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Opinion: Africa, Eid-al-Fitr and The Virus by Reuben Abati

Published

5 years ago

May 26, 2020

Editor

By Reuben Abati

This year’s eid-al-fitr, the Muslim festival marking the end of the month of Ramadan, during which Muslims fast for 29 or 30 days, in observance of one of the Five Pillars of Islam, was celebrated on Saturday and Sunday May 23/24, but it was a different kind of eid. It was sombre, low key, and completely over-shadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In close to 100 years, there has been no eid like that: the world’s nearly 2 billion Muslims observed the Ramadan under imposed conditions. People were advised to avoid congregational prayers and stay in their homes. On Sunday, many could not observe the traditions of the eid either: the sharing of gifts, visits to family and friends to share goodwill, hugs and handshakes. In countries around the world, persons were advised to shun large gatherings for their own safety. Eid prayers could not be held publicly in Mecca and Medina. The Grand Mosque was noticeably scanty. Earlier, the Saudi Grand Mufti had advised against large congregations.

In Egypt, the usually busy Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo was empty. In the United Kingdom, the Muslim Council, ahead of the Eid-al-Fitri, advised Muslims to pray at home. In Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand and Malaysia, congregational prayers were allowed but there was very strict adherence to precautions. In Thailand for example, worshippers who showed up for the Hari Raya, as the eid-al-fitri is otherwise known in that country, Malaysia and in Indonesia had to pass through health officials who checked their temperatures, gave them sanitizing gels, recorded their names and addresses so they can be traced and contacted in the event of a report of community spread of the virus. The people prayed but they kept away from one another. The main thing about COVID-19 is how it has imposed a regimen of observances on human behavior and relationships.

The fact that people are expected to comply or gamble with their lives for failing to do so, is what makes it all so surreal. The mode of compliance varied from one country to the other. The only uniting factor, however, is how on Sunday, the Muslim global community and indeed the entire world was reminded of how so much COVID-19 has disrupted our lives. This sub-text was driven home more poignantly when the New York Times on May 24, decided on a dramatic, all-type concept front page, listing the names and brief descriptions of about 1,000 Americans who had died from COVID-19 related complications. It was the first time in more than 40 years that the New York Times will not have an image on its front page. The published names were compiled from obituary notices in newspapers across the United States by a researcher – Alan Delaqueriere – and put together by a team led by Ms. Simone Landon, Assistant Editor, Graphics. There was also an inside-page essay by columnist, Dan Barry. For me, this was journalism at another level.

The New York Times went beyond the raw data that is quoted daily by Johns Hopkins University which tracks the incidence of COVID-19 in the United States (over 1.6 million confirmed cases, and over 98, 000 deaths – the highest COVID-19 figures in the world!). The newspaper gave names to the statistics and conveyed a sense of the uniqueness of those that died. Whoever reads that list is bound to realize how it is so easy to be alive at one moment, only to end up on a list of corpses in a short moment. The unpredictability of human transitions is what therefore makes it alarming that certain persons knowing how the grim reaper is on rampage, riding the vehicle of a virus, would engage in suicidal and risky behavior.

These were my thoughts as I read the New York Times on the day of the eid-al-fitri, and reflected on the sharp variations in how the eid was celebrated especially in sub-Saharan Africa where religion is a virus of sorts. Whereas North African countries (Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Algeria) where there are high figures of COVID-19 enforced rules of physical distancing, many worshippers South of the Sahara threw caution to the winds, with perhaps the notable exceptions of Ghana and Senegal. In Sudan, before and after the eid, neither the leaders nor the people seemed to have heard of physical distancing. Sudan has the highest number of cases in East Africa with over 100 deaths but nobody seems to care. The people and their leaders certainly did not care during this year’s eid-al-fitri. Inflation is over 100% in Sudan. Health workers have no access to Personal Protective Equipment. The World Health Organization (WHO) should watch that country closely.

