SUNDAY 3RD AUGUST 2025

NUPRC Links 66% of 732 Cases of Oil Spill in Niger Delta to Asset Sabotage, Investigates 175 Incidents Says 22 fatalities recorded in upstream sector in one year Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

environment-related challenges in the Niger Delta, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has

Despite the recurrent blame on oil and gas companies for the

reported that sabotage was the leading cause of spillages in the oil-producing region of the country in 2024.

NUPRC explained that there were 31 accidents in the upstream sector last year, of which 22 fatalities were recorded,

while 26,185 Offshore Safety Permits (OSPs) were issued.

In its latest annual report covering 2024, the upstream

oil sector regulator stated that sabotage accounted for more Continued on page 5

CDS to Community Leaders: Identify, Isolate Criminal Elements to Prevent Widespread Unrest… Page 5 Sunday, August 3, 2025 Vol 30. No 11074

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ADC, NGE, AI, NUJ Kick as Gov Bago Orders Closure of Radio Station… Page 6

INEC Derecognises Abure-led Labour Party, Rejects SDP’s Candidates for By-elections Commission’s action unlawful, abuse of power, says Abure’s faction Nenadi Usman: INEC’s decision in line with Supreme Court’s judgment

Chuks Okocha in Abuja In a decisive move seen as a derecognition of Julius Abure-

led faction of the Labour Party (LP), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has invalidated the list of all

the candidates submitted by the faction, as well as all the candidates of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for

the nationwide by-elections scheduled for August 16, 2025, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) council elections.

Meanwhile, Abure’s faction has described INEC’s action as unlawful and an abuse of power.

But in a swift reaction, the Senator Nenadi Usman-led Continued on page 5

Gbajabiamila Mobilises Former Legislators in Support of Tinubu’s Second Term Bid Former northern legislators endorse southern presidency for 2027

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has mobilised former legislators in support of President Bola Tinubu’s second term bid and urged northern political leaders to support the project.

This is just as the Northern Caucus of the National Forum of Former Legislators has endorsed the southern presidency in 2027 and President Tinubu’s re-election.

Gbajabiamila made the appeal during the 2025 Dialogue Session of the Northern Caucus of the National Forum of Former Legislators, which he hosted in Abuja.

He described President Tinubu as a leader whose Continued on page 5

ALLIANCE TO BOOST FOOD SECURITY… L-R: Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari; Oyo State Governor, Mr. Seyi Makinde; President, African Development Bank, Dr Akinwumi Adesina; and his wife, Yemisi, at the groundbreaking of special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone Ijaye Hub in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State…yesterday

Relief as Nurses Call off Strike After Four Days… Page 6

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CDS to Community Leaders: Identify, Isolate Criminal Elements to Prevent Widespread Unrest Troops nab nine gunrunners on watchlist, 866 oil thieves, terrorists, cultists in July Retrieve petroleum products worth over N1bn Linus Aleke in Abuja The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, yesterday appealed to community leaders in the country to encourage their youths to identify and isolate criminal elements within their areas to prevent widespread unrest and maintain peace.

This is as Musa, in a related development, said that the level of training of a professional soldier determines his valour on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, the military yesterday said that troops

across all theatres of operations apprehended no fewer than nine notorious gunrunners on its watchlist within the month of July alone.

The CDS also vowed that the military would take decisive actions to halt the cycle of violence affecting Plateau and adjourning states experiencing similar violent extremism.

He made this appeal during his operational visit to the Headquarters of Operation Safe Haven in Jos, Plateau State on Friday.

General Musa also emphasised the need for

adapting home-grown military tactics to address the asymmetric nature of the ongoing conflict.

A statement by Acting Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, stated that the CDS reassured Nigerians that the Armed Forces of Nigeria is re-evaluating its strategies to prevent bandit attacks on communities in Plateau State and other places within Operation Safe Haven's area of responsibility.

Musa called for a renewed sense of responsibility among commanders and pledged to

hold accountable anyone found neglecting his duties.

The CDS further promised to bolster the operational capabilities with enhanced logistical support.

In his operational brief during the visit, the Commander Operation Safe Haven, Major General Eyitayo Folusho Oyinlola, highlighted the achievements of the operation despite recent setbacks.

Oyinlola, who is also the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 3 Division of the Nigerian Army, expressed commitment to sustaining

the efforts to protect vulnerable communities in the region.

He added that the command has deepened the existing relationship with other security agencies to build a stronger intelligence network for effective operations.

Earlier, Musa also toured the Nigerian Army Medical Centre at Tigi and Sector 6 in Jebbu Bindi, within Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.

In his visit to the Jebbu Bindi community, he urged the troops to remain vigilant and fully

committed to their duties, emphasising the importance of maintaining strong community relations to safeguard peace and security.

Meanwhile, Musa emphasised the benefits of regular exercise, stating that the benefits of sports include working out all aspects of the body, mind, mental health, and physical health.

Speaking at the Defence Headquarters' maiden edition of the monthly Route March, the CDS emphasised the importance of regular exercise in the life of a professional soldier.

GBAJABIAMILA MOBILISES FORMER LEGISLATORS IN SUPPORT OF TINUBU’S SECOND TERM BID track record and commitment to national unity warrant unwavering support.

Gbajabiamila charged the forum to mobilise support for Tinubu’s administration and his second-term ambition.

The former Speaker of the House of Representatives said Nigeria’s development rests on unity, continuity, and adherence to political agreements.

“President Tinubu is not just a Southern leader; he is a national leader who has carried every region along.

From critical infrastructure

to policy reforms, the North is benefitting from a government that believes in equity and shared prosperity,” Gbajabiamila said.

He pointed to ongoing infrastructure projects across Northern Nigeria, including road networks, rail line expansions, and agricultural revitalisation efforts, as evidence of the administration’s balanced approach to national development.

“We are laying solid foundations today, and it is only right that the President

is allowed to finish what he started,” Gbajabiamila said.

National Chairman of the Forum of Former Legislators, Hon. Nnanna Igbokwe, lauded the Northern Caucus for what he termed a “bold and patriotic stand.”

“This resolution by the Northern Caucus is a significant statement of statesmanship. It shows leadership that transcends personal or regional interest. I am confident that more zones will follow this example in the spirit of unity and continuity,” Igbokwe said.

Following deliberations, the Northern Caucus issued a communiqué endorsing the Southern Presidency and President Tinubu’s secondterm aspiration.

The document was cosigned by the Coordinator of the Northern Caucus, Hon. Rufai Chanchangi, and the Secretary of the Caucus, Hon. Atiwurcha.

“As partners in nationbuilding, we subscribe to issues that unite us as a people for the peace and progress of our nation, Nigeria. We align with the

unifying foundation of our country, which relates to the rotation of power between the North and South. We advocate that the South be allowed to complete its tenure.

“The forum believes that it will be in the best interest of the north for the incumbent to complete the tenure of the south,” the communiqué declared.

The 2025 Dialogue Session is part of a series of nationwide consultations by the Forum aimed at fostering inclusive governance and ensuring a smooth democratic

INEC DERECOGNISES ABURE-LED LABOUR PARTY, REJECTS SDP’S CANDIDATES FOR BY-ELECTIONS

faction of the party described the decision of INEC as a welcome development, saying it was in line with the Supreme Court’s judgment of April 4, 2025.

THISDAY gathered that the final list of candidates published by INEC excluded all the candidates presented by Abure and his factional National Working Committee (NWC), and all the candidates submitted by the SDP. Confirming this development to THISDAY, the National Publicity Secretary of the Abure’s faction, Mr. Obiora Ifoh, said the party was aware of its rights as specified in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Acts 2022 as amended, as regards its powers to sponsor candidates in elections.

“The party is also aware that the INEC has no powers to either stop it from sponsoring

candidates nor cherry-pick elections where it deems fit for our party to field candidates. ''It is on record that no court in Nigeria, including the Supreme Court, has derecognised the present leadership of the Labour Party.

It is also a fact that the April 4, 2025 judgment of the Supreme Court ruled only on the lack of jurisdiction of the lower court and Court of Appeal,” Ifoh said.

According to him, the Supreme Court did not rule on the substantive matter as courts, including the Supreme Court, are barred from entertaining cases on the internal matters of any political party.

Ifoh noted that the Supreme Court, in its wisdom, ruled that parties should resolve their problems within the available mechanism as provided by its constitution. ''At no point did the Supreme

Court empower INEC to interfere with the internal matters of the political party. ''We are by this statement asking INEC to enlist our duly nominated candidates for the August 16 by-election without further delay, and also refrain from interfering with the internal matters of the Labour Party. INEC cannot arrogate to itself the powers of the courts or give different interpretations to a clear judgment of the apex court,” Ifoh added.

On its part, the Usman-led faction of the party said the decision of INEC indicates that the regulatory body is now ready to implement the April 4, 2025, judgment of the Supreme Court.

Nenadi Usman: INEC’s Decision in Line with Supreme Court’s

judgment

Reacting on behalf of Nenadi Usman, her Senior Special Assistant on Media, Ken Asogwa, said: ''Though it's unfortunate that the Labour Party's candidates are missing on that list, it's heartwarming to see that INEC is now beginning to give effect to the judgment of the Supreme Court delivered on April 4, 2025, which affirmed Senator Nenadi Usman as the authentic chairman of the Labour Party. ''Therefore, we urge the INEC as a responsible institution to take further steps by officially recognising Senator Usman as the valid chairman of the party,” he added.

In the last quarterly meeting between INEC and political parties, the Abure-led faction was also excluded from the meeting.

THISDAY gathered that

none of the primaries the Abure’s faction conducted was monitored by officials of the commission, a crucial requirement for validating political parties’ primaries and candidates.

Before the Supreme Court’s judgment, INEC had insisted that Abure’s tenure as National Chairman of the LP had expired in June 2023.

A former treasurer of the party, Oluchi Opara, told THISDAY that the apex court’s ruling clarified that Abure and his NWC no longer hold legitimate authority to act on behalf of the Labour Party, including the submission of candidates’ lists for elections.

The exclusion of Abure’s candidates is a significant development for the Labour Party and Nigeria’s democratic process. It sends a clear message that INEC will not tolerate

transition.

The Northern Caucus of the National Forum of Former Legislators, at the end of the 2025 Dialogue Session, appreciated the efforts of the government so far, but urged more efforts to address security challenges, especially in Zamfara, Katsina, Plateau, Benue, and Niger states, among others.

While the forum appreciated Gbajabiamila for the engagement, it urged the government to engage more with critical stakeholders for better delivery. attempts to circumvent legal stipulations or undermine the credibility of elections.

The Labour Party leadership, now operating under recognized structures under the leadership of Senator Nenadi Usman.

We commend INEC for its resolute action in this regard.

This decision not only upholds the rule of law but also protects the integrity of the electoral process, ensuring that the will of the people is accurately represented,'' Opara explained.

“We strongly urge Abure to desist from grandstanding and respect the legal and institutional frameworks governing the party and Nigeria’s electoral system. His persistence in acting outside his capacity threatens to erode the hard-earned trust and goodwill the Labour Party has built over the years,'' Opara added.

NUPRC LINKS 66% OF 732 CASES OF OIL SPILL IN NIGER DELTA TO ASSET SABOTAGE, INVESTIGATES 175 INCIDENTS than two-thirds or over 66 per cent of the total oil spills recorded during the year under review.

According to the commission, a total of 732 environmental incidents were recorded and categorised by their causes.

Of these, NUPRC said 485 incidents were attributed to sabotage, representing approximately 66.2 per cent of all reported spills.

The data underscored the continuing prevalence of human interference in petroleum infrastructure across oilproducing areas, a development that has significantly hobbled the country's crude oil output projection for years.

However, apart from sabotage, the NUPRC data stated that 175 cases, or about 23.9 per cent

of the incidents, were still under investigation or not yet conclusively determined.

Together, these two classifications alone accounted for about 90 per cent of all the reported environmental spills in 2024.

Other causes of spills were far less prevalent, with equipment failure identified as being responsible for 29 incidents or four per cent, while corrosion accounted for 19 cases or 2.6 per cent, and operational or maintenance errors led to 18 spills or 2.5 per cent of the incidents.

In the same vein, the NUPRC classified three incidents under ‘mystery’, while two cases were caused by natural accidents, and one incident was the result of a blowout. These categories

contributed less than 0.5 per cent of all spills combined, underscoring their relative rarity in the current operational context.

The data highlighted the persistent challenges surrounding environmental protection in the Niger Delta, where oil exploration and production have historically been accompanied by varying degrees of ecological degradation.

However, the statistics indicated that human-related actions, both deliberate and accidental, continue to dominate the landscape of environmental incidents in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector.

While some causes, such as corrosion and equipment failure, point to ageing infrastructure or technical shortcomings, a

higher number of cases were attributed to sabotage, suggesting a specific and enduring trend of direct human interference.

The large number of cases categorised as “not yet determined” also suggested that further investigations were still ongoing into many spills.

It also reflected the difficulty in conclusively identifying causes in certain instances, possibly due to limitations in surveillance, forensic capacity, or on-ground access in high-risk areas.

In comparison, the NUPRC’s environmental management records revealed that a total of 571 oil spill incidents were reported across the region the previous year, 2023, out of which 337 cases, accounting for 59 per cent, were attributed to sabotage, mainly by deliberate damage to

oil infrastructure often linked to pipeline vandalism and illegal bunkering.

In 2023, “Not Yet Determined” covered 194 incidents or 33.96 per cent of the total. This group represented cases where investigations into the causes of the spills were still ongoing or inconclusive at the time of reporting.

In the same previous year, technical and operational failures accounted for a much smaller proportion of the total spills.

Equipment failure led to 16 incidents, corrosion accounted for seven, and operational or maintenance errors were behind 11 cases.

A further five incidents were classified under “Mystery”, and only one case resulted from a blowout, meaning a sudden,

uncontrolled release of crude oil due to pressure imbalance during drilling or production.

During the 2024 period, the total figure of 732 spills marked a 28 per cent increase in total incidents, although crude production rose due primarily to regulatory actions, surveillance efforts, and community engagement.

Also, the report stressed that there were 31 accidents in the upstream sector last year, of which 22 fatalities were recorded, while 26,185 Offshore Safety Permits (OSPs) were issued.

Out of this number, new permits issued were 6,517, from which 360 persons were one-time flyers and 96 were Very Important Persons (VIPs), while total permit renewals were 19,668.

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CERTIFICATE PRESENTATION...

L-R: Vice President, International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI-Nigeria), Mr. Ayodeji Odeleye; President, FIABCI-Nigeria, Mr. Akin Opatola; Top-of-class graduate, Knight Frank Academy (Cohort 3), Miss Benita Nwokolo; Senior Partner/CEO, Knight Frank Nigeria, Mr. Frank Okosun; and President, Young Professionals Council, FIABCI-Nigeria, Mr. Kenny Nwankwo, during the certificate presentation ceremony for 21 graduates of Knight Frank Academy (Cohort 3) in Lagos…yesterday SUNDAY ADIGUN

ADC, NGE, AI, NUJ Kick as Gov Bago Orders Closure of Radio Station Information minister calls for calm Chuks Okocha, Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja and Dipo Laleye in Minna The African Democratic Congress (ADC), Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), Amnesty International (AI), and the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) have condemned the recent closure of Badeggi FM 90.1 Radio Station in Minna, by the Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago Meanwhile, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has appealed to all parties to remain calm, assuring that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has the necessary mechanisms to resolve the issue fairly and impartially.

Bago, who gave the directive during an expanded All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus meeting at the Government House, Minna, also called for the revocation of the station’s licence.

The state government was

also said to have ordered the demolition of the building.

The governor alleged that the daily activities of the station had been unethical and promoted violence.

He directed the Commissioner for Homeland Security and the Commissioner of Police to seal the station and profile its owner.

The governor’s action has sparked outrage from individuals, journalists, media groups, and rights organisations, who describe it as a blatant attack on press freedom.

Reacting, the NGE described Bago’s action as a direct assault on press freedom and a threat to Nigeria’s democracy.

In a statement issued yesterday by its President, Eze Anaba, and General Secretary, Onuoha Ukeh, the Guild said the governor acted outside his constitutional powers and bypassed due process in ordering the shutdown of the station.

“This act of censorship and intimidation undermines the

NEMA Raises the Alarm over Flood Disasters, Says 165 Dead, 82 Missing, 119,791 Affected in 2025 Chuks Okocha in Abuja The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said no fewer than 165 persons have died, 82 are missing, and 119,791 persons have been affected so far by this year’s flooding.

NEMA revealed this in its data dashboard over the weekend.

The agency also stated that 138 persons sustained various degrees of injuries, 43,936 were displaced, 8,594 houses were affected, and 8,278 farmlands were destroyed across 43 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in 19 states.

According to the agency, children and women were mostly affected.

It said: “53,314 children, 36,573 women, 24,600 men, 5,304 elderly, 1,863 disabled persons have so far been affected by this year's flood.”

The states with the highest number of affected persons are Imo, Rivers, Abia, Borno, and Kaduna.

Meanwhile, the 19 states affected are: Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Borno, Edo, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Ondo, Rivers and Sokoto, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

fundamental principles of a democratic society, where a free press is essential for holding those in power accountable,” the Guild said.

Citing Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Article 9 of the African Charter

on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the NGE emphasised that press freedom and freedom of expression are guaranteed rights that must be protected.

The Guild noted that only NBC has the legal authority to sanction broadcast

stations, and only after a thorough investigation of any alleged breach of the broadcast code.

ADC has also condemned what it described as Bago’s authoritarian actions.

The party said this

development revealed a disturbing pattern of executive overreach, disdain for constitutional rights, and a steady erosion of democratic norms under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

ADC Accuses APC of Attempt to Instigate Leadership Crisis in Opposition Coalition Chuks Okocha in Abuja The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of being behind the claim by a former Deputy National Chairman of ADC, Natu Bala, that he is the party’s interim National Chairman.

Bala, who was the party’s governorship candidate in Bauchi State in the 2023 general election, was said to have resigned his position as the deputy national chairman of the ADC in May 2025.

In his resignation letter titled: ‘Letter of Resignation As Deputy National Chairman Of African Democratic Congress (ADC)’’, which was made available to THISDAY, Bala wrote: ‘’The above subject hereby refers, please. ‘’I, Natu Bala, do hereby

write to notify you of my resignation as a member of the National Working Committee of our great party, African Democratic Congress, with effect from 26 May, 2025. ‘’My resignation is to make way for a smooth and effective coalition and restructuring. My resignation does not in any way mean that I am abandoning the party; so, I would be ready to serve in any other capacity I may be called upon in the future. ‘’While I thank you for the opportunity afforded me to serve our great party, please accept the assurances of my highest regards’’ But Bala later renounced his earlier letter of resignation, stating that the adoption and leadership transition was a “shoddily rehearsed political

melodrama that amounted to a total surrender of the party’s structure to external forces.”

He maintained that ADC’s constitution provides a clear framework for succession and the filling of vacant positions.

“In line with the party’s constitutional guidelines, I have assumed the role of interim national chairman,” he declared.

Bala urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise him as the party’s legitimate leader.

However, speaking to THISDAY, the National Publicity Secretary of ADC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, described Bala’s actions as part of the several plots to destabilise the coalition party by the ruling APC. Abdullahi said the coalition

party anticipated these plots, adding that the decision of its National Executive Committee (NEC), monitored by INEC, has addressed the plots to destabilise the coalition party. ‘’The National Working Committee was officially dissolved by the NEC of the party. Thereafter, the same NEC approved the handing over to the David Mark-led coalition ADC as the National Chairman. ‘’We anticipated all these and legally moved in the right direction. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) monitored all the decisions the coalition party took. We know where Natu Bala is coming from. This is the handiwork of the APC. It shows panic and desperation on the part of the ruling party,” Abdullahi added.

Relief as Nurses Call off Strike After Four Days Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) has suspended its nationwide warning strike.

This was disclosed yesterday by the Assistant SecretaryGeneral of NANNM, Chidi Aligwe.

On Wednesday, nurses and midwives in the country embarked on a seven-day

warning strike to press home their long-standing demands, including an upward review of shift allowance, adjustment of uniform allowance, a separate salary structure for nurses, an increase in core duty allowance, mass recruitment of nurses, and the establishment of a nursing department in the Federal Ministry of Health, among others.

The strike was suspended

yesterday following a virtual meeting of NANNM’s National Executive Council.

On Friday, the association met with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Office of the Head of Service, the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Office of the Accountant General, the National Salaries and Wages Commission, and other relevant stakeholders to address its

members’ demands.

Aligwe said, “The strike has been suspended. Nurses and midwives are to resume duty immediately.”

A circular titled “Suspension of the Ongoing Nationwide Nurses’ Strike” and signed by the association’s National President, Haruna Mamman, and General Secretary, T.A. Shettima, also confirmed the development.

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ELEVEN HEARTY CHEERS FOR LCCI… L–R: Co-Founder and Group Managing Director, Routelink Group, Mr. Femi Adeoti; Managing Director, Bright Trends Consulting Limited, Mr. Seye Obisesan; Chairman, Membership Committee, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Otunba Akinbo Akin-Olugbade; President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Gabriel Idahosa; Managing Director, Remita Payment Services Limited, Mr. ‘DeRemi Atanda; and Chief Executive Officer, Page International Financial Services Limited, Mr. Segun Akintemi, at the 11th edition of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry ICTEL Expo in Lagos…recently

Shettima: FG Committed to Transforming Agriculture Sector to Stimulate Economic Growth Vice President Kashim Shettima has said that the federal government has resolved to transform the country’s agriculture sector to stimulate economic growth and be a national pride.

Shettima said this yesterday at Ijaiye in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State during the groundbreaking of the Oyo State Agribusiness Industrial Hub, Ijaiye.

The vice president was

represented at the event by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari.

He said the groundbreaking of the Agro-Industrial Hub under the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) programme has marked a decisive stride in the collective quest to build a resilient, selfsufficient, and prosperous Nigeria.

Shettima said the SAPZ initiative was one of the cornerstones of the Renewed

Hope Agenda championed by President Bola Tinubu.

“A vision rooted in restoring Nigeria’s dignity, unlocking our vast potentials, and creating opportunities for every citizen.

“This initiative is not just an infrastructural project; it is a bold declaration that Nigeria’s future lies in transforming our abundant agricultural resources into value-added products that fuel industries, generate employment, and uplift our

farmers.

“It is a product of a strategic partnership between the federal government, state governments, and esteemed international development partners, especially the African Development Bank (AfDB), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB).

“This collaborative effort underscores our shared belief that sustainable development in

NIS Urges Nigerians to Adhere to Terms of United States’ Visas, Cautions against Misuse Michael Olugbode in Abuja The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has issued an advisory urging Nigerians to use their United States visas responsibly and in strict compliance with the stated purpose of their application.

This advisory followed concerns raised by the United States Government over the misuse of visas by some Nigerian citizens.

In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, NIS Public Relations Officer (SPR0), Akinsola Akinlabi, said Nigerians holding US visas must adhere to

the terms and conditions under which the visas were granted.

“The Nigeria Immigration Service wishes to inform the general public of concerns raised by the United States Government regarding the misuse of US visas

by Nigerians.

“All visa holders are advised to strictly adhere to the purpose stated in their visa applications.

“US authorities conduct security screening beyond the initial point of entry into the country. Any breach of immigration or other laws can lead to visa revocation or deportation.

“Breach of visa conditions,

including overstaying, may attract severe penalties, including removal from the US and permanent ineligibility for future travel,” he said.

According to him, the US remains committed to maintaining a secure and transparent visa process and expects all visa holders to comply fully with its immigration regulations.

He also advised Nigerian students in the US to remain in active study programmes and refrain from unauthorised withdrawal or absenteeism.

He noted that such actions could result in visa cancellation

and the loss of future eligibility for US travel.

The NIS warned that the US consular officers reserve the right to deny tourist visas to applicants suspected of intending to travel to give birth, in a bid to secure US citizenship for their children.

“The NIS will continue to collaborate with the US Mission in Abuja to ensure Nigeria is not included in any expanded visa restrictions,” he said.

“We are calling on all Nigerian citizens to comply with US visa rules, as such conduct is essential to safeguarding legitimate travel opportunities."

In Line with Nigerian Electricity Act, NERC Transfers Electricity Regulatory Oversight to Nasarawa Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has transferred regulatory oversight of the electricity market in Nasarawa State to the Nasarawa State Electricity Regulatory Commission.

In a statement posted on its social media handles yesterday, NERC stated that this action complied with the 1999 Constitution and the Electricity Act 2023.

“In compliance with the amended Constitution of the

Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electricity Act 2023 (Amended), the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has issued an order to transfer regulatory oversight of the electricity market in Nasarawa State from the Commission to the Nasarawa State Electricity Regulatory Commission,” the commission stated.

It could be recalled that with the Electricity Act 2023, the commission retains its role as a central regulator with regulatory oversight on

the interstate/international generation, transmission, supply, trading, and system operations.

The Act mandates any state that intends to establish and regulate intrastate electricity markets to deliver a formal notification of its processes and requests NERC to transfer regulatory authority over electricity operations in the state to the state regulator.

The new transfer Order

by NERC directed the Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc to incorporate a subsidiary (AEDC SubCo) to assume responsibilities

for the intrastate supply and distribution of electricity in Nasarawa State from AEDC. It stipulated that, “AEDC shall complete the incorporation of AEDC SubCo within 60 days from 4th August 2025. The subcompany shall apply for and obtain a licence for the intrastate supply and distribution of electricity from NASERC, among other directives,” the commission stated.

It said that all transfers envisaged by the order shall be completed by February 3, 2026.

agriculture is achievable only through unity, innovation, and shared responsibility.

“It is a clear indication that Nigeria is committed to leveraging global expertise, capital, and best practices to achieve sustainable growth and social inclusion,” he said.

The vice president further stated that with the groundbreaking of the initiative, the country was laying the foundation for agro-industrial hopes that will empower agro-processes, farmers, stimulate local economies, and make Nigeria a competitive player in global markets.

“Today, as we break ground, we are planting the seeds of a new Nigeria where agriculture is the driver of industrialisation, innovation, and inclusive prosperity.

“Accordingly, we are expanding the development benefit of the SAPZ across the 36 states in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to onboard 27 more states in tranches, starting with 10 states

by the first quarter of 2026.

“This is a sequel to financing procedures between the federal government and the financing partners,” he said.

Shettima also acknowledged the visionary leadership of Gov. Seyi Makinde, whose unwavering commitment and dedication to the development of Oyo State set the stage for the historic occasion.

He also commended the President of AfDB, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, who he described as a truly continental champion, especially of the SAPZ initiative.

The vice president also noted Adesina’s unwavering advocacy, visionary leadership, and dedication to transforming Africa’s agricultural landscape According to Shettima, the AfDB president has been instrumental in positioning Nigeria’s SAPZ as a flagship project with the potential to redefine Africa’s economic future.

He reaffirmed President Bola Tunubu’s unwavering commitment to the transformative journey under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

Oyetola Makes Case for Coast Guards, Says Navy Alone Cannot Safeguard Nigerian Waterways Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja Following incessant boat mishaps in the country, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola, has said it was time for Nigeria to consider deploying coastal guards to complement Nigeria Navy’s efforts along the waterways.

Speaking in Abuja while receiving the report of the Special Committee on the Prevention of Boat Mishaps in Nigeria, Oyetola declared the federal government’s resolve to act on the recommendations presented on the dangers along the waterways.

He said the federal government is taking action to tackle the growing incidents of boat accidents across Nigeria’s

waterways.

“The safety of our citizens on water is not just a policy responsibility; it is a moral duty. Every life lost in a boat mishap is one too many,” Oyetola stated.

“This report will serve as a foundation for immediate and long-term reforms. We will study the recommendations closely and act where policy adjustments or institutional coordination are required.”

“Also, we commend the efforts of the Nigerian Navy in safeguarding pir waterways but we believe they can’t do it alone and we need coastal guards to help protect the waterways and ensure not every boat or individual gets into the waterways,” he said.

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TOURISM ON THEIR MINDS… L-R: General Manager, Commercial, BusinessDay Media Limited, Ijeoma Ude; General Manager, Glocient Hospitality, Lanre Balogun; Group General Manager, Continental Hotels Group, Karl Hala; and Managing Director, Del- York Development Company, Stella Fubara, at BusinessDay's Tourism Conference in Lagos… recently

NNPP Mocks PDP over Gale of Defections, Says Main Opposition Party Now an Empty House Ahmad Sorondinki in Kano The Kano State Chairman of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Hashim Dungurawa, has declared the end of the road for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), describing the party as an empty house, following the defections that hit the main opposition party.

He cited recent defections of its prominent members to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and others as proof that the PDP is politically dead.

Dungurawa asked: “How can a serious party allow its presidential candidate to leave the party? It means the party is not in place.

“And how can the party also allow its vice-presidential candidate to go to another party again? Are you not aware that Okowa has joined APC now,

while Atiku is in ADC?” He stated these while addressing journalists in Kano, asserting that the party’s collapse is now visible with the defection of its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and his vice, former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, among others.

“There is no PDP in Kano State. Even to see an APC person in Kano is difficult.

There’s only one party in Kano State.

“We have NNPP as a party and we have Kwankwasiyya as an organisation where people are trooping into,” he added.

On claims by the Kano PDP that it was bouncing back and forming a formidable force, the NNPP chairman queried: “You are bouncing to come back to the field or you are bouncing to go out of the field?

“So, they (PDP) are bouncing to go out of the field. They are nowhere to be found. By physical, by analysis, and by the personalities they put in place as the leaders of the party.

“It shows that they are not ready to come back to Kano and even in Nigeria as a party.

“Because if you could remember, some two years back, I was the Vice Chairman of the party here in Kano State, Kano North. And by inclination, I happened to be the principal officer of the party. And whatever decision

Six years after the disappearance of Abubakar Idris, popularly known as Dadiyata, Amnesty International yesterday took a swipe at the federal government over what it described as “deafening silence and shameful inaction” in resolving the activist’s disappearance.

Dadiyata, a university lecturer, fierce government critic, and online political commentator, was reportedly taken by masked men from his home in Kaduna on August 2, 2019.

He had just returned from work when the armed men whisked him away in his vehicle.

Since that night, neither he nor his car has been seen again.

Addressing journalists in Kaduna during a press conference organised to mark the sixth anniversary of the incident, Amnesty International’s Country Director, Isa Sanusi, described Dadiyata’s case as

a disturbing metaphor for the Nigerian state’s growing hostility to dissent.

“His family waited that night, hoping he’d walk back in. They waited the next day.

Then weeks, months, now six years.

“We are still asking the same question — Where is Dadiyata?” he queried.

Sanusi described the government’s posture since 2019 as negligent and complacent.

“Even if the government claims it didn’t take him, it failed to protect him. That is a fundamental breach of responsibility,” he declared.

He accused the security agencies, particularly the police and the Department of State Services (DSS), of issuing “weak and weightless promises” and treating the case with levity.

“Till today, there has been no credible update, no official report, no accountability. Just silence. Shameful silence,” Sanusi said.

is enough to tell you that PDP is not organized. It’s not in place. I think the Atiku you just mentioned now who joined the ADC, is from the PDP. “So, if you want to mention PDP structure or people that are influential in PDP, who are they? You will start with the presidential candidate.

“Atiku, he is no longer there.

His vice, Okowa, is no longer there. Even the people who conducted the primaries before the 2023 general election, Amaechi, are now in ADC. “Wike is there. He is now

partly in PDP, partly in APC. This is to tell you that they are now left with an empty house.

“So, nobody is left in the PDP now. Only people who have nothing to do with this and that. That’s why you find them there.”

Responding to criticism from the PDP questioning the state government’s spending on key sectors like health, education, and infrastructure, Dungurawa described the PDP’s concerns as both “misplaced” and “politically motivated.”

