The West has always been fascinated with Africa’s wealth, beginning from the slave trade to the present. King Leopold and the Congo comes readily to mind.

An intriguing documentary, The Empire Pays Back, broadcast on the UK’s Channel 4 in 2005 expounded on Britain’s debt to Africa. It was a precursor, in many ways, to the now strident calls for restitution and reparation.

In a scathing piece by Richard Drayton published by The Guardian, he made the case that “Britain was the principal slaving nation of the modern world.” Des Eskin’s book, The Brutish Empire: Four Centuries of Colonial Atrocities as well as Dan Hick’s The Brutish Museums

The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution extend the conversation.

In the present century, China has entered the fray with the LSE highlighting the continuing scramble for Africa: “If we separate African countries into two groups – the resource-rich countries and the resource-poor countries – the nature of resource endowment (rich or poor) is a strong explainer of the divergent distribution of Chinese FDIs across Africa. The resource-rich countries receive an overwhelming share of Chinese FDIs in Africa.”

This introduction is important in situating the decades’ old conversation around OPL 245 and Dan Etete’s role in the matter. The overwhelming sentiment is one of corruption and self-serving opportunism but it is not new. Where resources are available, the capitalist and imperialist vultures of the West will circle above.

If you ask the average enlightened Nigerian whether he knows Dan Etete, his answer will almost certainly dwell on the reference to Malabu Oil and OPL 245. It’s quite remarkable though that if one should probe deeper, the bloke will not be able to say what exactly the issue is.

Truth is foreign interests and the Federal Government had not been up to par on the transaction in many respects. The story almost always appears to end on the note of reading that Dan Etete was found guilty in France. But of course, take a detour from the prevailing narrative and you will discover that the French granted him a full pardon.

So, why is Dan Etete always referred to in negative terms? As they would say in popular lingo, “Wetin dis Dan Etete do sef?”

What exactly happened with the Malabu Oil and the OPL 245 transaction? How come Dan Etete keeps being accused of corruption when the Federal Government, a foreign government and a respectable British bank certified the payment of the sum of $1.3bn to him and his company?

Let’s take a trip to the website of ENI, the Italian oil giant that was part of the transaction where an explanation is presented regarding the payment of $1.092 billion as compensation for the revocation of Malabu Oil’s rights to OPL 245 after years of legal wrangling and contentious back-and-forth:

“To break the deadlock, the FGN’s then Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, proposed the following solution to the parties: first, the FGN would be the sole party to the contract with Eni and Shell; and second, the FGN would settle the ongoing legal disputes with Shell and Malabu by paying the latter compensation for giving up the rights to OPL 245.

“On 29 April 2011, Eni, Shell and the FGN signed a Resolution Agreement that transferred the rights to OPL 245 to Eni and Shell. This agreement included settlements made solely between Eni and Shell and the FGN, represented by the Ministers of Petroleum, Justice, and Finance.

“As part of this agreement, Shell and Eni paid $1.3 billion (the price plus the signature bonus) to an escrow account opened by the Nigerian Government with JP Morgan in London.

“During the same period, the FGN paid Malabu $1.092 billion as compensation for revoking the rights to OPL 245. Malabu dropped its complaints against the Nigerian Government.”

In order to fully understand the story, let’s go back to the beginning, to 1998 when General Sani Abacha, the man in the dark glasses, was Head of State and Dan Etete was Petroleum Minister, pushing the vision to increase indigenous participation of Nigerians in the oil and gas industry.

It was on April 29, 1998 that the FGN under Sani Abacha awarded OPL 245 to Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd with Minister of Petroleum Dan Etete amongst the shareholders. Exploration was hindered between 1998 and 2011 due to legal disputes and international arbitrations intervolving the FGN, Shell, and Malabu.

It is noteworthy that in 1999 when the FGN revoked the licenses of 31 OPLs, Malabu’s OPL 245 was not included in the list. In fact the company was asked to commence exploration. However, political intrigues supervened when on July 2, 2001 the FGN revoked the granting of exploration rights to Malabu without providing any warning or giving a reason for its decision, and reallocated the rights to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the state oil company.

Malabu Oil reacted on September 10, 2003 by filing a lawsuit against the Nigerian Government and Shell. Then on November 30, 2006 the FGN, NNPC and Malabu entered into a settlement agreement whereby OPL 245 was again allocated to Malabu, only for Shell to respond by suing the FGN.

The almost intractable deadlock was resolved on April 29, 2011 when the FGN, Shell and Eni signed the Resolution Agreement that transferred the rights to OPL 245 to Eni and Shell. This led to the FGN paying $1.092 to Malabu as compensation for revoking the rights, and Malabu thereafter dropped its complaints against the Nigerian Government.

A report by WoodMackenzie provides some context as to why this case has continued to excite conversation: “Deepwater OPL 245 is located in the southern Niger Delta. Two large oil and gas discoveries, Etan and Zabazaba, were made in 2005 and 2006. The block is believed to contain around 1 billion barrels of oil of discovered and prospective resources.”

One billion is a huge number and its estimated value of $3.5bn makes OPL 245 one of the most lucrative basins in Nigeria and thus the interest from oil giants across Europe, and with so much at stake, the stakes, pardon the pun, will be very high with accusations of corruption flying high, and in such instance any Nigerian official involved in the process such as Dan Etete, will always be left with the short end of the stick in a business deal with foreigners.

In a 2019 story in The Africa Report, Dan Etete who rarely grants interviews to the press asked a rhetorical question of his interlocutor: “Shell and Malabu have always fought each other. How could two enemies have united to corrupt the government?”

Dan Etete’s story alongside the ensuing controversies around OPL 245 reads in many ways like fiction, and it is to a fictional tale that we will now repair for context in understanding how Africans are corrupt while those from the West are investors.

Those interested can look up British writer and politician Jeffrey Archer’s short story entitled “Clean Sweep Ignatius” to read about the West’s view of corruption among Africa’s political elite.

But ironically, the man who wrote that tongue-in-cheek story ended up being sentenced to four years imprisonment for perjury and perverting the course of justice after having served as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1985 to 1986 under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher!

There you have it; the stereotype that foreign interests must perforce find a black sheep to heap the blames on when doing business in Africa, especially Nigeria. The result is that we end up missing the essence and dwelling on the concocted accident built around the hapless black sheep.

For decades, Dan Etete has been in the eye of the storm, but to what end? The fact is OPL 245 was a very profitable block such that multiform interests wanted a piece of the pie. JP Morgan, Shell, Eni and the FGN have since sorted matters out without Dan Etete being a cog.

The Nigerian should not end up as the butt of every joke as depicted by Peter Enahoro in his book How To Be A Nigerian where an English gentleman eating chocolate in a London restaurant looked at a Nigerian who was noisily chewing on chicken bones.

Excuse me Mister, if you eat the bones, what do you feed your dogs in Nigeria?

Aware that the question was not innocent, the smart Nigerian pointed at the white man’s plate and answered: “Chocolate,”– thus countering the single story!

Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation, says President Bola Tinubu would not cede power to the younger generation without a fight. 

He added that politicians often resort to extreme measures to win elections.

The former governor of Rivers spoke in Abuja at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, organised by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development.

Amaechi harped on the need for political vigilance, warning that power must be fought for, urging Nigerians to always safeguard their votes if they intend to achieve a semblance of credible leadership.

“None of you here seated can defend the votes. If you have complained, complain, Nigerians have been clapping for you,” he said.

“The only way Ibrahim Shekarau became governor was because people lined up.

“It happened in Ghana before the election of the last president. Two days, a lot of us were called to intervene. But why did they do that? The people were ready to die.

“You are talking and abusing everybody. Nobody has power and will give it to you — not even me. If you want a pastor as president, go and get one.

“The politician is there in Nigeria to steal, maim, and kill to remain in power. If you think Tinubu will give it to you, you are wasting your time.”

Amaechi recounted his experience in the days leading to the 2015 presidential election — when a newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC) defeated the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He attributed APC’s success to the determination and preparedness of leaders of the party to go the extra mile.

The ex-minister noted that former President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat only after realising that the APC was fully prepared to defend its mandate.

He asked citizens to adopt similar measures in future elections.

In October 2024, Amaechi said he is disappointed in Nigerians for their laid-back disposition to the prevailing economic hardship.

“The people should be angry. There should be protests. Not even protests against anybody but against the politicians that ‘we won’t vote’,” he had said.

The ruling APC had clapped back at Amaechi, saying he is one of those who destroyed Nigeria.

Amaechi was one of the 14 aspirants for the presidential ticket of the APC before the 2023 general election.

He polled second in the primary election with 316 votes, behind eventual winner Tinubu, who secured 1, 271 votes.

[TheCable]

I can understand if many people outside the US wish to forget about President Donald Trump and get on with their lives. However hard you try, you can’t keep up with the chaos in the White House since January 20.

It would be a defamation of the animal kingdom to call Trump a bull in a China shop. He is worse. Regrettably, Trump is inspiring copycats around the world, and it won’t be long before they start following his example, especially his anti-immigration hysteria.

