cuff weekend pastime of the elite and the political class in Nigeria, it was obvious that a deeply religious, conservative, African-centric animosity against unusual sexuality was fighting back. When stunned about how odd events fit into one another to form a mesmerizing wonder, Yoruba will say Ó jọ gáté, kò jọ gàté, ó fi ẹsẹ̀ méjèèjì tiro. It is similar to the case of a limping masquerade (atiro) who enters the “Igbale”, where masquerades remove their mask regalia –ago. If an agbada-clad, limping person now walks out of the Igbale immediately, it shouldn’t be difficult to situate who the atiro was. No one needed to be told that the masquerader, like the nightingale – the beautiful Awoko bird – had shed its quills. Such is the wonderment and clinical precision of Bobrisky’s lynching. A highly religious Nigeria was obviously taking vengeance for Bobrisky’s sexuality audacity.
Some scholars have said that, until about half a century ago, lesbianism or gay relationship was a nonexistent phenomenon in Africa. According to them, per adventure it even ever did exist, it was an aberration imported from the West. Anthropological researches have however proved that the existence of same-sex sexual practices predates the now in Africa into before, during, and after colonialism. The practice was however disparaged. Dobrota Pucherova said this much in her “What Is African Woman? Transgressive Sexuality in 21st-Century African Anglophone Lesbian Fiction as a Redefinition of African Feminism.” Africans saw lesbianism as an example of a woman’s corruption, moral depravity and even madness. Pucherova uses the Kenyan Rebeka Njau’s novel, Ripples in the Pool (1975) and Ghanaian Ama Ata Aidoo’s Our Sister Killjoy (1977) as affirmation of this thesis. In Njau’s novel, the protagonist, Selina, gets infatuated with her husband’s younger sister. She was cast as exhibiting “predatory sexual desire” toward the two siblings. The book consigns Selina’s behaviour into the trash basket of egomania and a damaged personality. It also suggests that Selina makes use of witchcraft to control her victims. No wonder she ends up murdering the young girl and her male lover. Aidoo’s Our Sister Killjoy sees same-sex as less predatory. In it, a German housewife becomes obsessed with Sissie, the Ghanaian protagonist. Marija’s obsession is painted as a measure of moral degeneration reminiscent of post-Holocaust German society. All these and other African literature openly thematized lesbian desire, showing however that black women are victimised through patriarchal control of their sexuality. An example is Monica Arac de Nyeko’s short story, Jambula Tree, which is the first East African text to do so.
Last week was Easter, a sacred day in the annals of world Christianity. Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service’s (FIRS) communication agency would not allow the day to go by without marketing its tax portfolio. So it put out the brilliant, catchy and arresting phrase “Jesus paid your debts, not your taxes.” This brilliance and mental ingenuity should earn any student of PR a Distinction. Not Nigeria’s churchpreneurs. They saw it as reckless audacity operating on the same dangerous Fahrenheit as Bobrisky’s. I haven’t heard the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) lament the danger in the current obnoxious hike in electricity tariff. That won’t make Bola Tinubu know that CAN is a combination of Christian principalities. On FIRS, CAN reached for its ancient pouch immediately. It brought out those archaic, boring refrains of “offensive” “derogatory” and “religious harmony.” I have been struggling to find a difference between CAN’s obvious intolerance and a similar one that happened in Kaduna in November, 2002. Twenty one year old Isioma Daniel, who worked for the Thisday, had written on a Miss World contest Nigeria was to host. She off-handedly and harmlessly suggested that Prophet Mohammed might have approved of the contest and probably wished to marry one of the beauty queens. Hell was let loose. The newspaper’s Kaduna office was burned down. Hundreds of people were reportedly killed. The ensuing riots lasted for several days, prompting the organisers of the Miss World contest to relocate it to London to protect further lives from being lost.
One thread links our Bobrisky demonization, CAN’s hypocritical anger and Islam’s pesky religiosity. It is called intolerance. I referred to the witch-hunting of same sex people as “our” because, if today, Bobrisky offers his/her hand to me for a handshake, I will shudder. I am almost too sure I will refuse it. My refusal will not be strictly me in action. Rather, it will be centuries of culture, religion and our collective aversion to change which have bored deep roots in me. These three hate change. Their mantra is, as it was in the beginning, so shall it be. Static as a statue.
Take for instance our cultural and religious perception of child-bearing and polygamy. For centuries now, Africa venerated procreation almost to a point of deity. Whoever brings forth a child owns this world – “Olomo l’o l’aye” – our mothers proudly sang. In Africa, barren women were stigmatised because women were seen as procreation vehicles called motherhood. In the bible, Peninnah scorned Hannah’s barrenness. Our mothers, who, due to no fault of theirs, couldn’t bring forth children, were witches. In earlier centuries, some cultures abetted barren women being stoned to death by scorners. Today, the world has re-interrogated the whole corpus of child-bearing. Couples willingly decide they don’t want to be encumbered by it. Is it really true that Olomo l’o l’aye? Great men and women have traversed this world without bearing children. Their corpses were not fed to the swine. Nor are we told that child-bearing is a passport to the hereafter. We have had parents who gave birth to children but died miserably, due to their abandonment by their children.
Today, there is a huge traffic back to where we were before the advent of colonialism. Soon after Britain and its Middle East allies came with their Bible, Quran and guns, we abandoned our centuries-old medicine, dressing and culture. Now, Africans are going back to those same abandoned roots, apologies to Lucky Dube. One of such is polygamy. Last week, Bassirou Diomaye Faye was inaugurated as the fifth Senegalese President, flaunting his two wives – Marie Khone and Absa. I could see the west squeeze its face like excreta beaten by rain. The hypocritical west flushes monogamy and homosexuality down the throat of the world while abhorring our ancient practice of polygamy. Reproached in high places as Faye just did, monogamy and its icing of hypocrisy are getting perforated. The truth is that the stringent rules of monogamy have destroyed more homes than they built.
We must interrogate every teaching and dogma of religion, culture and society and hold on to those that will assist us live quality lives. That is what existentialist philosophy teaches. Today, churchgoers are asking questions about the stupendous wealth of the Daddy G.Os and the poverty of the congregants. We must not be slaves to them, nor be their mannequins. While upholding values that will strengthen humanity, we must also show respect for otherness and recognize individual human rights. What is Jesus’ business with FIRS’ quest to bring more people into its tax net? Parodying Isioma, if Jesus were here today, He would recommend a national honour for the fellow whose brilliant idea birthed that FIRS line. Why drag Jesus and Mohammed into this needless pettiness? What should infuriate a sensible human being about Mohammed enjoying Miss World? Why should we be captives of dogmas? Why should we allow the bigotry of CAN and zealotry of Islamic fundamentalists drive our thinking? Religious charlatans and their naïve accomplices merely make their enemies the enemies of God. If CAN has been slumbering and needed to talk by all means, couldn’t it dig a hole like that old Yoruba fable of Alade’s friend, who couldn’t stomach the confided secret of Alade growing a horn on his head, who then dug a hole, inside which he shouted, “Alade has horn on his head!” – Alade hu’wo? From that same hole grew a tree and whenever anyone bought a flute beside it, the rhythm sprouting off the flute was: “Alade hu’wo.”
Earlier, it was society’s view that people like Bobrisky were suffering from psychological disorders. Or that homosexuality was an abnormal condition. Science has since discovered that many atimes, the Bobriskys may be prisoners of their biology and psychology. Research has shown that you do not choose to be gay, bisexual, or straight. And that homosexuality is a natural and normal sexual orientation, expressions of human sexuality. The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its radius in 1973, and with it the stigma of mental illness that had long been associated with the children of Sappho. Why do we demonise those who, like accidents of birth, have no say in the kind of sexuality they are imposed upon by nature?
Do I agree with Bobrisky’s open flaunt of his/her sexuality? No. I think one’s sexual orientation should be a private affair. I also advocate that children of Sappho deserve pity from society and should be clinically lured out of their natural affliction. I also think that, if dug deeper, Bobrisky’s untapped major infraction against the law may just be that she has turned her cross-dressing into a commodity. EFCC should openly admit that it is acting the script of a vindictive, homosexual-hostile Nigerian society in lynching Bobrisky. Singling him/her to face the wrath of the law is akin to the lynching treatment given homosexuals in the early centuries. Currency mutilation is a fad which very few Nigerians are not guilty of as charged, from Bola Tinubu, to the lowest Nigerian. An orgy of celebration on the social media has since followed Bobrisky’s lynching by the law. It reminds me of a hunter who proudly hoists the decapitated head of a buffalo as a symbol of his masculinity.
Do you want to live and work in the United States of Nigeria as opposed to the Federal Republic of Nigeria? Would you rather be a citizen of USN rather than FRN?