Utomi: FG’s Obsession with Revenue Stifling Economic Growth, Worsening Lives of Ordinary Nigerians Says politicians squander increased revenues Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Professor of Political Amnesty International Criticises Renowned Economy, Pat Utomi, has faulted FG’s ‘Deafening’ Six-year Silence the federal government’s priorities, saying that on Missing Activist, Dadiyata economic its “obsession” with revenue Wale Igbintade

is taken, either in the state or in the national, we must be around because the city will acquire it.

“Till then, I understand that PDP will not go anywhere.

They are not out for victory but for victimisation. They are out for witch-hunting. They are out for mischief. They are out for sycophancy.

“Nobody is doing PDP for its success. That is why we look at them and say, Are they the people that are going to manage the party?

“And the issue of ADC, that

generation is damaging the economy.

Speaking during a television interview at the weekend, Utomi claimed that most of the country’s resources are being channelled to the political class rather than the productive sectors that can stimulate growth.

“Most non-productive sectors, the political class, for example,

and we need to get the resources that are available to go directly into ramping up food first of all, and then the value chain from those factor endowments around agriculture,” he said.

Utomi said the government’s revenue drive is pricing traders and importers out of business.

“Ask any trader today how much they can bring through the ports. The desperation for rising revenue means that every container is being sold at about N18 million or some similar amount,” he said.

“Many pharmaceutical importers have very thin

margins on their anti-malarials and related drugs.

“When they come through the ports in this desperation for revenue and get hit with a tax on each container, it means they can’t import a new set of containers of anti-malarial medications.”

The professor said such a system benefits only politicians while worsening the lives of ordinary Nigerians.

“It means that while government revenues are going up — and are being squandered by politicians — the Nigerian people have

no possibility of a better life.

“This revenue issue needs to be put in context and properly understood. To use revenue as evidence of progress is not to understand economics,” Utomi said.

Utomi added that the slight stability in the naira and official claims of economic recovery mean little if inflation continues to erode people’s livelihoods.

“If you are from hell to purgatory, have you been saved from damnation?” he asked while dismissing suggestions that the economy is improving.

Saint Lucian Prime Minister Defends Tinubu’s Visit, Says Criticism Shameful, Disgraceful Deji Elumoye in Abuja Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Mr. Philip J. Pierre, has strongly defended the recent visit of President Bola Tinubu to his country, describing criticism of the visit as “shameful and disgraceful,” and condemning what he called politicallymotivated attacks laced with the residue of colonial self-hate.

Speaking in the capital,

Castries, during his 2025 Emancipation Day address, Prime Minister Pierre took a firm stand against detractors who opposed the Nigerian leader’s state visit.

He argued that the backlash, driven by partisan interests and subtly supported by the opposition, reflected deeper psychological scars from slavery.

“The vilification and denigration of the President

of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, by a politically motivated group, tacitly supported by the opposition party, was another demonstration of the harmful effects of the legacy of slavery: Self-hate and a readiness to accept African people and their descendants as inferior. That behaviour was nothing short of shameful and disgraceful”, Pierre stated.

The prime minister noted

that if a visiting head of state had come from a different part of the world, the reception would have been markedly more respectful.

Pierre emphasised the significance of President Tinubu’s presence in Saint Lucia, describing it as an honour for the island nation and a milestone in fostering deeper bilateral and regional relationships.

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LIVESTOCK GROWTH ACCELERATION… Executive Chairman, Origin Tech Group Nigeria, Prince Samuel Joseph Samuel (left) and the Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiha, during a meeting on the enhancement of the Nigerian Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy ‘25 in Abuja….yesterday

NLC Gives FG Two Weeks Ultimatum to Inaugurate PenCom Board, Rejects New Industrial Relations Policy Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has asked the federal government to inaugurate the board of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) within two weeks or it will take measures it deems fit to safeguard the Fund.

Similarly, the labour union has rejected the new industrial relations policy approved by the federal government.

In a letter dated July 28 and addressed to the Director General of PenCom, the union accused the government of failing to constitute the commission’s board despite several appeals.

NLC said that the federal

government’s action has left it with no alternative but to suspect a possible sinister motive.

In the letter, which was copied to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Labour and Employment, NLC lamented the jeopardy being faced by workers and employers whose representatives have been kept in the dark about expenditures of the funds.

NLC alleged that there has been continuous spending/ application of funds without authorisation by the board.

“Accordingly, we demand as follows: The inauguration of the board not later than

Anambra Govt Approves Integrated Power System for State Broadcasting Service Ejiofor Alike The Anambra State Executive Council (ANSEC) under Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo has awarded the contract for the supply and installation of solar street lights and earthing of Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) Stations.

The State’s Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, stated that ANSEC made the approval at its 17th ANSEC meeting held on July 30, 2025, at the LightHouse, Awka, among other vital state initiatives.

The Council also approved the construction of a solar-powered borehole and rehabilitation of five non-functional boreholes at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Uli Campus, and the provision of hybrid power-driven Water Supply Schemes to Nwafor Orizu College of Education, Nsugbe.

Consequently, it awarded a contract for the provision of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities to Nkwo Umunze and other nearby communities to ease the problem

of water supply in that part of the state.

Likewise, the Council approved the extension of the provision of the WASH facilities to the Chief Jerome Udoji State Secretariat, in Awka, the state capital, for the well-being of public service personnel working at the complex, as well as the supply and installation of electrical and mechanical appurtenances at the General Hospital, Anaku.

Mefor stated that these are part of Governor Soludo’s government’s efforts to improve the quality of life for the people, and in his comprehensive urban regeneration agenda to turn Anambra into the Dubai-Silicon Valley of the country, where economic and business thrive.

This philosophy has spurred the transformation of the state, and this progressivism has been commended by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the indigenes in the country and diaspora, in the governor’s scorecard of outstanding achievements presented to Anambra citizens at various fora.

two weeks from the date of this letter” NLC warned that failure to comply with the demand will compel it to take decisions and actions as it deems fit to safeguard the funds domiciled in PenCom. NLC also kicked against a new industrial relations policy

said to have been adopted by the federal government at the last Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.

In a statement signed by the NLC president, Joe Ajaero, the union described the move, which was aimed at stopping frequent strikes by labour unions, as totally reprehensible.

It said that the new policy violates the provisions of the country’s constitution and will be resisted by workers.

The statement said: “Congress and Organised Labour in Nigeria condemn and reject this new law in industrial relations in Nigeria.

We assure Nigerian workers that the leadership of the congress

and the labour movement remain watchful on our mandate of protecting the rights, interests and hard-won industrial liberties guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, our labour laws and indeed fundamental international labour standards which Nigeria is signatory to.”

Ohanaeze Faults Tenure Extension of Customs CG, Demands Fairness

Apex social-cultural organisation in Igbo land, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has kicked against President Bola Tinubu’s alleged subtle scuttling of the promotion of the Deputy Comptroller General of Customs, BU Nwafor, as the Comptroller of Customs.

President Tinubu earlier extended the tenure of Bashir Adewale Adeniyi as the Comptroller General of Customs even after his tenure had elapsed.

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Ezechi Chukwu, yesterday, described this purported presidential fiat as selective justice, institutional unfairness, and a blatant display of nepotism over merit.

The statement read, “Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has expressed deep dissatisfaction with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over his tactful manoeuvre to deny Deputy Controller General of Customs

(DCG) BU Nwafor from Anambra State her legitimate right of elevation to the rank of Controller General of Customs (CG).

“President Tinubu, a few days ago, granted a one-year tenure extension to the current Controller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, who is already due for retirement, thereby shortchanging the next in line of succession, DCG BU Nwafor, whose retirement would be due in October 2026.

“With this reprehensible development, the next in hierarchy after Nwafor, DCG KI Adeola, is strategically positioned to take over from CG Adeniyi in 2026, rather than DCG Nwafor.

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide sees this selective justice and situational et hics as a crown jewel of institutional unfairness, a peak of favouritism, and an ultimate display of blatant nepotism over merit, bureaucratic standard, and social conscience.”

US Appeals Court Upholds Order Blocking Indiscriminate Targeting by Immigration Patrols A United States Appeals Court has upheld an order blocking immigration agents from carrying out patrols in California that led to indiscriminate detentions without reasonable grounds to suspect people of being undocumented.

The ruling delivered late Friday by a three-judge panel, denied the federal government’s appeal to overturn a temporary July order to halt the “roving patrols” in Los Angeles that

immigration rights groups have described as illegally using racial profiling.

District Judge Maame EwusiMensah Frimpong had ordered an end to the arrests, arguing such actions by agents violate a person’s constitutional rights that safeguard against unreasonable seizures by the government.

She said the detentions were being made “based upon race alone,” on whether a person was speaking Spanish or English with

an accent or because of their place of work, and ordered them stopped.

Friday’s ruling by the US court of appeals for the Ninth Circuit described the case of plaintiff Jason Gavidia, a US citizen born and raised in East Los Angeles who was arrested outside a tow yard in Montebello on June 12 by agents carrying military-style rifles.

“The agents repeatedly asked Gavidia whether he is American

— and they repeatedly ignored his answer: ‘I am an American,’” the ruling said.

Agents asked what hospital he was born in, and Gavidia responded he did not know, but said he was born in “East LA.” It said Gavidia told the agents he could show them his government-issued ID. “The agents took Gavidia’s ID and his phone and kept his phone for 20 minutes. They never returned his ID.”

Okocha Remains Rivers State Chairman of APC, Party Insists Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that Mr. Tony Okocha remains the state chairman of the party in Rivers State.

A factional state chairman of the party in the state, Emeka Beke had on Thursday called on the National Chairman of the party, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda

to suspend the scheduled local government primaries in Rivers State being organised by the Okocha-led Executive Committee.

He also demanded that his own Executive Committee should be allowed to superintend the entire process.

However, the National Publicity Secretary of the

party, Felix Morka in a statement issued yesterday insisted that Okocha is the chairman of the party.

He noted: “The attention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been drawn to media reports of a claim by Mr. Emeka Beke to the chairmanship of the Rivers State chapter of our party.

“We wish to clarify, for the record, that Chief Tony Okocha is, and remains, the Chairman of the Rivers State chapter of our Party.

“We urge our teeming members in the state, and the general public, to disregard the said reports or reference to Mr. Beke as State Chairman of Rivers APC as false and misleading.”

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COURTESY VISIT……

L-R: Senior Legal Counsel for Nigeria, Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Zambia and Zimbabwe, inDrive, Ese Palmer; the Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, Lagos, Corps Commander, Kehinde G. Hamzat; Country Representative for Nigeria, inDrive, Timothy Oladimeji; and Deputy Corps Commander, FRSC, Lucas Oguntade, during inDrive’s officials’ visit to the FRSC office in Ojodu, Berger, Lagos...recently

Japan Donates N3.6 Billion Road Construction Equipment to FG Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Government of Japan has donated road construction equipment valued at about N3.6 billion to the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), to enhance the nation’s pursuit of sustainable infrastructure renewal.

A statement in Abuja by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Ministry of Works, Mohammed Ahmed, said the donation was a

significant boost to Nigeria’s infrastructure development efforts.

Minister of State for Works, Bello Goronyo, who received the equipment on behalf of Nigeria, described the inauguration of the equipment as a ‘strategic milestone’ in President Bola Tinubu’s road renewal efforts.

The inauguration ceremony, the statement said, brought together key stakeholders and figures from both the public

and private sectors.

Those in attendance, it said, included the Chairman, Senate Committee on FERMA, Senator Sahabi Yau; the Chairman, House Committee on FERMA, Remi Oseni; the Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Suzuki Hideo; and the Managing Director of FERMA, Emeka Agbasi.

Others were: Members of the board of FERMA, former managing directors, the President of the Nigerian Society

of Engineers (NSE), Margret Oguntala, and the Programme Coordinator of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGi), Michael Oluwagbemi.

The equipment, according to FERMA, is expected to transform its capacity to maintain and rehabilitate Nigeria’s vast road network.

At the event, Goronyo emphasised that the donation ushered in a new era of road maintenance, enabling

engineers and technicians to deliver faster and more sustainable outcomes.

“This generous contribution from Japan brings us closer to our vision of a smoother, safer, and more reliable travel across the country. Roads are the lifeblood of our economy and daily life, and this equipment is a game changer in our ability to utilise and preserve them,” he added.

The minister also noted

that Nigeria’s extensive road network remains vital to commerce, agriculture, healthcare, and national integration, even as it continues to face significant maintenance challenges.

Goronyo further commended the efforts of Tinubu for making infrastructure a top priority and a key driver of economic growth under his ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’, an administration he said recognises infrastructure as an enabler of growth.

The Logic of Bogus Budget Forecasts (A related reason that can be attached here is that generally we treat government budgets as mere statements of intention. To be sure, the appropriation act is a law, but we don’t attach the sacredness of laws to budgets-except maybe for things like virement. There are no personal consequences for setting bogus targets or for failing to meet targets or for not implementing budgets. So, there is a mindset dimension too).

The second major reason for the bogus forecasts is about power relations between the legislature and the

executive in a presidential system where patronage is the central organising principle. The parliament has the power of the purse, and parliamentarians as politicians are very motivated to spend heavily for public and personal reasons. Charged with initiating and implementing budgets and releasing funds, the executive holds the ace on budgets but is also wary of an extended standoff with the legislature.

Both sides manage this tension through exaggerated budget estimates, a form of consensus. The legislators at least get their way and can show their

constituents what they have managed to put in the budget; and the executive receives the approval it needs and on time, then uses the precious power to ration the inevitably inadequate revenues to pick priorities and whip legislators and others into line.

Un-fundable budgets might thus not be as irrational as they appear. There is clearly a political economy dimension to the errant forecasts by the two arms jostling for power over appropriation.

IMF can continue to think that what is showing up in our voodoo forecasting is a series of

errors by people who don’t know what they are doing. Or that this is a challenge that is amenable to technical fixes such as training forecasters or publishing reviews of forecasts. There is a place for such recommendations. But it is also important to also factor in the adaptive and political dimensions of the challenge. Yes, IMF in that paper flagged the need for political commitment to more credible fiscal forecasts in Nigeria. The task is how to get the political authorisers to abandon a system that they have all the incentives to keep.

Yilwatda’s Strategic Election and the Daunting Task Ahead In politics, some issues are not as straightforward as they appear. Actions motivated by the best intentions are often misconstrued – sometimes deliberately. For instance, some critics have tried to frame Yilwatda’s appointment as a sign that President Bola Tinubu intends to retain the Muslim-Muslim ticket for 2027.

And one may ask, if it’sn’t broken, why fix it, as Americans would say. The Muslim-Muslim ticket is working, has not ruptured religious harmony and has not turned the country into an Islamic state as some had initially feared.

In any case, such insinuations ignore that the APC chairman comes to the job eminently qualified with a rich resume. He brings a wealth of experience, knowledge, innovation and a sense of responsibility to the job. He is an intellectual.

Before working as REC and contesting for the Plateau gubernatorial election, he qualified as a Professor of Electronic and Computer Engineering. His people, who believed in his competence and capacity, had tapped him for the governorship in 2023.

Yilwatda has his job cut out for him. He is to ensure the digital registration of party members,

leading to a codified party membership register, and facilitate the proper integration of defecting politicians into the APC. President Tinubu had harped on the need for the party to retain its inclusive outlook, urging the chairman to remain open to new members and fresh ideas.

Convinced that the strength of any party lies in its membership, in expanding its ranks to accommodate new members, the President encouraged the chairman to consider setting up a small group from the National Working Committee to visit states and ensure that all members are seamlessly registered and integrated.

But there is one other tough job for Yilwatda: restoring credibility, discipline and party supremacy, and ensuring internal democracy within the APC rank and file. This critical matter may prove a herculean task – or an Achilles’ heel. He needs every fibre in him to navigate the bumpy path towards creating a more disciplined, more efficient APC, in short, a new APC. Yilwatda needs wisdom and tact to pull this through. A bridge between the old and the new, Yilwatda will need exceptional

focus to accomplish the task.

Indeed, the new chairman has come when the APC urgently needs reform and recalibration. Party primaries for picking candidates for elections into the governorship of Ekiti, Osun, and Anambra will soon be conducted. As the man in the saddle, Yilwatda must be firm, resolute and incorruptible.

Yilwatda may not have spent decades in the political mill, but those who know him say he is firm and tenacious. His stoic Christian background has prepared him for difficult times. Son of a highly revered pastor, Reverend Toma Yilwatda, the new APC chairman’s character was formed from his elementary school days at Boys’ Secondary School, Gindiri, a missionary school.

From an early age, he had reportedly demonstrated a keen intellect and an unwavering commitment to excellence. His academic odyssey includes a first degree earned from the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, a Master’s degree from ATBU, Bauchi, and a doctorate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, specialising in Electronic and Computer Engineering.

His brilliance and dedication earned him a

place at his alma mater, the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, where he served for over 26 years. His expertise and leadership propelled him to the position of the University’s pioneer Director of ICT, where he led transformative digital reforms that automated key institutional processes.

Beyond academia, Prof. Yilwatda has played a pivotal role in the digital transformation of Nigeria’s public and private sectors. His consultancy work spans multinational organisations and global development partners such as the European Union, UNICEF, the World Bank, and TECHVILE USA. His ability to merge technology with governance has made him a sought-after expert in digital innovation and policy development.

Yilwatda likes to refer to himself as a catalyst for change, a bridge between technology and governance, and a beacon of hope for millions striving for a better future. Will his skillset and experience help him deliver on his mandate?

I strongly think so! *Rahman is Senior Assistant to the President on Media & Special Duties.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER AUGUST 3, 2025

INTERVIEW Ibeji: Forex and Immigration Policies Have Impacted on Our Business Kingsley Ibeji is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of JoKings Educare Limited UK. In this interview, he spoke on the essential services the firm offers to its clients. Excerpts:

W

hat is the mission and vision of Educare?

The mission and vision of JoKings Educare.

Let’s start with the mission; of course, JoKings Educate, you know, is an established education consulting firm and our aim is basically to ensure that we offer the best of quality educational consulting services to our clients.

So, our mission is basically to be able to match our international students to international education institutions by applying for professional experience and enhancing their career while ensuring that we offer them quality assurance to the attainment of their dream. Our vision is to see that students attain quality education and at the same time become a global educational consulting firm that is well recognised by both institutions and international students.

So far how has it been since JoKings Educare started?

Well, it’s been good. We all started from United Kingdom in 2012 and then we expanded to Nigeria in 2015. Today, as I speak to you, we have been able to establish six branches in Nigeria and we have also been able to expand to Accra, Ghana; we also expanded to Nairobi, Kenya and to Kampala in Uganda, to Harare in Zimbabwe and then now to Cameroon. So, we have also increased the number of our students between 2012 and 2025 and the students that have reached us have tremendously increased to a large extent because of the huge support and professional services we offer to them. We have recruited over 10,000 students within this period of 13 years and have been able to increase the number of our students from 2012 to 2025 from one country to another, and from Europe to America for their international studies.

What is the basis of your recommendations to your clients to avoid mistakes?

Well, first and foremost, we proffer the use of integrity, transparency and professionalism and we are open and straight forward to our clients and maintain our quality. We do not recommend schools that we feel that cannot offer this quality to them. So, it is not all about we getting money, it is more of ensuring that the students get the best of what they desire. We are very straight forward and open, transparent and we try to avoid situations where our clients complain about our services or complain about anything related to money and most importantly, we operate an open-door policy to our employees as well as partners and as well as our clients.

How do you confirm that the students are getting the best from institutions you work with or you referred them to - simply put, how do you track their progress?

Basically, you know, because our job is to refer them to these institutions and these institutions of course when they study with any of our partner, university students are assessed based on their performance and they are given assignments, class works and examinations to be able to assess whether they have understood what they are taught in class. We also do follow-up of our stu-

dents by getting positive feedback from them by asking questions of how “you are doing with your studies” and stuffs like that.

Of course, there are times students have one or two issues with their academic activity and of course have the opportunity to retake such subject and do better.

Recently, some students were praising the impact of JoKings Educare in their educational lives. So, what is responsible for the success story?

Well, it is an entire team effort. No one takes any glory or success because I as the Chief Executive Officer, do not take any glory. We work as a team, as every team member from various departments contributes from the very beginning of students’ enquiry and even when students arrived in their various destination (countries).

More so, it is more of a team work and the students are giving us positive feedbacks and it also belongs to the entire team.

What role do government policies play in shaping Educare programmes?

A lot, both from the home country and international. So, let’s even start from the home country; the government policies with regards to forex, with regards of the students’ ability to pay their tuition fees. Initially, some couple of years back students can walk to any bank or their bank and make available the fund in their account and process what is called Form A and will be able to pay their tuition fee at a low cost rate to their institutions of learning but due to the government policy in forex, it has become very difficult and students have to resort to the parallel market or the black market to pay their tuition fees which however, costs them more and also has impact on our business because many students want to study and enhance their educational background abroad but cannot afford the cost because of government policy. In the year 2023, it cost a student less to study abroad than now because in 2025 you pay an average of N21million to study abroad. And most airlines are also complaining of moving their funds if they charge or sell their tickets in naira value and have made some of them to charge more than what they used to charge before and so many things like that.

One other basic thing that is affecting most of the students that want to study abroad is the immigration policy and changing of policies where countries have changed their immigration policies and this has affected a lot of students and we had a situation sometime in 2024 when the UK government said that Master’s students would not be able to travel with their dependants and this had an impact especially on married students and you know of course, as an African, we are family-oriented people who want to be very close to our families.

˾ ÌÏÔÓ However, you know some students who want to advance their education abroad are unable to travel because of the immigration policy and it affected the number of students who want to study abroad.

Are you now saying that different government policies especially immigration and forex have impacted negatively on your business?

In fact, government policies when it comes to monetary and financial policies have impacted on students we are able to recruit to study abroad.

What are the primary challenges Educare is facing to execute its programmes to prospective students moving forward?

The first challenge I could mention is foreign exchange and it is really a problem because it changes anyhow and at any time. And the wrong educational consultant who does not practise the business with professionalism and has integrity issues and sometimes you have to reach out to a client because they have had previous and negative experience with other educational consultants in the previous years.

When they develop cold feet and become skeptical about your company, trust issue will arise because they are scarred and are hoping that they are not getting into another wrong hand, and it is very challenging.

Again, one of the challenges is not having an enabling environment especially in Nigeria where you don’t have access to the Internet because most times, clients want to communicate with you via online and

all that but lack of Internet slows down your work operation of your employee.

You are into scholarship. How does your students benefit from your scholarship scheme?

You see, what we do in regards to scholarship is to access the scholarships available with some of our partner institutions and sometimes the scholarship could be certain percentage of the entire tuition fee and sometimes it could be full scholarship and sometimes it could be huge amount.

We communicate the information to our potential students and let them know and sometimes, we support on the application process for the scholarship that are available in these institutions.

We are not the ones offering but our partner institutions.

Finally, what is your message to your students and intending applicants who want to benefit from JoKings Educare?

Our major message is that what inspires you inspires us. If you as a student is aspiring to embark on international education to study abroad it gets us inspired to support you fully and professionally.

So, our message to most of our potential clients is that we are here for you and we will support you professionally, and will advise you because we have certified counselors who will give professional services and support towards your attainment to travel abroad for studies.

16

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER AUGUST 3, 2025

INTERNATIONAL

4-Ds and D-BRIDGE: Complementarity of Diplomacy and Educational Creativity for Strategic Autonomy

4

-Ds is the current foreign policy doctrine introduced by Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, Minister of Foreign Affairs, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT), to re-define and re-project Nigeria’s international image in the comity of nations. It is a doctrine that encompasses the Akinwande Bolaji Akinyemi-introduced Consultation Doctrine in Nigeria’s foreign policy. The consultation doctrine requires that Nigeria be first consulted if Nigeria’s support is expected by another country in the event of crises and conflicts: Intrinsic in the required doctrine is self-reliance and self-ascribed capacity to help others.

As espoused by Foreign Minister Tuggar, the doctrine of 4-Ds is about Democracy, Development, Demography, and Diaspora. It is about people, their attitude and character. For instance, there is nothing like development without the people.

Without the people, development is meaningless. The purpose of development is the people, their welfare, their well-being and quality of life. Demography is about the statistical growth of the people and their economic activities. Diaspora is also about people defined by factor of migration. In essence, the 4-Ds is another expression for human security and societal development.

D-BRIDGE is our own coinage from Diaspora-BRIDGE that was inaugurated on Monday, 28th July, 2025 by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, and the Federal Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Olatunji Alausa, at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja. BRIDGE is the acronym for ‘Bringing Research, Innovation, Development, and Global Engagement,’ to Nigeria in a globalising world of changing technology. While the doctrine of 4-Ds has an attitudinal character, BRIDGE is behavioural.

It includes the translation of the 4-Ds as a value, vision and objective into manifestation. As such, there is complementarity between the 4-Ds and the D-BRIDGE. The 4-Ds reflects the aspect of diplomacy while the D-BRIDGE is the supportive implementation through scientific and educational creativity.

The two do complement one another in Nigeria’s quest for strategic autonomy whose ultimate objective is a self-reliant new Nigeria.

VIE INTERNATIONALE with

Bola A. Akinterinwa Telephone : 0807-688-2846

e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com

4-Ds, D-BRIDGE and New Nigeria As explained by the Federal Ministry of Education, D-BRIDGE is designed ‘at empowering research, innovation and global collaboration in Nigerian academia. D-BRIDGE will ensure that Nigerian academia benefits from global expertise, funding opportunities, industry linkages, and knowledge transfer.’

And perhaps more note worthily, ‘the programme creates structured pathways for Nigerian scholars abroad to engage meaningfully with institutions in Nigeria, bridging gaps in teaching, enhancing research capacity, teaching methodologies, and industry relevance.’

In doing this, the Federal Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Olatunji Alausa, himself a Diaspora returnee, has not only responded to how Government should relate with the Diaspora, but has also complemented the good work of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission by establishing the D-BRIDGE, an electronic educational platform for interactive creativities between and among Nigerian academics at home and in the Diaspora. The D-BRIDGE initiative as noted above, was officially launched last week Monday, 28 July, 2025 at the Presidency, Abuja.

As the Education Minister put it, ‘through BRIDGE, we are launching a digital platform that allows for collaborative teaching mentorship, joint research, capacity-building and policy innovation – all driven by Diaspora and home-based professionals alike.’ Vice President Kashim Shettima, who was represented at the launch, noted that, ‘for too long, the collaboration between Nigerian-based professionals and our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora has been fragmented. Today, through BRIDGE, we are laying the foundation to repair that trust with intentionality, transparency, and inclusivity… What we lacked was system to harness their passion and expertise.

That is what BRIDGE provides.’ This is good and enough a reason for continued government’s pledged support. This is also why we agree with the Minister of State for Education that the D-BRIDGE, as an initiative, marks a new chapter in how we view the Nigerian diaspora, no more simply as citizens living abroad, but more significantly ‘as strategic partners in nation-building. D-BRIDGE represents a structured, transparent, and accountable, framework that ensures our Diaspora professionals can engage in a meaningful, sustainable, and impactful way.’

Without whiff of doubt, nation-building is not only an objective of every sovereign State, but also an effort and a process that requires complementarity and continuity of development policies under an incumbent and successive governments.

Nation-building is about the fostering of national identity, development of shared values and sense of belonging, political stability, and unifying a diverse population. This is why every country engages in nation-building. The neglect of any effort at nation-building has, more often than not, warranted development setbacks. Not having strong institutions cannot be helpful to nation-building. And true enough, corruption and weak governance cannot strengthen the development of strong institutions. On the contrary, it only erodes public trust.

In Nigeria, very little efforts are made to build a Nigerian

When we are therefore discussing the 4-Ds and the D-BRIDGE, we simply are saying that different diplomatic actors or institutions and the educational functionaries cannot only work together effectively, but can also proactively engage Nigerians in Diaspora in enhancing nation-building efforts. In this regard, the 4-Ds is the structure on which to build the D-BRIDGE. 4-Ds is about policy-making and D-BRIDGE is about functionalism, or the implementers. Ambassador Tuggar’s remarks at the launching of the D-BRIDGE are noteworthy in this regard. First, he noted the timeliness of the launching of the D-BRIDGE in not only fitting into PBAT’s 4-Ds but also in the context of the concerted efforts ‘to reduce the number of Nigerians studying abroad, particularly in the West. This is premised on an ideological shift on the approach to migration, as encapsulated by Jean Raspail’s 1973 book Camp of the Saints, which paints a macabre picture of sub-Saharan African boards invading and taking over the West through migration. Perhaps more interestingly, Ambassador Tuggar wanted academics to carry out deeper research on migration and Nigerian professionals and academics abroad ‘to lead in uniting our diasporans,’ especially in light of the ‘divisive tendencies and groupings – Ndigbo, Oodua, Zumumta, instead of having a common front that would benefit Nigeria, as other countries do.’

“

“

˾Tuggar

nation. Various governments of Nigeria prefer to give national honours and flamboyant financial gifts to footballers for winning medals than fulfilling their contractual official obligations. The Nigerian government in 1994 afforded the luxury of collecting monies from Nigerians for the purposes of building and allocating houses for them. In 2025, no houses have been built.

No houses have been allocated. Monies collected in 1994 have not been refunded. No information is given by the Government on the status of the building project. And most disturbingly, no subsequent government or administration has taken up the responsibility to address the problem. Yet, Government is preaching the sermons of patriotism and nation-building. There cannot be any good nation-building in the face of conscious pen robbery, political chicanery, institutional corruption which is what the subsequent Governments have always been engaged in. This is more criminally and worse than armed banditry and robbery.

However, with the doctrine of 4-Ds and the D-BRIDGE put in place by different government ministries under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT), it appears that the PBAT administration is adopting a new approach to political governance in Nigeria: coordination of development policies by various ministries.

Regarding sustainability of government policies, they are hardly sustained by successor governments. Every new government tries to introduce new ideas that often neglect previous efforts even if they are relevant. When there is no continuity and complementarity of purpose. it cannot but be quite difficult for Nigeria to develop beyond economic growth. The ideal thing to do when there is a good and new development policy in one government Ministry is to build on old policies, sustain them and make the new policies complementary to existing policy, especially if it is coming from another Ministry. And good enough, the launching of the D-BRIDGE is a good and relevant complement to the doctrine of the 4-Ds. This requires a special coordination by the Foreign Ministry and the Federal Ministry of Education. The Diaspora is a common factor in the 4-Ds and the D-BRIDGE. Put differently, Nigeria under PBAT appears to be laying new foundations for a new Nigeria. The first foundation is the current effort to use foreign policy, particularly the external environment, to grow and develop Nigeria. In this regard, the particular case of the Doctrine of 4-Ds is noteworthy. In the eyes of Ambassador Tuggar, the doctrine of 4-Ds has the potential to leverage Nigeria’s big population, while focusing on development initiatives, engaging the Diaspora, and promoting democratic principles. The BRIDGE has complemented the quest to engage the Diaspora under the 4-Ds by creating implementation platforms.

Like the 4-Ds recognises the indispensability of the Diaspora in national development, the BRIDGE has interestingly also provided a catalytic platform for the engagement of the Diaspora through research, teaching, learning, financial and intellectual remittances, advocacy and social capital.

Additionally, Nigeria’s demography or big population earns her respect in global politics as allocation of international privileges partly reckon with size of population, GDP, and territorial size.

This is in spite of the principle of equality of sovereignty. For instance, there is the principle of ‘weighted voting’ which is about the extent of one’s financial contributions determining the number of votes in international economic relations. The Diaspora is undoubtedly a subset of the Nigerian population.

Most of them are skilled individuals and professionals that have the great potential to add value to Nigeria’s development.

Development wise, Ambassador Tuggar believes that the Diaspora can be well- channelled into the infrastructure, healthcare and agriculture to boost national development. In the same vein, democracy underscores Nigerians in the Diaspora as possible good advocates for good governance and transparency, and by so doing, contributing to Nigeria’s political stability and prosperity.

