Television Nigerian

In an effort to achieve a second term, President Bola Tinubu sent envoys to the UK to negotiate the early release of Ike Ekweremadu, a former deputy Senate president who was given a nine-year prison sentence for organ harvesting by a British court in 2023.

Mr. Tinubu seems to be treading carefully while looking for fresh alliances to bolster his reelection effort in light of opposition forces from various parties uniting under the ADC coalition ahead of the 2027 elections and U.S. President Donald Trump’s reiterated accusations of Christian genocide.
Even though the organ trafficker has only completed three years of the nine years and eight months sentence, Mr. Tinubu’s administration announced on Monday that Yusuf Tuggar, the minister of foreign affairs, and Lateef Fagbemi, the attorney general of the federation, had arrived in the UK to negotiate Mr. Ekweremadu’s release.

The former legislator was found guilty of enticing a 21-year-old Nigerian to travel to the UK in order to give his kidney for Sonia Ekweremadu, the politician’s sick daughter. The individual told the Metropolitan Police that he had no idea that his organ would be harvested and that he had simply been offered a job. For conspiring to remove the 21-year-old’s organ without his permission, Mr. Ekweremadu and his spouse were found guilty and given prison sentences in the UK.

The timing of the envoy comes weeks after Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the ruling All Progressives Congress, signalling that full politicking for the 2027 polls is now underway.

Mr Tinubu, until now, seemed indifferent to Mr Ekweremadu’s ordeal since 2022, when he was seriously campaigning for the presidency up until the then-legislator’s conviction and sentencing in March 2023, when he became president-elect, soaking in the spoils of his triumph.

However, his recent interest in securing Mr Ekweremadu’s release ahead of time, less than 15 months before the 2027 Nigerian elections, has ignited debates that the president is plotting his winning strategy by wooing voters in the South-East. The move also sparked conversations that he might be more scared of losing his re-election bid than he is letting on.

As a presidential candidate in 2023, Mr Tinubu could only poll a sour 4,772 votes in Enugu. The convicted and currently incarcerated Mr Ekweremadu is from Enugu.

Mr Tinubu had the fewest votes from the South-East, a stronghold for his Labour Party rival, Peter Obi, in the 2023 presidential election. Mr Obi was ahead of Mr Tinubu by hundreds of thousands of votes in the geopolitical zone.

At issue again was the years-long detention of Nnamdi Kanu, headpin of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, accused of treason for advocating the secession of the South-East from Nigeria.

Mr Tinubu is largely unpopular in the South-East, and securing Mr Ekweremadu’s release might be his ticket to gaining the region’s favour.

Experts are warning of an impending public health disaster due to the widespread use of hazardous chemicals like formalin and sniper to preserve food items, while Nigerians struggle with growing food prices and economic hardship.

What started out as isolated cases have now grown into a national issue, raising concerns among medical professionals and drawing fresh attention from the House of Representatives, which recently started an investigation into the risky practice.

In separate interviews with stakeholders cautioned that in the absence of strong political will, the investigation might become just another well-meaning investigation that fails to bring about change. A

The experts agreed that Ni­geria’s food safety crisis persists largely because of weak insti­tutional coordination. Multiple agencies — including NAFDAC, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and the Quaran­tine Service — share overlapping responsibilities.

Adebowale Onafowora, Man­aging Director of BIC Farms Concept, described the issue as a long-running public health failure sustained by greed, igno­rance, and infrastructure decay.

“The use of unapproved chemicals like formalin and snipers is disturbingly wide­spread. The primary driver is economic greed— traders want to minimise losses and max­imise profit, even if it means poisoning consumers.”

He said that lack of cold chain infrastructure — such as constant electricity, refrigerated trucks, and cold storage — forc­es many traders to turn to chem­ical alternatives.

“When refrigeration fails, formalin becomes the ‘guaran­teed’ preservative,” Onafowora lamented.

He also blamed ignorance among small-scale traders who may not fully understand the health consequences.

“Many handlers just use what they’ve been told works. They buy these substances from unregulated chemical markets without any knowl­edge of their toxicity. There’s a total failure of post-market surveillance.

“NAFDAC is strong on paper, but the real contamina­tion happens at open markets, slaughter slabs, and distribution hubs. That’s where monitoring collapses.”

