Straight-talking and occasionally combative, Segun Sowunmi comes across as the new face of leadership in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was the spokesman for the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign council in the 2019 election. But the former Ogun State governorship aspirant has not had it his way no matter the public acceptance of his persona.

A loyal member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),  Otunba, as he’s fondly called, experienced the rough side of the political landscape when he failed to clinch the PDP governorship ticket in Ogun State for the 2023 election. The party was polarized and he had to soft-pedal in a country where politics is more about who possesses the financial war chest.

But he has remained undaunted and saw that experience as passing through the crucible of political firmament. Lately, Sowunmi launched an alternative group he said would serve as a grand opposition not only to the government controlled by the All Progressives Congress (APC) but to the PDP.

 Call it opposition within the opposition, Sowunmi did not lay claim to puritanism but that PDP needs to reform before going for any election if it wants to win. He also suggests that  Peter Obi needs to return to the PDP and that Atiku should undertake deep retrospection and introspection and allow the former Anambra State Governor to get the party’s ticket.

He believes Obi can defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

In this interview with Isuma Mark of THE WHISTLER, Showumi bared his mind on the failures of the PDP, why Peter Obi needs the PDP to win the presidential election, and why Atiku should take the back seat.

Excerpts…

You Just Set Up A Group Despite Being In PDP, What Is This All About?

Well, the truth of the matter is that I’ve been a very consistent PDP man for years. Even when PDP was in government, I wasn’t really in government.

I was just in PDP because democracy takes time to build. I get people’s interest, but interest and all of that comes second to me. What comes first is whether we are making progress collectively as a people.

I believe that bread is not for the strong man, nor the race for the swift, but that a force above us which we call God, who is God, is the one that makes things happen. So, I’ve never really been about me.

And you’ll notice that after the PDP lost in 2015, I doubted and challenged anybody who defended the party more than me. I don’t think so. Others join me. They leave me. I’m still here. Some new ones join. They leave me. I’m still here.

So, what I have now seen with everything going on; one of the great disruptions that even makes it clear to see is the Peter Obi movement. The effort he made, the limitations, and even some of the crises that they had to contend with.

The Wike scenario in PDP, what led to it, the challenges I am seeing with the ruling party, and the limitation of some of its challenges. So all of this put together is what made me say that, okay, we now have to start thinking differently. People are not even turning up to vote anymore.

They don’t show up on election day. The ones that show up want to be paid to vote. Something is fundamentally wrong.

And to correct it, you need to have a dialogue that can go around the whole country. And so I thought, okay, let us create a pan-national orientation movement, which I christened the alternative. The alternative in the sense that it can look at government policies and offer the ones they agree with, they can say they agree.

The ones they don’t agree with, they can say they don’t agree, and why? Even the ones they agree with can say, these are the safety gaps we want to see in the policy. And they can also look at the opposition parties themselves and tell them, we don’t agree with this, you need to change this, you need to change that.

So, it will be a big platform that can allow anybody who is in our country, or a lover of our country, to use it as a basis for pushing the country in the right direction.

I didn’t want us to be opposition people who just pull the country down, who shame their country, who make it difficult for it to listen to each other, who become too tribal, and increase tribal hatred and all of that. So, these are the things we are doing. But it’s not a new party, and it’s not intended like that.

It’s just to make sure that we can look for a platform to look for the best of us so that the best of us can serve the rest of us. And we can save ourselves from a fait accompli of political parties who just do whatever they like and force the people to a fait accompli.

And I’m hopeful that all Nigerians will embrace it. They have embraced it very well. I’m even shocked at the level of excitement and support that people have.

People are even asking, is it going to be a political party? I’m the one telling them no. It doesn’t have to be. All we need to do is look for Nigerians that we believe in, that can do well for our people, and use them.

If we can get space for them in the party, it will be good. If we cannot get space for them at the party, get space for them anywhere. Because ultimately we need to make sure that good people are in charge of us.

And then when they get there, we can continue to push them in the right direction, put their feet to the fire, argue with them, correct them, scream at them, and shout at them without necessarily destroying the country.

So these are the kinds of things that I have in mind when I keep saying we need a national opposition movement. And by the grace of God Almighty, I have been able to bring it to life.

And let me pray and hope that the Lord lets it flourish so that Nigeria’s democracy can be better for all of us.

But You’re Still A Member Of The PDP?

Oh, fully. I’m even running for national chairman of PDP.

How Is This Being Looked At From The Leadership Of The Party? When Should You Have Run This Trom The PDP?

 The truth of the matter is that even the leadership of the party knows that I’m a very loyal PDP man. And being a loyal PDP man, I must accept that the organs of the party have the liberty to have a view on things of their own. For instance, most of the issues of the ruling party, they never engaged them. I’ve been engaging them. Now I want to engage them as the leader of an alternative point of view. So the PDP can get an advantage if they want.

