My Blog

Category: Opinion

  • My Advice to My Fellow Nigerian Diaspora Baby-boomers and Empty-Nesters

    My Advice to My Fellow Nigerian Diaspora Baby-boomers and Empty-Nesters

    Happy Easter to everyone. I just popped in on this platform after over two months of hiatus. Sadly nothing seems to have changed. Tinubu bashing still lives on supremely. My advice, don’t make your judgement about Nigeria based on the hyperbolic shenanigans you read on social media. Before I am misunderstood and misrepresented, let me state clearly that Nigeria remains a poor under-developed country it has been for a very long time. So if you are comparing Nigeria with the U.S, UK or Canada or whichever country to reside in, you are still living in lalaland. Yes, Nigeria is no Nirvana but neither is the country you reside in. Every nation has its own fair share of shit. We are now seeing that sons of the countries we used to lionize have more shit than we ever imagined.

    Having made that clear, many of us in the diaspora who haven’t gone home in a long while might not recognize their streets when they return home. While many of us are here moaning and gripping about how bad life is in Nigeria, your community is being transformed with redevelopment. The mud house facing the street where mama Mukaila used to sell moinmoin has been bought probably by an Igbo brother. Mama Mukaila’s husband whose body was buried in front of the house has been exhumed and reburied. In its place a glittering glasshouse grocery store is now booming with customers. This is happening particularly in the southwest which has become the safe haven for our Igbo brethren and other Nigerian ethnicities running away from the insecurity in their villages. Dangote has staked almost his entire investment nest egg in the southwest not because he hates his Fulani homeland but because he sees value in it. While we are running away from our homeland and complaining how terrible the Nigerian system and institutions are, foreigners are coming in and finding opportunity in the high risk low reward Nigerian business ecosystem and thriving.

    “My advice, especially with the level of xenophobia in the U.S. and across the globe, and the fast nature of life abroad and our children doing their own thing, getting old in this place with no backup plan back home is a fool’s choice. Your retirement nest eggs will go further outside of this place. By the way, even your American born colleagues are spending their retirement years japaing to low cost South America and Europe. Why shouldn’t you make your own back-up plan.“

    Challenge and opportunity are two sides of the same coin, if you focus too much on the one side and do not flip it over, you will be seeing only half of the movie. Yes, Fulani herdsmen and kidnappers are still at their nefarious business, yet the Lagos-Ibadan express is no longer just littered with mega churches but with mega industrial parks. Warehouses and manufacturing outfits. Someone is building them and they don’t have two heads.

    The force of market competition is now gradually controlling fuel prices and many independent oil marketers who used to manipulate supply to gouge people during oil scarcity will soon have to merge with big marketers or be squeezed out of business. Long lines at NNPC stations which used to wrap around sometimes for miles because NNPC used to have the cheapest price are long gone. I remember people parking their car overnight at NNPC stations but no longer. You will not read that story on your WhatsApp fora.

    The arrival hall into Nigeria used to be our national embarrassment with disorderliness reigning supreme, well that has changed. While not yet perfect, the arrival hall is slowly becoming a national pride. The escalator still runs a little faster than necessary but you might be shocked how smooth the immigration check-in has become if you hadn’t been home a while. While Nigerian airline agents have not totally stopped their shenanigans about weighing passengers luggage, even the check-in process has improved.

    Yes, youth unemployment, insecurity, grinding poverty, our dilapidated public schools and large mass of unschooled children remain huge challenges and the ever widening gap between the rich and poor is now wider than the Gulf of Mexico. Yes you read me right, it is still called the Gulf of Mexico by the sane rational world. But there are signs of progress if you take your blinders off and shut down your WhatsApp forum for a while to regain your sanity.

    President Tinubu is no Midas who can turn rubble to gold. His government is not without the the usual Nigerian political shenanigans, but slowly, methodically and without making noise Tinubu is restructuring Nigeria institutionally. He is doing so with local government autonomy, the proposed tax bill, and recently the setting up of regional development authorities for each of the six geopolitical zones. If we now fail as Nigeria to take hold of the new opportunities presented by local government autonomy to hold those who collect the monthly allocation for our villages accountable, the shame is on us. Ditto for the regional development institutions. Rather than sit ten thousands miles in another man’s land throwing stones at your homeland, go home once in a while and visit your village. The country you live in is no paradise on earth. If in doubt listen to your local evening news on your local TV stations. How many people got shot today in Chicago, Miami or Philadelphia? If you a visitor would you not be too scared to venture outside yet we all go about our daily lives. Nigerians are doing the same back home, making lemonade out of lemon.

    Many of us armchair critics who see nothing but hell in Nigeria will be shocked if in a few years, we find Nigeria unavoidable. Our saving grace is still the favorable exchange rate. With the way our man in DC is running this place and the decimation of our 401k, that advantage might not last forever.

    Nigerians celebrating Diaspora Day

    My advice especially with the level of xenophobia in the U.S. and across the globe and the fast nature of life abroad and our children doing their own thing, getting old in this place with no backup plan back home is a fool’s choice. Your retirement nest eggs will go further outside of this place. By the way, even your American born colleagues are spending their retirement years japaing to low cost South America and Europe. Why shouldn’t you make your own back-up plan.

    Our folks back home are not sitting idly, complaining. The uncle who keeps telling there is nothing to return home to in Nigeria is living in his own house, no matter how modest it is. Many Nigerians in the diaspora can’t compete with many of our classmates back home and not all of them are corrupt politicians.

    Those who enjoy bashing Tinubu can do so. Remember eni ba fi Oju Ana woku Nigeria, Ebora a bo laso. Some of us need to go home and smell the roses and stay off the negativity of WhatsApp fora.

    Ire o.

    Adewale Alonge, PhD, Founder & President, Africa Diaspora Partnership for Empowerment and Development. www.adped.org, writes from Dadeland, Miami, Florida

  • Poster Boy Alabi, Police and criminal enterprise

    Poster Boy Alabi, Police and criminal enterprise

    By: UGO ONUOHA

    THE Nigerian Police exhibits the features of a criminal enterprise. Every such business or group shows characteristics which enables it to operate effectively often without being caught by the law. In broad terms every criminal enterprise has organisational structure, hierarchy, chain of command, and division of labour. It also engages in illicit activities, generates revenue, usually dark money, extortion, money laundering, and it exploits vulnerabilities of individuals, businesses and institutions. A typical underworld business maintains secrecy on what it does, uses deception to distract, and has mastery of code of silence.

    Firms or institutions that are into shady dealings do not hesitate to deploy violence and intimidation or the threats thereof to maintain control and discipline. They are also usually nimble so as to quickly adapt to changing circumstances, laws, and law enforcement strategies. Criminal enterprises are adept at bribing and corrupting everything in their way, infiltrating legitimate institutions either to launder money or to gather intelligence. As may be needed they apply influence peddling to shape policy or decision – making. Any country that has a sizable number of criminal enterprises operating within its borders is damned. And any society that is grappling with state agencies that have turned into rogue or criminal enterprises is doomed. Sadly, Nigeria falls into this later category.

    Almost all strata of  enterprise Nigeria is a criminal set up. The executive arms of  government at all levels are studies in perfidy and all that they should not be. Across the Nigerian state and at the centre, the legislatures do not exist in reality as co-equal branches of the government. They are tied to the apron strings of the governors in the states and the president in Abuja, respectively. The judiciary is no better. The Supreme Court is leprous. It’s the same spectacle down to the lowest rung of courts. Justices and judges and magistrates now publicly cavort with, and receive favours from politicians, armed robbers and con artists better known as 419ners. A former chief justice of Nigeria enjoyed lavish banquet dates with notorious politicians while he was the CJN. In fact he once publicly and unabashedly promoted and supported the fractionalisation of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). While still the CJN he gave thumbs up to five PDP governors that worked to sabotage their party to benefit his kinsman who was a candidate in the then upcoming 2023 presidential election.

    The current CJN, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun appears not to be overly concerned about how she’s perceived by the public. On October 21, 2024, she was loud in Abuja in the company of one of the loudest and controversial politician who is the federal capital territory minister, Nysome Wike, during the sod-turning ceremony for the construction of some housing units for judges in the territory. Until recently, that was not a common sight. Judges were virtually hermits in Nigeria in the past. In spite of themselves, judges studiously avoided such outings and sundry social gatherings even those organised by family members and acquaintances simply to avoid the perception of bias in their judicial functions. Not any more. Judges now frequently attend public social functions including owambe parties as a badge of honour, and status conferor. The other arm of the federal government, the national assembly (NASS) also reflects its leadership. It was in the public domain that the Senate president, Senator Godswill Akpabio, who is presently bersmiched with allegations of sexual harassment by his colleague, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, was dogged by allegations of fraud and potential trial in court before he was ‘head-hunted’ for the senate presidency. Until recently Nigerians didn’t know that the senate ethics committee is led by a man reported to be a fugitive from the law in the United States of America.

