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30 Years of Living and Working in Lagos (Part 3)

Published

8 years ago

May 18, 2018

Eric

By Dele Momodu

Fellow Nigerians, thanks for travelling with me these past couple of weeks on my trajectory. The whole essence of my biographical essays is to remind our youths of today that there can be no greatness without pain. As Dr Tai Solarin, the famous social critic and educator once wrote, “may your road be rough…” Mine has been a rollercoaster, full of bumps and turns. No Formula 1, or better still Le Mans, driver could have envisaged, navigated and manoeuvred my life’s journey properly and easily. I shall endeavour to demonstrate the immutable laws and power of time today. Your life can come tumbling down within a twinkle of an eye. Yes, in a matter of seconds, your life can freeze. That was my case on July 22, 1995.

I had spent the previous night in Abeokuta, the city of rocks, where I had gone to visit the former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, to discuss the June 12 imbroglio. My adopted father, Chief Moshood Abiola, had been in detention for about one agonising year and it appeared we were all helpless to get him freed from General Sani Abacha’s gulag. I liked to sit and draw from Chief Osoba’s fountain of knowledge. Almost from the moment I landed in Lagos, from the ancient town of Ile-Ife, in 1988, I had identified and chosen him as my role model and ultimate inspiration in journalism business. It is difficult to find any star reporter greater than Osoba. I followed his every move with keen interest and read his story with admiration and addiction. Let me take you on a voyage on how I got hooked on my Osoba drug.

I was squatting with friends for a while in Lagos because I just couldn’t afford to pay rent. I had rotated from Bimbo Ajiboye to Segun Adegbesan and Biodun Obisakin. It was while in Segun Adegbesan’s house that I discovered a song sang in praise of Osoba by the Juju Music maestro, Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey. My God, I woke up every morning to play this song and fantasised endlessly about wanting God to structure and bless my life like that of Akinrogun Osoba. I’m sure I played the tape for what seemed an eternity. Osoba has remained my point of prayer contact ever since. You can then imagine how elated I would have been getting to meet and bond with this hero, my idol and my all-time journalism icon. In case you are wondering what the love was all about, it was simply because Osoba was able to kill the myth that journalists should be the dregs of society and lambs of God who took away the sins of the earth. Why should journalists risk so much and yet remain poorer than church rats, I used to wonder.

The case of Osoba and I was that of love at first sight. I had heard of his supposed arrogance and short temper, but my experience was totally different. He found a worthy protégé in me and never stopped admiring and acknowledging my strides. He was permanently proud of my excursions and audacity in the media world. He read me religiously and we spoke as frequently as time permitted both of us. His bosom friend, Mr Obafunke Otudeko, also turned out to be a great fan of my work. Just imagine such grace from God. This was the background to my going to spend time with Osoba in Abeokuta on July 21, from whence I departed the following morning, ostensibly to Lagos, not realising I would be embarking on a longer, more dangerous journey.

I was driving home to the remote village of Adigboluja on the fringes of the Lagos and Ogun States border when I saw my wife’s car, so I stopped. I was tired and looking forward to a great sleep on getting home, after chatting late into the night with the big boss in Abeokuta. “Ajani, I’m happy you passed this route because I was just wondering how to get you to break some bad news…” my wife said with a calmness that actually pumped up my adrenalin. “I hope no one died,” I exclaimed! “No dear. It is about your political activities and the role you are playing in Chief Abiola’s saga…” My wife was yet to drop the bombshell. I could no longer bear this suspense, so I thundered, “darling, please, tell me what the matter is. You know when it comes to Abiola, he is my Daddy, and I must continue to support him in whatever little way I can…”

My mind did some supersonic journey on a stream of consciousness and I flashed back to my last encounter with Chief Abiola. After his Epetedo declaration where he proclaimed himself as the President of Nigeria in 1994 and his journey to South Africa for the Inauguration ceremony of the great Madiba, Dr Nelson Mandela, where he grabbed the seat reserved for the Nigerian leader! So much water had passed under the bridge. Abiola had to go into hiding for about 13 days, and a few of us, including his personal assistant Fred Enoh, and politician, Ademola Adeniji Adele, a Lagos Prince (God bless his departed soul), and others worked feverishly for his re-entry into the community of humans. We had gone to get him out of Chief Wahab Dosunmu’s house in some long-winding street in Surulere, Lagos, for a short rally, I think on a field in Shitta, before proceeding to his house in Ikeja.

