Headline

ICYMI: Pendulum: How We Missed the Boat Since 2015

Published

8 years ago

June 4, 2018

Eric

By Dele Momodu

Fellow Nigerians, as we count down to the next general elections in 2019, we should begin to take stock of what has gone wrong with the current government in the past three years. We must do this in the hope that a few issues can still be addressed, and that the lessons learnt can be put to good use after 2019, regardless of who wins the next Presidential election. It is certainly my prayer that a repeat of this monumental mess in which we have found ourselves would be avoided come the next government, whether it be President Buhari, or someone else, at the helm of affairs. There is no doubt, and certainly without any fear of contradiction, that the ‘Change’ government Nigerians brought to power in 2015 has not lived up to its much advertised billing, or come anywhere near the expectations and hopes pinned on it. Even the most fanatical supporters of the Buhari administration are struggling to defend its performance by merely explaining, and regurgitating, the same tales by the moonlight that we’ve been forced to hear endlessly, to the point of boredom. We have been constantly regaled with stories of how past governments, especially that of Dr Goodluck Jonathan messed things up, and how Nigeria would have collapsed, but for the merciful intervention of God and the benevolence of President Muhammadu Buhari. All well and good. This is not the time to argue with anyone over these lame and worn-out excuses. What is important is to note that the government could have done better, say so in plain language and urge them to move on in peace and in prosperity.

I was inspired to write this epistle today after watching a very re-assuring video a good friend sent to me yesterday. All the vengeful bloodsuckers in Nigeria should try and find it, as I hope it may help redirect us to the right course. The video was recorded in Nairobi, Kenya, during a very powerful and massive national prayer session which was hosted and led by President Uhuru Kenyatta. I could not believe what I saw in that video. Before I say a bit about its content, let me give a brief background to my little knowledge of Kenya.

My fascination for Kenya started over 40 years ago through my addiction to reading English Literature in school and, in particular, my incurable interest in the African Writers Series. Some of my favourite writers were of East African origin, such as Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Meja Mwamgi, Jomo Kenyatta, Oginga Odinga, Okot p’Bitek, David Rubadiri, and others. Rubadiri, a Malawian and Okot p’Bitek both lived in Nigeria for a while and taught me Literature-in-English at the then University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Their influence and that of our Nigerian lecturers, such as Wole Soyinka, Oyin Ogunba, Kole Omotoso, Biodun Jeyifo, Ropo Sekoni, Adebayo Williams, Chidi Amuta, Funso Aiyejina, Wole Ogundele, Yemi Ogunbiyi, Wande Abimbola, Olasope Oyelaran, Akinwunmi Isola, Bade Ajuwon, and others aroused my absolute passion in both English and Yoruba Literature.

I read any work of Literature voraciously and Ngugi was one of my all-time favourite writers. His novel, Weep Not Child, I read repeatedly, to the extent that I knew many lines and could recite them from memory. Kenya became a country I craved to visit. I loved the story of the Mau Mau struggle, and the epic battle the founding fathers of Kenya had to fight. Two people stood out prominently, Jomo Kenyatta and Oginga Odinga. Incidentally, their offspring are in the vanguard of the creation of a new Kenya today. I fell in love with Kenyan teas, just by reading books. I discovered the importance Kenyans attached to cattle-rearing. Wealth was calculated by how many cows you owned. I read about the game reserves and every imaginable wildlife in Kenya. The climate was said to be extraordinary; Kenya has a climate similar to that of Europe. My best friend, Prince Adedamola Aderemi, spent his honeymoon in December 1986, after his wedding to Kemi Oyediran, in Nairobi, and he titillated us with the adventures they both enjoyed and savoured. I looked forward to visiting someday.

