My Blog

Category: Opinion

  • ‘Tinubunomics’, fuel price hike and market forces

    President Tinubu’s government appears to have committed the citizenry to biting the bullet, with the removal of fuel subsidy, all in its bid to rescue the nation from using its revenue to service a fraudulent subsidy regime.

    However, it is an encouragement for the operationalization of the Petroleum Industry Act 2022, to stimulate investment growth and transparent pricing model in the oil and gas sector.

    Though a painful choice considering the ripples on the economy, many analysts applaud the government, describing it as a modest approach by Tinubu and his economy team, with the resumption of fuel imports by newly licensed 56 oil marketing companies. 

    This, in our view, is another fraudulent and cosmetic quick fix, that successive governments’ feeble character established the monsters behind the fuel subsidy regime.

    Sadly, it was Nigerian masses that suffered, just as they are doing now under Tinubunomics opium that has put every citizen in a sidon look mode. 

    It was all the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) needed to, tactically hike the pump price of fuel citing ‘market forces’ or what economists regard as ‘market fundamentals’ to justify, free entry and exit in an economy based on the theory of supply and demand, alongside other vague eternal technicality that includes, price elasticity, marginal profit, marginal cost as well as equilibrium principles.

     Hence, the NNPCL made mention of market forces behind Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) price hike of N617 as against N537. Here, we want to be critical and avoid classroom theoretics, because clarification is necessary.

    Instructively, with recent development in global crude oil price hitting $80 per barrel and a move from previous shock and pandemonium of the Russia – Ukraine war outbreak which disrupted free flow of energy sources, as well as drastic reduction in imports of wheat and grain, iron and steel across the globe, has led to induced economic downturn, creating headline and core inflation.

    Those factors made several central bankers the world over to result in hiking interest rates and other tightening monetary measures. 

    The Nigerian economy was not spared from this global phenomenon with food inflation hovering over us as a nation.

    Again, the news of the NNPCL hiking fuel price didn’t come as a surprise, going by the prevailing circumstances around activities in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, that is opaque in operation and a cesspool of corruption.

    If Nigerians could recall, this same market forces played out under the Buhari administration. For instance, the defunct Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) now Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), was fixing PMS Price on a monthly basis on one hand, claiming it was doing price reduction.

    Suddenly, it said the price would reflect market fundamentals. And this happened in 2020.

    The Federal Government, through the PPPRA, announced a new fuel price regime.

    First, it was the reduced price regime from N145 to N125/litre that came into effect on March 19, 2020, followed by the government’s approval of price adjustment from N121.50 to N123.50 per litre of PMS. Then, again, there was the N141.80 to N143.80 per litre of petrol adjustment in June, 2020.

    Secondly, the  Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), said, “Going forward, pricing of the PMS will reflect market fundamentals,” in a circular dated Wednesday, July 1, 2020, to oil marketers, with PMS pump price being increased from N143.80 to N145 /litre. 

    It noted that the essence of “the price band was to ensure price efficiency that would be beneficial to both consumers and oil marketers, PPPRA will continue to monitor price trends and advise monthly guiding price for all petroleum products, based on prevailing market realities and other pricing fundamentals.”

    The excuse of then PPPRA now NMDPRA was the plunge in oil price occasioned by the outbreak of COVID-19 which slowed down global oil demand, with direct bearing on petrol, thereby pushing it to a level below the pump price cap of N145/litre. 

    With the caution that Nigerians should be ready to pay high or low prices for petrol following the price liberalisation scheme currently in place and that what we have in place is a market reflective pricing system,  the fact of the so called market forces increase in PMS (Petrol Motor Spirit) price from N145 to N151.56/litre; was that in reality,  fuel was being sold majorly between N161 to N170/ litre in filling stations across the country then.

    The import of the foregoing is to draw our attention simply to the action of the past, that same market forces, few years back, were used to exploit Nigerians.

    Presently, the landing cost of PMS is N565, and various prices across the country posit N588 in Lagos, N617 in Abuja, Port Harcourt N625, Kano N630.

    More so, from the aforementioned, it stands to reason that there is a glaring contradiction that would be creating controversy and confusion soon especially with the term, “market forces.”

    The crux of this piece is to deconstruct the ingenuity of market forces that the Tinubu government and NNPCL have so much put their hopes on to drive the pump price of PMS in Nigeria.

    Accordingly, price will naturally be adjusted to reflect a true picture of market force at any particular period, high or low.

    The question is how true the above statement is knowing full well that the so called market forces are hinged on supply and demand, anchored on the invisible hand of market forces, embellished in the profit maximization drive of global capitalism. 

    Regrettably, with the shambles and rot in the midstream and downstream sector of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, the government throwing the sector up into the risky and uncertain space and manipulative tendency of market forces leaves us with great concern.

    One great pitfall of market forces is its poor scientific outlook and dangers it will pose to our economy. The petroleum products marketers in this realm would be market forces.

    To this end, we are confronted with the following questions: Will the market forces not exploit consumers with arbitrary pricing and round-tripping of PMS? Would the market forces not create artificial scarcity of PMS? Will the market forces not put pressure on the naira? Will the market forces not join forces with forex speculators to sabotage, distort and deflect our foreign reserve? How would the uncertainty challenges of accessing foreign exchange be addressed?

    The way forward

    Firstly, if the government is serious about the deregulation of the sector, it is not by surrendering PMS prices to market forces that are predicated on free market capitalist economic principles, bedevilled with sharp practices and market manipulation, nor do we call for price caps.

    Secondly, repositioning the sector is to attract the much-needed investments in functioning refineries and pipeline transport construction in the country with incentives for investors in those sectors.

    Thirdly, the government should also avoid creating a situation where the market forces in PMS importation becomes a nightmare to CBN’s sustained and painstaking efforts to keep the naira stable.

    Lastly, we expect healthy competition among marketers that would enhance value for consumers without monopolistic structure that market forces normally throw up to kill a vibrant and competitive market, a cyclical feature of the free-market economy. 

    We must say here that market forces are primitive accumulators and maximum profit-minded. 

    *A Political Economist, Adefolarin A. Olamilekan, wrote this piece from Abuja. He can be reached at adefolari77@gmail.com or Tel: 08107407870

  • As eNaira advocacy gains momentum

    Nigeria’s Payments System trajectory started with Payments System Vision 2020 (PSV 2020) in 2007 with the objective of making Nigeria’s Payments System internationally recognised and nationally utilised. The transformation no doubt has been phenomenal.

