Tag: Francis Ewherido

Ponzi schemes: Our mumu never do? – By Francis Ewherido

In 1980 or 1981, I learnt a very important lesson that shaped my life. My father had given me “pocket money” and money for provisions for the new term. My brother, Ufuoma, escorted me to Igbudu Market, Warri, Delta State, to buy provisions. When we got to the market, we saw women doing “try your luck” (amateur gambling). Then greed got the better of me. I thought that I could double my provision money and buy more provisions. I decided to stake N1, then N2… (N1 could buy you five tins of sardine at 20k each then). Then Ufuoma noticed that the women were manipulating the table to ensure that I lost each round. He became insistent that we should leave. I would plead with him to allow me one more time. We were conversing in Urhobo and the women understood. They would manipulate the table to ensure I won the next time. I would tell Ufuoma to allow me continue because I was winning. I wanted to win back the money I lost. Then I would go on a losing streak, then win intermittently. It continued until I had N2 left. We left and walked home. I almost died of hunger that term.

But the experience was a blessing in disguise. Even as a young teenager, I saw the danger of greed. Forty-five years later, I have never gambled again. Then I learnt that greed is not enough to stop you from being scammed. Desperation can also make you vulnerable to scammers. So, you need to cure yourself of desperation. Later in life I started reading books on personal finance and financial literacy. I learnt that you should not put your money in any business you do not understand. You must acquire the knowledge of how the business operates and generates money or you get your fingers burnt. Acquiring the knowledge is no guarantee that it must be successful all the time, but it increases your probability of succeeding. A life devoid of greed, desperation and having knowledge of what you are investing in is a sure way of avoiding being scammed.

Why I am going into this long introduction. You must have read about the latest collapse of a Ponzi scheme in Nigeria called CBEX, a digital trading platform with a Nigerian affiliate called Smart Treasure, which started from Ibadan. Last weekend, people who invested in the scheme could no longer access the platform or do transactions. In all depositors have allegedly lost 1.3trillion (about $847m)! Now, let us examine the three ways I have applied to stay safe since 1981. One, zero greed. I wiped greed out of my life after that my experience. I was greedy; that’s why those women at Igbudu Market scammed me. If you are not greedy, you make it very difficult for anybody to dupe you. The highest genuine returns on investments in Nigeria that I know are between 14 per cent to 20 per cent. These are the usual ROI (returns on investment). Of course, there are exceptional cases where people make more money. Someone bought a property. Less than a year later, someone who needed the property urgently offered almost double the amount he paid for the property. Of course, he sold it.

Investors buy stocks and a short while later, something occurs and the stock price skyrockets. But these are not every day cases. In the case of most Ponzi schemes, they promise investors 100 per cent returns within a month. How is that possible? One hundred per cent ROI within a month? Which business is the company doing with your money? It doesn’t make sense. Don’t you ask questions, investigate or use common sense? Only greedy, desperate or dumb people put their money in such investments.

Two, desperation. Many people are desperate to make quick money without regards for money making principles that have endured over time. Some people blame their desperation on the current hardship. I beg to disagree sir/ma. Some people have always been desperate to make quick money. This is not the first Ponzi schemes in Nigeria. There have been probably over a 100 Ponzi schemes in Nigeria in the last decade. Some, like MMM, were popular while some were less popular. Either way, Nigerians lost billions of Nigeria due to greed, desperation and ignorance. Tomorrow, another Ponzi scheme will crop up and people will invest and lose their hard earned money again.

I learnt that CBEX originated in China, but you cannot rule out Nigerian collaborators. Who rented the office in Ibadan? And it looks like the CBEX people are not done with their “investors” They have told investors to pay between $100 and $200 to verify their names on the platform so that payment can commence. These guys are blood-sucking demons. I learnt another valuable lesson from a friend: Cut your losses and know when to do so.

Three, education. Before investing your money in any business, you should learn about what you are investing your money in, and if you are investing through third parties, understand their business. I remember when I wanted to start investing in stocks, I spent money attending seminars where I was taught technical and fundamental analyses of stocks. When the stock market collapsed, like many other Nigerians, I lost money but it was not necessarily due to lack of knowledge. I remember some stocks I avoided because of my knowledge of stock analysis. One was a company that was into confectionary then. Their bread was good and my family favourite. Then I noticed a gradual depreciation in their service delivery. When their shares were listed in the stock exchange, it rose to N3.50. I avoided it like a plague. The share dropped to 50k before the company was eventually delisted from the stock exchange. There are other stocks like that I avoided because of my knowledge of stock analysis then.

Now, who are the owners and directors of CBEX? They are not yet known. All we have heard is that CBEX is from China. Yet people entrusted CBEX with thousands of dollars. Some people sold houses and other assets to invest. No now! It doesn’t make sense. In the past, even some microfinance banks and finance houses of owners and directors we knew packed up and people lost billions of naira, not to talk of Ponzi schemes with faceless promoters. Wise up.

In the meantime, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has assured the investors that the commission will help them recover their money. It said it is already on the matter. It has spread its dragnet. That would be great, but my worry is that is the money still there? The way Ponzi schemes like this work is that they scarcely do any trading. They rely on new “investors” to subscribe. They use the money to pay those whose payments are due. They continue with the false narrative of trading until they drag enough “investors” and cash into their dragnet. They cash out and the platform collapses, leaving investors weeping and gnashing their teeth, while some commit suicide or die of heart attack and stroke. I hope EFCC will deliver as it promised.

April 19, 2025
My take on the Lagos-Calabar expressway – By Francis Ewherido

I had written this article when the controversy started over the award of the contract for the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Highway and decided to archive it. Since the controversy seems to be unending, here is my take. It is from three perspectives: as a Niger Deltan, a Lagosian and a Nigerian. I have been hearing of the proposed expressway for a while, but it really came into my consciousness around 2009. Someone I considered as a friend, no, “brother,” approached me with the idea of buying acres of land to build an estate near the proposed Lagos-Calabar Expressway. I did not bother with due diligence because beyond the closeness, he is a lawyer and property owner in Lagos. I felt secured enough. He introduced us (there was another subscriber) to a property agent he claimed had an enormous reputation for buying large portions of land for oil company and multinational workers and cooperatives, etc. We went to see the land and areas marked for the expressway. “From here, three hours we don reach Delta through Koko,” he told me. For someone who prefers travelling from Lagos to Delta State y road, that was music to my ears.

They showed us the survey plan of the land and we made payments. At some point, the initiator (lawyer) who introduced us to the agent suddenly pulled out of the deal, citing insults from another subscriber due to his (lawyer) inability to meet up with his own payment. The rest of us had already put our money in the transaction. We paid for survey for each plot and were at the point of meeting the baale of the village. A health challenge came up and I could not follow up immediately. By the time I was ready, the phone numbers of the agent were off. I drove to his office in Lagos Island. A major online sales company had taken over his office space. I went online. Nothing came up in my search.

I sent all the documents I had through another lawyer to Alausa, Ikeja, for verification. They were all fake. I checked all the evidence of the transactions in my possession. They all bore the agent’s name. “To ensure transparency,” our go-between “as a lawyer” had advised us to do everything directly with the agent who had vanished into thin air till date. There was nothing linking the lawyer with the transactions. We lost our investment and the dream of a massive appreciation in value of our property in future. He lost nothing because his name means nothing to him. Left in the lurch, I went home licking my wounds. I suspect a collusion between him and the agent looking back now. Anyway, I am sharing my experience to warn people going into investment in properties that scammers abound. You can’t be too careful.

