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Pendulum: Twenty Years of Democracy in Nigeria

Published

6 years ago

December 7, 2019

Eric

By Dele Momodu

Fellow Nigerians, just yesterday, the University of Oxford organized a worthwhile conference on 20 years of Democracy in Nigeria. The one-day conference which took place at two venues Oxford University, at St Anthony’s College and at the Blavatnik School of Government was organised by the African Studies Centre of the University of Oxford. The Convener of the Conference was the highly cerebral and erudite Professor Wale Adebanwi, the Rhodes Professor of Race Relations, who heads the Centre. The Conference Administrator was Brenda McCollom a recently graduated Master’s degree holder from the Centre.

The event which featured several notable speakers from both the academics and the public of private sector in Nigeria and internationally could not have come at a more auspicious time when the nations nascent democracy is seemingly under threat. The conference was broken into 3 sessions with the highlight of the conference being the evening session when two of Nigeria’s 36 Governors were invited to deliver addresses to wrap up a thoroughly interesting day in which speakers and participants sought to assess how far democracy had progressed in the 20 years of the 4^th Republic. Governors Kayode Fayemi and Aminu Tambuwal, Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Governors’ Forum respectively acquitted themselves very well as they were frank and honest in their assessment of democratic progress in the country. In short, Oxford University and Professor Adebanwi, in particular, could not have made better choices in those to present special guest speeches at the conference. Both Governors are relatively young, smart, experienced and exposed and they gave very good accounts of themselves.

The well-attended and brilliantly organised conference afforded us the opportunity to listen attentively and interact closely with distinguished politicians and famous scholars alike. I’m glad I attended. Unfortunately, as we savoured the well-researched presentations, bad news flew across the oceans from Nigeria. The terrible videos even made matters worse. I didn’t know when tears welled up in my eyes as I watched with mouth agape and ajar, one of the greatest rapes of democracy ever witnessed in any civilised country. The brutalization of our hapless outspoken Brother and colleague Omoyele Sowore was not just an attack on a notable member of the Fourth Estate of the realm, it was an assault on one of the fundamental pillars of our democracy, freedom of speech and expression. But what was worse was the violent, unbridled and damaging continued onslaught on one of the tripods of any democratic nation, the judiciary. I had thought that the carnage being wreaked on the seemingly defenceless judiciary and its personnel had reached a crescendo with the removal of the Chief Justice of the Federation just before the 2019 elections, in the government’s rabid bid to silence all opposition and take control of all the appurtenances of government and law enforcement. I did not believe that any government, would stoop so law as to allow security operatives to shatter the myth and invincibility of the judiciary by taking its battle with a weak political opponent, a tyro in politics and a minnow now made a giant of the democratic struggle by the government’s crass handling of what has now snowballed into a calamitous crisis, into the sacred and hallowed chambers of a courtroom. The stories of the Judge, Ijeoma Ojukwu scurrying dishevelled, with her tail between her legs, into the presumed safety of her private chambers in the Court premises was too much for me to bear. The whole world was confronted with the shocking images of the manhandling beating and choking of the helpless Sowore and those seeking to assist him in the courtroom. It was like a macabre dance of juggernauts as both the hunter and the hunted were locked and joined in a frenzied, frenetic dance of lunacy. I wept for my dear country as the revered and sanctified recesses of a court was being violated and desecrated. Eventually, all I could do was sigh, as always. Whenever I thought we can never go lower, something happens to dampen my spirits, shock my sensibilities and teach me the lesson never to say never. I await the reaction of lawyers and Judges in particular to this latest act of insanity by government goons. If ever there was contempt in the face of the Court, this was a brazen example. Let us see wither democracy!

