He was a very simple man, who could easily be mistaken for a decent, peace-seeking and law abiding civilian. Even when fully kitted out in military gear, he still came across as a decent, self-effacing and unassuming man with a heart.  There was always a spirit of ‘live and let live’ about the man, according to those who knew him for decades.

Easygoing and without pretensions about personal or professional authority, the immediate past Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, was never unduly obtrusive in any way. Yet he was also always conscious of his authority, but in such a way that he only exercised it in order to drive professionalism, efficiency and operational effectiveness.

The late Lagbaja was widely known for readily facilitating anything good that needed facilitation in the name of national security, and without putting on airs about it. Efficiency and professional effectiveness were his major focus, undergirded by knowledge and capacity for informed decisions that followed best practices.

I first encountered him at a public event, not too long after his appointment as Chief of Army Staff (COAS). “Ah, Prof I am seeing you live today, instead of always reading your numerous articles, or watching you on television. I love the fact that you always endeavour to be objective and professional in your media interventions”. Then he mentioned something I had said on television in the past, or something I had written in the newspaper.

It struck me that his voice was soft, firm, very clear and rose above the din without being raised. He said everything he wanted to say within that very short encounter; and did not place, or use, one word amiss. His sense of propriety was also that of a man who appears indifferent to much of what is going on around him, but who was actually fully aware of it at the same time. All said, he was a professional soldier with much success casually tucked under his belt.

Gen Lagbaja’s understanding of the security challenges facing the nation is much deeper than many can imagine. Towards the end of August, at the Chief of Army Staff Combined Second and Third Quarter Conference in Uyo, he said that the recent protests at the time were primarily driven by discontent over economic issues. He also urged his colleagues not to forget that “… as an Armed Force, we must not only focus on physical security and defence of the nation, but note that food and social security issues can snowball into physical security challenges.”

Not quite done on that occasion, he went ahead to draw attention to the fact that the protests were “…largely driven by provocative and inciting social media traffic, although it was professionally managed by the Nigeria Police, supported by the military and other security agencies”.

While presenting the first strategic personality lecture at the Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies (IPSS), University of Ibadan, Lagbaja harped on the need for us to adopt and implement a Whole of Society Approach to national security problems. He fingered unemployment, poverty and youth bulge as the fertilizers nourishing some aspects of our security challenges. He pointed out that the unemployed and poor are susceptible to recruitment by criminals and violent non-state actors, as he urged all stakeholders to leverage the strengths of every demographic group for a cohesive and coordinated response to national security threats.

Consistent with his Command Philosophy, which emphasizes operational success “within a joint environment”, the late COAS always insisted that no single agency can solve the myriads of security challenges facing the country alone. For him: “The operating environment has evolved to a point where no single service or agency can effectively and independently tackle the threats to national security. Collaboration, communication, and cooperation are required for planning, sharing of intelligence, and the practical execution of all operations. Where synergy is lacking among security agencies, there can never be a coordinated approach to the prevailing security challenge”. 

While commissioning Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) projects in Okuku community in Odo-Otin Local Government Area of Osun State recently, he said: “Military action alone cannot overcome the security challenges confronting the nation. The nation’s security and progress depends on the synergy and cooperation of all stakeholders. And part of the reasons for COAS Special Civil Military Cooperation Intervention Projects in communities is …to promote cordial co-existence, galvanize support and give impetus to ongoing efforts at combating security threats and challenges across the country”.

But by far one of the most telling interventions with a wide stakeholder base was Lagbaja’s charge to the DG of the Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC), Maj. Gen. G A Wahab, alongside NARC’s Programmes Partner, Development Specs Academy (DSA), to organize a national RoundTable on “Asymmetrical National Security Challenges” and their effects on national development and the Nigerian Army.

The late COAS did not want a retreat, conference, or summit on national security that would deliver only lamentations and detailed descriptions of the problems, as well as their historical origins and their negative impact on our lives, without proposing solutions. He asked for specific solutions to specific problems.

Consistent with his aforementioned procliviity for measurable results, Lagbaja wanted a purely solutions-based engagement, driven by objective and clear-sighted third-Party narratives. That was his reason for endorsing the NARC/DSA RoundTable, as a way of further refocusing our conversations about national security. For him, the national roundtable titled “Asymmetrical National Security Challenges, the Army and National Development” must interrogate .the issues and come out with specific Implementable Action Points (IAPs) for execution.

