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Tribute to Kongi @ 90 (Memorable Quotes from my 1997 interview with Prof. Wole Soyinka in exile)

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Tribute to Kongi @ 90 (Memorable Quotes from my 1997 interview with Prof. Wole Soyinka in exile)

On rebeliosity

WS:“It’s this way, first of all, taking on authority at every level, or at every opportunity. No, this isn’t true. I don’t believe that there is virtue in rebellion; that rebellion, in itself, can be a philosophy of life, or a guiding principle. It’s a question of, rebelling against what? And trying to put what in the place of what one rebels.

      I find it very very difficult to stomach injustice. Well injustice takes many forms, there’s economic injustice, there’s social injustice, there’s political injustice, and ……is a condition of our lack of justice. It is a rebuke against one’s humanity. And then, I thought about it very deeply before I made it that oft quoted statement, that justice is a first condition of humanity. It’s something I believe very passionately, it’s my guiding philosophy, if you like. The occasion which you cited, these are merely manifestations of a very deep-seated conviction about what society should be like. I believe it’s possible for society, and humanity generally… -whether you’re talking about tribal groupings, religious groupings, class groupingS – I believe it’s possible for all groupings, no matter how diverse their interest, to find a harmonious modus vivendi, in means of cohabitation and self -respect, mutual respect, and of course, a sense of justice both for one’s self and for the other groupings. I mean if that is held, that simply stated, simplistically stated, principle in terms of cohabitation within groups, we’d have less stress, less strife, less conflicts, certainly even fewer ones in the global community. But as on example of my not adopting rebellion against authority as a principle, one good example is my so-called controversial (even though for me it’s not controversial at all) involvement with the Road Safety Commission. I saw this as something which that society needed, and if you lived in Nigeria, you’d have no doubt at all…”

On the nigeria project

WS: Nigeria can work if what I’ve established already as the binding principle of any community is adhered to, and that is a sense of justice. Without justice Nigeria will flounder. And at this very moment, an act of injustice is being perpetrated, one which is also an insult to certain sections of the country. This act, this crime, can lead to disintegration of Nigeria. I’m convinced that if this act of injustice is not rectified, Nigeria as a corporate entity is going to remain very very fragile. In other words, there’s…which has been inserted in what you call the ‘Nigeria project,’ which can prove fatal unless those cracks are mended right from the inside, internally. Not papered over, but really it needs a very strong and committed binding effort. In the ‘Open Store of a Continent’ I asked a question, “what is a nation” after all? What is it? How does it come about? And what are the prerequisites for the continued existence of a national entity. And for me the first item on that list of prerequisites is internal justice.

On restructuring

WS: Oh, we must decentralize, first of all we must decentralize. There’s far too much which has been gathered by the central government which then creates the situation, therefore, of winner takes all. And very often not even winner by any legitimate means. There has got to be a total devotion of powers in a far more evenly spread manner. In other words, we must go back to an authentic and genuine federalism. And the whole system of revenue allocation at the moment has got to be reviewed. It’s too much cheating going on. You know, people who produce the resources are being marginalized, and are being treated in a very contemptuous minority mentality. The whole system of governance which seems to ensure the system whereby power remains in only one section of the country has got to be reviewed.

On the futility of sectionalised masses struggles

WS: And that is the lesson which the opposition has been learning. In other words, the opposition now must be prepared to liberate space. Wherever the people are ready, that area should be made ungovernable, that’s all. If we’re going to wait until everybody is ready, we’re going to wait forever, and believe me, a lot of effort, as you know, has been spent in trying to mobilize everybody at the same time. If that strategy does not work, then those who are ready, those who say, from today on we will no longer be slaves, must be prepared to march forward.

There is no country where it is not one spot that actually begins a movement. Look at the entire history of the world, look at Spain till today, look at Ireland, look at the Soviet Union. If people wait until everybody, this is the lesson that the opposition has learnt, that don’t just wait; you liberate people mentally. Once they’re liberated mentally, then you move to encourage them, you spur them to liberate themselves physically.

I said those who are mentally liberated must move. You must; you cannot wait till eternity for everybody to be mentally liberated.There are people who suffer from the slave mentality. And you have to wait, when they see…Listen, look at the leadership, some of the leadership in the North, why are they so frightened of the rest of society? Because they know of certain areas in the country, because they see the people in those areas as being mentally liberated and they want to keep their own people down, they want to keep them down as serfs, and so on and so forth. And so that is why they are paranoid about certain other areas of the country. In other words, we’re talking about certain areas where people are already liberated. Again, let’s be cautious about this. Look at the last election. I watched tapes of the last election.Yes, the Abiolas/Tofa election. These people who were teeming out, whom I saw, you know, teeming out in support of their candidate, they were not dummies. You saw intelligence on their faces, they knew, they were sophisticated, politically. They knew who they wanted as president, and they came out in numbers… These were not rent-a-crowds which I was seeing, no. And you saw, you know, and then when Abiola was on trial, in Abuja at the beginning, you saw the masses and masses and masses of people who came out, even from the so-called unliberated ones. So it’s a very mixed bag, you know, very mixed bag.

On ending military incursion in politics

WS: If you notice that I even used the expressions like militarism, the entire military’s mentality in governance must be totally destroyed. The mystic of the military must be destroyed. People must learn not to fear, to recognize, the military’s got to be brought back into common denominator with the rest of society. There are so many other problems. That is one of the reasons, for instance, why we insist that one of the first steps to be taken after the removal of the present military menace is a sovereign national conference. And the agenda is there. The agenda, the decisions on boundaries. What are states? Who created states? Are they viable? Do people want to belong to this state or not?. The revenue allocation. What system of government? What system of representative? All the troubles of Nigeria are numerous. But first, we have got to get the transitional stage, and the transitional stage cannot take place under the military because it’s got a vested interest.

On answering to Kongi

WS: If I know people. I respond also to Prof. Don’t I? I respond to Egbon. I respond to… what else don’t I respond to? You know, that doesn’t mean that I take the character of er, no, no , no, not at all. I, in fact, created Kongi as a not very likable character. And if people decide they want to fix that on me, what can I do? But I answer because I know it’s made affectionally.

On not wanting his corpse taken to nigeria should he die abroad

WS: No, no, no, I said, as long as Nigeria is under the present military leaderships. Because I know if I am buried in that country, they will come and dance on my grave. And that might make people get very angry and I start another (laughs) palaver there. So, for the peace of everybody, as long as General Abacha is in that place, I don’t want my body taken over there. So I didn’t say if I die abroad, I mean if Nigeria is not liberated, then I prefer to rest outside, for the moment, temporarily.

On M.K.O Abiola declaring himself president ill-advised

WS: Well, we don’t know what assurances he had, do we? When he comes out we have to ask him what assurances did he have before he made that declaration. I don’t think Abiola is a mad man. I don’t think Abiola, without some kind of back up plans, would get up in Dugbe market and say, ‘I am the president,’ when there’s a military person there. If people failed Abiola, let them be honest enough to admit that they failed him. If people got cold feet at the last moment, you know, this is what we have to find out. I’m convinced that Abiola had certain guarantees of certain events before he took that particular action. I’m convinced of it.

On writing on his exile experiemce and sacking of his Abeokuta home

WS: Well, er. I don’t know, experiences take a while to be designed, I’m not a kind of instant reproducer of experience as some writers are. Mine always take a while, it sinks down, and eventually, you know, it may or may not. I mean I don’t feel a kind of compulsion to immediately translate experience into the written work.

      As for my house in Abeokuta, it’s unfortunate that, er, the regime should think, you see that’s what they do all the time: this building which I put up, it’s not even for me as such, it’s actually part of the Essay Foundation which I was setting up for writers. Just to be a retreat also from time to time. I’ve always envied the kind of facilities which we, writers and artists, enjoy outside, where you can go for a few months, somewhere, and think, and create, be free from economic worry during that period. This is what I decided to do with my Nobel money, you know, everything is sunk in that house. So if the military wants, let them destroy it, they will answer to the Nigerian people, you know, later on. They deprived them of something which was given to them. (Clears throat).

