Matthew Hassan Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese who turns 70 tomorrow, August 31, deserves celebration for his service to church, community, nation, and humanity, for his achievements as a true citizen who has used his priestly circumstances, boundless energy and prodigious intellect to promote the causes of justice and the common good. He stands shoulders above many of his contemporaries in his many engagements in the last four decades. He has been a priest for close to 50 years, but his range of influence goes beyond the pulpit to include scholarship, public intellectualism, civil society advocacy and the courage to provide leadership even in the most difficult situations. He is easily one of the best-known faces of the Catholic faith and priesthood in Nigeria. He remains an admirable advertisement of the virtues of Catholicism and the Church.

I am not a Catholic but I admire the Catholic Church, owing largely to my interaction over the years with Catholic priests like Bishop Kukah. I like the fact that the Catholic Church in Nigeria invests heavily in the training and education of its priests. It is mostly in the Catholic Church that you would find such exemplary priests that are usually educated to the highest levels possible. Many Catholic priests parade Ph.Ds as if it is a minimum qualification, in most cases Catholic priests display other skills, with language, research, public engagements and an unusual hunger for knowledge. The Anglican Church over time has also shown a similar commitment to the education of its priests, but the Catholic Church remains far ahead. In a country where many pastors and priests are at best spellbinders, hypnotists and clownish motivational speakers, and petty merchants with very little knowledge of the Holy Book, it is ever so refreshing to attend a Church or listen to a priest who speaks from an abundance of insight and talent. Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah belongs in this category. In the late 80s, the 90s and till date, he has been a shining star of the Catholic Church of Nigeria, who through his example inspires the younger generation, within the priesthood and the general Nigerian community.

I first met him on the pages of newspapers through his writings. In those days, the opinion pages of newspapers were dominated by persons of high intellect, most of whom dissected issues of the day, in beautiful prose, and with great erudition. Fr. Matthew Kukah, as he then was, was one of the most prolific, churning out essays, week after week. Those were the days of intimidating columnists sand contributors on the op-ed pages: to have your essay published on the same page with a Matthew Kukah, Pat Utomi, Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe, Chinweizu, Sonala Olumhense, Odia Ofeimun, Olatunji Dare, Edwin Madunagu, Biodun Jeyifo, Wole Soyinka, Femi Osofisan, Pini Jason, Andy Akporugo, Stanley Macebuh, Fred Onyeoziri, Emevwo Biakolo, Amma Ogan, Sully Abu, Effiong Essien, Ashikiwe Adione-Egom…was like winning a jackpot. Many of us framed the pages, and looked up to the big names.  The times are different today. Our newspapers have stopped serving culture and society and the reader as spaces for great intellection, the tradition of old has been replaced by “opinionitis”, a very dangerous disease which pushes just about anyone to think they can inflict bad prose and thoughts on a vanishing breed of readers anyway. Matthew Kukah’s contributions to public discourse was frequent, and often well-received. He was not afraid of debates or intellectual pugilism.  In those days, one subject on the pages of a newspaper could result in months of rigorous debate, from a multi-disciplinary perspective, by persons who respected each other’s intellect but nevertheless had the capacity to weave words into prose and good sense. This was the tradition that we grew into, from university to the field. Kukah was a major source of inspiration and a good sport. Many of his opinion pieces and extended essays remain timeless. 

Bishop Kukah’s stature began to flower, even more so in his position at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria: he was first a Deputy Secretary General, then he became the Secretary-General of the Catholic Secretariat, located in Lagos, directly opposite Tafawa Balewa Square or Race Course as it was originally known.  Under his watch as leader of that Secretariat, it became an important intellectual rendezvous for civil society groups and public intellectuals in the entire Southern Nigeria. Kukah built a very strong relationship with the media, promoting, most actively, both the Catholic Church, and the activities of the Catholic Bishops Conference, focusing on issues of justice, peace and development. When Nigeria descended into chaos in 1993, with the annulment of the June 12 1993 Presidential election, church and society rose against the impunity of the military establishment, and called for an end to military rule and respect for the people’s sovereignty. The majority spoke with one voice that military absolutism had defeated the purpose of good governance and that it was time for the Nigerian military to go. The Catholic Church spoke truth to power on the pulpit and on the streets. Leaders of other churches – the Anglican, the Methodist and Pentecostal Churches also joined the protest.  The. Catholic Secretariat in Lagos served the Catholics as an intellectual power house. Kukah had able lieutenants: Fr. George Ehusani, his then Deputy who would later succeed him as Secretary-General. There were others too: Rev. John Uba Ofei and Rev. Fr. Iheanyi Enwerem. 

On a regular basis, the Secretariat issued press releases and also organized seminars and conferences on various topics of interest with stakeholders brought together to chart the way forward for Nigeria. I was a familiar participant at those Sunday evening sessions. Many of us became so close to the Catholic priests, we began to also talk about liberation theology. Nigerians had been so badly treated many priests felt it was their obligation and ecclesiastical duty to help free the people from the shackles of of oppression. Even when there was no seminar, the doors of the Catholic Secretariat were always open. I later developed the habit of stopping by whenever I was in that part of the city. On a good evening, there was always sumptuous dinner. And the fridge was always full. Beer, wine…And there was Fr. George often twanging away on his guitar, trying out a new song, or reading a poem. He would later succeed Kukah as Secretary General and indeed that period – the Kukah-Ehusani - could be remembered as the golden years of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria. Kukah left behind a legacy that raised the profile of the Secretariat and the Church. 

