Opinion
Panorama: Of Sheikh Gumi, Northwest Governors and Raging Insecurity
Published
4 years agoon
By
Eric
By Sani Sa’idu Baba
My dear country men and women, please permit me to begin today by confessing that Nigeria is under distress. Its woes are most evident in the spate of armed violence and criminality ravaging the component parts. In fact, nothing explains this awry situation better than the apocalyptically volatile situation in the wider northern region.
The northeast is still under the Boko Haram scourge in spite of the counter-insurgency endeavors of the Governor Babagana Zulum’s administration. The north-central area has been afflicted by herdsmen militancy and ethno-religious conflicts, which has plunged the region into crisis. The northwestern region has recently been enmeshed in the rapid upsurge of rural banditry along its international frontiers as well as the forested interior.
But my concern today is particularly the Northwestern region of Nigeria where I come from. For about a decade, the region has been facing insecurity related crises ranging from armed-group violence to kidnappings and banditry, affecting inhabitants of Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto states. Recently, Kaduna and Niger states have joined the fray, and appear to be the central hub of banditry in the entire country. Kano and Jigawa seems to be the only relatively peaceful states in the Northwest today.
Unfortunately, the Nigerian government’s response to the crises in the region has done little to alleviate the security concerns, and the situation appears as if bandits and criminals have overrun our country and effectively taken over its leadership. Any right-thinking Nigerian knows that this is the most burning issue for discourse, especially at a time when a religious scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, by his consistent questionable attitude and baseless ground, adds salt to festering wounds. Having watched his interviews a couple of times, his comments seem unacceptable. I am speaking as a Muslim, Northerner and partly a Fulani.
Nothing is more dangerous than politicizing issues that has to do with the security of the people; but, despite the red flags Gumi have manifested, Northern leaders have obviously done nothing, and what they are doing if at all they are, is not enough to restore sanity in the land. A flashback to some episodes that had happened recently, the efforts of the government so far (military operations and dialogue), and why such efforts are not sufficient enough would be the focus of my discussion today.
We could recall that the recent spate of banditry-related violence began in 2014 with cattle rustling activity, but the matter became worse in early 2016 when the bandits started killing local miners in Zamfara communities. However, the attacks now affect the entire North West region, especially the border areas with Niger. In what has become a recurring tragedy, not only have thousands been killed, but women have been raped, children have become orphans, villages have been sacked and destroyed, farm produce has been destroyed, property has been stolen, and civilians have been kidnapped for ransom. As a result of these, the affected states including Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto, and Kebbi established a committee headed by Muhammad Abubakar, a former Inspector-General of Police in 2019. He estimated that between 2011 and 2019, 4,983 women were widowed, 25,050 children were orphaned, and more than 190,340 people were displaced in Zamfara due to armed banditry.
Kidnapping for ransom has become a particularly lucrative and attractive business to many in the North West region, especially among the many unemployed youths. Many residents lament how easily the armed banditry groups storm their communities in broad daylight to either rustle cattle or kidnap people. The kidnappers no longer have interested in kidnapping ordinary villagers, however. Rather, they realize that attacking schools and inter-state transportation routes brings in more money.
Apart from the recent attacks that happened till September, 2021, Terrorism Monitor has for example, recorded at least eight (8) mass kidnappings of school children and university students in the past six months, including: One, In December 2020, there was an attack on Government Science Secondary School students in Kankara, Katsina State, where over 300 students were abducted by a group of armed men on motorcycles. The state government insisted that nothing was paid for the release of the students, but some residents confirmed that 30 million naira was released to the bandits. The late Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claimed his fighters in the North West region abducted the students, although the abductors had already contacted the state government on the issue of ransom payment before Shekau’s faction released an exclusive video from the bandits’ camp featuring the boys. Two, according to Daily Trust publication on January 6, 2021, there was a kidnapping of more than 317 schoolgirls in Jangebe, Zamfara State. This came just a week after a similar kidnapping incident. Three, on December 19, 2020, two days after the release of the Kankara schoolboys, bandits abducted over 80 Islamic school (Islamiyya) students in Dandume, Katsina State. The children were rescued after a vigilante group and volunteers intercepted them while they were trying to cross the forest.