Complementarity of Diplomacy and Educational Innovation From the foregoing, there is no disputing the fact that there can be complementarity of diplomacy and educational creativity for the purposes of Nigeria’s quest for strategic autonomy. They can be rightly considered as constituting two sides of the same coin in the sense that the 4-Ds provides a framework for Diaspora engagement while the D-BRIDGE outlines the instruments through which the financial and intellectual resources of the Nigerians in Diaspora can be properly channelled. In other words, the 4-Ds is the policy framework while the D-BRIDGE is the electronic pathway to follow.

Explained differently, the D-BRIDGE as a platform involves the use of virtual seminar hosting, e-learning modules, collaboration tracking, a searchable directory of experts, as well as project life cycle monitoring. In other words, the D-BRIDGE has been designed to be a repository for scientific and diplomatic research. In this regard, the provision of a framework under the doctrine of 4-Ds and implementation mechanisms under the D-BRIDGE have the potential to accelerate Nigeria’s development agenda of economic growth, social progress, and democratic consolidation. This is an important positive development in the political governance of Nigeria.

Read full article online - www.thisdaylive.com

17

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER AUGUST 3, 2025

BUSINESS

Editor: Festus Akanbi 08038588469 Email:festus.akanbi@thisdaylive.com

GDP Figures with Furrowed Brows The ongoing heated political climate is casting a long shadow over Nigeria’s new GDP ÀJXUH FORXGLQJ ZKDW should be a clear conversation about economic progress with suspicion and partisan narratives, writes Festus Akanbi

T

he recent rebasing of Nigeria’s economy, which unveiled a fuller, more colourful picture of growth by spotlighting previously overlooked sectors, ought to have been a breath of fresh air in the national conversation; yet, in the heat of today’s politically charged climate, its glow is dulled by a wave of doubt.

Concerned Nigerians, including the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), wary of the times, now scrutinise the impressive *'3 ÀJXUHV ZLWK IXUURZHG EURZV TXHVWLRQLQJ ZKHWKHU WKHVH QXPEHUV WUXO\ UHÁHFW HFRQRPLF reality or are just another card played in the high-stakes game of politics.

Last week, an elated Statistician General of the Federation, Adeyemi Adeniran, put the nominal GDP at N372.82 trillion (approximately ELOOLRQ DV RI UHÁHFWLQJ D \HDU RQ \HDU increase of 18.30 per cent in nominal terms.

This means that Nigeria is now Africa’s fourth-largest economy after South Africa, $410.34 billion, Egypt $347.34 billion, and Algeria $268.89 billion. NBS also disclosed that the economy grew by 3.13 per cent in the ÀUVW TXDUWHU RI WKH \HDU 4 Essentially, the exercise changed the base year used for calculating economic activities to 2019 from 2010. Following the rebasing of GDP using 2019 as the base year, the economy grew by 3.13 per cent year-on-year in real terms LQ 4 FRPSDUHG WR SHU FHQW LQ 4 Adeniran said the economy was dominated by the services sector, which accounted for SHU FHQW SRVW UHEDVLQJ FRPSDUHG WR SHU FHQW EHIRUH WKH H[HUFLVH +H DGGHG WKDW WKH WRS ÀYH SHUIRUPLQJ VHFWRUV LQFOXGH crop production, trade, real estate, telecommunications, and oil and gas. $FFRUGLQJ WR *'3 HVWLPDWHV IRU 4 DJJUHJDWH *'3 DW EDVLF SULFH VWRRG DW 1 WULOOLRQ LQ QRPLQDO WHUPV FRPSDUHG WR 1 WULOOLRQ LQ 4 UHSUHVHQWLQJ D QRPLQDO growth of 18.30 per cent. Real GDP stood at N49.34 trillion.

The rebasing exercise, which expanded GDP coverage to include sectors such as the digital HFRQRP\ ÀQWHFK FUHDWLYH LQGXVWULHV DQG WKH LQIRUPDO VHFWRU VLJQLÀFDQWO\ LQFUHDVHG 1LJHULD·V nominal economic output and improved its GHEW VXVWDLQDELOLW\ SURÀOH RQ SDSHU

Politicising the GDP

As if sensing the mood of the nation, AdeniUDQ ZKR LQVLVWHG WKDW WKH RXWFRPHV UHÁHFWHG changes in economic reality, however, cautioned DJDLQVW SROLWLFLVLQJ WKH QHZ ÀJXUHV +RZHYHU FULWLFV VD\ WKH JOLWWHU RI 1LJHULD·V QHZO\ DQQRXQFHG *'3 ÀJXUHV SURXGO\ showcased by the statistical body, rings hol-

˾ ÞãÚÓÍËÖ ÓÑÏÜÓËØ ×ËÜÕÏÞ low for many Nigerians who wake each day to the harsh bite of soaring prices and shrinking incomes. For them, the numbers feel like a distant dream, disconnected from the grim reality of markets where basic goods slip further out of reach. This stark mismatch between the rosy economic statistics and the punishing cost of living fuels much of the criticism, as ordinary citizens struggle to reconcile the promise of growth with the daily grind of survival.

This concern was captured by the opposition political party, African Democratic Congress (ADC), which described the recent celebration of the rebased GDP as “misleading and a cynical public relations stunt disguised as economic progress.”

ADC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam BolajiAbdullahi, described the fanfare around the rebased GDP as “economic cosmetics” WKDW QHLWKHU LPSURYHV WKH TXDOLW\ RI life for ordinary Nigerians nor solves the foundational crises crippling the economy.

According to the party, while governPHQW R΀FLDOV ZHUH EXV\ WRXWLQJ D QHZ *'3 ÀJXUH PLOOLRQV RI 1LJHULDQV DUH EDWWOLQJ UHFRUG IRRG LQÁDWLRQ JULQGLQJ poverty, and collapsing infrastructure.

The party said, “Economic growth is not about dressed-up numbers that make the government look good. Economic growth means nothing if it leaves the majority of the people behind and is not felt on the dining table and in the marketplace.”

It noted that GDP rebasing is a neuWUDO VWDWLVWLFDO WRRO WR UHÁHFW VWUXFWXUDO changes in the economy, but in the hands of this government, it has become a mirror, exposing the economic decay and leadership failure of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the years.

According to ADC, Nigeria’s GDP, ZKLFK VWRRG DW ELOOLRQ LQ DIWHU a previous rebasing, has now collapsed to $244 billion, adding that in a single decade, Nigeria has fallen from Africa’s largest economy to fourth place, now behind South Africa, Egypt, andAlgeria.

MAN Calls for Caution

Meanwhile, manufacturers have called on the federal government not to see the nominal increase of 18.3 per cent year-on-year Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth recorded in the latest rebasing of Nigeria’s economy DV HYLGHQFH RI VLJQLÀFDQW HFRQRPLF SURJUHVV Speaking under the aegis of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), manufacturers explained that this is because it might have obscured some of the economy’s deep-rooted challenges, as real GDP’s averDJH JURZWK UHPDLQHG ZHDN DW SHU FHQW between 2020 and 2024.

MAN also stated that the declining perforPDQFH RI WKH PDQXIDFWXULQJ VHFWRU IURP per cent in the 2010 base year to 21.08 per cent in 2019, as seen from the rebased GDP, was a strident call for structural industrial reforms.

The Director General of MAN, Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir, pointed out that although the *'3·V UHEDVLQJ KDV FRQÀUPHG WKDW 1LJHULD·V economy has become statistically larger, it has also made it clear that Nigeria’s economy is neither more productive nor more industrialised. +H VDLG ´7KH UHYLVHG QRPLQDO *'3 HVWLmate, showing an 18.3 per cent year-on-year increase, is a direct outcome of improved data capture, especially in agriculture, services, and informal sector activities. Notwithstanding, MAN strongly cautions against interpreting this QRPLQDO H[SDQVLRQ DV HYLGHQFH RI VLJQLÀFDQW economic progress.

“MAN, therefore, calls on the government to treat the rebased GDP not as a celebration of growth, but as a strident call for structural industrial reforms,” adding that “Nigeria must re-industrialise to achieve inclusive growth, build export capacity, and reduce dependence on primary commodities and informal activities.”

MAN, therefore, urged the government to SULRULWLVH PDQXIDFWXULQJ SROLF\ ÀQDQFLQJ DQG infrastructure development because, without a strong industrial base, GDP expansion may just become a ‘hollow statistic’ that is not backed by productive transformation.

What Economists are Saying

A Professor of Economics at the Lagos BusiQHVV 6FKRRO %RQJR $GL WROG 7+,6'$< GXULQJ the week that the apparent paradox between 1LJHULD·V UHEDVHG *'3 ÀJXUHV DQG FLWL]HQV· OLIH

H[SHULHQFHV UHÁHFWV D IXQGDPHQWDO FKDOOHQJH in development economics that extends far EH\RQG RXU ERUGHUV +H H[SODLQHG WKDW WKH GDP, while valuable, remains an imperfect measure of societal well-being.

According to him, “The disconnect stems from several critical factors. First, GDP measures the total value of goods and services produced, not their distribution across the population,” adding that Nigeria’s economy could indeed be growing while simultaneously experiencing LQFUHDVHG LQHTXDOLW\ PHDQLQJ WKH EHQHÀWV DFFUXH SULPDULO\ WR VSHFLÀF VHFWRUV RU GHPRJUDSKLF groups. +H KRZHYHU SLFNHG KROHV LQ WKH FKRLFH RI the base year, arguing that “the use of 2019 DV WKH EDVH \HDU LV TXHVWLRQDEOH :KHQ ZH rebased in 2013, we pegged the base year to 2010. The argument put forward for using 2019 instead of 2024 as the base year lacks a theoretical basis.”

5HVSRQGLQJ WR 7+,6'$<·V LQTXLU\ RQ WKH alleged politicisation of the new GDP, Razia Khan, Standard Bank’s Chief Economist for Africa & Middle East, said in an email message, ´7KH VPDOOHU 86' HVWLPDWH RI *'3 UHÁHFWLQJ FX depreciation) suggests this was no gimmick.”

Khan, a well-known commentator on African markets, explained that Nigeria has always seen D VL]HDEOH GLͿHUHQFH EHWZHHQ PHGLDQ LQFRPHV UHÁHFWLQJ ZKDW PRVW 1LJHULDQV HDUQ DQG DYHUage per capita incomes. “But improvement in measurement means Nigeria can start to correct for this with the right policies, boosting social safety nets, for example,” she said.

In his reaction, a renowned economist and the CEO of CFG Advisory, Adetilewa Adebajo, in a recent interview on ARISE News, said there is nothing to cheer about the new GDP threshold, saying it is clear Nigeria has lost its SRVLWLRQ DV WKH ÀIWK ODUJHVW HFRQRP\ LQ $IULFD having lost almost $400 billion in GDP over the last 12 years. +H VDLG ´, WKLQN WKH SURQRXQFHPHQWV ZHUH D ELW FRQIXVLQJ :KDW WKH VWDWLVWLFLDQ JHQHUDO told us then was that he was looking at 2019 ÀJXUHV EDVHG RQ 1LJHULD·V *'3 GDWD In conclusion, the federal government would need to engage transparently, clearly explaining the methodology and intent behind the rebasing, to assure Nigerians that it is a professional exercise aimed at better understanding and improving the economy, not serving political ends.

18

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER AUGUST 3, 2025

AVIATION

˾ ÓÜÐÜËØÍÏ

˾ ßʰÒËØÝË ÓÜÖÓØÏ

As the NCAA Tightens Noose on Airlines for Passengers’ Rights Violations In responding to the overwhelming complaints of air passengers over discomfort from recurring ÁLJKW GHOD\V DQG RWKHU IRUPV RI QHJOLJHQFH ZLWKRXW VX΀FLHQW FRPSHQVDWLRQ IURP DLUOLQHV WKH Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority’s recent call for airlines to respect their obligations to the passengers is a step in the right direction, writes Chinedu Eze

O

ver the years, airlines seem to negate the rules as enshrined in the consumer protection regulations of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (NCAR) as amended.

It is a compendium on the obligations of the airlines to the passengers who patronise them to convey them from one destination to another by air. These obligations have to do largely with the duties of the airlines to the SDVVHQJHUV GXULQJ ÁLJKW GHOD\ ÁLJKW FDQFHOlation, luggage management, and fare refund.

Since the appointment of the Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Chris Najomo, the agency has taken time to enlighten air travellers about what they should expect from airlines and also insisted that airlines must carry out these duties for passengers.

Also, there are obligations the passengers have to the airlines, which have to do with peaceful conduct while on transit and following the right channel and process to address issues that do not align with their expectations as passengers travelling on a particular carriage.

First Need Compensation

Recently, the NCAA charged local and international airlines operating in the country WR FRPSO\ ZLWK WKH ÀUVW QHHG FRPSHQVDWLRQ regulation, where a passenger’s luggage is short-landed.

6KRUW ODQGHG EDJJDJH 1&$$ FODULÀHG refers to checked baggage accidentally left behind at the origin airport that arrives on D ODWHU ÁLJKW The NCAA noted that part 19 of the Civil Aviation Regulation 2023 provides that affected local passengers are paid N10,000 and international passengers $170 in the event of land-landed baggage.

According to the agency, “For international airlines, they have a window to pay the amount GHÀQHG LQ WKHLU WHUPV RI FDUULDJH IDLOXUH ZKLFK attracts $170 without reduction. This is to enable passengers to purchase basic needs before their baggage arrives.”

7KH 'LUHFWRU RI 3XEOLF $ͿDLUV DQG &RQVXPHU Protection, NCAA, Mr. Michael Achimugu, who spoke at a meeting held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, with the regional managers of domestic airlines in attendance, said going forward, the Authority

would sanction airlines that refused to FRPSO\ ZLWK WKH ÀUVW QHHG FRPSHQVDtion policy.

He encouraged airlines to always SD\ WKH ÀUVW QHHG WR LPSDFWHG SDVsengers before they escalate to the Authority.

Achimugu stated, “This engagement perhaps should be the last time we will have to discuss the issue of this ÀUVW QHHG )RU D ZKLOH QRZ LW·V EHHQ D grey area. Recall that the NCAA has sent letters to the airlines about the ÀUVW QHHG 7KHUH KDV QRW EHHQ PXFK compliance by the airlines.

“The regulations are very clear. One cannot say for certain if the airlines are intentionally disregarding the regulations or if there is some miscommunication along the line. I met with some station managers who seemed not to be aware of the regulations. We thought that the right thing to do was to have this conversation with you to understand what the challenges have been. Why are we not paying WKH ÀUVW QHHG IRU WKH VKRUW KDQGHG baggage?”

He referred to the NCAR, saying that Part 19 of the Civil Aviation Regulation 2023 makes it clear that if the baggage of a passenger doesn’t arrive with the passenger, for a domestic airline, the passenger gets N10,000 and the airline has seven days to deliver the bag at the passenger’s address at no cost to the passenger.

“But because a lot of passengers do not know their rights, the airlines have been making the passengers come pick up their luggage. Going forward, you must comply with the regulation. You should operate at world world-class standard. I must commend that the domestic airlines are trying. The margins are small, and the airlines have a capacity problem.

As an Authority, we try to support the airlines because it is not all the case that the airlines are wrong. But the regulation must be obeyed,” the Director stated.

NCAA also explained that where the airline delays in delivering the baggage for extended days, the pas-

senger has the right to additional claims, but with the receipt of items bought as a result of their inconvenience from the delayed baggage.

Enforcement

The major challenge in meeting these obligations is enforcement. THISDAY investigations indicated that while it is easy to enforce the rules with domestic airlines, foreign carriers GR QRW KDYH DQ HͿHFWLYH SODWIRUP IRU LQWHUIDFH H[FHSW WKHLU VPDOO R΀FH DW WKH DLUSRUW ZKHUH RSHUDWLRQDO DQG WLFNHWLQJ R΀FLDOV KROG VZD\ *RLQJ WR WKHLU R΀FHV XVXDOO\ ORFDWHG IDU IURP the airport, could be torturous. Most often, the passenger whose luggage is missing has to rely on the handling company managing the airline.

In the case of luggage losses and delays, it has more to do with international carriers than domestic airlines. In the executive summary RI ÁLJKW RSHUDWLRQV LQ PDGH DYDLODEOH by the NCAA, delayed and missing bags by LQWHUQDWLRQDO FDUULHUV ZHUH ZKLOH WKDW RI GRPHVWLF DLUOLQHV ZDV HYHQ WKRXJK GRPHVWLF DLUOLQHV RSHUDWH RYHU ÁLJKWV D GD\ ZKLOH WKH WRWDO ÁLJKWV RSHUDWHG E\ LQWHUQDWLRQDO FDUULHUV DUH OHVV WKDQ D GD\ Out of the number of delayed and missing luggage, international carriers recovered DQG ORVW EDJV ZKLOH RXW RI WKH GHOD\HG DQG PLVVLQJ OXJJDJH E\ GRPHVWLF DLUOLQHV ZHUH UHFRYHUHG ORVLQJ RQO\ RQH bag. So, the NCAA should push enforcement more on international carriers that lose most of the bags. $ SDVVHQJHU WROG 7+,6'$< KRZ KLV ÁLJKW with a US-based airline from Atlanta to Lagos was disrupted due to bad weather. He was coming from Miami, his checked-in bag arrived in Lagos before him because he missed the ÁLJKW DV WKH ÁLJKW KDG WR VWLFN WR LWV VFKHGXOH By the time he went through security and the train shuttle to the terminal, he arrived at WKH ERDUGLQJ JDWH ODWH DQG PLVVHG WKH ÁLJKW “On arrival, the following day, I saw my bag, but it was torn. The bag was opened, and when I made enquiries, it was the handling FRPSDQ\ R΀FLDO ZKR VSRNH WR PH DQG IURP his actions, he did not show any sympathy or any plan to compensate me for the damaged bag. When I enquired to meet with the airline R΀FLDOV KH WROG PH WKDW , GLGQ·W KDYH WR PHHW the airline because I was dealing with the handling company, thus shielding the airline from having to interface with me. So, the NCAA

should ensure that the airlines do not wait to be nudged before they do the right thing.

They should follow the rules,” the passenger told THISDAY.

Airlines Dropping Bags

However, the NCAA was not clear on what happens when passengers’ bags are wilfully dropped by the airlines because they would constitute a heavy load on the aircraft, which FRXOG MHRSDUGLVH LWV VDIHW\ RQ WKH ÁLJKW Last week, Lufthansa Airlines operating $EXMD )UDQNIXUW ÁLJKW GURSSHG DOO WKH FKHFNHG in luggage of about 200 passengers due to rainfall and tailwind at the Abuja airport, and they were airlifted four days later. International carriers often drop passengers’ luggage to lighten the aircraft. Domestic airlines do it too, but not as often. This also hurt passengers because they lost the use of their belongings in their luggage.

Passengers and Airlines Obligations

Last year, the NCAA carried out a roadshow at the nation’s Federal Capital Territory to sensitise air travellers about airlines’ responsibilities to the passengers and also the passengers’ obligations.

'XULQJ D EULHÀQJ DW WKH 1QDPGL $]LNLZH Airport, Capt. Najomo emphasised the importance of informing passengers about their entitlements and responsibilities.

He stated, “This awareness campaign is to let passengers know their rights and obligations, and to ensure airlines uphold their duties.

It’s not about always siding with passengers or airlines, but ensuring fair treatment for both. After two hours of delay. Airlines must provide snacks and refreshments. After 3 hours, passengers are entitled to refunds, either in cash or processed online within two weeks. $IWHU KRXUV $LUOLQHV PXVW SURYLGH KRWHO accommodations for overnight delays.”

NCAA also condemned unruly passengers’ behaviour and said that passengers must conGXFW WKHPVHOYHV ZHOO DW WKH DLUSRUW RWKHUZLVH WKH DLUOLQH KDV WKH ULJKW WR R΁RDG WKHP IURP the aircraft, and such unruly behaviour at the airport may force airport security (AVSEC) to arrest the passengers.

Airlines also complain that concerned DXWKRULWLHV DUH QRW HͿHFWLYHO\ HQIRUFLQJ passengers’ obligations, hence, too many passengers revolt at the airports.

Sunday 3 August 2025 Vol 27. No 11012

T H I S D AY MONDAY MARCH 14, 2022

OPI NION

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COURAGE TO LEGISLATE, WILL TO LEAD In Geneva, Akpabio urges parliaments to step beyond ceremonial roles and become ‘peace architects,’ writes KEN HARRIES

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RECLAIMING MURTALA’S VOICE: NIGERIA, PALESTINE, AND THE FIGHT FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW OKEY EJIDIKE urges Nigeria to join forces with progressive nations in confronting the apartheid-like conditions in the occupied Palestinian Territories

N See Page 20

FROM CRISIS TO HOPE

KURE ADAMS reckons that Kaduna is quietly redefining governance in NorthWest Nigeria, and beyond

See Page 20

EDITORIAL

THE STRIKE OF NURSES AND MIDWIVES

See Page 21

early 50 years ago, on 11 January 1976, at the Extraordinary Summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Africa stood at a crossroads. The continent was divided over the future of Angola, with two rival liberation movements vying for recognition: Agostinho Neto’s People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and Jonas Savimbi’s National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). Backed by the United States and its Western allies, UNITA threatened to derail genuine African self-determination. In that moment of geopolitical tension, General Murtala Muhammed, Nigeria’s then-leader, broke decisively with the West. In his nowlegendary “Africa Has Come of Age” speech, he denounced Western meddling and asserted Africa’s right to chart its path.

Nigeria’s stand helped shift international support toward the MPLA, paving the way for the liberation of Southern Africa and the eventual dismantling of apartheid.

Today, a parallel moment of conscience has arrived. Recent revelations from Israeli human rights groups B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights–Israel FRQÀUP ZKDW PDQ\ IHDUHG ,VUDHO·V ZDU RQ Gaza shows clear signs of genocide. This ÀQGLQJ VXSSRUWHG E\ D QHZ /DQFHW VWXG\ revealing a devastating 30–35-year decline in Gaza’s life expectancy, shatters the narrative of “self-defense.” To the contrary, it exposes a deliberate strategy of mass civilian destruction—through starvation, blockade, and denial of medical aid—all outlawed under the Genocide Convention.

What makes this especially striking is that these accusations come from within Israel itself. The historical narrative of a people who suffered the horrors of the Holocaust is now being challenged by evidence that some of today’s victims have become perpetrators of mass atrocity.

In July 2025, the International Criminal &RXUW ,&& UHDIÀUPHG DUUHVW ZDUUDQWV for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, charging them with war crimes, including using starvation as a weapon of war.

This marks a watershed moment: a powerful state with Western backing is ÀQDOO\ KHOG WR WKH VDPH OHJDO VWDQGDUGV as weaker nations. The message is clear: no one is above the law.

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese’s June–July 2025 report, From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide, names 48 major multinational companies complicit in sustaining violence in Gaza. Albanese calls this corporate involvement an “economy of genocide,” drawing parallels to American and European businesses’ complicity in apartheid South Africa during the 1970s, which led to global sanctions and divestment campaigns. She urges immediate sanctions

and legal accountability to dismantle this enabling infrastructure.

Her report builds on decades of UN investigations that increasingly identify Israeli policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as systematic human rights abuses, some even labeling them apartheid.

The 2009 Goldstone Report documented ZLGHVSUHDG YLRODWLRQV GXULQJ WKH FRQÁLFWV in Gaza. The 2017 United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia UHSRUW H[SOLFLWO\ FODVVLÀHG ,VUDHOL SUDFWLFHV as apartheid. Subsequent UN Special Rapporteurs have reinforced this grim reality, highlighting structural oppression and racial segregation comparable to South Africa’s former regime.

In a recent opinion published in The Guardian US edition, Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy from 2019-2024 DIÀUPHG WKDW ´(XURSH·V VLOHQFH KDV DOORZHG the genocide of the Palestinians to continue unchecked, undermining all it stands for.”

By failing to sanction Israel, he stated, EU leaders were complicit in its crimes.

Nigeria now faces a dilemma. Its foreign policy often balances pragmatic ties with Israel, surveillance, counterterrorism training, arms sales, agric-tech, against broader principles. Israel has been D NH\ SDUWQHU LQ 1LJHULD·V ÀJKW DJDLQVW insurgencies. Nigeria also fears alienating Western allies who remain cautious about sanctioning Israel.

Yet legal and moral imperatives cannot be ignored. The Genocide Convention demands action when credible evidence points to attempts to destroy a people.

International law is not selective. It must be upheld even when inconvenient or politically uncomfortable.

As the 80th UN General Assembly approaches, some Western European countries, France, the UK, and Canada, have announced plans to recognize the State of Palestine. Others have taken measures in

response to Israel’s actions in Gaza. The Netherlands has imposed travel bans on two far-right Israeli ministers. Belgium and Spain have suspended munitions and arms purchases from Israel. Sweden has called for the EU to freeze its trade agreement ZLWK ,VUDHO 7KLV VKLIW UHÁHFWV JURZLQJ international pressure and changing perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian FRQÁLFW 1LJHULD KRZHYHU UHPDLQV cautious, caught between its close ties with Israel and its strategic alliances with the West. This highlights the deep tension between realpolitik and moral leadership.

It is here that Nigeria must once again recall the prophetic words of General Murtala Muhammed. No longer a continent on the sidelines of global affairs, Africa, led by Nigeria’s historic role in the liberation struggles, has matured politically and morally. Just as Nigeria and the continent stood united against apartheid South Africa’s racial tyranny, so too must Nigeria stand boldly in confronting the apartheid-like conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories today.

1LJHULD·V KLVWRULF UROH LQ WKH JOREDO ÀJKW against apartheid uniquely positions it to UHFRQVLGHU LWV VWDQFH RQ WKLV FRQÁLFW $V a leading voice in African liberation and justice, Nigeria has long championed the dismantling of racial oppression. With South Africa now pursuing a legal challenge against Israeli apartheid at the International Court of Justice, Nigeria’s active support is critical to strengthening Africa’s united front. Aligning with this legacy would UHDIÀUP 1LJHULD·V FRPPLWPHQW WR KXPDQ rights and amplify African solidarity for justice and peace.

Nigeria’s approach must honor its history, leadership in Africa, and long-term interests. A nation that survived a brutal civil war marked by atrocities, yet committed itself to international humanitarian law, cannot ignore mass suffering elsewhere without betraying its own, hard-learned lessons. South Africa has already taken a stand at the ICJ. Nigeria, as Africa’s largest democracy and a hopeful Security Council member, cannot afford to appear indifferent to genocide.

7UXH LQÁXHQFH DQG VHFXULW\ FRPH from defending justice and the rule of law, not from transactional deals that compromise moral standing. Nigeria has supported ICC cases across Africa.

To now ignore ICC warrants against Israeli leaders risks reinforcing the perception that international law punishes the weak while shielding the powerful.

The time has come for Nigeria to ULVH DERYH SROLWLFV DQG VWDQG ÀUPO\ IRU international law and human rights. Silence or inaction will only embolden impunity and betray the principles Nigeria has long fought to uphold.

Dr. Ejidike writes from New York

20

T H I S D AY SUNDAY AUGUST 3, 2025

COURAGE TO LEGISLATE, WILL TO LEAD In Geneva, Akpabio urges parliaments to step beyond ceremonial roles and become ‘peace architects,’ writes KEN HARRIES

I

n the majestic halls of the Palais des Nations in Geneva, where the world’s parliamentary leaders gathered to wrestle with crises that threaten the very fabric of humanity, Nigeria’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, strode onto the podium with the composure of a man forged in storms and determined to chart a new course. At the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments, convened by the InterParliamentary Union (IPU) in partnership with the United Nations from 29 to 31 July 2025, Senator Akpabio delivered an address entitled “Courage to Legislate, Will to Lead.”

To be clear, this was no ordinary speech.

It was a manifesto of resilience, a call to parliaments to transform turbulence into resolve, and a clear signal that Nigeria intends to play a more assertive role in shaping global governance. Akpabio’s words reverberated far beyond the stately walls of the United Nations complex, echoing across continents as a clarion call for parliaments to rise as architects of peace, justice, and shared prosperity.

For Nigeria, it was more than just another address by the number three citizen in the pecking order of the country’s political leadership. It was a declaration of resilience, a proclamation of leadership, and a bold announcement that Africa’s largest democracy is ready to help shape the global agenda. With his trademark blend of eloquence, Nigerian pragmatism, and the warmth of a village elder, Senate President Akpabio cemented Nigeria’s place as a beacon of legislative courage in an age of uncertainty.

Akpabio began with imagery that captured both Nigeria’s trials and its triumphs. “I come from a nation that has endured fire and risen from ashes,” he told the gathering, his voice imbued with the conviction of lived experience. He spoke of a people who “find clarity in confusion and keep sailing through storms and rough weather,” words that drew knowing nods from delegations representing nations equally buffeted by conflict, climate change, and economic instability.

Far from a lament, it was a bold framing of adversity as opportunity. “We are not defined by what we face, but by how we rise,” Akpabio declared, striking a chord with an audience searching for hope in an age of turmoil. He then laid out Nigeria’s legislative record as proof that courage is more than rhetoric.

The Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons Act and the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act were highlighted as bulwarks against insecurity. These were not isolated measures but, as Senator Akpabio argued, the very foundation of development. Terrorists, he noted, exploit poverty and displacement. To address this, Nigeria’s Senate has paired security legislation with social reforms such as the Out-of-School Children Education Act, designed to ensure the country’s vast youth population, numbering over 130 million, become an asset rather than a liability.

His refrain, “We legislate in the storm,

reform in the furnace, and lead with courage,” became the heartbeat of his address.

Beyond security, the Senate President championed innovation and inclusion.

The 10-Year National Digital Strategy and the Start-Up Act are unlocking what he called “potential long caged by poverty,” offering expanded credit, digital training, and opportunities to a generation that might otherwise be left behind. “Our youth are not a liability but a lifeline,” he proclaimed, drawing applause from delegations across Africa and Asia.

Inclusion, he stressed, is no longer negotiable. The Not Too Young To Run Act has flung open Nigeria’s political space to a new generation, while proposed gender quotas promise to move women and persons with disabilities from the periphery to the centre of decision-making. “Inclusion, not exclusion, must be our standard,” Akpabio insisted, aligning Nigeria with the IPU’s global mission to close the democracy gap.

At a conference where the 15th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament had just concluded, this commitment carried particular resonance.

If the first half of Akpabio’s speech celebrated Nigeria’s domestic resilience, the second half challenged the global order to act with equal courage.

With the conference theme, “A World in Turmoil: Multilateralism for Peace, Justice and Prosperity for All,” setting the tone, he cut through the familiar fog of diplomatic platitudes with startling clarity.

“Multilateralism must not become a rhetoric.

It must rise as a movement of resolve,” he said, his words sharp as a blade.

Akpabio urged parliaments to step beyond ceremonial roles and become “peace architects” who “command, not just convene.” He laid out three pillars for reimagining multilateralism.

First, solutions must be locally rooted yet globally relevant. Nigeria’s regional security summits, which bring together governors, traditional rulers, and security agencies, were cited as a model for addressing arms trafficking, banditry, and separatist agitation through bottom-up intelligence rather than distant policy papers.

Second, the Sustainable Development Goals must be treated as binding legislative contracts. Nigeria’s efforts, from tax reforms and cash transfers for the poorest households to education loans and vocational training, were presented not as domestic footnotes but as global commitments honoured in practice.

Third, Akpabio evoked what he called the tapestry principle: “When one corner of humanity is torn by conflict or injustice, the whole fabric is weakened.”

It was a poetic flourish that transcended borders, reminding the assembly that climate change, arms flows, and youth unemployment cannot be solved by nations acting in isolation. His call for legislators to “bind our futures not only in treaties, but in tenacity” drew rousing applause.

Ken Harries Esq is a development communication specialist

FROM CRISIS TO HOPE

KURE ADAMS reckons that Kaduna is quietly redefining governance in North-West Nigeria, and beyond

W

hen Governor Uba Sani assumed office on May 29, 2023, Kaduna State stood at a fragile inflection point.