It seemed apt that the circumstances in which this appalling news came to me was at a time when we were at this conference. Here we were at Oxford University, one of the oldest, most unique and respected citadels of learning discussing Democracy and all we were getting was opposite news from home about civilian dictatorship and autocracy. Interestingly, the keynote speaker, the widely acclaimed and respected scholar, Professor Larry Diamond, of Stanford University, gave kudos to Nigeria for promoting Democracy despite its imperfections. He spoke about the salutary efforts of fighting corruption by the Buhari administration. His submission did not write off Buhari but said he can do much better. How I wished the President and his people resisted the temptation of this sporadic descent into brash trampling on fundamental human rights and the pillars of democracy and democratic institutions. I have good news for him, it is not too late to embrace true Democracy and return to the path of peace and jaw jaw rather than that of high-handedness and war war. There is so much to gain. I confess that I have been strident in my criticism of the Buhari administration in recent times. I have been concerned about the debasing of most, if not all of our democratic institutions. Professor Diamond, a foreigner made me stop to think that despite all the failings of this administration, all is not lost because we have indeed made some gains in the democratic sphere. We have had uninterrupted civilian rule for the longest period in our history, the fear of another military intervention has receded although for the most part of this latest democratic dispensation we have been ruled with an iron fist by military generals. Nonetheless, we must not consider that all is lost, even if some of the gains have been tarnished, we must still admit that we remain on the right path and we must salute ourselves and our civilian leaders, past and current for this feat. A true democrat and critic must be willing and prepared to make concessions where appropriate and I do so in this regard not because I believe that what is happening is good for our democracy, but because I appreciate that we are at least still paying lip service to that democracy and ultimately whenever this government leaves, it is my hope and prayer that a better government will be properly elected.

One of my favourite papers at the conference was presented by Professor Eghosa Osaghae, former Vice Chancellor of Igbinedion University, under a panel session titled “The Nigerian State: Structure, Agency and Institutional.” His own paper was titled “Reconstructions, Resilience and Relevance: Political Elites and Ethnic Mobilization, 1999-2019.” He was simply brilliant. He later spoke to me about writing a paper to develop my theory of why people steal in arrears and in advance, the first as reparations for years of suffering and the latter as consolidation for the unknown future.

Rotimi Suberu of Bennington University, Vermont, USA, spoke on “Federalism, Constitutional and the Elusive Quest for ‘Political Restructuring’ in the Fourth Nigerian Republic. Next was the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Aliyu Modibbo Umar, of The African Studies Centre, University of Oxford, UK. His paper was well applauded for the way it broke down the giddiness of power and how the people can advertentlý or inadvertently make a leader swollen headed and begin to misbehave. The other seminal papers in this panel session made for sombre thought and reflection on why things have gone wrong and how they may be redressed. Thus, Professor Adigun Agbaje of the University of Ibadan, spoke on the topic “A Republic of Dashed Hopes? Party Politics and 20 years of the travails of Democracy in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. The last paper for that panel session was a poignant reminder for those of us who had been in the trenches in the dark days of the Abacha administration and the stark and startling resemblance of those heinous days with events unfolding in our polity today. The paper, delivered by Matthew T Page of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC, was aptly titled “Today’s Nigeria resembles Abacha’s Nigeria. Why does the international community treat it so differently”?

The second Panel session dealt with the economy and Nigeria’s economic mainstay, oil. It seems apposite to me that majority of the speakers in this session were expatriates. Our oil resources have been much denuded and filtered away by the International oil companies and multinationals. They have not done us a favour but fleeced and impoverished us because our communities have been laid to waste and there has been hardly any technological transfer. Much of our economic woes have been caused by the manner in which foreigners have dealt with our oil. Most of them are responsible for the blight that oil has caused on our political, social and economic landscape. The first paper in the session was from Peter Lewis of John Hopkins University in America and it was titled “Politicians and Oil” in keeping with the theme of the impact of 20 years of democracy. The second paper titled “The Political Economy of Nigerian Oil Trading” was delivered by Ricardo Soares de Oliviera of the University of Oxford, whilst the third speaker was Dr Zainab Usman of the World Bank and her topic was “From Diversification to Decentralisation: The Sub-National Roots of Transforming Nigeria’s Oil Economy”. The last paper of the Session was one which portends grave danger for our economy if we do not shift our focus and reliance on oil to other productive and financially rewarding sectors of the economy. It was gloomingly and fittingly titled “Nigeria: No Longer an Oil State” and was written by Oliver Owen and Sarah Burns, both of the University of Oxford.