Beyond his public intellectualism and duties as a priest, Bishop Kukah has also been very active within the general community as an agent of peace and promoter of good governance and the common good. He is a compulsive bridge-builder, with friends in virtually every corner, and so well established is he among the political and private sector elite of Nigeria that many of his critics try to take pot-shots at him that he would still need to make up his mind whether he wants to be a priest or a politician. In recent years, through his major project, the Kukah Centre, he has been working in Nigeria’s post-military dispensation to promote the cause of peace, good governance, and stability. The Centre in collaboration with General Abdusalami Abubakar, Nigeria’s last military ruler up until 1999 to date, has jointly promoted a National Peace Committee, which gets politicians before elections to sign peace accords and give undertakings that they would embrace peace, as well as promoting peace in Nigerian communities. Kukah was a member of the National Human Rights Investigation Commission, Nigeria’s equivalent of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, also known as the Oputa Panel 1999 – 2001, Secretary of the National Political Reform Conference under the Obasanjo administration in 2005, Chairman of the Ogoni-Shell Reconciliation Committee since 2005, and member of the committee for electoral reform, 2007 – 2009.  

In addition to this, Bishop Kukah is a strong advocate for inter-religious harmony, using every opportunity to promote tolerance and peace. For his efforts, he has been appointed to the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue at the Vatican and as Chairman of the Commission on Inter-Religious Dialogue of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria. He has also enjoyed a level of visibility and influence that many priests can only dream about. He has probably given as many homilies at events organized by other churches as he has done on Catholic occasions. Political leaders seek his counsel. The intellectual class and the commentariat respect him as one of their own. The establishment at state and national levels seek his attention and counsel because they know that he can be trusted to say the truth without fear or favour. He is not a prosperity or attention-seeking priest. He and others like him including those that I mentioned earlier are cut from a different cloth. Priests of his type present a different model from that other Catholic priest: Fr. Ejike Mbaka of the Adoration Ministries in Enugu. It is a measure of the diversity of the Catholic Church that it is even possible to mention an Ejike in a tribute to Bishop Matthew Kukah. As it were, virtually every Nigerian government has learnt to respect Bishop Matthew Kukah. The only exception has been the Buhari administration whose agents and spokespersons recently developed a passion for harassing the priest. He has challenged them to an open debate. They have not been able to take on that challenge. Meanwhile, Kukah has remained unrelenting in his chosen task of speaking truth to power and exposing chicanery, hypocrisy and the stupidity of hegemons no matter how dandified.   

It is not surprising that Kukah is a much sought-after public lecturer. He has given lectures on virtually every important platform in Nigeria, from convocation ceremonies to funerals to anniversaries. He stands out as a consistent man of intellect, with a transparent public spirit. He likes to tell stories: his usual style is to tell a story, catch the attention of his audience with some humour, of course except he is discussing such grim subjects as the killing of his kith and kin in Zango-Kataf in Southern Kaduna or members of his diocese in Sokoto state, or any form of religious persecution, or the failings of the power elite, having learnt the art of choosing his topics with purpose. To mark his 70^th birthday, Bishop Kukah is announcing his plans to build a befitting edifice for the Kukah Centre, one of Africa’s leading policy think-tanks. He and the Centre deserve every possible support on a sustainable basis.  The Centre would be a major legacy offering from a priest who is on way easily to becoming a legend. Ahead of tomorrow’s event, he recently released a book titled Broken Truths: Nigeria’s Elusive Quest for National Cohesion. Author of many articles in academic journals, Kukah remains conscious of his training and exposure as an academic: diploma, University of Ibadan, B.A., Pontifical Urban University, Rome.  M.A., Peace Studies, University of Bradford, (1980), Ph.D, Political Science, University of London (1990), Edward Mason Fellow, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government; Rhodes Fellow, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford, Honorary Fellow, Nigeria Academy of Letters. The harvest from his fecund mind has been rich and impressive including some of the most authoritative books on aspects of Nigerian history such as: Religion, Politics and Power in Northern Nigeria (1993) – perhaps his most seminal work, Religious Militancy and Self-Assertion: Islam and Politics in Nigeria (1997); Democracy and Civil Society in Nigeria (2001); Witness to Justice: An Insider’s Account of Nigeria’s Truth Commission (2011), and Broken Truths (2022).

At 70, Bishop Kukah can reminisce with a strong measure of contentment that he has been able to impact many lives, using his chosen vocation of priesthood to make a difference in the lives of those to whose spiritual health he ministers and the larger community of men and women who have drawn inspiration from his wealth of knowledge, humility and accomplishments. As a person, Bishop Kukah is friendly, kind-hearted and always ready with a listening ear. Nobody has given him any national honour. He probably does not need it. Nigeria’s security agencies have stalked and questioned him. He has been abused and threatened for his no-holds-barred homilies. He has been labelled a religious bigot. He is, however, not afraid of authority figures because of his own commitments to a higher cause and his understanding of the dynamics of power. Those who use power and position to oppress the harmless, do so only for a while until they are reminded of the ephemerality of their advantages. Whatever may have been his travails, Kukah’s critics lay the blame at the doorstep of the ambivalence of his insider-outsider relationship with power and politics. But it can be said of Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah that he has lived a life entirely of service and that is the best kind of life. He deserves to be celebrated. What we will be celebrating is not material things and the celebrant is not likely to be decked out in flowing babariga or agbada, the accent would be on service, innovation, ideas, goodness, justice, peace and humanism. I join others in wishing Bishop Kukah many happy returns of the day. He is one of the few redemptive figures in a community of pastors and priests where sometimes it is difficult to truly know what has happened to Christian leadership in our land.  To Bishop Kukah: 70 Hearty Cheers!  

City FM is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Programme: CITY TALKS WITH REUBEN ABATI

Time: 12:00pm

Guest: Sunday Asefon (NANS PRESIDENT)

Topic: ASUU and the prolonged Strike

Date: Saturday, August 27, 2022

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/92877141732?pwd=VEJWb29OL2VVekZUTHRpdWYxK0xxZz

“Ko ko Ko.  Pon Pon, Pon. . Helloo oh” 

“Who be dat?” 