In Tanzania, a country that has been “Magufulifized” to paraphrase the eminent Kenyan Professor, PLO Lumumba, the leaders pretended to be aware of the need for physical distancing but the worshippers who trooped to mosques in Dodoma and elsewhere in the country could not be bothered. As in Sudan, the mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic could be traced to the failure of leadership. President John Magufuli of Tanzania held much promise when he assumed office five years ago, but he has since derailed confirming indeed that his reform agenda is a double-edged sword of progressivism and dictatorship/primitivism. He insists that there has been a reduction in the number of COVID-19 cases in Tanzania, but this is not based on data. Tanzania stopped releasing COVID-19 figures and suspended daily briefings on April 21 because Magufuli is convinced that such briefings cause panic among the populace. He also insists that testing cannot be trusted, having discovered that even fruits and goats have tested positive due to faulty test kits. The Africa Centre for Disease Control and the US Embassy in the country have warned about the extremely high risk that Tanzania constitutes, especially to the neighbouring countries of Kenya, Zambia and Uganda. Healthcare workers in Tanzania cannot even express an opinion because under Magufuli, it is a crime to have independent thoughts. On eid-el-fitri day, Muslims in Tanzania simply followed his lead and ignored the reality of COVID-19.

In not too far away Burundi, the management of COVID-19 is not any better. Burundi is officially a secular state. Muslims constitute a minority, previously thought to be only 1% of the population but now considered to be about 5-8% after the last post-civil war census. The big problem with Burundi in the face of COVID-19 is the total refusal of President Pierre Nkurunziza to come to terms with the fact that the pandemic is real. Last week, the country held a Presidential election, a stage-managed election which was rigged to produce the candidate of the ruling party, the CNDD-FDD as winner with 68.72%. The CNDD-FDD’s candidate, Evariste Ndayishimiye was once Chief of Staff to Nkurunziza who wants to retire from office and retain the pompous title of “Supreme Guide to Patriotism”. The new President will be required to consult the “Supreme Guide” on matters of national security and unity. Nkurunziza has apparently forgotten what happened to former Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos whose delusion of indispensability eventually led to his humiliation.

I digress slightly. The point I am really trying to make is that in Burundi, not even the country’s Muslim population had any need to worry about COVID-19. Before the eid, the government of Burundi expelled World Health Organization officials from the country on the ground that they had become “persona non grata.” International election observers and monitors were informed that they would be quarantined if they showed up in the country to observe any election. The international community stayed away.

Now let us switch the lens to Nigeria. Days before the eid-al-fitri 2020, the Nigerian Government on May 4 eased restrictions that had been imposed by the Federal Government on Ogun, Lagos states and the Federal Capital Territory, not for religious reasons, but as part of a “phased and gradual process” of re-opening the Nigerian space while also addressing the multi-faceted challenges of COVID-19. State governments also began to relax the restriction orders in their states, with the entire country bound to enforce the uniform ban on inter-state travel and the emplacement of a nationwide curfew from 8 pm to 6 am. There were specific regulations and guidelines for restaurants, places of religious worship, human relationships, work place protocols etc. There was a big push-back from ordinary Nigerians who had grown weary of the lockdown, as well as pundits and business owners who felt that the lockdown will not work in Africa but the biggest resistance came from religious leaders especially Pentecostal church leaders who argued from all corners of their mouths about either 5G technology or the damage that the lockdown was doing to the church economy. There were exceptions though: on the mainstream Christian side- the Catholic Church, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), and on the Pentecostal side: Pastors Enoch Adeboye, Tunde Bakare, Sam Adeyemi and Paul Adefarasin…