    So, Nigeria’s senate is headed by a man with so much baggage to contend with. The judiciary by a woman who is alleged to be on a no-visa list of a super power, and who has no qualms in being found in the midst of a loquacious and controversial politician. For the headship of the executive branch, the compelling narrative will be the one offered prior to the 2023 election by a dyed-in-the-wool critic of presidential candidate, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Reno Omokri. He wrote on twitter on March 28, 2021 that: “The 2023 packaging of Bola Tinubu, a man of: Questionable name, Questionable wealth, Questionable education status, Questionable age, Questionable state of origin, Questionable US record, Questionable parentage, Questionable sobriety, Questionable religion, and Questionable hygiene”. Reno (Rent) Omokri has since become a turncoat which is legitimate. Only a dead person does not change his or her mind. Reno’s may be like Saul’s on the Damascus highway. And Reno’s reward may soon be handsome if the rumour mills are to be believed. Mr. Reno Omokri could soon become His Excellency, Ambassador Reno Omokri, Nigeria’s ambassador or high commissioner to wherever… Don’t worry about the message we could be passing to our children about rewarding scoundrels, turncoats and scammers. And people who do not really believe in anything.

    If Nigeria is in a bad shape it’s because “mmiri siri n’isi gbaruo” or the stream was muddied from the fountainhead. As the Good Book says if the foundation be faulty, what can the righteous do? Every state institution has turned rogue. The armed forces whose generals steal monies voted for the foot soldiers, and the rank and file who are moles for Boko Haram militants and other terrorists. The judges who brazenly pervert justice and of whom the poet, Niyi Osundare, asked where he would keep their bribe money for them. Operatives of the directorate of state services (DSS) and other security agencies who pick up government critics on the whims but are incapable of locating and apprehending terrorists and bandits who regularly flaunt ransom monies on the social media. The Customs officers who allow goods into the country through our entry ports, and then go to the highways to mount roadblocks to seize the same wares or extort their owners. Customs even takes it further – they raid markets, shopping malls and vehicle arcades to impound ‘contrabands’ or legitimate imports with alleged duty underpayments. Such seized goods are rarely accounted for.

    Perhaps, at the top of Nigeria’s rogue institutions is the Nigeria Police Force (NPF). It takes a hardened criminal agency and brigandage to do what the police have been trying to do after they were caught in their framing, detention, and attempt to prosecute a minor for armed robbery. Quadri Alabi was the Poster Boy of Peter Obi presidential campaign in 2023. The picture of his pose in front of the campaign convoy of Obi in Lagos captured the imagination of the country, nay the world. For doing that Alabi’s world was turned upside down. Earlier this year, some street urchins connived with the rogue police in Amukoko area of Lagos to put Alabi, 17 years, in jail. It took a whistleblower months to expose the crime by the police. But the police have a handful in activist and lawyer, Inibehe Effiong. After springing Alabi from our criminal justice system, Effiong gave it to the police last week. He wrote: “Our attention has been drawn to a false and provocative statement issued by the Lagos state Police Command in which the Command unsuccessfully attempted to mislead the public on the fabricated case they initiated against Quadri Alabi. The statement is not only laughable, it is ridiculous. It is embarrassing to see the police spread disinformation and fake news about an innocent Nigerian child.

    “Nigerians will note that in our previous statements, we disclosed that our client was abducted by two ‘Area Boys’ named Lege and Baba Waris while he was on his way home from work and dumped at Amukoko Divisional Police Station. These same Area Boys and their cohorts have been harassing our client since 2023 in their effort to extort “their share” of the donations made to him after he stood in front of the convoy of Mr. Peter Obi. In its statement, the police claimed that Quadri was arrested in connection with street fighting. They also claimed that some properties were damaged, and that some persons were also robbed. According to the police, Quadri was identified by some people in the community and by the victims. First, we wish to restate that Quadri is not 18 years old as mischievously parroted by the police. He is 17 as contained in his birth certificate and attested to by his mother. He was born on the 29th day of September, 2007. Second, Quadri was not involved in street fighting and did not rob anyone, he also did not damage anyone’s property. Third, there was no time that our client was identified by any victim of the alleged crime. The police should tell the public when and where the identification was done and the method used. How was Quadri identified by the alleged victims when no identification parade was conducted as required by law, given the alleged offences were said to have been committed at about 10pm?

    “Fourth, the police in their statement said that our client was arrested, but they failed to state who exactly arrested him and the place he was arrested. Their silence on these key points is quite revealing. Sixth, the so-called casemates of Quadri are adults who are not known to him. The police failed to disclose the relationship or connection between Quadri and the four adults who were remanded along with him. We should also state for the records that the police had detained Quadri for about a week in the police cell before unlawfully taking him before a magistrate for remand. It is the law that once the permissible constitutional limit for detaining a suspect has passed, a subsequent order of remand cannot cure the infringement. It is preposterous…that the Lagos State Police Command rather than exude remorse, has chosen the ignoble path of doubling down on its act of perfidy, shamelessness, lawlessness, and utter contempt for justice and the truth”.

    The police have been caught, they should stop digging. They will be better served if they use their time to prepare to meet Alabi in court through his counsel Inibehe, and to prepare to contest the demand in tens of millions of Naira in compensation. In the meantime Nigerians should be alarmed at the deterioration of their police. How many Quadri Alabis have the police wasted using the country’s criminal justice system? How many?

    Ugo Onuoha, Veteran Journalist, was Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, Champion Newspapers Limited

  • 75 bouquets for  Maurice Iwu

    75 bouquets for  Maurice Iwu

                                                    

    By: Andy Ezeani

    In the wake of the 2007 general elections and the strident criticism of the polls by opposition parties especially, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who won the presidency, made a terse admission and conciliatory statement, that the polls through which he just got to office, were not perfect. That, ordinarily, was not an earth-shaking declaration, considering that no election ever claimed perfection. That statement did become a very convenient axe, however, waved furiously by all those who were ready to quote Yar’Adua. Interestingly, none of those who easily referenced Yar’Adua on this score, was willing, or fair enough, to acknowledge that the man never said that he did not win the election. Indeed, no other presidential candidate ever laid claim to being the winner of the 2027 presidential election, imperfect as it may have been.

    Enter Professor Maurice Iwu, then chairman of the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC), at that critical juncture in history. Iwu never said the election he conducted was perfect. He did say something, however, which got opposition politicians raving. In the heat of the passion in those who felt worsted at the polls, Prof. Iwu declared, boldly and somewhat defiantly, that if the presidential election was conducted ten times over, in the prevailing political environment of Nigeria at that period, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would still win. More hell was let loose from the corner of critics, but that was, and still remains Prof. Maurice Iwu. He holds on tenaciously to his conviction and he hardly backs down. The passion of that moment did not allow many to appropriately understand the man’s argument. It took a while before many, including those who savaged him earlier, came around to appreciate Iwu’s thesis, which became a spring board for subsequent political development.

    In the first decade after democracy was restored in Nigeria in 1999, as the national political system, PDP was not just the ruling party, it was a behemoth of sorts. The gap between the party as the ruling party and all other parties combined, was unassailable. PDP was dominant in every other zone of the country, but one. That was what Prof. Iwu noted and pointed out that the opposition parties, contending individually, could only generate noise, but would never win, except they pulled together. PDP would always trump them, even if elections were held donkey times. The truth was evident, but as one of the critics asked, why should Iwu say it?  

    Prof. Iwu was appointed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission in May 2005. He had served briefly as a National Commissioner in the Commission, before being appointed Honourable Chairman. Prior to joining INEC, Iwu had gained global renown as a scientist, in the area of pharmacognosy, with many global scientific laurels to his name. He had his early education at Christ the King School, Aba and St. Pius X College, Bodo, Ogoni, River state. He proceeded, subsequently, to the University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom,where he was educated to PhD level.

    He was, at various times, a World Health Organization (WHO) visiting scholar to the Dyson Perrins Laboratory, University of Oxford (1908), Fulbright Scholar at Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio (1983), senior Research Scholar Award winner at the U.S. National Research Council, Washington DC (1993-1995), Vice President, Research and Development, Tom’s of Maine, as well as member of the board of directors, Axxon Biopharm Inc, USA. In 1999 he won the US National Research International Prize for Ethnobiology.