Four, Armed bandits stormed the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization in Mando, Kaduna State in March 2021 and abducted 39 students. The bandits demanded 500 million naira ransom from the Kaduna State government, but after the governor, Nasir El-Rufai, failed to comply, they reached out to parents of the abducted students. The governor declared that no more payments of ransom would be made after the abduction and promised not to negotiate with any armed group. Three weeks after the abduction the kidnapped students were released in a negotiation facilitated by Shaykh Ahmad Gumi’s dialogue committee with support from former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Five, In March 2021, an undisclosed number of primary school students in a village in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State were abducted. A resident and father of one of the victims revealed that the children were rescued by vigilante groups a few days after the abduction. Six, similarly, on April 23, students of Greenfield University in Kaduna State were abducted by bandits who demanded a ransom of 800 million Nigerian naira. Five students were killed in captivity while 14 were released after a payment of ransom. Seven, on June 10th in the same vein, an armed group invaded Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic in Zaria, Kaduna State. One student was killed and eight people, including lecturers and students, were abducted, which caused the school’s administrators to shut down academic activities immediately. Eight, one week after the Nuhu Bamalli abduction, on June 17, another 102 students of Federal Government College in Birnin Yawuri, Kebbi State were abducted. The governor chose not to negotiate with the abductors and one male and one female student were killed, while five others were rescued after the Nigerian forces operating under Hadarin Daji intercepted the abductors. More than 80 armed bandits were reported killed by the troops with support from Nigerian air force and more than 800 rustled cattle were recovered. However, approximately 95 students remained in the custody of the armed bandits in the forest while vigilantes and volunteers mobilized for another rescue mission.
It is clear that Nigerians are paying ransom to the kidnappers and banditry groups because they have seemingly lost interest and confidence in security intermediates. However, the paying of ransoms is motivating more bandits to join the kidnapping business even as government has remained clueless. Some have even accused the government of sponsoring insecurity indirectly by paying ransoms. According to this perspective, a government serious about tackling the issue would not pay any money to criminal armed groups in the form of ransom for kidnappings because it is an offence against citizens that require proactive and prompt security operatives to curb. Based on the aforementioned, the laxity of the government in restoring sanity in the affected places is obvious. You can imagine the hidden places of those bandits in the forests that extended through the length and breadth of northwest including Rugu, Kamara, Kunduma, and Sububu forests known to the government and all have since become strategic strongholds for banditry groups to carry out their attacks. They retire to those places and live peacefully and fearlessly after their operations. This is depressing to Nigerians.
In response to that however, Nigerian government has launched multiple military operations in the North West region to curtail the menace since 2019, including Operation Harbin Kunama and Exercise Sahel Sanity. The military operation, Exercise Sahel Sanity, headquartered at the Special Army Super Camp IV in Faskari, Katsina State, led to the killing of 220 bandits and the rescue of 642 kidnapped victims from captivity. The troops also destroyed 197 bandits’ enclaves, killed the notorious armed leader called “Dangote” of the eponymous “Dangote Triangle” in Katsina, and arrested 335 suspected bandits and 326 illegal miners in Kebbi, Kaduna, Niger, Zamfara and Katsina states. In July 2020 as gathered by media outlets including Premiumtimes.ng of July 3, 2020 and TheCable.ng of July 7, 2020, Mustapha Inuwa, the Secretary to the Katsina State Government, announced that his state had spent about 30 million Naira on an amnesty programme for repentant bandits and cattle rustlers before it collapsed. Inuwa further stated that the reason for the collapse of the peace deal was that the bandits kept reneging on agreements and betraying their promises to the government. However, based on my understanding, the efforts of Katsina State government solely depended on dialogue with the bandits which has since failed. The recent discovery of some bandits in Katsina State payroll is enough to inform some hidden fruitless agreement.
Moreover, Katsina and Zamfara governments also employed the services of non-state actors, like vigilante groups and Security Volunteers often called Yan Sakai, to curtail the conflict. Although they possess knowledgeable insights and understanding of the local conflict, they have their own disadvantage. For example, some of the vigilante members have seized on the opportunity stemming from the conflict to attack perceived enemies.