I ask that question because there is a renewed clamour for the renaming of the giant of Africa from its present identification as the Federal Republic of Nigeria to a new one, the United States of Nigeria. The current wave was triggered by Africa’s Optimist-In-Chief and President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, in his brilliant lecture delivered at his investiture as winner of the Obafemi Awolowo Leadership Prize 2024.
I used to be bothered by appearing to be a blind copycat, especially if there was another way of presenting something that was not totally new. Follow the beaten path or create a new one? Most times, I opt to be as original as I can be without necessarily trying to reinvent the wheel. So, when the issue of renaming Nigeria re-emerged in the marketplace of public discourse, I was quite interested in steering the discourse towards more enduring territories than a mere copying and domestication of another country’s name.
What’s In A Name?
Some people have asked, what’s in a name? They argue that there’s no intrinsic value to a name and that any name is as good as any other. Of course, Shakespeare disagrees. In his play, Romeo and Juliet, he asks, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.”
By extension, following that argument, no matter the name you give to Nigeria, the country will still be what it is.
For our collective sakes, we should all be eager to prevent the discussion from degenerating into the usual pedestrian level of naming for naming’s sake. The change of name suggested by Dr. Adesina is but one of the items in a long list of ingredients required to make the Nigerian developmental soup of our dreams.
Adesina argues that Nigeria must dream. Like many analysts of the African condition before him, he links the destinies of Nigeria and the African continent together in a symbiotic relationship. He argues that we must start by unleashing our full potential while managing our challenges. We must make poverty history in Nigeria and, indeed, in Africa.
He argues that, “What is not acceptable or sustainable is an Africa that imports 70-80% of its medicines and produces just 1% of its vaccines. The health security of Africa’s 1.4 billion people cannot be subjugated to global supply chains or the generosity of others.”
Disclosing that over the last seven years, AfDB had invested over $8.5 billion in agriculture, which had impacted 250 million people, Adesina declares that the transformation of rural economies must be structural, systemic, strategic and comprehensive.
Not surprisingly, he advocates education and housing for all. He points out that, “Nigeria accounts for 15% of the total population of out-of-school children, according to UNICEF, with over 10.2 million at the primary school level, and 8.1 million at the Junior Secondary School. This is not a gold medal Nigeria should be proud of… I firmly believe that their future lies in a rapidly developing Nigeria, and Africa, that is able to generate quality jobs with competitive wages and a decent quality of life for millions of youths. That is why the African Development Bank Group and partners have provided $614 million to Nigeria for the i-DICE program to support the development of digital and creative enterprises, which are expected to create 6.3 million jobs and add an estimated $6.4 billion to the Nigerian economy.
Specifically on housing, Dr. Adesina notes that, “In Nigeria, 49% of the population live in slums, according to data by UN-Habitat. That is a staggering 102 million people! That is 152% of the population of the United Kingdom, 392% of the population of Australia, 268% of the population of Canada, 150% of the population of France, and 1,020% of the population of the United Arab Emirates. Right here in Lagos, a UN-Habitat assessment shows 70% of the population live in informal settlements or slums.”
Adesina decried what he called “the opprobrious policies that seek to upgrade slums”. In his view, “There is nothing like a 5-Star Slum: a slum is a slum. Urgent actions are needed to support mortgage financing and refinancing and use of innovative financing structures to raise long-term capital for closing the housing deficits.
Constitutional Lie
As a columnist who has closely followed and analysed the Nigerian condition for several decades, I have no doubt that the most crucial of the five variables for re-engineering a new Nigeria is the decentralisation or unbundling of the grotesque unitary structure imposed by the military at the onset of their misadventure into governance in 1966. Before that time, Nigeria was governed on the basis of a constitution peacefully negotiated by representatives of the people. Today, the current Nigerian constitution is the holiest lie in the country’s legal superstructure because everyone knows that the clause, “We, the people…” actually means, “We the military…”
Dr. Adesina points out that democracy is more than the right to cast a vote. It is the right of citizens to hold governments accountable for improvements in their welfare. He laments the situation where most Nigerians have been forced to constitute themselves into private local governments on account of the fact that they provide electricity for themselves via generators; repair roads in their neighbourhoods; provide boreholes for drinking water; and, we may as well add, provide their own security.
The sensible way out is to revert to an idea which informed the negotiations of the founding fathers of Nigeria at independence — and which served us well until the military rudely intervened — decentralise governance to constituent parts in order to provide greater autonomy.
Adesina’s belief in a new Nigeria is predicated on his conviction that, if things were done differently, the giant of Africa would be able to sing a new political and developmental song in the nearest future: “There is a compelling need for the restructuring of Nigeria. Restructuring should not be driven by political expediency, but by economic and financial viability. Economic and financial viability are the necessary and sufficient conditions for political viability.”
Restructuring
It is in the spirit of restructuring, of building the Nigerian pyramid from the bottom up, that Adesina’s call for the renaming of the country as the United States of Nigeria should be understood. What we have at the moment is a Unitary State of Nigeria disguised as a federal republic. A lie told in any language or vernacular, will always remain a lie!
Providentially, the National Assembly is in the process of amending the 1999 constitution in the midst of calls by several sub-national groups for an adoption of the report of the Constitutional Conference of 2014 or even a reversion to the original 1963 Republican Constitution. No matter the perspective of politicians on the matter, all agree that the current system is fraudulent and cannot lead Nigeria to its deserved place among the comity of nations.
If, in addition to restructuring or reversion to the originally negotiated constitution of Nigeria, our political engineers reach a consensus on renaming the country as the United States of Nigeria, you won’t find me among those bleating ‘Nay!’
DECADES back, in those giddy days of military rule, David Mark, one of the top military brass, was reported as saying that telephones are not for the poor. Mark was the Minister of Communications whose duty was to make telephones available, accessible and affordable for all. He failed and to mask his failure, he blurted out the embarrassingly outrageous statement that telephones were not for the poor. Truly, in that era, the telephone was a status symbol. You found telephones with and in the homes of the rich. The magical box was stationary and usually sat majestically in a conspicuous place in the sitting room, unlike the handset of today called the mobile phone because it is truly mobile.
Also, in those days, it was a symbol of status if you had a neighbour or family member with a phone at home or in the office, where you could go to receive or make a call. I remember those were the days when NITEL was king and everyone had to flock to their offices in select areas to wait in long queues and for long hours to make calls. In those days, too, calls to some destinations could only be made at specific periods of the day, some at midnight, because of network problems. It was easier in those days for a camel to pass through the eyes of a needle than for a poor person to make calls within the country, not to talk of international calls! You are not an ordinary person if you have someone abroad who can call you or that you can call.
Those days are far behind us now! Gradually, we began to have hand-held telephone sets. Or, better still, mobile phones that could be carried about in one’s car or bag. I remember my 090 Mobitel luggage of a phone when I was the editor of PUNCH newspapers. Only three of us had it in the entire organization – the Chairman, the Managing Director and my humble self. It was expensive making calls those days. I remember that I once was in charge of processing bills emanating from those Mobitel phones. After this came the revolution of GSM, which demystified hand-held or mobile phones and every Tom, Dick, and Harry could own phones. This radical change took place within a generation and David Mark himself witnessed it. He witnessed the poor owning phones.
At first, GSM was expensive, very expensive. Owning the SIM card alone was an achievement; unlike today when it has become commonplace. The cost of a SIM card alone was prohibitive to the ordinary folk, not to mention owning a handset, which, in those days, were not of various shapes, kinds and types that we have today. NOKIA 3310 was one of the most popular telephone brands of the time; bulky but rugged and reliable. Today, technology has taken GSM to dizzying heights. It has also at the same time demystified it. Everyone now has a phone; even beggars on the street have phones. Calls can now be made from anywhere, everywhere and at any time. In Nigeria, telephones are no longer for the rich. It is, today, not just a fact of life but a way of life to virtually everyone. Hardly would you see anyone without a phone. Many Nigerians carry multiple phones. Sleek phones and even sleeker ones flood the market at intervals and SIM cards have become 10 for one penny! David Mark has been proved wrong!
On many, if not all fronts, life can be made more abundant for all and sundry; only that the leaders are not minded to do so. And they mask their failure or indifference in terms that give the impression that it is a tall order achieving such milestones. The fact, however, that Millennium Development Goals are set with datelines shows that these goals are achievable. Other nations achieve them; why not us? Water for all; housing for all; education for all; eradication of this or that; putting an end to open defecation, etc are some of the MDGs that have been set and that have been achieved in varying degrees elsewhere. Why not also here? There is hardly any goal set that is not achievable. Failure to achieve them is, often, evidence of failure of leadership. There is nowhere this is more evident in this country than in the area of power generation.
