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Tag: Pius Mordi

  • PIUS MORDI: Wike’s Reich and incurable power of personality

    PIUS MORDI: Wike’s Reich and incurable power of personality

    By Pius Mordi

    When Chief Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun’s Supreme Court on February 28 nullified the October 5, 2024 council polls of Rivers State, not a few people drew a parallel between Justice Peter Lifu’s ruling of September 2024 that barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voters register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission in addition to directing the Police not to provide security for the exercise and late Justice Bassey Ikpeme ruling on June 10, 1993. Just 48 hours to the election that would have returned constitutional rule to Nigeria, Justice Ikpeme barred the National Electoral Commission as INEC was then known from proceeding with the election for which the electoral decree on the exercise had an ouster clause shielding the election from any challenge in the courts. The apex court’s judgement made the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, the undisputed Czar of Rivers State.
    It was the culmination of political trajectory that almost never got started, according to his own testimony. As chairman of Obiokpo local government area, he was about to be denied a second term at the beginning of his political career. On finding out, Wike ran to Mrs. Mary Odili, wife of them Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili. The Rivers first lady was inclined to have him restored and prevailed on her husband to do so. In acceding to his wife’s request, it is doubtful if Odili had an idea what he had just unleashed on his people.
    It was similar to the decision taken in January 1933 by German President President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler as chancellor of Germany even after thousands of Germans demonstrated against the plan to give power to Hitler. Von Hindenburg could not have had an inkling of what he was to unleash on not just his country but the entire world, a man that plunged the globe into a war that cost the lives of millions. Contrary to von Hindenburg’s expectations, Hitler became his country’s Frankenstein with the promise of a Third Reich that would last a thousand years.
    Odili and his wife may have paved the way for Wike to emerge in the political firmament, but being a man that understands the power play and how to use it to drive his ambition, he knew in the midst of orchestrated poverty, access to state funds gives him a leverage. From his time as governor of Rivers State, he schemed to remain in power even when out of office. Unlike his contemporaries who did not anticipate that their stooge may renege on earlier agreements sooner rather than later, he planned for such day.
    One thing that cannot be taken from the FCT Minister is he is thorough, albeit in a dubious way. He knows the levers of power that will come in handy in the short and long term, especially the judiciary. He paid special attention to judges not just in Rivers State. He took the template for Abuja where like he did in his home state, judges got special attention. He built houses for them and provided exotic cars. When he conceived a chain of houses for top judges, he got CJ Kekere-Ekun to the foundation laying ceremony. Her presence at the event was roundly condemned by some people who felt it undermines the prestige and independence of the judiciary. But I think there is no more attempt at pretence. There is a new national order. It is no longer about altruism on the part of those wielding the powers of state.
    And that includes Aso Rock. The seat of power has given Wike maximum support to give effect to his desire to set up his Reich in Rivers. That was effectively accomplished with the Supreme Court’s judgement that nullified the council election held under Sim Fabara’s watch. In an amazing judgement, the same judges upheld the judgement of a High Court judge that barred INEC from providing the voter’s register but based the decision to nullify the election on the fact that there was no updated register. All along, they were propping up an interloper, a so-called Sole Administrator, an unelected retired military officer, to single handedly carry out the functions of a governor and House of Assembly.
    I am not a lawyer, but everything is wrong with the saga in Rivers. If someone that has an incontestable locus standi challenges the August 30 council poll, it will be intriguing to see how the Supreme Court will uphold what was organised by a constitutional interloper.
    Wike now has his Reich fully up and running, having indicated that Fubara will return on September 18. Having installed his preferred council chairmen, Fubara has learnt his lesson that the Reich with Wike as chancellor cannot be trifled or tampered with. His dynasty has come to stay and not even Dr. Odili or any erstwhile godfather can do anything about it.
    But not all factors are controllable. Upon his appointment in 1933 as Chancellor, Hitler declared that his Third Reich would last a thousand years. It was eclipsed about 13 years later, a fleeting moment in a vast global history.

  • Ukodo: Concept of a hands-on servant – By Pius Mordi

    Ukodo: Concept of a hands-on servant – By Pius Mordi

    Ukodo is an exotic delicacy peculiar to the Urhobo and Isoko people in Delta State. It is the product of diligent culinary engineering. The chef is obligated to keep an eye all along the process with attention to details. Oil is not part of the ingredients which is a huge plus given what scientists tell us about the seeming harmful effects of oil. But these new findings about palm oil may have put a lie to what scientists have been telling us. A matter for another day.

    The final product, the famous ukodo, is something else. With wonderful spices known only to the Urhobo and Isoko that give it a fantastic aroma, ukodo is a revered delicacy. It is a beautiful meal that makes yam cooked and seasoned with fresh fish and cooked beef a different ball game.

    Until he became governor of Delta State, not much was known about Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori who until May 2023 was the Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly. This man, herein after referred to as just Sheriff, came with a nickname – ukodo. Contrary to what people’s interpretation of the word as an extraordinary delicacy that portends enjoyment for the people, ukodo himself saw it as a call to duty.

    Just like the special delicacy, it requires diligence, thoroughness and commitment to impress with the privilege of service. All the commendable projects executed by previous governors of Delta State had a common flaw – suspect execution and poor durability. Roads that looked exquisite and pristine at the point of commissioning often failed with the first rains. It was not a question of poor designs, but that of system failure. Contractors often deliberately cut corners to make money for themselves. That could have been checked if professionals in the civil service that supervise and certify projects executed by contractors were diligent. The system relies on the reports of the supervising professionals on whose certifications payments are authorised. Its prevalence nationwide explains the galaxy of failed projects across the country. As a man who has seen it all in the state, Sheriff knew what makes projects fail. He was not prepared to walk the same path taken by his predecessors and chose to do things differently.

