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[OPINION] Nigeria: Federalism, unitarism, hybrid or what? - Bolanle Bolawole
It is a puzzle that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration has dragged the 36 state governments to court to compel them to respect the autonomy of the 774 local governments, often touted, though erroneously, as the third tier of government and the government that is closest to the grassroots. That Tinubu has seemingly chosen the path of strengthening the existing Nigerian political structure or system contrary to the avalanche of cries for restructuring will baffle many.
It may appear that Tinubu is negating, nay, rubbishing, the very battle he waged - successfully - against President Olusegun Obasanjo when he (Tinubu) was the governor of Lagos State (1999 - 2007). After conducting a referendum and getting the endorsement of the state House of Assembly, Gov. Tinubu in April 2004 announced the creation of 37 additional local governments in Lagos, bringing the number of LGs to 57. The constitutionally-recognized local governments in Lagos State hitherto had been 20.
Obasanjo would have none of it. Yet, Tinubu would not back down. Obasanjo seized the Federally-allocated funds for Lagos state local governments. Tinubu took a step backward by designating his new local governments as “Local Government Development Areas” subsumed under the constitutionally-recognized 20 local governments. Obasanjo was not assuaged. Tinubu went to court and the matter dragged up to the Supreme Court. In the end, Tinubu won but Obasanjo would not be persuaded to let go of the Lagos State local government funds he had placed a lien on.
Tinubu was, thus, forced to ingeniously search for means to increase Lagos State’s internally-generated revenue. It remains to his eternal credit that he succeeded in doing that, setting the pace for Lagos to wean itself from dependence on federal allocation. The bad belly generated between Obasanjo and Tinubu as a result of that tango remains to this day. It was the government of President Umaru Yar’Adua, who succeeded Obasanjo, that obeyed the courts and ordered the release of the seized Lagos State LG funds - amounting to N10.8 billion - in July 2007.
Lessons learned include that of putting to test the principles of federalism or constitutional democracy. One is that the Federal Government (or the Centre) may not dictate or breathe down the neck of its constituent parts or federating units on matters concerning local administration.
Two: That the same system of local government administration cannot be imposed on a heterogeneous society like Nigeria, where there are over 370 nationalities with different languages, cultures, traditions, ways of life, economic and political systems, religions, etc. Even the colonial powers recognized and respected this basic fact in the system of government they imposed on the conquered peoples of Nigeria for the period they bore rule over them.
Three: that the command-and obey structure or unitary system of government imposed on Nigerians by successive military leaders, beginning with the first military coup of 1966, and which Obasanjo, himself an erstwhile military dictator, appeared to favour, could not be tolerated in a supposedly civilian federal system of government.
What, then, has changed since he stepped down as a two-term civilian governor of Lagos state that has made Tinubu to now step into the shoes and assume the same position as Obasanjo? Why seek to strengthen a local government system that is as oppressive and wasteful as it is unjust to a large section of the Nigerian polity? The present local government system is an aberration, to say the least. It is unitary in concept as well as in its implementation.
The same system cannot be expected to work uniformly all over the federation. Each segment of the country is unique and should be allowed to formulate, fashion out, and administer a local government system suitable to it. What the Tinubu administration seeks is an imposition and must be discarded for a truly federal system to emerge; to do otherwise is to enhance illogically.
The question many are also asking is whether Tinubu as governor of Lagos allowed the local governments the kind of autonomy he is seeking for them now as the President! It is on record that Tinubu as governor took the Federal Government of Obasanjo to court on many occasions over this or that issue, testing the constitutionality of Obasanjo’s efforts to arm-twist the States. No other governor was that audacious against President Obasanjo. Will Tinubu stomach the same treatment from any of the governors? Shall we have at least one State governor able and willing to do unto Tinubu what he did to Obasanjo?
The present local government system is not the only incongruous creation of the military that must be done away with. To start with, the 1914 amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates of Nigeria by Lord Lugard to form what is now known as Nigeria was an imposition. There was no referendum or plebiscite allowed for the people under the two protectorates to determine whether or not they wanted the amalgamation. It was a “diktat”, pure and simple, imposed by the British colonialists for their own selfish reasons.
The agitations for self-rule by Nigerians, over which a civil war was fought, and over which some have, again, taken up arms, must now be respected. Let Nigerians decide whether or not they want a continuation of the Lugardian experiment, as some have described it, or they want a break-up; be it a “velvet divorce” along the lines of erstwhile Czechoslovakia or the USSR, Yugoslavia, and Sudan model.
Nigeria’s Constitutions, especially after those of 1960 and 1963, have been described as a fraud - and appropriately so - because they make claims that everyone knows to be patently false. They all started by saying “We the people (of Nigeria)” made those constitutions for ourselves when we did not. Our first military ruler, JTU Aguiyi-Ironsi, destroyed Nigeria’s federalism with his Unification Decree Number 34 of 1966; since then, all the states created by fiat by our military rulers cannot be regarded as “federating units” properly so-called but are mere “begging bowls” as my sister, Funke Egbemode, once described them.