Emerging from years of ethnic and religious tension, mass displacement caused by insecurity, and economic stagnation, the state needed more than a new leadership. It needed transformative vision.

Two years after with Sani on the saddle, what has unfolded has been nothing short of remarkable. There is healing, security has replaced insecurity, economic boom is happening in hitherto lifeless lands, and fear is turning to hope.

From the outset, Governor Sani rejected politics-as-usual and adopted a governance philosophy based on inclusion, transparency, and responsiveness. His efforts are now bearing fruits as he was recently awarded as “Best Governor on Peace and Security” at the 2025 Blueprint Impact Series Awards in Abuja. The organisers were wowed at the restoration of peace and order to Kaduna within two years. Represented by Deputy Governor, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, the governor dedicated the award to Kaduna people and stated that the recognition was a validation of his administration’s “enduring commitment to peace, security and inclusive governance.”

In January, Sani received the THISDAY Anniversary award of ‘Governor of the Year 2024’ for “restoring law and order in hotspots like Birnin Gwari” and for his “inclusive policies, infrastructure renewal and community engagement.” And in May, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) presented him with their Good Governance Award in the Peace Building and Development category while lauding his inclusive policies, infrastructure renewal, and community empowerment efforts.

While those outside Kaduna may not appreciate this transformation, the people of Kaduna and regular visitors can understand why Sani is getting so much commendation.

About a decade prior to May 2023, not everywhere in Kaduna was safe to go.

Religious crises, kidnapping and banditry were thriving in different areas of the state. But like someone prepared, Sani had a vision - an inclusive and all-encompassing one.

The vision, now christened as ‘Kaduna Model’ involves a non-kinetic approach that does not rely solely on force. Rather, his administration engaged all stakeholders in communities and a wide gamut of local, state and federal security to respond to the criminals while empowering communities to take ownership of their own safety. That approach has brought life to areas formerly deserted because of banditry. For instance, at Birnin Gwari, a large cattle market which closed about a decade ago, is now thriving.

Meanwhile, the federal government endorsed Kaduna’s approach. At the recent commissioning of the Qatar Sanabil Project, 50 fully-equipped houses, a school, clinic, and community marketplace to families displaced by banditry, President Bola Tinubu, formally commended the state’s peace model.

Represented by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, Tinubu praised Governor Sani for steering Kaduna from a place of ‘despair’ to a position of aspiration.

“Kaduna is safe today,” Tinubu said.

“We can testify to that. The tears are drying, the wounds are healing. You are restoring trust, not just houses. Your scars may not vanish, but your resilience will define your future. Kaduna’s story is no longer one of tragedy, but of triumph through collaboration and compassion.”

The president further added that the federal government would continue to support proactive states like Kaduna. One beautiful thing is that Governor Sani sees beyond immediate

relief. Phase One of the Qatar partnership provides more than just shelter of 500 flats.

It includes empowerment tools like tricycles, grinding machines, welding kits, salon implements, and cargo bikes to support widows, unemployed youth, and vulnerable households in rebuilding livelihoods. Sani’s statement at the handover was poignant “This is about telling every widow, orphan and displaced soul that they are not forgotten,” said Sani who thanked the Qatar Charity Foundation and donor Aisha bint Khalfan for fully funding the project, disclosing that this was a highlight of his public life.

“We are doing this because peace without dignity is incomplete. Safety without healing is hollow. This is a people-first model. It speaks not just to recovery but resilience. Let this not just be a moment of applause, but a call to action.”

However, Sani has been sterling in more than restoring peace as he is also attacking poverty and unemployment.

His administration launched vocational and technology skills acquisition centers in Rigachikun, SamaruKataf, and Soba, targeting artificial intelligence, solar power, automotive repair, ICT, and more. These centers are certified by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and aim to train 1,600 youths annually. He also revitalized the famous Panteka Market, to become a modern hub where over 38,000 artisans access training in various skills like carpentry, painting, welding, electrical work, and plumbing - also earning NBTE certifications.

So passionate is Sani about skills acquisition that he chairs the Kaduna State Skills Development Council, which he created.

On financial inclusion, his administration actively integrated some 2.5 million underserved and unbanked citizens into the banking system through partnerships with fintechs like eTranzact, launching accessible products like Credo and PocketMoni, and running financial literacy programs to promote sustainable personal finance and MSME growth. Simultaneously, he provided a N4.2 billion SME relief fund and supported over 8,600 nano- and micro-businesses with grants ranging from N50,000 to N300,000 to cushion the impact of rising living costs under the ‘A Kori Talauchi’ poverty alleviation programme. Even civil servants benefited via a N500 million low-interest revolving loan scheme, while 6.6 billion in death and gratuity payments have been disbursed since Sani became governor.

In agriculture, the Sani administration launched a 500 million agro-processing and marketing grant to support 7,500 smallholder farmers, processors, and agripreneurs. Farmers across the state received improved seedlings, fertilizer, and mechanisation support.

Adams writes from Kaduna

21

T H I S D AY SUNDAY AUGUST 3, 2025

EDITORIAL

Editor, Editorial Page PETER ISHAKA Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com

THE STRIKE OF NURSES AND MIDWIVES Health workers need adequate attention

T

he nationwide strike by members of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) has almost crippled the public health sector with many hospitals across the country either discharging patients or providing only skeletal services. Although it was suspended last night, this frequent face-off between health workers and government at all levels has not only left an indelible stain on the image of the country but has also brought untold hardship to many Nigerians. Therefore, beyond the resolution of the current crisis, machinery must also be put in place to address other issues that give rise to these endless strikes in critical social sectors.

In a country where more than half of the population live below the poverty line, being able to access healthcare at the public hospitals remains critical.

Unfortunately, as soon as the strike began last Wednesday, there were reports that some public hospitals had to discharge patients so that their families could move them ‘elsewhere’ for adequate treatments.

The elsewhere, of course, meant private hospitals for those who could afford them or taking the patients home to die for those who could not.

Considering the roles of nurses and midwives, especially in primary healthcare, this strike should have been prevented, even as we hope that VXIÀFLHQW OHVVRQV KDYH EHHQ OHDUQW WR SUHYHQW D recurrence.

It is recalled that the NANNM had on 10th July issued a 15-day ultimatum to the federal government while promising a seven-day warning strike should their demands be ignored. Some of these demands include shift duty allowance for nurses; specialist allowance; upward review of uniform allowance of N300,000 per annum; payment of teaching allowance; upward review of call duty allowance; payment of peculiar excess workload and burnout allowance, and many more.

The nurses and midwives are also demanding the establishment of some bureaucracies within the health sector.

We fully support the aspirations of the nurses

and midwives regarding the issue of welfare and UHFRJQLWLRQ RI WKHLU FRQWULEXWLRQ WR DQ HIÀFLHQW healthcare system in the country. We also share their frustrations about depleting membership as many of their peers seek greener pastures abroad. However, we are of the view that strikes will not resolve the list of grievances they have highlighted. The challenges of the health sector are enormous at a time of dwindling resources, hence would require all stakeholders to come together for sustainable solutions. As previous cases have proven, parties would still return to the negotiating table after several lives have been lost.

Following a meeting with the union on Friday, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, the union announced yesterday that the strike has been suspended. “Nurses and midwives are to resume duty immediately,” the association’s National President, Haruna Mamman, and General Secretary, T.A. Shettima, FRQÀUPHG LQ D FLUFXODU %XW beyond addressing the current strike, the federal government needs to urgently improve the quality of lives of healthcare professionals by making deliberate efforts in that direction.

This will not only help to reduce brain drain and medical tourism—two ‘monsters’ that should easily be blamed on insensitivity of government— but also help in the bid to revamp the health sector in the country.

We sympathise with health workers in the FRXQWU\ ZKR RSHUDWH XQGHU YHU\ GLIÀFXOW FRQGLWLRQV DQG VHULRXV ÀQDQFLDO FRQVWUDLQWV However, what has become rather worrisome is that strikes have suddenly taken the centre stage of our national life. While refusal to work has been universally recognised as a tool available to demand a better work environment or the enhancement of wages, the frequency of these strikes in virtually all sectors of the nation’s life is now posing serious threat to our socio-economic development. We urge the authorities to put in place machinery to seriously address issues that give rise to these endless strikes, especially in critical sectors like health and education.

Beyond addressing the current strike, the federal government needs to urgently improve the quality of lives of healthcare professionals by making deliberate efforts in that direction S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R EDITOR DAVIDSON IRIEKPEN DEPUTY EDITORS FESTUS AKANBI, EJIOFOR ALIKE MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE

T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS SHAKA MOMODU, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR PATRICK EIMIUHI CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

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LETTERS

SIR AHMADU BELLO FOUNDATION TWO-DAY FORUM

2Q 0RQGD\ 2FWREHU %ROD $KPHG Tinubu, then presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), participated in a landmark engagement with the Arewa Joint Committee in Kaduna. Organized by prominent Northern organizations, including the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Sir $KPDGX %HOOR 0HPRULDO )RXQGDWLRQ DQG the Northern Elders Forum, at Arewa House offered presidential hopefuls an open, sincere platform to present their vision for the region.

That 2022 event stood out as one of the most impactful political engagements of the 2023 election cycle. Tinubu appeared in SHUVRQ DQG UHVSRQGHG WR GLIÀFXOW XQÀOWHUHG questions on pressing Northern issues such as insecurity, youth unemployment, education, and economic development. The openness of the session gave many Northerners a renewed sense of belonging and relevance in the national political space.

Fast forward to July 28–29, 2025. The

6LU $KPDGX %HOOR 0HPRULDO )RXQGDWLRQ convened another two-day interactive programme at the same venue, Arewa House, with the theme: “Assessing Electoral Promises: Fostering Government-Citizen Engagement for National Development.” The political FRQWH[W KDG VKLIWHG VLJQLÀFDQWO\ SXEOLF dissatisfaction with the Tinubu administration was rising in the North, the region that gave him over 5.6 million votes and remains the APC’s core support base.

I was invited to this important programme but was initially disappointed to learn I would be unable to attend due to other pressing engagements. I was, however, somewhat relieved upon discovering that, although the event gathered an impressive lineup of nearly 60 high-ranking government officials, ministers, agency heads, and special advisers, it did not fully live up to its promise of genuine interaction.

Indeed, the programme featured several

presentations from top federal appointees who spoke on their ministries’ mandates, policies, and interventions. Some northern leaders and journalists were also in attendance. There was a structured opportunity for questions and answers. However, the session lacked the depth of citizen engagement and spontaneity WKDW GHÀQHG WKH HQFRXQWHU 7KH atmosphere was noticeably more formal, with limited room for robust public participation or unscripted feedback.

Many of those in attendance expected an open, townhall-style conversation, one where citizens could express their concerns directly to those in power. Unfortunately, that did not happen. While a few questions were entertained, they were tightly moderated and did not allow for meaningful back-and-forth.

The voices of everyday Northerners were largely missing from the conversation.

This shift from an interactive dialogue to a controlled, presentation-heavy format

was more than a missed opportunity, it was a strategic blunder. At a time when the administration desperately needs to reconnect with its base in the North, the event could have served as a much-needed platform to rebuild trust, gauge public sentiment, and demonstrate humility.

Instead, it was perceived by many as a URXWLQH EXUHDXFUDWLF JDWKHULQJ RIÀFLDOV VSRNH photo-ops were taken, the programme ended, and the people were left out.

To be fair, the event was well-organized, and credit must be given to the management of the 6LU $KPDGX %HOOR 0HPRULDO )RXQGDWLRQ IRU the professionalism in planning and logistics. %XW WKH GHHSHU LVVXH OLHV ZLWK KRZ JRYHUQPHQW and its communication machinery continue to underestimate the power of true civic engagement.

Zayyad I. Muhammad, Abuja

22

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R AUGUST 3, 2025

GLITZFOCUS

Mission X Accomplished: Super Falcons Celebrate WAFCON Glory Celebration is in the air, and the Super Falcons are at the heart of this renewed national pride. For the past one week, the Nigerian women’s national team has been toasted across the country following their historic 10th WAFCON title, clinched after defeating hosts Morocco. Last Wednesday night in Lagos was no exception, as the champions were honoured once more, Vanessa Obioha writes.

I

t’s been a while since Nigerians have felt this proud and united over a football victory. In recent years, economic hardship has left many too weary to cheer. But last week, something shifted. Goosebumps returned, and fists pumped in the air. Our joy and pride were on full display. The Super Falcons gave us reason to smile again, and we embraced it with open arms.

The celebratory atmosphere was impossible to miss. Turn on the TV, they’re there. Tune into the radio, OAPs are singing their praises. Flip through the newspapers?

No need to find the sports pages; the Falcons are everywhere from the front page to the back page. And social media? Ah, that celebration archive: memes, match clips, tributes, hashtags. Even if you lived under a rock, the joy would’ve found you.

If my memory serves me right, the last time Nigerians celebrated a football win this fervently was in 1996, when the Super Eagles clinched Olympic gold in Atlanta. I was a young girl then, but I still remember how the streets lit up that night. Men, women, young and old, poured into the streets, singing and dancing. That victory inspired a wave of music. Lagbaja, the masked griot, released Loko Iya Won (Owole) in honour of the dream team, while Tony One Week’s Gyrate became an anthem.

Maybe the Super Falcons will spark the same in today’s artists. In a way, the Super Falcons’ victory brings back the memories of the 1996 squad. Who could forget the iconic comeback of the dream team — as they were later christened — against Brazil in the semifinal?

The Brazilian team were leading 3-1 at halftime, but the Super Eagles pushed on, kicked every ball with purpose until they equalised at the last minute, thanks to the football legend Kanu Nwankwo. And with another hat-trick, Nwankwo was again able to deliver a golden goal in the 94th minute.

What about that final against Argentina, sealed by Emmanuel Amunike’s last-minute strike, crowning Nigeria the first African team to win Olympic gold?

Like the dream team, the Falcons had their own Mission X, and executed it, without the Hollywood actor Tom Cruise (known for the Mission Impossible franchise).

In the early stages of the tournament, few paid them much attention. The times were hard. With economic hardship mounting pressure on many households, who had time to follow football? But the Falcons pressed on, knowing they were playing for more than just a trophy; they were playing to uplift a nation.

So they pushed on, dribbling every foot till they got to the net. They soared past the group stage without conceding a goal, and when they met Zambia at the quarter-finals, they nearly spelt the country’s name with an impressive 5-0 win. In the semi-finals, a late goal from Michelle Alozie secured them a spot in the finals, beating South Africa 2-1.

As the finals neared, faith wavered like a pendulum for the Super Falcons. The odds were hardly in their favour. Morocco, the host, was poised for victory. And when the Atlas Lionesses led 2–0 by halftime, many feared the worst. But the Falcons weren’t done.

In the second-half, Coach Justine Madugu made bold changes, introducing PSG’s Jennifer Echegini and Roma’s Rinsola Babajide.

“We knew we could do it [win the match],” Madugu told the Guardian UK. “When we were two goals down, we kept encouraging the players not to lose their belief.

If they didn’t have mental resilience, they would have given up. We did a lot of talking at half-time.”

“The first half goals were unfortunate,” added Esther Okoronkwo, who was voted the best player for the final. “It happens in football. When we went to the dressing room, we gathered the fighting spirit, because it was all or nothing … The Moroccan team has chemistry; they were a tough team.”

And fight they did.

Okoronkwo scored in the 64th minute.

Seven minutes later, Folashade Ijamilusi levelled it. Then, in the 88th minute, Echegini struck gold — a comeback for the ages. Final score: 3–2. A record-breaking 10th title for Nigeria. Their previous triumphs were in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2018. The team cried at their historic feat.

Not only did they emerge victorious, but four members of the team were in the CAF WAFCON 2024 Best XI. They are Super Falcons goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie, Michelle Alozie, Esther Okoronkwo, and tournament top scorer Rasheedat Ajibade.

The country erupted in joy.

On Monday night, President Bola Tinubu and First Lady Remi Tinubu threw a grand reception at the State House. Each player was awarded $100,000, a three-bedroom apartment, and a national honour — Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON). The 11-member technical crew received $50,000 each.

At the reception, Ajibade, gracious in victory, dedicated the trophy to Nigerians, the president and “every young child who believes and dreams to be on this stage someday.”

“As we celebrate this 10th WAFCON title, let it be a spark that ignites a new era for Nigeria’s women’s football. Let us unite as government, football federation, players, citizens and the diaspora in a shared vision to make the Super Falcons, not just Africa’s pride but world standard. Together we can achieve greatness that echoes for generations,” she concluded.

By Wednesday, July 30, the team arrived in Lagos for a trophy tour sponsored by Amstel Malta and Goldberg Lager Beer. From theairport, they went to Nigerian Breweries’ headquarters in Iganmu where they were honoured and given a N50 million cash prize.

Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries, Thibaut Boidin also praised the players stating: “We see it as a national moment; one that embodies excellence, resilience, teamwork, and pride. These are the values we champion, and it is our honour to celebrate this victory with you. As proud sponsors of the Super Falcons, we remain committed to supporting those who inspire, lead, and unite through the beautiful game.”

The players continued their tour from Iganmu to Falomo, ending at Eko Hotels and Suites where a reception party was held at Sky Lounge. At each meeting point, they were greeted by joyful fans.

Hosted by popular content creator, Oluwabukunmi Adeaga-Ilori, widely known as Kiekie, the reception had the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) team in attendance, including the president, Ibrahim Musa Gusau, who expressed gratitude to Nigerian Breweries for their support and assured that the men’s team will be celebrated next. The Nigerian Breweries team were also represented, notably Marketing Director, Sarah Agha. Celebrities spotted at the party included Nollywood stars like Wale Ojo, Stan Nze, fashion icon Lanre

Super Falcons celebrate their 10th WAFCON championship

L-R Super Falcons Coach, Justine Madugu; AME Regional President, Heineken, Guillaume Duverdier; Assistant Captain/Goalkeeper, Super Falcons, Chiamaka Nnadozie; Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Thibaut Boidin; Super Falcons Captain, Rasheedat Ajibade; Outgoing AME Regional President, Heineken, Roland Pirmez; Marketing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Sarah Agha; Director of Communications, NFF, Ademola Olajire; Company Director/Legal Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Uaboi Agbebaku, as Amstel Malta & Goldberg Nigeria hosted the 10 times WAFCON Winners at the Nigerian Breweries PLC HQ in Lagos Photo by Amstel Malta & Goldberg Nigeria (NB PLC)

Michelle Alozie Jubilant Super Falcons

Da-Silva, photography legend Kelechi Amadi-Obi, music star Ladipoe, as well as football legend Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha.

What stood out through it all was the Falcons’ exuberant spirit. Whether dancing on stage with Flavour in Abuja, singing along to Johnny Drille’s medley in Lagos, or even trying their hand on the mic — Deborah Abiodun attempting Wizkid’s Dance (Kese) — their joy was

infectious. And when Kiekie asked fun facts about them, such as who the party animal in the team was, fingers pointed to Francisca Ordega.

The same Ordega who dazzled the stage with her dance moves moments earlier.

It is this blend of unity, resilience, and unrelenting joy that makes the Super Falcons not just champions on the pitch, but also in our hearts. Because when the going gets tough, these women rise and win.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R AUGUST 3, 2025

23

GLITZ PERSPECTIV E

We Were Never Alone

Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode narrates now a Grenadian nurse and a Biafran Brigadier helped raise the children of the late Head of State, General Murtala Muhammed’s children across continents after a war

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his Thursday, we begin the formal funeral rites for Mrs. Joan Eze, a nurse practitioner from Grenada who became family to us in every sense that mattered. She was married to Mazi Anthony Eze of Arochukwu—our dear Uncle Tony—who passed away nearly ten years ago. In remembering her, I find myself drawn back to the piece I began writing after Uncle Tony’s death but never finished.

It is time to complete it now, and to honour them both.

Aunty Joan was one of many Caribbean women whose families moved to the UK in the post-war years as part of the Windrush generation.

They left their islands in search of opportunity—armed with crisp certificates, strong faith, and the courage to build new lives in a country that, I have since learned, often greeted them with indifference—or worse. But Aunty Joan, a nurse practitioner, met that world with grace. Her journey from Grenada to the wards of London hospitals, and eventually into our lives, was marked not just by hard work, but by extraordinary generosity of spirit.

Together with Uncle Tony—who had come to Britain from Nigeria for education—they built a life that would become a sanctuary for us. My siblings and I were children in boarding school in the UK, far from home and the comfort of family. My mother, under enormous pressure and faced with the very real threat of my being married off at the age of sixteen by some of the more traditional members of my father’s extended family, made the heartbreaking decision in 1979, to send me to boarding school abroad. It was an act of courage and resilience that laid the foundation for the academic and professional achievements of her and Murtala’s children—and now, respectfully, for their grandchildren too.

At that time, sending children abroad was not the lifestyle statement it is sometimes seen as today. It was a cultural rupture, a sacrifice. And for me, having lost my father at the age of twelve, it was especially difficult. But it was Aunty Joan and Uncle Tony who stood in loco parentis during those early, uncertain years. They became the stability— especially for my late brother Zack and I—in an often unfamiliar world. They showed up when many couldn’t; though not related by blood, they became our family in the truest sense.

If I reflect truthfully, we spent more of those formative years under their care than with many of our own relations.

This is not to diminish the love of my father’s family—far from it. Their affection remained, even if tempered by geography, circumstance, and the emotional aftershocks of loss. Although I must admit, surprisingly a few felt a quiet grievance, perhaps rooted in unspoken expectations unmet. In time, distance—and differing understandings of duty, entitlement, and memory— reshaped our bonds. But in the rhythms of daily life abroad, it was these two remarkable individuals who were my constant presence—steady, nurturing, and profoundly parental. I say this not in comparison, but in gratitude—to honour the quiet ways love makes itself known, choosing us even before we realise we need it.

Late General Murtala Muhammed

Uncle Tony was a quiet force.

When Zack—spirited, energetic, and navigating the turbulence of teenage life—once ran up an eye-watering phone bill during a summer holiday in their home, my mother insisted he work to repay every penny. She was fierce in principle. But Uncle Tony quietly paid it. No lectures. Just love.

When Zack was later shot by a friend in 1993—a tragedy that shattered our family—it was people like Uncle Tony and General TY Danjuma who held us together in grief. Their comfort was silent, but steady.

What makes it even more remarkable is that Uncle Tony—our Uncle Tony—had been a Brigadier on the Biafran side. He had proudly commanded the 12th Division in Biafra’s armed forces, just as my father had proudly commanded the Second Division as a Brigadier on the Nigerian side. They were both senior officers— each charged with decisive missions, each carrying the burden of war. He and my father trained together at Sandhurst, and indeed their friendship was forged there. But they would one day find themselves on opposite sides of that brutal conflict. And yet, after the war, they chose something greater. They chose friendship. Chose brotherhood. Chose to raise each other’s children. That, too, is legacy.

I began writing this op-ed after Uncle Tony died in 2016, but I couldn’t finish it then. Grief swallowed the words. It was his youngest son, Chukwuma Eze, who recently caused me to revive it—almost casually— when he reminded me that it was my father who gave him his first bicycle in 1975. That one memory unlocked everything. A small gesture: a bike. But it spoke of something larger—mutual care, belief, responsibility. These friendships were never one-sided.

They were deep and sustained.

My father never spoke much to us, his children, about the civil war.

But I came to learn that, even before the guns fell silent, he crossed back into Biafran territory—not for politics, but for people. He searched for my mother’s sisters—including her sister, now Senator Ireti Heebat Kingibe—as well as his friends who were trapped behind the lines. He helped them to safety. Gave what little he could to help friends rebuild. He never advertised it. It was simply what needed to be done. That, too, is part of this legacy.

It was these simple acts of empathy that would matter most in the critical years after his assassination. They became the quiet scaffolding that held us up through the hardest times.

In those years, in that distant

country, they filled the gaps. My mother struggled financially— especially after she had sent me to school abroad. Her businesses suffered under import bans. As a woman who had built a successful trade early on, it was devastating. It took her several years to find renewed success in real estate and, later, in her passion for horticulture. In the meantime, the Federal Government scholarships promised to us were delayed—and in some cases, never honoured at all.

But we were never truly alone.

Because when systems failed, people did not.

Those who surrounded us rallied, especially with emotional support—not out of pity, but because they understood what it meant to belong to one another. Uncle Tony and Aunty Joan, yes—but also Mr. Echi Onyesoh, Mr. Brown Madiebo, and Alhaji Ahmadu Yaro. Men of different backgrounds and tongues, yet united by something deeper: a postwar brotherhood built around my father. None of them related to us by blood, yet each of them stood in the space where love and loyalty lived.

These were friendships forged in the aftermath of war—deliberate, resilient, and enduring.

Indeed, while my father was alive, collectively, their care had extended across boundaries. They supported each other’s businesses. Looked after each other’s children. They played together. They mourned together.

They showed up for each other—for weddings, for naming ceremonies, for hospital visits, for ordinary days—and for unspeakable ones: the sudden deaths, the silences that follow loss.

Now, almost 50 years to the day since my father became Head of State, I find myself reflecting not just on the weight of his office, but on the quiet decisions that shaped our lives.

When each of them died—Uncle Echi Onyesoh, Uncle Brown Madiebo, Baba Ahmadu Yaro, Uncle Tony, and now Aunty Joan—it felt like losing my father again. Because they were all pieces of him. Of the story we shared.

This is not just a tribute. It is a testimony to the kind of love that doesn’t seek recognition. To the kind of solidarity that carried us across continents. To the kind of friendships that made an exiled child feel at home. In this season of remembrance, I choose not only to recall what was lost, but to honour what was quietly built.

So in remembering Chukwuma’s first bike, I remember that love and friendship are never one-directional.

As we bury Aunty Joan this week, I remember Uncle Tony too.

And I remember—no matter how hard it was at times—we were never alone.

And we never will be.

In remembering them both, I honour the many people—named and unnamed—who helped support us, and in doing so, helped carry our father’s legacy forward.

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WEEKLY PULL-OUT

03.8.2025

IFEYINWA ODOKORO

Revolutionising Women’s Wardrobe Fashion, through the eyes of Ifeyinwa Odokoro, CEO of the iconic women’s wear company, Olive Republic transcends the sensual with its multi-layered allure of quiet sophistication, femininity and a symbol of empowerment. Yinka Olatunbosun writes EDITED BY: VANESSA OBIOHA/vanessa.obioha@thisdaylive.com.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R AUGUST 3, 2025

25

COVER

I stay aware of global movements, but I don’t chase trends

Odokoro and a friend

O

ne of the first things people quickly notice about a woman is what she is wearing. Much later, as she advances in her social status, the world becomes curious about ‘who’ she is wearing. For Ifeyinwa Odokoro, fondly called Ify, the journey towards becoming the CEO of the iconic women’s wear company Olive Republic hinges on a woman’s need for unique and classy fashion that exudes luxury and superfine tailoring.

Born in March 1994, Odokoro’s relentless passion for fashion and a deep understanding of women’s ever-evolving taste snowballed into a brand that’s remarkable for attaining unprecedented heights of success and recognition. It all began as a childhood fantasy.

“Olive Republic was born from a deeply personal journey of self-discovery,’’ she recounted in a recent interview. “From a young age, I was captivated by fashion. While my siblings were watching cartoons, I was glued to red carpet shows, fashion runways, and E! News on television. I remember scraping together every N1,000 I could find just to buy a Complete Fashion magazine every week. It wasn’t just entertainment—it was obsession, it was curiosity and a purpose in disguise.”

After completing her first master’s in the UK, she returned to Nigeria and began fashion blogging.

“Dressing up and creating content felt so natural to me. It was a creative outlet that soon grew into a calling,” she gushed. “Eventually, I realised I needed to show up in clothes that were unique—pieces that didn’t feel like fast fashion or mass-produced trends. I wanted to wear something that truly reflected who I was becoming. So, I began designing for myself. And that’s how Olive Republic started: making clothes for women who want to feel

feminine, powerful, and set apart.”

The name Olive symbolises peace, resilience, and new beginnings. Republic speaks to a community—a movement of women who want to feel seen, heard, soft, and strong all at once. For Odokoro, Olive Republic is more than a fashion brand. It’s a story: a becoming.

Starting off with a strong belief in empowering women through clothing that celebrates their individuality and uniqueness, Odokoro’s legacy in fashion is rooted in her knowledge of business, polished by Western education. Armed with three degrees in Economics and Project Management from the University of Essex and Northampton, United Kingdom, respectively, her entrée into the fashion business was well-heeled.

Tapping from her extensive experience in design and retail, Odokoro curated a trendbreaking brand that carefully blends classic elegance and contemporary allure. In 2017, Olive Republic was established as a premium women’s fashion wear brand, an epitome of luxury and refinement. But a cross-continental business move was quite demanding at that time as she would later reveal.

“Running a business across borders comes with a unique set of pressures—especially in a hands-on industry like fashion,” she explained. “Managing production in Lagos while living and working in the UK has tested every part of me. One of the biggest challenges has been finding the right team to uphold the brand’s standard in my absence.

I’ve had to invest heavily in hiring more professional management, simply because I’m not physically there to oversee the day-today. That comes with its own pressure—both financially and emotionally—because you’re trusting others to protect a vision that’s deeply personal.

“I’ve also had to rely on third-party

support for quality control, which can sometimes delay timelines or require constant follow-up to ensure things are done right. It’s a delicate dance between letting go and staying deeply involved. Still, what’s kept me going is intentional planning, regular communication with my team, and carving out protected time for creativity. I don’t wait for inspiration—I create space for it.”

Odokoro pans the attention of a woman’s admirer to ‘who’ she is wearing by presenting pieces crafted with impeccable attention to detail, embodying sheer sophistication. The brand merges timeless elegance with cutting-edge design.

Using elegant fabrics from around the world matched by exclusive handcrafted embellishments, Olive Republic exudes an aura of opulence and exclusivity.

Describing the personality of the Olive Republic woman, she said: “She is a woman in transition—becoming, healing, discovering, and building. When she wears Olive Republic, I want her to feel seen. I want her to feel like she’s stepping into herself. Our clothes are soft, but the woman who wears them is strong. She doesn’t have to shout to take up space.”

Every garment is a masterpiece, carefully curated to accentuate the natural beauty of every woman who adorns it. The seamless fusion of tradition and modernity lends a distinct charm to Odokoro’s creations, capturing the essence of a contemporary, yet timeless, wardrobe.

A closer look at her collection, Miss Girl says it all. From contemplation to a place of purpose-driven delivery, she created a deeply personal collection. The collection is a visual boost to feminine power, embodying elegance, femininity and resilience. Indeed, Miss Girl is soft, yet bold, graceful with a stand-out quality. It is more than what you wear—it’s a reflection of the strength, grace, and quiet confidence that high-value women project in a world where people are easily judged by their appearances. Rooted in timeless design and refined detail, the Miss Girl Collection celebrates the kind of elegance that doesn’t demand attention, but certainly leaves an impression.

Before the Miss Girl collection was launched this year, Olive Republic had launched its Reverie ’24 collection, which embraced silhouettes using soft fabrics. This gives the ladies who wear the collection soft elegance. The collection featured a lot of structure and drapes, enhancing the strong, powerful features of women who were comfortable in their quiet sophistication while still owning their strong personalities.

With the Reverie ’24 collection, the focus was on softer colours using natural fibres, ensuring the outcome proved timeless.

While Olive Republic caters to elegance, the brand revolves around sustainability and heritage. This has birthed the Green

by OR collection, which uses upcycled and locally sourced fabric to create everyday wear. The collection infuses the traditional Aso Oke fabric with hand-dyed fabric reflecting the natural style sense of Nigerians. Each piece reflects the details of its African journey and craftsmanship, where pieces are individually produced based on specific orders. These allow the consumers to wear their values with pride and also position Olive Republic as not just a style leader but as a sustainability advocate.