    The phased implementation of the Vision and other developments in Nigeria’s financial landscape, including the pursuit of the Financial System Stability Vision 2020 (FSS 2020) has no doubt stimulated an exponential growth in commercial and financial activities.

    The rapid growth in the volume and value of financial transactions also became a huge source of revenue for the providers of payment services particularly banks and other stakeholders. 

    Among other benefits are fostering safety and efficiency of payment, clearing, settlement, and recording systems, promotion of financial system stability, speed of service and transactions, development of new lifestyle products, financial inclusion, etc.

    The growth has also significantly altered the risks associated with the payment and settlement of these transactions. However, as human economic activities crave for more sophisticated, efficient, and convenient means of exchange, so also is the urge to innovate.

    Thus, the advent of the electronic payments system in the Nigeria financial space became imperative. This crave has changed the mode of how people pay for goods and services, and is ultimately bringing in a larger number of the bankable segment of the economy into the financial net. It has also enhanced the Central Bank of Nigeria’s financial inclusion objectives.

    Globally though, electronic channels of payment are advanced, sophisticated, huge and a booming industry particularly in the developed economies and have attracted investments more than other financial services sectors, delivering the highest returns. These are the FinTechs.

    COVID-19, the global pandemic that wreaked socio-economic havoc in its wake also offered the rest of the world the opportunity to lock into that space.

    As economies locked down globally, electronic and virtual ways of conducting economic and social activities replaced physicality.

    Nigeria leveraged the auspicious occasion to fledge its bourgeoning electronic channels of payment. Countries in the continent, including Nigeria, during and post COVID-19, witnessed a quantum leap in e-payment transactions – mobile transactions particularly witnessed increased volumes to almost 800/900 million per day. 

    What fueled the surge, and adoption, is the huge infrastructure investment in FinTechs. It helped to advance and accelerated its usage.

    The vision of the Central Bank of Nigeria, envisioned in its financial inclusion agenda manual also greatly impacted its acceptance, gradually inching to the 85 percent financial inclusion target.

    The Nigerian economy as we all know is traditionally cash-based despite visible risks and cumbersomeness. This practice is typical of the traders and politicians, the narrative CBN foresaw and wanted to change. 

    The scenario played out during the Naira Redesign and 2022/2023 political campaigns. The intention was misconstrued. 

    The fulcrum of CBN payments system architecture was to encourage Nigerians to embrace a more convenient, cheap, and safe means of transactions, thereby saving the Bank the huge cost of replacing and reprinting misfit banknotes. 

    Thus, it was fitting to expand the e-payment landscape. That desire birthed the introduction and launch of Nigeria’s digital currency – eNaira, the first digital currency in the continent.

    The introduction was to cut down the emerging influence of cybernetic cryptocurrencies, gaining traction internationally, and in Nigeria.

    The emerging trend was considered not only inimical to the financial system but its stability. eNaira, the digital currency of the Naira banknotes is not to obliterate the usage or acceptance of the physical Naira banknotes, but to complement it. 

    A digital currency that provides a unique form of money denominated in Naira. eNaira is to serve as both a medium of exchange and a store of value, offering better payment prospects in retail transactions when compared to cash payments.

    eNaira has an exclusive operational structure that is both remarkable, and nothing like other forms of central bank money. It will foster economic growth by providing easy access to capital and financial services with potential to increase economic activities at low or probably at no interest transaction.

    Nigeria’s eNaira is also secure and cheaper for swift diaspora remittances, traceable, and with capacity to check illicit and fraudulent transactions.

    The CBN eNaira has the capacity to galvanize both local and international economic activities by making transactions not only cheap, safe, and quick, but better.

    It has impenetrable security features that cannot be compromised. And for the government, and other revenue generating agencies, even tertiary institutions, eNaira offers a veritable platform for collection of revenues and school fees, thereby reducing cash handling and incidences of theft and corruption.

    Recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria embarked on another phase of its sensitization campaign to tertiary institutions nationwide, organized CBN Sensitization Fairs in Bauchi and Gombe States, and attended the Chambers of Trade and Commerce organized Trade Fairs in Kaduna and Enugu to step up its sensitization and enlightenment of Nigerians on eNaira. The sensitization had also been held in markets and motor parks in Abuja, Lagos and some major cities in the country.

    The Bank has thus offered a veritable platform for the government to conduct all its transactions through the platform, and its banker, if it is committed to shoring up its revenue and fighting corruption. It will help the government in its efforts to block all revenue leakages.

    Even the private sector stakeholders are leveraging the platform to feather their businesses. 

    With the successes thus far recorded by Nigeria in the eNaira project, it was therefore not a surprise seeing some countries in the continent turning Nigeria into a pilgrimage to understudy the Central Bank of Nigeria for its adoption and operation in their various sovereignties.

    *Ademola Oyetunji writes from Ibadan.  

  • Sit-at-home order and enemies of Ndi’gbo

    Throughout human history, people who felt oppressed adopted different methods to free themselves. Aba women’s riot was one of those methods. Another was US Rosa Park refusal to give up her seat in a bus for a white person contrary to what was applicable at the time.

    In the case of Rosa Park, her action and the treatment she received galvanized the African American community and they boycotted the bus system and trekked or drove to work.

    The economic consequences to the bus company and the city were felt immediately and that resulted in canceling the discriminatory policy whereby an African American must give up his/her seat to a white person unless they were sitting in the back of the bus reserved for African Americans. The action resulted in a positive outcome for the oppressed people.

    Rewind to the current Sit-at-Home order adopted by our people to draw attention to the injustice being meted to our people and also for the release of Nnamdi Kanu. As noble as the idea of Sit at Home was initially, every fair minded nwa afor Igbo will agree that the idea has been hijacked by both external and internal enemies of Ndiigbo. The economic and social consequences have been disastrous for Ndiigbo.

    Ndiigbo are a mercantile people and any decision that affects our ability to maximize that comparative advantage is anti-Igbo. Any nwa afor Igbo that buys into forcing our people to stay home when they should be making money to feed their families is an enemy of Ndiigbo.

    We are now preaching Aku Ruo Ulo to our successful business people. How can we castigate them for not investing in Alaigbo and at the same time destroying or forbidding people to patronize them just about any time we get excited to show how powerful we are? Investments do not do well in a such environment.