    He had part of his rich professional career at the Division of Experimental Therapeutics of the highly regarded Walter Rees Army Institute of Research, Washington D.C, where he was a Senior Research Associate. At the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he was a professor of Pharmacognosy

    Not unexpectedly, Prof. Iwu brought a remarkable spirit of innovation to INEC. He not only elevated the place of technology in the electoral process, he totally overhauled the electoral systems management, leaving an abiding imprint at the election management body.

    Standing to the credit of Prof. Iwu’s tenure at INEC is the Electoral Institute, which he established. TEI as it is commonly known, has become the hub of research and documentation at INEC. He not only established the Institute, he presided over the acquisition of the exquisite building in central area of Abuja which houses the institute. His foresight in acquiring the structure when INEC under him, did that, speaks for him now. Iwu also introduced the use of National Youth Service Corps members in the electoral process, using the young citizens on national service to replace ad hoc staff from the open society, an arrangement that had become quite problematic, as politicians exploited the old order to push their supporters in as ad hoc staff.

    Under Iwu also, electronic registration of voters was introduced. He ushered in the era of Direct Data Capture, that for the first time captured finger prints of registered voters and added images to voter’s cards. INEC under him partnered with Chams to establish a voter’s card production facility in Abuja. The idea of a permanent voter’s card matured only after he left office. In his effort to foster a better relationship with political parties as stakeholders in the electoral process, Iwu promoted a common body of political parties, what came to be known as Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).

    On the administrative level, Prof. Iwu as Chairman of INEC fought and won a free hand for INEC to appoint its secretary, who is the head of administration of the Commission. Until Iwu’s advent, the Federal Government used to second a senior permanent Secretary to function as Secretary of INEC. He found that awkward, knowing that such a secretary can only owe his or her allegiance to those who appointed them. Perhaps, by far, one of Iwu’s most impactful accomplishments for INEC, outside the knowledge of the general public, was the establishment of what is known as INEC Fund, a financial management arrangement that enabled the Commission to exercise relative financial control over its funds.

    It is interesting, that while for many politicians and critics, Prof, Iwu’s tenure at INEC is essentially seen from the prism of debate over whether the 2007 presidential election was perfect or imperfect, inside the electoral commission, Iwu remains something of cult hero. His bonding with the personnel of the Commission, cemented by his innovations and premium on staff welfare obviously hold out  great  fulfilment for him.

    In June 2010, Iwu completed his five-year tenure as INEC Chairman and left office. One year after, in 2011 another general election was held, not by Prof, Iwu, but under another Chairman. Once again, the PDP prevailed. Then, the opposition parties that took umbrage at Prof. Iwu’s statement in 2007, remembered that Iwu had said that unless they joined forces, PDP will continue to win. The opposition parties faced reality and got themselves to forge a common front. The rest is history.

    Has there been any acknowledgment by the godfathers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of the source of the idea that culminated in the formation of the common front by opposition parties, which ultimately resulted in the toppling of the PDP? Certainly none. Against the backdrop of where Nigeria has found itself, it is seriously debatable, though, whether it was a good or bad idea, to have sown the seed that eventually brought the country to its current pass.  

    In the years after his management of Nigeria’s electoral process, Prof. Maurice Iwu has settled back into the ambience he is used to. He did not waste much time to return to research and production of natural health products that promote wellness, in the face of   the onslaught of several synthetic health products. He was also appointed into the board of Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals. As president of Bioresources Development Group (BDG), Prof. Iwu is also actively involved in promoting national policies that seek to accord due recognition to natural products and medicine, as a viable approach to achieving a healthy society.

    Some years back, an incident occurred at Atlanta International Airport in Georgia, USA, which, reflected the name Professor Iwu has made for himself. At the immigration point at one of America’s busiest airports, an official on duty, on receiving Iwu’s passport, took a double look at the passport, called out his name and said in an unmistakable American tongue,” for real?”. Then he followed it up with a rhetorical question. ”Is it the Maurice Iwu?  The much Prof. Iwu could offer was that he was Maurice Iwu. The gentleman offered a very warm welcome, satisfied, as it seemed, that he met ‘the Maurice Iwu’.

    That Maurice Iwu, otherwise, Professor Maurice Mmaduakolam Iwu, eminent research scientist, former Chief Electoral Officer of Nigeria and a philanthropist, turns 75 years today, April 21 2025. It surely, has been a fulfilling, eventful life. He often smiles through challenges, but hardly leaves unsaid that which he believes he must say. Here are 75 bouquets for Professor Maurice Iwu. He has lived an impactful life. Thankfully, his hands are still on the plough.

    • Andy Ezeani, columnist, was a newspaper editor and head of the Publicity Division at INEC
  • ‘Seyi tell your papa country good well well’

    ‘Seyi tell your papa country good well well’

    By UGO ONUOHA

    Two years, in the next two weeks, into the regime of Nigeria’s president, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, losers of the 2023 presidential election who contested against him, as well as those who fiercely opposed his suitability for the presidency ab initio, are not letting go. They have tried everything in the books to distract our dear ruler without much success. At the presidential election tribunal in 2023, they threw everything at him including accusing him of forging his name, his university certificates, claiming an alumnus of schools he never attended, and being involved in cocaine deals in the 1990s. None of the mud thrown at him stuck. The venerated justices of the Supreme Court (never mind that some ignoramuses who do not know that the law is an ass prefer to call it Supreme Cult) ensured that nothing untoward happened to the widely accepted candidate, a man after the hearts of a majority of Nigerians at that time, and even up till today. The justices demonstrated that they were heads and shoulders above our revered justices of blessed memories including Kayode Eso, Chukwudifu Oputa, Alfa Belgore, among others.

    Those bent on destroying our country ensured that Tinubu was fully distracted with multiple litigations in the United States’ law courts after Nigeria’s ‘Independent’ National Electoral Commission (INEC) correctly and courageously awarded him the presidency after a fair, free, and credible election which was devoid of any controversies. Both domestic and foreign election observers had in a rare unanimity given the conduct of that poll and the result it produced a clean bill of health. Though the result of the election was declared in the wee hours of March 1, 2023 (about 4am), in spite of the fact that the INEC had assured a few hours earlier that collation of the same result will continue on the same March 1, Nigerians still managed to pour out onto the streets of the country, from the south east, south south, south west, north central, north west and north east, to celebrate Tinubu’s win a few minutes after 4am. Nigerians celebrated his victory like drunken sailors, and gave kudos to the electoral commission for the conduct of the freest and fairest election since 1993. And since that spontaneous celebration two years ago, it has been an unbroken chain of celebrations because the man over whom Nigerians rejoiced had kept faith with his campaign promises to turn the fortunes of the country around, arrest its economic decline, provide enabling environment for employment especially for the youths, stabilise the value of the Naira, tame the galloping inflation, tackle insecurity head on, stop the industrial scale theft of our crude oil, and give corruption a bloody nose. In less than two years, the living standards and conditions of Nigerians have been on a rapid rise, and these have been making our people heady with pride. The ugly tagging of Nigeria as the poverty capital of the world has since been erased. If our country is no longer the poverty capital of the globe because of the relentless war on poverty by the crusading Tinubu regime, do not ask me which country inherited the odium from us. I am a patriot. I do not care. I am only interested in my country. You should also not bother. For once on this issue, you should be a patriot. I am determined to speak well of my country. You should also.

    But in spite of a series of victories by Tinubu’s regime since it came to office in a landslide and popular mandate of a cross section of Nigerian voters two years ago, and despite plaudits from international agencies including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, JPMorganChase, Standard & Poor’s and similar patronising institutions and credible voices on the wonderful outcomes of Tinubu’s rewarding reforms, the enemies within are still not giving up. They are determined to ignore the beneficial effects of the reforms on the lives of Nigerians, and continue their unpatriotic and egregious efforts to undermine the extant regime. How much more evil can the opposition be? And other undiscerning countrymen and women. After failing in using propaganda to besmirch this phenomenally successful regime, the opposition has now resorted to the use of a pernicious tool. The option which the opposition (real name: enemies of the state) has recently adopted and deployed will make the regime look bad no matter how it reacted or responded.

