SUNDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER 2025

Dangote Refinery Tackles Petrol Marketers over Allegation of Offering Lower Prices to Foreign Buyers

Gbajabiamila Mobilises Nnamani, Dogara, Other Ex-legislators

L-R: Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Adeoye Ojuroye; his wife, Mrs. Ojuroye; Bride’s father, Mr. Christopher Oshiafi; his wife, Omolola; the Couple, Adepoju and Oyindamola Omidiran; Mrs. Chinelo Oramah; and Dr. Adedeji Adeleke, during the wedding reception of Oyindamola and Adepoju at Ikoyi, Lagos… yesterday

Ahmad Sorondinki in Kano

Rivers Govt Begins Transition to Democratic Governance

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

Hope for the return of the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Siminalayi Fubara, and members of the state House of Assembly to power at the expiration of the state of emergency in the state on September 18 has further brightened as the state government has officially begun transition from emergency rule to democratic governance.

President Bola Tinubu’s chances of re-election for a second term yesterday brightened when his Chief of Staff and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, mobilised the Southern Caucus of the Forum of the Former Legislators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to endorse him as their sole presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.

The Southern Caucus of the Forum of Former Legislators, which adopted Tinubu as the sole presidential candidate in the next general election, comprises some former speakers and principal officers of the House of Representatives from the South-west, South-south, and South-east parts of Nigeria.

The summit was convened by Gbajabiamila for the Southern Caucus of the former legislators, with the former President of the Senate, Senator Ken Nnamani, as chairman of the occasion.

However, the event, held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Abeokuta, the Ogun State, was also attended by some members of the Northern Caucus of former legislators, including a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara.

In adopting President Tinubu as the sole presidential candidate in the 2027 general election, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the summit, the former legislators

quality leaders for a long time.

He said the country has been having leaders he described as lousy for many years.

The first-class monarch also said the country would have been bankrupt had the federal government not removed fuel subsidies.

The emir spoke yesterday at the second Kano International Poetry Festival (KAPFEST) organised by Poetic Wednesdays Initiative (PWI) in Kano.

According to the emir, good

DAPPMAN stirred the controversy when it accused the refinery of offering lower prices to international buyers while quoting higher rates to local offtakers of its products.

But in a swift reaction, Dangote Group accused the marketers of selfishly killing Nigeria's petroleum transport pipelines, importing substandard petrol, causing regular fuel shortages and queues, and also subjecting the country to suffering.

Speaking to THISDAY last night, the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer of Dangote

The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Wike, had earlier hinted that with the recent successful conduct of the local government elections in the state, the coast was clear for the return of Fubara and the state lawmakers to power at the expiration of the state of emergency in the state.

The six-month emergency rule declared by President Bola Tinubu in the state on March 18, 2025, will expire on Thursday,

acknowledged Tinubu’s various reforms, which have, in the last two years, re-engineered the economy, strengthened the currency, and set the nation on the path of socio-economic recovery.

Speaking at the summit, Gbajabiamila noted that with the signing into law of the tax reforms, President Tinubu has ushered in a new era of economic justice built on fairness, accountability, and national purpose.

The Chief of Staff, while quoting the World Bank Development Update, said the country's economy expanded by 4.6 per cent in the final quarter of 2024, pushing annual growth to 3.4 per cent, the fastest pace in a decade.

He further added that the country's fiscal deficit narrowed from 5.4 per cent of Gross Domestic Product in 2023 to 3 per cent in 2024, driving the federation revenues from N16.8 trillion in 2023 to an estimated N31.9 trillion in 2024.

The former House of Representatives’ Speaker noted the importance of unity in diversity, adding that without national unity, there could be no national development and that a nation without peace cannot experience progress.

"The country can draw strength and inspiration from culture, music, arts, and traditions. Nation-building is a joint task that goes beyond building roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals; it is about forging a sense of

governance is key to salvaging the country from its current condition which the country has not been lucky. He said: “You rise and fall with the quality of your leadership and Nigeria has had lousy leadership for a long time. You cannot give what you do not have until we begin to look at the people who we choose to lead us.

“And that’s the truth. I mean, in most parts of this country, you look at people

Group, Anthony Chiejina, also accused DAPPMAN of backing the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) in the union’s failed fight against the refinery.

Chiejina dismissed the marketers' claims that the refinery was only contributing between 30 to 35 per cent of Nigeria’s daily oil demand, insisting that the refinery has gone beyond its 650,000 barrels per day capacity and was ramping up to 700,000 bpd.

He stated that Dangote Refinery has been exporting fuel to America

September 18.

The state government yesterday announced that, as part of the transition activities, the state would hold an interdenominational church thanksgiving service today.

A statement issued by the Secretary to State Government (SSG), Prof. Ibibia Lucky Worika, invited permanent secretaries, local government chairmen, heads of state security, paramilitary agencies, traditional rulers,

common identity and purpose among the citizens.

"President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ensured purposeful leadership through the establishment of development commissions across the six geopolitical regions of the country. The development commissions would no doubt help channel more federal resources to develop and implement infrastructure and human capital development across the country.

"Nation-building is not only the work of the government, but also for citizens, both at home and in the diaspora, who have a stake in the Nigerian project to join hands with the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration to build a nation every citizen will be proud of."

Speaking on the contributions of lawmakers in the task of moving the nation forward, Gbajabiamila said: "This summit is an exceptional opportunity for friends, former colleagues and patriots who are committed to the promise of Nigeria to jointly consider the various ways we might individually and together support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in implementing the long-delayed economic, political and structural reforms necessary to advance Nigeria’s cause and ensure the progress and prosperity of all our people.

"The members of this forum played vital roles in ensuring the emergence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Many continue to serve in government, helping our

who are leading you and you say, oh God, is this really the person? How did we end up here? You see it every day in the newspapers.

“You see it in the news. You see what happens in the legislature. You see the kind of debates that we are having, the kind of arguments that we have, the kind of time we waste on issues that are totally unimportant, the pettiness. You look at other countries, you look at other parts of the

and other countries, which, according to him, is an indication that it was producing enough to meet Nigeria’s demand.

He said for 25 years, DAPPMAN and its allies have been importing petrol, running depots, and causing regular fuel shortages and queues.

Responding to the marketers’ claims that the refinery accounted for only 35 per cent of petrol supplies to the local market, Chiejina said: “You know our story; you know what we've been producing. We have even gone beyond 650,000 barrels per

chairmen, members of boards, captains of industry, and all critical stakeholders for the service.

The thanksgiving is to be held at the Ecumenical Centre, Abonima Wharf Road, Port Harcourt, at 10 am, with all guests asked to be seated by 9:30 am.

The statement named Rivers Administrator, Vice-Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd.) as the special guest of honour.

The statement said: “The Government of Rivers State is

pleased to invite the permanent secretaries, local government chairmen, heads of state security and paramilitary agencies, traditional rulers, chairmen and members of boards and governing councils, captains of industries, government officials and guests to the inter-denominational church thanksgiving service, as part of transition activities to usher in democratic governance in Rivers State”

Ibas had on Friday insisted he

FOR TINUBU’S SECOND TERM

president serve this country and implement the Renewed Hope Agenda. The federal cabinet alone includes 15 former members of the National Assembly. That number does not include the President, the Vice President, the Deputy Chief of Staff, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and me, all of whom are veterans of the federal parliament.

"The trend continues across the departments and agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria, where former legislators are engaged as chief executives and in other senior executive roles. The evident dominance of former legislators in government is both a result of this president’s recognition of your contributions to the growth and development of our democracy as well as a testament to the role of the National Assembly as an incubator of exceptional political, administrative, and governing talent," Gbajabiamila added.

In his message, the host, Governor Dapo Abiodun, noted that nation-building isn't the sole responsibility of one region, one party, or one institution, but a shared duty that transcends tribal, religious, political, and economic divides.

Abiodun added that unity does not mean uniformity, but a celebration of diversity under the framework of justice, equity, and respect.

While acknowledging the former legislators as embodiments and essence of representative democracy, Governor Abiodun

world, people are discussing climate change, discussing artificial intelligence.

“We are still talking about Yoruba or Igbo or Hausa, Northern or Christian, you know, that is, we are still mired in that debate. We are still in conversations that we had in the 1960s,” he added.

The emir, however, challenged the youths to rise up and take over the country from the old people that have been managing it, saying with

day. If we are producing 40 per cent, then why are we exporting? You know that we have been exporting fuel. America has acknowledged it. Different countries have acknowledged it. So, what are they talking about?

“What you should be saying is, we now know the finger behind what NUPENG is doing because it's like they have smoked them out. They are the guys behind NUPENG. NUPENG has failed.

"If you have this refinery and you are proud to say that you are importing. And all these years,

had delivered on the president’s mandate.

The administrator spoke at the Government House in Port Harcourt when the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) presented a report of the recently concluded local government elections to him. Ibas cited the restored order and relative peace in the state as evidence that he met the expectations of both the presidency and the people of the state.

said that apart from performing legislative duties, they also perform oversight functions and representation through which the voice of the people at the grassroots is brought to the government at the centre.

"You must be committed to a united, secure, and economically vibrant region. You must continue to support policies and programmes that promote inclusive governance, human capital development, and inter-regional cooperation," he said.

Chairman of the occasion, Senator Nnamani, in his opening remarks, stressed the need for former legislators to come together to deliberate on the challenges confronting the nation and proffer workable solutions to the government.

In his remark, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dogara, urged Nigerians not to allow pretenders in the political space to cause them to lose faith in the Tinubu-led administration, observing that the agitations of the so-called pretenders are not about patriotism, but more about vengeance and power.

While affirming that the structure of the pretenders was built on mendacity, fury, and spectacle, Dogara noted that the country has begun to experience economic recovery.

On her part, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh, called for cohesion, dialogue, and shared purpose to navigate the journey of sustainable

will, the youths could easily retire all of them and take over.

He also said subsidising fuel was never sustainable and the country would have been bankrupt by now if President Bola Tinubu didn’t remove it.

He said: “If you look at the billions and billions that were spent on subsidies, if that money had been spent on refineries, I have nothing against subsidies. If you are subsidizing production, I said it very clearly, my objection is

they've been importing fuel, substandard fuel, putting us on queues, and having regular fuel shortages.

"Monday will make it exactly one year since we started producing fuel. Have you ever heard about fuel shortages? We are producing 650,000 barrels. We are even ramping up to 700,000 barrels."

Chiejina added, "Ask them what killed all the supply pipelines? They are not ashamed of themselves.

You have Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna petroleum pipelines.

development, adding that unity remains an ingredient for peace and democratic progress.

The National Coordinator of the Summit, Hon. Raphael Igbokwe, gave the assurance that the meeting would serve as a platform to find solutions to the nation's problems, urging the sub-nations to collaborate with the federal government in moving the nation forward.

While the Attorney General of Edo State, Hon. Samson Osagie, read the communique, the motion for the adoption of the communique was moved by a former Senator representing Rivers East, Magnus Abe. The communique read, "We commend the innovative reforms of government which include, among others, the establishment of regional development commissions, local government autonomy, student loans scheme, and deregulation of the electricity sector, and call for greater collaboration of State Governments, and support of citizens alike to be able to harvest the great potential of these reforms.

"That as a body, we will always align ourselves to those things that will promote the unity, peace, and prosperity of our dear country, Nigeria.

"We commend the patriotic courage of our colleagues of the Northern caucus in calling for the South to complete their tenure of the leadership of the country.

the subsidy on consumption because we’re keeping refineries in Europe open. We’re giving jobs to refiners.

“And if we had taken 2012, we would not be where we are today. Now, people say to me, why aren’t you talking? I say, what am I to say? This is exactly what I said would happen because beyond a point, government revenue will not be enough to pay the subsidy. You have to borrow to pay the subsidy,”

All the pipelines for transporting fuel are no longer functioning. They killed it. They have now established depots. What is a depot? What is a tank farm? Because these things (pipelines) were functioning before they died. And when they were functioning, we didn't have those problems. But when they died, the market dynamics changed, and they started establishing depots all over the place. And they have done it for more than 25 years. Now somebody is coming to erase it, and you are crying.

James Sowole in Abeokuta

PROMOTING BILATERAL RELATIONS…

L-R: Director, Economic, Trade and Investment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bolaji Akinremi; Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Angolan Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Ambassador Domingos Custodio Vieira Lopes; Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri; and Director-General, Nigerian Technical Aid Corps, Dr. Yusuf Yakub, during the fifth Angola-Nigeria Bilateral Economic Joint Commission meeting in Luanda…recently

ADC Denies Existence of Faction, Pledges to Address Legitimate Grievances, Begins Membership Registration

The Interim National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, has denied the alleged existence of a faction in the party. He also announced that the party would commence the registration of members with the confirmed signatures of the former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, and former governor of Osun State, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, as National Chairman and National Secretary, respectively.

Abdullahi, who spoke at an interactive session with journalists in Abuja at the weekend, said the decision that brought the new leadership was unanimously taken at the 99th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party, which was observed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “as required by the rules.”

Abdullahi, who was reacting to the purported court order restraining INEC from recognising Mark and Aregbesola as the National Chairman and Secretary of the party, respectively, said no such injunction was given. FG’s Savings Bond Borrowing Rises 6.3% in Nine Months as Investors Chase Low-risk Yields

Kayode Tokede

The federal government is leaning more heavily on small investors to plug its widening fiscal gap, as appetite for its retail debt remains resilient despite softer coupon rates, according to data from the Debt Management Office (DMO).

The data showed that borrowings through the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Savings Bond climbed 6.27 per cent year-on-year to N36.23 billion in the first nine months of 2025, up from N34.09 billion in the same period of 2024. The growth reflects strong investor demand for risk-free securities even as yields edge lower.

Launched in 2017 to encourage savings culture and broaden government’s funding sources, the Savings Bond offers ordinary Nigerians a chance to lend directly to the government in tenors of two and three years. Interest is paid quarterly, and principal is guaranteed at maturity.

Investors’ participation was particularly strong in the first quarter of 2025, when subscriptions jumped to N12.95 billion, a 76 per cent surge compared with Q1 2024.

However, the momentum reduced as DMO raised N12.65 billion in second quarter (Q2), down 12.6 per cent from the same period last year, and N10.63 billion in Q3, a 13.4 per cent slide year-on-year.

September’s auction brought in N3.05 billion from 2,039 successful subscriptions, lower than the N3.32 billion raised in August.

The two-year tranche due in 2027 attracted N631.76 million from 792 investors, while the three-year paper maturing in 2028 drew N2.42 billion from 1,246 investors.

Coupon rates have also softened: September’s 2-year bond cleared at 15.541 per cent, and the 3-year at 16.541 per cent, down from 17.202 per cent and 18.202 per cent a year earlier.

Despite declining yields, institutional and retail investors continue to pile into FGN paper.

Analysts attribute this to excess liquidity in the financial system, limited quality alternatives, and the security of sovereign guarantees.

“FG bonds remain oversubscribed because there’s a surplus of funds chasing safe assets,” said Vice President at Highcap Securities Limited, David Andori.

“We know from day one that what brought us into the coalition, the very forces that were destabilising the other opposition political parties, are not going to allow the ADC coalition to just fly without challenge,” he said.

He alleged that the people spreading the stories that the court restrained the party leadership were people who were directly connected to people within the government circle.

“It is the continuation of the same agents of destabilisation that have been working so hard to ensure that Nigeria is dragged down to a one-party state.

“Luckily for us, and unfortunately for them, the ruling was very clear. The prayer that was put before the court was outrightly rejected, and the only thing here that has implications

for us is that we should be put on notice and that we should make our appearance on September 15,” he said.

Abdullahi stated that the court could not have given such an injunction because INEC had already recognised the leadership.

“So, you can’t give an injunction to something that has already happened,” he added, pointing out that the question of leadership of a party had been settled by the Supreme Court.

“The leadership of a party and the candidate of a party is entirely the business and the decision of the party; that is the Supreme Court’s position.

“Whatever they are doing is not going to hold water; it’s doomed to fail.

“We just didn’t expect that they would go as low as dragging the

reputation of the judiciary into their political fight.

“So we, as the African Democratic Congress, are not going to be bothered by this. We’ve made our decisions, we’ve moved on, and we are focused now on just building our party,” he added.

The ADC’s spokesperson said the party’s candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Dumebi Kachukwu, is no longer a member of the party.

He described some narratives of the erstwhile candidate as disturbing and accused him of making inflammatory and divisive statements.

“When you begin to castigate people on account of their age, when does it become a crime to be an older person? “These are things that people get arrested

for in civilised societies, to profile people in a way that shows that you are excluding them for one reason or another from their democratic rights. Is it a crime to be an older person?

“He keeps talking about North, South, these Northerners. Who talks like that? And this is someone who, no matter how ridiculous, aspired to be the president of Nigeria. And he’s promoting such divisive rhetoric,” Abdullahi said.

Abdullahi, however, said the party is ready to discuss with anyone who has genuine grievances.

“We had people who had expressed one grievance or another. We have managed to recognise some grievanceslegitimate grievances, and we have dealt with them.

Flood Wreaks Havoc in Zaria, Destroys 270 Homes, Displaces 470 Children

Shiklam in Kaduna

A torrential downpour on Thursday and Friday unleashed devastating floods in Zaria, Kaduna State, displacing more than 470 children and destroying over 270 households across several communities.

A coordinated assessment team, which included the Nigerian Red Cross Society, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Kaduna State

Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), and local government officials, confirmed the scale of destruction during a visit to affected areas.

Led by Zaria Local Government Chairman, Alhaji Jamil Ahmad Muhammad Jaga, the team toured Kofar Kuyanbana and other hard-hit communities, including Gangaren Mobil and Bayan Cinema in Tudun Wada Ward, as well as Magume, Bako Zuntu, and Kamacha in Tukur

Tukur Ward.

The floods, triggered by heavy early-morning rainfall, swept away foodstuffs, clothing, electronics, and other essentials, leaving hundreds of families stranded and in dire need of assistance.

Despite the widespread devastation, officials confirmed that no lives were lost, describing the outcome as an act of divine mercy considering the scale of the disaster.

In the aftermath, the Nigerian Red Cross Society, Zaria Division, has begun distributing relief materials to displaced families while stressing the urgent need for more support.

The humanitarian body appealed to government agencies, philanthropists, and non-governmental organizations to intervene swiftly, warning that victims are facing worsening hardship without immediate assistance.

NCAA: Why Air Peace Co-pilot was Cleared Despite NSIB’s Report on Use of Hard Drugs, Alcohol

Chinedu Eze

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has clarified the circumstances surrounding its decision to clear the co-pilot of Air Peace, who was reportedly indicted alongside his colleagues for involvement with hard drugs and alcohol.

An Air Peace aircraft had a runway excursion on a Sunday,

June 13, after landing at the Port Harcourt International Airport. The aircraft veered off the runway without any damage.

The Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) revealed that the aircraft touched down 2,264 metres from the runway threshold, well beyond the recommended touchdown zone, and eventually came to a stop at 209 metres into the clearway.

NSIB indicted the crew members concerned following a medical test of their bloodstreams.

The airline has since faulted this indictment and denied the allegations.

Speaking on the matter during an X space yesterday, the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, emphasised that the regulatory body followed due

process based on the available facts and internal investigations. He explained that both the NCAA internal investigation and the NSIB report did not indict the co-pilot, the reason for his clearance and return to work.

He also said the durability of the NCAA rules is occasionally tested by real-life incidents, saying this was why the rules are subjected to reviews consistently.

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

John

CELEBRATING INSEAD DAY…

L-R:

Gov AbdulRazaq Commends Bravery of Isin Vigilante, Urges Continuous Firm Action against Criminals

Approves N10m for family of slain vigilante, appeals for calm Deputy Senate leader raises the alarm over rising insecurity in Kwara

Hammid Shittu in Ilorin

The Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, yesterday commended the firm and patriotic resistance of the people of Isin, which resulted in the elimination of many armed criminals in an encounter at Eleyin community in Isin Local Government Area

2027:

(LGA) of the state. The governor also approved N10 million as financial support for the family of the dead vigilante, Mr. Saheed Adeshina, who succumbed to the injuries in the encounter.

However, as the Nigerian Army extends Operation Fansan Yamma to Kwara to boost security of the state, the

Deputy Senate Leader and senator representing Kwara South, Senator Lola Ashiru, has raised the alarm over the rising insecurity in the senatorial district.

The senator warned that the insecurity in Kwara State is threatening not only the future of the state but also neighbouring regions and the country at large.

In a statement issued in Ilorin,

the state capital, Governor AbdulRazaq said the community action against the criminals is consistent with the right of the people to live without fear or intimidation at all times.

“In addition to our support for the security agencies, I assure our communities of continuous support to resist violent attacks. I, therefore, commend the

Step down for Peter Obi, Obidient Movement Begs Jonathan, Ex-Anambra Gov Seeks Comprehensive Electoral Reforms

The Obidient Movement has appealed to former President Goodluck Jonathan to support the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, Mr. Peter Obi, instead of contesting against him in the 2027 presidential election.

This is as Obi has called for comprehensive electoral reforms in the country.

The Obidient Movement’s appeal is coming after Obi and Jonathan held a closed-door meeting last Thursday.

Obi posted pictures of himself and the former president on his X handle, describing Jonathan as “a very dear elder brother, statesman, and leader”.

He added that their discussion centred on the state of the nation.

Although it is being speculated that he would contest the 2027 presidential election, Jonathan has yet to make a public pronouncement on the issue.

The Obidient Movement, however, urged the former President to step aside for Obi in the interest of fairness and national progress.

The National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, said while both men are respected leaders, Obi remains the preferred choice of millions of Nigerians seeking a new direction.

“They have been friends for a long time. The meeting was for

them to fraternise and discuss how to rescue Nigeria.

“But for us in the Obidient Movement, it would be great if Jonathan remains the respected statesman he is known for. He has done his best as president; he is respected, and this is the time for him to support his brother,” Tanko said.