And if they don’t want to, they can do whatever they like. But my position is that even the PDP itself is not spared from our criticism as before when we were speaking about PDP, and then we’ll be defending even the indefensible.

What’s the point? Even if a political party is 27 years old, and will not reform itself, why will a political party be working against its interest? What should constitute the interest of a political party? A political party has to reform itself so that it is outstanding, the people who are standing for the party must be potential presidents in the making, and they must be potential governors in the making.

They must be potential ministers in the making. You cannot reduce a political party to just the interest of one individual. And one individual’s interest must not destroy a political party, anyhow you look at it.

So, this is how I see it. And it can allow me not to annoy or offend PDP that I did this. Because the alternative would have been to say, I’m criticizing PDP, and yet I’m defending PDP.

You know, it doesn’t make sense. We need a platform to criticize PDP, to criticize APC, to criticize the ruling party, to look at the issues well, or are you telling me that you Nigerians are happy with the way things are?

Why should somebody win an election today, and six months after you hate him, and start liking the one you said you didn’t like yesterday?

You didn’t like Olusegun Obasanjo, but you liked Musa Yar’adua.  You didn’t like Yar’adua but you liked Obasanjo. You didn’t like Yar’adua but you liked Goodluck Jonathan. You didn’t like Jonathan but you liked Muhammadu Buhari.

You didn’t like Buhari but you liked Jonathan. You didn’t like Buhari but you liked Bola Tinubu. You didn’t like Tinubu but you liked Buhari. Do you understand? When we are not mad people, there has to be a way of saying enough.

Let’s do it a different way, and that’s what I’m trying to offer us. And the conversation will go down to the grassroots. We’ll use the radio a lot, because when they don’t even have lights, how many of them even watch television?

We’ll use blogs a lot. We’ll use local and rural communication platforms a lot, and we’ll create voices in their locality who will understand the message and carry the message on. It doesn’t belong to me.

You Are Regarded As Atiku Man. Are You fronting for Atiku?

I was  Atiku’s spokesperson in 2019. I was Atiku’s main spokesperson in 2019, and I spoke about his candidates to life. As far as I was concerned, he joked about it in 2023. They were dancing and playing.

Are You No Longer Together?

No, no, no. I mean, Atiku has not told me he’s running for anything. Like I said to people, I’ve asked him two times, he has not said, and I don’t think anybody should force anybody to take a difficult responsibility. In any case, the political party cannot be about Atiku. He’s an old man.

It can’t always be about him. The party, yes, is allowed as a person to, if he’s interested, if he makes up his mind, tell us. We’ll review it along the lines of others.

I hate anybody who creates a messiah complex. That’s one of the reasons I have against the people following Peter Obi. You create a messiah out of normal human beings who have not done anything to end it.

If Peter was a messiah, why is Anambra not better than it is? So, if you have not been able to do anything special, I don’t mind that you like him, and I like him too, and I don’t mind him doing well, but I don’t like the concept of a messiah. I will not have it from Peter, and not from Atiku.

I’m just saying that it’s the same thing with them. I mean, we’re together to the extent that he’s a Nigerian who has not told me he’s running. I’ve asked him. It should have been a different thing if he had told me.

Even if I asked Atiku, I would have asked him some tough questions. They went to the last election all of them shouting the same policy.

Am I supposed to be angry with Tinubu because he’s implementing their policy? There’s no difference. They said the same thing. They may say they would have done it differently, but that’s not important.

The important thing is that you said, I’m going to build a house on this land. You did not tell us what type of house you are building. Somebody has come and is building a house on that land, and you’re telling us it’s too tall, too short, too fat. I don’t have time for that. 

Are You Indirectly Saying, If Atiku Were To Engage You And Others…

Why do you think I shouldn’t be the presidential candidate instead of Atiku? Why do you think that we don’t need young people in leadership? Why do you think the young people that are in the country don’t have a right to say, Mr. Atiku, you have campaigned and contested too many times? Why do you think we don’t need that? Are we going to design a political party that is going to be giving tickets to a candidate all the time?

And I’m not saying we shouldn’t give him, but I’m just saying that doesn’t make everything about individuals. It’s the same mistake the party is making.

You are shouting, Wike, Wike, Wike, we can’t, Wike, as if you don’t have 12 governors. What are they doing? The same thing you are doing, you are shouting, Damagum, Damagum, Damagum, as if you don’t have 18 or 19 National Working Committee members. What are the others doing? I don’t believe in that.

I believe that, yes, somebody can be leading as a first among the equals but he’s not the totality of what we are. If Mr. Atiku dropped dead. No, we’re not going to continue our country?

Where is Awo? Where is Tafawa Balewa? Great men have died, Nigeria is still going on, then you’ve been shouting and screaming, why? For anybody to say, I want to be president, the law allows you to say, but we are not beholden to say, because you said you want to be president, that means nobody else can be president. And you can present yourself, and you can lose. After all, you’ve lost a few times.