The Third Panel session in the late afternoon dealt with Electoral Governance, Civil Society and (In)Security. Papers were delivered by Okechukwu Ibeanu of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on “Theorizing Electoral Democracy in Nigeria: Elections, Representation and Accountancy”; Jubrin Ibrahim of the Centre for Democracy and Development, Abuja “The 2019 General Elections in Nigeria: An Assessment”; Ebenezer Obadare, of the University of Kansas “Resistance in the Age of Democracy: The Changing Parameters of Civil Society in Nigeria”; Idayat Hassan of the Centre for Democracy and Development, Abuja, “From Human Rights Movement to Civil Society: A Review of Twenty Years of Democracy in Nigeria”; Nic Cheeseman of the University of Birmingham, “Political Communication in Nigeria: From Radio to WhatsApp”; and Adam Higazi of the Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola and the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands “The Political Economy of Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in North-East Nigeria”.

The Fourth and Final Session was the evening Panel Session which featured the political gladiators and big masquerades, Governors Fayemi and Tambuwal. Both spoke ardently and fervently about the Nigerian Nation. Both were concerned about Constitutional reform and the structural re-adjustment and re-alignment of the Nigerian nation. Both of them indicated their preference for resource control by the States and a clear need for the decentralisation and dismantling of power at the centre. Tambuwal stress the need for enduring institutions as one of the practical solutions to seemingly intractable political conundrum.

At the end of the conference, it was clear that all the participants believed that though democracy was becoming entrenched in the Nigerian psyche, it is not yet Uhuru because a lot still remains to be done before we can truly consider the country a democratic country in terms of principle and practice. It was certainly kudos for a job well done to the organisers and the speakers who came from diverse and disparate backgrounds. It was obvious that they all had one thing in common, the desire that Nigeria should take its deserved place in the comity of democratic nations being one of the biggest and most populous countries in the world.

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Atiku Abubakar @79: Celebrating a True Statesman + Dele Momodu’s Inspiring Tribute

Published

6 days ago

November 29, 2025

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The rich cultural border town of Jada in Adamawa State, Nigeria, came briskly alive during the week, when trusted colleagues and associates, party bigwigs and immediate family members, trooped in to honour a man, whose legacies of political sagacity and entrepreneurial wizardry have become a reference point, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as he celebrates his 79th birthday.

With fanfare, razzmatazz and deep-rooted joy, the about-to-become-octogenarian hosted a week-long soiree rooted in legit discourse, high profile networking and philanthropy for all and sundry.

Known for his near-impeccable public service image, Atiku is revered as the Midas of our time, converting almost nothing to something of immense value.

A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, once described the invincibility of the Wazirin Adamawa as follows:

1. Give him pure water and he’ll turn it into Farro water
2. Show him a Primary school and he’ll turn it into a world class univeristy
3. Show him a jetty and he’ll turn it into a world class port
4. Give him a bull and a heifer and just few years and he ll give you a herd
5. Give him a bag of chaff and he’ll mill it into animal feed
6. Give him a bottle of bala blue and he’ll turn the cream to farro juice
7. Give him a home and he’ll bring Nigeria into it as family members
8. Make him walk into an environment where there is contention and fight and see how they fade into peace.

From the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to the Yola Airport in Adamawa State, heartfelt accolades from supporters trailed every movement of the vice president, who absorbed all with equanimity, acknowledging greetings with finesse and humility, stopping at regular intervals for a deep hug and claspy handshake that says more friendship and camaraderie.

The grand finale of the activities was held at the Atiku Family Event Hall in Jada with a well-attended Commemoration Lecture that drew dignitaries and admirers including political associates, mentees, members of the diplomatic corps and many others from far and wide. Though it was meant to be an in-house celebration, it drew together distinct policy makers and more.

From one distinguished speaker to another, soul striking lectures and goodwill messages were delivered including tributes aimed at extolling the stateman-like qualities of His Excellency.

It is instructive to note that Atiku, as he is easily recognized, is not just another politician; he is exceptionally versatile as a detribalised, prolific entrepreneur and a practitioner of politics without bitterness. It is not a wonder therefore that he has excelled in politics, public service, and entrepreneurship, most especially.

It was in the notes of the one of the keynote speakers, Chief Dele Momodu, that the underlying greatness, humane qualities and more of Atiku Abubakar were laid bare before public scrutiny.

