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Tag: Godwin Etakibuebu

  • Oshiomhole, Ayinde and Emmason – Nigerian three faces of justice – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    Oshiomhole, Ayinde and Emmason – Nigerian three faces of justice – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    Scene 1

    Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole – former President of the Nigerian Labour Congress [NLC], a two-time Executive Governor of Edo State, former Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, and currently a Distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, kick-started this very ugly topic – albeit interpretation of Nigeria’s appropriate justice for breach of Rules and Regulation.

    It was Wednesday, June 11, 2025, that the news of how the erudite Senator did something “dishonourably” at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, in Lagos – albeit disruption to Air Peace operations at the airport, got broken. And it was a major news break – the type that seasoned journalist would call scoop.  

    Senator Oshiomhole, in a video clip that went viral, was seen, leading a few other passengers, in confronting Air Peace staff at the airport that Wednesday morning. What became so salient was the fact that the Senator was seen, allegedly disrupting the checking-in process of the airline for passengers heading to Abuja, on the scheduled 0630 hours flight.

    Of course, Oshiomhole had his side of the story – the ugly scene, to tell. And he told it. Let us better listen to his side of his story before drawing the curtain on Scene 1 of this movie. 

    But before listening to “Oshio Baba”, it would remain a better intelligence’s display to here directly from the airline – Air Peace.

    “In line with our standard on-time departure policy, the boarding process had closed, and the flight departed as scheduled. Upon being informed of the missed flight, the politician (senator) resorted to violence, physically assaulting our staff and forcibly barricading the terminal’s entrance”.

    ‘’He went as far as sealing the entry gate and manning the access point, effectively obstructing other passengers from gaining entry into the terminal. This unacceptable behaviour caused significant disruption to ongoing operations and affected numerous travellers scheduled for various flights. To minimise further inconvenience, Air Peace swiftly activated an operational contingency plan to board affected passengers through an alternate terminal, ensuring the continuity of their travel plans. We are deeply saddened that such a high-profile figure displayed conduct so unbecoming and disruptive to fellow passengers and our personnel”.

    ‘’Air Peace maintains a zero-tolerance stance on violence or any form of aggression against our staff and passengers. We urge all guests to remain civil and cooperative at all times. Aviation operations are bound by strict timelines and safety protocols, and we remain committed to upholding these standards while delivering safe and timely services to the Nigerian public. Air Peace continues to stand for discipline, integrity, and respect for due process. No individual, no matter how influential, is above these values.”

    Then Oshiomhole’s statement.

    “I booked Air Peace… They delayed the flight for over five hours. In the end, they announced a cancellation. I had to get another ticket. Yesterday (Tuesday), I booked a flight for 6:30 a.m., which is their first flight today (yesterday).

    ‘’I booked and asked them to check me in online, which I did, along with two other Ghanaians who met me in Lagos. We checked in online just to avoid the last-minute issues I’ve had with them a couple of times.

    “I got there at about five minutes past six. They told me the counter was closed. I told them, ‘No, I’ve already checked in.’ I showed them the evidence of my online check-in. Even before then, they had asked if I had checked in, and I told them yes, and that I had no luggage. They looked at it but still said the gate had been closed. Meanwhile, I noticed they were still taking other people in.

    “So, I asked, ‘How can you close boarding for a 6:30 flight at 6:05? What is the purpose of online check-in, then?’ If I had to go through another check-in process, then what’s the point of checking in online?

    “While speaking to them, I saw many men and women who had been there even before me, with similar experiences. Basically, they were selling tickets on the spot at higher prices. I’ll give you an example”.

    A lady bought her ticket for N146,000 online. She arrived at the airport at 5:55 a.m. for the 6:30 a.m. flight, after the gatemen had delayed her.

    “They told her she was late and that the counter had closed for check-in. She said that was impossible, as it wasn’t even 6:00 a.m. They told her she would be put on the next flight. She protested, saying, ‘Why? Put me on this flight.’ But they told her the flight was full, and she would have to wait.

    “Meanwhile, the airline was selling tickets on the spot for between N200,000 and N300,000. To take advantage of the situation, they discouraged those who had bought tickets online at lower rates and sold to people willing to pay more.

    “I asked the manager, ‘What is this woman’s crime? She has a baby that’s no more than six months old. How can you refuse to board her when the aircraft is still on the ground and more people are buying tickets?’ You cannot continue like this. Tomorrow, everyone will blame the government. You have regulatory agencies, and they are all compromising. You cannot board people buying tickets on the spot and deny those who booked days ago or checked in online.

    “By the time the DSS and Air Force personnel came to find out what happened, they intervened and offered to put the woman on the next flight—the same offer they had made to me earlier. But to board that next flight, they told her she would have to pay

    N109,100. This was in addition to the original N146,000 ticket, meaning she would spend about N256,000 for a one-hour flight to Abuja. There were many others in the same situation, and everyone was shouting at the airport.

    “I said to the manager, ‘You must follow the rules.’ Many people were stranded, except those who could afford another ticket. I followed the woman to the counter and told her to do whatever they asked. Those of us who were also prevented from flying gathered there. Even when an officer offered me access to a lounge, people around said, ‘Comrade, please don’t leave—this is how they’ve been treating us.’

    “I had to send that woman N500,000. That’s basically what happened. I told them this cannot be allowed. I checked in online and arrived on time. The aircraft hadn’t taken off. I’m not supposed to check in twice. The rowdiness arose because many people were denied boarding while tickets were being sold on the spot to others.” 

    One thing for sure that we should acknowledge about Scene1of this episode is that there is a video clip, showing the Nigerian Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, physically jumping across, or working across, something looking like a convey belt, and also blocking the process of checking-in, which was anything nearer to “honourable action or behaviour”. 

    The federal government, through the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, spoke of investigating the reported incident, but alas, nothing had been heard since then. Such itself is expected to be the outcome, because a big man, in the personality of the Senator, was involved – just the way the Nigerian-big-man-syndrome’s cookie crumbles. 

    We should be moving to Scene 2 of this disastrous drama’s presentation within the next 48 hours, but we have to draw the curtain here, at least, for now – and for a purpose, albeit avoiding too lengthy presentation, as this is likely to constitute danger of boredom setting in.   

    Let us expect Scene 2, under continuation, of this this story within the 48 hours. The Guru shall be back.

  • How Wike excesses may become Tinubu’s vicarious liability – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    How Wike excesses may become Tinubu’s vicarious liability – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    Candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC, during the 2023 general election, knew that without the help of then Rivers State Governor – Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, he [Tinubu] wouldn’t have been able to “cross the Sea” of becoming the elected president of the Federal Republic Nigeria. 

    He appreciated the abracadabra of the Hippopotamus from the Sea, in the way he [the Sea Deity] swingled Rivers State people’s votes in-between two main political parties. 

    On one hand, Wike “gifted” the People Democratic Party [PDP] – his own confessed political party, all the votes that decided the fate of those that contested to the Rivers State House of Assembly, Federal House of Representative, and the Nigerian Senate. 

    While in the other hand, in the same election, every vote from Rivers State was given to a presidential candidate of another political party – the All Progressives Congress [APC], a rival political party to Wike’s own political party [PDP]. 

    Only a Hippopotamus from the Sea that could have performed miracle of such diabolical magnitude and could have only achieved this through the instrumentality of wholistic rigging.   

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recognised this uncommon feat, and would have vowed, in the totality of his consciousness, to elongate and hold on to this worthwhile synergy. To President Tinubu – himself a great master in the Chessboard of political manoeuvring, Nyesom Wike must be an ally that is worthy of long-time fraternal agreement’s sealing.

    It doesn’t matter which camp one belongs, in the Nigerian political marketplace, the reality of appreciating Wike in the application of his trade would always remain sacrosanct.

    Who would not appreciate the fact that Wike is notoriously bold – sometimes across the border of sanity, in all things he set out to do? 

    Who would not appreciate the fact that the man – Wike, has full capacity of prosecuting, to the fullest, his heart desires, even if most of those desires have negative implication on people and society?

    Who would not admit, in view of the man’s fullest perfidious movements, at most times, that he has no fear for men, and in fact, his fear [permit me to add respect] for God stands at Zero-point?

    Or who will not admit to the fact that this man does not believe in tomorrow’s accountability?

    More still, how many people can attest to this man’s character that he believes in giving account of his life’s trajectory to his Creator – beyond the rhetorics of shouting and calling the name of Jesus when there is a problem with aeroplane on a turbulent flight?  

    Of course, there shall never be wisdom on the part of any individual, denying one salient character of this man, which is, his dedication to projects’ accomplishment. He is an accomplished achiever in that line. It doesn’t matter the cost with which he executes the project or contract, he does the work efficiently – and timely too.

    It must be for these reasons, of being an achiever that President Tinubu appointed him as Minister of the Federal Capital Development Authority. And since arriving the place, he has performed, both lawfully and lawlessly too. He has grabbed, and still grabbing, even in his way of distributing patronage – sometime overbearingly. 

    He has acquired and reacquired. He has stepped rules and regulations down in some places, while in other places, the man has conveniently turned all governing laws upside down. 

    In all these, his employer has never shown any sign of being unhappy with him. Instead, the President, who draws his powers of administering the Federal Capital Development Authority directly from the Nigerian Senate, and donates part thereof to his Minister of the FCT, is yet to show rage about how his own appointed minister abuses his [the President] powers, in functionality.