And if your policies are the policies of your rival, if you said the same thing, for me, it’s neither here nor there. You said you are going to devalue the currency, he’s devalued it. You said you are going to remove the subsidy, he has removed it.

You said you are going to take pensions to fund the education, private sector, he’s doing it. What’s the difference? I don’t agree with those policies. Don’t get me wrong, I’m just saying, all of them campaigned on the same thing. Peter, in terms of the substance of what he’s saying, he’s not saying anything.

What Do You Think He’s Saying Wrongly?

He’s not saying anything, that’s the problem. He’s shouting, from production to consumption, what does that even mean? He’s saying domesticated production. What does that mean? What does that mean? He was governor in Anambra, how many productions did he domesticate? You can say, I’m going to do consumption to production, I hear you.

Practical step, what does it mean? You are going to come and beat people in their houses. You are going to use chains to drag them to where? You will come and say, yeah, Niger States, the land of Niger is more than the combined land of Netherlands and Peru, yes. How are you going to force them to farm? You are going to stimulate them, what do you think the governor is doing now?

So what I’m saying is that these guys are not saying anything spectacular, they are just harvesting the anger of the citizens.

Nigerians are angry because Nigerians are angry. Nigerians are feeling frustrated that they have not been well-served and that is the only thing, that is the only reason why they will not say they are experts. Yes, they’ve had about two years or one year plus before the election.

Then they had some time, four years because he was the vice presidential candidate in 2019. Then the election has been over now for two years. We have been listening to him for close to two years.

We have still not been able to find concrete policy direction that he is going to say he is going to do. So are we going to say, because of that Peter Obi is the only person who is going to run the country?

He has not even shown us that he knows how to work in a team. Peter Obi has not even demonstrated that he understands how to be a team player.

All of the time, all of the off-season elections they’ve done from his party, I’ve not seen him invest himself the way he ought to. And they’ve not done well. So if he has that much obedience, why are they not putting in for his party? And now, he’s jumping here, jumping there.

Yes, I know he went to visit Atiku to go and deliver a lecture. What does that mean? What did he even say there? Okay, then he wants to combine with Atiku to do what? Like we didn’t try that in 2019.

If That Were To Be The Case Again In 2027 If The PDP Allows That…

Listen, if Peter wants to be a member of our party, he should come back to the party. If he returns to the party and that ticket emerges… No, if Peter comes to the party, then I feel that the party can consider giving Peter the ticket.

Not Atiku?

You don’t understand. The way we run politics, you first of all have to go and look for tickets and primaries.

The South East has never been given tickets in PDP. They can be given the tickets. That nonsense that people are saying, if we give Peter the ticket, he can’t win.

I don’t understand that. Nobody can win alone. We just need to pair him with the good material from the North and they can go and try and win.

Under a strong platform, he will win or he will do so well, it will be clear that he won. But if you are insisting that you are going to reduce the role of Nigeria to Peter and Atiku, what’s the meaning of that? What about me? What if I want to be president? What about other people? Or is this only about them? They have not said it.

Atiku has been quite kind in terms of policy. And he was even the first person to bring out his policy ideas. So in another way, we can even say they are copying him. But the point is that all of them are saying the same thing.

In 2019, Atiku was the first to bring out his policy documents. In 2023, Atiku was the first to bring out his documents. He has been doing a lot of donkey work, a lot of hard work.

But the fact is that everybody is saying the same thing. And Atiku himself has to understand that there is no gain in you being an obstacle to the same democracy you say you want to deepen. You must be able to see clearly.

Shall a leader not get to a point and ask himself that over the years I have been calling everybody the obstacle, but am I the obstacle? That is the kind of thing we want to do with the alternative.

Atiku Has Said If PDP Decides To Allow Peter Obi To Get The Ticket, He Would Support…

Then Peter Obi should get back to the party and try to win the primary. Simple.

In Other Words, If That Happens, Will You Support The PDP Ticket?

Even now I can still support Peter.

I only want us to be sure that we are not going to be frustrated with another president who will not do it. That is why I want us to discuss how we do it. I am not interested in your production to consumption.

I am interested in your details. The details. I have been to Akwa Ibom a few times. Between Obong Victor Attah and Akpabio (Godswill), you can see what has been transformed in Akwa Ibom. What can you see in Anambra? Peter reduces governance to a size. Governance is for people with big ideas.

People of big ideas. I don’t give ‘shishi’, what will the people eat? It is okay.

This place is not for champagne, how will the people that are doing that business survive? Or do you think that the federal government will be running on the idea that when Peter is traveling, he has to be the only one that is going, will carry his bag by himself, and carry the tea by himself? What kind of nonsense is that? The government has to be large to some extent.

Let me repeat that the government has to be purposeful and all-encompassing. Not necessarily large.

Peter Obi Said He’s Against Wastefulness. So Many Officials Follow The President Overseas, Eleven Private Jets…

The presidential jet is only one. All the others are their own. 