On foreign language as bane of our development

WS: First of all, my language policy has been, you know stated over and over again. I believe that we, Black Africa, require a common language, in addition to everything else. And I voted for the Swahili language. Just a common language amongst ourselves into which we can translate literature and textbooks, er, of the sciences, technology and so on and so forth. And, if we eliminated some useless subjects in the school curriculum, we would have a generation coming up speaking this language, in addition to their own indigenous languages, in addition to either French or Spanish or English. We need a language of communication with the rest of the world. All the world needs a language of communication with Africa. And I think that we had that common language, I believe the agonizing over the imposition of colonial languages will be reduced considerably, and will encourage, of course, literature, the arts, in our own indigenous languages.

        I think very often that the whole issue of language can be exaggerated. People try to make politics out of it. Some people take the purist line, don’t speak or talk any language but your own. I believe in multilingualism.  I would like to be able to speak all the languages in Nigeria… I think very often this anguish is artificial. People grow up bilingual. Why should it be different in one place rather than the other? I know people who grew up, look, a child, a child is a fantastic instrument of language learning. A child can grow up speaking three, four, languages without any difficulty. If he is a Yoruba born in Hausa land, he is speaking the two languages, from home and what he picks outside, and why should it become a burden, when this is a clear advantage?

 I don’t see why bilingualism, trilingualism, multilingualism, should not be encouraged in childhood. Children take naturally to languages.

On national malady argument: leadership or followership?

WS: Sometimes, it’s both (Laughs). Sometimes it’s both I think we have been cursed with leaders. That’s definite. We have been cursed with leaders in that country, we have spineless leadership. We had corrupt leadership, we had, you know, unintelligent leadership, we had, at least, one stupid president I can think of right away (chuckles). We have been unlucky in leadership. I think before disappointing the followership, we should concentrate on trying to…

Nigeria people have shown themselves very capable of much, they have shown that they are resourceful, in many ways and even though at times you wonder at the judgement of followers, er, I will still put most blame on what happens to leaders after they have been placed in positions of trust, which then creates some kind of cynical.

On whether nigeria is redeemable?

WS: Well, I cannot look at Nigeria which is so unnaturally generously endowed, in terms of materials and human resource, and say that there is a dearth of redemption. There is, there is redemption of Nigeria. But it’s going to be hard work.

On any redeeming values in favour of a united nigeria

WS: Well, there are school of thought which believe that Nigeria cannot be redeemed as a corporate entity. I don’t know that’s what you are talking about. And their arguments can be very very seductive, In the sense that they keep pointing to the principle, to the reality, that whilst certain people labour over time, expend themselves, sometime their lives, and even bend over backwards to accommodate others just to keep that nation one, there are others who seem not to care. And so, these ones ask, is it really worth only one side trying to keep the nation together? And we have, and one has to state this starklyso that everybody is aware that this tendency does exist, there are those who sat and bluntly say, ‘listen, you have wasted your energy trying to create something which is clearly untenable. And we are not about to sacrifice our lives, we have made up our mind that, no matter how long it takes, the country has got to break up, everybody’s got to go their own way.’ And it’s a very strong voice in that we talk, we argue with them, but they have made up their minds. And I am not talking of only one section, you know; no, no, no, it’s right round the whole country. So, let there be no complacency. Nigeria is viable, but it has to be made so, it is potentially viable, but a lot of work has to go into actually manifesting its viability. And there is a very large percentage, a large section of intelligent populace who have as far as they are concerned, worked it out. Have taken their position. So, er, we have a lot of work to do to persuade them that there is still life in the (chuckles) … project

On problem with the black man?

WS: When you find answer to that you let me know!

(Extracted from original interview serialized in The According newspaper in 1997)

Govs can pay N200,000 minimum wage in regional govt – SAN

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Govs can pay N200,000 minimum wage in regional govt – SAN

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr Paul Ananaba, shares his thoughts with AYOOLA OLASUPO on the national minimum wage tussle between the Federal Government and Organised Labour, the debate over adoption of a regional government, among other issues

The issue of state police creation has been a bone of contention. While some people are asking for it, others oppose it. What is your view about it?

State police happens in other advanced societies and there is no reason why Nigeria cannot be said to have advanced to have state police. The point is that it is unsuitable because our founding fathers would have done it if we had practised true federalism. In that case, there will be issues that the state police and the central one should handle because for example, why do I need a policeman from Sokoto State in my village where he may not even understand the language, and the people using the native dialects can even trade him off?

In America, the language is almost centrally English. It is the same in the UK and France; they speak French. It is not here that we speak all kinds of languages and then, the man is policing you. The man policing you doesn’t even really understand the dialect. He is here for two weeks, and he has moved to another part of the country. So, that’s why as a person, I believe in devolution of power. We should re-examine the federal units of that federation.

Some people are saying that for the creation of state police to come into reality, there is a need for the country to restructure or amend the constitution. Do you also subscribe to that?

Restructuring must affect the constitution because it will affect section 9 and it won’t affect section 3. Those are the federating units in the constitution. I agree that the constitution should be amended. I agree that we should change it. This system is not working, and everybody knows it. Why should each region of the geo-political zone; the South-East, for instance, have five governors and five Commissioners of Education when there are Permanent Secretaries there? Why should the South-West have six governors when one governor is okay? You save a lot of money.

Are you saying that it will reduce the cost of governance?

Exactly, so that each region should now decide whether they will run by county, or by local government, or whether they will not have states. They will have common currencies and all that. That is federalism. For example, if a particular region is not interested in education, the other region may be the best in education, and people will go to school there. Then we will bring to an end the ‘feeding bottle’ federalism, where every month, people will go to Abuja to collect money from the Federal Executive Council.

The FEC will come to an end. You stay in your region and think of what best to do with your region without waiting for the Federal Government. Even corruption will come to a lower level, because who will you steal money from? No region will allow anybody to steal their money, not now that there is a national cake. You go to the centre, cut your own, and come back home. People will celebrate you because you stole enough.

Are you saying the country should go back to geo-political zones?

I support going back to geopolitical zones. Each geo-political zone should now decide if they want to create 100 states in their geopolitical zone, but whatever they create will not be the federating units. The federating units will be the six regions. The point I’m making is that the federating units should be the regional government. If they want to create a local government that is one billion, let them create. In my place, they used to say if you want to eat akara, you should eat from your pocket and if you pay from your pocket, you know how much akara you will eat.

But some people have argued that the local governments should be cancelled. Do you subscribe to that?

I think it is lazy reasoning that is causing that kind of argument. If we are going to be regions, they don’t even want to say that the local government will continue. We may decide to have counties in the regions and states. They may create their own states. Look at South Africa; it is an example of what I’m talking about. They have their regions; the Southern and Northern Provinces, Eastern Cape, Western Cape, and Northern Cape. The federating units have their local administrations and they run well.

Where did we bring these 774 local governments from? What our forefathers chose, we should not discard their wisdom. So, if the National Assembly goes for regions, I support regionalism in terms of geo-political zones. This clamour for the creation of states will come to an end. There will be no issue of the creation of states, marginalisation, and all of that.

Every region will go to work and what you get is what you have. Where did we bring our people from the national government to go to the Niger Delta to drill oil? Why should they go to Zamfara State to be interested in their gold or uranium and all of that? If it is a regional thing, they will not allow their minerals to be wasted.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act (Amendment Bill) 2024 passed by the Senate prescribed death penalty for persons found guilty of trading hard drugs and narcotics. Isn’t the law too extreme?

It is the law that makes an offence a capital one and it depends on the country. In Asia, it’s a capital offence and in many countries, it is not. So, let’s not talk about that. But I don’t think we should kill people for drug offences, but there should be strict punishment because drugs are affecting humanity; changing man from what God made him to be.