“Na me oh?”

“Who be na me? You don’t know your own name? I say who dey there? ” 

“Na me, FEDECO”

“FEDECO? Which FEDECO?  Where you from come?” 

“Open door my friend…Or I break down this door now. You drink, you no know my voice again?. Lagos don turn your head? I say na FEDECO dey for door, you dey ask question?”

“Oh, bros., no vex. You know say the kin Nigeria we dey so, person suppose take caution.  Anybody can just come to your door and call a known name, you open door, dem go kidnap you.”

“Don’t talk like that. Nobody can kidnap you. Have you forgotten that you are the great grandson of the greatest witch of your mother’s kingdom and the chosen spirit on your father’s side who fought the British to a standstill in the battle of… Don’t worry. I forget the battle now but I remember the story…” 

“Bros, you are welcome. In this neighbourhood, people don’t talk about spirts, witchcraft and old kingdoms. I am glad to see you, Uncle..?” 

“So you now know your Uncle FEDECO? You boys think some of us old folks don’t know what is going on. But we do. You met me in this Lagos. I am the Chairman of the Village Association in this town. You don’t come to my house. I decided today to come and visit you. That is how an elder behaves. Where is your wife? Where are your children? You people think you know the world, but you don’t know the world. I, your Uncle…  I have decided to visit you today just to check on you.   Give me something first to welcome me.”

“What do you want Uncle? I am sure I can make it available.” 

“What do I want? Hmmm. Give me bush meat pepper soup! Send your people now and get me bushmeat. You can’t have money in this family and somebody cannot chop pepper soup on top of your head. My sister no born onoder pickin. My friend, bring bush meat pepper soup.”

“Brother, please, no bush meat in this house. We don’t eat pepper soup here.  Let them bring you cold water and beer first. As for bush meat, no no, no. There is Monkey Pox in town. Many countries that have been non-endemic are now endemic, all the way to South America and Continental Europe. Here in Nigeria, where monkey pox is endemic, there have been over 473 cases in 27 states, 172 have been confirmed, six deaths have been reported, and that is the highest rate in this country in 6 years. Bros, you cannot eat bush meat.  I can offer you any other thing.” 

“What kind of monkey talk is that? Is every bush meat monkey?”

“The experts are talking about animal to human transmission that has now become human to human transmission.”    

“That is white man’s talk. That one no dey here. Bush meat. Make dem boil am well well, put maggi, pepper, and all dem dem things make man chop fill belle. Once you burn am, pepper am well, all the virus wey dey the bodi go settle for stomach, na toilet everything dey go so oh.” 

“Bros, let’s be serious. I think all of us should be serious. This was how Nigerians made light of Ebola virus. This is how we continue to joke with COVID-19, and yet many have died. And now everyone is treating monkey pox as a joke. Nobody is even listening.” 

“My sister’s son, nobody will listen. You dey hear me? Nobody trusts these our leaders. This is how they will always come up with one problem or the other to adjust budget and provide allocation for their pockets. Do you know how many people became billionaires because of COVID? That one has gone down now, so na monkey pox be next? The next thing you will hear is that the budget has to be reviewed to accommodate monkey pox. They say it has reached 27 states. Have you seen anyone with monkey pox? Very soon, it will reach 36 states and the FCT and you will not see any evidence. The real monkey pox, they will not address, na fake dem go dey pursue”

“This is not fake bros. It is real. We are talking science.” 

“I agree. You know I am not dumb. I know there is monkey pox, but is it as serious a problem? Yes, I think it is. Should it be addressed? Yes, my mind tells me so. The big problem is that the monkey pox in Nigeria is being misdiagnosed. They are looking for warts and lesions on people’s skins and talking about consumption of bush meat, and animal to human, human to human transmission. If you want to hear me, they should look at the Nigerian economy. That is where we need treatment, and the need to save the people.” 

“I don’t get it”

“What don’t you get? Can’t you see, feel, sense, experience, touch the contagious, transmissible monkey pox in the Nigerian economy?”

“Monkey pox is a medical term. The economy is different.”

“You think I am dumb? And I am saying to you that I understand everything perfectly. The Nigerian economy is a monkey pox economy. Go and think about it deeply. You may not die really, because monkey pox doesn’t have a high fatality rate, but you can spread it through contact, exchange of body fluids. Look at how we are spreading poverty and agony in Nigeria from one sector to another.”

“I am lost”

“You are not lost.  Let me tell you. Inflation is now 19.64 % in Nigeria. Food inflation is 20.02%. Many families can no longer eat bread, or buy tomatoes, or prepare a decent pot of soup. The last time I ate bush meat pepper soup was more than a year ago. I specifically asked for it but instead of you telling me that the country hard, ground no level, pocket empty, and I will understand, you started giving lectures on monkey pox. You think I am stupid? I know even rich people are feeling the monkey pox in this economy. The rich are crying. They can’t get foreign exchange to run their businesses. Airline operators are weeping. Foreign airlines are saying Nigeria is no longer an enabling business environment. Airline Operators of Nigeria (the local investors) are saying they will shut down. Have you not noticed that even young men do not want to marry anymore? The only girls who still get husbands in Nigeria today are the ones from rich homes. Rich men’s daughters have become insurance covers. If you are from a poor home, you are on your own. Nigeria’s social dynamics is changing.” 