If Muslim leaders were opposed to the lockdown, they were quiet with their objections. The Christian leaders were loud and aggressive. One of them even said if government could allow markets to re-open, churches should also be re-opened. However, the fact that Muslim leaders were also not entirely quiet soon became evident as many states in the North began to announce that religious worship was in order, and that mosques and churches could re-open even as COVID-19 figures in Nigeria increased geometrically. In due course, these states: Kano, Bauchi, Taraba, Nasarawa, Gombe, Yobe, Niger, Adamawa, Cross River, Delta… lifted the ban on worship centres, with the convenient caveat of course that the rules of physical distancing and (2) attendance relative to building capacity and (3) the threshold of 20 persons per gathering must be respected. All the Governors claimed that they were responding to pressures from religious leaders. The Governor of Kano claimed he was advised by Islamic Scholars. The Council of Ulamas in Kano State insisted that they were not consulted. The Sultan of Sokoto, the Head of the Muslim Ummah in Nigeria and head of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) issued a statement directing all Muslims in Nigeria to observe the eid prayers at home, because the eid-al-fitri is not fard (that is obligatory). President Muhammadu Buhari also issued a statement saying nobody should visit him to pay eid homage as is customary and that people should pray at home.

But in reality, what Nigeria and many other countries in sub-Saharan Africa are faced with is the threat of an exponential rise in COVID-19 cases post eid-al-fitri. In Kano state which is second on the Nigerian COVID-19 League Table, the guidelines were observed more in the breach. The Kano elite at the prayer grounds hypocritically tried to maintain social distancing but nobody provided minimum care for the ordinary people who risked their lives in the name of religion. In Minna, Niger state, there was reportedly a heavy downpour. People abandoned their masks and rushed into the mosque where they huddled together. The Nation newspaper (Nigeria, May 25) reports that Southern Muslims in Nigeria observed the eid in their homes. In the Northern part of the country, where the Northern Governors Forum most recently announced that the region accounts for 54% of reported cases, and 70% of fresh infections, the prayer grounds were unlocked from Kano to Borno, by the same leaders who had only a few days earlier acknowledged a brewing crisis in their region. Does that make sense?

I have tried to paint the picture above simply to revisit the commendation that Africa has received for beating the world’s expectations with regard to COVID-19 sero-prevalence. The eid celebration is merely a peg. At a recent Africa.Com Webinar Series 6 with the theme: “What’s the real story behind Africa’s COVID-19 figures?”, the WHO Regional Director Ms Rebecca Moeti expressed enthusiasm about the fact that whereas WHO expected higher COVID-19 cases in Africa, the numbers have been lower than expected. She praised African countries. Both the WHO DG and the UN Secretary General have also had cause to commend Nigeria. The praise for Africa may be premature. It is not justified by the attitude of many of the leaders and the behaviour of the people. Could the real story in Africa be – that not enough testing is being done resulting in gross undercount or that corruption has further mutated COVID-19 into a strain that is yet unknown to the world? Or is the virus un-African? These are the key questions.

Related Topics:AFRICA Eid Mubarak Nigeria Reuben Abati

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Mike Adenuga is Alive, Hale and Hearty, I Just Spoke with Him – Dele Momodu

Published

4 days ago

November 20, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

Africa’s biggest philanthropist and Chairman, Globacom Group, Dr. Mike Adenuga is Alive, hale and hearty!

This has been confirmed by Chairman, Ovation Media Group, Chief Dele Momodu via his social media handles.

Following rumours, whose source is yet to be ascertained that the man, known for his quantum giving, passed away, Momodu wrote that he had just spoken with the billionaire businessman, who affirmed his health while thanking all for their concern.

“Ignore the fake news…DR MICHAEL ADENIYI AGBOLADE ISOLA ADENUGA is hale and hearty. He is right now at his desk working round the clock in support of the Nigerian economy…He just called me to thank everyone for their concern,” Dele Momodu wrote.

In addition, members of the top echelon of the group have separately confirmed that the one known as The Bull is alive and healthy.

Dr. Adenuga has remained in the forefront of many families happy with his direct financial and material gifts as well as consistent promo from his Glo brand.

Only last night, CNN celebrated 15 years of his sponsorship of the African Voices Changemakers, where he has foe a decade and half been supporting budding African entertainers to reach their professional zenith.

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A Tale of Two Emirs of Kano: Who Blinks First?

