The environment is getting increasingly toxic. The toxicity is so palpable you would think it can be held in one’s hand. It is flowing out of outcry of anger which in turn is primarily from experiencing hardship and a feeling of uncertainties of daily living in these times. In Nigeria, the outcry is over escalating prices of foodstuff, in several cases shooting beyond reach, beyond the roof. Transportation costs have similarly gone up astronomically. What makes it all the more troubling is the security problem in many places which keeps farmers away from their farms. The situation is such that the Emir of Kano, a normally reserved institution, has had to parcel complaints of hunger in his domain wrapped in a message to President Tinubu through his wife, Remi. The Sultan of Sokoto has spoken about how much efforts traditional rulers in the North have been making to calm the nerves of their youths who have been restive. He was kind enough to state that the difficulties in the land did not start with the Bola Tinubu Administration and that the Administration is a continuation of the previous one.   

In some parts of the world, there are already signs of economic heat flashing in the horizon, too. Take as an example the number of years that may be required of a first-timer to be able to buy property today in London. According to The Telegraph digital edition, first-time buyers of property in London are now to save for 31 years for a deposit as homes today cost 12 times the average yearly salary. The newspaper reports as follows:

“A typical first-time buyer in London will have to save for 31 years to raise a deposit on a home, twice as long as their parents, analysis shows.

“A Londoner on an average salary would need to save 10 percent of his take-home pay for three decades to afford a 20 percent deposit on a 438, 000 Pounds property—the average price for a first-time buyer in the capital. However, in 2003 the equivalent figure was just 15 years.”

Although, evidently we are living in unusual times, with several parts of the world engulfed in one affliction or the other, Nigerians believe the hardship in the country is peculiar. Last week Thursday, South-West Iceland experienced a volcano for the third time since December. Amidst assurances by the Federal Government spokesmen that the hardship in our land would soon be over, Nigerians believe that the Nigerian troubling situation was complicated and some think, triggered by the peremptory withdrawal of petroleum subsidy without cushioning effect mechanisms already in place before the announcement was made. What is not often stated is, yes, Bola Tinubu formally removed the subsidy, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for Economy in Buhari Administration, Mrs. Ahmed, said the Buhari’s government did not make provision for subsidy in the budget Tinubu inherited. The error of Tinubu was that he did not handle the issue with enough care. Brave though he was, he walked through landmines and he did not tiptoe; he did not exercise enough care; he did not handle the issue diplomatically enough. The consequence is that he has had to carry the can for accumulated failings of recent years.

A litre of petrol, PMS (Premium Motor Spirit) rose from between N178 to N650. Because motion is a Law, movement of persons and goods constitutes foundational factor in the affairs of man. We move from home to work and from work back home. The farmer transports his produce to the silos from where in a chain they finally reach the market and the end user through one form of movement or the other. The transporter buys fuel. Therefore, whatever touches movement must trigger ripples in the affairs of daily living. And so, everyone talks about costs and margins. A bag of rice has shot up from between N30,000 and N35,000 early last year to N65,000 currently. Transport is thus admitted as a major expenditure head and catalyst of cost-push inflation. Indeed, it was the currency change fiasco of late 2022 to early last year that moved the price of rice from N18,500 to N30,000. The price of garri has gone up in a similar sharp manner.

Swarovski in his book, The Time is Ripe, says: “The only one way out of the dilemma, chaos and confusion besetting nearly all humanity and our world is to understand the wider correlations.” What are these wider correlations? He continues: “We must realise that all there is, all that lives, owes its existence to an extra-material Force which in the last analysis dominates everything. Beauty and harmony are obviously the main concern of this marvelous Force and we human beings must strive to make this concern our own and translate it into reality.”