What is your suggestion on that law?

Death is what we are talking about. It is a human being we are talking about and that thing called death is not reversible. So, we should value the sanctity of human life. Long imprisonment is a yes, but a death sentence is what I don’t support it.

The issue of kidnapping and killings has been on the rise in recent times. How do you think this can be addressed?

Much of the annoyance and the grievance of many of these kidnappers and all that, and the inequity you see in the practice of governance now, where evil triumphs. Somebody kidnaps and before you know it, he’s now flowing in money. He uses the money to buy votes and becomes a leader.

So, a lot of people will say that’s good, let’s go and try our luck. But in the regional government, where people know themselves, the centre is not attractive. Where will you start the kidnapping from? If people know themselves and anything happens, they will know who to sue and that will reduce it. So, kidnapping is on the rise, but there is no work.

Take for example, where you turn regions into federated units, they have saved so much money and they can do big projects and not just small ones because that money you used would have been used to do something reasonable. You are using it to run an administration, the recurrent expenditure. Check our budgets. The current expenditures are so high.

You maintain a government house and have up to six to seven government houses. When one government house can take care of that region, people will be impressed there in their region and those that do well will continue to excel. The ones that don’t do well, people say don’t go there. So, the Federal Government can easily fight the instability.

The Organised Labour and the Federal Government have been in a tussle over the proposed new national minimum wage and some of the governors have said that they cannot pay the demand of labour unions. What advice do you have for the parties involved in the negotiation?

Can this N62,000 buy a bag of rice? We should be considerate about it on both sides because no government in Nigeria can pay N250,000. Labour knows that one clearly; so, maybe not N62,000. We should agree on how to go. From N30,000, let’s not go beyond N90,000. I mean between N70,000 and N90,000.

There should be an agreement, and for governors who are saying they can’t pay that money, that is why I told you that the state can’t run this thing. So, we have to go back to the regions. Rather than seven Ministries of Education, you have one. In that case, you can pay up to N200,000.

You will have quality and productive workers and not just employ people as political compensation. You can pay N100,000 or more than that because you don’t have duplication of ministries in one region. So, no region will say they can’t pay Labour in a regional government.

There are reports that some state governments have yet to start paying the current N30,000 and that some are still paying N8,000, N15,000 minimum wage for their workers. How will you react to this situation?

It is because they have no respect for Labour. Check; it is part of the money they use to do all the irrelevant things. No state government should say it cannot pay that money. It’s just that they didn’t want to pay because it is their priority.

Despite the state allocations which have increased significantly since the removal of fuel subsidy, some of the governors claim not to have the funds, saying they cannot pay the new minimum wage if approved. Will you suggest that they should be compelled to pay the N30,000 minimum wage salary arrears for their workers?

The workers will now have the basis to demand their rights. They will demand it based on the law now and remember that there is a difference between minimum wage and salary. What we are talking about is salary increment, not wage. Wages are being paid in hours. So, if we want to talk about minimum wage, we should be talking about hours.

How do you think governors can be compelled to implement the new minimum wage if signed into law?

The law has ways of compelling people to obey the law. Let the law first come into existence. Remember that the governors are also politicians. It will reduce the amount of money they will have to spend. So, they may say, ‘No; I won’t pay it’. But when the law says they should pay, it becomes the basis to demand the payment.

There are cases of suspects being abandoned and trapped in prisons without trials. What can be done to ensure that such people don’t suffer such ill fate, especially before their cases are determined in court?

Well, there is a law about prison reforms. My friend and others are engaged in prison reforms. Some reforms are coming up, and there is an improvement now. It is the socio-political problems and the economy and others that are increasing the crime rates.

Let us solve these and isolate the criminals, know them, and know what to do with them. Let us do the prison reforms. I propose that we should have courts in the prisons or courts move to sit in the prisons sometimes. That helps to decongest prisons and to give justice to inmates.

The issue of jailbreaks has also been a recurring event in Nigeria in the last 10 years. How do you think such an issue can be addressed?

In some countries in this world of today, prisons are being closed down, but I heard that our government is planning to build more prisons. Most of the existing prisons, when were they built? Many of them are from the early 1900s and they still keep human beings there without proper hygiene and ventilation.

However, the question is, are those not inside the prisons enjoying it? How many times does the government give light inside the prisons? Are you considering the type of life they live there? If we have determined efforts, and we’re building the country in such a way that we should, we should be closing down prisons because we will have little or no crime.

Is the building of prisons, which the Federal Government has embarked on in recent times, the best move to solve the problem of overcrowding?

I have heard of many countries that are shutting down their prisons. I prefer we run a country where there is no need to be building more prisons. We can renovate the ones we have and gradually close them down because we don’t need to encourage people to go to prison.

Are you suggesting that the government should focus on improving the prison infrastructure rather than building more? 

The reason why there is an increase in crime is what we should solve first, and not building more prisons. If more people continue to come, how many prisons will we end up building?

2027 presidency and North’s strange desire for power

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2027 presidency and North’s strange desire for power

The meeting of some northern bigwigs within the past few months has raised suspicion among political observers that the region is spoiling for a fight to wrestle power from President Bola Tinubu, writes OLUFEMI ADEDIRAN

Although the next presidential election is in less than three years, recent political developments are proving to be indications that President Bola Tinubu may face a complex political battle. The current ploy to unseat him is gathering more momentum and this has not gone unnoticed by some political observers,

The road to Tinubu’s re-election is fraught with challenges, particularly from northern factions seeking to reclaim the presidency. The alleged scheming by northern factions to work against Tinubu’s re-election started with the realignment and meetings among notable northern politicians.

The prediction is that these prominent politicians may be forming strategic alliances. These alliances aim to present a united front and a viable alternative to President Tinubu in the 2027 elections.

While some people have described the move by the northerners as too early and selfish, given the fact that former President Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner served eight years without interruption, others think that Tinubu does not deserve to return as President, having betrayed the North that helped him into power.

Those backing the proposal for the return of power to the North by 2027 based their arguments on the alleged maltreatment of northern politicians on whose support Tinubu rode to power.

Several political figures and groups in the North have expressed dissatisfaction with Tinubu’s administration, citing a range of issues from perceived neglect of northern interests to broader concerns about governance and security. Leading the move against Tinubu’s re-election is a prominent northern socio-cultural and political group, the Northern Elders’ Forum.

A member of the group, Prof. Usman Yusuf, had said the North regretted supporting Tinubu during the 2023 general election, and described the past one year of Tinubu’s administration as nothing but “deception, destitution, and hopelessness”.

“People have lost hope. It pains me to see our people lining up to collect cups of palliatives. Renewed Hope has turned into hopelessness. People have lost hope”, Yusuf said.

Also, the spokesman for NEF, Abdulaziz Sulaiman, was quoted to have said that the North made a mistake in voting Tinubu to the presidency in 2023 and that it was unlikely that they would repeat the same error in 2027.

Sulaiman said the North had learnt from their past “misstep” and would strive to select a candidate who could unite the country and govern in the best interests of all Nigerians.

Another attack on Tinubu’s government from the North came from the North-East Governors’ Forum which accused the Federal Government of neglecting the region in the provision of capital projects.

The forum’s chairman who is also the Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, alleged that road and rail connections between the South-East and North-East had been abandoned. He also bemoaned the blackout in the region.

The northerners, who pride themselves as the powerhouse of Nigeria when it comes to voting, also accused Tinubu of appointing mostly southerners into key government positions.

According to political analysts, the perceived fallout of the former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, with Tinubu’s administration is another major reason why the North is angry with Tinubu.

The alleged northern gang-up against Tinubu became more pronounced after the meeting between El-Rufai and the candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party in last year’s presidential election, Rabiu Kwankwaso; and the visit of the former governor of Sokoto state and a serving senator, Aminu Tambuwal, led by a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, to former President Muhammadu Buhari in his Daura country home in Katsina State.