    Bad act Abdukareem Eedris, has been recruited by the opposition to paint our hard working president in unflattering hues. Eedris masquerades as a music producer, writer, songster and political activist. You can see mischief in one nondescript man combining all these attributes. The only thing, to the best of our knowledge, that has brought him fame and fortune (in my considered patriotic opinion, notoriety actually), is that he writes songs which are rightfully promptly banned by the government. It does not matter whether the government was formed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) or the current ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). You couldn’t have forgotten his 2004 ‘Nigeria jaga jaga nonsense song that was summarily banned by Olusegun Obasanjo who was the president then. How could a sensible adult be writing lyrics for a song twenty years ago and claiming that our country was a ‘sh’thole’ at a time that the country was actually an Eldorado. To put it mildly and politely, Eedris said at the time that Nigeria was a country with no rhyme and no rhythm. And that it was drifting. How could he? Was he also among the prophets as was asked of King Saul in the Holy Bible thousands of years ago. Obasanjo was a retired general of the Nigerian army before becoming a civilian president. He did it the army general’s way: he banned the song. But he did not go the whole hog- he did not ban Eedris from making music. Ever again. In hindsight he should have.

    If Obasanjo had banned Eedris from his proclivity to write and produce and broadcast vexatious songs which bear no relationship to the lives of Nigerians, Tinubu and his team would not now be left with contending with the notoriety of Eedris and those who may be tempted to copy him and follow his annoying and irritating footsteps. It would appear that Eedris smiled to the banks after Obasanjo banned his ‘Nigeria jaga jaga’ non-song. That would only be the explanation for what emboldened him to wax his recent song titled ‘Seyi tell your papa country hard’. Seyi is one of president Tinubu’s adult children who identifies as ‘Nigeria’s First Son’. His sister also parades herself as ‘Nigeria’s First Daughter’.

    In his latest provocation Eedris said that Nigeria has become a hell hole. He claimed that life has become short, nasty and brutish. Is Eedris for real? He even had the gumption to instruct the ‘First Son’ of the federation to relay his made up bad news to his father. In centuries past and in some jurisdictions, the appropriate punishment for Eedris’s impudence would be a date with the hangman. But I know for a fact that if Tinubu were to be an emperor in that long gone era his good nature and his milk of human kindness would not have allowed him to put Eedris to the sword. Such is the extent of the kindness and the soft nature of our dear ruler. But Eedris and his co-travelers should not underestimate the capacity of this regime to do things that will ensure regime preservation.

    It is down to Tinubu’s concern for the masses of our country that he rolled up his sleeves from the get-go to reverse the enormous damage done to Nigeria’s economy by his party-man predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, who turned out to be Nigerians’ nightmare in the eight years of his presidency. Tinubu demonstrated uncommon courage by removing petrol subsidy on May 29, 2023- his first day in office. He achieved two things or even more with that masterstroke. He put more money in the coffers of state governors who have used the additional inflow to improve the lives of their people. Secondly, that move made queues at our petrol stations to disappear overnight. Yes, petrol prices initially shot up but they have since normalised. And Nigerians are now grateful to Tinubu because petrol is now affordable and easily accessible. Eedris must be living on another planet for not seeing what our dear leader has achieved in this sector.

    Has Eedris not noticed that the initial inflationary pressures exerted by that patriotic removal of petrol subsidy by Tinubu has since moderated with inflation racing down towards a single digit? If the president did not remove the subsidy Nigeria would have been bankrupt long before today. We wouldn’t have had a country to call our own. Imagine what would have become of the ‘giant of Africa’ as we affectionately call ourselves. In addition, can’t Eedris at least acknowledge that the surfeit of cash for various tiers of our government has ensured that we have stopped piling up offshore loans for future generations of Nigerians. If Tinubu did not stop petrol subsidy when he did we would have been borrowing and behaving as though borrowing was going out of fashion. Even if Eedris will not, I will give it to this regime that the monies saved from yanking off petrol subsidy has empowered the regime to adequately fund and train our security forces to combat insurgents, terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, and sundry felons. ISWAP, Boko Haram, Ansaru, and the like are on their back foot because of the winning streaks of our security forces. It takes an implacable enemy and a loud mouth like Eedris not to see the positives in this patriotic and people-centred regime which is working its socks off.

    The good news extends to the Naira which massive devaluation has been the best thing to ever happen to Nigeria since sliced bread. With the value of our currency left to the forces of the market, investors have been flooding our country. States and local governments have their hands full attending to inquiries from foreign investors. And Eedris should be told that some transnational corporations, a few really, who left on the heels of Tinubu’s reforms are now regretting their actions, and seeking a way to come back to partake in our flourishing economy. And we are now giving them conditions for readmission. JPMorganChase cannot be wrong. It recently touted the strengthening of the extractive arm of its business in Nigeria. Its business model was not founded on charity. A global rating agency last weekend moved Nigeria’s economy from negative to positive. Eedris should acknowledge that in spite of the fact that some of Nigeria’s former diplomats had alleged that they routinely bribed such agencies for favourable ratings. By the way, ratings influence the cost of money for countries such as Nigeria which are neck deep into borrowing from the international lenders market.

    If my opinion is sought I will recommend that Eedris and others who may be inclined to think, behave, sing and write like him should be branded as security risks and enemies of the people. If they are left unchecked, they will continue to incite Nigerians to rise against a regime that has shown commitment to revamping the economy, improving our politics and governance, eliminating out of school children, making Nigerians secure, combating the country’s lingering and notorious energy deficits, and moving the country into the first world. Banning Eedris’s latest hit song – ‘Seyi tell your papa country hard’ is not enough. And it should not be left in the hands of the national broadcasting commission (NBC). He will do worse if the rumoured impending disclosures from America’s Intel Community turned out to be adverse to whatever is left of the reputation of our dear ruler.

    UGO ONUOHA, a veteran journalist, was the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, Champion Newspapers Limited

  • Fr. Hyacinth Alia, you are decidedly wrong!

    Fr. Hyacinth Alia, you are decidedly wrong!

    An open letter by Professor Sebastian T. Hon (SAN, DSSRS) to Governor Hyacinth Alia

    Preface
    I personally refused to watch your media chat of Thursday, 10th April, 2025. The reason was plain enough: I was strongly persuaded in my spirit that you would not raise the hope of, let alone console, your subjects on the security situation in the State you are governing. My suspicion and hunch came to be true when I later watched it! What a sad day for the people of Benue State!

    It was Khalil Gibran who once said “You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts.” I cannot, as a Lawyer of this height (with all sense of humility and responsibility) be silent and allow your wrong opinion on the ECOWAS Transhumance Protocol to go unchallenged. Proper consultation would have made you avoid that area, even if you would want, as you have clearly shown, to take no single interest in protecting the lives of the Benue people.

    Your interpretation of the ECOWAS protocol is wrong

    First of all, the Protocol was the product of the 21st Conference of Heads of States of ECOWAS countries, reached in 1998, not 1978, and registered as “Decision A/DEC.5/10/98.”

    Secondly, contrary to the deliberately wrong information passed by you at the said media chat that the Protocol willy-nilly permits the movement of cattle in the West African Sub-region, the following provisions of the Protocol created preconditions for such movement:

    (a) Article 3, while granting such right of movement, states that such movement shall be subject to “the conditions set out in this Decision.”
    (b) Article 5 then sets the conditions for such movement in the following words:

    Article 5
    “All transhumance livestock shall be allowed free passage across points of entry into and departure from each country on the condition that they have the ECOWAS International Transhumance Certificate, a sample of which is annexed to this Regulation.

    The aims of the Certificate are:

    • to enable authorities to monitor the herds before they leave the country of origin;
    • to protect the health of local herds;
    • to make it possible to inform the host communities of the arrival of transhumance animals.
      The Certificate contains details on the composition of the herd, the vaccination given, the itinerary of the herds, the border posts to be crossed, and the final destination. It is issued by the livestock department and initiated by the local administrative authorities in the country of origin.”

    Drawing from the above, I openly challenge you or any of those herders you are so eager to protect to show to the Benue people EVEN A SINGLE CERTIFICATE issued to any of those herders to embark on transhumance. Remember to also show to the Benue people whether any such Certificate (if any) has satisfied the following conditions:

    (a) Has stated the composition of the herds of cattle that are thronging Benue State and indeed Nigeria;
    (b) Has indicated the vaccinations given to those herds;
    (c) Has shown in clear terms the itinerary of those herders in Nigeria generally and in Benue State particularly;
    (d) Has shown the border posts crossed into Nigeria and the final destination of the herders and their cows; and
    (e) Has shown the country of origin, to enable facts about the issuing authority to be verifiable.
    In addition to the above, Article 6 of the Protocol requires that the said Certificate in question “shall be verified and counter-signed by the competent authorities at the entry and exit points in the host country.” I will, therefore, require you to point out where any “competent authority” signed any such Certificate (if any).

