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Pastor Kumuyi At 85: Discipline, Distinctives And Disquisitions

2026-06-03T16:46:15.029+01:00

By Banji Ojewale

Vladimir Kuts was Russia’s unforgettable long-distance runner who, in a wildly combative career that lasted only three years in the 1950s, trashed the records for both the 5000 and 10000 metres in one single competition. He didn’t believe there was any limit to man created in the image of God. Any being with such Divine trappings couldn’t fail. They would strive to reinvent the wheel, march across dreaded territory and plunge wordsmiths into uncharted depths to attempt to capture their achievements.

*Pastor Kumuyi

Therefore, retiring from global athletics while still at his peak when there were no more challenges, Kuts worked as a coach in the Central Army Club in Moscow and declared his mission: to discover a boy who would run faster than himself. It was a tall call; nobody could match Kuts’ tenacity, iron will and speed in his day. For many, it was illogical and inconceivable that a mentee would align with his lionized mentor’s agenda to outdo the legend. But the Russian Spartan didn’t rubbish race records resting on rational thinking. Nor on public opinion. Or on emotions.

In his 1976 book, Kings of Sport, British author, Steve Douglas recalls Kuts’ unbudging vision in his own words: "I am looking for a boy born with the mental power to force himself beyond the natural limits…But this is not enough. This power must then be developed, by his life, by his experiences and by his training. It is impossible to talk about limits where man’s capabilities are concerned.’’

The Russian athlete lived out his assertion. Five days before the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, Kuts injured his chest in a car crash. The watching world thought it was over for the celebrated sportsman; he would need to be off the tracks to allow for days of hospitalization and healing. He’d miss the race. But Kuts saw a larger universal summon from history and humanity which must be honoured, summons higher than hearkening to localized and fleeting personal discomforts of the body. So, an hour after the crash, Kuts was on the field of training, preparing for the Melbourne race ahead.

Guess what happened on the day of the 10000 metres chase. Kuts took part and won with flourish, setting an Olympic record! The distinctive streak of discipline was at work!

This has been the same selfless, steely and stoic stretch walked by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi, born on Friday, June 6, 1941, at Erin-Ile, in Osun State, Nigeria, but born again in Christ, by the Mercy of God, on April 5, 1964. Now, whereas Kuts willed and donated himself and his accomplishments to the atheistic state and its agencies, Kumuyi released his into the hand of Heaven, which through the Salvation he got in Jesus Christ, has been unveiling a more profitable pursuit for a person’s body, spirit and soul, together with their accompanying skills, attainments, goals etc.

*Pastor Kumuyi and his wife, Mummy Esther Kumuyi

The old cage that housed the laissez-faire young Kumuyi had to leave, to give way to a new unsparing home with no tolerance for doting fleshly indulgence. Otherwise, the fresh life he had in Christ wouldn’t run its full and impacting course as desired by Heaven. The difference the redeemed life offers is that it brings discipline, distinction, diverted trajectory and demanding challenges that musn’t be left unaddressed or allowed to be pampered by untrammeled passions. Salvation possession, profession and practice, without following up with a fierce intentional push for self-abnegation, would not give you dignity but disasters and delusional outcomes.

Thus, when we look at the life and times of Kumuyi, whether as we thank God now for his 85^th natal anniversary, or it’s a discourse on one of his numerous Global Crusade with Kumuyi (GCK) breakthroughs in arduous missionary outreaches to far-flung regions of the globe, or when we’re asked to contribute to controversies naysayers never fail to drop on our laps about how the evangelist has been rubbishing and overthrowing tradition for the sake of the Gospel of Christ, or if there’s a return to the ancient history of why the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, DCLM, he founded in 1973 and has shepherded by God’s Grace for decades is unapologetically deploying the TV and allied technological pillars as effective evangelism weapons after he raised concerns about the screen’s negative content profile, or if it has to do with the cyclical purgative disciplinary actions in the Church, or it’s a matter of the social media robing Kumuyi and wife in japa garments and situating them somewhere in Europe or the Americas, or if it’s a case of dissecting Kumuyi’s sermons and discovering that, although you held court in a closet with Preacher Kumuyi, he came through as three great figures to overshadow you: a cross-carrying evangelist, an alliteration-wielding neologist and a citizen of the world with his soul already a denizen of Heaven, you always get to the inevitable conclusion that the man of God has emerged unbowed from a host of crushing blows because, after his Salvation and Sanctification experiences, he didn’t hibernate, or become a modern-day Rip Van Winkle.

He took to Apostle Peter’s counsel: soldier on after the groundbreaking spiritual redemption, and add the elements (virtues) of self-control that will give validity and credibility to your Christianity or profession of holiness or power of the Holy Ghost. Apostle Paul says possessing this indispensable trait of temperance saved him from being lost (cast away), the impressive castle in the background showcasing his voluminous toil for Christ notwithstanding.

*VIDEO: Pastor Kumuyi speaks on his 85th Birthday in India

Well, Pastor Kumuyi has his own story regarding this consuming power of discipline and the uncommon signatures (distinctives) it has given him in his Ministry. On Sunday, March 8, 2026, at Ahoada, Rivers State, in Nigeria’s south-south during a GCK session, the man affectionately referred to as the Defender of the faith and Preacher (Ambassador) of holiness spoke of his secret. He told the gathering that morning: "I prioritize the inside man. I check the inner man. I don’t allow the one inside, moved by the flesh, to also move me. I control and subdue the flesh in order to faithfully fulfil my duties as a responsible Christian and leader and servant of Christ…” (Paraphrased)

Therefore, we miss the point, its import and the thrill, together with the lessons it promises if, in seasonally or annually honouring God for giving Kumuyi to humanity, we only celebrate the cleric’s Scripture-brand holiness, without acknowledging or probing his prevailing personal props. In other words, would the General Superintendent of the DCLM have come this far or earned Heaven’s attention that is guaranteeing him superlative Bible-age miracles and signs and wonders if he had a self-sabotaging libertine spirit warring against Heaven’s goals? Would the Lord have enlisted him in the noble army of those He is using to usher in millions of converted souls into His Kingdom through GCK this end time, if the pastor was a mere public churchman sentenced to loose living and licentiousness in private?

Your Christianity or ecclesiastical office, together with its activities like crusades and fasting, and long hours of prayer and giving of tithes, is hollow and unnoticed by God if your so-termed holiness or its teaching isn’t undergirded by integrity and character, and all you present are ephemeral charisma and drama. It’s subversion of Christ’s teachings to talk of a genuine Christian without the bridled spirit.

In Kumuyi, you find a leader who has subdued the self and imprisoned it so he can offer unhindered votive service to the Lord, His Church and mankind. It’s what the writers of Kumuyi: Defender of the Faith have described as the ‘’Davidic Exegesis’’.

This takes us back to the nexus between leadership and development or progress in society as proposed by the illustrious writer and thinker, Chinua Achebe of Africa. He wrote a slim book that traced Nigeria’s generational problems to a succession of failed leaderships. Achebe simply meant that, in the long run, undisciplined helmsmen, even if educationally socially, economically or religiously advantaged, would end up unruly and ruinous rulers, who stamp their low image on the environment, its citizens and its institutions for never-ceasing seasons of dwarfed growth.

Happy, Hearty, Healthy 85^th Birthday, Beloved Pastor W. F. Kumuyi!

*Ojewale is a writer in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria.

The Niche Lecture: And Alex Otti Spoke Loud And Clear

2026-05-02T15:59:51.793+01:00

By Ikechukwu Amaechi

No one left the auditorium of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs on Thursday, April 23, 2026, unsure of what Abia State Governor Dr Alex Otti said at the 2026 TheNiche Annual Lecture with the theme, “Governing the Economy: Choices, Trade-offs, and National Priorities.”

*Gov Otti receiving the certificate of induction into the TheNiche Hall of Fame from Ihechukwu Amaechi, the MD of TheNiche

He spoke loud and clear. In a country where political leaders have mastered the mischievous art of speaking tongue-in-cheek; where judgements of even the Supreme Court are couched in obfuscating clichés and woolly phrases that muddy the waters rather than elucidate, that is a breath of fresh air.

His thesis was profound, the clarity of his hypothesis was refreshing, just as his candour was edifying. The message in his 4,875-word lecture was unambiguous, yet loud: Elections have consequences.

His opening salvo indicated his intention to be forthright: “There is no silver bullet for solving Nigeria’s myriads of economic challenges because economics is about cold, hard facts, not vanities. With high level of unemployment, especially amongst the youth population, rising incidence of poverty and growing sense of helplessness amongst our compatriots, it would be uncharitable to wish these unsettling realities away,” he said.

That was pragmatic. For a man who pulled himself up by his bootstraps to be at the top in the banking industry, and who is now a governor, he definitely knows the way to the city of growth and development.

*From Right: Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Achebe, Emir Sanusi of Kano, Gov Otti and NLC President, Joe Ajaero

So, he is optimistic about the future of the country, preferring to see the cup as half full rather than half empty. “I refuse to submit to the position of cynics who insist that our situation is entirely hopeless because it is not… Our country has a great destiny and its future will certainly remain bright,” he submitted.

But as someone who has made a career of dealing with life in a practical manner rather than through wishful thinking, despite his sanguinity, he sounded a note of warning when he said: “Even then, the world cannot afford to wait in perpetuity for Nigeria to begin to play to its full strength. Quietly, it has moved on, hoping that someday, our country may catch up but whether that day would be in this decade or in the coming century, or perhaps never, will depend largely on what we do in the days and years that follow.”

Insisting that the frustrations of the last six decades has proved that there is a direct correlation between political choices and the daily experiences of the population, he asserted: “It is beyond argument that a good leadership system across board, one that understands the dynamic laws of economics and the intersection of political behaviour and public welfare, would certainly go a long way in taking us closer to our dream Nigeria.”

* Gen Ike Nwachukwu speaking at the event

Unassailable points for which he was rewarded with generous applause. Harping on the critical connection between politics and the economy – how politics drives critical economic outcomes – Governor Otti, without equivocation, declared: “It is impossible to separate incompetent political leadership from the manifestations of economic decline such as drastic tanking of the size of the gross domestic product, GDP, widespread unemployment, reduced investment appetite and all such developments that ultimately lead to high poverty levels and endemic anxiety within the community.”

It was obvious that everyone related to that. Many nodded their heads in agreement when he said: “Perhaps we need to say it one more time that the foundation of economic governance is built on the decisions made by those who pull the levers of power; ultimately, the outcome of their choices impact our daily experiences. In a political system driven by mercantilism, desperation for power and corruption across multiple nodes in the value chain, things are bound to go from bad to worse because no system has endless supply of resources to feed the bottomless greed of political actors, including voters who see votes as wares for sale to the highest bidder.”

There is no doubt that bad and unconscionable leadership is the reason Nigeria, a country of immense potentials, continues to plumb the depths of destitution. So, his assertion that “strong and resilient institutions cannot be built on the back of a corrupt political culture, one that favours just about anyone with a deep wallet to buy voters, electoral officials, media practitioners and the instruments of violence,” resonated as well as his reminder that “evidence abound that it is nigh-impossible to build a robust economy on the foundation of political corruption.”

*Cross section of the audience: From Right: Dame Comfort Obi, publisher of The Source, and Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye, public affairs analyst and author of Nigeria: Why Looting May Not Stop.

But who is to be blamed for bad leadership? Governor Otti’s position seems to align with Joseph de Maistre, the French philosopher’s retort that “every nation gets the government it deserves,” which places the responsibility on the people.

The political adage of a people getting the government they deserve suggests that, in a democracy, the government reflects the choices of its citizens. That is what it ought to be because in a democracy, power resides with the people. Where that is the case, the quality of leadership, therefore, reflects the people’s choices.

Granted, some Nigerians see votes as wares for sale to the highest bidder. While such people must be called out, it is important to point out that they are in the minority. Many Nigerians don’t partake in the bazaar. Again, it may be convenient to blame those who have decided not to vote again knowing from experience that their votes won’t count. But what choice do they really have other than to abstain when the exercise of their franchise only helps in legitimising fraud?

Governor Otti knows this for a fact. He won the 2015 governorship election fair and square. Abians voted for him, not the man who was declared winner and subsequently ruined the state in eight years of imbecilic leadership. The people made their choice but the rigged system decided otherwise.

*Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe (Agbogidi) speaking at the event

The same thing would have happened in 2023 if not for the forthrightness of a ‘Daniel who came to judgement’ in the person of the irrepressible Professor Nnenna Oti, a woman of integrity, whose exemplary role in upholding the truth, made the difference.

In other states where there were no Nnenna Otis, the crooked system denied the people their choices. So, how correct will it be to say that the longsuffering people of Abia State deserved the government they got in 2015 when it was obvious that they didn’t vote for the man who was declared winner by INEC?

So, while it is true that “as stakeholders in the Nigerian project, we ought to be worried that majority of our compatriots are increasingly shying away from participation at the ballots,” as Otti noted, it is important to ensure that the votes are not only counted but also count in determining who wields the levers of power. Voting for the sake of it when, at the end of the day the votes don’t count, will be an exercise in futility.

Development is impossible without a proper sense of stewardship amongst those in leadership positions. That is true. But that is only possible if those in power owe their positions to the electoral wishes of the people. Unfortunately, that seems not to be the case.

*Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, speaking at the lecture

Governor Otti said poverty and prosperity, employment and joblessness, security and anxiety, prudence and rascality will all be on the ballot in 2027. They ought to be. But with the obvious attempt at coronation rather than election by the present regime, I doubt if they will.

Unlike former President Goodluck Jonathan who famously said his political ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian, a declaration for which he has been ridiculed to no end as evidence of his naïvity, those on the saddle today have left no one in doubt that their political ambitions, if need be, may well be worth the blood of a million Nigerians. That is what the ‘Tinubu is not Jonathan,’ mantra is all about – an ominous signalling.

So, the fact that leadership misfits are straddling the corridors of power in Nigeria is not necessarily because the people made wrong choices. If anything, Nigerian voters made the right choice in 2023. It was criminally aborted. How to ensure that the political marauders are stopped in their tracks in 2027, no matter what it takes, will be the real test of this pseudo-democracy.

*Amaechi is the MD/Editor-in-Chief of TheNiche (ikechukwuamaechi@yahoo.com)

2027: Atiku Only Cares About Running, Not Winning!

2026-05-02T11:25:21.918+01:00

By Olu Fasan

To several Nigerians, Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, should not run for president next year. Some cite age, others zoning. On the first, the general view is that, at 80 years old by the time of the next presidential election in January 2027, Atiku would be too old to run for president. On the second, many posit that the South, which currently holds the presidency, should be allowed to complete the conventional second term.

*Atiku

Thus, Atiku, being a Northerner, should respect the unwritten zoning rule, and desist from seeking the presidency next year. But while there are some merits in the age and zoning arguments, they are not the real obstacles to Atiku becoming Nigeria’s president next year if he decides to defy the zeitgeist and run for the presidency.

Take age. Although the frailty of old age must be creeping in on Atiku, the truth is that, despite being nearly 80, he appears a lot healthier than President Bola Tinubu, who is supposedly just 74! President Donald Trump will be 80 in June this year, yet one could hardly tell by his energy, dynamism and exuberance. Of course, there was President Biden, who, at just over 80, was tripping at public events, utterly frail, physically and mentally. Ideally, gerontocracy should have no place in a democracy, but, ultimately, health matters more than age. Thus, we can all agree that Atiku could be president at 80, provided he is physically and mentally fit to do the job!

But what about zoning? Well, it’s a desideratum for political stability. However, without constitutional guarantees of geopolitical power rotation and religious balance, politicians would always mismanage Nigeria’s diversity and put their self-interests above the national interest. In 2023, Tinubu ran for president on a Muslim-Muslim ticket and a Yoruba lokan platform, playing both religious and ethnic cards; he disregarded the strong feelings of Christians, who constitute nearly 50 per cent of Nigeria’s population, and ignored the view that, on grounds of fairness, equity, and justice, power should shift to the Igbo, who had not produced the president since 1999, while the Yoruba had for eight years. In the end, politics is a game of numbers, and Tinubu narrowly and controversially won the presidency without most of the Christian and Igbo votes. Yet, today, Christian leaders queue up to visit President Tinubu, and Igbo leaders are some of his cheerleaders.

So, what’s my point? Simple: If Atiku gets the votes and becomes president next year, heavens will not fall, just as heavens did not fall when Tinubu clinched the presidency after ruthlessly deploying the wedge issues of ethnicity and religion. Indeed, if Atiku wins, Southern traditional rulers, led by the Ooni of Ife, would immediately pay him a courtesy visit at Aso Rock, and prominent Southern leaders would ingratiate themselves with him, all in the name of promoting national unity. That’s the nature of politics in Nigeria: success has many fathers!

To reiterate my point. Neither age nor zoning is the reason Atiku may not be president of Nigeria. The reason is Atiku himself. He lacks what it takes to win a national election. Put simply, Atiku lacks Tinubu’s political smartness and calculatedness. For both, becoming president was a lifelong ambition, but while Tinubu saw the race as a marathon, Atiku approached it as a sprint. Tinubu knew he would never be president unless he did two things: first, build a strong political base in the South-West; second, form a strategic partnership with the North, particularly the North-West. In the end, it was the 2.4mn votes from Tinubu’s South-West base that General Muhammadu Buhari added to his own 12.5mn Northern votes to become president in 2015 after three failed attempts. Those strategic calculations, coupled with ruthless political machinations, paved the way for Tinubu’s presidency.