I have been to Kenya many times since then and, actually, fell in love with the place, more and more. The two things that worried me in recent times were terrorism and the volatility of their political contests. Nigeria seems to share the same proclivities with Kenya in this regard. However, Kenya has managed its terrorist challenges much better than Nigeria and now it has also succeeded in calming frayed nerves after pushing itself to the brink during the last Presidential election. Things were so tense and terrible that the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, swore himself in as a parallel leader. This is where I’m going. All President Kenyatta needed to do to set Kenya on fire was to arrest Raila and his bitter supporters, but Uhuru chose the path of peace and reconciliation and it has paid off so beautifully and handsomely. It has led to both men, particularly Uhuru, achieving the status of esteemed world statesmen. They held private meetings, signed an MOU and agreed to a ceasefire.

The icing on the cake was the National Prayer Breakfast with a mammoth congregation in attendance. What a great man Uhuru Kenyatta is! He invited his Vice President William Samoei arap Ruto to the stage. He then called on his arch-rival, Raila Odinga and another opposition figure, Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka (former Vice President of Kenya) to join them. The President then did the unexpected. He publicly apologised to Raila admitting that they had traded unnecessary insults against each other. Vice President, Ruto, soon followed with his own apology. Raila then gave a speech explaining how peace was attained, promising that never again should a Kenyan die because of elections and never a again should a Kenyan be denied electoral victory because of where he comes from. He also offered his apology to roaring applause and acclamation… There was something else Raila said that caught my attention, fancy and approval: “we shall fight corruption together…” He sincerely meant this and further demonstrated the spirit of national unity and togetherness that is lacking between government and opposition in most African countries. Nothing could be more sensible and practical.

My mind went straight to Buhari’s Nigeria, where three years after the last election, and less than one year to the next, we are yet to have a reprieve and settle down in peace and tranquillity. Political prisoners are still chained down and held incommunicado without trial. Tension has refused to go away because we have refused to seek love, cordiality and togetherness. We prefer the military bragadoccio of trying to bully everyone into submission. Our country is the biggest sufferer for it. Let’s break it down properly. The Buhari government would have secured and stabilised the economy if it had not come with his usual and customary jackboots approach. He would still have been able to tackle corruption through the carrot and stick approach. The ill-conceived and self-immolating rush to expose alleged criminals and retrieve looted funds only crippled the nation, because it was not based on principles of fair-play and justice but more of ego-trip and vengefulness. A bit of patience and careful understanding of the situation would have been more rewarding. Fear-mongering may arguably have worked under the military, but it is very complicated and doomed in a democratic setting. Every anti-corruption crusade since President Obasanjo has only produced one very strong man or woman, but no strong institution, the reason it has not gone very far. We forget that individuals live or die, but institutions are permanent! By personalising the anti-corruption crusade in the name of one person and suggesting that that person is the only saint alive, it is only a matter of time before we return to square one, whenever that person quits the stage.

In any case, once the war is patently and brazenly selective and oppressive, it will fail ultimately. No one in good conscience would say that only PDP stole money to fund elections of former President Jonathan. How did APC fund its own elections in which billions went on polling agents, campaign jamborees nationwide, private jets, adverts, billboards, media, and so on. Surely the funds did not come only from the private sector, but also from top government functionaries who opened their vaults to match PDP Naira for Naira for Naira and Dollar for Dollar. In such a situation, detaining one group and ignoring the other is tantamount not only to oppression, but also abuse of office. What should have been done was to trace as much of the loot as possible way back to previous generations of government, and recover as much as possible by moral suasion, hard negotiations, forceful compulsion and, criminalisation, if all else failed. This was the impression and re-assurance given by the APC during the course of its 2015 campaigns, namely that no one would be hounded or victimised, unless they chose that path. Out of 16 years of PDP misrule, attention was focused rigidly on the Jonathan era which spent five years before things fell apart. Before our very eyes, the same guys who remained in PDP throughout the 2015 elections sauntered across, in droves, to APC after the elections, and their sins were promptly forgiven without any redress or recompense being sought. This is rather unfair and grossly unfortunate.