If you imagine your village. Two of us want to visit one village. We are going there for something important. You go there like Peter; you carry your bag on your head. I come there with a retinue of quality men in my team.

We arrived together. You put your hand behind your back like a schoolboy. And I come there speaking like a leader and an intentional leader.

Who do you think the village would like to see? Who do you think they will entertain? They will entertain me. A government must sometimes go around with prestige. And the best that Peter would say he wants to do is anti-corruption.

And Peter cannot tell me he ever tried to do anti-corruption more than Buhari. And even Buhari did not succeed. So, what would Peter do with this idea of ‘I will be the only one doing everything’?

The bureaucracy of the government is even too big for such nonsense.

Surely President Tinubu Will Have Ago Again In 2027. What Do You Think The Opposition Needs To Do This Time To Be Able To Have A Chance?

First of all, the opposition political party has to understand that their first assignment is not the next election. Their first assignment is to reform their party until everybody can say wow, something great is happening here. Then the next election.

We cannot bring some of the same to the people. If we bring the same of the same, they won’t get anything.

Why Do You Think It Will Be Very Difficult To Reform The PDP?

Well, because of the PDP, a lot of the leaders in the PDP have never allowed reform.

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, representing Abia South Senatorial District, has called on Ndigbo to prioritise collective growth over individual success for the development of Igboland.

Abaribe made the remarks during the 2024 Annual Conference of the Nkata Ndi Inyom Igbo (NNII) held on Tuesday in Abuja.

The conference, themed “Driving Transformation Through Value Reorientation, Inclusive Leadership, and Sustainability,” was convened by former Minister of Women Affairs, Iyom Josephine Anenih, the founder and president-general of NNII. It had in attendance the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu; former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim; and the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, among others.

Abaribe said the tendency to prioritise personal success over communal progress in Igboland has undermined the people’s unity and growth.

“We now emphasise individual success over collective progress. Before this time, at the time we were growing up, we all knew that there were some leading lights but everybody was happy, let the whole Igbo be moving. Right now, all we have is that everybody wants to stand on his own and so when we stay in silos in this way trying to be individualistic brilliant, we find that we fail collectively.

“So, when we come together politically, we find it difficult because everybody will say if not me, it shouldn’t be another person. And today, we have the rather very sad part for Ndigbo, where we seek external validation rather than self-contentment.

“And our people, instead of waiting and making sure that we’re doing things for Ala Igbo and doing this for ourselves, we want to go and look for somebody from outside to come and tell us who is our leader, who will come and point out to us who we are going to make governor, senator and so forth. That is not good for Ndigbo and this impacts our social values,” said Abaribe

He also expressed concern over a gradual shift in the values in Igboland, saying the emphasis on community and education is being overtaken by the pursuit of quick wealth.

“…Education and knowledge were the fundamental underpinnings of the Igbo person and every one of us strived. That is why even though the Yoruba got education before us and met the British and all that, we as Ndigbo overtook the whole of Nigeria between 1950 and 1960 because everybody strived for education.

“Zik (Nnamdi Azikiwe) pioneered this, he paid for people to be taken abroad to go to school and come back and develop their place. But today we find that only women want to go to school. Our young men and our youth are more interested in something called ‘Ego Mbute’. They want to get rich quickly and that has left a very very bad foundation in Igboland,” he said.

Abaribe added, “Ngigbo were known as very hospitable and generous. We used to take care of our people…this hospitality was what made us. If you come to Onyeigbo’s house, he will first bring our Nzu (chalk) to put on your hand and then bring Oji, which is the kola nut that we use to welcome guests. So, if you go to an Igbo person’s house and there’s no kola nut, know that you are not welcome. If he doesn’t have, he will plead and make it up with something else.

He, however, lamented that there’s now a conflict between the traditional Igbo values and the new phenomenon he called ‘Ego Mbute’.

Quoting the senator, “All our youths only want is to be rich, they no longer want to follow the path that takes you through hard work, striving, education and putting in your intellect to get to where you want to go.

“What everybody wants to do is take a shortcut and look for native doctors to give you the things that are going to make you rich. That’s why I said I’m going to make some uncomfortable statements for Ndigbo today. So, please forgive me.”

According to Abaribe, the situation has led to the breakdown of the once thriving ‘Nwa Boi’ apprenticeship system which served as a vital tool for economic empowerment and community building in Igboland.

“This our Nwa Boi system which everyone knows has been the biggest incubator of entrepreneurship in the world and was even studied by Havard to understand how we create so many very wealthy people using this Nwa Boi system,” he stated.

“Not many of our youths now want to gbaala boi. What they want to do is to do a shortcut. They stay with their master and in a short while, they steal their master’s money and run away. They don’t want to wait so that they earn the course and be given their pay off which would set them up because, for us, the Nwa Boi system, none of the people who are invested in it or who do it are afraid of creating another millionaire. They are already millionaires and want to create and they mind if you are the person.