By contrast, Atiku has never had the combination of a solid political base and formidable political alliances to propel him to the presidency. Instead, he has been jumping from party to party and burning political bridges. Although Atiku claims the North as his political base, he has never secured overwhelming votes from the North. In 2007, when Atiku ran against Umaru Yar’Adua and Buhari, he won only 2.6mn votes, most of them from the South-West, as he ran under the then Action Congress. Of the 11, 262,978 votes he secured nationally in 2019, only 5.5mn came from the entire North, as against Buhari’s nearly 13mn votes. In 2023, Atiku won 6, 984,520 votes nationally, but only got 5.2mn in the entire North, scoring fewer votes than Tinubu at 5.6mn, while Peter Obi secured just over 2mn.

So, where is Atiku’s political base? He simply lacks Buhari’s cult personality in the North. To become president, Atiku must win overwhelmingly in the North, and then garner sizeable support in the South. But he doesn’t seem to have that capacity. In 2019, Atiku had more votes in the South than in the North. But in 2023, he massively haemorrhaged votes in the South after deciding to run for president against the clamour for power shift to the South and refusing to make any concession to pacify his party’s Southern wing. Atiku may be a successful businessman, but he lacks political judgement; he lacks the capacity to make good political decisions, resulting in repeated political failures.

Last week, I watched Atiku’s interview with Charles Aniagolu on his popular Prime Time programme on Arise TV. It was Atiku at his worst presentationally. He came across as arrogant, self-regarding and utterly lacking in self-awareness and humility. Asked why he wanted to be president at 80, he kept saying he wanted state governors to learn under his tutelage. It’s utter hubris. Please, hear him.

“Take the cases of the state governors in a number of states being headed by relatively young people and failing woefully simply because at the apex they do not have a capable and experienced president to guide them and give them the benefit of his experience.” Referring to President Goodluck Jonathan, Atiku said: “I know Goodluck Jonathan very well. A decent young man but also inexperienced.”

This is beyond belief. Atiku first tried to be president in 1993, aged 46, yet he called Jonathan, who became president at 54, a young, inexperienced man. He was elected governor of Adamawa state in 1998, aged 52, yet he described today’s state governors, many of whom are in their late 40s or early 50s, young and inexperienced. Atiku kept saying he benefitted from learning under President Obasanjo as vice-president, but he fell out spectacularly with him, so much so that, at the start of their second term in 2003, Obasanjo stripped Atiku of all official responsibilities. So much for tutelage!

By the way, isn’t it a God complex, a messianic self-belief, a delusional fantasy, all wrapped into one, for Atiku to think that state governors, who have their own mandates, would learn under his tutelage as president? He said 2027 would be his last presidential contest. So, if he wins, he will only do four years in office and spend the four years showing state governors how to govern. One of the Aristotelian modes of persuasion or rhetoric is appeal to ethos, that is, to authority or credibility. Yet, with his reputation as a serial defector and a perennial presidential aspirant, Atiku lacks a track record of sound political judgements, with embedded wisdom and experience, worth embracing. Yet, he wants to seek the presidency at 80 for the sake of the “young generation”. It’s utterly self-regarding.

But I repeat, the chink in Atiku’s armour is not age or zoning; it’s his perennial failure to win overwhelmingly in the North and sufficiently in the South to clinch the presidency. If he gets the ADC’s ticket, he has his work cut out to overcome his electability challenge. The stakes are high for his putative seventh attempt. Yet, without a miracle, it risks being yet another jinxed attempt.

*Dr Fasan is the author of ‘In The National Interest: The Road to Nigeria’s Political, Economic and Social Transformation’, available at RovingHeights bookstores.

Peter Obi And The Cross Of A Nation

2026-05-02T11:12:40.976+01:00

By Valentine Obienyem

Peter Obi’s political journey in Nigeria has, in many ways, come to resemble a quiet but persistent carrying of a cross - marked by endurance, conviction, and a deep commitment to principle in the face of resistance. From his emergence on the national stage to his current role as a leading voice in public discourse, he stands as the personification of a stoic political faith, proving that the cost of integrity is high, but the price of its absence is the slow decay of the soul of a nation.

*Peter Obi

That burden did not begin on the national stage, the Champion’s League; it can be traced to the local league, his tenure as governor of Anambra State, where Peter Obi first defined the principles that now shape his political identity. In a system often marked by political brigandage, he distinguished himself through fiscal discipline, transparency, adherence to due process, and a refusal to personalise public resources.

He made education and healthcare priorities, returned schools to missionary authorities to improve standards, maintained a lean cost of governance, and still delivered significant infrastructure. Remarkably, he left office with substantial funds in the state treasury - a rare act of prudence in an age of prodigality.

Building on this reputation widespread Among Nigerians, he stepped onto the national stage in 2019 as the running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Very soon, in 2023, Obi returned to the race under the platform of the Labour Party. At the time, the party had limited national visibility, yet his candidacy transformed it into a formidable movement and a symbol of hope for many Nigerians. If not for “Mahmoodian” glitches, Nigerians – even Mr President – know that he won that election. Till today, he remains, in the hearts of Nigerians, the celebrated tribune of the people, whose momentum shook the very foundations of the old order.

Since then, Obi has remained consistent in his advocacy for national progress. He has continued to speak against poor governance, economic mismanagement, and policy failures that have come to define much of the current national experience. Beyond criticism, he has been offering, through public discourse, a series of pragmatic remedies for the nation’s challenges. He has repeatedly called attention to the rising cost of governance, urging leaders that a government which feasts while its people fast is a house built upon sand. This is why, for example, on the issue of fuel subsidy removal, he acknowledged the need for reform but faulted the manner of its execution.

He has also drawn attention to the weakening of the naira and biting economic instability, advocating a shift from consumption-driven policies to production-led growth, particularly in agriculture and manufacturing. This informs his insistence that, under good governance, the wide fields of the North would be developed for agriculture capable of generating more revenue for the country than oil presently does.

In the area of security, Obi has consistently emphasised the need for intelligence-driven and proactive strategies that address root causes rather than relying on reactive measures. He has also stressed the centrality of education and human capital development, arguing that no nation can progress sustainably without investing in its people.

Through these interventions, he may be said to carry a burden that extends beyond himself – a “cross” not merely personal, but reflective of a wider public yearning. It is the weight of persistently speaking truth to power in an environment where such candour is often unwelcome. Whether one agrees with him or not, his discipline and consistent call for accountability have ensured that he remains a central figure in Nigeria’s political conversation envied by many. This perception has, in some instances, translated into pressure - both overt and subtle - on individuals and institutions associated with him.

For example, the burning of Next Mall, once regarded as number one in Abuja, remains unresolved. In a similar vein, businesses perceived to be linked to Obi have faced varying degrees of intimidation or economic pressure. Such a climate raises concerns about fairness, where enterprises are judged based on perceived political alignment.

Beyond the economic sphere, efforts have also been made to weaken platforms associated with him, often through internal disruption and strategic interference. Why was it that after he left the Labour Party, the problems in the party were instantly resolved? If tomorrow he leaves the ADC, its Abuja-made afflictions will be cured instantly. More worrisome is the attempt by a reckless fringe on his life in Edo State. We only heard of some arrests, and nothing more till this day.

This atmosphere is perhaps most evident in the academic space. Invitations extended to Obi by several universities have been withdrawn or cancelled through Abuja phone calls. One notable instance involved the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he was billed to deliver a memorial lecture in honour of Prof. Frank Ndili, but the event was later cancelled under controversial circumstances. I had privileged information from the organisers about the “hand of Esau.” We have witnessed occasions where his support for Government institutions were rejected on orders from above. Similar situations have occurred across other institutions, creating a pattern that raises questions about academic independence.

The most recent example is his engagement at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife that was cancelled. His traducers appear concerned that his message, often centred on practical and measurable alternatives, resonates too strongly with audiences, challenging established narratives of leadership and governance. At times, there is even an exaggerated fear that his presence might overshadow other figures and give him unimaginable political leverage.

Ironically, while such constraints appear at home, Obi continues to find receptive audiences abroad. In the past two years, he has delivered lectures at globally respected institutions such as the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, and the University of Chicago, among others. These institutions exemplify environments where open dialogue, critical thinking, and intellectual exchange are encouraged - values that should equally define Nigerian universities.

Many Governor in other to satisfy Abuja has placed embargo on his visits to their states in clear violation of free movement within Nigeria. The last time he attempted to visit a displaced persons’ camp in Benue State, the governor stopped him from doing so, adding yet another layer to the growing list of contested engagements.

In the end, Peter Obi’s journey reflects a larger story about Nigeria itself - a struggle between entrenched systems and the growing demand for accountability. Whether or not his path leads to political victory, the questions he raises cannot be ignored.

He is not driven by personal need or comfort; rather, the challenges he faces stem from his character, competence, and commitment to national renewal - qualities that often unsettle those invested in the status quo. In the final analysis, the cross he bears is not merely his own, but that of over 200 million Nigerians who feel underserved and yearn for a more just and effective system of governance.

*Obienyem sent this piece from Awka.

From Lagos To London: Flying Homegrown With Air Peace

2026-04-20T11:32:00.001+01:00

By Fred Chukwuelobe

I am approaching this review from the perspective of a seasoned traveller. Having assessed over two decades of travel on more than ten major foreign carriers, this account is a candid reflection of my recent experience, measured against those global standards.

Between 2003 and 2026, I crossed the Atlantic and travelled extensively through the US, Europe, and the Middle East. Yet, for over twenty years, I never once flew a Nigerian flag carrier on a long-haul route.

That changed when Air Peace launched its direct Lagos–London service. Naturally, the question became: could another homegrown airline truly compete on one of the world’s most demanding aviation corridors considering that previous efforts could not be sustained. On April 18, 2026, I put this to the test and only time will tell.

I boarded Air Peace Flight P4-7578, a Boeing 777-300 service from Lagos to London Gatwick (LGW). While I initially considered flying via Abuja to Heathrow, I opted for Gatwick, confident in its ease of onward ground connections.

Here is how the experience unfolded:

1- Affordable Without Compromise

The pricing was immediately compelling. Economy fares were approximately ₦400,000 lower than those of foreign competitors, while the Business Class fare was a staggering ₦3,500,000 less. In today’s economic climate, that margin is significant. Crucially, the lower price did not result in a sacrifice of core service; Business Class even included a complimentary airport transfer in London - a major value-add.

2- Warm, Seamless Check-In

The ground experience was efficient yet distinctly human. Led by Duty Manager Mr. Ugochukwu Ejiofor, the team was attentive and courteous. Ms. Claret handled the complimentary ride booking with ease, while Ms. Nkiru ensured the queues moved swiftly. It felt less like a transaction and more like a welcome.

*Fred Chukwulobe on the Lagos-London Air Peace Flight

3- Comfort and Care

The aircraft was clean, well-maintained, and quietly elegant. The cabin crew, led by Head Purser Ifeoma Ojinaka, projected a level of composure that quickly eased any initial scepticism. With welcoming smiles, they worked diligently to satisfy passengers’ needs. While there were occasional minor slips - understandable as the crew settles into this new route - their commitment was evident. The seating was comfortable, providing ample legroom for the six-hour journey.

4- Smooth Skies

Apart from about 20 minutes of mild turbulence leaving Lagos, the flight was steady and uneventful - the highest compliment in aviation. Captain David Bamboye and First Officer Junaid executed the take-off, cruise, and landing with total precision. Aided by favourable weather, the touchdown at Gatwick was among the smoothest I have experienced.

5- Food That Feels Like Home

This was undoubtedly the highlight of the journey. Rather than generic airline food, Air Peace served authentic Nigerian cuisine, including Jollof rice and goat meat pepper soup. At 35,000 feet, it was more than a meal; it was a cultural experience - familiar, comforting, and uniquely ours.

6- Areas for Improvement

The experience was not without hurdles, though some were outside the airline’s direct control. For example, the multiple agencies responsible for screening luggage and documents at MMIA often lack urgency, causing boarding delays that are frequently, and unfairly, blamed on the airline. My flight departed 30 minutes behind schedule for this reason. As the government modernises the airport, streamlining these overlapping roles is essential.

Internally, Air Peace must address its In-Flight Entertainment (IFE). Many passengers noted they could not watch movies or track the flight path. Upgrading this system is a necessary step as the route matures. Additionally, some crew members would benefit from further service refinement; in the rush to serve, cutlery and condiments occasionally dropped, creating unnecessary noise. With more time and training, I expect these "growing pains" to vanish.

7- Arrival and the "Empty Seat" Narrative

Arrival at Gatwick was seamless, with quick access to immigration. Regarding viral videos showing empty seats on Air Peace: my flight was almost entirely full. It is worth noting that during the off-peak season, even major global carriers experience similar gaps. This is a matter of seasonality, not a reflection of the airline’s viability.

8- The Verdict

For the first time, I didn’t just fly to London; I flew Nigeria to London. From pricing to cuisine, Air Peace has proven that a homegrown airline can compete on the global stage through innovation and pride.

If you are travelling to the UK and want to see Nigerian aviation stepping forward with confidence, this flight is well worth experiencing. As Air Peace lands you in London, remember Samuel Johnson’s famous words: “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”

Thanks to the savings from Air Peace flights to London, you will have a bit more to spend on enjoying everything the city has to offer.

*Fred Chukwuelobe, fnipr, is a commentator on public issues

Terrorism: Hold Some Northern Govs Responsible

2026-04-10T20:01:00.004+01:00

By Dele Sobowale

“In every community, there is a class of people profoundly dangerous to the rest. I don’t mean the criminals. For them we have punitive sanctions. I mean the leaders. Invariably, the most dangerous people seek power” – Saul Bellow, 1915-2005, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p 124.

Newspapers headlines were grim a day before the Eid-el-Fitr 2026. The end of Ramadan, to which all faithful people looked forward, joyfully, in the past, has now become threatening and mournful all over Nigeria. Apparently, no place is spared the fear of violence on the days of celebrations declared by government. It was never like this. Hope for relief is fading faster with each new assault by terrorists. Increasingly, there is despair about governments’ ability to provide security to citizens who, in many communities, have surrendered sovereignty to the bandits by paying the levies imposed.

The sweeping change of service chiefs, followed soon after by the appointment of Army General Musa (rtd) as Minister of Defence, has been characterized as “movement without motion” by a former security officer. Sheik Abubakar Gumi’s recent allegation concerning governments’ involvement in secret negotiations with terrorists, which nobody has disputed, has deepened the trust deficit associated with efforts to solve the problems. Too many suspicious elements parade the corridors of power.

The following news reports capture the mood of gloom pervading the nation – particularly the North – Ibadan in Oyo State had its own experience of terror when nine people were reportedly kidnapped by gunmen at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, CRIN. Ransom was paid, but, not everybody has been returned.

NEWS PANORAMA: FEEDING ON THE DAILY BREAD OF SORROW

Let us lead off with the one summarizing our national descent into hell – while the political rulers only worry about the next election.

“Terrorists threaten to kill 32 abducted Kaduna villagers over N30m ransom” – Report, March 18, 2026

“Maiduguri bombings: Military chiefs arrive Borno after Tinubu’s directive” – Report, March 18, 2026

“Insecurity: How Nigeria spent N32.8trn on defence in 15 years” – Report, March, March 19, 2026.

“Kwara massacre: 176 abducted victims still held after 46 days” – Report, March 21, 2026.

“Borno Government to shoulder medical bills, as Zulum visits Maiduguri blast victims” – Report, March 21, 2026

“IDP camp residents to FG: If you can’t take us home, say it, stop pretending.” Report” – March 21, 2026.

“Nigeria recorded two world’s deadliest attacks [May 15 and September 5, 2025]” – Report, March 22, 2026.

“IED blasts kill nine in Kwara, Niger communities” – Report, March 24, 2026.

“Fanfare amid Borno bombings” Report. March 24, 2026

“Terrorists ambush troops, kill 9 soldiers, policeman in Kebbi” – Report, March 26, 2026

“How teenagers packaged bomb in flask to attack Borno Hospital” – Report March 28, 2026.

The March 19, 2026 report detailing the vast expenditure, N32.8trn in 15 years, summarises our national predicament. VANGUARD, in that front page report, also reminded us that “Nigeria recorded over 100,000 violent deaths since 2012”. Three Presidents and their governments are implicated in what has become a seemingly intractable national disaster. Virtually every day brings Nigerians another grim report suggesting that governments, federal and states, have repeatedly failed in discharging their personal responsibilities to the people – security of lives and properties.