“It is basic social dynamics, sir. Human beings will adjust to new realities”

“You are talking textbook. My sister, your mother, is far more practical. I think the problem in this country is not just too much learning by people like you who study abroad at your parents’ expense and then you come back and start pushing ideas and theories that belong to a different society. The big problem is that we have an army of illiterates who grab political power, and have nothing to offer other than the fact that that they are in power. The only luck we have is that the Nigerian people have not yet taken to the streets out of frustration as people have done in Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Ghana and other parts of the world.”

“Well, that is the point. The world is passing through a difficult season. All this shall come to pass. My daily work requires me to have a balanced view of issues. I am an intelligence analyst, on a daily basis, guiding senior personnel and institutions.”

“Then tell them, we are not seeing enough intelligence in how this place called Nigeria is managed. Your own Uncle cannot eat bush meat pepper soup? He cannot travel by air anymore? Even to go by train or road is wahala? Bachelors have stopped looking for wives? Go to marriage registries across the country, the crowd has reduced. Did we offend God?”

“That is not a problem. We are too many in any case. Nigeria has a population problem.  We can’t keep condemning everything.” 

“People have a right to marry.”

“Then they should marry reasonably. Bros, you see that my neighbour. You once met him.. He has just one wife and two children. His gateman has four wives and 12 children. How much is his salary? I often walk across to settle quarrels between my neighbour and his wife. But his gateman with his army of dependents living in another man’s compound, you will never hear their voice. They seem to be happy. The owner of the building is in distress. He even threatened to abandon his wife and children. I had to advise him not to do so. Otherwise, his gate man will take over the entire house.”

“You want to hear me? Your neighbour is a stupid man. I pray you don’t end up like him. Me and you go talk dat one later. People like you go and marry these women and turn them into competitors as if you are running an Olympic race and you still want to be a man. When the women begin to show you, instead of you addressing the matter, you would decide to relocate abroad. You become woman wrapper. Idiot-husband. Ode somebody. Efulefu man. But your gatemen, drivers and cooks are the real men. They collect your money, steal from you, borrow from you, live in your compound and they live better. But you – big man! - you can’t control one woman.”

“But you must admit that has nothing to do with your monkey pox theory, bros”. 

“Everything is interconnected” 

“I don’t think so”

“Wait. Wait. Wait. I have not talked about the strike by university workers and all the unions.           

 “They have been treated unfairly. Government has a responsibility to be kind to the intellectual community. They are not asking for too much. Greedy, lazy National Assembly members collect so much money and other benefits, the intellectuals who help to build Nigeria’s skills flow and intellectual base are treated shabbily, paid peanuts and asked to go to hell. What is worse, government is adopting a divide and rule strategy, playing non-academic staff against academics. I like the fact that the university teachers are saying they will not move an inch. They have the right to protest.”

“Oh, God. The kind of books you people read. Are you aware that government is already thinking of banning the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)? They will ban them now and nothing will happen. They already have an alternative – the CONUA. The Federal Government will not only ban ASUU, they will not pay them for work not done. Many of those your so-called intellectuals will beg by the time they can’t pay their children’s school fees and their wives and in-laws begin to mock them. I even hear some lecturers are beginning to sell this and that. One female lecturer now sells puff-puff. Another lecturer in the North is doing Mai Shayi work. I know one in my neighbourhood who follows his wife to the shop every day. He calls himself a Doctor of I don’t what. Business Administration or Accounting?  The man is now a big-time shop assistant attending to customers in his wife’s pepper soup joint! When Nigeria happens to you, you will learn your lesson the hard way…Look, I am saying all of this because I don’t want you to be like them…”

“What is wrong is wrong. The universities teachers have a case…Even if the Non-Academic staff return to the campuses this week, without the teachers, there will be no students. Even asking students to sue their lecturers makes no sense. Government cannot simply choose to be callous towards a strategic segment of the Nigerian population. When you shut down the country’s education system at the highest level, you shut down the future of the entire country. That is the issue. Many bright academics are leaving the education sector. Terrible brain-drain. Since 2017, ASUU has been on strike for a total of 578 days. In 2020, for 270 days, In 2022, that is, this year, 189 days as of today.”

“The lecturers just want money. Everybody wants money to hedge inflation. Government should just give them enough money to meet their level of greed, and you’d see there would be peace. No be Nigeria we dey?”

“No. This is not about money. That is in fact why ASUU has refused to cave in.” 

“Look, bobo, in this country, everything is about money. Those Union of Electricity Workers who shut down the power grid and feeders on August 17, what do you think they are looking for?... Money!”

“A lot more than that, a close analysis showed.”

“Forget analysis! Everybody is talking about crude oil theft, economic sabotage bla bla. What do you think those behind crude oil theft are looking for?.. Money!”

“Specifically, that is economic sabotage, organized crime and terrorism against the Nigerian state.” 

“You can say what you like, but what I am saying is that the real problem in this country is that everybody is looking for money and struggling for survival. Nigeria today is a struggle for the survival of the fittest. This is what has happened to us. In the last eight years, values have collapsed. Life is so hard. People just want to survive. Why do you think the legislature is just so compliant? Once you give people their own share of the cake, they will be quiet. The only problem is that there isn’t enough to go round.”

“Looks like in this country, nobody is ready to listen. Maybe I should just return to the UK or the States.”  

“You want to Japa? No. No. No. That’s cowardice. Who do you think will look after my sister if you too run away? All your siblings are already abroad. You are the only one here. Don’t mind me, we are just having a discussion. To tell you the truth, this is still the best country in the world oh, with all our wahala. You know you and I are intelligent analysts. Please don’t tell my sister we even had this discussion, I beg. Wey my bush meat pepper soup? 

“No, bros, I only have your usual beer in the fridge.” 

“Bring am, bring am. Wetin I bin dey talk sef.”   