Virtually all the states are weak and are not economically viable. In many cases, strange bedfellows have been lumped together and birds of a feather separated, giving rise to perpetual acrimony and animosity. One reason why we do not, and cannot, see the kind of economic development witnessed in the First Republic is because the states as we have them today are a far cry from the Regions of old.
Why restructuring is not top on President Tinubu’s agenda - seemingly - should baffle many; for that has been canvassed as the panacea to the myriad problems bedeviling the country. Professor Akinyemi Onigbinde’s position on the issue of federalism titled “Granting autonomy to Local Governments undermines federalism principles”, aligns with mine.
Hear the erudite professor: “In a federal system of government, such as the one we claim to be running, granting autonomy to local governments undermines the principles of federalism. Successive military leaders from certain sections of Nigeria have used their power to create local government areas in their regions, giving them demographic and fiscal advantages over other sections which provide the bulk of the fiscal resources that all tiers of government rely on. This autonomy is a subversion of federalism and should be rejected by all who value democracy within a federal system.
“In a true federal system, regions, provinces, or states are the federating units that create a central authority to achieve specific mutual benefits. Local government areas, which are created for administrative convenience, do not qualify as federating units and should not draw administrative costs from the federation account. In principle, they are unknown to the central authority as established by the federating units.
“While efforts should be focused on repairing our feudalistic unitary system disguised as federalism, we are instead dismantling the political architecture of the federal system by undermining the states' authority over local governments. The argument that governors are misappropriating local government funds from the federation account does not justify dismantling the federal system. The neglect of local roads and other responsibilities of local governments is not solely due to state governors’ controlling funds, but also due to politicians' general disregard for the welfare of the people and their tendency to prioritize personal gain.
“Even if local government funds were distributed directly to them, there is no guarantee that local government chairmen would not emulate the governors' corrupt practices. This could lead to further fragmentation, with each political ward or village demanding direct allocations from the federation account.
“The issue of underdevelopment in local government areas is more about the politicians' lack of accountability than the governors' control over funds. Constituents must mobilize to hold their local leaders accountable, regardless of political party affiliations. Furthermore, while state governors are criticized for mismanaging funds, there is little concern about the federal government's handling of its share of the federation account, which affects national infrastructure and services like policing.
“As part of our journey towards a restructured federal system that allows states or geographical zones to flourish socioeconomically, we should consider dissolving existing local government areas. States should delineate their own local-governing areas based on demographics, administrative needs, and available financial resources. The current proliferation of local government areas, driven by military rulers from the North, was primarily to receive funds from the federation account without considering viability.
“Granting local government areas direct funding from the central purse has serious implications for rural lands. Local government chairmen in rural areas, dependent on federal allocations, may be pressured into relinquishing land for projects that serve the political or personal interests of the central authority. The RUGA project under former President Muhammadu Buhari exemplifies the potential dangers of such autonomy, which could have led to significant land loss for communities if local governments had been autonomous.
“The Yoruba people in the South-West are still not free from the threat of land subjugation, even with their son in power. It is important to avoid supporting policies simply because they are pushed by someone from one's own group. While President Bola Tinubu may have good intentions for local government administration, we must be wary of the potential misuse of rural lands by future presidents from other geopolitical zones. The idea of RUGA remains alive in the consciousness of herdsmen in Nigeria, and local government autonomy could provide a legal basis for similar projects in the future”.
I agree no less with Professor Onigbinde! From experience, creation of LGs have not led to development at the grassroots; if anything, it has only democratized corruption, taking it from the top (FG) through the middle (State Governments) to the bottom (LGs) of the country’s leadership ladder! In Lagos where I work and live, don’t we see how LG chairmen live large, abandoning their localities and relocating to VGC or Banana Island? Don’t we see how they compete with governors to send their children to the most expensive schools and acquire choice properties abroad?
President Tinubu's Statement on the Killing of Soldiers in Aba
I have received yet another disheartening news of the killing of five soldiers by suspected militants of the proscribed terrorist organization, IPOB.
The slain soldiers were on peacekeeping duty in Aba, Abia State on Thursday when they were murdered, just two months after a similar tragic incident happened in Okuama in Delta state.
These unwarranted barbaric and evil acts stand condemned and should never be condoned and tolerated in our country.
Our soldiers and the police have the onerous duty to protect all of us from aggressors and non state actors. Hundreds of them have paid the ultimate price in fulfilment of their duty, while some have experienced the indignity of being manhandled by the people they protect.
They surely do not deserve the mindless attacks by unruly elements in our society.
The federal government will come down heavily against those who have made it a habit to needlessly attack the officers and men of our armed forces.
On no account should anyone, under any guise, have the audacity to kill agents of state.
I want to make it clear that the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the armed forces have the capacity to crush violent non-state actors, making our communities unsafe.
I urge security agencies not only to fish out the masterminds and perpetrators of the Aba attack, but also those calling on people to stay at home. Their action is nothing but a treasonable offence.
The fact that the security forces are exercising necessary restraints should not be mistaken for weakness.