But my personal loss did not diminish my interest in this project. When former President Goodluck Jonathan became head of state, I thought he would prioritise the construction of this road, especially since the Niger Delta, where the bulk of the wealth of Nigeria comes from, stands to benefit substantially from the construction of this road. I was very disappointed that he did nothing about the road in his five years as president. I count that as a major failing of his presidency. The road is important to the oil producing states in Nigeria: Rivers, Delta, Edo, Cross Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa State and Ondo States.

Moreover, it is a major alternate route from Lagos to the Niger Delta. To date it is shocking that there is only one route from Lagos to the Niger Delta, more so when this route is shared with the heavy vehicular traffic going to the East. Once there is a problem with that road, everybody is stuck. I remember once when we travelled from Houston to Boerne in the US. We used the main expressway. On our way back, Google Map took us through another route. Until we got to the gate of the house, we never used any of the roads we took to Boerne. I was blown away. We are way behind in terms of road and rail infrastructure. In fact, transportation infrastructure generationally, but the coastal road is a step in the right direction.

That is why I am in full support of the Tinubu administration’s efforts to transform the transportation sector. Our roads, railways and air transportation need serious upgrade. The coastal road is part of the works going on in our roads today. If you travel abroad, you will be shocked how far behind we are, but I always tell people that “na when you wake up be your morning.” Better late than never, but we must hasten up. All state governments also need to develop the transport infrastructure in their states.

It is shocking that work is just starting on a road that was conceived 50 years. It was not as if the road was conceived for the future. The Lagos to Benin road has been the only road linking the Niger Delta and Eastern Nigeria to Western Nigeria from time, so construction of this road should have started shortly after its conception. I know the commencement of the road has been shrouded in controversy. Prominent and some other Nigerians have criticised the cost of the road project. The most recent criticism came from former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, in one of his latest books to mark his 88th birthday. I do not have the knowledge of how much it would cost to construct such a coastal road, so I leave that for experts. Others said it did not follow due process. They should tackle the Minister of Works, Sen David Umahi, on that. Government should adequately compensate those whose properties were affected.

The road is for the general good. It will open up the coastal areas of Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom. These coasts have many beaches, so I see an explosion in tourism and other economic activities. I salivate because the explosion in economic activities will be unbelievable. The coastal road key to unlocking a multi-billion-naira economy. It will create thousands of jobs in these states, thus reducing unemployment and crime. While crime remains a condemnable act, some of the youngsters currently involved in criminal activities will refrain from crime if they are involved in legit economic activities.

Critics also argue that the route of the Lagos part of the coastal road is primarily for the benefit of the Eko Atlantic City, which is a brainchild of the president when he was Lagos State Governor. I will not dispute it, but the Lekki axis needs this road. The government was short-sighted in having only one major road linking Victoria Island to Lekki. There ought to have been three major roads ab initio. The Lagos axis of the coastal road will ease the suffocating traffic in Lekki. Whatever shortcomings there are, the coastal road is a game changer. Whatever issues should be resolved. You don’t throw away a baby with the bath water. I am a long-time and strong advocate. I am all for it.

Francis Ewherido is a Newsguru Columnist

April 3, 2025
“You are a wicked mother” – By Francis Ewherido

“What kind of child is you (sic),” the mother asked the daughter who refused to accede to her request.” When the mother insisted on the daughter doing what she considered inappropriate, she fought back: “What kind of mother are you? You are a very wicked mother.”

Some of us would have been shocked, horrified and lost for words to describe a video that trended last week on TikTok and other social media platforms. A content creator accosted a mother and her daughter walking on the street. The content creator told the woman to tell her daughter to kiss his friend for N100,000. Initially, mother and daughter were taken aback by such an unusual and brazen request. Then they realized that the content creator was serious when he brought out the N100,000. Mother’s and daughter’s reactions differed: The devil called greed took over the mother. She urged the daughter to go ahead and kiss a total stranger. Initially, she thought her mother was joking. Then she was mortified when she realized her mother was serious. She vowed she would never accede to her mother’s request. The mother threw herself on the ground. She tried to force the daughter, but she stood her ground.

At a point the daughter even threatened to hit the mother. It was that bad. The content creator asked the mother if she could do it. She said no, but it was okay for the daughter to do it because she(mother) needed the N100,000. Though she claimed that her refusal to do it “is because I am an old woman,” I bet you that this woman would have done it effortlessly where she alone. She even went on to say that her older daughter would have done it for her. So the older daughter is a “good and obedient child,” while the one in the video is a “useless and disobedient” child. These are the parameters with which some parents are raising their children. The deviants in the society are the “good children,” while the ones with morals are laggards. But that is serious demarketing for the older daughter because people who know her will probably now see her differently because of her mother’s desperation and careless talk.

I was not really shocked by the moral debasement of the woman. I know some mothers and parents do worse things. Three weeks ago, we talked about parents who sell their assets to send their children abroad to do prostitution and parents who buy phones and laptops for their children to do internet fraud. If some parents have their way they will use their children for money rituals. Parents have been reported to sell their own biological children. So what this woman did is not the most heinous of acts. It’s only graphic because it was it was caught on camera. It’s more like the thief who was caught in the act, whereas many other thieves have stolen and got away scot free.

But what happened buttresses my argument that the rot in our society today was not caused by government only. In fact, it starts from the home front. But there is also something very gratifying. Even if some people are raised by parents with defective morals, they don’t necessarily follow their parents’ footsteps. People can chart a different path for themselves. There is a common saying that the “apple does not fall far from the tree,” which is another way of saying that “like mother like daughter.” But thank God not all trees are apples. Some fruits actually fall further from the trees that bore them. That is what this young lady did. She is certainly not an apple fruit, maybe the elder sister the mother mentioned is.

May greed not direct the way we live our lives. The woman said she gets N200,000 monthly from her husband who apparently does not live under the same roof with her. She also does cleaning jobs to supplement the income from her husband, so she probably earns more than three times the N70,000 minimum wage, which many Nigerians earn. It is still a small amount compared to the cost of living, but there are women who get far less every month who will not do the obnoxious thing she did.

My second reaction today is a sordid video in a school. The female student was in the class with some male students (I am sorry; I don’t want to watch the video again to get the accurate number). I do not know what transpired earlier but the male student is apparently a bully. I know them when I see them because I was in school with some of them in primary and secondary school. They are not satisfied until they beat or humiliate their victim. The male student was apparently the aggressor because he went to where the female student was standing. He squared up to her with their bodies touching. It can be interpreted to squaring up for a fight or he wanted the girl’s breasts to touch him. Boys at that age do it for naughty reasons.

A fight broke out with all the male students watching. He slammed the female student to the floor. For a moment, my heart skipped when she lay still before pulling down her uniform to cover her undies which were exposed when she was slammed to the ground. The male students all cheered. Mission accomplished. She has been humiliated and the icing on the cake was seeing her undies. As I watched, so many thoughts and emotions flooded my mind. If she were my daughter…., let me leave it there. This is a public space. Two, schools have to duty of care to your children in their care. Ensure the school understands this duty before you put enrol your children. Three, the girl child and children with disabilities are vulnerable in school. Teach them to be comfortable with who they are; also teach them to be confident and fight for their rights. But they, as expected of all children, should be well mannered. Four, when they are in danger, they should get help quickly instead of endangering their lives. A dead child is gone forever. No matter the punishment meted to the offender, your child is gone forever. Five, teachers should show good example and be role models to the children under their care. Recently, two male teachers in Delta State engaged in a fight-to-death in front of students. What nonsense is that?