Momodu, in a lecture he titled Alhaji Atiku Abubakar: The Consumate Democrat, took the audience down memory lane as he highlighted the uncommon humility the Waziri Adamawa demonstrated when he stepped down for MKO Abiola in 1993.

The details of Chief Momodu’s speech are as follows:

ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBAKAR: THE CONSUMMATE DEMOCRAT

It gives me great pleasure, and I consider it a privilege, to have been invited to speak about one of the greatest Nigerians alive today. There’s no way I would have turned down this request.

Just last week, I was invited to a roundtable meeting at the British House of Lords in London, also at the behest of Alhaji ATIKU ABUBAKAR. I wish to offer my sincere gratitude to ALHAJI for his confidence in me and his demonstration of love for me at all times.

My earliest recollection of Alhaji was wayback in 1993, in the beautiful city of Jos, where three political gladiators, Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and Chief Moshood Abiola had locked horns in a world heavyweight bout to decide who picks the Presidential ticket of the Social Democratic Party. I was barely 32/33 at that time but I was politically savvy and heavily inspired and motivated by my adopted father, Chief Moshood Abiola.

The SDP primary of that year remains unprecedented till this day. I will not bore you with details of the Convention that brought these juggernauts into a three horse race, which only one of them can, and must win. But there was a logjam and the only way a winner could have emerged was for one of them to step down and quit the race. This was a tough decision for all of them.

Alhaji Babagana Kingibe enjoyed the avuncular support of most of the SDP Governors. Alhaji Atiku had access to the extensive networks of his mentor Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. The Abiola team calculated well and smartly by reaching out to the godfather pronto. The incredible then happened. Without much ado, Alhaji stepped down and thus cleared the coast for the eventual victory of my adopted father, Chief Moshood Abiola. Since then, unknown to Alhaji Atiku, I have been his big fan. Alhaji did not throw tantrums or sulk endlessly like a baby. He did not seek to destroy their party. Not that he didn’t have enough reasons to be angry and bitter but he chose the path of uncommon equanimity and submitted himself to the immutable will of Allah at His appointed time.

What could have made matters worse, Alhaji Atiku failed to clinch the runningmate slot, against conventional wisdom of give and take. Again, Alhaji Atiku went back to his drawing board, and about his life peacefully without raining a tirade of insults against distinguished elders who have paid their dues to our country. Even when he had the opportunity to retaliate after the June 12 debacle, Alhaji followed a path of honor by supporting Chief Abiola, unconditionally, and for the revalidation of his mandate. Alhaji Atiku is not your common politician.

As fate would have it, he later contested the Governorship election in his home state and won. But before settling down to his Gubernatorial assignments, he was invited to be the Vice President to President Olusegun Obasanjo. He would soon become the most effective and influential Vice President ever in Nigeria. As the head of the economic team, he was able to attract and work with the best and brightest. The gentleman’s agreement was that he would Vice for the office of the President after one term, but again he was let down. He could have fought tooth and nail against his Boss, President Olusegun OBASANJO but he chose the path of absolute peace and patience. But his boss was unhappy that Alhaji and his friends ever challenged him. President OBASANJO went after them like bullets. And there were collateral damages here and there. Several of my friends in Alhaji’s office at the Presidential villa were summarily sacked.

I must confess that I have never seen a man like Alhaji before. He takes everything in his strides. Most politicians would have brought down the rooftops. His faith in Allah is unshakable. What should have been to his glory eventually became his albatross. But Allah compensated with extraordinary favor as a businessman. While his peers became parasites feeding fat on the State, Alhaji became King Midas and most businesses he touched turned to gold. Though he never abandoned his political dreams, he pursued his ambition with visionary clarity and painstaking discipline. He never engaged in violence. He rather invested unrelentingly in the rule of Law. Whenever he contested and he felt robbed of victory, he headed to the courts of the land. Many of his landmark cases have since enriched our jurisprudence and legal lexicon. He has remained a tireless fighter and defender of the rights of the common man.

It is a tragedy that such a man of sharp intellect and prodigious talents has been endlessly maligned in the name of politics.

It must be noted that many of our political icons had suffered similar persecution in the past. My sad conclusion is that when we refuse to encourage good people, the worst amongst us will continue to thrive.