We are working to build a peaceful and harmonious society, but nobody should be under any illusion that the government will not act appropriately when the lives of our officers and men are wantonly taken.
While my condolences go to the families of the five slain soldiers, their colleagues and the leadership of our armed forces, I urge other men and women on peacekeeping duty not to be discouraged by the unfortunate incident in Aba.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu
President and Commander-in-Chief, Federal Republic of Nigeria
June 1, 2024
Notice of Commencement of Indefinite Strike by NLC and TUC
The attention of WAEC Nigeria has been drawn to a notice of the Commencement of Indefinite Strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trades Union Congress (TUC) effective, Monday, 3rd June, 2024.
The Council shares the concerns of both Unions and the generality of Nigerians, however the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates which is currently going on in all member Countries is an international examination and as such the Nigerian Child should not be put to a disadvantage of missing the examination.
As a result of the aforesaid reason, WAEC Nigeria will continue with the conduct the examination as scheduled on the timetable.
All School Principals, Supervisors, Parents, Candidates and the general public should please take note and make adequate arrangements for their candidates to sit the examination in all centers in Ogun State as scheduled.
Thank you.
Ayobami L. Suberu
Branch Controller
For:Head of National Office
Aba Power Gives Out Over 22,000 Prepaid Meters in 6 Months, Pledges A More Aggressive Rollout
Aba Power Limited, Nigeria’s youngest electricity distribution, has given out over 22,000 smart prepaid meters since last November when it initiated its Mass Metering campaign.
“Much as our stakeholders are satisfied with our speed since we rolled out the programme”, Aba Power managing director, Ugo Opiegbe, told select journalists in Aba today, “we will do much more in the next six months and achieve a far greater target after that”.
It is estimated that meter installation for some 200,000 registered customers in the Aba Ring-fenced Area will cost at least N32 billion.
Aba Power commenced commercial operations in September 2022 and provides electricity to nine of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in Abia State.
To reduce the financial burden on the power distribution company, the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) directed it to work in conjunction with meter vending companies which now charge customers between N129,000 and N147,640.01 for a single-phase meter and N227,207.76 and N241,875 for a three-phase meter, from N88,124 and N154,624 for single-phase and three-phase meters, respectively.
“We regret these increases in these difficult times for the Nigerian people, but they are inevitable because of the depreciating value of the naira against the dollar”, Opiegbe explained.
“The good news is that the customers will recoup the payments over 10 years through electricity credit”
The power utility executive disclosed that Aba Power is currently working with two meter vendors., though it is considering increasing the number as soon as possible to end the practice of estimated meter readings completely.
“Estimated bills are a no-no to us because it does not encourage accountability and transparency”, Opiegbe stated.
“They do not give confidence to our customers, so they cannot be satisfied”.
He revealed that some of the vendors Aba Power negotiated earlier but couldn’t hire because of issues of quality and integrity may be engaged now because they have made amends and “are willing to meet our standards, which must be international”.
There are unconfirmed reports that some agents of the vending companies were illegally charging money to individuals and businesses. The Aba Power MD declined to comment on the allegation.
The utility is currently working with Holley Metering Ltd and the KAYZ Consortium to install smart prepaid meters to all businesses and individuals in its coverage area.
The Aba Power MD said that his company has 31 feeders, making it difficult to provide smart prepaid meters to the people on all the feeders simultaneously.
“We are providing prepaid meters feeder by feeder”, he stated.
“We have covered four feeders in the last six months, namely, Aba Township, Aba East, Ehi Road, and the World Bank.
“We are about to start on the fifth feeder, and our chairman, Professor Bart Nnaji, has asked us always to prioritize manufacturing firms because they are the foremost group that brought Geometric Power to Aba, a key industrial city.
“We give them priority so that they can reduce the cost of doing business, which will, in turn, make their products more affordable and thus benefit the common man”.
Dike Ejike, an engineer and electricity consultant in Enugu, commended Aba Power for giving priority to industrialists.
“Manufacturers are going through a rough phase in Nigeria, and they must be encouraged to retain their staff, otherwise their collapse will have a cataclysmic effect on not just the economy but Nigerian society as a whole”.
Segun Odegbami: Let Nigeria revive NNPC/Shell Cup!
I have been in hibernation for two weeks, high up in the hills of Wasimi in Ogun State buried in work. As a result, I failed to catch up with some major sports news. I missed Raphael Nadal’s loss in the first round at Roland Garros. I missed Manchester United’s surprise defeat of my favourite team in the English Premier League, Manchester City FC in the FA Cup final. I also missed Nigeria’s matches at the CAF Under-17 AFCON where I am told that, for the second time in a row, the national team failed to win and to qualify for the FIFA World Under-17 Championship.
I asked what the reactions to not qualifying out of Africa to the FIFA championship where Nigeria holds the best records in the world with 5 World Cup victories. I had to ask because, contrary to my expectations should Nigeria fail a second time in a row, the world did not end!
Instead, (as I was told) the country’s football officials are actually toying with the idea of promoting the ‘failed’ coach of the team to a higher age-grade level!