    Closely related to the painful economic strangulation of Alaigbo are the social consequences. Is Sit at Home synonymous with the destruction of rural areas of Alaigbo?

    Last December when we came home for Christmas and New Year celebrations, we flew into Enugu on one of the days that they called for a five-day sit at home. When we landed in Enugu from Ethiopia, Enugu was bustling, and people were going about their business. On our way home, we went through Owerri (a longer distance) because Owerri people like Enugu people were going about their business.

    They said that if we had gone through Orlu, we may encounter people forcing the Sit at Home and that may be disastrous for us. Orlu, which should have been the second largest city after Owerri, has suffered huge economic dislocations despite its strategic location.

    Orlu is next to Anambra, a business minded state and close to Owerri Imo State Capital. While the Sit at Home is routinely being enforced in the rural areas, most of the major cities are now slowly going about their businesses. The social fallout is yet to be felt. Last Monday, a close relative was sick, and people could not go out to buy medicine because it was on Monday.

    They waited until the evening when people were allowed to go out before they could go out. What happens if this was a matter of life and death?

    If we do not want to see Alaigbo destroyed, Sit at Home must stop. A new method that will not penalize the people that we are trying to liberate must be researched and adopted. What is happening now is a system that has been weaponized by our enemy to destroy Alaigbo.

    The legitimate IPOB must see this as a challenge and mount serious propaganda to destroy the counter propaganda that has been deployed to confuse our youths. For Alaigbo to industrialize, there must be security and our enemies know it.

    If the legitimate IPOB is serious about stopping Sit at Home, they must deploy means to enforce it. The people propagating the illegal Sit at Home are using force, therefore the legitimate IPOB must use counter force. Our people are suffering too much.

    Let me close with what a friend sent to me when we discussed the one week Sit at Home order: “Bros, who is dishing out this notice. The information reaching me from the South East is that hunger has finally arrived and for them to add this notice to them is final Kwashiorkor”.

    *Amadiebube Mbama, is a Financial and Anti-Money Laundering/Anti-Terrorist Financing Expert and he writes from Atlanta.

  • Buhari, Emefiele and the murky waters of politics  

    Buhari, Emefiele and the murky waters of politics  

    A cursory assessment of the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari in all facets of socio-economic life was thoroughly abysmal, and a tragedy in the history of Nigeria.

    Nigerians, especially the poor masses, reposed so much hope in the retired Military General considering his touted integrity and he got their mandate based on his All Progressive Congress Party (APC) mantra, ‘Change’, as they hoped he would restore sanity in our socio-economic life, battered by the sixteen year misrule by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Nigerians expected a breath of fresh air from the general who once ruled this country but was removed through a palace coup.  His failed attempts on three occasions also elicited the massive votes he garnered in 2015. Prior to the 2015 electoral victory, his cultic admiration among the poor masses could not secure him victory until he formed an alliance with four political parties.

    A warning signal of what to be expected of his eight-year abysmal rule reared its head early in the administration when it took him six months to constitute a cabinet. But he warned on his inauguration day that he was for nobody. When eventually the cabinet was constituted, quite a few were recirculated and spent on politicians. He confessed he did not know many of them.

    Thereafter, he embarked on ethnic clothed appointments, eschewing federal character spirit as enshrined in the constitution. He ignored the public outcry for ethnic balancing. He became aloof, oblivious of what was happening around him. The political hyenas who knew his weakness took over governance. His illness over a considerable period also did not help matters, typifying a man who was not ready nor equipped for the task of governance.

    His appointment into key ministerial posts like Agriculture, Trade and Investment, Finance, (after the exit of Kemi Adeosun), Aviation and Health to mention a few were skewed. Until he left office, no meaningful trade and investment policy came out from the Ministry of Trade and Investment to drive foreign or domestic investment or create jobs.

    The Ministry of Agriculture became practically a sub-department in the Central Bank of Nigeria. The former Minister of Education even threw decency to the winds telling Nigerians that he knew nothing about the ministry when the President appointed him. We were therefore not surprised by his woeful performance. So also, were extra-ministerial agencies with mandates to formulate and execute fiscal policies, which went to sleep, bereft of what to do.

    It is often said that “when a fish is rotten from the head, what do you expect from the body”. The performance was lacklustre with non-existence supervision.

    Every appointee had to watch the body language of Mr. President before acting. Banditry reigned supreme all over the country and ravaged the food basket of Nigeria. The regime was unable to arrest banditry and criminality. The country was on autopilot.

    But there was an agency of government at the time who saw the morass and took practical steps to give the economy a lifeline – the CBN. The Bank, during the 8 years of President Buhari’s administration, was the only agency that worked.

    The Bank reeled out a lot of programmes which include the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), suspended 43 items from access to official forex windows to promote local production, and save needed foreign exchange.

    CBN made it possible for the country to become a net exporter of rice and Nigeria has attained near-sufficiency in wheat, fish and poultry, dairy products etc.

    Critical sectors of the economy also received support: Power and Aviation, education, health, among others. During the COVID-19 ravaging era when the economy of all countries was on lockdown, the Central Bank of Nigeria became the rescuer, deploying potent monetary policies to reflate the economy, and immunize it from collapse.

    It was its effort of rallying the private sector stakeholders, CACOVID, that pooled resources together to sustain the economy. At the time, the fiscal authority headed by President Buhari was clueless on policy options to adopt and save the economy.

    The Ministries of Trade and Investment, Agriculture, Health, Education were caught napping, groping, and unsure of what to do. The CBN provided leadership and resources, deploying targeted financial intervention to households and businesses. 

    To encourage repatriation of forex, the CBN introduced the Naira-4-Dollar scheme, 100 for PPP, and RT 200. All these were spearheaded by the suspended Governor of the Bank, Godwin Emefiele.

    Recently, Nigeria’s new President, Bola Tinubu, accused the CBN under Godwin Emefiele of engaging in rent-seeking and arbitrage through its policy of multiple exchange rate windows. He implied that the Naira Redesign and Swap policies were politically motivated.

    President Tinubu during election campaigns cried out that the policy was targeted at him. I am not sure Emefiele has been forgiven by the political elite for daring to contest the presidency of the country under the platform of the APC. The effort was frustrating.