To parents, stop rearing future wife beaters. Husbands, if you are tired of your wife, divorce/separation is more honourable than beating her. Your wife/spouse is not a punching bag. Marriage is meant to be enjoyed, not endured. Be role models to your sons. Mothers, stop treating your sons as if they are superior to their female siblings. Mothers are a major part of this problem. Junior will not wash his plates after eating. The sisters have to do it. He will not participate in domestic chores. At the end, you breed monsters and release them into the society. Parents should give good home training to be their male and female children.

NB: I reacted to the videos on the ground that they are real, not fiction.

March 29, 2025
Lamentations of a Youth Corps Member – By Francis Ewherido

I wrote this article on Monday, but more recent events, notably the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, have overshadowed this matter. Nigeria is a real movie scene. Anyhow, ogoro (frog) must jump, so here we go.

I took time to listen to the TikTok video, where an NYSC member and content creator, Ushie Rita Uguamaye, called President Bola Tinubu a terrible president. Other people have used similar words/phrases or worse to describe the president.

For me, it is no big deal. Former President Goodluck Jonathan once lamented that he is the most abused president. Criticisms, like praise singing, come with the position. Anyone who is libeled or slandered should go to court. The Nigerian State should deal with treasonable offences.

I bet that this video would not have trended so much if NYSC, initially, and some of the president’s aides had not gone into an overdrive. The alleged threats and pressure from NYSC were not necessary.

There are basically two issues here. Did she bring the NYSC to disrepute? I do not think so. Was she partisan by criticizing the president? She was not partisan or political.

Like many Gen Zs, she was only expressing her frustration about the economic situation in Nigeria. The economic situation is no news to any Nigerian. Even President Tinubu acknowledges it, the last time being when he met with Catholic bishops last week.

What NYSC inadvertently has done is to make the young lady trend and boost her career as a content creator. Many Gen Zs express their frustrations privately. The only difference here is that she went public.

The video has now been politicized. Opposition figures and people in government are taking sides with or against her.

I took time to watch the video and these are my personal thoughts.

The NYSC went out trying to kill a fly with a sledge hammer. At best a caution from NYSC to the young lady to exercise her constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression with care should have sufficed.

I am not totally satisfied with the Tinubu government handling of the economy, but I will not describe him as a “terrible president” as far as the economy is concerned.

Two main factors are at the bottom of our current economic challenges: the floating of the naira and the removal of the fuel subsidy.

No matter who emerged president in 2023, these two policy changes would have been made and they would have caused some hardships.

Would other presidential candidates have handled the outcomes of the hardship better? I don’t know because it is opportunity cost, as they say in economics?

My grouse with this government is that more groundwork should have been made on how to cushion the effects of the hardships before the introduction of the policies, and more still needs to be done.

Many Nigerians are suffering.

But I cannot deny that these were courageous decisions. I have been following Nigerian politics ardently since 1980. Fuel subsidy had been an issue before then. Gen. Murtala Mohammed, a very courageous head of state, did not remove it. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, who succeeded him, down to Muhammadu Buhari who handed over to Tinubu chickened out of removing the subsidy. All through the years, the best they all could do was fuel price increase some of which were met with stiff opposition.

Tinubu’s predecessors knew of the backlash and chickened out. So, if a Gen Z calls him a terrible president, I understand. Even the NYSC staff feel the hardship. It’s just that they cannot talk. But the fuel subsidy removal is not all gloom. Now, we are self-sufficient in petroleum products. For the first time, we are exporting petroleum products. I don’t know the last time we exported finished petroleum products before now. Another wonderful thing about the end of fuel subsidy is that the massive corruption that came with it has either ended or been reduced.

The floating of the naira is the other policy that led to the sudden increase in prices and attendant cost of living. The multiple exchange rates regime was unacceptable. Like the subsidy era, some people made billions by doing very little while millions of Nigerians were slaving and barely eking out a living. I am no economist. The economist should continue to speak out on measures the government needs to take to ease the economic hardship on majority of Nigerians.

Ushie talked about other issues in her video. She said Lagos is smelly and “whole of Lagos stinks.” Not all parts of Lagos stink, but I am one of those who feel the current Lagos State government needs to be more consistent and deliberate about making Lagos clean.

I have written a few articles on it. I also complained about street lights in many parts of Lagos that are not functioning.

But, young lady, you cannot blame the current state of Lagos on Tinubu. He left as governor since 2007. Mr. Babajide Sanwo Olu is the current Governor of Lagos. Urge him to pay more attention to cleanliness and hygiene of Lagos as he is doing with road infrastructure.

That said, many Lagosians also have many dirty habits. Every Lagosian should keep his corner clean. Government alone cannot keep Lagos clean.

Another major headache is the influx of other Nigerians and Africans into Lagos. They are swelling the population of homeless people in Lagos. They sleep under flyovers and other public spaces, and defecate in open places. It is a big public nuisance.

I will devote the rest of the article to the young lady. You complained about Uber fares. What is a corper doing with Uber? Unless you are from a rich home or you make a lot of money from content creation or other sources, you have no business using Uber as a means of transport. Don’t blame Tinubu for that.

You also said you went to the supermarket to buy eggs. Please locate and patronage the local market closest to you. Food items are much cheaper there. Always look out for ways to get stuff at a cheaper rate.

I was driving past a petrol station recently. There was a long queue. I was wondering if fuel scarcity had returned, but my wife told me that their fuel is cheaper by N50 per litre. All kinds of expensive vehicles were in the queue. They will save between N2,000 to N4,000 buying cheaper fuel. For them bargain hunting is a habit, a way of life. It was a Saturday. The same person can go to the club later to watch a soccer match and spend N50,000 on drinks and food or donate N200,000 in church on Sunday.

Don’t also blame Tinubu for the N20,000 you spend on data weekly. You are not just a youth corp member but a content creator. I guess content creation is responsible for your heavy usage of data.

Therefore, content creation should pay for it. Thank God you already have a means of livelihood and don’t have to pound the streets looking for a job after youth service.

You were also crying about electricity bills. What kind of electrical appliances are you using? With a pre-paid meter, you control your electricity usage. You talked about having or co-sharing a security guard. You are certainly not a usual corper. You complained about people living fake lives in Lagos. Aha! I have an idea where you live in Lagos. That part where someone driving a N50m vehicle lives in a rented boys’ quarters; where someone driving a N20m car is homeless and sleeps in his car. Be careful the company you keep there.

As you move on in life, there are three essential skills you must master. They are living within your means, delayed gratification and bargain hunting.

I did my service in 1988/89. A 12.5-cylinder gas was N8 near us, but N5 at the gas plant in town. Since the Rivers State Government buses were free for corpers, we would walk kilometres to Port Harcourt-Aba Road to get a bus to refill at the gas plant thus saving N3. That was partly how we lived within our N125 or N150 monthly allowance. I saved between N700 to N800 with which I started life after youth service because my father died when I was writing my degree exams.

I know this is Gen Z, but living within your means, delayed gratification and bargain hunting, amongst others are just as important now as they were at the start of humanity.