    Why will the President remain so excitingly silent in the face of these numerous malfeasances? President Tinubu’s amusing silence on Wike should be seen as part of the man’s political acumen – his shrewdness in political calculations. No wonder somebody, recently, made a statement, saying that “Bola Tinubu would always score A1 in political examination, but would score F9 in governance”.

    Bola Tinubu’s eyes are on the ball and the goal post of 2027. The big return match of continuing stay in the Aso Rock Presidential Villa is too important to gamble with. And Nyesom Wike is a major dominant factor in guarantying that return in 2027, all things being equal. Wike therefore must be pampered even with obvious excesses.

    If you were in the position of Mr President, you wouldn’t have done anything to the contrary. Since President Tinubu, a master strategist himself, dare not check the FCT Minister, and call him to order now, because if he tries that – calling Wike to order, he would have rocked the boat taking him to a likely safe anchorage in 2027. 

    The president must wait, in time bidding, till after tomorrow’s achievement, before taking the decision of what to do with the man, because the man – Wike, stands the most likely position of delivering him – the president, into the comfort zone of second tenure, both in Rivers State and the Federal Capital Development Authority of Abuja, in 2027.

    But here lies the danger. 

    For now, while Nyesom Wike carries out his bully system of political manoeuvring, abusing and reducing dignities of almost every politician, across the country, to nothing, the truth is that he is accumulating enemies. The accumulation of these enemies cut across frontiers, if the truth must be told. These acquired enemies cut across tribes and political parties.

    It stands to reason therefore that these disgraced and discarded individuals would be retreating into their individual cocoons, with total lamentations on their lives. They must be thinking seriously of the area through which they can deliver an everlasting terrible blow on Wike. They must have devised one trap or another for Wike, and don’t forget that Wike – just like every other human being, is vulnerable.

    These group of enemies may come together to embark on revenge mission against their target – who in this case is Wike, or they may not come together for action. But where they are not even coming together, that itself may not be diminishing the bitterness of each one of them that the current Abuja landlord has destroyed, or maybe destroying. That day of revenging shall surely come, in whatever form of diversity. 

    If such happens, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu might be carrying vicarious liability of his Minister, and this shall come in many ways. 

    Surely, Nyesom Wike has thrown too many stones and dangerous jabs on the Nigerian people [mostly on politicians], and he is still throwing. And by the law of Karma – that beautiful Lady deity that distributes and redistributes NEMESIS, whatever one sows, same shall the Sower reaps, all things being equal.  

    Why the nemesis coming back to the quarters under discussion would be great – again, all things being equal, is that those that are crying from Wike’s today deadly blows, are most likely to do everything in demystifying the man, and the most likely place to wait for him shall be the place of General Election.

    Anyway, this author can never underate the Jagaban of Nigerian politics. He has a way of getting the votes, because he is the master of the game. Neither would I attempt thinking that Ezenwo Nyesom Wike is finished, or might be finishing before 2027, but because there is a limit to every elasticity, the steam could just evaporate – maybe. 

    However, the fury of any bruised, even over bruised people, engages with the strength of Tsunami at the place of retaliation.

    This is where The Guru has his fear. 

     

    Godwin Etakibuebu; a Veteran Journalist, wrote from Lagos.

    Contact:

    Website: www.godwintheguru.org

    You Tube Channel: Godwin The  Guru

    Twitter: @godwin_buebu

    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/godwintheguru

    Facebook: Godwin Etakibuebu

    Facebook Page: Veteran Column

    Telegram: @friendsoftheguru

    WhatsApp: @friendsoftheguru

    Phone: +234-906-887-0014 – short messages only. 

    You can also listen to this author [Godwin Etakibuebu] every Monday; 9:30 – 11am on Lagos Talk 91.3 FM live, in a weekly review of topical issues, presented by The News Guru [TNG]. 

  • PDP in ICU, now without life support machine – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    PDP in ICU, now without life support machine – By Godwin Etakibuebu


    The People Democratic Party [PDP] opened the route of leadership for all political parties that ushered in the Fourth Republic in 1999. The Party [PDP], amongst others, was well funded by the Military retirees, that bequeathed mantle of political leadership to the Nigerian civilians. The Party was formidable. It was strong and well connected.

    Though Chief Oluyemisi Falae, who ran on the joint ticket of both the Alliance for Democracy [AD] and the All People’s Party [APP] tried to gather votes, mostly from the South-West, Olusegun Obasanjo; the presidential candidate of the PDP, picked majority of votes from across the country, to lead comfortably. 

    Of course, the PDP was the anointed and chosen political candidate of the outgoing Military Institution and those military-kingmakers – the types of Generals Ibrahim Babangida, Theophilus Danjuma, Jeremiah Useni and host of others. The metaphor of President Obasanjo wasn’t too much of political miracle.

    The PDP came, saw and conquered. It spread its tentacles across the length and breath of the Nation. It occupied like Octopus. Eight years into swift and continuous winning of elections, at each election circle, the PDP concluded, in the myopic minds of its leaders, that it was most likely it would remain juicy, for a long time to come.

    It could have been because of this deceitful thought that made a National Chairman of the Party [PDP] – Chief Vincent Ogbolafor, to announce to the whole world that “PDP shall rule for 60 years”. That was 2008.

    Let me quickly add here that what the PDP – while the Sun was rising for it, did not do was to be prudent enough to identify a lurking nemesis just hanging around the corner. The nemesis the PDP did not see was not an invisible spirit. It was a Principality and Power – though in high places but was in human form – flesh and blood. 

    If only the Party were to be discerning enough, it would have suspected and identified a Bola Ahmed Tinubu hanging on there, just around the corner. PDP should have noted that a man who remained standing, in spite of all the military-power-packaged punches President Obasanjo threw on him, had something speaking for him, even into the future.

    Let us fast track the journey of this narration.

    Then came the Year of our Lord, 2015, the 60 years projected sojourn in the place of Nigeria’s leadership came to an end – albeit abruptly. 

    Thank God that the end of PDP came bloodlessly. We had President Goodluck Jonathan to thank for easily conceding defeat to the opposition Party – the APC. 

    The emphasis need to be made here, that if President Goodluck Jonathan were not to be whom he is – a patriotic democrat, a man who sincerely, and at all times, would not want to win elections by hook and crook; an astute believer that no Nigerian life is worth his victory at the polls, “the dog and the baboon would be soaked in blood”, Muhammadu Buhari’s slogan, would have spilled Nigerian blood, and maybe, till today.

    However, things have not remained same for the PDP since that “small fall” – so some politicians thought of it then, since 2015, till day. It has remained “one day one trouble” for the Political Party that was ready to rule Nigeria for 60 years.

    But good enough, some articulated politicians in the PDP saw an ailment in the body of the Party. And this class of wise politicians quickly believed that the Party needed to be presented for attention of a General Physician in any good and reputable Hospital. Others did not agree with this class. The latter instead, recommended out-patient type of treatment for the once-biggest Party in Africa.

    Then came the year of 2022. And another circle of Political Parties National Convention and Primaries, where aspirants are being scrutinized to become candidates and flagbearers of Political Parties, came.

    Other Political Parties held theirs. The People Democratic Party also carried out its own, at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, in Abuja. While preparing for the Primary, the frequency of the PDP’s attendance, as an out-patient, in the Hospital, reduced drastically. That probably would have affected the Party’s disastrous outcome in that year’s Primary.

    There were three dramatis personae, who were physically present at the Primary, that need to be mention here. And we shall also mention one great – very great, personality that was not physically present in the Primary but played the most damning role. 

    They are – those that were present, Atiku Abubakar – former Vice-President, Aminu Tambuwal – former Governor of Sokoto State and Nysom Ezenwo Wike, then Governor of Rivers State. The man that did not attend the Primary but held the ace card was former President Ibrahim Bademosi Babangida.

    The outcome of that Primary and result of the Nigerian General election, of 2023, had since sent the PDP back to the Hospital, but this time on full time admission.

    Recently however, the medical reports on the admitted patient, has been worrisome. And this must be for various reasons – chiefs amongst the reason would be:

    1. Too many cooks in the kitchen 
    2. Too many non-professional doctors administering drugs on the patient 
    3. The clash of money bags, who are out to purchase the soul of the patient
    4. The role which US$ Dollars can play amongst poor and greedy politicians, 
    5. And maybe the roleplay of an internal Hippopotamus from the Sea, synergizing with empirical Land Loin that has been roaring for conquering of an Empire.  

    On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, speaking on the Channel Television popular show, always anchored by Seun Okinbaloye, former Governor of Benue State, Senator Gabriel Suswam, said that the People Democratic Party [PDP] is in Intensive Care Unit [ICU]. 

    Senator Suswam knew what he said because he is one of the major beneficiaries from the PDP when the ovation was loudest.

    We all know what it means for a patient to be admitted into ICU of any hospital. The real fact is that not every hospital has the ICU facility, and when a patient is there at the ICU, and this is the interpretation of those of us that can be referred to as semi-primitive – medically speaking, such patient’s life is hanging on the balance.

    The wonder of the ICU is that continuity of life comes from, in most cases, life support machine

    What some Nigerians, ditto the larger world, that have been following the sad story of the PDP, from the day of that terrible fall, till when former Governor Suswam made the revelation of the department of the Hospital the patient had been moved to, held to hope, somehow.

    But most Nigerians that understand the complication of the PDP’s ailment knew the difficulty, that the patient might not be surviving the sickness so soon. Most concluded that if the Patient even survives, it will not have enough strength to go into political contest of 2027, against President Bola Tinubu and the APC.