Trump didn’t create the migrant crisis facing the world. He wasn’t there when the Huns, Goths, and Vandals invaded Europe, marking the first recorded significant migration and reshaping European demographics. Conquests, geography, tyranny, wars, or the sheer human desire for new frontiers have always led to different kinds of migration. Even the contemporary rise in migrations had nothing to do with Trump.

Before Trump

For example, the Syrian Civil War, the destabilisation of Central Asia, and later the conflicts in Sudan and Central Africa, all of which also had nothing to do with Trump, have been some of the biggest migration triggers in the last nearly two decades.

However, the cruelty of Trump’s approach has been different, something that otherwise civilised countries—including Britain—are surprisingly fascinated by. Deporting undocumented migrants using military planes and hunting them down in sanctuaries by executive orders that read like martial laws is, let’s put it plainly, fascist.

We saw a bit of it in his first coming, but the fragile balance in Congress restrained him. Now, there are nearly no guardrails except perhaps the courts. Under Trump, this new face of US exceptionalism may gradually gain appeal in other parts of the world, mainly Europe.

More than a report

On January 22, The Telegraph of the UK carried a story whose timing could hardly have been fortuitous. The story, published as the first batch of Mexican immigrants were being herded aboard a military aircraft at the US southern border, was entitled, “Up to one in 12 in London is an illegal migrant.” 

The story said, “Government ‘must do more on deportations’ as new estimate suggests more than one million people are illegally living in the UK,” with London, the largest haven, hosting 585,000 of these illegal immigrants.

The report said these numbers may even be underestimated and blamed illegal immigrants for the pressure on the health service, public utilities and infrastructure. The Labour government must crack down on illegal immigrants, the report said, to save Britain from imminent ruin.

Stoking the flames

Immigrant bashing is not new in Britain. That was one of the main reasons for Brexit. Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Co. fabricated numbers to suggest that not only foreigners from faraway places but also eastern Europeans were stealing British jobs and making the country hell when many of these immigrants were doing odd jobs that British citizens were not interested in. Farage’s Reform UK party rode on the back of this illiberal sentiment to get 14 percent of the votes in the last election. He is still stoking the flames. 

In a slight reinvention of what Abraham Lincoln did with Liberia in the 19^th century, UK Conservatives under Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak made a deal that could potentially ship off about 52,000 asylum seekers to Rwanda in a few years. As controversial as this deal remains, it’s considered better than the misery under which migrants, including children, were held indefinitely in detention camps.

The danger of the Trump model

However, if the prevailing Trump model takes hold in Britain or elsewhere in Europe, even detention camps in Manus or Nauru may soon look like redemption centres. Grabbing people from wherever they may be found, handcuffing them and herding them off to the airports to be deported on military flights like war criminals may appease right-wing sentiments in the short run. Still, it hardly addresses the root cause of the crisis: though the decision is hardly random, people will go wherever they believe they will have a better life if they can pay the price.

The other side of the argument is that governments must also take action to protect their citizens and their countries. Yet, in doing so, civilised countries recognise there are international conventions, including the Geneva Convention on Refugees, that protect migrants, especially those fleeing persecution. The current Trumpian model tears families – including children – apart, treating potential deportees like animals.

Mind the gap

It’s a model that Britain and the rest of Europe must resist. Trump is an aberration, even though the next four years may feel like a lifetime. It doesn’t matter how hard he tries; the US, a country with a significant immigrant gene (13 percent of the population is born outside), will hardly shed it in four years of a chaotic government.

One of the most iconic Republican Presidents, Ronald Reagan, once said, “Our nation is a nation of immigrants. More than any other country, our strength comes from our own immigrant heritage and our capacity to welcome those from other lands.”

Schengen countries, particularly Greece, Italy, France, Spain, and Belgium, tend to face more significant pressure due to geographical and historical ties with non-European countries. Yet, this is the more reason Europe needs to resist being Trump’s copycats because we have seen that xenophobia has far more deadly effects on the stability of these societies than it might have in the US, with a larger, better-adjusted migrant population.

Changing attitudes

It’s fair to argue that the resurgence of violent extremism, the narcotic trade, not to mention other franchises of criminal gangs trafficking in humans, have blurred the lines between genuine migrants and refugees, putting host countries at serious risk. Yet populist politicians do severe damage by exploiting the fears and magnifying the problem.

After 9/11, attitudes towards migrants, especially those from largely poor Muslim countries, have been exploited by Western politicians often to create the trope that their culture and civilisation are under siege. Yet, in a country like France, for example, with a significant Muslim population, studies have shown that people believe the number of Muslims to be four times the actual figure. At the same time, in the UK, their presence was overestimated by a factor of three.

Historically, migration has never been in one direction, even for countries that were once major destinations. Yet Trump’s recent actions evoke Idi-Amin framing Indians and Pakistanis as the problem with Uganda decades ago, after which he brutally expelled 50,000 of them or the Nigerian government in the 1980s under Shehu Shagari expelling thousands of Ghanaians, only for Nigerians to find that the real problem was an incompetent political leadership.

Migration is not a destination

Thomas Sowell’s book Migrations and Cultures: A World View, a classic on the subject, records that even though the migrations of conquerors, refugees, slaves, and sojourners have been outstripped by those of migrants going to settle permanently in new lands, “It has been estimated that, between the mid-1830s and the late 1930s, approximately 30 million people left the Indian subcontinent and nearly 24 million returned.”

Any country anxious to emulate Trump should remember that migration is a process, not always a destination. While some sojourners never leave to return to their countries of origin, some keep moving, and others, like Trump’s grandfather, who emigrated to the U.S. from Germany to avoid military service, return despite the odds.

Migration can be harmful and good, but the single narrative that frames it as the root cause of nearly all of today’s social problems is lazy populism, which denies even the personal odysseys of its propagators.

In January 2000, THISDAY moved from a rented property in Ikeja, Lagos to its current corporate headquarters at 35 Creek Road, Apapa. The fully computerised newsroom was a first in the country at the time. We had hardly settled when our Chairman, Prince Nduka Professor (middle name on his birth certificate) Obaigbena, called for a meeting of editors, line editors and reporters. He handed each of us a very colourful Mac Book laptop and said “from today, nobody writes with longhand in THISDAY. Everybody must type or edit stories personally and send it straight to the planner.” Apart from Waziri Adio who had returned from his Master’s degree programme at Columbia University in the United States with a laptop and Eniola Bello (who had learnt how to type), the rest of us had no clue how to use a computer. So, the whole idea sounded ridiculous. And we made our views known.

Before then, we would pass our handwritten stories to a pool of typists or “computer operators.” Now that he was insisting everyone would type their own stories, he had effectively cut out that stage of the production process and rendered the typists redundant. Juliana Taiwo (now Mrs Obanloye) was one of those ‘computer operators’ who took the opportunity to go back to school, became a reporter at THISDAY and is currently the State House Correspondent for the SUN Newspaper. But it was a tough decision back then. Considering that THISDAY was always late to the newsstand at that time and there were serious complaints from agents and vendors, we knew what had just been introduced would only compound the situation. The more we argued that we needed time to introduce the new practice, the more Obaigbena became adamant that implementation was immediate. When we told him that the decision could take our newspaper completely out of the market, he said, “THISDAY readers will wait for us”.

As THISDAY Newspapers celebrate its 30th anniversary, it is difficult to think of any other individual who has had as much impact on the practice of journalism in this country in the last few decades than Obaigbena. The anniversary therefore presents an opportunity to reflect on the ethos of a publisher who defies norms. While some of us prefer structure, long-term planning and certainty, he is a man who never bothers to calculate the probability of whether an idea would succeed or fail. And to him, whatever needs to be done must be done immediately regardless of the prevailing circumstances. I recall one of the editors once confronting Obaigbena, “Chairman, you are the kind of man who would impregnate a woman and ask her to deliver the baby immediately. Life doesn’t work that way.” Yet, I cannot count the number of times that he presented us with situations, which we argued were impossible and ended up proving us wrong.

In his column last Sunday, Simon Kolawole wrote about the ‘Hell Yes’ audacity of Obaigbena as a publisher. But part of it also stems from a disposition that believes “If I fail, it won’t define me; It only means that I tried”; afterall, THISDAY’s attempt to publish in South Africa did not work out and the enormous costs involved almost took our newspaper down in Nigeria. That unsuccessful experiment accounted for why when the idea of ARISE Television was broached, some of us were not enthusiastic, to put it mildly. I recall the first meeting with editors when Obaigbena conceived the idea almost two decades ago. “The future of journalism is in the electronic,” he said in what we believed to be a rationalisation for another fancy project. “The print will die.” Because some of us fought the idea at the time, we were labelled ‘enemies of ARISE’ but today we can see what he saw back then. So, here is also a toast to ARISE Television at 12.

Obaigbena is a man of relentless vision. He saw the disruptions that were coming to the journalism profession many years before they even appeared on the horizon here and he wanted to be ahead of the pack. Take the printing in full colour for example. THISDAY did not even have a printing press of its own at the time. And there were times the newspaper was produced from a business centre. But he did not think this was a problem. He simply put people on a plane to the heritage press in Abuja with the camera-ready pages and they returned to Lagos the next morning with copies of the newspaper. Our competitors thought it could not be sustained, until they realised that was the way to go and also began to print in colour. It was THISDAY that rebranded rejoinder to ‘right of reply,’ giving responses from readers prominence before it became the industry standard. THISDAY also introduced the idea of conversations with world leaders by bringing people like former American Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, the late General Colin Powell and several others. On the entertainment side, THISDAY has, at different times, brought Beyonce (who came along with Jay-Z), Snoop Dogg, Dionne Warwick, Toni Braxton, Lionel Richie and many others.