My other concern today is about the interference of the controversial Islamic scholar Sheikh Ahmad Gumi on the issue of banditry. He was recently reported to have said that military onslaught would worsen banditry in Nigeria. His utterances has caught my attention on several occasions. I sometimes wonder whether the Sheikh is conscious of the embarrassment he is causing the entire north. I see no reason why criminals should be protected or sympathize with. He even sometimes confer some sort of legitimacy on their nefarious activities. But my surprise is that no governor in the north has ever called him to order or pointed an accusing finger to him against the dangers surrounding most of his actions. Honestly, the intervention of Ahmad Gumi is only doing more harm than good to the country because of the belief in many quarters that he is colluding with the bandits. And that is a threat to the already weakly united Nigeria. The bandits are also seemingly encouraged by his actions. The criminals even requested the President to come and negotiate with them personally. I don’t know what type of negotiation apart from what Katsina and Zamfara states governors earlier considered. I must commend Nasir El-rufai’s in refusing any form of negotiation.
Regional banditry in North West Nigeria will be difficult to resolve if the government continues with its current strategy. In the first place, explosive population growth and climate change in Nigeria are exacerbating economic anxiety and fomenting lawlessness, especially in communities bordering Niger. Moreover, there is unchecked border crossings between herder tribes, as there is virtually no restriction on movements in these border areas. Anyone in Niger Republic can come to Nigeria, commit any crime, and go back to Niger.
Furthermore, corruption plays a significant role as some security agencies allegedly collect bribes from Nigeriens and grant them access to Nigeria without proper investigation. The suggestions of Kano state governor on how to arrive at a lasting solution must be considered. Our governors and stakeholders in their respective states, especially the religious leaders must work in synergy and stand united. They should also stand against Gumi and teach him that those criminals that invaded the north are mostly none-Nigerians, but used the advantage of porous borders and laxity of laws to invade the country. They came to Nigeria from different parts of West Africa, roaming dangerously and violently in and out of the country unchallenged.
Why then would Sheikh Gumi be protecting people that do not belong here on criminal matters? It is not surprising if our Southern counterparts accuses the Nigerian Fulani herders for causing troubles in the land, probably because they could not decipher. But the truth is, not all are Nigerians and our Northern leaders must as a matter of urgency do the needful.
I strongly support the anti-grazing law enforced by the Southwest governors, and I never consider their stand as an effort to humiliate the North. We cannot continue in the old ways in spite of several transformations the world has experienced in recent years.
Peace shall be restored in Northwest and other parts of the country.
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Opinion
The Fulanisation of Criminality in Nigeria: Myths, Realities and the Dangerous Consequences
Published
1 day agoon
April 20, 2025By
Eric
By Sani Sa’idu Baba
In recent years, Nigeria has witnessed a troubling narrative gain traction in public discourse: the so-called “fulanisation of criminality.” This term refers to the growing tendency to associate criminal activities, especially rural banditry, kidnapping, and violence, with the Fulani ethnic group. While the rise in insecurity across the country is undeniable, the framing of these crises through an ethnic lens has far-reaching consequences socially, politically, and culturally.
I intend to discuss this matter vis-a-vis the origins, implications, and dangers of the fulanisation narrative, while also highlighting the complex and nuanced realities that defy simplistic ethnic profiling.
In order to discuss this topic fairly and justly, the historical and social context of Fulani identity is worth taking into account at this point.
The Fulani are a diverse and widely dispersed ethnic group found across West Africa. In Nigeria, they are traditionally pastoralists, known for cattle herding and seasonal migration. Over time, many Fulanis have also settled in towns and cities, engaging in commerce, education, and politics and these originated the inter-marietal relationship that exists between the Fulanis and other ethnic groups especially the Hausa and also Yoruba (mostly from Kwara state).
Despite this existing relationship however, tensions between the Fulani settlers and farmers particularly in North-Central and southern Nigeria have escalated in recent decades due to land pressure, climate change, and poor leadership. These disputes, often over land and grazing routes, have sometimes turned violent, and some of these confrontations have involved Fulani individuals or groups. This has contributed to the growing perception that Fulani people are inherently violent or predisposed to criminality, a perception that is mythical in its entirety.