    But with the total manifestation of the level of doomsday on the PDP, as events unfolded yesterday, when there came to be total breakdown of communication amongst all members of the Party, it is now obvious that the life support machine that had kept the Patient hitherto in the ICU has been unplugged.  

    It is with sad and heavy heart therefore, that the Nigerian Legion of Patriots announces the long-expected demise of the People Democratic Party [1998-2025].

    A Consortium of Undertakers, comprising of the following, listed below, have been appointed by the Chief Mourners, to give an unbefitting burial, in an unmarked grave, to the departed Soul of this entity.

    1. Acting National Chairman of the Party
    2. All members of Board of Trustee
    3. All members of the Working Committee
    4. All members of the National Working Committee
    5. All members of the Extended or Contracted Caucus 
    6. All members of the PDP’s G-5
    7. His Excellency – Atiku Abubakar

    Signed – For Chief Mourners:

    Bola

    Ezenwo 

    Godswilling

    Adieu PDP – may your Soul never rest in peace.

    Godwin Etakibuebu; a Veteran Journalist, wrote from Lagos.

    Contact:

    Website: www.godwintheguru.org

    You Tube Channel: Godwin The  Guru

    Twitter: @godwin_buebu

    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/godwintheguru

    Facebook: Godwin Etakibuebu

    Facebook Page: Veteran Column

    Telegram: @friendsoftheguru

    WhatsApp: @friendsoftheguru

    Phone: +234-906-887-0014 – short messages only. 

    You can also listen to this author [Godwin Etakibuebu] every Monday; 9:30 – 11am on Lagos Talk 91.3 FM live, in a weekly review of topical issues, presented by The News Guru [TNG].

  • 26 years on, same music echos in Nigeria again – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    26 years on, same music echos in Nigeria again – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    Yes, it is good news that we have survived; with this Fourth Republic for 26 years – counting from 1999, when General Olusegun Obasanjo, a one-time Military Head of State, took over from General Abdusalam Abubakar; the last of the Nigerian Military Junta, at a very elegant handing-over ceremony, after a democratically contested election.

    But by the unfolding events of this Administration, there seem to be hiccups in the country and the body of the Polity. Things, as they look, are no more at ease; with much respect to the memory of Chinua Achebe; our late literary Icon. 

    It must be purely for this reason that I am walking memory-lane journey back, somewhere to the First Republic, to see if there could be any historical perspective of that era that can help us, in our present precarious undertaking.

    And what I am trying to achieve, by this walk back along memory lane, is to identify some errors of the past, that might be useful in correcting some mistakes of today, through sounding a very strong warning to today’s leadership of the Fourth Republic. 

    This warning – I advise, should be appropriately taken very seriously by today’s Nigerian leaders, because of what one of our own former leaders – another highly reverend Nigerian man of knowledge, called the Cicero – James Ajibola Idowu Ige [September 13, 1930 – December 23, 2001] said. 

    “History has shown that people don’t learn from history hence history has a way of repeating itself”, was how the erudite lawyer – a legal luminary with the unique advantage of speaking in English while writing in Latin, puts it. 

    He – a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, most unfortunately, did not learn from history at all, or enough, hence brutal history met with him in Ibadan, on the evening of December 23, 2001, when he was assassinated in his house, at Bodija, in Ibadan. 

    Again, I am begging present Nigerian leaders to listen to the music that echoed during the First Republic, compare same to the tune of the music that echoed in the Second Republic diligently, and do a clean comparative analysis of those tunes and the one musical lyric that is booming loudly in the country today. 

    “A stich in a time saves nine”, the elders have always said.

    The Nigerian First Parliamentarian General Election of December 30, 1964, left our country politically divided. The meaning of real political enmity came down from Hell – because it could not have arrived from Heaven, and all Nigerians, matured enough then, saw it. What most of those that were decoding the mathematical equation of that time, however thought, it was just a phase that would soon vanish with time.

    Alas, it refused to vanish away. And one of the many reason that made that “political disorder” not to vanish, was the fact that those who won the election of that year started thinking of themselves as Warriors, Victors and Conquers. That was in one hand.

    And on the other hand, those who lost in the election became sad, and even sadder, on daily basis because those who won started calling those who lost “bad losers”. 

    The losers were really tormented – physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally, by the winners. 

    Even, in-between these two Groups of winners and losers; as they named themselves, anger, dichotomy, bitterness, and all vices geometrically grew, without any attempt of reconciliation from any quarter.

    The dichotomy raised its ugly head more between the North and the South, with the East finding some silvered lining along the coast of safety. Of course, since a House divided against itself cannot stand – as the saying goes, the political enmity between Obafemi Awolowo and Samuel Ladoke Akintola – inside One House that the Western Region could have been, did not see solution appearing from any angle.

    The atmosphere degenerated into “Operation weti e” in the Western Region. Houses of suspected political enemies were burnt down willingly. People were sent to jail through the instrumentality of jaundiced judiciary. 

    The losers of the election – 1964, were not at ease, while the winners were enjoying the dividends of triumph.

    That was the situation until the 15th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting [CHOGM], held in Lagos, Nigeria, in January 1966. Our own esteemed Prime Minister of that era – the Golden Voice of Africa; as he was called, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, hosted that conference while fire was practically burning on the roof of his house. 

    Sir Tafawa Balewa, having done a good job of hosting the Conference, enthusiastically saw his Special Guests off, one after the other, until the last of them left on January 14, 1966. It was while the last Guest of the Prime Minister was leaving Nigeria that a particularly and memorable discussion took place between the Prime Minister and a Nigerian journalist, with the Tribune Newspaper, at the Ikeja International Airport. 

    Sir, “how comfortable are you hosting the Commonwealth Conference while fire is burning in Western Nigeria?”, the Journalist asked the Prime Minister. 

    Listen to the humorous answer the Prime Minister gave to the journalist.

    “Where are we standing now?”, he asked the journalist. And the journalist answered him respectfully, by saying “we are in Ikeja Sir”. The Prime Minister thanked him before firing his second question: “is Ikeja not part of the Western Region you mentioned?”, and without waiting for the journalist’s answer, the big man concluded by saying, “where is the fire you are talking about – can you show me the fire, please?”

    Again, that was January 14, 1966. And just 48 hours into that discussion, that joke of looking for the fire had become one big history, well written for posterity – albeit end of Nigerian First Republic.

    Let us look at another scene that occurred again – with similarity to those events that happened in 1966. Except that this event happened around October or November, of 1982.

    Obafemi Awolowo, in his usual custom, was going on his annual pilgrimage to Isreal and the rest of the World, and at the airport in Ikeja, he addressed the Press. The Sage submitted, during the press briefing, that “the Ship of the Nigerian Nation would soon go aground because of the financial recklessness of Nigerian political Leaders”. 

    He even took time – as typically characteristic of the man, to give details of the Nigerian financial balance sheet, as they were at the time. He submitted, with timely accuracy that it would only be matter of months for the Nigerian Nation-State Ship to  be grounded and wrecked.

    Of course, the then Nigerian Ruling Political Party – the National Party of Nigeria [NPN] did not welcome Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s critical evaluation of things in Nigeria, with accolades. But what the old Sage said, around October or November of that year – 1983, found a sad fulfilment on the last day of the month of December 1983, in a bloodless military uprising, that destroyed all our democratic endeavours. 

    Here we are again, in 2025, where there seems to be a tune of music, echoing from somewhere in the past of Nigerian history. And many people are speaking, against permutation of things in our beloved country, just as some people spoke in the past. 

    But is there anyone listening?

    Godwin Etakibuebu; a Veteran Journalist, wrote from Lagos.

    Contact:

    Website: www.godwintheguru.org

    You Tube Channel: Godwin The  Guru

    Twitter: @godwin_buebu

    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/godwintheguru

    Facebook: Godwin Etakibuebu

    Facebook Page: Veteran Column

    Telegram: @friendsoftheguru

    WhatsApp: @friendsoftheguru

    Phone: +234-906-887-0014 – short messages only. 

    You can also listen to this author [Godwin Etakibuebu] every Monday; 9:30 – 11am on Lagos Talk 91.3 FM live, in a weekly review of topical issues, presented by The News Guru [TNG].

  • Throwback: A political godfather that became robbery kingpin part [2] – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    Throwback: A political godfather that became robbery kingpin part [2] – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    We started this journey, appropriately captured – THROWBACK TO THE PAST: THE STORY OF A POLITICAL GODFATHER THAT BECAME A ROBBERY KINGPIN, last week. Chief Samuel Taiwo Oredein – a colossus political gladiator of the First Republic, and one of the Seven people; including Chief Obafemi Awolowo, formed the Action Group [AG] Political Party. 

    And it was for the role he played politically that he was most honourably referred to as Political Big Boss. The man however elongated his role of leadership beyond the political zone. He later identified himself as a dully qualified Robbery Kingpin.

    The Guru concludes this maverick’s lordship story of two different worlds, today. Read and enjoy yourself, without loosing site of the lessons therein, please.

    The former Principal Organising Secretary of the Action Group looked blankly at Felix. With a straight face and a deadpan expression, he denied knowing Felix or ever visiting his house. Njovens, Bello and Abidogun also made feeble attempts to deny knowing Felix. Later they started to beg the future IGP – Sunday Adewusi, then Commission of Police for Kwara State, to assist them because it was the devil that used them to collect the money. “Ise asetani ni. Mo fi Anabi ati Jesu Krisiti beyin” That was from Alhaji Amusa Abidogun, the Chief Inspector. He offered to return part of his own share.

