Some bandits in large numbers on Saturday night invaded Dahjonu Community in Millennium City of Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State and abducted two journalists -The Nation’s Abdulgafar Alabelewe and Blueprint newspaper’s AbdulRaheem Abdu as well as their wives and children.

Alabelewe is also the current chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Kaduna State Council.

One of the victims’ family member, Taofeeq Olayemi, who confirmed the incident, said the bandits invaded the area around 10:30pm and shot indiscriminately before carrying out their dastardly act.

Olayemi said the bandits kidnapped Alabelewe, his wife and two of his children while Aodu and his wife who was also sick were kidnapped, leaving behind their sick daughter.

He said, “Initially, they picked Abdulgafar,his wife and three of his children and a girl staying with them before asking the girl to return back with one of the children and left with Abdulgafar, his wife and two children.

“They shattered their doors, windows and removed their burglary after scaling the fence.”

Olayemi, who is also a neighbour to the victims, added, “they came around 10:30pm on Saturday night and started shooting sporadically. They first bursted Aodu’s door open and picked him and his wife and left their sick daughter behind.

“Then, they entered Abdulgafar’s house through the fence and jumped into his house. They went straight into his bedroom and picked him, his wife and two of their kids and left immediately, after which the vigilantes arrived and started shooting into the air.”

As of the time of filing this report, the State Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, Mansir Hassan, ASP, could not be reached because his telephone was not connecting.

The All Progressives Congress has expressed conviction that President Bola Tinubu will be re-elected in 2027 despite the economic hardship and planned alliance between mega opposition parties.

The lingering economic hardship resulting from ongoing reforms such as fuel subsidy removal and floating of the naira has given rise to palpable fear that Nigerians may vote out Tinubu in 2027.

But the Deputy National Organising Secretary of the ruling party, Nze Chidi Duru, in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, said the ongoing reforms had to come into play to steady the sinking ship of the economy.

He said, “Our party has always recognised the fact that the current challenging economic environment has not in any way got better. When Mr President took over, he asked Nigerians not to pity him. It is an office that he craved and worked hard for before offering himself to provide leadership to Nigeria.

 “What gives confidence is that Mr President is very much aware of the expectations of the person on the street. The minimum expectation will be that they need to be comfortable. So, the discussion around 2027 (election) is not out of place. In the life of a country, four years is like yesterday.

“Let me say every political office holder or politician knows that the first date in office is key because the citizens who elected you into office and those who did not elect you will begin to track your performance as a result of that. They can then decide whether or not to re-elect you.

“Concerning whether we will be re-elected, as a democrat and my personal view, we have always canvassed that unless His Excellency President Bola Tinubu will not contest, the APC government is bound to be represented by our candidate in 2027 to fly the flag for the simple reason that I want to bring up. And, of course, there is the incumbency factor.”

Uruguay beat Brazil on penalties (4-2) to reach the semi-finals of Copa America after an ugly game ended goalless on Saturday.

Uruguay, who finished the game with 10 men after Nahitan Nandez was sent off in the 74th minute, will face Colombia in Charlotte, North Carolina, in their semi-final on Wednesday.

Colombia, now unbeaten in 27 games, beat Panama 5-0 in Saturday’s other quarter-final earlier in Arizona.

The other semi-final, in New Jersey on Tuesday, will see world champions Argentina face surprise package Canada.

For five-times world champions Brazil it was a disappointing early end to a tournament in which they never truly clicked, and a lot of work remains to be done if Dorival Junior’s team are to be in shape to compete for the title in the 2026 World Cup.

In a city better known for boxing than for the beautiful game, it was a bruising contest with little quality play and a tournament high 41 fouls.

A poor quality playing field hardly helped with both teams struggling to produce their best football on an uneven surface.

The first – and best – chance of a game of few opportunities came in the 35th minute when Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez had a clear header in front of goal but mis-timed his effort which flew wide off his shoulder.

Within moments, Brazil created an opening of their own with Raphinha breaking clear, but Uruguay keeper Sergio Rochet stayed tall and made a vital save.

Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay were as tenacious as always, harrying Brazil in midfield and never afraid to interrupt their flow with a foul.

Brazil resorted too often to long balls forward but with only their 17-year-old talent Endrick, in for the suspended Vinicius Junior, as a central striker they lacked the physical presence to make that approach effective.

The game deteriorated the longer it went on with foul after foul, not deterred by lenient refereeing.

But Uruguay’s hopes of wearing Brazil down were dealt a blow when Nandez hacked down Rodrygo with a dangerous slide into his ankle and after a VAR review the defender was sent off.

From then on it was clear that Uruguay were simply trying to make it to full-time and penalties and with no extra-time in Copa America, they were able to achieve their aim.

– Tight game –

After Federico Valverde scored with the first spot kick, Eder Militao saw his effort saved by the diving Rochet.

When Douglas Luiz hit the post for Brazil, they trailed 3-1 and Jose Gimenez had the chance to clinch the game for Uruguay. His effort was superbly saved by Alisson Becker.

Substitute Gabriel Martinelli scored to keep Brazil alive but midfielder Manuel Ugarte kept his cool to drive home the decisive kick and send the 15-times Copa champions into the last four.

Bielsa praised his team’s calmness in the shoot-out and their desire during the 90 minutes.

“I’m more seduced by attacking than defending, but I have to appreciate that in a tight game we created one more situation than our opponents, we defended well and we played 15 minutes with one less player, which at this level is a real factor,” he said.

“If you ask me if I’m happy with having created three goal situations in 90 minutes, no, I’m not. But our opponents had two,” he said.

“Today we outplayed Brazil in segments of the game and were outplayed in others,” added the Argentine.

For Brazil the thoughts turn to the need to ensure they make it to the next World Cup after a poor start to CONMEBOL qualifying.