    His Naira Redesign program was interpreted to be a vendetta against those who worked against his ambition. They forgot that Godwin Emefiele could not have unilaterally embarked on such a venture without the express approval of the former President. But when it mattered the most, President Buhari and his cronies left him to hang and dry.

    The Nigerian Secret Police, the DSS, went hunting for Emefiele, alleged of funding terrorism, but till the game lasted, the President did not intervene. It was rumoured that the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor came to his rescue by providing him cover but the respite was short-lived. Shortly after the inauguration of the new President, Emefiele was suspended from office, and arrested for sins yet to be made public.

    Emefiele may have naively fallen into the booby-trap of those who wanted him ‘killed’. Heeding the urge, as a sitting Governor of the nation’s apex bank, to join politics and vie for the post of the president was a misadventure.

    It has never been heard of an incumbent apex bank governor, globally, joining politics to contest elections. The move was what his ‘ambition killers’ wanted: the journey to descent and ignominy. His ill-fated political ambition beclouded the noble intention behind the Naira Redesign as stated in the reason for redesigning the banknotes last carried out over two decades ago, expanding the scope of payment channels and financial inclusion.

    Politicians like Samson’s Delilah in the Bible ganged up to frustrate Emefiele’s cash swap in cohort with bank chief executives to hoard the new banknotes thereby eliciting public umbrage. This marked a crack on his wall of laurelled career that enabled the proverbial lizard a free passage.

    Emefiele has had no one to help him in his present travail. His patriotic balloon spirit has been busted, with only himself to fight for himself.

    Lesson to be learnt in the Godwin Emefiele saga is that: if he had not probably made a foray into the murky waters of politics, maybe the Naira redesign exercise would not have been coated anti-politicians’ interest.

    Maybe they would not have hoarded the new banknotes to elicit public opprobrium against him. Even former President Buhari who gave approval for the redesign has warned that no one should call him out to answer any question except if the person wants trouble. No one to fight for him. Where then lies the so-called independence of the Central Bank?

    Godwin Emefiele may have made mistakes as a human being, but no one can fault his patriotism and passion for a better and stronger Naira, and Nigerian economy.

    Throwing away the baby with the bathwater will always be anathema to progress and economic development. National interest, always, should override personal interest.

    Is Godwin Emefiele getting punished for his audacious policies while at the CBN, or for intransigence into the murky waters of politics like Jonah in the Bible? 

    Time will tell.     

    *Chisom Adindu writes from Lagos

  • Condemning the extrajudicial killing of Kabir Okwo Bala and Atima Abdullahi

    Condemning the extrajudicial killing of Kabir Okwo Bala and Atima Abdullahi
    Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State

    The Murtala Yakubu Ajaka Gubernatorial Campaign Organization is alarmed by the official confirmation of the Kogi State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Akeem Yusuf that the extra-judicial execution of an All Progressives Congress (APC) Chieftain, Mallam Kabir Okwo Bala, and a housewife, Mrs. Atima Abdullahi by gunmen unleashed on the Ejule Community of Ofu Local Government Area in the early hours of Friday morning was masterminded by the State Government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello.

    We are indeed shocked that a Governor and the Chief Security officer of a state could plot the cold-blooded murder of citizens he had sworn to protect and defend on the altar of desperate politics.

    We are aware that the late Okwo was accused of several felonies by the state commissioner of police after his execution but we totally reject the use of these allegations rightly or wrongly as an excuse to kill a citizen who could easily have been arrested and prosecuted over the years if indeed the state government ever considered him a criminal.

    But it is worth pointing out that as admitted by Police Commissioner, Okwo was freed from prison in 2018 by Governor Yahaya Bello on the grounds that he was not a criminal but a political prisoner jailed by the PDP.

    It is therefore curious that after the invasion of Ejule last night during which his family house and several other properties were burnt down by state agents, Okwo was suddenly declared a criminal.

    But the dead man now declared a criminal was a regular guest at Bello’s Lokoja Government House where he was known to have been treated as royalty.

    Perhaps the Kogi State Government will be gracious enough to account to the people and the world how a man previously declared innocent and granted state pardon by the same Governor Bello degenerated into such heinous crimes to the point of engaging in gun battles with the Nigerian Navy more than one year ago, yet there was never any attempt to arrest and prosecute him.

    Rather according to the commissioner he had to be appealed to and pampered to release AK47 rifles he allegedly seized from the Navy in a firefight.

    The truth is that the plot for this extra-judicial Killing was hatched after the late Okwo openly renounced his support for Mr. Yahaya Bello in a now-viral video and declared he will not be supporting his candidacy in the impending November  11th Governorship Elections.

    It was only after this declaration by the late Okwo that thugs believed to be acting at the pleasure of the Governor invaded Ejule about two weeks ago and burnt down his hotel and valuable properties.

    We are also aware that the relationship between the Governor and Okwo first broke down during the Presidential Elections when he was led by Ajaka to support the election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu against the interest of Yahaya Bello who was reluctant as evidenced by the massive votes recorded in the Kogi East Senatorial District in Contrast to the Governor’s Central Senatorial District where the APC lost four of the five Local Governments.

    A few months ago, another friend of the government Shafiu who renounced support for Mr. Bello and declared allegiance to the PDP Senatorial Candidate in the last election Mrs Natasha Uduaghan was declared a terrorist and equally hunted down in Treadmore Housing Estate Lugbe Abuja and only escaped death because the PDP cried out.

    In late March supporters of Alhaji Ajaka including a retired Army Colonel and a lawyer were abducted by thugs of Bello enjoying the cover of compromised security personnel while traveling to Abuja and declared kidnappers and armed robbers.

    Bello’s track record for framing persons who are either opposed to or renounced his politics of violence is indeed legendary. The list is inexhaustible.

    We totally condemned this desperation and bloodletting which has become the hallmark of Mr. Bello’s politics in Kogi State and we appeal to the Federal Government to rein in this person to save the lives of citizens whose only crime is that they dare to exercise their democratic rights to reject him.

    *By Faruk Adejoh-Audu; Director, Communications, Murtala Yakubu Ajaka Gubernatorial Campaign Organization

  • Why Tinubu should set Nnamdi Kanu free, pacify Nd’Igbo

    Flipping through newspaper headlines this morning as I prepared to pen down this article, I read one of the headlines that said, “[President] Tinubu has said the right things so far, it’s now time to act.”