Nigerian football did not shake to its roots? Nobody was fired? Nothing happened? The country and its football have just moved on, unperturbed and undisturbed, when my own blood pressure had shot up in worry and uncommon concern? What is happening? Where has Nigeria’s passion for grassroots football gone to? What is happening at the grassroots level of Nigerian football? Why would the country’s national teams suddenly become cannon fodder for other African teams? Why would the production room of great Nigerian players and squads in the past suddenly become impotent and unproductive?
Yet, even from my humble observatory in the hills of Wasimi, I see global interest for young, strong, athletic Nigerian football players by foreign clubs, exploding.
It must never be true that the head coach of the U-17 is being touted for promotion to a higher age-grade level after failing to take the team beyond Africa. There are too many questions begging for answers.
Let me step back a little and examine the foundations of the grassroots again.
There is a global football competition for Under-17s. Nigeria has won it 5 times.
That means that participants from Nigeria must have come from the millions of boys in secondary schools, with most under the age of 17.
In Nigeria, in particular, for that age group, at around 16 years of age, the secondary school offers the best option for the discovery, development, assembly and authentication of the young, gifted football players that will represent the country. Beyond that, the schools also offer the best opportunity to reduce the incidences of cheating that have smeared the country’s reputation, and slightly affected the integrity of their past U-17 victories.
Using the schools offers the best opportunity to reduce the tendency to cheat. The schools have the numbers, trained and qualified teachers in Physical and Health Education, and some level of basic facilities within them to kick-start ‘something’ in the process of player-development.
There was a time (not too long ago) that a national football competition between secondary schools around the country existed.
It was founded and funded by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd, SPDC. For 19 years, the competition, even with its foibles, provided a platform that fed the selection process of players for the Under-17 teams in the various States and at the national level. In a particular year, 11 players were invited from the Shell Cup competition for the national Under-17 team.
The space left by Shell Cup has not been filled since then, even though there are a few emerging football competitions with their sponsors for schools in some States. Unfortunately, these do not enjoy national coordination and so, lose their power to fully harvest the best crop of emerging young talented footballers in the country. Many of the best players may not be caught in the net that the most authentic under-17 players should go through.
Football academies mushrooming all over the country now provide the feed for the national team. Their numbers are limited despite their rapid expansion, and most will not pass the age integrity test with most of their players being out of the school system. Under this arrangement, the vast number of the most gifted and authentic talents remain undiscovered.
The issue of school sports, generally, needs to be looked at microscopically and practically again by both the Federal Ministries of Education and of Youth and Sports. Their partnership is key and critical. A good working relationship between them will make the school the epicentre for the discovery, nurture and development of grassroots athletes for the country’s Under-17 national teams. Essentially, the matter must go beyond irrelevant and endless ‘talk talk’ without action. Some affirmative action is needed. The effort to make sports development at secondary schools level authentic should never fall victim to short-cuts, desperation or frustration.
School sports should be revived, made authentic and promoted as the bedrock of all grassroots sports development.
Even SPDC should be reminded of its contributions in the past, and can still be encouraged to revive that invaluable All-Nigerian Secondary Schools Football Championship for the NNPC/Shell Cup that involved some 60,000 new student footballers every year.
Specialisation of coaches!
Meanwhile, back to the issue of Nigerian coaches at age-grade levels.
Nigeria should have coaches specializing to handle specific levels of football development. The practice of ‘promoting’ coaches from one age-group level to the next can be counter productive.
The requirement for training of players at different age groups varies.
There are coaches that have the ‘eye’ to spot exceptionally talented players from an ‘army’ of children. These are the best scouts for fresh talent. They recommend players to schools, clubs, and even the national teams.
There are coaches that know how to take raw talents, hone and transform them into technically skillfull players with confidence to play freely and the ability to tame the ball and make it do his bidding. They know how to teach players basic skills, to head, to pass, to shoot, to control the ball with different parts of the foot, to dribble, to tackle and so on. These are the essential requirements for mostly Under-17 players.
Above that, some coaches are good at training players to understand team tactics, strategies, formations, discipline and organization whilst developing their physique, strength, flexibility and speed.
At the very highest level, special training skills and knowledge from experience, are needed to blend all the above with player management, psychology and comfortability against the highest levels of opposition.
It follows that coaches should remain within their areas of specialization and experience in order to flourish best, and add the highest value to developing players. Promotion up the rung of age groups may be a ‘wrong’ prescription for coaches.
So, Nigeria’s absence from the net FIFA Under-17 Championship is a great shock. It should be of great concern to football administrators and the people. It is surprising that the failure came and went, and nothing has happened. It is almost like it did not happen at all. Whereas, it is a catastrophe considering where the country’s football was in the world some time ago, and could be now.
Statement to Condemn Rising Attacks on Military Personnel in Nigeria; Calls for Safety of Students and Campuses in Aba
1. I have instructions of the President of the All-Africa Students’ Union – HE Osisiogu Osikenyi Enyinnaya to convey the Union’s condemnation of recent spree of attacks on Military Personnel in Nigeria especially the one in his hometown – Aba.
