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Friday Sermon: Late Alhaji Babatunde Jose: Contentment Personified

Published

8 years ago

August 3, 2018

Eric

By Ibrahim Babatunde Jose ll

Contentment is a sign of a true believer. The virtue of contentment is closely connected with the virtue of putting trust in Allah. With contentment one feels inner peace and spirituality increases. He does not compare himself with those who are in better conditions, but rather he remembers those who are in worse conditions. For example, if someone is one-handed, he should be content and remember those who do not have hands at all. “Contentment is not the fulfilment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have.” Contentment and patience earn one Paradise in the Hereafter. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is reported to have said: “Riches does not mean having a great amount of property; real wealth is self-contentment.” Sahih Bukhari (Book 81, Chapter 15)

The (material) things which ye are given are but the conveniences of this life and the glitter thereof; but that which is with Allah is better and more enduring: Will ye not then be wise?

(Quran 28:60)

The greatest cause for the lack of contentment is greed and avariciousness, covetousness and ‘long throat’. These are very objectionable traits in any human being and they are the root cause of corruption. Imam Jafar Sadiq (as) said: “If a son of Adam (as) possessed two vast valleys wherein gold and silver flowed, he would still wish to search for the third one.”

One of the greatest legacy a man could bequeath to his children is a good name. Riches could be spent and wasted on the frivolous things of life and in a jiffy, the children have gone through it and are back to the state of poverty of their great grandfather. Houses are equally squandered through sales and forfeiture, having been used to borrow money. All else must pass away leaving the good name a man has built for himself. The greatest building bloc of a good name is a contented life. A life devoid of greed and avarice and covetousness. These are very apt description of late Alhaji Babatunde Jose.

Under the present clime, people like late Jose, with his first generation advantage would have amassed enough illicit wealth to last the coming generation of his offspring. He never did; yet he had all the opportunities.

He became Managing Director of the Daily Times and probably the highest paid chief executive of a publicly quoted company in Nigeria without moving to an executive official residence until nearly three years after he became Chairman of the company.

During his stay in Cooper Road, Ikoyi, the sprawling official residence, he was very conscious of the transit nature of the place. It was therefore very easy and painless for him to move back to his old residence in Apapa immediately after his retirement. Unlike the retirees of today who go away with a fleet of cars and SUVs, Alhaji Jose only went away with his old official car, a Mercedes 300S, LAA3.

He built his house in Victoria Island, courtesy of the Federal Government allocation of plots to deserving public figures at the time. Unfortunately, he never had the money to develop the plot. It would be built under contractor finance arrangement by Cappa, which rented out the place for five years in order to realize the N120,000 construction cost. He was only be able to move into the house in December 1980 in which he lived for 28 years till he died, without changing the furniture or the air-conditioning units in the house.

His life is therefore a lesson in contentment and personal satisfaction.

Even when he joined his friends, MKO Abiola, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Musa Bello and Alhaji Koko with the Pakistanis to float Habib Nigeria Bank Limited, he never for once abused the codes of corporate governance.

The Apotheosis

Jose was not only a journalist and newspaper administrator, he was a man who perfected the art of ‘walking a tightrope’ in the high tension ‘corridors of power’. He was usually consulted by heads of government and ministers on many national issues. During the first republic, he was the Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee on Publicity. This gave him unfettered access to the Prime Minister; a privilege he never abused.

During Nigeria’s change over from left to right-hand drive, General Yakubu Gowon, appointed Alhaji Jose as the Chairman of the Committee. After that, he was appointed Chairman of the Nigeria Building Society which later became Federal Mortgage Bank.

He was also made a member of the Nigerian Pilgrims Board of which he eventually became the chairman. These positions of trust were never abused. Yet in modern parlance, they were ‘juicy’.

Despite the fact that the Daily Times was nationalized by the Murtala-Obasanjo Military Administration, and the eventual retirement of Jose at the young age of 50 in 1976, General Obasanjo changed his mind and asked him to return to the company but Jose politely declined the offer saying ‘where a man has said goodnight, he does not return to say good evening’. Obasanjo therefore appointed him pioneer Chairman of the Nigerian Television Authority NTA.