    Those same thoughts have crossed my mind, except that it wasn’t entirely correct to make those claims. This is taking into account, the fact that the president had signed about two bills and made only a few appointments. 

    For crying out loud, he had been receiving visitors and making some landmark pronouncements. Those were all part of the presidential drill.

    For me, it is in the face of negative vibes coming from elements like Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna state and the returned Speaker of Lagos House of Assembly, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa that I call, without mincing words, that President Bola Ahmad Tinubu should walk his talk about national unity by immediately setting Nnamdi Kanu free! 

    I make this call not because I am a fan of his. I also do not subscribe or endorse his approach to nationalist agitation, especially taking into account the insults and obscene words spewed against the nation and the values that unite us. Not the least is my abhorrence for the senseless loss of lives which his venomous diatribe has caused the nation, especially the same people of the South East that he claims to be fighting for.

    To put it as it is, it would not be out of place to assert that Nnamdi Kanu is a blight on Nigeria’s global image. But are we going to throw the baby away with the bath water? Or cut-off the head because it aches? 

    Certainly, such manner of deciding on a vexed national issue does not speak well of our dexterity in statecraft or national etiquette. Just recently, it was alleged that the petroleum subsidy regime had been corrupted. We all cried: withdraw it! Cancel it! End it! That’s not how serious people build their countries. Nation building is serious business that requires putting in the hard work. Not the most convenient way out.

    On the Nnamdi Kanu issue, a court of competent jurisdiction had made a judgement discharging and acquitting him. For that reason alone, setting him free is merely fait accompli. Doing so, sets President Bola Ahmad Tinubu apart from the others as a statesman rather than merely being a politician for whom winning the next election is all that matters. 

    Tinubu is a true democrat and a respecter of the rule of law who fought hard to enthrone the current era of sustained democratic rule. His antecedents speak volumes in this regard. It was therefore, especially for this reason that I listened to his Democracy Day address with bated breath, hoping to hear something so fundamental to tackle the current impasse in parts of the country where the people feel excluded from the governance of their fatherland. It didn’t happen.

    For the avoidance of doubt, keeping Mr. Kanu in jail against the judgement of the court is counter-productive and amounts to self-help. 

    May be it should be made clear, for the avoidance of doubt, that Nnamdi Kanu is not the problem of Nigeria. He is not the reason for the unrest in the South East. Every honest observer should be able to admit without much persuasion that Mr. Kanu is a mere symptom of a deep-seated national malaise rather than the cause of it.

    Otherwise, why did Sunday Igboho happen? Why did we have the Niger Delta uprising? Why was there a massive resurgence of separatist agitations nationwide during the second term of the ill-mannered President Muhammadu eight years of mal-administration? 

    To be honest, the past eight years had been an excruciating experience for many Nigerians, especially the minority tribes of the Middle Belt and even the Hausa and Igbo, two of the nation’s three major tribes. Those years were like a moment of textbook experiment in exclusionist governance.

    At the risk of repeating the obvious, suffice it to mention here how Nigeria as a country went through some of the most hellish sufferings otherwise free citizens could be subjected to in their own country.

    For many, his reign remains a very ugly past that it would be in the best interest of the country if the sleeping dog could just be allowed to rest. If for nothing, many Nigerians are still living out the pain of the past eight years and the wounds are yet to heal.

    Just so that whatever little efforts the current administration of President Bola Ahmad Tinubu makes can best be appreciated, it may suffice to summarize eight years of Buhari as possibly the most divisive era in the post-independence history of Nigeria, when the fault lines of the Nigerian nation were made most manifest. Under Buhari, the country witnessed unprecedented weaponisation of its national identities along religious, ethnic, tribal and geographical lines. 

    Insecurity heightened

    While the country gathered its bits and pieces shattered during close to a decade of resource control struggle by Niger Delta youth, Boko Haram terrorists launched out from the North Eastern fringes of the country, killing, maiming and raping while taking school children hostage for ransom. This sheer state of anomie was further compounded by the wanton destruction of lives and property by arm-bearing cattle herders who massacred local farmers and set the farms, produce and homesteads ablaze.

    At the last count, over 63,111 Nigerians were needlessly killed, while over 3.6million remain in temporary shelters as internally displaced persons. Even though this heightened state of insecurity predated the Buhari era, he failed to justify public confidence in his military background as basis for electing him twice as president. 

    After eight years (2015-2023), President Buhari handed over a financially broke country to his successor, leaving behind a distraught populace and public debt in excess of N77trillion.

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has also inherited a nation divided along ethnic lines where President Buhari’s governance style constituted a major impetus to the feeling of alienation. As a result, some of the ethnicities that felt excluded sought self-actualization. This feeling escalated hitherto, mild centrifugal forces that are still manifest. 

    Coupled with the acute state of misery that was occasioned by poor economic governance and the fantastically corrupt Buhari regime, the people need urgent measures to heal their pain. 

    Addressing the South East Neglect

    For the people of the South East especially, the most neglected of the troika, government needs to address their grievances and grant them the opportunity to heal. The powers that be should take deliberate steps to aid their proper integration into Nigeria. 

    Just like that? Not so easy, I hear some as saying. But why not?

    What makes the Biafran situation to be different from the Niger Delta case or the case of the people of North East? Absolutely nothing. President Bola Ahmad Tinubu should not therefore, allow this opportunity to fritter away like his immediate predecessor would do. After all, like the rest of us, Nd’Igbo too, desire a pleasant surprise!

    To be pleasantly surprised is good. Good things they say happen to those who wait. Therefore, the hallmark of good leadership is being able to pleasantly take your people by surprise and make them happy.

    Our immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari, even though a military general was not gifted in the art of springing sweet surprises. He was this somber, taciturn killer joy of a grandpa. I recall his days as Head of State between 1984 and 1985. Whenever he was on TV to address the nation, most of what you would hear were, ‘blah, blah, cancelled, postponed, scrapped or abolished’. 

    It was during one of such TV appearances that he announced the abolition of subsidy on students’ feeding in Nigerian universities. You can only imagine the demoralizing impact of that change of policy on some of us, indigent students.

    Even during this last coming too, President Buhari exhibited the same lack of charm and charisma. Notoriously referred to as “Baba Go-slow”, the former President was taciturn and preferred to be second-guessed. Many close to him merely had to labour to read his mind by observing his body-language.