2. To this end, we have learnt with great chagrin, yet another dastardly, unwarranted, outrageous, cruel, and totally condemnable attack on military personnel at a military checkpoint at Obikabia Junction in the Ogbor Hill area of Aba, Abia State – Nigeria, on Thursday, May 30, 2024 which left five soldiers who were carrying out their lawful duties dead. Sadly, similar situations have been witnessed in recent times in Delta State, Anambra State, FCT, and other parts of Nigeria.
3. The President – HE Osisiogu Osikenyi Enyinnaya at this point wishes to join prominent Africans in condoling the Nigerian Military and the families of soldiers, who lost their lives in the unfortunate incident; and condemn the clandestine act of attack on Soldiers under any guise; while aligning with Statements of the Governor of Abia State HE Alex Otti; Chairman of South East Governors Forum HE Hope Uzodinma; Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives Rt Hon Benjamin Kalu; former Minority Leader of the Senate – Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and others.
4. In addition to being the commercial nerve Centre of Nigeria; Aba City also plays host to major Institutions of Learning such as National Institute for Nigerian Languages (NINLAN), Abia State Polytechnic, Havard Wilson College of Education, Nigerian British University among other Vocational Skills Acquisition Centres located at nooks and crannies of the City.
5. Hence we wish to appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Chief of Defense Staff - General Christopher Gwabin Musa OFR; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja to consider disappointing prophets of doom by not unleashing excruciating military action on the thriving commercial city especially in considering high population of formal and informal student in the Aba and environs.
6. Recalling that the Armed Forces of Nigeria is committed to the security of schoolchildren and other learning institutions against attacks within the ambit of Nigeria’s constitution; I trust that safety of students/schools and other innocent civilians will be compromised as seen in other parts of Africa such as Tigray(Ethiopia); Amhara(Ethiopia); Khartoum(Sudan); Mogadishu(Somalia) where even campuses are used as military concentration camps – a situation we always find disturbing.
7. The Union under the leadership of The President – HE Osisiogu Osikenyi Enyinnaya condemns these attacks and calls on the Nigerian Military to consider exercising retrain to guarantee safety of law abiding while also dealing with culprits decisively and professionally.
SIGNED:
Abrhaley Arefaine Hailenchael
Executive Director to the presidency, All-Africa Students' Union (AASU);
Suite 304, 3rd floor Guji Complex, Bole - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Harry Visit: Meghan Writes Oluwo, Appreciates His Hospitality, Royal Reception
The wife of Prince Harry, Meghan Markle has written the Paramount Ruler of Iwoland, HIM Oba Abdulrosheed Adewale Akanbi, for his hospitality and warm reception during their 3-day working visit to Nigeria last month.
The correspondence further acknowledged the Yoruba name "Adetokunbo" given to her by His Majesty during their sojourn in Nigeria.
It could be recalled that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, visited Nigeria last month. And Oluwo was invited as the only Yoruba Oba to give him a royal reception at Delborough Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos. Therein, Oba Akanbi bestwoed on him a Yoruba name, presented gifts of Ofi and Royal beads
Her personal correspondence sent to Oluwo reads " Thank you for your warm welcome to Nigeria. I'm deeply humbled by your blessing of the traditional Yoruba name, Adetokunbo. I treasure the name and appreciate your trust in me to carry it with grace and dignity"
"Our visit to Nigeria was important for many reasons, but not least because it gave us an opportunity to explore and understand my heritage, which extends to our children. We look forward to coming back home one day soon"
[OPINION] “New” National Anthem is National Self-Debasement - Farooq A. Kperogi
Nothing in my adult life has made me more ashamed to be a Nigerian and more inclined to completely divest my emotions from Nigeria than the readoption of “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,” a colonially created national anthem whose first stanza drips wet with the spit of racist condescension, gender exclusion, and stodgy, ungainly archaisms.
First, it’s inexcusable national self-humiliation to discard a home-made national anthem, irrespective of its defects, for one that was made by an imperialist whose influence we’re supposed to be independent of. That instantiates a phenomenon that social anthropologists call cultural cringe.
First propounded by an Australian scholar by the name of Arthur Phillips in the 1950s to describe Australia’s complicated cultural relations with Britain and the US, cultural cringe is the deep-rooted inferiority complex that causes psychologically damaged, formerly colonized people to inferiorize and disdain their own country and its culture and to uncritically valorize cultures and countries that their low self-esteem persuades them to believe is superior to theirs.
In previous columns, I have called this Nigeria’s national xenophilia, which I have defined as our predilection for irrational, unjustified, inferiority-driven veneration of the foreign and the corresponding sense of low national self-worth that this veneration activates.
A country whose symbolic song of independence is inspired, written, and composed by the appendicular remnants of imperialist oppressors of whom the country has supposedly been independent for more than six decades isn’t worthy of its independence. Such a country has lost the moral and philosophical argument for independence and against recolonization.