Apart from security of life and property and making food available to the people, power supply ought to rank next in the order of priorities. Even those two are helped by the availability of power. God made no mistake when He made light His first creation. “And God said, let there be light, and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). Before then there had been darkness, gross darkness. And just like Jesus Christ said, man works in the day (when there is light or power supply); night comes (darkness/power outage) when no man can work. Only God knows how much Nigeria has committed to power generation since its inception as an independent country in 1960. Since the beginning of the current Fourth Republic in 1999, the quantum of funds purportedly committed to power generation has been counted in billions of dollars. Yet, the more resources we commit, the less power we generate. The more we look, the less we see. Power generation, which is commonplace elsewhere, has become rocket science here.
And that failure has affected everything down the line. The quality of life is affected. The economy takes a beating. Cost of power generation is one of the major reasons why businesses are relocating from Nigeria. With that comes loss of revenue and loss of jobs, accentuating poverty and its attendant corollary. Little development and progress can be made in the face of epileptic power supply. Huge sums of money is wasted on the procurement and maintenance of generating sets and fuel to power them. The inconveniences involved apart, its effects on the environment are massive. High cost of doing business here affects cost of products and services, making businesses that operate here less competitive when compared to others in climes where power supply is more stable.
Government control failed to deliver the desirable results in the power sector. Civilians failed. Military, too, failed. Parliamentary system of government failed. Presidential system, too, has failed. Where, then, do we turn? Unbundling, as they called it, of the behemoth called NEPA also failed. Privatization and commercialization – everything we have tried has failed to yield the desired results. We get less all the time. Yet, customers have continued to pay more money for services not rendered. They pay to get light but get darkness in return. Yet, they are required again and again to pay more to get more of the same darkness. Another tariff review, always going upward and never coming down, defying Isaac Newton’s Law of Gravity, is in the offing again. How long?
The quantum of the new tariff increase is staggering; and there is no assurance of service improvement. Why pay through the nose for services you are almost certain will not be rendered? The statement that only Band A or the upper echelon customers will be affected does not offer enough assurance because, from experience, we know that the tariff increment will percolate to the other bands sooner or later.
[OPINION] Between London route and Onyema’s patriotism: Celebrating an exhilarating dawn - Ingram Osigwe
AdminShylock foreign airlines are in trouble; they are gasping for breath for an exhilarating dawn of breath of fresh air for Nigerians flying the London route is here! At last, Nigerians can now fly to London and fly back without a gaping hole left in their pockets as a result of exorbitant airfare.
A Nigerian airline, Air Peace which, since berthing in the aviation industry, has adorned Nigerianess like a garb made this possible. Hate him or love him, you cannot take one thing away from Allen Onyema, the unassuming Anambra-born lawyer behind Air Peace: His fervent love for Nigeria and fellow Nigerians oozes from a heart that flows with milk of human kindness, a pure heart that knows no malice or grudges!
Allen Onyema
A man is a patriot if his heart beats for his country” – Charles. E Jefferson. No characterization best aptly describes Barrister Onyema’s persona as Jefferson’s.
When he sprang up Air Peace a few years back Allen had and still has “Love for Fatherland” as the sacred creed of his enterprise.
Onyema’s trajectory in the Aviation sector leaves no one in doubt that remaining true to selflessness, altruism and patriotism even at the risk of business and profit losses is natural to him.
For the Air Peace boss, the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians comes first; and then business and profit follow. This is no sloganeering. Barrister Onyema has lived up to this billing now and again and makes no noise about it.
We saw him do this when distressed and traumatised Nigerians were left at the mercy of horror and indignities in South Africa, Libya and Ukraine.
Putting profit aside, Onyema deployed his planes to evacuate them safely back to Nigeria without demanding kobo from anyone.
Air Peace’s recent audacious and successful foray into the London route despite vicious, debilitating aeropolitics strewn on its path by local and international nay-sayers in the aviation industry again says much about how the extra-mile Onyema can go to do good to his country and his fellow citizens.
Reminiscence of what an indigenous network provider, Globacom owned by the irrepressible board room czar, Mike Adenuga, did to the GSM industry in 2003 when he made a grand entry into it, Onyema’s Air Peace has demystified foreign airlines, broke their back and rescued Nigerians from mindless exploitation on the London route.
Recall that before Globacom stormed the GSM industry, foreign network operators which dominated the industry in Nigeria at that time sold their SIM cards as high as N30,000 and subjected Nigerians to an excruciating per-minute billing.
However, Globacom’s entry changed all that. At inception, it sold its SIM Pack for N10,000, N5,000 airtime inclusive. In effect, Nigerians bought Glo SIM cards for a mere N5,000 at that time compared to the cut-throat prices of the foreign GSM operators’ SIM packs.
In addition, Globacom also scrapped per-minute call billing and introduced per-second billing at cheap and affordable rates, a feat foreign GSM operators had claimed was impossible.
Globacom’s audacious and revolutionary steps were to put a stop to the hitherto unchecked exploitation of Nigerian subscribers by foreign GSM operators.
Like Globacom, Air Peace has given Nigerians a new lease of life. The indigenous airline has given Nigerians plying the London route a refreshing relief from harsh treatment from foreign airlines.
Before Air Peace entered into the London route, foreign airlines’ Econony class ticket costs were between N3.5m- N4m while Business class soared to N17m. However, with Air Peace pegging its Economy class return ticket on the route for N1.2m and Business Class ticket at N4m, foreign airlines have now been forced to slash their ticket prices drastically. Air peace has indeed freed Nigerians from the fangs of shylocks!
Remarkably, with the commencement of flight on the London route, Air Peace has finally eviscerated national and international conspiracies that have barred it from the route. It is noteworthy that the airline applied to fly the route seven years ago but obfuscations and vicissitudes inspired by high voltage, vicious local and international aeropolitics were deliberately thrown on its path.
Air Peace is not new to international routes. The airline flies to China, India, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, South Africa and other international routes which take longer hours to fly to and fro.
For example, Air Peace flies to China on Wednesdays, 14 hours going and 14 hours coming back, making it 28 hours of flying in one day and a half.
It also flies to India every week- 12 hours going, 13 hours coming back- and has undertaken 160 hours of flying within Nigeria every day for the past seven years without blemish, why then were vested interests in the aviation sector intent at keeping the Airline from the London route, a mere six hours flying time?
The answer is simple: A powerful local and international cabal feeding fat on Nigerians via outrageous London route air ticket was not ready to lose out!
Meanwhile, as far as the London route victory is concerned, Air Peace has become a pathfinder of sorts to other indigenous airlines as some of them like United Nigerian Airline, Ibom Air and Azman Air are now striving assiduously to join the route.
According to Dr Obiora Okonkwo, Chairman of United Airlines, like Air Peace, his airline will conquer and overcome local and international aeropolitics to join the London route.
“We will start very soon. I cannot tell but if it is left for us to start, we would have started yesterday”, an elated Okonkwo assured at an event to celebrate Air Peace’s London route triumph.
In all of these, credit must be given to Nigeria’s dynamic Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister, Festus Keyamo, SAN, for his numerous reforms and innovations in the Ministry which made Air Peace’s breaking of the London route monopoly possible. The Minister has sufficiently stamped his competence and has also justified his appointment by President Tinubu.
Air Peace and the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development have played their patriotic parts in ending the London route monopoly and the attendant negative economic implications, it is now left for Nigerians to play their part by patronising one of their own- Air Peace.
What should occupy the lips of Nigerians at this moment is how Air Peace crashed business class flight ticket to London from N17m to N4m and Economy class from N4m to N1.2m.
Let this unprecedented feat be on the lips of Nigerians, let’s shout and trumpet it even from roof tops and tree tops!
The onus now falls on Nigerians to prove that Air Peace fought for them. The airline is one of our own and is wholly Nigerian in its operation. For example, Zobo and kilisi were served in the airline’s inaugural London flight and I had no doubt that Nigerians can’t joke with an airline that factors in their fauna and flora in its operation.
I can beat my chest and predict that in a matter of time, Nigerians aboard Air Peace flights to London and other routes will savour Ofe Onugbu (bitter leaf soup), Ofe Owerri (Owerri special soup), Efo riro with Amala, Tuwo Masara and Tuwo Shinkafa, Afang and fisherman soup!
Osigwe, a social affairs analyst is the CEO of Fullpage Communications.
One thing the flamboyant electioneering campaigns leading to the 2023 presidential elections did not expatiate upon was how the first budget of the new administration would be funded to meet the lofty campaign promises. The expectations became heightened when it became obvious that the inauguration of a new Nigerian President on May 29, 2023 did not come along with a magic wand to arrest the country’s deteriorating economy.