“Today, we now have the twin evil. First is the young men no longer being faithful to their masters and also for some masters, who when the time comes for them to settle their progenies, look for means and avenues of not to do what is already contracted.”

In his view, there’s a need to deemphasise personal achievements which he said have fragmented the traditional Igbo communal spirit.

“We have to reconcile our values so that we can sustain the development of Ala Igbo. First, we must balance individual success with community well-being. Second, we must go back to the old values of education, we go back to where we were, where we had the first vice-chancellor, Eni Njoku, and all the great people in the past who were making waves in Nigeria through education.

“We must also remember to be humble. Our traditional values have degenerated to such an extent that all that we want to know is big titles like Onwa na etiri ora. Things that only mean vanity and not for community. We must go back to having respect for our leadership and elders.”

Other speakers at the event were former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, and Muhammadu Sanusi II, the Emir of Kano.

Anyim argued that Nigeria’s problems stemmed from the breakdown of the people’s belief system and that without commitment to justice and fairness, no amount of value or policy can bring about lasting change.

“Any society that does not promote Justice and fairness will neither have peace nor progress and what this means is that there must be a moral curve of every society from which values derive.

“I think the problem with us today, both in our families, in our nation and in our tribes, is that that moral curve has been broken and so the values cannot stand.

“Whether we like it or not, the problem of Nigeria today is the fact that unless we return to what is fair and just to all, there is no amount of value that will stand and there is no amount of peace you will achieve,” he said.

On his part, Emir Sanusi spoke on women’s role in developing society and the need to prioritise their needs and well-being.

“In my days in the central bank, we declared 2012 the year of women in banking and pushed through policies or compelled banks to make sure at least 50% of new recruits were females, to make at least 40% of senior management female and to make a least 30% of the board female.

“We started this in 2012 and I think the result is that by last year we now had at least 9 female bank CEO’s in this country, And the banking industry has the highest number of female directors on the Nigerian stock exchange. I said this because the woman holds the key to development and as the UN Secretary-General Advocate for SDGs, I’ve always said that if we’re looking for a single silver bullet that goes through most, not all, of the problems that we are facing in development, it is to educate the girl child.

“And you can think of all the issues, starting from antenatal care, malnutrition, lack of immunization out of school children, and child marriage – all of those issues are addressed simply by providing the infrastructure and the support for the girl child to be educated up to the age of 18 to 20.

“Once you have that, it has such a wide intergenerational impact that the numbers that we worried about – infant mortality, maternal mortality, out-of-school children, drug addiction, even poverty, all of those numbers simply crush. Because all we keep you in this country with these statistics, I was in the Central Bank and I saw these statistics, is that we are being fed with numbers after the fact every day.

“Today I was reading the numbers of malnutrition in Kano. Kano State now accounts for more than 10% of the malnutrition burden in the country and every year you tell me this is the number of stunted children and this is the number of wasted children but the question is, [why do] we wait for the children to be stunted and wasted and then we count them? Where are we when the women got pregnant? When she needed nutrition support, where were we when that baby was born? When he needed nutrition? The baby meets the government at the age of 6, when he enters primary school by which time it is too late.

“So, until we begin to look at the women as the centre point for development and build our policies around women, we will never address these issues. Babies are born in villages, in towns, in wards.

“You need to know when a woman gets pregnant, you need to know that this woman is pregnant and what she needs and what the baby needs in those nine months and provide for that. You need to know when she’s breastfeeding and be with her. If you can do that and if you educate her enough to know what to do, you will address these issues. So, for me, I always say a country that does not recognize the pivotal role and the importance and the centrality of its women will never develop.”

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II has said that Nigerian politicians are responsible for the decline in societal values.

The monarch stated this on Tuesday at the 2024 Annual Conference of the Nkata Ndi Inyom Igbo (NNII) held in the nation’s capital.

He urged the country leaders to prioritise integrity over material wealth

According to the emir, a person’s true identity is not defined by their official title, wealth, or material possessions but by their character, integrity, and actions.

He said, “If you’re a senator or an emir or a governor or a rich man, it is what you are, not who you are. If you own a house, a big car or an aeroplane, it is not what you are. You are the man who owns that house. They are things outside of you.

“You can have two senators, one is an honest, good, kind and generous man and the other is a thief. They are both senators.

“Who you are is you are a good man or you’re a thief. You are honest or you’re dishonest, you’re kind or you’re cruel, or you’re trustworthy or you’re a traitor, you’re sincere or you’re a liar, that is who you are and that is the most important thing.

“Whether you own a big house or a plane or not, you can have a poor man who is a thief and you can be a rich man and you are still a thief.” 

Sanusi added that public office is a privilege granted by God and a test of how leaders use their power to serve the people.

He stressed that the true legacy of any leader should be what they do for the society, not the material wealth they accumulate.