“We leave the tournament undefeated but not satisfied,” said Dorival Junior whose team won once and drew twice in the group stage.

“We didn’t play at a high level from a technical point of view, but I don’t dismiss any of the games. I think there was commitment, fighting spirit. At no time did the team stop going for the result,” he added.

“This process needs patience. We have two years to work before the World Cup. The first thing is to qualify for the World Cup because we are sixth in the (South American qualifiers) and it is a position that makes us uncomfortable,” he said.

The tournament’s final will be held in Miami on July 14.

• 148 members to work in nine strategy committees

Last Thursday’s judgement on Edo state PDP governorship primary by Justice Inyang Ekwo is a distraction and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has resolved to appeal against it, chairman of the PDP National Campaign Council for Edo State, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, has said.

Fintiri who spoke during the inaugural meeting of the campaign council at PDP national headquarters in Abuja where nine strategy committees were constituted to undertake special roles towards actualizing PDP’s victory in the September 21 governorship election, also described the judgement as a ‘child’s play’ that cannot stop PDP’s victory.

During the event, party leaders introduced two   defectors – former Deputy   Commissioner of Police and ex-National President of the Road Transport Employers’ Association (RTEAN), Alhaji  Musa Isiwele who said that he just led 5, 200 All Progressives Congress members to join the Asue Oghodalo campaign along with former Edo State Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Francis Inegbeniki who said that he only knew the APC governorship candidate as a welder in Jos, years ago, as latest additions to the party’s army of experienced campaigners.

In his address to members of the Edo State PDP National Campaign Council and party stakeholders, Governor Fintiri who said that the task ahead of the campaign council won’t be easy further stated that immediately after the launch of PDP governorship campaign in Edo State, many members will remain in the state until election day.

“Like I said, this is not an easy assignment, it requires a lot of sacrifice and commitment on our part and for us to have accepted this appointment, I know also that we have really agreed to do whatever is required of us to win the election.

“We are all politicians, the only thing we understand in politics is to win elections and that is why there is no second position in any election; you either win or you are lost but in this outing, we are out to win.

“And yes, there is a little setback, temporarily but God will see us through it; the court judgement of three days ago, anybody who perused and looks through the entire process, you know that is a child’s play,” Fintiri stated, adding that PDP has resolved to immediately go ahead with an appeal against the judgement.

In his speech, PDP National Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN) who said that the ‘somersault’ done by Justice Ekwo does not invalidate Edo state PDP governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo’s candidature also urged party stakeholders not to feel dismayed.

In a brief speech, PDP governorship candidate in Edo state, Asue Ighodalo who expressed concerns about current indicators and distractions also expressed hope that the capacity and experience of those in the PDP National Campaign Council for Edo state will see things through.

His words: “It is not going to be easy, it is going to be very difficult, we are already seeing the signs; it is going to be a difficult election; not on the issues, but on the distractions but sometimes, the distractions  are more difficult to deal with than the issues.

“But I know we have leaders who are more than capable to set the ball rolling and to lift us higher than some others, so, I am truly grateful.”

Eighteen states of the federation have failed to recruit teachers in five years, data exclusively obtained by our correspondent from the National Union of Teachers in Abuja has revealed.

This comes amidst the outcry over the shortage of teachers across the country.

Recently, the Universal Basic Education Commission lamented the shortage of teachers in public schools.

Sunday PUNCH reports that over 47 million pupils are currently enrolled in 171,027 private and public primary and junior secondary schools in the country. UBEC puts the total number of public schools at 79,775, while private schools currently stand at 91,252.

Regarding teachers, the commission stated that 354,651 teachers were currently teaching in early childhood facilities, while 915,593 were employed in primary schools, and 416,291 working in junior secondary schools.

Similarly, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria recently raised concerns over what it described as the shortage of qualified teachers in the country. It said the shortage was more pronounced in rural areas, exacerbating educational inequality.

The Registrar of TRCN, Prof Josiah Ajiboye, disclosed this in an interview with Sunday PUNCH.

Ajiboye said, “The surge in the population of school children, and the increase in the number of schools in Nigeria, both government and private, present a complex challenge for the education system.

“The availability and quality of qualified teachers are crucial factors in ensuring students receive quality education. However, the shortage of qualified teachers is a concerning issue in Nigeria for several reasons.”

 He explained that with a growing population of school children and insufficient recruitment of new teachers, the teacher-pupil ratio in many schools had become unfavourable.

The data from the NUT revealed that states such as Abia, Bayelsa, Bauchi, Benue, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Kogi, Ogun, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, and Zamfara failed to conduct recruitment between 2018 and 2022.

The data also revealed that only the FCT, Lagos, and Katsina conducted recruitment during the period under review.

However, Niger State recruited 186 teachers in 2022 according to the data, while Akwa Ibom recruited 3,500 teachers in 2018, and 1,000 in 2022.

Teacher shortages concerning – TCN 

The National President of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Mr Titus Amba, also expressed concern about the shortage of teachers, adding that many governors ignored the advice of the union, which pleaded that retired teachers should be replaced with new ones.

In an interview with Sunday PUNCH, Amba said, “Recruitment of teachers lies in the hands of the state governments. A significant number of teachers have left the service, and till now, there is no plan to replace them.”

Why Bayelsa did not employ teachers

Findings by our correspondent revealed that the Bayelsa State Government did not employ teachers from 2018 to 2022 due to an embargo placed on the employment of civil servants by former Governor Seriake Dickson. At that time, the state government reportedly said the public service was bloated, adding that the monthly wage bill was too high.

Sunday PUNCH also gathered that some unofficial employments were conducted into the public service in the final weeks of the Dickson administration. However, it was unclear if teachers were among those engaged.