The March 22, 2026 news report, which was sourced from the 2026 Global Terrorism Index release, ranking Nigeria fourth globally on terrorism, is as damning an indictment of all the governments – PDP and APC. – starting with late President Yar’Adua; as well as all the past and present security chiefs. From 2009, when Boko Haram reared its venomous head in Borno State till now, there has been no single time, under any president, when there was abatement. Instead, BH grew in strength and spurned other terrorist groups nationally. Consequently, today, terrorism in Nigeria has become hydra-headed; virtually defying solution.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

“For every folly of their princes, the Greeks feel the lash” – Horace, 65-8 BC

The Greeks were lashed with whips because their princes were merely foolish. Nigerians, particularly in the North, are now chastised with scorpions because hundreds of leaders in the highest offices possible have been myopic: Presidents, Governors, National Security Advisers, Directors-General of the Department of State Service, Chiefs of Armed Forces and Inspectors General of Police – among others. Buhari’s eight years in office followed six years of Yar’Adua, when the seeds of destruction were planted with benign neglect at first and cowardice at last. Buhari mounted the saddle with the Chibok girls still in captivity; and left with many of them still missing. The problem got worse from 2015 to 2023; and, instead of finding a real solution, propaganda was deployed. “Boko Haram has been decimated”.

That was Lai Mohammed, Buhari’s Minister of Information, lying to Fellow Nigerians – with tacit approval from the President. Today’s truth has exposed yesterday’s lies with an explosive force. Almost three years of Tinubu’s administration has landed Nigeria in the unenviable position of ranking fourth of Global Terrorism Index, GTI. That still leaves the question: Who is most responsible. Then, take a look at the chart below. It is not meant for your amusement. Instead, it tells a story we have all chosen to ignore.

3.7M DISPLACED NIGERIANS IN EIGHT STATES

(000s)

Note: 3.7 million Nigerians are reported displaced in March 2026. Only eight states account for 3,341,000 or 91% of them. Borno State, alone, accounts for 46 per cent; and together with Benue, the two states hold 60 per cent of all displaced persons in Nigeria. There are reasons for this situation – which we ignore at our peril.

STATE NUMBER % OF TOTAL

Borno 1,711 46

Benue 500 14

Zamfara 276 8

Katsina 244 7

Adamawa 218 6

Yobe 155 4

Sokoto 118 3

Kaduna 117 3

TOTAL 3,341 91

Source: VANGUARD, March 16, 2026 .

Putting the figures above into a global context reveals the following humbling and chilling facts with which this nation and its political, as well as other, leaders must deal urgently. About 30-35 nations have populations of 500,000 or less; Benue alone has that number, and it is rising daily. Nearly 40 countries have populations of 1.7 million or less. Borno state’s IDP population surpasses them.

More concerning, between 70 and 80 sovereign states have populations of 3.7 million or less. IDPs are invariably non-productive individuals, socially and economically dependent on the rest. At the moment, Nigeria ranks ninth globally on IDPs; just as we now occupy the fourth position on multi-dimensional terrorism. We didn’t arrive at the sorry pass by accident. Some leaders piloted us here through acts of omission and commission; a few Governors derserve dishonorable mention.

When Professor Zulum, by his own admission, granted amnesty to 30,000 “repentant” Boko Haram terrorists, it was obvious to some of us that the transient ruler of Borno State, is extremely intelligent; but, not wise and had not read enough. Had the former university don read about the Trojan Horse, in Hellenic history, he would have realized that he was duped by clever and dangerous men.

Deception is one of the tools deployed in armed conflict; and there is no more gullible leader than one who accepts the enemy’s first truce offer at face value and lowers his guards. Zulum deliberately or inadvertently accepted thousands of Boko Haram moles and deployed them, like wolves in sheep’s coat, to prey at will on the poor people of Borno State.

The March 28, 2026 report symbolizes how easily and deeply terrorists have penetrated every community in Borno State. A thousand soldiers is a battalion. Even if only 5000 of the “repentant” terrorists turned out to be rouge; Zulum has admitted to deploying five battalions of hardened and conscienceless killers to terrorise, not only Borno, but the entire nation. Take it from me, 1.7 million IDPs represent a percentage of the numbers to expect.

Obviously, the March 21, 2026 report in which the governor promised to pay the medical bills of the victims of recent bombing in Maiduguri is as self-serving as it is mostly worthless to the dead and most of the living. The dead don’t need medical expenses paid. Some of them might have left widows and orphans going to swell the IDP population. Zulum, vainly, is sending good state money to rescue an atrocious decision made in the past. Can he, honestly, account for all the terrorists granted amnesty?

The current Governors of Katsina, Zamfara and, to some extent, Kaduna, are victims of questionable decisions made by former Governors Maisari, Matawalle and El-Rufai respectively. Without admitting it, all of them have attempted to negotiate with terrorists in their states; they willingly paid extortion money to the bandits in exchange for peace; only to be double-crossed.

Again, premeditatedly or mistakenly, they became financiers of the hoodlums. Matawalle claimed to have carried N900 million to terrorists in 300 Zamfara forests; he was also Governor when Turji was turbarned by a traditional ruler. El-Rufai admitted to paying compensation to herders who invaded farms and wreaked havoc in parts of Kaduna state – before the, formerly peaceful state became a hell on Earth. Benue is the only state, with large IDP population, which was not a victim of its governors – past and present.

We should stop pretending. We know those who created our problems. They are/were in the corridors of power.

*Dr. Sobowale is a commentator on public issues. Follow him on Facebook @ J Israel Biola

Safety First: Air Peace Clarifies Ibadan Flight Delay Amid Weather Disruption

2026-04-10T19:42:00.005+01:00

We wish to clarify the situation regarding the Ibadan–Abuja flight, following claims by a passenger that it was unduly delayed.

The aircraft scheduled for this service made two landing attempts in Ibadan but had to return to Abuja due to adverse weather conditions at the time.

Passengers were duly informed of this development, and as safety protocols required the crew had to divert. We are pleased to confirm that the aircraft has now successfully landed in Ibadan, and preparations are ongoing for departure shortly.

We also wish to correct a misconception: no Air Peace aircraft deployed on this or other domestic routes carries 200 passengers. The figure being circulated is therefore inaccurate. The actual number of passengers on the flight is 73, all of whom have now boarded.

To our valued passengers, we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this delay has caused. Please be assured that your safety, as well as that of our crew and equipment, remains our utmost priority. Weather-related disruptions, though unfortunate, are managed with the highest level of caution in line with global aviation safety standards.

We kindly ask for your patience and understanding in situations like this. Air Peace does not intentionally delay or cancel flights without sufficient and justifiable reasons.

Thank you for your continued trust and cooperation.

At Air Peace, your peace is our goal.

Signed:

Management

Air Peace Limited

Is The Nation’s Democratic Whistle Still Trusted?

2026-04-10T19:30:00.008+01:00

By Stephanie Shaakaa

Is INEC actually independent? In Nigeria today, this is not a question of law, it is a question of life or death for democracy. Because when citizens begin to doubt the hands that blow the nation’s democratic whistle, every vote, every promise, every election is already suspect before it begins. Trust is the true ballot. Without it, even the cleanest election is hollow.

*Amupitan

In every democracy, the whistle is more than an instrument of order. It is the sound of fairness itself. The moment citizens begin to suspect that it no longer blows by the rulebook, the game changes long before the final score is announced. Every controversial call, every silence, is filtered through suspicion rather than principle. Trust does not collapse in one instant. It leaks away, decision by decision.

Every democracy eventually faces a terrifying question. Who guards the referee when the players no longer trust the game? In Nigeria, that question hangs heavily over the Independent National Electoral Commission. It is no longer enough to ask if the commission is independent in constitutional language. The deeper and more urgent concern is whether citizens still believe in that independence when the highest stakes are on the line.

On paper, INEC is constitutionally protected. It is tasked with conducting elections, regulating parties, and safeguarding the ballot’s integrity. Officials routinely reaffirm their commitment to transparency and public confidence. Yet democracies are not sustained by paper guarantees. They survive because citizens believe that the institutions standing between power and the ballot are both morally and operationally trustworthy.

The real crisis begins when that belief falters. An electoral body loses legitimacy not only when it acts with provable bias. It also loses it when citizens cannot distinguish constitutional independence from political convenience. That is the fault line on which democratic trust either stands or collapses.

The law may declare INEC insulated. But the lived reality of politics introduces complexities no constitution alone can resolve. Leadership emerges through presidential appointments and legislative confirmations. Lawful though the process may be, it inevitably fuels suspicion in a deeply polarized climate. Credibility is inseparable from the transparency of leadership selection.

A referee may know the rules perfectly, yet once both teams begin to suspect the whistle is selective, the match itself changes. Every call becomes controversial. Every silence feels political. Every difficult decision is interpreted through the lens of fear already lodged in the minds of players and spectators.

This is precisely the danger facing Nigeria. Controversial decisions that align with entrenched power, fairly or not, erode public confidence. The problem is no longer legality. The problem is the meaning citizens attach to each action in a system fatigued by elite capture, opposition fragmentation, and institutional distrust.

In democracy, meaning is everything. An election is legitimized not just by casting votes, but by collective belief that the umpire belongs to the republic not to the most powerful team. Once that belief cracks, even the cleanest electoral process arrives in public consciousness already wounded.

Nigeria’s current political climate makes this particularly perilous. Opposition parties fear narrowing institutional space. Ruling party dominance appears expansive. Every procedural adjustment or delayed recognition of party factions is instantly filtered through suspicion that the playing field is no longer level.

The solution is not reckless condemnation. It is the building of an electoral culture where independence is demonstrated, not merely asserted. Radical transparency, consistency of action, visible fairness, and decisions that survive the harshest scrutiny from winners and losers alike are what create enduring credibility. Institutions do not become credible by claiming it. They become credible when even critics can trace the logic of their actions to principle rather than convenience.

A republic can endure flawed politicians far longer than it can survive a distrusted referee. Bad leaders rise and fall. Parties fracture. Coalitions form and collapse. But once the umpire loses moral authority, every future election inherits suspicion before it inherits voters.

The danger is not that the whistle may be blown. It is that millions of citizens are beginning to wonder whether it is blown only when it suits the most powerful. That is how democracies suffocate without a single tank on the street, not through the loud theft of ballots, but through the quiet death of belief.

Once the democratic whistle is perceived as selective, every silence sounds political, every call feels prearranged, and trust leaks away, decision by decision. Nations do not lose democracy solely when votes are stolen. Sometimes they lose it when trust in the hands counting those votes quietly dies. A nation survives contested players more easily than it survives a contested whistle, because when the whistle itself is distrusted, even the cleanest result arrives stained by suspicion.

What does independence mean if the public no longer believes in it? Nigeria must confront this question with honesty. It is not enough for INEC to be independent in law. It must remain independent in the mind of the citizen, because trust is the real ballot paper on which every democracy is ultimately counted.

*Shaakaa is a commentator on public issues

Emperor Tinubu And The Jos Massacre

2026-04-10T19:21:00.008+01:00

By Ugoji Egbujo

Emperors owe no duties to their subjects. When they deign to show pity, it must be applauded as great charity.

*Tinubu

President Tinubu cannot feel the people’s pain. He didn’t tell the truth to that woman who clutched to her dead son, Ayiba, and stirred the soul of the nation. He owes Jos—and the many other communities ravaged by insecurity—the constitutional duty to protect lives and property. Yet Tinubu is too busy with politics and propaganda, too self-absorbed to be moved by bloodbaths, mass graves, broken families, and displaced communities—the real, substantive consequences of rampant banditry. Possessed by an obsession for political conquests, he cannot summon the empathy required to engineer genuine solutions.

When Tinubu paid a condolence visit to Jos after the recent massacre, he only stopped at the airport. Because he had no time to travel into the city, the victims and their families were ferried to Yakubu Gowon Airport in Heipang for the photo-op. Such callousness comes naturally to emperors. After the picture session, Tinubu continued on his journey to Lagos for his Easter holidays. The sole beneficiary of the visit was Tinubu. The happiness of the emperor, after all, is the priority of the empire. So it was not salt on the wound. Far from it. Perhaps Tinubu should have skipped Jos altogether and sent Nuhu Ribadu to lecture them on Tinubu Gains and how safe the country has become.

In Africa, condolence visits are not performed from afar. The venue is the center of the tragedy or mourning . Sympathisers may shed crocodile tears, but they cannot summon the bereaved to a meeting at the market square. Yet an emperor is not accountable to commoners. If the victims had been big politicians or royals, Tinubu would not have stopped at the airport to perform a ritual which eventually became a brief service of worship songs for Tinubu by sycophants.

Tinubu stopped at the airport because the victims were inconsequential peasants. By that fleeting stopover , Tinubu had already given them more than they deserved. That was why he did not bother to tell more stories. He told the people of Jos, “Your airport has no light.” Perhaps it was the fault of the people, rather than the federal government, that Jos Airport, which is almost 50 years old , has no functional runway lights. That was Tinubu’s reason for not visiting Jos North. That is how emperors speak. The people of Jos must applaud him for coming.

These insensitive visits that bruise the wounds of grieving families and communities have become Tinubu’s habit. In the aftermath of the slaughter of over 200 people in the Yelewata massacre in Benue, he had no time for the state. When he finally carved out time from his fabled tight schedule, he stopped in Makurdi for two hours. Victims were brought from long distances to meet him in a hall. Schoolchildren were made to line the roads in blistering rain. The hall was decorated like the venue of a political carnival and feast. That day, Tinubu told Benue people he could not visit Yelewata because “the people had no good roads.” That is how emperors roll.

By skipping Rukuba Jos , Tinubu actually snubbed the victims of the massacre. Were it not for his political opponents who might use it against him, he would not have bothered going near Jos at all. But that brief visit that never left the tarmac is worse than a no-show. Had he simply told the people of Jos he could not come because of his tight schedule, they would have understood. He is a busy big man. Perhaps when elections draw close, he will make out time to visit Jos and drink fura on the streets . Perhaps these inconveniences occasioned by the existence of the opposition are exactly why Tinubu’s men are out to liquidate opposition parties—so the emperor can enjoy the perks of his office undisturbed.

Does Tinubu understand the full weight of his constitutional responsibilities? Perhaps he does not need to. Perhaps the constitution itself is overdue for a proper amendment to reflect the reality of a king . Before then, it is the job of the sycophants around an emperor in a democracy to protect him from the ego-puncturing truth of his incompetence. The political jobbers and bootlickers must blind him with adulation. They must not let him appreciate that his role is not to junket around the world but to protect the masses. They must feed him the idea that the proliferation of jihadists and bandits is the handiwork of his opponents. So that when Tinubu visits places like Jos and Yelewata, he arrives as if the incidents and the victims themselves are out to stain his immaculate robes.

The Jos airport is so far from the city that a condolence visit conducted there can only be farcical. It is inhuman to pack grieving families and survivors into buses, haul them to the airport, and make them listen to the president ramble and milk obeisance from political and traditional rulers past and present. What would it have cost Tinubu to sleep in Jos and meet with community and youth leaders? The Plateau crisis has lasted two decades. Yet when a rare opportunity arose for deep immersion into the problem, Tinubu skipped past it to enjoy his holidays. The emperor is too big. He consumes eulogies. Local leaders should appreciate his exalted status and stop expecting him to meddle in petty crises.

But is it possible Tinubu simply did not feel safe going into Jos? And that he could not tell the people outright, “Your city is not safe”? So he scheduled his trip to arrive late, conveniently using the airport-light excuse to duck and hide. Otherwise, why could he not visit in the morning? On Good Friday, perhaps, if he was too busy on Thursday? Remarkably, the state governor himself visited the scene of the attack in an armoured personnel carrier. It took the insistence of the people—who refused to be ignored—for the governor to step out and stand with the traumatised survivors and the corpses. Well, an emperor cannot subject himself to unnecessary risks for the sake of mere peasants.

If Angwan Rukuba is unsafe for Tinubu and his security chiefs, then it is demonstrably unsafe for the people who live there. Ordering security agencies to “pursue the perpetrators” and promising CCTV deployment in Plateau are mere platitudes. The government knows the major bandits by name. Words and cameras do not stop AK-47s at night. Real accountability would look like sustained, intelligence-driven operations that dismantle the networks, prosecute the sponsors, and address the root drivers—land disputes, farmer-herder mediation, porous borders, and the ethnic politics that fuel the fire.

Plateau deserves more than condolence theatre. The Plateau crisis, like the others tearing apart the country, demands results.

Who will tell the president that he has lost touch, and that the nation is bleeding?

*Dr Egbujo is a commentator on public issues

Terrorists Are My Enemies, Not “Brothers”!

2026-04-10T19:03:00.002+01:00

By Ochereome Nnanna

For me, the legacy of the late President Muhammadu Buhari remains the most profound failure of Nigerian leadership. It was a tenure defined by a litany of institutional abuses. Chief among these was Operation Safe Corridor (OPSC).

Initiated almost as soon as he touched the levers of power in May 2015 and fully activated by September 2016, it was a betrayal of his primary campaign promise. Instead of the total military defeat of Boko Haram he had pledged, he gave us an abomination: a programme designed to “rehabilitate and reintegrate” so-called repentant jihadists back into the very society they had spent almost a decade trying to incinerate.

One must ask: what psychological art exists to decipher the “repentance” of a person whose mind was forged in the nurseries of radical Islam? Can a soul conditioned for carnage be scrubbed clean by a few weeks of government-sponsored civics lessons? Isn’t it possible that those purportedly “deradicalising” terrorists are themselves terrorists that need to be deradicalised?