March 22, 2025
Beautiful wife wahala – By Francis Ewherido

Many men desire to marry a beautiful woman. Why not? But they say beauty is contextual and in the eyes of the beholder. True, but some are very clear. There is nothing like “contextual” and “in the eyes of the beholder.” My 97-year-old aunt, my father’s cousin, Mama Theresa Dafiaghor, was one of such beauties. As far back as 1970, when I was a little boy, I knew Mama Theresa was stunningly beautiful. Until she died last December, she remained a beauty to behold. In fact, I was teasing Julie, her daughter, the last time I saw Mama Theresa that we needed to give her out in marriage again and collect fresh bride price.

However, marrying a beautiful woman goes with concomitant wahala (trouble). Other men can’t take their eyes off her. She looks like a public property in their eyes. Every man wants to have a piece of her. I had an older friend. His wife was a stay-at-home wife. She kept piling pressure on the husband that she wanted to do business. Her business interest fell on one of my line of businesses then. The husband called me and told me to partner with her. I readily agreed because it meant the husband would use his influence to get us more businesses. But I did not bargain for the pressure that would come with it. The first day we went out, all eyes were on her. I got curious and looked back at every man who passed as we walked on the road. They always turned back to look at her. She is very beautiful, attractive and glows. I guess glowing added to the attention she got. This continued and at a point I started getting apprehensive. I prayed that there should be no incident because I felt an obligation to protect her. The husband entrusted her to me and I felt I had a duty to defend her. At the same time, I did not want to put myself in harm’s way. How does this man cope with so many men ogling at his wife, I wondered!

On one particular day, she rushed into my reception and hid in my office: “This man dey pursue me since,” she blurted out as she was rushing into my office. Shortly after, a sturdy man came in. He was short and well built. He pretended to be inspecting our products on display. I looked at his shoes, belt, trousers and shirt and I said to myself that this man is very rich. We catered for middle level working class people then, not his type. When he was leaving, I followed him outside. He came with the latest Mercedes Benz coupe. After he left, our security guard gave me a complimentary card he left for my friend’s wife. I warned her to destroy the card at once and not even look at it. From what she told me. The man saw her in traffic at Ikoyi and pursued her all the way to Obanikoro. For those who live in Lagos, on a good day when traffic is free, that is like a 30-minute journey because Third Mainland Bridge alone is 10.8 kilometers. On a bad day, that distance can take three hours to cover. Anyway, when our business collaboration ended, I was relieved, but I kept wondering how my friend was coping. Men could never get their eyes off her throughout.

That was before I got married. For someone who liked beautiful women from an early age, it was inevitable I would get married to one. I have had my own baptism of fire since after marriage. I shared the same office building but different offices with my wife for over 20 years. Some men came as clients, but their target was my wife. Patronage stopped abruptly when they didn’t get what they wanted. We worked late one day and the staff had closed. But I needed to quickly go home and attend to my children who were young then. My wife told me in Urhobo that I should not leave her alone with the client, a lawyer, who made us to work late because “his eyes are not good” and it was obvious. After that incident, my respect for him evaporated. His patronage also stopped. Some guys are very disrespectful. They have zero dick control.

I demoted someone from a friend to an acquaintance. He came visiting. As I was talking to him, I noticed that he was distracted. I decided to follow his gaze. My wife was climbing upstairs and his eyes were following her as she was climbing. That was one of the reasons why I covered my staircase. My visitors reading now know it’s not just for aesthetics. I can go on and on. I discussed another incident with someone close to me. He asked, “why didn’t you break his head?” How may heads will you break? Your business is with your wife. You expect her to be disciplined and faithful. PERIOD.

Any young man planning to marry a beautiful wife must know what he is up against. Other men will definitely be interested in your wife and make passes at her. Can your wife withstand the pressure? Will she stay faithful? Can you trust her? Is infidelity “sin against the Holy Spirit to you (I use it to depict an infraction you cannot forgive)?” You must answer these questions before you go ahead. There are other questions, but the listed ones are enough for now. I am a conservative Urhobo man with some Isoko blood. Our wives should behave the way majority of our mothers and forebears behaved.

I actually wrote this article a year ago and archived it. I never knew I would revisit it. In fact, I wanted to delete it five days ago. Then I listened to the interview of the former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe on the Akpabio/Uduaghan saga. Ogunseye said “the beauty of Distinguished Senator Natasha (Akpoti-Uduaghan) is a problem to her.” Aha! It tallies with today’s title. When this matter started, the issue was sexual harassment. But the senate came up on Monday with a statement that the issue is “gross misconduct.” The senate and the senate president have had some missteps since this matter started. As someone with some knowledge of crisis management, I will advise them to publicly zip up their mouths, retreat and do deep introspection. This column is on marriage and family, so I can’t go into details, but seeking peace is better than a pyrrhic victory or winning a battle and losing the war.

Some traducers of Senator Natasha are on the offensive. No problem, she can deal with the various issues raised against her, but I disagree with those who said that she is not beautiful, that she only seems so because she is light skinned. You can hate people but give them their flowers. As someone who could spot a beautiful woman since an early age, Senator Natasha is a very beautiful woman. I have never met her physically, but her beauty reflects in her photos and her television appearances.

March 15, 2025
Let us EndBadParenting – By Francis Ewherido

I coined this title after the EndBadGovernance protests which started on August 1, 2024. I have no problem with any protest, strike or activity towards a better Nigeria as long as we avoid unnecessary shedding of blood. Too many Nigerians have died in cold blood and it’s not good.

I have been following governments since 1980 when Alhaji Shehu Shagari was president. Were Nigeria properly governed over time, we would have been at par with India, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, etc., by now. We were at par, slightly above or below them as at 1980 when I started following governments in Nigeria and international affairs and.

Spurred by the EndBadGovernance Protest, something was on my mind: EndBadParenting campaign. But I archived the heading after writing it down because I didn’t want the article to be seen as diversionary then. I am no apologist of government neither am I perpetual critic of government. Like human beings, I believe no government is totally good or totally bad. So when I see what I like, I say it. If I see a need to criticise or proffer a solution, I do. My ultimate interest is a better Nigeria.

All the above are just preambles. The topic for discussion today is the assault on the family unit in Nigeria. They say if you want to destroy a society, destroy the family unit. I am worried about what I am seeing. I was discussing with someone close to me over the weekend. They wanted to get some young men to hire somewhere in the South West. They couldn’t get any. It’s case of water everywhere, yet none to drink. He said the young men wanted quick money. They were not interested in going through the grind.

He mentioned a particular 16-year-old teenager who wanted quick wealth. He wanted to do money ritual. He was reminded of the implication of accepting “gifts” from the devil. He said he did not care if he lived for only a year thereafter, provided he lived large for that one year. When we talk about among youths he South West, some of us think of Lagos and probably Ibadan only. But he was talking about another part of Yoruba land. I didn’t realise the problem was also widespread in the West until he started talking. The challenge of internet fraud, prostitution, kidnapping and ritual activities among youths are already major problems in my state, Delta State. Edo State is no different. In fact, their problem of prostitution dates back to the 80s and 90s when parents sold family land and houses to send their daughters to Italy to do prostitution.

The evil bug is already entrenched in the East. When I was at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the challenge was that the young men did not want to go to school. They wanted to become apprentices, learn the ropes of business, get their freedom and start making money. Apprenticeship in Igboland as a veritable means of entrepreneurship and wealth creation is acknowledged and celebrated universally. This is what some of the youths of today have turned their backs on. They are impatient to get the knowledge to acquire, sustain and protect wealth. They want the money here and now. The result is drug trafficking, internet fraud, rituals, kidnapping and other negative tendencies.