Although, Atiku said he visited Buhari to pay him Sallah homage, the visit has, however, reignited the discourse that Atiku, a foremost and formidable opposition figure in the country, was not relenting in pursuing his presidential ambition and might have reopened his 2027 presidential race.

El-Rufai is yet to openly declare war against Tinubu’s government, but his son, Bashir, in a cryptic message to Tinubu, said, “Nobody is too big to be voted out of office by the people. It will happen and wallahi, nothing will happen. So, forget all this intimidation flying up and down. Let us be patient.”

Bashir, who posted the message on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, added, “Even IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank no go save una that time. Political strategist; that one na for Lagos” (sic).

Commenting on the issue, a professor of Comparative Politics, Usman Dan Fodiyo University, Sokoto, T.K. Baba, described the alleged scheming of the North as a wakeup call for Tinubu and his government to buckle up and win back the hearts of the people.

Baba said, “What is happening can positively impact the government. It could strengthen the present government, but negatively, it will distract the government and force the government to abandon governance.

“It may help the government to refocus and strengthen itself to deliver good governance so that its scorecard could be that decent enough for them to reach out to the public and advance its campaign.”

He described the move by the North as “a coalition of oppositions – those who were injured in the movement and those who are in the opposition are now regrouping to see what they can do; this is similar to what the APC did in 2015.

“When you see Kwankwaso with El-Rufai and you see Atiku with Buhari, it is only right to say that something fishy is happening, and what is happening, nobody knows. We have also seen Tambuwal visiting Buhari, but it is too early now to jump to the conclusion that there is scheming for power to return to the North.

“These talks are going on and it all depends on what the government does in the next two years and who remains in the government, who falls out with the government, who gets included into the government. Northern politicians cannot do it alone; no politician from any part of the country can ever do it alone.

“It is not only in the North that this is happening, even politicians from other parts of the country are also thinking of how they can wrestle power in 2027. One of the greatest surprises in the last election was the Labour Party and the Peter Obi movement.

The movement is not dead yet, and he is making a lot of vibes and nerves across the country; he is making a series of comments and also offering his thoughts about how this government is organised and how this government runs itself, what are the shortcomings of this government. That is also something that should also be discussed,” Baba said.

Also giving his thoughts on the issue, Prof. Emmanuel Ojo of the Department of Political Science at the University of Ilorin, said although the move by some northerners for power to return to the North in 2027 was neither illegal nor unconstitutional, “in the interest of national integration and to assuage the feeling of marginalisation by sections of the country, it was better to allow power to be domicile in the South for eight years”.

He said if the North argued that Tinubu was not performing, another candidate from southern extraction should rather be backed instead of calling for power to return to the North.

“To ever contemplate that power should go back to the North will not assist Nigeria’s effort at national integration, neither will it assist Nigeria’s effort at democratic sustenance and eventual consolidation of democracy. So, informal power-sharing should be allowed the way it is.

“If the President from the South is not performing or eventually could not perform, then another political party who might have nominated a candidate from the South can also get it. The North should allow the presidency to be domiciled in the South for a minimum of eight years.

“The North no doubt supported Tinubu, and they even initiated the power shift. It was El-Rufai who mobilised as many as 10 northern governors and they issued a statement that power must go to the South for national integration, and power came to the South. They were sitting governors; they had influence. All those northern elements talking now are spent forces they are not forces to be reckoned with in terms of grassroots politicking.

“Talking on the pages of newspapers, radio and television does not make any impact, and northern Nigeria cannot be mobilised by those that do not have economic power and even political power. Those who referred to themselves as northern elements were not the ones who did it in 2023. It was the northern governors; the likes of El-Rufai and Abdullahi Ganduje who believed that in the interest of the nation, power should move down to the South, and people voted.

“There should be no political fear in terms of the people that are talking in the North, people will always be talking; it is normal, but that talking when assessed politically, how much influence can their comments make? Are they opinion moulders on the streets of Kano, Nassarawa, and Gombe? That is the way it should be”, Ojo said.

Ojo, a former Secretary to Oyo State Government, described the claim by some northerners that Tinubu had marginalised the region as false, insisting that the North still had the highest number of political office holders in Tinubu’s government.

Meanwhile, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and political group, Afenifere, and the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum described the ongoing battle for the presidency as too early and a distraction to Tinubu’s government and good governance.

The National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Jare Ajayi, said the focus of all Nigerians now should be the revival of the economy, provision of good governance, and end to insecurity.

He said, “Nigeria is presently facing a lot of challenges that require all hands to be on the deck. The present administration is just about one year in office. It inherited a lot of challenges just as some others have cropped up within its one year in office. What ought to be of concern for our politicians should be how to tackle these challenges, ensure that they do not keep occurring and, of course, set the country on the path to sustainable development.”

Speaking on the allegation by the spokesman for NEF, Sulaiman Abdulazeez, that the North is marginalised, Ajayi said the submission could be regarded as a wakeup call on the government to double its efforts in tackling insecurity and enhance the economy across the country.

“There is no doubt that Nigeria is facing a lot of security and economic challenges at the moment. Of course, many of these challenges were inherited from previous administrations. However, the challenges are not peculiar to a particular section of the country. Rather, they could be seen in various forms across the nation,” Ajayi added.

The Afenifere spokesman said that since the problems the country is facing are cut across various zones, it may not be correct or proper to say that a particular section is deliberately targeted for marginalisation.

“Reports of insecurity, inflation, and sundry economic downturns filter out every day from every zone. In that wise, the onus on us is to keep calling the attention of those concerned to the challenges people are facing to get these challenges promptly and properly attended to,” Ajayi said.

He added that Afenifere was consistently pushing for restructuring to address an area that Abdulazeez is talking about – regional marginalisation.

“If the country is restructured and constituent entities in the country have more powers to determine and control their affairs, the issue of marginalisation will no longer be there,” he emphasised.

On his part, the President General of AYCF, Yerima Shettima, called for caution on the part of northern politicians and urged them to prioritise the overall interest of the country above regional considerations.

Shettima said, “This accusation has sparked a debate among the political circles in Nigeria not only in the North, with some supporting the claim and others dismissing it as baseless.

“One of the main arguments put forward by those who accused Tinubu of marginalising the rest of the country is his alleged favoritism towards the South-West region, where he hails from. They claim that he has been appointing more people from the South-West to key positions in government while neglecting the other sections. This has led to feelings of resentment and alienation among other regions, who feel that they are being sidelined in the decision-making process.

“However, it is important to note that there is no concrete evidence to support these allegations. While it is true that Tinubu has a strong base of support in the South-West, it does not necessarily mean that he is deliberately marginalising the rest of the country.”

“The North, in particular, has been hard hit by the Boko Haram insurgency and other forms of violence, leading to widespread disillusionment with the government’s ability to address these issues. Tinubu will need to convince voters in the North that he has a credible plan to tackle these challenges and improve their lives if he hopes to win their support.

“Ultimately, the question of whether the North is willing to back Tinubu’s re-election bid will depend on a variety of factors, including the political dynamics within the APC, the state of the economy and security situation in the country, and Tinubu’s ability to build alliances and mobilise support across different regions.

“While Tinubu has proven himself to be a skilled politician with a track record of success, he will need to navigate these challenges carefully if he hopes to secure the presidency in 2027. Only time will tell whether he can win the support of the North and emerge victorious in the upcoming election.”

Meanwhile, a former senator who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the 8th National Assembly, Shehu Sani, declared that those behind the plot to unseat Tinubu in 2027 would fail. Sani urged northerners to reject the faces and their plot to unseat the President come 2027 while noting that they had nothing to offer.

Also coming in Tinubu’s defence is the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, who criticised those behind the plot, describing them as “unpatriotic politicians”.

Matawalle, a former governor of Zamfara State accused the plotters of lacking grassroots support and having an “entitlement mentality.”

In all, analysts believe that Tinubu’s performance in the next three years will be a major determinant of Tinubu’s return to power in 2027.