A detachment of fully armed police officers was waiting patiently, like vultures, along Toyin Street, as Abiola’s convoy drove through. Chief was riding in Adeniji Adele’s open roof jeep and was standing tall for all to see him as we meandered into Moshood Abiola Crescent. One spiritualist who was recruited by a family member (supposedly to protect Chief from any harm and release honey bees into the atmosphere to sting the police if they tried to arrest Chief) was hanging to the right of the jeep while I was hanging to the left. I don’t know what would have happened if some snipers had chosen to be trigger-happy. The spiritualist was the first to panic while Chief remained brave to the end. That’s a story for another day. We drove into Chief’s house without any incidence. Chief thereafter told me to go home because I had not refreshed in the last 48 hours. I told him I would be back in a few hours. By the time I got back, the massive security operatives had taken possession of his expansive home and no one was allowed in or out.

I rushed quickly to a business centre on Allen Avenue to place a call to Chief Abiola. Mobile phones were not yet common in 1994 (see how much life has changed) and I called the operator who passed me on to him. When he came on the line, I instantly knew there was big trouble. Chief tried to sound tough as always. “Dele 1, please go home to your wife because these security guys won’t let you in… I’ve been reliably informed that they are coming to arrest me in the night when the crowd around here would have left but I don’t think Sani can try it o!” Those were Abiola’s last words to me on earth, as the phone went dead. Of course, Chief was arrested, and the rest is history!

Those last moments raced through my mind like a blockbuster movie as I stood, transfixed, before my wife. Her next words were going to shock me to my bone marrow: “Four men came looking for you this morning. At first, I was reluctant to open the door but one of them called Abdul Oroh said he is your good friend and brother so I let them in. They told me to inform you to disappear immediately because there was a security report that you are to be picked up for being one of the brains behind the pirate radio, known then as Radio Freedom (later Radio Kudirat)”. As she spoke, my heart was pumping and thumping. Wow, I soliloquised! I already had a premonition I was going to be targeted. Truth was I knew nothing about the operations of the radio which was being managed by Kayode Fayemi, with the active knowledge and interventions of Wole Soyinka, Bola Tinubu and others.

My wife and I took an instant and reasonable decision. I should go underground immediately and that was it. I never saw that home again. I called Tokunbo Afikuyomi in London and he advised me to get out of Abacha’s clutches and the impending peril as soon as possible. He gave me an elaborate roadmap of what was known as the NADECO routes, what to do, how to prepare, what to expect and, basically, how to disappear through the forests of a thousand daemons.

First I went into a bunker, like Saddam Hussein, away from prying and probing eyes, somewhere in Kaffi, Alausa, near the Lagos State Secretariat, thanks to my dear friends, the Orolugbagbes, who kept me safe and sound, from July 22 to the early hours of July 25, when I started my journey of fate and faith. My wife had moved to her sister’s place in Ikeja GRA with our first son, Olupekan, who was barely ten months old. I was accompanied by three wonderful people, Captain Rotimi Seriki (my brother-in-law, a pilot at Nigeria Airways, now deceased, one of the kindest souls God ever created), my very close friends, Olakunle Sikiru Bakare (a Director at Fame magazine and now Publisher of Encomium magazine) and Bola Orolugbagbe (a successful businessman who dealt in automobiles in Victoria Island). We set out by road towards Badagry and found our way to some place close to Seme Border. Captain was at the wheels driving with uncommon gusto. Every now and then we stopped at those grisly and gory checkpoints with palpable trepidation on my part, as the fugitive. But we went through without any problem.

Fortunately, I had a two-year multiple visa to the United Kingdom. I had obtained an ECOWAS passport for the purpose of this dangerous voyage. We parked our car somewhere along the route and Captain Seriki showed me the narrow path to take into Benin Republic, alone. They would drive and meet me on the other side. That must have been one of my lowest and scariest minutes on earth. I was dressed and trudged like a farmer going to his farm. I had been told to walk as confidently as possible and keep a straight poker face, avoiding direct eye-contact with anyone. It was a lonely distressing and depressing, seemingly never-ending trek. My main passport was with my co-conspirators. One of them carried my bag. I strolled across easily, even if my heart was in my throat, and waited for my people to arrive. I looked back towards my beloved country Nigeria, and wept bitterly.