    Nigerians are very outspoken people. We are loud, positive minded assertive individuals who love to relate and have each other’s’ back. 

    Our brand-new President Bola Ahmad Tinubu, the Jagaban Borgu truly reflects who we are. He is bold, courageous and audacious. He is fun-loving and like the Yoruba that he is, finds it quite easy to rock a few dance steps on the impromptu. Going by the multitude that mill around him, Tinubu is the nectar that attracts the colony of bees. 

    Leaders should be people who like to do good. Individuals who love their people. A leader should be someone who operates based on the primary spiritual law of doing onto others as you would wish to be done to. Like the late Elder Statesman and Dan Masanin Kano, Alhaji (Dr.) Maitama Sule would pray, “I keep praying that we may have good leaders. Leaders not rulers. May God grant that we may have rulers who have the fear of God.” 

    In the views of many, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is such a leader who has compassion for the people he leads.

  • Ray of hope as Gov Inuwa mounts the NSGF saddle

    “If you possess the stuff of a champion, you can’t stay too long in the abbys of the minnows”.

    The above aphorism is a terse formulation of a truth that captures the fate of Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, CON, when his colleagues across the northern region unanimously elected him to chair the highly influential Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF).

    Governor Inuwa took over from the immediate past governor of Plateau State, Simon Bako Lalong, with effect from May 29, 2023. The former chairman of the forum had, while handing over to the new chairman, said Governor Inuwa was elected to chair the NSGF in view of his experience, sterling leadership qualities and commitment to good governance.

    That Inuwa was unanimously accepted to lead the governors from Northern Nigeria under the auspices of the Northern States Governors’ Forum is not fortuitous at all. It was a deliberate consensus of a people who have come to recognise the sterling leadership ambience of the man who shines in tandem with the slogan of his state, Jewel in the Savannah.

    The Gombe governor has been consistent in terms of performance. He has been outstanding in political dynamism. He has been persistent in the delivery of quality projects that have drawn the binoculars of writers and historiographers to Gombe State across the globe. He has become an epitome of political altruism. He stands shoulder high among political promise keepers, and among nobilities he is a super power. All these attributes cannot be overlooked.

    The governors from Northern Nigeria are, therefore, not toying with the destiny of this great zone in anyway. They needed a man that is capable of taking the region to the next level of infrastructural advancement.Yes; in Inuwa they found worthy treasures. The Gombe governor has crossed the threshold of history in governance and performance. and he is creditably recording superlative achievements in his State to merit the historic position.

    Inuwa symbolises tangible hope, palpable progress and capable leadership. With him in the saddle, there is now a new horizon of industrial transmogrification of Northern Nigeria. Under the chairmanship of the Dan Majen Gombe, I see the North shining so brilliantly as the true Northern Star.

    While taking over the mantle of leadership from Lalong, Governor Inuwa did not mince words when he said, “We will work hard to ensure that we catch up with the rest of the country, possibly with the developed parts of the world so that our people will feel the impact of good governance we all pursue”.

    He also said that the NSGF will continue to work with past leadership of the forum in order to consolidate on the gains so far recorded to properly place it on the smooth trajectory of social cohesion, economic emancipation and infrastructural development.

    Governor Inuwa Yahaya expressed delight with the commencement of drilling activities in the Lake Chad Basin which has brought to three drilling sites in the North, including Kolmani in Gombe and Bauchi as well as the one in Nasarawa State. He assured that the forum will see to the actualisation of the exploration of the large oil and gas deposits in the North for the benefit of the people.

    Inuwa is a born leader who does not joke with his beat at all. He may look unassuming, but he’s a serious minded personality who cannot stand mediority. He has no patience with non-perfomers.You have to be downright hardworking and finicky in your delivery of assignments to earn membership of his team. He thinks on his toes and philosophises upstairs about the best option always and settles for it.

    If you look at the rapturous applause Inuwa Yahaya has been receiving, with awards for quality output, you cannot but agree with the governors from Northern Nigeria that they have found a worthy leader in the Dan Majen Gombe. Afterall, governance is all about people and what their needs are. Inuwa stands so tall at the roll call of promise-keeping governors in Nigeria.

    Like a performance generalissimo, Inuwa always has a chart handy where he keeps gazing at the list of promises he made to the electorate. He keeps all and stick to delivery timelines.

    Talking about development and infrastructure, Inuwa Yahaya has a ready blueprint that any state in Northern Nigeria will gladly love to replicate. When the issue of stopping nomadic herdsmen’s movement across Nigeria came to the national fore, Inuwa Yahaya was the one who went to the presidency and put down Gombe State’s 144,000 hectares Wawa-Zange Grazing Reserve as a panacea for the debacle.

    His infrastructural pursuit is worthy of emulation. In Inuwa’s Gombe, all the eleven local government areas have at least a hundred kilometers of road network under the Network 11-100 Project. The ease with which people and goods move in Gombe State is quite fascinating.

    He initiated a 10-year Development Plan for Gombe State, the first in the 26-year history of the state called the Jewel in the Savannah. He itemized the timelines for attainable landmarks and put capable individuals in charge of each task, monitoring them like a farmer monitoring his very first harvest.

    Go-Health is an initiative that brought quality healthcare to the high and low in Gombe State. Governor Inuwa’s exemplary execution of the COVID-19 programme and subsequent commendations by WHO and UNICEF merited his invitation to the world acclaimed Chartham House to share his Universal Health Coverage with the whole world. Under him Gombe now boasts of three specialist hospitals and 114 functional primary healthcare centers among other healthcare facilities.

    His education and public service reforms are huge.

    GOINVEST, the first ever investment summit in Gombe State, has turned the Jewel in the Savannah to investment destination at the moment. Both local and international development partners and investors are falling head over heels to have a taste of Nigeria’s investment bride.Yes, you can say this about Gombe State without equivocation.

    Gombe State has won Nigeria’s Best State in the Ease of Doing Business award back to back, in 2021 and 2023. You can do your business with a modicum of equanimity, requisite business speed and expected pace.This is an empirical evidence about Gombe State.

    Talking about safety, Gombe State is the safest in Northern Nigeria at the moment. The topography of the state is such a scenic picturesque which also serves as a security buffer against unwanted intruders. This is an advantage for the peaceful Gombe.