    Not yet done, Article 7 mandatorily provides as follows: “Transhumance herds shall follow the routes defined by Member States in accordance with the itinerary indicated on the ECOWAS International Transhumance Certificate.” My Governor, I hereby humbly request you to prove that ECOWAS Members States, including Nigeria, have designed the routes followed by these herdsmen! I BOLDLY STATE TO YOU THAT NO SUCH ROUTES HAVE BEEN DESIGNATED TO DATE! PROVE ME WRONG, IF YOU CAN!

    Another provision is Article 9, which provides that, in addition to other sanctions provided in the laws of host countries, “herds not covered by a Certificate shall be placed under quarantine and the costs borne by the owners.” This means that those cows are supposed to have been quarantined on your orders, not the other way round, Mr. Governor.

    Article 12 requires herdsmen to be in possession of ID papers “duly signed by the competent authorities in their countries of origin.” Also, Article 13 provides that stray animals must be apprehended and impounded.” Have we not had instances of those animals straying into farmlands in Nigeria at large and in Benue State in particular? Have you ordered for the apprehension and impoundment of any of them? Where are the ID cards of those herdsmen?

    To show you that you are thoroughly wrong in your assertions, I will hereby quote verbatim the provisions of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Protocol:

    “Article 14
    Each host country shall fix the period during which migrating livestock may enter into and depart from its territory, and inform the other States accordingly.

    “Article 15
    Each State shall define the areas where transhumant animal may be stocked and shall determine the maximum, capacity of each zone thus identified. The accompanying herdsman must pen up his herd in the zone of which he is directed by officials, at the point of entry.

    “Article 16
    Herdsmen accompanying transhumant livestock and who are legally admitted into the host country shall be given protection by the authorities and their fundamental rights shall be guaranteed by the judicial institutions of the host country. In return, such herdsmen shall observe all laws and regulations of the host country, particularly those concerning the conservation of forest reserves and forest resources and the management of watering points and pastoral land.”

    Has any of those conditions been met by these your friends? Haba, Your Excellency!
    Let me inform you, if you are not aware, that till date, none of the contracting parties to the Protocol, including Nigeria, has satisfied EVEN ONE OF THOSE CONDITIONS, including issuance of the Transhumance Certificate, which is the fons et origo (source) of all those other conditions listed above. In other words, neither the primary condition (issuance of Transhumance Certificates) nor the secondary conditions (all the other conditions listed above – as provided for in the Protocol) has been satisfied by the ECOWAS Member States! CONTRADICT ME ON THIS, IF YOU CAN!

    Consequently, the said Protocol is, till date, a sleeping document that is yet to be implemented! Counter me on this, my Governor!

    The African Charter is superior to the Protocol
    Even if the said Protocol had come into force (which is not true), its provisions, under public international law, would be inferior to those of the African Charter, which is a Regional (African) legal document – if there are conflicts between the two documents. The Protocol is a mere sub-regional document. Confirm this with your Lawyers.

    Nigeria is not just a signatory to the African Charter, 1981, but has also domesticated its provisions, pursuant to section 12 of the 1999 Constitution as amended. The domesticated version of it is known as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, LFN 2004. By the provisions of section 12 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, therefore, the provisions of this Charter are enforceable and indeed have been enforced by Nigerian Courts.

    Now, the following Articles of this Act (Charter) are on a collision course with the so called ‘free movement of cattle in the West African Sub-region,” namely:

    (a) The right of ‘every individual’ to “be equal before the law” and also to “be entitled to equal protection of the law;” vide: Article 3 of the Charter. The fully armed herdsmen see themselves as superior humans to the sedentary farmers. Indeed, they see their cows as being superior to human beings!

    (b) The right of ‘every human being’ to “be entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of his person;” vide: Article 4 of the Charter. How can we, in the face of the wanton killing of farmers, be said to be protected by this provision?

    (c) The right of ‘every individual’ “to the security of his person;” vide: Article 5 of the Charter. Are we enjoying security in Benue State, particularly in view of the activities of these your friends?

    (d) The right to property, which may only be encroached upon “in the interest of public need or in the general interest of the community and in accordance with the provisions of appropriate laws;” vide: Article 14 of the Charter. Are the various acts of encroachments carried out by the herdsmen done “in the interest” of the Benue Communities?

    (e) The right of ‘all peoples’ to be equal; for them to “enjoy the same respect and… have the same rights;” and the non-justification of “the dominion of a people by another;” vide: Article 19 of the Charter. This is self-explanatory, my dear Governor.

    (f) The right of ‘all peoples’ to freely dispose of their wealth and natural resources; vide: Article 21 of the Charter. Farmers in Benue cultivate their lands not just to feed but also to sell (to dispose of their wealth). Is this still possible with the armed invasion by herdsmen and pillaging of those investments by the farmers?

    (g) The right of ‘all persons’ “to their economic, social and cultural development with due regard to their freedom and identity and in the equal enjoyment of the common heritage of mankind;” vide: Article 22 of the Charter. This is also self-explanatory, my Governor.

    (h) The right of ‘all people’ to “a general satisfactory environment favourable to their development;” vide: Article 24 of the Charter. Is the presence of the herdsmen in Benue State aiding or hampering our development as a people?

    In further response to arguments about the so called freedom of movement of the herders, I hereby refer you to the provisions of Article 12 of the African Charter, which cover both internal and external migration or movement. It provides as follows:

    “Article 12

    1. Every individual shall have the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of a State provided he abides by the law.
    2. Every individual shall have the right to leave any country including his own, and to return to his country. This right may only be subject to restrictions, provided for by law for the protection of national security, law and order, public health and morality.”

    Conclusion
    The Benue people elected you. You are under duty to protect them. Indeed, you took an oath on the day of your inauguration to do so. Why are you shirking from this solemn duty?

    Please, retrace your steps now! Your subjects are dying for no just cause.

    I am yours truly,
    PROF. SEBASTINE T. HON, SAN, DSSRS

  • Senator Natasha, the girl-child and kitchen sink throwers

    Senator Natasha, the girl-child and kitchen sink throwers

    By: UGO ONUOHA

    IN our country, Nigeria, they are the alpha males. I mean the male class of the ruling elite. In truth, there’s virtually no female class of the ruling elite since the advent of this country in 1914 when the northern and southern protectorates were amalgamated by the British overlords. There’s this legend that it was a woman who, today in Nigeria, will be regarded as the ultimate ‘side chick’ or a consort to the then ruler of our country that named Nigeria, Nigeria. The woman, Flora Shaw, was a British journalist, and later wife of Lord Frederick Lugard, a British colonial administrator. The story was that in 1897,Flora Shaw coined the name “Nigeria” to refer to the region surrounding the River Niger, a river that was discovered by Mungo Park irrespective of the fact that people had lived on the banks of the same river for centuries before the coming of that meddlesome foreign, no good, interloper.

    Ironically, if Flora Shaw were to be alive today, she would have been in the forefront of the agitation for the respect of the rights of the embattled Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. She was a noted strong advocate for women’s rights. There are still some female folks who speak out in the promotion and defence of women’s rights. But their voices are muffled and often drowned out by the cacophony of noises from the alpha males who are the custodians of “ji na nma” or the wielders of the stick and the carrot in the Nigerian realm. Women of stature in the mold of Margaret Ekpo, Funmilayo Ransom-Kuti, Queen Amina, Gambo Sawaba, and the leaders of the protesting Aba Women in 1929 have become extinct.

    The 1929 Aba Women’s Riot was led by Madame Nwanyeruwa. A fearsome and extremely courageous woman who inspired others to organise a massive revolt against British colonial administrators in the southeastern part of this country. The riot which was also known as the Women’s War was a response to the introduction of direct taxation on women and the oppressive policies of the British colonial government. Significantly, the Aba Women’s War inspired other events in other parts of Igboland, and Nigeria throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Indeed, historians recorded that the riot was a significant event in the rise of African nationalism and a challenge to British colonial rule in some African countries including Nigeria. Natasha would have rest assured if we still have the Nwanyeruwas, Funmilayos, Margarets, Gambos and Aminas. In a sense Natasha is an orphan. The tragedy is that what is currently happening to senator Natasha in the cult called the senate of Nigeria, the supine and staggeringly corrupt and incompetent ‘Independent’ National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Executive branch of government in Abuja and Lokoja (Kogi state), and among some vested political actors have implications far beyond whatever fate would befall Natasha. If the mafia in politics and the various branches of our government succeed in silencing Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, then the fate of women and our female children would be impaired permanently. Women will be stigmatized. Their participation in politics and governance will be adversely impacted. That adolescent girl in the university will be compelled to sign on to the Code of Silence in the face of sexual harassment by her lecturer or supervisor. The woman who desires to make a career in corporations or Nollywood will lose the courage to name and shame male sex predators. Ultimately, this country loses.