Our correspondent’s findings, however, revealed that during the first tenure of the incumbent governor, Douye Diri, the embargo was lifted, and 2,000 teachers were employed to teach in primary and secondary schools across the state.

Efforts to speak with the Commissioner for Education, Gentle Emelah, and his counterpart in the Ministry of Information, Orientation and Strategy, Ebiowou Koku-Obiyal, proved abortive as they were said to be on official engagements.

However, an impeccable source at the state’s Ministry of Information, Orientation and Strategy told our correspondent on condition of anonymity that people who studied Education were among those employed in the last days of the Dickson administration.

Another source at the Ministry of Education, who did not want his name in print, said the employment of teachers suffered a setback due to the undue influence of politicians. He stated that if everything had gone according to plan, the employment of teachers would have been done since October 2023.

Kano recruits 5,632 teachers – Commissioner

Meanwhile, the Kano State Government says it has offered full-time employment to 5,632 voluntary teachers who were under the Better Education Service Delivery for All programme.

The state Commissioner of Education, Alhaji Umar Doguwa, disclosed this in a telephone interview with Sunday PUNCH.

Doguwa, who spoke through the Public Relations Officer of the state Ministry of Education, Balarabe Kiru, said the Governor, Abba Yusuf, recently approved the conversion of BESDA teachers to permanent and pensionable appointments.

“The state government has offered full-time employment to 5,632 teachers previously working under temporary arrangements.

“The BESDA teachers, who have been working as voluntary teachers, were being paid a monthly allowance by an international NGO since the tenure of the past administration. However, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf decided to give them full employment,” he said.

He also stated that the state government had paid the outstanding allowances of N450m owed by the state government for the services the BESDA teachers had rendered in the past.

“The governor has also approved the recruitment of an additional 10,000 teachers with intensified efforts for the continuous periodic training and retraining of teachers,” he added.

Ogun recruited 5,000 teachers – Commissioner

When contacted by our correspondent, the Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Prof Abayomi Arigbabu, said that Governor Dapo Abiodun’s administration had recruited 5,000 teachers into primary, secondary, and technical colleges in the state since he took office in 2019.

Arigbabu said, “From 2019 to date, the government has recruited 1,700 primary school teachers, 3,000 secondary school teachers, and 300 teachers into our technical colleges.”

‘Plateau plans teachers’ recruitment’

The Plateau State Government says it is planning to recruit new primary and secondary school teachers. The State Chairman of SUPEB, Sunday Manu, disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent in Jos.

He said that the board had already submitted a report to the 17 local government chairmen across the state, and was awaiting approval before commencing the recruitment exercise. When asked why there had been no recruitment of teachers in the state since 2018, Manu said, “I don’t know the reason. I was only appointed into office about a year ago, so I can only account for the period I have been in office. If you ask me why we have not done any recruitment in the past year, I will tell you that it is because the verification we started on the needs in those schools has not been concluded. However, the process is ongoing.

“This morning, we submitted our report to the LGA chairmen on what should be done. We are waiting for their approval, and I can tell you that as soon as that is done, the recruitment of new teachers will begin.”

Gombe refutes NUT’s claim

However, speaking with Sunday PUNCH, the Gombe State Commissioner for Education, Dr Aishatu Maigari, insisted that the state recruited teachers in 2018 and 2022. Maigari stated this while reacting to the NUT’s statement in Gombe.

She said, “Gombe recruited 1,000 teachers in 2022, and converted over 200 Local Education Authority teachers to state government workers. Also, in 2018, teachers were recruited.”

‘Zamfara did not recruit teachers for four years’

The Zamfara State Government, however, confirmed that it did not recruit teachers in the last four years. Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, the Commissioner of Information, Alhaji Manir Haidara, said the state government under the leadership of Governor Dauda Lawal inherited the problem from the former Governor, Bello Mattawalle. According to the commissioner, the former governor did not recruit teachers during his tenure, and he also did not promote any teacher to the next grade during his four-year tenure. He added that Governor Lawal’s administration had announced a state of emergency on education, noting that more teachers would soon be recruited.

He added that others who had not been promoted would receive their promotion soon.

Haidara said, “We inherited problems in all sectors, especially in education where teachers have not been promoted for many years. Based on this, Governor Lawal has directed the state Ministry of Education to conduct a thorough investigation to determine the number of teachers in both primary and secondary schools. After the exercise, more teachers will be recruited, and those teachers who have been on the same level for many years will be promoted.”

‘Nasarawa has employed over 10,000 teachers’

Also responding, the Nasarawa State government says it has employed no fewer than 10,000 teachers for primary and secondary schools to enhance manpower in the education sector of the state. The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Abdullahi Sule on Public Affairs, Peter Ahemba, while speaking with our correspondent in Lafia, said that apart from the over 10,000 teachers recruited for both primary and secondary schools, an unspecified number of lecturers had also been employed in tertiary institutions in the state.

He said, “Concerning the employment of teachers in primary and secondary schools in Nasarawa State, the story has been very positive. When Governor Sule came on board in 2019, he met a category of teachers called ‘engaged staff’ by the previous administration, about 1,500 of them. He immediately gave them permanent and pensionable jobs.

“He further announced the recruitment of 2,000 teachers who also received permanent jobs. After a while, an additional 2,500 secondary school teachers were employed by the state government to ensure that we have sufficient teachers in the state.

“As I speak with you now, we have just concluded the recruitment exercise of 4,700 teachers for our primary schools. Very soon, the names of the successful candidates will be released, and they will be issued their appointment letters, and posted to their various primary schools to enhance manpower at that level of education.”

Additional reports: Samuel Ese, Tukur Muntari, Bankole Taiwo, James Abraham, Chima Azubuike, Collins Agwam

As Nigeria battles an economic crisis sparked by the government’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of FX windows, United Kingdom-based Diageo joined about 15 other multinational companies that have exited the country in the past three years. 