That is why, as I’ve argued in the past, our leaders are routinely infantilized by the West. As a people and a culture, we have internalized a mentality of low self-worth and an unwarranted veneration of the foreign, especially if the “foreign” also happens to be white. Nothing has demonstrated this more than the readoption of a national anthem that was written and composed by colonial British women.
But my worry transcends this. I am mortified that the very first stanza of our national anthem derogates our humanity. I have written multiple articles on what I have called the vocabularies of racial differentiation and exclusion in which I have repeatedly pointed out that “tribe” and “native” are racist words that white people reserve only for people they consider inferior, and that their appearance in Nigeria’s first national anthem was one of the reasons for the anthem’s rejection in 1978.
I’ll repeat some of the things I’ve written over the last few years on this issue and hope that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sees reason to rescind the readoption of this denigrating British anthem written for Nigeria.
Shorn of all pretenses, “tribe” basically means backward, primitive nonwhite people. Let no one deceive you that the word means anything other than that in the English language. Even the Oxford Dictionary of English recognizes this fact. Its usage note on “tribe” reads:
“In historical contexts the word tribe is broadly accepted (the area was inhabited by Slavic tribes), but in contemporary contexts it is problematic when used to refer to a community living within a traditional society. It is strongly associated with past attitudes of white colonialists towards so-called primitive or uncivilized peoples living in remote underdeveloped places. For this reason it is generally preferable to use alternative terms such as community or people” (p. 1897).
I personally prefer “ethnic group” as an alternative to “tribe.” But I am aware that “tribe” has been congealed in our lexical repertory and can even be said to have been resemanticized by Africans, that is, given a meaning that is different from its original one.
For most English-speaking Africans, “tribe” is simply the English lexical equivalent of the words in their languages that they deploy to denote peoplehood. That may be so, but I come to language from a communication standpoint. To effectively communicate, you have to speak the same codes and share the same meanings.
Native English speakers would never call themselves “tribes” and understand the word to mean a group of primitive, nonwhite people who are still stuck at the lower end of the civilizational hierarchy.
You may understand the word differently, but if you tell a native speaker you belong to a tribe, you are inadvertently authorizing your inferiorization. That’s why when anybody asks me, “What is your tribe?” I always say, “You mean my ethnic group? I don’t belong to a tribe.” That was, by the way, Chinua Achebe’s attitude, too. He hated the word “tribe.”
That was also why when former US President Bill Clinton visited Nigeria and other African countries in 1998, experts told him to steer clear of the word “tribe” and its inflections such as “tribal,” “tribalism,” “tribalistic,” etc.
An influential American newspaper called Politico contrasted Clinton’s studied avoidance of the word “tribe” and Obama’s liberal use of it. “Keep in mind that the word ‘tribal conflict’ is extremely insulting to Africans,” the paper quoted a scholar by the name of Marina Ottaway of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to have told American reporters who would cover the presidential visit. “Don't write about ‘century-old tribal conflicts in African countries’… Yet, when Obama uttered the phrase ‘tribal conflicts’ at a press conference Friday as he discussed his planned trip to Africa, it went virtually unremarked upon. So too did several references he made in his Ghana speech to battles among ‘tribes.’” “Another president,” the paper concluded, “might have been accused of racism…”
Well, I criticized Obama for this in a Jul 18, 2009, column titled, “The Anti-African Racist Insults Obama Got Away with in Ghana,” which attracted the attention of the White House at the time.
A column I wrote earlier on February 27, 2009, titled “What’s my tribe? None” got the attention of CNN International’s copy desk. After a back and forth with its Chief Copy editor, the organization banned the use of the word “tribe” from its style guide. It came from their admission that no white ethnic group would ever be called a “tribe.”
In my September 30, 2018, column titled, “‘Tribe’ and ‘Detribalized’ are Derogatory Words,” I wrote: “Sadly, in 2018, our elites not only still call us ‘tribes’; they defend doing so. Lillian Jean Williams, the British colonial who wrote the anthem, would be proud.” I had no inkling that Tinubu would take this embarrassing sociolinguistic suicide to the next level.
“Native” is another linguistic marker of racial inferiorization that has no business being on Nigeria’s national anthem. The word was originally used by white colonialists and later by Western anthropologists to refer specifically to nonwhite people. The New Oxford American Dictionary (3rd edition) captures this subtlety well. One of the definitions of “native,” which the dictionary says is “dated, often offensive,” is “one of the original inhabitants of a country, especially a nonwhite as regarded by European colonists or travelers.”
Lillian Jean Williams was a British colonialist who thought herself superior to the “natives” and reflected that in the first stanza of the anthem she composed for us.
Notice, though, that in American (and Canadian) English “native” is used widely in a non-racially discriminatory way. When people call a city their hometown, they often say they’re natives of the city, as in “I am an Atlanta native.” I am not sure how widespread this usage of “native” is in British English, but it appears only 148 times in the British National Corpus.
The New Oxford American Dictionary’s usage advice on “native” is instructive. It says, “In contexts such as native of Boston or New York in the summer was too hot even for the natives, the noun native is quite acceptable. But when it is used to mean ‘a nonwhite original inhabitant of a country,’ as in this dance is a favorite with the natives, it is more problematic. This meaning has an old-fashioned feel and, because of its association with a colonial European outlook, it may cause offense.”
