Opinion

The Oracle: The Polictrickscians on the March Again for 2023 (Pt. 2)

Published

4 years ago

January 28, 2022

Eric

By Chief Mike Ozekhome

INTRODUCTION

Last week, we commenced this vexed issue on the season of empty and vainglorious promises made by politrickcians. Most of these promises are neither kept nor accomplished. Today, we shall further x-ray and conclude our discourse on it. Please, read on.

THE RENTED HALLELUJAH CROWD (continues)
I will banish hunger and annul (pardon me, IBB), the consumption of ordinary home-made yams, maize, garri, akpu, fufu, amala, elubo, eba, fura da nunu, miyar kuka, edikangikong, ofe nsala, nkwobi, atsu, tuwon shinkafa, tuwo zaafi, ewedu and all such unhealthy local foods. “Stomach infrastructure” or “democracy of the stomach” will be my first and primary concern when you elect me into office. I will grow apples, avocados, spinach, berry, water melon, papaya, guava, oranges, bananas, coconut and apricot in your bedrooms, verandas and sitting rooms. I will refine the oil in the Niger Delta, stop gas flaring and exploit the vast mineral resources that abound across Nigeria. I will pay all your children’s school fees, including WAEC, NECO and UTME fees. I will sponsor them to University level; even post graduate studies.

My reign will ensure that your breakfast shall comprise of toasted bread, sausage, spring rolls, bacon, vegetables and prawns in batter. Your lunch will be fried pigeon, pork ribs, shrimps in chili sauce and mashed potatoes; while your dinner will be Singapore noodles, crabs, boneless sweet and sour duck, lobsters in black bean sauce and asparagus, and broccoli with mixed vegetable”.
What can the average Nigerian Politickcian not do? Nothing! Nigeria befuddles me.

ONLY IN NIGERIA
It is only in Nigeria that a Politrickcian will be elected on the platform of a political party, stay put and enjoy the party’s protection and reputation for seven years; quietly or tumultuously decamps to an opposition political party in the 8th year, and suddenly realize that his original political party was satanic, luciferous, leprous, odious, backward, useless and indeed, consists of political lepers and greedy thieves of our common wealth. Only in Nigeria! He will tell us he has returned “home”, and his fellow thieving Politickcians will gladly welcome him with pomp and pageantry.

It is only in Nigeria that a Governor will cajole and coax a crowd of people drawn from all nooks and crannies of all the Local Governments of his state, just for the purpose of commissioning a five-kilometer road project whose touted padded cost is actually more than 500% of the actual cost. The money used in organizing the attendant, “commissioning ceremony” is nearly as much as the project cost itself. Only in Nigeria! The poor, cheated and hoodwinked plebians will sing their hearts out, tattoo their bodies with uli and ume, and dance atilogwu, mpokiti, igioge, igbokobia, igieleghe and even egbabonalimhi dance. Only in Nigeria! They relish in the Stockholm Syndrome by empathising and falling in love with their tormentors and slave drivers. Stalin’s state of the chicken whose feathers he publicly plucked, whilst the croaking bleeding chicken still wobbled back to eat particles of grain from his hand, is apposite here. The politrickcian will hire and arm thugs to win election. As soon as he is sworn in, he discards with the unwanted dregs of the society. He is despised, derided and ignored. He only sees his “oga” in long convoys of tinted glass cars. Frustrated, he takes to the forest and transforms into a kidnapper, armed bandit, book haram, murderer and internet scammer.

It is only in Nigeria you will hear the President and Governors “vow” to build roads, provide shelter and education, give water and Medicare to citizens, as if they were ever elected for a different purpose. Only in Nigeria! It is only in Nigeria that a community will welcome their son or daughter with open arms where he or she can show and demonstrate overt evidence of vulgar opulence and primitive acquisition. Indeed, the more the “son of the soil”, or “daughter of the soil” stole from the national till, the more he/she is venerated and idolised. The sudden wealth must luminate in sprawling mansions, in all parts of the world; private jets, a fleet of countless cars, vast acres of holiday resort and snaky escort-heralded convoys of tinted vehicles. Only in Nigeria!

Woe betides the poor retiree who comes back empty-handed in the name of prudence, patriotism, honesty and probity while in service. He/she will be shunned, avoided, derided, scorned, mocked and spat at, for being a fool while in service. Only in Nigeria!

It is only in Nigeria that elders will pour libation and pray for their children thus; “May God and our ancestors increase your wealth (money), but not your work. May you find, or stumble on money that is not owned by any one”. Gracious God! Holy Moses! Only in Nigeria!