The administration and its brass called it a “non-kinetic” component of counter-insurgency. In reality, OPSC is a mechanism used to circumvent the scales of justice in favour of Islamic terrorists. These are men who have slaughtered innocent Nigerians, levelled indigenous communities, and ambushed and massacred our soldiers in the thousands. They are the architects of a crisis that rendered three million Nigerians internally displaced and robbed an entire generation of children of their right to education. By any standard of law or morality, these are the worst elements, the scum of human society. They deserve no mercy on the battlefield, and those captured alive deserve the swift, cold edge of justice—maximum sentences to punish their atrocities and serve as a grim deterrent to others.

Instead, the Buhari regime simply pampered them the way we usually celebrate victorious Super Eagles. We watched in horror as OPSC scooped these vermin from the dark recesses of the Sambisa Forest, housed them in cosy camps, and treated them like returning rock stars. They were outfitted in sharp raiment and forced back upon a traumatised public that wanted nothing to do with them. While military authorities have repeatedly denied that these outcasts were absorbed into our security forces, the suspicion persists. This distrust was fuelled by the perception that the regime was a silent promoter of armed attacks on indigenous communities by Fulani herdsmen and terrorist groups.

The strategic fallout of this “soft-landing” policy has been catastrophic. OPSC appeared to provide the breathing room for Abubakar Shekau’s Boko Haram to establish a new, lethal front in Niger State. This created the fertile soil required for other jihadist groups to seize territory in Kwara and parts of Kogi. Furthermore, during the global shadow of the COVID-19 lockdowns, we witnessed the organised movement of thousands of strange young men from the North to the South, hidden in the bellies of cement, cattle and food trucks.

They arrived, disembarked and marched directly into the forests to hibernate like malignant tumours. We recall how Buhari pushed policies designed to force Nigerians to yield their ancestral lands to accommodate his Fulani tribesmen from all over Africa. It was fiercely resisted, but the damage was done. Many believe these elements now constitute sleeper cells, poised for the signal to strike.

Perhaps the most galling aspect of this saga is the image-laundering campaign spearheaded by high-ranking Northern politicians and military officers. In a moment of historic tone-deafness, Major General Abdulmalik Bulama Biu, the GOC 7 Division, claimed in Maiduguri that after draining N32 trillion from our national treasury and slaughtering for 17 years, “repentant” Boko Haram members could still occupy any office in the land—including the Presidency! It was a barbaric utterance that insulted the grave of every fallen soldier and slaughtered citizen.

Rather than a retraction, the highest-ranking soldier, Chief of Defence Staff General Olufemi Oluleye, doubled down. At a function in Abuja, he had the temerity to compare mass murderers to the “Prodigal Son” of the Bible. It is a theological and moral perversion. In the Biblical narrative, the Prodigal Son squandered his own inheritance; he did not slit the throats of his neighbours, burn down his father’s village, or kidnap his sisters. He returned in repentance and humility, not as a pampered ward of a rogue regime.

Why are our Army chiefs so shameless in this PR campaign? Why have they adopted the same apologetic refrain perfected by Sheikh Ahmad Gumi for Fulani terrorists? Why do some Nigerian Army officers appear more protective of the terrorists they have fought for nearly two decades than the civilians they are sworn to defend? It is a betrayal of soldiers who watch their comrades fall, only to hear their commanders speak in affectionate tones about these enemies. Is it any wonder that the youth of certain parts of this country are rejecting the call to join the Army?

OPSC is a bankrupt military strategy. It has not ended the war; it has merely allowed it to diversify and spread. I had held a thin hope that President Bola Tinubu would dismantle this charade and strike the insurgents with the full weight of the state. Unfortunately, that hope was misplaced. He and his appointees have simply curated the Buhari legacy. It is no surprise that global powers like the United States and Israel are watching Nigeria’s internal security with direct concern. They understand what our own leaders refuse to admit: once Islamists gain the position of strength in the “Giant of Africa,” the entire West becomes vulnerable.

I count myself out of the delusional claim that terrorists are “our brothers”. They are my enemies. You cannot defeat an enemy for whom you harbour a secret soft spot. That is not the spirit of a warrior.

Those who push this narrative of brotherhood with butchers should be investigated.

*Nnanna is a commentator on public issues

Recurring Bloodbaths: Nigeria Is Too Fragile, Too Fractured To Be Safe

2026-04-09T17:14:18.065+01:00

By Olu Fasan

Recently, after the mass killing in Jos, Plateau State, President Bola Tinubu said he was not elected “to comfort and create widows and widowers”. Yet since he became president barely three years ago, his administration has overseen the creation of thousands of widows, widowers and orphans whose husbands, wives and parents were killed in terrorist attacks.

After each attack, President Tinubu would mourn the dead, console their widows and widowers and then authoritatively declare, as if issuing the irreversible law of the Medes and Persians: “This experience won’t repeat itself”!

But such pronouncements are perfunctory; they are full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. For instance, after the Jos killings on March 30, Tinubu vowed that “this won’t happen again”. Yet, just a few days later, there were deadly attacks in Benue State, killing 17 people, and in Kaduna State where several citizens were massacred in a church, while fresh killings occurred in Jos. In a sharp rebuke, Amnesty International accused President Tinubu of “issuing turgid statements condemning the attacks”, while “failing to protect lives”.

To be sure, President Tinubu inherited the hydra-headed monster called terrorism. However, insecurity in Nigeria usually gets progressively worse, with more lives lost and more people abducted under each government than under its predecessor. As many will remember, President Goodluck Jonathan presided over a state of mayhem, culminating in Boko Haram’s kidnap of 276 Chibok schoolgirls in 2014. Insecurity largely cost Jonathan his re-election in 2015. General Muhammadu Buhari and his party, APC, seized on the dreadful security situation to portray Jonathan as utterly weak, and vowed to defeat terrorism in Nigeria if elected. Brandishing his experience as a retired General, Buhari said his government would do “everything in its power” to defeat insurgency in Nigeria.

Indeed, in power, Buhari initially acted as if he was on to something transformative. He fired the military commanders and replaced them with those widely regarded as “first-class officers”. He promised to boost morale in the military through investment in equipment and in the training and welfare of soldiers. He said he would work tirelessly to build a strong regional alliance against terrorism in Nigeria and reach out to the wider international community for help. Yet, despite these “efforts”, Buhari failed woefully.

In 2018, nearly four years in power, President Buhari took $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account to “fight the rising spate of insecurity across the country”, an admission that his prior anti-insurgency “efforts” had failed. By the time Buhari left office in 2023, more Nigerians had died from terrorism, insurgency, banditry, etc, under his government than under the administration of President Jonathan! Under Buhari, Nigeria ranked as the world’s fifth most dangerous country, according to the Legatum Prosperity Index for Safety and Security.

That was the appalling security environment President Tinubu inherited on May 29, 2023. But things always get progressively worse, not better, in Nigeria. As such, it has taken Tinubu less than three years in office to achieve a worse security situation than Buhari did in eight years in power. In May 2025, Amnesty International said at least 10,217 people were killed in the first two years of Tinubu’s administration. Since then, the figure has reached about 18,000, according to one security analyst. What’s more, Nigeria ranked fourth in the 2026 global terrorism index, recently published by the Institute for Economics and Peace, recording a 46 per cent increase in deaths from terrorism in 2025.

Like Buhari, Tinubu has taken performative actions that have not moved the needle on insecurity in Nigeria. He, too, sacked service chiefs and replaced them with acclaimed “first-class officers”, but what have they achieved to date? Tinubu’s National Security Adviser, Nuru Ribadu, has made little difference in that role. The new Minister of Defence, General Christoper Musa (rtd), the immediate past chief of defence staff, has also failed to get to grips with the security challenge. Their appointments were motivated by political considerations, not expectations of tangible outcomes.

In November last year, President Tinubu declared a “nationwide security emergency”. He ordered the army and the police to recruit more personnel and called for expedited action on state police. Sadly, hardly anyone, not even the president, considers the great danger that well-armed terrorists, insurgents and bandits, who often scare the daylights out of demoralised soldiers, would have a field day killing ramshackle state police officers like chickens. Still performative, President Tinubu ordered the purchase of 5,000 surveillance cameras in Plateau State after the Jos massacre. One must wonder, why did the idea of installing CCTV cameras in trouble spots just occur to the president, nearly three years in office, only after yet another round of bloodbath?

Of course, the dire security situation in Nigeria is a fundamental failure of governance. Throughout the history of human government, it’s been universally recognised that the first duty of any government is to protect the lives and property of its citizens. That’s the irreducible core of the “social contract”, a concept established by great philosophers like Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. In one report, the UK House of Lords said: “It is the first responsibility of a government in a democratic society to protect and safeguard the lives of its citizens. This is where the public interest lies. It is essential to the preservation of democracy.” So, why have successive Nigerian governments shirked this fundamental duty? Or why have the “efforts” of successive governments failed to tackle the acute and chronic insecurity in Nigeria?

Well, the answer is twofold. First, Nigeria is a deeply fragile state. Second, Nigeria is a deeply fractured state. Take the fragility first. In their seminal report titled “Escaping the fragility trap”, Professors Paul Collier and Tim Besley identified “security threats from organised non-state violence” as a major symptom of state fragility. All countries face security challenges, but fragile states lack the capacity to respond effectively to them. One of the key features of a strong state is a monopoly on the use of organised violence within its territory.

But the Nigerian state lacks a monopoly of violence; organised non-state violence often trumps organised state violence. Nigerian soldiers are so poorly trained, equipped and remunerated that they are often outgunned and outsmarted by better equipped and more motivated terrorists and bandits. For a country that has weak capacity for essential functions, such as the provision of basic amenities, Nigeria’s lack of state capacity is a major reason it can’t guarantee the safety and security of its citizens.

The second reason is that Nigeria is a deeply fractured society, where religious and ethnic polarisations are high, and where abuse of power and lack of accountable leadership have deepened distrust between the government and the governed. Empirical studies have shown any country with such characteristics will always have acute security challenges. Think about it. Organised non-state violence in Nigeria is either religiously or ethnically motivated, often driven by long-standing grievances between groups.

Furthermore, they are fuelled by selfish politicians. In 2018, a former senator, Naj’atu Muhammed said that “terrorism has become a multi-billion-dollar industry in Nigeria”. But if terrorism is such a flourishing industry, some people must be funding and profiting from it. In 2020, Dr Obadiah Mailafia said that some unnamed Northern governors were sponsors of Boko Haram. He was hounded until his death. Yet, Dr Mailafia was right: terrorism, insurgency and banditry in Nigeria have powerful political sponsors, who remain untouchable.

Truth is, Nigeria is a weak state; it’s also an abusive, utterly divided state. No country with those characteristics can handle security challenges effectively. Until Nigeria tackles its weak state capacity, until it achieves true nationhood and until it holds its leaders accountable and punishes perpetrators of the heinous crimes of terrorism, insurgency and banditry, instead of kid-gloving them, it will never be a safe, secure and stable country, whatever the performative “efforts” of the government!

*Dr Fasan is the author of ‘In The National Interest: The Road to Nigeria’s Political, Economic and Social Transformation’, available at RovingHeights bookstores.

INEC And Its Professors Of Iniquity

2026-04-09T16:54:00.001+01:00

By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Electoral umpires in Nigeria have a long history of dalliance with academics so much so that it has almost become a rule for a professor, the discipline notwithstanding, to be appointed chairman. Granted, some non-academics sometimes find themselves in the saddle, but that is more of an exception.

*Prof Amupitan

So, the 1959 federal election, which preceded independence, and was strictly the business of the departing colonial overlord – Britain – was conducted by the Electoral Commission of Nigeria, ECN, which was inaugurated in 1958 and headed by a British, Ronald Edward Wraith.

After independence in October 1960, the Tafawa Balewa-led government set up the Federal Electoral Commission, FEDECO, which replaced the ECN and in 1964 appointed Mr Eya Esua as the chairman. Though not a professor, Esua, nevertheless, was a reputed teacher.

Then after a ten-year hiatus following the January 15, 1966 military coup that sacked the First Republic, General Olusegun Obasanjo, in preparation for the Second Republic, appointed Chief Michael Ani, a career civil servant, to head the 24-man FEDECO re-established in November 1976. He was succeeded by Justice Victor Ovie-Whiskey who was appointed by President Shehu Shagari in 1980. Like Esua, Ovie-Whiskey, reputed for having led the 1944 Kings College boys’ strike against the colonial government, also had a short stint as a teacher, before gaining admission to study law at the University of London. At the time Shagari tapped him to take over from Ani in 1980, he was the Chief Judge of the defunct Bendel State.

But it was General Ibrahim Babangida, the self-acclaimed evil genius, who, in his merry-go-round transition programme, glamourised the appointment of professors. In 1987, he appointed Eme Awa, a professor of political science at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, as chairman of the electoral body which he renamed National Electoral Commission of Nigeria, NECON. But after resigning in 1989 due to disagreement with his appointor, Babangida replaced him with Humphrey Nwosu, another professor of political science at the University of Nigeria, who sadly stepped on the banana peels that his predecessor sidestepped by walking away.

After wilfully annulling the June 12, 1993 presidential poll and dismissing Prof Nwosu, the embattled Babangida appointed Okon Uya, a professor of history at the University of Calabar, and diplomat, who served as Nigeria’s ambassador in Argentina, Peru, Paraguay and Chile, to head NECON and conduct a new presidential poll by March 1994.

He was yet to fulfil that mandate when General Sani Abacha stepped in as the Commander-in-Chief, sacked him and appointed Chief Sumner Karibi Dagogo-Jack, who, incidentally, served as a member of the Nwosu-led NECON between 1989 and1993 and overtly superintended over the Abacha transmutation agenda.

When Abacha suddenly died on June 8, 1998, his successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, not only jettisoned the transition programme that was designed to actualise his self-succession gambit but also appointed Justice Ephraim Akpata to head the newly created Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. That was five years after he retired as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Justice Akpata was saddled with the responsibility of superintending over the 1999 elections that, once again, ushered in democracy after a 16-year military interregnum.

But it is in this Fourth Republic that the issue of appointing academics as INEC helmsmen has become a tradition, literally. Apart from Sir Abel Guobadia, who was appointed the second chairman of INEC in 2000 by President Olusegun and retired in May 2005, thus becoming the first chairman since independence to complete his tenure, all his predecessors are professors.

Even at that, Guobadia, Nigeria’s first resident Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Korea, though not a professor, was, nevertheless, a university teacher, having taught at both the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and the University of Lagos where he headed the department of physics. He also worked at the National Universities Commission as director of academic planning and subsequently, executive secretary.

But ever since, it has been an unceasing rein of professors. First, it was Maurice Iwu, a professor of pharmacognosy, who was also appointed by Obasanjo in 2005 to succeed Guobadia, and became the second umpire to serve out a five-year term. After him came Attahiru Jega, a professor of political science and former vice-chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, who was appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan.

When Jega completed his tour of duty in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari, who initially toyed with the idea of making Mrs Amina Zakari, substantive INEC chairman, rescinded his decision after public outcry and instead appointed Mahmoud Yakubu, a professor of political history and international studies at the Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA, the new chairman. He subsequently became the first INEC chairman to serve two terms from 2015 to 2025, and in the process caused maximum damage to the integrity of elections, a devious record that his successor, Joash Amupitan, a professor of law, seems determined to make a child’s place.

So, of the 13 people that have headed Nigeria’s electoral commissions since 1964, seven were university professors. If Dr Guobadia, who headed an academic department is thrown into the mix, then the number will be eight.

Beyond these numbers, Prof Jega, as INEC chairman, went a step further to hand over the commission, literally, to academics by introducing a policy of deploying professors as returning officers during the 2011 general election. That policy has been sustained by his successors. Jega claimed that using academics with supposedly high reputations for integrity, rather than relying on local officials who might be susceptible to political influence, would enhance the credibility of election results.

But that has not happened. Instead, elections have become worse, and the so-called integrity of academics shredded almost beyond redemption. We have seen professors of statistics unable to read out election results they supposedly collated. We have seen others stutter while reading out figures they collated because they simply don’t add up.

Several years after Jega’s harebrained scheme that was never going to work, elections under the watch of integrity-challenged professors have become worse, to such a degree that two of them have so far been tried, convicted and sentenced to prison for electoral fraud during the 2019 elections in Akwa Ibom State.

First, Peter Ogban, a professor of soil science at the University of Calabar, was sentenced to three years in prison in March 2021 by a State High Court in Uyo. Ogban, who served as a returning officer for the Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District, was found guilty of falsifying election results in two local government areas. On April 30, 2025, the Court of Appeal sitting in Calabar upheld his conviction and sentence.

Second, Ignatius Uduk, a professor of human kinetics at the University of Uyo, was sentenced to three years in prison on February 5, 2025, by an Akwa Ibom State High Court. Uduk, who served as the returning officer for the Essien Udim State Constituency election, was convicted for announcing results where no collation took place, thereby committing perjury.

But they paid the price for their iniquity because they were unfortunate to have worked under the no-nonsense Mike Igini, who prosecuted them on behalf of INEC as the Akwa Ibom Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC. There are many more professors, who have been busy professing fraud and polluting the electoral landscape. They are getting away with their atrocious behaviours because there are few Mike Iginis around.