It seems the situation has assumed a paradigm shift from insecurity to ethnic stereotyping.
I never doubted the fact that Nigeria’s security landscape has deteriorated significantly, with a surge in banditry, kidnapping, terrorism, and communal clashes, we must accept the reality that terrorism isn’t a monopoly of any tribe, region, religion or ethnic group. While various criminal groups operate across different regions, like the Boko Haram in the Northeast, IPOB in the Southeast, and cultism in the South-South, the association of Fulani herders with banditry in the North-West and North-Central has led to a blanket stereotype.
This stereotype has been amplified by social media, political rhetoric, and even some mainstream media outlets, creating a narrative that criminality is synonymous with Fulani identity. Terms like “Fulani herdsmen” have become shorthand for violent actors, despite the fact that most Fulani people are peaceful and law-abiding citizens. My humble self is a classical example. Fulani blood runs in my arteries and veins but I can confidently say that I am not a criminal. The same thing with many of our present leaders today. A significant number of president Tinubu’s ministers and other appointees are Fulanis, likewise many serving governors especially in the Northern states. And their Fulani identity doesn’t make them criminals.
Moreover, the fulanisation narrative has also been weaponized for political purposes. Accusations that the government, particularly under former President Muhammadu Buhari (who is himself a Fulani), was soft on Fulani-related crimes fed into suspicions of ethnic favoritism. This perception fueled ethnic nationalism, deepened mistrust, and created a toxic political climate.
The framing of national insecurity as an ethnically driven agenda has dangerous implications. It undermines national unity, delegitimizes state institutions, and can incite retaliatory violence. It also distracts from the real drivers of crime: poverty, weak governance, corruption, unemployment, and the proliferation of arms.
Therefore, labeling an entire ethnic group as criminal creates fertile ground for discrimination, mob justice, and even genocide. There have been reports of Fulani communities being attacked or displaced based on mere suspicion. Such acts not only violate human rights but also fuel cycles of revenge and further destabilization.
Moreover, ethnic profiling hinders effective security solutions. When law enforcement targets or overlooks individuals based on their ethnic identity rather than evidence, the real criminals escape justice, and innocent lives are destroyed.
Toward a more nuanced and just approach to addressing insecurity in Nigeria, there must be a rejection of simplistic and dangerous ethnic narratives. The government must:
(1) Strengthen law enforcement and intelligence services to tackle crime without bias.
(2) Invest in rural development and conflict resolution, particularly in areas plagued by herder-farmer clashes. Although people like Sheikh Ahmad Gumi might not be well understood by many Nigerians, his effort in mediating peace restoration especially in the North-West region must be acknowledged and complemented.
(3) Promote inter-ethnic dialogue and reconciliation through education, media, civic engagement, which could easily be achieved through the establishment of tolerance and unity promotion commission of Nigeria (TUPCON).
(4) A regulatory agency must also be established to oversee the activities of young media influencers, bloggers and online media houses to especially verify the truth or otherwise of information before promotion especially if it involves security issues. Spreading hate speech and unverified claims must be controlled. However, I am not in support of the Sultan of Sokoto ‘s view that social media is a terrorist organisation, No!
In closing, the fulanisation of criminality is a dangerous distortion of a complex reality. While certain criminal groups may include Fulani individuals, it is unjust and counterproductive to indict an entire ethnic group. Nigeria’s strength lies in its diversity, and only by addressing security challenges with fairness and objectivity can the nation begin to heal and rebuild trust across its many communities.
Ethnic scapegoating is not a solution, it is a symptom of deeper systemic issues that require urgent and inclusive attention.
I hope Nigerian and Nigerian leaders will pause and rethink…
Baba can be reached via ssbaba.pys@buk.edu.ng
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Opinion
VOSO: God’s Gift to Mankind, and His People Knew Him Not
Published
6 days agoon
April 15, 2025By
Eric
By Prof Soji Adejumo
Writing a tribute on Dr. Victor Omololu Sowemino Olunloyo is like carrying out an anatomy on a mathematical, musical and philosophical genius. It’s a rare combination in a human being. A philosopher, a psychic, a mystic and a poet.