After Thursday’s meeting with Jonathan, Obi called for comprehensive electoral reforms to move elections and electioneering matters forward.

The former governor of Anambra State, who took to his X account, said: “After I met with former President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja on Thursday, I attended the 3rd Annual National Summit of

one of Obidient support groups (CPO), as well as the public presentation of the book titled ‘The Flame of Hope: Igniting the Soul of a Nation’ written by Emeka Patrick Ude.

''The gathering was not only a celebration of ideas but also a reaffirmation of our collective journey toward building a Nigeria that works for all. In my remarks, I highlighted the urgent need for comprehensive electoral reforms, which remain the bedrock of any functional democracy to drive inclusive growth, create jobs, unlock the immense potential of our young population, and improve the critical areas of development, health, education, and pull our people out of poverty.

NEMA Confirms One Death, Eight Hospitalised in Lagos Building Collapse

Segun James

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed one person dead following the collapse of a fourstorey building at 333 Borno Way, Alagomeji, Yaba area of Lagos State.

NEMA, in its Day 2 incident report yesterday, said the body of a male victim was recovered from the rubble during ongoing search and rescue operations.

An earlier report had stated that four people were rescued

alive from the structure, which caved in at about 7:46 pm on Friday.

In an update on X, NEMA said: “Search-and-rescue operation is still ongoing at the building collapse scene. NEMA, LASEMA, Fire Services, Police, FRSC, and NSCDC are on the ground. The number of persons rescued remains four; they are in stable condition. No additional person has been rescued at the time of this report, but there is speculation of two more persons under the rubble.”

In a subsequent update, the agency confirmed that one body had been retrieved from the debris, even as efforts continue to ensure that no one is left trapped.

“One body (male) has just been recovered from the rubble. Search-and-Rescue operation is still ongoing,” NEMA said.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Fire Service reported that eight construction workers had been rescued from the site of the collapsed building.

Its Deputy Controller General,

Olajide Ogabi, allayed the public fear of a passive leaked gas pipeline with odour that pervaded the Ikeja axis on Friday evening, saying the situation has been brought under control without any record of actualities.

According to Ogabi, all eight trapped victims have been rescued alive as of 5 am yesterday and were receiving treatment in the hospital, as search and rescue reached ground zero while evacuation of rubble continued.

bravery of the Isin and Irepodun vigilantes who mounted a spirited resistance against the criminals," the statement said.

"I also send my heartfelt condolences to the family of Mr. Saheed Adeshina, who succumbed to the injuries in the encounter. May God repose his soul. His family is assured of our prayers and support at this difficult moment."

Governor AbdulRazaq also approved N10 N10million for the family of the dead vigilante, commending his bravery and commitment to the community.

The governor said the reported mass neutralisation of the criminals was a bold statement that the people of the state would not accept further provocation.

“Not only will the government replace the motorcycles lost in

the encounter, but it will also double down in its logistic support for the security forces and the local vigilantes across the state,” the statement added.

“As we mount this bold resistance in moral courage against criminality, I urge that we strike the right balance so that we do not further undermine our collective well-being, which violent protests may amount to. Together, we will ensure that our communities are rid of all criminal elements as security forces work with local vigilantes to strengthen public safety.

"This collaboration will be further strengthened as the Nigerian Army has extended Operation Fansan Yamma to Kwara in furtherance of its national mandate to support internal security," the governor added.

Stop Using State Power Against Dissenting Voices, RULAC Tells Imo Government Officials

Linus Aleke in Abuja

The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has warned Imo State government officials to stop using state power against dissenting voices in the state.

The civil society organisation, in a statement signed by its Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, called on the state government to desist from using state power to persecute citizens for holding it accountable.

Nwanguma also urged Governor Hope Uzodimma and his administration to embrace democratic norms, engage with constructive criticism in good faith, and govern transparently.

RULAAC further demanded that the Nigeria Police immediately discontinue the invitation and any criminal proceedings against a former

Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Owerri Branch, Mr. Chinedu Agu, as these constitute an abuse of process and a violation of his constitutional rights. He stressed that Imo citizens, other Nigerians, and the broader international community will not ignore any attempt to drag the state back to an era of repression and impunity.

Nwanguma, who averred that freedom of expression is the bedrock of democracy, stated that to criminalise it is to erode the very foundation of governance under the rule of law.

He therefore expressed deep concern about the invitation issued by the Imo State Police Command to Mr. Agu, following a petition by the Ministry of Information alleging “criminal defamation” and “conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace”.

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Founder, Page Financials, Segun Akintemi; President, INSEAD Alumni Association of Nigeria and Chief Executive Officer, STWP, Angela Aattah; Chief Executive Officer, Teach of Nigeria, Molade Adeniyi; and Chairman of Wema Bank, Dr. Oluwayemisi Olorunshola, during the Global INSEAD Day celebration in Lagos…Friday

PARTNERING ON COMMUNICATION…

L-R: Head, Enterprise, Globacom, Lawrence Odediran; Officer, Nigerian Army Signals School, Lt. Col. DD Appah; Director of Strategy and Board Affairs, Globacom, Mrs. Mojisola Asieru; Commandant, Nigerian Army Signals School, Major General Kennedy Osemwegie; Head, CSR, Globacom, Mrs. Adejumobi Mofe-Damijo; Officer, Army Signals School, Col. IM Ekpo; and Globacom’s Chief Security Officer, Major Nobert Okoro (rtd.), during a visit of the official of the Signals School to Globacom Head Office in Lagos…recently

Citing Constituents’ Rights, Democratic Principles, Labour Party Demands Senator Natasha’s Immediate Reinstatement

. Falana, Adegboruwa accuse Senate of disobedience of court order, vindictiveness

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Following the expiration of the six-month suspension slammed on the senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha AkpotiUduaghan, by the Senate, the Labour Party (LP) has demanded her immediate reinstatement, citing democratic principles and her constituents’ rights.

The party made this demand in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Tony Akeni.

This is just as two human rights lawyers, Femi Falana (SAN) and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), have advised the Senate to allow

the senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha AkpotiUduaghan, to resume duty, accusing it of overreaching itself with its decision.

The suspended senator had, in a letter dated August 28, notified the National Assembly of her intention to resume on September 4, which, according to her, marked the end of her six-month suspension.

But in a reply dated September 4, acting Clerk of the National Assembly, Danzaria, said her suspension would remain in force, pending the outcome of the appeal she instituted against the Senate at the Court of Appeal.

Reacting, the Labour Party

Oyebanji: I Will Win October 2025 Governorship Primary, Break Jinx of Single Term Tenure in Ekiti

Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti

Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has expressed optimism that he will break the jinx of a single term tenure for governors of the state in the 2026 gubernatorial election.

Oyebanji, who spoke at the meeting of the stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the country home of the late General Adeyinka Adebayo in Iyin-Ekiti at the weekend, expressed optimism that he would win the party's primary slated for October 27, 2025.

The governor expressed appreciation to the stakeholders and other party members, reiterating his commitment to cohesion of all stakeholders, noting that he would continue to cement the good relationships that will always make the party a bride for all through inclusivity and aggressive developmental strides of his administration.

The governor, who noted that the primary election will be the foundation for 2026 governorship and 2027 presidential elections, expressed optimism that the jinx of single term tenure that has bedeviled

the state would be shattered in order to bring about more decisive development in the state.

He called on every member of the party to consider themselves one big family, pleading that no member of the party should be castigated or bullied by virtue of the aspirants they are supporting.

“We are one big family and we should see ourselves as one. Let everyone pursue his or her aspirations without any form of molestation. We will all work together for victory in the general election,” the governor said.

While assuring that his government would continually key into the Renew Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, the governor added that the economic policies of the president has helped his administration to meet the yearnings of the people in terms of tangible development.

In his remarks, the Chairman of APC in the state, Mr. Olusola Elesin, disclosed that the meeting was aimed at reviewing the activities of the party towards the forthcoming primary election and to strengthen the unity of the party towards future elections.

said it was made aware of the position of an American diplomat on the face-off between the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan.

LP noted that the US diplomat had highlighted a letter by a Gambian lawmaker, Fatoumatta Njai, who condemned the Nigerian Senate’s defiance of a court order reinstating Akpoti-Uduaghan.

LP said: “In the view of the American diplomat, the ‘abuse of the rule of law by the Nigerian Senate against a subsisting court judgment which, since July 4, 2025, nullified the suspension of Senator Natasha and implicitly ordered her unhindered return to the senate, is shameful for

your country,” referring to Nigeria.

LP added: “The Gambian lawmaker, Hon. Fattoumatta Njai of the Gender and Children’s Welfare Committee, who is also a member of the Pan-Africa Parliament, did not just speak. She wrote her thoughts in fire for the world and posterity to bear record.

“Condemning the imperious power play by the Nigerian Senate President and his National Assembly secretariat, Hon. Njai of The Gambia urged the Nigerian Senate to immediately reinstate Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

“In her letter dated September 9, 2025, which the US diplomat shared, Hon. Fattoumatta Njai pointed out that Sen. Natasha’s

prolonged suspension by the Akpabio senate disobeys the court judgment of July 4, 2025, which unequivocally overturned her six-month suspension.

“Stating that the Nigerian Senate’s disobedience of a court ruling undermines West Africa’s democratic civilization, the Gambian lawmaker condemned the Nigerian Senate’s refusal to admit Akpoti-Uduaghan back to the senate under any guise,” LP added.

Also reacting, Falana condemned the leadership of the Senate under Akpabio and the federal government for disobeying court judgments and downplaying the rule of law.

Falana charged President Bola Tinubu to suspend his vacation and return to Nigeria to prevent

the country from collapsing into a state of anarchy.

In a statement he signed, he said the situation where court judgments are disregarded by some influential people threatens adherence to the rule of law in Nigeria.

“President Bola Tinubu should prevent the state from collapsing by suspending his vacation and halting the inexorable descent to anarchy and chaos in the country,” he said.

He charged the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to initiate measures to prevent such continuous disobedience of court orders.

The human rights lawyer also described the Senate under Akpabio’s leadership as the most notorious.

Resolve Internal Crisis or Forget 2027 Presidential Election, PDP Legal Adviser,

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The National Legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Kamaldeen Ajibade, has urged the party to unite and solve its internal crisis or forget the 2027 presidential election.

Ajibade gave the warning at PDP’s National Restoration Movement National Summit in Abuja, where he and other party

leaders addressed members on the need for reconciliation and unity.

Ajibade said: “A fractured PDP cannot heal a fractured nation. It is only when we restore internal harmony and democracy that we can credibly present ourselves as the alternative Nigeria desperately seeks.”

He argued that if disputes in the party are not resolved,

Ajibade Warns Party

they could resurface before 2027 and further weaken the party’s ability to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

He recalled the PDP’s achievements in government, which include stabilising democracy, attracting foreign investment, and introducing reforms in telecommunications, banking, and pensions under former President Olusegun

Obasanjo.

“A house divided against itself cannot stand. A divided PDP cannot win elections. A divided PDP cannot save Nigeria. “Unity requires sacrifice. We must place Nigeria above personal ambition. Ambition is not a sin, but when ambition threatens the core values and existence of the party we have all built, it becomes destructive,” he added.

Aero Contractors Refunds over N257m to Passengers on Flight Delays, Cancellations, Baggage Issues in Eight Months

Chinedu Eze

Aero Contractors has refunded over N257 million to passengers on flight delays, cancellations, and baggage issues from January to August 2025. The amount refunded in the last eight months indicates an increase in refunds, representing a 137 per cent growth compared to the amount refunded during the same period in 2024.

In a statement, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) stated that the refund showcases the airline’s commitment to consumer protection and compliance with the NCAA regulations.

The airline has also spent over N6 million on hotel accommodations for stranded passengers between January and July 2025.

The statement by the NCAA

reads: “Total refund paid January – August 2025 - N257,195,724.39, compared to N108,308,037.40 over the same period in 2024 and N32,766,652.30 in 2023.

“For hotel accommodation, the total amount reported from January to July 2025 is N6,083,229. (verified records with Cocos Hotel; Grand Cubana Hotel, Abuja; NOCY Castle Hotel; Kim Royal Hotel; JC42 Apartment (Asaba), and

Mayor & Diplomat Hotel, Lagos).

The NCAA stated that the figures show remarkable improvement in compliance with Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023.

While acknowledging the peculiar challenges of the operating environment, the NCAA stated that it would continue to protect the rights of all stakeholders.

PROMOTING INTERNATIONAL TRADE…

L-R: Director, Institute of Export and International Trade, Dr. Mercy Femi-Olagundoye; President/Board Chair, The Institute of Export and International Trade, Dr. Bamidele Ayemibo; Chairman, Banking Commission, International Chamber of Commerce, Nigeria, Dr. Omolara Akanji; Vice Chairman, Banking Commission, International Chamber of Commerce, Nigeria, Mr. Olu Vincent; Secretary General, International Chamber of Commerce, Nigeria, Mrs. Olubunmi Osuntuyi; and Director, Institute of Export and International Trade, Mrs. Ayotunde Adesanya, in Lagos…recently

Osun LG Crisis: Court-reinstated APC Officials Drag FG, IG, Adeleke to Court, Seek Tenure Elongation

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

The crisis rocking the local government councils in Osun State has deepened as officials, who were elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), have dragged the federal government and Governor Ademola Adeleke before a Federal High Court in the state, seeking the elongation of their tenure of office.

The APC officials, in an originating summons, urged the court to declare that their tenure, which ought to expire in October this year, be extended

till February 2028.

APC officials were elected in October 2022, but Governor Adeleke sacked them after a Federal Court declared the election illegal.

However, in February 2025, it was purported that the Court of Appeal reinstated them to office in a verdict.

However, new officials elected on the PDP platform were also sworn in as council executives after the February 22 local government elections in the state.

Since then, the political parties have been laying claim to the

INSEAD Alumni in Nigeria Light Up Lagos for Global Celebration

Lagos came alive on Friday night as members of the National INSEAD Alumni Association of Nigeria gathered at LH Prive, Ikoyi, to mark Global INSEAD Day with an evening of stories, laughter, and camaraderie.

The high-energy celebration drew a cross-section of graduates from the prestigious business school, who mingled over cocktails, swapped professional insights, and celebrated the shared spirit that binds the school’s alumni around the world.

Global INSEAD Day, which holds annually on September 12, commemorates the opening of INSEAD’s first MBA programme in 1959.

This year’s Lagos edition honoured that legacy with a lively programme: alumni

shared inspiring stories of impact, competed in spirited INSEAD-themed trivia contests, and rekindled friendships from their time on the school’s campuses in France, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and San Francisco.

Angela Adeboye-Attah, President of the National INSEAD Alumni Association of Nigeria, said the evening reflected the very essence of the school.

“Lagos showed the Salamander spirit in full colour,” she remarked. “From powerful stories of impact to lighthearted trivia and lively networking, the energy in the room captured what INSEAD stands for—a diverse, global community solving real-world challenges together.”

Knights and Ladies Celebrate 30 Years of Faith, Service and Patriotism in Lagos

The Knights of St. John International (KSJI) and their Ladies Auxiliary (LAUX), Lagos Grand, will celebrate three decades of service to God and country from October 10 to 12, 2025.

The Church of the Ascension, Murtala Muhammed International Airport Road, Ikeja, will host the milestone event, themed “Celebrating 30 Years of Service to God and Country.” Professor Obiora

Okonkwo, Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, will chair the ceremony, with Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu as special guest of honour and the Oba of Lagos, His Royal Majesty Oba Rilwan Babatunde Akiolu, as Royal Father of the Day. Chief John Nnia Nwodo, former Information Minister and ex-President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, will deliver the keynote address.

control of the council, leading the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) to abandon work while councils’ allocations were withheld.

However, the reinstated APC officials, in the originating summons filed by Muhideen Adeoye on behalf of Saheed Onibonokuta and seven other local council chairmen, sought for

elongation of tenure till February 19, 2028.

They filed the suit FHC/OS/ CS/147/2025 against the Attorney General of the Federation, the Inspector General of Police, the Osun State Governor, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC), and the

Osun State House of Assembly. They prayed the court to determine six issues, among which are tenure of office, swearing in of the PDP council executives, among others.

Citing Sections 6(6)(b) and 7 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended); Section 91 of the Osun State Independent Electoral

Commission Law, 2022; Sections 3(2), 9, 10, and 28 of the Local Government (Administration) Law, Cap. 72A, Laws of Osun State, Adeoye argued that the Claimants’ tenure of office ought to commence upon inauguration of office and after taking their seats as democratically elected members of the local government councils in Osun State.

Obaseki Not Party to Ossiomo Power Plant, He Only Provided Enabling Environment, Company Clarifies

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

Contrary to the insinuations that a former Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has a stake in Ossiomo Power, the company yesterday clarified that Obaseki merely facilitated the establishment of the plant to ensure a steady power supply, especially to government-owned buildings in the state.

The management of the company also stated that it had paid over 2billion to its Chinese partner - Jiangsu Communication Clean Energy Technology (CCETC) - since the power plant started operation in 2020.

A representative of Jiangsu Communication Clean Energy Technology had claimed during a telephone interview two weeks ago that “instruction to shut

down was because we lost a lot of money and did not get any return on investment,” adding that “all the $20million investment was done by us, including the distribution lines.”

But a representative of Ossiomo Power Plant, Mr. Festus Evbuomwan, during an interactive session with customers on the logjam between the two partners, said

the management was not aware of the $20million investment by the Chinese partner, just as he disclosed that “when they generate power, we sell and pay them.”

He disclosed that after shutting down the power plant, the Chinese partner came up with a request of N185million to be paid to two Chinese, which the Nigerian partner declined.

Stop Using State Power Against Dissenting Voices, RULAC Tells Imo Government Officials

Linus Aleke in Abuja

The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has warned Imo State government officials to stop using state power against dissenting voices in the state.

The civil society organisation, in a statement signed by its Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, called on the state government to desist from using

state power to persecute citizens for holding it accountable.

Nwanguma also urged Governor Hope Uzodimma and his administration to embrace democratic norms, engage with constructive criticism in good faith, and govern transparently.

RULAAC further demanded that the Nigeria Police immediately discontinue the invitation and any criminal proceedings against a former Secretary of the

Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Owerri Branch, Mr. Chinedu Agu, as these constitute an abuse of process and a violation of his constitutional rights.

He stressed that Imo citizens, other Nigerians, and the broader international community will not ignore any attempt to drag the state back to an era of repression and impunity.

Nwanguma, who averred that freedom of expression

is the bedrock of democracy, stated that to criminalise it is to erode the very foundation of governance under the rule of law.

He therefore expressed deep concern about the invitation issued by the Imo State Police Command to Mr. Agu, following a petition by the Ministry of Information alleging “criminal defamation” and “conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace”.

Glo Receives Commendations from Army Signals School

The Commandant of the Nigerian Army School of Signals (NASS), Major General Kennedy Osemwegie, has commended Globacom for its strong commitment to the growth and development of Nigeria.

During a visit to the corporate head office of Globacom in Lagos, the signals training school boss stated that Globacom had always shown its Nigerian outlook and disposition from its first day of

operation over two decades ago.

He noted that Globacom was “extending the frontiers of who a Nigerian should be through its Nigeria-centered focus”.

He observed that cooperation was critical in civil-military relations, adding that the school would be proud to have Glo Foundation partner it to realise the mandate of the institution in its academic and professional trainings.

The visit was made to seek areas

the company could support the school, especially through its Corporate Social Responsibility arm, Glo Foundation. Major General Osemwegie was accompanied by other officials of the signals school.

He disclosed that the Nigerian Army Signal School “is the hub of training for the Nigerian Army personnel in terms of ICT and communications and also some other paramilitary organizations,” adding that the school was interested in

seeking areas of collaboration with corporate bodies such as Globacom in order to discharge its mandate more effectively.

Receiving the team on behalf of Globacom’s management, the Director, Strategy and Board Affairs, Mrs. Mojisola Ashieru Sweet, noted that the telecoms company was proud to be an indigenous company bringing life-transforming changes to the people.

Editor: Festus Akanbi

08038588469

Email:festus.akanbi@thisdaylive.com

CBN’s Recapitalisation Storm Reshaping Mid-Tier Lenders

Nigeria’s tier-2 banks stand at a crossroads, forced by the CbN’s sweeping recapitalisation mandate to either raise unprecedented capital or be swept into a new wave of mergers that could redefine the nation’s banking landscape, writes Festus Akanbi

When the Central bank of Nigeria (CbN) announced in march 2024 that commercial banks would need to drastically raise their minimum capital by 2026, the regulator did more than alter financial ratios. It rewrote the script for the nation’s banking sector. International banks were told to boost their base to N500billion, national banks to N200billion, and regional players to N50billion.

the CbN defended the policy as essential for financial stability, investor confidence, and the ambitious target of building a $1 trillion economy. but for Nigeria’s tier-2 banks, which include ecobank Nigeria Limited, First monument bank plc (FCmb), Fidelity bank plc, Stanbic IBTC Plc, Sterling Bank Nigeria Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria, and Wema Bank Plc, the challenge is existential. They are not minnows, nor do they command the heft of the elite “FUGAZ” banks (First Bank, UBA, GTCO, Access, and Zenith).

the question now is whether they will raise enough capital to stay independent or become absorbed in a new wave of mergers reminiscent of the consolidation era of 2004–2005.

Tier-2 Banks

Nigeria’s financial system has always been split between the dominant tier-1 institutions and the aggressive tier-2 players. The FUGAZ banks lead on deposits, loans, branch networks, and cross-border reach, with Zenith currently topping the industry in Tier-1 capital and Access Bank commanding the largest asset base.

Tier-2 banks, on the other hand, occupy a vital middle space. They are often more agile, more retail-focused, and quicker to embrace digital innovation. Yet, their smaller balance sheets and market valuations leave them vulnerable whenever regulators redraw the rules of the game.

According to SBM Intelligence’s report, “Capital, Competition, and Consolidation,” the new CbN policy is one of the most consequential shifts in two decades. For tier-2 lenders, it represents not just a regulatory hurdle but a battle for survival.