First civilian President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari appointed him Chairman of a commission to advice on Hajj operations. Shagari also sent him to newly Independent Zimbabwe to help advice on financial feasibility of acquiring a privately owned newspaper which the Nigerian government was bankrolling for the government of that country. He did not see it as an opportunity for self-aggrandizement.

The Buhari/Idiagbon government sent him to London on an image laundering mission for the Nigerian government. On his return, he caused a stir when he returned some unspent money out of the fund given to him for the trip. General Idiagbon was flabbergasted and took him to General Buhari to witness what he has seen, as it was unprecedented.

Also, at the request of the same government, he was asked to advise on the reorganization of the Daily Times, which he did and it led to the appointment of his godson and protégée, Olusegun Osoba as Managing Director. He was also appointed a second time as Chairman of NTA.

It was to Alhaji Jose that the Babangida administration turned when it wanted to settle the intractable problem of General Tunde Idiagbon’s continued stay in Saudi Arabia after the coup that ousted his government. Jose travelled to Saudi with General Gado Nasco, Sheikh Gumi and Professor Galadanchi to persuade and bring Idiagbon back to Nigeria. President Babangida also appointed Alhaji Jose as the Chairman of the Nigeria Pilgrims Board.

It is important to note that during the Interim National Government of Chief Ernest Shonekan, Alhaji Jose was again approached to serve as the Chairman of the Eminent Persons Committee to advice on the June 12 impasse. Fortunately, Alhaji Jose resigned immediately the committee was inaugurated after realizing that it was a charade.

Alhaji Jose would later sit on the boards of many companies, only to find himself being elected President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria MAN. That perhaps marked his apotheosis.

In all these he never lost his head neither did he forget the son of whom he was. He would always remember the home from which came from. He never for once took undue advantage of his closeness to the corridor. That to me is the hallmark of a man of honor and principle. It demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt, contentment per excellence.

As a mark of his unshaken be belief in the certainty of death, he kept his burial things in a bag in his room, to the knowledge of all.

According to Tajudeen Gbadamosi, Emeritus Professor of history and an erudite Islamic scholar, “Alhaji Jose did not claim to be a moral leader. . . But we can certainly identify in him some sterling moral values: dedication sincerity of purpose, honesty, commitment to peace, selflessness and a high sense of responsibility.”

In 1946, Editor of the Daily Times, Mr Lijadu, wrote an awe-inspiring testimonial for Alhaji Jose in which he said “This is to certify that I have known Ishmael Adisa Babatunde Jose for over five years during which period I have always found him a hardworking, obedient and aspiring Youngman. His industry and ambition have been most exemplary and inspiring and have marked him out as a young man who ought to go far in life. . . . . . .” And indeed he went very far! As former President Olusegun Obasanjo described him in Abuja in 2001, as a “national role model and an Icon of Hope”.

Yesterday was a glorious day in his remembrance. The Fidau prayer was a high mass in nature with clerics of Anwar ul Islam, led by the venerable Chief Imam A B Yoosuf and a plethora of beautiful people in attendance. It was a most befitting anniversary. It was crowned with the naming of the school hall of Jubril Martin Memorial Grammar School as ‘Alhaji Isma’il Babatunde Jose Hall: The name of a good man was immortalized.

We pray: “O Allah! Forgive him, have mercy upon him, give him peace and absolve him. Receive him with honor and make his grave spacious; wash him with water, snow and hail. Cleanse him from faults as Thou wouldst cleanse a white garment from impurity. Requite him with an abode, with a family better than his family and with a mate better than his mate. Admit him to the Garden, and protect him from the torment of the grave and the torment of the fire.” Du’a Book by Refaaz Mohamed.

Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend

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Opposition Parties Reject 2026 Electoral Act, Demand Fresh Amendment

Published

14 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Eric

Opposition political parties have rejected the 2026 Electoral Act recently passed by the National Assembly, which President Bola Tinubu swiftly signed into law.