Diageo is the latest to announce its departure on Tuesday, June 11 when it said it will sell its 58.02% stake in Guinness Nigeria to Tolaram.

Diageo joins others like Kimberly-Clark, manufacturers of Huggies and Kotex brands of diapers; US-based Procter and Gamble (P&G); GlaxoSmithKline (GSK); Unilever and Sanofi-Aventi Nigeria, who are either exiting completely or reducing their exposure in a country facing its worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.

Unilever Nigeria announced its exit from the home care and skin cleansing markets in Nigeria in November 2023, saying it did so “to find a more sustainable and profitable business model.”
Procter & Gamble was the last to announce its exit from the country the same year.
Similar reasons given by these and other companies include high energy costs, currency depreciation, insecurity etc.

The Federal Government itself acknowledged these challenges in an interview granted by Minister of Finance, Wale Edun on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme, where he said “lack of a liquid foreign exchange market was the major reason why some multinational companies exited Nigeria,” explaining that the inability of the exiting multinationals to access foreign exchange was a major impediment to their operations in the country.

Weighing-in, the Director-General of Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, Adewale Oyerinde, disclosed that at least 15 multinationals have either divested or partially closed operations in the country in the last three years.

Oyerinde, in his assessment, stated: “Over 15 organisations, with a combined value-chain staff strength of over 20,000 employees, have either divested or partially closed operations,” lamenting that this has “dire consequences not only for organised businesses but also for labour, government revenue and the households; massive job losses across sectors, which would continue to create insecurity challenges”.

Oyerinde added, “When NECA examined the exit of prominent companies like GSK, Sanofi, Procter & Gamble, Nampak, and others, who had been doing business in Nigeria for decades and were huge employers of labour, it was worried about the ripple effect on the broader business ecosystem.

“Within the value chain, numerous enterprises serve as suppliers to these major corporations, and their sustainability is significantly compromised when the primary businesses they cater to face extinction.

“The survival prospects of these secondary businesses are at stake, and their employees are also at risk, as the departure of the main clients could lead to their demise. The crisis within the value chain deserves more attention than it currently receives”.

Other sectoral group leaders and analysts maintain that the continuous exit of multinational firms would dampen Nigeria’s $1trn GDP target of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

The President had, at the 29th Nigeria Economic Summit in Abuja, told business leaders and Nigerians that Nigeria’s economy can grow to $1 trillion by 2026.

Analysts believe the persistent exit of multinational companies from the country is set to impact negatively on this target.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that the performance of the GDP in the first quarter of 2024 was driven mainly by the services sector, which recorded a growth of 4.32 per cent and contributed 58.04 per cent to the aggregate GDP, whereas the nominal GDP growth of the manufacturing sector in the first quarter of 2024 was recorded at 8.21 per cent (year-on-year), 9.64 per cent points lower than the figure recorded in the corresponding period of 2023.

Real GDP growth in the manufacturing sector in the first quarter of 2024, on its part, was 1.49 per cent (year-on-year), lower than the same quarter of 2023.

Reacting to this, President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Otunba Francis Meshioye said, “MAN expects the government to frontally address insecurity, improve electricity supply, promote fiscal sustainability and ensure policy consistency.

“Among other priorities, the fiscal authority must also lend supportive measures by adequately incentivising the manufacturing sector and other productive sectors.

“This is very important to boost non-oil export earnings in addition to the increase in oil export proceeds occasioned by increased oil production, rising global oil prices and the coming on stream of the Dangote Refinery”.

Director-General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr. Chinyere Almona, also speaking on the issue, said: “Over the last few months, there has been a consistent increase in exit plans or a reduction in involvement in the Nigerian market by the multinationals, and this trend is worrisome.

“We have seen the likes of Unilever Nigeria, GlaxoSmithKline, and recently now Guinness Nigeria Plc.

“In Nigeria, lingering foreign exchange scarcity, poor power supply, port congestion, multiple taxation, insecurity, and poor infrastructure, among others, have taken a toll on many businesses in the country.”

The chamber recommended that the government should implement measures to stabilise and ensure the availability of foreign exchange for businesses, particularly those operating in dollar-denominated environments, also imploring the government to create a more flexible and transparent foreign exchange policy to address scarcity issues.

“Further, the Chamber urges the government to engage multinational corporations and the business community to understand their challenges and gather input and feedback on policy decisions to collaboratively develop solutions that will forestall the exodus of businesses from Nigeria. The CBN should prioritise the stability of the country’s currency and adopt the right policy mix to ensure price stability,” Almona said.

National President of the Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria, ASBON, Femi Egbesola, maintained that multinationals are among the companies that contribute largely to the country’s GDP and earnings.

“We cannot be talking of growing our economy when the real investors are leaving. Assuming they are leaving and the indigenous ones are increasing, it would have been a different thing. But that is not the case. You make income as a nation when you have investments and investors,” he said.

However, since the coming of the Tinubu administration, Tinubu and Edun, among others, have been speaking on efforts being put in place towards revamping the economy, encouraging Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and also making local industries vibrant and competitive.

Whether the assurances of Edun, who, on the Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme, said, “recent executive orders signed by President Bola Tinubu have improved the investment climate … and also disclosed that tax reform proposals aimed at simplifying doing business for local and foreign manufacturers are being considered as part of an Economic Stabilisation Package,” would stem the flow of multinationals exiting the country, only time will tell.

…as Reps plan zonal town hall meetings

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen has reaffirmed the commitment of the parliament to transparency, accountability, good governance and citizens engagement.