“People are given opportunities in public service to transform the lives of people for the better. God gave them that opportunity. And as we always say for those of us who are privileged, there is nothing that tells you that God loves you better than the other person he did not give that privilege. It is a test. God makes you a governor or an emir or a president or a senator and he does not make hundreds of thousands or millions…he’s testing you to see what would you do with that position to help those that he did not give. And it is a great opportunity to write your name in gold. But people don’t want to.

“You hold an office for 4 years or 8 years and all you can say is that I was a minister for so many years or I was a senator for this years or I was a President for so many years. So what if you were a president?

“What did you do with the 8 years? What do you want to be remembered for? Is it the houses that you will die and leave that your children will be fighting over? Is it the money that you hid in Swiss accounts that will never even come to your family? And sometimes the family gets it and we have seen the children become drug addicts, they become what we call ‘money miss road’. They spend it on parties and after three or four years, the money is gone,” he stated.

The federal government has approved a special end-of-the-year train service for Nigerians in commemoration of the Christmas and New Year festivities.

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) made the announcement in a statement on Wednesday by its Deputy Director, Public Relations, Yakub Mahmood.

The statement disclosed that the directive was given by the federal government through the Federal Ministry of Transportation.

Mahmood, however, said the modalities for the special train service would be disclosed to the public soon.

The statement read, “The management of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), in compliance with the Federal Government’s directive through the Federal Ministry of Transportation, hereby informs the general public that the NRC shall operate end of the year special train services in commemoration of Christmas and New Year celebrations.

“This end-of-the-year special train service on scheduled passenger trains, is part of the government’s gesture towards an enjoyable end of the year celebration.

“Dates and modalities of the end-of-the-year Special Train Service shall be communicated in due course. We wish all our esteemed customers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in advance.”

In other news, the Federal Government has commended personnel of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) for their active role in the fight against insecurity, ensuring peace for the citizens.

The Minister of Defence, Muhammed Badaru, said there was a need to enhance personnel training to ensure safety during operations.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Ibrahim Kana, Badaru stated this at the NAF Training, Operations and Safety Seminar for the year 2024, on Wednesday in Abuja.

The House of Representatives Committee on Polytechnics and other Higher Technical Education has discovered that the newly established Federal Polytechnic, Ugep, in Cross River State has only 142 students with about 154 academic and non-academic staff.

The polytechnic has also spent about N600 million on personnel and overhead costs with another N38 million spent on local travels by the institution.

The revelation came to limelight when the Rector of the Polytechnic, Professor Edward N.Okey led management of the institution to the House as part of oversight function.

As part of its ongoing oversight of institutions under its purview, the Committee had invited Federal Polytechnics and some other technical institutions from the South-South, including Federal Polytechnic, Orogun; Federal Polytechnic, Ugep; Federal Polytechnic Oil &Gas, Bonny; Federal Polytechnic, Auchi; Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe; Federal Polytechnic Ukana and the National Institute of Construction Technology Management, Uromi to appear before it.

Chairman of the Committee, Fouad Laguda (APC, Lagos) and members were also angered that the Polytechnic established in 2021 we’re spending such huge amount of money as expenditure for just 142 students.

Making his submission before the Committee, the Rector said the it spent N2 Billion take-off grant received by the institution to renovate the abandoned and dilapidated Ugep Community Secondary School to serve as a temporary campus, while putting up structures at the Institute of Technology Management (ITM) which he said they have eventually taken over as their permanent site.

He said: “Our school was established in 2021 and were to start the school at a temporary site in the state Polytechnic called Institute of Technology and Management (ITM). But, when we got there, we could not get the state Polytechnic to start the school.

“The first challenge we had was to identify a temporary site to start the school. That took us more than a year, because Ugep is not a big town and get a school for us to start was not an easy task.

“After going around the village, we ended up with dilapidated buildings of a secondary school called Ugep Community Secondary School. The Principal of that school told us that, those buildings were abandoned for 25 years. So, we have to renovate those buildings. It took us more than one year to renovate those buildings for us to start.

“We started about different 10 projects on the permanent site. Some are at different levels of completion. But getting students and staff in Ugep has not been an easy task, because of some kind of stigma that Ugep carries.

“Even my Council members, the first set, refused to come to Ugep to hold meetings because they are scared of Ugep because Ugep used to have a tradition of eating people. But, that was hundreds of years ago.

“That doesn’t happen again. But, once there is a stigma, its difficult to erase. We have been working to erase that stigma, the people need the school. They need that exposure, but to attract students is not easy.

“Since we started, it was just last month that we were able to take over the school. The state polytechnic in Ugep started in 2012 by former governor, Liyel Imoke. Since 2012, they have a total number of 63 students, and that tells you the difficult nature of the place.

“We started with 16 students, but this year, we have admitted 63, bringing the number to 79. So, invariably, we have performed more than the school that started 12 years ago. Now, we have a total of 142 because took over the students and staff of ITM”.