Govs see local govts as personal property – Gen Garba (retd)

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Govs see local govts as personal property – Gen Garba (retd)

The Director General of the Nigerian Army Resource Centre, Maj. Gen. Garba Wahab (retd.) shares his thoughts with SOLOMON ODENIYI on the unending terrorist attacks in the North-East, the resurgence of suicide bombings, and the pivotal role the judiciary plays in ending the scourge

We have been fighting terrorism for over a decade, leading to the loss of lives and properties. Is there an end in sight?

Terrorism does not go. You people are making a mistake. You see, everybody thinks terrorism is something you can just switch on and off.  It’s not.  To start with, those who are into it have an ideology. An ideology is something in the mind and the brain. The man believes in it and he joins up. Are you going to clean the brain? Terrorism or insurgency is not something you end overnight. We need to learn from Colombia. Colombia has been facing its case for more than 30 to 40 years now; theirs is about drugs.

They believe there is so much money to be made from drugs. Initially, they were allowed. By the time the Americans saw the effect of cocaine on their streets with their young ones, they turned against it and said, ‘No, you must stop this.’ But the fact is that those who are the rebels in Colombia are doing so because of cocaine. Up till today, they are still there even though the situation has mellowed down a little bit.

So, it doesn’t just go away like that.  A lot of effort is required, and the military alone cannot stop it. The military can provide an enabling environment where the government will be able to correct those things that created the opportunity for them to be terrorists. It is not the military that will create jobs. It is not the military that will talk to people and say, don’t do this again. We are leaving a lot of things undone. We expect the military to do them all. It is not a war between two countries.

Even during a war between two countries, somebody must be ready to say, ‘Okay, let us stop it’, and the other party must agree. The military alone can’t solve it. In the past, we used five factors in the military for security.  We call it the DIMES construct. The first one is Diplomatic or politics. It is the most important. Good governance is politics. ‘I’ is for information and that is why the media is being called in. There is the ‘M’, which stands for the military; the next is the Economy, and the ‘S’ is for Social. We are only making use of the ‘M’.

That’s why the army pays an allowance to those in these areas to spend and improve the economic situation in their regions. People shout and accuse them of encouraging terrorism financing. If you don’t do some economic activities in that place, things will become worse. This is because people will become poorer. When they are poor, you can’t tell them not to go into terrorism.

What is your view about state governors’ interference with local government funds?

People are advocating that local governments must be allowed to perform. If local governments are performing, a lot of things that will be done at the local government level will engage a lot of people. But no, the state governors are not allowing them (the local governments).

Governors look at local government as their property. Will the military create local governments? Will they force local governments to function? It is not possible. So, it is not the military that can solve the issue of terrorism.

They are only expected to provide an enabling environment for people to discuss, and for the government to solve the problems that have created all these issues.

When the people of Gwoza had forgotten that terrorism was still in the country, and deadly suicide attacks occurred. What do you think is responsible?

When you do things and they are working, nobody goes to sleep. You believe things are normal. You are dealing with people who have vowed that this is their way of life. Gwoza used to be one of the flashpoints in the North-East, and for a very long time, things were relaxed. People are now going about their jobs, thinking things are okay.

Recently, we had our monthly lecture series and one of the doctors at the Defence College spoke about how women were being engaged by terrorists to be involved in suicide bombings. She spoke recently before the Gwoza incident happened. She said point blank that terrorists would make use of more and more women than men because the belief is that everybody will be suspicious of any man. The first woman that detonated the first bomb in Gwoza was a woman with a baby. Nobody would have ever suspected a woman who was carrying a baby.

But there is more to that. It might be because of the threat to her life and that of her family. In Zamfara State, women are the master logistics suppliers. Now, they give them money to trade and make money so that when they buy those things they need, nobody is going to suspect. That’s the thing we are facing. The military cannot solve that.

It is a societal issue, and the military can’t be everywhere. Suppose a trader bought two bags of rice yesterday, and today, the trader finished selling it; nobody is asking questions about the number of persons she sold the rice to. The military cannot solve the insecurity in Nigeria. That’s not their responsibility. To start with, the easiest thing is good governance.

But you once said the judiciary holds one of the keys to ending terrorism in the country.

Let me start by saying there are three arms of government: the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary. I’m starting with the legislative arm of government. They make the laws. The executive implements whatever policy they want to execute. It must be in line with the law, which the legislature has made. But the third arm is the judiciary which interprets whatever the legislature and the executive are doing; they are the interpreters.

Anybody who runs afoul of the law of the country anywhere in the world, the judiciary is expected to try them. Failure to try them allows them to think that the offence is something they can get away with. When people start thinking like that, then the level of impunity in society becomes uncontrollable. With that, it becomes very difficult to have law and order.

It’s not only on the issue of insecurity; it’s in our lives generally that the judiciary has a serious role to play, and more importantly, in the level of insecurity because those who were arrested must be tried and tried fairly, firmly, and accurately.

Justice delayed is justice denied. Wasting time in trial means you deny those who have been kept in custody, their fair hearing, you deny them their rights and then you deny those who have done the job of arresting those people the appreciation for the job they’ve done. That is what we are facing today. That is why I said they have so much to do.

What then is the function of the police in this matter?

The police arrest, investigate, and prosecute. While the prosecution is going on, they keep the person on trial in the custody of the correctional services because the person cannot come from his house to the court. So, they are kept somewhere. That’s where the correctional service comes in. But it is the police and the judiciary that have so much to do in determining what happens in society. If there is a belief that they are not doing their investigation well, it will get to a point where everybody in the society feels nothing is working.

That’s why I said they have so much to do with what is happening. In the military’s old policy, when you are going out on internal security, a magistrate is expected to be there to follow you, but in the modern context, who recognises a magistrate again? They operate more at the local government level. Now, what is recognised in counter-insurgency is the High Court. Can any High Court judge follow any military? Before the military even goes out, if you are to borrow from the Americans who are using their system, when the military is planning an operation, the Ministry of Justice will meet the Ministry of Defence and come out with different definitions of problems they may likely face when they get there.

Since we started trying Boko Haram suspects in the country, we have recorded low convictions despite the several arrests made by troops. Does that not worry you?

I’m not going to quote any number. But my experience is that those who are arrested have not been prosecuted. Under the guise of ‘oh, the two sides have their case.’ In some cases, the judge will say the investigation is flawed. This is because they have not been part of what is happening. In a society where you have a problem, and you are saying something is flawed but you are not ready to advise on how to go about it.

This is a country that allows electronic evidence. How many courts in Nigeria still admit (electronic evidence), apart from Lagos? Even in Abuja, how many of the courts allow electronic evidence? The situation we are facing is not normal; it is different from a murder or something. It is terrorism. What terrorists are trying to do is instill fear in the minds of anybody. The terrorists are insurgents.

An insurgency is a situation where some people want to change the political pattern in a society to suit what they want, whether it is right or not.

That’s the essence of insurgency. They have decided to use terrorism as their strategy. So, two major issues are combined, and people are still saying we must treat their cases the same way we are treating stealing and robbery. Let us learn from the Americans.

What are the lessons you think can be learnt from the Americans?

The Americans knew if they followed the normal pattern of trial in their country, all the terrorists they had arrested would escape. We cannot go anywhere. This is our country. But then, you can’t continue to treat these people as if it is a normal case. This is not a normal issue. People are shouting; there is insecurity in the country. If you don’t try those who have been brought forward, then you’re encouraging those who are behind.

So, if somebody goes to them, and says, ‘Come and join us’, it becomes very easy to recruit. Even when we talk about amnesty, people are shouting, ‘Give amnesty’; in normal amnesty, you have a way where people go through the process of trial, and at the end of the day, the state pardons you.