Speaking at a dinner to mark the end of the end of the first ever Legislative Open Week, the Speaker disclosed that in response to calls for grassroots engagement, the House will soon roll out citizens’ engagement town hall meetings across the six geopolitical zones in collaboration with the Ford Foundation.

The Speaker stressed that in the face of declining interest and trust in democracy, transparency and regular citizens’ engagement have become more crucial than ever as transparency ensures that government actions are open to public scrutiny and fostering accountability.

He argued that regular engagements with citizens empowers them to voice their concerns, participate in decision-making processes, and feel a sense of ownership over their governance as such mutual interaction strengthens the social contract, rebuilds trust, and revitalizes democratic values.

He said, “Over the past twenty-five years, there have been challenges in ensuring accountability and engagement from leaders and democratic institutions, resulting in a sense of disconnection, cynicism and even distrust among the populace.

“However, through activities like the Open Week, we have a unique opportunity to strengthen our commitment to good governance and re-establish a robust connection with the citizens.

“In the face of declining interest and trust in democracy, transparency and regular citizens’ engagement are more crucial than ever. We strongly believe that transparency ensures that government actions are open to public scrutiny and fostering accountability.

“Regular engagements with citizens, such as we have witnessed this week, empowers them to voice their concerns, participate in decision-making processes, and feel a sense of ownership over their governance. This mutual interaction strengthens the social contract, rebuilds trust, and revitalizes democratic values.

“Our constitutional amendment process will also adopt a citizen-inclusive approach. The onus is now on citizens to actively engage with their representatives. I urge everyone to seize this opportunity to ask questions about governance, participate in public hearings, constituency engagements, town halls, and other forums for engagement. As the saying goes, eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.

“As we look ahead, let us reaffirm our commitment to transparency, accountability, and good governance. The spirit of openness and engagement that defined this week must continue to guide us in all our endeavors”.

Speaker Abbas said the open week has vividly demonstrated the vibrancy and strength of the nation’s evolving democracy and reaffirmed the commitment of the House of Representatives to uphold transparency and accountability.

He described citizens’ engagement as the cornerstone of any effective legislature, adding that the 10th Assembly has embraced the ‘OPEN NASS’ Project, which enhances not only oversight and law-making, but also the transparency of the National Assembly itself, saying “as we hold other branches of government accountable, we must equally welcome scrutiny from the public.”

He maintained that through the House Open Week, the House is reclaiming the legislature for its rightful owners, namely, the citizens and the constituents.

The Speaker said “Over the past few days, in line with the commitments of the House, we have opened our doors to the public, inviting them to witness the workings of the House firsthand. We have engaged in meaningful discussions, welcome feedback, and showcased our dedication to serving the Nigerian people.

“We addressed critical issues such as gender mainstreaming in governance, economic growth and diversification, inclusive political participation, and the constitutional role for traditional rulers. The diverse attendance demonstrated the people’s keen interest and high expectations from the People’s House.

“Our presentation of the House’s performance scorecard in its First Session reassures Nigerians that our commitment to transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement is not merely a duty but a guiding principle of our actions as elected representatives.

“The various activities and discussions during the House Open Week have provided valuable insights into the concerns and aspirations of our people and nation. As highlighted in our scorecard, the essence of representative democracy is that it empowers citizens to choose their leaders and demands those leaders to give a satisfactory account of their stewardship.

Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto was a Guest Speaker at The Platform Special Edition held on June 12 and organized by Poju Oyemade under the auspices of The Covenant Nation in Lagos. Held under the theme, Democracy and the Free Market Economy, Kukah spoke on Nigeria’s 25 years of unbroken democracy and the way forward for the country. However, he said Nigeria’s democracy is in recession. Excerpts:

On using technology to fish out those stealing Nigeria’s money and stashing it in banks

I am in full support if such technology exists. If there are drones that can go around and find out those who have what… There must be a way of resolving this problem.

On the sorry state of Southern Kaduna

Talking about the demand side of economics, I come from the southern part of Kaduna State and we have been demanding for Southern Kaduna State since Kaduna State was created because, across the whole of Southern Kaduna, there is not a single sign of federal presence.

On Labour, FG & minimum wage

The Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Rt. Rev Godfrey Onah, told me a story, it is a common story that animals gathered. I don’t know whether it was an elephant that died and they gathered to share the elephant and the tortoise came from somewhere and said “I must get the thigh of this elephant” and other animals looked at him and the lion said “who made that demand?” Other animals said it was tortoise and lion replied: “You are asking for the thigh? If you get the intestine, that is what we are going to give you”.

The tortoise said “actually that’s what I wanted but if I didn’t ask for the thigh I would not even get the intestine”. My friends in Labour are asking for the thigh by asking for 1 million naira minimum wage and the President has already committed himself to solving the problem as he said in his speech on Democracy Day. And coming from the background of Labour I think with himself (president) and people like Senator Adams Oshiomhole (former NLC President and erstwhile governor of Edo State) and a few other labour activists, our problems should be on the way to being solved. But let me read out a quotation which will surprise you: “There is indeed worldwide economic recession. “However, in the case of Nigeria, the impact was aggravated by mismanagement.

“The situation could have been avoided if our legislators were alive to their constitutional responsibilities.

“The legislators were preoccupied with determining their salary scales, fringe benefits and unnecessary foreign travels.

“As a result of our inability to cultivate financial discipline and prudent management of our economy, we have come to depend largely on internal and external borrowings to execute government projects.

“The corrupt, inept and insensitive leadership in the last years have been a source of immorality and impropriety in our society, but we should do our best to settle genuine payment of salaries to which government is committed including the backlog of workers’ salaries”. I will give $1 million which I don’t have… but I will give anybody who can tell me who said this? This is taken from a speech delivered by General Buhari on the 31st of December 1983 (when he seized power from civilian President Shagari). 41 years ago. I’m not disappointed that you don’t remember because Nigerians don’t remember anything and that is why we are where we are today, we don’t remember anything.