“The memory of a great man is like a candle in the darkness, illuminating our path and guiding us forward”
If mathematics, music, the literary arts and philosophy are codified into an earthly religion, Dr. Omololu Olunloyo would be its high priest. Dr. Olunloyo ministered at the altar of the highest intellectual faculties.
In a scenario akin to general relativity, writing a tribute on this intellectual enigma is like reworking different tributes Dr. Olunloyo has written on tens of other people over the course of six decades. In each tribute is a tribute on himself. when his official biographer informed me of his commission to write his biography, I knew the task would be simultaneously difficult and easy. Easy because, the great man has written or contributed to so many lectures, books, monograms and other publications that you can find part of his autobiography in every publication. The difficult part is it would take a very high degree of ingenuity to unravel and put together all those pieces of auto-biographical works. He has expressed parts of himself in all his literary works.
My personal relationship with Dr. Omololu Olunloyo started in 1968 when I got admitted into Ibadan Grammar School and he was the Commissioner for education in the cabinet of the then Colonel Adeyinka Adebayo. My late father was the Vicar of St David’s Church kudeti and his in-law as Dr. Olunloyo was married to my aunty Funmilayo who is my father’s cousin. We are both descendants of priests as my father, grandfather and Dr. Olunloyo’s grandfather were Anglican priests. His father and my grandfather (The late Rev. J.S. Adejumo) were founding members of the Ibadan progressive Union (IPU).
However, his influence on my life started during my first year in Ibadan Grammar School in 1968 when I was awarded the Western State Government Scholarship for my “0” Levels. I later went on to receive the C Zard Scholarship for my higher school certificate “A levels”. After my higher School course, I started making plans to travel abroad for my university education.
Meanwhile, I had been offered a direct entry admission to the University of Ibadan but I did not accept the offer, neither did I decline or defer it. I simply ignored it until the offer lapsed. Unfortunately, my quest to travel abroad fell through and I decided to take up the University of Ibadan offer which had already expired. I ran to Dr. Omololu Olunloyo. I caught up with him in his office at the department of Mathematics in the University and explained my plight along with my expired admission letter. He jumped into his car and we drove straight to see the University registrar. The registrar was Mr. S. J. Okudu. VOSO simply marched into the office with me in tow and started a monologue with the registrar. I remember his words very clearly “My nephew had an admission which had lapsed, I would want you to resuscitate the admission now so he can start his enrolment and make the matriculation” Mr. Okudu was trying to let him know it was a bit difficult but VOSSO would not listen. He was offered a chair but he refused it and said he only wanted my admission letter resuscitated. After marching up and down the registrar’s office for several minutes still reciting his monologue, the registrar called the admissions officer and directed that a fresh admission letter be issued to me. That was how I entered the University.
Due to my late admission, I had a bit of an initial challenge with accommodation and I was practically living with him and that was the beginning of a ritual he initiated me into. It was a ritual which started early on Sunday mornings and ended very late in the evening. I was already a prolific pianist, organist and music enthusiast and Dr. Olunloyo had started acquiring a vast library of classical music which has become a collector’s dream anywhere and in any locality. We would start the day with classical music by the greatest composers in the likes of Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Handel, Schuman, Tchaikovsky, Chopin etc and also the works of celebrated conductors, pianists, violinists and soloists. He had the music on vinyl records in those days and also the sheet music scores of some of them. I would play some of the scores on his piano and he would give me a comprehensive lecture on every piece and the history and background of the composers including information not readily available on some of them. The sessions would be generally serviced with surplus bottles of cold beer and fried chicken. I would leave the sitting room at the end of the day with wobbly legs and go to the lecture room the following day with a hangover. That ritual lasted till the end of the first term when I realized I would have to make a choice between acquiring an external “degree” in music and entertainment in Dr. Olunloyos house or a degree in Animal Science from the University. I opted for the latter and gradually weaned myself of the odd bucolic routine but our mutual bond with music lasted till his transition. Thankfully he got a federal government appointment as the head of the National Science and Technology Development Agency and that enabled me to escape temporarily from the music/beer and chicken ritual. However, when I finished my undergraduate degree, I went to him