It is only in Nigeria that certificated criminals who have ripped us off from our commonwealth will be rewarded and have their necks garlanded with medals, honourary doctorate degrees and National Honours. They will be awarded high sounding chieftaincy titles, all of them ending with one (1). There is no number two or three. That is a taboo. It is Ogbini 1, Ogbaleghe 1, Okpughukpughu 1, Onwa 1, MajeKobaje 1, Yerimah 1, etc. such criminal elements will be accorded prominent seats and mats in the front pews and spaces of our churches and mosques, scrambling for spaces with our liturgical and clerical officials such as canons and Imams. Only in Nigeria! It is only in Nigeria that small level officials of Government will easily pocket billions of naira and amass tens of houses and then smile home thereafter after a judicial slap on their wrist. Only in Nigeria!

It is only in Nigeria that Boko Haram and armed bandits will abduct our innocent daughters from Chibok, Dapchi, Kankara, Jangebi, Kaduna and Kagara. Rather than unite as a Nation and fight a common enemy, as the Americans did on 11th of September, 2001, when her national pride and symbol of strength, the New York twin towers, were leveled to ground zero, Nigerians will engage in lamentation and rightly blame the non-performing President and Governor of the receiving state. We abuse and denigrate the military that is busy fighting the “civil” war; men and women of honour and valour, who left their loved families and the comfort of their homes, to fight in the damp, cold forests and hot deserts, to ensure our collective security. Nigerian Politricians turn the entire issue in to a political game of musical chairs and Baba Sala’s Alawada Kerikeri’s histrionics and theatricals. Only in Nigeria! It is only in Nigeria that elected officials of Government will use the first of a four year term to study their governance or legislative structure and organogram, including making appointments; use the second year to work for the people who elected them; and use the remaining two years politicking and amassing vulgar primitive wealth towards another round of a 4-yearly electioneering ritual.

Nigerian Politrickcians enjoy Politicking without governance. Only in Nigeria can this state of absurdity take place.
Nigeria has become one huge joke. She has been so dehumanized in such a way as to generate one form of absurdity or another, on a daily basis. Nigeria has since become a sickening contraption of one scandal per day.

THERE IS NO DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA
Indeed, Nigeria, especially under the president Muhammadu Buhari administration, does not practise democracy at all. Rather, it practises electonocracy, judocracy, executocracy and legislatocracy. I will explain these terms which I have personally coined from my personal lexical dictionary. That was what informed the aliases of “Ozek baba”, “mobile dictionary” and “mobile Library”, that my late legendary mentor, iconic Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN, SAM, GCON, fondly called me whilst working with him, up to becoming his Deputy Head of Chambers in 1985.

ELECTIONACRACY
“ELECTIONACRACY ” is a system of government where elections are held as a ritual at intervals of 4 years in Nigeria, with the emergent elected or selected leaders, rather than giving the electors democracy dividends, merely stabilize themselves in power, commence primitive acquisition of wealth and forget the electorate that erected the leaders in the first place. They then begin another round of campaigns after pretending to work for 2 years. They are already looking forward to the next election when the electorate has not benefited from any democracy dividends from their first term.

JUDOCRACY
“JUDOCRACY” is a genre of government practised only in Nigeria, where Presidents, Governors, Legislators and LG Chairmen are thrown up as having “won” in an election. Their victory is immediately challenged. They get enmeshed in these legal callithenics for the next 2 to 3 years of their corruption-ridden governance. Then, suddenly, they are conceived, incubated and delivered in the hallowed Chambers and precincts of our law courts, rather than through the ballot box. The will of the people is thereby subsumed in the decision and judgement of courts of law, the non-representatives of the people.

EXECUTOCRACY
“EXECUTOCRACY ”, as practised in Nigeria, is an aberrant form of government, far removed from democracy, where the executive arm of government acts in torrerem of other arms of government. The Executive continually browbeat, intimidate, harass, marginalize and subjugate the Legislature and the Judiciary. It is usually headed by a maximalist, autocratic, absolute and dictatorial head, who views himself as Loius XIV of France. Loius XIV was so intoxicated with the effect of liquor-inebriating power that in 1655, he proudly stood in front of parliament and declared “L’etat, C’ est moi” (I am the state). He said this to indicate his complete hold on power to the exclusion of all other lesser mortals.