But you go through a process. The idea is that the state wants to let you know you have committed an offence against it (the state). But at the end of the day, we’re not going to incarcerate you or put you anywhere. But you know that you’ve been tried. The trial may just be bringing them in. You are this person, and you are guilty of this offence and let him know he has been pardoned. We do this in the military; we call it admonishing. By this, you face a trial. It is in your record that you faced a trial. But where people have been kept somewhere, they’ve been investigated and then they can’t be tried because of one thing or the other, then something is wrong with the system.

Many of the cases against suspected Boko Haram terrorists are being dismissed for want of evidence. Don’t you think it is high time the military high command improved on that aspect?

You see, you are getting something wrong. It is not the military that’s supposed to collect evidence. They’ve gone forward to go and fight a battle. Those who are supposed to be prosecuting are supposed to be part of that team. If they don’t join the team, what do you do? That’s where the problem is coming from. Everybody left everything to the military.

It’s not just the military that should go out there to fight, and arrest terrorists. If you pick up suspected terrorists and you don’t collect some evidence, then you can’t take anybody to court. If they collect some evidence based on their own experience, which is not their job, then something is fundamentally wrong with the system. Everybody keeps on accusing the military, ‘You have not collected evidence’; that’s not their job.

For every internal security operation, the other agencies are supposed to be there. That’s why now, rather than say, military operations, they are calling it joint operations. So, when you say, ‘Let us tell our troops to improve on evidence collection’, it’s like you are saying it is your job to fight, collect evidence and prosecute. They are not the ones to prosecute. So, if they are not the ones to prosecute, the person to do so should come forward and start with the evidence collection right from the beginning.

But even with that, the military has even changed. For instance, in Giwa Barracks, in Maiduguri, they have a joint intelligence and investigation cell. It is not just about the military. If somebody is not doing his job, everybody blames the military. Every time, the military has not done this, the military has not done that; are they the ones prosecuting? People should stop ascribing what is not their responsibility to them (the military). That is part of what we’re saying. They are doing a constabulary job, not just a policing job, and yet everybody feels comfortable, and then, they turn around and blame them when in reality, it’s not their job.

Yes, some people are being trained. I was in the military police when I was in the service. I was trained as an investigator, but my investigation ended within the military circle. When it’s going out, I’m not the one to handle it, because I’m not the one to prosecute; the person who’s going to prosecute will join me.

Do you think an amendment to the Terrorism Prevention Act as being clamoured in some quarters will help in trying terrorism suspects?

It’s not the law; it’s the individuals. The law is there, the interpretation and implementation matter. If you have the best of all laws, if you don’t interpret them well, if you don’t do what you are supposed to do, you are still wasting time. It is about the mindset. Nigerians will need to change their mindset and their attitude to work.

Yes, no document is perfect. That is why any document in the military is subject to review. We have those reviewed every four years; we have that for five years. By the third year, we start looking at what the problems are, and a committee is set up to look at that. The Terrorism Prevention Act is to guide everybody who is involved to know their responsibilities, and how to go about things. The legal procedures to prosecute people on various offences are there. Beyond the guidance and the application, interpretation matters. That’s where the problem is coming from. It’s not about the act. The act may not be okay, but you can still make it work.

The constitution may not be okay, you can still make it work if you want to work. We need to change our attitude as Nigerians and see the country as truly ours and things must be made to work because if it’s not working, it is not one person who is going to suffer it, everybody will feel it. We are shouting today because everybody is feeling insecure. That is why we need to make things work for us to sleep well and enjoy our lives.

So, if we change the Terrorism Prevention Act, it doesn’t mean it’s going to work; it’s the people who are going to make it work. In the military, there is this saying, ‘The machine is as good as the man manning it. If you are not good at that machine, if you have the best of all machines, it will be wasted. You won’t be able to do anything if the machine is there, but if you are good and the machine is not okay, you will find a way of utilising it to suit what you want.

Do you agree with a comment made by the Chief of Defence Staff that the judiciary has been too soft on criminals?

Is that not what we are saying that they have so much to do? They should be fair and just. There should also be equity. If people feel that ‘yes, this man has committed an offence’, and the man has been tried fairly, everybody will have trust in the system. But where the punishment is too harsh or too soft, people will start doubting the workability of that system. So, it’s Nigerians and those in exalted positions who must be able to do something to ensure they have so much to do.

They (the judiciary) have so much to do. That is what I keep saying; they have so much contribution to be made to the security of Nigeria. Yes, they may be in court, or their offices, but their pronouncement, and their actions have so much impact on whatever happens in the four corners of Nigeria. So, if they do the needful, everybody will sit up.

There will still be people who will complain. And that is why they are there.

People will still complain. You can’t rule out criminal activities. So, I am not saying they must be jailed or incarcerated or kill everybody. But if justice is found, if justice is fair, and timely then a lot of people who are beginning to think in terms of being criminals will have second thoughts.

Should the government continue to lose cases against suspected Boko Haram terrorists, what will this portend for the country, the citizens, and the troops involved in counter-terrorism operations?

I am not a soothsayer, but we are seeing the effects, and it is not only on the troops but the entire nation. When they get to a point where they feel frustrated, and no matter what they do, the level of insecurity is not going down, they may get discouraged. We all need to work together as one entity to ensure that everyone plays their part.

Here at the centre, one of the recommendations we had from one presentation was that the attitude of Nigerians must change. We must take pride in whatever we do, and we must do our job correctly. In the military, for instance, if you have a situation where somebody writes your report about you, you can be entrusted to perform a job without supervision, you are a highflier.

Given the importance of the judiciary to the fight against terrorism in the country, has your centre reached out to the Ministry of Justice to convey some of your thoughts to them?

That is not my job. My job is to recommend to them which we have been doing. We normally send our reports weekly to all the ministries that are affected by our discussions. So, if we discuss something, and it touches on the Minister of Justice or Attorney General, we will send it to him irrespective of whatever he believes. We also ask for feedback. The Minister of Justice has responded once in one year, others don’t do, while some do, but we will keep sending it to them. The report goes to the NSA’s office, the Chief of Army Staff, the CDS, and the IG.

Experts differ as NSA partners UK anti-crime agency to battle kidnappers

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Experts differ as NSA partners UK anti-crime agency to battle kidnappers

Security experts have expressed differing views on the plan by the office of the National Security Adviser to collaborate with the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency to combat kidnappers.

In recent times, the NSA had been involved in coordinating the activities of security agencies, which has led to the rescue of some kidnapped victims.

The 22 students and staff members of the Federal University of Gusau, Zamfara State, who were kidnapped by bandits on September 22, 2023, were rescued in an operation coordinated by the National Counter-Terrorism Centre on April 15, 2024.

Also, on July 4, 2024, 16 individuals kidnapped from Zurmi, Duran and Gusau in Zamfara State on April 22, 2024, were also rescued in a joint operation coordinated by the NCTC. They were subsequently handed over to the Zamfara State Government.

The Office of the NSA was reported to have also planned and coordinated the operation that led to the rescue of the three children of a Kaduna judge, who were abducted alongside her, on July 10, 2024.

Also, on March 23, 2023, the Army, in collaboration with the ONSA, rescued 17 Tsangaya pupils who had been abducted by bandits in Gada Local Government.

While receiving the 22 students and staff members of the university, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, said over 1,000 such victims had been rescued without paying a ransom.

However, speaking with our correspondent on strategies to strengthen the fight against kidnapping, the NCTC, Office of the NSA, disclosed the plan to establish an Anti-Kidnapping Fusion Cell for effective tracking and arrest of kidnap suspects in the country.

The NCTC also noted that it was working in collaboration with the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom to implement the initiative.

The Head of Strategic Communication, NCTC, Abu Michael, while speaking with our correspondent, said the initiative would also ensure a proactive approach towards rescuing victims, adding that all security and law enforcement agencies were expected to be part of the new strategy.

He said, “The Anti-Kidnapping Fusion Cell is for effective tracking and arrest of kidnap suspects, and to be proactive.

“It is a multi-agency taskforce involving all the security and enforcement agencies under the coordination of NCTC-ONSA. The fusion cell is in the process of becoming fully operational. NCTC is working in collaboration with the NCA of the UK on this.”