Truth be told, elections have consequences. The good people of Abia State are living witnesses to that truism. Today, the state is throttling on the development highway at a supersonic speed. And that is because Prof Nnenna Oti, the Vice-Chancellor of Federal University of Technology Owerri, FUTO, as the returning officer in the 2023 Abia State governorship election, refused to compromise the outcome of the election despite intense pressure from sundry quarters.

If only other professors drafted to clean up our elections will step up to the integrity plate. But how can they when they have bosses like Mahmoud Yakubu to whom glitch has become an eternal badge of dishonour and his successor, a professor of law, whose interpretation of the Latin phrase, status quo ante bellum – the state existing before the war – has left many scratching their heads in bewilderment and wondering what his brief as INEC chairman is.

*Amaechi is the publisher of TheNiche (ikechukwuamaechi@yahoo.com

Playing The 1998 Abacha Power Game In 2026

2026-04-02T14:51:00.010+01:00

By Ikechukwu Amaechi

It was Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, the French critic, journalist, and novelist, who, in 1849, coined what has become an enduring proverb: plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose – the more things change, the more they stay the same. In matters of governance and power in Nigeria – military or civilian – nothing can be truer.

*Tinubu, Abacha

As editor of the Sunday Diet newspaper, I was in Maiduguri in April 1998, yes the selfsame Borno State capital that has become a killing field, to cover the national convention of the Grassroots Democratic Movement, GDM. Borno was the home state of Alhaji Gambo Lawan, the national chairman of the GDM, one of the five political associations that included the United Nigeria Congress Party, UNCP; Congress for National Consensus, CNC; Democratic Party of Nigeria, DPN; and the National Centre Party of Nigeria, NCPN, formally approved by the electoral umpire – National Election Commission of Nigeria, NECON – in September 1996 for the politics of that era.

The convention was pivotal because it had become obvious that the dark-goggled General Sani Abacha was bent on just replacing his starched khaki uniform with overflowing babaringa while staying put in Aso Rock. The only obstacle to his vaunting ambition was the left-leaning GDM, which along with the UNCP, had reportedly voted in February 1998 to reject Abacha as the consensus candidate of the five parties.

And to ensure that the GDM presented a candidate in the presidential poll scheduled for 1999, Alhaji Muhammadu Dikko Yusufu, a former Inspector-General of Police, enthusiast of the maverick Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, who frequented African Shrine, and another leftist politician, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, a lawyer who was called to the bar in 1961 and founded the Nigeria Advanced Party, NAP, in 1983 declared their interest to run for the presidential primaries. So, despite the fact that the party was a creation of the junta, Nigerians held out hope that its Maiduguri convention would produce an effective counterpoise to Abacha’s tyrannical exploits.

Sadly, it didn’t. The convention was underway when the dreaded Major Hamza al-Mustapha, Abacha’s Chief Security Officer, reportedly arrived Maiduguri. Even when he tactically stayed away from the convention ground, chaos erupted at the El-Kanemi Warriors Sports Centre convention ground while Braithwaite was making his speech. At the end, the April 18, 1998 GDM convention which many hoped would produce an alternative presidential candidate to Abacha despite immense pressure from the ruling military council to make him the sole candidate for all parties, ended in his high-pressure endorsement as the party’s sole presidential candidate, having purportedly received 1,368 votes as against Yusufu’s 408 votes.

A defiant M.D. Yusufu rejected the outcome of the convention, insisting that he was the GDM candidate and called on Abacha to resign. Expectedly, he paid for the temerity. On May 28, 1998, one month after the convention, his campaign offices were stormed and vandalised by political thugs, his supporters threatened and campaign posters torn. The charade ended when Abacha died on June 8, 1998 and a month later, his successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, chopped off the five leprous fingers from the country’s withering hand.

Sadly, 27 years after that inglorious political stunt, Nigeria is back to ground zero as the powers-that-be are hell-bent on ensuring that President Bola Tinubu emerges the sole presidential candidate in the 2027 election. Indeed, the more things change in Nigeria, the more they stay the same.

The attempt to hollow out the opposition is too obvious. Yet, it is a settled fact that a robust and constructive opposition is a sine-qua-non for a functional democracy, without which transparency and accountability fly out of the governance window. The administration is conjuring every trick in its political tool bag, in cahoots with a supine National Assembly and a genuflecting judiciary, to ensure that the man in Aso Rock goes into the 2027 polls as a consensus candidate of the motley crowd of 21 political parties. And the question is: If General Sani Abacha, a despot, was wary of opposition in 1998, why would a self-acclaimed democrat, be similarly afraid in 2027 after four years in office?

In his article, “How Nigeria’s presidential election in 2027 could be un-contested,” Chidi Odinkalu, a human rights law professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, and former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, decried the mischief inherent in the 2026 Electoral Act.

“Among other things, the Act, which became law on February 19, requires all parties to maintain ‘a digital register of its members containing the name, sex, date of birth, address, State, local government, ward, polling unit, National Identification Number and photograph in both hard and soft copies,” he wrote.

“The Act goes further: the parties must submit the register (presumably both hard and soft copies) to the INEC at least 21 days before party primaries, which must occur between April 23, and the end of May. In effect, the parties, which have until now not been required to have digital registers, must create them in less than two working months. The cost of failure to do this will be disqualification of their candidate(s) from the contest.”

Of course, this law is legislative rascality taken too far. But the bigger worry is not even the legislature but the judiciary. Odinkalu noted that in 1979, the Federal Electoral Commission tried to disqualify Nnamdi Azikiwe of the Nigeria Peoples Party, NPP, and Aminu Kano of the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, from the presidential elections but the courts saved them. That was when the country’s judiciary was manned by conscientious and upright judges who took the reinforcement of the pristine ramparts of law as a sacred duty. Not anymore.

Odinkalu worries that “there is ample room for pre-election judicial mischief in the 2026 Electoral Act, which the courts could easily use to preclude competitive candidates from the contest.” Because of the way Nigerian judges discharged their duties in 2023, Odinkalu came to the inevitable conclusion: “It will be surprising if this is not deployed to block competitive candidates from the presidential election in January 2027. The irony is that the president whose claim to fame is his advocacy against military rule, could be the person who eventually appropriates the methods of Nigeria’s maximum military ruler to make himself the only competitive candidate in an un-contested election in 2027.”

The augury is stark. Sadly, some Nigerians who know the issues are, nevertheless, applauding the “political sagacity” of those making a mess of this democracy.

In recent weeks, all manner of brickbats have been hauled at Mr. Peter Obi, for leaving the Labour Party. He should have stayed back to rebuild the party, they chorus. But they have not asked themselves why it took the exit of Obi for the storm in the party to quieten. Few days after Obi’s exit, the courts finally ruled that the Senator Nenadi Usman-led faction is the authentic Labour Party and INEC hurriedly accorded them recognition. Julius Abure, the former chairman, disappeared from the scene, likewise the other characters like Lamidi Apapa. Obi was the target, not the Labour Party. He knew it and left before it was too late. He was smarter.

Is it any surprise that of the 21 registered political parties, only the three with the potential of producing candidates that can challenge Tinubu in 2027 – Labour Party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP – were wracked by leadership crisis? Meanwhile, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, that posed no threat was left alone. Instructively, the Prof Chukwuma Soludo-led party has adopted Tinubu as a consensus candidate, just as the Labour Party and the Wike-led Peoples Democratic Party will sooner than later. Now that Senator Musa Kwankwaso has left the NNPP, the party will be left alone.

Like the GDM of 1998, the only party holding out now is the African Democratic Congress, ADC. Someone asked recently if the party is a safe political platform and whether it will survive. My answer was simple: It will survive if Tinubu refrains from playing the ill-fated 1998 Abacha power game in 2026. But where he proves incapable of helping himself, ADC will survive if Nigerians tell him unmistakably that democracy is still the triumph of the majority will over the monkeyshines of a privileged minority.

*Amaechi is the publisher of TheNiche

Nigeria: Amidst The Stark Reality Of A Rudderless Country

2026-04-01T20:08:00.004+01:00

By Sulaiman Salawudeen

There comes a time in the life of a people when they must confront unsavoury truths about their own existence and ask themselves whether what they call a country actually really exists beyond and is anything more than just a hollow shell! Nigeria, continuously touted as Giant of Africa, has become a phantom, mere geographical expression without substance, a tragic experiment that has failed its citizens so egregiously that many are compelled to declare: Nigeria is nowhere anymore!

To such, what is seen is just vast expanse of land where millions of people are trapped in survivalist struggles, condemned to navigate daily horrors of insecurity, corruption, and economic strangulation. The very essence of a functioning country has evaporated, amidst the din and flurry of errors that collude to reduce modest hopes to tall dreams, and basic pursuits to unreachable imaginings!

Cost of living here has become death sentence for the masses. Prices of food, fuel, and basic necessaries rise with the ferocity of a wildfire, consuming the meager earnings of ordinary citizens. Inflation is no longer a statistic; it is a weapon wielded against the poor. Families are forced to choose between feeding their children and paying rent, between buying medicine and affording transport. Government, instead of confronting this crisis, appears complicit in its perpetuation. Policies are crafted not to alleviate suffering but to enrich a tiny elite, some of which loot the treasury with abandon.

Insecurity has become the defining feature of life in Nigeria. Insurgencies keep raging in the northeast, bandits terrorise the northwest, kidnappers prowl the highways in the southern flanks, while ritual killers unleash hell across every community. Armed robberies are routine, and killings have become so normalised that they barely make headlines anymore. The blood of innocents stains the soil daily, yet perpetrators are rarely brought to justice. Instead, they are shielded by political patrons, protected by compromised security agencies, or simply allowed to vanish into the fog of official negligence.

Armed robbers and ritual killers caught upon solid intelligence, movement tracking and community combing, as well as bandits and insurgents rounded up in killing fields are often released to enjoy undeserved freedom through laughable official policies and scandalous schemes! The state has abdicated its most basic responsibility: protection of life! Citizens live in fear, barricading themselves behind iron gates, praying that the next knock on the door is not death itself! A land where human life is quite cheap, where murderers walk free, where corruption and stealing in public offices have become accepted as norms, cannot be called a country. It is a jungle masquerading as a republic.

The rot of mis-governance is the albatross that has dragged Nigeria into this abyss. Leadership has become synonymous with plunder. Public offices are treated as personal estates, revenues as loot to be shared, governance as mere charade! Accountability is a foreign concept, transparency joke. The opacity of conducts in public offices by officials ensures that billions, even trillions, vanish without trace, while hospitals decay, petrol perpetually hiked, electricity on the run, schools collapse, and roads crumble. Every administration promises reform, yet every administration reforms nothing! Elections, instead of being instruments of renewal, are rituals of recycling incompetence.

Votes are bought, results are manipulated, and the will of the people is trampled underfoot. The consequence is a political class that is unanswerable to the masses, ruling not by legitimacy but by subterfuge and manipulation. This is not democracy; it is organised fraud.

The anti-corruption agencies are toothless bulldogs, barking loudly but never really biting anyone. High-profile thieves are paraded before cameras, only to be released quietly through “technicalities” in courts. The message is clear: stealing is not a crime in Nigeria if you stole enough and shared with the right people. This institutionalised misconduct has crippled development, destroyed trust, and entrenched poverty. A country where corruption is rewarded and honesty punished cannot survive.

Killings that plague Nigeria are not random acts of violence; they are symptoms of a deeper collapse. Security forces are either overwhelmed, compromised, or outrightly complicit. Bandits routinely overrun garrisons, killing scores of soldiers and officers kitted with outdated fire-power! Victims are left to bury their dead and move on, while perpetrators thrive. This is not failure; it is betrayal. When government cannot or will not protect citizens, it forfeits its claim to legitimacy. Nigeria has crossed that line.

The tragedy of Nigeria is compounded by the fact that these ills are avoidable. The country is blessed with immense natural resources, fertile land, and a vibrant population.

Yet mismanagement has turned abundance into scarcity, potential into despair. The result is a paradox: a rich country with poor citizens, a giant crippled by its own leaders. For and in Nigeria, poverty is not destiny; it is choice. Yes. The country is underdeveloped, not by accident; it is underdeveloped by design!

The reality today is that Nigerians are abandoned, betrayed, and brutalised. They survive not because of the state but in spite of it. Communities organise their own vigilance groups, families rely on remittances from abroad, and individuals hustle endlessly to fill the void occasioned by government failure. The state exists only to extract taxes, enforce decrees, and protect the elite.

Where then is Nigeria? The country exists only in textbooks and diplomatic circles, but banished in practical terms from daily lives of citizens. Until accountability is enforced, until corruption is punished, until life is valued, Nigeria will remain a ghost, and ghosts do not build nations; they haunt them.

The question is not whether Nigeria can be saved, but whether Nigerians can summon the courage to bury the remains and build something whole new.

*Salawudeen is a commentator on public issues (sulaimansalawudeen@gmail.com)

When Prices Rise In Nigeria, They Rarely Fall

2026-04-01T17:05:00.000+01:00

By Osilama E. Osilama

Nigeria today faces a troubling economic paradox. Prices rise quickly when economic conditions worsen, yet they rarely decline when those conditions improve. This phenomenon—experienced daily by millions of Nigerians has quietly evolved into one of the most dangerous distortions in the country’s economic structure.

Though I am not an economist, it increasingly appears that Nigeria operates what could be described as a “one-way economy,” where prices move easily upward but almost never downward. The implications of this pattern are profound, particularly for the housing sector and the survival of the Nigerian middle class.

If Nigeria must build a fair and functional economy, government must confront the economics of pricing through deliberate policy reforms and, if necessary, a strong executive bill supported by legislation.

The exchange rate argument that no longer holds
For years, Nigerians were told that rising prices were largely the result of the weakening of the naira against the United States dollar. Businesses explained that a depreciating currency increased the cost of importing machinery, raw materials and finished goods. To a significant extent, this explanation was reasonable.

Nigeria’s economy remains heavily import-dependent. When the naira weakens, businesses inevitably face higher operational costs, which are then transferred to consumers.

However, recent developments have exposed a deeper problem. Even when the naira stabilises or records modest improvements, prices rarely adjust downward. Instead, they either remain at the elevated level or continue to rise. In such an environment, consumers bear the full burden of inflation even when the underlying economic pressures ease.

Global conflict and Nigeria’s expected advantage
Recent geopolitical tensions involving Iran, Israel and the United States have again shaken global energy markets. At the centre of these tensions is the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most strategic oil transit routes in the world, through which a significant portion of global crude oil supply passes. Historically, instability in that region leads to a surge in global crude oil prices.

For oil-producing countries such as Nigeria, this should normally translate into increased government revenue and potentially improved economic conditions. Analysts have consistently noted that African oil exporters tend to benefit from such global price surges through higher export earnings. Crude oil remains the backbone of Nigeria’s economy, accounting for over 85 per cent of export earnings and nearly half of government revenue. Under normal economic logic, higher oil prices should provide fiscal relief and possibly stabilise domestic economic pressures.

Yet the opposite often appears to occur. Instead of relief, Nigerians experience even higher prices for goods and services. Energy occupies a unique position in Nigeria’s economic structure because it directly influences nearly every sector of the economy.

When petrol prices increase, the impact spreads rapidly across the system. Transportation costs rise. Food distribution becomes more expensive. Manufacturing costs increase. Construction logistics become costlier. Recent market reports indicate that petrol prices in some parts of the country have approached N1,150 to N1,500 per litre, a development that businesses warn will significantly increase operating costs.

As expected, businesses transfer these costs to consumers. The result is a nationwide inflation ripple effect that affects everything from food prices to construction materials.

Cement and the construction crisis
Perhaps the most striking example of Nigeria’s pricing paradox can be seen in the cement industry. Cement, a key input in housing construction, is largely produced locally using Nigeria’s abundant limestone deposits. Yet its price has surged dramatically within a short period.

Industry observations indicate that cement which sold for about N3,500 per bag just a few years ago has climbed sharply. By early 2026, prices had risen to between N9,000 and ₦10,000, and in several markets across the country, cement now sells for ₦11,500 to ₦15,000 per bag. This represents an extraordinary increase in the cost of a basic construction material. The consequences for Nigeria’s housing sector are severe.

Developers are already facing project delays, rising construction budgets and in some cases abandoned housing projects. As building costs rise, the dream of affordable housing moves further out of reach for ordinary Nigerians. Nigeria already faces a housing deficit estimated in the millions of housing units. Continued instability in the pricing of building materials only worsens this challenge and threatens long-term national development.

Several structural issues contribute to Nigeria’s unusual pricing pattern.

Weak competition: Some key industries are dominated by a small number of players. Limited competition makes it easier for prices to rise without significant downward pressure.

Supply chain distortions: Multiple layers of distributors and intermediaries often inflate prices before goods reach the final consumer.

High energy costs: Due to unreliable electricity supply, many manufacturers depend heavily on diesel generators, dramatically increasing production costs.

Policy uncertainty: Frequent changes in taxation, import duties and currency policies create instability in the cost structure of businesses.

Import dependency: Nigeria still imports a significant portion of its refined petroleum products and industrial inputs, making the economy vulnerable to global shocks. If Nigeria must correct this dangerous pricing pattern, decisive reforms are required.

Price transparency laws: Government should require major industries to publish cost structures and pricing benchmarks for essential goods such as cement, fuel, fertilizer and staple foods. Transparency discourages unjustified price increases.

