UGO ONUOHA

Will I be telling the truth if I say that I never imagined that a season such as we are in today in Nigeria will not come? No. That will be a lie. My fear is that the race to the bottom in many critical aspects of the nation’s life may have just really began.

Bad as it is already, I never seriously contemplated that we will witness a day when the president of this country will be a source of global embarrassment to Nigeria over trivia- a routine and unfettered access to his university certificate. Or any certificate for that matter.

I had verily thought that we had gotten to the lowest when the former President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari hired a dozen senior lawyers to block the verification of his claim to possession of a school certificate or its equivalent.

The former President who, by the way, was an unmitigated disaster throughout his eight-year tenure [2015-2023], had to hire senior lawyers to prove in court that he sat for, and passed, the relevant examination in early 1960s.

But as it has turned out today, Buhari’s was a child’s play. The man who succeeded him in an election mired in controversy and litigation, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has internationalized the odium.

By the time you read this, an appeals court in Chicago in the United States of America [USA] may have made a decision on whether or not to release Tinubu’s academic records in Chicago State University [CSU], including the documents that formed the basis for his admission given that Tinubu had claimed that he neither attended primary nor secondary schools.

There’s no need to recall that in Tinubu’s first incarnation when he successfully vied to be the Governor of Lagos State in 1999, he had claimed that he attended a primary school in Lagos and a secondary school in Ibadan in Nigeria’s Oyo state.

He dropped the school attendance claims like a hot potato in 2022 when he was busted. St. John’s Primary School never existed and his name could not be found in the meticulously kept records of Government College, Ibadan. To cap it all, Tinubu had no known classmates. Sorry, one of his classmates discovered himself recently. Some weeks back that person sauntered into a television station suspected to be owned by Tinubu and declared that he was the President’s school mate in CSU. The man claimed he was a public affairs analyst but curiously he had no digital footprints except the one that indicated that his one-off appearance in that tv station.

On the CSU matter, here is a transcript of excerpts from a trending video of Tinubu speaking ear: “I was one of those most recruited graduates of my university. Multiple honours, first class degree, and I have reference. Those people are there.”

The expectation is that a man with this pedigree should have nothing to do paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire topnotch criminal defence lawyers in the US to stop the release of his records by his alma mater.

To compound the matter, Tinubu told the appeals court judge in his emergency supplication that he will suffer irreparable and irredeemable damage to his life if his school records get into the hands of Nigeria’s former Vice President and appellant in the litigation, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) were Tinubu’s principal opponents in last February’s presidential election and they are in the Supreme Court challenging his declaration by the ‘Independent’ National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the elected president. With a man like this being the face of the country, home is not likely to represent the best.

Tinubu is a drag on Nigeria. And things will not get better if an analysis that trended last week on the social media turned out to be true. And there’s no reason to believe the contrary. The summary of the analysis is that the economic situation of the country and the hardship Nigerians are experiencing will get worse without the hope of getting better any time soon. Nigeria’s future was mortgaged by a thoroughly wicked and ignorant ruler called Buhari. And his All Progressives Congress [APC] political party.

Every aspect of Nigeria’s future that could be auctioned was auctioned by Buhari and his gang of marauders. Our barrels of crude oil that are still buried underground were sold. So in reality they no longer belong to us.

The previous regime also sold forward foreign exchange [FX] contracts which means that our future foreign exchange earnings are encumbered. The eye-opener was when global banker JPMorgan revealed that our claim of having close to $40 billion in foreign reserves was a lie.

They said to our shock that except for about $3.7 billion, our rulers had secretly used the rest of the country’s foreign reserves as collateral for foreign loans. There’s nothing inherently wrong with borrowing but there cannot be any justification for the Buhari regime leaving a national debt of about N80 trillion with little or no infrastructure to show for it.

To accentuate Nigeria’s frightening and foreboding tomorrow, the APC regimes since 2015 have mindlessly and aggressively engaged in borrowing from future company income tax [CIT]. The rave is to award road constructions or rehabilitations to big corporations and then such companies will be entitled to utilize the total investment costs as tax credits against their future CIT liability. And this arrangement will remain so for each participating company “until full cost recovery is achieved”. As it is in crude oil, foreign exchange and foreign reserves, so it is with future company income tax- they are are encumbered. In plain language our rulers have spent them even before they are earned. So east or west, home no longer seems to be the best.

The latest craze for Nigeria’s rulers- President Tinubu and his works minister David Nweze Umahi- is the proposal to construct super highways including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road.