“While the clothes reflect the cultural identity of Africans, they are quite comfortable with styles that are appealing for daily fashion, globally,” she revealed with excitement. “We’re not just using it for clothing—we’re exploring ways to translate it into art pieces and homeware too because storytelling doesn’t have to stop at what you wear—it can live in your space, your walls, and the atmosphere you create around you.”

Olive Republic has a deep commitment to sustainability, cultural relevance and digital innovation. The brand is setting a new standard for what modern fashion can be. From its sourcing of eco-friendly fabrics to the integration of upcycled materials in collections like Green by OR, Olive Republic is placing the planet at the heart of its design philosophy with each piece telling a story, not just of craftsmanship, but of care,

intention, and impact. While Olive Republic caters to elegance, the brand is also passionate about sustainability and heritage.

To build such brand equity, Ify has been largely influenced by women like Andrea Iyamah who’ve carved a space for African luxury and the storytelling and communitybuilding power of brands like Hanifa and Kai Collective.

Through immersive digital experiences, Olive Republic has mastered the art of connecting digitally with its diverse audiences around the world, through its interactive e-commerce site, where customers can access the brand and through its community-led content on Instagram. Equally important to Olive Republic is its dedication to cultural expression and identity. By collaborating with local artisans, elevating African textiles, and centring diverse narratives, the brand bridges heritage with contemporary relevance. In every collection, Olive Republic champions timeless fashion, ethical production, and clothing designed to empower. As fashion evolves, Olive Republic stands firm: fashion Furthermore, Odokoro expressed her preferences in styling to situate her work within the global spotlight.

“I stay aware of global movements, but I don’t chase trends. Instead, I interpret them through an African lens—my lens. I pull from Nigerian textures, histories, and colours, but I present them in a way that feels wearable from Lagos to London. Olive Republic is global, but never diluted.” Odokoro believes that elegance is not about extravagance—it’s about presence.

It’s found in the poised stride of a woman who knows her worth, the subtle statement of a tailored silhouette, and the way confidence lingers long after she’s left the room.

Aside from being a successful businesswoman, she has voiced her support for women outside the wardrobe scene. A strong advocate for gender equality and women’s empowerment, she actively supports various initiatives to uplift women in the fashion industry and society. With her keen eye for detail, innovation, and a genuine love for the art of fashion, Odokoro continues to inspire and lead our women’s wear company to new horizons, making it a symbol of empowerment and style for women worldwide.

She envisaged that in five years, the brand would be in international stores, collaborating with major artists, and possibly launching Olive Republic showrooms across major cities- and possibly, adding scent.

“Don’t just chase trends—chase truth. Build from your story, not from the algorithm. Invest in community, content, and consistency. And know that “slow success” is still success. Keep pushing,” was her concluding remark.

Odokoro

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R AUGUST 3, 2025

26

HighLife The Tango with Jupiter Lithium

In the din of Lagos traffic and the low hum of boardroom ambition, a soft-spoken businessman is building an empire, one acquisition at a time. Gbotemi Kuti, whose career has been less loud than luminous, has just

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

to motor aimed at propelling Nigeria into the heart of the global clean energy race. “We’re not just building cars,” EMVC’s chairman, Mustapha Audu, said at the time. “We’re building Nigeria’s future.”

Now, that future is clouded by conflict.

Jupiter’s chairman, Dr. Stephen Davis, has said the permit cancellation amounts to an “unjust breach” of agreements with the Nigerian government. Arbitration, he suggests, may be the only route left.

Behind Davis’ words lies more than frustration; it’s the slow unravelling of a vision that promised to make Nigeria a key player in the global lithium value chain, while also reducing its dependence on imported batteries.

The federal government has yet to provide clear details on why the permits were withdrawn. Officials are tight-lipped, as expected with due process. But observers note that the move may reflect deeper tensions over resource control, foreign investment, and the politics of Nigeria’s green transition.

Just a month ago, they were building the future together, one lithium battery at a time. Now, the handshake has tightened into a fist.

Jupiter Lithium, a UK-based mining firm once celebrated as Nigeria’s golden partner in clean energy, is preparing to drag the Nigerian government into arbitration.

The reason: Abuja’s sudden revocation of the company’s permits in mineral-rich Kaduna State, where Jupiter claims to hold over 420 square kilometres of lithium dreams.

What started as a pioneering green partnership with Electric Motor Vehicle Company (EMVC), Nigeria’s first indigenous EV manufacturer, has swiftly soured. The duo had unveiled bold plans to create a homegrown lithium-to-vehicle supply chain, a seamless loop from mine Tunji-Ojo

Kuti

with KAYODE ALFRED 08116759807, E-mail: kayflex2@yahoo.com

added another jewel to his growing crown: a majority stake in Air Liquide Nigeria Plc. Yes, that Air Liquide.

With the ink now dry, Kuti’s Oak Heirs Limited has snapped up 87.31 per cent of the industrial and medical gas firm, marking one of the boldest private acquisitions of the year. The deal is not just a portfolio reshuffle but a signal of defining the future of strategic investment in Nigeria.

For a man whose early career was spent drawing buildings and managing branch rollouts at FCMB, the turn into empire-building has been both swift and deliberate. Kuti has moved with the quiet rhythm of someone who knows that time rewards precision. From highend real estate in Ikoyi to food processing and now into the high-demand world of oxygen, argon, and nitrous oxide, he is composing a symphony of industrial relevance.

The timing, as usual, is no accident.

Demand for medical gases is climbing in Nigeria’s overstretched healthcare system.

Manufacturing, energy, and logistics sectors are just beginning to wake up to the operational power of high-quality gases. And just as Air Liquide’s French parent quietly retreats from parts of the continent, Kuti walks in. And it is not like a replacement, but a revelation.

It’s not often that industrial gases make headlines. But then again, it’s not every day that a Lagos-born investor with a builder’s eye and a strategist’s mind retools the machinery of a nation’s supply chain.

For Nigeria, this is more than a transaction.

It’s the quiet entrance of a new kind of tycoon.

Not flamboyant, not noisy. Just focused, fluid, and very much here to stay.

Opeyemi Bamidele at 62: Leading the Senate with Grace and Grit At 62, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele walks the marbled halls of Nigeria’s National Assembly not with the swagger of power, but with the cadence of purpose. His voice, calm yet commanding, has become the ballast of a Senate often adrift in the stormy waters of national urgency.

Dangote’s Daughters: Elegance, Empire, and the Quiet Geometry of Power In the quiet corridors of Nigerian capitalism, where dynasties are often stitched in the shadows, three women now walk with deliberate grace.

Mariya. Halima. Fatima. The daughters of Aliko Dangote, Africa’s most storied billionaire, are not simply stepping into their father’s shoes; they are, in their own velvet-gloved way, redesigning the blueprint.

It would be tempting to reduce their ascent to mere inheritance, a familial shuffle choreographed behind glasspanelled boardrooms. But something richer unfolds here.

Mariya, with her Coventrytrained precision, now holds a board seat at Dangote Cement, the $5.4 billion colossus that holds Nigeria’s industrial backbone. Her gaze is analytical, her approach methodical.

Coker

Operations, risk, continuity— these are not just bullet points on a résumé; they are the pulse points of succession.

Halima, often described as the quiet strategist, runs the Family Office in Dubai, a gesture that seems more poetic than procedural. From the desert’s glow, she handles matters of legacy with the poise of someone raised not just in wealth but in wisdom. Her stewardship of the family’s philanthropic arm speaks less of charity than of long-term vision.

Then there is Fatima, the youngest, whose role in commercial operations at Dangote Industries places her in the thick of the machine. She is not the ceremonial figure that dynasties sometimes produce; she is fluent in the cadence of numbers and logistics, supply and demand.

Dangote’s daughters, (L-R) Halima, Fatima and Mariya

And she is seen, often, at her father’s side, not as a figure of decorum but as an understudy to power.

In a culture where daughters are more often seen as keepers of homes than empires, the Dangote trio is a quiet revolution. They are not merely part of a succession plan. They are architects of continuity, curators

60 looks good on Folorunsho Coker.

But even better is the legacy he has stitched into the fabric of Lagos life and, by extension, Nigeria’s cultural imagination.

As he marks a milestone that invites both celebration and reflection, many are remembering not just his age but his quiet insistence on lifting Nigerian tourism into the national conversation.

Born in Ikoyi, Lagos, Coker—fondly called Folly—was never far from the civic rhythm of the city. His father, the revered Chief Folarin Coker, once held the traditional title of Baba Eto of Lagos. It’s a fitting inheritance, then, that the younger Coker would rise to become the Baba

of capital, and increasingly, the storytellers of a brand whose narrative has long been dominated by one man.

The patriarch may be stepping back. But in the silence of that retreat, the click of heels on marble begins to echo. And what it heralds is not just inheritance. It is an inheritance reimagined.

Eto of Yorubaland, a nod to a life spent nurturing the rituals, traditions, and grandeur of Nigerian culture.

Coker’s public life has been wide-ranging. He began as a special assistant to then-Governor Bola Tinubu and went on to hold several strategic roles in Lagos, including Commissioner for Tourism, Arts, and Culture.

Yet it was as Director General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation that he found a broader canvas. There, he launched the “Tour Nigeria” campaign, spun together food festivals, partnered with Google for digital mapping, and even rewrote the very laws guiding the tourism sector.

Where some saw challenges, he saw

Between Atiku and Saraki

Atiku

Saraki

The thing about Nigerian politics is that you never really need to ask where the music is playing. You just listen to who’s dancing.

And lately, the rhythm has shifted—again— as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar takes another spin through the revolving doors of party politics, while Bukola Saraki, once Senate President, plants his feet more firmly inside the house he helped build.

Atiku’s latest departure from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), formally announced in a letter that was equal parts gratitude and regret, is his third since 1999.

The stated reason? The PDP has, in his words, lost its way. The unspoken truth? Presidential ambition waits for no party. And so, off he goes, this time to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), a new coalition outfit that has somehow managed to attract every politician with a résumé and a score to settle.

The response has been predictably unsentimental. From PDP stalwarts to the APC’s ever-snide chorus, most political actors have greeted Atiku’s exit with the kind of shrug usually reserved for bad weather: unfortunate, perhaps, but hardly unexpected.

In Adamawa, his home state, some party leaders even held what sounded suspiciously like a thanksgiving.

Meanwhile, Saraki is offering a different kind of lesson in political patience. At a PDP stakeholders’ meeting in Ilorin, he reminded his followers that loyalty still has a place, even if it’s out of fashion. While some run at the first whiff of a zoning dispute, Saraki, for now, seems content to work the phones, run the reconciliation committee, and keep the PDP’s lights on in Kwara.

So here we are: Atiku, restless and everaspirational, chasing the presidency like a golden fleece. Saraki, standing guard over a fractured party like a reluctant landlord waiting for the tenants to stop fighting.

Whether either man will find what he’s looking for is anyone’s guess.

But in this theatre of shifting allegiances, one thing remains certain: the music never stops in Nigerian politics. Some just change the tune more often than others.

storytelling. From “One Lagos Fiesta” to “Nigerian Flavours,” he turned civic spaces into cultural stages, where jollof rice and juju music met the high tide of economic potential. Even hills and waterfalls were invited into the tourism plan.

There were controversies, yes. Few public lives are spotless. But at 60, the tale of Coker reads less like a résumé and more like a long poem about persistence, public service, and the strange joy of seeing your country through the eyes of a traveller.

So, here’s to the Baba Eto of tourism. A son of Lagos. A curator of culture. A man who made it his mission to help Nigerians fall in love with Nigeria. Again.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R AUGUST 3, 2025

27

HIGHLIFE

Senator Oluremi’s Quiet Ministry

Oluremi

In a country too often haunted by sirens and silence, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu is speaking in tones of tenderness. Last week, her voice echoed not from podiums or parades, but from

By all accounts, Tosin Adegbite should not be the star of your Instagram scroll. She doesn’t sing, act, or hold political office. But somehow, she appears, and everything else dims. A flash of emerald silk. The glint of a Manolo buckle. A Hermès bag resting just so. Tosin doesn’t just wear fashion—she arranges it, like poetry in motion, each outfit a well-versed stanza.

For the uninitiated, Tosin is the wife of Taofeek Adegbite, the discreet billionaire CEO of Marine Platforms Limited. But she is no mere appendage to her husband’s boardroom legacy. If Lagos has a couture crown, she wears it effortlessly, her @toseen21 Instagram feed serving as both diary and mood board for a nation in need of glamour.

Yes, she is lavish. She collects Birkins like some collect stamps. Her closet, rumoured to rival a designer showroom,

the quiet grief of Yelwata, a rural community in Benue where over 100 lives were stolen by armed attackers in a single night.

She came not with fanfare but with a promise and a check. One billion naira, pledged through her Renewed Hope Initiative, to help survivors begin again. The money, privately sourced, will go toward rebuilding homes, reopening classrooms, and restoring a flicker of normalcy to lives upended by violence.

Some call it philanthropy. Others call it optics. But whatever the label, it is work being done.

The First Lady’s visit to Makurdi carried with it the weight of recent history. Children orphaned. Fields abandoned. Entire villages turned into footnotes in security reports. At the government house, Governor Hyacinth Alia stood beside her, voicing what so many in Benue have come to believe: that this is not mere conflict, but a slow-burning war.

The Tor Tiv, Prof. James Ayatse, used no euphemisms—he called it genocide.

reads like a love letter to Saint Laurent, Prada, and Alaïa. But what sets her apart isn’t the labels; it’s the lyricism. She can pull a runway look from Paris, remix it with vintage Lagos sass, and post it with the cool insouciance of someone who doesn’t need your applause to keep dressing well.

To some, she is extravagant. To others, inspiring. There are whispers of indulgence, of name-dropping, of chasing flash over function.

Yet, in a culture that often suppresses personal expression in favour of quiet conformity, Tosin’s sartorial audacity feels almost radical. She is not loud. She is luminous.

She rarely grants interviews. She doesn’t campaign for causes. Her influence, like the perfect pair of heels, is felt rather than shouted.

Tosin’s fashion isn’t political, but it is powerful.

And in a society quick to judge a woman’s worth by her restraint, she reminds us: sometimes, more is more. And sometimes, being interesting is interesting enough.

Mrs. Tinubu offered no sweeping solutions. Instead, she promised to collaborate with the wife of Nasarawa’s governor (whose state has been accused of harbouring the attackers) and to direct resources toward displaced families and education.

This is not her first such mission. In Plateau, she made a similar pledge. In Keffi, she helped raise a resettlement city from bare earth. And in the shadows of Nigeria’s unrest, whether in Niger State or Sierra Leone, she has stitched together a patchwork of relief, scholarships, food programs, and quiet visits.

The question of what role a First Lady should play in a democracy still stirs debate.

But in the face of broken towns and broken hearts, Lady Oluremi appears undeterred.

She is not rewriting the Constitution. She is simply doing what she can, where she can, with what she has.

And sometimes, that is enough to move a nation to listen.

Fowler

Tunde Fowler is Now Very Quiet

Adegbite

Julian Osula … A Luxury Dealer’s Path to Success and Acclaim

Osula

In the restless, relentless hum of Lagos Island, where dreams flirt with delusion and fortunes can vanish before dawn, one man has mastered the art of stillness, the art of luxury. Julian Osula, the self-styled purveyor of fine things, glides through the noise with the confidence of a man who has long since found his lane and gilded it.

His story is not one of fanfare but of finesse.

Born in 1966, rooted in the royal soil of Benin but raised with cosmopolitan polish, Osula trained in law and cut his teeth in banking— clearly a man who understood early that rules govern not just contracts but taste. By the early 1990s, he left the boardrooms for boutiques, exchanging courtroom briefs for handcrafted Bulgari, and hasn’t looked back since.

Today, through his flagship brand, Julian’s Luxury, Osula offers more than rare timepieces or hand-stitched bags. He sells myths. The myth of the impeccable man. The myth of distinction.

His store doesn’t just stock goods; it

By the time Ogun’s gubernatorial hopefuls had begun printing flyers and plotting alliances, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (better known by his moniker, Yayi) had already laid down a mosaic of quiet victories.

Not the kind measured in headlines or hashtags, but in kilometres of road, classrooms repaired, traders revived, and alliances, oh, so delicately brokered.

To the unbothered Nigerian onlooker, Yayi might appear to be just another senator navigating the potholes of federal politics. But speak to a market woman in Ilaro, a student in Ota, or a party stalwart in Abeokuta, and you’ll hear it: a name spoken not with bombast, but with something approaching reverence.

Yayi has been many things: a chartered accountant, a seasoned lawmaker, and now chairman of the powerful Senate Committee on Appropriations. But it is his transformation into the political lodestar of Ogun West that most startles even his fiercest detractors.

His constituency projects hum with

intentionality. His philanthropic touch is quiet but far-reaching. And perhaps most critically, his political machine is not just well-oiled, it’s fully synchronised.

While others announce ambition, Yayi seduces it. Where his rivals tour in convoys and boast of manifestos, he invests in asphalt, in solar panels, in rice mills. His war chest, whispered to be among the most formidable in the region, isn’t flung about with vanity. It is deployed with the precision of a man who understands that true power moves in silence.

Critics groan that he is too strategic, too calculated, too quiet. But in Nigeria’s operatic political theatre, where so many perform, Yayi rehearses. Over two decades in Lagos and now Ogun, he has mastered the rhythm of governance and the choreography of persuasion.

So, as 2027 creeps into view and Ogun’s political sky fills with balloons and promises, it is Yayi’s groundedness—his deeply rooted machinery, his cross-demographic appeal, and

stages experiences. An engraved watch.

A pen that writes as if it remembers. A car that purrs, not roars. It is opulence curated with care, and it has earned him not only acclaim but access.

His social media presence is both restrained and arresting: part catalogue, part confession. A parade of gleaming Ferraris and Brabus SUVs sits beside quiet reflections. His followers, inching towards 100,000, don’t just scroll; they study. Not to imitate, but to aspire.

Critics may bristle at the velvet ropes and soft-lit showrooms. But for many Nigerians in an age of turbulence, Osula represents something unshaken. That perhaps excellence, even extravagance, is still possible here, if not probable.

Osula, the king without a crown, continues to define a niche too refined for noise. And in doing so, he whispers to a nation worn by want: You, too, may choose beauty.

Yayi

yes, his daunting financial stamina—that threatens to steal the show before it begins.

For now, he watches. He listens.

He builds. Because Yayi, man of the moment, knows something the rest are just discovering: sometimes, the loudest campaign is the one that hasn’t yet begun.

Once upon a time, Tunde Fowler made more noise than a Lagos bus park at rush hour. He was the crown prince of tax, the undisputed czar of internally generated revenue, the life of Abuja soirées, and a fixture at every red carpet worth its velvet. From Lagos to the federal capital, his name hummed like a high-tension wire, charged, constant, and hard to miss.

Now? Silence. Not the strategic kind, but the type that makes one lean forward and squint because something feels missing.

This is the same man who, at the helm of Lagos State’s tax agency, turned monthly revenues from a sleepy N3.6 billion into a roaring N20.5 billion. A feat that didn’t just catch attention, it wrote him into the playbook of reformers. Then came his 2015 appointment as the boss of FIRS, Nigeria’s tax engine, and with it, a promise of federal transformation.

What followed, though, was a spectacular paradox: a tenure that sparked both intrigue and indictment, applause and anxiety, complete with Lexus convoys, too many directorates, and far too few staff chairs.

By the time he left in 2019, replaced with barely a handshake, he’d packed the FIRS with over 10,000 staff, corpers labelled “Tax Volunteers,” and a management culture more reminiscent of jazz than structure. The aftermath felt like waking from a noisy dream—one remembers the sound, but not always the song.

And yet, here we are in 2025, and Mr. Fowler (who will be 69 this August) is still around.

No scandals. No summits. No selfies at comedy concerts. It’s all curiously mellow.

In a country where public figures either cling or get dragged, his quiet feels partly intentional. Maybe it’s the dignity of departure. Maybe it’s a man watching from the balcony, a bit amused at the mess below, a bit interested in joining in.

For now, some Nigerians are waiting, necks craned, hoping to get even a little snoop on the man.

But no success so far.

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LOUD WHISPERS

with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

Much Ado About Charly Boy’s Bus-Stop Charly Boy Bus Stop, the iconic bus-stop named after the eccentric Charles Oputa, was recently renamed Badoo Bus Stop after another genius music Star, Olamide. The former Chairman of the Bariga Local Council Development Area – please Google his name - had gone on a street renaming spree the other day. Iconic Nigerians like King Sunny Ade also got streets named after them, but it is this Charly Boy Bus stop “be the koko” as we say on the street.

This particular renaming has once again thrown up the spectre of ethnic divisions, markedly manifested during the last elections. The debate has been hot and stormy; a lot of abuses have gone under, and even tiny me has been described as unappreciative of the fact that “Yoruba people condone me.”

Mbok see me o, as I threw in my own penny’s worth of argument in the debate on a WhatsApp group. One mumu that I am sure hadn’t taken his bath that day just attacked me – Duke, you are very, very ungrateful to Yoruba people who have condoned you and shown you love by sponsoring your play. My people, I suddenly felt like Blacks in apartheid South Africa, stripped of my dignity and made to feel less. Na now I know how discrimination and ethnic profiling feel. I abused the living daylight out of the boy. I called him

Charly Boy

names and dragged his parents and ancestors into the fight. “Who is condoning me?” I asked him.

I even went Femi Fani-Kayode on him – you must be very stupid to have said that to me. Who the hell are you? Do you know me? Who is your father? Did your father go to Cambridge? You must be a fool. In fact, Chief Fani-Kayode would have been very proud of me by the time I finished with him.

Mbok, see me see wahala o, the Bariga Chairman, perhaps out of boredom, decided to rename streets and bus stops — including Charly Boy bus stop.

And now, I’m the one they’re accusing of being condoned, simply because I made a harmless allusion suggesting the motives behind the move were less than stellar. Suddenly, it’s me the Yoruba people are condoning? Imagine. Did I ask for a refuse dump to be named after me, that they are now saying that I am being condoned?

This is exactly why the public outcry over the renaming has been so intense — the ethnic bias underpinning not just the act itself, but the broader socio-political interaction in the state since the last elections. Today, more than ever before, we now see ourselves in ethnic colourations instead of as one people, all because someone did not want to lose an election in his vassal state. Na wa.

This is very, very sad.

LADI BALOGUN: MY VERY RELUCTANT CANDIDATE Shebi me I don’t use to “hear word”, shebi I have left Lagos and Shomolu where they are condoning me to go and put mouth in Ijebu matter where they don’t even know me.

Long before the passing of the highly regarded and respected Awujale, I had thrown my heavyweight behind Ladi Balogun. For me, it is either Ladi or his well-brought-up elder brother Gboyega and for no other reason than the fact that they are very sophisticated, young and worldly exposed, and their kingship would bring in a new dawn to not only that throne but to the ancient tribe of Ijebu ala Olu of Warri.

Well, as I really have no say as my “condoneship” cannot be extended to that beautiful kingdom, I can only say my own and jump on the next boat out of town and leave the Ijebus to choose their king by themselves.

Strong names like the Fuji Star have been mentioned, even the present regent, Dr Kuku, keeps getting his name thrown into the mix. The whole nation by this time is in painful suspense as we await who gets the nod after the three-month time frame given.

Ijebuland, in the last few years, have reengineered itself from an Owambe capital with bad roads to a huge international tourist destination with still bad roads. Their Ojude Oba festival has grown with the big support of brands like Glo into a world-respected annual event with beautifully garbed citizens who fly in from all over the world to grace the occasion with their elegant, welltailored aso ebi, making the rest of us green with envy.

It is for this reason, their rich pedigree and tradition, that some of us are doing “nosy parker” as they take their time to choose their next king.

If they seek my advice, which I am very, very sure that they will not, I would say, mbok, use Ladi abeg. The man is suave, handsome, tall and very elegant. You should hear him speak and see the way he carries himself. He already has a palace annexe in Ikoyi and another one in Ijebuland. His business acumen and vast international contacts will bring a whole lot of development to the kingdom. Mbok, let’s “use” him, or if we don’t like him, we can also consider his elder brother Gboyega, or even my oga, Otunba

BOLA TINUBU: LET THEM KNEEL The Super Falcons have done so well to the point that the First Lady in the kitchen got carried away by them and left Daddy’s amala to watch and clap as the Falcons performed magic. I hear this is the 10th time they have won this trophy, and instead of Burna Boy serenading them, he went to sing for the British girls. Anyways, that is his business.

Nigerians have sent in very mixed remarks as to the rewards the president announced and compared the same to what soldiers are receiving at the forefront, and I must say that though they make a very strong point, let us just wallow in the illusion of unity this victory has given us as Nigerians for this little time.

My issue here is the furore on social media as to why the girls were kneeling for Tinubu. Mbok, why won’t they kneel? Even with official age getting close to 80 and real age north of 100, the president qualifies to be their ancestor, so why won’t

Balogun

Tinubu

Ugochukwu

Bimbo Ashiru, but certainly not the musician ooooooo. Kai, make I run ooooo before I am turned into a toad.

they kneel? In fact, the ones who walked up to him to shake him lack home training.

In Africa, we kneel to greet our elders and the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria - no matter how he got there - must be given his full respect by all and sundry, talk less of little girls who just won an important tournament and who are not up to the age of his great grandchildren, abi una no hear say his daughter is 68 years old?

I think we take our politics too far, and this is all shades of “far.” I will prostrate flat - complete with my bele to the floor the day I meet President Tinubu as a well-brought-up Ibibio man, no matter my politics. As I lay on the floor there, I can be abusing him in my mind, but on the floor, I will lie in full respect of his age and office.

I trust Obasanjo; those girls who walked up to Tinubu to shake him would have received very strong messages that they will never forget.

EMMANUEL UGOCHUKWU: TEACHING THEM A LESSON The Federal Road Safety Corps chose the wrong person to look for his trouble. The amiable medical

Vodi

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doctor, during COVID, was stopped by officials of the FRSC, checked and asked to go. But just as he was leaving, they asked him for “something” like they now always do. He told them he had no cash as he was going shopping with his ATM card. Instantly, he was subjected to another round of search, and this time he was found guilty and had his driver’s licence seized, and a fine was imposed, as reported.

Shebi, if it is me, I will sha go and pay the fine and continue with my life, but not this stubborn doctor who decided to prove a point. The man sued. Kai, I can imagine what his wife and children will be going through at home with this kain stubborn man. Lol. The man won, and the Federal High Court declared N30m damages and also made a declaration that the FRSC has no right to seize people’s documents.

Then the shameless people went on appeal and also lost, even though this time, the damages were reduced to N10m.

See my people, the descent of this FRSC since Wole Soyinka left them is cry-worthy. Before, if you saw police and FRSC on the road and you didn’t have papers, you would quickly rush to the police side, at least there you can negotiate because those ones na mobile Stock Exchange. You didn’t dare go to FRSC because that time, “dem no dey hear.”

Today, if you see police and FRSC, you go to FRSC because the negotiation there is simpler and straightforward. Show me your fire extinguisher, and as you move towards it, they will just call you back and say, “Oga, where you dey go? Abeg come talk…”

Today, the doctor has gone to court and has made a very strong point. I hope the leadership of the FRSC will take this as a wake-up call to get their people on the straight and narrow.

Thank you.

LEAVE SEYI VODI ALONE My people, it will be hard to leave him alone o. I, for one, cannot, as I have been doing analysis upon analysis to find the right bearing between what I saw at that party and the man’s capacity to generate such immense wealth and opulence from his tailoring business.

From the statement he just released, it is very clear that it is not only me that has been scratching my head and asking some salient questions o.

When you come out so aggressively with that kind of party, you will certainly be pulling some other type of attention to yourself, and yes, we have been analysing.

Mbok, how many kaftans will you sew to buy a N1 billion Rolls-Royce?

That is one of the many questions that is in my head o. The explanation bros has given, comparing himself with Phillip Plein, is doing me one kain for body.

Mbok, Obong Vodi, don’t mind me ooo, jealousy and envy, whatever you want to call it, is catching me.

Aghhhhh, I did not attend the party o but like most Nigerians, we could not ignore it.

Kai, the guests, the opulence, the huge display of wealth, the food, everything? This party is looking like it wants to beat Obi Cubana’s mother’s burial o. Aghhhh, why would we not be jealous and be asking questions?

My brother, leave Phillip Plien, just start a Masterclass and let us come and learn how this is done because from what we are seeing, na Forbes on the back of ankara.

Congratulations, my brother. Don’t mind us, na petty jealousy that is doing us. Kai, see party?

WILLIAM BENSON: TO KILL A MONKEY William Benson is Nigeria’s most underrated acting talent. He is our own Al Pacino, whose acting depth continues to shock adherents.

William in Kemi Adetiba’s new movie, ‘To Kill a Monkey’, has continued to receive rave reviews from Nigerians for his thematic portrayal of his character.

Even me, who has not watched the movie, have written a whole article

on his performance. The noise has been everywhere, the hoopla was just too much, and as I don’t have the patience to watch the whole series, I just went to watch the promo and from there, wrote a whole epistle.

My people from the promo that I watched, I stood there glued to my seat. I must say that I have never seen such range, such characterisation down to the red eyes, fuming and all of that.

See me, I have always known that this William is a wizard, and that

SAVE OUR SOUL GOV BABAJIDE SANWO-OLU Please, sir, this is an open appeal to you to come and save not only my life but that of your subjects who live at the Kunle Ogedengbe axis of the famous Magodo Phase 1 Estate in Lagos, just opposite your office.

I am sure you know the place very well, because you had come in to save us the other time a Supreme Court judgment was given and we were all asked to “park out.”

This time, it is one developer that they said is your friend o. He has brought in heavy machinery to excavate a natural cliff that the Estate Exco is saying will turn the mud being pulled out to cause a huge mudslide “if rain falls for just one hour” and cover over 50 houses and possibly kill over 200 of your loyal voters who live down in that gully.

The developer said he has all the necessary approvals, but has failed to show them. The estate management believes that what he is doing is illegal, but he said that he has the permits and comes to work with tonnes of policemen and officials from one of your parastatals.

All attempts to get a compromise have failed, and the excavation work is going on in earnest, destroying the natural habitat, risking surrounding buildings, weakening infrastructure, including roads and portending

Sanwo-Olu

grave danger to our lives, including me, whose bedroom opens up to the site.

Your Excellency, I am making this very strong appeal to you because your people seem to have turned a deaf ear or may have been compromised, especially by the number of trucks with LASG labels on them that come to “protect” the workers as they dig our graves.

Your Excellency, it is not that one that after I have died under a huge mudslide – which is looking inevitable like this, that you will now run to the site and wear crash helmet and hold my wife hand and say “he was a good guy, he was part of us, we will set up a panel to look at the immediate cause of this tragedy,” and then give her compensation that she will now go and use to marry a new husband.

That one, me, I will do Old Roger for you. You know Old Roger in that nursery rhyme who rose up to give someone a knock? That is exactly what I will do. I will rise up and give you a knock, I swear.

This is the time to act o, they want to kill not only me but over 200 of us on that street with this their construction that the exco have said, has no single permit or approval.

Helpppp.

is why I used to ignore Duchess when she says, “Must we use him?”

Yes o I will shout back because a lot of people don’t know the talent embedded in that his big head and strong body.

William is an acting prodigy, a straight-from-heaven talent that was not taught. The way he seamlessly moves into his character can only be seen and not imagined. You know he is a wonderful theatre director and one of the best. You see him move from one role to the other, trying to show the actors how to portray their characters with such ease. From a prostitute to a dancer, to a soldier, to a woman being raped, to even portraying me, you can only marvel at his range.

Well done, bro, your time has finally come. Please enjoy it as best as you can and find something for your oga o. That na me, in case you pretend to dey ask which oga. Well done, bro.

JOKE SILVA: A STORY THAT MUST BE TOLD Joke Silva has been married to Olu Jacobs for aeons. I hear they met when she was just 19 and he was in his 40s, and since then have built one of the most enduring love stories ever. I want to tell this story, but people have asked why. They say, old men meet young women daily, so where is the hook, and I will tell you.