At THISDAY, what Obaigbena has done is to create a work environment that inspires innovation and creativity, especially at the editorial level. He has also helped to nurture a culture that is open to new ideas and flexibility even in the face of uncertainty. And what is perhaps most remarkable is that several of his enduring innovations have appeared dramatically – as if on the spur of the moment. Take for example the much-celebrated THISDAY backpage. It all started on a Sunday afternoon in mid 1999. Obaigbena called a meeting of the Board of Editors and said he had decided to assign the backpage to individual columnists. Without much elaboration, he simply asked for some sheets of paper and began writing. He would finish a page and hand it over to each one of us to read. “I am writing my backpage for tomorrow as I will be writing every Monday. Victor Ifijeh (current Managing Director of ‘The Nation’ newspapers) will be writing on Tuesday. Eniola Bello (current THISDAY Managing Director) will write on Wednesday. Segun, you will be writing on Thursday. Festus Eriye (current editor of ‘The Nation’ on Sunday) will write on Friday. And Waziri Adio (founder of Agora Policy and immediate past NEITI Executive Secretary) will write on Sunday. There will be no backpage columnist for the Saturday Newspaper.” That’s how the backpage journey started.

Meanwhile, it is not an accident that THISDAY has produced many people who have served government both at the federal and subnational levels in different capacities. Obaigbena encourages reporters and editors to have public sector experiences and exposure, and the usual refrain is always that there is a lot to learn and “if it doesn’t work out, you can always come back to THISDAY.” In many instances, he goes out of his way to negotiate such appointments as was the case with me. Two weeks after the election of Umaru Musa YarAdua as President in April 2007, Dr Aliyu Modibbo, then Minister of Commerce under President Olusegun Obasanjo (who would become Minister of FCT under Yar’Adua) called that he had been directed to sound me out on the appointment of presidential spokesman. Although I appreciated the consideration, I turned down the offer because, as I told him, I had no interest in working for the government. When I informed Obaigbena, his anger was that “Yar’Adua is trying to poach my editor behind my back” but he appreciated that I declined the offer – or so I thought.

On 30th May 2007, a day after Yar’Adua’s inauguration, when I had forgotten about the job offer, I got a call from Obaigbena who was in Abuja. “Look Segun, I am here at the Villa with the president. He insists that it’s you he wants to be his spokesman. I told him that the editor of THISDAY cannot take a public appointment that is not of cabinet level. He has elevated the office to Special Adviser because of you and I have accepted the job on your behalf. Now wait for Mr President.” He then handed his mobile phone to Yar’Adua. That was how I moved from the newsroom to Aso Rock. And on a personal note, I cannot thank Obaigbena enough for the support he gave me while on the job. I had three predecessors. Dr Doyin Okupe was a Special Assistant while Mr Tunji Oseni and Mrs Oluremi Oyo (both now of blessed memory) were Senior Special Assistants. The fact that from my period till now every presidential spokesman has been a Special Adviser is because of the way Obaigbena ranked (and still ranks) the editor of THISDAY!

With the liberal spirit of a publisher blessed with a trail-blazing management style, what makes Obaigbena particularly unique in a newspaper environment is that he likes building consensus even on issues he feels very strongly about. At THISDAY, there is hardly any decision that doesn’t involve the Board of Editors and that includes sidelines like awards, musical and fashion shows that have little to do with mainstream journalism and in which some of us were completely disinterested! THISDAY is also a place where you form life-long relationships. It is a bond that binds permanently and to which anyone who has passed through the newspaper is proud of.

I was at THISDAY/ARISE ceremony in Lagos on Monday night not because of the ceremony (which has never been my thing) but rather to see old faces. And there were many. Tony Onyima, Simon Kolawole, Shina Badaru, Ayo Aminu, Donald Andoor, Sunny Hughes, Iby Dakouru, my own ‘I-Jay baby’ (Ijeoma Nwogwugwu that is), ‘Ruthless Ruth’ (Osime), Constance Ikokwu and so many others: It was a time to celebrate and reflect on the friendships that have endured beyond the newsrooms at Ikeja and Apapa. On a lighter note, it was almost as if there was an award category for dancing between THISDAY and ARISE given the way Eni-B shuffled his feet during the performance by Flavour and Rufai Oseni moved his body in rhythm to the timeless tunes of Diana Ross.

The story of THISDAY is like one of its famous refrains, it never ends. Obaigbena is a lover of the ellipsis, which symbolises an unfinished idea or thought. Each time we get a breaking story that would elicit responses, Obaigbena would ask the editor to insert the famous line: “More to follow…” With all that THISDAY has accomplished in 30 short years, I have no doubt it remains an unfolding story. For sure, there is much more to follow…

The God of Politicians

Amid chants of “Speak for Lagos”, “Continue with your work”, “You are the Speaker”, Mojisola Meranda was escorted to into her new office at the Lagos State House of Assembly Complex on Monday by colleagues. But before the business of the day, there was an intense prayer session. With the former Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa still laying claim to the office, it was no surprise that after the loaded Yoruba chorus of how God did what they thought was impossible, one of the members started a session of intense prayers, beginning with thanking God “for disgracing all the enemies around her” while also beseeching the Almighty against “every agent of darkness.” And for those that seek Meranda’s failure or for her to commit error, there was a thunderous declaration met with a fervent Amen: “They shall die!”  

But it is not only in Lagos that our politicians are invoking the name of God into their affairs. At a thanksgiving church service penultimate Sunday in Kolokuma/Opokuma, Bayelsa State, Douye Diri told the congregation how he became “miracle governor”. That’s what he called himself but before I share his ‘testimony’ let me remind readers of what exactly happened. As one of the off-season elections, Bayelsa State gubernatorial election was held on 16 November 2019. The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, David Lyon, secured a landslide victory with 352,552 votes, representing 70.59 percent of the total votes cast to defeat 44 other candidates including Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who came second with 143,172 votes representing 28.66 of total votes cast. But barely 24 hours to Lyon’s inauguration in February 2020, the Supreme Court nullified his election on grounds that his deputy, Senator Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo presented false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) regarding real name and educational qualification. Because of this ‘guilt by association,’ the apex court ordered INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued to Lyon, delete his votes and immediately declare candidate of the party with the highest number of lawful votes and geographical spread, winner. That was the ‘miracle’ that brought Diri to power in Bayelsa State.

Now to his Church testimony: “Let me reveal to you why it is important to thank God and have faith in Him. Sometime ago, a senior citizen of this country invited me to Abuja and asked me to perform certain sacrifices, but I declined. I told him my faith in God will not allow me to do it. He got angry and told me I would never become governor. He told me that he had spent $10,000 to bring the people for the sacrifice and asked for a refund, which I obliged. When the Supreme Court’s pronouncement came, the man was shocked and could not call me. Sadly, he passed on after some time. The story I have narrated was witnessed by my deputy and a friend in Abuja as both of them accompanied me to visit the senior citizen.”

While we thank God for making Diri Governor in Bayelsa five years ago, the case of Governor Dikko Umaru Radda of Katsina State is more prophetic. But nobody should be surprised when it comes to pass. “Some people have circumcised themselves to side talks saying it is a period of four years I will do and come back to them, but who told you that I am coming back to you?” Radda asked before answering his own question. “For me, I will return to the God who gave me this mandate in 2023 to seek for my re-election in 2027.”

I am aware that our politicians are so religious that they and God appear to have a pact when it comes to their aspirations. I just wish the same God who helps them to win elections will also help them to deliver on the public good. Is that too much to ask for?

It must be about forty years ago when I found myself seated next to Chief Justin Olabode Emanuel at a dinner at the Good Earth (Chinese) Restaurant at 233 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, London.  The heavyweights around the table were Chief Sobo Sowemimo S.A.N.; Alhaji Femi Okunnu S.A.N.; Dr. Bolaji Ajenifuja; Professor Bolaji Kuti; Alhaji Alade Idris Animashaun; Professor Theo Ogunbiyi; Chief Akin Disu  and several others.  Perhaps it was inevitable that discussions would centre on the widely publicized BBC Panorama programme on Nigeria which was broadcast on the previous day.  The trailer cut straight to the marrow:

“It’s amazing that Nigeria first had Cable lines in 1886 and telephones in 1893.  Electricity followed in 1896 and in 1898 Lagos became the second city in the world (after Munich, Germany) to have electric street lights when most cities were gas lit.  Iju Water Works has been supplying potable water in Lagos since 1910.  What went wrong ?”

Chief Emanuel provided the answer.  With a chuckle he declared:

“King’s College, Lagos !!”