Though belated, the governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has decided to confront the problem head on by going to the root (not necessarily the root, but the root of the upsurge). These heinous activities allegedly are fuelled by fake pastors and native doctors. The fake pastors pray for them and the native doctors do charms for them before they go on operations or carry out their nefarious activities. They tell them that scanning machines and sniffer drugs at the airports will not detect the drugs they are carrying because of the pastor’s prayers or charms from the native doctors. Like others who are already in jail in Nigeria and abroad those who get involved in it will end up in jail. The naivety of these young chaps is numbing. I guess it is desperation and lack of exposure. When it comes to scanning machines, you are dealing with pure science where one plus one is two; no maybe. As for the sniffer dogs, they are so well trained that they spot drugs even if it is hidden in the anus or vagina or swallowed, so don’t be deceived.

Today, Nigeria is dealing with many problems of monumental proportion. Bad governance of many decades across the three tiers of government is largely responsible for our problems, but let us focus on the family unit today. Many parents have failed woefully in their parental responsibilities across the nation. Let us look at a typical Nigerian family. From birth to 10 years, a child lives with the parents. Even if they go to school, they come home after school. The first 10 years of a child’s life is the most important and auspicious time to lay a solid foundation on which the child’s character is laid. Subsequently, you built on that foundation. Like a building, if you do a solid foundation, you build a solid house on it. Even if there are defects as the construction goes on, you can correct the defects.

But if the foundation is defective, how can you build an enduring solid structure on it? In many of the families that have produced great children, you see a deliberate effort to bring them up properly. The parents made sacrifices. A woman who earns about N36m per annum took a one-year leave without pay just to spend more time with one of the children she suspected was going astray. Okay look at this. Another woman said she has instructed her children that if their pen is stolen in school, they should steal someone else’s own. They must not come back home to disturb her to replace the pen. There are millions of almajiris roaming the streets in the north. Who is parenting them and giving them the right values? Some time ago, some under-aged children living under the bridge in Lagos said they fled from home due to maltreatment by their fathers or stepmothers.

How do you blame government for that 16-year-old boy from Delta State who killed his own mother and slept with the corpse ritual purposes because he wanted to become rich? How do you blame government for a teenager who is involved in rape? How do you blame some of these teenagers who are internet fraudster? How do you blame government when a father bought a laptop or android phone for his son to do yahoo-yahoo?

In those days, one woman was celebrating because the daughter bought the parents an expensive item of about N500 (that was more than the father’s monthly salary). The people around rejoiced with her, but after she left, some women expressed their amazement at her for celebrating without asking where her 21-year-old daughter got the money from. Today, parents celebrate when their children without visible sources of livelihood buy cars and build houses for them. And everybody is blaming government for all the ills in the society. While blaming government, we should go and put our homes in order.

March 8, 2025
What’s the obsession with chopping off penises? – By Francis Ewherido

A wife has two businesses with the husband’s penis as far as I know: One, to get her pregnant and fulfil God’s purpose of multiplying. Two, to give her pleasure and satisfaction sometimes. I said “satisfaction sometimes” because sex is like football. Even the best players do have their off days, so satisfaction is not always guaranteed. After all wives also have their off days: “Not tonight, I am tired.” “It is not safe o!” Some wives will wear jeans trousers to bed because the husband refused to meet a demand. Some will fling off the husband’s hand because they are still sulking from a previous quarrel. And in such cases most times the man is charged for sex. Like a deflated balloon, the husband sulks or gets busy with other stuff until sleep comes. I don’t want to mention what an older friend told me he does when his wife denies him sex because I do not subscribe to it.

But there is a phenomenon that I find very worrisome: Married women chopping off or attempting to chop off their husband’s penises. It is not an entirely Nigerian phenomenon because it also happens elsewhere. It is also not a new phenomenon because my mother told me of a very turbulent and toxic marriage in the 60s. Then many bathrooms in Ughelli, Delta State, were outside, constructed with zincs used for roofing sheets. The top was always open so you knew who was having his or her bath. On this day, the wife waited until the husband had put soap in his face with eyes closed and stormed the bathroom to chop off the man’s penis. The man fought the battle of his life to save his penis and ran out with soap all over his body. The marriage continued until it finally broke up due to another reason. My surprise was how the man was able to continue with the marriage and share the same bedroom with the wife. For me, that is a deal breaker because I will never feel safe with that woman again.

What prompted this article was the policeman in Ekiti, Ondo State, whose wife cut off his penis. In retaliation, he used a machete to inflict fatal injuries on the wife. Both of them died leaving behind four young children to face an uncertain future. The source of the tragedy was accusation of infidelity, although the report did not state the accused and the guilty parties. This case is not isolated. In Benin, Edo State, a wife cut off her husband’s penis because she claimed that he was too promiscuous. Another woman did the same thing in Delta State. The case of one young bride in the north was different and more honourable. It is honourable because she could also have chopped off the husband’s penis. Rather she asked for and got a divorce within one week of marriage because the man’s penis was too big! Different strokes for different folks. There are women who crave for monster dicks.

But there are the broader issues I want us to examine without bias. One, polygamy is practiced all over Nigeria. Unless for those who took oath of fidelity in the church or civil ceremonies, you cannot grudge your husband for being with another woman. Men do not take vows of fidelity in traditional marriages. So, it is not out of place for him to be with another woman. There has to be courtship before he marries another wife. Muslim men are allowed by their religion to marry up to four wives. Please spare me the proviso of loving or treating them equally. There is no foolproof barometer to measure it. The point is, if you did only traditional marriage or you marry a Muslim, your husband can marry more wives if he so desires. So make up your mind before you go into the marriage. I don’t like people who want to shift the goalpost or change the rules midway into the match. Take it or quit.

As for those men who married in the church or court, infidelity is a breach of your oath of fidelity. But no where have I read that a wife has the license to chop off her husband’s penis if he commits adultery. It is not done. Infidelity hurts, but it should not get to the point of cutting off the offending instrument, the penis. The penis is innocent. It has no mind or brain of its own. It does what the owner thinks or directs it to do. Wives should stop hurting the innocent instrument and focus on the substance, their husbands.

Wait o, I hope some women are not interpreting Matthew 18:9 literally. “If your eye causes you to stumble and sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with only one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fiery hell.” Wives, the bible is saying your husbands should distance themselves from the sources or objects, places of temptation, not chopping off their penises. The other time, an acquaintance told me how he spent the night in the younger sister’s house because the sister and the husband were “fighting to finish.” At a point, the sister wanted to bite off the husband’s genitals. I can’t help but wonder about the irony. You want to chop off the same penis you previously enjoyed and treated tenderly. Amazing!

In my opinion, what is pushing spouses to harm their beloved spouses did not start suddenly. There are cases of built up anger and frustration that were poorly managed or overlooked. I have not seen many problems that got resolved by being ignored. Communication remains a livewire of a happy marriage. I am not talking of just communication, but empathic communication: seek first to listen and understand your spouse’s point of view. After understanding their point of view, respond accordingly. No dispute gets resolved when both spouses are talking simultaneously or one spouse is waiting for the other spouse to finish talking so that he/she can speak his/her mind. He/she neither listened nor understood what the spouse said: “talk your own, make I talk my own” attitude. Also, learn not to act on the spur of the moment. It leads to rash decisions that you will regret later.