In other words, we are not heeding the fundamentals.  And it is hard to admit that as Cassius says, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings.” The Law of Movement is exhaustive. It makes for freshness, constant renewal, and preservation. Non-observance of the Law of Movement makes human beings prone to illness. There are birds that have lost their wings with which to fly and there are fishes at the bottom of the sea that can no longer swim. To prevent illness we are admonished to exercise our bodies. The Law is such that when we sleep, we roll from one side of the bed to the other. The Law makes the earth to move round its axis every 24 hours to give us day and night and round the sun in 365 days to give us seasons which in the temperate region are distinctly four: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. These are hardly distinguishable in the tropical region. The seasons in the tropics are simply rainy season and dry season. One month of what is known as the Platonic Year or the Great Year is 2, 160 years and it gives us an Age. The Platonic year itself spans 25, 920 earth years. We can from this see this period in which we are — between when the Lord Christ left the earth and now which is the proverbial End-Time — is the Age of the Holy Spirit. It should stand to reason that the closer to the Source of Life, the faster movement is. This is why as we are told in 2 Peter 3:8, “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years.” This is saying, therefore, that three days in the Light Realm translate to three thousand years on earth. The power that is active in the Law of Motion cannot permit a standstill not, above all, in the quest for higher knowledge, spiritual knowledge.  Physicians admonish us to take a walk, to exercise ourselves for good health. Scientists, geologists in particular, would tell you that there is movement even in the rock as it consists of chemical compounds that are inherently animated and which in turn are composed of protons, neutrons, and electrons.

There is also the Law of Cycle and there is the Law of Reciprocal Action. This latter Law ensures that the harvest is tied to the sower. It is thus said that what a man soweth that shall he reap — in multiples. The Law of the Cycle ensures that the end goes back to the beginning. This demonstrates to us that what is sown as seed goes back to the sower as fruit for harvesting. The maturation period of each plant depends on its nature. Bitter Kola takes between 29 and 32 years to produce harvestable fruits while maize takes only three months, vegetables, 12 days, and yam nine months. We sow in thought, in speech, in our volition, and in our action. When we harvest, the consequences depend on its nature. What else do we want as proof that the Laws work collaboratively, manifesting the Will of the Almighty Creator? Because the Creator is perfect and eternal, it should follow that the Laws issuing from Him must be perfect and eternal. Being perfect, they are not in need of improvement. They are immutable, they are self-acting and self-enforcing; they are incorruptible. They are the mechanisms with which the Most High governs His Creation, seeing to the germination, maturing, and ripening of fruits. Mango trees are bringing forth fruits now. From one seed of mango, we have a giant tree brandishing its fruits that will be ripe very soon for harvesting. Yam and cassava are both tubers, but they are different species. To harvest yam, we have to plant yam, and to harvest cassava, we must plant cassava. The Laws are the manual of Creation, which demonstrates to us what Creation consists of and how the Almighty God works in His Creation.

The other Laws are the Law of Attraction of Homogeneous Species; the Law of Balance and the Law of Spiritual Gravitation. The Law of Attraction of Homogeneous Species stipulates that like attracts like. The Law is reflected in the popular saying that birds of the same feather flock together. In the animal kingdom, in the gathering of giraffes, no one can find sheep or goats. Thus, people of the same tendencies are pulled together. They gravitate readily towards one another to form their communities where they are nourished by the radiations peculiar to their native soil, the stars, the wind, and the plants. They would have practically similar if not the same world view, values, relative strengths, and weaknesses. When Africans meet in foreign lands, there is a stirring within their souls, there is uplift in their souls and it is easier for them to strike a relationship, seeing themselves as brothers, than others who are fundamentally alien to them. In their home countries, political competition could be fierce. There will be those who will rise above the din; such a situation is an indication of inner radiance and polish. In another incarnation, such will move to a higher level where their new spiritual maturity places them.