LEGISLOTACRACY
“LEGISLATOCRACY” is another peculiar genre of democracy as practised only in Nigeria. It is a fundamentally flawed legislative system where there is an overbloated and virtually jobless 360 members of the House of Representatives and 109 Senators, all of whom are not unsurprisingly permitted by the 1999 Constitution to sit for only 6 months out of 12 months in a calendar year of 12 months. This enables them to seamlessly engage in extra-legislative businesses and money-making ventures.

These legislators, contrary to the clear provisions of the 1999 Constitution, legislate on EVERYTHING except making laws “for the peace, order and good government of the federation”.
The law makers carryout oversight functions under sections 88 and 89 of the constitution, not in furtherance of any public interest or any common good, but in pursuit of their private pockets after extorting money (during budget presentations) from ministries, MDA’s and other government establishments, both at the federal, state and LGA’s level.
Under legislatocracy, Mr President’s requests are sacrosanct and written on Hamurabi tablet of inviolability. So, like the agama lizard, the law makers can only nod their heads “yes, yes, yes”, to all presidential requests, however anti-people. Legislatocracy ensures free padding of budgets to accommodate their insatiable baccanalina propensity to consume and indulge in primitive acquisition of vulgar wealth in a rentier economy.

Legislatocracy also ensures that rather than make laws, legislators fight over constituency projects. When given hundreds of millions to execute these projects, they end up digging few boreholes, repairing village culverts; buying motor cycles, hair dryers, grinding machines and wheel barrows, to their hapless clapping peasants and thugs that were used during the last elections. Nigeria’s peculiar legislatocratic system ensures that the law makers receive the highest pay amongst law makers across the globe, including older, tested and more established democracies of the world.
Only in Nigeria! It is so sad, so debasing, so heart-rending and so idiotic.

Nigeria, we hail thee! (Concluded).

FUN TIMES

“What kind of music do mummies listen to? Wrap music”.
“Singing in the shower is fun until you get soap in your mouth, then it becomes a soap opera”.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
“The hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning”. (Adlai Stevenson I).

Opinion

How Dr. Fatima Ibrahim Hamza (PT, mNSP) Became Kano’s Healthcare Star and a Model for African Women in Leadership

Published

2 days ago

December 6, 2025

Eric

By Dr. Sani Sa’idu Baba

My dear country men and women, over the years, I have been opportune to watch numerous speeches delivered by outstanding women shaping the global health sector especially those within Africa. Back home, I have also listened to towering figures like Dr. Hadiza Galadanci, the renowned O&G consultant whose passion for healthcare reform continues to inspire many. Even more closer home, there is Dr. Fatima Ibrahim Hamza, my classmate and colleague. Anyone who knew her from the beginning would remember a hardworking young woman who left no stone unturned in her pursuit of excellence. Today, she stands tall as one of the most powerful illustrations of what African women in leadership can achieve when brilliance, discipline, and integrity are brought together.

Before I dwell into the main business for this week, let me make this serious confession. If you are a regular traveler within Nigeria like myself, especially in the last two years, you will agree that no state currently matches Kano in healthcare delivery and institutional sophistication. This transformation is not accidental. It is the result of a coordinated, disciplined, and visionary ecosystem of leadership enabled by Kano State Governor, Engr Abba Kabir Yusuf. From the strategic drive of the Hospitals Management Board under the meticulous leadership of Dr. Mansur Nagoda, to the policy direction and oversight provided by the Ministry of Health led by the ever committed Dr. Abubakar Labaran, and the groundbreaking reforms championed by the Kano State Primary Health Care Management Board under the highly cerebral Professor Salisu Ahmed Ibrahim, the former Private Health Institution Management Agency (PHIMA) boss, a man who embodies competence, hard work, honesty, and principle, the progress of Kano’s health sector becomes easy to understand. With such a strong leadership backbone, it is no surprise that individuals like Dr. Fatima Ibrahim Hamza is thriving and redefining what effective healthcare leadership looks like in Nigeria.

Across the world, from top medical institutions to global leadership arenas, one truth echoes unmistakably: when women lead with vision, systems transform. Their leadership is rarely about theatrics or force; it is about empathy, innovation, discipline, and a capacity to drive change from the inside out. Kano State has, in recent years, witnessed this truth firsthand through the extraordinary work of Dr. Fatima at Sheikh Muhammad Jidda General Hospital.

In less than 2 years, Dr. Fatima has emerged as a phenomenon within Kano’s healthcare landscape. As the youngest hospital director in the state, she has demonstrated a style of leadership that mirrors the excellence seen in celebrated female leaders worldwide, women who inspire not by occupying space, but by redefining it. Her performance has earned her two high level commendations. First, a recognition by the Head of Service following a rigorous independent assessment of her achievements, and more recently, a formal commendation letter from the Hospitals Management Board acknowledging her professionalism, discipline, and transformative impact.