    Sample of Nigerian One Pound Note, which was introduced in 1968, was then showed to Chief Samuel Taiwo Oredein. The political master strategist then realized that the cards were stacked against him. He checked his sleeve to see whether he had an ace he could use. He found none. It was then he reluctantly admitted that all that Adigun – who was also known as Tafa Igiripa, said was correct. However, the Chief denied that the money was in one-pound denomination as stated by Adigun. Adigun maintained his stand. Finally, Oredein nodded his head that the money was in one-pound denomination. Reverse Side of Nigerian One Pound Note. It was withdrawn in 1973.

    It was over the radio that people heard the news. Chief ST Oredein had been arrested and would be arraigned in Court for armed robbery! Armed robbery! It must have been a case of mistaken identity. It could not have been the Chief S. T. Oredein that they knew. Armed robbery! “Ki lo pa alaso funfun ati alaro po? What could have been the connection with the owner of a white cloth and a dyer”, people wondered.

    In truth, Chief Oredein was not a poor man by any standard. Everybody knew he was a man of means. “Ohun ti a ko mo ni a ko mo, eni ti o ba ti ri oyun oyinbo ti mo pe omo pupa ni o ma fi bi”. It is a well-known fact that the product of a white woman’s pregnancy would always be fair in complexion. 

    Between 1942 and 1962, Chief Oredein had erected six buildings. And mind you, we are not talking of “four-bedroom boys’ quarters” in a village! We are talking of real buildings in strategic locations. Four of the houses were at Ibadan. He built one at Oshodi. The sixth building was in a prime area in Ikeja.

    What of automobiles? Oredin had a total of nine vehicles, including cars and lorries for both his business and personal use. He was not only sagacious on the political field, he was also productive in the other room. He was blessed with more than 30 children.

    Finally, the day of the trial arrived. People had travelled all the way from Lagos, Ibadan and Ogere, to Ilorin to confirm whether it was truly the Chief Oredein that was arrested. To the surprise of many of his supporters and friends, it was the author of the book on political organisation himself that was brought to court.

    ST was arraigned alongside the three senior police officers. They were charged with abetting the commission of a robbery and of receiving stolen property as well as offence of harbouring known offenders. In other words, they were charged with receiving 5,000 pounds from the armed robbers to screen them from legal punishment for the offence.

    It was a criminal trial like no other. It was a battle of giants. Chief Oredein and Patrick Njovens briefed Chief Rotimi Williams to appear for them. Bello and Abidogun retained the services of Mr. Richard Akinjide. The prosecution was led by the Director of Public Prosecutions for Kwara State, Mr. Anthony Ekundayo. The three senior lawyers proved their mettle.

    The trial judge was a relatively young judge, having been appointed to the Bench only two years before the trial. However, what My Lord Justice Moradeyo Adesiyun lacked in age, he made up with uncommon brilliance and exemplary courage.

    At the trial, Chief Oredein testified that on the day of the robbery he was at his hometown – Ogere, having left Ibadan around 6.30pm on that day and only came back to Ibadan the following day. He admitted that it was true that Adewusi confronted him on May 26 with Felix Dumeh, but he stated that he denied there and then the allegations of Dumeh. His principal witness was his solicitor who claimed that he was with Chief on April 13, from about 3pm to 11pm. Chief also called an Imam and a farmer as his witnesses. They all testified that he was at Ogere, on the evening of April 13.

    The trial was not only being conducted in the courtroom. From Ilorin to Ibadan, From Lagos to Enugu, From Port Harcourt to Ile-Ife, people were also busy conducting their own versions of the trial. Would the young judge be able to convict ST Oredein if he was found guilty? Would Action Group Political Party leaders allow their former colleague to go to prison for robbery?

    When His Lordship adjourned the matter to December 28, 1971, for judgment, speculations began afresh. It was said that it was to enable the judge to release the accused before the end of the year. Some said that thanksgiving services had been planned to coincide with the New Year. All Nigerians waited with bated breath for the judgment day.

    Finally, the day arrived. It was a Tuesday. It was three days after Christmas and three days before the New Year.

    The four accused persons were brought to the Court in a Black Maria. If ST felt any apprehension, it was not apparent. As he was led to the court, Oredein gave the sign of victory to the crowd of spectators who had come from far and near to hear the verdict. It was a good sign. It was a sign of victory. His people became happy.

    Hon. Justice Moradeyo Adesiyun began by reviewing the charges against the four of them. His Lordship extensively analysed and appraised the evidence. When His Lordship noted the fact that the accused were not at the scene of the crime, Oredein turned to smile at the people in the courtroom. He would soon be on his way home.

    Then came the moment. His Lordship found that though the accused persons were not physically present at the scene of the armed robbery, they had prior knowledge of the robbery before it took place, and that the three of them who were police officers did nothing to prevent the robbery. His Lordship also found that they all received proceeds of the robbery.

    Justice Adesiyun therefore concluded that the accused persons were guilty of the charges against them.

    Chief Oredein could not believe his ears. Guilty as charged? Did that pronouncement mean that he was not going to be free? 

    His native cap which he had been holding, in deference to the authority of the court, clattered to the floor with a thud. The High Chief from Ogere Remo stood still as if he was Opa Oranmiyan in Ile-Ife. It was Yesufu Bello who was standing beside him that nudged him back to reality. “Chief, ‘they’ are asking if you have anything to say.”

    Oredein had not prepared any allocutus. He had not expected to be convicted. Ko si eni ti o gbe oju fifo le adiye ori aba. Who could have imagined that a mother hen would fly off from her hatchery? You don’t know allocutus? It is another Latin word they taught us in Law School. It is a statement made by a defendant who has been found guilty before he is sentenced. It is like ‘A beg, tamper justice with mercy’ that a Lagos bus driver would tell you after breaking the side mirror of your Range Rover.

    Allocutus or no allocutus, something must be said. The court had only convicted; His Lordship had not yet pronounced their sentences. Perhaps something could still be done. His eyes scanned the crowded courtroom. It appeared he was looking for someone or something. Whatever he was looking for was not in the court. He turned back to His Lordship.

    Oredein pleaded for leniency. In a very moving voice, he informed the court of his past travails: “First it was the treasonable felony and conspiracy trial, but I was acquitted at the Supreme Court. Second, the Aberenla murder trial came, and I was in custody for 11 months before I was freed at Ijebu-Ode High Court. I humbly plead for Your Lordship’s forgiveness.”

    Of course, you know the treasonable felony trial the Chief referred to. The Aberenla trial he mentioned was the case over the murder of Ogunkoya Aberenla, who was the Leader of Ogere Remo’s branch of Nigerian National Democratic Party of Chief Ladoke Akintola (not to be confused with the party of the same name established by Herbert Macaulay, in 1922). Aberenla’s body was never found. 

    Justice Adesiyun looked at the accused persons. “If you had any conscience, you should drop your heads in shame.” His Lordship observed that they were lucky not to have been caught by the amendment to the Robbery and Firearms Decree which provided death by public execution for convicted armed robbers and those found to have aided and abetted armed robbery.

    His Lordship therefore sentenced each of them to life imprisonment. There was no Federal Court of Appeal in those days. It was only Western State that had a Court of Appeal and Kwara was not part of Western State.

    The four of them ran all the way to the Supreme Court.

    On May 3, 1973, the Supreme Court delivered its judgment. My Lord Justice Coker who delivered the judgment of the apex court dismissed the appeal of all the convicted persons and affirmed the life sentences imposed on them by the trial court.

    Chief Federick Rotimi Alade – popularly known as Rotimi the Law, later became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. 

    Osuolale Abimbola Richard Adinjide later became a traditional Chief, in Ibadan, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and Nigerian Minister of Justice and Attorney General, during the Second Republic, under the presidency of Alhaji Aliyu Shehu Shagari. 

    Mr. Anthony Ekundayo, then Director of Public Prosecution [DPP] was elevated to the Bench as a Justice of the High Court of Kwara State. The trial Judge, 

    Justice Moradeyo Adesiyun, then trial judge, was also elevated. His Lordship served as the Chief Judge of Benue State from 1976 until his retirement in 1985.

    History Does Not Forget! 

    Historian is not a judge! 

    History is! 

    Godwin Etakibuebu; a Veteran Journalist, wrote from Lagos.

    Contact:

    Website: www.godwintheguru.org

    You Tube Channel: Godwin The  Guru

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    Phone: +234-906-887-0014 – short messages only. 

    You can also listen to this author [Godwin Etakibuebu] every Monday; 9:30 – 11am on Lagos Talk 91.3 FM live, in a weekly review of topical issues, presented by The News Guru [TNG].

  • Throwback: The story of a political godfather [Part 1] – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    Throwback: The story of a political godfather [Part 1] – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    The untold story of Chief S.T Oredein: his political fame, criminal exploits, judicial trial and verdict of history.

    There was no one in Western Nigeria who did not know S. T. Oredein. If there was such a person, he must have just arrived from Planet Jupiter. Chief Samuel Taiwo Oredein was not just a politician. He was politics personified. He was a kingmaker. He was a godfather. In fact, he was the Political Big Boss.

    Oredein belonged to the exclusive club of the seven people who partnered with Chief Obafemi Awolowo to establish the Action Group which became the party that produced the first premier of the region. 