Published

6 days ago

November 18, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The uneasy calm that reared its ugly head in the ancient city of Kano since May 23, 2024, when Governor Yusuf Kabir sacked the sitting Emir, Aminu Ado Bayero, replacing him with Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, also known as Muhammadu Sanusi II, has yet to abate as the two prominent personalities have consistently laid claim to the emirship of the emirate, and operating from different palaces in the town.

The bitter rivalry between the two royalties has caused division not only in the emirate, but the entire Kano State, and spiraling into national politics, leaving the political parties, especially the New Nigerian Peoples Party, which is the governor’s party, the Presidency, alleged to be giving backing to the immediate past governor, Umar Ganduje, who is also the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the security agencies, who receive instructions from the Presidency, taking sides.

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi also known as Muhammadu Sanusi II and Aminu Ado Bayero are the parties embroiled in the bitter rivalry in a bid to outwit each other for the exalted Emir of Kano position. This was since Sanusi was reinstated as the 16th Emir, having been dethroned and exiled on March 9, 2020 by the former administration of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

Sources close the two notable figures, and the palace told The Boss that it is not unlikely that both men are being supported by powerful entities.

“While Sanusi has the backing of the Kano State government as visibly manifested in the reinstatement process, Ado Bayero is being backed by the Federal Government of Nigeria,” one of the sources said.

The furore has consequently attracted the wrong commentaries from stakeholders within and outside the Kano Emirate, resulting in heated arguments, threats and possibly outbreak of direct and indirect confrontations. But six months into the leadership quagmire, none of the two has shifted ground, or is willing to shift ground as more and more intrigues of power play and desire for recognition continue to be the order of the day.

The ‘two emirs’, who continue to claim legitimacy, have variously been trying to outdo each other in the quest to be relevant in the scheme of things.

The rivalry between the two emirs and their loyalists has resuscitated with weddings and counter weddings.

Just this weekend, a former governor of Kano State, Alhaji Rabiu Kwnakwaso hosted the wedding of his daughter, Dr. Aisha Rabiu Kwankwaso, and her husband, Fahad Dahiru Mangal, at the palace of Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, which attracted prominent national citizens including former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Kashim Shettima, Waziri Adamawa Atiku Abubakar among others. Fahad is the son of Nigerian business magnate, Dahiru Mangal, founder of MaxAir, one of the country’s leading private airlines.

In what looked like a counter affair, the palace of Aminu Ado Bayero, in Nasarawa Local Government Area of the state, will on December 13, 2024 hosts a double wedding involving Jibrin Barau Jibrin and Aisha Barau Jibrin, the children of the Senate Deputy President, Barau I. Jibrin, to their spouses.

Some stakeholders told The Boss that the whole thing is a case of seeking relevance and originality.

Meanwhile, former Governor Kwankwaso has blamed President Bola Tinubu for the crises that have failed to abate in the state.

While speaking at the convocation ceremony of Skyline University in Kano on Sunday, Kwankwaso accused Tinubu and the political forces from Lagos of attempting to impose their influence on Kano’s leadership, particularly in the selection of the Emir.

“Today, we can see very clearly that there are significant efforts from the Lagos axis to colonise this part of the country. Lagos wouldn’t allow us to choose even our Emir; instead, they want to impose their own Emir on Kano,” he stated.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN…

The Kano State House of Assembly, as widely speculated, repealed the 2019 Law, which was instrumental in removing Sanusi from office, and balkanise the Kano emirate into five jurisdictions.

The Assembly, in the new emirate law stipulated the sack of all the Emirs in the jurisdictions and a restoration of the old order, where only one Emir will be overseeing all of Kano.

As a result, the Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, appended his signature on the bill, giving it the backing of the law, in the presence of the deputy governor, Aminu Abdulsalam, Speaker, Isma’il Falgore, and the SSG, Abdullahi Bichi. and thereafter, proceeded to sacking the emirs with a 48 hours ultimatum to vacate their palaces.

While the Emirs of Bichi, Rano, Karaye, and Gaya complied with the directive, the Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, had gone to court to stop the process.