The Old Boys of King’s College around the table – Alhaji Okunnu and Alhaji Idris Animashaun protested vigorously.  However, nothing would dissuade Chief Emanuel from pinning the blame on King’s College.  Anyway, the argument went back and forth.  Chief Emanuel was adamant. He insisted that the British colonial government had founded King’s College in 1909 to groom Nigeria’s future leaders but the Old Boys had abdicated their responsibility.  According to him the country was in ruins and the rescue mission was being dumped on St. Gregory’s College and its Old boys.  It was all said in jest.  Hence, there was no damage inflicted on the conviviality around the table.

Even back then, Chief Emanuel had his tentacles in many businesses.  He was already a tycoon and business mogul at the relatively young age of fifty years.  He did not suffer fools gladly.  In fact, he could be very abrasive.

Here we are forty years later and we are confronted with our latest scorecard and auditor’s report by “The Economist” magazine.  On 11 January 2025, it published a hefty special report entitled “THE AFRICA GAP” which according to “Private Eye” magazine identified a number of ways in which the economic gap between Africa and the rest of the world is getting wider.

“If its fifty-four countries are to seize the opportunity they have to do something exceptional:

break with their own past and with the dismal statist orthodoxy that now grips much of the world.  Africa’s leaders will have to embrace business growth and free markets.”

Back to the memorable dinner in Knightsbridge, Londo it was a clear case dereliction Chief Emanuel was in his element – teasing and taunting the old boys of King’s College (Alhaji Okunnu, Alhaji Idris Animashaun and me) for the decay and decadence in Nigeria.  As far as he was concerned, the old boys of King’s College (“KCOB’s) had abdicated their responsibility.

The “KCOB’s” were unanimous in defending the reputation of our alma mater.  However, the more we protested, the more adamant and vehement Chief Emanuel was.  He was having great fun at our expense.  It was all good-hearted banter anyway.  He just would not stop.  He proceeded to highlight the self-evident decay of King’s College – the pristine and elegant colonial structure had become an eyesore.  The classrooms which were meant for only twenty-five students had exploded beyond quadruple that number.  It was the same story with the boarding house and its dormitories.  The toilet facilities had collapsed entirely.

Chief Sowemimo (ex-C.M.S. Grammar School, Lagos) joined forces with Chief Emanuel) So also did Chief Akin Disu (also ex-C.M.S. Grammar School) to regale us with their dismay over the state of affairs in Nigeria and Lagos State in particular.  Whichever way, the old boys of King’s College were the culprits !!  It was confirmation of the old adage – many a true word is said in jest.  The humour was not lost on us the KCOB’s as we retaliated by pointing that both King’s College and St. Gregory’s College had become victims of circumstances.  The chequered history of Nigeria was well known to all of us.  Even if it is true that the British Colonial government  had deliberated created King’s College, Lagos (founded in 1909) as an elite school in the image of Eton College or Harrow schools (public schools) as the incubator for Nigeria’s future leaders, the military coup of January 15 1966 had blown the mission totally off course.  Six months later there was a counter coup which threw the entire nation into turmoil.  The nation was on the verge of breaking up.  From 1966 to 1975, the leadership of Nigeria fell on the head of General Yakubu Gowon (ex-Barewa College, Zaria) who was toppled on 29th July 1975 and replaced by another old boy of Barewa College – General Murtala Muhammed who was assassinated on 13th February 1976 in Lagos.  It was a chilly Friday morning.

Incidentally, I had visited him at his house at 6 Second Avenue, Ikoyi on the day before.  That is a story for another day.  He was replaced by General Olusegun Obasanjo (ex-Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta).  On 1st October 1979, General Obasanjo handed over power to Alhaji Shehu Shagari (ex-Barewa College, Zaria).  The Vice-President was Dr. Alex Ekwueme (ex-King’s College, Lagos).

In between all that turmoil and turbulence was the Nigerian Civil war which raged between 1967 and 1970.  It cost more than a million lives.  On the Nigerian side was the Head of State -  General Yakubu Gowon while the Biafran side was led by General Emeka Ojukwu (ex-King’s College, Lagos).

Of course, Chief Emanuel was quick to capitalize on a photograph which was widely circulated.  It was taken at the meeting in Kampala where the OAU (Organisation of African Union) had endeavoured to broker peace between Biafra and Nigeria in 1968.

On the Biafran side was Sir Louis Mbanefo who was my father’s classmate at King’s College and on the Nigerian delegation were Chief Anthony Enahoro (ex-King’s College), Minister of Information, Chief Wenike Briggs (ex-King’s College, Minister of Education; Alhaji Femi Okunnu (ex-King’s College), Minister of Works; Chief Allison Ayida (ex- King’s College) Permanent Secretary; and Chief Philip Asiodu (ex-King’s College) Permanent Secretary.

It was with glee that Chief Emanuel declared that it was all a King’s College, Lagos affair.

However, here is the official report by Reuter:

“Peace talks opened between Federal Nigeria and Secessionist Biafra in Kampala today (Thursday) with both sides agreeing on the need for a ceasefire in their 11-month-old civil war but differing on its timing. President Milton Obote, of Uganda, formally opened the talks in the conference Hall of the Parliament Building.  In speeches at a public opening session, the Biafrans said an immediate cessation of fighting should be the first step of peace, while the Federal side said it wanted discussions first.  Then a ceasefire.  Observers in the Uganda Parliament’s Conference Hall, where the meeting started, noted that while the two sides were strong in condemnation of each other, they appeared to be leaving room for compromise.  

The Nigerian Civil war broke out a month after Biafra’s secession from the federation a year ago and has gradually increased in intensity in recent months.  As the two sides came to the conference table – after months of urging by other African States – Nigeria has captured several important Biafran centres.  The two sides came to Kampala after preliminary talks in London, and the meeting is under the auspices of the commonwealth secretariat, led by the Secretary-General, Mr. Arnold Smith, of Canada.  Both the Federal side and the Biafrans are represented by five-man delegations and are accompanied by observers.  Chief Anthony Enahoro, Commissioner for Information in the Lagos Government, leads the Federal Delegation, while the main Biafran spokesman is Chief Justice and Former World Court Judge, Sir Louis Mbanefo (ex-King’s College)”.

It was uncanny how deferential Chief Emanuel was to Chief Sobo Sowemimo, S.A.N., the Jaguna of Egbaland.  The chemistry between them was palpable and self-evident.  It was Chief Emanuel who whispered to me that Chief Sowemimo was actually the friend of his elder brother, Dr. Abosede Emanuel.  However, the Jaguna of Egbaland was his benefactor.  Jaguna had grown up in Kano.  Hence, he spoke Hausa language fluently and his network of Hausa speaking northerners  was instrumental to Chief Emanuel’s highly lucrative business contacts with the likes of General Murtala Mohammed; General T.Y. Danjuma; Alhaji Ibrahim Damcida; Alhaji  Ahmed Joda; Senator Mahmoud Waziri, etc.

It was well after midnight before we left the Chinese restaurant.  We had been so thoroughly engrossed in dissecting the problems of Lagos; the fate of Nigeria, and the future of democracy  in Africa that we did not notice that the restaurant had closed !!  All the staff had gone home.

Chief Justin Olabode Emanuel and I were the last to leave.  We were neighbours in Chelsea.  All the same he remained an enigma.

His chauffeured and Mercedes Benz Limousine were waiting for him.  I preferred to walk all the way down Sloan Street, then King’s Road and Flood Street.  I could not but notice the policeman who was standing in front of the house of Mrs. Margaret Thatcher who was then the Prime Minister of Britain.

Predictably, millions of people from across the globe were glued on Monday to their television sets, radios, and whatever internet gadgets, audio and visual, they could lay hands upon to be witnesses to history in the United States of America. It was the return of Donald Trump to power, absolute power as much as a human being is capable of. He scaled through the Electoral College effortlessly; he is in control of the Senate; he on his own gave a crushing defeat to the opposition in the popular vote. Today, it can be said of him, literally speaking, that he can turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man. And that picture was painted all over him at his inauguration, an unsmiling face, cold countenance, brimming with angst and vengefulness. And he wasted no time in baring his fangs to, in his words,” reclaim our Republic.”

He said: “My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal and all of these many betrayals that have taken place, and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and, indeed, their freedom…Many people thought it was impossible for me to stage such a historic political comeback. But as you see today, here I am. The American people have spoken.” He said all this with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in attendance and listening. He recalled his close shave with death through assassination. “I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.”

He signed no fewer than 100 Executive Orders, featuring the reversal of the re-enlistment by Joe Biden of the membership of the World Health Organization (WHO) later on the day of his inauguration. He has pardoned his jailed supporters who invaded the Capitol on 06 January 2021, seeking to violently overturn the 2020 election victory of Joe Biden in his favour. Destruction was caused to parts of the hallowed chambers, the cradle of American democracy.  Police officers were attacked and legislators fled for their dear lives. On his first day in office, Trump signed his Executive Order proclamation ending Birthright Citizenship for Children of Illegal Immigrants, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement and ending government programme promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in Federal Agencies as well as reversing Electric Vehicle mandates. He has rechristened the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Already transgressions are being drawn up against him by his compatriots.

A letter to the Editor of The New York Times has permitted us a glimpse of excerpts from the newspaper’s editorial captioned ‘Saying No to Fear’ published on the eve of the inauguration, and it reads as follows:

“I kept your thoughtful and pitch perfect editorial nearby while watching the inauguration. It helped to be able to look away and reread your advice for a dose of sanity and calm. You highlighted the ways our institution can ‘meet the moment’ by showing courage and using their powers to resist and override illegal and unjust acts, and speak the truth even as we think deeply about the anger and distrust of many who voted for a second Trump presidency.