There is exactly zero reason to revert to “Nigeria, We Hail Thee.” Its readoption symbolizes the starkest evidence of national defeat, national self-humiliation, and national inferiority complex that I have ever seen. If Tinubu doesn’t reverse himself on readopting this national disgrace, the next government should. This is simply unbearably embarrassing!
Where are the billions? Analysing AfDB’s pledges to Nigeria over the past year
Story highlights
- The African Development Bank (AfDB) has made several financial pledges towards Nigeria’s socio-economic development since 2023.
- The financial commitments relate to infrastructure, and agriculture development among others.
- Amid these multi-billion commitments, Nairametrics digs into the status of the bank’s pledges to Nigeria for the past year.
When it comes to Nigeria’s multilateral creditors, the African Development Bank (AfDB) stands out as one of the country’s largest and most reliable sources of credit.
According to data from the Debt Management Office, Nigeria’s loans from the AfDB have increased from approximately $3 billion in 2022 to $3.2 billion by the end of 2023.
This is up from $2.8 billion in 2021, demonstrating steady growth in the extension of credit to Nigeria.
The World Bank is the only multilateral creditor to have extended more credit to Nigeria than the AfDB.
Support from the AfDB has grown significantly since the Tinubu administration, with numerous pledges made over the past year to both public and private institutions, supporting various initiatives.
AfDB’s Financial Commitments to Nigeria
We looked at the AfDB website and from their records, between 2023 and March 2024, a total of 372.3 million UA has been approved for Nigeria.
For this year, its website showed only 37,548,813 UA was approved on March 15, 2024.
According to the AfDB, the Bank uses a unit of account (the “Unit of Account” or “UA”) equivalent to the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Right (SDR) as its reporting currency.
The value of the SDR, which may vary from day to day, is currently computed daily in U.S. dollars by the IMF.
We also looked at the entirety of projects and amounts that have been approved for Nigeria since 1971 and as per their records, a total of 6.1 billion UA has been earmarked for Nigeria out of which 4.5 billion UA has been approved or completed while 1.4 billion UA is under implementation or ongoing.
186.5 million UA has been cancelled so far while the bulk of the cancellation occurred in 2016 at an estimated 173.8 million dollars.
Nairametrics also collated official press releases from the AfDB on pledges made to Nigeria in the form of financial support.
Some of these amounts may be part of the 372 million UA, but Nairametrics cannot independently verify.
However, these are the pledges that we have collated.
AfDB’s Financial Commitments to Nigeria Since 2023
As part of Nairametrics’ review of the government’s first year in office, we take a closer look at the various pledges from the AfDB over the past year, detailing the beneficiaries and the intended uses of the funds.
Here are the pledges made since last year per Nairametrics collation:
$1.44 billion investment in Nigeria
The African Development Bank (AfDB) had on May 22, 2024, announced an investment of $1.44 billion to aid the development of energy and power, transport, water, and sanitation infrastructure in Nigeria.
- Director-General of the AfDB’s Nigeria Country Department, Lamin Barrow, said Nigeria is having a huge infrastructure deficit problem, at the Nasarawa Investment Summit 2024, held from 15 – 16 May in Lafia, Nasarawa state.
- “To address this problem, the African Development Bank is supporting the federal and state governments to improve the national and state infrastructure. As of April 2024, 31 per cent of the Bank’s active portfolio, valued at $1.44 billion, is supporting infrastructure development in Nigeria,” Barrow stated.
$75 million loan with Nigeria’s Indorama Eleme Fertilizer and Chemicals Limited
On March 28, 2024, AfDB stated it signed a $75 million loan agreement with Nigeria’s Indorama Eleme Fertilizer and Chemicals Limited.
It explained the loan will enable Indorama to increase its fertilizer production and develop a port terminal for exports, supporting food production and food security across regional and international markets, while fostering job creation in Nigeria.
$50 million loan to Yobe State Government
On March 26, 2024, the Board of Directors of the AfDB stated it approved a $50 million loan for the Yobe State Environmental and Climate Change Action Project (ECCAP) to enhance climate change resilience, boost food security, and improve livelihoods for over 3.5 million people in northeast Nigeria.
While the project cost was estimated at $101.34 million, the African Development Bank pledged a $50 million loan.
$80 million To Ekiti Knowledge Zone Project
On February 22, 2024, AfDB stated it committed $80 million in loan financing to the Ekiti Knowledge Zone (EKZ) project in Ekiti State, describing the project as a hub for digital innovation and knowledge economy in Nigeria.
The Ekiti State Government was expected to commit $14.8 million towards the $94.8 million project.
$175 million financial package for UBA
On December 15, 2023, the AFDB said it approved a $175 million financial package for United Bank for Africa (UBA), comprising $100 million in long-term senior debt, $50 million of trade finance medium-term senior debt and a $25 million risk participation program.