Instead, the strategies designed by the new President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu only emphasized some future relief to be preceded by immediate severe pain on citizens. The first signs that the supposed future relief was achievable emerged a few days ago following the news of a huge increase in revenue generation by the Nigeria Customs Service NCS. According to media reports, the Service pulled off a spectacular performance to collect the sum of N1,347,675,608,972.75 in the first quarter of 2024.
The impressive outing by the NCS must have gladdened many hearts but to those who are familiar with the antecedents of the current leadership of the Service, it didn’t come as a surprise. Some analysts are even looking forward to greater achievements during the tenure of Bashir Adewale Adeniyi who was recently picked as Comptroller General of Customs by President Bola Tinubu. Industry watchers are generally agreed that in every respect, Adeniyi is a square peg in a square hole. For the no less than 3 decades that he has been in service, he has become known for achieving great things. Some 4 years ago for instance, he was singled out for an award in appreciation of his pivotal supervision of the seizure of $8,065,612 million cash at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos in January 2020.
By his posture, CG Adeniyi effortlessly makes a case for our agencies to be headed by intelligent and professional career officers who had over the years been prepared for the Chief Executive position. In which case, they would have acquired many years of cognate experience by passing through several critical segments of the relevant entity. Such officers best know the strengths and weaknesses of their organizations; they know what button to push, who to deploy to where and when and how to make progress by not just increasing activities but also by blocking loopholes through which all gains normally vanish within seconds. Organizations such as the Customs Service should therefore never be where to post loyalists or where to reward friends and relations who know nothing about the peculiar nuances of the institution concerned.
But no matter the institution, modern trends suggest that the best way to successfully run an organization is to realize the inevitability of technology which now serves as the redeeming feature of humanity. In this age of technology, it is no longer reasonable to rely on analogue platforms to achieve sustainable progress. CG Adeniyi being a strategic researcher and communicator must have among other things quickly discarded the physical pursuit of smugglers in favour of aerial surveillance just as he must have followed global realities by installing ICT and other digital facilities for operations especially smart scanning machines in airports. What is certain is that because technology changes daily making it possible for yesterday’s kits to show signs of obsolescence even before they are unparked, identifying the latest facilities that can place operations above criminals is now an imperative.
Remarkably, the new Customs administration did not wait for the media to begin to speculate on its activities when it decided on its own that every societal institution owes accountability to the public for whose sake it was established. It is hoped that all government agencies would emulate the NCS by institutionalizing the practice of occasional media briefings in furtherance of public enlightenment. Those who operate differently have so much to lose because by the time the media speculates on their activities warranting rejoinders from them, the first casualty is institutional reputation especially at a point of collective frustration caused by overbearing inflation. If the NCS has made 122.35 percent progress in its revenue generation compared with same time last year, what have others done?
They need to let us know because the world is now in the age of open government. The narratives of a deceitful colonial era in which operatives were only to be seen but not heard are no longer fashionable. Nigeria must progress into becoming one of the world’s greatest communicating nations. The reverse bears anarchy like the recent situation in Kaduna state where some party stalwarts were unhappy with Governor Uba Sani for revealing the huge debts and heavy contractual liabilities inherited by his administration. More annoying is the alleged suspension of the woman leader of the state chapter of the APC, Maryam Suleiman for berating Governor Sani who supposedly rubbished the former Governor. Penalizing a citizen for expressing an opinion should only happen in a dictatorship and not a democracy.
Government officials at all levels ought to perform well and at the same time inspire public confidence by taking the people along. At the federal level, the repeated assurances by President Tinubu that the buck stops at his desk cannot be used by agency heads to undermine accountability to the public. In fact, Tinubu’s acceptance of vicarious liability presupposes that he is ready to fire all those not performing. This is because a time for economic depression is the best time for activities here and there – not speeches but actions that have quick wins. At the beginning of this administration, there was a lot of public expectations from the Immigration Service due to the proactive posture of Tunji Ojo, the Interior Minister. So, when can Nigerians apply and seamlessly pick up their international passports? Last week, the story was that efforts were being made to print our passports locally. Is that an objective that falls within the realm of rocket science?
We must however not forget to pay tribute to two private sector leaders, namely Allen Onyema and Aliko Dangote that are bringing messages of hope to the homes of citizens. But for Dangote, life would have been much harder at the rate the price of Automative Gas Oil (diesel) was rising and rising. Happily, Dangote Petroleum Refinery has now forced down the pump price of the product to around N1,225 from about N1, 700 per litre. Similarly, Allen Onyema has used his airline, Air Peace to halt the conspiracy of the west to kill the naira. With his entry into the Lagos-London route, all carriers hitherto exploiting Nigerians are now in disarray. It is hoped that other business owners and executives would emulate Dangote and Onyema so that Nigeria can rise again. It is therefore not too much for government to formally commend the two patriots to strengthen them to keep hope alive.
A time like this when people are striving to survive is certainly not the time for any Nigerian business to maximize profit. It is therefore unfortunate that our power distribution companies have convinced themselves that this is the best time to raise tariffs. It is worse that they are able to persuade their regulator to accept a rise by as much as 300 percent. If precedent is anything to go by, the arrangement of categorising consumers into bands will as usual, lead to profiteering. It will be recalled that during the Buhari administration, metres paid for by government to be freely distributed to consumers were surreptitiously sold by the DISCOS. With some consumers already claiming to have been short-changed, on band categorization, there is no better time than now for the regulator to operate with a human face.
It would be against the run of play if public sector agencies are waiting to be prompted to up their performances so as to give room for the rest of us to breathe. May be the Nigeria Custom Service should take the lead again; this time not just in revenue generation but in curbing insider abuses. It is unfair that agencies extort huge sums of money from citizens in addition to approved payments before offering the service for which they were employed. CG Adeniyi would leave his name in gold if he can use technology to sanitize all the processes and procedures for obtaining services from customs operatives. Many citizens would be relieved if other Nigerian service provider executives can similarly act.
In governance, opportunity cost is more complex as an empirical construct. Foregone alternatives may not necessarily be foregone. In certain cases, there may be very little wiggle room for such niceties. Allocating resources to critical sectors without neglecting other sectors for a holistic and organic development of the country becomes the potent ideal, verging on emergency.
The proclivity for an integral fettling of Nigeria’s gaping concerns is patent in the ideation and iteration of the Tinubu administration’s priority areas of reforming the economy to deliver sustained inclusive growth; strengthening national security for peace and prosperity; boosting agriculture to achieve food security; unlocking energy and natural resources for sustainable development; enhancing infrastructure and transportation as enablers of growth; focusing on education, health, and social investment as essential pillars of development; accelerating diversification through industrialisation, digitisation, creative arts, manufacturing & innovation, and improving governance for effective service delivery.
It is one reticular hoop. One niche subsisting on the other; one outcome depending on the other and vice versa, and one thread cascading down on the others. A breathing filament runs through the nexus of security, agriculture, education, infrastructure, job creation, and other sectoral motifs. They are one important whole.
Effective security will naturally enhance food production as citizens can go to farm; open arteries of investments, and effectuate the deepening of investments in other sectors, as well as impact the overall well-being of society. Improved agriculture will, in turn, ensure food security, price stability, and hunger mitigation. Infrastructure provision will stimulate investments and create opportunities along multiple channels of growth. And so will investments in education, healthcare, and other sectors all converge to secure Nigeria’s future.
It takes a dexterous laying of bricks to build an edifice. The administration takes a cultivated and diligent brick-by-brick approach to governance; to building that nation we all deserve. It is a steady, well-thought-out, and carefully executed step-by-step fashion as against the harum-sacrum option.
In March, President Bola Tinubu approved the establishment of the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund (RHIDF) to facilitate effective infrastructure development across the pivotal areas of agriculture, transportation, ports, aviation, energy, healthcare, and education in Nigeria.
The Fund will, among other things, invest in critical national projects that will promote growth; enhance local value-addition, create employment opportunities, and stimulate technological innovation and exports.
It will cover agricultural infrastructure and food security with emphasis on the development of robust agricultural infrastructure networks; ports revitalisation, with premium on the rejuvenation of port facilities and associated infrastructure to streamline operations and enhance the ease of doing business; aviation enhancement, with focus on the revitalisation and modernisation of major airports nationwide; road infrastructure, with some strategic projects like the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, the Sokoto-Badagry Road, among other key road projects across the nation, to receive attention, and rail infrastructure, with Lagos-Kano and Eastern rail lines as some of the projects to be prioritised.
In healthcare, President Tinubu is sparing no effort as investments are being funnelled into the sector. Recently, he directed the immediate upgrade of key health infrastructure and equipment across the six geo-political zones. Ten hospitals bestrewing the six geopolitical zones will be revamped to provide exigent and top-tier healthcare services in the lines of radiology, clinical pathology, medical and radiation oncology, and cardiac catheterisation.