But, some experts who spoke with our correspondent on Saturday disagreed with the NSA’s initiative and its approach to tackling the menace of kidnapping.

NSA playing to the gallery — Expert

Speaking with Sunday According, retired Commodore Adekunle Olawunmi, a former Deputy Director of Defence Administration at the Defence Headquarters, opposed the NSA’s initiative, describing it as a duplication of the functions of already existing agencies.

Olawunmi, a former Commandant of the Defence Intelligence College, said the move showed a lack of direction on the part of the Federal Government in fighting terrorism, kidnapping and other security challenges in the country.

“There is already what we call interoperability of security agencies. The army must be able to synergise with the navy and air force, while defence intelligence agencies should have access to information from the Department of State Services, and the information obtained by the National Intelligence Agency. That the NSA is saying something like this either shows ignorance of these things or is just playing to the gallery.

“We have many organs— the Joint Intelligence Board and the Intelligence Community Committee. All these agencies meet regularly on Mondays and Tuesdays. This reinforces interoperability. DIA, NIA, and DSS operatives all come to these meetings to brief, and with this, everybody now has security awareness of what is happening with each agency. Instructions are given for them to work together.

“There has always been interoperability and synergy. That is why we need to put the right person to govern that space; otherwise, they will be playing to the gallery. Why are they talking about synergy and interoperability when it already exists? There is a fusion centre at the NSA’s office. They spent billions of naira to set up that place.

“Tinubu should have got somebody who knows the job, who has worked in the system, to run the NSA. There is an intelligence fusion centre, there is a combat fusion centre, all under the NSA; there is already interoperability. I don’t know why they are saying they want to establish an Anti-Kidnapping Fusion Centre now,” Olawunmi said.

‘NSA office should be advisory not operational’ 

Also speaking with our correspondent, a security expert, Dr Kabir Adamu, said the NSA was not an operational office but an advisory one set up to coordinate the functions of security agencies. He added that the establishment of an Anti-Kidnapping Fusion Centre by the NSA would go against its mandate.

Adamu, who is the Managing Director of Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited, expressed concern that the centre, when operational, might be used by politicians to deal with perceived opposition elements.

He said, “We need to look at the mandate of the National Counter Terrorism Centre. Its mandate is to coordinate the counter-terrorism strategy being implemented by the government. So, when they now want to take up another role, even though there is an intersection between terrorism and kidnapping, both crimes are very different. The intersection is that kidnapping is used to fund terrorism. But, it is not terrorism; it is a crime. There are provisions of our law that define it for what it is. So, when that office wants to come into that area, I think it is going outside its mandate.

“I am very concerned about the increasing desire of the Office of the National Security Adviser to become operational. According to the National Security Act (2006), that office was set up to coordinate security functions from a quality point of view and to advise the government. It was never envisaged to be an operational office. The more it is operational, the more it will leave that coordinating function.

“The establishment of the Anti-Kidnapping Fusion Centre is clearly operational. Even though it will serve as a fusion centre for all the other security agencies, it will probably have a military squad or a joint task force that will be operational. In other words, it will have the capacity to track and intercept, which are operational functions. Now, the argument may be that it is going to draw from these security organisations and then it will house them, but essentially, that is being operational, and that was never envisaged when the Office of the NSA was set up.”

Adamu noted that the only way to accommodate the desire of the NSA to take up operational roles was to amend the law.

“This cannot work except we want to move in the direction of reviewing the law that established the NSA, which the current National Security Adviser attempted to do immediately after he was sworn in, but it was rejected by the National Assembly. Therefore, if this is an attempt to use the back door to operationalise that office, then we should all be concerned because that was not what the law that set up that office says.

“Yes, we need an anti-kidnap fusion centre, but should it be housed in the Office of the National Security Adviser? I think it is better housed in other operational coordination centres. For example, the DHQ, or even the Inspector General of Police, whose core mandate is to address the issue, could house it, with the policy backing, direction, and support from the Office of the NSA.

“The Office of the NSA has a strong political lineage, and if we operationalise that office, in a few years, especially when elections come and that operational arm starts dealing with opposition elements, Nigerians will be crying. So, the earlier we start opposing that, the better.”

Initiative will combat kidnapping – Expert

However, another security expert, Chigozie Ubani, shared a contrasting view, describing the move by the NSA as a step in the right direction to combat insecurity, particularly kidnapping and terrorism.

Ubani, a private security practitioner and a fellow of the Institute of Security Nigeria, said that if Nigeria was to win the fight against insecurity, the government must collaborate with other countries, especially in the area of intelligence gathering. He added that the establishment of the Anti-Kidnapping Fusion Centre would aid Nigeria’s fight against insecurity.

“With the way we are going and the way our environment is fashioned, we cannot secure our environment without top-notch technology. The world is moving towards Artificial Intelligence enablement, which means we have to brace up too. So, this is a welcome development, and we have to do everything to make sure it works.

“We cannot secure Nigeria without having adequate intelligence from other countries. We must somehow interconnect, and this interconnectivity is what we are already looking at. Let us embrace the initiative. The management team of the initiative would have considered all the options available to them and know to what extent we can protect our country,” Ubani said.

Speaking further, Ubani stressed the need for Nigeria to collaborate with other nations to fight kidnapping and other crimes, noting that abduction crimes have become a global issue.

“Kidnapping is not just a Nigerian phenomenon. There is a global connection, including the transfer of funds received as ransom, including wiring such funds to get arms and ammunition to finance terrorism, kidnapping, and banditry. So, there is a need for us to connect.

“It will be a monitoring and tracking centre where information is collated and monitored, using technology, including wiretapping. That will also keep the security agencies on their toes, because some of them who are accomplices or have been compromised will be exposed at this centre,” he said.

‘Initiative will provide synergy among security agencies’

Also speaking with our correspondent, a security expert, Oladele Fajana, said the initiative would help cement the synergy between security agencies.

He called for the arrest and prosecution of kidnappers, as well as the rescue of kidnapped victims.

Fajana said, “Kidnapping has been on the rise, because there have not been enough measures put in place to curb it. Having a coordinating agency, as the NSA is proposing, will lead to the operational efficiency of our security agencies.

“With this, there won’t be any conflict of interest. This, to me, is a welcome development, and of course, we need more arrests and prosecutions of these kidnappers, as well as rescues.”

Smile Train, LUTH amplify cleft lip caregivers’ struggles via photovoices exhibition

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Smile Train, LUTH amplify cleft lip caregivers’ struggles via photovoices exhibition

The daily ordeals and struggles faced by parents of children born with cleft and palate deformities were recently amplified through a photo-voice orofacial clefts photo exhibition organized by a Professor of Oral Pathology, Radiology, and Medicine, Azeez Butali, the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, and the international non-governmental organisation, Smile Train.

The event, which gave caregivers the opportunity to vividly share their stories, was held at the Surgical Skills Centre, LUTH, Idi-Araba, Lagos.

The exhibition, which is a product of 18 years of research, focused on mental health and also allowed the academic community to view the psychosocial impact of cleft lip and cleft palate on caregivers.

Speaking about the event, the Chief Medical Director of LUTH, Professor Wasiu Adeyemo, who was accompanied by the Provost of the College of Medicine, UNILAG, Prof. David Oke, noted that the exhibition, as seen through the stories shared by the caregivers, showcased the success stories of the cleft lip and palate section of the institution.

He assured that more would be done to improve research and standards, adding that UNILAG takes pride in being the first institution of learning in Africa to take a holistic approach to tackling cleft lip and deformed palate medical conditions.

Adeyemo said, “I am elated to see this day and the glowing faces of caregivers, who shared how the cleft caregiver’s cluster group with the support of Smile Train providing the fund, have impacted on their lives. I commend our own, Prof Ogunlewe for leading the unit and putting smiles on the faces of scores of these caregivers.