Both by native ordinance and law, every dethroned Emir is banished or expected to leave Kano for good. Recall that in 1965 when Muhammadu I, Sanusi’s grandfather resigned, having got wind of his possible dethronement, he abdicated to Bauchi, and never returned to Kano.

It was therefore, a surprise that on Saturday, Bayero, who was dethroned, returned to the city of Kano, and moved into a palace in Nasarawa LGA of the state; a move that proved that he has not relinquished power. While Sanusi is operating in the main palace, Bayero is operating from the Nasarawa Palace, creating two full blown emirs for one throne.

The Boss learnt that a squad of soldiers that had been protecting Bayero before he was dethroned, rode with him from the airport to the palace. The same report has it that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, has been behind Bayero’s moves, especially his flight and residency in the city. The NSA denied the allegation, threatening legal action againat the deputy governor, who made the claim.

Responding after the deposed monarch arrived in Kano to a hero’s welcome from a horde of his supporters, the Deputy Governor of the state, Aminu Gwarzo, blamed Ribadu, for allegedly facilitating the return of Bayero to the palace by providing him with two private jets.

Ribadu, in a letter by his legal team, Aliyu & Musa Chambers, said that Gwarzo should retract his claim, tender apology, or face legal action.

The letter reads: “The attention of our client was drawn to a video clip being shared on different social media platforms wherein you granted an interview at Emir’s Palace in Kano on Saturday, the 25th day of May 2024, in a very calm atmosphere, and without any provocation whatsoever, falsely accusing our client of using his office to kill the people of Kano State and maim their properties.

“In the clip, you were shown to be speaking in Hausa.

“Your false accusations against our client portraying his office as an appendage of a political party and a willing tool to cause chaos in Kano is false and done to damage the hard-earned reputation of our client in the eyes of the right-thinking members of the society and indeed it has succeeded in doing so.

“In all the places he has served, our client has never been accused of any wrongdoing.

“Given this illustrious background, it is inconceivable that someone would harbour the thought that our client would descend his exalted office so low as to interfere in the local tussle of the Kano Emirate.

“The wide coverage you gave your interview has caused serious embarrassment to our client and his family.

“Since the publication, our client has been receiving a barrage of telephone calls both within and outside Nigeria from friends and associates who felt disappointed in him because of the false allegation owing to the fact that it came from a person occupying the office of Deputy Governor of Kano State.

“Our client and his office take your allegations seriously and by this letter, our client is demanding that you provide irrefutable evidence to substantiate your claims.

The return of Bayero consequently prompted the governor to order his arrest.

In a counter, a federal high court in Kano ordered the state government not to enforce the Emirate Council Repeal Law 2024, and desist from from issuing Sanusi appointment letter.

STAND OF SECURITY OPERATIVES

The Kano State Police Command refused to arrest Bayero, saying he would only enforce the court order restraining the state government from dissolving five newly created Emirates in the state, and restatement of Sanusi.

The state Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Hussain Gumel, while making a broadcast, flanked by representatives of other security agencies, vowed to maintain law and order, assuring that security agencies won’t spare anyone trying to temper the peace across the state.

He said: “Let me also remind you that the position of the law is very clear as whoever, under whatever guise is found to be planning to disrupt the peace being enjoyed in the State or feel that he or she can jeopardize the existing security settings in the State will be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.

“Therefore, as the Police Command is leading other security agencies to sustain the peace and peaceful coexistence for overriding interests, miscreants should steer clear of violence in all its ramifications and should not take advantage or hijack the current situation to launch an unprovoked attack on people, property and infrastructure of the State. Any person found with such a tendency will be ruthlessly dealt with according to the law of the land

“The combined security agencies in the State have set out all machinery in place to ensure no breakdown of law and order as the safety and security of all the inhabitants in the State remain sacrosanct,” Gumel said.

NBA TAKES A STAND, URGES CAUTION

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called for caution in the legal fireworks playing out in Kano, stressing that it is deeply “deeply concerned about these developments in many ways”.