These acknowledgements are far more than administrative gestures, they place her in the company of women leaders whose influence reshaped nations: New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern with her empathy driven governance, Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf with her courageous reforms, and Germany’s Angela Merkel with her disciplined, steady leadership. Dr. Fatima belongs to this esteemed lineage of women who do not wait for change, they create it.

What sets her apart is her ability to merge vision with structure, compassion with competence, and humility with bold ambition. Staff members describe her as firm yet accessible, warm yet uncompromising on standards, traits that embody the modern leadership model the world is steadily embracing. Under her stewardship, Sheikh Jidda General Hospital has transformed from a routine public facility into an institution of possibility, demonstrating what happens when a capable woman is given the opportunity to lead without constraint.

The recent commendation letter from the Hospitals Management Board captures this evolution clearly: “Dr. Fatima has strengthened administrative coordination, improved patient care, elevated professional standards, and fostered a hospital environment where excellence has become the norm rather than the exception”. These outcomes are remarkable in a system that often battles bureaucratic bottlenecks and infrastructural limitations. Her work is proof that effective leadership especially in health must be visionary, intentional, and rooted in integrity.

In a period when global discourse places increasing emphasis on the importance of women in leadership particularly in healthcare, Dr. Fatima stands as a living testament to what is possible. She has demonstrated that leadership is never about gender, but capacity, clarity of purpose, and the willingness to serve with unwavering commitment.

Her rise sends a powerful message to young girls across Nigeria and Africa: that excellence has no gender boundaries. It is a call to institutions to trust and empower competent women. And it is a reminder to society that progress accelerates when leadership is guided by competence rather than stereotypes.

As Kano continues its journey toward comprehensive healthcare reform, Dr. Fatima represents a new chapter, one where leadership is defined not by age or gender, but by impact, innovation, and measurable progress. She is, without question, one of the most compelling examples of modern African women in leadership today.

May her story continue to enlighten, inspire, and redefine what African women can, and will achieve when given the opportunity to lead.

Dr. Baba writes from Kano, and can be reached via drssbaba@yahoo.com

Opinion

Book Review: Against the Odds by Dozy Mmobuosi

Published

4 days ago

December 4, 2025

Eric

By Sola Ojewusi

Against the Odds is an ambitious, deeply personal, and unflinchingly honest memoir that traces the remarkable rise of Dozy Mmobuosi, one of Nigeria’s most dynamic and controversial entrepreneurs. In this sweeping narrative, Mmobuosi reveals not just the public milestones of his career, but the intimate struggles, internal battles, and defining moments that shaped his identity and worldview.

The book is both a personal testimony and a broader commentary on leadership, innovation, and Africa’s future—and it succeeds in balancing these worlds with surprising emotional clarity.

A Candid Portrait of Beginnings

Mmobuosi’s story begins in the bustling, unpredictable ecosystem of Lagos, where early challenges served as the furnace that forged his ambitions. The memoir details the circumstances of his upbringing, the value systems passed down from family, and the early encounters that sparked his desire to build solutions at scale.

These foundational chapters do important work: they humanize the protagonist. Readers meet a young Dozy not as a business figurehead, but as a Nigerian navigating complex social, financial, and personal realities—realities that millions of Africans will find familiar.

The Making of an Entrepreneur

As the narrative progresses, the memoir transitions into the defining phase of Mmobuosi’s business evolution. Here, he walks readers through the origins of his earliest ventures and the relentless curiosity that led him to operate across multiple industries—fintech, agri-tech, telecoms, AI, healthcare, consumer goods, and beyond.

What is striking is the pattern of calculated risk-taking. Mmobuosi positions himself as someone unafraid to venture into uncharted territory, even when the cost of failure is steep. His explanations offer readers valuable insights into:
• market intuition
• the psychology of entrepreneurship
• the sacrifices required to build at scale
• the emotional and operational toll of high-growth ventures

These passages make the book not only readable but instructive—especially for emerging

African entrepreneurs.

Triumphs, Crises, and Public Scrutiny
One of the book’s most compelling strengths is its willingness to confront controversy head-on.

Mmobuosi addresses periods of intense scrutiny, institutional pressure, and personal trials.

Instead of glossing over these chapters, he uses them to illustrate the complexities of building businesses in emerging markets and navigating public perception.

The tone is reflective rather than defensive, inviting readers to consider the thin line between innovation and misunderstanding in environments where the rules are still being written.