A Race against Time

Faced with the 2026 deadline, tier-2 banks are deploying diverse strategies to build capital buffers. The list includes public offers, rights issues, private placements, offshore financing, and even divestments. Some have taken decisive early steps, while others risk falling behind.

Fidelity Bank has been the standout performer. Already raising over N270 billion through a heavily oversubscribed public offer and rights issue, it has secured shareholder approval to increase issued share capital from N26.7 billion to N36.7 billion, creating room for an additional 20 billion ordinary shares. The bank’s stock tells the story: from N1.65 in 2020 to over N21.20 in mid-2025, a staggering rise of more than 1,100%. Its success is driven by strong earnings, an aggressive digital expansion strategy, and market confidence in its governance.

Wema bank, Nigeria’s pioneer in fully digital banking, is also racing ahead. It raised N40 billion in 2023 and has combined a N150 billion rights issue with a N50 billion private placement. Wema’s stock surged from N1.50 in 2020 to nearly N21.90 by 2025, reflecting investor enthusiasm for its digital-led transformation.

FCMB Group has opted for a three-phased capital-raising plan worth N400 billion. Its first phase, a N144.6 billion public offer, was oversubscribed by 33%. The second phase includes divestment of stakes in subsidiaries like Credit Direct Limited and FCmb pensions Limited through IPOs and private placements,

targeting another N80–90 billion. A final phase will involve offshore private placements with development finance institutions, possibly through preference shares.

Sterling Financial Holdings has combined private placements, rights issues, and a forthcoming $400 million (N602 billion) public offering, reflecting its determination to secure a solid capital base. Its share price more than tripled from N1.70 in 2020 to N7.50 in September 2025, supported by retail and SME lending strength.

Meanwhile, Stanbic IBTC, with its multinational parentage, enjoys deeper financial backing but still faces pressure to prove it can hit the new thresholds without cannibalising returns.

Investor Confidence

Sbm’s report notes that despite macroeconomic headwinds, ranging from naira volatility to rising operational costs, investor sentiment toward tier-2 banks has remained surprisingly bullish. Over the past five years, their equities have outperformed expectations. FCMB rose from N3.33 in 2020 to N10.85 in 2025, while Sterling and Wema delivered steady triple-digit percentage gains. Fidelity and Wema, in particular, became market darlings, showing that Nigerian retail and institutional investors still believe in the future of mid-tier banks.

This confidence matters. The CBN’s recapitalisation drive is not only about compliance but about restoring trust in the system. The more tier-2 banks can demonstrate resilience in both earnings and investor sentiment, the better their chances of surviving without being forced into shotgun marriages.

Consolidation

Still, the shadow of consolidation looms large. SBM Intelligence expects mergers and alliances

to accelerate as 2026 approaches. The mechanics are not new: stronger tier-2 banks may absorb weaker peers, or two mid-tier players could combine forces to reach the N200–500 billion capital benchmark.

Analysts said the recently concluded merger of Union Bank of Nigeria and Titan Trust Bank will give Union Bank the solidity required at this period. This merger blends Union Bank’s established presence with Titan Trust’s innovative approach, creating a stronger, more modern institution with an expanded network of service centres and ATMs.

On September 26, shareholders of Unity Bank will decide whether to approve the scheme of merger between the bank and Providus Bank. Analysts believed this process would give Unity Bank the leverage needed to navigate the route of recapitalisation. If approved, the merger would represent not just the end of Unity Bank as a standalone institution. It will also see the expansion of Providus Bank into a larger, consolidated financial player, potentially reshaping Nigeria’s mid-tier banking landscape.

One possibility is a merger between Fidelity and Wema. Combining Fidelity’s robust earnings and market confidence with Wema’s digitalfirst strategy could create a formidable national lender with sufficient capital to challenge tier-1 incumbents.

Another potential pairing could involve FCmb and Sterling, whose strong retail and Sme banking footprints may generate synergies in technology, branch networks, and regional penetration. Stanbic IBTC, backed by its multinational parent, may prefer acquisitions, scooping up weaker tier-2 players and consolidating its reputation as the most stable of the mid-tier institutions.

Such mergers would not only change the competitive landscape but also mirror the consolidation era under then-CBN governor Charles Soludo in 2004, when banks were compelled to raise their minimum capital to N25 billion, triggering a wave of mergers that reduced the sector from 89 banks to just 25.

Challenges on the Road Ahead

Even as they scramble to raise capital, tier-2 banks face structural challenges that cannot be solved by equity injections alone. Rising costs of

funds, driven by inflation and high interest rates, continue to squeeze margins. Naira volatility makes capital planning difficult and raises the cost of offshore financing. Heavy investments in digital platforms, cybersecurity, and fintech partnerships remain unavoidable if banks want to stay competitive. At the same time, a sustainable shift toward non-interest income streams is vital, but building this diversification requires both scale and expertise. those that combine fresh capital with operational efficiency and innovation will not just survive but thrive. Those that cannot will likely disappear into mergers.

Nigeria’s Banking Landscape the recapitalisation programme is more than a regulatory hurdle. It is a litmus test for the maturity of Nigeria’s financial system. By 2026, Nigeria could see a banking map dominated by fewer but stronger institutions, with tier-2 players either transformed into formidable challengers or absorbed into larger entities. For customers, the outcome could mean more stability and improved services, though at the cost of reduced choice if smaller banks disappear. For investors, it signals potential windfalls as successful tier-2 banks see their valuations soar. For the economy, the hope is that a sturdier banking system will mobilise capital at the scale needed to finance infrastructure, industry, and the government’s trillion-dollar vision.

Adapt or Be Absorbed the CbN’s 2026 recapitalisation deadline is a ticking clock. Fidelity and Wema have sprinted ahead, FCmb and Sterling are pushing hard, and Stanbic IBTC remains relatively insulated. Union Bank’s deal with Titan and Unity Bank’s merger talks with Providus Bank look good to save the two old banks. the coming 18 months will therefore be decisive. If history is any guide, Nigeria’s tier-2 banks will not all make it through as independent entities. Some will rise to new prominence, others will vanish into mergers, and the industry as a whole will be reshaped. In the end, the impact of the recapitalisation drive is not merely about numbers on balance sheets; it is about who emerges as a credible player in the next era of Nigerian banking.

FROM RED TO AMBER

UK validates improved security in Kaduna, writes LEVI ABU-ZAMANI

Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, must be one of the happiest governors in the country at the moment. His efforts at tackling the hydra- headed security challenges which he inherited has been yielding remarkable dividends. And, notwithstanding concerted moves to demarket these noble efforts in recent time, particularly by his immediate predecessor in office, encomiums have continued to pour in, acknowledging the wonderful job he has done in stemming insecurity in the state.

The United Kingdom (UK) is the latest to acknowledge these efforts and has rightly commended Governor Sani for the significant improvement in security across the state. The UK’s Head of Development Cooperation at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Cynthia Rowe, during the Kaduna State Mutual Accountability Framework (K-MAF) dialogue, announced that in recognition of the improved security situation in the state, Kaduna has been moved from “red” to the “amber” category in the UK’s travel advisory. This is a huge validation and an eloquent testimony to what every person has come to accept.

Rowe noted that “Security is a key enabler of growth and development, and Kaduna has weathered periods of heightened security challenges.” She said the UK acknowledges the progress recorded by the state government under Uba Sani’s leadership, adding that Kaduna will now host the UK-funded SPRiNG programme, which stands for: Strengthening Peace, Resilience and Inclusive Governance.

“Building on this momentum, Kaduna will be host to the FCDO SPRiNG programme. SPRiNG is designed to address drivers of conflict, strengthen peace building mechanisms, and support inclusive governance,” Rowe said.

She said the UK will provide tailored support through the programme to consolidate gains in peace, promote social cohesion, and help communities affected by past insecurity to recover. “Through SPRiNG, we will share tailored support to consolidate peace gains, promote social cohesion, and help communities most affected by past insecurity thrive,” she said.

She further reiterated UK’s commitment to Kaduna’s development goals, noting ongoing collaboration with government institutions and non-government actors.

“The UK Government remains firmly committed to supporting Kaduna’s State development aspirations, and I am delighted to be here in Kaduna again with government colleagues, our delivery partners, and nongovernment stakeholders to continue to chart the way forward,” Rowe said, adding, “We will do this by deepening private sector involvement and working with agencies such as the Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency (KADIPA) to boost investment across critical sectors of the state’s economy for a fairer, more resilient economy.”

Whatever anyone may say, reviewing its advisory from ‘red’ to ‘amber’ is a strong statement validating the efforts of Governor Sani at changing the security narrative in Kaduna State.

When he assumed office in May 2023, Uba Sani inherited a terribly fractured State that had been battered by eight years of escalating violence under the immediate past administration. Banditry, kidnapping, and ethno-religious tensions had rendered swathes of the state no-go zones, stifling both economic and social activities and displacing thousands.

Governor Sani, a former senator with a reputation for bridge-building, wasted no time. His administration’s cornerstone was the SUSTAIN agenda, a blueprint prioritizing Security, Unity, and Sustainable Transformation. While it is true that he has made very appreciable strides in all sectors, he has shone brightest in the area of tackling the hydra-headed security challenges facing the state.

From day one, Governor Sani emphasized a multi-pronged approach, blending kinetic operations with non-kinetic diplomacy which he famously called the “Kaduna Peace Model”. In February 2024, he signed the Kaduna State Security Trust Fund Bill into law, establishing a dedicated fund to equip security agencies with modern tools—drones, armored vehicles, and intelligence tech—without relying solely on federal allocations. This was not just a mere legislation; it mobilized private sector contributions to fortify the state’s defenses.

Governor Uba Sani forged an ironclad partnerships with federal forces, including the Nigerian Army and Air Force, leading to joint operations that neutralized highvalue targets. Notorious bandit kingpins like Boderi, Baleri, Sani Yellow, Janburos, Buhari, and Boka all fell in well coordinated strikes, while Ansaru operatives, who once used Kaduna as a launchpad, were apprehended. Yet, the governor understood that bullets alone could not heal a fractured society. He vigorously championed the “Kaduna Peace Model,” a holistic framework rooted in community engagement. Traditional rulers, religious leaders, and civil society were carefully roped into peace committees, fostering dialogue in hotspots like Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Kajuru, Kauru, Kachia, and Igabi. These forums addressed root causes such as poverty, unemployment, and land disputes through non-violent resolutions. The model drew inspiration from global best practices but was tailored to Kaduna’s cultural mosaic, promoting inclusivity across ethnic and religious lines.

Governor Sani’s administration also invested in rural infrastructure, rehabilitating roads and deploying solar-powered boreholes to lure farmers back to their fields. Education got a boost too: scholarships for vulnerable children and the reopening of schools shuttered by fear.

MIKTA AND NIGERIA: PARTNERS FOR PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT

The ambassadors of Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Türkiye, and Australia are committed to working with Nigeria, writes NAMGUNG

Nigeria is rising fast on the global stage. With a young population, economic dynamism, and growing diplomatic voice, Nigeria plays a vital role in shaping solutions to global challenges—from peacebuilding to innovation and sustainable development. We, the Ambassadors of the MIKTA countries— Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Türkiye, and Australia—recognize Nigeria’s importance now and in the future. MIKTA is a cross-regional group of proactive, inclusive, democratic middle powers committed to practical cooperation and multilateralism. We know we share these key values with Nigeria.

That’s why we are deepening our engagement here. In 2025, under Korea’s Chairmanship, MIKTA is focusing on three areas highly relevant to Nigeria: peacebuilding, youth empowerment, and sustainable development. Nigeria has long contributed to regional and global peace efforts—from ECOWAS missions to local conflict resolution.

MIKTA members bring complementary experience for global peace. We have championed inclusive, community-driven initiatives and led the push for implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, which marks its 25th anniversary this year. We remain committed to the meaningful inclusion of women in peace processes, recognizing that sustainable development cannot be achieved without gender equality.

Alongside Nigeria, we have supported UN peacekeeping efforts through various forms of engagement. The Republic of Korea, MIKTA chair in 2025, supports the UN Peacebuilding Fund projects in conflict zones. As the UN turns 80 this year, we are reminded that meaningful global progress depends not just on power, but on partnerships like ours.

Nigeria’s drive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aligns closely with MIKTA’s agenda, especially in energy access, agriculture, and urban infrastructure. MIKTA countries have developed solar energy, smart agriculture, and

maternal health programs in Nigeria already. We are bringing our green technology Draft version as of September 12, 2025 and smart city expertise to deliver practical results where they are most needed. We also recognize that empowering all women and girls, as well as mobilizing resources accountable to those living in poverty, can lead to more inclusive and equitable society. Doing so not only creates jobs and opportunities but also accelerates progress towards gender equality. Youth engagement is central to this effort. With over 60% of Nigerians under the age of 25, empowering young people is not only an opportunity but a necessity. MIKTA countries have long invested in youth leadership, digital skills, and entrepreneurship. In July 2025, the MIKTA Youth Dialogue was held in Seoul, bringing together young voices to shape ideas on peace, AI, and inclusive growth — building momentum for future collaboration and innovation. In line with our commitments, MIKTA Ambassadors are set to engage in the 31st NESG Summit, hosted by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), to be held on October 8th in Abuja.

This event will bring Nigerian stakeholders and MIKTA representatives together to share our experience and perspectives to build practical, lasting solutions for a more peaceful, inclusive, and sustainable world. We are sure it will be another landmark step in the partnership between Nigeria and MIKTA. Our countries may be far apart on the map, but we are close in purpose. We believe in Nigeria’s future, and we’re committed to working together to help shape it.

to Nigeria.

The Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Republic of Korea (2025 MIKTA Chair), the Ambassadors of Mexico, Indonesia, and Türkiye, and the High Commissioner of Australia

Abu-Zamani, a good governance advocate, writes from Kaduna, Kaduna State

Editor, Editorial Page PETER ISHAKA

Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com

PILOTS AND ‘BOTTLE TO THROTTLE’ RULE

Airlines must do everything to enforce discipline in their operations

The confirmation by Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) that the flight crew of a domestic carrier that recently overshot the runway at Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo International Airport, Omagwa, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, tested positive to alcohol and cannabis is disturbing. These are substances the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) prohibits pilots from taking when they are flying. Others include stimulants, cocaine, opiates and metabolites, benzodiazepine, etc. The ‘bottle to throttle’ rule also prohibits pilots from consuming alcohol within eight hours of a flight. The rule ensures that a pilot’s blood alcohol content (BAC) is below the legal limit of 0.04%, and crew members must not be under the influence of alcohol when operating an aircraft.

To the extent that alcohol and cannabis could impair a pilot’s judgment, which is critical in landing and take-off, the Port Harcourt incident was a narrow escape for Nigeria. We therefore enjoin authorities in the aviation sector to take the issue seriously to ensure it doesn’t happen again. The last time a scheduled commercial flight was involved in air crash with fatalities was on 3 October 2013, when Associated Aviation Flight 361 crashed on take-off from the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. That accident was attributed to human error. Since then, Nigeria has maintained a good record in air safety, especially in commercial, schedule service, which is deemed very important because of the number of passengers that are airlifted at the same time by one aircraft. It is particularly heartwarming that Nigeria has maintained such a good record for 12 years, which is the longest period the country has had such safety record in the history of commercial aviation. This is also why it is important that airlines must do everything possible to maintain discipline by reinforcing improvement in their operations. On this particular incident concerning alcohol and substance abuse, the signal is that it is a major responsibility of airlines to monitor the activities of pilots and cabin crew

before they embark on flights. This is to ensure that they are in the best state of mind by abstaining from substances prohibited by the law.

The regulatory authority has indicated that airlines have engaged in checking the behaviour of their crew, but there is need to reinforce that responsibility

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Activities of the pilots are better monitored by the airlines because airline operation is not just about providing scheduled commercial service but effective management of personnel, and equipment in line with extant regulations to ensure that flight operations are conducted in a safe and secure manner. The airlines should therefore pay more attention to the behavioural patterns of the crew by using their operational safety auditors to monitor them. They must also apply stringent punitive measures when anyone derails from the rule of engagement. We hope that appropriate sanctions have been applied to the erring pilot and cabin crew members by the airlines concerned. There is a lot for the airlines to learn from the oil and gas shuttle, which is a more critical sub-sector. While the pilots are under the management of their airlines, they are effectively monitored by oil and gas officials in charge of crew activities. They monitor what they eat and even when they finally retire to bed, usually by 10:00 pm. The pilots are only free when they are off duty. It is also the responsibility of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to carry out effective oversight of airlines. We recommend unscheduled ramp visits to test pilots for illicit substances. Seeking and securing such information by NCAA can go a long way to pre-empt and check deviant behaviours. Airlines handling companies and others involved in flight operations can also give NCAA heads-up or clue about pilots and other crew members who break the rules.

The regulatory authority has indicated that airlines have engaged in checking the behaviour of their crew, but there is need to reinforce that responsibility. Globally, such failures occur from time to time, but the drastic steps in correction and prevention by concerned authorities give assurance that the system can be secure and that those who travel by air are safe.

Letters in response to specific publications in THiSDAY should be brief(150-200 words) and straight to the point. interested readers may send such letters along with their contact details to opinion@thisdaylive.com. we also welcome comments and opinions on topical local, national and international issues provided they are well-written and should also not be longer than (950- 1000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive. com along with the email address and phone numbers of the writer

LETTERS

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND INNOVATION

Nigeria, long celebrated as the “Giant of Africa,” finds itself at a critical crossroads. On one hand, the nation boasts one of the youngest and most vibrant populations in the world. On the other, it faces an alarming surge in youth unemployment coupled with underdeveloped support for innovation. This dual challenge threatens to undermine the country’s aspirations for sustainable growth if left unaddressed.

Recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS, 2024) reveals that unemployment remains high, with young people making up the majority of those without jobs. Each year, thousands of graduates complete their studies, yet many remain unable to secure meaningful employment. The pressure is mounting as Nigeria’s population, projected to surpass 400 million by mid-century, continues to grow faster than the economy can create jobs.

For many young Nigerians, the search for formal employment has turned into a

prolonged ordeal, leading to disillusionment and frustration. The psychological toll is severe, with joblessness linked to feelings of exclusion and hopelessness. Beyond the individual, the wider society bears the cost, as unemployment often fuels migration, social unrest, and even insecurity when idle youth are lured into violent or criminal activities.

Amid these grim realities, innovation offers a ray of optimism. Across the country, young people are rewriting their stories through creativity, resilience, and technology. Lagos, often dubbed “Africa’s Silicon Lagoon,” has become a hub for startups, with sectors such as fintech, e-commerce, health tech, and agritech attracting global attention. Homegrown companies like Flutterwave and Paystack have shown that Nigerian youth possess not only talent but also the vision to compete on the global stage.

Yet, the potential for innovation is far from fully realized. Structural barriers—poor infrastructure, inconsistent government policies, limited

financing, and an unreliable power supply— continue to stifle many brilliant ideas before they can take shape. For every successful startup, countless others fail due to lack of support, mentorship, or resources.

Education remains at the heart of the issue. Nigeria’s academic system still leans heavily on outdated models that emphasize theory over practice. While graduates are produced in their thousands, many leave without the skills demanded in today’s digital economy.

A redesigned curriculum that integrates entrepreneurship, critical thinking, and digital literacy is urgently needed. Stronger partnerships between universities, industries, and government agencies could help prepare graduates for the rapidly changing labor market.

Policy reform is another vital step. To reduce youth unemployment, the government must foster an enabling environment where small businesses and startups can thrive.

Streamlining bureaucratic processes, reducing taxation barriers for young entrepreneurs, and expanding access to credit facilities are practical measures that could make a huge difference. Additionally, initiatives such as innovation hubs, technology parks, and government-backed venture funds could serve as springboards for young inventors and business owners.

The private sector also bears responsibility. By investing in training programs, mentorship schemes, and apprenticeship opportunities, companies can help bridge the gap between education and employment. Paid internships, for instance, would allow students to gain handson experience while learning workplace ethics and culture—skills that cannot be taught in classrooms alone.

Ladi Maxwell, Dept of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri

Charles

The People’s Commissioner

At 53, Charles Aniagwu is celebrated not just for the offices he has held but for the warmth, integrity, and generosity that continue to define his journey from humble beginnings to the heart of Delta State’s public life, Vanessa Obioha writes

Born and raised in Delta State, Charles Ehiedu Aniagwu’s early life was shaped by the values of humility, hard work, and integrity.

Those who knew him in his formative years describe him as inquisitive, eager to learn, and always willing to lend a helping hand. His upbringing instilled in him a respect for tradition and the importance of community, qualities that would later define his approach to leadership and public service

This is why when people speak of him, they do so with reverence. Not so much because of the political titles he bears, but because of the values and humanity he embodies. This was evident on September 7, when the Delta State Commissioner for Works (Rural and Riverine Roads) and Public Information, marked his 53rd birthday and tributes poured in for the Ika-born public servant whose contributions continue to keep him in the spotlight.

“Working closely with you has impacted me deeply,” wrote the Executive Assistant on Media to the Delta State Governor, Nelson Egware.

“From the wealth of knowledge I have gained under your guidance to the many acts of benevolence that reflect your large heart. Your exemplary leadership and generosity continue to be a source of inspiration to me.”

The same sentiments were echoed by Delta State Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Sir Festus Ahon, who described Aniagwu as “a man of integrity whose passion for service continues to inspire many.”

The General Manager of the Delta Printing and Publishing Corporation (DPPC), publishers of The Pointer Newspapers, Mrs. Rosemary Nwaebuni, lauded Aniagwu as a man of uncommon grace whose proficiency and commitment have helped to shape the state’s media landscape.

Such lofty words, often reserved for only a few in public office, reflect the distinction Aniagwu has carved for himself. He is seen as a public officer with a penchant for excellence, carrying his work with a responsibility and dedication that continue to earn him admiration. It is not every day that Nigerian politicians are described in such glowing terms, but Aniagwu stands as an exception.