“We are here this evening to witness this momentous occasion as the people of Kenya restate what is in article one of the constitution of Kenya that all sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya…I want to thank God for getting us to this point. I want to thank God that today we have concluded this election. I know that there were predictions that I wouldn’t get to the ballot, there were predictions that we would not be here, but because there is a God in Heaven we are here, and I want in a very special way to say, and to confess, that without God, we wouldn’t have been here.” – William Ruto, Deputy President and President-elect, Republic of Kenya, Monday, August 15, 2022. 

And thus, it is done: the people of the Republic of Kenya have elected a new President in the person of the current Deputy President William Samoei Arap Ruto, 55, who, barring any untoward developments, will succeed his boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta for whom the constitutional two-term limit of 10 years has come to an end. Kenya’s Constitution requires the winning candidate to receive 50% of the vote plus one, and at least 25% of the vote from 24 of the country’s 47 counties. A keenly contested election, which resulted in six days of vote counting, much anxiety and apprehension, as the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) uploaded and collated the results, ended with William Ruto, candidate of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) winning 50.5% of the vote, that is 7.1 million votes. His closest challenger, Raila Odinga, 77, candidate of the Orange Democratic Movement/Azimio One Kenya Alliance, got 48.9% of the votes, that is 6.9 million votes. There were four major Presidential candidates in this election, and the third is particularly interesting: Professor George Wajackoyah, candidate of the Roots Party of Kenya, who ran a rather unorthodox campaign, targeted at young voters, with frenzied, eccentric mobilization on social media, and what became a high-pitched political movement combined with reggae dancing and talks about the value of marijuana, and hyena testicles.  

Wajackoyah’s social media sensation and populism fetched him 61, 969 votes - just about 0.44% of the total votes cast – a grim reminder of the limits of social media populism in the context of elections.  The fourth candidate, David Waihiga Mwaure of the Agano Party, almost stood no chance, with 31, 987 votes (0.23%) as this was a tight race between Odinga and Ruto. Kenya’s general election 2022 is probably the most competitive so far in the history of the country. Ahead of the elections at the Presidential, governorship, senatorial, parliamentary and county levels, there were fears that there could an outbreak of violence, similar to the killings in 2007 and 2017. The two leading candidates are old, bitter rivals, forming broad alliances that were meant to give one or the other an advantage: William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza alliance (an alliance of 12 political parties) and Raila Odinga’s Azimio la Umoja. It is a measure of how this particular general election in Kenya is a test of the country’s stability - even now that the result of the Presidential election has been announced, it is somewhat difficult to celebrate a definitive end of the process. The fear of violence, litigation and acrimony hangs in the air, and the fear also, of what is next for Kenya.    

Just before the chair of the IEBC, Wafula Chebukati announced the winner, violence erupted at the national tally centre in Bomas, supporters of Mr. Raila Odinga reportedly started throwing chairs and tables. There were gunshots. Diplomats in attendance had to be guided away to safety. Mama Sarah, mother of the President-elect, also had to be quickly evacuated to safety from Bomas.  Two electoral commissioners were injured. Meanwhile in another location, Deputy IEBC Chair, Juliana Cherera and three other commissioners rejected the results which they dismissed as “opaque”, and even went further to suggest that the results should be challenged in court, because four of them would not take ownership of it. Thus, 4 out of Kenya’s seven electoral commissioners rejected the outcome of the August 9 Presidential poll. This was a brazen display of partisanship and rebellion on the part of Cherera and her gang. Electoral Commissioners openly taking sides with a political party is a recipe for disaster. Before now, Odinga and his supporters had complained about rigging and mismanagement of the electoral process. IEBC insiders rebelling against their own team lead may have unwittingly set the stage for conflict. 

What the law in Kenya says is that if Raila Odinga chooses to challenge the results, he is allowed to do so within seven days by petitioning the Supreme Court which would in turn take a decision within 14 days. If not, the results would stand, but if the results are nullified, fresh elections would be held within 60 days. We can safely assume that Odinga will go to court. Former MP/Prime Minister of Kenya (2008 – 2013), this is his fifth attempt at the Presidential seat. This may well be his last chance given his age. Polls before the elections projected him as the winner. His Iron Lady-running mate, Martha Karua was also sure they would win. There is no way they would walk away just like that. There is also the Uhuru Kenyatta factor. The incumbent President has been at logger-heads with his Deputy, William Ruto since 2018. In the lead up to this year’s elections, Kenyatta openly backed Odinga and promised to stop his own Deputy from succeeding him. 

The declaration of Ruto as winner of the Presidential election clearly humbles and humiliates the incumbent and the Odinga coalition. It also postpones the dream of a Luo Presidency in Kenya. African political leaders often like to play God, to determine who succeeds them and to impose their will on the people. It is important that the verdict of the people is allowed to prevail. Ruto has told those who opposed him that there is “nothing to fear… there’s no room for vengeance.” The international community must immediately step in to help the people of Kenya manage the new transition. The United Nations, the African Union and all voices of reason must begin to prevail on the leaders of Kenya to give peace a chance. In 2007, more than 1, 200 people died as a result of electoral violence, masterminded at the time by the Mungiki gang. After the 2017 elections, more than 100 people were killed. This time around, the international community must be proactive in ensuring that the elections do not degenerate into another orgy of violence because of the ego of politicians. And in these elections in Kenya the egos in conflict are just too overbearing: beyond the coalitions and the spectre of divisive politics, you have Ruto-Gachagua at one end, opposed with equal fervour by Raila Odinga-Martha Karua. The people must be more important than the gladiators. Kenya’s history of violence must not be allowed to repeat itself, “the hustlers and dynasties” in contention must give the people a chance.  