Prince Oyewumi Oyedele Oyetunde, Editor-in-Chief, Farmers Choice Magazine, de­scribed the situation as alarm­ing, stressing that reports of vendors and importers using hazardous chemicals to prolong the shelf life of frozen chicken, fish, and meat have become widespread.

“The use of toxic chemicals like formalin and sniper for preserving frozen foods is a concerning issue in Nigeria’s food supply chain. While the exact extent of this practice is difficult to determine, recent investigations suggest it’s a sig­nificant problem.

“These substances are cheap and effective, so trad­ers see them as a shortcut to prevent spoilage,” Adewale Adeoye, Executive Director of Journalist for Democratic Rights (JODER), said that the House has done the right thing theoretically but in reality, there are fears that the probe may amount to nothing given the experiences of Nigerians with past probes.

“This is not just a matter for the National Assembly alone, states houses of assembly and state health commissioners should be concerned. People in millions are being exposed to death through cancer. When you visit any market in Nigeria, the usage of sniper as preservatives is not hidden.

“Most appointments into these agencies are political, not professional. Without technical expertise and the right manpow­er, these institutions can’t per­form effectively. What we need is not just a probe, but a national emergency declaration on food safety.”

Shakin Agbayewa, the Deputy Chairman, All Farm­ers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), said that the crisis boils down to greed and com­promise — from traders to en­forcement officers.

“Cutting corners has become the norm. Everyone wants to make money fast, even at the expense of public health.”

He accused border and port officials of aiding the importa­tion of tainted frozen foods.

“How do these products leave our borders and find their way into city markets? Somebody is looking the other way. Smug­gling thrives because some offi­cers are compromised.”

Agbayewa believes agen­cies like SON and NAFDAC need to move beyond their offices and engage directly with associations, traders, and processors.

“Their sensitisation pro­grammes are too low. They should go into markets, speak to associations, and teach farmers and importers about safe preser­vation practices,” he said.

The experts are of the opin­ion that tackling the problem re­quires a multi-layered approach involving stricter enforcement, public education, and invest­ment in technology.

Oyewumi thereby recom­mended increased inspections, stiffer penalties, and public awareness campaigns to edu­cate consumers about the risks of toxic preservatives.

He also urged collaboration between agencies and industry groups to enhance supply chain transparency.

Onafowora also called for the deployment of mobile test kits at major markets, creation of food safety courts for swift pros­ecution, and chemical blacklist­ing to prevent the importation of substances like formalin and Dichlorvos.

Agbayewa, on his part, stressed the need for massive sensitisation campaigns and modern cold chain solutions.

“If our traders have reliable cold storage, they won’t need to use poison to preserve food,” he said.

For Adeoye, we have seen many probes fade into silence. What we need now is enforce­ment — visible, consistent, and uncompromising.

The Presidency recently declared that Nigeria is “blessed” with a president committed to ending insecurity, but many Nigerians have expressed frustration, accusing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration of relying on words rather than action to tackle the nation’s deepening security crisis.

In a statement by Sunday Dare, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Tinubu was described as a leader embodying religious harmony and commitment to peace and development. Dare praised the president’s dedication to partnerships and collaboration in addressing national challenges.

However, critics say such pronouncements have become a familiar routine in Nigerian politics — lofty rhetoric without tangible results. Despite repeated assurances, banditry, kidnapping, and insurgent attacks continue to claim lives across the country, from the North-West to the Middle Belt.

“Every administration promises to end insecurity with words, but Nigerians are tired of speeches,” said a political analyst in Abuja. “The government must show results, not repeat statements of commitment. The people want to feel safe, not hear slogans.”

In recent weeks, several attacks have been recorded in Kogi, Zamfara, and Plateau states, leaving many dead and dozens kidnapped. Security experts argue that without strategic reforms in intelligence gathering, community policing, and accountability within the armed forces, no amount of presidential statements will end terrorism or violent crime.

The Presidency’s remarks were also in reaction to the United States’ designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” over alleged religious persecution. Rather than addressing the root causes of insecurity, critics argue that the administration appears more focused on defending its image internationally than protecting its citizens.

While the Presidency insists that President Tinubu is working tirelessly to restore peace and unity, many Nigerians believe the government’s actions have yet to match its promises. For now, the fight against insecurity appears to remain more in the realm of words than results — and citizens are demanding real change, not rhetoric.