Regime spokespersons say rail tracks will be embedded and toll plazas too. The details are still sketchy but two things are likely to be involved. The private public partnership [PPP] projects may likely involve build operate and transfer [BOT] or for the government to forego future tax liabilities of the builders. Our rulers who are now enamoured with constructing super highways have serially and provocatively failed to maintain existing non-super highways.

For instance, it has taken successive administrations from the Peoples Democratic Party’s [PDP] President Olusegun Obasanjo to APC’s Tinubu more than 20 years to rehabilitate and reconstruct the 100 km Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Yet nobody in good conscience will say that it has been satisfactorily completed.

On Monday, September 18, Minister Umahi, a former governor of Ebonyi state, said it took him, along with his siren-blaring convoy and full complements of no nonsense security men about 12 hours to travel by road from Abuja to Benin in Edo state. The trip should ordinarily take less than four hours. A day before, it took me 16 hours to travel also by road from Lagos to Mgbidi in Imo state. Our commercial mini bus left Jibowu, Lagos about 8 AM and I arrived home in Mgbidi by 10 minutes to 12 midnight. In Benin where we were stranded for about five hours, some disheveled passengers claimed that they had been trapped there for more than 24 hours. My bus had no armed security escorts and no siren.

The Sagamu-Benin-Asaba highway approximates the typical Nigerian so-called expressway- failed, broken, collapsed and nightmare for road users. The collapsed portions, and they are many, provide natural road blocks for the numerous armed extortionist state agents- Police, Customs etcetera- to collect private tolls with loaded guns to the heads of drivers and passengers. So east or west, is home still the best?

For frequent users of the Onitsha-Owerri highway, home is certainly no longer the best. Unless something happens, and urgently too, those who may be planning to use that road to travel during Christmas are better advised to perish the thought. A particular broken portion of the road near Onitsha can swallow a five-story building without trace. This is no exaggeration. For some travellers, the commissioned but uncompleted second Niger bridge provides a succour.

A viral video of Prof. Patrice Lumunba is telling in this contention of east or west or home which one is the best.

He said: “I watched a woman from Nigeria who had been rescued from the Mediterranean [Sea] around Lampedusa say I will not go back to Africa even if I die in the Mediterranean. I will try again and again”. Then the activist and anti-graft crusader asked, “what is it that can make a human being say I do not want to go back to my home. [The] natural instinct of a human being should be that you want to go home”. Not any more. How do you convince this woman and many others in her shoes that east or west, home is the best. The greater tragedy is that we no longer have the opportunity to preach this increasingly hollow sermon to those who have perished in the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara Desert in their quest to escape this country by any means. They will gladly exchange the hardship elsewhere with the hell at home.

How can we look the families of Dr. Vwaere Diaso who died out of criminal negligence when an elevator in her work place crashed to the ground from the 10th floor or Adebola Akin-Bright, the boy who died in excruciating pains after his small intestine was criminally harvested or reporter Hamisu Danjibga who was abducted from his Gusua, Zamfara home and killed or the many who have been in the captivity of terrorists in parts of the country or some people in the South East whose freedoms have been severely curtailed and businesses ruined through a contentious weekly Monday sit-at-home and now additional days of 6AM-12 noon curfew imposed and enforced by non-state agents that ‘East or West, home is the best’. That will be unkind. That will be insensitive because for many, east or west, home has become the worst. Do not blame those who have chosen to vote with their feet. Nigeria, as Chief Afe Babalola, is becoming a strange place.

ONUOHA, a former Managing Director of Champion Newspapers, first published this article in his column, FIGERPRINTS in The Sun

IKE ABONYI

By IKE ABONYI

I have never met Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. Neither have I known the not-so-lucky Deputy Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa one-on-one.  I have always admired the former for his comportment in and out of office.

As political reporters, we have followed his trajectory as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, President of the Nigerian Bar Association, and now state chief executive. Therefore, we, as all lovers of humanity, were hit by the sad news of his ill health.

When he wrote the state parliament that he was going on medical vacation, I felt for him and prayed that he make it back to his gubernatorial saddle. As the weeks rolled into months and he didn’t return, my apprehension heightened. Eventually, the merciful God made it possible for him to return to work for the remainder of his eight-year tenure.

However, the news I have been reading since his return is not what I expect from someone rescued from the jaws of death.  The rumour mill had him dead several times.

On Sunday, September 17, 2023, all the readings in the Catholic Church, where I worship, talked lavishly about forgiveness. The most difficult request from God to Christians is forgiveness, Apostle Peter asked how many times we could allow an offender scot-free. Seven times? Jesus said, “I didn’t say seven times, but seventy times seven”…meaning as long as the offender trespasses and you are not consumed by it. Jesus further says we must pray for our enemies and present the second cheek whenever we are slapped.