This vulnerability is where the memoir finds its emotional resonance.

A Vision for Africa

Beyond personal history, Against the Odds expands into a passionate manifesto for African transformation. Mmobuosi articulates a vision of a continent whose young population, natural resources, and intellectual capital position it not as a follower, but a potential leader in global innovation.

He challenges outdated narratives about Africa’s dependency, instead advocating for
homegrown technology, supply chain sovereignty, inclusive economic systems, and investment in human capital.

For development strategists, policymakers, and visionaries, these sections elevate the work from memoir to thought leadership.

The Writing: Accessible, Engaging, and Purposeful

Stylistically, the memoir is direct and approachable. Mmobuosi writes with clarity and intention, blending storytelling with reflection in a way that keeps the momentum steady. The pacing is effective: the book moves seamlessly from personal anecdotes to business lessons, from introspection to bold declarations.

Despite its business-heavy subject matter, the prose remains accessible to everyday readers.

The emotional honesty, in particular, will appeal to those who appreciate memoirs that feel lived rather than curated.

Why This Book Matters

Against the Odds arrives at a critical moment for Africa’s socioeconomic trajectory. As global attention shifts toward African innovation, the need for authentic narratives from those building within the system becomes essential.

Mmobuosi’s memoir offers:
• a case study in resilience
• an insider’s perspective on entrepreneurship in frontier markets
• a meditation on reputation, legacy, and leadership
• a rallying cry for African ambition

For readers like Sola Ojewusi, whose work intersects with media, policy, leadership, and social development, this book offers profound insight into the human stories driving Africa’s new generation of builders.

Final Verdict

Against the Odds is more than a success story—it is a layered, introspective, and timely work that captures the pressures and possibilities of modern African enterprise. It challenges stereotypes, raises important questions about leadership and impact, and ultimately delivers a narrative of persistence that audiences across the world will find relatable.

It is an essential read for anyone interested in the future of African innovation, the personal realities behind public leadership, and the enduring power of vision and resilience

Opinion

Redefining Self-leadership: Henry Ukazu As a Model

Published

5 days ago

December 3, 2025

Eric

By Abdulakeem Sodeeq SULYMAN

In a world filled with talents and unique gifts, nurturing oneself for an impact-filled living becomes one of the potent metrics for assuming how one’s life would unfold – either in the nearest or far future. I am sure the question you may be curious to ask is ‘what is the important quality that has shaped the life of every individual who has unleashed their ingenuity?’ Apparently, our society is filled with numerous people, who missed the track of their life. Their iniquity is boiled down to one thing – failure to lead oneself.

Realising how important it is to be your own leader has been the springboard for every transformative life. Notably, this also becomes the premise for appreciating and celebrating Henry Ukazu for setting the pace and modeling self-leadership in this era, where self-leadership is under-appreciated by our people. Self-leadership itself engineers purposeful and impactful living, turning individuals to sources of hope to others.

This is exactly what Henry Ukazu symbolises. The name Henry Ukazu is akin to many great things such as ‘Unleashing One’s Destiny,’ ‘Finding One’s Purpose’ and ‘Triumphant Living.’ Regardless of the impression one have formed about Henry Ukazu, one thing you cannot deny is his ability to be pure to nature and committed to his cause. Henry Ukazu is one of the rare people who still believed in the values of the human worth and has committed every penny of his to ensure that every human deserves to live the best life.

The trajectory of Henry Ukazu’s life is convincing enough to be choosing as an icon by anyone who chooses to climb the ladder of self-leadership. Oftentimes, Henry Ukazu always narrate how he faced the storms of life when birthing his purpose. He takes honour in his struggles, knowing full well that every stumbling blocks life throws at him helped in building himself. If not for self-leadership, he will not found honours in his struggles, let alone challenging himself to be an example of purposeful living to others.

Without mincing words, Henry Ukazu’s life has been blessed with the presence of many people, with some filling his life with disappointments, while some blessing him with immeasurable transformations. Surprisingly, Henry Ukazu has never chosen to be treating people negatively; rather he would only choose the path of honour by avoiding drama and let common sense prevail. That’s one of the height of simplicity!

Dear readers, do you know why today is important for celebrating Henry Ukazu? Today, 3rd December, is his birthday and with all sincerity, Henry Ukazu deserves to be celebrated because he has chosen the noble path, one filled with honours and recognitions for being an icon of inspiration and transformation to the mankind. As Henry Ukazu marks another year today, may the good Lord continue shielding him from all evils and guiding him in right directions, where posterity will feel his role and impacts!

Many happy returns, Sir!