and asked for employment in his agency. He flatly refused and commanded me to get back fully into pursuing a goal of acquiring postgraduate degrees before looking for any type of employment. He said he could employ me instantly and post me anywhere in the country but he would not as he wanted me to go back to the University. I was initially disappointed by his stance of which my father was extremely happy and contented. The oracle has spoken and he must be obeyed. I ended up with a doctorate. A few weeks after my doctorate degree he was given the governorship ticket of the NPN and I was extremely sad because many of us younger ones considered Chief Obafemi Awolowo as a mini god and the anointed savior of Nigeria and Yoruba people. Those not in the Action group were considered traitors. More so Uncle Bola Ige was an Old Boy of Ibadan Grammar school and my father’s junior in the school. I was a political neophyte at the time. In annoyance, I went to Dr. Olunloyo’s house where I met a huge number of NPN bigwigs eating and drinking and various groups were huddled together in meetings. I went upstairs where Auntie Funmilayo also served me a plate pounded yam and isapa vegetable (which was an unusual soup in Ibadan) soup with the traditional beer to complement it all. In the course of the meal. VOSO came up and saw me but before he could talk, I got up and asked him why he would commit a sacrilege by aligning against Chief Awolowo and Uncle Bola Ige. The great VOSO completely ignored the question only to simply ask why I was sweating in the room. I replied, it was due to the hot Pounded yam and the equally hot isapa vegetable soup. He nodded and said, “keep eating the pounded yam and the soup, as soon as you finish it just go and leave the politics to us”. With that he left the room! That was vintage VOSO, the man who will later award the title of Ooni of Molete to himself!
Several years later, we rekindled our Sunday afternoon ritual of music but now without the beer and chicken but we would still spend hours in his Molete library playing amid listening to the great classicals. Over a course of about 60 years, he has acquired such a huge and unmatchable library of music in Cds, DVDs and Books with an auction value running into million of dollars. A few years ago, I asked him what plans he had for the protection and preservation of the INESTIMABLE collection of books and music in his library and he told me what he had done, which I believe will help to preserve this rare library in all its glory and also in its original form. The genius in VOSO can never be matched or replicated in an ordinary mortal. It is simply impossible. He had the most historical and mathematical mindset like no one else I knew on earth. He had the rarest of books on mathematics and on music that would require a trip to the ends of the earth to find them. From books on “the mathematics of music”, to “the music of mathematics” and on the origins of algebra and the theory of numbers, he had them. He would spend hours explaining concepts that were completely alien to me about mathematics and I dared not let the genius, the deity, know I was not comprehendimg anything!
He shocked me one day when at a public lecture I was invited to deliver at the Omolewa nursery and primary school 50th anniversary, he took the microphone and announced that I am a genius of musical interpretation because I recognized what Wolfgang Mozart did even before coming into contact with his iconic works on them. This was simply because I had attempted to transpose a solo aria “Rejoice Greatly, O daughter of Zion” from Handel’s Messiah from soprano to tenor as the organ accompanist for its performance because the soprano could not achieve the high vocal notes of that piece, after many failed attempts. I was convinced that the vocal registers of west African Voices may be deeper or lower than European vocal boxes and so I considered a lower transposition a good option. However, my senior organist absolutely refused as he considered it a treasonable offence to tamper with the great Handel’s tonal arrangement. I reluctantly abandoned that experiment.
A few weeks later, during our routine Sunday ritual, Dr. Olunloyo asked us to listen to Mozart’s rearrangement of Handels’ Messiah. That was my first time of knowing that Mozart dared to rearrange the Messiah. We started to play the cds and when it got to “Rejoice greatly….” the arrangement was sung by a Tenor!!! I was enthused and out of excitement I narrated my attempts and how Mozart had proved me right. Note though, that Mozart only dared to tread because Handel was no longer alive at the time. Since then, he kept calling me a genius of musical interpretation!
But VOSO had the last word — After the oratorio, he asked me the fundamental difference between the works of Handel with other European composers and with Mozart’s works. Before I could muster an intelligible answer, He quickly emphasized that Mozart’s works were more German than any other German or European composers because his compositions were harsh just like the German language! He now proceeded to lecture me on how the tonal linguistics of the German language is the harshest in the world. His lecture would have generated a huge and robust discourse in linguistics.