Some people have uncontrollable anger. They are not fit to marry. Marriage was not smooth for many of them who strayed into it. Even in those days, when “for better for worse” was taken more seriously, some of the marriages of people with uncontrollable anger broke up. I also know a very beautiful woman within my age range. I was always wondering why she was still single. I asked someone who knew her and she described her as “fire.” She’s about 60 years now, but never got married. I know another very beautiful lady who is about 40 years now. I was wondering why she’s still single. Someone told me that if “she displays you will hate her.” The day I saw her explode in anger, it was a like a volcanic eruption. To add insult to injury, she’s very acidic. I experienced it once and kept my distance subsequently. Mind you, I am not saying every unmarried beautiful woman has a violent temper.

Just this week, a young man beat his girlfriend to death somewhere in Lagos. He’s currently cooling his feet in detention. As I was rounding up this article, I read of a man in Benin who bludgeoned his 38-year-old wife to death with a hammer. Many people are in jail today because of uncontrollable anger. No one wins a trophy for violent anger. But for quick police intervention, he would have been lynched. He is also currently cooling his feet in detention. We must all learn to control our anger before it leads to murder or manslaughter. Being an advocate of the indissolubility of marriage, especially Christian marriage, notwithstanding, no one should stay in a marriage where his/her life is at risk. Only the living stay married.

March 1, 2025
Brief stay in your inlaw’s house – By Francis Ewherido

From time among the Urhobos and Isokos, it is seen as denigrating and dishonourable for a son-in-law or father-in-law to spend the night in your in-law’s house. Fathers-in-law could be tolerated, but it was a no-no for the son-in-law. That was understandable in those days. People married within the same village or from neighbouring villages. When you visited an in-law, the proximity gave you enough time to go back to your house same day. But with inter-ethnic marriages and in-laws who live far apart, people are beginning to question this way of thinking. Some say the practice is no longer feasible, while the hardliners maintain that it is a “taboo,” “denigrating,” and “dishonourable.” They would rather you stayed in the hotel rather than spend the night in your in-law’s house. The topic came up for discussion on a platform I belong to recently. At the end of the discussion, there was no consensus. The conservatives stuck to their guns while those you who felt the paradigm has been overtaken by modern realities also stuck to their guns.

I never spent the night in my father-in-law’s house before he died. There was no need to because we lived less than 10 minutes apart in Uvwie LGA, Delta State, when he was alive. Moreover, I have my roots in Urhobo and Isoko ethnic groups, so this belief might unknowingly be inherently entrenched in me. Again, I would probably not have done it because Uvwie is an urban area and there are many hotels there. There was absolutely no reason for me to spend the night in my father-in-law’s house.

On the other hand, my father-in-law stayed in my house only once. That was when I had my first child and their first grandchild. I suspect that my mother-in-law must have done a lot of convincing to make him make the trip. Maybe, the urge to see his grandchild was also overwhelming, but it was very edgy the moment he stepped into my sitting room. I will spare you the details, but the Urhobo man in him manifested in full measure. He only calmed down a little when he realized that we were living in a three-bedroom flat. There were two vacant rooms and there was in no way they were going to inconvenience my wife and I. But thereafter, he never visited again until he died. Even my mother-in-law has not visited again. This first and only visit was in the late 90s! Like with my mother, we had to take the other children to Delta before they saw their new grandchildren.

I find some dignity in their disposition. I was not disappointed that they never visited subsequently. Even my mother scarcely does and some of those visits were enroute abroad. This disposition seems to have taken root in me. Sometime ago, I gathered my children and told them, especially my daughters, to marry spouses whose mothers would be available to do omugwo (that is, a wife leaving temporarily to go and stay with her children and take care of their newborn babies) because I will not “let” my wife to anybody. “None of you contributed to paying her N65 bride price, so she’s totally mine.” When I made the pronouncement, my wife muttered that we did not discuss and agree on that before I informed my children, that we shall see when the time comes. That is unsettling. Not consulting your spouses before taking decisions on things that have to do with them is not good.

I have started thinking about the prospect of staying with a son-in-law now that the children are adults. I have older friends whose wives travelled abroad to do omugwo. Some stayed for six months. Only ill health has made me to stay for nine months abroad and witness the winter season. But my wife was with me. The other time I travelled without my wife for two weeks was almost 16 years ago to Chicago and that was because she just had our last child.

The prospect of living with a son-in-law pops up on in my mind because my wife and I can’t be separated for long. Now what if she insists on going to do omugwo? An older friend of mine recently gave his eldest daughter out in marriage. We share the same hardline position. No prize guessing correctly where he comes from. I brought up this matter with him again: “how the matter go be now?” He maintained that his wife is not for let or lease. He added that any son-in-law who wants to rent his wife to do omugwo has to take him along and rent an Airbnb near his house for him to stay for the period. I laughed. I know he’s a considerate person. He might not want to saddle the young couple with such an expense. He might probably pay for one himself. The daughters live abroad.

After I left him, I started wondering how I would handle that? I am not there yet, but I like thinking ahead. If it’s within Nigeria, it’s a non-issue, but if they live abroad? My challenge goes beyond the paradigm of my people against spending the night in an in-law’s house. I love the peace of mind my home offers me. Anywhere I am, I also want to feel at home. I do not go to where I do not feel at home or I am unwanted. So, will I feel at home in a son-in-law’s house? Idleness is not issue because I can work from anywhere. My wife can be taking care of baby and mother while I am busy with my stuff. My only other challenge is that I don’t want be in Europe or America during winter. That one I inadvertently experienced is enough for a life time. Secondly, unlike my friend, I will not spend a kobo of my money on Airbnb. So?

If our relationship has reached a stage where “in-law” is superfluous and the relationship is father and son, I will gladly stay with them while my wife does her omugwo. But if it’s some of these cocky sons-in-law who have no regards for parents-in-law, you will NEVER see me in your house unless you cross the Rubicon (I have zero tolerance for domestic violence. It is a deal breaker for me). No one prays for such in-laws. That is why you should pray to God to send your children spouses He has specifically chosen for them. I will also not visit any of my sons whose wife has no respect for parents-in-law and family members. They “love” their husbands, but want nothing to do with their husband’s family. In all such cases, if they need my wife’s assistance, mother and baby have to stay with us until they are strong enough to go home. If not, no deal.

Marriage comes full cycle. One day, it will just be you and your spouse the way you started. Releasing your wife to do omugwo is a very huge sacrifice, especially for practicing monogamists, deserving of only in-laws who appreciate the sacrifice. I will not rent my pearl to a “swine.” We should pray for our sons and daughters as far as future spouses are concerned.

Finally, let’s interrogate every practice and custom. Some have been overtaken by events. Please do not allow archaic practices to hold you back. This is my position on visiting and staying briefly with sons-in-law.

February 22, 2025
Teachers vs students – By Francis Ewherido

I wanted to write on this topic more than a year ago, but each time, there was twist. I gave up because I did not know who to speak for or against. At some point, it was a parent who flogged a teacher to death for daring to discipline his delinquent son. At another time, a teacher was arrested for beating a student to coma. There was also the case of a teacher who kept hitting the head of a three-year-old child times due his inability to write correctly. In my time, three year olds had no business in school. What do they want to learn that cannot wait? These days, children are shipped to crèches or day care centres as early as three months because daddy and mummy have to go to work. In my opinion, a child who can’t talk is safer in a crèche or school than hiring a nanny or “house girl” to take care of her at home.