On April 3, the president signed into law the Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2024. And in furtherance of his resolve to secure Nigeria’s socio-economic future by ensuring sustainable higher education and critical skill development for all Nigerian students and the youth, he expeditiously and carefully appointed a management team. This is so that the necessary instruments are put in place for the effective take-off of this all-important fund.
There is also the plan for school feeding and other education-specific initiatives to overhaul the entire pedagogy train.
The president has also approved the establishment of the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP) and appointed a chief executive to efficaciously manage the corporation and ensure the expansion of access to credit to all classes of Nigerian citizens while promoting financial inclusion, and enhancing the quality of life of the Nigerian people as they access the tangibles of prosperity.
The Tinubu administration is executing a full-system upgrade, even with specific attention to some sectors, understanding that Nigerians deserve a full complement of good governance and socio-economic security.
Fredrick Nwabufo is the senior special assistant to the president on public engagement
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35,000 innocent and defenceless Palestinians, including 15000 children, have been targetted and killed in Gaza by Israel over the last 6 months yet it was only after 7 western aid workers of the World Central Kitchen were tragically and callously targetted and murdered in cold blood by the Israeli Defence Force last week that western Governments and the Western media are beginning to recognise the fact that the Jewish state has turned into a monstrous and uncontrollable beast.
This begs the following questions.
Does blood not flow through the veins of Arabs and Muslims in the same way that it flows through the veins of westerners and Christians?
Is the blood of westerners redder than the blood of Arabs?
Do Palestinian lives not matter?
Are American, British, Australian and French lives more precious than the lives of Palestinian men, women and children?
How can one explain or wish away this glaring display of emotional selectivity, hypocrisy and double standards?
Is it not racism in its most glaring and ugly form?
Is this not a case of psychological apartheid in motion and have the leaders of the West not developed a classic sociopathic and psychopathic disposition when it comes to the suffering of the Palestinians.
Even after 75 years of barbarous servitude and occupation followed by the mass murder and genocide that we are witnessing in Gaza today few notable western leaders give a damn and most of them have not only turned a blind eye to it but are also willing partners and complicit in the most graphic and barbaric expression of man's inhumanity to man and sheer wickedness since the Nazi holocaust of World War 11.
Given this all-embracing endorsement and unconditional support that they enjoy is it any wonder that the Zionists believe that they have the divine right to give life and take it at will and at their pleasure?
Is it any wonder that the Jewish state believes that it can get away with mass murder and ethnic cleansing?
Is it any wonder that the Zionists believe that they are divine beings with a divine purpose, the master race, God's chosen people?
Is it any wonder that they believe that they are totally and completely above the law and untouchable given the unconditional support and tacit approval that they enjoy from NATO and the powers that be in the west?
Over the last six months western leaders have applauded Israel for slaughtering the Palestinians and destroying all their infrastructures yet they only started questioning their devilish collusion with what can only be decribed as unadulterated evil when seven of their own citizens who were doing charity work and helping to feed the starved and beleaguered children of Gaza were also butchered in a hail of precision rockets that brutally cut them down one after the other.
These same people did not shed a tear or say a word when Israeli jets mowed down hundreds of Palestinian civilians as they tried to grab food from aid trucks that came in from Egypt.
To them that did not matter and neither did they view it as an atrocity or describe it as a war crime or a crime against humanity because those that were murdered were "mainly Muslims and only Arabs".
Is this fair? Can it be justified or defended?
Is it not a perfidious display of double speak, double standards and devilry?
Is it not a gratuitous insult to our collective humanity and a monumental shame?
Are Arabs, Africans, Asians and the people of the "global South" not human beings too?
Again for the last few months western leaders stuck to their oars and stubbornly refused to acknowledge the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a wild and rabid dog that cannot be controlled and that no longer listens to its master.
They refused to accept the fact that he had become the proverbial falcon that was no longer prepared to listen to the falconer.
They refused to recognise the fact that the genocide in Gaza was not about religion but rather about the implementation of an insidious, sinister, religious and racist agenda and an unconciable attempt by a horrendous and deluded horde of callous, bitter and vengeful Zionist barbarians to decimate, displace and exterminate the Palestinian people and steal their land.
So drunk are Netanyahu and those around him on the blood of Palestinian children that not even American President Joe Biden, their biggest and greatest friend and ally, can control them.
Will the Zionists ever accept the fact that killing women, children, refugees, journalists, clerics, doctors, nurses, hospital workers, United Nations staff, the elderly, the disabled, the mentally challenged, the weak and other innocent and defenceless civilians in the name of world Jewry and the Israeli state is not only unacceptable but also an abomination and an affront to our collective humanity.
They say when a dog loses its mind and not only refuses to listen to its master but also turns on him and attempts to bite him one is constrained to put a bullet in its head and put it out of its misery.
Perhaps the same solution should be applied to the Zionist state.
Perhaps it is time for it to be put down like a sick, dangerous and rabid old dog and removed from the face of the earth.
I have said it before and I will say it again: in light of the events of the last six months Israel has lost her right to exist.
And if calling out Israel for the atrocities they are committing in Gaza & insisting on an immediate & unconditional ceasefire makes me anti-semitic then so be it.
As a matter of fact it is a badge and label that I would wear proudly.
I do not believe that it is acceptable for the Jewish state to consistently break international humanitarian law and commit war crimes. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that aid workers and journalists should be targetted and killed. If that makes me anti-Semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that it is right for Bibi Netanyahu to smirk and grin on national television as he tells the world how the 7 western aid workers were targetted and murdered in Gaza by his army. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that it is right and proper for the Iranian Embassy in Damascus should be targetted and bombed by the Israeli Defence Force or that senior Iranian military commanders that were staying there should be murdered in cold blood. If that makes me anti-Semitic then so be it.
I do not think it is acceptable for Israel to bomb the city of Allepo in Syria and kill 42 people including defenceless civilians. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that the Jews have a licence from God to kill innocent & defenceless civilians. If that makes me anti-semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that it is right for the western nations to continue to supply arms to Israel and to be complicit in and an enabler of genocide. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that the Jews are the master race that have been specially chosen above others by God. If that makes me anti-semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that Christians and Muslims will burn in hell or that the Prophet of Islam & our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ were fake. If that makes me anti-semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that saying "Christ is King" is a crime. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was a liar and charlatan who is now boiling in human excrement in hell. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that demolishing the Al Aqsa Mosque, sacrificing three red heifers where it presently stands & building the third Jewish Temple on exactly the same spot is just, right & proper. If that makes me anti-semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that the Jews and the State of Israel should exert so much influence over the affairs of the United States of America, the western democracies, International politics, world banking & finance & the Western media. If that makes me anti-semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that an attack on Israel, no matter how horrific, gives the Jewish state the right to wipe out, exterminate or drive into the desert or the sea the entire Palestinian race or kill every single man, woman and child in Gaza. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that Zionism is of God & I consider the Zionists to be far worse & more insidious, cruel & unrelenting than Hitler's Nazis. If that makes me anti-semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that Candace Owens should have been fired from the Daily Wire for criticising Israel & I do not believe that Ben Shapiro & Rabi Shmuly are human beings. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that Bibi Netanyahu is sane & I do not believe that he is acting in the best interest of the Jews or the State of Israel. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that South Africa & Ireland have done anything wrong by taking Israel to the Intermational Court of Justice for crimes against humanity, war crimes, ethnic cleansing & genocide. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that it is right for Israel to prevent food supplies from going into Gaza and for starving the people to death. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.
I do not believe that ALL MUSLIM countries should unite against Israel but rather I believe that ALL countries, whether Muslim, Christian, Hindu or anything else should unite against Israel. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.
I do not believe in ethnic cleansing and the elimination and extermination of an entire race of people as a formula for the resolution of international disputes and I wholeheartedly condemn the holocaust that is being inflicted on the people of Gaza. If that makes me anti semitic so be it.
Finally I no longer believe that Israel has the right to exist & I believe that they forfeited that right when they chose to bathe in the blood of Palestinian women, drink the blood of Palestinian children & butcher the Palestinian people. If that makes me anti semitic then so be it.
75 years ago God in His infinite mercy & wisdom gave the Jews a new beginning, a new country and restored them to their former glory.
This was a great blessing but they squandered it by orchestrating the Nakba, by refusing to share the land and live in peace with the Palestinians that they met there & by refusing to desist from treating them like animals, occupying their land & slaughtering them with impunity.
Sadly with their own hands they destroyed the great opportunity that God gave them & instead chose to visit the same unadulterated evil that the German Nazis once visited on them on the Palestinians.
If the truth be told, contrary to popular opinion, Israel is not a democracy but rather a vicious, heartless, bloodthirsty, parasitic, vampiric & blood-lusting apartheid state that applies one set of laws to the European Jewish colonial settlers that own & run it & another to everyone else.