    The concerted efforts to squelch what appears to be Nigeria’s ‘Me Too’ season with the allegations of sexual harassment against the senate president, Godswill Akpabio by his colleague, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan have dire ramifications for this country. That we appear not to care is shocking, to say the least. It’s instructive and curious that Natasha’s senatorial zone that could only muster about 100,000 votes between the two leading contenders in 2023 after about one year of campaign, was able to manufacture 250,000 votes in a matter of hours to trigger Natasha’s planned recall. Curiouser still is the fact that the face of the recall campaign was that of an aide to the governor of Kogi state who is a noted political enemy of Natasha.

    In the last one month all manner of kitchen sinks are being thrown at Natasha simply because she complained about a toxic work environment. She claimed that she was suffering privations in her workplace, which is the senate of the federal republic, because she refused the alleged repeated sexual advances of the senate president, Akpabio, who is also the chairman of the national assembly. In the event of the unexpected, Senator Akpabio is the third in line to the presidency. So the office he occupies is significant. Ordinarily, the Natasha matter should be simple and straightforward. The burden is on the person who accused another of wrongdoing to prove her weighty allegations. The easiest way to resolve the matter would have been to provide the platform to put the accuser on the spot and then discredit her claims, and dismiss the evidence that she claimed were in her possession.

    But no. First, her petition was initially rejected because she signed it contrary to senate’s rule. Eventually, she succeeded in submitting the amended version but by that time some senators had said publicly that her petition was dead on arrival. How can a supposedly lawmaking body be so lawless, tactless, reckless, and brazen? Earlier, the chairman of the senate committee on public petitions, Neda Imaseun, was all over television stations speaking on the petition and suggesting that Natasha’s allegations lacked merit. Even as rotten as our country is, it is still difficult to find something so absurd to compare with the conduct of Senator Imaseun. Well, his behaviour should not be entirely surprising. After all, there’s information in the public domain that the man is a fugitive from the law in the United States of America (USA) where he had been disbarred from practicing law in the state of New York because of fraud. But he is symbolic of many office holders since the return to rule by civilians in 1999. The head of the executive branch is a severely damaged person. The chairman of the national assembly who is also the senate president had allegations of a multi-billion Naira fraud by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) on his neck up until he was smuggled into that office. There was also a speculation that the head of the judiciary is on the no-visa list of the US. She may be the first chief justice of Nigeria (CJN) to be sworn into office twice – first when she was nominated in acting capacity and then when she was confirmed by the senate. There’s so much awkwardness in the current dispensation.

    If the current Nigerian senate is not a cult headed by males who are adept at shaking people down in mafia style, the Natasha matter should not have lasted longer than two weeks. By now the matter should have been out of the national agenda, one way or the other. Both Akpabio and Natasha would have been compelled to appear before a senate ethics panel headed by an untainted senator. There is a precedent with former senate president Olusola Saraki when one of his colleagues accused him of wrongdoing. He stepped aside, appeared before the relevant committee and cleared his name. It appears in this instance that Akpabio does not see himself as a ‘first among equals’. He probably thinks himself as an executive president with full complements of constitutionally – guaranteed immunity. If that be the case, then there’s an urgent need to remind him that he is not what he probably thinks he is.

    Let me conclude with the thoughts of a female professor in a WhatsApp group where I belong to, who responded to a man who sounded like a misogynist on the Natasha v Akpabio face-off. She wrote: “As much as I do not want to be involved in political matters, I am constrained to make some comments (in response, actually a rebuke of what a man posted). First,… I am shocked that you refer to Senator Natasha as an alaseju whose ‘bom bom must kiss hot water’. It is a sad reflection of how much we are willing to tolerate in our public and private (lives). Senator Natasha made some allegations, she expressed her willingness to provide evidence. The minimum requirement for any decent society and any man with the tiniest bit of integrity is to provide an enabling environment and submit himself to thorough investigation so that the truth could be established.

    “Instead of doing the correct thing, they brought out the ‘smoking guns’ and went on a frontal attack. They were taking ‘àtamo and joining it to àtamo, painting the woman black and addressing everything but the substance of the matter. Many men cry(ing) more than Akpabio and they behave as if they were with him 24/7, figuratively behaving like the outsider that weeps more than the bereaved. Sir, SEXUAL HARASSMENT IS REAL AND IT DESTROYS THE LIVES OF SO MANY PEOPLE (emphasis mine). Lives and destinies are compromised/destroyed when people in power misuse their powers to request/enforce sexual gratification. I teach in a tertiary institution and I have seen it firsthand, both through NGO (non governmental organisation) and in my teaching and research. If (this case is) handled properly, (it) would have sent a strong message to sexual harassers in educational (institutions) and workplaces.

    “Why is Senator Akpabio afraid of an impartial investigation? What is he running from? Why are so many people ready to castigate her instead of asking that an enabling environment be created for her to present her evidence? May I also ask that Senator Akpabio be requested to provide evidence disproving the allegations. For GOD’S (sake), he is an elected servant of the people, holding the position of the number 3 citizen in this country, he should be answerable to the citizens of Nigeria. One of the things that sadden(s) me in this whole saga is the vociferous, almost rabid defence of Sen. Akpabio from certain, sometimes disappointingly, unexpected quarters. Certainly, there are many more closet sexual harassers than we imagine”. The mistake we are making is to think that this matter is just about Natasha. No. It is not. It’s about the future of the girl-child. It’s about impunity. It’s about the Code of Silence and its enforcers. It’s about the future wellbeing of this country. Evil doers will be emboldened if they succeed in silencing and crushing Natasha.

    UGO ONUOHA, Veteran journalist, was the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, Champion Newspapers Limited

  • Memories of my beloved Mum, Mrs. Florence Ego Azuka

    Memories of my beloved Mum, Mrs. Florence Ego Azuka

    By: Romanus Ike Azuka

    “I don’t know why people are mortal and fated to die,” muses Harold S. Kushner, “nor why they die at the time and in the way they do. Perhaps we can try to understand it by picturing what the world would be like if people lived forever.” In this contemplation lies a profound truth: mortality shapes our existence, lending it urgency and meaning.

    There are but three events in a man’s life: birth, life and death, as Jean de La Bruyère postulates, a stark reminder that we are born to die. Yet, have we ever paused to ask: What if we lived forever? In Homer’s Odyssey, Ulysses encounters Calypso, an immortal divine being untouched by death’s shadow. Fascinated by this mortal man, she envies him, not for his longevity, but for his finitude. His life, bounded by time, brims with significance; every choice he makes bears weight precisely because it is fleeting, a genuine act of will.

    Contrast this with Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, where ,in the land of the Luggnaggians, a rare child is born with a red circular mark upon its forehead, a sign it shall never die. Gulliver first imagines these Struldbrugs as the most fortunate of beings, ” exempt from that universal calamity of human nature. “Yet, upon meeting them, he finds them pitiable beyond measure. They age into frailty, their companions perish, and they linger on, burdened by ailments, grievances, and an unrelenting weariness. Bereft of death’s release, they endure a life grown unbearable. Homer reveals an immortal envying our mortality; Swift bids us pity those who cannot die, urging us to see that while the knowledge of our end may be tragic, an endless existence would be insufferable.

    Were humanity to live forever,one of two fates would ensue: the world would grow impossibly crowded,or procreation would cesse to prevent it. In either case,we would lose the renewal a child’s birth brings—-the promise of a fresh start,a new dawn under the sun. Indeed,in a world of immortals,we ourselves might never have come to be.

    Our mum was not of Homer’s world, nor of Swift’s. Suffice it to say, she was mortal,bound by those three immutable events: birth, life, and death. Her name was Mrs. Florence Ego Azuka, fondly known as Fashion.

    Born to humble Ezeoke parents in Ire Village, Ojoto, in present day Anambra state, she entered the world 85 years ago as the eldest of six siblings (four sisters and a brother). Her parents gave her the name Nwakueke, a title later reshaped to Ego, derived from Ego-Oyibo, in the home of her matrimony. With her conversion to Christianity, she embraced the name Florence, a beacon of her faith.

    From her tender years, she bore a spirit of determination, compassion and tenderness, ever placing family and others before herself. This disposition was forged by a singular event, her mother, Nne Omesie, fell gravely ill. Thrust into a motherly role for her younger siblings, Florence Ego Azuka ‘s character was moulded amid life’s early vicissitudes, preparing her for the trials to come.