In a statement, NBA chairman in Kano, Sagir Gezawa, said it is the constitutional duty of a state assembly to legislate and once passed, it remains the prerogative of a governor to assent to such law.

“Once assented to by the governor, it has become a Law and its implementation is to be done by state apparatus and of course enforced by a competent court of law,” Gezawa said.

“It’s further within the purview of courts to interpret such law to be in tandem with other existing laws or the constitution.

“In doing so, we urge our members to act responsibly in approaching courts with competent jurisdiction.

“A court order, once given, is sacrosanct and must be obeyed.

“However, it must be noted that while the court has its own mechanism of enforcing its order, it’s not within the powers of the Nigerian Army to deploy troops to enforce court order. This is a sad reminder of the military dictatorship and must be condemned.

“Anyone found wanting or in disobedience of a court order (which is declaratory in nature) must first be proved to have been notified of the existence of the said court order by issuance of Form 48 and subsequently Form 49 notifying such person of the consequences of his or her actions.

“This is in line with the Sheriff and Civil Processes Act and Laws of the various States for enforcing court judgments.

“Engaging security apparatus without the officers of the Deputy Sherriff’s Department of the relevant court that made the order may appear to be self-help which must also be condemned.

“As an association therefore, we call on all state actors, to be mindful of their oaths of office and for the security agencies, their scope of duties so as not to make mockery of our judicial system.”

The NBA said the actions of the state actors “may breach the security and peace” in Kano and “they shall be held accountable in this life or the next,” the statement said.

But some notable personalities including former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has blamed the Bola Tinubu-led federal government for being behind the crisis in Kano.

Atiku made accusation via a statement by his spokesperson, Mr. Paul Ibe on Saturday.

“The action of the Federal Government in deploying soldiers in Kano in the tussle over the throne of the ancient city is an upset to the peace and security of the state, and also in breach of the 1999 Constitution as Amended.

“In performing their constitutional duties of law making, the Kano State House of Assembly (KSHA) passed the amended Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Bill 2024 in consonance with the provision of Section 4 of the Constitution 1999 as Amended whereas the Governor of Kano State, Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf subsequently signed into law the said bill. The law therefore repealed the 2019 version which balkanized the ancient Kano Emirate into five.

“The foregoing circumstances happened within the confines of the law and in compliance with the powers conferred on the Governor as provided by Section 5(2) of the 1999 Constitution as amended; and also in consultation with the Kingmakers of Kano, reappointed Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (also known as Muhammadu Sanusi II) as the 16th Emir of Kano State and accordingly handed him a letter of appointment.
It is surprising that in the early hours of today, exactly at about 5:30 am the former Emir of Kano, His Majesty Aminu Ado Bayero backed by Federal might made their way into the Nasarawa Palace of the Kano Emirate while the reappointed Emir, Muhammadu Sanusi II was at the Gidan Dabo, which is the main residence of the Emir of Kano.

“In this wise, the former Emir could not have made his way into the Nasarawa Palace without the support of the Federal Government having done so with the support of the Army and other security personnel in his company. The deployment of soldiers in extra constitutional matters such as this undermines the integrity of the Nigerian military.

“We need to remind the Tinubu administration that Kano State is known for peace and harmony spanning thousands of years and any attempt to destablise the peace of the Land of Commerce shall be resisted. Recall that Muhammadu Sanusi II was dethroned on 9th March, 2020 dethroned, Kano forged on in peace without any fracas.

“We wish to state unequivocally that if for any reason, law and order breaks down in Kano State, particularly Kano Municipal, the Federal Government should be held responsible as the act of providing security cover to the former Emir, Aminu Ado Bayero to come back to Kano is an invitation to anarchy,” he said.

In the same vein, the Council of Ulamas, has President Bola Tinubu against plunging Kano into chaos. The group said, the crisis, if not well managed, could escalate and degenerate into chaos.