I make bold to declare my maximum respect for ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBAKAR as a great man of ideas and ideals, a peacemaker, man of God, blessed family man, absolutely detribalised, very cosmopolitan, well educated, versatile, humble in spirit, unpretentious, experienced and exposed. He is without doubt a man of diversity and destiny. May Allah preserve him for the benefit of all us because in the days of tribulations, kids must run to the elders of the house. No one else is better prepared for this role at this auspicious moment.

Please, let’s all rise and give a standing ovation to a leader who has refused to give up on his goals…

Other speekers, who eulogized the celebrant in goodwill messages were former Adamawa Governor Jibrilla Bindow, Senator Ishaku Abbo, Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani, Senator Abdulaziz Nyako and several others.

In his traditional soft-spoken nature, Atiku expressed gratitude to all attendees, with special appreciation to the organizers, and special mention of Prof. Ahmed Shehu (Pullo Jada) for their dedicated efforts to ensure the smooth sailing of the event.

THE MAN ATIKU ABUBAKAR

Below is brief history of the former Vice President as told by himself –

I was born on the 25th of November 1946 in Jada village, Adamawa State Like many of my generation, my father was opposed to Western education and tried to keep me out of school. When the government discovered this, my father spent a few days in jail. I was then enrolled in Jada primary school.

When I was only 11 years old, my father drowned and died while trying to cross a small river. The task of raising me then fell on my mother. At that age I resolved to work hard, remain focused and be successful in life to make my her proud. In 1960, I was admitted to Adamawa Provincial Secondary School in Yola.

Academically, I did well in English Language and Literature but I struggled with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. I spent most holidays working to earn extra money. In 1961, when I was 15 years old, my mother’s elder brother sold the family house in Jada without her knowledge and rendered us homeless. I spent that holiday working and from my earnings, I bought a house for my mother in Ganye. I became an orphan when my mother suffered a heart attack and died in 1984.

Post Secondary School

I graduated from secondary school in 1965. After that, I studied at the Nigeria Police College in Kaduna for a short while. I left when I was unable to present an O-Level Mathematics result. I worked briefly as a Tax Officer in the regional Ministry of Finance, from where I gained admission to the School of Hygiene in Kano in 1966.
I graduated with a Diploma in 1967, having served as Interim Student Union President at the School. In 1967 I enrolled for a Law Diploma at the Ahmadu Bello University Institute of Administration, on a scholarship from regional government. After graduation in 1969, I was employed by the Nigerian Customs Service.

Family

I met nineteen year old Titilayo Albert when I was serving at Idiroko, Lagos, and in December 1971 I married her secretly, because her family was initially opposed to the union. On 26 October 1972, Titi delivered a baby girl and we named her Fatima. Titi later gave birth to Adamu, Halima and Aminu.

In January 1979 I married Ladi Yakubu as my second wife. I wanted to expand the Abubakar family. I had no siblings and I felt extremely lonely as a child. I did not want my children to feel that way.

This is why I married more than one wife. My wives are my sisters, my friends, and my advisers and they complement one another. Ladi gave birth to Abba, Atiku, Zainab, Ummi-Hauwa, Maryam and Rukayatu.

In 1983 the late Lamido of Adamawa who had become like my father made me the Turaki of Adamawa. This position was usually reserved for one of the Emir’s favorite sons and was rarely given to non-royals like me. To ensure that I met the ‘blood tie’ requirement for the title, the Lamido gave me one of his daughters, Princess Rukaiyat, to marry.

She gave birth to Aisha, Hadiza, Aliyu, Asmau, Mustafa, Laila and Abdulsalam. I married Fatima Shettima in 1986. She gave birth to Amina (Meena), Mohammed and two sets of twins Ahmed and Shehu, Zainab and Aisha and then Hafsat. Jennifer Jamila Atiku-Abubakar is my last wife. She gave birth to Abdulmalik, Zara and my youngest child, Faisal.

Customs

My Customs career commenced on 30 June 1969. My first posting was at Idi-Iroko, a border town between Nigeria and Benin Republic. My other assignments included the Lagos Airport, Apapa Ports (1974), Ibadan Customs Command (1975), Kano Command (1976), Maiduguri (Area Comptroller, 1977), Kaduna (1980) and the Apapa Ports in 1982.