We experience the Law of Balance every second — in breathing and in give and take. There must be balance in inhalation and exhalation. In business, we balance the books. We strive for balance in measures of articles to ensure fairness. Equity is equally found, applying the Law of Balance. Where there is imbalance, there is instability and there are complaints of lack of consideration for others. We observe the Law of Gravitation in the weights of objects. What is light floats to the surface. A ball no matter the efforts which may be made to have it kept at the bottom of a river will float whereas a sinker or a stone thrown into the same river goes to the bottom of it until it can find its level and balance. The Law of Spiritual Gravitation determines who takes flight at the end of our sojourn on earth to the Light Region, the Spiritual Realm that is Paradise, and who goes down to the Dark Region. Purity and nobility make the spirit light, but wrongdoing constituting guilt and dross gives the spirit weight which makes it sink into Darkness and damnation.

It is these Laws that give expression to the Will of God. Since Creation came out of His Will, it is governed by It. This Will is unyielding.  It is this Will that His Messengers, Prophets, and Teachers of Mankind came to explain to mankind at different epochs as the Commandments of God. The Teachings were in the measure of the development of the people among whom they incarnated. Moses, one of the leading Teachers of Mankind, for example, received the Ten Commandments of God on Mount Sinai. No sooner than these Servants of God left than mankind formed religions around their Teachings and formulated doctrines and creeds that were and still are at variance with their true Teachings and instructions. The teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Truth Bringer was Himself not spared. He was received with intense hate and envy, especially by the religious and political establishments of the time who saw Him as a threat to their power and influence on the people they led. His Teachings were distorted and are so to this day. That Will, rightly understood, meant to lead us mankind away from wrong causes that in turn lead away from tribulations has been replaced by the will of men in parliaments and other levels of political leadership. Laws are enacted by consensus and by show of hands.

There is hardly any point I have not hinted at before in this column. In view of the pervading hardships, disasters — natural and manmade — wars, economic collapse, and political instability, it bears repeating that they are largely consequences of obstinate deviation from the Will of God and replacing it with man’s will expressed in human laws. The higher knowledge of Truth existing on the face of the earth today permits us a good grasp and understanding of all events in our world. The laws of parliament are subject to debate and regularly amended, Lawyers are required to interpret them and it is not all the time they agree on the interpretation of these laws. Higher, appellate Courts are required for the interpretations which are regarded as final. And the esteemed jurist, Oputa, Mr. Socrates of our time, thoughtful, quotable, and quoted said referring to the Supreme Court: We are final not because we are not fallible, but fallible because we are final.”

The hardships, which arose out of the ongoing compulsory purification, will not cease until the return to that which swings with the Holy Will on earth—until we adjust ourselves to the Supreme Laws which are at work. Swarovski, an author and industrialist, said: “All through the history of mankind up to the present time the necessity of what will give us high value has been given far too little attention, if any, and that is the cause of a great deal of hardship and trouble—the cause of restlessness afflicting the world today many things which are obviously wrong are said to be in the spirit of our times, of the changing times.”

TIME FOR EVERYTHING

There is time for everything. There is time for joy and rejoicing; there is time to mourn and go sorrowing. Publications have been made and going viral in social media about Herbert Wigwe, the Managing Director/CEO of Access Bank, and to a lesser extent about Abimbola Ogunbanjo, corporate lawyer and one-time Chairman of the Stock Exchange. The publications purportedly detailed what can be regarded as dirty deals in the acquisition and development of Access Bank.

The publications at the time of sorrow and grieving are in very bad taste. True or false is not the point. The publications should have waited. An unspeakable tragedy has just hit the nation. Even if to demonstrate our deep feelings, humanness, and sense of propriety, the publications should have waited for perhaps six months for the families and friends to be relieved of their pains. Here was a man who met what we would call, in general parlance, his untimely death in a gruesome manner. Wigwe lost his wife and son and his lawyer and there is an atmosphere of gleefulness and gloating suggesting that the death served Igwe right and I ask myself: Have we been so drained of our humanity and deep sense of empathy for our fellow men? Their remains had hardly even been gathered how much less flown back home in Nigeria before the publications began. Abimbola Ogunbanjo died in the tragic crash barely three months after the exit of his illustrious father, Chief Chris Ogunbanjo. The wreckage itself was mindboggling.