With the state backing the reinstatement of Sanusi, the path looks smooth for Muhammadu Sanusi II to repossess the emirship of Kano, but all will depend on how the politics of superiority is played in the coming days.

While Tinubu watches without lifting a finger of settlement, the ancient city of Kano, like Rivers State, is slowly burning down.

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How FG Spent N19bn on Presidential Planes in 15 Months – Report

Published

2 weeks ago

November 12, 2024

Eric

At least N19.43 billion has reportedly been spent on the maintenance and operations of the Presidential Air Fleet from July 2023 to September 2024.

According to GovSpend, a civic tech platform that tracks and analyses the Federal government’s spending, showed that for 2024, the payouts amounted to N13.55billion, representing 66 per cent of the allocations for the fleet in the 2024 fiscal year.

Most disbursements were labeled ‘Forex Transit Funds,’ typically funds allocated for foreign exchange requirements to facilitate international transactions and engagements.

In the context of the Presidential Air Fleet, such funds are used to cover expenses related to operations outside the country, including fuel purchases, maintenance or services in foreign currencies.

“When aircraft on the fleet are abroad, payments are often made in U.S. dollars or another foreign currency to ensure uninterrupted operations,” a government official explained.

In July 2023, N1.52bn was disbursed in two tranches of N846m and N675m for ‘Presidential air fleet forex transit funds.’

The following month, N3.1bn was disbursed in three tranches of N388m, N2bn, and N713m for the same item.

In November of that year, N1.26bn was released to the Presidential Air Fleet Naira transit account.

The first overhead for 2024 came in March, where N1.27bn were disbursed twice, amounting to N2.54bn. The transit account received N6.35bn in April, N4.97bn in May and N210m in July.

August saw the highest frequency of transactions, with N5.60bn released in six separate disbursements.

Although these transactions were not clearly labeled, the monies were paid into the Presidential Air Fleet naira transit account, including the N35m transfer made in September.

In late April, the transit account received N5.08bn; this came around the same time the President was on a two-nation tour to the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.

Although Tinubu arrived in the Netherlands in a state-owned Gulfstream AeroSpace 550 Jet, the aircraft could not proceed to Saudi Arabia due to unspecified technical problems. He reportedly continued his journey on a chartered private plane.

At the time, the President’s Boeing 737 business jet was undergoing maintenance. It was later replaced with an Airbus A330 purchased for $100m in August through service-wide votes.

The nearly 15-year-old plane, an ACJ330-200, VP-CAC (MSN 1053), is “spacious and furnished with state-of-the-art avionics, customised interior and communications system,” Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga said, adding that it “will save Nigeria huge maintenance and fuel costs, running into millions of dollars yearly.”

The new Airbus A330 is just one of several aircraft currently on the Presidential Air Fleet, arguably one of Africa’s largest, with around 11 aircraft of various makes and models. Until August, it comprised the 19-year-old B737-700 and a 13-year-old Gulfstream Aerospace G550.

The BBJ was acquired during the tenure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo at $43m but became a money guzzler as it aged.

Onanuga, defending the purchase of Airbus A330, argued that the new Airbus 330 aircraft and the costs of maintaining the air fleet were not for the president but in the interest of Nigerians.

“It’s not President Tinubu’s plane; it belongs to the people of Nigeria, it is our property…the President did not buy a new jet; what he has is a refurbished jet – it has been used by somebody else before he got it, but it is a much newer model than the one President Buhari used.

“The one President Buhari used was bought by President Obasanjo some 20 years ago. There was a time when the President went to Saudi Arabia, and the plane developed some problems. The President had to leave the Netherlands with a chartered jet.

“Nigerians should try to prioritise the safety of the President. I’m not sure anybody wishes our president to go and crash in the air. We want his safety so that he can hand it over to whoever wants to take over from him,” Onanuga said.

The presidential aide said he discussed with the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, on the faulty plane [Boeing 737 jet] and he said the maintenance costs were excessive because of the age of the aircraft, hence the need for another plane.