Indeed, Aniagwu’s integrity is not contestable. Those close to him often point to his humble background as the foundation of his discipline and work ethic.

Aniagwu hails from the family of Chief and Mrs. Agboje Aniagwu in Akumazi-Umuocha, Ika North-east Local Government Area, Delta State.

Beyond the values instilled in him by his parents, his personal determination also paved the way for his success. His educational journey reflects this ambition: from Umuocha Primary School to Ndemili Grammar School, and later a master’s degree in Human Resource Management from the Enugu State University of Technology. With both ordinary and higher national diplomas in Mass Communication, Aniagwu’s leaning towards the media was evident from the start.

Although his professional journey began with industrial training at the office of the Edo State Governor, he soon built a stellar career in journalism, holding various roles in respected media houses. He was a political correspondent at DBN TV and later a National Assembly correspondent with Africa Independent Television (AIT).

Blessed with the gift of oratory, his voice became one of reason in national discourse — a voice people trusted.

The People’s Commissioner

Former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa must have recognised this rare talent when he appointed him Chief Press Secretary in 2015. That appointment steered Aniagwu into public communications and governance, where he once again excelled. In 2019, Okowa elevated him to Commissioner for Information.

Armed with his knowledge of media operations, Aniagwu revitalised the media space in Delta. In the course of his many public interviews, Aniagwu often remarked: “My job as a perception manager is to make friends for my boss and my state, I don’t have the luxury of fighting with those who disagree with my principal. My job is to make such persons understand my employer and support his or her ideas or programs.”

Indeed, all through the years, Aniagwu has lived up to this standard by being friends with persons across diverse backgrounds and persuasions.

Over the years, Aniagwu has carved a niche for himself as a trusted voice in both the media and political landscapes of Delta State and Nigeria at large.

He also became a spokesman of the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Organisation as member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Committee. And in the course of discharging his assignment, he stood out among all spokespersons of political party candidates. His penchant is to examine issues, deploy anecdotes to drive home his arguments without attacking the personality of the actors.

Aniagwu’s media briefings were marked by honesty, confidence, and a willingness to engage constructively with critics. Colleagues often describe him as a natural communicator—measured, articulate, and always prepared. He listens attentively, responds thoughtfully, and never shies away from difficult questions. This trait has earned him respect not only among journalists but also among politicians, civil servants, and the

general public.

As Commissioner for Information, his tenure was marked by a vision of transparency, inclusivity, and modernisation. Under his leadership, the DPPC experienced a renaissance. A major highlight was the transformation of The Pointer’s newsroom into a modern, tech-driven hub that not only enhanced productivity but also fostered pride among staff.

In the discharge of his duties as Commissioner for Information in Delta State, Aniagwu demonstrated a collaborative leadership style. He is known for empowering his team, encouraging open dialogue, and fostering an environment where diverse perspectives are valued. His empathy shines through in his interactions; he takes time to understand the concerns of others and strives to find solutions that balance competing interests.

Aniagwu’s leadership is rooted in service. He is driven by a desire to make a positive impact, and he approaches challenges with optimism and resilience. He is unassuming yet firm, approachable yet principled—a rare combination that endears him to colleagues and constituents alike.

Equally notable was his dedication to human capacity development. He championed training programs for staff of the ministry and parastatals, ensuring they were equipped for an evolving media landscape. Staff welfare also improved under his watch, with increased stipends and provision of essential tools like computers and cameras.

Aniagwu’s impact went further: he facilitated the employment of over 200 individuals across the state’s media establishments, including The Pointer and Delta Broadcasting Service in Asaba and Warri. This critical move bridged staffing gaps and ensured continuity in

government communications.

Beyond his public office, Aniagwu has also made his mark as a businessman and philanthropist. Through his companies — Jace-Darl Investment Nigeria Limited/ Hotels and Jace-Darl Media and Communications Nigeria Limited as well as Jacedarl Integrated Modern Farm— he created employment opportunities for close to three hundred Nigerians many of whom are youths. His philanthropy further reinforced his reputation as a man committed to community development.

Just like the immediate past Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, the incumbent governor of Delta, Sheriff Oborevwori, realised his potential and appointed Aniagwu Commissioner for Works (Rural and Riverine Roads) and, shortly after, Public Information was added to his portfolio, thereby making him the first to be assigned two distinct ministries in the history of the oil-rich Delta state.

Once again, Aniagwu lived up to expectations, handling the dual roles with ease, precision, and dedication. In Delta today, his name is synonymous with accountability and responsibility. He responds to even controversial and thorny issues without insulting the sensibilities of the public.

In these roles, Aniagwu constantly interfaces with the people of the state and Nigerians at large, and become a household name and liked. He is also known for his adaptability. In a rapidly changing media and political environment, he has shown a remarkable ability to learn new skills, embrace innovation, and anticipate future trends. His vision for Delta State is forward-looking, emphasizing sustainable development, youth empowerment, and inclusive governance

As Egware aptly noted, Aniagwu’s story is not defined by titles but by the values he consistently brings into governance and community life. “Values that have earned him respect across political divides and endeared him to countless admirers.” Such words will remain his legacy for generations to come.

Beyond his professional achievements, Aniagwu is admired for his warmth and sense of humor. He has a knack for making people feel at ease, regardless of their background or status. Friends and colleagues speak of his generosity, kindness, and willingness to mentor young people. He values family, cherishes friendships, and believes in the power of community.

Aniagwu’s personality is a blend of humility, eloquence, empathy, integrity, and vision. Whether in the newsroom, the corridors of government, or among his community, he stands out as a principled leader and a compassionate human being. His story is a testament to the enduring value of character in public life—a reminder that true leadership is not just about power, but about service, trust, and the courage to do what is right.

L-r: Delta State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. ekemejero Ohwovoriole SAN; Commissioner for works (rural and riverine roads) and public Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu; Governor Sheriff Oborevwori; and Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Kingsley emu, putting their heads together over an issue

Governor Oborevwori (with microphone), and Aniagwu (third right), during project inspection

HighLife

Tony Elumelu’s New

It is not every evening that a Nigerian banker, a Catholic Cardinal, and a Rabbi share the same applause in Manhattan. Yet on September 29, the Waldorf Astoria ballroom will play host to precisely that mix, when Tony Elumelu receives the 2025 Appeal of Conscience Award.

The prize is no trinket. Past recipients include titans of business and politics. It recognises leaders who hold conscience at the centre of power, insisting that faith, commerce, and civic duty can still serve humanity without succumbing to cynicism.

For Elumelu, the nod is not simply about a career in banking. It affirms a philosophy he has spent years refining: Africapitalism. The idea that Africa’s private sector, if trusted, if supported, can generate prosperity and dignity for millions, not just profits for a few.

Abudu-Akinsanya

Not everyone turns 60 like this, with governors, artists, and friends queuing to say “Happy birthday, Ekua.” Some milestones

with KAYoDe ALFreD 08116759807, E-mail: kayflex2@yahoo.com

...Amazing lifestyles of Nigeria’s rich and famous

York Honour Illuminates Africa

His foundation has backed more than 24,000 entrepreneurs in all

ventures in technology, fashion, and green energy now carry his imprint. In a continent where aid has often overshadowed agency, that feels quietly revolutionary.

The award also arrives with a certain symmetry. Elumelu began as a young salesman, scrapping for opportunity in a crowded field. Now, at 62, he is honoured in New York for creating opportunity itself, turning the energy of ambition outward.

Sceptics will ask: can one man’s business creed really rewire the fate of nations? Perhaps not. But it can spark possibilities. And sometimes, possibility is the most contagious thing in a room.

As Rabbi Arthur Schneier put it, Elumelu “stands as a beacon of ethical entrepreneurship.” A fitting description, but perhaps too neat. The truth is less polished: a restless Igbo son who believes money should mingle with morality, and who now has Manhattan clapping in agreement.

Ekua Abudu-Akinsanya: 60 Birthday Cheers for the Woman Who Built a School and a Legacy

pass quietly. Hers arrives like a chorus, each voice carrying a note of admiration for a life spent weaving institutions out of vision and persistence.

Ekua Abudu-Akinsanya is many things. A lawyer by training, a chartered administrator by discipline, a school proprietress by calling. Thirty years ago, she co-founded Greenwood House School in Ikoyi, now a fixture of Lagos education. Her hand still shapes its rhythms, steady as a metronome.

Her reach spills past classrooms. She once presided over the International Women’s Society, the country’s oldest female charity. She chairs the Interior Designers Association of Nigeria, mentors younger women, and helps steer the Olave Baden Powell Society that funds Girl Guides across the world. Quite a constellation of causes.

If lists could tell the whole story, hers would

Kayode Odukoya in Foul Mood

Courtrooms can be noisy, but sometimes it is the silence afterward that rings loudest. For Kayode Odukoya, the quiet came in December 2023, when a Lagos judge dismissed every charge that had shadowed him for nearly six years. Fraud, forgery, theft—the case crumbled like paper in the rain.

Yet the quiet has been anything but restful. FirstNation Airways, the company he founded, still finds itself boxed into an awkward corner: acquitted in law, guilty in rumour. The EFCC has not updated its records. And so the headlines linger, the kind that cling like burrs long after the walk.

Odukoya knows both turbulence and lift. At 29, he built Bellview Airlines into a West African powerhouse, the first private carrier from the region to touch down at London Heathrow. For more than a decade, his airline was the name stamped on tickets across skies once thought impossible to open. But his later years brought a different kind of headwind. A contractual dispute

with a bank swelled into a criminal trial, weaponised by a petition and amplified through media glare. Prosecutors leaned heavily on shaky documents, a “memorandum of loss” that the court eventually dismissed as quicksand under their case.

The judge’s words were unsparing. Evidence was riddled with inconsistencies. Photocopies, uncertified, unauthenticated, paraded as proof. The case collapsed, she said, like a pack of cards. And with that, Odukoya walked free, his companies discharged. Yet freedom, when tainted by delay, can taste more like stale bread than fresh air.

Now, he calls for reform. Civil disputes, he argues, must not be paraded as crimes. Regulators must distinguish between genuine fraud and commercial quarrels. It is not merely a personal plea. It is a cautionary note about the fragility of trust, both in markets and in justice.

Still, one wonders: after all the noise, what does it feel like to taxi back toward the

stretch from law firms to savings institutions, from editing Essential Woman magazine to serving as a benefactor at MUSON. Yet beyond the bullet points is something less tangible: the art of gathering people, convincing them to build, convincing them to stay.

At 60, Ekua enjoys her quieter days. She seldom courts the limelight, though the occasional Instagram post of her in a pink caped gown, maroon fascinator perched at an angle, suggested she knows how to step into a room. Style, for her, seems less an act of display than a gentle punctuation.

Still, tributes now flood in. They recall a woman who could manage a boardroom and still find time to raise a vocational academy. They recall energy dressed in patience, a contradiction she seems to carry with ease. What more can one wish her at 60? Perhaps simply this: may the chorus never end.

Adisa Aliu’s Big Support for Education

Some businessmen build monuments of glass and steel. Adisa Aliu prefers to build futures. The oil-and-gas executive, whose Matrix Group once cracked Nigeria’s top 100 businesses, has now turned his gaze toward chalkboards, laboratories, and lecture halls. His newest project is not pipelines, but scholarships.

At Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, a program quietly unfurled this year. Fully funded master’s and PhD slots in Materials Science and Engineering, complete with tuition, research grants, laptops, housing, and stipends. The Abdulkabir Aliu Foundation, backed by Matrix Energy, foots the bill. For a few lucky students, education has just become free.

The details sparkle with intent. Two years of support for master’s students, three for doctoral candidates. Access to advanced research facilities. Industry exposure designed to ease the leap from theory to practice. In a country where postgraduate dreams often crumble under cost, it feels almost radical.Aliu himself studied metallurgical and materials engineering before carving his empire across oil, finance, and logistics. Now, perhaps remembering the boy he once was, he funds the next generation of Nigerian engineers. It is philanthropy with a trace of autobiography, an investment rooted in lived memory.

The Abdulkabir Aliu Foundation has already spread its wings into healthcare, food security, and clean water. Its creed is simple: human dignity, without discrimination. The scholarship, though, seems different. It reads less like charity and more like a wager—a bet that Nigerian research can still yield wonder.

Numbers tell part of the story: over 1,600 scholarships awarded, more than 180,000 lives touched by foundation projects. Yet numbers can’t capture the texture of a student unsealing a laptop for the first time, or the hush of relief when rent and fees vanish into thin air.

In a nation where oil wealth has too often pooled in private vaults, Aliu’s gesture lands with unexpected brightness. Perhaps tomorrow’s breakthroughs will bear his fingerprints. Or perhaps the real victory is simpler: that somewhere in Ife tonight, a student studies without fear of interruption.

Omisore and the Gubernatorial Gambit

Politics in Osun State has always carried a carnival quality, but few figures dance back into the centre ring as often as Senator Iyiola Omisore. At 68, the engineer-turned-politician has weathered storms, worn labels, and still manages to stir a crowd with promises of redemption and rescue. His career is a long braid of roles. Deputy governor under Bisi Akande from 1999 to 2003. Two terms in the Senate, where he helmed the Appropriation Committee. A gubernatorial hopeful in 2014 and again in 2018. Each bid brought him close, never quite crossing the threshold. Until now, perhaps.

The 2026 race has rekindled talk of inevitability. Over 300 APC ward chairmen and elected councillors recently endorsed him, describing Omisore not just as experienced but as essential. For them, his candidacy represents more than ambition. It is the party’s best wager against the rhythm and stamina of Governor Ademola Adeleke.

Omisore’s consultations have been relentless. From Osogbo to Ilesa, he has pitched a consensus, insisting the APC cannot afford division. His allies echo the refrain: he is the bridge-builder, the financier, the strategist who once helped secure Bola Tinubu’s emergence. To them, 2026 is less contest, more coronation.

Yet politics rarely obeys choreography.

Omisore’s past, marked by shifting party loyalties and unfinished races, lingers in memory. Will voters embrace him as the seasoned hand finally due his turn, or see another recycled name in a state hungry for fresh energy? The tension hums in every roadside conversation

Still, Omisore projects a curious confidence. He calls his blueprint “a rescue mission,” promising grassroots empowerment and renewed order. His base in Ife, one of Osun’s largest voting blocs, gives him muscle. His connections in Abuja give him reach. The combination could tilt the scales if momentum holds.

And so, Osun waits. In a land where drummers set the pace for dancers, the question

Aliu

odukoya

elumelu

runway of reputation? For Odukoya, perhaps, the answer lies not in anger but in flight. After all, the sky has always been his courtroom.

54 African countries. Small

Lamiju Akala: Chip Off the Old Block at 40

40 is often called the age of clarity, but for Olamijuwonlo “Lamiju” Akala, it feels more like the age of acceleration. The son of a governor who once bestrode Oyo State politics, Lamiju now occupies his own seat of consequence in Abuja’s House of Representatives.

There was a time when sceptics muttered about his surname. Political royalty, they said, but untested. Yet the young Akala refused to play the ornamental heir. From his days as caretaker chairman of Ogbomoso North in 2017 to winning the substantive chairmanship in 2018, he showed a knack for converting doubt into proof.

Today, as representative for Ogbomoso North, South, and Orire Federal Constituency, he carries more than a family legacy. He chairs the House Committee on Youths in Parliament, giving him a megaphone for one of Nigeria’s most restless demographics. Leadership here is not ceremonial. It is a strategy, a negotiation, and a constant balancing act.

Education helped shape that balance. A degree in Computer and Information Science from Lead City University, followed by a

master’s in Service Management from Buckingham, gave him polish. But it is his ability to weld classroom theory to local anxieties that makes him resonate in town halls and plenary sessions alike.

Recently, Lamiju has reached beyond politics’ predictable rituals. Through his Ojuoloore Educational Support Fund, he distributed over 300 free JAMB forms to students in Ogbomoso around March, coming after he empowered some of the most promising of his constituents with tech skills and laptops as a way to boost digital literacy and human capital development.

These are all small gestures, yes. However, they are gestures that peel away a financial barrier, invite new dreams into the university gates, and draw wings on the shoulders of beneficiaries. At 40, Lamiju straddles two worlds: the memory of his father’s towering shadow and the emerging glow of his own profile. Critics may still linger on the sidelines, but his journey suggests persistence is its own quiet rebuttal.

Cheering News from Obiora Okonkwo’s Camp

Not every headline from Nigeria’s aviation industry lands with a thud of worry. Some arrive like fresh wind under a wing, and this week’s news from Obiora Okonkwo’s corner feels exactly that way.

United Nigeria Airlines, his four-yearold carrier, has struck a pact with Southwest Airlines in Dallas. The deal delivers six Boeing 737-800s to Nigeria, but the true prize lies in the partnership: long-term technical support, crew training, and a bridge between Lagos and America’s aviation know-how.

Okonkwo calls it a “step further.” A phrase as modest as it is momentous. The aircraft will boost capacity, slash costs, and unlock new routes across Africa and beyond. It signals ambition, not bluster, from a man who has built reputations in politics, hospitality, and commerce.

Born in Ogidi, educated in Moscow, and honoured with Nigeria’s OFR, Okonkwo is as comfortable lecturing on leadership as he is chairing board meetings. He employs more than a thousand people,

presides over entertainment hubs, and now steadies one of the country’s most promising airlines.

For him, aviation is not just about convenience. It is about knitting Nigeria tighter into regional trade, drawing tourists, and feeding the economy with jobs. The six jets are merely the opening act. Another four aircraft are already pencilled in for 2026 and 2027, proof that this play has multiple scenes.

Critics may ask: Can a young airline stretch its wings so fast without turbulence? But supporters point to Okonkwo’s knack for turning plans into institutions. He has endowed university chairs, funded scholarships, and even donated entire schools. His track record suggests he is not afraid of heavy lifts.

So, while other stories in the sector tend to circle delays and dilapidation, Okonkwo’s news lands differently. It hints at possibility, at skies less burdened. For Nigerians weary of waiting rooms and endless layovers, the cheering from his camp may sound like the boarding call of a brighter horizon.

The Soludos and the Politics of Perfume and Powder

Nigerian politics has always been a noisy bazaar, but the latest quarrel in Anambra carries the sharp scent of cologne and controversy. Senator Uche Ekwunife, fiery deputy governorship candidate of the APC, did not stop at accusing Governor Chukwuma Soludo of failed leadership. She went further, into the personal.

In a viral video, she charged that Anambra has collapsed under his watch: weekends of weddings and bustling visits replaced by fear and silence. She listed bloodletting, hardship, and hunger as Soludo’s legacy. Then, with a sting, she accused him of poor hygiene, advising his wife to purchase deodorant and mouthwash.

The attack rattled even Nigeria’s seasoned political class. Politics often thrives on insult, but rarely with such domestic imagery. For Ekwunife, the jab was more than a spectacle. She framed Soludo as a professor hiding behind theatrics while failing to secure the state. And she dared him to challenge her degrees in court.

Ibe Kachikwu’s Post-election Campaign

The dead do not answer back. Perhaps that is why Ibe Kachikwu has found fresh courage in telling his Buhari tales now, when the former president lies beyond rebuttal, beyond clarifications, beyond his famously clipped chuckles. It feels like an after-election campaign, waged against a ghost.

Kachikwu, Harvard-trained lawyer, magazine man turned oil technocrat, once sat at Muhammadu Buhari’s table as minister of state for petroleum. In those days, subsidy removal was the great untouchable. Buhari resisted. Kachikwu pushed. And now he says the president threatened to sack him if the gamble failed.

The memory is vivid in his retelling: sleepless nights, fuel queues stretching like hungry snakes, subsidised petrol vanishing across porous borders. He recalls daring the president’s wrath, introducing a policy of “price modulation,” and then the miracle— within two days, the queues disappeared, as if

dissolved by sunlight.

It is a tidy story. Almost too tidy. For critics, the timing raises eyebrows. Why didn’t he speak so freely when Buhari was alive? Why wait until history’s courtroom has only one witness? The silence then, the speeches now, invite whispers about ambition dressed up as candour.

Kachikwu’s career has always shimmered with contradictions. He launched a romance magazine in the 1980s, charmed Nigeria with fatherhood columns, then moved into OPEC boardrooms and the thickets of subsidy debates. He wears both velvet and steel, a man equally at home with poets and petroleum accountants.

His new disclosures arrive in a season of reckoning, when Nigerians are still nursing the bruises of subsidy removal under Tinubu. Kachikwu insists he had the blueprint long before; that Buhari’s hesitancy was the nation’s missed chance. Yet hindsight, for all its neatness, rarely pays the pump price.

Meranda

Mojisola Meranda and the Music of Grassroots Power

The story of Lagos politics sometimes feels like a long, winding road, patched and repatched. Then, out of Apapa, comes a voice both practical and melodic: Mojisola Meranda, deputy speaker, mother of scholarships, custodian of boreholes, and unflinching steward of neighbourhood roads.

At the Rockview Hotel, her latest constituency meeting unfurled like a marketplace of hope. Five students clutching scholarships. 200 youngsters waving certificates from a coding boot camp. 100 traders counting crisp N100,000 bundles. 500 families carting food supplies. Governance turned tangible, even edible.

The governor’s wife, Nonye Soludo, did not sit quietly. Through her media office, she rejected claims that she once worked in the discredited Mbadinuju government. She described the allegations as mischief, urging Ekwunife to defend her own doctoral credentials instead of dragging her into the mud.

Supporters of the First Lady insist she was building a career in agriculture and real estate during those years, far from government intrigues. They argue that her popularity in Anambra speaks for itself.

In their telling, Ekwunife’s attacks betray desperation, a politician punching wildly at ghosts of the past.

Yet, the imagery lingers. A governor accused of foul odour, a First Lady pressed into battle, an opposition candidate wielding insult like a blade. Beneath the spectacle lies a serious contest for Anambra’s future, one now perfumed with gossip. The people must decide: is this politics as usual, or a carnival spinning out of control?