This is a mourning period for the nation no matter how we look at it. So devastating is what has happened that the President, Bola Tinubu wasted no time in sending out a proper condolence message to the families and the nation at large. Most of the people said to be involved in the deal: Aig Imokhuede, Emir Lamido Sanusi, and Mrs. Oputu are still much in the flesh. Why the haste? It rings in the ears of a determination to completely rubbish the memories of the departed in the eyes of those who love them. The publications are indecent, insensitive, and cruel.

Ejindu`s grandfather, Okachie the wise, was always a man of great insights. He knew Alaoma and its people like the back of his hand. But he was also not a man of many words. Were he a man of many words, he would have told Ejindu, his grandson, and many other people, that his insight into people’s nature and character was a gift of the gods. He would also probably have said that it was partly because he had seen so many years in the village that he could tell the turn of events simply by sniffing the wind.

But he was no talkative. Thus, no one knew his thoughts on these matters.

He was always his own man. He believed that the spoken word should be accompanied by action; hence his aversion for people who talked too much. He once rebuked an imprudent prattler by advising him to watch his steps, lest he step on a rattlesnake and join his ancestors prematurely.

Okachie taught his son Obidike, and his grandson, Ejindu, that one must always do one`s best to ascertain which bridges to burn and which ones to cross in life. He always warned them never to forget that no one could do an evil did and truly be at peace with himself, or with the gods.

He sometimes spoke of destiny, but of destiny made by each individual for himself. He would not give window to the lazy and unsuccessful who blame destiny for their failings. Nor would he approve of the attitude of the brave and successful who make the mistake of flaunting their achievements, as if in defiance of the gods.

He respected and praised diligence and responsible behaviour, in leaders and the led alike. He had no regard for the bad people in the community, whatsoever. The repeated attempts of many good people to call the depraved among them to their senses over the years had all been to no avail.

Okachie, therefore, knew for a fact that the bad, the depraved and the temporarily triumphant in Alaoma, had prepared their own fate. He also knew that the fate so prepared had become inevitable.

He has seen many people rise and fall in his long and eventful life. He has also watched the fortunes of those who overrated themselves plummet. He has come to realize, with time, why the fate of people who overrated themselves was always easy to predict.

He likened them to reckless butterflies which, thinking that they could take liberties with the flickering light of the open flame of an oil lamp, soon discovered that the fire usually burnt flying insects to death. And the discovery always came when it was too late for the unfortunate insects.

The few reckless, fire-loving, night insects that managed to survive such encounters usually got de-winged and diminished; unable to ever fly again. Thus, de-winged, they would not show themselves anywhere among flying things ever again. They had become crawling things, through their own efforts at folly. They would all be eventually eaten by ants, rodents, frogs and worms. Their tomfoolery made their fate inevitable.

Okachie used to warn Ejindu, his grandson, not to be deceived if some bad and reckless people appear to be doing well. Not even when their prosperity lasts for a while! And not when their apparent good fortune seemeds to make a mockery of the gods and of the laws of the land. It would only seem to be so, Okachie would say.

Such people usually came to no good in the end. More often than not, their end was quick and inglorious. They would pass away with appalling ease, unsung; to be remembered occasionally when parents wished to admonish their children about the dangers of presumption and reckless living.

Like the morning flower that withered with the upward climb of the morning sun, the memory of such people served as perpetual reminders to others; that only fools used the early morning flow of customers to make proud pronouncements about how the day’s sales would be in the market.

Okachie once told a group of reckless young men that a man who refused to learn from the mistakes of others was like an oiled calabash that remained dry inside and outside, after long hours in water.