He saw the value of involving DSA’s Strategic Partners such as the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Voice of Nigeria (VON), the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Institute for Strategic Development Communication (ISDEVCOM), Nnamdi Azikiwe Business School, and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), among others.

The point of securing the buy-in and deep commitment of these Strategic Partners was to make these credible and highly regarded professional bodies, institutes and institutions, as well as agencies of government that are headed by professionals in public communication, the dominant and credible voices to speak out on core issues of national security.

As was reported here on June 22, 2024, “The organizers of the Roundtable went round, consulted with Partners and other stakeholders, achieved some measure of consensus on the core issues and came out with a template for pragmatic and realistic solutions”.

The Roundtable thus stood out as a Third-Party initiative, designed to distil IAPs on pressing asymmetrical national security challenges in the country. This is with particular reference to “…security challenges that do not take the simple form of easily-identified, routinely compartmentalized, properly isolated and unilaterally targetable problems”. The challenges range from embedded targets, refusal to help the army and other security agencies with local intelligence, the targeting of military personnel for hostile civilian attention, unproductive community engagements, deliberate misrepresentation of the activities and achievements of the Nigerian Army through fake news, to deliberate misinformation and disinformation, among other disruptive environmental variables.

That gesture of endorsement from the former COAS gave rise to a people’s RoundTable, designed to drive non-partisan, and believable national interest narratives; anchored on the twin elements of objectivity and professionalism. The idea was to use it to promote public understanding of the roles, and achievements, of the nation’s military and security agencies, as well as the role of the citizens.

The task of “… creating a groundswell of that aspect of public communication that is usually best described as National Interest Communication without Propaganda (NIC–P) was thus given wider public ownership.

As things stand today, no one is exempt, or immune, from the clear and present dangers around us. And that roundtable, as approved by the late COAS, drove a new narrative, by getting Nigeria’s various publics to see and understand their roles, and the roles of other key actors, in the wider national ecosystem of synchronized security.

It re-emphasized the specific and general roles of the military, particularly the Nigerian army, in the cocktail of structures, activities and processes that constitute the national security architecture. It also addressed emerging challenges that derive more from deliberate misrepresentations of our men in uniform and showcased facts-based reviews of current asymmetrical national security challenges. This was done within a holistic perspective on the imperatives of a “whole of society approach” to national security challenges.

All said, that RoundTable established informed linkages between the negative fallouts of political decisions, overlooked multiplier effects of poor civilian political leadership and emerging national security challenges in different parts of the country. And it handed in a detailed set of recommendations, accompanied by implementation strategies to the former COAS.

As Nigerians mourn Lt Gen Lagbaja today, we all have a loss to feel sad about. There will always be the other Gen Lagbaja that you do not know, but whom somebody else knows and now misses. In whatever capacity that you may have known this man, chances are that you knew him as a good man. Miss him many will. All are joint losers and mourners at the funeral of a good man. Let us all pray for the soul of a man who is missed today as father, husband, brother, nephew, professional colleague, mentor, friend and much more.

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We all have a loss to feel sad about. There will always be the other Gen Lagbaja that you do not know, but whom somebody else knows and now misses. But in whatever capacity that might be, miss him many will. All are joint losers and mourners at the funeral of a good man. Let us all pray for the soul of a man who is missed today as father, husband, brother, nephew, professional colleague, mentor, friend and much more.

I applaud H.E. President Sassou Nguesso, the President of the Republic of Congo and President William Ruto of Kenya, the co-chairs, for their leadership on this agenda, and for joining with me in our collective drive to ensure that Africa’s vast natural resources are considered in the valuation of Africa’s wealth – what I call Green Gross Domestic Product (Green GDP).

Africa has some of the largest sources of natural capital in the world, including over 40% of the world’s clean energy potential; 65% of the world’s uncultivated arable land; 25% of global biodiversity; and 20% of the world’s tropical rainforest area.

The Congo Basin is the second largest carbon lung in the world after the Amazon forest. It stretches 314 million hectares with 1.2 million kilometers of primary forest.

The peatlands of the Congo Basin store 29 billion tons of carbon. That is equivalent to 3 years’ worth of global greenhouse gas emissions. The Congo basin also absorbs about 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Africa’s forests account for 26% of all carbon sequestration in forests worldwide.