Without much doubt, the 2022 general election was a referendum on the legacy of President Uhuru Kenyatta. He is leaving behind a legacy of high inflation, high unemployment, economic inequality, political corruption, and debt – Kenya’s public debt is more than two-thirds of GDP.  Is the average Kenyan better off today than he or she was in 2017? No. Out of a total of 22 million voters, 14 million Kenyans representing about 64.6% turned up to vote in the elections in 47 counties, for 16, 098 candidates contesting 1, 882 positions. Voter turn-out was much higher in 2017 – 78% at the time, but the people are disenchanted with the political elite. Kenya’s next President must give the people hope and rebuild trust in government. Kenya is heavily indebted to China, the country’s entire debt burden of about $70 billion is unsustainable, and to prevent the country becoming another Zambia or Sri Lanka, this must be addressed. The people want food on the table. They want poverty tackled. They want to eat their ugali and mandazi without pain. More importantly they want the high cost of living and taxes reduced. They want peace. Ruto promised the people a “bottom-up economic model”.  Ruto would be Kenya’s fifth President since independence. And he has made history. No Deputy President in Kenya has ever succeeded the President. William Ruto will be the first. He is also the second Kalenjin after Daniel Arap Moi’s Vice Presidency and Presidency to lead Kenya. 

It is further reassuring to hear that yesterday, he placed a call to Raila Odinga and reportedly told him: “I will be available for us to have a cup of tea because there are areas we can agree on...We agreed that whatever the outcome of this election, we should have a conversation.”  The race may have been close, but Ruto won convincingly in critical constituencies such as the Rift Valley, Baringo, Mt. Kenya region where his running mate comes from, Teru, Nyeri and even in President Kenyatta’s Kiambu county where Ruto’s UDA took 11 parliamentary seats! Kenya’s next President has his job cut out for him. He has an obligation to run an inclusive government. It is now time to stop the vitriol and personal attacks. The bitter quarrel with Kenyatta must stop. There is a country to run. Ruto must put his hands to the wheel-barrow and move with it! It is time to rebuild bridges. An openly religious man, he must learn to eschew the politics of hate. There have been celebrations in Murang’a, Kerugoya and Nakuru. And protests in Kibera, and parts of Kondele in Kisumu. The people of Kenya must unite. They will look up to the former “chicken seller”, and self-described “hustler” to lead this country of 50 million people with wisdom, competence and courage.    

Whatever happens the day after, the just concluded elections hold some resonance for us in Nigeria as we prepare for our own major elections in 2023. On a positive note, Kenya has done much better this time around in terms of women representation. Half of registered voters in that country are women. Ahead of the elections, there were reports of attacks on women politicians and intimidation and gender-based harassment. But it has now been reported that seven women emerged as Governors in the election out of a total of 47. Six women were also elected as MPs and one as Senator.  This is a major improvement since 2017 when in that year, only three women were elected as Governors. In 2010, part of the Constitutional review was the decision codified in law as a two-third rule to encourage women participation in Kenyan politics. There is probably a lesson for us here in Nigeria. To all intents and purposes, Nigerian women constitute half of the voting population but they are structurally and procedurally marginalized in political decision-making processes. Women politicians in countries like Kenya, Rwanda, Zambia and South Africa are far ahead of their Nigerian counterparts. Nigeria pays lip service to the politics of inclusion, but what we run is a backward-looking, patriarchal system that confines female politicians to the backyards. 

There was much talk about the deployment of technology in Kenya’s election. There was nothing fool-proof about it. Out of the over 46, 000 electronic voter machines that were deployed, over 200 failed. Election was even suspended in at least one county. It took a whole week to get a final tally of results, creating anxiety. The thing to note is that the democratic process in Africa is still a work-in-progress, and many countries on the continent are still learning how to get elections right. Imagine a situation where it takes a whole week to collate election results in Nigeria! I don’t want to imagine what would happen if we were to experience that kind of delay. 

What has also been proven in Kenya is the perpetual conflict between incumbents and their deputies. President Kenyatta is definitely not happy that his Deputy has been declared winner. Both of them have been at each other’s throats since 2018. Ruto says he was the architect of Kenyatta’s emergence as President, for while he worked hard and held crucial meetings to make him President, Kenyatta was always busy sleeping.  Kenyatta dismisses his Deputy as a “thug” and a “tanga tanga” man; so much pettiness between those two but no one should be under any illusion that one is better than the other. Ruto is as much a product of the establishment as Kenyatta is. He is certainly not a saint. Indeed, without prejudice to already stated expectations, it would be quite a big surprise if he is able to perform any magic as President. In real terms, the transformation that the people of Kenya seek, may not happen under a President Ruto. But to go back to the original point about African Presidents and their Deputies working against each other, Kenya presents yet another classical example. 

The myth that the democratic process at Presidential and Gubernatorial levels offers the people two capable hands for the price of one is exactly what it is: a myth. African political leaders are superstitious power mongers and closet monarchs. They can’t tolerate the idea of a Deputy who may become a replacement. We have seen this in many African countries: in Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. Most recently, in the party primaries for the 2023 Presidential election, President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria did not lift a finger to support his Vice President’s expressed ambition to succeed him. If he did, the outcome of the ruling party’s Presidential primaries could have been different. In 2015, President Ernest Koroma of Sierra Leone sacked his Deputy, Vice President Samuel Sam-Sumana and expelled him from the party, the All People’s Congress. Sam-Sumana had to seek asylum in the US Embassy in Freetown. In 1995, late President John Jerry Rawlings of Ghana reportedly once kicked his Vice President in the groin, punched him in the face, and tore the shoulder of his jacket at a cabinet meeting!