To be an Arab, a Muslim or a Christian in Israel is hell & to be any of the above living in either Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq or anywhere else in the Middle East means that you could well be subjected to genocide, ethnic cleansing or mass murder by the Jewish state whenever they deem it fit.
It is for this reason that the entire civilised world is enraged with Israel and that every right-thinking person expresses the following words from the inner recesses of their souls and with every fiber of their being.
They proudly proclaim, "FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE!"
And despite the double standards of the leaders of the western democracies, so it shall be to the glory of the Living God!
I'm sure that once Amaka Modebe (nee Obiofuma) settles down in Heaven, she will make a reservation for us at Olive Gardens. Despite all my efforts, we did not get the chance to visit that restaurant in New York City, but she will ensure it happens in Heaven. Yes, Amaka and I have come a long way.
I first met Amaka Obiofuma in the 90s when I was walking up and down Ikeja, Lagos, looking for a job in journalism. Ok. Scratch that. I did not meet her. She did not know who I was. Nobody at Hints knew me or invited me. I went on a job hunter's equivalent of cold calling. Like many other jobseekers, I sat at the Hints magazine reception area several times, hoping to get an opportunity to meet someone who would interview me for a job.
Several times, I watched Amaka Obiofuma walk into the Opebi building of True Tales Publications LTD, the publisher of Hints magazine. She was the Chief Executive Officer. Each time she walked in with the likes of Chidinma Awa Agwu, I looked at them with great admiration, pondering if they had two heads, being the people I had read their columns every week for years. I also told myself that one day, I would become their colleague.
At the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), where I started writing at the Press Club, all I wanted to be when I grew up was like MEE (May Ellen Ezekiel) of Classique magazine. I wanted a column in a national newspaper or magazine where I would write whatever came to my mind. Nothing more, nothing less. But if that failed, I had a plan B: to write stories like the ones published by Hints magazine. I had written a few such stories at FUTA that gave me the confidence that I could do it if given the chance.
So, after my NYSC in Akwanga, I went to Lagos to hunt for a job in journalism.
My job searching axis was straight. From Okpebi (the home of Hints) to Allen Avenue, Ikeja (the home of Classique). I had a leg up at Classique because, during my NYSC, I had written MEE every week for a year. So, she invited me to come afterward. But at Hints, I had no contact with any of the writers. So, during those visits, I would sit at the reception and watch them walk in. Like all young people of that period, I read them all - Reuben Abati, Fatherhood with Ibe, Kayode Ajala, Amaka Obiofuma, and the mysterious gossip columnist Toks. As they walked in, they would glance at those of us waiting, and if they recognized a visitor, they would take the visitor with them. For the rest of us, we would wait and wait.
I ended up getting a job at Classique. It didn't lead to a permanent position. I went to the Guardian newspaper a few weeks after Reuben Abati left Hints and went to the Guardian. Again, I didn't get a permanent position at the Guardian. I went to the Daily Mail. At the Daily Mail, I finally got all I wanted in journalism - a column of my own. From then on, when I opened the newspapers and magazines of the week and read columns like those of Amaka Obiofuma, Reuben Abati, Edwin Madunagu, Dan Agbese, and Mike Awoyinfa, I pictured some people somewhere in Nigeria reading mine.
Almost twenty years later, in Valley Stream, New York, I met a man named Paul Onochie Modebe from Ilah. His daughter, Bukun, was in the same catholic school with my daughter, Ijeamaka. We got acquainted, and he introduced me to his wife along the way. He said his wife was a journalist in Nigeria, and her name was Amaka Modebe.
The day I met her over fourteen years ago, she told me she was Amaka Obiofuma of Hints magazine. I told her that one day, we would go to a new restaurant that opened near us in Valley Stream called Olive Gardens so she could tell me about the behind-the-scenes stories of Hints magazine. I had a lot of questions about the stories they published in those days, the people who ran the magazine, and that gossip columnist, Toks.
Over the years, Paul and Amaka Modebe became our closest friends in New York. They quickly became family. They were the only people with the right to pick up our kids in school. Our home became theirs, and theirs became ours. No party at our house was complete without them. Paul Modebe became more of my senior brother, or so I thought. I call him at least twice daily - in the morning and evening. He was the kind of person who knew the answer to any problem that could crop up.
All was going well until a scandal broke one day. I made my usual check-in call on Paul Onochie Modebe, now known to my family and friends as the Ilah of Ilah. Amaka picked up the call. She accused me of being her co-wife. She said I was speaking to her husband, Ilah of Ilah, more than she was.
Once again, I added it to matters we would resolve at Olive Gardens.
Like her columns at Hints, "Frank Talk with Amaka," Amaka was a gentle soul with no pretension. Her kindness was effortless. Her unique laughter filled every space she entered. She was like water, and as Fela said, "Water no get enemy." If William Shakespeare were to write of her, he would have put it this way:
"Her life was gentle; and the elements
So mixed in her, that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, THIS WAS A PHENOMENAL WOMAN!"
Amaka had moved away from journalism in America, and each time I tried to drag her back into it, she politely declined. She was not even interested when I tried to entice her with the exploits of her former colleagues, like Reuben Abati. During Goodluck Jonathan's time as president, when I could not reach Dr. Abati, I often told Amaka to give him a call for me. Each time, she would only smile and say nothing. It was the smile of someone who knew a lot but would not talk.
I added that to the list of matters we would resolve at Olive Gardens.
I used to tease her that she would be my first guest on a show I planned to do called "Where Are They Now?" I told her that the second guest would be Letty Diai, the editor at Classique magazine when I was there, who also left for America. And then, Innocent Egbunike, Felix Liberty, Jide Obi, and other 80s and 90s celebrities who have melted into thin air.
The day I knew that even though she left journalism, journalism had not left her was when I wrote a column about Pastor James Eze. As one of those who received my column every week, her husband thought I would hear from her whenever she read it. It did not happen. As a former columnist, she understood that a column is nothing but the writer's opinion at the moment in time and that every writer has the right to their opinion. She only told me she would pray for me when we finally discussed it.
For a long time, the running joke between us was when this long-deferred visit to Olive Gardens would happen. We went from wondering when I would have enough money to take everyone to Olive Gardens to when this American life sef would give us the time to go. Time passed. Kids kept growing. They finished elementary school and high school and entered college.
Today, Amaka has left us.
To be sure, Amaka has only taken a raincheck. The only thing that changed was the location. The visit to Olive Gardens will now happen when we get to Heaven.
Though, sadly, Amaka went ahead of us earlier than anticipated, we all take solace in the memories of her that we cherish. We know she will prepare a place for us at the finest table, just like she gave her all to friends and family when she was with us.
We all miss you, Amaka—Au revoir. See you later at Olive Gardens in Heaven.
Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo teaches Post-Colonial African History, Afrodiasporan Literature, and African Foketales at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He is also the host of Dr. Damages Show. His books include "This American Life Sef" and "Children of a Retired God," among others. His upcoming book is called "Why I'm Disappointed in Jesus."
Within the diverse pantheon of African rulership, something curious is emerging. In many ways, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda is fast emerging as a model of the transformation of democracy into authoritarianism in Africa. While Museveni has retained his nationalist streak in the fight against the global LGBTQ epidemic as well as his isolated battles against Western multinational exploitation and blackmail, his practice of democracy and adherence to the rule of law would disappoint pundits of African democratic enlightenment.
He has repressed basic freedoms, violated the rights of his political opponents, bludgeoned opposition political figures and jailed those who disagree with him. He has enthroned what is easily a personality cult of leadership that is easily a combination of draconian military dictatorship and crass authoritarianism. That is not strange in a continent that has produced the likes of Nguema, the Bongos and Paul Biya.
In addition, Museveni now displays some of the worst excesses of Africa’s famed authoritarianism, dictatorial indulgence and the dizzy materialism of its leadership. For instance, the president is reported to travel around with an interminable motorcade that includes a luxury airconditioned toilet. Worse for Uganda’s democracy are the recent stories of Museveni’s manouvres towards self-succession. Specifically, he has appointed his son as Chief of the army, a move which many observers of Uganda see as a pointer to his succession plan.
For me, the unfolding Museveni authoritarianism is a classic instance of the transformation of African leaders from revolutionary nationalists to authoritarian emperors. I once met and spoke with the early Museveni. He had emerged from a bush war as a liberator and valiant popular soldier that was heralded into Kampala as a liberators. He came to mend a broken nation from the locust ears of Idi Amin and Milton Obote.
The Museveni that I sat and conversed with in the early 1990s was a committed socialist. He was an African nationalist. He was a social democratic politician with a strong social science background. His primary constituency was the people most of whom fired his liberation movement in the countryside. We exchanged ideas freely on the thoughts of Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Frantz Fanon, Walter Rodney and Amilcar Cabral among others.