    Gombe State is blessed with the Kolmani Oil project which Governor Inuwa Yahaya worked tirelessly to see that Muhammadu Buhari flagged off during his tenure.Gombe has oil that can benefit Northern Nigeria.

    What is more, under the focused, dynamic and dedicated leadership of Inuwa Yahaya, the Dadinkowa Hydro Electricity Powerplant stunted for over 40 years was commissioned in the last week of the Buhari administration. Power generation into the national grid and its cascading effects among the states in Northern Nigeria have received a big boost by the commissioning of the Dadinkowa Power Plant. Gombe is indeed a beacon of hope for the northern states.

    Most importantly, the industrial revolution going on in Jewel in the Savannah cannot be overlooked. The 1000 Hectares Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park is an industrialisation bravado whose chain reaction in employment and development of the region cannot be overemphasised.

    The choice of Governor Inuwa Yahaya for the position of Northern Governors’ Forum chairman is therefore a good vehicle on a smooth road. A beautiful destination is in sight for the Northern region.

    • *Misilli writes from Gombe

  • Memorial lectures and the development of Idomaland: talk or action?

    Development is one theme that has always been a front burner in global issues. It has even gone further than just development, to sustainable development. And the seriousness of the issue has underscored the promulgation of two United Nations (UN) programs: the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which ran from 2000 to 2015, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) presently running, from 2015 to 2030.

    The aim of both Programs is the overall appreciable rise in the standard of living of humans, encompassing the elimination of poverty, disease, and crises, as well as engendering global inclusiveness, longevity, and gender equality as some of its objectives.

    Recently, the Ochetoha K’idoma, the foremost socio-cultural organization of the Idoma people of Central Nigeria, organized the Chief Ogiri Okoh Memorial Lecture, an annual event (in honour of their first Paramount Ruler) meant to discuss salient issues of Idoma interest.

    This 2023 edition had the theme Strategies for Sustainable Development of Idoma Nation: Perspectives on Framework and Stakeholders’ Synergy, and was very ably delivered by Engineer Dr Okopi Alex Momoh, an intellectual who, no doubt, knows his onions.

    In his well-articulated paper, Engr Okopi used the Vision Statement for Idoma Nation, a document resulting from a 2013 Development Conference which dealt with “Framework for Conference Planning, Discussions, and Post Conference Implementation Strategies” as his departure point to lucidly bring out the expected level of development in Idomaland by the year 2030.

    The 2013 Conference, which was held at the Double K Resort, Otukpo, was organized interestingly by the Idoma National Forum (now OCHETOHA K’IDOMA) under the leadership of Engr Dr. Okopi Alex Momoh. More interesting is the fallout of that Conference, which was the promulgation of the CHIEF OGIRI OKOH MEMORIAL LECTURE series, with the inaugural one taking place on 30th May 2014, delivered by Prof Tony Edoh, titled “Politics and Development in Nigeria: The Contributions of Minority Tribes and the Need For Political Power Balance.” Between then and now there have been five other Lectures, bringing to a total of seven so far.

    Engr Okopi Momoh went to memory lane to trace Idoma development efforts with the formation of the Idoma Loving Union by our elites in Lagos in 1936. Others that followed included the Idoma Hope Rising Union and Idoma Development Association which established Idoma Community Secondary School in Otobi-Akpa in 1973.

    It is difficult to point at any other Idoma organized successful Project since then, which brings us to Engr Okopi’s query why Idomaland should be this behind in development indices despite the fact that “The Idoma Nation is endowed with high caliber human resources and a good collection of dynamic youths with great development potentials.

    ” One cannot disagree with Engr Okopi that the Idoma Nation has produced sons and daughters who have made indelible marks to the development of Nigeria, be it in Politics, the Military, Academia, Industry, Sports, etc. When vast fertile land, and untapped but profitable natural resources are added, then Dr Okopi is rightly perplexed that “… Idoma Nation is still grossly underdeveloped, with low agricultural productivity, unexploited natural resources, people not economically empowered and politically marginalized in Benue State.”

    Engr Dr Okopi calls this a great paradox from which he pushed forth his thesis in the rhetorical questions “Is there nothing we can do as a people? Is it impossible for us to come together, think together, talk together and work together in synergy to develop the Idoma Nation?

    I dare say we have been coming together, we have been thinking together, we have been talking together. We met and talked on 12th June 2015. We met again and talked on 27th May 2016. We still met and still talked on 26th May 2017.

    Then we met again on the 25th of May 2018 and, again, we talked. As if fed up with our meetings and talks, Covid19 came in 2019 and held us hostage until 2021 when we again met on 23rd April, and talked some more. But we have NOT been working together the way we have been meeting and talking. There probably lies the broken link.

    It is pertinent to note that Engr Dr Okopi Alex Momoh not only identified our problem but also advanced solutions. In addition, he provided an actionable template with specific timelines indicated.

    Brothers and Sisters of Idoma Nation, The Time To Act Is Now!

    Between May and end of September 2023, Ochetoha K’idoma, led by AVM Tony Adokwu (rtd), and the Idoma Area Traditional Council should have laid a solid foundation for the transformation of Idomaland, to the glory of God and the benefit of our children yet unborn.

    Going by the blueprint provided by Engr Okopi (which can be tinkered with as necessary), a Program Implementation Coordinating Group should have been appointed by now. June is set aside for Constitution of Elders Council to advise HRM Och’Idoma; Identification and Adoption of Sectoral Leaders; Organization and Registration of village Community Associations into a common body at the Ward level, with their administrative structure under the oversight of the Ward Chairman.

    Activities for July include Formation of Professional Associations; Constitution of Economic and Social Council; Formation of Coalition of Idoma NGOs; Organization and Registration of District Development Associations under a common body; and Registration of organized District Associations into Local Government Council Development Associations. And August should be the period to take Comprehensive inventory of development needs by Districts and Communities; as well as Inauguration of the Councils, Professional Associations, various Working Groups and Development Associations.

    In September, 2023, the Strategic Development Master Plan (for first five years) would then be developed.

    Engr Okopi Alex concluded his holistic presentation with a charge to all Idoma people to quit the ‘siddon look’ (watch from the sidelines) syndrome and take action. And in tune with what Chief Godwin Odumu Obla, SAN, has been agitating, Dr Okopi is also saying that “If we cannot get the political power, we should create the economic power for ourselves. With the economic empowerment, we can dictate the political process to our advantage.”