The parties called on the National Assembly to immediately begin a fresh amendment process to remove what they described as “all obnoxious provisions” in the law.

Their position was made known at a press briefing themed “Urgent Call to Save Nigeria’s Democracy,” held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja on Thursday.

In a communiqué read by the Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) Ahmed Ajuji, the opposition leaders stated:

“We demand that the National Assembly immediately commence a fresh amendment to the Electoral Act 2026, to remove all obnoxious provisions and ensure that the Act reflects only the will and aspiration of Nigerians for free, fair, transparent and credible electoral process in our country. Nothing short of this will be acceptable to Nigerians.”

Some of the opposition leaders present in at the event include former Senate President David Mark; former Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; former Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi; and former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, all from the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The National Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Ahmed Ajuji, and other prominent members of the NNPP, notably Buba Galadima, were also in attendance.

The coalition said the amended law, signed by Bola Tinubu, contains “anti-democratic” clauses, which they argue may weaken electoral transparency and public confidence in the voting system.

At the centre of the opposition’s concerns is the amendment to Section 60(3), which allows presiding officers to rely on manual transmission of election results where there is communication failure.

According to the coalition, the provision weakens the mandatory electronic transmission of results and could create loopholes for manipulation.

They argued that Nigeria’s electoral technology infrastructure is sufficient to support nationwide electronic transmission, citing previous assurances by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The parties also rejected the amendment to Section 84, which restricts political parties to direct primaries and consensus methods for candidate selection.

They described the change as an unconstitutional intrusion into the internal affairs of parties, insisting that indirect primaries remain a legitimate democratic option.

The opposition cited alleged irregularities in the recent Federal Capital Territory local government elections as evidence of what they described as a broader pattern of electoral compromise.

They characterised the polls as a “complete fraud” and said the outcome has deepened their lack of confidence in the ability of the electoral system to deliver credible elections in 2027.

The coalition also condemned reported attacks on leaders of the African Democratic Congress in Edo State, describing the incidents as a serious threat to democratic participation and political tolerance.

They warned that increasing violence against opposition figures could destabilise the political environment if not urgently addressed.

In their joint statement, the opposition parties pledged to pursue “every constitutional means” to challenge the Electoral Act 2026 and safeguard voters’ rights.

“We will not be intimidated,” the leaders said, urging civil society organisations and citizens to support efforts aimed at protecting Nigeria’s democratic system.

On February 18, 2026, President Bola Tinubu signed the Electoral Act (Amendment) 2026 into law following its passage by the National Assembly. The Act introduced several reforms, including statutory recognition of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and revised election timelines.

However, opposition figures such as Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi have also called for further amendments, particularly over the manual transmission fallback clause, which critics say leaves room for manipulation.

The president said the law will strengthen democracy and prevent voter disenfranchisement.

Tinubu defended manual collation of results, questioned Nigeria’s readiness for full real-time electronic transmission, and warned against technical glitches and hacking.

The Electoral Act sparked intense debate in the National Assembly over how election results should be transmitted ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Civil society groups under the “Occupy NASS” campaign demanded real-time transmission to curb manipulation.

In the Senate, lawmakers clashed during consideration of Clause 60, which allows manual transmission of results if electronic transmission fails.

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (ADC, Abia South) demanded a formal vote to remove the proviso permitting manual transmission, arguing against weakening real-time electronic reporting.

The move led to a heated exchange on the floor, with Senate President Godswill Akpabio initially suggesting the demand had been withdrawn.

After procedural disputes and a brief confrontation among senators, a division was conducted. Fifteen opposition senators voted against retaining the manual transmission proviso, while 55 supported it, allowing the clause to stand.

Earlier proceedings had briefly stalled during clause-by-clause review, prompting consultations and a closed-door session.

In the House of Representatives, a similar disagreement came up over a motion to rescind an earlier decision that mandated compulsory real-time electronic transmission of results to IReV.