As the Chairman of the Editorial Board of the new Daily Times under Yemi Ogunbiyi, I initiated and conducted a one on one interview with Yoweri Museveni in his early days after the overthrow of Obote with the backdrop of the Idi Amin carnage. What follows is both a travelogue and a reminiscence of the Museveni before now. Is it the same Museveni or are there two Musevenis?
In 1991, I scheduled a trip was to Kampala to interview Yoweri Museveni. I travelled alone through Addis Ababa and Nairobi. In those days, inter African flight connections were a nightmare of stops and delayed connections. I arrived Kampala and found my long standing friend, Dr. Manfred Nwogwugwu, a demographer who was based in Kampala as head of the United Nations Population Commission. We had been together at Ife where he and his lovely wife, Ngozi, hosted me for the weeks it took me to find my own accommodation as an apprentice academic at Ife. He took me on a tourist trip around Kampala. The city was broken and bore fresh bullet holes and bomb craters, the marks of war. From Biafra, I knew this ugly face well enough. Kampala had just been liberated by Museveni’s forces after ousting Milton Obote and remnants of Idi Amin.
I knew as a background that Mr. Museveni had been helped in his guerilla campaign by both M.K.O Abiola and General Ibrahim Babangida, then president of Nigeria. He therefore had a very favourable disposition towards Nigeria. He was also quite influential with African leaders from whom Nigeria was seeking support as General Obasanjo was lobbying to become United Nations Secretary General when it was deemed to be the turn of Africa. As a matter of fact, I was joined at the Museveni interview by Obasanjo’s media point man, Mr. Ad Obe Obe, who had come to interview Museveni as part of the Obasanjo campaign.
Museveni’s Press Secretary, a pleasant but tough woman called Hope Kakwenzire, kept in touch while I waited in Kampala for my appointment. She was sure the interview would hold but wanted to secure a free slot on the President’s choked schedule. She promised to call me at short notice to head for the venue.
When she eventually called, it turned out that the interview venue had just been switched from the Kampala State House to a government guest house in Entebbe, close to the airport and by the banks of Lake Victoria. Entebbe brought back memories of the famous Mossad raid to free hostages of a Palestinian hijack of an Israeli plane. At the appointed time, I was picked up from my friend’s residence. As we headed for Entebbe, memories of the dramatic Israeli commando rescue of airline hostages at Entebbe during the Amin days kept flashing through my mind. When I arrived Entebbe airport on my way in, I was shown the warehouse where the hostages were kept ahead of their dramatic rescue. The rescue had made world headlines in those days. It reinforced Israel’s military prowess and the intelligence dexterity and detailed planning of the Israeli DefenCe Force (IDF) but the operational dexterity and intelligence excellence of Mossad in particular.
We arrived a nondescript white bungalow tucked amidst trees and vegetation. It was a colonial type sprawling white bungalow. The entrance gate was a long drive from the building itself. When your car is cleared through the first gate, you drive along a bushy drive way towards the building. The first gate has normal military sentry who already know you are expected. As you drive along the bushy driveway, some surprise awaits you. Suddenly some small figures in full combat gear dart onto the drive way and wave your vehicle to a sudden stop at gun point. They are too young and too small to be regular soldiers. But their moves are rather professional and smart. They are ‘child soldiers’ or rather ‘baby soldiers’ who had fought alongside Museveni’s liberation forces in the bush war that led to the freedom of Uganda. No emotions, No niceties. They screen the vehicle scrupulously for explosives. These small men have apparently been trained to trust no one. They ignore the escort and Press Secretary both of whom are familiar faces. They insist I answer their questions for myself. I explain I have an interview appointment with the President. They briefly return to their tent at the wayside and briefly confer by radio communication.
They wave us through to the building. I am taken through a rather unassuming hallway and a colonial looking living room and dining areas that opens into a simple sit out at the back of the building. The sit out at the back of the building opens into a vast courtyard with well manicured green gardens. The extreme end of the green is Lake Victoria. At its banks, there are tents with simple garden chairs. The serenity of the location is striking. Even more chilling is the eerie silence of the location except for the flapping of the wings of flamingos and pelicans playing by the lakeside. I quickly framed it in my mind: “Conversations by Lake Victoria!”
Seated alone in one of the tents is President Yoweri Museveni, the new strongman of Uganda. His simplicity beleis the mystique of courage and valour that now define his reputation. He was a leading figure in Africa’s then latest mode of political ascension: the strong man who wages a guerilla movement in the countryside and marches from the forest into the city center of the capital after toppling an unpopular sitting dictator and his government with its demoralized army . After him, Joseph Kabilla of the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) and Charles Taylor of Liberia followed the same pathway of political ascension but with differing outcomes.
The man in the tent was dressed in a simple black suit. He welcomed me very casually and warmly. “Nigeria is a long way from here, I imagine!”, he said jovially as he ushered me to take a seat. As we settled down to exchange views, it turned out that our exchange would be more than an interview. It was more of a radical social science conversation.
We compared notes on the class struggle in Africa, the burden of the political elite far removed from the masses, the alienation of the rural masses, the working class in Africa’s imperialist inspired industrialization. Museveni was very knowledgeable and sharp. His intellectual exposure was impeccable. He knew a lot about Nigeria, about our cities and the structure and general disposition of our elite. He had very kind words about M.K.O Abiola and his commitment to African unity and liberation which he was supporting with his vast resources. In particular, he supported Abiola’s ongoing campaign for reparations from the West to Africa for the decades of pillage during the slave trade and the subsequent colonial expropriation and haemorrhage of resources.
I still managed to pierce through his armour of social science and dialectical materialist analysis to ask him a few worrying questions about Uganda and Africa’s political future. He was generally optimistic about the turnaround of Uganda after the devastation of war and the rampaging carnage of dictators.
He added that he was facing the tasks of reconciliation among Ugandans after decades of division and distrust just like Nigeria did after our own civil war. He invited me to return to Kampala a few months hence to witness what the will of a determined people can do towards post war reconstruction. He told me he was out to fix not only the broken landscape of the city but more importantly the destroyed lives of many poor Ugandans. When I mentioned what I had seen of the devastation of AIDS in the countryside, he nearly shed tears but sternly reassured me that he would contain the scourge of the epidemic by all means.
I left Museveni on a note of optimism on the prospects of Africa’s comeback after the days of the Mobutus, Amins, Obotes and Bokasas. Given my own left leaning ideas, I found Museveni a kindred spirit and an unusually enlightened and progressive African statesman. He questioned everything: African traditions, beliefs, the assumptions of African history, the political legacy of the colonialists and the neo colonial state. He discussed pathways to Africa’s future economic development and the urgent need to question and possibly jettison old development models being peddled by the West through the World Bank and the IMF.
That was Museveni back in 1990-91.
Anytime I remember this story, I laugh and shake my head. In 1994, a Nigerian music promoter organised a concert, dubbing it “The Greatest Show”. There was plenty of hype built around it. Shabba Ranks, the Jamaican dancehall artiste and one of the biggest international acts at the time, headlined the concert, which was held at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS). There was a modestly attended VIP-only event at the National Arts Theatre, Iganmu, but the TBS event was a total disaster. Only a handful of people showed up. Waziri Adio was then my colleague at TEMPO. After covering the concert, he crafted this scathing headline: “From the Greatest Show to No Show”. Wicked!
This came to mind again after Justice Abubakar Kutigi, a judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), ruled on March 28, 2024 that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had failed to prove that there was corruption in the transfer of Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd’s interest in OPL 245 to Shell and Agip in 2011. It had been billed as “The Biggest Corporate Scandal in History” but after intense scrutiny by the US department of justice, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Court of Milan in Italy, the commercial court of England and Wales, and now the FCT high court in Nigeria, they all came to just one verdict: no evidence of corruption whatsoever. Anticlimax.
The EFCC took its latest loss at the FCT high court quite badly and there were soon WhatsApp rumours that its prosecutor, Mr Offem Uket, was bribed to scuttle the case — although the commission has denied making such an allegation. But if, indeed, the EFCC prosecutor was bribed, were the Italian prosecutors bribed to lose the case in Milan too? In fact, the prosecutors are now facing criminal charges for allegedly hiding vital evidence that would have exonerated Shell and Eni during trial. Were the officials of the US department of justice and SEC bribed as well? It seems the EFCC was working to an answer all along and did not properly plan for how to handle possible defeat.
I started hearing of “Malabu scandal” over a decade ago but, honestly, I never paid attention to it. After all, Nigeria is a huge scam yard. Only God knows how many scams are planned and executed per hour across the length and breadth of Nigeria — both in private and public sectors, and even in religious houses, media and civil society. It takes something of monumental proportions for us to open our mouths and scream. I read that $1.1 billion “that should have gone to the federation account” had been paid to Malabu, a company owned by Chief Dan Etete, a former minister of petroleum, and his friends. Now, $1.1 billion is mouthwatering! I started reading the stories.