He also told the committee that “we had a take-off grant of N2 Billion. We use part of it to renovate the school we started with. We used part of it to construct School of Engineering, we also used part of it to construct the Perimeter fence, a Guest House and to buy a Hilux which is the only vehicle I am using now.

However, a member of the Committee, described the spendings by the institution as a waste and unsustainable, saying, “It is high time we tell ourselves the truth. If you have 142 students, that’s like an Elementary school. In my village, we have a primary school. The students there are more than 500.

“A Polytechnic, a federal Polytechnic for that matter having 142 students and your personnel is N496 million, almost N500 million, for a school that has 142 students. Your overhead is N159 million, for a school that 142 students. Your Capital is N25 million. What is the justification for all these spendings?”.

Chairman of the Committee, Laguda expressed the disappointment of the Committee over the poor presentation by the institutions.

He said: “We called schools from South-South for an oversight and… Not one of the schools met the required requirements or did what was expected. Considering the fact that you had over a week notification.

“But you’ve been aware over two months ago that your turn was going to come. Because we’ve been doing this oversight function for a while. Out of seven schools, one of the schools is not even here today. Out of the six schools, only three came with half-baked reports. Three others were not prepared for us.

“And we took our own time, left every other thing that we had to do. To ensure this day, this exercise sees the light of the day. We are going to request that you’re going to come back.

“See the clerk after now to give you requirements of what is expected of your budget review. We would, in less than a week, will recall you here to come and make this presentation.”

The Senate on Wednesday summoned the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace, Festus Keyamo; Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Capt. Chris Najomo; airline operators and other relevant stakeholders over the incessant flight delays and cancellations by airlines.

Adopting a motion to that effect, sponsored by Senator AbdulFatai Buhari (APC Oyo North) during plenary, the Red Chamber particularly charged its Committee on Aviation to unravel the circumstances behind the incessant flight delays and cancellations to find lasting solutions to the problem.

The PUNCH exclusively reported on Wednesday that about 2,000 air passengers lost 19,274 pieces of luggage between January and June this year, according to data from the Federal.

The report stated that data obtained from the half-year report of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, an agency of the Federal Government that regulates civil aviation, further indicated that 19,250 passengers were delayed for long hours during the review period.

Senator Buhari, while presenting the motion, said the problem which he noted had been on the increase in recent times, is all over the media.

“This development is worrisome as air travel is one of the most reliable, dependable, and quicker means of transportation, often undertaken for business/official purposes and to keep other scheduled appointments, which are usually time-bo,” he said.

Therefore, he cautioned that “unwarranted flight delays and cancellations will be counterproductive to the socio-economic growth and development of this country.”

The lawmaker noted that as part of interventionist measures to check unethical and unwholesome practices of the practitioners in the àviation sector, the NCAA is statutory empowered through the enactment of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Act, to among other things, provide oversight and guidelines aimed at ensuring that airlines operate within the contemplation of international standards in Nigeria and to ensure that airline customers get value for the services paid for.

Buhari pointed out that “the quest for economic diversification and foreign direct investment, which are parts of the current administration’s policy thrust, will remain an illusion if the country’s aviation industry falls short of the acceptable best practices across the globe.”

“Part 19 of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority Regulations of 2023, makes provisions for consumer protection in the civil aviation industry in Nigeria.”

He added, “However, enforcement has been an issue as most Nigerians are not even aware that they are entitled to compensation for time lost due to unnecessary delay, hence the need for the NCAA to activate this aspect of its regulation so that airline operators will sit up and be alive to their responsibilities.”

Nollywood producer cum actor, Kunle Afolayan, has confirmed that internationally renowned streaming platform, Netflix has stopped commissioning Nigerian original content.

The filmmaker made this known at the 2024 Zuma International Film Festival in Abuja.

Kunle Afolayan said that Netflix’s management had informed filmmakers during a recent party that they would no longer fund Nigerian movies.

Describing the latest development as a big blow, the filmmaker said it would significantly affect the income of producers who invest heavily in filmmaking.

According to Afolayan, he was lucky to have completed seasons two and three of the Anikulapo series, but some filmmakers got their projects cancelled.

He urged filmmakers to continue producing high-quality content regardless of the challenges posed by Netflix.

He said, “They invited our filmmakers to a party. But before then they had spoken to people they had been dealing with, saying ‘Look, we are pulling out’. What you might call a fatal last supper. Things like that should provoke us because if you do not have challenges like that you cannot see opportunities. We cannot rely on them anymore.

“Whatever it is you do if you make a conscious effort to be intentional when it comes to the kind of content that you make, the world will seek. The world will find you. The work will speak for itself.

“I think we should continue what we do. Whether it is in English, Ibibio, or any native language. As long as the story has universal appeal and then the production value is highly considered, you will get on several platforms.

“Coming to Netflix. It is heartbreaking. It is a big blow for us. In my head, I have been thinking about how can we go from earning dollars in films to now thinking about where we will put our films.