“But the confluence of what was arguably the most disturbing Inaugural Address in our history on the very day on which we honour the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—a man so different, in every respect, from the one who now is our 47th president—helped me see that we must indeed stand strong and keep our faith in the system, not search for our passports, if together we are to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice.” (Author of the letter: Meredith Minkler, Kensington, Calif.).

Another letter by a retired New York City Criminal Court judge, Gerald Harris, goes as follows:

“Whatever wisp of hope existed for a more rational and conciliatory President Trump was completely extinguished, and the threat of the onset of an autocratic era assured, assured, by Mr. Trump’s Inaugural Address, which mirrored but far exceeded his worst campaign rants.

“The speech must serve as a dire warning and a call to arms for every American who still believes in a democratic form of government, a binding Constitution and the rule of law.”

I should have asked Joe Biden in advance for a Presidential pardon for seeking to cull from major US newspapers their editorials and letters to the Editors to feel the public pulse over the emergence of Mr. Trump. The pull to feel American public mood and gauge international blood pressure is irresistible in moments like this when the world seems to be in dire straits.

Consider some of the letters in The New York Times reflecting some of the feelings of the American public towards Mr. Trump: “If President Trump’s idea of law and order is to grant clemency to insurrectionists who attacked and damaged the Capitol, assaulted policemen and threatened to hang Vice-president Mike Pence, this country is in big trouble!” (Writer: Elaine Sloan, New York).

“Hypocrisy is taking the same oath of office you broke the last time with a straight face. Obliviousness is believing that this time is different.” Writer: (Richard M. Frauenglass, Huntington, N.Y.).

“America is back. No, it’s not that Donald Trump is again President. It is that the world witnessed the most important and enduring part of our democracy: President Biden shaking hand of our new president, Mr. Trump, in a celebration of the peaceful transition of power in presence of all our living former presidents. Unlike four years ago, the world saw that America is back.” (Writer: William Goldman, Los Angeles).

“Instituted in 1787 by the constitution, checks and balances were to ensure the separation of powers among the three branches of government. What the next four years portend –in place of checks and balances—are toadying and cronyism.” (Writer: Penelope Ross, Westport, Conn.).

“In answer to the ‘soul-shriveling shame’ a Jan.15 letter writer and so many of us feel as Americans, and the despair, as our country inaugurates a duly elected but convicted felon and amoral demagogue as president: our ethical response as citizens must be sustained in civic engagement.

“Shame and despair, while appropriate, by themselves are disempowering –as every demagogue knows. We must not remain disheartened by such emotions. What the historical moment now asks of us is righteous anger, powerful hope and principled courage to stand together in civic action by word and deed against every attempt to debase and degrade our political culture and institutions of democracy and law.” Writer: (Rev. Sheldon W. Bennett).

As it is not usual to have letters all expressing disappointment and reservations, there will be some flying flags of exhortation to keep hope alive. One of such letters reads: “We are living in exciting times. What was thought to be the impossible dream has been realized. Donald J. Trump is back in the White House as our 47th president. Millions of Americans are thrilled by his comeback. My sincere hope is that those who didn’t vote for Mr. Trump will eventually be convinced that he fits the bill. No doubt he will deliver on all his campaign promises. (JoAnn Lee Frank, Clearwater, Fla.).

The Washington Post posture was not any dissimilar to the New York Times position. The newspaper draws attention to the comment of a Bulgarian political commentator, Ivan Krastev, who “likened the current moment to 1989…” The mood in 1989 was internationalist and optimistic; today, it has soured into nationalism, at times even nihilism.” Krastev went on, writing in the Atlantic: “The United States’s postwar political identity has vanished into the abyss of the ballot box. This Trump administration may succeed or fail on its own terms, but the world will not return.”

In 2016, the major American newspapers did not think much of Mr. Donald Trump before he mounted the throne nor highly of him in the discharge of his assigned roles as the President of the United States of America. The New York Times described his nomination as the presidential candidate as “The Republican Party’s trek into the darkness.” The authoritative newspaper said “Mr. Trump, who would be the most volatile and least prepared presidential candidate, was nominated by a major party in modern times. A man once ridiculed by many prominent Republicans will become the G.O.P. standard bearer. This is a moment of reckoning for the Republican Party. It’s incumbent on its leadership to account for the failures and betrayals that led to this, and find a better way to address them than the demagogy on offer.”

The New York Times continued: “Republican leaders have for years failed to think about much of anything beyond winning the next election. Year after year, the party’s candidates promised help for middle-class people who lost their homes, jobs, and savings to recession, who lost limbs and well-being to war, and then did next to nothing. That Mr. Trump was able to enthrall voters by promising simply to ‘Make America Great Again’—but offering only xenophobic, isolationist, or fantastical ideas—is testimony to how thoroughly they reject the politicians who betrayed them. Now, myopic as ever, Republican leaders are talking themselves into supporting Mr. Trump.” It accused the Republicans of stamping what they still called the party of Lincoln with the brand of Donald Trump.

Washington Post at the time said, “It’s beyond debate that Donald Trump is unfit to be president.” “Even if Trump manages to conduct himself presidentially for an hour and a half, that could not undo the many, many instances…in which he has insulted, acted out, lied and countenanced violence beyond even some of the most rough and tumble precedents of modern American politics.”

The Chicago Sun-Times at the time said it was reversing a 2012 decision to stop making presidential endorsements, explaining that “the best way to avert a train wreck is to wave a warning flag as soon as possible.” And so it endorsed Hilary Clinton.

USA Today in its own case did not explicitly endorse Mrs. Clinton. All it said was: “Resist the siren song of a dangerous demagogue. By all means vote, just not for Donald Trump.”

The Arizona Republic endorsed Clinton, the first time the paper backed a Democrat since its founding in 1880. Same for the San Diego which in 2016 had a 148-year history behind it. The Atlantic, said to be a bastion of journalism since 1857 “does not usually endorse presidential candidates …except when doomsday is near.”

The question today that Mr. Trump has newly been swept to power is: What has changed? Is he now above what the New York Times reported as part of his character deficits which it listed as: xenophobic nationalism, unapologetic sexism, and inconsistency, positions shifting according to his audience and his whims. It mentioned his defunct university, failed casinos in Atlanta City, and questionable global investments in Russia. New York Times said: “his right to spew nonsense is protected by the constitution, but the public doesn’t have to swallow it.”

With so much knowledge about what can be described as open peccadilloes of Trump, how come he had such a harvest of votes? It could mean the public does not know enough about him. With the yearning emptiness of their souls, the Americans are undoubtedly longing for a strong arm to ferry them across dark alleys to spiritual deliverance. And they have found that strong arm in Mr. Trump. A great many resonated with Trump’s doctrine of separate development: Immigrants should go back to their lands. Prayers should return to public lives and schools. When the Opposition was extolling gay marriage and abortion, and hammering on crass material pursuits, Trump was fixing his gaze on the pristine values of America. Trump said he would stop gay marriage, the transgender plaque, and wrestle with abortion protagonists. Time will tell whether his doctrine of separate development by different homogeneous peoples is the right and helpful one or not in the eyes of Nature.

The re-emergence of Mr. Trump cannot be for nothing. What are his weavings in the tapestry of life that he seems unswerving in his resolve to fulfill? What is driving him? It is the second such re-emergence in the history of the United States. What is unmistakable is that having risen through the ranks of his people and they signified their preference for him through their votes, they have held him up as their mirror, a mirror held to their face revealing who they truly are, and their aspirations not outwardly but deep within, which may have found expression in the re-emergence of maverick Mr. Trump.

Could Trump be a weapon of the Light to intensify and accelerate events in his country and the world? To redirect his people’s gaze and hands upward to the Light; to bring the people of the most powerful nation on earth, and the leading one embedded in spiritual decay, in the Darkness, back to the Lord? And thereby push the US back to the path of really being the Lord’s “own country,” along with the peoples of other countries on earth, who need to be whipped back in line to seek and follow the right path? I am just reflecting. Just thinking aloud. Like could be used to ward off like. Time will tell.

In view of the pressure of the Light bearing down in all nations and on peoples, felt with varying degrees each at their own time, the rays of forces squeezing and separating the good and the bad, awakening all that slumbers and is dead, as the features of these times, the worst at our sins will be leaders in nations, one after the other. Purifying flames are sweeping through all lands manifesting in unmistakable intensification and acceleration of events. Do we not have enough warnings by the Guardian of the universe, Ephesus, in the Revelation of John? “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” (Rev. 2, 4, and 5).

We learn from the incomparable Work for all mankind in these times, The Grail Message by Abd-ru-shin: “The Laws of God, thus the Will of God, do not concern themselves with the opinions of these earthmen…Whatever is not in harmony with the Divine Laws; there also the blow of the sword will now strike!

“Rejoice; for this Divine Justice is near! It is already working in every country on earth! Look at the confusion! This is the effect of the approaching Will of God! It is the setting in of purification!