Meranda calls it “governance in action,” tying her work to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s THEMES blueprint. To her, these are not slogans. They are building blocks. Roads repaired on Adele and Sapele. Jobs found in TESCOM, LASTMA, and even on the Blue Line trains. Her political journey has been anything but quiet. Twice deputy speaker, briefly speaker during the stormy impeachment of Mudashiru Obasa, then back again, she has mastered the art of survival in a chamber famous for intrigue. Yet in Apapa, she prefers to be seen not as a survivor but a builder.

Education remains her favoured refrain. From JAMB forms to classroom furniture, she has stacked her record with interventions. The coding boot camp, now a ritual of summer, feels almost like her signature. “This is how we shape youths into inventors, not idlers,” she told her audience with brisk certainty.

Still, she sprinkles the serious with tenderness. Health insurance for residents. Boreholes dug like lifelines. Palliatives delivered with ceremony. She speaks often of walking “shoulder to shoulder, heart to heart” with her people, and it does not sound rehearsed. It sounds like someone refusing to drift above them.

Politics, of course, rarely stays tidy. Questions linger: Can her ambitious projects keep pace with Lagos’s swelling demands? Will her story remain one of steady uplift, or tilt toward the turbulence of her Assembly career? For now, in Apapa, the melody is clear. A politician who trades in hope and holds the note.

Akala

Soludo

Okonkwo

Kachikwu

Akinwunmi Ambode, Let’s Stand on Your Mandate

SIJIboMI ogUNDeLe: No More TeArS

My people, it is enough to cry. Aburo sat down there in expensive wears - a luxury wristwatch and sneakerstalking, and all of a sudden started to cry. The “aje butter” could not take it anymore as he bawled with catarrh and saliva almost coming out of his mouth. Mbok, he railed – I have suffered, they took me to court, I suffered, I enter jungle, crocodile nearly ate me, I jumped out, ate “agbalumo” for days, I really suffered o and now see what they are doing to me.

I pitied him o because I have been there too. The difference being that I didn’t cry on social media but cried in my cell, which is what great men do. My sources at EFCC have told me that some of these big men will wear a T-shirt with the inscription: “EFCC, I am here”, for the media, but inside they will be crying and grovelling.

One once told me – na for that ground wey you dey stand, your oga, bank MD siddon dey cry o.

Anyways, today is not about Sujimoto’s tears but the need for authorities to use this case to make a point. This kind of high-profile case should be used to attempt to restore public confidence in the system, I swear.Me I know for a fact that it is not only Sujimoto that should be crying over this matter. I swear,

I don’t know what to think again o. In a brief chat with the admirable former Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, he debunked the news making the arounds about his reelection bid. He said, “Duke, all na fake news. If anything go happen, I go let you know.” His words were reassuring enough, so I just asked when he would come over for an afang treat.

But as soon as I dropped the phone, the very first thing I saw was a post on a credible medium, citing his decision to recontest. I was weak and, as I could not call him back – egbon picks calls once in six months - I just shrugged and faced my afang.

Then, Promise called me - Promise is a developmental banker who is very passionate about politics and governance.

“Duke, tell your man Ambode not to be tying himself to Tinubu. If he wants to win this thing, he needs to cut himself away from Tinubu.” I laughed and said “This shows that you no even understand

some Enugu State government officials should also be crying. Abi are we not all Nigerians?

It is 100% impossible that over N5 billion will leave a government and move towards another bank and not the bank that issued the performance guarantee without the flow being diverted in so many places before the thing reach Suji. I can swear with my left testicle to this. So, the EFCC must do a thorough job and very dispassionately, so that we can see many more tears on camera. As for my aburo, you didn’t need that “performance”, a strongly worded statement from your lawyers would have sufficed, and then you drive yourself to the place, have media escort you to the gate, smile at us, wave us bye and walk in straight to the toilet and cry very well. We didn’t need to see those tears, especially as they looked like what the Enugu State Government has labelled crocodile tears. Thank you.

AbIke DAbIrI IN THe eYe of THe STorM

What this my gracious aunty has done to “Igbo people” online continues to baffle me. For some time now, she has been the butt of attack by a large number of “Igbo people” on social media. She has been called all sorts of names that I cannot mention in a family-themed column like this – mbok make I mention

Nigerian politics. Who in their right senses, except El-Rufai and Sowore, will cut themselves from Tinubu and hope to win anything in Nigeria of today?

Mbok, my brother, leave our Ambode alone o, if you want to support him, support him o and leave whoever he is “linking or not linking to.”

He ended up saying, “That guy na performer Duke, he needs to come back, we love him and we want him back,” and dropped the phone.

Now, I am even more confused than ever before – Oga say he no do, media dey shout all over the place that Oga is coming back.

Well for me, Ambode is my sole candidate for any election in this country. If he decides to come out under any guise –linking Tinubu or not, I will not only vote for him but will canvass and run all over Lagos stark naked for his candidacy. Make una no ask me why, all I know is that on his mandate we stand. Thank you.

make he sweet abeg – bigot, Yoruba fool and the mother of it all, ape. She reached out, and we had a good laugh over it. “Edgar, one woman tweeting under Voice of Igbo, just called me the mother of all apes or something in that regard.” I laughed and laughed and laughed, and she said, “See Edgar, I was just responding to another tweet that mentioned ape with a smiley and the next minute, one Peoples Gazette has gone to town that I have called all Igbos ape and monkey.”

I could not stop laughing because I didn’t see the link between the ever so elegant Abike and an ape. You see, these social media people are just something else, and the best thing to do is to just ignore them. You will just be wasting your time trying to even understand their angles. For me, I have concluded that these N100 digital warriors just carry their frustrations out on their platforms and let loose venom just for the fun of it.

So, taking someone who can call Abike an ape over a very serious issue, seriously, is just a bloody waste of time. It is like the saying that if you argue with a madman in public, people will not know the difference.

Meanwhile, Madam Abike, there is an “Igbo” boy all over social media who identifies as a gorilla. Maybe you

should invite him for lunch and you guys feast on bananas, jumping up and down in a gorilla fashion, discuss monkey business and then screen “To Kill a Monkey” for him to watch. Maybe, after that, the “Igbo” people on social media will no longer see you as an ape but an antelope or better still, peacock. Na wa, Aunty mi, just ignore them and keep doing your very wellappreciated job.

NATASHA AkpoTI-UDUAgHAN: wHAT’S goINg oN?

This is what you get when you take little men with little minds and put them in one place and call the place National… Mbok, which one is this one again? The lady has served her full punishment, even went to court to get relief, and you say, you don’t understand the judgment. The lady kept quiet, and now that her six months suspension is over, you are all still playing “monkey games” with her and Nigerians.

This is nothing short of “agbaya” things. Mbok, I don’t even want to know the reasons why she cannot be called back because it’s all just so nauseating. They should just please respect themselves and allow the woman back to her seat, abeg. These people just like to be doing agbaya things all the time. It is even shameful that all that transpired even did and

Cardoso

Akpoti-Uduaghan

ogundele

Dabiri

Ambode

now they cannot even fashion out a reconciliation? Doing like prostitutes chewing gum and fighting over customers.

Please, whoever or whatever is in charge of that place, this crap should stop or are we trying to say that this one woman is now a major threat to the continued corporate existence of the National Assembly? One woman ooooo. Mbok, they should just stop all these “kira kata” and give the woman back her seat, abeg. Enough of the games. Come and beat me.

Dino Melaye’s Shot Below the Belt One thing I always warn people about this exhibitionist is his mouth. Kai, the man can yab, and he no dey waste time. Once the fight starts, he jumps into the ring like an agbero and lets loose. He will yab and yab and then add songs, and then he will be dancing on top just to make you squirm in pain.

Do you remember his fight with Yahaya Bello, the Kogi strongman? He composed different songs for that one, yabbed him and danced for him and then finished him off by sticking out his tongue, pulling on his eyelids, screaming “Ntounnnnnnnnn!!!!”

He once took Nyesom Wike to the dry cleaners. To date, that one has not responded to him for fear of retaliation. Now, President Tinubu is his recent target. I have known that since Dino went to mistakenly pass Law School, we will not hear word again. Anyways, that was how he went on air to talk about the compulsive borrowing nature of this government and landed with the nuclear bomb- the way they are going, they will soon go and borrow from MoniePoint and Opay.

Ohhhh my God, that was epic. Kai, that is the mother of all yabis. It reminded me of those days in secondary school when two people were yabbing themselves. When one hits the mark, we will all shout, “Aghhhhhhhhhh, kai, he has killed you.” In Yoruba, we will say “Kai, Semiu, Luku ti pa e.” Kai, Bola, Dino ti pa eeeee. Kai, there is no comeback on that one. Kai, Dino, your mouth eghnnn, na soakaway. You are the king of yabis, I swear. How did you come about that Opay and MoniePoint? The thing just off me as we say it in Shomolu. Kai, kai, Dino you will not kill someone one day. Oya e remain the song and dance that should go with it ooo. Don’t disappoint us ooo, we are waiting.

OlAYemI CArDOSO: STIll ON THe mATTer

It is just as well that Dino has brought up this matter. The matter of borrowing from Fintech firms. As a result of the harsh economic climate, which we have been told and agree is not your making, Nigerians have resorted in their millions to be borrowing money from these virtual shylocks at “crazy” rates.

When you borrow at over 60% per annum just to feed for a week, then you know that Nigerians are now on the ropes. So repayment is usually not feasible and then you now see the real problems. They will go on an expansive shaming spree, contacting your allies and sending cryptic messages defaming you and calling you all sorts of names, including thief, bastard, traitor, etc. Names much more daring than the “criminal” Sowore has called your Oga.

I tell you, if you go by Dino’s advice and truly go and borrow money from any of these Fintechs, and you cannot pay on time, ehn. Before you send Wale Edun to go and negotiate an extension, they will send a text to everybody calling you worse names than all the names Sowore has called Tinubu.

I hear the CBN is now trying really hard

to curb their activities and impose a fine. I think they should criminalise it because a lot of people have committed suicide or been mentally and psychologically damaged as a result of their activities. Thank you, sir, but in case you need a guarantor for the loan, Dino has said your Oga may be borrowing in no distant future, I will be more than happy to fill the form for you, sir. Ema bi nu, Daddy wa.

ATeDO peTerSIDe: A DIffereNT KIND Of mAN

Let me quickly just say a big happy birthday to a strong member of the Maddtimes Power list of most powerful and influential Nigerians, Mr. Atedo Peterside.

I heard he celebrated his birthday recently. I am not sure of the age, so I keep silent on that. As usual, I was not invited. I thought of so many things to do to this gentleman to exact my

revenge, and settled on drawing his caricature with him totally nude, with nothing but his bowler hat and walking stick.

The caricaturist has refused to take the instructions and obey orders, and I have, in turn been shouting at him: “do you know what they call this in the army?” Anyways, my big uncle and elder statesman, at about 30 years or less, pioneered a dream – meritocracy in banking and today you have forged in Africa a giant financial behemoth, cementing your place in the annals of our nation’s history. Happy Birthday, my Lord and may you continue in good health and in our Lord’s massive cover. Thank you.

JOSepH eDgAr: DO YOU SpeAK Or wrITe BeTTer?

The other day, out of boredom, I sent out a broadcast to my followers with a question: Which do you think is my

OmOYele SOwOre NeeDS TO refINe

HImSelf pleASe

This one has spoken, and all of those around the President are crying more than the bereaved. According to Sowore, Mr. Onanuga, the presidential spokesman, has directly approached him in a bid to get him to drop the post. Not only that, the other authorities, for the purpose of my freedom, which is a no contest - I never joke or gamble with it – I will call them “ Men in Black” have also given him seven days or is it seven hours, to recant, apologise on TV or face dire consequences. I even hear that they have even gone as far as to also warn Meta, the platform on which the word was published, that they could be “criminally liable” on this matter. My people, this whole thing just makes me laugh na. Can it be that serious? Is it today that President Tinubu has been called all sorts of names and is “criminal” the worst that he has been called?

The man himself has said that he does not read these things again, as the abuse is too much and can give him a stroke. So he blanks out, which means that this particular one, he has not seen or heard, so all these rumblings in the jungle, I don’t understand. Shebi someone just called Abike Dabiri gorilla and na laugh we all just laugh am off. Public service is to stand up there and be pelted by the people you serve. That is part of sacrifice. Frustrated people will call you names, and all you need to do is let it be like water off the back of a chicken and not allow it to get to you to the point that you are

threatening fire and brim stone over yabis. As for Sowore himself, isn’t it time you up your game sef? You should now be speaking like an elder statesman, not like campus “solidarity forever” soldier. You have been a presidential aspirant and you are now an elder statesman in age, potbelly and achievements. So, my brother, speak with authority so that you get respect. Which one is President Tinubu is a “criminal”? That is gutter language and very unbecoming of an advocate who has been in the fields for donkey years. By now, your language should have been more refined, and you can say things like he is a criminal in a more refined way that would make Onanuga look at you with respect. It is as a result of your gutter language that will make them to be “beating you and send a corporal to arrest you. After all these years, na commissioner or even AIG that should be arresting you. I am not happy that it is Supol, and below that is chasing you all over the place, it does not show progress at all.

Refine your language and talk big English like Dele Farotimi, and you will see that it is CP and a whole truckload that will come after you instead of one small mopol that will come and break your hand on top. Please “Google” is your friend, there are many other words you could have used instead of criminal that will make the mark and save us all these wahala of writing letter to Facebook.

true strength – writing or speaking?

The feedback I got threw me into a fit of anger, and I immediately responded and yabbed them all out.

See my response: It’s looking like today is kinda lazy, as over 100 people have replied to my broadcast, asking if I speak or write better. It’s as if people were just waiting for the broadcast as the response started flowing in almost immediately. ChiefBiodun Shobanjo who has been threatening to send people to come and beat me, responded: “None of the above, come and beat me.” I responded by also threatening to remove him from the Power List

My egbon, Dapo Adelegan, also responded and said none of the above, but that I was a better prostitute. I threatened to release his nude and he ran away. Gabriel Ogbechie screamed, “Writing oooo.” Well, I no blame am because he never takes my call; he no want give me sponsorship, so how will he hear me speak?

Laide Oropo, wey never see sunlight in months, also shouted, writing and concluded by saying that I easily get distracted when challenged in a speech, I ignore am.

Ex-actress and former pastor’s wife, Abiola Segun William, come even worsen the matter. She say I no get skill in anything, say na creative idea I get, meaning say, I be mumu because I ask am question. E come be like say people were waiting to just annoy me this afternoon.

Even Ruth Osime, wey dey hug me every time I blast on her programme, come even say writing, and she no kuku spell the writing well. My big sister, Fayo chime in, say, na writing, say my speeches too getshey you get?

Well, yesterday I write about enemies. I mistakenly say I get only two. Na lie, dem pass 100. See as people are calling me mumu. Say na writing, when me I know say that I am one of the greatest ever public speakers. Go to the University of Ibadan and ask them. Me wey dey win debate get accommodation for four years. As I dey write, even Okupe of Ijebuland don follow put mouth, who buy data for am sef? I am a skilled speaker o. Me wey dey talk and people go begin dey bow. Speakers like me no plenty. People like Winston Churchill, Obama, Hitler and maybe JFK reach my standard.

In Nigeria, na people like Hassan Kukah, that Igbo boy Chukwumerijie wey dey talk like say honey dey him mouth and also the late Ken Saro Wiwa and General Ike Nwachukwu be my mates for speaking.

How would big head Wole of Old Mutual know that when all he listens to is Kwam 1’s laughable apology statement?

God just saved this Kuti Sofumade, who wisely sat on the fence. I was waiting for him, I swear, because I for scatter am but the juju wey he get just help am as he say - your writing and speaking are out of Shomolu.

See, let me just warn all of you saying I cannot speak to go and sit down o. Me, that I have talked a virgin into a maternity ward? How many of you can do that? Me that I started talking in my mother’s womb?

One Atinuke even said my voice is hoarse; it’s her husband’s voice that is hoarse. Another one says I will be doing em em em when I speak. I will soon beat him. Thankfully, Yemi Shodimu get flat tyre for Sagamu; otherwise, that old Yoruba dancer would come and add his own.

See, I SPEAK better than writing. Na me know myself, and I know that I speak better than writing. Nobody should come and look for my trouble this wet afternoon o.

Next time, if I ask you people that kind question, just ask me back - Duke, wetin you want hear and I will tell you and you tell me. That’s the wise thing to do. Kai, I’m so angry. Imagine over 90 people saying I cannot speak. Lol.

Emmanuel Egboh: The King of Aviation, Railway Security

In December 2024, The Guardian newspaper nominated the Founder and CEO of Advonics Services Nigeria Limited (ASNL), Mr. Emmanuel Egboh, a patriotic Nigerian businessman focused on helping to realise a safer country, as one of the 100 visionary CEOs with exceptional business acumen that shaped the country’s economic landscape in 2024.

The Guardian had also, in 2023, recognised Egboh as one of Nigeria’s 50 most inspiring and definitive top CEOs, who defied apparent economic downturn and plotted the affairs of their company to profitability.

This, however, did not come as a surprise. It was not his first, and of course, hasn’t been his last. Indeed, several other noted organisations, locally and internationally, have come to appreciate what Advonics is doing and have not hesitated to hand him Mr. Egboh his bouquet of flowers.

For helping to tackle insecurity in the most populous black nation, Egboh was the recipient of the 2023 African Leaders of Integrity Merit Award by African Integrity Magazine in Accra, Ghana.

That’s not all. He was also the recipient of Africa’s Most Outstanding Maritime Security and Logistics Services CEO of the Year 2024 by the Board of African Leadership Review, even though Advonics deals majorly in rail transportation and defence military hardware.

Thus, all of the newspapers’ recognitions, including The Guardian, was just a further confirmation of the decision of several other non-governmental organisations, which had long seen the efforts put into securing the nation’s airports, railway and other critical assets of governments and institutions by Advonics.

Advonics Services Nigeria Limited, without a doubt, remains one of the best-in-class security companies, offering a wide range of high-tech security products and services for the telecoms, maritime, aviation, transportation, and logistics industries.

In equal bend, its CEO, Egboh, represents the best of Nigeria’s new breed of businessmen identifiable by

their peerless grit and guts, crystal-clear vision, patriotism, and relentless pursuit of excellence against all odds, the accretion of which has seen them breaking the glass ceilings.

From a humble but promising start in 2003, Advonics, today, has grown into a trusted name and partner in the security industry with a proven track record of delivering innovative and reliable solutions on a regional and global scale.

It also offers a wide range of high-tech security products

Bolanle Olukanni, Tee A Revealed as Co-Hosts of NECLive 2025

NECLive organisers have confirmed that celebrated media personality Bolanle Olukanni and legendary entertainer Tee A (Tunde Adewale) will co-host NECLive 2025, scheduled to hold on November 28, 2025, in Lagos. The duo will bring their signature charisma, wit, and expertise to guide conversations across the conference’s multi-segment format, including keynotes, panel discussions, live performances, Q&As, workshops, and innovation showcases.

Having previously hosted NECLive in 2021 and 2022, Olukanni makes her return to the conference for the third time. A renowned television host and filmmaker, she is recognised for her work on popular shows such as Project Fame West Africa, The Juice, and Moments with Mo. Beyond her on-screen success, Bolanle is well-respected for her creativity, interview style, and social impact advocacy which have made her one of Africa’s most trusted media voices.

“For over a decade, NECLive has consistently delivered impactful conversations and showcased the best of our industry,” said Bolanle. “The organisers have curated a truly great platform and I am happy to be a part of it.”

Joining her is veteran event compere Tee A, who returns to NECLive for a record eighth time. A pioneer in Nigeria’s stand-up comedy scene and a much sought-after corporate event host, Tee A is renowned for his incredible wit, comedic timing, poise, and deep industry knowledge. The veteran brings his magnetic presence and authentic connection with audiences to the most defining industry gathering of the year. His proven expertise and deep understanding of the creative landscape make him an ideal anchor for NECLive 2025, which holds under the “Powering Africa Through Creative Enterprise” theme.

“It’s always a pleasure being part of this dream that Olukanni

continues to shape and propel our creative industry ecosystem,” said Tee A. “I’m honoured to host this year’s event, and I look forward to delivering another exceptional experience as we continue this remarkable journey.”

The hosts will anchor NECLive 2025 in front of over 2,000 inperson attendees and 10 million viewers globally through multiple broadcast and digital platforms. The conference is organised by Netng, BHM, and ID Africa, with signature events production company Huce Valeris as production partner, and it is supported by MultiChoice Nigeria.

and services tailored to the telecoms, maritime, aviation, transportation, and logistics industries.

Little wonder, her clientele includes federal ministries and agencies, notably Aviation, Transportation, FAAN, and even the Department of State Security (DSS), among several others.

Today, in that critical sector, Egboh is recognised as an entrepreneurial genius for being able to position ASNL as the leader in the deployment of tomorrow’s technology in both the rail and air transportation systems, critical government infrastructure, and border security to protect the country and its citizens from major internal and external threats.

A family man whose faith in values and strict upbringing is immutable, Egboh has continued to maintain a private social life despite his exposure to impossible temptations.

Kind and generous but also tough and disciplined, he is, curiously, not the unrestrained type. Strangely, he is very stylish.

With a habit of success, and in spite of his lifestyle of luxury and enviably great taste, Egboh, has made hard work the creed of his business philosophy and ensuring a balance of everything for the results everyone notices today.

South Africa Brings Heritage Day to Lagos

The South African Consulate General in Lagos, in partnership with AfroFlavors, is set to host the maiden edition of South Africa’s Heritage Day celebration in Nigeria on September 20 at the Federal Palace Hotel.

The event, designed to immerse guests in the spirit of South African culture while fostering stronger ties with Nigeria, will feature a cultural market showcasing food, art, fashion, and dance. Guests will have the chance to explore stalls with traditional dishes, handmade crafts, and clothing that reflect South Africa’s heritage, as well as items that highlight the growing cultural ties between South Africa and Nigeria.