The presidential fixed-wing fleet includes a Gulfstream G500, two Falcon 7Xs, a Hawker 4000, and a Challenger 605.

Three of the seven fixed-wings are reportedly unserviceable. Meanwhile, the rotor-wing fleet includes two Agusta 139s and two Agusta 101s, all operated by the Nigerian Air Force but supervised by the Office of the National Security Adviser.

Former President Buhari promised to reduce the number of aircraft in the PAF to the absolute necessary.

In April 2023, three jets were put up for sale, but there were no specifics on which.

However, efforts to sell one of the Dassault Falcon 7x and the Hawker 4000 in October 2016 stalled when a potential buyer reduced their initial offer from $24m to $11m.

Since 2017, budgetary allocations for the fleet have shown a growing trend, with one exception in 2020.

The allocation for the fleet increased from N4.37bn in 2017 to N20.52bn in 2024, showing a 370 per cent rise in running costs.

In 2018, the fleet’s budget rose significantly by 66.13 per cent to N7.26bn, driven by a substantial increase in capital project allocations while maintaining similar levels for recurrent costs. This upward trajectory continued into 2019, slightly increasing the total allocation to N7.30bn.

The exception came in 2020, when the budget dropped by nearly seven per cent to N6.79bn, primarily due to decreased overhead costs, a reflection of the global economic impacts of lockdowns and disruptions in operations.

By 2021, however, the budget surged dramatically to N12.55bn—a record increase of 84.83 per cent from the previous year.

In 2022, maintenance expenses for each aircraft ranged from $1.5m to $4.5m annually.

The 2022, 2023 and 2024 appropriation acts earmarked N12.48bn, N13.07bn and N20.52bn respectively.

On his way to the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Samoa, a foreign object damaged the cockpit windscreen of Vice President Kashim Shettima’s GulfStream aircraft during a stopover at JFK Airport in New York.

According to Lee Aerospace, manufacturers of the Gulfstream, jet windshields consist of thick multilayered structures of varying layers of glass and transparent acrylic built to withstand collision with a 2kg object.

However, damage to the windshield must have affected its inner layers. While specific prices for replacement can vary based on supplier, labour rates and regional costs, estimates suggest that a single windshield replacement for a G550 can range from $50,000 to $70,000 for part and labour costs.

In an interview with our correspondent, the General Secretary of the Aviation Round Table, Olumide Ohunayo, blamed the meteoric rise in the allocations for the PAF on the age of some of the aircraft in the fleet and declining value of the naira as well as the “commercial use” of aircraft by the Nigerian Air Force.

Ohunayo said, “The cost will definitely increase over the years because for one, this issue of the naira against the dollar. As the naira keeps falling to the dollar, we will see a rise in cost because most of the costs of training crew and engineers and replacing aircraft parts are all in dollars.

“Also, some of these aircraft are not new. The older the aircraft, the higher the cost of maintenance and operation.

“Lastly, during these past years, terrorism and insecurity have increased in Nigeria, which has also affected the cost of insuring the aircraft.”

For his part, the Executive Chairman of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, argued that the administration’s spending habits were opposite to Nigerians’ expectations of frugality.

“What we are getting from this administration is opposite to our expectation. We thought we would have an administration that would be frugal in spending and very meticulous at implementing its budget.

“But what we are getting is an administration that has fallen in love with profligacy; that doesn’t see anything wrong in living big amid a poverty-stricken nation.

“It is a reenactment of the Shagari administration, whereby they bought the biggest Mercedes Benz and made themselves as comfortable as possible without considering how much the masses are suffering.

“So when you look at a Vice President saying he’s not travelling [to Samoa] again because there was a splinter on the windscreen of his private aircraft. Why should that be the case?

“First and foremost, we need to be represented at such an international meeting, where we should be well represented by the first two citizens of this country.

“He abandoned that, which means we would have lost certain representation that we deserve at that forum. Two, money will have been spent on advance parties that went ahead of the Vice President. But he abandoned the journey altogether.”