The oiled calabash absorbs no water. Therefore, it gives none. It gets immersed in the richest abundance, but only serves as an instrument for carrying such abundance to others. It is no example of how to absorb water when immersed in it.

Okachie would call such people forests without game! Cobs without corn! Castles without gates and guests! Clouds without rain! Hens that do not know the value of ‘kwom, kwom’, the calling sound, for guiding young chicks along the path of life and away from danger!

He once warned a disrespectful young man thus: ‘When elders see the first dance steps of a young man who receives the Ozo title at the age of twenty, they know whether he would live to be an old man.’

Okachie could say that because he had seen many such young men come and go. He was an old man now; a very old man indeed, from whom even other old men often sought wisdom.

Ejindu, his grandson, often recollected the many patient lessons and kind words of wisdom from his grandfather. He always felt humbled by the fact that his grandfather was a man so completely without airs that you sometimes wonder who, or what, he really was.

Through this patient old man, Ejindu had come to know and understand much that he would not otherwise have ever known, or understood, without the benefit of being close to his grandfather. Yes, Okachie was a man from whose words you sometimes discerned the voice of the gods.  It was as if his ancestors knew his nature and gave him that name.

The name, Omee-Okachie, means ‘one who does, or says, and rules that it is over and cannot be redone – or undone’; `one whose actions, and pronouncements, are to be accepted as a matter of course’. An Omee-okachie is not to be contradicted in word or deed. He earns, receives and enjoys respect without being arrogant.

And this particular Omee-Okachie has held his position as head of his filial clan with a quiet, unobtrusive but unassailable dignity and authority.  As head, he was the custodian of a family tradition.

He lived true to his name, but almost like some kind of benevolent guardian spirit to everyone. Alaoma people knew that for a fact. As the oldest and wisest man in the community, he was now also the village Patriarch. He was, at once, leader, guide, teacher, nurse, mentor and healer.

While his position as community patriarch was conferred on him by age and wisdom, his status as Patriarch of his extended family was conferred on him by the filial Patriarch before him. It would be his task to also eventually identify another and hand over this custodianship, the way he was identified and given the mantle.

He thought about this from time to time, often wondering whether he was taking too long in handing over the custodianship to another. At least the feeling was creeping in on him that he was running out of time and that he needed to discharge this burden sooner than later.

Then, one fateful Eke market day, an incident occurred that led to his son, Obidike, becoming the new head of the filial clan. And it came without any warning.

It was just like any other day for Agbonma, his wife, Obidike and his siblings, until Okachie came back after the day`s work. They were all surprised, even a little startled, when the man of the house walked into the family compound with strangely slow and heavy steps. This was most unlike him.

When he stopped midway and stood on one spot in the compound, apparently lost in thought, Obidike and other members of the family sensed that all was not well. More so, because they noticed that he was not fully conscious of what was going on around him.

He was like a man in a semi-trance, or someone who was seeing only the thoughts in his head. Strange!

It was still early evening when he walked into the compound. The full evening was merely sneaking up from behind the late afternoon, to subtly drag it along and force it to become night. Yes, the sun’s eyelids were beginning to look heavy. They were slowly covering it in the western sky. And it looked so terribly red.

As the giver of daylight was quietly disappearing under the massive, crimson eyelids of clouds, while it was still visible, with its wide afterglow, Okachie was still standing there in his compound.

The full evening finally came! The evening birds started singing and chirping in neighbouring bushes. The crickets started clearing their throats and warming up their wings for yet another round of night music. What would moonlight games be without these musicians of the night? How would you enjoy the moonlight tales without the sounds that made them so genuinely traditional and real? The crickets, the insects and other creatures of the night, usually created the chorus of sounds that added joy to every night in the community.

But Okachie could hear none of that as he stood transfixed. Whatever put him in this state must be serious and ominous. Given the sombre air, there can be no gathering of children under any benign moonbeams. No dreamy, and sometimes scary, stories about the amazing exploits of the ever-cunning tortoise, no!