Your Excellency, as the priest brought out all these instances to buttress his homily on forgiveness, the three readings from the Old Testament to the New, which I recommend as you ready to exact the pound of the disloyal deputy governor’s flesh.

Here’s the first reading from the Book of Sirach, chapter 27:30 to Chapter 28:7:

“Anger and wrath, these also are abominations, and the sinful man will possess them. He that takes vengeance will suffer vengeance from the Lord, and he will firmly establish his sins. Forgive your neighbour for the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray. Does a man harbour anger against another, and yet seek healing from the Lord? Does he have no mercy towards a man like himself, and yet pray for his own sins? If he, being flesh, maintains wrath, will he then seek forgiveness from God? Who will make an excuse for his sins? Remember the end of your life, cease from enmity, remember destruction and death, and be true to the commandments.  Remember the commandments, and do not be angry with your neighbour; remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook ignorance.”

The second scripture, taken from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans Chapter 14:7-19 reads:

“Brethren: None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end, Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”

Then comes the gospel of the day from Matthew Chapter 18: 21 to 35: “At that time: Peter came up and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?'” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times but seventy times seven. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents; and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.

“But that same servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you. ’He refused and went and put him in prison till he could pay the debt.

“When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me; and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger, his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Even the Responsorial Psalm of the day from Psalm 103 is copiously related, making the beauty of the Catholic teaching:

“Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And all within me, his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And never forget all his benefits.

It is the Lord who forgives all your sins,

who heals every one of your ills,

who redeems your life from the grave,

who crowns you with mercy and compassion.

He will not always find fault;

nor persist in his anger forever.

He does not treat us according to our sins,

nor repay us according to our faults.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

So strong is his mercy for those who fear him.

As far as the east is from the west,

So far from us does he remove our transgressions?

After hearing this homily and with Akeredolu’s vengeance in my mind, my spirit moved me to pen down this article for the governor’s attention.

If the governor had died, the lucky(?) deputy governor would have been sworn in as a replacement and the parliament would have to live with it. Indeed, God rules in the affairs of men. So, the dream did not come true.

Your Excellency, since God made you a governor, saved your life, and made you pick this man above all Ondo citizens as your running mate, how is removing him because he disappointed you [mere mortal] and God going to help your spirituality as a huge beneficiary of God’s grace?

I know that politicians are very unforgiving. Looking back at all your successes in life, retaining this man will not diminish your relationship with your generous creator. Instead, letting the deputy governor be will enhance it in line with the above-cited scriptures.

All those pushing you to deal with Lucky and are already lobbying to replace him would have done the same thing so long as they are human beings and politicians. If I were you, I would ask myself if God would be glad. If God had looked at my sins and shortcomings would he have allowed me to return alive?

Your Excellency, if only you can hear the silent voice, you will hear the truth your aides are not telling you. Why not leave this man with a pang of conscience, given God’s mercies on you?

By coming back alive, the disloyal deputy must be battling with his conscience and you are freeing him before God by being unforgiving. I can assure you that if you punish him with impeachment, God may not be interested in his crime any longer.

Your Excellency, I hear that your middle name is Odunayo [Yoruba for “joyous year”], why not live up to your name, stopping anything that will bring sadness in an otherwise joyous year? Your death–God forbid–would have brought unhappiness to Ondo State, but God did not will so. Who are you to bring sadness upon your domain? I pray to God to help you digest and forgive and leave vengeance for God who says “Vengeance is mine.”

To sponsors and “sponsors” of Lucky, sheath your swords. God perfects all things in his own time.

IKE ABONYI, a former Group Political Editor of THISDAY and former Deputy Managing Director of New Telegraph, is a Media Consultant who lives in Abuja.

Ikeddy ISIGUZO

EVERYDAY, something happens that changes Nigeria, even if all it offers is more despondency. The passing of 27-year-old musician, Mohbad, makes the point again that Nigeria is a great example for changes that would not result in development.

We have blamed our youth all we can. We have called names, awarded them tags. When they proved us wrong, by exceeding our analogue expectations with their digital exploration of the world, our unreadiness failed them.
Few in positions of leadership care about the vast impacts that digital technology opportunities can make in improving our society. The major interest in their disinterest is that they are uncomfortable with the openness and transparency the digital sphere demands.