    It is time to see how serious we can be for once!

  • Between Saint Obi’s marriage and his death…

    By Zik Zulu Okafor

    Photo combo of late Saint Obi and his wife and children

    His social life was blunted. Perhaps by his reticent disposition. His persona, two dimensional. To a distant public, he was upscale and cool. His manly bearing spoke loud. His onscreen image ironically amplified some idiosyncrasies; heroics, romantic adventures and traits that did not gel with the mortal privacy that eerily define his quiet and lonely life.

    Saint Obi, real name, Obinna Nwafor, was shy, almost bordering on timidity and insecurity. He cherished the pleasantly tranquil interactions among a few friends. He would vanish at any outburst that could upset the poise of such small meetings. As he repeatedly told me, he just wanted to live a cool, quiet and fulfilled life. But, has he lived this cool and fulfilled life he envisioned? I have my doubts.

    I tell Saint’s story here with painful tears in my eyes; because he was a star, a superstar whose life turned out a gleam of irony. Yet, it was this stardom that fetched him his much-professed financially strong and powerful wife. And their wedding, that solemn ritual of love would drastically alter the cause of his life and tragically yank him off the creative community that threw him up for the wife to capture and indeed conquer.

    Their marriage was at best a dramatization of love. It was quick. He barely told us that he found a wife. Then, the marriage happened. It was something of a mystique, only those involved understood the histrionics that played out. None of us who were his closest pals, who walked with him through the crucible to the crest of his career in Nollywood, none of us was invited. The distance between us and the guy I admirably called Saint of the Storm had begun. This gulf would widen with each year. We saw him perhaps once a year after this marriage.

    And life actually seemed to have given him a fair shake of the dice. He dressed well, drove big cars and even his skin, in literal lingo, spelled wellness.

    The Saint would be blessed with three beautiful children. But not on one occasion were his friends in Nollywood invited for a christening or birthday. We were told that his wife was of the topmost hierarchy in telecom giant, MTN. But even if their celebrations were designed to be a rendezvous of the elites of the technocracies that his wife chiefly belonged, you expected that Saint would reach out to a few of his fellow creatives, for even if they would herald his small beginnings, there could be no tinge of shame to it because we all have our journeys and our stories. And even at that, the actor or cineaste in Nollywood is by no means poor.

    But more tragic is the fact that his marriage did not only take away Obinna from his friends, it took him away from Nollywood. Saint stopped acting, and absconded from his career and perhaps his calling.

    It would seem prognostic now. Yes, because I recall leaving my house in Lagos Mainland for his massive office in Lekki, Victoria Island, Lagos. It was about six years ago. There, I demanded to know why my friend abandoned our industry. He told me with his usual shy expressions that he wanted to focus on some other businesses and also to work behind the camera. Because his visage was unconvincing to me, I told him in stark terms, that whatever his new vision and pursuits, he must not abandon the trade that made him who he was.

    It took another three years for Saint to return to his homies. But when he did, some of the deeply disappointed ones sniggered behind him. This was because the simmering rumors of cracks in his marriage had hit home. And though secretive in his ways, he knew it was time to open up. And he did. “I do not know why my wife’s siblings see me as a gold digger. They confront me, harass and fight me in my own matrimony. And my wife did nothing to stop them. I work hard, I earn my money. I have never depended on my wife “, he lamented, eyes blurred with tears. You could tell he was in deep pain.

    Linda Saint-Nwafor, late Saint Obi’s wife

    By the next visit, the Saint returned with a deep cut from a knife on his left eye. His wife’s brothers, he said, scaled the wall fence of their house to attack him. They were captured by hidden closed-circuit television, CCTV, installed for surveillance and security, he revealed.

    He reported them at the police station and subsequently acquired a gun to defend himself. This effectively marked the beginning of the end of his marriage and perhaps Saint Obi’s long walk to a sad end. He moved out of his marital home to a new house to begin the reconstruction of his destiny, alone without his wife and worse still without his three beautiful children.

    Meanwhile, his wife went to the police to defend her siblings using her financial power to manipulate the cause of justice, Saint stated unequivocally. The wife also sued for divorce, not in Lagos, but in Ogun state. As Saint put it, “It was to make the journey difficult for me. But I will not bend neither will I break. I will fight with my last blood to take custody of my children. They love me and they know it will be hard for me to live without them.

    Divorce is not an issue. My marriage has long been over”, he said with a mix of courage and a quaky heart that betrayed his distress.

    About mid-last year, however, Obinna took ill.

    But he told no one. He simply became scarce. He was in and out of the hospital, we would later learn. He sold two of his three big SUVs to take proper care of his health and to acquire six Camry cars he’d use for Uber. But his vanishing health continued unabated. He seemed to have a premonition of his own passing as he wept repeatedly about not seeing his children. He emaciated. Life took a grim picture.

    When I saw him by chance in January 2023, the dude called Saint looked 15 years older than his age. His macho cut had shrunk. His fat wallet was gone. What was left was only his fat will. His eyes seemed lost in their socket. This would be the last time I would see him.

    Saint snuck out of Lagos to hang in with his sister in Jos. He told no one.

    But a month ago, in April precisely, the once delightful actor who brought joy to many a home broke his icy silence. He called our mutual friend in US to give him a devastating message. He was on a deathbed, he said and wanted our friend to pray for him.

    “It’s not looking good, pray, pray for me”, he appealed passionately.

    His next call came on May 1, 2023. This time to his mentor, the man who made him a star with his productions, Zeb Ejiro, OON. He told him with a wavering voice that he had had three surgeries but was still in hospital in Jos. He averred again that his situation was not looking good, that he is also in a deep pain, distressed that he could not see his children. But still he begged him not to tell anyone about his ailment. Such was the life of this creative hermit, a lonely trouper.

    I was the first to hear the news of his death late on Sunday, May 7. Having confirmed it, I called Zeb Ejiro. “

    I have very bad news my brother, Zeb “, I began. “What is it, what is it? “, he asked anxiously. “A big star has fallen in Nollywood “. Zeb broke down in tears. I hadn’t said who it was. But sobbing helplessly now, he said, “Don’t tell me it is Saint Obi”.

    Sadly, he was right.

    May his soul find peace.

    * Zik Zulu Okafor, veteran journalist, Nigeria Media Merit Award Winner and multiple award winning filmmaker wrote from Abuja.