Stronger competition regulation: The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) must be strengthened to prevent price fixing, monopolistic practices and market dominance.

Energy cost reduction: Reliable electricity supply would significantly lower manufacturing costs. Most factories currently rely on diesel generators, which drastically increase production expenses.

Promotion of local production: Nigeria must deepen domestic production in sectors such as petrochemicals, fertilizer, building materials and food processing to reduce import dependency.

National commodity price monitoring system: Government could establish a real-time system to track prices of essential goods across the country and detect abnormal price increases.

Infrastructure and logistics reform: Improved rail systems, better highways and efficient ports would reduce distribution costs nationwide.

Strategic tax incentives: Key industries such as cement, steel, agriculture and housing materials could receive temporary tax incentives tied to commitments on price stability.

Until the country confronts the deeper economics of pricing, growth statistics may look encouraging on paper but the everyday reality for millions of Nigerians will remain one of rising hardship.

*Osilama E. Osilama is group chairman/CEO, Nuel Osilama Global.

Daniel Bwala’s Offence Against Decency

2026-04-01T16:53:00.009+01:00

By Alade Rotimi-John

Irish born playwright and critic-at-large, Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was an intolerable thorn in the flesh of the British establishment for more than half a century. He is popularly quoted as saying that when a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.

*Daniel Bwala and Mehdi Hasan

Before a stupefied global audience, Daniel Bwala who doubles as President Tinubu’s Adviser on Policy Communications was deplorably dull and awful as he outrageously defended his bewildering actions in office as being in the role of performing his duty or in the tour of duty.

Bwala’s self-satisfied carriage or his self-appointed status as a world-class communicator invoked the wrath of a wide assortment of detractors as Mehdi Hasan, his host on the Al Jazeera talk-show, exposed him to jeers and derision; and as a mere Nigerian local champion, after all. Hasan dexterously stirred Bwala into disgustingly denying the statements he had made ostensibly in the mood of a sense of righteous outrage.

Hasan was fastidious about the smallest details of how Bwala had taken a dive into a cesspool of lie-telling or tarradiddle. He may have imagined that he could help retrieve Bwala from the quagmire by leading him to give a less visceral reason for his awful actions under review. But in his characteristic “the heavens may fall” fanaticism, Bwala ignored his host’s soft landing offers. He plunged on vulgarly, denying every statement of fact he had made in the past and pledging his honour in mock piety.

Even as Hasan moved Bwala almost to the verge of irritation, Bwala refused to be helped to redeem himself. Hasan’s sense of humour was enlivening; the spirit of delightful journalism was demonstrated in the jokes he played on Bwala so just Bwala may loosen up.

For where?
Bwala had self-aggrandisingly sent clips in the form of videos to Hasan as proof of his serious preparation for the Al Jazeera interview weeks ahead of the event.

When Bwala was irritatingly denying his knowledge of events in the public domain or of things concerning his principal’s office, Hasan perplexingly asked Bwala: “What have you been researching all these days? What was your preparation for this interview all about?” Bwala was to cynically confess after his abysmally-poor performance that he was expecting a cocktail session consisting of a complacent, off-the-mark, Nigerian-style question-and-answer drivel.

Hasan was not scheduled to ask him questions about his history, character or maudlin wit, Bwala quipped. Hasan had not given him notice to that effect. He boasted he could take on any interviewer on the global stage grit-for-grit and was not afraid of an encore if it could be arranged even now.

There will appear to be two ways of avoiding the kind of debacle that was the lot of Bwala in London. One way is to dislike the event and so shun it. The other is to avoid an anchor like Hasan. Bwala enjoys a local reputation as a brilliant image-maker. He was the toast of television anchors way back in Nigeria until he, like Mungo Park, discovered Mehdi Hasan.

Give it to effervescent Bwala, even at his lowest moment, he was able to muster a sardonic, inconsolable smile as if nothing had happened. But Bwala had pitifully allowed himself to be a figure around whom controversy swirls like water in a pond even as he has become the butt of silly jokes, of motor park touts’ derision, and of comical skits on how not to be consistent or, rather, how to be consistently inconsistent.

One hopes he recovers soon as he takes solace in the summation of a Mr Alexander Harvey regarding society’s unlearned perception of modern literature as being “ … the creation, for the most part, of disreputable characters, many of whom look rather seedy, some of whom were drunken black-guards, a few of whom were swindlers or perpetual borrowers, rowdies, gamblers, or slaves to a drug.”

Bwala should be comforted as he comes to the grim recognition of the fact that many of his critics are only a little better than him, if at all. His employers too are cast in his mould. “Iru kan-un kan-un”, my people will say in sad reflection. Only context may have shifted; and context matters all the time as Bwala’s ecstatic refrain reminds us every time.

Bwala has offered truth-telling as a rare virtue among his tribe of professionals. Cavalierly-shifting allegiances or embarrassingly-conflictive policy positions are their trademark.

By that egregious fall at London, we may have learnt, as identified by John Dryden (1631-1700) that “They who write (or speak) ill, and they who ne’er durst write, Turn critics out of revenge or spite.” Bwala may have been foreshadowed by Dryden.

Bwala’s upturned “road to Damascus experience” is instructive. As has become popularly understood in Nigeria, a “stomach infrastructure” calling has beckoned on many otherwise suave gentlemen to somersault many times regarding their earlier-professed philosophy or worldview.

A further dim view is to deny any intellectual or moral content to the profession of image-making or public relations particularly as it pertains to political communication. But we are frequently confronted with pretensions to intellectual depth or breadth.

Many public relations practitioners by whatever name called e.g. Media Adviser and so on, are mere commonplace concerning stark fickleness and rambling anyhowness. The impermanence of their art and their possession of an improportionately-large dose of human emotions offer them to be ready pawns in the chessboard of their employer who they are generally better and far more resourceful than.

The reduction of a profession to a work requiring shifting circumstances or giddy allegiances is unhelpful to a clear understanding of the mechanics of the profession – any profession.

The particular delimitation or de-marketing offered by Bwala in his disastrous London outing while defensible as a basis for individual study or as reflective only of an individual’s character will ultimately tend to paint a general lewd picture of the profession of image-making.

It is however one-sided to study unit performance to the exclusion of in-built institutional systems. We must not neglect the study of a coherent whole for us to have a proper or broad view.

Whatever our takeaway from the Bwala London experience, the profession of public relations practice in politics must be welcomed by all who seek better clarity in the governance communications sphere even as people are influenced in their adoption of ideas by its apparent appeal respecting its words and phrases which must be understood semantically.

The value of the public communicator can hardly be overrated even as aesthetic thought is the practitioner’s forte and truth-telling his armour or mandate.

Bwala may have fumbled big time in London as he maligned us all but we must recognise him as a product of a system that is sunk in bold-face lie-telling and in implacable fidelity to below level performance.

Bwala has offended our collective sense of decency.

*Rotimi-John is a lawyer and commentator on public affairs (lawgravitas@gmail.com)

Chants Of Treason: No Water, No Electricity, No Food!

2026-03-31T11:38:00.006+01:00

By Owei Lakemfa

A diplomat from the Group of Seven, G7, countries in March 2026, invited me to dinner in Abuja. The first thing he asked was how I was coping with water supply. The diplomatic mission, like some others, is suffering disruption of water supply. I explained that since I relocated to Abuja from Lagos a quarter of a century ago, I had dug a borehole for my water supply.

Diplomats from industrialised countries complaining of constant water supply disruption is understandable for they do not experience this in their countries. But for the Nigerian people who may need to sit, squat or stand on the mandate of politicians, such complaint might border on treason.

On March 25, 2026, a certain 38-year-old Hamisu Abdullahi, a father of four and a ‘common’ carpenter, had the audacity to make such a complaint.

His Excellency, Governor Mohammed Umar Bago of Niger State was visiting the Emir of Suleja for Sallah festivities. Abdullahi chose this occasion to shout: “No water, no light”. He was promptly arrested.

For his chants, the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, accused him of various crimes. These, according to the Niger State Police spokesperson, Wasiu Abiodun, include: “thuggery and attempting to disrupt government activities”.

Abdullahi was detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, in Minna for five days after which he was granted bail. Police is still investigating. Who knows whether the man was sponsored by enemies of government?

In its reaction, the International Press Institute, IPI, Nigeria cautioned Governor Bago against actions that impede the fundamental right to free speech.

But Governor Bago, the face of a new generation of political leaders, is not swayed by such accusations. He has a Trumpian trait. He had on April 22, 2025, illegally shut down the Badeggi Radio. Also, he had detained a journalist without repercussions. To curb insecurity, he had ordered the arrest of men wearing dreadlocks, and the detention of anyone who seeks bail for suspected thugs.

If Abdullahi were aware of the Bago proclivities, and still went on to complain about lack of water and electricity, then the charges against him should include attempted suicide.

As for lack of electricity, it has become a high security matter because President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had told Nigerians that if he does not fix the problem in his first term, Nigerians should not vote him for a second term. As it is, the presidential election is ten months away, and the power situation has simply grown worse. Ordinarily, this is what the police will call an open and close case. The facts speak for themselves. But where truth affects the President and Commander-in Chief of the Armed Forces, it must bend or be coloured.

First, let me clarify: that the Tinubu administration has failed on the issue of electricity supply is a lived experience. Secondly, it is officially acknowledged by the government itself. The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, publicly acknowledged that on power supply, the administration is in a peculiar mess or as his grandfather, Adelabu Adegoke would have put it, is in “penkelemes”.

The Minister while apologising to Nigerians for the pains they are suffering due to the power mess, told us what we already know: “Businesses are being affected, schools have been affected, and industries have been affected.”

But the apology is obviously not sincere. It is like a thief caught in the act and simply apologising.

In promising a turn-around, as usual, Adelabu lied: “We are working on it 24/7 to make sure that we go back to the trajectory of 2025, when Nigerians commended us for a good job well done.” It is blatant untruth that we Nigerians commended the Tinubu administration last year, or in any year, that it did a “good job” on electricity supply. How can we when the national grid keeps collapsing?

But Adelabu was not done with promises that showed that in the past, he lied to Nigerians. For instance, he said: “Power generation will improve, transmission will improve, distribution will improve, and that 6,000 megawatts will be achieved before the end of this year (2026)”.

While here he says the goal of the Tinubu administration is to achieve 6,000 megawats by the end of 2026, this same Minister had the year before claimed the government had achieved this goal.

In his April 17, 2025 press statement, Adelabu had told Nigerians: “We have increased our generation to 6,003 megawatts, up by 1,700 megawatts in one and a half years since President Tinubu assumed office. It took Nigeria over 40 years to achieve an incremental 2,000 megawatts of average energy; we achieved this in less than two years.” So, did Minister Adelabu lie to Nigerians in 2025 or he is lying in March 2026?

In 2024 as Nigerians across the country suffered serious power cuts, Adelabu looked us in the eye and lied that 40 percent of us were enjoying 20 hours of uninterrupted power supply daily. Also, he had played some trick on us by dividing the country into Bands A, B and C, increasing the tariff, and promising better power supply. Then he abolished his bands.

For me, if a Minister has failed so spectacularly, has severally lied to the public and has been instrumental for the administration failing on a fundamental programme and promise, the least expected is for him to resign. But he stays in office obviously concocting new excuses which his aides will spread. When Minister Adelabu promises marked power supply improvement by the end of 2026, he is conscious of the fact that the presidential election is in January 2027. So if the promise is not kept by December 2026, it may have no effect on the January 16, 2027 presidential election.

But if Adelabu will not resign, and his hope of being on the 2027 gubernatorial ballot for Oyo State seems dashed which means he will not be required to resign in order to run elections, can’t he be sacked and hopefully, a competent person found to replace him?

I am tempted to add that despite the massive propaganda of the Tinubu administration, at least 35 million Nigerians are facing starvation. The 2025 Global Hunger Index states that the Giant of Africa ranks 115th out of 123 countries. It reports that “33.8 percent of children under five are stunted, 11.6 percent are wasted, and 10.5 percent die before their fifth birthday.”

However, I am going to refrain from adding ‘No Food’ to the chant. This may be termed cyberbullying or a treasonable chant. But I can remind the government that the Constitution makes it imperative for it to provide for the welfare and security of the Nigerian people. This is not too much to renew any hope upon.

*Lakemfa is a commentator on public issues

Peter Obi And 2027

2026-03-28T09:06:00.000+01:00

By Chuks Iloegbunam

Whoever believed that politics operated only on certainties? Or that imponderables were never factored into any of it? The Nigerian experience is blatant. It placed a spreadsheet before all-comers and delivered new truths.

*Peter Obi

A loudspeaker who previously believed that he was the custodian of all the answers, jetted at public expense from Abuja to London, where, inside a studio, he nestled in accustomed comfort for a long-scheduled media interview. However, he soon discovered to his chagrin that his buttocks had gone into a disagreeable embrace with a spikes-matted platform.

“Suddenly becoming talkative like weaverbird/Summoned at offside of dream remembered,” to quote from the first movement of Christopher Okigbo’s ‘Siren Limits,’ acrimonious voices of political certitude rose in unison. Peter Obi obviously had a hand in the fiasco. Mr. Obi lived in London for decades, and, during that period, probably struck a friendship with Al Jazeera’s Head-to-Head anchor Mehdi Hassan.

Which was why Obi, the puppeteer, manipulated Mr. Hassan into distorting a programme configured for Daniel Bwala's adulation of his Master Strategist and converting it to an inquisition. How else could it be explained that, whereas Barrister Bwala expected questions on the white man’s “discovery” of the River Niger to centre on Mungo Park, Hassan dubiously elected Richard Lander as his focus?

Other certainties have been tumbling on each other, jostling for prominence. One of the most innovative of these certainties has already announced the victor of a presidential election that is ten months hence. After all, their victorious candidate already has 32 of the 36 State Governors on his flank. Further, the man also has the disciplined forces, the electoral umpire, and the Judiciary in his cavernous pocket. More than all else, the man’s financial war chest is gargantuan enough to buy up the planet’s leading political parties, including India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)! In this surrealistic world of certainties, it never occurs to its proponents that a man could own the whole world and yet suffer the loss of his soul.

To those who may listen, a lesson. Nothing is fully counted, not even votes, until everything, including votes, has been counted by the One that instituted counting. Sometimes, voters refuse and say “NO” to any more of old, recycled garbage. Oftentimes, people regularly characterized as morons take it upon themselves to repudiate and denounce the slanderous tag to rebuff inducement and intimidation. Such people know that Bwala flunked the Head-to-Head examination because even the most gifted salesman would have an impossible time advertising deodorized ordure.

Nigerians are suffocating from the acrid stench of disarticulated political leadership. People weep about the multidimensional poverty afflicting the land. People rue the nation’s crippling debt overhang that has hit an unprecedented N153.29 trillion. People lament the loss of the anti-corruption war last “waged” around 2015 when one monster claimed that, “If Nigeria doesn’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.”

The bitter pill of national ruination is better served without arcane notions and terminologies. Bwala’s man promised constant electricity. He said that, if his promise went unredeemed, people should never again vote for him. Well, from 2023, power supply has been at its worst since the Amalgamation, with the national grid collapsing every millisecond. The situation is so abysmal that the self-professed Sango has collapsed into the bosom of solar power for recharging his cellphones and his consort’s hairdryers. It is like the Police, whose duty is to protect society, barricading themselves inside a shrine for a deity’s shield. Why should this bizarrity earn anyone another vote?

*Chuks Iloegbunam

The man had claimed that insecurity under President Jonathan signified the PDP’s unfitness for leadership. Today, national insecurity wears a coven-branded hat and blows an ear-tearing whistle. The country has become a vast playfield for bandits, kidnappers and terrorists to roam with impunity, but with less than a word of concern, compassion, commiseration or condemnation ever coming from the man and his privileged, nepotistic cabal. What temerity that he seeks the elongation of his gulag!

Of course, the reason is electoral fraud! Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin said, “Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything.” That is why, despite 2023’s electoral reality, the country continues to wallow in hunger and want, despair and despondency, divisions and possible implosion. The opposition must stand up to be counted.

Stench festers from a mound of excrement because those it is poisoning lack the courage and common sense to tip over it a heavier mound of earth. The opposition must decide. It must expeditiously assemble behind a recognizable face with integrity. It must choose between disintegrating over who should be a presidential candidate and playing the patriotic card for the salvation of a long-suffering people.

Today’s central opposition figure is Peter Obi. Shortchanged by the ADC, the party could be staring its Nunc Dimitis in the face. With him in a commanding position, the masses would rally for peace and progress to be given a chance. It is on account of Peter Obi’s immense electoral potential that month after month and year in, year out, he is being subjected to the most virulent of campaigns aimed at bringing him low or knocking him down completely.

But he remains strong and still stands tall, if only for the reason that Nigerians deserve better than the coarse and depersonalizing dessert of injustice, incoherence, incompetence, inconsistency, insincerity and insecurity being forced down their throats. Mr. Obi has absorbed barrages of calumniation with equanimity, showcasing his resilience. As fire tempers gold, he has emerged from all the tirades and invectives better positioned to lead Nigeria out of the doldrums with a team of forward-looking citizens.