The continent also holds considerable non-renewable natural resources, accounting for 50% of the world’s reserves of cobalt (used for batteries), 40% of manganese reserves (used in solar and wind farms) and more than 80% of platinum reserves, complemented by rich endowments of nickel, copper, and rare earth minerals. These are crucial for global green energy transition with electric vehicles and battery energy storages systems, whose estimated value is expected to rise from $7.5 trillion to $59 trillion.

Africa is also endowed with abundant renewable energy: an almost unlimited potential of solar capacity (10 TW), hydro (350 GW), wind (110 GW), and geothermal energy sources (15 GW), all of which are the backbone of a less carbon-intensive and more sustainable energy system.

Therefore, while Africa contributes significantly to global public good for tackling climate change with its vast resources of natural capital, its vast natural capital has been undervalued.  This vast natural capital is not taken into consideration in valuing the GDP of African countries. For example, while the GDP of Africa was estimated at $2.5 trillion in 2018, this was 2.5 times lower than the estimated value of its natural capital, evaluated at $6.2 trillion, which partly includes some valuation of the ecosystem services.

This situation makes Africa to be “green endowed” but “cash poor”.

When the value of Africa’s vast forest and environmental services, and natural capital, are properly valued, the size of its rebased GDP taking this into account will be much higher.

The African Development Bank’s preliminary estimates, based on very conservative assumptions, show that Africa’s nominal GDP in 2022 could have increased by $66.1 billion when adjusted for carbon sequestration only.

That is more than the combined GDP of 42 African countries!

The proper valuation of Africa’s green GDP is where the trillions of dollars for the continent, based on proper valuation, will come from, to boost the wealth and financing of the continent.

The greening of the GDP will also have other benefits, including the development of carbon markets in Africa.

Unfortunately, today, several African countries are giving away their vast amounts of land to carbon credits. While this may generate some short-term financing, it needs to be understood that Africa is a carbon price taker and therefore is short-changed. While the price of carbon in Europe is high and could be as high as $200 per ton because of the strict EU Emission Trading Standards, carbon price in Africa could be as low as $3 to $10 per ton.

The widespread sales of vast areas of Africa’s lands rich in carbon, what I call “carbon grab”, has five consequences, which we must understand.

First, the countries are being underpaid for the carbon, due to the undervaluation of Africa’s carbon sinks.

Second, the sequestered carbon on the lands can no longer be used as part of the nation’s nationally determined contributions.

Third, the countries lose sovereignty over their lands.

Fourth, the carbon sequestered over these lands and forests cannot be used to rebase and revalue the green GDP of the countries.

Fifth, the ongoing carbon grab in Africa is a lose-lose proposition.

The proper valuation of Africa’s green wealth will increase access to financial flows, in part because credit ratings agencies will be able to incorporate the true value of overall asset class, which in turn could improve countries’ risk profile.

Therefore, it is time for Africa’s green environmental assets to be properly priced to allow the continent to turn its massive green assets into wealth, through their inclusion in “green’ GDP for Africa. This will raise massive financial resources for the continent, spur greater green investments and provide better policies for the greening of African economies for sustainable development. The significantly higher revenues that Africa will generate from the proper valuation of its carbon sinks and environmental services will also allow it to be able to service its debts, assuring debt sustainability.

It is time for Africa’s green wealth to be properly measured.

It is time to take Africa’s natural capital into consideration in its GDP.

It is time for Africa to be green rich and cash rich.

I am delighted to inform you that the African Development Bank has produced a report on “Measuring the Green Wealth of Nations: Natural Capital and Economic Productivity in Africa. You will find the report on your tables. This report sets out key actions to value and integrate natural capital in the measure of Africa’s GDP.

This is a defining moment for Africa.

We need you to succeed.

African Development Bank will work with you to seize this moment.

• Speech by Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President and Chairman of the Board, African Development Bank Group, at the COP 29 High-Level Event on “Measuring the Green Wealth of Nations: Natural Capital and Economic Productivity in Africa”, 13 November 2024

"Leadership is not about the position one holds, but about the responsibility one bears to serve and uplift others."

Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardaunan Sokoto.