But enough of Omee-Okachie and all that.

The above, from my coming book, “The Return of Ejindu, deliberately “speaks in tongues”. Nigerians are perplexed. There is fear and trembling, everywhere. Riots may escalate, as insecurity and hunger escalate. State and local governments ignore their roles as primary custodians of the people’s welfare. The precipice is so close, but is overlaid with coloured mats. Do you smell bad news in the air, from Okachie; who is still standing in the compound – as night closes in?

QUOTE

Nigerians are perplexed. There is fear and trembling, everywhere. Riots may escalate, as insecurity and hunger escalate. State and local governments ignore their roles as primary custodians of the people’s welfare. The precipice is so close, but is overlaid with coloured mats. Do you smell bad news in the air?

Those who know Mr. Olayemi Cardoso will agree he got his current job as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria on a platter of solid professional background and strong personal attributes. His pedigree is rich as his character is unsullied. Cardoso had a remarkable private sector career where he shone brilliantly in banking, stockbroking and consulting.

Cardoso also came from a very solid family pedigree. Nigeria’s late Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, appointed his late father, Mr. Felix Bankole Cardoso, as the first Accountant-General of the Federation in 1963. The late elder Cardoso served with enviable record till 1971.

Part of the remarkable private sector career of Olayemi Cardoso was his appointment as the Chairman of the Board of Citi Bank in Nigeria.

Cardoso began his public service journey when he became the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning in the cabinet of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Governor of Lagos State as he then was in 1999. In addition to superintending that ministry, Cardoso was charged with several other responsibilities including heading important cabinet committees that birthed landmark agencies in the state. Cardoso was known for enforcing strict budgetary discipline that contributed significantly to the overall success of the Tinubu administration in Lagos. He refused to authorise the release of funds for projects or programmes that had no budgetary head. For all of that and many more, Cardoso was nicknamed the Headmaster.

Armed with a Bachelor of Science degree in Managerial and Administrative Studies and Masters in Public Administration from the prestigious Harvard Kennedy School of Government and parading strong personal attributes, Cardoso is obviously a perfect fit for the CBN top job. He is calm but firm, strict but fair, prudent but practical, straightforward and honest with loads of integrity. These are the unique qualities he carried unto his job at the apex bank and his major selling points when on September 23, 2023 he officially assumed office with the Senate confirmation of his appointment.

However, it does appear Cardoso will need much more than that to succeed in his present assignment. Under him, the CBN seems to be doing the right thing or doing things right: thinking and working on coming up with appropriate monetary policies, moving to rein in the rising foreign exchange rates and particularly achieve an appropriate value for the naira, which Cardoso believes has been undervalued.

But in the wake of the floating of the Naira, some of the variables shaping the value of the national currency, including limited production in the country as a result of insecurity, Nigerians’ high taste for imported products, dwindling exports, poor dollar remittances, humongous school fees of Nigerian students abroad and medical tourism all of which engendered a strong demand for dollar, far outweighing supply, seem to be clearly beyond his control.

Until these situations change for better, no amount of monetary policies by the CBN will work any miracle, hence Cardoso’s predicament. For instance, in his presentation at the sectoral debate organised by the House of Representatives two weeks ago, the CBN governor lamented that the growing number of Nigerian students studying abroad, increasing medical tourism and food imports have led to the depreciation of the Naira against the Dollar. According to him, over the past decade, foreign exchange demand for education and healthcare totalled nearly $40 billion, surpassing the total current foreign exchange reserves of the CBN, while personal travel allowances accounted for a total of $58.7 billion during the same period.

Another critical yet intriguing factor but seemingly odd in Cardoso’s reckoning is the perception in some quarters of some of the decisions of the CBN, which the apex bank considers purely administrative, but which some others give strange connotations.