    The other founders were: 

    • Abiodun Akerele
    • Ade Akinsanya
    • J. O. Adigun 
    • S. O. Shonibare 
    • Ayo Akinsanya 
    • Olatunji Dosunmu

    Chief ST Oredein did not hold a cabinet position. He was however more powerful than some Ministers of Government. He was the Principal Organising Secretary of the Action Group in the First Republic. It is on record that ST had legal authority to issue query to Ministers and Chairmen of government’s statutory corporations. It was Chief Oredein – as claimed, that broke the news of Segun’s death to Chief Awolowo.

    As an acclaimed authority on political mobilisation, he also wrote a book. He was the author of A Manual on Action Group Party Organisation, that was published in 1955.

    When the news broke in 1971 of his involvement in a case of armed robbery, it was greeted with shock and unbelief. It must have been a mistake, people thought. Or could it have been a political frame up, others asked.

    On April 13, 1971, Nigerians woke up to hear the news of an armed robbery attack on Bacita Road. Bacita, a small industrious and popular town, very close to Ilorin, in Kwara State, was where the Nigerian Sugar Company was in established 1964, with compliments of an airstrip then.

    The armed robbery attack was as daring as it was audacious. It was carried out with military precision. Two officers of Barclays Bank and two policemen who were in the vehicles that were attacked by the armed robbers were seriously wounded. One of the wounded persons later died of injuries at the hospital.

    At the end of the ‘operation’, the armed robbers went away with a box containing thirteen thousand pounds. That was a lot of money in 1971. Chief Awolowo was then the finance minister and with his prudent management of Nigerian economy, our pound was almost at par with the British Pound.

    Mr. Kam Salem was the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force at the time. He directed all police formations across the country to fish out those behind the robbery attack. The police spread its dragnet and within days of the robbery, Felix Dumeh, the leader of the gang was arrested. Nigerians jubilated when they heard the news.

    Felix did not make any attempt to deny being the ringleader. He promised to cooperate with the police. He told his interrogators that although he was the leader of the gang, he was not the real brain behind the daring raid. Felix must have at some point in his life aspired to be a musician. He began to sing like a canary. He started to mention names.

    The investigators listened in shock as Felix began to mention one name after another. He was not mentioning names of common criminals that the police officers were familiar with. The names of people he mentioned as his backers, protectors and shareholders were names of people you only read about in newspapers.

    The first person he mentioned was a Chief Superintendent of Police at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Ibadan, Patrick Njovens. The interrogators opened their mouth in wonder. Felix threw another bomb when he mentioned Mr. Yesufu Bello, an Assistant Superintendent of Police also of CID, Ibadan. The third person he listed as his backer was Amusa Abidogun, a Chief Inspector of Police, stationed also in Ibadan.

    The investigators thought they had heard everything. They didn’t know that egun nla ni o n kehin igbale [the biggest masquerade comes last in out of the grove]. Then Felix spoke again. The name came out in a whisper. It was the name they were all familiar with. 

    I have already told you that there was no one in the Western Region that did not know High Chief Oredein.

    There is a traditional proverb that says when a child’s net catches a tilapia, the child eats it alone. But when the net catches a shark, the child must run to his father. 

    The investigators knew immediately that this was not a tilapia. The fish they were looking at was nothing but a shark. They went to brief their superior.

    The Kwara State Commissioner of Police was Mr. Sunday Adewusi. He was later to serve as the Inspector General of Police, between 1981 and 1983. 

    Mr. Adewusi sent his officers to Ibadan Command to investigate the matter. On getting to Ibadan, Adewusi’s officers were arrested by the three senior police officers they were sent to arrest! You are saying “Haba!” The hunters became the hunted. The Ilorin officers were later thrown out of the station! They were warned never to come to Ibadan again.

    The three senior officers however didn’t reckon with Adewusi’s tenacity. He came back and got the three of them arrested. He took them to Ilorin. He also invited Chief Oredein for a ‘chat’.

    Chief Oredein arrived at the Police Command in a grand style. He came to Ilorin in his Mercedes car with its unique plate number: WR 6666. He expected it to be a brief meeting. He had engagements later that day in Ibadan and he had promised to be back at his base before nightfall.

    Unknown to him – Oredein, the police had done their homework thoroughly. They had painstakingly investigated the case and gathered relevant evidence and related materials before inviting the political godfather. One of the people that the police met during their investigation was Mustapha Adigun who was popularly called Balewa. He got the nickname from the abbreviation of his first name, Tafa! But he was never a Prime Minister. He was also called Tafa Igiripa by some people.

    Adigun claimed that Oredein was his boss during the days of politics when he (Adigun) was the head of ST’s political boys. He informed the police that in the evening of the day of the armed robbery attack, he went with his boss to the house of Felix Dumeh. In addition to his boss, the three police officers mentioned by Felix were also present. 

    Felix was said to have brought out a bottle of schnapps and some pieces of alligator pepper. He opened the bottle and poured a little quantity on the floor and threw some alligator pepper on the floor. Like a Chief Priest, Felix then raised the bottle of the alcoholic drink and said: “this thing wey tin we dey do, God make it no let it prove.” They all chorused amen to the solemn prayers. Felix then drank out of the bottle and chewed one alligator pepper. The four of them also drank out of the bottle and chewed alligator pepper.

    Oath taking and prayers completed, Felix went to bring a brown paper bag. It was the size of a carton. He gave it to Oredein. ST was about to open the carton when Amusa Abidogun, the Chief Inspector of Police snatched it from him. Abidogun passed the carton to his superior officer Njovens, with a smart police salute. You know seniority is important in the Force. It was the Chief Superintendent of Police who finally opened the paper bag. It was full of currency.

    Njovens looked suspiciously at the carton, his eyes made a mental calculation of the total sum. “How much?” He asked. Felix raised his spread left palm before saying “Five.” The senior police officer shook his head. “Is that the arrangement? Before, the arrangement was seven” Felix began to fidget. “The boys are too many on it.” Well, half a loaf of bread was still bread. Five or Seven, Njovens was not one to reject money. Akosapo la n ko owo, meaning the proper way to reject money is to put it in your pocket, as the elders would say.

    Oredein was stunned when he arrived at the police headquarters to meet both Adigun and Felix. Commissioner Adewusi asked them to repeat what they told the police. They did. In the presence of Oredein, Felix confirmed Adigun’s statement that it was Oredein that first received the carton of money from him before Abidogun snatched it from him.

    Part Two, and the conclusion of this historical throwback to memory shall be coming in a jiffy, by the grace of God. 

    Wait for it because it shall surely come!

    Godwin Etakibuebu; a Veteran Journalist, wrote from Lagos.

    Contact:

    Website: www.godwintheguru.org

    You Tube Channel: Godwin The  Guru

    Twitter: @godwin_buebu

    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/godwintheguru

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    Facebook Page: Veteran Column

    Telegram: @friendsoftheguru

    WhatsApp: @friendsoftheguru

    Phone: +234-906-887-0014 – short messages only. 

    You can also listen to this author [Godwin Etakibuebu] every Monday; 9:30 – 11am on Lagos Talk 91.3 FM live, in a weekly review of topical issues, presented by The News Guru [TNG].

  • May Nigeria never happen to you – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    May Nigeria never happen to you – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    Today’s caption is prayerful. It is a prayer for me. It is a prayer for you. And it is a prayer for all of us – Nigerians. May Nigeria does not happen to us. What does this prayerful caption stand for? 

    A few days ago, precisely on Friday, May 30, 2025, “a flood of fury”, as many captured it, occurred in the Mokwa Local Government of Niger State, leaving nothing less than 150 people dead, with thousands displaced, and millions of Naira in properties going down the drain. 

    It was Nigeria that happened to these latest victims, because it was not happening for the first time in that area of the country. It occurred before in Niger State, ditto other flood-prone areas across Nigeria. Warnings were equally issued in the beginning of the year on the pending disaster of rain, storm and flood, by Government Agencies responsible for monitoring the weather. 

    What did the Nigerian Authority do to avoid the Mokwa “flood of fury”? Nothing at all. Nigeria was waiting to happen to that community and the victims – and it actually came to pass. It – Nigeria happened to them!

    Just recently, there was a sad but confirmed report, of Nigerian students, at secondary school level, writing their English language examination at the dark hours of the night. There was no electricity provided, but instead, telephone torchlights “came to the rescue of these unfortunate young Nigerians”. It was Nigeria that happened to them!

    And the Nigerian Examination Body in charge of that disaster, came out absurdly, with an unacceptable reason for allowing that to happen. At other centres of this show of shame, the roof of the school block where the examination in the olden days of the photographer Darkroom, caved in upon the students. Thank God, no casualty of life loss was reported. It is Nigeria that happened to them!

    The Premium Times quoted the Amnesty International last week as saying that “over 10,000 people have been killed across Nigeria in Tinubu’s first two years as presidency”. For all those numbers, it is Nigeria that happened to them!

    If you know and understand the number of people that Nigerian governments throw into the marketplace of multidimensional poverty on daily basis, The Guru urges that weep not – nor gnash your teeth not, please. It is Nigeria that is happening to them!

    Nor must you be dismayed when you see Nigerians in court, being sentenced to life imprisonment, or sometimes, being sentence to death, for stealing phones, chickens, or even two tubas of yam. It is Nigeria that is happening to these unfortunate ones! 