In a democracy, the voice of the people should NOT be silenced, especially when it calls attention to the safety and dignity of the vulnerable. Yet in Sokoto, we find ourselves facing a grim and troubling reality where this very principle is under vicious attack. The recent arrest of a young woman, Hamdiyya Sidi, who bravely demanded accountability from her Governor and Northern leaders, exposes a shameful and oppressive mindset at the highest levels of leadership. She dared to ask the Governor of her State, Aliyu Ahmed Sokoto, a simple question: if he and his family faced the horrific violence that has befallen countless women across the North—women who have been violated in unspeakable ways, sometimes in front of their families—would he remain so indifferent? Instead of addressing her concerns, however, the police proceeded to arrest and detain her, ostensibly for 'inciting unrest'; an act that cannot and should not be tolerated. As we speak, after being released on bail, Hamdiyya was ambushed by 'unknown persons', beaten up thoroughly, and left for dead.

In the conflict-ridden spaces of Northern Nigeria, women live under the constant threat of violence — rape, kidnapping, and terror --- at the hands of armed groups.

The young woman who spoke up was not “criticizing the government” or "inciting unrest"; she was merely calling attention to a humanitarian crisis, of which there are countless victims, including members of her family and community. These atrocities continue unabated under the gaze of our leaders, who have been elected to protect their citizens. Instead of responding with empathy, action, support, or even basic respect, the elected authorities in Sokoto chose to wield power and influence to silence her.

Hamdiyya spoke for millions who live in fear, those whose pleas have been ignored time and time again. Her arrest sends a chilling message: that in Sokoto, those in power are more interested in suppressing dissent than in protecting their people. It tells Northern women that their lives, their safety, and their voices are less important than the comfort of those who hold office.

Why should a woman be detained and beaten up for speaking a painful truth? She did not curse, she did not threaten, and she did not incite violence; she asked a simple question. This cowardly response from the powers-that-be reeks of authoritarianism, and signals a profound disrespect not only for her, but for all women who bear the brunt of this unchecked violence. If our leaders cannot tolerate questions from the electorate, it is a clear sign of a decayed democracy.

Let us be clear; the North remains within a democracy. Leaders are elected to serve their citizens, not to rule over or oppress them because they are vulnerable or weaker than they are. When they fail to protect the very citizens they swore to defend, they must expect to be questioned, and they should be prepared to answer with humility, not handcuffs, detention and assault. Northern women deserve leaders who are willing to stand up against the violence tearing communities apart, not leaders who shield their eyes and plug their ears when the pleas for help become inconvenient.

The Governor of Sokoto, Aliyu Ahmed Sokoto, must immediately publicly denounce the treatment accorded this courageous young lady, in recognition of his responsibility and leadership role to protect his citizens. We expect him to support her and also listen to her pleas for support, with a view to addressing them. His public denouncement would send a message that the State values the lives and safety of its women. Ignoring her pleas for her community, and indeed, the State at large only deepens the wounds that violence has already inflicted on Northern Nigeria’s social fabric.

 In any just society, a woman has the right to speak out against the conditions that threaten her life and dignity. Northern women deserve this right to speak out, without fear of violence or retribution. Their demands should flow naturally as a right, not a privilege. This is not just about one woman’s freedom but about the rights of all Northern women who refuse to be silenced in the face of brutality.

Regrettably, this persecution of individuals, who speak up on the challenges being faced in our country, is becoming commonplace. The Northern Governors need to protect and support their suffering citizens while addressing the issues being raised, rather than take offence at the emerging realities. The ruling party, the APC, which is also Governor Aliyu Ahmed Sokoto’s party, would do well to demand that the Governor do well by his citizens. So too, the Inspector General of Police should call his men to order, since it was the police who took it upon themselves to detain Hamdiya for 'inciting arrest'; a young defenseless girl who merely expressed her empathy for members of her community, demanding for succour.

Our Governors must be reminded of their responsibilities as leaders, even of beleaguered, conflict-ridden spaces and communities within their jurisdictions. The suffering is unbearable and the attacks unrelenting. We join Hamdiyya in pleading for mercy and support for those afflicted by violence, death and destruction in their jurisdictions. Our Governors must stand firm in the protection of the vulnerable. They must not exacerbate the suffering by oppressing the weak who do not have the wherewithal to protect themselves. As the saying goes in hausa, you cannot beat a person and then stop him or her from crying!