“For this reason everything that is wrong among men is already now meeting with its doom, be it in economics, the state, politics, the churches, sects, peoples, families and also in the individual! Everything, everything is now dragged before the Light, so that it may reveal and simultaneously judge itself therein! Also, what has hitherto been able to remain hidden must reveal itself as it really is, must become active, and thus finally, despairing of itself and others, disintegrate and turn to dust.

“Even now there is a boiling up under the pressure of the Light in all countries, everywhere. Every kind of tribulation is increasing to the point of despair until finally nothing remains but hopelessness with the realization that the would-be saviours had only empty words besides selfish desires, but could offer no help! Spiritual warriors are sweeping over all humanity, and striking sharply where a head refuses to bow!

“Only the man who lives in the Laws of God is free! Thus and not otherwise does he stand unoppressed and unconstrained in this Creation.”

The world will definitely watch whether, with Mr. Trump’s return to the presidency, the Golden era for America is truly now beginning, even with polarization as a weapon and antagonism already to U.S. neighbours such as Canada and Mexico. Already 22 states in the country itself have indicated their decision not to carry out Mr. Trump’s orders on undocumented immigrants and the forfeiture of the citizenship birthright of their children. The United States is entering a new phase in its march through life and the world, by extension, interesting times.

Perhaps just a few would have taken special notice of it but for me, the most spectacular aspect of the THISDAY Awards that held yesterday was the investiture on Chief Leo-Stan Ekeh and his son, Nnamdi Ekeh, respectfully as CEO Of The Year and Young Global Leader Of The Year. I have tried to make some research but could not find where, in our recent history, a man and his son got so highly honored by the same institution at the same event, on the same day.

That Chief Leo-Stan Ekeh has risen to the top in Africa’s corporate landscape is certainly not new. What THISDAY did was merely to corroborate that evidence with its highly prestigious award. What is quite refreshing about the senior Ekeh is that his son has also been recognized, entirely on his own, as an up and coming, upwardly mobile entrepreneur. One is not privy to the criteria used by the board of THISDAY newspaper in finding the junior Ekeh eligible for the award but if my knowledge of the founder of the newspaper does not fail me, then it certainly must have been after a clear conviction that the young man, independent of his father, deserves the honour.

The junior Ekeh is CEO of Konga, an e commerce company which was acquired in 2018 by the ZINOX group, a Nigerian Tech. company chaired by the senior Ekeh. In 2019, Konga underwent a merger operation with Yudala to offer a composite (online and offline) platform, the first in Africa.

Yes, there was a father figure to act as a guide but it is not common that fathers successfully guide their sons to the top. Or, to put the same thing differently, it is not always that sons allow themselves to be teachable enough to be guided into success stories by their illustrious fathers.How the two Ekehs did it should be a subject of further inquiry and their joint success story – in these days of pervasive familial disharmony – should serve as a source of inspiration for other families.

Besides this interesting aspect of this year’s THISDAY Awards, however, I have another fascinating story about Chief Leo-Stan Ekeh and me concerning awards. Leo-Stan, as he is more popularly known, is not new to awards from prestigious organizations. As far back as 1992, his publishing outfit, New Concept Media Ltd, received an award from the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) for publishing my book, NIGERIA: AGENDA FOR A MODERN POLICE FORCE, which won an ANA price for Literary Excellence in the category of First Author, Non Fiction that year. The THISDAY award is quite prestigious but the ANA awards was – and is – no less prestigious, especially in those days when the Ken Saro-Wiwas, the Odia Ofeimums, the Wale Okedirans, the Femi Oshofisans etc were involved. As a matter of fact, the late Saro-Wiwa was the national president of ANA at the time Leo-Stan, his company and I received the awards. The event, which held at the prestigious Sharaton Hotel, Ikeja was witnessed by so many corporate moguls and the crème de la crème in the national media.

I remember one reporter posing a question to express surprise that Leo-Stan was also into publishing, quite apart from TASK SYSTEMS, his foundational enterprise that was then playing a pioneering role in the nascent Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector in Nigeria. It was in answer to that question that Chief Ekeh prophesied that both TASK SYSTEMS – his ICT company – and New Concept – his media outfit – were two entities “to watch”. TASK SYSTEMS had, as early as 1992 – the date of the event I am writing about here – become an ‘office-hold’ name in the Nigerian media landscape, having computerized virtually the entire newspaper publishing in the country.

Ironically, New Concept has renamed unsung despite publishing my two works after the one that earned it and Chief Ekeh the prestigious ANA award while TASK SYSTEMS has since given birth to a multinational, the ZINOX group. Still, I have every reason to believe that just like in the ICT arm, Chief Ekeh’s prophecy about his publishing company will also come to pass. Fortunately, this writer, whom New Concept Media and its owner, Leo-Stan, helped to announce to the world, is still writing.

Just last December, Chief Ekeh sent me a commendation message for “doing what you know how to do best”. He was responding to my invitation to chair the unveiling of my fourteenth book – after the one he published in 1991 – last December. Even though he gave a good reason why he was not going to be there, he did not fail to acknowledge the fact that I am still in the book writing business, thirty three years after he, so to speak, introduced me to it. Chief Eke was to receive more honors, including three national honors – the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), the ICON OF HOPE award and the National Productivity Merit award.

Since we are talking about THISDAY newspaper, which is celebrating its thirty years of existence, it would be incomplete to conclude this essay without saying what I know about how it built the foundation of its huge success since I was part of its beginning. I was not there from Day One but I qualify as a pioneer staff member of the newspaper. As a matter of fact, anyone who joined the newspaper at Ribadu road – I can’t remember the precise address – off Awolowo road, Ikoyi, Lagos – which was where the newspaper took off – is a pioneer staff member. We were occupying the first and second floors of a building said to belong to a family member of the founder, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena. I joined the Business/Economy Desk then headed by Ndubuisi Okereke but I was later detailed to coordinate the editorials of the newspaper. The chairman – he did not like to be addressed as “publisher” – did not like the idea of an “Editorial Board”, as was then fashionable. So, what he did was to invite the title and line editors to his office every afternoon to discuss editorial topics which were then assigned to individuals to write.

Later, Dr. Godwin Ogbogodo of the University of Benin began to join us at weekends. The company normally lodged him at Ikoyi Hotel and I would go to his room on Saturdays for both of us to discuss editorial topics. He would pen down some before heading back to Benin on Sunday while we, the regular staffers, took the rest. It was only after Sam Omatseye joined that we began to have what looked like an Editorial Board because he was recruited solely for that department. The pioneer editor of the daily title weas Okagbue Aduba, while Niran Malaolu was the editor of the Sunday title. Mr. Ide Eguabor was initially managing editor but was later promoted Assistant General Manager, publications.

Later, the Saturday title was introduced with Eniola Bello, the current Managing Director of the newspaper company – he has served in that capacity for upwards of twenty five years – as editor, with me as his deputy but I was reassigned not long after and appointed managing editor. The line editors were Victor Ifijeh (Political Editor), with Eziuche Ubani as his deputy; Ndubuisi Okereke (Business/Economy Editor) and Jones Okwara (Foreign Affairs Editor). Others were Augustine Sam, Ada Ibekie, Ijeoma Nwaogwugwu, Austin Oguma etc. Nwaogwuwgu was in charge of a special pull out in the newspaper culled from the Financial Times of London under an agreement. Her first assignment every morning was to go to Ikoyi hotel and get a copy of the Financial Times.

Later, an incident occurred and which prompted our immediate relocation from Ribadu road. As a matter of fact, the movement was so urgent that Eguabor and I were mandated to get a place immediately and we got one at Unity road, off Toyin street, Ikeja; an entire building with four floors. The new place was like a paradise.compared with what we had before. From just two flats in Ikoyi, we now had an entire building. Soon, the chairman made an arrangement with UAC to supply us with furniture and even rug carpets with which the offices were tastefully furnished.

The new location also brought us closer to our printers, Torch Press, located off the same Toyin street and that made the production of the newspaper less Herculean. Hitherto, our production crew shuttled between Ikoyi and Ikeja every night. We had a lithographic unit where we produced plates which were then taken – in batches – to the printers at Ikeja. As a matter of fact, the chairman, who loved to supervise the printing of the newspaper himself, was the fellow who did the shuttling most of the time. Prince Nduka Obaigbena is probably the first Nigerian who had the courage to start a daily newspaper without owning a printing press. On one of the nights, he was attacked by armed robbers somewhere around 7-Up bottling company near the toll gate along the Lagos-Ibadan express way.

Bringing the newspaper to the attention of the public posed its own difficulties also. Initially, the paper was being given out freely but one fateful morning, the vendors at Kakawa street, in central Lagos confiscated the copies from our circulation staff and began to sell the newspaper. Apparently, they did not understand why anybody would prefer to give away such a beautifully packaged newspaper when there was a dearth of newspaper to read. During that period, three of the nation’s major newspapers, The Guardian, The Punch, and Concord were all off the streets, having been banned by the Abacha regime.