    Neither must you be celebrating when other Nigerians, with proven facts of looting – or put more succinctly, STEALING billions of Nigerian Naira, are being awarded the highest Honour of the land, or being sponsored to places of leadership in the Nigerian Executive Arm of Government, in the Nigerian National Assembly [both at the Senate and the Honourable House of Representative] , or even sometimes becoming Executive Governor of a State. It is Nigeria that is happening!

    Today, on the journey of this exercise, captioned under a prayer point: of Nigeria not happening to us, The Guru has gone a little poetic. And in so doing, he has brought out a Nigerian that gave all he had to Nigeria. Yet, Nigeria happened to him – albeit Nigeria killed him!

    Enjoy the poem of how Nigeria can happen to us below, please.

    He Ran for His Country, But It Was His Country That Gunned Him Down. Not in War, Not in Terror but in Envy.

    The tragic story of Otenkwa Dele Ndubuisi Udoh – a boy of two tribes, a dreamer of two worlds, and a victim of a jealous gun.

    He was born in Umuahia, Abia State, on May 24, 1957. A Yoruba Igbo boy, two proud heritages burning in his veins, but one soul, fast, driven, gifted. From a young age, Otenkwa Dele Ndubuisi Udoh didn’t walk, he sprinted. His feet were blessed, and so was his future.

    In the 1970s, he crossed the ocean to chase a dream – in America, in the very land of freedom. 

    There, at the University of Missouri, he blazed through the tracks like a storm. He became a collegiate champion, loved, respected, admired. He was the pride of the Missouri Tigers, and one of the most promising 400m runners the world had seen. In 1978, he helped set a world record in the Sprint Medley Relay at the Baylor International in Texas.

    In 1980, he represented Nigeria at the Moscow Olympics, running alongside legends like Sunday Uti and Hope Ezeigbo. So, he came home. To serve. To run again. To make his country proud.

    BUT WHAT DO YOU CALL A LAND WHERE JEALOUSY WEARS A UNIFORM?

    On July 15, 1981, Dele Udoh, aged just 24, was back in Lagos, preparing for the Continental Championships. That night they plan to eat Dinner at the National Institute for Sports Camp in Surulere was over. Nothing left. So, they decided to quickly head down to Ojuelegba, just a short ride, to grab a late meal. Hunger shouldn’t kill a champion.

    It wasn’t hunger that killed Dele Udoh.

    A police officer flagged them down. Dele, polite and respectful, tried to explain.

    He told the officer, “In the US where I just returned from, police officers don’t point guns at innocent people like this.” A simple statement. But truth, in Nigeria, offends the unsecured.

    The officer, now consumed with rage and envy, replied with venom. “So, you think you can go to America and return to insult me? You will not go back to that your good country alive.“

    And with that, the officer pulled the trigger.

    Just like that, Dele Udoh, the boy who chose Nigeria over America, was shot dead by the same country he came home to represent. A bullet silenced his future. A jealous man in uniform murdered a national treasure.

    Back at the camp, chaos broke out. Green Eagles teammates – Felix Owolabi and Moses Kpakor, were among the first to hear the news. They couldn’t believe it. No protests. No riots. Just a quiet shot, and a loud death.

    A group of Ojuelegba “alaye boys” who had admired Dele from afar were the ones who ran to the camp to break the news. These street boys respected him. But the police officer, sworn to protect, did not.

    As Nigeria mourned in silence, thousands of miles away in Missouri, a coach cried. Godwin Obasogie, Dele’s friend and teammate, had to break the news to Coach Teel. It was too much. Teel said, “Dele was one of our most beloved. A man of warmth, wisdom, and speed.” And now he was gone.

    But there was more pain waiting.

    Back in St. Louis, Dele’s teenage wife, Angela Udoh, was pregnant, and widowed. The Nigerian government, under Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari, flew her to Ozu Abam for the burial. There, tradition demanded that she sleep in the same room as her husband’s corpse before he was buried. And she did. Not because she was forced, but because she loved him that much.

    She left behind a daughter, Angelle Burrus, born fatherless. She never knew her father. For 37 years, she lived without knowing the full story, until a Nigerian journalist, Taiwo Abiodun, tracked her down in 2018. Her father died before she could speak his name.

    Justice never came for Dele Udoh. 

    The police officer who murdered Dele? 

    He walked free. 

    Protected by a system that eats its brightest.

    He ran for his country. 

    And his country shot him in return. 

    Not in war. 

    Not in error. 

    But in envy.

    He was 24.

    He was hungry.

    He was polite.

    He was Nigerian.

    And that was enough to get him killed.

     

    Let history never forget the name: Otenkwa Ndubuisi Dele Udoh.

    Godwin Etakibuebu; a Veteran Journalist, wrote from Lagos.

    Contact:

    Website: www.godwintheguru.org

    You Tube Channel: Godwin The  Guru

    Twitter: @godwin_buebu

    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/godwintheguru

    Facebook: Godwin Etakibuebu

    Facebook Page: Veteran Column

    Telegram: @friendsoftheguru

    WhatsApp: @friendsoftheguru

    Phone: +234-906-887-0014 – short messages only. 

    You can also listen to this author [Godwin Etakibuebu] every Monday; 9:30 – 11am on Lagos Talk 91.3 FM live, in a weekly review of topical issues, presented by The News Guru [TNG].

  • Can the President collude with the NASS to dupe Nigerians? – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    Can the President collude with the NASS to dupe Nigerians? – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    My dearly most cherished President Bola Tinubu, I beg of you to consider above question, with absolute sincerity, and try your very best in responding to it, please. 

    Your response, in whichever way, shall remain one befitting legacy you shall be leaving behind for posterity, knowing fully that, just like every other mortal, you have a limited space of occupation on this side of the divide. Very soon, and again, just like every other human being – this author inclusive, you shall be translating from mortality to immortality. 

    And by the time we are gone, posterity shall arise to evaluate what we did while we occupied the space allocated to us by our Creator on earth. That would be when our Daniels shall be brought to judgement. 

    The question above is based on finding of BudgIT, while critically looking at the 2025, Budget, currently being implemented by the Federal Government – meaning your government, Mr President. What BudgIT discovered, while on the forensic examination of the Budget is not only alarming but a death sentence on Nigerians. 

    The Budget Proposal you submitted to the National Assembly, and which was critically scrutinised by the NNSS [so it ought to be] before it became a Bill, which your Honourable-Self later signed into Law, was Padded with 11, 122 budget projects, amounting to the whopping Sum of N9.93 trillion Naira. 

    Mr President, you owe Nigerians absolute responsibility to explain what happened with this 2025 Budget, as it relates to these deadly Padding, which are not going to serve interest of Nigerians but few individuals in the Executive and the NASS. The Sword of Damocles is vicariously hanging on you on this matter, for two major reasons.

    One, you and your Executive Arm of Government drew the Budget Proposals before submitting same to the National Assembly – this is your Constitutional responsibility, of  course.

    Two, when the National Assembly finished its work of scrutinising, assessing and evaluating the Budget Proposal, it then passed it as a Bill – fit to become Law, only by your assent. It makes you the Alfa and Omega of the whole process. That raises the validity of the question of this essay’s caption. 

    Did the Budget Proposal you sent to the NASS had these 11, 122 budget projects, amounting to N9.93 trillion in it? If it did not, how come that you did not see this huge and monumental Padding, on the return of the Budget to you, before you signed it into Law?

    You owe the Nigerian People adequate explanations, of both [your] actions and inactions on this matter. But let me help you a little further, by explaining what BudgIT stands for, and presenting to you the source and details of the demonic scamming of the Nigerian People, please.

    What is BudgIT

    BudgIT is a Nigerian civic-tech organization focused on promoting transparency and accountability in government spending and budget implementation. It uses technology to make government budgets and public finances accessible and understandable to citizens. BudgIT also works to improve citizen engagement, advocate for fiscal reforms, and monitor government projects.

    The totally regrettable revelation of the story as presented by the Leadership Newspaper.

    Padding: NASS, BudgIT disagree over N6.93trn projects in Budget 2025

    Budget 2025

    ..How NASS inserted 11, 122 projects budget — BudgIT

    ..2025 Appropriation Bill interrogated, passed based on the exact amount presented – Senate

    …NASS has powers to amend budget — Reps

    ABUJA — The National Assembly and a civic organisation, BudgIT, yesterday disagreed over insertion of 11,122 projects worth N6.93 trillion into the 2025 budget.

    BudgIT had alleged that the lawmakers padded the Appropriation Bill with the projects it described as not in alignment with the Medium-Term National Development Plan (2021–2025) and other national priorities.

    But both arms of the National Assembly, the Senate and the House of Representatives, reacted swiftly yesterday, dismissing allegations that they padded the budget.

    They also reaffirmed their powers to amend the budget, as enshrined by the 1999 constitution.

    However, BudgiT, which promotes and monitors public finance, said in a statement yesterday that by inserting the projects, which the executive did not envisage, legislators have taken what began as isolated irregularities over the years, to a deeply entrenched culture of exploitation and abuse, with the budget process now turned into a playground for self-serving political interests, led by top-ranking members of the national legislature.

    BudgIT said 238 projects valued above N5 billion each, with a cumulative value of N2.29 trillion, were inserted with little or no justification.

    Similarly, 984 projects worth N1.71 trillion and 1,119 projects within the range of N500 million to N1 billion, totalling N641.38 billion, were indiscriminately inserted, raising questions about their relevance and alignment with national priorities.