As I read somewhere, anger often beclouds reasoning. This is our case. The government chose to pander to populism instead of reality and practicality. Despite the grandstanding, corruption is not about to abate or disappear from our climes unless one is living in fool’s paradise, or suffering from complete gullibilty. Every new government only recycles the same template and attacks its enemies ferociously, with the next government coming on a revenge mission and retaliating blatantly. We should be tired of this crude methodology by now. Efforts should be made to strengthen our institutions first. Nigerians would cooperate with government on all fronts when they are reassured that “all animals are equal, and some are not more equal than others.” There is also inherent danger in pitching the poor against the rich. What we are playing with is mayhem, anarchy and systemic failure. The bottled up anger and bitterness may explode into a snowball that will engulf the nation and no government may be able to contain it. Each time the government tries to blame others for it’s sluggishness in making appreciable progress, it can only heighten the combustive tension. A senior member of this government once told us, gleefully, in conversation that the reason Nigerians are crying is because Buhari has killed corruption and many rich people are now very poor and miserable. However, even if true, the job of government is to increase prosperity and not to kill it or make anyone miserable, whether friend or foe. What shall it profit a country that claims to fight corruption but kills businesses, with the same poor people it seeks to defend losing jobs and dying in different stages of dillapidation? For every rich man or big company that collapses, so many poor people will go down with them. Many, if not all, of the so-called advanced nations we all run to today were built with proceeds of fraud, corruption, illegality, and even the sweat of slavery, before they started building stronger institutions and changing negative mind-sets to positive ones. They understood that everything starts from need before it escalates to greed. But here we want to kill everything without replacing it with something tangible or commensurate. It can only increase the angst and anguish.

This was how we missed the boat when we wasted precious time assembling a government team only to start fighting on all fronts from the very first day. South Africa would have collapsed on the head and shoulders of Nelson Mandela if he had chosen the path of all-out war and confrontation against supporters of apartheid, looters and murderers and too many dangerous enemies of State. His greatness derived from resisting that temptation of wanting to exhibit his macho and mojo as a King Kong. By going for reconciliation, he saved his country and people from a cataclysmic fall and avoidable elongation of the trauma of violent segregation. I know most people in Nigeria are in the mood to draw blood because of our crazy corrupt past, but at what cost. Is it not insane to continue repeating the same system and expecting different results, when it is obvious we are in perpetual crisis because no civilian government can oppress and suppress without being confronted eventually? Healing does not come by amputation, nay death, but by salves and balms. The choice is ours.

May God help us know when to cool temper, lay down our arms, and live to fight another day.

Headline

2027: ADC Draws Battleline Against Tinubu’s APC

Published

2 days ago

January 19, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

“We will work in concert with other leaders of the opposition and Nigerians to chase the APC out of government” – Atiku Abubakar

The permutations that had made the rounds regarding the invincibility of President Bola Tinubu and his All Progressives Congress (APC) as the 2027 Presidential Election approaches, have taken a major shift with the recent alliances and reinvestments in the new coalition party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Only last week, a chieftain of the ADC, Chief Dele Momodu, aroused attention of the public towards the party, with his much celebrated officially and formal declaration of membership of the party in Benin City, Edo State. The event was attended by party stakeholders in the state, and was adjudged as a huge as it created the desired awareness of the party presence in the APC controlled state.

Earlier, the former Governor of Anambra State, who was the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Mr. Peter Obi, had moved to the coalition ADC, in another elaborate ceremony held in Enugu, in what analysts and observers describe as strategic, and one of the most important alliances the party has enjoyed since its expanded emergennce many months ago.

While many believe that the moves may have sent jitters to the camp of the APC, and continue to pave for the democratic removal of Tinubu and the APC from office, the ruling part remains offbeat, raveling in the euphoria of so far amassing and harvesting 28 out of the 36 state governors in the Federation, and still counting.

But the ADC is unwavering in its efforts to see Tinubu out, much as the ruling party is stone-solid certain of retaining power in 2027, the much awaited battleline has then been drawn between the now two major political parties in the country.