One of such is the decision to move some departments of the bank; notably banking supervision, other financial institutions supervision, consumer protection department and payment system management department from Abuja to Lagos.

Indeed, until the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, spoke on this issue last week, I had reckoned that the imperative of the planned relocation of some CBN departments and the headquarters of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria from Abuja to Lagos was evident enough. I had reasoned that the Northern politicians including Senator Ali Ndume from Borno State who had moved to bring down the roof over the development were merely playing politics.

The Emir of Kano, a highly revered royal father, raised the ante last Monday while receiving the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who was in Kano to inaugurate the School of Law Building named after her by Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria, and had stopped by to pay a courtesy call on the Emir.

Emir Bayero, whose speech was translated from Hausa to English Language by a senior palace counsellor, had told the First Lady to convey his message to President Tinubu. He said among other things: “We are indeed suspicious on why Mr. President single-handedly relocated key departments of CBN, and outright relocation of FAAN to Lagos.

“We are receiving a series of messages from my subjects, and most of them expressed concern over the relocation of CBN and FAAN to Lagos. President Tinubu should come out clean on this matter and talk to Nigerians in the language they would understand. Do more enlightenment on this matter. I, for one, cannot tell the actual intentions of the government. We should be made to actually understand why the relocation of the CBN and FAAN offices back to Lagos.”

Many will wonder why some members of the northern elites are losing their cool, misinterpreting this move and, perhaps inadvertently, heating up the polity on this rather elementary matter. Is their reservation altruistic? Or are they just being sincerely mistaken and reading unnecessary motives into the policy? With the benefit of hindsight, one can say that Cardoso and his team should have understood the political dimensions of the decision better and undertake a more effective public enlightenment on it rather than treat it as a purely administrative matter. Knowing the kind of people and country that we are and the fact that ours is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multicultural society where every action or decision is viewed from ethnic and religious lenses, the CBN ought not to have released the news about the movement of the departments concerned in a routine manner as it did.

It should have released the news with the detailed information and explanation behind the move. The CBN Communication Department should have deployed all in its arsenal to explain the movement to its critical stakeholders and the general public. The apex bank should have seen the movement beyond a mere administrative move, which is within its remit to do. The bank should have situated the movement and anticipated the social and political meanings some may give it. That is how things run in Nigeria.

A deeper and detailed explanation was later provided when Cardozo appeared on the floor of the House of Representatives in Abuja. I was there at the session and witnessed it all. Asked by one of the members of the House from the North, at the session, the rationale behind the movement, the CBN Governor said: “There is nothing political in the movement. We didn’t change any plan. It has always been like that to ease banking supervision. Most of the banks are based in Lagos. So it works well for supervision if our officials are there with them and close to them and close to those the banks interact with. It’s for administrative convenience. It’s also cheaper for the CBN.” He also disclosed that the movement of the departments concerned to Lagos is also important because, according to him, the country is at the point where there is a need for more banking surveillance.

It is important that the CBN governor draws the appropriate lesson from this. He should learn from this experience that though his job of superintending the country’s monetary system is a professional and economic one, yet it has its political aspects. His decisions have consequences not only on the economy but also on the political front. As such, the CBN Governor must always pay attention to the political ramifications of his decisions.

He must be political without being partisan.

Indeed, his situation is also not helped by the fact that he has had very political predecessors-in-office including the high-sounding Professor Chukwuma Soludo, the soft-spoken but loud former Emir of Kano, Khalifa Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, and the immediate-past Governor, Godwin Emefiele (this one even attempted to contest for president while holding the office as CBN governor).

There are a couple of things to say on the hoopla about the staff transfer though.

One, President Tinubu is receiving attacks over the movement. Emir of Kano says he must reverse it, urging the First Lady to deploy the feminine soft power to actualise this. Yet, to all intent and purposes, the President that is being asked to reverse the transfer may not have been apprised of the decision because he does not micromanage those he gives responsibilities to where their unique expertise and experience are called to service. The CBN on its part may not have briefed the President because Cardoso had seen the planned movement as purely administrative.