I never planned to live outside my country. I loved to travel but never stayed more than three weeks. This journey was going to be tough. I wondered where, when and how it would end. After what seemed an eternity, my people arrived. I wished they could penetrate my mind to see how truly grateful I was. We took a vehicle to Cotonou from the Bening Republic side of the Seme Border. Captain had arranged with a friend of his to host us briefly. My own Guru and Spirit had provided some logistical support as always. After having a quick bath and changing into better clothing, I was set for an epic journey. Since I was not ready to stay anywhere near Nigeria, my people drove me to a motor-park where I boarded a jalopy of a vehicle to Lome in Togo and from Aflao Border to Accra, Ghana. The moment my people dropped me and went back to Nigeria must have been one of my loneliest. I arrived Ghana for the first time ever that evening, and checked in at a small but cute hotel called Noga Hill Hotel. It was more than a poor relative of our fabulous Nicon Noga Hilton (now Transcorp Hilton), but for me it was like the best sanctuary one could hope for.

That was how my journey into a three-year exile began without knowing what exciting and better plans God had kept secretly from me and was soon to reveal…

Headline

Parties’ Deregistration: ADC, Not NDC, is the Target

Published

23 hours ago

June 29, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

As the 2027 presidential election draws closer, intrigues, manipulations and maneuvers have continued to be the order of the day as political parties engage in one gimmick or another to outdo and undo one another.

While some are playing politics of numbers and conviction, others are engaging tendencies that tend to question the status quo and established principles under which genuine democracy is formed. As a matter of fact, fingers have been pointed at the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal government as the brain behind all machinations that have attempted to derail multi-party democracy, and institute a one-party state, which is alien to the Nigerian democratic roots. This is as a result of the constant imbroglio that has consistently engulf almost all the major political parties in the country.

Fresh facts have however, emerged to prove that every act of frustration thrown at the opposition has been indirectly aimed at the main opposition party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

According to reliable sources, the recent deregistration of parties, especially the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), was actually targeted at the ADC.

Recall that the Federal High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State, on June, 26, set aside its earlier judgement directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the NDC as a political party. A ruling that put a question mark on the eligibility of the party presenting candidates in the forthcoming 2027 elections

The presiding judge, Isah Dashen, held that all relevant parties must be heard before any substantive decision can be made in the matter.

The court upheld the application filed by a certain organization, the Peace Movement Party (PMP), ruling that the party was a necessary party to the suit.

According to the judge, the earlier judgement was constitutionally defective as it was delivered without hearing from all interested parties.

He declared that such an omission rendered the entire process null and void.

Mr Dashen further ruled that the status quo be restored to what it was before the December 10, 2025 judgement, pending the determination of the substantive suit.

He also observed that certain material facts were suppressed in the earlier proceedings, which justified the decision to set aside the judgment.

Consequently, the court ordered that the substantive suit should begin afresh, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the PMP and the NDC as parties to the case.

According to NAN’s reports, the applicant’s lawyer, Chikezie Ekeocha, told journalists that the PMP approached the court after discovering that NDC’s registration was based on a logo it had previously submitted to INEC before the commencement of the suit.

According to Mr Ekeocha, the court agreed that the applicant’s rights had been affected and consequently vacated the earlier judgement.

“The court has ordered all parties to return to the position they occupied before the judgment of 10 December 2025, and directed the claimants to join all necessary parties to ensure the issues in dispute are effectually and completely determined,” he said.

He explained that the implication of the ruling is that every action taken by INEC in compliance with the now-vacated judgment stands reversed.

“The recognition of the NDC, the issuance of its certificate of registration, its inclusion in INEC’s records, and any appearance on ballot papers arising from that judgement must be withdrawn pending the final determination of the substantive suit,” Mr Ekeocha stated.

He, however, clarified that the substantive case remains before the court and has not been decided.

“The matter has not been concluded. The court merely set aside its previous judgment and directed that the party whose interests were affected be joined so that all sides can be heard before a fresh decision is reached.”

Mr Ekeocha also dismissed suggestions that the court merely ordered parties to maintain the status quo, insisting that the ruling specifically directed a restoration of the position that existed before the 10 December 2025 judgement.

The ruling effectively returns the dispute over the registration of the NDC to the Federal High Court for a fresh hearing, with all relevant parties expected to participate before a new determination is made.