When northern Nigerian women came out in their thousands to vote for our Governors, it was because they believed they were electing empathetic leaders who would work assiduously to improve security and the conditions of women and citizens in our country. They certainly didn’t expect those they elected to become part of their oppressors; authoritative abusers of the law who use the State apparatus unjustly to cow citizens into silence. We call on everyone with any degree of influence on Governor Aliyu Ahmed Sokoto to get him to do the right thing by ensuring Hamdiyya, who has done nothing wrong, is protected, supported and listened to. That would be the first step towards addressing the suffering of the people.

Governor Aliyu Ahmed Sokoto, it is time to listen, act, and allow Northern women to breathe. Voices for Inclusion and Equity (VIEW) is a North Central, North East, and North West Nigeria coalition committed to fostering equitable, inclusive, and just societies for women across the Nation. VIEW welcomes and salutes all other statements on this matter geared towards ensuring redress and a culture of ethical behavior in public life.

Ors:

▪ Aisha Oyebode

▪ Amina Salihu

▪ Mairo Mandara

▪ Kadaria Ahmed

▪ Fatima Akilu

▪ Rabi Jimeta

▪ Aisha Waziri Ibrahim

As usual, last week's "Not too young to kill..." drew an avalanche of response. Once the hand that writes writes and moves on, what readers make of it is entirely their own making. But we can all learn from such responses and rejoinders; which is why I am printing this piece here today. Dripping with sarcasm and titled "TOO YOUNG TO DIE, BUT NOT TOO YOUNG TO KILL", it is written by a prolific writer, Moses Oludele Idowu. Excerpts:

"I must salute Bola Bolawole, notable journalist and editor, for having the courage to go against the grain of popular opinion in his piece on this issue. We have a problem on our hands (because) everyone runs away from the problem, pretending it does not exist. Everyone avoids (asking) the right questions for fear of public backlash and loss of friends and platforms. But wrong questions won't bring the right answers!

The arraignment of some teenagers (we do not have access to their birth certificates and cannot, therefore, confirm whether they are teens or not) unleashed knocks on the government and police alike, forcing them to quickly retrace their footsteps. The publicity it drew from the media (both local and international) and the public forced government to hurriedly discontinue with the trial!

These were "children" arrested in connection with the last protest on bad governance. Let me make myself clear from the beginning. I take it to be self-evident that every citizen has the right to protest against the government and its policies. It is a fundamental right and woe betides that government in a democracy that seeks to abridge that right! But the fundamental right to protest or express personal feelings and grievances has its limits. It does not confer on the protesters the right to deny other citizens their own right to stay away from such protest. Neither does it confer on the protesters the right to deny other citizens their own right to private ownership of property or the right to life and pursuit of happiness because they refuse to participate.

 These rights are all enshrined in the same Constitution. The right to protest does not confer on any protester the right to loot a public library built at great costs and deny future generations the access to ancient collections. This, in itself, is a crime against future generations who would use the library. And, less I forget, the right to protest does not also confer the right to hoist the flag of another nation on Nigerian soil. That is high treason under any jurisdiction. 

Sadly, most of the comments that I have seen on this subject by both Opposition politicians and commentators ignored these facts, choosing, instead, to lambast the police and the government for following the letters of the law. Commentators dwelt instead on the fact that the protesters were minors and minors should not be tried in an open court for, of all things, treason.

Let us now address the issues. It is true that minors should not be tried in an open court for treason. But what do we do when minors habitually commit major crimes? It may also be true that most of those "children" do not know the legal implications of hoisting the flag of another nation on foreign soil. But ignorance is no excuse under the law, as the law itself states.

We blame the police for enforcing the Law but we are also the first to blame them for doing nothing while minors loot a whole library and the police could not make any arrest!

The problem of minors commiting crime is common in a section of the country and this is due to an evil and pernicious cultural system that has festered for decades, depriving entire generations of children meaningful education and opportunities in life. We all know this but everyone prefers to shy away due to political correctness.

The hardship inflicted by the ruinous economic policies of the present government has been generally widespread across the land; the suffering of the last one-and-a-half years has been fully democratised. How come, then, that it is only in a certain section of the country that you find "children" engaging in the looting of public property? Is it a coincidence that these "children" are the products of a culture that breeds the almajiri system that is at the centre of poverty and insecurity in the North?

In the videos released during the protests, we saw "children" carting away refrigerators, chairs, even roofing sheets and properties of innocent law-abiding citizens who, themselves, are also victims of the same neo-liberal economic orthodoxy to which our government has enslaved itself. But we have been here before! That is why this problem won't go away unless we lay the axe to the root of the tree. 