If there’s one good thing so far the ADC has done to and for Nigerians in this dispensation, it’s their ability to truncate the government’s alleged ambition of reducing the country to a one-party state. This notion was fueled by the malformed shape the two former frontline parties; the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party have taken in recent times. None of the two parties can boost of an appropriate Executive Council or Working Committee, making it practically impossible for any aspirant to seek political position through those parties. This has led to the massive defections of politicians to the APC of governors, senators, representatives and other wannabe office holders.

This credit has gone to the likes of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, former Senate President David Mark, former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola and a host of others, who in their words felt the need to ‘rescue’ Nigeria and Nigerians from the shackles of misrule and one-party inclination of the APC.

The ADC’s heighened readiness to contend the seat of Aso Rock against the APC and Tinubu, is made more more manifest in the recent interview granted by the party’s spokesperson, Mallam Baji Abdullahi, on Channels Television, where he noted that the only way Nigeria can overcome its current challenges is to remove President Bola Tinubu in 2027, describing in vivid colours with copious evidences the objective to remove the president from power as a necessary step towards rescuing Nigeria from an unprecedented governance crisis.

Insisting that Nigeria has been hijacked, Abdullahi accused the Tinubu-led government of carelessness in the affairs and living conditions of Nigerians, and the state governors for failing to improve Nigerians’ livelihoods despite receiving larger allocations from the federal government.

He further accused the government of prioritizing stranglehold on power rather than governance with a human face, saying those and more are the reasons Nigerians will shun the party, and embrace ADC in 2027.

“It’s solely to get Tinubu out of power. There is no scenario where he remains in power, and we can save this country. When people say you can smash it, grab it, and run with it, that is the language of banditry”.

Abdullahi, who himself, had been in the corridors of power as a minister, stressed that the atrocities of the present administration is enough for Nigerians to show them the way out in 2027, with ADC providing the platform, just as he raised concerns about allegations of legislative manipulation, particularly regarding tax laws, and the hiring of lobbyists at a whooping sum of $9 million, describing those and other recent events as unprecedented in Nigeria’s democratic history.

“A government that can forge a duly passed law; what do you call that?” he asked.

Speaking on the federal government’s reported payment of $9 million to foreign lobbyists in the United States, allegedly to improve Nigeria’s image before American political leaders, including President Donald Trump, Abdullahi said he had reviewed documents and found no transparency model or legal basis for the process.

“Is it a bad thing to lobby? No, it’s not a bad thing. But what they are doing, number one, I don’t even want to go into all the processes.

“How was this contract awarded? How was the money paid? Who paid the money? What budget line was it taken from? How was the money transferred out of Nigeria? he asked.

He argued that the expenditure revealed misplaced priorities.

“If you invest nine million dollars in internal security, you will see results. You won’t have to convince the president of another country that your country is safe,” he added.

“Instead, he accused the government of caring more about appearances before foreign audiences than about the daily insecurity faced by Nigerians.”

“They don’t care whether Nigerians are still dying. They don’t care that people are still being killed. They want to look good before Americans,” Abdullahi said.

The ADC spokesperson also expressed alarm over a recently signed medical memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Nigeria and the United States.
According to him, the agreement, reportedly signed around December 19, grants the US significant control over how funds are spent, including determining the regions that would benefit, despite Nigeria contributing more financially.

“No Nigerians have seen the details of this MOU,” he said, describing the terms as “shocking” while raising questions about sovereignty and accountability.

Abdullahi accused state governors of failing to improve Nigerians’ livelihoods despite receiving larger allocations from the federal government.

He noted that with the removal of fuel subsidy, Nigerian governors have more money in their coffers but have not done much with it.

“The governors, by their own, by the president’s own declaration, he has given more money to the governors than maybe any president has ever given to governors in our history. And how has that reflected in the improved livelihood of the people in the states?” the ADC spokesman asked.

“I’m not saying all of them are bad, but what I’m saying is that they have received more money than any other generation of governors have received in the history of this country,” the former minister said.

“You can say devaluation. The reason we have more money going to the states is that they removed subsidies, and that money is now going to them. In what way has that reflected a better life for the people in the states?” he queried.