Today, Daddy is stricken and in poor health, and she is still standing there with him. Many would not, and many will. The point is that a story needs that touch point to be told, and this is the touch point, the Jacobs.

We all have seen how loyalty, faithfulness and conviction have thrown themselves out of the window in our society today. Today, most relationships are built on the altar of crass materialism and with no foundations. It is no longer for better or for worse, but for better or we leave.

Real-life heroes are far and in between, and our young ones are left to be inspired by slay queens and other such rodents. In this regard, the dignity of the woman has been thrown into the dustbins, and our relationships are now caricatures of what they used to be.

Olu and Joke represent a dying union; they represent something that we used to know. In fact, the larger society will not recognise them as they scratch their heads in bewilderment as to why such a beautiful woman would still be standing with her man, who doesn’t even recognise her anymore.

This is the very touching and increasingly rare story that I want to tell. This is the dying story that we must throw up for our children and the next generation in a very torrid attempt at resetting society. Thank you.

CHIKE IROEGBUNAM: A GENIUS AT 60 Let me quickly send a hearty birthday celebration to the iconic but extremely shy and reclusive architect, Chike Iroegbunam. A lot of you do not know him, but must have seen his works litter the Ikoyi skyline. He is responsible for some of the architectural wonders that litter Ikoyi and is today regarded by his peers as the Picasso of their profession.

But he is painfully shy. Last week was his birthday, and all attempts to pull him out failed, so we took the party to him. All his boys and more gathered in his expansively exquisite office to celebrate him with food and drinks, and in his usual way, he just sat in one corner staring at his laptop as the party raged.

Happy birthday, egbon and may God grant you long life and sustained prosperity.

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Adebayo Adeoye bayoolunla@gmail.com; 08054680651

SOCIETY WATCH

Prince Eludoyin’s $10bn Contribution to Nigeria’s Economy Billionaire businessman, Prince Dipo Eludoyin, has become a true icon in the entrepreneurial landscape. He is unarguably one of the dynamic business magnates with a lot of global acclaim, while promoting worthy causes that affect Africa and entrepreneurship.

With decades of interrelations with Chinese business tycoons and multinational corporations, Society Watch has gathered that the renowned businessman is set to inject over $10 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) from China into the Nigerian economy, in a bold move aimed at supporting President Bola Tinubu’s industrialisation agenda and strengthening the country’s GDP. Eludoyin, who is also the Chairman of Paragon Group and owner of the landmark Ikeja Mall, is rallying Chinese multinationals and tycoons across key sectors—including pharmaceuticals, automobile, manufacturing, agriculture, power, technology, and oil and gas—for massive capital inflows that are expected to transform Nigeria’s economic landscape.

According to analysts, the scale and credibility of his personal and corporate relationships in China make this $10 billion investment drive highly feasible.

The investment initiative is expected to

Eludoyin

Ooni of Ife throne. However, he declined involvement in the succession race and maintained his focus on business. He holds the national honour of Member of the Federal Republic (MFR).

Will Ladi Adebutu Be Third Time Lucky?

Okunola

Another Honour for Habeeb Okunola It is no news that wealthy businessman Habeeb Okunola has made a fortune and is living large. As evidence, the highflying entrepreneur lives in one of the most breathtaking and awe-inspiring buildings in Abuja and Lagos. The houses are architectural masterpieces, and as gathered by Society Watch, cost fortunes.

The billionaire owns not just two luxury homes, he owns other eye-popping edifices in Lagos, the UK and other places overseas. For the Akosin of Yorubaland, life is not all about making money, even legitimately. A meaningful life, he believes, impacts the lives of others around. So, he always tries as much as humanly possible to inspire the people around him through his deeds and utterances.

In the past, the president of CINI Holdings has shown significant generosity to his immediate society and empowered many youths. For his humanity, Okunola has been recognised and honoured.

Last week, in a highly anticipated and significant announcement, Okunola was officially recognised as the 2025 Lagos State Man of the Year.

This prestigious honour, awarded by the organisers of the Lagos State Man of the Year Award (LASMAYA), emerged from a comprehensive polling process that highlighted Dr. Okunola’s strong rapport and unwavering support from the community, culminating in an impressive tally of 6,926 votes from a total of 16,940 valid votes cast. The organisers attributed Okunola’s nomination to his remarkable passion for entrepreneurship, which has been consistently demonstrated through his various ventures and initiatives.

As the head of CINI Holdings, he has played a pivotal role in forging partnerships with both local and international conglomerates, driving innovative solutions across multiple sectors, including real estate, construction, energy, and procurement.

His entrepreneurial acumen and strategic foresight have not only propelled his company to new heights but have also contributed significantly to the broader economic landscape.

Beyond his business accomplishments, Okunola is widely respected as a philanthropist and visionary leader.

Also, the founder of the Habeeb Okunola Foundation, an organisation dedicated to uplifting disadvantaged communities throughout Lagos, celebrated his birthday yesterday, Saturday, August 2.

support several public-private partnerships, particularly in infrastructure and manufacturing.

A Chinese consortium, reportedly assembled by Eludoyin, is exploring opportunities for setting up local production hubs for electric vehicles, pharmaceutical manufacturing plants, and smart agriculture clusters across Nigeria.

The initiative, which aligns closely with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda, is expected to begin yielding visible results within the next 12 months. A technical team is already working with select Chinese corporations on compliance, regulatory integration and local content development.

Described by close associates as a silent force in global business and diplomacy, he is said to operate on a first-name basis with top Chinese industrialists, and even the President of China and other African Presidents.

A confidant and long-time friend of President Tinubu, he has consistently turned down traditional titles and political appointments, preferring instead to focus on private sector-driven national development.

In 2015, after the death of Oba Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II, Eludoyin was widely touted as a potential successor to the highly revered

Adebutu

It began as a rumour, then grew into whispered street talk. Now, insiders in Ogun State’s political circle confirm that Hon. Ladi Adebutu is once again gearing up to contest for the number one seat in

He used to be very famous in the Lagos social circle. Indeed, when Bode Oyedepo, also known as Bode De-Way, came to Nigeria from his US base, many swarmed around him like bees do to honey, seeking his presence at their events. He bestrode the Lagos social scene like a colossus alongside his wife, Bolaji.

The Kwara State-born socialite was the toast of music stars, especially the Fuji music stars. In particular, K1 ‘D’ Ultimate on several occasions sang his praise to the high heavens.

This, according to sources, was a result of his generosity and deep pockets that never run dry.

As a successful businessman, he

the state.

If you ask anyone who knows the son of the billionaire businessman, Chief Kessighton Adebutu, about Ladi’s most cherished ambition, they won’t hesitate before they tell you that it’s to become the governor of Ogun State. Over time, the Iperu-born former member of the House of Representatives has thrown his hat into the ring for this purpose, investing money and time, but the position has remained elusive.

In 2019, he was considered one of the most prepared candidates in the state.

However, the late Buruji Kashamu threw a spanner in the works as the two battled for the soul of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP. This, as we gathered, polarised the party and paved the way for Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to emerge victorious.

He suffered what many considered a baptism of fire of sorts. But rather than entomb his living dream, he pursued

them all with unimaginable vigour.

And as fate would have it, he was able to worm himself into the hearts of his people in the state. He proved to all that he was ready again; he campaigned far and wide, courting those who mattered in the state.

Again, he wasn’t lucky as the same scenario played out in 2023. During the preparation for the governorship election, some of the PDP members became an albatross around his neck.

They waged war against him and his candidacy.

This hindered his governorship election campaign, and again, he lost at the polls.

Nevertheless, as a man with the belief that failure is part of life, he has again gone back to the drawing board and promised to come out better and stronger.

The question on the lips of many in the state is whether he would be lucky the third time around.

reportedly built and bought many houses in many parts of Lagos State. His garage was filled with several state-of-the-art cars, so much so that it could pass for a car lot.

However, Bode suffered a reversal of fortune when he dabbled in the murky water of politics. Society Watch gathered that he was lured into the Kwara State politics, owing to his alleged closeness with the late Dr. Olusola Saraki and later became a close political ally of former Senate President Bukola Saraki.

He had reportedly made his intention known to contest for a seat in the National Assembly to represent Kwara South Senatorial District, and in the process, he committed a lot of money into the project. It Oyedepo

Denzel-Armani Set to Release Single ‘Amaka Presido’ August 7

Denzel-Armani

The music artist, Denzel-Armani, has dropped his latest single titled: Amaka Presido, to be released on August 7, 2025.

Following his last post on social media, which left fans guessing and anticipating, “his love is finally ready.”

Amaka Presido would be one of Denzel-Armani’s greatest masterpieces yet.

“We wait for what is in store for us in this upbeat fierce single,” he said last week.

Denzel-Armani is a lawyer by profession and a great lover of music. He has recorded over 60 music that is unreleased.

He disclosed that he is scheduled to release his eight-track album in November, and assuring his fans that it would be a blast.

turned out to be a waste.

Though he was not a popular candidate and many of his friends warned him against the idea, he refused to heed their advice. Perhaps, he was blinded by his bloated ego as well as lies from his long list of hangers-on.

In the end, he lost in all ways, financially and politically. His residence, which could be described as a Mecca of sorts, was deserted.

It was gathered that his Ikeja GRA residence, which was a haven of wealth and luxury — the bedrooms through the living room interior is made up of Italian designer Versace, and Gucci respectively — was also sold amidst the financial crisis.

De-Way, thereafter, decided to go completely off the radar, and he distanced himself from social circles where he was once a golden fish and a force to reckon with. For a long time, nothing was heard about the former colourful socialite.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ JUNE 24 2012

ARTS & REVIEW A

PUBLICATION

3. 8. 2025

Honouring Yusuf Grillo’s Legacy of Artistic Innovations Commemorating the fourth anniversary of Yusuf Grillo passing, a groundbreaking exhibition in Lagos brings together 13 leading Nigerian artists to celebrate his legacy and contributions to modern art. Okechukwu Uwaezuoke reports

R

arely does a not-for-sale group exhibition strike a chord as powerfully as the forthcoming group exhibition, titled The Lineage of Masters, which checks all the right boxes and sets pulses racing as a must-see event. By bringing together 13 OHDGLQJ DQG LQÁXHQWLDO PLG JHQHUDWLRQ DUWLVWV RI WKH ORFDO DUW VFHQH XQGHU RQH URRI LW RͿHUV DUW DÀFLRQDGRV D UDUH JOLPSVH LQWR WKHLU FUHDWLYH ZRUOGV Yet, while this alone makes the event a standout, the true VLJQLÀFDQFH UXQV IDU GHHSHU $V FXUDWRU .HKLQGH 6DQZR notes, this group show commemorates the fourth memorial anniversary of Grillo’s passing, aiming “to celebrate his VLJQLÀFDQW FRQWULEXWLRQV WR WKH GHYHORSPHQW RI PRGHUQ art in Nigeria, his commitment to artistic excellence, and passion for teaching.”

It is therefore in a bid to build on this legacy that the H[KLELWLRQ ZKLFK EXUVWV RQWR WKH VFHQH RQ 6DWXUGD\ $XJXVW E\ SP LV FXUDWLQJ D VWDU VWXGGHG OLQHXS of Nigerian creatives, featuring painting stalwarts like 2OXVHJXQ $GHMXPR 'XNH $VLGHUH /DUD ,JH -DFNV 6DPXHO (ERKRQ %HQ 1ZRVD (GRVD 2JXLJR /HNDQ 2QDEDQMR 2GXQ 2ULPRODGH 6DP 2YUDLWL DQG .HKLQGH 6DQZR DORQJVLGH ERXQGDU\ SXVKLQJ LQQRYDWRUV VXFK DV PL[HG PHGLD PDHVWUR .XQOH $GH\HPL FHUDPLF YLUWXRVR $WR $ULQ]H DQG PHWDO VFXOSWRU $GHROD %DORJXQ :LWK a kaleidoscope of styles and mediums on display, these artists are poised to unleash a visual spectacle that will captivate and inspire art enthusiasts.

5XQQLQJ XQWLO 6HSWHPEHU DW WKH <XVXͿ *ULOOR 0XVHXP LQ ,NHMD /DJRV WKLV H[KLELWLRQ SURPLVHV WR EH D KLJKOLJKW of the season. Featuring a treasure trove of rarely seen and never-before-exhibited works, it spotlights the technical ÀQHVVH DQG LQQRYDWLYH ÁDLU RI WKHVH DUWLVWLF WUDLOEOD]HUV :LWK D GD]]OLQJ DUUD\ RI DUWLVWLF PDVWHU\ RQ GLVSOD\ WKH VKRZ RͿHUV D JOLPSVH LQWR WKH FXWWLQJ HGJH RI 1LJHULDQ DUW $ VQHDN SHHN LQWR WKH H[KLELWLRQ·V RͿHULQJV UHYHDOV D kaleidoscope of creative expressions: vibrant paintings that throb with energy, exquisite ceramic sculptures that subvert traditional forms, mixed-media masterpieces that blur the lines between reality and fantasy, and works WKDW WDS LQWR WKH DUWLVWV· GHHSHVW VXEFRQVFLRXV LQÁXHQFHV These innovative works are characteristic of artists who have established themselves as beacons of creativity in the ORFDO DUW VFHQH 1RWDEOH H[DPSOHV LQFOXGH 'XNH $VLGHUH·V ´7KLQJV , /HDUQW IURP 0\ 0RWKHUµ DQG ´5DLQIDOO µ which draw viewers into a world of bold textures and KDXQWLQJ DEVWUDFWLRQV $UW FRQQRLVVHXUV ZLOO DSSUHFLDWH the potent mix of mystery, melancholy, and individuality WKDW SHUPHDWHV KLV DUW 6LPLODUO\ 2OXVHJXQ $GHMXPR·V ÀJXUDWLYH SDLQWLQJV DQG GUDZLQJV H[XGH D TXLHW VWUHQJWK and textured ambiguity, inviting viewers to ponder presence, identity, and form. ,Q DQ HUD ZKHUH DUWLVWLF FDQRQV DUH EHLQJ UHGHÀQHG .HKLQGH 6DQZR·V ZRUNV RͿHU D SRLJQDQW QRG WR /DJRV· architectural heritage, his brushstrokes breathing life into iconic buildings of the past. For art purists, the paintings RI /HNDQ 2QDEDQMR /DUD ,JH -DFNV (GRVD 2JXLJR DQG 6DP 2YUDLWL DUH H[HPSODU\ PRGHOV RI WHFKQLFDO VNLOO DQG traditional craftsmanship, rewarding close attention with their depth and nuance. Meanwhile, a new wave of inQRYDWLRQ LV HYLGHQW LQ WKH ZRUNV RI $WR $ULQ]H·V FHUDPLF VFXOSWXUHV .XQOH $GH\HPL·V PL[HG PHGLD FRPSRVLWLRQV 2GXQ 2ULPRODGH·V YLEUDQW ÁRUDO H[SUHVVLRQV DQG $GHROD Balogun’s metal sculptures, which showcase the diversity and creativity of contemporary art.

Meanwhile, Grillo’s artistic legacy is a rich V\QWKHVLV RI GLVSDUDWH ZRUOGV ZKHUH :HVWHUQ DUW techniques and traditional Yoruba sculpture elements converge in a dynamic fusion. This blend is less a revolt against conventions and more a subtle subversion of expectations, yielding a distinctive visual language that resonated with audiences ZRUOGZLGH 7KH 1DWXUDO 6\QWKHVLV SKLORVRSK\ which celebrates the harmonious convergence of disparate artistic traditions, guided his artistic MRXUQH\ )URP KLV SLRQHHULQJ GD\V DV D PHPEHU RI WKH =DULD $UW 6RFLHW\ WR KLV ODWHU \HDUV DV D UHYHUHG painter, Grillo’s brushstrokes eloquently spoke with the authority of a master storyteller.

His brushstrokes resonated with a profound appreciation for the color blue in natural settings, echoing the timeless elegance of Nigeria’s iconic adire textiles and imbuing his work with D GLVWLQFWLYH FKURPDWLF UHVRQDQFH $V D PDVWHUful artist, he distilled the essence of the human H[SHULHQFH WKURXJK KLV DUW FRQMXULQJ HPRWLRQV and ideas with each deliberate stroke. His palette was a symphony of feeling and thought. Though KH SDVVHG DZD\ RQ $XJXVW KLV DUWLVWLF legacy continues to inspire a new generation of artists and art enthusiasts, encouraging them to push the boundaries of creative expression. $V RQH RI 1LJHULD·V PRVW UHYHUHG DFDGHPLcally trained painters, Grillo’s rise to artistic SURPLQHQFH LQ WKH V DQG V ZDV PDUNHG by a series of brilliant works that captivated art FRQQRLVVHXUV $IWHU UHWLULQJ IURP WKH <DED &ROOHJH RI 7HFKQRORJ\·V 'HSDUWPHQW RI $UW DQG 3ULQWLQJ LQ KH GHGLFDWHG KLPVHOI WR KLV DUW LQ KLV ,NHMD studio, creating a legacy of works that continue to enthrall and inspire. Through his art, Grillo distilled the essence of Nigerian culture, leaving behind a body of work that celebrates the human spirit’s boundless potential for creativity and innovation.

Blue Shirt by Olusegun Adejumo

It Takes Two to Tango

Rainfall 2 by Duke Asidere

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER AUGUST 3, 2025

32

ARTS & REVIEW\\POTPOURRI

A Legacy of Insights Well Told Charles Okigbo

P

ofessor Ekwelie’s new book titled Mass Media and Society is an important addition to the growing body of works on PDVV FRPPXQLFDWLRQ D ÀHOG of research and education that owes its origin to American scholars who were concerned about the uses of newspapers and radio in the 1930s. Ekwelie’s book focuses largely on Nigeria but relies heavily on examples from Europe, the United States, and other parts of the world. Although this book is a new addition to mass communication scholarship, it has taken all of 40 years to produce because it started its historic journey as an intended 1985 inaugural lecture at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where Ekwelie was destined to be WKH ÀUVW SURIHVVRU LQ WKH 'HSDUWPHQW RI 0DVV Communication. Like aged wine, this book is a rare and valuable treasure. Three aims guided the writing. According to the author, these are: 1) address some of the curiosities; 2) attempt to DQVZHU WKH DOO LPSRUWDQW TXHVWLRQ RI PHGLD HͿHFWV LQ VRFLHW\ DQG WR SURYLGH D GHÀQLWLYH DQDO\VLV of what the author understands to be the potential contributions of mass communication that would aid young communication scholars and certainly non-communication students to appreciate the place of communication in their lives.

The inaugural lecture would have been given to only the members of the university community in attendance, but in this book, Ekwelie set out to communewithstudents,teachers,communication

BOOK REVIEW scholars, general readers, and indeed an interested mass audience.

In an earlier book, an autobiography titled A Story of Our Times (2018), Ekwelie presented the story of the factors that shaped the destiny of people of his generation and their precarious social environment, where almost everything was in short supply, a few of the only exceptions being diseases and their consequences. This new book focuses on the theme of the mass media as communication messages, channels, and people.

This focus provides Ekwelie with a broader and more exciting canvas for painting a picture with more colours than a rainbow. Ekwelie’s storytelling prowess is in full display. There is abundant historical narration of both press and politics, made alive with dramatic details and colourful descriptions. There is also abundant review of research, as well as ample theorising on how the media work in society. Not one to be shy about taking a stand and making it public, Ekwelie’s views and opinions are in full display on nearly every page.

The contents of the book are laid out in six robust chapters that are captioned: 1) Classical functions, 2) Inherent functions, 3) Expectations and reality, 4) The need for corporate practice, 5) A news source, and 6) Press and politics. There is enough substance here for journalism enthusiasts, aspiring public relations practitioners, and government LQIRUPDWLRQ R΀FHUV :KDW VWDQG RXW PRVWO\ IURP these six chapters are:

7KDW WKH FODVVLFDO IXQFWLRQ RI LQIRUPDWLRQ dissemination includes leadership persuasion and agenda setting.

7KH LQKHUHQW IXQFWLRQ DGGUHVVHV HGXFDWLYH and entertainment roles, as well as empathy and status conferral.

8QGHU H[SHFWDWLRQ DQG UHDOLW\ WKHUH DUH PDQ\ forms of journalism that include interpretive, straight news, impressionistic reporting, new journalism, investigative reporting, and adversary journalism.

7KH QHHG IRU FRUSRUDWH SUDFWLFH LV XQGHUJLUGHG

by the principle that “communication at its best is D SURGXFW RI H΀FLHQF\ ² H΀FLHQF\ LQ JDWKHULQJ processing, and supplying information” (p.110).

7KH FKDSWHU RQ ´$ QHZV VRXUFHµ VWDUWV ZLWK explaining the challenges of succeeding as a press secretary. Preparations and responsibilities make WKH GLͿHUHQFH EHWZHHQ VXFFHVV DQG IDLOXUH LQ SUHVV relations.

7KH ODVW FKDSWHU LV DERXW WKH SUHVV DQG SROLWLFV Here Ekwelie presents a portrait of Nigeria’s govHUQPHQW ² SUHVV UHODWLRQV WKURXJK RXU YDULRXV military and civilian regimes.

7KH ODVW VHFWLRQ RI WKH ERRN LV WLWOHG *HQHUDO Comment, and here the author illustrates some of the worst scandals of recent governments, including the reported case of a Rivers State Governor boasting of downing a 40-year-old N10 million :KLVNH\ EHIRUH WKH QRRQ KRXUV Two remarkable features of this book are its wide ranging coverage of mass communication subjects, and his writing style, which is literary, VFLHQWLÀF VHULRXV DQG KXPRURXV DOO DW RQFH 7KHUH DUH XQFRPPRQ IDFWV DQG ÀJXUHV ZU\ TXRWDWLRQV dry humour, deprecating comments that balance his natural self-pride with disarming simplicity, and his transparent honesty, as an individual of high ethical character. People who know him, personally know that he cannot pretend. As a teacher he never misses an opportunity to enlighten, even with materials that are outside mass communication.

3URIHVVRU 2NLJER LV D SURIHVVRU HPHULWXV RI VWUDWHJLF FRPPXQLFDWLRQ DW 1RUWK 'DNRWD 6WDWH 8QLYHUVLW\ 86$

At the Belgian National Day, Old Masters Meet New Talents Yinka Olatunbosun

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n July 21, the Belgian 1DWLRQDO 'D\ &HOHEUDtions in Lagos reached a grand finale with a cocktail reception and the Old Masters

By Future Masters art exhibition at Freedom Park, expertly curated

by Bolaji and Sandra Alonge.

The grand opening served as a rostrum for art connoisseurs, offering a glimpse into the artistic journey that brought together 20 exceptional Nigerian artists for an intensive two-week workshop in /DJRV )DFLOLWDWHG E\ 3URI :RXWHU 6WHHO %HOJLXP DQG 'U %RODML 2JXQZR 1LJHria), the workshop provided a lifetime

EXHIBITION experience, grounding European classical techniques in a Nigerian context.

Supported by the Legacy Arts Foundation (LAF) and The Osahon Okunbo Foundation (TOOF) in collaboration with the Belgian Embassy, the exhibition featured artists like Abimbola Sadiq, Adenike Adeshina, Adebayo Jude, Ambali Omotayo, Atiye Afolabi, %DQNROH (PPDQXHO &OLQWRQ -XZRQ 'DQLHO 2UXZKRQH 'HERUDK ,IHFKXNZX (NKDWRU Fernando, Faith Omole, James Hannah, Jayeola Joshua, Jennifer Ihezuoh, Joseph Ogbole, Kator O. Godstime, Kupoluyi Vanessa, Okhlulua Eromosele, Oluwaseun Akinlo and Sodiq Abiola.

Highlighting the long-term goal of the

workshop that culminated in the exhibiWLRQ WKH FXUDWRUV VWDWHG ´:H KRSH WKLV workshop marks only the beginning—a first step towards deeper and sustained cultural collaboration between Belgium and Nigeria. In creating, connecting, and sharing across borders, we strengthen the bonds between our peoples and affirm the transformative power of art.”

In his goodwill message, Pieter Leenknegt, the Ambassador of Belgium to Nigeria, expressed his optimism that this new flame of connection between Belgium and Nigeria would form what is known as “Creative Confluence.”

He noted that the old masters and the future masters share “a clear gusto for human representation of the more festive kind, for pictorial bravery and three-dimensional suggestion.”

One of the paintings at the exhibition

Love in the Time of the Locusts Yinka Olatunbosun

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n an era marked by frequent divorces, LQÀGHOLW\ DQG ZLGHVSUHDG FDPSXV prostitution, protecting the marital institution through value-oriented FLQHPD LV D VLJQLÀFDQW ZLQ :LWK WKLV in mind, Tunde Kelani’s comeback ÀOP &RUGHOLD VWDQGV RXW DV D SRZHUIXO cultural statement. By exploring complex human relationships in desperate situations, Cordelia not RQO\ VKHGV OLJKW RQ KLVWRULFDO DVSHFWV EXW DOVR RͿHUV profound insights into the human experience.

Cordelia, an emotionally intense movie, explores themes of love, loyalty, and survival set against the backdrop of Nigeria's tumultuous military HUD $V DQ DGDSWDWLRQ RI 3URI )HPL 2VRÀVDQ V novella, Cordelia was skillfully brought to life under Tunde Kelani's direction. This period drama re-evokes the collective memory of military rule, capturing its air of political instability.

It tells the story of a disillusioned professor whose life takes a dramatic turn when he shelters a wounded student, Cordelia, during a period of intense campus unrest and political chaos following a failed military coup. Unbeknownst to the professor, Cordelia is the daughter of a key ÀJXUH LQ WKH ERWFKHG FRXS SOXQJLQJ KLP DQG his family into danger, intrigue, and turmoil. $QFKRUHG RQ WKH WKHPHV RI PRUDOLW\ VDFULÀFH conscience, and the far-reaching consequences

One of the paintings at the exhibition

MOVIES of a single act of kindness, this movie blends romance and politics as it highlights issues of rekindled love and loyalty.

Indeed, Cordelia attests to Kelani’s reputation for crafting compelling stories that celebrate Nigerian literature, value system and culture. Produced

by Tunde Kelani, Cordelia is a powerful story of conscience, power, and survival that probes human relationships and societal challenges.

6WDUULQJ <YRQQH -HJHGH 2PRZXQPL 'DGD :LOOLDP %HQVRQ )HPL $GHED\R DQG %DVVH\ Keppy Ekpeyong, the story embodies emotional weight and dynamic characterisations. Set in University of Ibadan, Kelani made a conscious HͿRUW WR ÀOP DW QHZ ORFDWLRQV $OWKRXJK 2OHNX , DQG ,, ZHUH ÀOPHG DW WKH XQLYHUVLW\ LW·V FOHDU WKDW his connection with the academics runs deeper than geographical lines, given that Oleku was also an adaptation of Prof. Akinwunmi Isola’s novel of the same title.

The 2023 production of Cordelia was a product of a collaboration between Tunde Kelani and the 8QLYHUVLW\ RI 'HODZDUH·V 0XVLF 'HSDUWPHQW OHG

by Professor JamesAllenAnderson. This partnership, titled “Cultural Fusion,” brought together African stories and global craftsmanship, blending Nigerian culture with international expertise. The ÀOP·V RULJLQDO VFRUH ZDV FRPSRVHG E\ 0LFKDHO Ogunlade and arranged and orchestrated by the 8QLYHUVLW\ RI 'HODZDUH·V 0XVLF 'HSDUWPHQW $V D UHVXOW WKH 8QLYHUVLW\ RI 'HODZDUH 6\PSKRQ\ Orchestra performed the score live for the world premiere of Cordelia and also provided the music for the soundtrack.

:LWK D WKHDWULFDO SUHPLHUH RQ 0D\ DW Lincoln Center as part of theAfrican Film Festival, 1HZ <RUN &LW\ DXGLHQFHV KDG D ÀUVW JOLPSVH RI the bi-racial nature of the creative dialogue. This FROODERUDWLRQ KLJKOLJKWV WKH ÀOP·V IRFXV RQ FXOWXUDO exchange and understanding, showcasing the power of international partnerships in creating meaningful and impactful cinema.

In terms of critique, the opening scene may be considered one of the movie’s weaknesses.

The slow-burning movie starts with a somewhat mechanically constrained reaction to the uproar.

Additionally, anyone who witnessed the protests under military rule would attest to the constant presence of burning tires on the streets, which is PLVVLQJ LQ WKH PRYLH·V LQWHUSUHWDWLRQ 'XULQJ D recent private screening at the Alliance Française, Ikoyi Lagos, the guarded and choreographed protesters failed to put the audience on the edge of their seats. However, the director makes up for the slow start with a very powerful stunt scene during the shootout between two political rivals.

The director also takes liberties to tweak the plot’s outcome for an unexpected spin to the romance on screen.

In general, the movie, which is currently screening in Nigerian cinemas, boasts visually striking cinematography and an emotionally resonant script, capturing the resilience of individuals navigating love and loyalty in the face of societal upheaval.

33

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER AUGUST 3, 2025

CICERO

Editor: Ejiofor Alike SMS: 08066066268 email:ejiofor.alike@thisdaylive.com

IN THE ARENA

INEC Should End Labour Party’s Crisis With two Labour Party candidates emerging for the Edo Central senatorial district by-election this month, it is puzzling that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has yet to determine which faction between Julius Abure and Nenadi Usman is the legitimate one, Davidson Iriekpen writes

T

he Edo Central senatorial district by-election scheduled to hold later this month has again thrown up the question about which of the factions of the Labour Party (LP) candidates is the legitimate that should produce the party’s candidate. Is it the Julius Abure faction or Nenadi Usman’s faction?

While Paul Okojie emerged from the Abure’s faction, Chris Omofoma is from the Usman’s faction.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been seemingly quiet on the candidates’ legitimacy since the Supreme Court purportedly sacked Abure. Its silence has done nothing to clear the confusion. Instead, it has fuelled it.

With the 2027 general elections still two years away, the commission is alleged to be colluding with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to give the party an undue advantage by aiding the ongoing attempts by the aggrieved leaders of the opposition parties to destabilise them.

Since the 2023 general election, the Labour Party has been enmeshed in a prolonged internal crisis that is tearing it apart.

Ironically, it was INEC that started the crisis.

Recall that upon the expiration of Abure’s tenure as national chairman of the party, he organised a national convention in Nnewi, Anambra State, without the commission’s presence, Abure’s faction had insisted that it had complied with the law by notifying the electoral umpire.

But INEC declined to monitor or recognise the said convention because, according to it, it was not conducted in line with the party’s constitution.

The commission subsequently failed to recognise Abure as the national chairman of the party, claiming that his tenure had expired.

This led the embattled national chairman to institute an action at the Federal High Court in Abuja against the commission, seeking judicial affirmation of his chairmanship. The court later recognised his leadership of the party.

INEC appealed the judgment. But while the appeal was pending, Governor Alex Otti of Abia State; the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi; his running mate Datti Baba-Ahmed and other members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) convened a meeting in Umuahia

Yakubu on September 4, 2024, where they sacked the entire Abure-led NWC. They also appointed Nenadi Usman, a former Minister of Finance and ex-senator representing Kaduna South, to lead a 29-member caretaker committee and facilitate the election of a new party leadership within 90 days.

On January 17, 2025, the Court of Appeal ruled that its earlier decision in November 2024, recognising Abure as the party’s chairman, remained valid and had not been overturned by any court.

Usman vehemently faulted the decision and challenged it at the Supreme Court. While the appeal was pending at the apex court, Abure filed a cross-appeal.

In its judgment on April 4, 2025, the Supreme Court found Usman’s appeal meritorious and overturned the concurrent judgments of the Court of Appeal that recognised Abure as the national chairman of the party.

The apex court also dismissed Abure’s crossappeal seeking affirmation as national chairman. It held that the Appeal Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the case, being an issue of internal affairs of the party.