To extirpate the unwarranted and objectionable status quo and dredge water from the current national political aridity, patriots and principal elements of the ADC must make sacrifices. Only the selfish will posit personal elevation over national salvation. The ADC should zone the presidency to the South. The option speaks to equity, impartiality and justice. The North has had a surfeit of national leadership as it is. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has himself fought his battles.

Some insiders claim that this foremost politician’s repartee whenever relinquishing his presidential ambition is tabled is that it is his constitutional right. But he will breach no constitutional provisions by absenting himself from ADC’s primary ballot. It will smack of hypocrisy to seek the justice of lancing the national boil by perpetuating the injustice that only one section of the country is ordained for perpetual rulership. Surely, eminent nationalists still exist in this country who can persuade Alhaji Atiku to be kingmaker rather than king.

If Peter Obi flies the ADC flag, or any other flag for that matter, embarrassment and fright will envelop the otherwise educated folks and listless media “practitioners” trolling on the Internet and busily reinforcing utter failure. These hapless fellows are supposed to be members of a middle class obliterated a long time ago. They shamelessly deny their evisceration.

But who among them can replace a burst tyre today without borrowing, thieving or settling for a second-hand tokunbo tyre? Which one of them can purchase a brand-new car battery? Which one of them can pay for a prostate or breast cancer test, let alone surgery? Apart from inducement or tribal bigotry, why would they continue singing cacophonous tunes of flattery for a Paris-based cypher who routinely responds by firing off hot trans-Mediterranean farts of empty promises to further deafen society’s flotsam and jetsam?

Those who beg for or buy bones for the taste of meat to impact their soup pots are hungry and angry. They are hangry. They cannot afford to be sick. The cost of medication hovers above their bloodied but unbowed heads. The Ministry of Health got only N35 million this year, which is relative to a Senator’s monthly earnings. And the talk is of a country of over 200 million people. The poor and pauperized are the ones deserving of urgent attention. Not those who ridiculously blame the country’s woes on Peter Obi’s “expensive” Ray-Ban sunglasses.

How odd to fault a wealthy man who used honestly earned money to buy a pair of spectacles while celebrating their man for burning billions in public funds to buy himself an Airbus A330-200 aircraft, a man who tossed N5 billion of public money into acquiring a new toy of a yacht? How inane to allege that Peter Obi bribed Mehdi Hassan to fox Daniel Bwala, when his failure is symptomatic of the worthlessness of what he represents? The opposition should move with one voice. This moment's cry is of Peter Obi and 2027.

*Chuks Iloegbunam wrote from Abuja.

Top 10 Happiest Countries In Africa In 2026

2026-03-27T20:57:00.000+01:00

Nigeria Is Not Among Them...

“Money doesn’t buy happiness,” Elon Musk once said. Yet how people live, earn, and cope with daily realities still affects their overall well-being.

That is part of what the World Happiness Report 2026 tries to measure. The report ranks countries using indicators such as income, life expectancy, social support, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceived corruption.

Across Africa, the latest ranking shows how these factors continue to shape people’s experience of life.

Here are the 10 happiest countries in Africa in 2026.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE REPORT

Highland For Kumuyi In Thailand

2026-03-27T20:49:00.001+01:00

By Banji Ojewale

Among Thailand’s over 71 million citizens are some one million+ Christians boxed into Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, along with other independent groups like the Church of Christ in Thailand, CCT, which is considered the oldest and largest Protestant umbrella organization in this southeast Asian kingdom.

*Pastor Kumuyi and his wife arrive Thailand

Muslims post a figure of 7.5 million. But there’s an overwhelming majority of tens of millions of followers of Buddhism, one of the globe’s largest faiths which teaches an oriental version of Stoicism. Founded about 3000 years ago by Gautama Buddha, it is the national non-theistic religion and philosophy of Thailand.

Now, when foremost evangelist of our age, Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi of Africa, arrived in Thailand for a 3-day Global Crusade with Kumuyi, GCK, from March 13 2026 and met a religious potpourri on the ground, he discovered what many have called a strange harmlessness of sharp differences.

Theirs aren’t contumacious contentions capsizing the Thai order, as disparities of this nature do elsewhere; the system is a benign arrangement made possible by a consistent government tradition that not only protects marginal sectarian groups, but also budgets princely sums to aid them to quietly practice their faiths.

The founder and General Superintendent of Deeper Christian Life Ministry, DCLM, saw them all as one single mass of humanity needing less of denominational and doctrinal disharmony, whether benevolent or bestial. Human beings weren’t created by God for destructive discriminations. Preacher Kumuyi also recognized the Thais as those Jesus Christ came to die for under God’s Salvation plan for man to make Heaven, regardless of colour, class, culture or caste. But accessing this afterlife programme designed for all men and women must be at God’s own terms. Generational man-made contraptions have failed, leading to Divine intervention.

Therefore, each day of the Crusade at the National Sports University, Mahasarakham Campus (Physical Education) Stadium venue of the Thailand GCK, Kumuyi mounted a higher plane away from the jaded religious teachings that didn’t help man in pre-Christ era. He delivered his trademark messages: salvation, holiness, thirst for Heaven, and hope for a beleaguered world. The Nigerian preacher warned that man is wont to assume that he needs to go first for his needs of physical security, health, food, shelter, clothing etc. before being given homilies on spiritual imperatives.

Kumuyi said he had been sent by God to present the Thais and the entire world a better deal. He spoke of Jesus Christ as the Solution to those challenges that had repeatedly defeated them and denied them the joy their Creator has for them. All this benevolent God desires to measurelessly satisfy those material expectations is for man to uproot his sinful nature. That sinful state cannot attract His blessings. It will birth the reverse: poverty, deprivation, destitution, acrimonious divisions, wars, sorrow, violence, famine, plagues, failure of policy at all levels of governance, supranational, national and subnational.

Why? Because every product of crooked and transgressing man is destined to be correspondingly wayward, flawed and froward and therefore incapable of processing an agreeable end. His conduct has alienated him and his society from a Holy God and His Heaven. The best of our strides in civilization and science and technology won’t help. The more of these without the God factor would only give us the anguished experience of the mariner in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s 1798 poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The sailor and his crew were dying of thirst in the midst of a vast expanse of undrinkable sea water. He cried: "Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink.’’

Our world with all its totems of prosperity and advancement, the greatest man has witnessed, isn’t living in the peace and joy promised by those conditions and their modern inventions and discoveries. Their sophistication is glossy tinsel. They can’t transition from potentiality to reality, from promise to performance. Deep in the midst of latent plenty, there’s lingering poverty.

Pastor Kumuyi told the teeming Thai attendees of his outreach that the way out of this suicidal snowballing snare is to accept the Salvation programme of God through Christ. The convener of GCK said: "We have come together to learn more about Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world…He brings light to those who sit in darkness…He will touch and transform every life. He will heal the sick, and whatever the problem is, Christ is the Solution. He is saying to all, Come unto Me, all that labour, and I will give you rest…This is the Saviour calling all sinners to repentance. He is the Healer and the Conqueror Who can deliver the world from its sicknesses and plagues brought by Satan through man’s rejection of God’s commandment in the Garden of Eden.’’

This is the message that must issue from true messengers of God prior to any pronouncement of prayer of healing, prosperity, healing or deliverance. The Power of the Gospel of Christ is what Kumuyi feeds on to reach Heaven for miracles, signs and wonders in his Ministry. Remarkably, faith in Jesus as the Precursor to all blessings was also the theme of Kumuyi’s Daily Manna devotional on Friday, March 13, the first day of the Thai crusade.

The Lord was there again for the revered cleric as he preached and asked the Thais to give their lives to Christ and then expect Him to heal the sick, to make the lame to walk, the deaf-mute to be delivered, the blind to see, the demon-possessed to be liberated, the weak to receive strength, the hopeless to savor hope, the dead to live again.

Reports have trickled in of ‘’an unforgettable, heaven-on-earth experience’’ as Kumuyi pleaded for the Thais to have an encounter with the supernatural. "Lives were transformed and faith was ignited’’ as crutches were lifted to announce the healing of the lame. From among the massive crowds were verified claims of blind persons seeing after the prayer of the man of God. It was an electrifying atmosphere rarely seen in Thailand.

If, as all the world reasonably expects, the Thais won’t easily let go of such a gripping evidence of the supernatural visitation through Kumuyi’s GCK, there’s a grave summons from God for more follow-up to the work of Kumuyi in the land of the Buddhists. They aren’t going to be satisfied with the one-touch trip of GCK. They would want more on a regular basis, until the Gospel is firmly rooted in this land with more than 90% of its citizens Buddhists.

Pastor Kumuyi has cleared the way for more missionary expeditions in Thailand. His success there has proved that the Lord has scant consideration for cultural or religious resistance to the Word. He is also not moved by our timidity or weakness. What He wants is to get willing vessels of honour to deliver His Gospel, resistance or not, fear or not. His Word will fill the missing link, as it did when Kumuyi took it to Thailand.

*Ojewale is a writer in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria

Our Electricity Conundrum And The Power Minister’s Apologies

2026-03-27T19:00:00.001+01:00

By Adekunle Adekoya

It was actually very pathetic reading reports of apologies made by Power Minister, Adebayo Adelabu, earlier in the week. Reading his apology nearly made me puke; they were the words of a politician used to, and schooled in, dressing up inefficiencies in mandate actualisation with rhetoric.

For years, since I was a boy (that’s as far back I can remember), this country has struggled with electricity. My late father (Chief Adewale Adekoya, 1933-2017), like millions of others living or dead, hoped many times in his lifetime that the problem would be solved; it didn’t till he passed on. Adelabu’s words: “I want to apologise to Nigerians, officially now, coming from me as the Minister of Power, for this temporary issue that is leading to hardship being experienced, especially during this dry season, where there is so much heat everywhere,” he said. He then went on to remind us about what we all know, and are already suffering.

“Businesses are being affected, schools have been affected, and industries have been affected. It is not our wish to find ourselves in this situation, but it is due to some factors that are actually beyond our control.”

I don’t really know whether Nigerians have accepted Adelabu’s apologies, but on the internet, which some people now say is a witch because nothing publicly said is forgotten there, people are recalling promises made by President Bola Tinubu while campaigning for election. His words, then, were to the effect that if he didn’t provide electricity in his first term, he should not be voted in for a second term. But that is politics.

What is clear since 2023 when this administration assumed office is that a clear understanding of the power sector issues, from which solutions can be generated, is lacking. There is a stubborn attachment to generated power while options for embedded power are not fully exploited. The solar power option has not, in my estimation, been fully explored, beyond getting Aso Rock out of the national power grid.

All the institutions that were supposed to benefit from the presidential solar power initiative are still on the national grid, which collapses with a frequency that will make the fabled ogbanje child blush in shame. Adelabu also spoke of the generation target by end of 2026. Let me quote him: “Power generation will improve, transmission will improve, distribution will improve, and that 6,000 megawatts will be achieved before the end of this year, and Nigerians will be better for it.”

Joker. For long, at least for as long as I can remember, 6,000 mega watts has remained the generation benchmark. On that 6,000 mega watts, and the revenue from it, no less than eleven DISCOs, the Nigerian Systems Operator, the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company, NIBET; Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and the 23 GENCOs (generating companies), including the Transmission Company of Nigeria depend for their livelihood, in addition to the power needs of some 200 million Nigerians.

Adelabu’s assertion that Nigerians will be better off with the achievement of 6,000 mega watts is laughable, and betrays a wholesome geo-historic misunderstanding of where Nigeria should be. The president has been speaking of a $1 trillion dollar economy. How can that happen with 6,000 megawatts? Is there any ambition by government people to really take this country out of the woods? China is the world’s largest producer of electricity, with 8,534 terra watts from various sources.

It overtook the United States in 2011 after rapid growth since the early 1990s. One terra watt, by the way is 1,000,000 mega watts. Maybe I’ve gone too far. South Africa, here on the same continent, generates 234,514,980 mega watts of electricity., and that is about 30 per cent of all electricity generated in Africa. Egypt and South Africa, just two countries, generate about 50 per ent of all electricity generated in Africa.

I have recalled this because of our saying that on the dance floor, if you don’t know how to dance, just imitate the steps of the dancer next to you. In terms of electricity, who is Nigeria copying? Who is our model? A poor generation base of just 6,000 megawatts, which is yet to be achieved, cannot and WILL NOT take Nigeria anywhere, and nowhere near a $1 trillion dollar economy. Adelabu’s words in his apologia exposes deep poverty of understanding of the role of power in the development of an economy like our own, and how power sufficiency can transform the lives of our peoples.

As is widely known, innovation always out paces regulation. Individual Nigerians are leaving their government behind, and in terms of electricity, they are furiously exploring the solar option, just like everybody is drilling boreholes for infallible water supply as water corporations nationwide continue to fail the people.

While Tinubu and Adelabu are struggling with 6,000 mega watts, I beg them to get the Minister of Finance to reduce tariffs on imported solar power components. Or even abolish tariffs for them totally. This will enable us to power our lives and businesses more easily. Then Adelabu with his power banks and Tinubu can continue struggling with their 6,000 mega watts.

*Adekoya is a commentator on public issues

PDP’s Shameful Disservice To Nigeria

2026-03-26T15:46:00.003+01:00

By Olu Fasan

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is comatose on a deathbed; it’s on life support. The doctors (INEC and the judiciary) are colluding to switch off the life-support machine. They believe the party needs euthanasia or assisted suicide. Yet, what’s really needed is to remove the external factors that interacted with PDP’s genetic predisposition to cause its disease.

But virtually all of PDP’s children (governors and legislators), who should fight to save its life, have abandoned it and joined its enemy, All Progressives Congress, APC, which is behind the external factors. However, one reprobate child (Nyesom Wike), a bully, who works for the enemy but “remains” in PDP, wants to “hold it down” for APC’s Bola Tinubu, and use the PDP’s structures to help him win re-election as president next year.

The above extended metaphor is a case study in how a major political party can self-destruct through internal convulsion and vulnerability to external predators. Charles Darwin famously propounded the theory of natural selection, arguing that any organism that can’t adapt will become extinct. In the struggle for existence, it’s survival of the fittest; only the strong will continue to exist, the weak will succumb to extinction. That’s the existential story of PDP!

But PDP’s story is also one of national betrayal, of utter disservice to a nation. Here’s a party that ruled Nigeria for 16 years, during which most of its members lived off the Nigerian state through various political and public offices at federal, state and local levels. But once the party lost power, it became completely disorientated, unable to provide credible opposition, while its members fled in droves to the ruling party as if they can’t survive in politics without being in power. Indeed, in 2023, a PDP leader, Elder Emmanuel Ogidi, said: “PDP doesn’t know how to play opposition”, implying that the party was only good with power. But a party that can’t do opposition is not fit to govern, because it’s how a party performs in opposition that shows whether or not to entrust it with power.

In genuine democracies, political parties lose and gain powers. For instance, in the UK, power oscillates between Conservatives and Labour, each winning and losing elections, and then winning again. Similarly, in the US, power alternates between Republicans and Democrats, each winning and losing elections, and then winning again! Even in nearby Ghana, the New Patriotic Party, NPP, and the National Democratic Congress, NDC, have alternated power since 1992. Neither is cannibalised by the other after a loss. Rather, after losing power, each party picks itself up and fights its way back.

But that only happens where political parties are grounded in ideologies, values and principles. In Nigeria, ideologies, values and principles play absolutely no role in party formation; rather, political parties are mere personality-driven vehicles for capturing power. As a result, once a party loses power its members are like fish out of water; they can’t stand being in opposition. Hence, opposition politicians readily defect to the ruling party at the drop of a hat, turning turncoatism into an art form.

Yet things only got worse under the current so-called Fourth Republic (1999 to present). There were some stickiness of party loyalty and some ideological orientation during the First Republic (1960 to 1966) and the Second Republic (1979 to 1983). However, when Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999, the then ruling party, PDP, an ideology-free party of vested interests, introduced fickleness of party loyalty into Nigerian politics. Truth is, the brokenness of politics in Nigeria today largely has its roots in PDP’s origin and evolution.

History matters. And to understand PDP and its role in Nigerian politics, we must understand the circumstances of its birth. For, given the nature of its birth, PDP is a strange party. The party is called Peoples Democratic Party, but it’s neither people-oriented (it’s long been dominated by selfish politicians) nor democratic (it’s never had internal democracy). Indeed, PDP was formed by former military leaders to achieve their selfish ambitions. The seeds of its demise were thus sown at its birth.

In his book, Vindication of a General, Ishaya Bamaiyi, a former chief of army staff, wrote that, long before the 1999 presidential election, the then military head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, had agreed with Generals Ibrahim Babangida, TY Danjuma and Aliyu Gusau to hand over to General Olusegun Obasanjo. In an interview with Premium Times in 2013, Dr Alex Ekwueme, a former vice-president, more or less corroborated Bamaiyi’s story when he said that the military imposed Obasanjo as PDP’s presidential candidate in 1998. Dr Ekwueme said that although Obasanjo didn’t meet the party’s condition that a presidential aspirant must have won his local government in the earlier local government elections, the military waived the rule to ease his way into the presidency.