I am not sure the world really knew the depth and content of Dr. Olunloyo’s brains. The same genius he had in Algebra Geometry, he possessed in Poetry, music and culture. He was the Nigerian version of the Greats, like, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking, Nikola Tesla, etc. Truly and Truly, a star has fallen. The shining light is dimmed. Good night and rest in peace, Great Master and Genius
Prof Soji Adejumo is the Ajiroba of Ibadanland, and Asipa Olomi of Omi Adio
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Opinion
Ovation International: African Dream Globally Projected
Published
1 week agoon
April 13, 2025By
Eric
By Dr. Sani S. Baba
In a world where African stories were too often filtered through the lenses of poverty, conflict, and underdevelopment, one man dared to reframe the narrative. That man is Chief Dele Momodu, and his creation Ovation International Magazine became the bold lens through which Africa’s glamour, success, and brilliance could finally be seen, appreciated, and celebrated. How Momodu’s vision transformed Africa’s narrative, created opportunities in the last three decades and is still in conformity with the ever changing world remains a subject to be studied.
Founded 29 years ago in April, 1996, during Momodu’s political exile in the United Kingdom, Ovation International was born out of a simple but radical idea: Africa deserves to be seen in full color. While most Western publications chose to spotlight despair, Momodu’s mission was to showcase excellence from fashion, business, entertainment, and politics, to philanthropy and innovation. In other words, the child of circumstance as some call it, Ovation has proved that Africa is not synonymous with bad news.
Moreover, in changing the African narrative, Momodu’s vision was bigger than just glossy pages. He aimed to create a cultural revolution. Ovation became the red carpet for African stars long before global media paid attention to the continent. The magazine gave African personalities celebrities, presidents, royalty, entrepreneurs a platform to tell their own stories, in their own voice.
Through dazzling photo spreads and exclusive interviews, Ovation didn’t just report the news; it celebrated achievements, redefining what it meant to be African in a globalized world. From Accra, Ghana to Abuja, Lagos to London, Liberia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa, etc, the magazine quickly became a status symbol a staple at high profile events and elite homes.
Further more, as a pan-African vision with global impact, what set Ovation apart was its immense love for Africa, making it an African identity with international reach. Chief Dele Momodu didn’t restrict the magazine’s lens to Nigeria alone. He traveled extensively, covering events in Ghana, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Cote dIvoire, and far beyond. Ovation became the de facto platform for the African diaspora, connecting the continent to its global community in Europe, the U.S., and the Caribbean.
In terms of job creation, Ovation International Magazine has done wonders. Beyond the pages, Ovation has been a powerful engine for employment. As one of the few African-owned international lifestyle magazines, it created jobs across sectors journalism, photography, videography, fashion, makeup, event planning, printing, and logistics. Emerging talents were given a springboard to launch their careers, while professionals found a platform that respected and valued their craft.
In the early 2000s, when media digitization was still young in Africa, Ovation began pioneering multimedia storytelling, hiring tech-savvy youth for video editing, social media marketing, and digital design effectively nurturing a new generation of African media professionals.
Today, Ovation International is more than a magazine, but a legacy, a movement, and a symbol of African excellence. Chief Dele Momodu, with his relentless belief in the continent’s potential, has proven that African stories, when told with pride and power, can reshape perceptions and influence generations.
By putting African success stories on the global stage and backing them with real opportunities, Momodu didn’t just build a media empire, but a mirror in which Africa could see its true, radiant reflection.
In an age of fleeting digital fame, Ovation remains timeless because it didn’t chase trends, it made an indelible history.
Long live Ovation International Magazine, and happy 65th birthday to its founder, Chief Dele Momodu, the pride of Africa.
Dr. Sani S. Baba writes from Kano
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Pendulum: Can Atiku Abubakar Defeat Muhammadu Buhari in 2019?
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Pendulum: An Evening with Two Presidential Aspirants in Abuja
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2019: Parties’ Presidential Candidates Emerge (View Full List)