    These insertions, according to BudgiT, appeared tailored to satisfy narrow political interests and personal gains rather than the citizens’ interests.

    Giving further details of how the padding was done, BudgIT stated: “A closer look shows that 3,573 projects worth N653.19 billion are assigned directly to federal constituencies and 1,972 projects worth N444.04 billion to senatorial districts.

    ‘’Categorically, some of the most glaring anomalies include 1,477 street light projects worth N393.29 billion; 538 boreholes totalling N114.53 billion; 2,122 ICT projects valued at N505.79 billion; and N6.74 billion earmarked for ‘empowerment of traditional rulers.

    ‘N1.72trn projects tucked into Agric Ministry’s budget’

    “Shockingly, 39% of all insertions, 4,371 projects worth N1.72 trillion, were forced into the Ministry of Agriculture’s budget, inflating its capital allocation from N242.5 billion to N1.95 trillion.

    ‘’The Ministries of Science and Technology, and Budget and Economic Planning also saw bloated allocations of N994.98 billion and N1.1 trillion, respectively, from insertions alone.

    “Even more concerning is the targeted misuse of agencies such as the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (Lagos) and the Federal Cooperative College, Oji River, as dumping grounds for politically motivated projects.

    ‘’These agencies lack the technical capacity to execute such projects, leading to rampant under-performance and waste. For example, the Federal Cooperative College, Oji River, a training institution, was saddled with N3 billion for utility vehicles to support farmers and distribution agents; N1.5 billion for rural electrification in Rivers State; and N1 billion for solar streetlights in Enugu State.

    ‘’These are examples of agencies operating outside their mandates, managing projects unrelated to their statutory functions, and adding zero value to national development.

    “Despite these findings, the Presidency has remained conspicuously silent. Recall that in the third and fourth quarters of 2024, BudgIT launched the ‘The Budget is a Mess’ campaign to bring these issues to light.

    ‘’We submitted formal letters outlining our findings to the Presidency, the Budget Office, and the National Assembly. While these letters were acknowledged, no response was received from any of the institutions, and not a single institution has taken responsibility for the anomalies.

    ‘’Even more concerning is the silence from the Presidency, silence which, in the face of overwhelming evidence, amounts to complicity.”

    Commenting on the findings, Gabriel Okeowo, BudgIT’s Country Director, stressed the urgent need to restore integrity to Nigeria’s budgeting process, highlighting how unchecked project insertions by the National Assembly had derailed the purpose of national planning, weakened public trust and diverted resources away from critical development priorities.

    Okeowo said: “The insertion of over 11,000 projects worth N6.93 trillion into the 2025 budget by the National Assembly is not just alarming, it is an assault on fiscal responsibility. This trend, increasingly normalised, undermines the purpose of national budgeting, distorts development priorities and redirects scarce resources into the hands of political elites.

    ‘’Nigeria cannot afford to run a government of projects without purpose. We urgently need transparency, constitutional clarity, and a return to evidence-based planning that puts citizens, not politics, at the centre of the budget.

    “In light of the foregoing, we call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to exercise stronger executive leadership and reform the budgeting process to ensure alignment with the Medium-Term National Development Plan (2021–2025) and other national priorities.

    ‘’We urge the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to seek a constitutional interpretation from the Supreme Court regarding the extent of the National Assembly’s appropriation powers, particularly its authority to unilaterally introduce new capital projects without executive concurrence.

    ‘’We hope that the anti-corruption agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, will also take action to track these projects and ensure Nigeria gets value for money.

    “We also call on citizens, the media, civil society organisations, and the development community to speak out and demand reform.

    ‘’This is not merely about financial mismanagement, it is a matter of justice, equity and the future of accountable governance in Nigeria. The 2025 budget must serve the interests of the Nigerian people, not a privileged few.’’

    Below is what the Senate said about this huge Scam

    2025 Appropriation Bill interrogated, passed based on exact amount presented — Senate

    Dismissing the allegations yesterday, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu (APC, Ekiti South), said the 2025 Appropriation Bill was presented by the executive, interrogated and passed, based on the exact amount presented.

    While advising those he described as ubiquitous but ludicrous political ball-boys to engage in patriotic and truthful endeavours, Adaramodu said: “The dark angels of falsehood and public discord are only interested in stirring disaffection against the National assembly.

    “For a long time, there has been a lull in their sordid trade of irreverent propaganda, hence a resort to the latest spurious allegation of budget padding.’’

    This comment from the Nigerian Senate is nothing but Balderdash.

    Below is what the House of Representative said about the Scam

    NASS has powers to amend budget —Reps

    On his part, Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on National Planning and Economic Development, Clement Jimbo, dismissed insinuations that the National Assembly padded the 2025 national budget, describing such claims as “completely false” and rooted in “ignorance” of the legislature’s constitutional responsibilities.

    Speaking in an interview with Vanguard, Jimbo reaffirmed the National Assembly’s legal authority to review, amend, and approve the national budget, emphasising that the legislature is not a rubber stamp for executive proposals.

    He said: “The National Assembly is the arm of government the constitution has empowered to make laws. There is no other arm of government that is saddled with that responsibility.

    ‘’We make the law, including the budget. The budget the Presidency sends to the National Assembly is called an estimate; it is not yet law until we pass it.”

    Jimbo stressed that the legislature has the constitutional powers to modify the budget proposals sent by the executive, including additions and subtractions, to reflect the aspirations of Nigerians.

    “If what the executive sends to us is not in tandem with the aspirations of Nigerians, we can change it. Make no mistakes about that. We have the power to change it, amend it, subtract and add. That power is the exclusive right of the National Assembly,” he stated.

    Citing an example, Jimbo, who pointed to a recent disagreement over tax legislation, said: “The executive proposed that VAT be increased by 2.5%. We said no, let it remain at 7.5%. The way we treated that is the same way we handle the national budget.”

    He expressed strong disapproval of recent reports suggesting that lawmakers arbitrarily padded the budget, calling such narratives misleading and factually incorrect.

    The lawmaker added: “I completely disagree with them (BudgiT). It is completely based on ignorance.

    ‘’The executive cannot send a budget of N50 billion, and we just approve N50 billion. It is practically impossible. If we did that, we would be reducing ourselves to mere rubber stamps.”

    He also offered insight into the legislative budget process, noting that the estimates were reviewed by nearly 200 specialised committees in the House of Representatives, each interfacing with corresponding government ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs.

    “This is what is called budget defence. If agencies cannot justify their budget proposals, based on previous performance, the National Assembly has the power to slash what they’re asking for. Equally, we have the power to increase the budget for agencies that have been underfunded,’’ he said.

    While debunking claims that individual lawmakers could unilaterally divert funds to favoured regions or interests, Jimbo said: “No one senator or House member can sit down and say the budget of a particular region should be channelled to favour anybody. It’s false.

    ‘’I have participated in the 2023 supplementary budget, 2024, and now the 2025 budget, I have never seen such a thing.”

    He reiterated that the recent report alleging budget padding by the National Assembly is “false, to the extent of irresponsibility,” and called for greater public understanding of the legislative process.

    “This is not a difficult thing for Nigerians to know, and even for those pushing these narratives to understand. What they are saying is completely false,’’ the lawmaker said. 

    This comment from the Honourable House of Representative is complete Balderdash.

    Mr President, as I draw the curtain on this exercise, permit me to place on record that l have done my very least good in helping you. But it is entirely your vicarious responsibility to uphold and defend your integrity, which is highly at stake now, on this subject matter.

    I salute you most respectfully.

  • Mr President, do you really know the terrorists you are fighting? – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    Mr President, do you really know the terrorists you are fighting? – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    The topic, as captured above, may not resonate in many minds – President Bola Tinubu’s mind inclusive, most probably. It is for this reason that I might have to start by decoding some factual assumption that shall be characterising delivery of today’s subject matter.

    I must warn that this is going to be a very long project, but I can also assure that it shall never be moribund because I shall break it into segment to remove the of continuity in reading.

    Let us start by saying that the President of Nigeria does not know, in actual reality, those terrorists that have destroyed – and still destroying, peace and tranquillity of this great country. He probably may not have known them really. 

    Yet, it is this Group of hardened criminals that he has vowed to crunch to return Nigeria to the land of peace and tranquillity – a land where the citizens would know and have peace once again. And most importantly, where the President would be able to stand tall and tell the whole world that he has fulfilled his constitutional obligation of protecting/securing lives and properties of Nigerian citizens, as this is the enshrined obligation of Government in Nigeria, according to the Nigerian 1999 Constitution [as amended].

    There shall remain, yet a nagging gulf of understanding between the preamble given above and the reality of speculating that the President of the Federal Republic – albeit the very astutely knowledgeable president Bola Tinubu; who has traversed all segments of the Nigerian landscape, would not know the criminal gang of terrorists terrorising Nigeria?

    For ease of understanding, and decoding of this intricate discussion, permit me to go back to the beginning. “Whenever you find it difficult to start a story”, instructed the erudite Professor Jinadu, of the London School of Journalism, many years ago, “go back to the beginning and start from there”, he instructed.

    In total obedience to Professor Jinadu, one of the best teachers that shall remain evergreen in my memory, let us construct the navigational channel of sailing into this subject before heaving anchor, as Master Mariners would always say.

    WHO ARE THE TERRORISTS IN THIS NARRATION?