According to its statement, the long-term senior debt will enhance UBA’s capacity to finance projects in Nigeria in the key sectors inclusive of agriculture and related value chains.
$20 million Trade Finance Facility Agreement with FSDH Merchant Bank
On December 8, 2023, AfDB said it signed a $20 million Trade Finance Facility Agreement with FSDH Merchant Bank to support small- and medium-sized businesses in Nigeria’s industrial and manufacturing sectors.
$115 million for Abia state road rehabilitation
On June 30, 2023, AfDB stated it had approved a loan of $115 million to support a major road rehabilitation project in Nigeria’s Abia State.
“Financing for the project, estimated at a total cost of $263.80 million, will come through an African Development Bank loan of $100 million; a Canada–African Development Bank Climate Fund (CACF) loan of $15 million; and a $125 million co-financing loan from the Islamic Development Bank,” AfDB said in a statement.
$15 million loan to InfraCredit
On May 18, 2023, AfDB stated it approved a $15 million subordinated loan to Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company Limited (InfraCredit) to strengthen its capital base and help close Nigeria’s infrastructure financing gap.
The financing was aimed at enabling InfraCredit to leverage domestic capital markets to bolster access to long-term local currency infrastructure financing in Nigeria.
$525,000 grant to AFN
On April 26, 2023, AfDB said it signed a $525,000 grant agreement with Africa Fintech Network (AFN) for the setup of the Africa Fintech Hub(link is external), an online portal that will serve as a one-stop shop for all fintech activities in Africa.
The agreement was signed on 4 April 2023, according to AfDB.
€362,000 to Yobe Basin-Trust Fund
On March 23, 2023, AfDB, signed a €362,000 grant agreement with Hadejia Jama’are Komadugu Yobe Basin-Trust Fund to prepare additional studies for the development of a strategic plan for managing water resources in the Komadugu-Yobe Basin in northern Nigeria.
“Specifically, the grant will support the preparation of a Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) for the Challawa Gorge Dam Watershed Management Project; a stakeholder engagement plan; a grievance redress mechanism, and stakeholder consultations involving riparian communities and the Lake Chad Basin Commission comprising Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria and Niger Republic.
The project will be implemented over eight months,” AfDB revealed in a statement.
How many pledges came in?
Nairametrics has been unable to confirm whether the pledges made to extend credit to institutions in Nigeria have been disbursed.
- Ahead of this publication, a Nairametrics analyst sent an inquiry to media@afdb.org seeking details on the financial commitments made to Nigeria by the African Development Bank Group since 2023.
- Specifically, Nairametrics requested information on which pledges had been fulfilled.
Nairametrics faced challenges in obtaining a response from the AfDB. Efforts to reach Christin Roby, an official in the AfDB’s Communications Department, were unsuccessful.
Eventually, Ms. Roby explained that the team was busy with the Annual Meetings and a response would likely come next week.
As of this publication, Nairametrics has not received a response from media@afdb.org regarding the inquiry.
FG’s perception of AfDB’s interventions
- On June 24, 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu welcomed an investment of $520 million in specialised agro-processing zones by the AfDB.
- According to a statement from the presidency, Tinubu had praised AfDB’s president, Dr Adewunmi Adesina for further opening up the economy for investments that provide job opportunities and reduction in poverty.
- President Tinubu had assured Dr Adesina that the Federal Government would provide all the necessary assistance to ensure the sustenance of the projects, adding that electricity remained a priority area that needed urgent attention.
- The $520 million pledge was launched by AfDB and partners, as disclosed on its website on October 24, 2022.
- The Nigerian presidency notes the AfDB President’s visionary and noble endeavour to transform agriculture in Africa and ensure food security on the continent.
Nairametrics previously quoted the AfDB stating that its funding for development projects in Nigeria is worth around $4.4 billion.
[Nairametrics]
Video: Aisha Yesufu Refuses To Stand During Rendition Of Re-introduced National Anthem
Nigerian activist and politician, Aisha Yesufu, has openly opposed the newly adopted national anthem, ‘Nigeria We Hail Thee’.
Naija News reported that President Bola Tinubu signed the National Anthem Bill 2024 into law on Wednesday, reinstating the old anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee.”
A video making the rounds on social media shows the activist sitting while others stood during the recitation of the new anthem at an event.
Most guests at the event were visibly astonished by Aisha’s display, as seen in the video.
Aisha shared a video clip of the moment on her official X handle with the caption, “Not my anthem.”
Similarly, Nollywood actress, Kate Henshaw, has frowned at the decision of the administration of President Bola Tinubu, to reinstate the old national anthem.
In a post via X on Thursday, Kate Henshaw faulted the timing of the change and questioned how returning to the old anthem would tackle the country’s hardships.
According to the movie star, the country is facing “excoriating hardship and lack of good governance on every level.”
She sarcastically wrote: “In the midst of excoriating hardship & lack of good governance on every level but not to worry, going back to a colonial anthem will be a soothing balm and inject patriotism back into our veins, a much needed drug.”
In another post, Henshaw wrote, “The labour of our heroes past… o ti lo [is gone].”