It would also be recalled that a few weeks earlier, the Federal High Court in Abuja, had ordered the deregistration of five political parties including the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The others are Action People’s Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and Accord Party.

However, on June 16, the Court of Appeal in Abuja halted the enforcement of the judgement, ruling that it violated its earlier ruling staying proceedings before the Federal High Court.

While INEC awaits the release of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment to deregister the NDC, the NDC has reacted, rejecting the judgment as travesty of justice.

Lending credence to the notion that the President Tinubu-led administration is basically targeting the establishment of the ADC as a party, and the candidature of its presidential flagbearer, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who is also the presidential candidate of the ADC, has stated categorically that there are plots to prevent the party from participating in the 2027 general election.

Atiku’s position is stated in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu on Monday, notifying the public that he had received credible information suggesting that political and legal manoeuvres were being deployed against the ADC, stressing that the persecution that has been thrown towards the NDC was a clear distraction as the main target is the ADC.

Atiku alleged that anti-democratic elements within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were working to ensure that the ADC is excluded from the ballot.

“We are fully aware of their plots. While they seek to sow confusion within the opposition, we know their real target is the ADC because it represents the most credible alternative,” he said.

Atiku called on Nigerians to reject any attempt to determine which opposition parties participate in the election.

“We therefore call on all Nigerians — not just ADC members and supporters — to rise in defense of democracy and reject any attempt by the ruling party to cherry-pick which opposition parties are permitted to participate in the next general election,” he said.

“Our message to the APC and the hooded men plotting in dark chambers is simple: you may conspire, but you will not succeed.

“If the APC is truly confident in its popularity, why is it so terrified of the ADC?”

He said he hoped the information available to him would not materialise but argued that recent political developments made such concerns difficult to dismiss.

“The pattern has become all too familiar. First, institutions that ought to be neutral are drawn into partisan contests,” he said.

“Then, frivolous litigations suddenly gain unusual momentum. Administrative powers are selectively deployed.

“Political pressure is mounted behind closed doors. Before long, democracy itself becomes the casualty.”

Atiku alleged that the ruling party has focused more on weakening the opposition than addressing the country’s economic and security challenges.

“The obsession with silencing the opposition has become so consuming that governance itself has taken a back seat,” he said.

“At a time when Nigerians are battling hunger, inflation, unemployment, insecurity, and collapsing purchasing power, those entrusted with public office appear preoccupied with political survival rather than national survival.”

Nigerians recall that ever since the official rejuvenation of the ADC in June/July of 2025, where the duo of Senator David Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola emerged as the party’s chairman and secretary respectively, the party has not known moments of peaceful coexistence as litigations from corners unknown have sprang up in a bid to destabilize the party and deprive it of the opportunity of featuring on the ballot paper come 2027.

ADC, as a child of circumstance emerged from the rumbles of the litigation-ridden former main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where two factions have consistently remelained at loggerheads over leadership. While the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who is working assiduously to ensure the reelection of Bola Tinubu, leads one faction, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, who became a defacto head, leads the other faction. In all, PDP appeared to have no direction, forcing many of its members to jump ship, thereby birthing the ADC, and to a large extent, the NDC, which is presenting Peter Obi as the presidential candidate, with former Kano governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, as his running mate.

Sources also informed The Boss that the hasty reading and passage of the Electoral Act 2026 by the Godswill Akpabio-led National Assembly, with many great areas left unattended to, were also part of the grand design to deprive the ADC the constitutional rights of presenting candidates for the 2027 elections.

But both the ADC and the NDC has vowed that they would follow every process to ensure that the crackdown on opposition parties by the Tinubu administration comes to an abrupt end.

But beyond the intrigues, Nigerians are gearing up to participate fully in the forthcoming election with cross sections of the population either hailing Tinubu for his policies or knocking him for the untold hardship in the land.

Headline

South Africa Nothing Without Africa – MTN Boss, Mcebisi Jonas

Published

3 days ago

June 27, 2026

Eric

The MTN Group Chairman, Mcebisi Jonas, has condemned the ongoing anti-foreigner sentiment in South Africa, describing it as a symptom of State failure being cynically exploited by politicians with no interest in genuine solutions.

The speech is seen as one of the most substantive interventions by a senior business figure into xenophobic crisis currently plaguing South Africa.