Once at Ikeja, both the editorial and corporate management of the organization got greatly enhanced. The chairman constituted what he preferred to call Editorial Advisory Board that was made up of senior editorial staffers of the newspaper and some veterans from outside. Among them were the late Prince Tony Momoh, Mr Udoma Udo Udoma, Mr Nduka Irabor and a few others whose names I cannot now remember. I was a member of the board in my capacity as managing editor. Most of the title editors and desk heads were also members.

However, I left the organization sometime in July 1997 to join the Daily Times as a member of its Editorial Board. Going to the Daily Times was something I had desired for a long time because I felt that I would not have done enough journalism until I worked in that citadel of the news industry. I had started my journalism career in the weekly magazines, initially The Nigerian Economist and, later, The Financial Post in 1989 as a Staff Writer but I was so much desirous of joining a daily newspaper. However, I later crossed over to Newsbreed magazine as an Associate Editor – and later editor of The President, in the same stable, after I was poached by their publisher, the late Chris Okolie. Still, but the craving to work in a daily newspaper grew even larger.

Hence, my arrival at the Champion newspaper sometime in late 1989 as its pioneer Business/Economy editor and member of its Editorial Board. I was to, however return to The Financial Post in 1991 as the magazine’s editor and shortly after, I was appointed the General Manager and Editor-in-Chief of the publishing company. Again, providence took me back to a daily, this time the Satellite newspaper published by Chief Jim Nwobodo, first as Deputy Editor of the daily and later the Acting Editor. It was while I was with Satellite that THISDAY was started but following the decision of Chief Nwobodo to close his newspaper apparently as part of deal with the Abacha regime – the Sunday title that was edited by a Yoruba chap, one Mr. Ojo, was rabidly pro-June 12 – I went over to THISDAY.

Although I had concluded arrangements to join the Daily Times, I found myself in a sort of a quandary. I had gotten my appointment letter and even though Mr John Araka, the editor of the daily title and who facilitated my appointment, had kept sending messages to know when I was going to resume, the decision to leave THISDAY was tough in arriving at. The chairman, Mr. Obaigbena, was quite fond of me and had no difficulty in giving me assignments. I remember that I was the only person he took along for a meeting between our organization and the late Professor Obumselu, then the managing director of Torch Press, our printers. The meeting was in the Law Chambers of Professor Ben Nwabueze at Ebute Meta. I can also remember that at a point during the meeting, Professor Nwabueze lost his cool and literarily walked Obumselu out, following the latter’s uncompromising stance on the issue that Nwabueze wanted to sort out between his organization and ours.

However, something happened at Unity road that prompted me to finally make up my mind to leave THISDAY. It was after an argument with Mr Eguabor during which he physically removed my pair of glasses from my face and flung it away. There and then, I decided to leave. I went to my table, wrote a resignation letter and took it to him and in less than an hour, he wrote back accepting my resignation! Eguabor as Assistant General Manager (Publications), was the highest ranking officer of the organization after the chairman, Mr. Obiagbena, who was out of the country at that particular period.

The emergence of the OBIDIENT movement has profoundly transformed Africa's political landscape, particularly in Nigeria, where it has disrupted the norms of traditional politics. This movement, driven by passionate young Nigerians, has mobilized unprecedented support for Mr. Peter Obi, establishing itself as a formidable force in the country's political arena.

Harnessing various media platforms, the OBIDIENT movement has effectively spread its message, engaged voters, and challenged the dominance of Nigeria's major political parties. This new wave of political activism has sparked increased youth participation and reshaped the strategies employed in political campaigns across the nation.

What started as a grassroots initiative to reform Nigeria's stagnant political system has evolved into a global socio-ideological phenomenon. The movement resonates deeply with citizens who are tired of corruption, insecurity, and economic hardship. Today, the OBIDIENT movement stands as one of Africa's most impactful campaigns, inspiring people worldwide.

The driving force behind the movement is a collective desire for change, transparency, and accountability. The movement embodies the aspirations of a generation determined to reclaim Nigeria’s future and build a better nation for all its citizens.

It represents a unique ideological culture in Nigeria and across sub-Saharan Africa, rooted in the principles of volunteerism and unwavering commitment. It is driven by citizens who are disillusioned with retrogressive leadership, unfulfilled potential, and outdated stereotypes.

The movement transcends political affiliations, socio-cultural backgrounds, ethnic identities, religious beliefs, and racial boundaries, uniting Nigerians and Africans under a shared vision for progress.

The OBIDIENT Movement Ethos: The 5Cs for a New Nigeria

Competence: Deliver results.

Character: Lead with integrity.

Capacity: Handle complexity.

Credibility: Earn trust.

Compassion: Put the people first.

In building our structural base from the previous regional engagement we had and as approved by His Excellency Peter Obi kindly find below the list of Advisory Council and Directorate Members to be followed up with the states Collegiate at a later date.

Regional Advisory council
NW
• Ibrahim Abdulkarim
• Shuaibu Fagge
• Hamisu Santuraki
• Abduljaleel Dangulbi
• Maryam uthman
• Sidi Aba

NE
• Prof. Kalep Bulus Filli
• Sani Abdulssalam.
• Prof Anna Mohammed Malgwi
• Zanna Ali Haruna
• Ayuba thlama Wakawa
• Jerry Martin kanjo

NC
• Peter Ameh
• Dr Joseph Ndarang
• Daniel Shehu Gambo
• Sewuese Apeverga (Selma)
• Pamson Dagyat
. Nedd Gideon
. Mahmud Adamu

SE
• Dr Njideka Ezeadili (Dr DEKA)
• Patrick Obi
• Professor Owojecho Omoha
• Eng Emmanuel Ihemadu
• Florence Ndidi
• Prince Solomon Udochukwu
. Ekene Nwakuche

SW
• Hon Seyi Sowunmi
• Dele Farotimi
• Rev Eliashib Ime-James
• Lanre Fadahunsi
• Akin Olaoye
. Baba Oloye

SS
• Professor Nwakobia
• Dcn Chris Iyoware
• Dr. Peterside Sofiri Starson Jnr.
• Olumide Akpata
• Obonganwan Barbra Etim James.
• Naomi Essien

Supporting Advisory council

Oseloka Obaze
Mr Ifeanyi Thaddaus Ezeagu.
Ikenna Azomchi
Sheikh Anata
March Oyinki
Ndi Kato
Dr Stanley Kavwam
Hon Onochie Osheokwu
Chinaa Nwokorie
Luka Dalang
Pastor Austin
Dr Binna Ekechukwu
Prof Stella Okuna
Augustine iyan okon
Eboh Okorie
Dr Fola Adebayo
Elder Chika Nwobu
Prisca Chinwe Eboh
Dr A Ogbanufe
Hilda Dokubo
Dcn Ken Pela
Muhammad Yahaya
Abubakar isa
Abdulwasiu saidu
Samuel Musa
Jonathan Alfred
Abubakar sordiq
Patricia Eduajemiekemo
Emmanuel oladotun
Dr Joseph Onuorah
Dr Ope Banwo
Blossom Martins
Miss Dabira Olayinka
Jumoke Alawode
Comrade dele Abiola
Arch. Chinelo Ofoche

Directorate of the National Assembly Advisory Council.

Arinze Ekene Chikelu
Hon Uchenna H. Okonkwo
Anyalogu Nelson
Engr chuks Odimegwu
LINUS ABBA OKORIE
Barrister Femi Kehinde
Babatunde Olaniyan
Bar Ikpendu Ogada
Mr. Ekene Orogbu
Hon Cosmo Agbo, PhD.
Robert Obasi
Rotimi Odunaike
Lanre Akinola
Dr. Frank IK Oduah
‪Tekena McPepple
Prof. Patrick Igbinaduwa
Hauwa Magoro Kebbi State
Eniola Onaola
Dr Ekwe Okwudiri Chris.
Lanre Farinloye
Kunle Soaga
Hon Sunday Umeha
CHIEF CHARLES OKAFOR
Omobolanle Ogunnaike
Micheal Anokwuru
FESTUS UGWA
Maj. General Chris Eze (rtd)
Hon. Amb. Daniel Asama Ago.

Advisory Directorates .

• Operations (Admin, events and programs, security/intelligence, human resources and capacity development). —
• Political Engagement.
• Mobilisation and membership. (Recruitment, Grassroot Projects)
• Research, policy development and strategy.
• Finance, fundraising, resource mobilisation and accountability.
• Legal and constitutional affairs.
• Technology and data management/analysis.
• Communications.
• Diaspora Engagement.
• National Assembly.