On 25 years of uninterrupted democracy

We are celebrating the fact that we’ve had 25 years of “uninterrupted democracy” and we are anxious about the things we’ve not done and we’re also anxious about why we’ve not succeeded. American elections are coming up in November and there’s a lot of anxiety perhaps even more than there is in Nigeria and yet it is exactly 245 years since America elected their first President in 1789. It is to make the point that democracy is not an event; democracy, the way we understand it, I mean there’s a lot of anxiety across the board. I prefer to take a fairly historical view because too many of us are too careless about our expectations and it’s legitimate to have expectations, but those expectations must be founded on reality. Professor Huntington, the famous American professor who was actually my teacher, he did say something that there were three waves of democracy.

There is the democracy of the 19th century which is the wave that took America and other countries to where they are and then the post-World War II wave which took most of the countries in Europe to where they are today. And then, of course, the third wave happened in 1970 that saw Africa, Asia and Latin America becoming democratic or at least embracing the principles of democracy. But as you can see, across Africa, democracy has manifested in different shapes and in different forms.

Nigeria’s democracy pays little attention to intellectual conversation

I think what is missing in our conversation is that, unlike Europe where the principles of democracy were founded on the thinking of several philosophers like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and John Locke, etc, the whole lot of our democracy has paid very little attention, it’s not been the subject of a very serious intellectual conversation. We have been involved in intellectual conversations about democracy but modern western liberal democracy, as we understand it today, benefited extensively from the work of people like St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas. It is also quite significant that (US President) Joe Biden, even in his presidential address, had to quote St Augustine and it means, therefore, that it is the teachings, the philosophies and the theology of some of these scholars that laid the foundation for what we call democracy today.

On why Nigeria’s democracy is in recession

Unfortunately, our democracy is in recession, is in decline, precisely, because it is evident to us that what we are working with is not something that has come from our own historical, cultural or even anthropological experiences.

But, having said that, even after embracing democracy, it must be clear to us that there are different ways of talking about democracy, there are different models of democracy. The British left us with the Westminster parliamentary system; we quarreled with it and then we decided we wanted the American presidential system. Of course, I was Secretary of the Political Reform Conference in 2005 when the discussion went on about term limits; there was so much anxiety almost like there are all kinds of anxieties that Nigerians have. Nigerians can’t think beyond a particular period. Right now our obsession with politics is 2027. If you tell Nigerians about what might happen in 2040 or 2050, Nigerians don’t want to hear that, so all our plotting, all our scheming is what is going to happen in 2027.

On China’s 100 years plan to rule the world

I read a book earlier in the year which, I think, if you can find it, please read it, the title is: ‘100-Year Marathon’, with the subtitle ‘China’s Secret Plan To Rule The World’. It’s a fascinating book because it talks about the fact that after the Communist Party won elections in 1949, the Chinese now decided to put a plan in motion in which the plan is 100 years old from 1949 to 2049. And China, within that period, is to be the greatest nation in the world. I don’t have to tell you where China is now.

Nigeria’s democracy needs clarity, long-term plan

It was very interesting I flew Air Peace (airline) yesterday and it was very nice to see a Chinese air hostess speaking very good Nigerian English; that tells you that if we are going to go on the path of democracy, there needs to be some kind of clarity about what are we looking at now while we are debating term limits.

For example, I remember that Tony Blair was British Prime Minister for 10 years, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister for 11 years, Lee Kuan Yew, people would speak eloquently about Singapore, but Lee Kuan Yew became Prime Minister, I think, 1958 or 59 or thereabouts and he remained so consistently. He conducted elections and won elections, the party he founded, People’s Action Party, is still the party in power today.

What people don’t remember about Lee Kuan Yew, which also speaks to other issues, is that Lee Kuan Yew studied in Cambridge and got a First Class; his son, who just stepped down as Prime Minister, went to Cambridge and he too got a First Class; Lee’s wife went with him to Cambridge and she also got a First Class. Imagine the quality of his imagination and, immediately he became Prime Minister, the first thing he did was to go to Harvard where young people like Henry Kissinger (former US Secretary of State) were just young lecturers, he established a relationship with them and from there they led him to Washington.

But one of the critical things that Lee did, which, I think, should speak to the reason why democracy is failing so badly in Africa is that Lee Kuan Yew identified the Public Service as the most important vehicle of governance, and so, if you got a First Class in Singapore, you went into the Public Service and he so incentivized the Civil Service that it became the place to go.

The salaries of civil servants in Singapore were 80% more than what people were getting in the private sector. Now, in Nigeria, if somebody wants to marry your daughter and your daughter tells you “the guy I want to marry is working in the ministry”, I’m sure you know that is a no-brainer, it’s most likely your prospective father-in-law will look the other way.

On corrupt Civil Service corrupting good intentions of the government

Every governor, President is full of good intentions. (But) the question is, what is the quality of the container, the quality of the conveyor belt for carrying the good wishes of the government? Because we have a thoroughly corrupt Civil Service, the result is that no matter the vision, no matter the dream because we tend to focus on what the President is not doing and what the governor is not doing, we forget the quality of those who are conveying the intentions of government.

It is to make the point that when somebody like Lee Kuan Yew stayed and conducted elections, he won elections over 30 years. Putin has over 20 years as President; we don’t know when he’s going to go. Museveni, we are celebrating 25 years of his being in power for about 38 years in Uganda; it started in 1986; we have no idea when he’s going to go.