But with only eight governors in ‘fragile’ opposition against Tinubu, the APC has dismissed ADC’s efforts as a waste of time. They have noted that the eight opposition governors, are only so in name, at least majority of them.

In Anambra State, where Prof Charles Soludo is the governor, the government has consistently lauded Tinubu, canvassed for his reelection, and even derided the ambition of one of their own, Mr. Peter Obi.

In Kano State, it is just a matter of time before the NNPP governor defects to the APC as he has practically severed relationship with his mentor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and entered into a new romance with Tinubu’s APC.

And with the barage of attacks being faced by the Abia State governor Alex Otti, from opposition elements including the three governors before him; Orji Uzo Kalu, Theodore Orji and Okezie Ikpeazu, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu and other fractions of opposition voices, observers say Otti buckle, and join the fray. However, the support of Abia citizens has been overwhelming, and appears enough to see the governor through another in 2027.

It is also believed that except Seyi Makinde of Oyo State is on the ballot paper, his loyalty is likely to go to Tinubu, a ‘Yoruba man’ if the revelations of former Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, is anything to hold on to.

As for the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke; if not that his defection to the APC was thwarted by elements that do not like his face in the party, he would have been in APC today, and singing the reelection song of Tinubu. He is in Accord Party, and is still keeping his presidential allegiance close to his chest.

Bauchi State governor Bala Mohammed is presently been haunted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and a dramatic move to Tinubu’s side may erased whatever corrupt case allegations against. Adams Oshiomhole was once quoted as saying that ‘once you join the APC, your sins are forgiven’.

In a Premium Times report, and quoting the National President, Campaign for Democracy (CD), Ifeanyi Odili, the issue of Nigeria sliding into one-party state appears real

“With several governors joining the APC, the party now controls about 28 out of 36 states, leaving four for PDP, one for APGA, one for NNPP, and one for Accord. Abuja’s status is uncertain with (FCT Minister Nyesom) Wike’s influence.”

“This trend has sparked fears that Nigeria’s democracy is being undermined, as a weak opposition can lead to a lack of accountability and checks on the ruling party,” Odili said.

But the ADC has said that its emergence has changed all the talks about one-party agenda as more Nigerians are proudly queuing behind the party.

But beyond rhetoric, the battleline appears to be a very long one because in the words of Dele Momodu, ‘Tinubu has already locked down the south, and therefore, ADC needs someone with the capacity to lock down the north if tangible can be made.

Nigerians variously have asked that if the ADC is really serious about dislodged Tinubu and the APC in 2027, their two biggest talisman, Atiku and Obi, must develop a healthy collaboration, where whomever emerges as the candidate of the party later in the year, must enjoy the unalloyed support of the others.

The coming together of the two political heavyweights has obviously boosted the party’s and coalition’s political strength, the players and their supporters must not allow it become a weakness or spell its doom

So, with the two frontline leaders yet to agree on who steps down for the other so that a formidable force could be forged against Tinubu and his APC family, all eyes are therefore, on the fast approaching primary election expected to some time this year.

It is no longer a case of who crosses the battleline first, it is a case of who has a more superior firing power in terms of reach, history, achievement, and not forgetting financial muscle, that will carry the day.

ADC says it is ready! APC says it is ready!! Time, and the people will tell!!!

Headline

Undeclared $40k: Supreme Court Upholds Conviction of Ex-Gov Lamido’s Son

Published

4 days ago

January 16, 2026

Eric

The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of the son of a former Jigawa State governor, challenging the decision of the trial court, which convicted him for failing to declare $40,000 at Kano airport.

In a unanimous decision, the apex court panel dismissed the appeal of Aminu Sule Lamido, the son of former governor Sule Lamido, for lack of merit.

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested Aminu on December 11, 2012, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport while preparing to travel to Cairo, Egypt.

The prosecution said Aminu declared $10,000 to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), but was found with an additional $40,000, which was not disclosed on his currency declaration form.