The Creative Lab will bring together chefs, culture enthusiasts, and thought leaders for conversations about food, identity, and the future of African culture. The discussions will mirror the African Union’s Agenda 2063, looking at how culture and creativity can shape the continent’s next chapter.

One of the main highlights will be the tribe cook-off centred on shaki (tripe). Culinary teams from Ghana, Morocco, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Zimbabwe will compete to present dishes based on this common ingredient. The contest aims to make African foods more familiar across the continent, so that dishes from one country are not strange to another, while also preparing the ground for African cuisine to gain more recognition globally.

Founder of AfroFlavors, Lucky Idike, described the event as a vibrant blend of traditions from both countries.

“That day is going to be a fusion of South African and Nigerian heritage,” he said. “It’s a celebration of South Africa’s Heritage Day. If you have context, every year the South Africans celebrate around September 24, Heritage Day. It was initially known as the Shaka Zulu Day.”

The Charge d’Affaires, South African Consulate General, Lagos, Ms Sebo Lenyai, noted the cultural similarities that unite both nations. “We share so many similarities in terms of culture. We’re very deeply rooted in culture. Since I’ve been here in Nigeria, everyone is rooted in their own culture, in the diverse culture that Nigeria has, as well as South Africa. So through this event, we’re able to showcase and display how these two big countries on the continent came together and sang one song and hence the theme for the event is ‘One Love, One Africa,’” she said.

In keeping with its immersive design, the celebration will adopt a check-in concept, where attendees are given a passportlike document on entry, symbolising a journey into South Africa’s cultural landscape.

egboh

Iyke Bede

Left to right: Founder, AfroFlavour, Lucky Idike; Chargé d’Affaires, South African Consulate General in Lagos, Ms. Sebo Lenyai; Director of Operations, Lai Labode Heritage Foundation, Chinny Nwokedi; Vice Consul: political, South African Consulate General in Lagos, Lefentse Matlhaga.

Legacy and the Art of What Endures Beyond Applause

a forthcoming exhibition in Lagos regroups LIMcaF’s top winners—not to reminisce, but to show what their art has become beyond the glare of victory. okechukwu Uwaezuoke writes

As an exhibition’s title, LEGACY trembles under the weight of expectation. As a word, it can scarcely contain the storm gathering around the exhibition that opens on Saturday, September 20, at 1952 Africa Gallery. Hidden in plain sight on Abeke Animashaun Street in Lekki Phase I, Lagos, this modest space is about to detonate into something far larger than its walls.

What promises to unfold here will not be a glossy soirée where champagne eclipses canvases and hashtags outshine brushstrokes. No, LEGACY is no such confection. It arrives instead as declaration and defiance: a vow to speak on one’s own terms, a refusal to be muffled by trends or patrons. It is art that bares its fangs, unsheathes its claws, and demands to be seen.

At once celebration and reckoning, the exhibition summons back past winners of the Life In My City Art Festival (LIMCAF). Once, they were young victors clutching cheques in Enugu, their futures radiant with possibility. Now, they return seasoned by survival, persistence, and the refusal to pander to whims. The question they pose—without quite saying it—hangs in the air like a charge: what becomes of a prize when the applause has faded?

“This exhibition brings together the best of Nigeria’s young artists since the inception of LIMCAF in 2007,” the festival’s art director, Dr Ayo Adewunmi affirms. “With almost 60 works, the exhibition captures the vision of LIMCAF to promote art as a tool for youth empowerment and national development.”

To pigeonhole this, therefore, as an alumni showcase would be absurd—akin to calling Lagos traffic a “mild inconvenience.” This is Nigeria refracted through thread, wire, tesserae, and scorched wood. A visitor feels it before crossing the threshold: the pressure of unfinished arguments, forms stirring for another round.

The names of the exhibiting artists alone read like a roll of honour: Abiodun Emmanuel, Adebayo Ebenezer Seun, Chibuike Ifedilichukwu, Chichetam Okoronta, Edward Samuel, Ejiofor Samson, Eweje Emmanuel, Eze Mariagoretti Chinenye, Ezichi Nkwocha, Ibrahim Afegbu, Idowu Abayomi, Ijiko Kelvin, Izuchukwu Muoneme, Klaranze Okhide, Lucky Ezah, Mayi Theophilus, Mbaeri Stephen, Motorola John, Ngozi-Omeje Ezema, Nnamdi Udoka, Okechukwu Eze, Olayemi Sunday Opeyemi, Onyinye Ezennia, Priscilla Oryina, Paul Emenike, Popoola Nurudeen, Segun Victor Owolabi, and Shade Fagorusi. Each once a LIMCAF laureate. Each now testing what it means to create in the long shadow of acclaim.

Take Adebayo Ebenezer Seun. A restless shape-shifter, he slips every convenient label. He speed-paints, he performs, he convenes public forums where art wrestles openly with democracy and justice. LIMCAF’s top prize in 2023, Dak’Art in 2024, TEDx stages, collaborations with UNICEF, UNDP, Yiaga Africa—the résumé rattles like a drum. Yet the measure is not credentials but urgency. His canvases do not hang—they agitate. His performances do not soothe—they provoke. To encounter them is to be dragged into the undertow of a protest march: colour pounding where slogans might be, brushstrokes rising louder than megaphones.

Elsewhere the register dips, but the tension coils tighter. Segun Victor Owolabi stitches portraits from thread with such precision that, at first glance, they appear to be oils. Step closer and the secret reveals itself: myriads of loops, interlaced into faces on the verge of blinking. Fragility is his weapon. Thread is his metaphor: resilience spooled taut, always one tug away from collapse. His portraits hover between permanence and undoing, daring the viewer to

imagine the moment the weave gives way. Then comes Ibrahim Afegbua, bending annealed wire into hairstyles of staggering intricacy. The impulse springs from childhood in Kaduna, watching

A threads and nails on canvas work

his stepmother braid hair with a craftsman’s patience. His women—crowned in metallic swirls—speak less to beauty than to authority. Since winning LIMCAF in 2017, he has shown in France and Belgium. In Lagos, his sculptures seem to hum, antennae tuned to ancestral memory.

Fragments gleam in Edward Samuel’s mosaics. Winner of the 2018 El Anatsui Prize, he has become one of Nigeria’s foremost mosaicists. He makes no attempt to disguise the fracture. Instead, he elevates it. Each shard is a sliver of loss, reassembled into wholeness. His art insists that life itself is mosaic: broken, rearranged, and—against all odds—made coherent.

In Priscilla Oryina’s embroideries, no such comfort resides. On wool and Algarara cloth, the softness of thread becomes ambush. Her acclaimed Almajiri series, first unveiled in Dakar, returns here with muted ferocity. It depicts women bearing unacknowledged burdens, children exposed to precarity. What looks like gentle craft is, in fact, testimony—urgent and unflinching.

And then the scorch. Kelvin Ijiko practises pyrography with the deliberation of ritual. He etches African history and cosmology into wood, each scorch irreversible. In an age addicted to the undo button, Ijiko offers no reprieve. Once marked, never erased. His panels blaze with paradox: destruction and regeneration fused in endless duel. Together, these artists, alongside the others, form less a chorus than an insurgency. Their mediums heckle and argue across the gallery: thread taunting tesserae, wire coiling round wool, fire licking at the edges of paint. This is not harmony but voltage. In collaboration with 1952 Africa, Legacy makes clear that LIMCAF has not merely produced winners since 2007. It has seeded the Nigerian art scene with some of its fiercest and most ungovernable voices.

What lingers is not conclusion but charge. Thread portraits nearly breathe. Wire hairstyles bristle with ancestral signal. Mosaics flaunt their scars. Embroideries whisper testimonies disguised as texture. Pyrography brands memory into permanence. One leaves not with answers but with questions, seared into the skin.

Because LEGACY, as this exhibition insists, is no trophy neatly bestowed. It is seized, defended, fought for—stitched, soldered, scorched. It is not relic but live current.

So when 1952 Africa Gallery swings its doors open on September 20, Lagos will not merely witness another opening. It will breathe defiance. For LEGACY is not a monument to what has been. It is energy in motion, pulling every visitor into its charge.

by Segun Victor Owolabi

Black Amazon by Ibrahim Afegbua

Play by Edward Samuel

Awele Elumelu: Seven Marathons, One Indomitable Spirit

From hospital wards to global marathons, Dr. Awele Elumelu’s story resonates as an anthem of endurance, balance, and purposeful living. As she completes her seventh marathon in Sydney, Australia, the global community, and Africa in particular, is treated to uninhibited prospects of her discipline, writes Lanre Alfred

Africa beheld once again a dogged runner crossing a finish line and a heroine manifesting a living parable for generations of ambitious youths. The streets of Sydney bore witness to a familiar stride this September. Beneath the southern sun, amid 35,000 runners who had come to test the limits of flesh and breath, one figure cut through the miles with serene determination.

Dr. Awele Elumelu, wife of Africa’s influential entrepreneur Tony Elumelu, mother of seven, medical doctor, business leader, and philanthropist, crossed the finish line of the Sydney Marathon; her seventh full-length conquest of the gruelling 42-kilometre test.

At 55, when convention might suggest retreat into leisure and the insulation of affluence, Awele chose sweat, blisters, and endurance instead. Each stride declared defiance against inertia, each kilometre a proclamation that wealth need not be a pretext for waste, nor privilege a license for sloth.

In a glaring contradiction of the glamourised narrative of the so-called “baby girl life” that hovers in social spaces, Awele persistently asserts her worth, far removed from that ode to indulgence, conspicuous leisure, indolence and curated ease. Awele offers the antithesis. Hers is no theatre of idle consumption but of spirited exertion. She embodies an ethic of resilience, where true elegance emerges from endurance, honest labour, and commitment to excellence. Her seventh marathon tells of a spirit that does not yield to shortcuts. It speaks to younger generations, particularly women, that meaning often manifests where sweat and purpose meet. She has become an emblem of a new aspiration, a counter-idol to the gaudy myths of frivolity.

A litany of races, a liturgy of triumphs

Sydney is not an isolated tale. It is the latest bead on her necklace of triumphs that now circles the globe. Earlier this year, she completed her sixth marathon, a reaffirmation that Sydney was not a miracle but a continuation of rhythm. In 2024, she conquered Berlin, her fifth marathon, with the calm rigour of a seasoned runner. That same year, she clocked a personal best in London, her fourth marathon, inscribing speed and stamina into her growing legend.

Each race tells of persistence beyond the pageantry of medals. The finish line is never merely a physical ribbon; it is a metaphorical crown of resilience, a consecration of hours spent in training, mornings stolen from sleep, afternoons claimed from comfort. Where others might wear jewellery as tokens of success, Awele collects marathons as proof of tenacity.

Behind her passion lies a conviction: success without health is a hollow edifice. As a medical doctor and healthcare entrepreneur, she does not merely preach this truth; she lives it. Her marathon running becomes a metaphor and a manifesto, a living argument that preserving body and mind is the first wealth of any enduring enterprise.

At the helm of Avon Healthcare Limited, she has fought to expand access to quality healthcare in Nigeria, a country where the wellness of citizens too often hangs in a delicate balance. Her public choices dramatise her professional creed: to heal a people requires leaders who themselves embody vitality, who show that well-being is not indulgence but responsibility.

Thus, Awele runs not only for herself but for the generations who must learn that the body is the first engine of dreams, that ambition cannot burn if the vessel collapses. The Sydney finish line is hardly a solitary achievement but a sermon delivered in strides across asphalt.

The entrepreneur’s parable of balance

If you ask Awele, she’d tell you that entrepreneurship is a marathon disguised as commerce; that it is endurance masked as enterprise. It asks of its practitioners resilience, clarity, recovery, and consistency, the very traits demanded by the 42-kilometre course.

Studies confirm what Awele demonstrates: entrepreneurs who protect their health are more adaptive, more creative, more enduring. The frantic tempo of business often tempts neglect of wellness, but such neglect is a mortgage on the future. Mindfulness, structured recovery, and physical vigour become strategic assets, not luxuries.

By running marathons, she narrates an allegory of entrepreneurship itself: there are no shortcuts to the finish, only pacing, perseverance, and preparation. She embodies the wisdom that ambition sustained by health becomes a legacy, whereas ambition untethered to wellness becomes a collapse.

Of course, her husband, Tony, did not let the milestone pass in silence. He took to social media to celebrate his wife, his words reverberating across digital plains, proud and tender in equal measure. To him, her seventh marathon was not only a personal triumph but a chapter in the larger family story; a story where love is expressed in encouragement, where partnership is measured in wealth, shared values of diligence and resilience.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation echoed this sentiment, hailing the achievement as extraordinary. Yet the celebration stretched beyond the walls of family and foundation. Across Africa, her accomplishment resonated as an inspiration to women balancing multiple roles: motherhood, profession, partnership, and personal aspiration.

Awele is proof that none of these spheres

need to extinguish the other. She proves that wholeness is possible, that one can be both tender and tough, nurturing and daring, grounded and soaring.

Marathon as metaphor

A marathon is never only a race. It is a pilgrimage across thresholds of fatigue, across deserts of doubt and temptation to quit. To finish is to triumph over self and learn that endurance is the purest form of victory.

Awele’s marathon journey speaks to this universal lesson. Each kilometre covered becomes allegory: about persistence in business, faith in family, leadership in healthcare, and integrity in public life. She teaches that discipline is the truest adornment and that sacrifice is the seed of influence.

While the world drowns in artificial idols— reality-show stars, social-media caricatures, and hollow influencers—Awele offers substance. She presents young girls with a template anchored in painstaking effort and the lasting glow of character.

At 55, she reminds women of all ages that time is not a foe but a partner, and that the body, if nurtured, remains a vessel of strength well beyond the years where society whispers its doubts. Awele asserts that ambition does not retire with age, and that motherhood, rather than diminishing aspiration, can amplify it into richer harmony.

A legacy written in miles Seven marathons mark the journey so far. Yet the true measure of Awele is not the number of finish lines she has crossed but the number of lives she has illuminated along the way. Her legacy is both maternal and marital, entrepreneurial and holistic. It is the legacy of

a woman who has chosen to run with purpose through every corridor of her existence.

The Sydney Marathon of 2025 stands as her latest accomplishment. But it is not the end of the story. For women watching from Lagos, from Nairobi, from Accra, from Johannesburg, Awele’s strides become an invitation to aspire; to lace up, rise, and accomplish.

Awele shows, without doubt, that health is wealth, fortitude is appreciable, and that legacy is often earned in motion.

Awele runs forward at 55, she does not slow, carrying with her the aspirations of young girls longing for authentic models, the pride of a husband who celebrates her guts, and the gratitude of a continent that sees in her a different kind of heroism.

elumelu

elumelu

IN THE ARENA

State of Emergency as Panacea for Insecurity

With escalating state of insecurity in the North and the failure of the federal government’s strategies to curb the menace, the declaration of state of emergency on insecurity has become increasingly unavoidable as regional leaders re-echo this demand, Davidson Iriekpen writes

The state of insecurity in Nigeria has continued to worsen despite efforts to address it. Those in denial of this truth are playing politics with insecurity due largely to the fact that they are probably not directly affected yet.

Of all regions of the country, the North has been the most ravaged, with the dire consequences spreading to the South.

Whilst the country has been contending with Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorist groups for over 15 years now in the North-east geopolitical zone, a new group, Mahmuda, has come up in the Northcentral states of Kwara and Niger.

In parts of the North-west, the Lakurawa and Ansaru groups have gained notoriety, killing people and rustling cattle.

There is also al-Shabaab, whose members invaded Owo town in Ondo State and massacred over 40 worshippers.

In all of these, there are marauding bandits who pose a significant security threat. They are notorious for their brutality, as they attack villages, kidnap residents for ransom, and loot property as they move from one place to the other.

Nigerian communities are increasingly being ravaged by these criminal elements who operate with impunity. The country has become a fertile ground for them to operate.

This widespread instability has caused mass displacement of residents of many communities, fuelling humanitarian crises, joblessness, and increased poverty.

In the last two weeks alone, about 200 people have been reported killed across the country.

On August 19, gunmen launched a deadly attack on a mosque in Unguwan Mantau village, Katsina State, killing worshippers and injuring several others during early morning prayers.

The region has also been shaken by the execution of 35 abductees in Zamfara State despite ransom payments, as well as separate assaults in Kauru and Kudan Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Kaduna State, where eight people were killed and eight others injured.

Almost on a daily basis, Borno, Benue, Plateau and Niger states bleed while Kwara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Taraba states are not left of the carnage.

Travelling by road, which many used enjoyed in the past has become a nightmare for fear of being kidnapped, tortured and made to part with millions of naira.

Hundreds of security operatives have also been killed by these nefarious elements.

Recently, former Governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, revealed that the local government areas in his senatorial district are in firm control of bandits.

In parts Sokoto, Katsina, Zamfara and many other states in the North, residents pay levies to terrorists to access their farms, harvest or sell their produce. In some case, they also pay to get permission to hold ceremonies. This is how bad the situation is.

Nigeria is in dire straits. Many strongly believe that once the security situation in the North is tackled or brought under control, it will also significantly reduce the problem in the southern parts of the country.

For instance, last weekend, gunmen suspected to be kidnappers and armed with sophisticated weapons, killed eight officials of the Edo State Command of the NSCDC and abducted a Chinese expatriate in Okpella, Etsako East Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.

Last Monday, five soldiers were killed in Zamfara State.

It was therefore not surprising that the Northern Elders Forum’s (NEF) recently called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately declare a state

of emergency in northern Nigeria. In a communiqué signed by its spokesperson, Prof. Abubakar Jiddere, the forum expressed grave concern over the “relentless wave of violent attacks, abductions, and killings” across the region, stressing that the federal government can no longer afford to delay decisive action.

The group warned that if the worsening situation is not urgently addressed, communities could resort to “self-help,” which could trigger anarchy and undermine the country’s democratic stability and regional peace.

NEF called on Tinubu’s administration to adopt a multi-pronged strategy that includes declaring a state of emergency in Northern Nigeria to reflect the extraordinary scale of the crisis.

It also called for the deployment of adequately trained, armed, and equipped security forces with clear rules of engagement to protect civilians and secure border regions.

Last week, another northern group, the Northern Ethnic National Forum (NENF), called on President Tinubu to declare a state of emergency on security in the region.

The group, a coalition of leaders from the diverse ethnic nationalities of northern Nigeria dedicated to promoting unity and advocating good governance, also urged the president to

immediately sack the nation’s service chiefs, citing worsening violence and leadership failures in tackling insecurity.

In a statement by its Convener, Dominic Alancha, the group said that while the administration had taken bold economic reforms, the deteriorating security situation and ineffective leadership demanded urgent corrective action. It accused the service chiefs of failing to deliver despite huge security funding, insisting that the entire system required a “fundamental overhaul.”

Declaring that its demands were driven by patriotism rather than malice, the group warned that the survival and prosperity of Nigeria, especially the North, hangs in the balance. It stressed that its call was not for militarisation but for a “targeted, multi-agency, and resource-intensive emergency operation to flush out terrorists, dismantle their networks, and restore permanent order.”

Similarly, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi, called on the federal government to declare war on insecurity, saying that no nation can prosper while its citizens live under siege.

Obi, who was reacting to reports the killing of over 100 people in violent attacks across Borno, Sokoto, Katsina, and Edo states last weekend, explained that it was time to declare a national war on insecurity, to mobilise every resource, every agency, every state, and to suspend all distractions in order to reclaim the country from lawlessness.

“No nation can prosper while it lives under siege, history shows that insecurity is the quickest path to national collapse, Somalia and Libya stand as painful warnings. We must act now, with urgency and courage, to prevent a total descent into anarchy and rebuild Nigeria into a safe, secure, and productive nation for all,” he said.

With disturbing reports of violence across the country, isn’t it high time the federal government took decisive action to end the insecurity ravaging Nigeria? Has it forgotten that one of their primary responsibilities is to protect citizens’ lives?

Nigerian leaders can do better as speeches and rhetoric are no substitute for real action. With insecurity, there is no policy the government, whether federal or state, can drive effectively. Insecurity is also a disincentive to investments. Each day that another Nigerian life is lost marks a failure of leadership. The government must act boldly, particularly by granting states more control over their security. Nigerians cannot continue to perish in the hands of marauders while the president and other leaders sleep peacefully.

Natasha: Vendetta Taken Too Far by the Senate

Again,theNationalAssemblyisinthenewsforthewrong reasons. Lastweek,theSenatewrotethesuspendedsenator representingtheKogiCentral,NatashaAkpoti-Uduaghan, informing her not to resume her legislative duties despite the expiration of the six-month suspension slammed on her in March.

Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended after a heated clash with Senate President Godswill Akpabio over seating arrangements during plenary.

InaletterdatedAugust28,thelawmakerhadnotifiedthe Clerk of the National Assembly of her intention to resume on September 4, which, according to her, marked the end of her suspension.

But the acting Clerk of the National Assembly, Yahaya Danzaria, rejected the senator’s request.

Hesaidhersix-monthsuspensionremainsinforcepend-

ing the outcome of the appeal she instituted against the Senate at the Court of Appeal. The clerk argued that no administrativeactioncanbetakenuntiltheCourtofAppeal deliversaverdict,stressingthatthematterisstillsubjudice.

Many analysts believe that with the expiration of her six months suspension, there is no reason why the Senate should not allow the senator to resume.

Theclerk’sstrangeargumentislikePresidentBolaTinubu insisting that the suspended governor of Rivers State, Mr. Sim Fubara will not be recalled from suspension at the expiration of six-month until the Supreme Court delivers judgment in the suit filed by some governors challenging hissuspensionbyTinubu.Orthatamansentencedtoprison for six months must remain in prison because his appeal processispendingevenwhenheservesoutthesixmonths?