Nigerian elite are shameless

Nigerians are quite shameless, especially the Nigerian elite. I don’t know what Nigerians were thinking when they started visiting South Africa for holidays and they probably have houses in South Africa, but which South Africa are you adoring? Is it the one that was built by apartheid or the South Africa of today? Criminals have so much money; they’ll go anywhere they hear there is a good place. Nigerians are now shamelessly going to Rwanda and they come back telling stories about Rwanda, but which Rwanda do you want to be in? Is it Rwanda in which you can contest the election? Here in Nigeria, you can fight, you can go to the Supreme Court, but tell me, who has stood in front of (Rwanda leader) Paul Kagame and is still standing to talk? We need to make a point about what exactly we want. Paul Biya has been President of Cameroon since 1982. Mbasogo has been President (of Equitorial Guinea) for 43 years now and he’s still president. Saso Ngusseo (leader of the Democratic Republic of Congo) is still there since 1979, he has been in power for 38 years.

Correlation between stability & development

I think somebody made the point that there’s a correlation between a certain kind of stability and development. It depends though, but the volatility in our system suggests that we need to be a little bit calmer. The situation in which we are all quarrelling with the quality of the tools that we are working with doesn’t address the issue. Martin Wolfs, who worked with the Financial Times, wrote a very beautiful book, ‘The Crisis Around Liberal Capitalism’, and he makes the point that the beauty of the economy is that it is a “Marketplace and a Marketplace is beautiful because it’s a place of choice”.

But the truth of the matter is that Adam Smith made the point about the ‘Invisible hand of the market’ where only spirits are invisible, but it also speaks to the fact that the invisible hand cannot regulate the market. Wall Street, which is really the temple of the world economy, after its collapse, hundreds of millions of Americans became homeless, it’s impact reverberated across the world, but the very interesting thing is that nobody, not one single person from Wall Street is in prison. Now, Michael Douglas talks about the glory of greed and this is the challenge for many countries in Africa beginning with Nigeria.

On the need to restrain the greed of political elites

How do you restrain the greed of the political elite, and not only the political elite but also the greed and the appetite of ordinary Nigerians because it is feeding this beast that has made it impossible for this country to grow? And, of course, you know that Labour is asking for N516, 000 minimum wage and government says it’s unable to pay.

Economist talk about what they call incentive compatibility, we cannot talk about people being corrupt when it is clear to us that the incentives for doing the right thing don’t exist. On the discussion of what economic choices to make, are we to be socialist or capitalist? Nigeria is neither and it’s not a choice of either. China has demonstrated very clearly to us that we don’t have to make those kinds of choices.

The monkey story

There is the story of a woman, she came back from the market and she had a set of twins. She came back with a small cake. When she brought out the cake, she had a monkey and the mother was about to give the cake to the twins and the monkey said, “Look, you are a mother; you cannot give this, you know you are going to create problems for your children. How will they share this cake? I am a neutral person; so, let me share the cake”.

The monkey collects the cake; he breaks the cake into two and discovers one is bigger than the other. Because they are twins, he bites it off in order to equalize it and, in biting it, this one became bigger and he continues this and then the children are waiting for the cake and they’re looking and by the time the monkey turns around the cake is finished. That is exactly what we have before. Socialism has not worked for us, but it doesn’t mean that capitalism will work for us.

It means that there has to be something internal in the heart. It’s very interesting we don’t like to talk about religion and the people say religion has become so abused. There’s no amount of abuse they have not heaped on religion. But the point is that it is religion that stops the poor from killing the rich.

Papa encyclicas relating to economics

What we are debating now about wages, Pope Pius the 13th (1891), let me read out what the Pope was saying at that time. He said: “Today, working men, all over the world, are allowed in their demands that they shall, in no circumstance, be subjected to arbitrary treatment as though devoid of intelligence.

And freedom working men insist on being treated as human beings with a share in every sector of human society in the social economic sphere in government and in the realm of learning and culture.” In (1963), Pope Paul the 6th came out with an encyclical called: ‘Pacem in Terris; Peace on Earth’.

And one of the things he said is: “It is only by labour of working men that states grow, rich, justice therefore demands that the interest of the working class should be carefully watched over by the administration so that they who contribute so largely to the advantage of the community may themselves share in the benefits which they create.”

On way out: Democracy Ideals & Intellectuals

Nigerians talk about “monkey dey work, baboon dey chop”. The challenge before us is not so much a question of how the market works. The challenge is that the human person in Nigeria must become the thermometer for gauging whether systems are working or not working.

We have provisions in the Nigerian Constitution and I think that the challenge before us is that the National Assembly and the government must go back to the Constitution. I hear the criticisms against the Constitution but there is enough in our Constitution to give us the things we are asking for. If you just go through Chapter Two of the Constitution, of course the frame has said that the issues we are asking for there are fundamental as to how Nigeria is going to grow. There are provisions there, for example, encouraging us to inter-marry, encouraging us to form association, encouraging us about religious freedom. But a lot of these issues are operated in their breaches. For example, when you look at the United States of America, when their Constitution was made, they didn’t anticipate the Constitution was essentially for white men who were rich and with property, but, within three years, by 1865, America realized mistakes had been made.

They couldn’t have foreseen everything, so, the 13th Amendment in 1865 said that there will be no more slavery and nobody should be engaged in forced labour and they tried to make it happen. The 14th Amendment, which followed almost immediately, allowed people, American common citizenship was established. Achievable? Maybe not, but a system of inclusion was beginning to develop. The 15th Amendment gave people, including black people, the right to vote.

And guess what? All the conversations we’re having now about gender and so on didn’t start with Nigeria; it’s not as if Africans don’t like women. Actually, with all these amendments, women still could not vote.

Black people could vote in America but women could not vote including white women; it was not until the 19th Amendment in 1920 that women were now free to vote, so women have travelled a very long journey. I know you still have a long way to go, but it’s important to know how you have come to where you are today. In fact, a writer has said that, in reality, American democracy did not come on stream until 1965.