The EFCC charged him before the Federal High Court in Kano on a one-count offence of false declaration of foreign currency, contrary to provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.

On July 12, 2015, the court convicted Aminu and ordered him to forfeit 25 per cent of the undeclared sum to the Federal government.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, Aminu approached the Court of Appeal in Kaduna to overturn the conviction and set aside the forfeiture order.

In a judgment delivered on December 7, 2015, however, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has ordered that the trial of former governor Lamido, his two sons, and others, over alleged N1.35billion fraud, should continue before the Federal High Court in Abuja.

A five-member panel of the apex court issued the directive in two unanimous judgments, in the two appeals filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the trial court, which dismissed the no-case submission filed by the Lamidos and held that the defendants had a case to answer.

Both appeals were against the July 25, 2023, judgments of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which upheld the no-case submission made by Lamido and others and struck out the 37-count charge on which they were being prosecuted, on the grounds that the Federal High Court in Abuja lacked the jurisdiction to hear the case.

In the lead judgments of the Supreme Court, Justice Abubakar Umar set aside the July 25, 2023 judgments of the Court of Appeal and affirmed the earlier decision by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which overruled the no-case submissions by Lamido and others and ordered them to enter their defence.

The EFCC, in the 37-count charge, among others, accused Lamido of abusing his position as a governor between 2007 and 2015, allegedly laundering sums of money received as kickbacks from companies that were awarded contracts by the Jigawa State Government under his leadership.

The other defendants charged alongside Lamido are his two sons – Aminu and Mustapha; Aminu Wada Abubakar and their companies – Bamaina Holdings Ltd and Speeds International Ltd.

Headline

Badagry Mourns Passage of Oba Akran Amid Sobriety, Restriction of Movement

Published

1 week ago

January 13, 2026

Eric

Badagry, a historic coastal town renowned for its rich cultural heritage, was on Monday enveloped in a sombre and brooding mood following the passing of its 89-year-old monarch, De Wheno Aholu Menu-Toyi I, the Akran of Badagry.

The revered monarch, who reigned for 48 years, was a towering figure in the history and development of the ancient coastal town.

He was a journalist before ascending the throne of his forefathers on April 23, 1977.

His long reign was marked by peace, unity and steady community development across Badagry and its environs.

As Permanent Vice-Chairman of the Lagos State Council of Obas and Chiefs, his counsel and leadership carried significant influence within traditional institutions across the State.

He was widely respected as a devoted custodian of Ogu culture and tradition, as well as a passionate advocate for the welfare of his people.

From the early hours of Monday, an unusual calm descended on the ancient kingdom as residents struggled to come to terms with the loss of their traditional ruler.

Markets that normally buzz with activities witnessed low patronage, while groups of residents gathered sparsely in streets and compounds, exchanging restrained conversations.

At the Akran’s palace, it was learnt that the atmosphere was pensive as chiefs and community leaders’ showed grief.

There were restrictions on vehicular movements around the palace vicinity with some sections of the road leading to the place barricaded. Commuters were said to be directed to take alternative routes.

Sources said the traditional worshippers may have started observing rites necessitated by the demise of the monarch. Security and palace officials were seen restricting movement in the immediate vicinity.

Residents said the rites would affect social and commercial activities around the palace and may force many residents especially those working outside Badagry to return home early.

Many residents described the late Akran as a symbol of unity, stability and cultural pride for Badagry. They recalled his role in preserving the town’s customs and mediating communal disputes, while youths spoke of a monarch who encouraged peace and respect for tradition amid modern challenges.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), some sons and daughters of the late king were at the palace, with some seen openly weeping.

A traditional chief, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Akran passed on at about 1:30 am, but confirmation of his death was made at about 5:30 am.

“The Chairman of Badagry Local Government Area, Babatunde Hunpe, has been informed, and we hope he will relay the information to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for an official announcement.

“That is why many of us are seated here at the palace to receive visitors. The Akran has gone to rest with his great ancestors,” he said.