“It has been 18 years of hard work and we are at the forefront of providing solutions to cleft lip and palate in Africa, not just in surgery but in providing nutrition and speech conditioning of the child.”

On his part, Prof Butali, explained that the photovoice exhibition was a participatory research effort and that the result will be documented, as it showed the extent of stigmatisation faced by the victims.

He stated, “This is a participatory research where patients tell their stories themselves. They were trained to take pictures of what symbolises their moments, and what they go through.

“There is a picture of two kids fighting, made by a caregiver who disclosed that her husband beats her because of their child with cleft lip, and this is a case of domestic abuse.

“Another picture shows a road that is rough, which speaks of a mother who is depressed because of coping with a cleft lip child and the accompanying stigmatisation.

“We have another of the thirty photos displayed today at the exhibition that depicts a mother who is happy and relieved anytime she is in the clinic with other caregivers.

“All these inform us the researchers of the vivid impact of cleft lip medical condition on parents and caregivers, the psychosocial support given to the caregivers who are forty-three in number and the empathic support, Smile Train gives.

“We got 75 pictures in total from the photovoice; the other 45 were used for the documentary which we showed to the public.

“This photo voice is another way to tackle stigmatization and reduce it to the barest minimum. There is a picture of a bird being isolated, the woman doesn’t go out. She wakes up, makes her bed and goes back to sleep. She avoids going out because she is being stigmatized by neighbours around her.

“They just greet her from a distance and do not come near her and her child because they feel their kids will also catch the oral cleft condition. So, it’s that bad. We want to inform society and sensitise them that these people are not ‘abami’ (meaning strange persons); it’s just a birth defect and it is curable, please accept them.

“There is a young man who is in 300L at the Lagos University (Lagos State University). He was going to drop out of school two years ago before I met him because of his cleft. I had to encourage him to go back to school, I put him on a scholarship, paid his school fees and gave him N10,000 every month.

“He said he wants to do business; I gave him a start-up fund just to encourage him and keep him in school because cleft should not have prevented him from going to school. He graduated with a second-class upper grade. For me, we need to educate the society to accept them,” Butali stressed.

The Associate Head of Education and Training in Africa, Smile Train, Paul Nobi, said the Cleft Lip and Palate Care International, an NGO, established in 1999, had recorded two million patient interventions in more than 90 states where it operates globally.

He added that it had recorded 2000 patient interventions in Nigeria since 2006, providing surgery cost and sundry supports for caregivers.

He urged society not to stigmatise caregivers of cleft lip children as it is not a death sentence and that there is a cure for it.

Meanwhile, Prof Ogunlewe, who is revered as the mother and grand mum of Smile Train-sponsored Cleft Lip and Palate section of LUTH, noted that the unit takes care of victims and caregivers from infancy to the teenage period of 18 years with the NGO providing the fund.

He said, “Caring for cleft lip and palate has been a rewarding adventure for me and the intervention of Smile Train in 2006, swelled our care of patients, as we could only care for a few before now.

“We have 43 caregivers made up of two men and 41 women in our cluster unit and they have different stories. Caring for them goes beyond the surgery cost of N300,000 but providing nutrition, speech conditioning and other areas of therapy.”

The President, Association of Movie Producers, Queen Ebigieson, who was part of the dignitaries at the event, empathised with the caregivers and urged them not to relent in caring for and raising their children born with cleft lips.

She noted that there is a cure for the congenital defect and that with the partnership at the forum, there is hope.

Ebigieson advocated for a movie that would shed more light on cleft lip and palate deformity, and educate society on the need to embrace the caregivers and not stigmatise them.

The caregivers, who turned out in their numbers shared a myriad of sad experiences, basically on how they almost abandoned their children with cleft condition but for the intervention of Smile Train and LUTH.

One of them, Adebayo Farida, who was in tears, recalled how she discovered that her two-year-old daughter had a cleft lip medical condition and a hole in the heart.

She recalled being told about the Smile Train patient intervention in LUTH and pleaded for help as she had been turned down many times by other organisations.

Biden condemns shooting at Trump rally, says no place for violence

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Biden condemns shooting at Trump rally, says no place for violence

President Joe Biden has issued a statement following the shooting incident at former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

The disturbance, which occurred as Trump began his final rally before the Republican party convention, led to the former president being rushed off stage by Secret Service agents.

“I have been briefed on the shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania. I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well. I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information,” Biden said via X on Sunday..

The incident unfolded dramatically, with witnesses reporting a series of loud bangs that sounded like gunshots. Trump was seen with blood on his right ear as security personnel surrounded him and quickly escorted him off the stage. The Secret Service later confirmed that the “former President is safe.”

John Yeykal, an attendee from Franklin, Pennsylvania, described the scene stating, “We saw a lot of people go down, looking confused. I heard the shots, it sounded like between firecrackers and a small caliber handgun.”

In his statement, President Biden expressed gratitude to the Secret Service for their swift action in ensuring Trump’s safety. He also took the opportunity to call for national unity in the face of such violence.

“Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it,” Biden stated.

The incident has been declared an active crime scene, with Secret Service officers ordering reporters to leave the area.

Suspected shooter at Trump rally dead

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Suspected shooter at Trump rally dead

The suspected shooter who wounded Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally is dead, US media reported Saturday.

One bystander was also said to have died.

“Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said two people are dead, including an apparent shooter,” The Washington Post reported.

ABC News cited Goldinger as saying a second bystander may also have been hit.

AFP

Details later…

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Low voter turnout mars Adamawa LG poll

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Low voter turnout mars Adamawa LG poll

The Adamawa State local government election conducted on Saturday by the State Independent Electoral Commission.

Some of the polling units visited by our correspondent around noon had no single vote cast in those units.

The Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, cast his vote in Kirchinga Ward Unit 001 in his hometown, Madagali Local Government Area.

The governor, who expressed confidence in the commission over the conduct of the poll, said he was satisfied with the turnout he witnessed.

He said the electoral body had exhibited fairness in the conduct of the poll.

When our correspondent visited Sengere Primary School, which housed six polling units, only Unit 008, Korfa Wakili, was manned by electoral officials.

The presiding officer, Sadatu Vangu, said the unit had yet to see a voter since they resumed at about 8:25 am.

Children took over the election venue, playing football, to the admiration of some of the security agents who were on the ground to provide security.

Party agents, including those of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, were also not on the ground.

At Polling Unit 023 Gerie 1, Sengere, Uniot 1, only two electoral officials were seen with empty ballot boxes.

The presiding officer, Michael Musa, said they were still waiting for voters to come out and vote.

The two leading opposition parties in the state; the All Progressives Congress and Social Democratic Party, boycotted the election, describing it as a shame and mockery of democracy.

However, the police directive on movement restriction was not effective as the popular grain market in Gerie Local Government Area was filled with sellers and buyers.

Constitutional amendment needed to strengthen LG autonomy – Abia PDP

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Constitutional amendment needed to strengthen LG autonomy – Abia PDP

The Abia State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has said that there is the need for constitutional amendment to ensure local government autonomy.

It therefore called on the Presidency to submit an executive bill to the National Assembly to that effect.

This followed the judgment of the Supreme Court granting local government autonomy.

The Abia PDP Vice Chairman and Acting State Publicity Secretary, Abraham Amah, made this known in a statement shared with According Online on Saturday.

The statement partly read, “We commend the Supreme Court for laying to rest the longstanding issue of local government autonomy, and we wholeheartedly support this significant development.

“To further strengthen this autonomy and free local governments from undue political influence, we urge the Presidency to swiftly submit an executive bill to the National Assembly for a constitutional amendment reflecting the autonomy of local governments.

“This proposed constitutional revision should include measures such as dissolving the current Local Government Service Commissions and establishing bodies at the local council level to manage employees and guarantee their pensions through a well-structured contributory scheme.

“The bill should also support the direct allocation of federal funds to local governments, bypassing the Joint Allocation Account Committee, and ensure governors do not interfere with these funds.”

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