The prisons authority will refuse to let the prisoner go, and

by implication, elongate the prison term by itself?

Preventingthesenatorfromresumingwouldnotonlybe theheightofpersonalvendetta,itwouldalsobevindictive, diabolic, totalitarian, and highly provocative. Italsoconstitutesaclearandpresentdangertodemocracy.

Many analysts blame Justice Binta Nyako who in July deliveredacomplicatedjudgmentinthedisputewhichthe upper legislative chamber is taking advantage of.

Even when she described the six-month suspension as “excessive,” she failed to make a declarative order for her immediate recall.

For the National Assembly not to further embarrass Nigeria’s democracy, everybody of goodwill, CSOs, the Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice and President BolaTinubu should prevail on it to stop the nonsense.

Tinubu

Akpabio

BRIEFING NOTES

ADC Still Searching for Respite

As the African Democratic Congress celebrates the recent recognition of its Senator David Mark-led leadership by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the recent violent disruptions of the party’s activities in Kaduna and Lagos states may have signalled the beginning of the persecution and harassment of the leaders of the party by the agents of the state ahead of the 2027 general election, ejiofor Alike reports

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) recently scaled through a major hurdle in its quest to sack the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 presidential election with the affirmation of former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark as its National Chairman and former Governor of Osun State, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Before INEC affirmed the Mark-led leadership of the party, a faction of the party led by Hon. Nafiu Bala Gombe had rejected the adoption of the party by the opposition coalition as its political platform.

Gombe also continued to parade himself as the authentic national chairman of the party.

Early indications that ADC would not be insulated from the externally-induced leadership crises that plagued the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) had emerged when three aggrieved members of the party approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, asking it to sack the Mark-led interim leadership of the party.

In the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1328, the plaintiffs- Adeyemi Emmanuel, Ayodeji Victor Tolu and Haruna Ismaila- further challenged the membership of Mark and others who were appointed as interim leaders of the party.

The crisis deepened when the presidential candidate of the ADC in the 2023 general election and Chief Executive Officer of Roots TV, Mr. Dumebi Kachikwu, kicked against what he described as the ‘hijack’ of the leadership of the party by defectors from other parties.

Kachikwu claimed that the tenure of Ralph Nwosu, who handed over the leadership of the party to Mark, had expired on August 21, 2022.

Reacting to INEC’s recognition of the Mark-led leadership, Gombe asked the former Senate president to obey the September 4 ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which purportedly restrained him, Aregbesola, and others from parading themselves as national executive members of the party.

Gombe-led faction claimed that Justice Emeka Nwite made the order following a motion ex parte filed on September 2.

However, ADC has dismissed the claims in a statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, which clarified that Justice Nwite, on September 4, 2025, rejected an ex parte application brought by Gombe.

According to the statement, the judge

instead ordered that the defendants be put on notice, and adjourned the matter to September 15, 2025, for further hearing.

However, with the recent incidents in Kaduna and Lagos states where suspected agents of the state allegedly disrupted the political activities of the ADC, it is not yet Uhuru for the party.

Violence had erupted at the ADC meeting in Kaduna when suspected state-sponsored political thugs stormed the event, attacking participants and vandalising property.

A chieftain of ADC and former governor of the state, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, who attended the event, condemned the attack, describing it as “a dangerous descent into lawlessness.”

He alleged that senior police officers at the scene, including an Assistant Commissioner of Police, “stood by and watched” as the violence unfolded.

But a statement issued by the Kaduna State Police Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Mansir Hassan, the police claimed that preliminary findings showed that “political gangsters and thugs attached to the former governor” were involved in the shooting that disrupted public peace

and order in the state.

In what was perceived as harassment of opposition elements by the police, the state police command sealed the ADC secretariat and subsequently invited El-Rufai and other ADC leaders for questioning for alleged “conspiracy, incitement, mischief, and disturbance of public peace in the state”.

In a letter dated September 4, 2025, signed by Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department, DCP Uzairu Abdullahi, the state chairman of the ADC was directed to produce El-Rufai and six other individuals on September 8, 2025.

In response, El-Rufai, according to a statement issued by his media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, dragged the state’s Commissioner of Police (CP), Muhammad Rabiu, to the Police Service Commission (PSC), over what he described as “unprofessional conduct, abuse of office, and serial violations” since the CP assumed office on December 30, 2024

Reacting to the violence, ADC National Vice Chairman (North-West) Jafaru Sani described the attack as “sad and unfortunate.”

However, the Secretary of APC in Kaduna State, Alhaji Yahaya Baba-Pate, denied any

involvement of the ruling party, insisting that the APC does not sponsor or support political thuggery.

Barely 24 hours after summoning El-Rufai, the police also sealed the venue for the September 6 meeting of ADC in Alimosho area of Lagos after suspected political thugs invaded the venue.

The meeting was organised to receive the Lagos State governorship candidate of the LP in the 2023 general election, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, into the ADC.

Shortly after the kick-off of the programme, miscreants stormed the venue and sacked all the participants, and also inflicted varying degrees of injuries on their victims.

Reacting to the development, RhodesVivour expressed disappointment in what he described as the use of a state institution like the police to undermine the party.

The two incidents in Kaduna and Lagos states have heightened the fears that some state governments might give ADC leaders the same treatment meted to Atiku’s presidential campaign team in Rivers State during the campaigns for the 2023 general election. It is on record that the agents of the Rivers State government denied Atiku and his campaign team a venue for PDP’s presidential campaign rally in the state.

Many have wondered why the police, which provided adequate security to the ruling APC when its leaders held zonal and state rallies across the country, received defectors from other parties and endorsed President Bola Tinubu and some governors for a second term, are preventing an opposing party from holding similar meetings.

Watchers of the Kaduna and Lagos incidents believe that as the 2027 elections are approaching, the ADC should have cause to worry over two major factors.

The first factor is the desperate ambition of some of its promoters, which is mostly driven by selfish interest and a desire for personal revenge against Tinubu.

This ambition, political analysts say, will make it impossible for the opposition coalition to form a united front against the APC.

The second factor, according to analysts, is that the agents of the federal government and many state governments may shrink the political space against the leaders of the party and subject them to persecution and harassment.

Despite having been recognised by INEC, ADC leadership should brace up for tougher times ahead.

Tajudeen Abbas’ embarrassing Inconsistencies

Less than 12 hours after he had reportedly raised an alarm over Nigeria’s surging debt profile, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, last week made a U-turn after his earlier condemnation of federal government’s reckless borrowing. Abbas had earlier expressed concern over the country’s soaring debt status, warning that it had breached the statutory ceiling, signalling grave threat to fiscal sustainability. He said Nigeria’s debt had reached “a critical point,” requiring urgent reforms in borrowing practices and oversight to tame the surge.

The Speaker spoke at the opening of the 11th Annual Conference and General Assembly of the West Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAAPAC) at the National Assembly, Abuja last Monday.

“As at the first quarter of 2025, Nigeria’s total public debt stood at N149.39 trillion, equivalent to about $97 billion. This represents a sharp rise from N121.7 trillion the previous year, underscoring how quickly the burden has grown. Even more concerning is the debt-to-GDP ratio, which now stands at roughly 52 per cent, well above the statutory ceiling of 40 per cent set by our own laws,” he was quoted as saying.

However, due to what many described as the fear of the occupants of the Presidential Villa, Abbas had a few hours later recapitulated.

In a rebuttal by his Special Adviser on New Media, Jowosimi Enitan, the speaker said his words were misrepresented and argued that he did not condemn borrowing.

He stressed that he supports responsible public debt when properly overseen.

However, it is clear from a critical analysis of his speech that Abbas was neither misquoted nor misrepresented. He is fond of capitulating under pressure.

Recently, the speaker withdrew the vexatious bill he introduced in parliament to make voting mandatory for adult Nigerians.

He co-sponsored the bill with Hon. Daniel Ago, who represents Bassa/Jos North Federal Constituency.

But following the backlash that greeted the bill, he quickly capitulated and withdrew it.

In August 2024, Abbas also hurriedly withdrew a bill that would have allowed the jailing of Nigerians who “embarrass” or disrespect government officials. Abbas’ inconsistencies on issues of national importance have become embarrassing.

Mark

Eniola Ajayi:

How AI Could Shape the Future of Chemical Weapons Inspections

One of Nigeria’s most distinguished envoys, Ambassador Enola Ajayi, looks set to emerge as the first African and first female Director General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, having received the nod as Nigeria’s candidate for the position. Ajayi has served as Nigeria’s ambassador to the Netherlands and to Hungary, engaging directly with the OPCW and other institutions of international law. She is armed with experience in the private sector, public service, and diplomacy. She speaks of her preparedness for the top position in this interview with Sunday Ehigiator. Excerpts:

Nigeriahasputforwardtwomajorinternationalcandidacies.YoufortheOrganisation fortheProhibitionofChemicalWeapons (OPCW),andDr.EliasfortheICJ.What doyouthinkthissaysaboutNigeria’srole inglobalgovernance,andhowdoesyour candidacyfitintothatvision?

Well, it just goes to reaffirm Nigeria’s commitment to the issues of security and the rule of law. You know, Nigeria has produced these distinguished luminaries over the ages, and they are no strangers to the institutes in The Hague, especially the courts- the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice. We’ve even had rules as ambassadors in the Permanent Court of Arbitration. And in my own case, I have had the distinguished opportunity of holding several key positions while serving as ambassador in the Netherlands to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

It says that Nigeria is really committed to the issues of peace and security across the world, especially when you look at the role we play, also at the African Union, and several other key positions in international organisations. So Nigeria is at the forefront of ensuring that there’s peace and security, not just in Nigeria, in Africa, and the rest of the world.

Inpracticalterms,whatdoestheOPCWdobeyondbanning chemicalweapons?WhyshouldtheaverageNigerianorAfrican careaboutthisorganisation?

Well, like you said, banning chemical weapons is the major work of the OPCW. That is preserving what we call the Chemical Weapons Convention. Now, the average Nigerian should care because, you know, guns are scary, they’re obvious, and if you see one, you can probably run away. But when it comes to the issues of chemical or nuclear weapons, nobody is spared. And worse still, the effect lingers for many years to come. You know, they killed thousands of people during the Second World War just using chemical weapons, even ordinary things like Sarin and stuff. If they just put a little bit in a place where any human being makes contact and it gets into the blood, the person is gone, without quick intervention. So, every Nigerian should care because chemicals are transported across borders, and they sometimes come disguised as chemicals that are for peaceful purposes. So we should all care about the implications of chemical weapons. You’vedescribedyourselfasabridgebetweenscienceand diplomacy.Inverypracticalterms,howwouldthatbackground helpyouifyougettheOPCWjob?

The work of the OPCW is diplomatic in nature, but the basis and the foundation are scientific. So, for someone who trained as an eye doctor, that means I’m not a stranger to science. I’m not just an eye doctor who does clinical work. I also did research at the Institute of Ophthalmology in London and St. Thomas’ Hospital in London. I was a research fellow. So I’m conversant with the use of chemicals and the implications even to human beings. So, basically, that scientific background makes it easy for me to assume the role of the Director General of the Technical Secretariat for OPCW. And then being a diplomat, because the work of the DG of the OPCW is tripartite in nature. Number one is that you are the administrator. You oversee the day-to-day running of the organization. Number two is that you are the chief representative, that you are the number one diplomat of the organisation. So you represent the organization in international organizations like the United Nations and many other places. And also, as a diplomat, you bring the state parties together. You become the one who engenders proper cooperation amongst the parties. And then the core work of the organisation is verification and inspections. You are the one who oversees that primarily to make sure that chemical weapons are destroyed where they need to be destroyed and to prevent the emergence of stockpiling again for use, and ensuring that chemicals are used for peaceful purposes only. So that’s the work of the DG. And that’s where I come in. I’m a scientist. I’m a diplomat. And I’m someone who

has also led within the executive space. So, I know how to bring people together. And I know how to lead organisations.

Thepollcomesuplaterthismonth.Howmanyotherpeople areintherace?

Eleven of us, four of them from Africa, four from the Eastern European group, one from the Western European group, and two from the GRULAC. That’s Latin America and the Caribbean. And there’s none from the Asia group. So basically, there are 11 of us.

Yoursix-pointvisiontalksaboutavisionofmodernisingfor impact,especiallywiththeriseofAI,newtech.Howdoyou seetheOPCWadaptedtothoserealitieswithoutlosingsight ofitscoredisarmamentmission?

Actually, it’s to enhance the work.Artificial intelligence is already used at OPCW, but a proper ethical use of it is needed to ensure that we stay several steps ahead of those who seek to use artificial intelligence to do us harm. So basically, this is very crucial in the area of verification and inspections, because the artificial intelligence, through satellite imagery and all kinds of analysis, can predict what to expect in the field when you go out for inspection. So, OPCW is already using AI, and I intend to be able to continue with the ethical and proper use of artificial intelligence.

Ifyou’reelected,youwillbeboththefirstAfricanandthefirst womantoleadtheOPCW.Beyondsymbolism,whattangible benefitswouldthisbringtotheorganisation?

Actually, being an African, and especially being a Nigerian, is of real great benefit. Let me explain. Nigeria’s foreign policy rests on the fact that Nigeria is an enemy to none and friends to all. So it makes it easy for us to be neutral, to actually not take sides, and be bridge builders. We bring together. And you see, in my own case, it’s not a theory anymore. I already served in that organisation as vice chairperson and as chairperson. And

in fact, the time I served as the chairperson of the organization was a very critical time. It was just like five days after the conflict in Ukraine started, and everybody thought that all hell would break loose in that place.

But somehow, I managed to keep us on point. I managed to enable everyone to have their say, but there was no disorderliness, and every day was timeously executed. After the three days, we not only finished in record time, but we were also able to adopt a report. So, the people in the Hague, especially my colleagues I served with, know that I’m very friendly. So my approach is always friendly, firm, and fair. And because of that, I know that I will be able to reduce the level of polarization in the organization. That’s for the organization. For Nigeria, for Africa, it shows our commitment to international peace and security. It also brings more recognition of how concerned we are as a people with the peace and the security architecture of the world.

So, it showcases us in the right light and also creates more opportunities for us. Because you know, like begets like, even without trying. When I become DG of OPCW, the average Nigerian becomes aware of an organisation called OPCW. Then they begin to think of applying to the place. So, we’re not short on talent, but you cannot apply for a job you don’t know anything about. By my coming out, more people in Nigeria and in Africa have become aware of this organisation called OPCW. In fact, one of the things I aim to achieve is to give OPCW more visibility across the world. It’s one of the most successful disarmament organizations that we have today. And there are 193 countries accredited to the OPCW. It’s only four countries that are not involved in the OPCW. And most people don’t know what it is. Because when I say to people, well, I’m the nominee of Mr. President for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, they’re like, What is OPCW? So, I have to explain and all that. So all of that will change.

ThestrawpollsbegininSeptember.Whatgivesyouconfidence thatNigeria’scandidatescanbuildenoughmomentumtoreach aconsensusamongmemberstates?

Yeah, the confidence is in the feedback I’ve gotten. Many state parties have actually told me outright that I’m in their top three. And when you’re in the top three out of 11, that’s a good sign. I’ve also gotten some feedback that I’m the number one candidate for many countries. I’m hoping that that turns out to be so. And when I look back, you know, there’s something about you looking at yourself critically and seeing whether you measure up. In all my interactions with the regional groups, with bilaterals, with state parties, even at the presentation on July 7th at the Executive Council, I know that I’ve made a good representation of myself. And I’ve had meetings with the capitals of some countries. They’ve invited me to their countries to come and interface with their departments on disarmament. I know that I was able to give a good pitch and make a good account of myself. So I’m actually very confident, not by being prideful, but because of the fact that with my political background, I can read the field. I see the way things are turning in my favor. And I know that I’ve left a good mark in the organization. There are many people, if it comes to sentiment, who see me as a friend.

You’vebeenastatecommissionertwice.You’veservedas anambassador.Nowyou’reeyeingtheOPCW.Whatwillyou considerasthechallengewithfemalerepresentationinNigeria? Luckily, you may not know from my CV that I actually ran for the House of Representatives in Ekiti as the first female to win the primaries of the APC at the time in 2015. The issue really is that because of our nature as women, honestly, we’re not like out there, maybe aggressive enough to say and demand roles. It’s very rare for a woman to come out and say, I want to become a senator. You know, it’s not like you don’t have the capacity, but you just don’t have the liver for whatever it will take, and you’re like, I don’t want trouble kind of thing.

• Ajayi

Africa’s Acceptance of Unwanted Deportees from the US: The Ghanaian New Dimension

With the breaking news that Ghana has now joined Rwanda, Sudan, and Eswatini in accepting the unwanted criminals, prisoners, refugees in the United States, there is no longer disputing the importance of, and priority being given to, bilateralism to the detriment of multilateralism in the conduct and management of international questions. In the beginning, the conduct of inter-state relations was largely characterised by bilateral approach. Even though international agreements are currently and generally negotiated multilaterally, bilateralism is still resorted to at the level of the implementation processes and when issues appear more critical. Bilateralism and multilateralism are two different systems of cooperation.

True, bilateralism is more about diplomatic interactions, economic and cultural cooperation, as well as scientific, and military agreements between any two countries. Bilateralism enables direct contact and easy negotiations. When three countries are involved, we talk about trilateralism. When it involves more than three but not up to universal scale, we talk about plurilateralism. Plurilateralism also refers to diplomacy at a regional level, such as in the case of the African Union of 55 countries, ECOWAS of 15 or now 12 countries, Organisation of American States of 35 countries, European Union of 27 countries, NATO of 32 countries, Maghreb Union of 6 countries, etc.

When the cooperation and agreements are at the universal level as it is the case with the United Nations and its agencies, multilateralism refers. It exists more at the level of international organisations and deals with more global and complex questions like international security, climate change, and international development. Unlike bilateralism that deal with issues that are easily addressed and solved, multilateral questions are more difficult to solve because of conflicting national interests. African countries prefer multilateralism to bilateralism when it comes to development issues but the more advance countries prefer bilateral to multilateral approach. It is this bilateral method that Donald Trump has been under-scoring in exporting unwanted criminals in the US to Africa.

Africa’s Acceptance of Unwanted Deportees

When discussing deportations from the United States, it is useful to differentiate between the removal by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for various human rights violations, on the one hand, and removal of jail-term serving people in the United States to African countries, which is done on the basis of bilateral agreements, on the other hand. For example, on March 16, 2020 a 51-year old citizen of Rwanda, Beatrice Munyenyezi, was removed from the United States to Rwanda on the order of a US immigration judge.

As noted by the ICE and the ERO (Enforcement and Removal Operations), ‘Beatrice Munyenyezi was sentenced to ten years in federal prison for procuring her naturalisation based on false statements to immigration officers about her role in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Munyenyezi participated, aided, and abetted in the persecution and murder of Tutsi people. Her conviction was the first in the United States for concealing one’s personal participation in the Rwandan Genocide.’

This type of removal is quite different from the removal of other criminals from the United States to countries of which the criminals are citizens. In other words, Munyenyezi is a Rwandan. She entered the United States on March 10, 1998. She secured her lawful permanent status on January19, 2001 and became a naturalised US citizen on July 18, 2003. In 2010, the Homeland Security Investigations’ Boston field office arrested her after more than six years of investigating Munyenyezi for concealing her past to wrongly obtain US citizenship, obscuring her direct participation in the Rwandan Genocide – an atrocity of immense scale which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.’

We have no qualms with the removal of Munyenyezi. Any political leader that carries his or her baggage of political dishon-

: 0807-688-2846 e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com

•Mahama

esty abroad or his or her mania of destroying Africa softly with genocidal blood should not be allowed in any foreign country of decent and civilised people. However, with the removal of convicted criminals currently serving jail terms and are not wanted on American soil to the extent that they have to be deported to Rwanda, we cannot but have more than qualms.

First, there is no reason whyAfrica should be made the dumping ground for convicted, serving criminals in Europe or America. Secondly, African leaders cannot under the pretext of electoral mandate begin to populate Africa with foreign criminals. It is, by so doing, increasing the number of criminals on the continent. It is because convicted and incarcerated people are not deemed fit to live with innocent and non-belligerent society that they are kept in prisons. Prisons in Europe and America are better than those in Africa. Is it not an act of wickedness to deny criminals a better environment?

On August 5, 2025 the Rwandan government announced that it had agreed to admit about 250 migrants who unwanted in the United States (BBC: https:///www.bbc.com). As noted by the Al-Jazeera, no child sex offenders would be allowed among the deportation flights and the country will only accept deported individuals with no criminals. This point is thoughtprovoking because Rwanda also has many records of human rights violations. Donald Trump is guilty of sending people

With this situational reality, how do we explain Ghana’s readiness to accept US-unwanted prisoners, criminals? In the words of President John Mahama of Ghana, ‘we were approached by the US to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the US. And we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable… All our fellow West African nationals don’t need visas to come to our country’ (Thomas Naadi, “Ghana agrees to accept West Africans deported from US”, bbc.com, Thursday, 11 September, 2025). While the logic of Ghanaian acceptance of deportees is acceptable that of Eswatini is a major setback because Africa cannot have a brighter, self-reliant future, self-integrity, and mental decolonisation. Eswatini Attorney-General, Mr Sifisco Khumalo, believes that deportees were first held in containers in a ship elsewhere or that the United States first kept 252 Venezuelans in a notorious prison before their final resettlement is enough and good reason for Eswatini to also keep their own five deportees in an overcrowded prison. He made the matter worse by further arguing that Rwanda and Uganda have also agreed to accept more US deportees. This is most unfortunate. The idea of even accepting non-African criminal deportees is a priori a reflection of policy myopia. The arguments of the Eswatini attorney general is most unbefitting of an African attorney-general, by thinking that because the United States and others have further enslaved the deportees, nothing could be wrong in also continuing to do the same in Eswatini

to third countries in violation of human rights as the people being deported do not have personal connections with Rwanda. It is unimaginable to believe that Rwanda can go beyond the limitations of President Donald Trump in ensuring national security in Rwanda with the presence of more hardened deportees remaining in the country. If the hardened criminals are making life difficult to Donald Trump, what makes the Rwandan president more competent to handle the problem of insecurity? Is it his long stay in power?