    In 1962, she got married to our late patriarch, Chief Okeke Nnaoma Azuka (Kwaji-Kwaji). A union that bore nine children, though two, the second and the third, died during the period of the civil war. With a blend of tenderness, love, and tenacity, Mama raised us, her equanimity a steady light through life’s tempests. She faced each challenge with calm and grace, her faith in love, perseverance, and divine mercy unshaken.

    Life’s sternest test came twenty-five years ago with the loss of her beloved husband. Yet,in the shadow of his passing,she did not falter—she rose. With quiet resolve and a heart fortified by love,she became our family’s pillar,carrying our dreams,bearing our burdens,and guiding us forward with unfaltering grace.

    Mama was no woman of cant; her words rang true,unmarred by hollow platitudes. She spoke with sincerity and conviction,her lessons wrapped in gentle honesty,her wisdom,a compass for her brood

    For decades, she bore a persistent affliction of the leg, a burden known to all in Enugo Village. A silent companion that shadowed her through the years. What began as a trial in the beginning grew graver with time, its weight deepening as her steps faltered. Yet she met this relentless foe with unwavering fortitude, her spirit unbowed. Though it clung to her until her final days, she fought fiercely to live, defiant, resolute, never permitting it to dim the radiance of her love or the fire of her devotion.

    For everything there is a season, declares Ecclasiastes, and a time appointed unto every purpose under Heaven: a time to be born, and time to die. If, then, there be but three events in mortal’s life: birth, life, and death, as Jean de La Bruyère observed, it suffices to say that human being is, in essence, a postponed corpse that begets as Fernando Pessoa so starkly noted. Herein lie the twin certainties of humanity: birth, the dawn of existence, and death, its inevitable twilight. This truth finds echo in the words of Julius Caio Caesar, who proclaimed, “Death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.” A stoic resignation to fate’s unyielding decree.

    So it was with our mum, whose race in this earthly realm drew to its close on September 14, 2024. Yet, amidst our grief, we find solace in the immortal wisdom of Albert Einstein, “Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us; our bodies are but wilted leaves on the tree of life. Thus, the life of the departed is enshrined in the memory of the living, a testament to how the cherished endure through the hearts of those who loved them.

    And so, Mama’s spirit abides, radiant and undimmed, within the souls of her children and grandchildren, whom she left behind.

    We love you, Mama

    Romanus Ike Azuka, a Sociologist and Attorney in training, wrote in from Sao Paulo, Brazil

  • Sen Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan orchestrated recall: a new low in misogyny and abuse of power.

    Sen Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan orchestrated recall: a new low in misogyny and abuse of power.

    By Wale Alonge

    The prevalence of misogyny, acquiescence to egregious abuse of power, and the flagrant disregard for procedures on display in the defense of a man accused of sexually harassing a senator is alarming and disheartening. The orchestrated effort to maliciously discredit the alleged victim, supported by numerous individuals on social media, including the COYN platform, is equally disturbing.

    It is widely acknowledged that sexual harassment and exploitation of women are pervasive issues in our society. Yet, many men have chosen to support and justify one of the most egregious abuses of power in the Nigerian senate, citing senate rules as a justification.

    I pose the following questions to some of the male folk who are attempting to persuade us to disregard common sense and the evidence before us by advocating for the “sequence of events theory”: That their posers about the breach of senate rule by Senator Natasha preceded chronologically her allegation of sexual harassment against Senate President Akoabio. Hence her accusation had nothing to do with her allegation. If you genuinely believe that the accusation of breaching senate rules against Senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan was unrelated to her allegation of sexual harassment against senate president Akpabio, then please answer the following questions:

    • Would the senate have suspended Senator Natasha based solely on the alleged breach of senate rules had she not accused the senate president of sexual harassment?
    • Is the senator’s alleged breach of senate rules severe enough to warrant her constituents initiating a recall effort?
    • Does anyone genuinely believe that the recall process and its expedited completion emerge organically, without being orchestrated and funded by powerful forces intent on suppressing the scandal?

    If you cannot answer affirmatively to any of these questions, how can anyone objectively defend the blatant abuse of power exhibited by the Nigerian senate in its treatment of Senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan? This defense defies logic, fairness, objectivity, respect for justice, and adherence to rule-based politics.

    In conclusion, the Nigerian senate has established a new low in misogyny and abuse of power in its handling of the Natasha-Akpabio scandal. It is essential to note that no one is disputing the guilt or innocence of the two individuals involved in the scandal. The truth of the events is known only to the two parties. What is being contested is the unmistakable effort by the Nigerian senate to tip the scales of justice in favor of the alleged perpetrator and to excoriate and punish the alleged victim in the most severe and appalling manner. In a reasonable system, the victim would have been given the benefit of the doubt, especially considering our society’s alarming statistics on sexual harassment and exploitation of women. This is an undeniable fact supported by extensive research data and our collective lived experience.

    The impact about the blight of the Natasha-Akpabio scandal will reverberate for decades to come. Its victims might by our daunted or granddaughters who are now witnessing the re-victimization, brutal excoriation and the crude and severe punishment being meted out to powerful Senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan would get the chilling message that in Nigeria, victims of sexual harassment had better kept their mouth shut and take their abuse and dehumanization in silence. That society will punish them severely if they spoke out. This is indeed a sad watershed episode in our nation’s history and the treatment of victims of sexual harassment and exploitation.

    Adewale Alonge, PhD, is Founder & President, Africa Diaspora Partnership for Empowerment and Development. www.adped.org

  • MTP is the law; he can do no wrong

    MTP is the law; he can do no wrong

    By Ugo Onuoha

    THERE are many persons in this republic whose names should never appear in the same sentence with the word democracy. Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s current president is one such name. There are many others. He has been around for more than awhile. His reputation precedes him, but hardly for good. There’s no suggestion here that he’s a thoroughly bad man. And irredeemable. But he carries such a heavy baggage that ordinarily would have killed off the social, cultural, political, economic, public and private lives of three persons combined. You will be living in denial not to give credit to any person who has allegedly lived with a false name almost all his life, and who has travelled the world and also worked in transnational corporations with the said dodgy name. You probably may have read or known of someone who claimed to be an alumnus of a school they never attended. Tinubu is one such person. Claiming alumnus of an academic institution not attended is almost an everyday occurrence these days. He had once claimed to be a former student of the University of Chicago, and actually filled a form in that regard for election purposes. But it turned out that he was not a former student of that college. He was caught. He recanted, and then quickly recruited one senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi to play the role of a fall guy. He got away with it in spite of a dogged pursuit in the law courts by the late fiery attorney Gani Fawehinmi.

    “Tinubu is baked in the furnace of the streets, at home and abroad. Apart from becoming the president of our country, not much has changed concerning him. During his soujourn in the US in the 1970s, he was also law onto himself or an outlaw as some would like to say until he was not. He was alleged to be a banker to outlaws and henchmen of the underworld.”

    In line with what appeared to be his life and career, the same person who is today the president of our country attempted to hoodwink old students of the prestigious Government College, Ibadan in Oyo state to host a reception for him as one of their own who has made it in life, decades ago. Again, he was caught at the last minute when nobody could identify as his classmate. However, he was undeterred. Somewhere in his dark past, Tinubu had filled out yet another application to the effect that he had attended yet another Government College, but this time in the Eric Moore, Surulere area of Lagos in 1970. A casual search indicated that Government College, Eric Moore was founded in 1974, clear four years after he claimed that he had attended the school as part of a requirement for admission into a university in the US. He reportedly gained the admission into the college. The admission, to this day, remains controversial. He’s said to have acquired a diploma from that university. But the diploma remains controversial. Even forgery has been associated with it. Lawyers say you cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand. This is not for Tinubu. He puts something on nothing, and wills it to stand. With Tinubu, the so-called learned people are stark illiterates.

    In some other climes their citizens and sundry gatekeepers of the sanity and health of their nations work extra hard to keep away some people from the levers of the powers of government. Many fall into the category of people who are usually shut out of acquiring and exercising the enormous powers of government. But for this conversation we will restrict ourselves to only two categories of such persons who should be kept out of wielding state power. The first of such persons are those who are mired in sullied and questionable past. The fear is that those in this category carry their life of criminal ‘entrepreneurship’ into government to the hurt of the majority of the people. A leopard does not change its spot. The second group that every sane society tries very hard to keep out of the very top echelons of government is the extremely wealthy, especially those with riches of the questionable type. During the 2023 presidential election, the phrase ‘wealth without enterprise’ gained currency and traction. There are many of them in government today. Lawyer and politician, Muiz Banire, it was who once described them as politicians without a second address. For such people partisan politics and access to the public treasury is their sole and only means of sustenance and livelihood. To them the talk of democracy and its ethos are tales by idiots. To them majority of Nigerians are fools and only good enough to be used as canon fodders in the quest for political power.