Secondly and more importantly, those who are responding negatively to the policy are treating Abuja as if it belongs to the North rather than being the symbol of the entire country as the Federal Capital Territory. In that capacity, as the FCT, Abuja belongs to all and belongs to no one. In the same vein, as the economic capital and nerve center of the country, Lagos is a melting pot where representatives of virtually all ethnic and cultural groups in the country reside and earn a living.

There is absolutely nothing that says that the headquarters of all Federal Agencies must be located in the Federal Capital even when economic considerations and efficiency dictate otherwise. Some federal agencies reside neither in Abuja nor Lagos at present and their work go on unimpeded.

In any case, President Tinubu’s pan-Nigerian outlook and credentials are too well known. His ability to build political and personal networks and relationships across the length and breath of the country were partly responsible for his victory in the keenly contested 2023 presidential election. He will be the last person to approve or support any policy designed to be detrimental to any part of the country.

But for CBN Governor Cardoso, all of that represents his baptism of fire and a wake-up call for him to be a little more flexible particularly in matters that have wider political connotations.

– Rahman is a Senior Presidential aide

I don’t even understand it any more.
Nigeria was destined to win the 2013 AFCON. I believed it with all my being.
Then it did not happen!
It is very significant that the federal govt still went out of its way to reward the team as if they won! That, is very significant, because the Eagles were rewarded even for not coming first!
But why?
I was there at the stadium in Ebimpe. We were cruising to success. Then it happened!
Paseiro? Okay, fate has determined his fate. He is leaving with adequate rewards for his effort. But no more! Let him go! He is not good enough for the future. No sentiments, just the bare facts.

Now, I have learnt of 6 Nigerians that died from watching the semifinals and final matches of the AFCON. It is unheard of in my entire relationship with Football. 6 persons and still counting, from the tension of Nigeria not winning? What does this sacrifice of innocent lives mean? We will never know!

In the past 24 hours, I have learnt that a teacher in my own school, a gentleman we all call ‘Ten-Ten’ because of his love for football, died as he was watching the Eagles start to lose to Ivory Coast.
I also lived in the house of Chief Labiyi in Oke Ado in Ibadan. He was the former Principal of Ibadan Grammar School. Wale and Jide were Chief Labiyi’s children. Wale died last week whilst watching the Super Eagles lose to Cote D’Ivoire.
I learnt about these two deaths in the past 24 hrs. This adds to the 4 other Nigerians that were reported to have died whilst watching the disappointment of the Super Eagles’s performances between the semi-final and final matches.

There is something about those matches and the seeming ‘sacrifices’ made by these 6 (and possibly more) Nigerians that loved their country so much, and died under the pressure of wishing for the country’s success.

I am just leaving Ibadan.
I arrived Nigeria and have not gone home in Lagos to see my family members. I drove straight to Ibadan to be a part of the burial ceremony of my friend and colleague, Phillip Kweku Kolawole Boamah, who died some moths ago. Phillip was a Ghanaian football player that played for the national team of Nigeria and was part of winning Nigeria’s first continental club football trophy in 1976.

His death and burial were a solemn reminder of our collective mortality.
I am grateful to the children who organized a very dignified and befitting funeral.

Yet, it was a reunion of some sort.

At the end of the event, a few friends from those years back in the day in Ibadan, came together to share ‘communion’ of lunch and drinks in remembrance of Philip.

In the picture are old Comradès in the business of fun in Ibadan - from left of picture- Tokunboh Adejumo (my in-law), Godwin, Yours truly, Gbola Bakre, and Pius Aludo, leaving qn old ‘joint’ for our reunion!

I am still thinking and working out the connection between that and Nigeria’sloss at AFCON. Was losing a price to pay for what could have been a bigger ‘disaster’? We will never know, will we?