In 2017, General Babangida confirmed the military’s role in PDP’s birth. During a visit by some PDP chieftains, Babangida said: “From the foundation stage, I saw PDP as the IRA (the Irish Republican Army). We are the military wing of the PDP.” He added: “When I say ‘we’, I mean my boss TY Danjuma, Obasanjo, General Aliyu Mohammed and others. I term us as IRA – the military wing of PDP.” It’s an oxymoron, an oddity, for a political party to have a military pedigree and a “military wing” in a true democracy. Little wonder Obasanjo ran PDP as if it was his military command; little wonder he wanted to change the Constitution to do a third term as president; and little wonder he autocratically hand-picked and imposed Umaru Yar’Adua as his successor and Goodluck Jonathan as the running mate, facilitating his transition to the presidency after Yar’ Adua’s death.

But PDP did not have democratic epiphany under civilian leadership. Selfishness, disloyalty and hubris defined its civilian leaders from Jonathan to Atiku Abubakar to Wike. Take Jonathan. After succeeding Yar’Adua in a politically-tensed circumstance, he promised to do only one term but reneged. Had he kept the promise, PDP would not have split irredeemably in 2015. What about the G5 governors and other leaders, such as Atiku and Bukola Saraki, who deserted the party ahead of the 2015 presidential election? Tell me, would there have been an APC government without PDP?

It’s often said that Tinubu made Muhammadu Buhari president in 2015. Yet Tinubu’s South-West only gave Buhari 2.4mn votes, allowing him to reach 15.4mn and beat Jonathan, who had 12.8mn. Due to defections and internal convulsion, PDP lost eight Northern states it won in 2011. Imagine if it had not lost those eight states, perhaps their votes would have cancelled out the 2.4mn votes Tinubu gave Buhari from the South-West. What about 2023? Would Tinubu have won if PDP had not splintered as it did in 2015, given that he only beat PDP’s Atiku by 1.8mn, despite his Muslim-Muslim ticket.

So, arguably, PDP brought APC to power in 2015 and in 2023. Napoleon famously said: “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” Well, Tinubu is not only allowing PDP’s genetic disposition to destroy it, but he’s also fuelling the party’s destruction from outside using Wike. According to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Wike vowed to “hold PDP down” for Tinubu in 2027. Perversely, INEC and the judiciary are seemingly playing Wike’s script, to keep PDP lifeless.

To mimic Shakespeare, the fault, dear PDP, is not in your enemy, but in yourself: in your members’ political whoredom and, hence, your failure to provide credible and formidable opposition to help strengthen Nigeria’s democracy. It’s a disservice to Nigeria, a national betrayal. But parties have no automatic right to exist, and the vultures are always circling. Truth is, if PDP, a ruling party for 16 years, fields no credible candidate in next year’s presidential election, it will die – deservedly!

*Dr Fasan is the author of ‘In The National Interest: The Road to Nigeria’s Political, Economic and Social Transformation’, available at RovingHeights bookstores.

Total Rebuke of Retired Justice Isa Ayo Salami’s Baseless Assault On The Judiciary And The Rule Of Law

2026-03-25T15:35:00.000+01:00

By Aguiyi Joseph Obinna

In a courtesy visit to the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism in Ilorin on Tuesday, retired President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, unleashed yet another round of unverified political commentary that has once again exposed his fatally flawed character. According to the Vanguard report, Salami declared that Peter Obi “ought not have been allowed to contest the 2023 presidential election” because, in his words, “by the time he lost the PDP primary, LP had submitted its list of members to INEC” and the Constitution forbids independent candidacy.

*Ayo Salami

He drew a parallel with Kano Governor Abba Yusuf and blamed “incompetence” and “bad eggs” among judges for these “wrong verdicts.” This is not the sober reflection of a retired jurist; it is the reckless rant of a man who has repeatedly been shown the door by the same judiciary he now seeks to ridicule, only to be pitied back into relevance.

Let us first trace and dismantle the veracity of Salami’s central claim, which is demonstrably false. Peter Obi resigned his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and withdrew from its presidential primary well before the Labour Party (LP) conducted its own convention on 30 May 2022. He formally joined the Labour Party and was duly nominated as its presidential candidate at that convention. INEC accepted the nomination, published Obi’s name on the final list of candidates, and the electoral process proceeded without any pre-election disqualification on grounds of non-membership. Section 131(c) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) requires only that a presidential candidate “is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party.” It does not prohibit cross-party movement within the lawful timelines prescribed by the Electoral Act 2022.

Salami’s assertion that the LP had already submitted its membership register before Obi “lost the PDP primary” is both chronologically inaccurate and legally irrelevant. Obi did not “lose” any PDP primary; he exited the party before the PDP convention held on 28-29 May 2022. The Labour Party’s register submission on 25 April 2022 did not freeze membership; parties are entitled to update their records and INEC validated the nomination. No court, tribunal, or INEC ever disqualified Obi on this ground. The claim is a pure fabrication, peddled to manufacture judicial failure where none existed.

The same falsehood underpins Salami’s reference to Governor Abba Yusuf. The Supreme Court, in its considered wisdom, upheld Yusuf’s election after examining the facts, the party’s constitution, and the Electoral Act. That the tribunal and Court of Appeal had earlier expressed reservations does not render the apex court’s decision “incompetent.” It is the very essence of our hierarchical judicial system that the Supreme Court has the final say. Salami’s selective outrage ignores this basic principle while conveniently forgetting that he himself benefited from the same system he now disparages.

Justice Salami is no stranger to judicial discipline. In 2011, the National Judicial Council (NJC) suspended him as President of the Court of Appeal for misconduct bordering on insubordination and breach of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers. President Goodluck Jonathan approved the recommendation for his compulsory retirement. The suspension was not the act of a “witch-hunt” but a necessary response to his refusal to apologise for publicly undermining the Chief Justice of Nigeria. Yet, rather than exit gracefully, Salami was later reabsorbed into public life through pity and political patronage. He returned, not as a reformed sage, but as the same disruptive force, now retired yet still dispensing unsolicited and uninformed opinions on matters far beyond his current remit.

This is not senility; it is the hallmark of an ultracrepidarian — one who pontificates authoritatively on subjects outside his competence. Worse, Salami’s interventions reveal a deep-seated bigotry and ethnic bias. His targeting of Peter Obi, an Igbo leader who enjoys massive support in the Southeast and beyond, while glossing over similar issues involving candidates from other zones, fits a pattern of selective indignation that has long tainted his public utterances. His veiled attacks on “promotion without regard to excellence” and “zoning” further expose corrupt biases that prioritise sectional interest over merit.

By issuing such unverified claims, Salami does more than embarrass himself; he triggers national anxiety and mocks the very judiciary he once served. His statement risks inflaming ethnic tensions and eroding public confidence in democratic institutions at a time when Nigeria needs healing, not division. Retired judges owe the nation restraint. They are not political commentators licensed to incite crisis or cast aspersions on serving judges who, unlike Salami, still bear the burden of daily adjudication under the 2022 Electoral Act.

The judiciary is not perfect, but it is not the incompetent circus Salami paints. The same Supreme Court he criticises has, over decades, upheld constitutional order even when unpopular. Salami’s own history of suspension, reinstatement through pity, and subsequent nuisance proves that the real “bad egg” is the one who refuses to learn from his past. He must desist forthwith from rumours, half-truths, and political grandstanding. The cadre of present-day judges deserves respect, not ridicule from a man whose own judicial career was twice terminated and twice pitied back into relevance.

The nation watched the 2023 election; INEC, the tribunals, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court all performed their constitutional roles. Peter Obi contested lawfully under the Labour Party flag. To suggest otherwise is not judicial critique; it is deliberate falsehood wrapped in the faded robes of a man who should have long retired into dignified silence. Justice Salami, enough is enough. The judiciary and the Nigerian people demand better from you.

*Barr Obinna is a commentator on public issues

Misplaced Tears Over Iranian Leaders When Blood Flows In Nigeria

2026-03-23T13:24:00.002+01:00

By Adekunle Adekoya

The war in the Middle East, being fought by the United States and Israel against Iran, is still raging, and its outcomes are being felt all over the world. In the early days of the war which began February 28, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in the aftermath of air strikes on selected targets in Tehran, the Iranian capital. Khamenei’s death occurred as part of a wider joint operation by the United States and Israel, using strategic locations intelligence from the US’s Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, to determine the whereabouts of several Iranian leaders.

Now, Khamenei was not only Iran’s Supereme Leader, he was also acknowledged as the leader of all Shi’a Muslims worldwide. In Nigeria, Shi’a Muslims are organised under a mission called the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, promoted and led by a cleric, Ibrahim el-Zakzaky.

When news of Khamenei’s death spread all over Nigeria, members of the South-West chapter of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, took to the streets of Lagos on Monday 2 March to protest the reported killing of Khamenei.

The demonstrators, who gathered around the Maryland area of Lagos, chanted slogans condemning what they described as foreign intervention and the death of Khamenei, demanding global condemnation of US intervention in sovereign nations. The protest in Lagos followed similar demonstrations in other parts of Nigeria, including Kano and Niger States, where members of the Shi’a-aligned group also marched to denounce the US–Israeli strikes and mourn Khamenei’s reported death. The group also staged similar protests at Idumota Central Mosque in Lagos and on the streets of Kaduna and Bauchi. Demonstrators were seen in Kano, Niger, Sokoto, Gombe and Kaduna states condemning the joint military action by the United States and Israel, which led to Khamenei’s death alongside members of his family. Similar protests were reported in Bauchi and Yobe states.

National security agencies had deployed officers to key points across Lagos ahead of the rally to prevent any breakdown of law and order.

The following Friday, at the National Mosque in Abuja, Shi’ites, protested again, during which they expressed support for Iran. The group had attended the regular Friday prayer at the mosque before launching the demonstration. To cap it all, a former minister and professor was seen in a viral online video weeping over the killing of Khamenei.

Now, people have the right to do what they like, including breaking the law. I have no problem whatsoever with those who chose to protest the death of another country’s leader, religious or not. But I recall that when our former president, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua died in 2010, there were no protests. But maybe that was too far. Also, when another former president, Muhammadu Buhari died, there were no protests either. In any case, it is unlikely that Nigeria’s Shi’ites will protest Buhari’s death, given the experience of el-Zakzaky during his tenure.

I want to say, particularly in respect of the former minister weeping in the video, and other protesters for Khamenei that their tears were misplaced, just as our national leadership struggles with misplaced priorities. Last Monday, during the holy month of Ramadan and the Lenten period, suicide bombers resumed their nefarious business and detonated IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. Police sources said no less than 23 people were killed, with 108 injured. I have not seen or heard of any protest anywhere in this country against the killing of these 23 innocent people.

Insecurity has been ravaging Nigeria for the better part of 15 years now. No less than 3,700,000 fellow countrymen and women, including children, are now living in 3,900 camps for Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, all over Nigeria. No protests by anybody, as if being forced to flee one’s ancestral land is a normal thing that happens routinely. There is no week that passes by without reports of killings by herdsmen militias in Benue State, while it seems as if there is a permanent bloodbath going on in Plateau State. In Kwara State, gunmen killed nearly 200 people in Woro village and there were no protests by anybody or group of persons over this massacre. Not a single former minister or governor, or commissioner was seen in any video lamenting these unjustified, unwarranted killings of fellow human beings.

As I said earlier, people have a right to do what they like, at anytime, anywhere. But the protests against Khamenei’s death by Nigerians are misplaced when their own kith and kin, fellow compatriots, are being killed and they simply get on with their meals of tuwo shinkafa or plates of amala. If you cannot empathise with your fellow compatriots over tragedies that have befallen them, and you are a Nigerian weeping over Khamenei’s death in Nigeria, you were shedding crocodile tears. I even doubt if you’re human. For these protesters and the weeping former minister, what they need are comprehensive resets to realign their cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains, the way you do a factory reset for a malfunctioning cell phone.

*Adekoya is a commentator on public issues

Tinubu’s UK Visit: Britain’s Gains, Nigeria’s Pains

2026-03-23T11:37:00.001+01:00

By Owei Lakemfa

It was, undoubtedly, a difficult time for President Bola Tinubu to visit the United Kingdom, UK. Yes, he is a regular visitor. In fact, since he became Nigeria President on May 29, 2023, he has visited the mother country at least nine times, including spending weeks at a stretch on private visits and “working vacation”.

*Tinubu, King Charles and Queen Camilla

But what made his March 17-19, 2026 a “monumental visit’ is the fact that this was a State Visit. He was received by King Charles, one of those I refer to as a gainfully unemployed individual, GUI. He was also received by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a politician difficult to pin down to principles.

But on the eve of this visit, parts of Maiduguri, a city much tortured by violence, was bombed. Bombed were crowded locations like the Post Office area, the Monday Market and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. At least 27 people were killed and over 100 injured. Given this reality, there was the question whether Tinubu should go on with his largely ceremonial visit or sit down as the President and Commander-in- Chief to take charge of the needed response to the massacres.

He chose the former and he might have wisely done so if the outcome would favour Nigerians.

But the practically empty Trade Memoranda of Understanding signed gives the impression of an obedient servant being summoned, and given a list of items to implement. Stripped of niceties and jargons, the core eight trade agreements were almost entirely in favour of the UK. These include granting regulatory approval for ‘Wise’, the leading UK fintech company, to expand into Nigeria. Secondly, the British

Asset Green estate developer with interest in food is to explore the development of an integrated dairy production project in Nigeria.

Thirdly, Ovaltine, a subsidiary of UK HQ’ed Associated British Foods plc, that has been doing business in Nigeria since the 1930s, is to establish a £24 million manufacturing plant in Lagos. Fourthly, the British Transnational education, TNE, which awards external degrees to its customers outside the UK announced that the Wellington College is in September 2027 opening a co-educational day and boarding school in Lagos. It also said the University of Birmingham and the University of Lagos have signed a partnership agreement on programmes such as applied artificial intelligence, digital communications and media, and global surgery. Also, that the London School of Economics, LSE, and the Turkish Nile University in Nigeria signed a partnership agreement.

Equally, University of West England, UWE, Bristol is to open an office in Lagos.

In addition, EStars, a UK-owned educational esports and technology company is to partner with the Lagos State Government. Fifthly, Hercules Manufacturing and Oando Clean Energy are to help tackle plastic pollution, especially single-use plastic items. Six, British Airways is to celebrate 90 years of doing business in Nigeria.

Seven, UK is to spend £18 million in Nigeria on capacity building and technical assistance. Eight, a UK-Nigeria Advertising Summit is to hold soon.

If these were all the ‘gains’ of Tinubu’s monumental visit, Nigerians would have politely clapped and gone on with their struggles of survival and coping with the now common massacres and banditry. But he went on to enter controversial agreements to transfer alleged Nigerians prisoners and those who have overstayed their visa back to the country.

He did that while neglecting a truly monumental judgement that could partly bring some closure to a major British government injustice visited on the Nigerian people.

On November 18, 1949, armed British colonial policemen opened fire on defenceless coal miners in the Iva Valley Mine in Enugu. In those moments of collective colonial insanity, the colonialists within minutes murdered 21 Nigerian workers and injured 51. The workers crime was that they dared to go on a strike. The colonial authorities interpreted this as a way to force them out.

The British government tribunal agreed there was no basis for the massacre as the striking workers were not armed and did not even so much as threw a stone during the strike. Now, 77 years later, the Nigerian courts adjudicated on the matter.

The High Court of Enugu State, Nigeria presided over by Justice A.O. Onovo, delivered an 80-page ruling finding the British government liable. The court ordered that the British government and Foreign Office as represented in Nigeria by the British High Commission should publish a public apology for the massacres. It also made an order awarding general damages against the British Government to pay the sum of “£20,000,000 (Twenty Million British Pounds Sterling) in respect of each of the twenty-one (21) victims”.

The judge held that the British government is liable for the breach and violation of the right to life of the victims. It held that: “The killings were unlawful, unconstitutional, unwarranted, unjustified, cruel, and contrary to established legal protections”.

It ordered the Nigerian government to formally initiate diplomatic engagement with the British government to implement the decision of the court. More so as this was a popular case with the Certified True Copy of the full judgement served on the British High Commission and the Federal Government of Nigeria formally written and notified.

Tinubu’s State visit was the perfect bilateral opportunity for this case to have been presented. It would have been more relevant to the Nigerian people and history than the Memoranda signed in London. On the so-called return of prisoners from the UK, the Tinubu administration has no right to unload British prisoners on Nigeria. If people commit crimes in UK and are found guilty by British courts and jailed that is the business of the British people. I have read some opinions arguing that since the prisoners that may be affected are of Nigerian origin, they can be unloaded on us. I say the British are simply being racist. Eighty percent of the prisoners in the UK are White men; how many have been sent back to their countries of origin? Which European country has entered into agreement with UK that prisoners with ancestral links to them can be sent back?

Mr. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles is facing criminal investigation. If he ends up a prisoner in a British jail will he be deported to serve his term in the Scandinavia where his maternal great -grand father, William the Conqueror, came from? Or will he be sent to jail in Germany where his father Prince Philip came from or to Greece or Denmark where Philip was a prince before naturalising after marrying Queen Elizabeth II? The Tinubu agreement with the UK government is as illogical.

In any case, Section 12 of our Constitution says that any such agreement must first be domesticated by the National Assembly. Nigerians must reject this racist and anti-human right agreement the Tinubu administration has signed. Not in our name!

*Lakemfa is a commentator on public issues