It resolved three issues submitted for determination in favour of Usman, and held that both the trial court and the Appeal Court had

no jurisdiction to entertain the suit of the first respondent.

It urged political parties to respect their constitutions and internal processes, and implored officials whose tenures had expired to vacate their positions.

But the apex court’s verdict was subjected to different interpretations.

While Abure is contending that he was not removed from office, Usman argued that Abure had been sacked.

While they were still contending, a factional leader of the party, Lamidi Apapa, surfaced to lay claim to the party’s leadership.

But in a move to clarify the leadership situation, a delegation of the party led by Governor Otti and Obi visited INEC headquarters in Abuja on April 9. During the visit, Otti submitted a Certified True Copy of the Supreme Court’s judgment to the electoral body. The visit was aimed at providing clarity on the party’s leadership and ensuring effective communication with INEC. The delegation was received by the INEC National Commissioner, Sam Olumekun, and other senior officials of the commission who reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to neutrality, transparency, and the rule of law in carrying out its responsibilities.

But since that visit, INEC has yet to make its official position public, fuelling speculations that it is aiding to destabilise the party for the benefit of the ruling APC. So bad is the situation that the LP candidates for the recently concluded local government elections in Lagos were thrown into confusion over which of the three factions of the party in the state is authentic.

While reacting to enquiries in May on why it has not taken a position on the leadership crisis in the party, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, in a statement noted that the commission was carefully studying the verdict and would communicate its decision to the public in due course.

The questions bothering many observers now are: How long would it take INEC to study the Supreme Court judgment and make its position known to the public?

Was the commission’s recent recognition of George Moghalu as the party’s governorship candidate for the Anambra State election slated for November 8, 2025, a validation of Abure’s leadership by the commission?

In the party’s primary conducted by Abure’s faction on April 5 at Finotel Hotel, Awka, Moghalu defeated John Nwosu, by polling 573 votes, out of 601 accredited votes.

But in a parallel primary election conducted by the Obi and Otti-backed faction of the LP, a sitting member of the Anambra State House of Assembly representing Onitsha South Two, Jude Umenajiego, polled 180 votes, to defeat John Nwosu, who polled 69 votes.

In a dramatic twist, INEC recently recognised Moghalu as the authentic candidate.

The protracted crisis in the Labour Party is evidence of the failure of the commission to guide, advise and regulate the parties. Its perceived failure to be firm is viewed as a deliberate effort to weaken opposition parties.

How can it allow factions to tear the party apart to the advantage of the ruling of the APC, whilst it stands by to watch? It is high time it spoke up.

Nigeria’s democracy cannot thrive in an atmosphere of chaos and institutional compromise.

This is why INEC must at all times uphold its constitutional responsibility as an impartial electoral umpire by recognising the proper structure within political parties and facilitating the emergence of a legitimate leadership through legitimate processes.

P O L I T I CA L N OT E S

US’ Damning Verdict on Nigerian Governors

AbdulRasaq

The United States Embassy in Nigeria lastTuesday raised serious concerns over the spending habits of some Nigerian state governors, accusing them of extravagance and poor management of public funds.

In a report it released, the embassy highlighted that many governors have been allocating huge sums of money towards the construction and renovation of government houses, even as millions of Nigerians face severe economic difficulties.

The report noted that while President Bola Tinubu has urged Nigerians to endure the current economic challenges brought about by government policies, some governors have not been sharing the burden of sacrifice.

ItwentfurthertostateforinstancethatinOyoState, Governor Seyi Makinde, approved a staggering ₦63.4

billion for the renovation of the Government House.

According to the governor, the existing facility was embarrassingandunfittoserveastheofficialresidence.

Similarly, in Gombe State, one of Nigeria’s poorest regions, Governor Inuwa Yahaya committed nearly ₦15 billion for the construction of a new, ultra-modern residence. In addition, the state is spending over ₦14 billion on a new House of Assembly complex.

The US embassy condemned these actions on its official X (formerlyTwitter) handle, emphasising that such reckless spending undermines public trust and increases inequality across the country.

The report reignited discussions about governance and the need for more prudent management of public resources to ensure that all Nigerians benefit fairly from the country’s wealth.

Transparencyandaccountabilitygroupsalsoechoed theseconcerns,warningthatthemisuseofpublicfunds contributes to widening the gap between the ruling class and ordinary citizens.

As Nigeria continues to grapple with inflation, unemployment, and rising living costs, critics argue that the governors’ lavish spending on government estates is both inappropriate and unjustifiable.

Many citizens feel that these funds should be used to improve essential services such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure.

Butthegovernorsareinterestedintheircomfortand lavish lifestyle and this is quite sad and unfortunate.

It is interesting to note that it was a foreign government that raised this issue and not an opposition political party or group.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER AUGUST 3, 2025

BRIEFINGNOTES Resolving Police Pension Crisis WiththeincreasinghardshipsinflictedonpoliceretireesbytheContributoryPensionScheme,whichignitedrecent protests by retired officers, Ejiofor Alike writes that with the acknowledgement of the police pension crisis by both the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun and his immediate predecessor, Usman Baba, President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly should remove the police from the Contributory Pension Scheme and implement a new pension scheme that reflects the services rendered by police officers and men

T

he plight of retired police officers under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) drew public attention recently when a retired Superintendent of Police expressed deep frustration over what he described as his meagre payout.

In a viral video, the retired officer, who served in the force for 35 years, reportedly rejected a retirement benefit of ₦2 million approved for him by the Nigeria Police Pension Board.

Following his claim, the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Kayode Egbetokun, ordered a thorough investigation.

The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said in a statement that the IG had directed the NPF Pensions Limited to urgently look into the claims, identify any possible lapses, and ensure appropriate actions are taken to address the issues raised.

However, the IG’s promise did not calm other retirees as hundreds of retired police personnel, on July 21, protested across several states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, to express their anger over their continued inclusion in the CPS. In Abuja, the protesters first marched to the main entrance of the legislative chambers before heading for the Force Headquarters where they blocked the main entrance, chanting solidarity songs.

The aggrieved ex-police officers were led by a 67-year-old retired Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Mannir Lawal; a former Presidential Candidate of African Action Congress in 2023 election, Omoyele Sowore; a human rights lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, and many other activists.

Speaking during the protest in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, the legal adviser for Association of Retired Police Officers of Nigeria (ARPON) and retired Superintendent of Police (SP), Adekunle Iwalaiye, specifically described their plight as a ticking time-bomb for the country’s internal security.

“When officers know they will retire into poverty, they stop caring about integrity. That is how corruption grows. You cannot pay a man N2.4 million after 35 years and expect him to retire with dignity,” Iwalaiye added.

He expressed frustration over what he tagged “discriminatory pension scheme”.

Under the forced enrolment of retirees into the CPS, established by the Pension Reform Act of 2004, both the employer and employee contribute a percentage of the officer’s monthly salary into a Retirement Savings Account (RSA).

Under the scheme, serving officers contribute

Egbetokun eight per cent of their salary, while the federal government adds 10 per cent, with the funds managed by pension fund administrators.

Upon retirement, the officer receives a lump sum from the RSA, with the remainder paid out as a monthly pension However, many retired officers, especially the junior ranks, receive meagre monthly payments ranging between N14,000 and N50,000.

But those who retired in the ranks of Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) and Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) are not on the scheme.

Conversely, those who retired on the ranks of Commissioner of Police (CP) and below are the ones placed on the scheme being maintained by PenCom. This disparity and discrimination have triggered discontent and protests.

Speaking on the police pension crisis in a live television programme, Egbetokun’s predecessor, Usman Baba, recalled that the police authorities under him and police retirees had at a public hearing organised by the National Assembly, expressed outrage over the CPS. Baba, who was removed in June 2023 by

President Bola Tinubu, acknowledged that the scheme has created a system of segregation among retired officers.

He argued that the current pension scheme effectively treats ex-officers as dead a decade after their retirement, even when they are still alive.

Baba described the pension system for retired officers as exploitative, unjust, and fundamentally broken.

“I think 10 years after retirement, you will be considered dead,” the former IG stated.

“So, this is how the scheme has been. And even very senior officers - nobody takes more than N100,000 as a monthly pension after retirement.”

He said some of his colleagues have not received their retirement benefits, years after leaving service “Like I’m getting my salary every month, and these are my colleagues whom we joined together, progressed together, and are not getting “Just last week, Isah, my PA (Personal Assistant), who retired seven months ago, was telling me that he had not gotten one kobo up till today.

“How do you expect performance, loyalty, and

commitment when you are afraid of retiring?

“And it is not like the military, where three to four months before you retire, the military will take you to Oshodi and start giving you training on what to do. This one, you work until you retire, the day you go,” Baba explained.

Baba said his successor, Egbetokun, has never consulted him on police administrative matters or the lingering pension crisis.

“Unfortunately, the man who succeeded me - he has not known much of what police administration is rather than operation because he has been in the field.

“There was a time he (Egbetokun) even supported the pension programme and there were a lot of outcries,” he added.

Asked if there is a platform where serving and former IGs meet to discuss institutional issues, Baba said such a forum exists but is rarely activated.

On his part, Egbetokun stated that “retirement is now feared, not welcomed” adding that many retirees live in humiliating conditions.

Speaking at a strategic meeting of senior police officers from the rank of Commissioner of Police and above, the IG said the living conditions of retired officers were unacceptable, given the sacrifices they made in service.

He added: “One area I remain deeply committed to is the welfare of our retired officers under the Contributory Pensions Scheme. Their post-service condition is heartbreaking and morally unacceptable.

“This has turned retirement into a period of hardship and regret, eroding the confidence of serving officers, who now see their future with fear rather than hope.”

Egbetokun said the poor state of retirees was affecting the morale of serving officers.

“Among serving officers, there exists a growing and deep-rooted anxiety, born from the belief, rightly or wrongly, that retirement is a descent into hardship,” he added While an elected public official, who serves for only four years leaves office with accumulated salaries, an average police officer who served for 35 years would go home with a meagre payout.

Many believe this injustice will continue to encourage corruption, indiscipline, and unprofessionalism among serving police officers.

President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly should introduce an improved pension system that reflects the sacrifices and risks undertaken by officers during active service as the CPS that replaced the defined benefits system has inflicted untold hardships on retired police officers.

NOTES FOR FILE

Falana: An Activist Without Borders

Falana

Human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Femi Falana, has again demonstrated that indeed, he is not just a human rights activist but a detribalised Nigerian who truly believes in the rule of law, an activist without borders.

Following the remaining of some streets and bus stops in some parts of Lagos State penultimate week, Falana’s voice was loud and clear, describing the action as illegal, authoritarian, and a lack of adherence to procedures and public consultation.

Recall that the former Chairman of Bariga Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Kolade Alabi, penultimate weekend renamed “Charley Boy Bus Stop” which was named after a veteran singer and entertainer, Charles Oputa popularly known as Charly Boy to “Baddo Bus Stop” after another artist, Olamide Adedeji.

The announcement sparked outright criticisms from a cross section of Nigerians both at home and abroad with many alleging tribalism and bigotry.

But Falana, in his statement, emphasised that under the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the exclusive authority to name streets, roads, and assign house numbers rests with local government councils, as clearly outlined in the Fourth Schedule.

He cited a relevant court ruling in Chief Obidi Ume v. Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, where the High Court held that only the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) had the legal authority to name roads and streets within its jurisdiction.

He argued that the usurpation of the exclusive functions of local governments on street naming by certain individuals and LCDA in Lagos State cannot be justified under the Nigerian Constitution.

Specifically, the senior lawyer criticised the renaming of the Charly Boy Bus Stop, without community consultation, describing the action as disrespectful to both local residents and cultural memory.

He lamented that Lagos State has retained street names celebrating colonial figures linked to oppression and exploitation, yet finds time to replace names that honour Nigerians who contributed positively to society.

Falana called on local government legislative arms across Lagos to stop the arbitrary renaming of public spaces, adding that unilateral renaming undermines community identity and violates constitutional principles.

Special kudos to the senior lawyer for being a voice of reason.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER AUGUST 3, 2025

CICERO/ISSUE

Curbing Notoriety of EdoVigilante Service Adibe Emenyonu writes on the notoriety of some vigilante groups in Edo State, prompting indigenes to ask if their job is to secure the people or brutalise them

I

t is an obvious fact that insecurity has been one of the greatest challenges facing Nigeria in the last 10 years. Not only have thousands of lives been wasted, but houses and farmlands have been destroyed.

With the security agencies seriously overwhelmed in their efforts to address the problem, vigilance groups were set up across the country to help bring succour to Nigerians.

To make the locals part of the security architecture alongside the conventional police force, Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and the military, the vigilante groups were mobilised to rise to the occasion.

The groups have, to a large extent, brought about some measures of sanity within the communities because they are familiar with their area of operation, having been drawn from the same area.

It was based on this fact that governors of the 36 states threw their weight behind state policing using the local vigilante group formations in clans, villages, towns and local governments.

In the northern part of the country, the public is awash with news of the Joint Civilian Taskforce that is complementing the efforts of the military to combat terrorism, banditry and other forms of insurgency in those areas.

Due to the ugly incident of kidnapping, farmer-herders’ conflicts, and armed robbery, vigilantes were organised to provide security in many neighbourhoods. A case in point is in the South-west geopolitical zone, where Amotekun is doing a wonderful job in securing the region.

Similarly, and elsewhere in the South-east and South-south regions, state governments have encouraged the setting up of vigilance groups to help the police in combating all forms of criminal tendencies, whose efforts have been commended largely by many.

Due to the public outcry concerning the activities of killer herdsmen and kidnappers, residents of Jagbe community, near Auchi in Edo State, were full of praises for the vigilante group in the area, wh,o through their gallantry, averted the kidnap of a young lady and other incessant activities of criminals and extremists operating in the area.

It was gathered that in the early hours of a particular day, bandits

Governor Okpebholo

suspected to be members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect, stormed the community in their numbers, wielding guns and machetes, destroying property and eventually abducted one Mr. Isioma Tommy Okoh, a youth leader at the local church, as well as his fiance, one Miss Blessing Okhiloa.

The victims were whisked away into the forest, along the Auchi-Abuja Highway, but luck, however, ran out on the kidnappers when members of the local vigilante group in the area promptly mobilised and gave them a hot chase.

They reportedly stormed and combed the bushes until they got close to the kidnappers’ den, and after an intense exchange of gunshots, the kidnappers escaped into the deepest parts of the forests, leaving behind some ammunition and their victims, who at the moment have reunited with their loved ones.

The head of the vigilantes in the community, Iyokota Andrew, confirmed the incident. He said the rescue operation was made easier because his group had been keeping undercover tabs on the sect for a while now.

The local security outfit in Ogbonna, a community in Etsako East Local Government Area of the state, also achieved a similar feat.

That of Igarra, Akoko-Edo Etsako East Local Government Area of the state is also said to be doing well because of the support it gets from well-meaning individuals and constituted authorities.

However, the activities of some of these vigilance groups have evoked fears that if allowed to operate legitimately, they might be used by state governors and politicians against their opponents or used

to fan their political aspirations to the detriment of the larger society.

For some time now, the members of the local security outfit called Edo Security Network (ESN) in Auchi, headquarters of Etsako Local Government Area, have been reportedly taking law into their own hands.

When they are not intimidating and collecting tolls from commercial tricycle riders, they are seen brutalising innocent citizens for no just cause, or taking orders from political leaders in the area.

From the stretch of EkhieAvielle road and other axes, they have mounted roadblocks where commercial motorcycle and tricycle riders are constantly extorted, and refusal to cooperate would signal danger for victims.

The security outfit, according to a resident of the area, “has zero records of tackling insecurity but is good at intimidating harmless citizens and collecting N200.”

Two weeks ago, the Auchi Vigilante was allegedly responsible for the mayhem in Auchi Polytechnic, where they were accused of aiding electoral crimes in the institution’s Students Union Government (SUG) election that ended in chaos and bloody clash between supporters of an indigenous candidate and non-indigenes.

Not satisfied with the sobriquet “kill and go,” an ugly appellation it earned from the locals, the security outfit, last weekend, allowed itself to be used by politicians to humiliate and brutalise Chief JP Okhai Okhani, President, Edo North Unity Forum Worldwide.

Okhani’s offence was his temerity to organise a town hall meeting where elected political office holders from the Etsako political bloc were expected to come and give their stewardship before the people of the area.

For this reason, the ESN operatives descended on the venue of the event, shooting sporadically to disperse the crowd. Thereafter subjected Okhani to severe torture. His clothes were torn to shreds, his phones and shoes

stolen.

This has been the modus operandi of the service since the new government came to power in the state. Every member of the opposition or voice of decent is constantly harassed.

Just last Monday, youths from Auchi blocked the Jattu junction of the Benin-Auchi-Okenne federal highway because of the rise in cases of kidnappings where persons are now picked up in their homes and ransom is demanded.

There are even insinuations that the frequent abduction of people in the area may not be unconnected with the behaviour of the local security outfit which many believe have lost interest in the security of the area but their personal aggrandisement.

Amid the atrocities levelled against it, the security outfit appears unperturbed as no fewer than 15 persons are said to have been kidnapped with over N70 million ransom paid before their release.

In the words of the Coordinator, Edo Take It Back Movement, Hafiz Lawal, “No fewer than 15 persons in Auchi have been kidnapped with over N70 million paid as ransom.”

Another local security outfit that is becoming worrisome is the Benin City section of ESN. Of particular concern is the unit manning the Country Home Road and Limit Road.

These units have cultivated the habit of mounting roadblocks with disused tires, stopping every approach vehicle and tricycle for search, and in the process, extorting them and causing unnecessary gridlock.

This is why the government should urgently intervene to prevent bad eggs among the local security outfit from spoiling others, and prevent the public from questioning the good intentions behind setting up the outfit.

It is important to realise that the local security outfits were established to give indigenes of the state succour and free them from criminals and not for them and politicians to oppress the others.

36

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER $8*867 2025

PERSPECTIVE

A Defining Moment for Tinubu in Kaduna Muhammed Aliyu Yinusa

I

n the intricate and enduring narrative of Nigeria’s political and cultural evolution, Kaduna occupies a distinctive place. It is not merely a city on the map; it is a crucible of northern identity, a beacon of political might, and a repository of rich historical significance. From the era when Sir Ahmadu Bello, the indomitable Sardauna of Sokoto and the inaugural Premier of Northern Nigeria, wielded influence from its precincts, Kaduna symbolised more than governance: it embodied aspiration, leadership, and regional pride. His tenure cemented Kaduna as a bastion where political legitimacy was not just sought but consecrated.

Yet, as Nigeria transitioned from its regional structure into a more centralised federal system, the once luminous aura surrounding Kaduna dimmed. The city and its environs came to grapple with complex and pressing challenges: pervasive insecurity marked by banditry and insurgency, economic stagnation, and socio-political tensions that often took ethno-religious hues. These adversities transformed Kaduna into a poignant symbol of northern Nigeria’s broader struggles.

However, the story of Kaduna is not one of decline without resurgence. Under the dynamic leadership of Senator Uba Sani, the city is experiencing an extraordinary renaissance. This renewal is characterised by restored peace, notable infrastructural progress, and a reinvigorated democratic dialogue, emblematic of a region intent on reclaiming its past glory while charting a new course for the future.

This revitalisation found a profound expression in a recent two-day interactive session convened by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation (SABMF). The gathering brought together a distinguished constellation of northern stakeholders alongside representatives of President BolaAhmed Tinubu’s administration. Their collective purpose was to assess the fulfillment of electoral promises, foster government-citizen engagement, and map a shared vision for national unity and regional development.

The SABMF, established in 2009 as a non-political, non-religious, and non-profit organization, stands as a living tribute to the legacy of Sir Ahmadu Bello. Revered for his visionary leadership — one that prioritized political inclusivity, educational reform, and socio-economic advancement — Sir Ahmadu Bello’s ideals continue to resonate deeply with Northern Nigeria’s contemporary aspirations.

The Foundation’s mandate extends beyond mere commemoration; it actively promotes his ethos of selfless service, integrity, and inclusive governance through youth empowerment, peace-building initiatives, leadership development, and social interventions.

Far from a ceremonial event, the Kaduna conference was convened amid a charged political atmosphere. Voices critical of the Tinubu administration, particularly from opposition camps, had long argued that the north, despite its overwhelming support during the 2023 presidential elections, had not been adequately rewarded or prioritised in governance and development.

Against this backdrop, the Foundation themed the session: “Assessing Electoral Promises: Fostering Government–Citizen Engagement for National Unity,” signaling an earnest desire for transparent accountability and constructive dialogue.

This thematic focus was not without precedent.

In early 2023, just before the presidential elections, the SABMF had hosted a forum where leading presidential aspirants, including Bola Ahmed Tinubu, articulated their commitments to the north. The Kaduna gathering thus served as a timely litmus test, an opportunity to evaluate, two years on, the extent to which those pledges had been translated into tangible progress.

In an unprecedented demonstration of openness and political courage, President Tinubu responded not merely in rhetoric but with substance. He dispatched a robust delegation comprising over 80 northern appointees in his administration to present a comprehensive mid-term report. This delegation, led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, joined critical stakeholders in northern Nigeria at the historic Arewa House, Kaduna — a venue imbued with symbolic significance as the nerve center of northern Nigerian political heritage.

The conference transcended the typical confines of political summits. It emerged as a landmark in Nigeria’s democratic journey — an earnest endeavour to bridge the oft-perceived chasm between government and the governed, to

Tinubu candidly acknowledge successes, confront lingering challenges, and cultivate a spirit of transparent and accountable governance.

The gathering’s prominence was underscored by the presence of key dignitaries. Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State, Chairman of the Governors’ Forum, represented the President,whileDr.AliyuModibboUmar, Special Adviser to the President, spoke on behalf of Vice President Kashim Shettima. Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani, as the host, was joined by the Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State.

These leaders were complemented by top security chiefs, traditional rulers, academics, civil society leaders, and private sector stakeholders — forming a multifaceted tableau of Nigeria’s northern leadership and governance architecture.

Central to the dialogue was an acknowledgment of Northern Nigeria’s monumental contribution to the electoral victory of President Tinubu. This was not framed as a transactional political exchange but as a mandate bearing the weight of expectations for substantive delivery on development, security, and social justice.

The discussions spanned critical sectors — national security, governance, infrastructure, agriculture, education, and human capital development — with a tone marked by analytical depth and earnest self-reflection. The discourse was elevated further by the keynote address of Professor Tijjani Mohammed Bande, GCON, Nigeria’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

He contextualised Nigeria’s challenges within the wider international landscape, highlighting the nation’s resilience in confronting insecurity, poverty, and educational deficits amid global uncertainties. Professor Bande’s address was a clarion call for the North to negotiate its interests assertively within Nigeria’s broader national development framework, underscoring the necessity for a holistic, inclusive approach to progress.

Governor Uba Sani, whose stewardship of Kaduna has been transformative, did not mince words in his remarks. He commended President Tinubu’s equitable

governance and steadfast commitment to addressing the complex tapestry of northern challenges.

He recounted the grim security realities inherited in 2023 when Kaduna was effectively “under siege” — a city plagued by banditry, terrorism, and violent crime that turned once-thriving commercial arteries into corridors of fear. The infamous 2022 attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train was etched in collective memory as a dark testament to the depth of insecurity that gripped the state.

Yet, Governor Sani narrated a compelling turnaround story. With the unwavering support of the federal government, Kaduna pioneered a peace model that eschewed brute force alone in favour of a composite strategy blending proactive security measures, community engagement, dialogue, and institutional coordination. This “Kaduna Peace Model” catalyzed a gradual restoration of peace and normalcy. Security agencies were reinvigorated, local vigilance groups empowered, and markets reopened — reviving economic and social life in previously abandoned communities.

Governor Sani also acknowledged the critical role played by key federal security officials, including National Security Adviser Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and Chief of Defence Staff General Christopher Gwabin Musa, whose gallantry provided vital support. He underscored that insecurity is not merely a failure of arms but is deeply rooted in exclusion, educational neglect, and policy oversight.

On the economic front, Governor Sani presented sobering statistics on financial exclusion in the Northwest prior to 2023, which created fertile ground for extremism. He candidly admitted past leadership failures in driving meaningful transformation but also highlighted progress under his tenure, notably in financial inclusion initiatives that have empowered over 2.5 million Kaduna residents to access formal financial services — an endeavor underpinned by partnerships across banking, fintech, civil society, and international foundations.

Education, a critical pillar for northern development, was addressed with a sense of urgency and commitment. Governor Sani painted a distressing portrait of over 350,000 out-of-school children in Kaduna alone, part of a larger humanitarian crisis affecting over 70% of Nigeria’s 18 million out-of-school children concentrated in the North.

He detailed ongoing efforts to rebuild educational infrastructure, train teachers, and subsidise tuition, alongside President Tinubu’s introduction of a student loan scheme and vocational training programmes designed to equip youth with skills for the future economy.

The health sector was not overlooked. Improvements in primary healthcare revitalization, immunization coverage, maternal and child health services, and expanded health insurance were chronicled as key successes contributing to enhanced wellbeing across the region.

Governor Sani did not shy away from addressing criticisms leveled at infrastructural developments, notably the condition of theAbujaKaduna-Kano highway. He characterised some of the recent complaints as politically motivated and called for focused, purposeful action rather than divisive rhetoric.

On agriculture, he spoke of a “quiet revolution” marked by climate-smart initiatives, solarpowered irrigation schemes, mechanization, and a shift towards agribusiness. This evolution has strengthened food security and economic resilience, vital for the region’s sustained prosperity.

At the core of these achievements lies the Tinubu administration’s commitment to genuine inclusion, with northerners occupying substantive roles in ministerial and institutional leadership, not as mere tokens but as architects of policy and drivers of change.

Governor Sani’s concluding remarks invoked the enduring legacy of Sir Ahmadu Bello, urging northern Nigerians not only to remember but to embody and elevate the Sardauna’s vision. He called for an end to the perennial blame game and for embracing the present opportunities that the Tinubu administration offers. “The path is open, and the destination is in sight,” he affirmed with hopeful resolve.

Senator George Akume, SGF and leader of the Federal Government’s delegation, offered a comprehensive account of the administration’s “Renewed Hope Agenda.” He detailed the eight priority pillars that undergird President Tinubu’s vision: inclusive economic reform, security enhancement, agricultural revitalization, resource unlocking, infrastructural expansion, social investment in education and health, industrialization and digitization, and governance reform for effective service delivery.

Akume enumerated key policy milestones including the unification of exchange rates to restore investor confidence, tax reforms, judicial reforms, and substantial investment in security modernization and human capital development.

He highlighted flagship infrastructure projects such as the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and rail networks, alongside agriculture mechanization programs.

While acknowledging the contentious removal of petroleum subsidies, Akume emphasised the government’s mitigation strategies to shield vulnerable populations and redirect savings toward national development priorities. “In two short years, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has laid the foundational stones of a new Nigeria, through visionary leadership, principle, and reform,” he asserted.

Ministers and top federal officials enriched the plenary sessions with detailed presentations, culminating in a communique that encapsulated the vigorous debates and consensus forged over the two days. This communique recognised Northern Nigeria’s pivotal role in Nigeria’s political stability and economic growth, lauded the Tinubu administration’s achievements in security, infrastructure, and economic reforms, and acknowledged persistent challenges like the Almajiri system and educational deficits.

It called for equitable resource distribution, inclusive development, institutionalised government-citizen dialogue, enhanced investment in education and infrastructure, strengthened agricultural value chains, inclusive security reforms, and robust civil society and media engagement to bolster trust and national cohesion.

In summation, the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation’s two-day session in Kaduna emerged not just as a conference, but as a defining democratic milestone — a candid appraisal and celebration of President Tinubu’s stewardship at the midpoint of his tenure, a reaffirmation of northern Nigeria’s centrality to national unity and development, and a clarion call for sustained collaboration, transparency, and equity as the foundations upon which Nigeria’s future peace, democracy, and prosperity rest.

This historic gathering marked a moment of renewed hope and shared resolve — a testimony to the power of dialogue, accountability, and visionary leadership in shaping a resilient and inclusive Nigeria.

Dr.Yinusa, a political economist, resides in Barnawa, Kaduna

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AUGUST 3, 2025 • T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

B AC K PAG E C O N T I N UAT I O N LOOKING LIKE TINUBU VS ATIKU VS OBI AGAIN that Tinubu has neglected the north was a heavy political statement that shook the president’s camp.

No doubt, Tinubu is in for a very tight fight.

If Tinubu were contending for northern votes with only a fellow southerner, his calculations would be different. But he will be up, for the second time, against an old warhorse in Atiku, who must fancy his chances this time around. Atiku has been seeking to be president since 1993 — the last 32 years, that is — and he must see 2027 as his best chance ever because of the sentiments against Tinubu.

Unlike in 2023 when Tinubu enjoyed the benefit of the doubt from many northerners who chose him above Atiku, the sentiments appear to have been markedly diluted. Tinubu will have to be at his very best to be able to warm, or worm, his way back to the hearts of northern power brokers and voters.

Tinubu will surely pick the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) — I am not expecting any drama there. It also looks certain that Atiku will pick the ticket of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), where opposition figures are coalescing. Mr Peter Obi, who put up an incredible performance in 2023, is still weighing his options. Should he leave the Labour Party for the ADC? Does he stand a chance of getting the ADC ticket? The elephant in the room, though, is: should he accept to be running mate to Atiku again? He was Atiku’s running mate in 2019. He is now a presidential candidate in his own right and his die-hard supporters might see that as a demotion.

Even if Obi wants to stoop to conquer by accepting to be running mate (and hoping to take his turn in 2031), not many of his supporters will agree. It is, thus, being suggested that Atiku should play the statesman by working for Obi to be president.

This, to me, is Obi’s best route to power. The truth, however, is that Atiku wants to be president and this is probably his last throw of the dice. He did not gather a coalition together for the sake of supporting someone else. One scenario might be that Obi would be encouraged to try his luck by contesting in the party’s primary against other

aspirants. The prospects of Obi defeating Atiku or Rt Hon Rotimi Amaechi in an ADC primary are not that bright.

Interestingly, Obi has such a massive street appeal in the south-east as well as among large sections of southern youths and northern Christians that all he needs is one more leg of the tripod to buy into the project and he would be home and dry. We can generally assume that the south-west would back Tinubu, so Obi is left with the option of winning over the Muslim north. In 2023, he won the majority votes among the southern and northern minorities but that was not enough to take him to Aso Rock Villa. President Buhari had only one leg of the tripod on his side in three elections from 2003 to 2011 but lost until he finally got the south-west leg in 2015 and triumphed. It is what it is.

Atiku will be strategising with and without Obi. With Obi as running mate, Atiku will reasonably project to get the majority votes of two legs of the tripod: the north and the south-east. That would be his first choice, logically. But he would hope that even if Obi would not come aboard, he will still be another party’s candidate to dilute possible southern solidarity vote for Tinubu. If Obi does not run and there is no other strong southern candidate, some southerners may cast sympathy votes for Tinubu on the ground that the south should do eight years in power as Buhari did. In any case, Obi has said clearly that he will run, so the possibility of being a running mate is currently next to zero.

Tinubu too would be hoping that Obi runs so as to split the opposition votes — as in 2023. I do not expect the majority of Igbo voters to opt for Tinubu even if Obi does not run. There is no love lost between Igbo and Yoruba in politics. And since, mathematically speaking, negative times negative equals positive (“the enemy of my enemy is my friend”), I expect Igbo voters to pick Atiku above Tinubu any day. In my reading of the dynamics, Igbo voters prefer Obi as first choice and Atiku as back-up. I know people who support Obi during the day and Atiku at night, and vice-versa. In the heat of the 2023 petition over the Chicago

affair, many well-known Obi fans openly rooted for Atiku.