In 2017, I had a phone conversation with Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke, the former attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and a big figure in the OPL 245 affair who was accused of authorising the transfer of the first tranche of $810 million to Malabu. He told me he was not a signatory to the account and did not have powers to issue payment instructions. He said Dr Yerima Ngama, then minister of state for finance, authorised the payments. Mr Danladi Kifasi (then permanent secretary, ministry of finance) and Mr Babayo Shehu (then director of funds) also issued instructions. He sent me a bundle of documents on the entire OPL 245 affair, dating back to 1998. His claims checked out.
The EFCC also accused Adoke of taking a bribe of N300 million (around $2 million at the time). The alleged bribe was said to have been paid into his Unity Bank account in 2013 — two years after the OPL 245 deal was signed, sealed and delivered. Something did not click. The Nigerian officials I know do not wait for two years to collect gratification. Pardon me, but I would also expect a corrupt Nigerian minister to get more than $2 million “thank you” in a $1.3 billion deal. Adoke swore and sternly denied collecting a kobo from the deal, saying the N300 million was a loan he took from Unity Bank to buy a property from Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu that was manipulated by the EFCC as bribery.
According to him, when he could not pay up his own N200 million equity to complete the property purchase, Aliyu returned the N300 million to the bank, retrieved the land documents and sold the same property to the CBN in 2013. It was the N300 million refunded by Aliyu that the EFCC classified as a bribe in the trial at the FCT high court. Ironically, in another case filed against Adoke and Aliyu in a federal high court, the EFCC classified the N300 million as mortgage. It was the same prosecution witness presented by the EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Ahmed, that made the contradictory claims. This was one of the facts stated by Justice Kutigi in dismissing EFCC’s charges, which he described as “frivolous”.
Adoke, sounding surprised by my line of questioning during the phone call, said the major role he played in the OPL 245 resolutions was to give legal advice to President Goodluck Jonathan who wanted to know if the consent judgment entered into with Malabu by the Obasanjo administration in November 2006 was valid. President Olusegun Obasanjo had revoked the oil block in 2001 without stating any reason. He then gave it to Shell. Malabu sued the government, lost on technical grounds and appealed. Obasanjo opted for an out-of-court settlement and agreed to return the oil block to Malabu. Adoke said he studied the consent judgment and advised Jonathan that it was binding.
Jonathan subsequently set up an interministerial committee to implement the settlement agreement. OPL 245 was returned to Malabu in 2010, with Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, then minister of petroleum, re-issuing the licence to the company fronted by Etete, who was previously convicted of money laundering in an unrelated case in France before the conviction was quashed on appeal. In 2011, Shell and Eni teamed up to acquire Malabu’s interest in OPL 245 for $1.1 billion. All the funds totalling $1.3 billion — including the signature bonus of $210 million paid to the Nigerian federation — were then deposited by the oil companies in Nigeria’s account at JP Morgan in London.
This was where the story became convoluted. According to anti-corruption campaigners, Malabu’s proceeds of $1.1 billion from selling its interest in OPL 245 should have been paid to the federation account. That was the origin of the “Malabu scandal” narrative. But if a company sells off its interest in an oil block, how can the proceeds go to the federation? It sounded even sleazier when it was reported that Etete bought a private jet from the proceeds — which is not unusual with those who hit windfalls. I doubt anyone would make that kind of money and not buy a yacht and even the sea. Gen Theophilus Danjuma also bought a private jet from OPL 246. It seems to be a status symbol.
My major misgiving was that Etete awarded an oil block to himself in 1998 — a clear case of conflict of interest. Surprisingly, every president, except President Muhammadu Buhari, recognised Etete as the owner of Malabu. Buhari appeared to recognise Mohammed Abacha, who said Etete outwitted him. The EFCC wrote twice to Aso Rock that the son of the former head of state should be compensated before the trial of Adoke, Aliyu and the oil companies could be terminated. Also, Etete used a pseudonym in registering Malabu. Mohammed used “Mohammed Sani”. This was apparently to mask their identities. These issues were not raised by the EFCC during trial. I am still at a loss.
Now that all the court cases on OPL 245 have been dispensed with (although the EFCC has hinted that it may appeal the FCT high court ruling — but having studied it with my “unlearned” eyes, I don’t see an appeal going anywhere), my interest is how Nigeria can put the enormously rich oil block to productive use. By some estimates, the block can produce over 200,000 barrels per day when it finally gets in the groove. Similar deep offshore acreages are producing hundreds of thousands of barrels daily. But for the long-drawn crises in the quest to expose “The Biggest Corporate Scandal in History”, the acreage could have gone into full production ages ago.
On coming to power in 2015, the Buhari administration had commenced a slew of litigation, trying to get Shell and Eni convicted for corruption. The licence issued for prospecting in 2011 suffered a serious knock. By 2021, the OPL should have been converted to a mining licence but Buhari declined to give the go-ahead, perhaps still hoping the court cases would yield a result, even though the headline trial in the Court of Milan had gone against Nigeria. We had also sued JP Morgan in the UK, asking for a compensation of $1.7 billion under the “Quincecare duty” doctrine for transferring some of the proceeds of OPL 245 sale to Malabu’s bank accounts. Nigeria lost for lack of evidence.
We went on a wild goose chase while the enormously endowed economic asset was wasting away. Top government officials engaged their friends as lawyers to be pursuing OPL 245 cases globally and netting millions of dollars in fees and commissions. They eyed huge cuts if Shell and Eni were to be improbably ordered to pay another $1.1 billion to Nigeria or if the UK court awarded $1.7 billion against JP Morgan. OPL 245 litigation became an oil block on its own. In the end, we woefully lost everything: the lawsuits; and inflow of investments to, and revenue from, the oil block; and JP Morgan won its £22.25 million libel case against us. Total waste of time and energy (pardon the pun).
We were kobo wise and naira foolish. We delayed production from the acreage because we wanted $1.7 billion compensation, whereas we could make far more than that if drilling was allowed to start. More so, Nigeria badly needed higher oil output to be able to earn more from taxes, royalties and export, plus the inflow of lifesaving FX. What’s more, producing deep offshore was the sanest and safest option — with minimal risks of oil theft, pipeline vandalism and host community issues. Our production was dwindling severely but we were comfortable locking up OPL 245. Now that the litigation market has closed, may we kindly allow OPL 245 to commence the process of pumping oil?
AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…
TRIPLING TARIFF
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Wednesday approved a new electricity tariff plan. The elite consumers — classified as Band A — now pay three times higher than the former tariff. Other consumers will keep paying old rates. The deal, as announced, is that Band A consumers would be enjoying a minimum of 20 hours electricity per day. There is so much to say, but what the government just did was to pass N1.5 trillion of the electricity subsidy to Band A consumers. The dark side is that while Band A may indeed enjoy more hours, other bands will most likely get less. In essence, the sector’s foundational problems will remain unsolved, at least in the short run. Grief.
PEACE MEAL
Great news: Air Peace is now flying to the UK. Reviews so far have been very encouraging and exciting. It had been a thing of shame that the route was left entirely to foreign airlines for so long since the exit of Arik. Nigerians have been suffering from paying extortionate fares — and in dollars. Sadly, I read the comments about the Igbo-style outfit of the cabin crew members. This is so unnecessary. I don’t know when we are going to get over the election mode so that we can free our minds. Rather than celebrate our little successes, some would rather be playing the ethnic card. I don’t care if they wear Kanuri dara. All I desire is for Air Peace to make Nigeria proud. Godspeed!
RISKY BEHAVIOUR
Idris Okuneye, the social media celebrity better known as Bobrisky, was the unusual guest of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday. The influencer, who identifies as a female, was arrested, detained and charged to court for abusing the naira after being caught on video manhandling (womanhandling?) the national currency. There is actually a law that criminalises this very Nigerian culture but it is mostly observed in the breach. There is a feeling the conviction of Bobrisky will send a strong signal to other celebrities and party goers that the EFCC will enforce the law going forward. Some say it will be nice to see celebrity billionaires face the music too. Cynical.
NO COMMENT
Kano state is full of drama, especially under the current governor, Alhaji Abba Yusuf. But I am very much interested in the charges filed against Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), for allegedly collecting $200,000 bribe from a contractor in 2018. The video purporting to show Ganduje collecting the cash and stuffing it in his babanriga went viral at the time but nothing came out of it, apart from the backlash on Daily Nigerian, the newspaper that published it. Ganduje has kicked, describing the charges as “trumped up”, but won’t it be quite some sight to see the national chairman of the ruling party being sent to jail for corruption? Wonderful.