“Three years ago, when we signed a three-film deal with Netflix. It was like we were given a contract that in the next three years, we really do not care if you work for other people or do other things, make one film for us per year on being creative because these things are guaranteed and you have funds to make them. The budget you are being given is primarily tied to what they are getting in Nigeria.

“Thank God we have shot seasons two and three of Anikulapo. Because all the other people who were commissioned at the same time as us, their projects were cancelled.”

As the celebration for the 2024 CAF Africa Player award gears up, Cameroon international Flavien Enzo Boyomo is confident that Nigeria international and Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman is the favourite to win the men’s best player award, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Lookman, who made history as the first player to score a hat-trick in a European club competition final during his club’s triumph over Bayer Leverkusen last season, has been getting massive backing from teammates, stakeholders and fans since CAF announced the final shortlist for the award.

Boyomo is the latest to throw his weight behind the Nigerian to claim the honour when the winner will be announced at the CAF Awards 2024 on December 16.

Lookman faces competition from Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi, Algeria’s Amine Gouiri, Ivory Coast’s Simon Adingra and South Africa’s Ronwen Williams.

Despite the stiff competition from other nominees, the Osasuna centre-back remains confident that the Atalanta man will win the award.

“I believe Lookman will win the African Ballon d’Or,” Boyomo was quoted saying by Actu Cameroon.

“He won the Europa League and he is the one who has the best chance of winning the trophy this year.”

Lookman’s nomination comes after a remarkable season that saw him emerge as Europe’s most productive attacking player in the latter stages of the 2023/24 campaign, registering 14 goal contributions (eight goals and six assists) from April onwards, more than any other player across Europe’s top five leagues.

The former Everton striker’s stellar performances reached their pinnacle in the UEFA Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen, where he netted a historic hat-trick to crown a season that saw him amass an impressive 17 goals and 10 assists across all competitions.

The former Everton man has continued with his impressive form this campaign, with the Nigeria international already notching nine goals and five assists in just 16 appearances for La Dea.

Aside from his historic and remarkable Europa League exploits with Atalanta, Lookman emerged as the overwhelming favourite for the 2024 CAF Player of the Year award following his 14th-placed finish at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris in October where he was the only African player nominated for the award.

The Federal Government has fired some civil servants with degrees from private tertiary institutions in Benin Republic and Togo, The PUNCH reports.

The directive affected federal workers who graduated from the institutions from 2017 to date.

The Director of Information and Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Segun Imohiosen, confirmed the development to one of our correspondents on Wednesday.

In August, the Federal August announced that only eight universities had been accredited to award degrees to Nigerians in Togo and Benin Republic. 

This followed an undercover investigation report in which a Daily Nigerian journalist acquired a degree from a university in Benin Republic in two months and used it to participate in the National Youth Service Corps scheme.

Following the report, the government banned the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from tertiary institutions in Benin Republic and Togo.

The Federal Government also set up an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling to probe the activities of certificate racketeers.

The then Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, revealed that over 22,500 Nigerians obtained fake degree certificates from Benin Republic and Togo and such certificates would be cancelled.

Mamman explained that the revelation was part of a report submitted to the Federal Executive Council by the investigative committee instituted to probe degree certificate racketeering by foreign and local universities in Nigeria.

He insisted there was no going back on the Federal Government’s decision to cancel the about 22,500 certificates awarded to Nigerians by some “fake” universities in the two francophone countries.

Mamman maintained that the decision to invalidate the certificates was not harsh as Nigerians who obtained degree certificates from such tertiary institutions dent the country’s image.

He said, “Most of those parading the fake certificates didn’t even leave the shores of Nigeria but got their certificates through racketeering in collaboration with government officials at home and abroad.

“The fake universities capitalised on the gullibility of Nigerians patronising such fake schools. The Federal Government, through the offices of the Head of Civil Service and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, would fish out those in the government’s employment with such fake certificates. I also urge the private sector to follow suit.”

Although the exact number of affected civil servants could not be ascertained, it was gathered that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (Cabinet Affairs) had issued a memo to all the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to implement the order.

A source, who pleaded anonymity because she was not authorised to speak on the matter, disclosed that the sacking of the affected workers was based on the inter-ministerial committee’s recommendation.

The official stated, “There was a letter from the SGF cabinet affairs directing all ministries, departments and agencies of government to identify and terminate the appointments of workers employed with certificates obtained from the private universities in the Republic of Benin and Togo from 2017 to date.

 “The decision is part of the recommendations of the committee set up to investigate the certificates of people who graduated from the universities.”

Our correspondent also gathered that some agencies like the National Youth Services Corps have commenced the implementation of the directive.

The NYSC Director of Information, Caroline Embu, confirmed to our correspondent that five members of staff had been sacked in line with the SGF’s directive.

She said, “Five members of staff were affected by the directive contained in the letter from the office of the SGF. No more.”