The most annoying thing of this three-year-old child was that the mother works in the school as a cleaner. It was partly a case of a frustrated a teacher of average means oppressing a poor cleaner because she “can’t do anything.” I have always said it that some people are oppressors. It’s just that they don’t have the leverage. If they have any opportunity and the means, they will abuse or oppress others. These days, when I see ordinary Nigerians abuse people in authority, I laugh. They will do worse if they have the opportunity.

Anyway, what made me to revisit this topic is the trending video from the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. From what I have seen so far, the young lady was doing a Tiktok video and a lecturer who was passing tapped her on the shoulder. From there, all hell was let loose. This is my take. If I were the lecturer, I would simply have said, “excuse me.” I would not have touched her. May be the lecturer was pissed off with what she was doing. If I were a lecturer, I will also be pissed off, but this generation is a different breed. You tread carefully with them. Even “excuse me” might sometimes not be enough.

In my time, there was no social media, but if you were caught by a lecturer doing something during school hours which had nothing to do with your studies, you apologised immediately or/and scampered away, praying it does not count against you ultimately. The Gen Z are different. Okay, let me not generalise because some students dare not do this. All things being equal, they know that they are on their own if any action is taken against them. My father never went to school to beg on my behalf for any infractions. I have maintained that policy for my children. But where the school was at fault, my wife especially fought ferociously for our children.

Some Gen Z are different. They were brought up with zero manners. I hear stories of secondary school students who insult their teachers. Some even gang up and beat up teachers. I highest that took place in my secondary school days was a junior student who ambushed a senior student and gave him the beating of his life in Warri during holiday. When we resumed for the new term, one front tooth of the senior student was missing, the outcome of the beating. The matter never came up either because it happened during holiday, or he was too ashamed to report to the school authority that a junior student beat him up during holiday, or he was scared of further reprisals.

In the case of this girl, I was shocked but not surprised. This is very typical of Gen Z who were badly brought up. I saw the video starting from when the lecturer tapped her on the shoulder. Her countenance was like “what effrontery? How dare you?” I was not surprised when she went after the lecturer and grabbed his top. In my time, how dare you? Where will you even see a lecturer to exchange words with. We tip toed in the front of a lecturer’s office and walked passed a professor’s office with trepidation. As simple as he was, the only time I went to Prof Humphrey Nwosu’s (former National Electoral Commission chairman) office when he was at UNN was at his instance to submit an assignment. I can’t recall going to Prof Okwudili Nnoli’s office. Prof Sylvanus Ekwelie was my head of department in mass communication. He was a demigod. We went to his house once to pay a condolence visit. It was tough for us to feel at home. It was in his house I drank a cocktail of whiskey and Fanta for the first time. Lecturers were revered.

By the 90s when my younger ones were in the university, I started hearing of students “sorting” out lecturers to pass exams. Somewhere else, I heard about a student who graduated but never wrote degree exams. The fault is not in the Gen Z alone, but lecturers who have cheapened themselves by collecting bribes and demanding sex for marks. These two maladies, more than other factors, brought this “see finish” of university lecturers. At least one professor is serving a jail term for sexual harassment. A couple of others are still in court. Some lecturers have been dismissed. As for the Unizik case, the matter should be thoroughly investigated and justice should be served.

JAMB Scores another Goal

The Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, is a man I have tremendous respect for. I do not know him personally, but in a society where the word “integrity” is used flippantly, he has proven to be a man of integrity. When he became the registrar of JAMB, the body which government used to subsidise all of a sudden started generating more money than it was spending. Recently, his integrity was called to question during budget defence in the House of Representatives. Prof gave very satisfactory explanation. I also recall that sometime ago, he was uncomfortable with the amount of collection being declared at the Abuja Mosque. He got involved and it became obvious that some itchy fingers were pilfering the mosque’s commonwealth.

But I am talking about Prof for a different reason today. You will recall that the former Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, announced that from 2025, the entry age for university students will be 18. There was an uproar. I was one of those who was seriously against it. Later the government backtracked and left it at 16 years. But there was still a lacuna which I pointed out then: “In the US and the UK, they waive the age requirements for ‘geniuses’ and specially gifted children.” That is exactly what JAMB has addressed:

“JAMB has stated that candidates below the age of 16 can gain admission into universities on the condition they score at least 320 out of 400 in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, clarified that while 16 remains the general admission requirement, exceptional candidates who demonstrate outstanding academic abilities will be considered under strict conditions. These students must excel in multiple assessments, including the UTME, West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), Post-UTME, and General Certificate Examination (GCE O/Level).”

Case closed. My only admonition is that JAMB and other exam bodies should watch out for dubious parents who want to beat the system by making their wards meet these requirements through the back door. I don’t know what their problem is.

February 15, 2025
“Omovudu” Sheriff Oborevwori – By Francis Ewherido

I spent the three weeks in Delta State recently, the first time I am staying at home this long for a while. I went for some personal matters. My short stay on each visit in the past notwithstanding, Bendel State, now Delta State, is always on my mind. As an Urhobo man, you will either relocate home at some points in your life or you will be buried in your village when you die.

Since I could not just be waiting until weekend for each of the activities that took place over three weekends, I decided to move around. I have been reading about the performance of the incumbent governor, Elder Sheriff Oborevwori, since he assumed office. The opinions and assessments I have been reading are discordant. My mother always advised us while growing up that “you do not use another person’s eyes to look at life. You use your own eyes.” That’s what I decided to do. I love small projects that have great impact on the lives of regular people like capacity building, cottage hospitals, maternities in rural areas, government primary schools, good rural roads, etc. But I also love meaningful gigantic projects, not white elephant projects. My interest this time around was on the gigantic projects.

My first port of call were the flyovers at PTI junction in Effurun and DSC roundabout. The magnitude of both flyovers were beyond my expectation. They are massive projects. I am particularly interested in both flyovers because the traffic in both places can be very frustrating and hellish. I have been trapped there a few times and I did not find it funny. People have also previously been killed by moving vehicles at PTI junction. Travelers from Bayelsa State/Rivers State to Lagos and fro have lost precious hours in both places. So both flyovers are not just massive projects but solution providers, and I love projects that provide solutions.

I have heard some Deltans say the flyovers are of benefit to non-Deltans only, not Deltans. I disagree. Both flyovers are important to Deltans in Ughelli North LGA, other parts of Delta Central, Delta South and even Delta North. Before the Asaba International Airport, there was only one airport in Delta State at Osubi (it was an airstrip in Uvwie LGA) before it was relocated to Osubi in Okpe LGA. Many Deltans and non-Deltans missed their flights because of the gridlock caused by the absence of flyovers at both spots. These are legacy projects.

I also went to see the flyover at Enerhen junction. I lived in Effurun and Warri before we moved to Ekpan, also in Uvwie, so I know the place very well. Enerhen Junction was a nightmare in those days and still is with the traffic from Enerhen, Effurun and Warri meeting at the junction. There is a feeder road nearby which added to the madness. I once told the story about how my father abandoned his car at Udu Road and walked through some back roads (koror) to get home when we were living in Effurun in the early 80s. These are three projects have been dear to my heart and I criticized the past administrations for doing nothing about these projects. Now that Gov. Oborevwori is doing them, should I keep quiet? Not me; that’s witchcraft. He deserves his flowers. Gov. Oborevwori, take your flowers for these projects. What’s even more fascinating is the extent of work on the projects started less than 18 months ago. In the three weeks I was in Delta, each time I passed the PTI and DSC projects, there was progress.