Digital energy has capacities to build synergy outside spans of control that the authorities prefer. They could not have forgotten how the #EndSARS riots, just two years ago, gave them a glimpse of what the youth can do for themselves, by themselves. #EndSARS did not stop police brutality. New versions have spawned. Yet the youth gained new powers that still frighten governments, Lagos being the most frightened.
Riots that resulted from EndSARS appeared episodic. They have created a thematic rallying point for anything younger people feel is wrong.

A peaceful march for Mohbad went well until people started assembling at the Lekki Toll Gate, where some Nigerian youths were killed in October 2021 in the #EndSARS riots. Government instantly smelt trouble. The gathering had to be stopped. #EndSARS was not an end. It had become a foundation for remembering youth power. The rallying of youth for the 2023 general election was another effort to have a government they want.

The results from the tribunals have established a pattern that abhors logic. Their glaring inclinations for absurdities cannot be missed. We are beneficiaries of the dysfunctions that have been erected around us from these absurdities. They are as frightening as they are intriguing. We do not know what happens to us, citizens of a country, with a Constitution that lures us into longitudinal beliefs that concerns of our governments accommodate our security and welfare. These promises remain mere words.

Mohbad held the world, at least a bit of it, with his music. He lived on it. He grew a followership that was huge, all on the wheels of digital technology. Did his fame kill him? Who killed him? Why did he die a brutal death, the details of which keep evolving?
Could the police have saved him? Did the police even try? What recourses were available to him? If he had been the son of someone, as they say, would he have lived? Has digital technology played any roles in the investigations? What happens next?

Governments over time announce investments in technology that would improve security. Where are the security infrastructure from technology? Were the gains of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, that has been winging billions of Naira into improving security since 2007, in vain? Digital technology has played a big role in mobilising people, keeping the death in the news, and winning Mohbad new followers in death.

Emotions are high. Every image, every word, assumes a new meaning in the social media as the race to get into the Mohbad headlines heightens. Freedoms of the social media have guaranteed streams of thoughts and torts on Mohbad. Anything can be said or written. Be sure that people are hugging the liberties to make themselves celebrities and the latest experts on Mohbad. No shortage of new entrants to the lengthening list of his confidants. Emergency lyrics analysts have concluded that he knew his death was near.

The incoherent stories of the young man’s tormented moments to death, get new doses of life everyday. People are naming possible suspects. We have heard of the incident being Nigeria’s version of the cult wars that sometimes define the American music industry.
Is the manner of the death new? Was it a routine death that went against expectations? How did we get to this point? Exactly at what point are we?

Mohbad’s death has shocked many. Some of us are realising that there are more reasons why Nigeria does not work. Answers are everywhere but the system still does not work.
Investigations of the death have been compromised by the tardiness of the police. A frightened youth wrote a petition to the zonal Assistant Inspector General of Police that his life was in danger. Was it waved aside? Did the police do anything? Was doing nothing the most the police could do? Would the same police that acknowledged receipt of the petition investigate the death? Many are saddened.

Davido put the passing of Mohbad on a global pedestal at his concert in Manchester on 13 September, a day after Mohbad died. He displayed Mohbad’s picture on stage.
Then the message, “As we come on stage to perform for you guys, you might not know what we artistes go through. We are human beings too. “It takes a lot for us to come out to perform and deliver but we do that because we love you. I want to give a special shout-out to my brother, I know you are in heaven watching down. Tonight we gonna turn out for you,” he said.

Donations have started pouring in for Mohbad’s five-month-old son Liam, from celebrities and ordinary Nigerians. Like the controversies on his father’s death, different figures have been reportedly given, and more controversies about who gave, and who did not give.

Away from the entrapping emotions, the police owe us a duty to find the killers, and the authentic issues from the morass of tales trailing his death. May Mohbad find peace.

FINALLY…

WHO is not interested in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s certificates, particularly the ones from Chicago State University? If I were the proud owner of the certificates that made the Dean’s List, and speak with the same warmth in the President’s recollections of his Chicago days, every billboard in Nigeria would have my certificates on it. For the records, Tinubu is the first Nigerian President whose certificates are disputed in two different legal jurisdictions.

ADEBOLA Akin-Bright has died. He became famous as the 12-year-old with a missing small intestine after multiple surgeries that began last February at Obitoks Medical Centre were rounded up at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital. Nobody is accepting responsibility for the disappearance of the intestine. Adebola was operated initially for a ruptured appendicitis.

MY condolences to the families of the soldiers and policemen killed in Ehime Mbano, Imo State. May I also advise that the security agencies use better methods in apprehending the killers instead of descending on the villagers who may not know a thing about the killing.

Ikkedy ISIGUZO is a major commentator on minor issues