A lot of our women, I hear women say “we want to be like Rwanda because Rwanda Parliament is full of women”, but I said “hey, talk slowly because you need to lose many of your husbands as men died in the Rwanda genocide”. What is very interesting in all of this is that we work for one generation to be better than the next.

But the problem with the Nigerian situation is that we today want to make sure if life is not good for us then life is not likely to be good at all. Moving forward, and by way of conclusion, is to go back to some of the things that have been articulated here. What does it really mean to be a Nigerian irrespective of your economic status? These are the things that Chinua Achebe spoke about eloquently; you know he spoke about his people because he always insisted that Igbo must not allow these people who have money miss road to take over their communities.

When you talk about the elite, Nigerians measure elitism by the size of your house or the size of your car. It doesn’t matter whether you are educated or not educated.

I was here in Lagos for a wedding and the groom was so well dressed; beautiful, so when we now went through the ritual, I said: “Say I Thomas”, the guy replied, “You said I Thomas”. And I kept going on and on. It was quite embarrassing.

I didn’t know the man was a stark illiterate, but he was marrying this gorgeous woman who must have married him for whatever reasons. Love, if it happens, but at least there were things that were obvious.

On democracy ideals

I think we must redefine what it is to be a Nigerian, we must also make sure that the elite claim this argument and claim this space because I have not seen anywhere illiterate people have built a civilization.

It is important that we understand that democracy has its ideals but those ideals must be enunciated by intellectuals. There needs to be a much firmer foundation and finding a place for the moral guardrails that can protect our people. Otherwise, those who dismiss religion forget that even if religion didn’t exist, it will be invented because there are so many things we cannot explain in life. But in the final analysis, people need to be reminded constantly that this world is going to end. The Catholic Church teaches a principle that it calls ‘the Universal Destination of Goods’, and Pope Francis wrote an eloquent encyclical called Laudato Si in (2015) to make the point that everything God created is for a purpose. It is not for the greedy, it is for all his children. Those of us in the religious business, let me put it this way, have to continue to refine the arguments, we have to continue to hold certain ideals because what we need is not necessarily empires or emperors. What we need is a clean society; where we measure our progress not by the presence of the rich but by the absence of the poor.

And finally, the only way democracy can work is that democracy has to be an instrument of development and, if we use democracy to develop, then we will be developing democracy.

A man identified as Femi on Saturday in Osogbo, Osun State jumped into Osun river, not long after he complained about the hardship facing him.

A source close to the scene said Femi stood on the Gbodofon bridge located along Osogbo/Gbongan road around 10:30 am and jumped into the river.

A vulcaniser, working close to the scene, who preferred to remain anonymous for security reasons, said he observed a man walk down from the Old Governor’s Office end of Osogbo/Gbongan road and stood for a few minutes in the middle of Gbodofon bridge before he took a plunge into the river.

He said, “I was at a spot close to the bridge working on a customer’s tyre when I looked towards the Gbodofon bridge and I saw a man walking down from Old Governor’s Office end of the Osogbo/Gbongan. 

“He stood right in the middle of the bridge and took a plunge into the Gbodofon river. People around were seized with fear after the incident.”

During an interview with The PUNCH, the spokesperson of Osun State Fire Service, Ibrahim Adekunle, said operatives of the agency were called for an emergency rescue operation when the victim jumped into the river around 10:30 am

“We responded, but the river is overflowing at the moment. We made efforts and we are still looking for the person, but we are yet to recover the body. From what we were told, the person involved is a man,” Adekunle said.

Also commenting, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Osun State Command, Kehinde Adeleke, identified the victim as Femi, adding that he had earlier made an attempt to commit suicide, but was chased away by some people who suspected his movement on the bridge.

Adeleke further said, “On July 6th, 2024, at exactly 10:30 am, a man identified as Femi, the only son of his parent and a native of Ilesha jumped into Gbodofon River.

“According to an eyewitness, before he jumped into the river, he kept saying that a group of people had beaten him mercilessly at a (fast food joint) in the OgoOluwa area, which led him to decide to end his life.

“During the investigation, we interviewed a man who witnessed the incident. He mentioned that Femi initially attempted to commit suicide, but was chased away. He later came back, saying he was tired of life. Shortly after, he went to the top of the Gbodofon Bridge and jumped into the river.

“As of Saturday evening, the body of the said man has not been recovered but the effort is ongoing.”

The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has advised Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, to beg the Nigerian government to secure his freedom.

Primate Ayodele warned that the embattled IPOB leader would die in detention if he refused to beg the Nigerian government for his freedom.

Ayodele gave the advice during the launch of his 30th “Warning to the Nations” at his church in Lagos on Saturday.

Recall that Kanu is currently locked up by the Department of State Services, DSS, on the orders of the Nigerian government.

This is coming when Southeast governors and senators had agreed to meet President Bola Tinubu to seek a political solution to Kanu’s continued detention.

The IPOB leader has been detained since June 2021 when he was re-arrested in Kenya and repatriated to Nigeria.

Since his repatriation, courts have granted Kanu bail but the Nigerian government refused to release him.

However, the popular prophet also disclosed that Nigeria would break up and neither Kanu nor Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho would be responsible.

He noted that Nigeria will break up without a bloodbath, adding that the country will break up from the North.

According to Ayodele: “Nigeria will break but not through Nnamdi Kanu or Sunday Igboho, Kanu should beg the government before he is released or else he will die in jail.

“He should hands off because he lacks the capacity to carry the agitation. The country will break without a bloodbath, it will be a natural cause.

“Prayer and fasting will not stop it because the spirit of existence is tired. The spirit of our forefathers like Tafawa Balewa is not happy. Nigeria’s break up will start from the North.”