If Obi and Atiku run, what then would be Tinubu’s strategy? I guess it would be to win as many votes as possible in all the states, coming first or second everywhere. This is where the defections to the APC make sense. In 2023, Tinubu came first in 12 states and second in 18 (including the FCT). That is 30 out of 37. Securing high figures in dense voting populations really matters. Indeed, Tinubu won only two states in the heavily populated north-west, with Atiku securing four and Kwankwaso one, yet he got more votes than Atiku in the zone: 2,652,235 to 2,197,824. He got at least 25 percent in 30 states while Atiku did in 21 and Obi in 16. The constitutional threshold is a minimum of 24 states.

Another insight was that Tinubu and APC lost states that many expected them to win — and still came first overall. He lost Lagos and Osun states in his home zone, the south-west. Even with sitting APC governors, Tinubu lost Kaduna, Kebbi and Kano — as well as Katsina, where Buhari came from. But Tinubu’s share of the votes was high. Atiku, meanwhile, has to navigate another obstacle: the possibility of northern governors and other politicians working against him because they too are hoping to have a go at the presidency in 2031. If Atiku wins in 2027, their chances would be snuffed out instantly. They may back Tinubu for a second term rather than forfeit their own future to Atiku.

By the way, I know it is still early days. My prediction of a Tinubu vs Atiku vs Obi rematch might be trashed if former President Goodluck Jonathan enters the race. Many northerners, even in the ADC, are of the opinion that the south should be allowed to exhaust its two terms so that power can return peacefully to the north in 2031. That is why Amaechi has promised to do only one term if ADC gives him the presidential ticket. Obi also promised same. Those who understand the power game will say you cannot stop a sitting president from gunning for a second term, even if he agreed not to. In that sense, the single-term

promises made by both Amaechi and Obi might not be enforceable.

And here is the irony: apart from Tinubu, Jonathan is the only southerner who cannot do more than one term but he did not respect the reported gentleman’s agreement not to go for a second term in 2015. This time, he is legally bound: he is not qualified to do more than another four years. The constitution allows an individual to be elected president a maximum of two terms.

Jonathan would have been barred under the 2017 amendment, which does not allow anyone who completed the term of a president to seek election more than once thereafter. But an amendment is not retroactive, therefore Jonathan’s time as inheritor of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s tenure will not count.

There are strong rumours that Kwankwaso wants to run or would love to be running mate to Jonathan.

This might explain his reluctance to return to the APC, of which he was a co-founder in 2013. The issue is: on what platform will Jonathan run? He is officially a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but the party is in disarray. And there are questions regarding Jonathan’s fire for the fight.

Moreover, the PDP is firmly in the grip of Chief Nyesom Wike, who is a minister in Tinubu’s cabinet.

Connect the dots. You can bet your last kobo that the PDP will not know peace until after the 2027 presidential election. There is a reason Atiku and associates left the party for Wike.

In sum, these are my initial thoughts as calculations and permutations build up ahead of what promises to be one of the most keenly contested elections in our history. Unlike in the past when we had a breathing space before one election and the next, we have neither slept nor rested since February 2023.

We started discussing 2027 even before the winner was sworn in. We can complain and grumble all we like, but the truth is that Nigerians are more excited about electioneering than governance — and our politicians were born to politick. I intend to feed this excitement with updates from time to time. As things stand, it is looking like a Tinubu vs Atiku vs Obi rematch. Fingers crossed.

And Four Other Things…

STREET FIGHT I have been very amused by the streetrenaming rampage embarked upon by council officials in Lagos state in the name of politics. Of all the challenges of rat-infested drains, pothole-filled roads and poor primary healthcare centres, their priority is renaming streets. While Mr Babatunde Fashola, former governor of the state, has advised the officials to respect the history of Lagos, my other worry is the stress residents now have to go through to update their addresses: BVN, NIN, driving licences, passports, letterheads, business cards, banks, etc. Google maps will be affected as well. This is what happens in a society where public office is held by characters who have no capacity to think. Jokers.

SKIRTING AROUND Justice Hauwa Yilwa of the federal high court has declared as unconstitutional the refusal of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to allow female corps members wear skirts.

Some women don’t wear trousers because of religious beliefs, and I must say I am surprised that the NYSC was still compelling corps members to wear them. The ban on hijab has been relaxed by many government bodies and I was happy when the Nigerian Law School was forced to comply in 2018. My opinion has always been that in a multi-cultural society, people must be allowed to express their customs and beliefs as long as they do not harm anyone. Skirts and hijab harm no one, in my opinion. Simple.

THE LOGIC OF BOGUS BUDGET FORECASTS

The difference between projected and actual revenues was 36% of actual revenues or 1.8% of GDP. These forecast errors affect all revenue sources but oil revenues are the main culprits.

It was only in 2016 and 2020 that oil revenues were higher than budgeted. IMF calculated the forecast errors here as 61% of oil revenues and 1.1% of GDP. The underperformance by oil revenue is attributed mainly to errors in oil production forecasts, with oil theft and losses and petrol subsidies playing supporting roles.

Notably, forecast errors used to be sizeable for non-oil revenues from VAT, CIT and Customs, but this is narrowing of recent though there are concerns about increasing deductions from net collections.

The expenditure side of the budget mirrors the revenue side. According to the report, the forecast errors here are also consistent, an average of 0.8% of GDP over the period. Here, capital expenditure is the main challenge, with forecast errors averaging 70% of actual capital expenditure.

That’s another way of saying capital expenditure underperforms on the average by 70%. Interestingly, the routine extension of capital budgets into other financial years have not helped much.

“Despite capital budgets appropriations being extended to the following fiscal year, giving rise to concurrent budgets, underutilisation is persistent,” says the report. “Underutilised capital budgets from the year can be extended to the subsequent year to allow MDAs greater time to execute on their capital projects. However, this comes at the expense of delaying implementation of the capital expenditures budget of the current year, suggesting that MDAs do not have the capacity to

execute both budgets simultaneously. This would suggest that forecast errors in one year have a snowball effect of generating larger forecast errors in the subsequent year.”

The study tracked fiscal forecast errors in Nigeria and 14 other countries. Nigeria, not surprisingly, has the highest scale of forecast errors as a portion of GDP. The report made a case for more credible budget forecasts in Nigeria and recommended, among others, the need to raise the profile and the capacity of the department charged with making fiscal forecasts, to undertake and publish regular performance reviews of forecasts, and to enhance political commitment to realistic forecasts.

These are sensible recommendations. But the IMF misses a trick by diagnosing this largely as a capacity or knowledge issue. To be sure, there might be some capacity dimension but that is not the core of the challenge. My sense, based on my work experience in the legislative and executive arms of government, is that there is an unwritten consensus to keep budgeted revenues and expenditures as bogus as possible. IMF may think that those who prepare, approve and implement the budgets do not know what they are doing.

On the contrary, they know what they are doing.

It is not inconceivable that they have done even deeper internal analyses but choose to maintain the status quo. Sometimes, political actors keep things that others might think are broken precisely because those things serve some unstated but important purposes.

I can think of two broad reasons why we consistently over-estimate revenues and expenditures. The first is the need to mask things

FLYING FALCONS Belated congratulations to the Super Falcons of Nigeria for their victory in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. When Morocco led 2-0 at half time, something told me it was not over. The Falcons had demonstrated graft and grit from the beginning of the tournament and it was nice seeing them complete “Mission X” with a comeback win to claim their 10th African title out of a possible 13. My compliments are, however, qualified: having watched the UEFA Women’s Euros simultaneously, I must say we have some way to go if we are to compete globally. And this should be our ultimate ambition, having convincingly conquered Africa. We must now step up our game. Challenge.

NO COMMENT The court of appeal in Owerri, Imo state, has declared that the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) cannot seize a driver’s licence or vehicle without a valid court order. The suit was instituted by Emmanuel Ugochukwu, a medical doctor, who said he was accosted

by FRSC officials in Umuahia, Abia state, in 2020. They demanded a bribe, he alleged, and he declined. They promptly accused him of traffic offences and seized his licence. “From a casual ‘find me something’, I had suddenly become a traffic offender,” he said. May I now suggest that the police should also sue the FRSC for copyright infringement. “Find me something” should be the intellectual property of the police. Hahahaha…

or to create a rosy outlook or an optical illusion.

I will illustrate this cultivated game of pretence with examples from recent budgets. For the 2024 financial year, the appropriated expenditure was N28.7 trillion, with a projected revenue of N19.6 trillion. We don’t have the budget implementation report for the whole of 2024. (This is one of the areas in which the quality and frequency of disclosures have fallen off under the current administration).

Nevertheless, it is probable that both expenditure and revenue targets were not met by the end of the financial year. As a matter of fact, the 2024 capital budget has been extended till the end of this year. There is enough suggestion there about unmet targets, aside the untidiness of it all.

But in the space of a year, we are hoping to bump up expenditure by 92% (from N28.7 trillion in 2024 to a N54.99 trillion in 2025) and to hike revenue by 113% (from N19.6 trillion in 2024 to N41.8 trillion in 2025). However, this is not as illogical as it appears. The increase in the amount and proportion of allocation to debt service needs to be disguised. Debt service, a hard expenditure, had ballooned from N8.27 trillion in 2024 to N14.3 trillion in 2025. Also, with recurrent (non-debt), another hard expenditure, at N13.5 trillion, there was no way the 2025 budget could just be about the same level as, or just marginally higher than, the budget for 2024 because statutory transfers and capital have to be funded too. A way to solve both challenges is a substantial increase in the 2025 budget. You don’t want debt service to be showing up as almost half of the budget or debt service and non-debt recurrent expenditure to account for 80-90% of the budget. So, increase the whole to minimise the significance of some

awkward parts.

Another deliberate pretence is the need to posture that we are spending more overall, especially on capital expenditure. An open secret is that capital component of the budget is usually the last to be released, and is usually released in bits and pieces and sourced mostly from borrowing. Over the time, and predictably, capital expenditure has been the most underperforming. But increasingly we have been allocating more in absolute and relative terms to capital budgets. In line with this masking fashion, the allocation for capital expenditure increased from N10 trillion in 2024 to N23.4 trillion in 2025 without any change in the implementation capacity or the process.

We need to evenly spread the make-up. So, the revenue projection would need to be touched up too (including by shooting up unmet oil production target of 1.78 mbpd in 2024 to 2.06 mbpd in 2025); and in taking care of this, we automatically keep the deficit pretty too. With a more than doubling of the revenue projection (from N19.6 trillion in 2024 to N41.8 trillion in 2025), then the deficit as a portion of the budget and of GDP looks presentable. (Recall that at a time, some parliamentarians trumpeted that the N13.08 trillion deficit was just 1.52% of GDP, falsely implying that Nigeria’s GDP had leapt to N860 trillion). It is a sophisticated game of self-deception, with many in on it. This deliberate, look-good game however is not without cost, as it inevitably translates to abandoned projects, soaring deficits and borrowing, poor service delivery, and declining trust in government.

Continued on page 14

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER $8*867 2025

38

with ChidiAmuta e-mail:chidi.amuta@gmail.com

ENGAGEMENTS

Whose President is Tinubu, Anyway?

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idway into a rather routine and very tepid presidency, President Bola Tinubu is caught in strange identity crisis.Politiciansfromacross the nation are asking the president to define whose leader he really is. The general public is equally embarrassed by what many see as an “anyhow “ government: no focus, no commitment, no clarity of policy and a harvest of adversity all over the land. Suddenly, no political constituency seems ready to claimTinubu as their own even as he tries desperatelytomakethingshappen.Toparaphrase his colourless predecessor, “I belong to no one …”, and apparently no one belongs to me. That seems to be the summation of the present state of Tinubu and his national constituency.

The presidential throne is literally on fire from every direction. The president himself is hardly loved by the populace. He lacks the charisma and personalelectricitytoattractthepopularsupport thatshouldalleviatehisfailings tobeglossedover and make his blatant sins forgivable. His actual performance on the job is below average. He has neither the intellectual depth nor the firm grasp of national issues and the way out to convince anybody that he has a higher interest than just the fancy title and the benefits of power.

An inchoate coalition of parties and interest groups is in the offing with an openly declared intent to oust Mr. Tinubu from his rent free quarters in Abuja. The regional interests are not disguised.The most consequential is a coalition of northern political interest groups. The entire northern political bloc seems to be united in the conviction that Mr. Tinubu’s presidency is not in theirinterest.Theycitethedecliningsecuritysituation which has rendered the region dangerous.

The roads are unsafe. Villages are being razed at will and their residents taken hostage routinely by a motley of bandit armies who have defied the agencies of national security. The farms are similarly no go areas as farmers can neither plant nor harvest freely except by paying huge tolls to bandits to get to their very farms. Nor can convoys of harvested goods and farm produce move freely through ambushes and road blocks mounted by bandits.

In a most unfortunate propaganda twist by the Presidency, the myriad problems of the Tinubu government are being blamed on the fact that he is from the south. Tinubu’s chief town crier, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, has just screamed out . For him, Mr. Tinubu is being troubled because he is from the south, a rather desperate but unwise twist to a clear personal political problem created by failings of the president himself. In other words, there is a northern conspiracy against Tinubu.

This silly divisive rhetoric is being erected to characterize an office whose principal aim is to unite a multinational country.Tinubu was elected to unite Nigerians, not to create and see regional adversaries in his self inflicted political problems.

Underneaththislazyandmischievousdiversion is the assumption that Tinubu’s policies are in the interest of the south. In other words, Tinubu is now being vilified for presumably placing the interests of the south over and above those of otherregionsespeciallythenorth.Whatnonsense.

The north has just organized a huge conference in Kaduna and ended up with a divided voice as to Tinubu’s precise political allegiance to the region that gave him most of the votes that installed him in Abuja. While the APC governors from the region insist that Tinubu has been fair to the region, the broad majority of free wheeling political agents from the region have disowned the man as a political traitor. Tinubu’s northern traducers point to an avalanche of grievances to make their point: Insufficient political appointments.Paucityoffederalgovernmentprojectsand a general alienation of the core northern political elite from the policy making machinery of the federal government.

As for the broad south, the picture is even more unclearandworrisome.ThestrategicSouthSouth cannot understand what hit them. Their voice in the Tinubu government is a mixed bag of a power drunk high and a thuggish low. The highs are Akpabio and the Wikes of this world and their variants. The lows are of course the Asari Dokubos and similar thugs. Until he passed on recently, the respected E.K Clark never stopped lamenting the relative emptiness and lopsidedness of the Tinubu government as it concerned the marginalization of both the South South and

˾ ÓØßÌß the South East respectively.

Tinubu’s matter with the South East is adifferentmatterentirely.Foramanwho as Lagos state governor ran an integral andinclusivegovernmentthatembraced a number of Igbos, the present total eclipse of the South East from national political life is scandalous.The alienation andexclusionoftheregionfromthecommanding heights of this administration has been heightened by a certain undeclared political hostility powered by the emergence and prominence of Mr. Pater Obi as the nation’s lead opposition figure.

From the presidential election of 2023 to the present, Tinubu’s body language and grassroots political footwork has driven a dangerous wedge between the Igbos of the South East and their Yoruba compatriots in the South West. At the present moment, the social media and the language of common discourse on the streets between both groups is dripping with hate and bigotry. No one knows where this will lead in the run up to the 2027 elections.

In Tinubu’s own South West, there is a discordant tune. The rest of the country has no doubt that whatTinubu is presiding over is a virtual ‘Yoruba republic of Nigeria’.Over98%ofthestrategicfederal appointments and still counting are filled with persons with Yoruba sounding names. These range from the highest positions in defence, security, finance, internalaffairs,oil,gas,internalaffairsetc.

AccomplishedYorubasonsanddaughters whohavesharedahighercommitmentto the noble values of inclusive nationhood are embarrassed byTinubu’s xenophobic and exclusive pattern of appointments.

And yet within the Yoruba world, there is loud grumbling thatTinubu’s definition ofYorubaland is limited to a choice of his friends from the Lagos circuit and the Ogun state axis from where he has appointed four cabinet ministers in flagrant violation of the federal character principle and the spirit and letter of the 1999 constitution.

Yet the preponderance of Yoruba sounding names at the top of all strategic posts of government leaves a permanent stench of sickening ethnocentrism and decadent political myopia.

Ordinarily, while expecting the President to have a more enlightened sense of balance and inclusiveness, most Nigerians will feel better if indeed key political appointments at the federal level minimally represent the broad spectrum of the nation’s diversity. In the present situation, the feeling of state capture by Tinubu on behalf of the Yoruba faction of the national elite is inescapable.

Matters would have been somewhat lighter to bear if indeed the appointees were giving the nation a sterling quality of governance. Instead, the Tinubu administration has run the Nigerian state aground. Performance of key sectors is at itslowestebb.Nationalsecurityisliterallyabsent.

Service delivery is nil while the welfare of the populace has been pulverized by an avalanche of taxes, thoughtless levies, tariffs and incoherent policy measures all of which have left a world of misery and increased poverty and frustration.

Arguably, corruption and lack of transparency is at an all time high.

Tinubu’s Yoruba world is not the universe of Obafemi Awolowo that combined the best technocrats and bureaucrats and even invited the traditional business acumen in the best Yoruba tradition to create a Western region which became a model region. Instead,Tinubu’sYoruba federal republic is a hopeless land of corruption, incompetence, mediocrity and epic lack

of capacity in all spheres.

This is not the first federal administration to include a sizeable number of Yoruba elite and technocrats at the top. President Ibrahim Babangida had Olu Falae, Ojetunji Abayode, Bolaji Akinyemi, Olikoye Ransome Kuti, Babs Fafunwa, Michael Omolayole, Tai Solarin, Wole Soyinka, Maria Sokenu and many other brilliant and accomplished Yoruba sons and daughters at the helm of national life and the team delivered sterling quality service to the nation.

I am personally troubled that Tinubu’s choice of Yoruba ‘best’ has devalued national service and now runs the risk of degrading the high standards that the world has come to associate with the Yorubas as a race. These people are associated with world class values, sense of equity, hospitality, accomplishments in science and technology, the administration of justice, democracy and the rule of law as well as art and culture. For this great civilization to be reduced now into the current Abuja rabble of office seekers, small thieves and pick pockets at the helm of the present administration is a crime that Tinubu should apologise to the Yoruba nation and ancestry for. No gravity of power grab can excuse this hubris by any standards. Indeed, Tinubu owes Nigeria an open apology for inflicting the worst stock of the Yoruba on the nation.

Tinubu’s current quandary as to his real national constituency may end in greater confusion unless he is ready to rediscover the source of his original sin and redress it. That original sin is that he has failed to rise to the lofty height of the nation, Instead, he has spent two years struggling to reduce a great nation to the limited size of his stature, vision and politics.

To discover his mission, Mr. Tinubu has to rise to the magnitude of his national canvass.

39

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER AUGUST 3, 2025

SUNDAYSPORTS

Edited by: Duro Ikhazuagbe email:Duro.Ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

Nigeria’s D’Tigress Snatch Victory from Senegal in Tension-soaked S’final Duro Ikhazuagbe

N

igeria’s senior women’s basketball team,

D’Tigress, defeated Senegal 75-68 last night in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire to move closer to winning the FIBAWomen’s Afrobasket title for the consecuWLYH ÀIWK WLPH 1R $IULFDQ WHDP has done this previously.

7KH VHPLÀQDO YLFWRU\ KDV H[tended Nigeria’s unbeaten run in Africa to 28 games, dating back to 2015. It has also lifted D’Tigress above Senegal who were the only other team in Africa to achieve feat of four consecutive wins.

7KH VHPL ÀQDO À[WXUH EHWZHHQ '·7LJUHVV ZKR DUH WKH ÀUVW African team, male or female WR UHDFK WKH TXDUWHUÀQDOV RI the Olympic Games and the Senegalese, was aptly dubbed “The Final Before the Final”.

And it lived up to the billing as the two powerhouses in continental basketball gave the game their all.

The Palais des Sports de Treichville in Abidjan came alive with roaring of fans on both sides, expecting thunder to strike.

The Ladies from Dakar raced to an early 11-2 lead within the ÀUVW WKUHH PLQXWHV RI WKH RSHQing quarter.

However, the reigning champions were not ready to let go their leadership in the continent, yet. D’Tigress PRXQWHG D ÀJKW EDFN JRLQJ on a 13-0 run to take a 14-11 lead before closing out the quarter ahead 22-17.

The second quarter was almost an even one with the Nigerian ladies winning by just one point, ending it 21-20.

Senegal however gave Nigeria a big scare in the third quarter, winning by a wide of 12 points at 21-9. That effectively put them at the lead with 58-52 score line going into WKH ÀQDO TXDUWHU Coach Rena Wakama’s break

UNBEATEN IN 28 GAMES...

Nigeria’s D’Tigress celebrating after their hard-fought 75-68 victory over Senegal to qualify for the final of the 2025 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.. last night

2025 AFROBASKET time talk rewaken D’Tigress.

They just left the Senegalese perplexed and not knowing what to do to stop the Nigerians.

A 23-10 score in the fourth TXDUWHU JDYH D ÀQDO VFRUHOLQH of 75-68 that ensured D’Tigress are on their way to playing in WKH ÀQDO DJDLQVW HLWKHU RI 0DOL or South Sudan who were inYROYHG LQ WKH RWKHU VHPL ÀQDO late last night.

Expectedly, 2019 Women’s AfroBasket Most Valuable Player (MVP), Ezinne Kalu, led the statistic on the Nigerian side, clocking 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Promise Amukamara was next with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists with Captain Amy

Napoli on Red Alert as Atalanta Reject Inter’s Latest Bid on Lookman

N

a p o l i have been placed on full alert after Atalanta UHMHFWHG WKH ODWHVW RͿHU E\ ,QWHU Milan for Ademola Lookman, according to Italian news outlet Corriere dello Sport.

Atalanta on Friday turned down Inter Milan’s bid of €42 million plus three million euros in bonuses.

By the way: Sporting Director, Manna, is discreetly observing the evolution of the Lookman situation after AtaODQWD UHMHFWHG ,QWHU·V RͿHU µ Corriere dello Sportreported.

“Before Ademola reached his personal agreement with 0LODQ 1DSROL KDG RͿHUHG D huge salary.

“The radars are active and we’ll see.”

Meanwhile, Lookman has said it is now “total war” against Atalanta after they rejected the improved bid

by Inter Milan, who are yet to decide whether they will VXEPLW DQRWKHU RͿHU Atalanta have insisted on their €50 million valuation of the Nigerian player.

Top Transfer Expert, Alfredo Pedulla, reported the latest transfer situation of the Super Eagles star forward.

here at the 2025 Afrobasket KDYH TXDOLÀHG IRU VSRWV LQ WKH 2026 FIBAWomen’s Basketball Okonkwo registering 15 points, World Cup qualifying tourna6 rebounds and 1 assist. On ments, which will take place in the overall, Senegal’s Cierra March next year.

Dilliard led the pack with 26 Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, and points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. South Sudan will join a group Meanwhile, the six-time of 24 national teams that will champions, Nigeria’s D’Tigress compete in four FIBAWomen’s DQG WKUHH RWKHU VHPLÀQDOLVWV Basketball World Cup 2026

qualifying tournaments.

Each tournament will feature six teams, and the tournaments will determine the 16 teams that will compete in the Women’s World Cup in Germany.

Brazil, Argentina, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Colombia will represent the Americas in the World Cup 4XDOLÀHUV

The European representatives are the 2026 World Cup hosts, Germany; the Czech Republic; Hungary; Belgium; France; Italy; Spain; and Turkey.

The tickets for the World Cup Qualifying Tournaments went to the following Asian and Oceania teams: Japan, China, Korea, the Philippines, New Zealand, and Australia.

Okon is Nigeria’s Fastest Man at World Championship Trial in Lagos

S

printer Israel Okon has become the new Men’s 100m National Champion at the 2025 World Championship Trials ongoing at the sports ground of the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos.

Despite the absence of defending champion, KanyLQVROD $MD\L WKH VSULQW ÀQDO lived up to the expectation DV WKH ÀQDOLVWV UDLVHG WKH tempo to the highest level.

Okon, popularly called “Alika” raced to the ÀQLVKLQJ OLQH LQ D WLPH of 10.04secs with a close chase by Alaba Akintola who placed 2nd in a time of 10.05secs while Fakorede tailed in third slightly with the time of 10.07secs. )DNRUHGH 1LFKRODV ÀQished 3rd in 10.07s, followed

by Seye Ogunlewe in 4th position with 10.09sec, Olaolu Olatunde 5th with 10.15, James Taiwo Emmanuel 6th in 10.16, Enoch Adegoke ran 10.20 for 7th placed and Igube ThankGod placed 8th.

Speaking after the race, Okon said he was happy to win his second title albeit ÀUVW P DIWHU ZLQQLQJ WKH 200m at the last National Trials in Benin, Edo State.

According to him, he is looking forward to the World Championship in Tokyo later in the year.

“I’m very happy right now to be the national champion,” he said.

“In Tokyo, anything can happen, anything is possible. Everything is possible here.

“I’m putting my faith in

my Coach, Coach Ken, I am ready to go for whatever he asks me to do ahead of the world championship.”

Meanwhile, world record holder in the women’s 100m hurdles, Tobi Amusan will UXQ LQ WKH ÀQDO RI WKH HYHQW today as curtain falls on the trials.

Amusan will also do the P ÁDW LQ WKH DEVHQFH RI )DYRXU 2ÀOL DQG D IHZ other top stars like Favour Ashe. No reason has been advanced for why the athletes skipped the World’s Trial.

Sprinter Israel Okon easily won the Men’s 100m event of the 2025 World Athletics’s Championship Trial 8n Lagos ...yesterday

Scott Nnaji Hails Talents in Zenith Bank Women’s Basketball League

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ormer D’Tigers Head Coach, Scott Nnaji, has praised Zenith Bank Plc for the sponsorship of the ongoing Women’sPremierBasketballLeague, in collaboration with the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF).

Nnaji, who was at the stadium to watch some matches of the 2025 league season at the Savannah Conference, currently taking place at the Indoor Basketball Hall, Package B of the MoshoodAbiola

National Stadium inAbuja, noted the emergence of numerous promising young players in the league.

He asserted that this trend is a positive development for the future of basketball in Nigeria.

1QDML XUJHG FRUSRUDWH ERGLHV DQG D΁XHQW individuals to follow Zenith Bank’s example by investing in domestic basketball, thereby supporting the growth and development of young aspiring players.

Price: N500

AUGUST 3, 2025 • T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

BACK PAGE LEAD PHOTOGRAPH

STRENGTHENING COLLABORATION...

L-R: Executive Council Member, WIMBIZ, Mrs. Yetunde Lape-Obrimah; Executive Director, WIMBIZ, Mrs. Omowunmi Akingbohungbe; Managing Director/CEO, Union Bank of Nigeria, Mrs. Yetunde Oni; Executive Council Member, WIMBIZ, Mrs. Bimbola Wright; and Partnerships and Membership Manager, WIMBIZ, Mrs. Nnenna Enekweizu, during a courtesy visit to Union Bank Head Office, Stallion Plaza, Marina, Lagos…recently

SIMONKOLAWOLE SIMONKOLAWOLELIVE!

simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com, sms: 0805 500 1961

Looking Like Tinubu vs Atiku vs Obi Again

T

he pace and energy with which President Bola Tinubu’s foot soldiers sped to Kaduna last week to defend his stewardship at an engagement organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation (SABMF) should confirm an obvious thing: that the president knows the importance of getting northern support again in his bid for a second term in office. Contrary to the manner some of his supporters have dismissed the weight of the opposition, Tinubu seems to understand that without key northern votes, he would not have been elected president in 2023, not with a core northerner like Alhaji Atiku Abubakar

Tinubu in the race. And it is evident he has since lost some mileage in that region.

Going by the history of our presidential elections, it is safer if two of the biggest three power blocs — the Muslim north, the south-east and the south-west — are substantially in your corner. They are called the “tripod” for a reason.

Other power blocs — such as the middle belt (Christian north) and southern minorities — are valuable contributors to vote tallies but they hardly decide the outcome, except in 1979 when southern minorities gave Alhaji Shehu Shagari the edge as the tripod fielded strong candidates: Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe (south-east) and Chief Obafemi Awolowo (south-west). Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim and Mallam Aminu Kano, both core northerners, gave Shagari

a hard time up north.

In 2023, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso hurt Atiku in the north-west. This helped Tinubu to win overall in the north, adding it to his south-west haul. He was perhaps the only southerner who could have defeated a homeboy of Atiku’s status up north given his political network, but the northern streets are no longer smiling. One big issue is the economic reform which has hit low-income earners, most of whom are northerners. Another is the disquiet over the pattern of Tinubu’s appointments, aka “Yorubanisation agenda”. Kwankwaso’s recent claim Continued on page 37

WAZIRIADIO POSTSCRIPT

The Logic of Bogus Budget Forecasts

A

recent paper by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirms that the revenue and expenditure projections in Nigeria’s federal budgets have been consistently and wildly off-the-mark. This is a notorious fact which is obvious to anyone who has been paying some attention to our budgets. The unvarnished truth is that the budgeting process has been reduced to a hollow ritual, and the annual appropriation acts, even when they are duly passed laws, are largely treated as mere

suggestions.

IMF rightly identified unrealistic forecasts as the reason for the material variations in our approved and the implemented budgets. But the organisation mischaracterises the consistently dodgy forecasts as errors. They are not errors.

They are deliberate features of the design. There is a logic to them and they serve some purposes, the reason why they have been sustained over many administrations.

Titled “Fiscal Forecasting Errors in Nigeria,” the July 2025 Selected Issues Paper by IMF

combed and compared Nigeria’s appropriation acts and budget implementation reports from 2011 to 2023. This analysis, IMF says, reveals “large forecasting errors …for a range of fiscal aggregates including total revenues, expenditures, and the fiscal deficit.”

In plain English, the IMF paper shows that (irrespective of the persons or parties in power) our actual revenues and actual expenditures have been far less than the amounts in the signed budgets; and our budget deficit, logically, has been more than we projected. This shouldn’t

surprise most people. But IMF is not just telling us; it is showing us the depth of it with data and charts extracted from official documents. It has also identified the drivers of the deviations and offered prescriptions.

Nigeria’s fiscal “optimism bias” manifests a lot on both the revenue and the expenditure sides of the budget ledger. The paper shows that we projected to get more revenues than we actually did in 13 of the 14 years covered by the study.

Continued on page 37

TUNDERAHMAN GUEST COLUMNIST

Yilwatda’s Strategic Election and the Daunting Task Ahead

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entawe Goshwe Yilwatda may not roll easily off the tongue or be instantly recognisable to many Nigerians. Its provenance is the Ngas ethnic stock, also known as Angas, in Plateau State, which produced the late Joseph Gomwalk, the first military governor of the defunct Benue-Plateau State. Yilwatda hails from Dungung, Kanke Local Government Area of Plateau.

Although Yilwatda, the newly-elected National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), cannot be described as a

political veteran, his journey in public service began in earnest when he was appointed Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Benue State in 2017, a position he held until 2021. His name further gained prominence when he became the APC’s Governorship Candidate in Plateau State during the 2023 elections, followed by his service as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction in the current administration.

Paradoxically, Yilwatda’s relative newness to partisan politics—unencumbered by political baggage—has become his greatest asset. His

emergence as the new APC National Chairman at the 14th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on July 25 in Abuja, following his unanimous endorsement to succeed Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, reflects a strategic political calculation.

Yilwatda’s election is significant on many fronts.

At 57, he represents a younger, dynamic generation of leaders. His election signals a deliberate move towards inclusivity, affirming the party’s commitment to integrating youth into leadership positions. Among APC’s past chairmen—from Chief Bisi Akande to Ganduje—only Yilwatda

and Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe fit this younger demographic.

Yilwatda’s emergence addresses the sensitive issue of religious and regional balance at the party’s top echelon. As a Christian from the North-Central zone, his emergence restores the original zoning arrangement, which had allotted the APC chairmanship to the region but was disrupted after Senator Abdullahi Adamu’s exit.

With his elevation, the North-Central’s rightful place has been restored.

Continued on page 14

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