Going forward, what Kenya needs is peace. The elections were generally considered calm and peaceful.  On Monday, the Interfaith Council of Kenya called on Kenyans and their leaders to maintain the peace. The Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nyeri, Anthony Mheria said: “We send peace to Kenyans, our President-elect, and candidates that lost the vote count. May peace rest in their hearts and families.” Christian and Muslim clergy in the Rift Valley have also expressed similar sentiments. May it be well with Kenya…

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The organizers of the just concluded 22nd Commonwealth in Birmingham, UK deserve high praise for delivering an event at the Alexander Stadium in the West Midlands  that proved to be a triumph of art, culture, multi-sports glory and remarkable diversity. This was the first carbon-neutral Commonwealth Games (CWG) to be organized, thus a pacesetter for other multi-sports events hereafter. It was also like no other Commonwealth Games before it, with the inclusion of more games and medals on offer for women's sports – for the first time, women's cricket was introduced, in addition to eight para events that were integrated to further highlight the themes of inclusivity and diversity. The last time the UK hosted the “Friendly Games” as the CWG is also known was 20 years ago in Manchester, this year’s event, 10 years after the 2012 London Olympics, was bigger and coming in the year of the Queen’s Platinum, it has been a befitting tribute to the shared Commonwealth heritage, the city of Birmingham itself, and to all the athletes for whom the Friendly Games provides opportunities for self-realization beyond the thrill of participation or attendance.

Our high praise for Birmingham and the UK is not misplaced given the challenges that the hosts had to grapple with. The city of Durban was originally chosen as the next host of the 2022 Games as far back as 2015, but when Durban had to withdraw due to financial constraints, Birmingham volunteered to be the host in 2017, thus saddled with a shorter time for preparation ahead of the 2002 Games. Then COVID-19 up-ended the entire world, creating global process and supply disruptions, lockdowns and shutdowns and an inevitable re-ordering of processes with cost implications. Yet, despite this, Birmingham delivered. The opening ceremony of the Games on July 28 has been adjudged one of the most colourful ever, a celebration of diversity with prominent thematic motifs including equality of all persons and races, and properly toned reminders of culture, art and history: William Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson, Edward Edgar, Charlie Chaplin. 

The high point of the opening was the gigantic automaton Bull of Birmingham charging into the stadium, which was eventually tamed.  Duran Duran, Spice Girls.  A festive musicality filled the air. Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall drove into the arena. Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Laureate who adopted Birmingham as her new home, after she was shot by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2012, also gave a speech on the importance of girls’ education. The Commonwealth comprises 72 nations and territories, most of which were formerly under the British Empire, representing 2.5 billion people of the world. This year, the Games had in attendance 6, 500 athletes competing in 280 medal events. It started on a high note. It ended on an even higher note, with UB40, Goldie and other global artists performing and Australia topping the medals table with 174 medals.

History was made. I note, in particular, the record set by 72-year-old Rosemary Lenton of Scotland winning the gold medal in para women’s pairs bowling with Pauline Wilson, 58. Birmingham has the most youthful population in the whole of Europe, 40% of its population is under the age of 25, and yet at this year’s Games, Scottish ladies, Lenton and Wilson proved that age is no barrier.  But of course, the bigger excitement for me was the performance of the Nigerian contingent at the Games.  This was our country’s 15th appearance at the Games, we sent a total of 93 athletes (41 men and 52 women) competing in 7 sports – athletics, boxing, judo, para powerlifting, table tennis, weightlifting and wrestling, but this was our best outing ever at the CWG, a firm, redoubtable, confirmation that Nigeria is a country of champions, who only need to be given the opportunity and the enabling environment for their talents to flower. At the CWG 2022, Nigeria finished seventh on the medals table with a total of 35 medals – 12 gold, nine silver and 14 bronze medals. The last time Nigeria did something faintly close to this was at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, when the country got 11 gold medals, 13 silver and 13 bronze, and also at the 2014 Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

This year’s performance would be unforgettable, particularly with the record-breaking performance put up by the Nigerian team. The harvest of medals began with Adijat Olarinoye setting the new Commonwealth record in weightlifting, 55 kg category, lifting a total of 203 kg, Rafiatu Lawal also set a new record in the 59 kg weightlifting with a total lift of 206 kg, Folashade Oluwafunmilayo also set a new record in women’s heavyweight powerlifting, winning the gold medal, her compatriot, Bose Omolayo, took the silver medal in the same event. Tobi Amusan whose phenomenal performance at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, US had been celebrated two weeks earlier when she set a new record in the 100 m hurdles, soon  proved that her earlier performance was truly the stuff of genius when she repeated the same feat at the CWG and thus defended her title as indisputable Nigeria, African, Commonwealth and the World Champion in 100 m hurdles.! She is in addition the first Nigerian athlete to successfully defend a Commonwealth Games 100m hurdles title, having won the same in Gold Coast, Australia in 2018. Nwachukwu Goodness provided a taste of additional goodness to Nigeria’s performance when she won gold and set a new record in women's discus throw with just her first two throws! Another hero in discus is Chioma Onyekwere. Nigeria also took another gold and set another record when the quartet of Tobi Amusan, Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma and Grace Nwokocha won the gold medal in the 4 x 100 women’s relay.  Ese Brume placed a nice cap on it all when, on Sunday, she also took the gold medal in the long jump, breaking the record in the event twice on the same day!