Delivered during the funeral service of Zimbabwean-born activist and public servant, Thokozani Damasane, Jonas’ words have sparked a wave of discussion across South African civil society.

“I was thinking, what is home to Damasane?” he said. “Because I understand, and I understood very early in life, that home is where humanity is. Home is about humanness. It is about the good of humanity and striving for the good of humanity.”

Thokozani Damasane was born and educated in Zimbabwe before relocating to South Africa during the post-apartheid transition period. Jonas described him as arriving “as an outcast” into a country still finding its post-liberation footing – and choosing, nonetheless, to commit himself entirely to its struggles and its people.

“He immersed himself deeply into the struggles, into the pains of South Africans, and he became one of us,” Jonas said.

“In Damasane’s strength, our strength as South Africa and South Africans is reflected. And in his weaknesses, our own weaknesses are reflected.”

Speaking further, Jonas blamed the state for the failure being witnessed, emphasising that if foreigners leave South Africa today, the country’s problems will still persist.

“Foreigners can leave tomorrow – inequality will be with us,” he told the congregation.

“Foreigners will leave tomorrow – unemployment will be with us. Foreigners will leave tomorrow – our police will remain corrupt. Foreigners will leave tomorrow – our politicians will still be concerned with one thing: being elected and re-elected.

“The problem is the failure of the state. The State doesn’t manage immigration. It doesn’t manage its borders. It doesn’t enforce
law enforcement. It doesn’t manage education. What are you expecting?”

Jonas argued that this failure created fertile ground for political manipulation. “When people feel the burn, they become vulnerable to politicians whose sole purpose is to be elected and re-elected. Some of them have no credibility whatsoever. But they lead marches and tell our people that the problem is not us – it is foreigners.”

Jonas recounted a conversation he had witnessed between Damasane and a young man who had challenged the right of foreigners to be in South Africa. Damasane’s response, Jonas said, had stayed with him ever since.

“Damasane said to this guy: Just wait fifteen or twenty years. You will also want to leave your country.”

Jonas told mourners those words now carry a weight Damasane may not have anticipated. “As I stand up today, I look at South Africa. The level of oppression and inequality, the level of exclusion of our people, the level of corruption, the betrayal of the dream of liberation – those words of Damasane ring very loud in my ears.”

South Africa is nothing without Africa

Jonas closed with a call for what he described as a return to “national consciousness” – one rooted in continental solidarity and economic interdependence rather than ethnic exclusion.

“We are a nation embedded in Africa,” he said. “And without Africa, our growth as a country – economically – our fortune is intertwined with the growth of Africa. South Africa is nothing without Africa. And Africa is nothing without South Africa.”

He also reframed the question of legacy and identity for Damasane’s children, who were present. “Sometimes this thing called meritocracy is measured in wealth. No. It is values, it is principles, it is integrity. And your father had all of that.”

“We cannot judge people by their origin,” he told mourners. “We cannot determine the legal status of people by their origin.”

Headline

NDC Rejects Court Ruling on Party’s Registration, Heads to Appeal Court

Published

3 days ago

June 27, 2026

Eric

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), on Friday, vowed to challenge the judgment nullifying its registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), insisting that it would exercise its constitutional right of appeal.

Reacting to the ruling on Thursday, the party’s spokesman, Osa Director, said the NDC was still awaiting the certified copy of the judgment before making a comprehensive statement on the court’s decision.

He, however, confirmed that the party had resolved to head to the appellate court.

“We are still waiting to obtain a copy of the judgment. After reading the comprehensive judgment, we will make a detailed statement,” he said.

The spokesman added: “For now, what is certain is that we will exercise our right of appeal.”

Insisting that the party would challenge the ruling, he said: “It is our constitutional right to appeal, and we intend to exercise that right.”

When asked specifically whether the NDC would appeal the judgment voiding its registration, the spokesman replied: “Yes, the party will appeal the case.”

The party’s reaction came shortly after a Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja, Kogi State, in a judgement that nullified its registration by INEC, a development that could have significant implications for the NDC’s participation in the country’s political process ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The NDC, however, maintained that it would refrain from making further comments on the substance of the judgment until it had studied the full text of the court’s decision.

The party’s planned appeal is expected to set the stage for a fresh legal battle over its status and continued existence as a registered political party.