Although the “nays” were louder during a voice vote, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas ruled in favour of rescinding the decision, triggering protests and an executive session.

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AFP: How Tinubu’s Govt Paid Boko Haram ‘Huge’ Ransom, Released Two Terrorists for Kidnapped Saint Mary’s Pupils

Published

3 days ago

February 24, 2026

Eric

The Nigerian government paid Boko Haram militants a “huge” ransom of millions of dollars to free up to 230 children and staff the jihadists abducted from a Catholic school in November, an AFP investigation revealed Monday.

Two Boko Haram commanders were also freed as part of the deal, which goes against the country’s own law banning payments to kidnappers. The money was delivered by helicopter to Boko Haram’s Gwoza stronghold in northeastern Borno state on the border with Cameroon, intelligence sources told AFP.

The decision to pay the militants is likely to irritate US President Donald Trump, who ordered air strikes on jihadists in northern Nigeria on Christmas Day and has been sent military trainers to help support Nigerian forces.

Nigerian government officials deny any ransom was paid to the armed gang that snatched close to 300 schoolchildren and staff from St. Mary’s boarding school in Papiri in central Niger state on November 21. At least 50 later managed to escape their captors.

Boko Haram has not been previously linked to the kidnapping, but sources told AFP one of its most feared commanders was behind the mass abduction: the notorious jihadist known as Sadiku.

He infamously held up a train from the capital in 2022 and netted hefty ransoms for the release of government officials and other well-off passengers.

Boko Haram, which has waged a bloody insurgency since 2009, is strongest in northeast Nigeria.

But a cell in central Niger state operates under Sadiku’s leadership. The St. Mary’s pupils and staff were freed after two weeks of negotiations led by Nuhu Ribadu, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, with the government insisting no ransom was paid. Nigeria’s State Security Service flatly denied paying any money, saying “government agents don’t pay ransoms”.

However, four intelligence sources familiar with the talks told AFP the government paid a “huge” ransom to get the pupils back. One source put it at 40 million naira per head – around $7 million in total.

Another put the figure lower at two billion naira overall. The money was delivered by chopper to Ali Ngulde, a Boko Haram commander in the northeast, three sources told AFP.

Due to the lack of communications cover in the remote area, Ngulde had to cross into Cameroon to confirm delivery of the ransom before the first group of 100 children were released.

Nigeria has long been plagued by mass abductions, with criminals and jihadist groups sometimes working together to extort millions from hostages’ families, and authorities seemingly powerless to stop them.

Source: Africanews

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Unlawful Invasion: El-Rufai Drags ICPC, IGP, Others to Court, Demands N1bn Damages

Published

4 days ago

February 23, 2026

Eric

Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has slammed a ₦1 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for what he claimed was an unlawful invasion of his Abuja residence.

El-Rufai, in a suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, also listed the Chief Magistrate, Magistrate’s Court of the FCT, Abuja Magisterial District; Inspector-General of Police, and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as 2nd to 4th respondents respectively.

According to the suit filed through his lawyers, led by Oluwole Iyamu, El-Rufai prayed the court to declare that the search warrant issued on February 4 by the Chief Magistrate, Magistrate’s Court of the FCT (2nd respondent), authorising the search and seizure at his residence as invalid, null and void.

Security operatives had stormed and searched the former Governor’s residence in the ongoing investigations against him.

However, he argued in the case marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026, that the search was in violation of Section 37 of the Constitution, and urged the court to declare that the search warrant was “null and void for lack of particularity, material drafting errors, ambiguity in execution parameters, overbreadth, and absence of probable cause thereby constituting an unlawful and unreasonable search.”

In the suit dated and filed February 20 by Iyamu, ex-governor, who is currently under detention, sought seven reliefs.

He prayed the court to declare that the invasion and search of his residence at House 12, Mambilla Street, Aso Drive, Abuja, on Feb. 19 at about 2pm and executed by agents of ICPC and I-G, “under the aforesaid invalid warrant, amounts to a gross violation of the applicant’s fundamental rights to dignity of the human person, personal liberty, fair hearing, and privacy under Sections 34, 35, 36, and 37 of the Constitution.”