It has been said that the ladies did better than the men, winning nine out of all the 12 gold medals for Nigeria. This is not to make light of the effort of the men who won medals for Nigeria: Udodi Onwuzurike, Favour Ashe, Alaba Akintola and Raymond Ekewvo won a bronze medal in the men’s 4 x100 relay. Edidiong Umoafia also won a bronze in 67kg weightlifting. Overall, it was a good outing for Nigeria. We may not have done well in table tennis – the Ouadri Aruna-led men’s table tennis team was beaten in the semi-finals by India, dashing our hopes. Our women’s table tennis team could not advance to the quarter finals, having been defeated by the English team. There was also some initial disturbance about sports kits and Nigeria having to engage a British company MG Sportswear to work round the clock to produce last-minute kits for the athletes – this is a perennial problem with Nigeria. We never manage to get ready until the last minute. Or after.  Poor management is the bane of sports in Nigeria, and you can add to that - politics, greed and corruption. Nonetheless, what stands out after the country’s outing in Birmingham is the epochal performance of the Nigerian contingent, more specifically, the female athletes, and the Ministry of Sports which tried to ensure that there was no scandal. That in itself should be considered an achievement. The contingent deserves applause. 

Those special moments on the podium at the World Athletics Championships two weeks ago and now at the Commonwealth Games have given us something to be joyful about as a country - at a time when everything appears dim in Nigeria: public-owned universities have been shut down since February 14, the national currency, the Naira, has depreciated so badly in value many families cannot afford to buy a loaf of bread on the family menu because it is now so expensive, inflation is about 18.6%, unemployment - 33.3%, terrorists are getting bolder by the day, they are even threatening to abduct the President and other political leaders…and just in the midst of all that Tobi, Ese, Favour, Goodness and others have made us proud, and put a smile on our lips.

Nigeria could have done better if we had participated perhaps in more events, but the starting point would be for the country to develop the existing potential in other sports. We need world-class facilities to train and build athletes. Many of the Nigerian athletes who often do well in major competitions, may have been discovered at home, but they tend to get to the peak of their potential through foreign exposure and training. It should be possible to generate and keep world talents at home by making our environment more sports-friendly. Once upon a time, Ogbe Stadium in Benin City, Rowe Park and the National Stadium in Lagos, and Liberty Stadium in Ibadan were rated as world-class sports facilities. These days,  these and even newer sports facilities merely survive for about a year or two before they go into disrepair despite huge amounts spent on them. Frustrated, many of our athletes take up the citizenship and jerseys of other countries. This is why the dedicated ones who still give us podium moments at competitions are true heroes and sheroes.  What remains is to ensure that our 2022 CWG patriots get the befitting reception that they have earned, and of course, nobody has talked about the ethnic identity of these achievers as we all share in their glory as Nigerians – an indication of how sports can be a strong tool for promoting national unity. . 

Successful as CWG 2022 may have been, however, questions have been raised about the continued relevance and merit of the Games in its present format. There are three sides to this: politics, cost and scope. There are many who remain uneasy about the fact that the Commonwealth Games draws its identity from a legacy of monarchy, empire and colonialism. They want a clean break from the colonial past as the Empire itself has since ceased to exist as it then was. Originally established as the “The British Empire Games”, the Games has since changed its brand to the Commonwealth Games or The Friendly Games, to reflect the equality of members and the dominance of democracy. The Games thus promote partnership, friendship and the history of the shared heritage among members. Those who want a new identity refer to the fact that in terms of membership, certainly new, non-Empire members have since been admitted into the Commonwealth, the most recent being - Rwanda, Mozambique, Samoa, Gabon and Togo. If it is possible for countries that were never colonies  under the British empire to join the Commonwealth out of their own volition, then it should be possible to expand participation in the Games to make it truly multi-sports and multi-nation. Gabon and Togo having become members are expected to send participants to the next Commonwealth Games  in Victoria, Australia in 2026.

What is the issue about cost? Funding the CWG can be rather expensive. This is the major reason why in more than two decades, only one other country, that is India (Delhi 2010) has hosted the games outside the UK and Australia. Durban, South Africa had to opt out of its right to host CWG 2022 due to financial constraints. Indeed, no African country has ever hosted the Games since its debut in 1930. Birmingham spent about 778 million pounds to host this year’s event. Can any African country put such an amount together to host a sporting event? Outside Africa, many of the smaller members of the Commonwealth (eg. Nauru, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Gambia, Tonga, Antigua and Barbuda etc) may also face financial constraints. But if countries are admitted based on capacity to host the Games, the question is: would the CWG not begin to look more like the Olympics? Would the opportunity cost consideration not translate into a complete erosion of brand and identity? Is there a possible new model for financing and hosting the Games to reduce cost and the burden on interested host countries? Unless a new model of financing is thought up, the dream of having every member country host the Games may never be realized. The rich countries that can afford to do so, would continue to lead.  Hence, countries like the UK (Manchester 2012, Birmingham 2022), New Zealand (Auckland 1950,1990), and Scotland (Edinburgh 1970, 1986), have hosted the Games more than once. Australia in fact, holds the record of multiple hosting of the Games – five times and would again be the host in 2026 followed by Canada hosting four times (– Hamilton, 1930, Vancouver, 1954, Edmonton, 1978, Victoria, 1994). The doctrine of the sovereign equality of states is a fundamental principle of international law, but in real terms countries are not equal, human beings are also just as unequal.

The assumption that Britain is using the CWG as a vehicle to divert attention away from the ills of its past, presenting itself as a more compassionate nation now making friends with former subjects, compared to other former imperial powers, does not devalue the Commonwealth Movement. The Commonwealth Games in whatever form would continue to showcase cities, and put such cities on the global map as it has done for Birmingham and other cities before now, in addition to providing a strong platform for athletes to prove their mettle in a manner that resonates throughout the Commonwealth and beyond, and a vehicle for the promotion of diplomacy, communalities, goodwill and understanding through sports.  Nigeria and its athletes must begin to prepare for the next Games in 2026. For now, CWG is a good outing. At the opening ceremony, on July 28, the Nigerian contingent danced excitedly to Kizz Daniel’s song: “Buga”. By yesterday when the games ended, “E choke” to borrow Davido’s famous Nigerian slang!