The almajiri system must be eliminated or thoroughly purged of its obnoxious and traditionally-anachronistic accretions; modern educational skills that will give access to opportunities for these children must be provided and enforced. It is not enough to cry against government for dragging minors and children to court. When minors commit major crimes should they go scot-free? This is what breeds the culture of impunity for which Nigeria is now notorious.

 The same Northern elites shedding crocodile tears over the trial of minors are responsible for the plight of these children due to years of neglect, refusing to educate them as they have educated their own children because they exploit these children for their own religious and political agenda.

I have a lot of respect for the Sardauna of Sokoto, the late Sir Ahmadu Bello. He built many standard schools across the Northern region which the children of the poor could attend and they were free. I am a product of one of those schools.

The new elites of the North do not think in the same direction. They are more concerned about their own family and care nothing about the education of the poor and their children.

When you hear someone threatening his political foes that "the dog and the baboon will be soaked in blood", he was not banking on his own children to lead the front but on these abused and much-traumatized minors. They are the canon fodders and storm trooppers who lead the Northern elite's undeclared war and agitation against the state and any government that does not catch their fancy.

That is why hammering on the fact that they are children or teens does not address the issue. There is something the CIA calls "draining the swamp." It does no good returning anyone, adult or minor, to the same environment generating and sustaining the same conditions responsible for the crime for which he was accused. 

Returning a terrorist, for example, to the same environment where he would continue to receive the same indoctrination that encourages terror without first smashing that environment or "draining the swamp" is self-defeating. That is why the trillions of Naira spent on the problem of insecurity in the North has not yielded the required fruits. As long as Boko Haram and the other insurgent groups have a ready source of recruits from the same minors and under-age children, Nigeria will remain in this hole.

Policemen were killed during the last protests; let us also spare a thought for them and their families! Or are we saying that the life of a Nigerian policeman does not matter? Try and kill an American policeman or, worse still, a British police man or woman and then claim you are a minor!

When "children" commit adult crimes habitually, what is to be done? When minors commit major crimes, should a nation look away? Does being a minor confer immunity from prosecution? This is at the roots of impunity in many Northern states and one reason why development eludes that part of the country. Impunity is a setback and a false framework for development. Anywhere the Law is not free and the Rule of Law is not supreme, progress will not abide.

This is why we may need to consider the wisdom of Gen. Joshua Dogonyaro. There was a terrible religious riot in 1986 in Kaduna, leading to the death of many people, mostly Southerners, and the destruction of churches and private property. The army of rioters and arsonists were led by this same group of "teenagers" and "children" who know how to kill and torch buildings but are too young to be tried. The riot went on for days. Policemen could not contain it. This was under the military regime of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. 

Finally, soldiers were called in to restore order. Dogonyaro, the GOC of 2nd Mechanised Division, ordered his men into the streets to arrest those torching buildings or maiming and killing but if they resisted arrest, to shoot at sight! Many were arrested and those who were defiant got killed. Soon, order was restored. It was here that something happened: When a child commits a crime and is apprehended, the one who sent him shows up! 

It was here that the late Abubakar Gumi showed up, confronting the soldiers and asking the arrested "minions" to defy soldiers. This infuriated the soldiers. He was nearly shot in the process. The soldiers refused to release the arsonists. The same cries of subjecting "children" to trial and military punishment were raised by the same people. It was here Dogonyaro said something that we need now to revisit. He said: "Children who are old enough to kill, slit the throat of adults and set fire on buildings and watch the effect with joy are not children and would be treated as such with the full weight of the law"

For as long as Dogonyaro remained the G.O.C of Kaduna, no further riots occurred until he was posted out of the city. The Tinubu government has discontinued the trial of the "children" and as a patriot, I abide by it but that will not solve the problem. The same government and the public crying under-age children should do something about "draining the swamp" where this calamity is daily incubated. Else, the same "minors" will soon be involved in another act of treason and the same cry for forgiveness will go up again. This will reinforce the culture of impunity that is at the root of Nigeria's underdevelopment".

Well said! Security matters are damn too sensitive to play politics with. We do so at our own collective peril!

 Former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, BOLAWOLE was also the Managing Director/ Editor-in-chief of The WESTERNER newsmagazine. He writes the ON THE LORD'S DAY column in the Sunday TRIBUNE and TREASURES column in NEW TELEGRAPH newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.