In April 1984, when I was the Murtala Muhammed Airport Area Administrator, my name was associated with a scandal that made headlines. As part of efforts to cripple corrupt politicians who had stashes of stolen cash in their possession, the new military government had phased out the old naira currency and replaced it with new ones. Orders had been given to ensure that all luggage entering the country was properly screened to prevent smuggling of the old notes. The Emir of Gwangu and Ambassador Dahiru Waziri had arrived from Saudi Arabia with many suitcases. As is customary, the suitcases were supposed to pass through Custom officers for check but the Emir’s son, who was a Major in the Army and also ADC to Head of State Gen Buhari drove straight to the Tarmac with soldiers, off-loaded the suitcases there, picked up his father and the Ambassador and drove away. The soldiers had threatened to shoot the Custom officers who had protested and tried to stop them. My officers reported in writing to me and I in turn reported the incidence to my boss, the Director of Customs. A few days later, one of the officers leaked the story to Guardian Newspapers and their correspondent called me to confirm if it was true. I did.

Soon after, Newspaper Headlines read, “Passenger with 53 suitcases leaves airport unchecked”. This scandal embarrassed the government and they tried to make me deny it happened. I refused and they threatened to throw me out of service. The Minister of Finance then, Soleye, who oversaw the Customs Service played a big role in ensuring I wasn’t dismissed. He had said it would be unfair to punish me for being honest and standing by my officers.

In 1987 I was promoted to Deputy Director of Customs and Excise in charge of Enforcement and Drugs. In April 1989, when I was 43, I voluntarily retired from Customs after 20 years of meritorious service.

Business

I’ve always had a good nose for business. In my early years as a Customs officer, I received a 31,000 naira Housing Loan, built a bungalow in Yola, and rented it out. With the rent I collected in advance, I bought a second plot and built another house. I continued building new houses with rent from completed ones and after a few years I had built 8 houses in choice areas in Yola. When I was transferred to Kaduna, I continued this process and in a few years I had 5 houses there.

In 1981, I moved into agriculture. I became the largest maize farmer in the whole of Gongola state. Unfortunately, due to Government policies that increased the cost of production, the business fell on hard times and closed in 1986.

The most successful business I ever ventured into was with Gabrielle Volpi, an Italian businessman. He intimated me about how profitable Oil and Gas Logistics business could be and, trusting his abilities, I partnered with him to form NICOTES which started operating from a container office at Apapa ports.

When the business began to grow, we relocated to Onne, Rivers State. The company, now known as INTELS (Integrated and Logistics Services) is a multi-billion naira company that has a staff of over 15,000 people and pays huge dividends to its shareholders. My other businesses include agriculture, feed making, plastics, printing, TV/radio media, and beverages.

Politics

I met Shehu Musa Yar’Adua towards the end of my Customs career. He invited me to the political meetings that were happening regularly in his Lagos home; and that was how my foray into politics began.

In 1989 the political meetings became Peoples Front of Nigeria and I was elected as the National Vice- Chairman.

We wish the Wazirin Adamawa a happy birthday, and many fruitful years ahead!

Headline

Season of Compensations: Tinubu Submits 32 Ambassadorial Nominees to Senate

Published

6 days ago

November 29, 2025

Eric

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has sent the names of 32 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, days after he sent the first batch of three names.

Bayo Onanuga, media aide to President Tinubu made this known in a statement on Saturday.

According to the statement, President Tinubu, in two separate letters to the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio asked the Senate to consider and confirm expeditiously 15 nominees as career ambassadors and 17 nominees as non-career ambassadors.

Onanuga stated that there are four women on the career ambassadors’ list and six women on the non-career ambassadors’ list.

The statement reads, “Among the non-career ambassador designates are Barrister Ogbonnaya Kalu from Abia, a former presidential aide, Reno Omokri (Delta), former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmud Yakubu, former Ekiti first lady, Erelu Angela Adebayo, and former Enugu governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

“Others are Tasiu Musa Maigari, the former speaker of the Katsina House of Assembly, Yakubu N. Gambo, a former Commissioner in Plateau State and former deputy executive secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).