He urged the court to declare that “any evidence obtained pursuant to the aforesaid invalid warrant and unlawful search is inadmissible in any proceedings against the applicant, as it was procured in breach of constitutional safeguards.”

El-Rufai, therefore, sought an order of injunction restraining the respondents and their agents from further relying on, using, or tendering any evidence or items seized during the unlawful search in any investigation, prosecution, or proceedings involving him.

“An order directing the Ist and 3rd respondents (ICPC and I-G) to forthwith return all items seized from the applicant’s premises during the unlawful search, together with a detailed inventory thereof.

“An order awarding the sum of N1,000,000,000.00 (One Billion Naira) as general, exemplary, and aggravated damages against the respondents jointly and severally for the violations of the applicant’s fundamental rights, including trespass, unlawful seizure, and the resultant psychological trauma, humiliation, distress, infringement of privacy, and reputational harm.”

The breakdown of the ₦1 billion in damages includes “a N300 million as compensatory damages for psychological trauma, emotional distress, and loss of personal security;

“A ₦400 million as exemplary damages to deter future misconduct by law enforcement agencies and vindicate the applicant’s rights.

“A ₦300 million as aggravated damages for the malicious, high-handed and oppressive nature of the respondents’ actions, including the use of a patently defective warrant procured through misleading representations.”

He equally sought ₦100 million as the cost of filing the suit, including legal fees and associated expenses.

Iyamu argued that the search warrant was fundamentally defective, lacking specificity in the description of items to be seized, containing material typographical errors, ambiguous execution terms, overbroad directives, and no verifiable probable cause.

He added that the warrant violated Sections 143-148 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015; Section 36 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences (ICPC) Act, 2000, and constitutional protections against arbitrary intrusions and several other constitutional provisions.

“Section 146 stipulates that the warrant must be in the prescribed form, free from defects that could mislead, but the document is riddled with errors in the address, date, and district designation;

“Section 147 allows direction to specified persons, but the warrant’s indiscriminate addressing to “all officers is overbroad and unaccountable.

“Section 148 permits execution at reasonable times, but the contradictory language creates ambiguity, undermining procedural clarity,” he submitted.

Iyamu stated that the execution of the invalid warrant on Feb. 19 resulted in an unlawful invasion of his client’s premises, constituting violations of the rights to dignity (Section 34), personal liberty (Section 35), fair hearing (Section 36), and privacy (Section 37) of the Constitution.

He further argued that the search was conducted without legal justification and in a manner that inflicted humiliation and distress.

“Evidence obtained without a valid warrant is unlawful and inadmissible, as established in judicial precedents such as C.O.P. v. Omoh (1969) NCLR 137, where the court ruled that evidence procured through improper means contravenes fundamental rights and must be excluded,” he said.

In the affidavit in support of the application, Mohammed Shaba, a Principal Secretary to the former governor, averred that on Feb. 19 at about 2p.m., officers from the ICPC and Nigeria Police Force invaded the residence under a purported search warrant issued on or about Feb. 4.

According to him, the said warrant is invalid due to its lack of specificity, errors, and other defects as outlined in the grounds of this application.

He said the “search warrant did not specify the properties or items being searched for.”

Shaba stated that the officers failed to submit themselves for search as provided by the law before proceeding with the search.

“That the Magistrate did not specify the magisterial district wherein he sits.

“That during the invasion, the officers searched the applicant’s premises without lawful authority, seized personal items including documents and electronic devices, and caused the applicant undue humiliation, psychological trauma, and distress.

“Now shown to me and marked as ‘EXHIBIT B’ Is the list of the items carted away.

“That no items seized have been returned, and the respondents continue to rely on the unlawful evidence.

“That the applicant suffered violations of his constitutional rights as a result, and this application is brought in good faith to enforce same,” Shaba said.

Source: Naijanews.com