    Mr President, please, take it that the terrorists I am discussing with you today goes beyond the those that we narrowly define as terrorists in today’s Nigeria. What we have in todays’ dictionary of terrorism does not include Banditry, Kidnapping, Insurgency, Ritualism, and the Unknown Gunmen, most attributed to the criminal upheavals in the Southeast of Nigeria.  

    Every persona dramatis in these mentioned Groups have same characteristic at the points of their operation. They all kill, they maim, they loot and destroy. They abduct – which is the same language for kidnap, for ransom payment. They even kill their victims sometimes after collecting ransom. 

    Oh, lest l forget, the list of the Groups of these notorious Terrorists mandatorily include the Fulani Jihadist – once acknowledged by the World Terror Index as the Fourth most dangerous Terrorist Organisation in the whole world, the Fulani Herdsmen that go about with AK 47, and maybe, the Indigenous People of Biafra [IPOB]. The list can also be extended to include some money bags, sponsoring criminality, bigotry religious leaders that encourage secularism of religion in their sermons, and many others. The list is endless, Mr President. But for sure, all of them in the lists above share the same characteristic, as all of them are baptized in the same water of iniquity, holistically.

    Sir, in this endeavour, I chose to put all the above in just one basket and call of them Terrorists. At least, the groupage language I have chosen would help in concentrative endeavours – both for your humble-self and for the reading public. In addition, Sir, this little endeavour of grouping them together would build your mind and efforts for a much more co-ordinated approach, geared towards winning the battle. 

    That is only if you have the capacity to, or determination to fight this vital war for the survival of Nigeria. Because if the truth must be told, most members of the Terrorist Group I am discussing with you, belong to the class of high, noble, affluent, stupendously rich and controllers of unlimited political power. 

    And your humble-self, Mr President, is First Amongst Equals, or Senior Dramatis Personae in this Club, with all due respects.

    NEED FOR YOU TO ASSURE ME TO CONTINUE WITH THE DISCUSSION, PLEASE.

    I am asking for this just to assure that what both of us [your humble-self and myself] are engaging on is dialogue and not monologue. This is one time that silence from your end cannot stand for golden, ipso facto, because I am now delving into the most delicate area of this discussion. 

    I had to do this, strictly on my understanding, that you are not lacking in capacity of receiving bad news or the temerity of acting against whatsoever you confirmed to be both true and factual. I hope you are taking judicious note of the differentiation between the two words used – True and Factual?

    Now, that you are ready Sir, Mr President, l seek your permission to suspend continuation of this very long voyage’s chat till tomorrow, and this is for a tangible reason. If the message is too long, you might be losing interest in reading everything Sir, and once you are scared away from continuous reading, I doubt if you might want to return to continue. 

    After all Mr President you are not getting younger, as I am not too.

  • Mele Kolo Kyari’s NNPC: Iceberg of monumental fraud revealed (Part 2) – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    Mele Kolo Kyari’s NNPC: Iceberg of monumental fraud revealed (Part 2) – By Godwin Etakibuebu

    Drawing the curtain on Part One of this exercise last week, I did promise of returning with the concluding Part [2] this week – it is that promise made, that is being kept today. We should also not forget that I equally mentioned the deceitful role the Federal Government played in this disgraceful fraud against Nigerians by the NNPCL.

    The truth remains that the NNPCL is under the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and that Ministry has two Ministers of State – one for Gas while the other one is for Oil. Though the book is silent on who the substantive Minister is, Nigerians know the fact that the President – Bola Tinubu, is the substantive Minister of that Ministry – Petroleum Resources.

    It means therefore, without any contradiction, that the NNPCL reports to the President; either through State Ministers or directly to him. Again, this is an incontrovertible fact. Ipso facto, whatever approval that the NNPCL needed for loans, repairs, purchases, contracts for turn-around-maintenance [TAM], or whatsoever businesses, comes from the President. Again, this validly remains a statement of fact.

    It can therefore not be said that the President of Nigeria is new, or innocent, about whatever that happened – or happening, at the NNPCL, at any given time. The root of this big fraud of billions of US$ Dollars that the federal government’s agency – Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] is probing cannot be new to him.

    For now, let us continue with the conclusion of this exercise, please.   

    FG deceiving Nigerians – Expert

    An energy expert, Kelvin Emmanuel, said the Warri, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna refineries were never truly set to resume operations.

    Speaking on Arise News, Emmanuel described the televised commissioning as a “charade,” accusing the government of staging the event to mislead the public.

    He said, “For months, I had said that Warri, Port-Harcourt, and Kaduna were never going to come back into operation and that what Nigerians saw on television as the commissioning was just a charade.

    “On August 12, 2021, the Federal Executive Council approved memos for monies worth $2.96bn to be raised for the turnaround maintenance of the three refineries.

    “This money can build a brand new 60,000-barrel refinery. The last of these refineries was completed in 1989 by Shell. So, these refineries were built as very sizable modular refineries to power the operations of operators off-stream.

    “So, they were not built to refine. The PHRC and WRPC don’t have a catalytic reform unit that can convert Naphtha to PMS.

    “The 46km pipeline that was designed to supply feedstock from Escravos to Warri is out of service. So, how are you carrying crude oil to the refinery?

    “One of the proofs that the NNPCL was deceiving Nigerians that it was refining is that most of our products are supplied from Lagos.

    “We have a situation where $2.96bn was approved by the FEC, but there is nothing to show for it. So, if you claim that your refineries are operational, it is supposed to deliver up to 7 million litres. If you check the balance sheet of the company, the refineries are a loss-making business.”

    Staff threaten strike

    Meanwhile, plans to restart a section of Nigeria’s 125,000b/d Warri refinery are at risk due to an indefinite strike planned by plant support staff scheduled to begin on Monday, May 5, 2025. The strike is in protest against casualisation, low pay, and lack of benefits.

    A new report by Argus Media said the state-owned company had planned to restart the crude and vacuum distillation units (CDU and VDU) and a gas plant in the first week of May 2025. But the support staff have timed their strike to disrupt these plans.

    Support staff representative, Dafe Ighomitedo, said the striking workers had been protesting their employment terms since 2015.

    “A previous strike called in April 2022 would have delayed the start of the quick-fix programme, but it was called off following appeals from community leaders and a promise from refinery management to address the workers’ demands if they supported the programme,” Ighomitedo said.

    “Workers were promised an improved salary structure upon the refinery’s restart, but that promise has not been fulfilled,” he added.

    The Delta State Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Harry Okenini, speaking, expressed worry over the non-production of petrol at the Warri refinery, months after the announced completion of its rehabilitation.

    The IPMAN boss said, “Since the inauguration of the rehabilitated Warri refinery on January 5, 2025, there has been no green light for IPMAN to lift petroleum products from the facility.

    “For the past months, there has been no product for marketers here, and we cannot just stay idle, so we decided to source products from the private depots.

    “These private depot owners, today they will increase the price; tomorrow they will increase it again. So, the whole thing has caused problems for the business.”

    He appealed to the Federal Government to give the newly appointed board of the NNPCL a free hand to work.

    Also, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria called for an investigation into the condition of the refineries. 

    This call, by PETROAN, was only after having offered itself as the main Catalyst Agent of good news about the unequalled efficiency of the NNPCL. A point even came that PETROAN stood out astutely, defending every lie that came out of NNPCL and presenting same to Nigerians as nothing but the gospel truth. But now that all the lies and frauds of the NNPCL are gushing out without control, it is like PETROAN is now singing a new song. 

    Listen to the latest encounter between PETROAN and Correspondent of the Saturday Punch Newspaper below. 

    Challenged by one of our correspondents to defend its earlier claims that the refineries were supplying fuel to its members, PETROAN National President, Billy Gillis-Harry, said the refineries were working at the time he and his team visited the sites.

    He said, “We had very clear knowledge because we had a technical team with us, and the evaluation showed that there was hope for these refineries to work. We are not the contractors; we are not the ones who maintain them.

    “So, we went home with the fact that we saw the refineries working and the furnaces were lighting up. But if today they are not working, then, of course, PETROAN probably needs to revisit and check what happened and what didn’t happen, which we are going to do.

    “Since this news came out, I have had meetings with NMDPRA and a few other critical leaders in the industry.

    “For us, we want to encourage the system to be very efficient. But if what has been done is not good enough, of course, you can see that punishment is being meted out to those who managed it. So, we hope that things will become much better.”

    An energy expert, Dan Kunle, described the much-celebrated renovation as a scandal.

    Giving insights, Kunle said the Federal Government failed to convince the original builders of the refinery from Japan to come for its renovation, as the country’s government warned against insecurity.

    He said another contractor was employed to fix these refineries at a high cost with nothing to show for it yet.

    He said the government was only wasting money on renovating the refineries, saying the Kaduna refinery has no pipelines to supply it with crude oil.

    “Why did we avoid Japan? Why did we go around when a sovereign authority like Nigeria could not convince Japan to come and fix the refinery? And the same Japanese company is in NLNG doing contracts.

    “Kaduna refinery has no pipe to feed it. Even if you fix the Kaduna refinery with the $800m or $750m, how will crude get there? So why will you put the rehabilitation of that place on course and abandon the crude pipeline from Escravo to Warri, to Auchi, to Lokoja, to Suleja?

    “The crude pipeline was built in the late 70s. Today, you cannot pressurise crude from Escravo to that place.

    “All these three refineries, we are wasting money rehabilitating them,” Kunle stated.

    He accused Kyari of launching media propaganda with public funds to deceive Nigerians that the refineries were working.

    This Court Adjourns –—————- C.O.U. R.T