“Professor Nora Ladi Daduut, a former senator from Plateau; Otunba Femi Pedro, a former deputy governor of Lagos State; Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, a former aviation minister from Osun State; and Barrister Nkechi Linda Ufochukwu from Anambra State are on the nomination list.

“Also on the list are former First Lady of Oyo, Fatima Florence Ajimobi, former Lagos Commissioner, Lola Akande, former Adamawa Senator, Grace Bent, former governor of Abia, Victor Okezie Ikpeazu, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, businessman, lawyer and Senator from Ondo State, and the former ambassador of Nigeria to the Holy See, Ambassador Paul Oga Adikwu from Benue State.

“Among the nominees for career ambassador and high commissioner-designates are: Enebechi Monica Okwuchukwu (Abia), Yakubu Nyaku Danladi (Taraba), Miamuna Ibrahim Besto (Adamawa), Musa Musa Abubakar (Kebbi), Syndoph Paebi Endoni (Bayelsa), Chima Geoffrey Lioma David (Ebonyi) and Mopelola Adeola-Ibrahim (Ogun).

“The other nominees are Abimbola Samuel Reuben (Ondo), Yvonne Ehinosen Odumah (Edo), Hamza Mohammed Salau (Niger), Ambassador Shehu Barde (Katsina), Ambassador Ahmed Mohammed Monguno (Borno), Ambassador Muhammad Saidu Dahiru (Kaduna), Ambassador Olatunji Ahmed Sulu Gambari (Kawara) and Ambassador Wahab Adekola Akande (Osun).

“The new nominees are expected to be posted to countries with which Nigeria maintains excellent and strategic bilateral relations, such as China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, Kenya, and to Permanent Missions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union. All the nominees will know their diplomatic assignments after their confirmation by the Senate.

“Last week, President Tinubu sent three ambassadorial nominees for screening and confirmation. The nominees were Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun). All three are in the pot for posting to the UK, USA, or France after their confirmation.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said more nominees for ambassadorial positions will be announced soon.”

Headline

FG Must Urgently Deploy Modern Technology to Curb Killings – Obasanjo

Published

7 days ago

November 29, 2025

Eric

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has declared that Nigerians owe no one an apology for seeking assistance from the international community to tackle the country’s insecurity, stressing that lives are being lost daily regardless of religion, ethnicity, or political affiliation.

Speaking on Friday night at the ongoing Plateau Unity Christmas Carols and Praise Festival in Jos, Obasanjo said the Federal government must urgently deploy modern technology to curb killings, noting that with technology, no criminal should be beyond the reach of security agencies, as the country has the capacity to take them out.

“In these days of technology, there should be nobody who can hide after committing a crime,” he said. “Before I left government, we had the capacity to pick up anybody in Nigeria once identified… Every Nigerian life matters, whether Christian, Muslim or pagan. Nigerians are being killed; this must stop.”

He insisted Nigerians have the right to seek international partnership if domestic efforts fall short, arguing that saving lives must remain the nation’s priority.

Plateau State governor, Caleb Mutfwang, who also addressed the gathering, reassured citizens that Nigeria would overcome its current trials. “By the grace of God, those who want Nigeria destroyed will not succeed,” he declared, praying that national and state leaders continue to receive strength and wisdom to act rightly.

The governor said the annual carol event was inspired by the vision of uniting the people of Plateau through worship and thanksgiving. “God is delighted when we come together in unity to exalt His name,” he said. “Despite all odds, we are gathered again this year to celebrate the goodness of God in the land of the living.”

Mutfwang welcomed dignitaries in attendance, including former President Obasanjo; General Lawrence Onoja (rtd.); former Governors of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye and Jonah Jang, who attended with his wife, Ngo Talatu; former Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen; former Governor of Adamawa State, Boni Haruna; former Chief of Defence Staff, General Martin Luther Agwai (rtd.); and the GOC 3 Division, Major General Folorunsho Oyinlola, among others.

Expressing delight in the diversity of worshippers, the governor said Plateau citizens put aside denominational differences to worship under one banner. “With unity, we will shut the door against the enemy that troubles us,” he said.

The event featured ministrations from renowned gospel artistes including Buchi, Uche Etiaba, Pastor Chingtok, and choirs drawn from various denominations.