Enerhen junction has longer history of traffic gridlock that dates back to the 70s. Uvwie LGA and Warri South LGA (Warri metropolis, to be specific) had been built up by then at that point. Only the welcome and goodbye signboards informed you that you have crossed from one local government to the other. A permanent solution should have been provided by the military, but successive military and civilian governments did not provide a permanent solution in the form of a flyover. You have to give the incumbent governor his flowers for embarking on this project. The project is a real solution provider and a game changer.

My next port of call was the Ughelli-Asaba dual carriage way. The dualisation project was started by the administration of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan. If you recall when Delta State was created in 1991, the old Delta Province was merged with Anioma, the Igbo-speaking part of Benin Province. Before then there was a single road with two lanes from Ughelli to Asaba. I know the route very well because my family lived in Ozoro, Isoko North LGA headquarters, from 1973 to 1980 and we used to travel to Ughelli regularly. When I gained admission to University of Nigeria, Nsukka, I used to travel from Warri to Nsukka through the route which was down to Onitsha. It was always risky because of reckless drivers and bad portions of the road.

The siting of the Delta State capital at Asaba meant increase in vehicular traffic, so dualising the road was a good move by the government of Uduaghan, but in my opinion, the pace of work was slow. When Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa took over as governor, he continued with the road dualisation project. I thought his government would complete it, but it didn’t. When Gov. Oborevwori took over, he promised to face the project with “absolute commitment and complete it.” Much of the work has been done. My trip from Ekpan to Asaba and back was smooth when I passed through the road. The only major construction work going on was at Osisa in Delta North. That spot has always been treacherous. I heaved a sigh of relief each time after passing the spot during my four-year stay at UNN. Right now, the two bridges at Osisa have been completed, but work is ongoing to put the bridges to use. I expect that road to be ready this year. The pace of work is commendable.

Whatever my misgivings about the Uduaghan administration, I commend him for starting such a massive project like this. A 136km dual carriage road is a project very few states will dare to start. I also commend Okowa for continuing the project. But in relays, the anchor is the rallying point after breasting the tape. So the highest commendation will go to Oborevwori when the road is commissioned. For the records, not more than two kilometres of that road is in Delta Central where the governor comes from. The other 134kms are in Delta South and Delta North.

When people grudge the governor for doing massive projects or concentrating in Delta Central, I shake my head. Ethnic politics and chauvinism are rife in Delta State like in Nigerian politics. There are mischief makers everywhere. I saw a post on the bridge linking Ndokwa East to Ndokwa West and commented on it. Someone reminded me that Okowa, not Oborevwori, initiated the project. I know that but if the anchor of a relay stumbles or drops the baton, the whole team loses out. If Oborevwori does not complete the bridge, it becomes an abandoned project and the Ndokwa Nation is back to square one in using pontoons and other boats to cross the river. Governance is a continuum, just like a relay race. Give honour to whom it is due.

Another legacy project is the road from Warri to Ode Itsekiri, the ancestral home of the Itsekiris. I can’t recall the governor who started the project, but Oborevwori has assured that he will complete it. I could not go to see the project. I was also unable to go and see Orere bridge in Ewu Kingdom where I come from because I was exhausted, but I have been getting reports from Ewu. My father was the pioneer principal of Orere Grammar School. In addition, my late maternal grandmother has roots in Orere, but I have never been there because of the river separating Ewu Town from Orere. After almost drowning at age nine, I developed a phobia for travelling by water. I was very happy when Okowa started the construction of the Orere bridge. I thank Oborevwori for his commitment to complete the project this year. The project occupies a special place in my heart.

I also took time to move around Warri, Uvwie and Asaba. I was impressed with the neatness of the roads in Warri. Some portions of the road down to the Warri Port constructed with concrete in the 70s are still in very good shape, although the surface of some portions are rough. The drainage work in Warri metropolis is massive. I could not visit the Warri Stadium under renovation because of tiredness. The only thing that depressed me in Warri was the deplorable state in which I saw Cavegina Primary School. It was an elite school in those days. It is in need of renovation.

Uvwie LGA has done a few good things, but still has a lot to do. I told a top official of the local government my observations. Having done that. I prefer to leave it there. But I was happy to see the “rehabilitated” NNPC Housing Complex Road. Motorists used to avoid it because of the robberies that often occurred between 7pm and 6am. I would have been happier if the lanes were increased to four lanes like the portion near Airport Road without putting physical barriers in the median for ease of crossing the road by motorists and pedestrians who live there. There is space for two additional lanes, but the signboard said “rehabilitation,” not reconstruction, so no further comments. Hopefully, the whole road will be increased to four lanes in the future. Moving around the state, I just feel that if every local government ups its game, Delta State will be transformed faster. I passed through about nine local governments. Some local governments are doing well; others are just anonymous.

Asaba City is on another level. It now looks like a real state capital. In the mid-80s before the creation of Delta State when I was passing through Asaba to Nsukka, it looked like an average sibling of its richer sibling, Onitsha, with many three and four storey buildings across the River Niger. When I went to Asaba in 1992 to deliver a letter to the then state governor, the late Olorogun Felix Ibru, I saw little improvements. It is a different ball game now. Some parts of Asaba now look like Ikoyi and Asokoro and more exciting government and private projects and developments are going on.

By and large, I was happier during this visit than previously visits. I saw reasonable progress, although we still have a long way to go. I saw dilapidated schools, bad roads, uninspiring court buildings and environment, widespread poverty and hunger in the land, many youngsters who want to become rich without doing legitimate jobs, a high number of youngsters who are into prostitution, internet fraudsters and stories of rituals, but I am not discouraged because a journey of a 1,000 years begins with a step.

I look forward to the signing of electricity bill into law. It will acceleration development and speed up industrialization across the state. I want us (Deltans) want to develop the agricultural sector and open rural roads. We have the capacity be self-sufficient in food production. We need to re-orientate our young population to appreciate dignity of labour and painstaking process of wealth creation, protection and sustenance, not this candle-in-the-wind kind of wealth. We need develop our tourism sector. The potentials are enormous. We need to diversify Delta State economy and increase ability to earn more. To achieve this the state government needs to work with our federal legislators to make the Warri, Sapele, Koko, Bomadi and Okwagbe ports come alive. The impact on job and wealth creation will be massive. Like Lagos, we should strive to be self-sustaining and be financially comfortable without going to Abuja. It is possible but we need peace to accelerate every sector. Unlike Lagos, intra-state rail lines are not a priority. It’s a project for the future. Let’s instead fix our roads and provide safe water transportation and open the rural areas. Delta State is both riverine and upland.

I added Omovudu to the governor’s name in the title of the article. Omovudu in Urhobo means a courageous child, a child with a lion heart, a child who takes a stroll where angels dread to tread. This is exemplified by the massive projects left by his predecessors which Oborevwori is completing and the new ones he embarked on. I love progress and feel happy it wherever I see it in Nigeria as a diehard Nigerian. Seeing it in my state made me extra happy.

Francis Ewherido is a Newsguru columnist.

February 14, 2025