In the words of Yolande Makolo, Rwandan government spokesperson, ‘under the agreement, Rwanda has the ability to approve each individual proposed for resettlement. Those approved will be provided with workforce training, health care, accommodation support to jumpstart their lives in Rwanda, giving them the opportunity to contribute to one of the fastestgrowing economy in the world over the last decade.’ What is the future of Rwanda’s fastest-growing economy when the country is consciously increasing its number of criminals and polluting the local population with different categories of refugees? Additionally, one unanswered question here is why is Africa, in general, and Rwanda, in particular, always chosen as the destination of the deportees?

South Sudan is the first African country in 2025 to accept the dumping of two Cubans, two citizens of Myanmar, two Mexicans, one Vietnamese, one Laotian, and one South Sudanese who are unwanted on the US soil for having been convicted for crimes of rape, homicide, armed robbery, etc. The US government considered them as ‘true national security threats’ to the United States. Two issues are raised by this consideration.

First is the issue of selective discrimination against Africa. Put interrogatively, are there no white Americans that have been convicted for rape, or homicide, or for armed robbery? If there are, how do they constitute less of national security interests to the people of America? Why are they not eligible for possible deportation? One possible hypothesis is the issue over which there has always been much silence, which is President Donald Trump’s policy intention to make the modern-day United States a country of only white Americans that are Americans by ius sanguinis and descent.

This observation is made clear by deductive analogy: if there are Americans that have committed the same crimes like the eight criminals deported to South Sudan, and we posit here that there are many of them without any whiff of doubt, why are the American criminals not deported somewhere or even to Africa in order to have a United States that will be completely free from such criminals, especially if the real truth and concern of Donald Trump is security threats? Is the United States of Donald Trump not trying to infiltrate Africa with hardened criminals in order to eventually destabilise the continent? It is a truism that Donald Trump has a policy of ‘America First’ and ‘Make America Great Again.’ But why should making America great again be by exporting the United States of American-made criminals and relocating them to Africa? Why not send them to the EU countries where there are better prison facilities? Perhaps the more motherly question is what has tantalised the African leaders to have accepted international criminals? Secondly, the deportees can be truly considered as threats because the United States government does not appear to have the capacity to keep the deportees under its effective control. If the capacity is there, why not keep them on US soil and give them the maximum punishment that they may lawfully deserve? The point we are simply making is that Donald Trump has an agenda of America of only white Americans by blood descent. American citizens, in the strategic calculations of Donald Trump, do not include naturalised Latin Americans and Africans. This is one reason that explains why they are seen as threats to US national security interests. This is also why he underscores the diplomacy of bilateralism in handling the matter. The empirical cases hereinafter explicated lend much credence to our postulation.

Africa and Multilateralism versus Bilateralism: Africa’s policy attitude in international relations favours multilateralism to the detriment of bilateralism, especially when it concerns general international questions and grant of development aid. The developed countries prefer bilateralism for obvious reasons. They generally have more bargaining power. In most cases, the relationship is vertical or unequal. Imagine discussing the deportation of foreign criminals to an African country in a multilateral setting. The outcome cannot augur well because of the likely controversies it will generate in the potential host countries. This partly explains why Donald Trump might have adopted bilateral approach to the agreements on the deportation of ‘American’ criminals to Africa. Unlike the cases of South Sudan, Rwanda, and Eswatini which involved more of non-African criminals, the deportations to Ghana appear to be more logically acceptable. This means that there currently permissible and impermissible deportations. It is permissible if the deportation is about one’s nationals and impermissible if it concerns non-nationals. Let us at this juncture provide an overview of the issues involved in previous cases in order to underline some neglected intrinsic future problems for Africa.

full article online -

From Red to Amber: How Uba Sani Reclaimed Kaduna

That the world is now noticing the remarkable transformation of Kaduna State under the deft and visionary leadership of Senator Uba Sani should come as no surprise to anyone who has observed the trajectory of the state in the past two years. His tenure as Governor has been defined by a relentless drive for inclusive governance, infrastructure renewal, and most critically, the restoration of peace and security in a State that was once synonymous with volatility and deepseated division.

On Wednesday, September 10, a momentous recognition came in the form of an announcement that reverberated far beyond the borders of Nigeria: the United Kingdom Government officially revised its travel advisory for Kaduna State, moving it from “Red” to “Amber.” For a state that had been largely isolated on the international scene due to a deteriorating security situation, this shift was not just symbolic: it was profoundly transformational.

The revelation was made by Ms. Cynthia Rowe, Development Director of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), during the signing of a new Mutual Accountability Framework (KaMAF) between the Kaduna State Government and the FCDO. This formal reclassification by a global power like the United Kingdom is not merely a diplomatic gesture; it is a public declaration of confidence in the leadership of Governor Uba Sani and the steady hand with which he has steered the ship of state.

“The UK Government’s Travel Advisory has moved Kaduna State from ‘Red’ to ‘Amber’. Consequently, British citizens are now free to travel to Kaduna State,” Ms. Rowe announced during the signing ceremony. Her words were met with visible elation from both officials and citizens alike. For many, it was the long-awaited affirmation that the tides had truly turned.

The shift from “Red” to “Amber” reflects not only improvements in security but also the broader progress Kaduna has made under the Uba Sani administration. It is a clear endorsement of the Kaduna Peace Model: an approach that draws on both kinetic and non-kinetic strategies, engaging traditional rulers, religious leaders, security agencies, and local communities in a collective bid to rebuild trust and create lasting stability. Through this model, areas such as Birnin Gwari, once written off as theaters of endless violence, are now reawakening to the rhythms of daily life: markets have reopened, children are back in school, and economic activities are humming once again.

Governor Sani captured the mood of the moment with characteristic humility and statesmanship. “Today’s signing of the new Mutual Accountability Framework marks another important milestone in our collective resolve to transform lives and build a brighter future for the good people of Kaduna State,” he said.

“Together with the FCDO, we have achieved tangible progress: reducing maternal and child mortality, expanding healthcare access, improving school infrastructure and teacher training, and scaling up agricultural investments,” the governor added.

Indeed, the achievements that underpin this renewed global recognition are not the stuff of rhetoric. They are measurable, visible, and grounded in the lived experience of the people of Kaduna. In the health sector, for instance, Kaduna is the only state in Nigeria that has upgraded 250 primary health care centres from Level 1 to Level 2, ensuring better maternal care and expanded access to healthcare in rural areas. More than 2,000 healthcare work -

ers have been recruited, further boosting service delivery. In a state where preventable deaths were once tragically common, these interventions are nothing short of life-saving.

In education, Kaduna’s resurgence has been equally pronounced. Once ranked 12th in the nation in WAEC results, the state now sits proudly at 7th place — a testament to the administration’s commitment to teacher training, infrastructure investment, and student support. The governor’s vision goes beyond literacy; it includes entrepreneurship, innovation, and skills development.

The Kaduna Vocational and Skills Development Institute recently admitted over 30,000 students, laying a strong foundation for the future workforce.

It is not surprising, then, that Vice President Kashim Shettima lauded Governor Sani during the 7th meeting of the National Council on Skills, calling the state’s skills initiative “exemplary” and urging other sub-national governments to follow suit. “The skills revolution is one of the covenants we have entered into with the Nigerian people,” Shettima said, praising Kaduna for being a pacesetter in job creation and human capital development.

But the Sani administration has not stopped there. Infrastructure development has become a cornerstone of its broader mission to integrate and empower the state’s diverse communities. From remote villages to urban centres, the administration has undertaken an ambitious roads project. In the first phase alone, 85 roads totaling 785km were either completed or nearing completion. A second phase added over 50 roads and bridges, covering 550km. And just this past week, the Governor flagged off the construction of new roads in rural communities that had been neglected for over a decade.

In Makarfi and Kudan LGAs, major agricultural hubs that had not received even a kilometer of new roads in 12 years, the Governor’s intervention was met with visible

jubilation. “Roads are the backbone of economic growth,” Uba Sani noted during the groundbreaking, “and through our rural transformation drive, we are creating jobs, unlocking opportunities, and laying a solid foundation for lasting prosperity.”

The groundbreaking of Kwoi Township Roads in Jaba LGA, another area long forgotten, drew emotional reactions from residents. “This road connects us to markets, schools, and hospitals. It is life-changing,” said one local farmer. For a government to be so attuned to the silent cries of its rural communities is rare — and for it to act decisively, even rarer.

Yet perhaps the most striking thing about Uba Sani’s leadership is its unity of purpose. His governance is deliberate, measured, and inclusive. The administration’s flagship governance reforms: the Local Government Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (LFTAS) programme, Issue-Based Initiatives, and Community Development Charters, are rooted in the philosophy that governance must be participatory, not paternalistic. Through these frameworks, the people are no longer passive recipients of government largesse; they are now stakeholders in their own development.

This renewed partnership with the UK through the KaMAF is proof of the respect Kaduna has earned on the global stage. Originally established in 2021, KaMAF aims to align the UK’s development priorities with the Kaduna State Development Plan 2021–2025. The new iteration of the framework seeks to deepen this collaboration, with clear metrics for monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment. It emphasises transparency, good governance, investment in human capital, and peacebuilding.

Ms. Rowe underscored this when she praised Kaduna’s efforts in restoring peace and promoting inclusivity. “This reclassification reflects the hard work and commitment of the Kaduna State Government under Governor Uba Sani. It is a strong signal to the international community that Kaduna is once again open for partnership, investment, and progress,” she said.

One cannot overstate the significance of this moment. Just over two years ago, Kaduna was a state in despair, riven by conflict, ethnic strife, and a governance model that alienated as much as it administered. Senator Uba Sani inherited a broken state but chose not to apportion

blame. Instead, he rolled up his sleeves and began the arduous task of healing wounds, mending divides, and rebuilding trust. Today, Kaduna is not just functional; it is flourishing. Opposition voices, desperate to manufacture discontent, have found little traction among a people who have tasted peace and progress. Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Kauru, Kachia, Zango Kataf, and other once volatile regions are now active again; farming, schooling, and living. Over 2.5 million people have been brought into the formal financial system through the Governor’s executive order on financial inclusion, which leverages digital tools and grassroots mobilization.

In agriculture, a sector that contributes over 42% to Kaduna’s GDP, the administration has allocated more than 10% of the 2025 budget, a landmark investment aimed at supporting smallholder farmers, reducing post-harvest losses, and promoting climate-smart farming techniques. It is a plan that not only feeds the people but empowers them.

This holistic approach to governance: one that prioritises security, infrastructure, education, healthcare, financial inclusion, and community engagement, is why Kaduna has won global acclaim. And it is why the people have given their support not just passively, but passionately. They know, instinctively, that they are witnessing a rare moment in history: the re-emergence of Kaduna State as a beacon of hope, progress, and possibility. It is now clear that the governor’s development diplomacy is paying dividends. From the corridors of Westminster to the farmlands of Makarfi, the consensus is building: Uba Sani is not just governing — he is transforming. He is doing so with integrity, with vision, and with an unshakeable belief in the potential of his people.

In a world where leadership is often synonymous with rhetoric, Senator Uba Sani has chosen results. In an era defined by division, he has chosen unity. And in a time of cynicism, he has inspired belief. The reward, as always, is not applause but responsibility. Kaduna’s journey is not yet complete. But it is firmly on course. And for that, we, and indeed the world, must recognise that under Governor Uba Sani, Kaduna is not just winning. Kaduna is leading.

•Hashim, a freelance journalist resides in Kawo, Kaduna.

Ibrahim Hashim

Governor Uba Sani and the Development Director of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Ms. Cynthia Rowe, flanked by some officials of the state

ROYAL VISIT TO HIS EXCELLENCY…

L-R: Delta State Deputy Governor, Sir Monday Onyeme; Governor Sheriff Oborevwori; Asagba of Asaba, His Royal Majesty, Prof. Epiphany Azinge (SAN); and some palace chiefs after a courtesy visit to the governor at the Government House, Asaba…recently

SIMO N KOLAWOLE

Courting Anger on the Streets

In the meantime, the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has just bought brand-new Toyota Land Cruisers for its 38 commissioners. Depending on what eventually makes it to the official records, I am told by those who should know that each of those status symbols costs hundreds of millions of naira, although the chairman’s ride is said to cost more. After all, as chairman, he is not anybody’s mate. The RMAFC, lest we forget, was set up to monitor the right and left columns of the federation account, review the allocation formula, set remuneration for political office holders, and advise federal and state governments on how to improve revenue.

I am not good at mathematics (God knows Mr and Mrs Nair, my secondary school teachers from India, did their utmost best), but my simple calculation takes the total cost of those Toyota luxury machines above N8 billion. For comparison, RMAFC’s total budget (capital and recurrent) for 2024 was N3.27 billion. Recently, however, the National Economic Council (NEC) — essentially another gathering of governors — graciously and generously approved a torrential naira rain on the commission, awarding the body a percentage of the country’s non-oil revenue because “they are poorly funded”. The NEC has officially banished poverty from the doorsteps of the commission.

Now that they are no longer poor, with a projected revenue of N105.14 billion to toy with in 2025, the RMAFC and its commissioners (and contractors) think they thoroughly deserve their share of the comfort extended to the divine breed of Nigerians known as “public officers” who enjoy heaven on earth. And I must acknowledge that the RMAFC is not an ungrateful bunch. One good turn deserves another. So, the chairman, Dr Mohammed Bello Shehu, recently said the commission is all out to increase the remuneration of political office holders, including the president, vice-president, governors, deputy governors, ministers, commissioners, advisers, legislators and judicial officers.

“You are paying the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria N1.5 million a month, with a population of over 200 million people,” Shehu said, unprovoked. Really, I have heard President Bola Tinubu complain about many things, but not once has he said his “low salary” is giving him sleepless nights. No governor has yet lamented that he is unable to feed his children because of “poor salary”. I am not saying their pay should not be bigger, but Shehu has become too eager to please as RMAFC is suddenly swimming in an ocean of naira. There is a kind of intoxication that comes with sudden wealth: you will be answering questions nobody asked you and laughing when there ain’t no joke. And while we are at it, let us quickly swim across to Kebbi state. A general hospital in the state capital, Birni-Kebbi, has been doubling as a stinking swimming pool for a while. A journalist, Hassan Mai-Waya Kangiwa, decided to draw attention to it by filming the crime scene and sharing it on social media. What nonsense! He even said it was not a “skit”! It was a “calculated attempt” to embarrass… I don’t know who… is it the patients or the governor? Kangiwa would normally be promptly arrested by eagle-eyed security officials. He would then be charged to court for cyber bullying. The omnibus law is the greatest threat to freedom of expression in Nigeria today but let us keep pretending it doesn’t concern us.

Anyway, whether the Kebbi journalist was arrested or not, citizens are usually harassed over things like this. It is now the routine in the war against accountability. Only God knows how many times my colleagues and I have

Dr Mohammed Bello Shehu, RMAFC chairman been threatened with “cyber bullying” because we are doing our job as journalists. Our job description does not include bullying. In May 2023, a minister asked the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate me for “cyber terror”. We had terrorised him with the dirty details of how he overturned due process in a contract award. Of course, cyber bullying is real. I know. There are cyber miscreants. There are victims. But there is journalism and there is cyber bullying. Only cowards try to confuse the two.

In any case, Dr Nasir Idris, the governor of Kebbi state, finally stumbled upon the video — or so it seems. In anger, he has suspended Dr Yunusa Musa-Ismail, the commissioner for health, for “negligence of duty” and “disregard” for his mandate. Idris asked MusaIsmail to provide “cogent reasons” why disciplinary measures should not be taken against him, reiterating his administration’s commitment to “accountability, discipline, and effective service delivery across all sectors”. I hope more Kangiwas will rise across Nigeria and continue to terrorise the authorities with HD videos of neglect and negligence.

The governor actually indicted himself more than the commissioner, even though he might be thinking otherwise. You have a vision of “effective service delivery across all sectors” but you are not aware that in the state capital, right at your backyard, downtrodden patients are sleeping on metal beds without mattresses. That is enough to add migraine to malaria. You are not aware that in the state capital, right at your backyard, there is waist-high flooding of a public hospital. That alone can add cholera to typhoid. If hospitals in the state capitals can be so miserable, let us not try to imagine the situation in rural areas. Most of those we call our leaders in Nigeria live in a different world.

Imagine how many mattresses the price of a 4WD in the Kebbi governor’s convoy can buy for the general hospital. Pardon my petulance, but every time I hear the billions being spent on cars and chartered jets and new government houses and retreats in Rwanda and Qatar, I am always thinking about boreholes and potholes, clinics and culverts. Imagine how many boreholes one RMAFC Land Cruiser can sink to banish cholera and guinea worm from a community. Imagine how many potholes can be mended with the money spent on one chartered flight for a political meeting

in Abuja. Forgive me for drawing the attention of our leaders to these inconsequential matters: I just can’t help myself.

In our dearly beloved country today, millions are suffering the harsh economic conditions. They are being told to sacrifice, that there is light at the end of the tunnel. But they are yet to see anything in the lives of our leaders — and I mean leaders at all levels — to suggest that the message of sacrifice is for everybody. Sacrifice is only a message for the poor, the unfortunate. Nothing suggests that government officials are sacrificing something, even if it is a toothpick. They are sacrificing the people instead. No expense is spared. They see Nigerians as docile and dense. Nigerians are anything but docile and dense: there is obviously something that restrains their reaction. I don’t know what.

Truth be told, the Nigerians that I know and interact with daily are angry, bitter and resentful. They can see the convoys of siren-blaring “tear-rubber” 4WDs chasing them off the road. They watch the videos of government officials obscenely showing off their new billion-naira mansions despite failing spectacularly at showing us the light. They know who owns what mansion and discuss it in hushed tones. They are the ones being treated as scumbags and told there are no bed spaces at public hospitals. They know where government officials treat their own ailments. It is their children that are being taught chemistry without chemicals. They know where the children of their leaders school.

And you know what? They are in the vast majority. They are the ones that vote the most but have the tiniest voice. They are the real stakeholders of Nigeria but receive the smallest dividends. They are hungry. They are angry. They believe the country does not care about them. They believe they are always an afterthought, deserving only of crumbs. The leaders continue to carry on without a care in the world — living a life of luxury, running a system of waste and corruption, putting on cosmetic acts of governance, leaving the people high and dry all the time. It is wrong to think Nigerians are tame or lame. They are gravely disillusioned, and this is obvious from conversations.

I must necessarily admit that our leaders are lucky and smart — they have successfully turned us against one another so that we are unable to harness a consensus to tackle them without being impeded by manipulative sectional sentiments. They have chosen topics of discussion for us to keep us busy and distracted, to keep us fighting one another, to keep us blaming ethnicity, religion, war, amalgamation and constitution for the problems that ail us all regardless of the tribal marks on our faces. Nigerians might not be expressing their pains and disgust on the streets like the citizens of other countries such as Nepal have just done, but they feel rejected and neglected all the same.

And this should scare us. When you ride roughshod on the people and they do not respond in kind, don’t think they are stupid. Instead, you should be scared. Pent-up emotions can explode when least expected — and may be over a trivial matter. We have seen this before. Our leaders have to correct course. So, I repeat: the ordinary people must be the object and subject of governance. Good governance. It is not too late to tone down the insane extravagance in government, but many of those we call leaders are so tone-deaf that they cannot read the room. As seen in RMAFC’s indecent Land Cruiser extravaganza, people in power are so used to taking Nigerians for a ride. Insensitive.

And Four Other Things…

NASTY ON NATASHA

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was set to resume her legislative duties having served a six-month suspension for “unruly and disruptive” behaviour following her public lashing-out at Senate President Godswill Akpabio, whom she later accused of sexual harassment, launching a global campaign to state her case. To my shock, the National Assembly has told her she cannot resume because of a case in court regarding hersuspension.Thisishorrible.Whilethosesympathetic to Akpabio can argue that Akpoti-Uduaghan politicised the matter by inviting opportunists to hijack it, I consider it quite bizarre that she is being barred from resuming on such a flimsy excuse. Draconian.

COGNAC IN THE COCKPIT

Two months ago, an Air Peace flight carrying 103 passengers veered off the runway after landing in Port Harcourt. Thankfully, everyone disembarked peacefully, in one piece. But… but… but… is it true the pilots were drunk as alleged by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), the statutory agency that investigates air accidents? There were also traces of cannabis in the system of a crew member, the NSIB said. But Air Peace has fought back, pointing out that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the industry regulator, would not have reinstated its suspended co-pilot if he was involved in alcohol use. In the interim, should we start checking for cognac in the cockpit? Terrifying.

ONLY IN AMERICA

Charlie Kirk, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, was killed on Wednesday with a single bullet to the throat at the Utah Valley University. We know that Kirk, notable for plain talk, had many controversial views. He supported the anti-immigration campaign, promoted the claim that Haitians in Springfield were eating residents’ pets, opposed voting a Muslim as mayor of New York, endorsed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, justified Israel’s activities in Gaza, amplified anti-vaccine theories, backed gun rights, and went to church. Still, nobody should be killed for their views. It is so sad. And with the frequent mass shootings and political violence, can we truly say the US is safe? Distressing.

NO COMMENT

Delta state is set to enforce “discipline and professionalism” in the civil service and has, therefore, introduced a dress code that would make Deeper Life and MFM green with envy. Henceforth, no more bushy beards, artificial, braided or dyed hair, long eyelashes, fake nails, and “resource control” or “papas” cap. Senior officers must now appear in full corporate suits while junior ones must wear trousers, shirts and ties. With the state government now addressing the most important needs of the people, can it now turn to sorting out the mundane things — such as hospitals with equipment and drugs, rural roads, potable water, sanitation, pothole-free roads and libraries with books? Hmm?