Technology and data management/analysis:
Anthony Chinwo
Linous Okoreie

Finance, fundraising, resource mobilisation and accountability:

Val Ozigbo
Mbagwu Ndidi -
Nexus
Abubakar Yewale

Mobilisation:

Blessing Okoli - Jack
Justin Kingland
Uchenna Nwabueze
Serah Ibrahim
Monday Otene
Akor Christian (Due process)
Sunday Baloma
Enan Maigari
Hauwa Ashafa (Arewa Chick)
Daniel Okpe Ejembi
Daniel Elombah
Morris Monye
Mirrabel Imote
Chigozie Alex Ifeanyichukwu
Jabir Ibrahim Yaro
Benjamin Adze Sarki (SarkiB)
Elijah Umanu
Mr Lucky Chidi Kanu
Micheal Igwe

Communications And Media:

Eyitemi Taire
Judith Akatugba
Nana Kazaure
Babangida Kakaki
David Obiasogu
Kamal Yusuf
Chuka Ufondu
Daniel Elombah
Mazi Ezeoke
Kiibati Bankole
Uchenna Nwabueze
Priscilia Amadi
Uche Okoye
Dotun Oyebolu
Barr. Ken Eluma Asogwa

Legal and constitutional affairs:
Barr. Vincent otaakpukpu
Barr. Kelechchukwu Uzoka

Diaspora

Dr David Ogula
Ayo Desilva
Bolanle Emiabata-Anibaba
Dr Tonia Ogbanufe
Barr Prisca Eboh
Dr Joseph Onuorah
Stephen Osemwinge
Tonnie Aseaomeh
Ify Davies

Research, Policy Development and strategy:
Dr Chukwudi Analo
Jamila M. Umar

Political engagement:
Engr. Okechukwu Chikwendu
Alhaji Attah Ikeleji
Barr Eunice Atujide

Together, we affirm that a new Nigeria is POssible!

Signed,
Dr. Tanko Yunusa
National Coordinator, OBIDIENT Movement

I have sympathy for him, even without knowing his fate. I don’t even know whether he is still in detention or not. I mean the unfortunate Policeman who escorted the two sons of Billionaire Rasaq and  beautiful  wife, Shade, to a club or wherever.

I may have missed it, but I also have not come across his name, or rank.

Nothing much has been heard of him since Force Spokesperson,  Olumuyiwa Adejobi, told us of  his arrest and deserved detention for engaging in conduct unbecoming of a Policeman.

So, you ask, if I agree that his behavior was unbecoming of a Policeman, why does he still have my sympathy? Why does my heart go out to him? Why do I think he is a scape goat? I mean, a good number of his colleagues are that subservient before big men/women to whom they are assigned. While on my beat one day, I stumbled on a Police Inspector who always jogged to answer his “oga” each time he called him. He never walked. Then, he would go on all fours on all fours before his “oga”. And he never looked up. He didn’t have the courage to. An Inspector for God’s sake! A look at him told me he had become a nervous wreck.

I was so scandalized I engineered his reposting as soon as I got back to Abuja.

For the records, let me, also, point out that nothing much has been heard of the Okoya sons since their escapades went viral on Social Media.

You, of course, know this story.

But for the purpose of this write-up, excuse a brief recap.

According to reports, the Policeman escorted the two Okoya sons to a fun spot or whatever. I don’t know if the young men were entitled to Police escort or not. But even if they were, he was not treated as one. In his full uniform, he was reduced to a servant. There was no respect for his uniform. In public, and being videod, he  carried, for the Okaya sons, stacks of Naira notes. In 1,000 denominations, clean, crisp, as if they came straight from the Central Bank of Nigeria. The type of clean notes I hate to spend if, and when somebody “dashes me”. It is never available in banks.

It is okay for you to laugh at me, but, I once had a bundle of N500,000 with me – new, crisp, and I still borrowed money from my girl to buy bread for the house. It has to be an emergency for me to spend new notes. But these two young men had them in bundles. They ran into a few millions. It didn’t bother them. It was nothing to them. So, why bother to carry them and/or hold them by themselves? Or hide them like me. To them, “money na paper”.  They simply gave the bundles to the Policeman to carry for them.

So, this Policeman, in full uniform, stood there, like Fela’s zombie, carrying the bundles of money. As he stood, the Okoya boys danced as if there will be no tomorrow. As they danced, they were taking the money from him, and spraying it as if money was going out of circulation.

Please, remind me, for I may have forgotten. But, was this not the same offence Bobrisky committed, and with lesser amount of money than the Okoyas, for which she went to jail?; for which she has proceeded on self-exile? But I digress.

I was talking about the Policeman.

I don’t know whether he felt awkward, you know,  ashamed of the situation he found himself in. Perhaps. Because, in the video which made the rounds, he pulled his cap, a fez cap, so down it covered half of his face.

The video attracted two official reactions – one from the Nigerian Police Headquarters, the other from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

In a statement, the EFCC informed us that the Okoya boys have been invited to their Lagos Office over their alleged abuse of the Naira. Meaning is that, on arrival, they would be interrogated, asked questions like: “Did you or did you not?”

Initially, according to reports, one of the Okoya boys reacted by saying something like: the “hoopla” is because  they are children of the rich! I found that rude. But well, he is a kid. Youthful exuberance, let me not say spoilt brat.

However, he kind of swallowed his vomit when the EFCC invited him and his brother, and when the Police reacted. He quickly apologized to  Nigerians and the Police Force and the EFCC. He pleaded ignorance of the implications of what he did. But was that not exactly the same ignorance Bobrisky pleaded? That didn’t save him.

I was looking forward to the appearance of the Okoya brothers before the EFCC. Not for anything else, but the satisfaction that they could be called to order, the status of their parents notwithstanding. Perhaps, I missed it. And since then, I have not heard any “pim” again on the case.

The second reaction was from the Police Force Headquarters. Its Spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the Police Officer in the video has been identified. The statement condemned, strongly, the behavior of the Officer. It said he behaved disgracefully. Correct. That he disrespected his uniform. Correct. That as a law officer, he should have corrected the boys? Mmmm? That he was not assigned to the Okoya sons; that he was, instead, sent on guard duties at Eleganza – a company owned by the Okoyas, the boys’ parents; and so, he had no business following the brothers out, not to talk of acting as their servant, their “money carrier”, mobile bank. True?

But let me begin by saying that what the Police Officer did was shameful. Disgraceful. Condemnable. An insult to his uniform and the Police Force. Meaning that I agree with Police Force Spokesperson, Adejobi. Now, I need to ask a couple of questions here.

What choice did the Policeman have? Who would have backed him up if he had refused to follow the brothers out?

Who would have backed him if he had refused to play the disgraceful and disgusting role assigned to him by the boys? Who would have backed him up if he had refused to carry the money for them? What if the boys report him to their parents for refusing to carry out their orders? What if one of them had slapped him in public? Yes, slap. It happens.

A number of big men and women reduce  Police escorts attached to them to rags, almost. They reduce them to their domestic servants, bag carriers, shoe cleaners, and gate men.They speak to them carelessly and call them derogatory names. And worse.

Such Police escorts swallow all that because they have no choice. They have lost self esteem.

They hardly report what they go through to their bosses because they are afraid of the relationship their Principals have with their Police bosses. If they report, who will believe them? Who will speak for them? What if they are punished instead? It happens.

I was on the Board of the Police Service Commission, PSC, for 10 years, and I can testify that most times, Police  hardly defend their own. Atimes, even their senior officers are not spared. It is not unusual for them to be sacrificed on the altar of sycophancy.

On, at least, four occasions the Police Service Commission, under the Chairmanship of Parry Osayande, DIG, retd, one of the best officers the NPF ever produced, intervened to save the jobs of Senior Officers when their bosses had recommended severe disciplinary actions, or even retirement to the PSC.

One State Commissioner of Police was recommended for severe disciplinary  action because he  did not accompany the State Governor to an official visit to one Community. It was a scandalized  Osayande who threw the recommendation out and explained: “Who told them a State a Commissioner accompanies a Governor to such tours? The Commissioner accompanies the President. It is the Assistant Commissioner, Operations, who should accompany the Governor.” Drawing from that,

Osayande  attributed the disrespect for State Commissioners by some Governors to such issues. For instance, he wondered why a State Governor, as happens often, would keep a Commissioner of Police waiting for hours just to see him. “CPs are busy”, he always said. “When you ask them to see you, don’t keep them waiting. They are not politicians.”

On another occasion, another State Commissioner of Police was recommended for retirement. His offence? An alleged break of protocol during President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit to his State. He did not. He was innocent. His superior was guilty. But the CP was recommended for retirement just to save the job of his  superior. When somebody drew the attention of President Jonathan to it, he backed the PSC, and saved the Commissioner’s job. And there are worse instances, particularly when they concern middle level officers, Inspectors and other ranks.

But back to the Okoya brothers’ Police escort. My instinct, given the way he stood there like a sacrificial lamb, is that he was ashamed of the role the brothers assigned to him to play,  but he had no choice. He was helpless. And he was intimidated by the rich, the environment he found himself in and the “sheer largeness” of the amount of money he was carrying. He may not have seen such an amount of money before. And it was just to be frittered away when, perhaps, he didn’t have N100,000 to his name.

What to do?

Policemen like him need re-orientation. They need their self esteem back. They need to know that when they are in their uniform, they are the Federal Government. They are serving their fatherland, and their job is respectable and dignified. Without their presence, especially, along the road, and especially now, not a few people will be afraid to be on the road – forget they are bad-mouthed because a few bad eggs amongst them have given the Police a bad name. But which profession is free of bad eggs? Tell me.

Policemen are human beings, and live in the same environment as us. They are afflicted by the same disease, that afflicts us. Don’t you see that since Nigeria exposed soldiers to Police duties, some of them have been afflicted by same disease.

So here’s my unsolicited advice: Draw the ears of the Okoya brothers’ Police escort. Help him regain his self esteem. And send him back to his job – please,  not to the Okoyas – with a warning.

Nothing more, nothing less.