    “Tinubu has no principles. He only pretends to be a democrat. He is driven by selfish interests. He’s a tortured man. He is insecure in spite of his bragaddacio. If you are in doubt about how insecure Tinubu is, look at the form and texture of his security chiefs and kitchen cabinet?”

    Tinubu is baked in the furnace of the streets, at home and abroad. Apart from becoming the president of our country, not much has changed concerning him. During his soujourn in the US in the 1970s, he was also law onto himself or an outlaw as some would like to say until he was not. He was alleged to be a banker to outlaws and henchmen of the underworld. And reportedly refunded a huge sum of money to the US authorities in Chicago for alleged illicit deals. A lawyer who was one of his campaign spokespersons in 2023 said Tinubu was not sued for the recovery of the money suspected to be proceeds from illicit drugs. He said only the bank accounts which bore his name were sued for wrongdoing. The man who was engaged in that lawyering, Festus Keyamo, is today the minister of aviation in his principal’s clueless regime.

    In countries and jurisdictions where there are strong institutions and laws, and the will to enforce laws, Nigeria’s president in his past life, which may actually not have passed, could only thrive in the underworld. Or ‘overworld’. And he did. But in Nigeria, Tinubu as president is the law. Only fools still doubt this. Anybody who is the law can do no wrong. In theory we have three equal co-branches of the federal government. But in reality we have one ‘branch’ of government – Tinubu. He showed his hand from day one on May 29, 2023, the very day he assumed office as president after a controversial and hotly disputed election. He scrapped the so-called subsidy on petrol. In tow he handpicked his own senate president, Godswill Akpabio who’s also the chairman of the national assembly (NASS), and installed the chief justice of Nigeria who is the head of the judiciary. One was facing imminent prosecution by the anti-graft agency over alleged fraud running into billions of Naira from his era as governor of Akwa Ibom state. The other who heads the judiciary is alleged to be a personal non-grata in the United States of America (USA) through visa denial. Tinubu enjoys sovereign immunity, the other heads of the so-called co-equal branches of government don’t. The president controls the armed forces, the regular police, the secret police and all other instruments of coercion. So his co-heads of government who are alleged to be tainted survive at his (Tinubu’s) pleasure and mercy. They can’t lift a finger. They must necessarily do his biddings. And they do – one quietly, the other noisily.

    “A lawyer who was one of his campaign spokespersons in 2023 said Tinubu was not sued for the recovery of the money suspected to be proceeds from illicit drugs. He said only the bank accounts which bore his name were sued for wrongdoing. The man who was engaged in that lawyering, Festus Keyamo, is today the minister of aviation in his principal’s clueless regime.”

    Therefore, I was amused when some compatriots who have been slumbering since 2023 when Tinubu took office with his dictatorial tendencies so glaring, started throwing tantrums at his sacking of Rivers state governor, Siminalaye Fubara, deputy governor, Ngozi Odu, and members of the house of assembly over a case of two (executive & legislature) fighting. The dismantling of the critical structures of our nascent democracy in Rivers state had nothing to do with claims of clear and present danger to the economic wellbeing of the country. It was a political move ahead of the 2027 election. Tinubu has determined his minister of the federal capital territory (FCT) Nysom Wike, who awarded the state to him while he (Wike) was the governor in 2023, as erratic and potentially a liability to his reelection in 2017. Tinubu wants to take his fate in his own hands given the electoral value of the oil -rich Niger Delta state. Other states are in Tinubu’s cross hairs too, though the approach to capture them will vary. His surrogates have already given voice to the plot. Those who operate in the gray areas of the law do not have scruples. It’s worse when the man at the head is the law himself.

    When Tinubu took state governors to the Supreme (Court) Cult last year we raised an alarm that the move was not altruistic. He wanted to control the 774 council chairmen throughout the country directly from Abuja, and use them as foot soldiers in 2027. His effort to use provisions in the Constitution as a basis to justify his political action was akin to an attempt to hide behind one finger – apologies to the late MKO Abiola. There seems to be nowhere else where federalism like Nigeria’s that the central government funds the local governments directly as a statutory obligation. In our tortured federalism, the federating units should be between Abuja and the sub-nationals. So each state should ideally create as many administrative units as catches their fancy, and fund them. It should never be the business of Abuja. And by the way, is president Tinubu not the same governor Tinubu who fought then President Olusegun Obasanjo to retain Lagos state control of its local governments and their adjuncts?

    Tinubu has no principles. He only pretends to be a democrat. He is driven by selfish interests. He’s a tortured man. He is insecure in spite of his bragaddacio. If you are in doubt about how insecure Tinubu is, look at the form and texture of his security chiefs and kitchen cabinet? Only an insecure ruler will surround himself with appointees who bear similar names to his, who dress like him, and who share the same mother tongue. Check history – people like this end in ignominy. They are usually caught in the web of their own contradictions. The fear is that he could be a bull in a china shop.

    Ugo Onuoha, Veteran Journalist, was the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, Champion Newspapers Limited

  • Is there a winner in a tariff War?

    Is there a winner in a tariff War?

    By Yu Dunhai

    Recently, the term ‘tariff’ has suddenly become a buzzword, frequently appearing in media headlines.

    The new administration of the United States seems convinced that the world is taking advantage of America, and it has gone so far as to wage a ‘tariff war’ against the globe – announcing or threatening to impose varying levels of tariffs on China, Mexico, Canada, the European Union, and others, while also proposing reciprocal tariffs on all nations.

    The international community has been left in shock.

    On March 7, during a news conference, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi responded to a question on this matter. He said that as the Chinese saying goes, ‘If one’s action fails, look for the reason within oneself.’ The United States should go over what has actually happened. What has it achieved from tariff and trade wars these years? Has its trade deficit widened or narrowed? Has its manufacturing become stronger or weaker? Has the inflation gone up or down? Has the life of its people become better or worse?

    The answers to these questions are more than obvious. In accordance with international trade principles, when taxed goods are hard to substitute, the tariff burden largely falls on enterprises and consumers of the importing country.

    Data shows that after the U.S. administration imposed additional tariffs on Chinese goods in 2018, U.S. importers and retailers bore more than 90 per cent of the added costs, which were passed on to consumers through higher prices, directly contributing to an increase in inflation levels in the U.S.

    The prices of items such as washing machines and steel rose by 9 per cent to 12 per cent due to the tariffs.

    John Deere Company, a major U.S. tractor manufacturer, was forced to raise prices due to the increase in raw material costs, further weakening the competitiveness of its products.

    In 2024, when the U.S. administration raised the tariff on Chinese electric vehicles to 100 per cent, it may seem like a measure to ‘protect domestic industries,’ but in reality, it deprives U.S. consumers of their right to purchase high-quality products at competitive prices and could potentially raise inflation by 2 to 3 percentage.

    History and reality have repeatedly demonstrated that there is no winner in a tariff war and upholding the multilateral trading system is the true path for humanity.

    The unilateral imposition of tariffs is a typical act of bullying, and its outcome inevitably harms others without benefiting oneself. In addition to the harms to themselves, imposing tariffs arbitrarily will significantly increase the export pressure on the levied country, disrupt its industrial chain layout, and have long-lasting ramification for its economic growth.

    A tariff war not only disrupts the equilibrium of global market competition but also intensifies tensions in global trade.

    The world needs rule-based multilateral trading system

    In a world of globalisation, all economies are deeply intertwined, forming a community with a shared future. Therefore, only adhering to the principle of win-win cooperation can all nations achieve sustainable development. And this goal cannot be realized without a WTO-centered, rule-based global multilateral trading system.
    In a stark contrast, during the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping solemnly announced that China will voluntarily and unilaterally open its market wider, and has decided to give all the least developed countries having diplomatic relations with China, including 33 countries in Africa, zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent tariff lines. This has made China the first major developing country and major economy to take such a step. It will help turn China’s big market into Africa’s big opportunity.

    China will firmly uphold multilateral free trade system and resolutely oppose protectionism, and will work with the international community, including Nigeria, to foster an open, inclusive, and non-discriminatory environment for international cooperation, promote economic globalisation that benefits all, and build a community with a shared future for everybody. 

    HE Yu Dunhai, is the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Nigeria