    A common denominator of the road projects executed by his predecessors is their failure to survive the first rainy season. The problem is not with the design of the projects or quality specifications to be met. Rather, it is always the human element. Apart from his personal aides led by an Executive Assistant on project monitoring, there is a retinue of other lower level aides on hand to visit and appraise the quality of projects to ensure they meet specifications.

    At the top of the pyramid are professionals in the civil service whose judgement and recommendations have always been the fulcrum of the decisions taken by governors to approve payment to contractors or completed projects to be commissioned, or otherwise. Relying on the recommendations of the system professionals has been the archiles heel of governors. Contrary to expectations that newly constructed roads, for instance, will last a minimum of 10 years before the first rehabilitation is carried out, they hardly survive the first rains.

    Sheriff has seen it happen under his predecessors all too often. And he does not want to be subjected to such horror. And horror it is. After the fanfare that characterise the commissioning of projects, it is better imagined the huge embarrassment governors have to deal with when the onset of rains practically kills such projects. Apart from fuelling the perception that the failure of the projects is orchestrated even by the governors themselves for their personal aggrandisement, the lack of trust by the people on the government and its programmes is reinforced.

    Ukodo, as Sheriff has come to be known, does not want to be yoked with such perception. Rather than wait for aides or rely on the judgement of professionals in the civil service to surreptitiously set the agenda for him, he decided to do things his peculiar way. He approved the payment of 40 percent mobilisation to contractors, rather than the 25 percent he met from his predecessors. He does not rely on the recommendations of the professionals and aides. He is on ground to assess the projects a number of times before the projects are deemed to have been completed. More often than not, he has unraveled the smart alecs among contractors who with the seeming indifference of supervising professionals (that is putting it mildly anyway) contrive to deliver substandard jobs that fail almost immediately after commissioning.

    The governor’s unscheduled and impromptu visits to project sites is something contractors, project engineers and system supervisors have never had to deal with previously. Having clearly and boldly declared that he will deal with contractors who fail to meet project specifications irrespective of whoever may be their political godfathers, a new sheriff is truly in town. Contractors now know there are serious repercussions for not delivering projects according to specifications. And for civil servants that certify projects for payment and commissioning, they know the day of reckoning will come sooner than later.

    Every stakeholder is now on his toes with the new sheriff in town.

    It is the true definition of ukodo – paying attention to details, making funds spent on projects to count and when there are infractions, punish the guilty party. If there are roads that last far longer than those commissioned before ukodo came into office, the sheriff’s approach explains it.

  • Canada’s redefinition of terrorism – By Pius Mordi

    Canada’s redefinition of terrorism – By Pius Mordi

    The two major political parties in Nigeria – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – were collectively incredulous to the ruling of the Canadian Federal Court which classified both parties as terrorists organisations. It was a judgement that ran against every definition of the word, terrorism in Nigeria. To the political leadership, terrorism manifests only when gunmen, known and unknown, wield weapons and wreak havoc on the people.

    In its official response, the Federal Ministry of Information resorted to the old and anachronistic use of the regular defence of government’s misdeeds, of the country being “sovereign nation with a robust legal and constitutional framework.” It provides the alibi for any action taken to maintain “law and order.” It is what informed the justification of the the withholding of discharge certificate of Miss Ushie Uguamaye, a youth corps member on national service who was sternly reprimanded for criticising President Bola Tinubu, after she complained in a Tiktok post where she described Tinubu as a “terrible leader.” Uguamaye was punished unjustly for her outspoken criticism of the government. The backlash from Nigerians was unequivocal, forcing the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to issue a statement that her certificate was withheld after extending her service year by two months as a disciplinary action against her for missing April clearance.

    A lawyer, Victor Giwa, speaking on Channels Television, faulted the trivialisation of the judgement by APC and PDP, noting that the ruling was in line with the Canada’s criminal law. Douglas Egharevba, a Nigerian seeking refugee status, had instituted the suit to legalise his refugee status. Inadvertently, Egharevba has introduced a new narrative on what constitutes terrorism in Nigeria. According to Giwa, “Canadian law, under the Canadian Criminal Code, Section 83, Subsection 01, defines an act of terrorism to be any political, religious, or ideological act that was done with the intention of causing death, serious bodily harm, intimidation, and risk to any life.”

    The definition broadens the misdeeds of the government and political parties beyond the current military campaign against terror. In 2011, a number of young men and women had been killed in Niger State after then candidate Muhammadu Buhari had threated to visit violence on the country if the election was “rigged.” On coming into office in 2015, Buhari adopted arm twisting tactics to make the judiciary, a co-equal arm of government, subservient to him. First, he removed Walter Onnoghen, the Chief Justice of the Federation, unilaterally using an agency controlled by his office. Then a reign of assaults on judges under the guise of fighting corruption among judicial officers in the dead of the night began. 

    And the general elections that brought various levels of elected representatives? It took a falling out among politicians for prominent elements in their rank to openly flaunt their ingenuity in arranging victory for their parties. It was an audacious display of impunity that showed that votes by the people no longer counted much. When Nasir el-Rufai revealed how his Fulani kinsmen were shipped into the country ahead of the 2015 election to unleash mayhem on the country should President Goodluck Jonathan fail to give them the result of the presidential election they desired, it became clear the insecurity that has now locked down parts of the country was orchestrated. Unfortunately, President Jonathan beat El Rufai and his ilk to their game and gave them the result they wanted. Having tasted the tremendous cash that came with kidnapping for ransome, not even El Rufai’s payments to the gunmen they imported could persuade them to return to their countries they were recruited.

    When opposition parties are taken over by paid agents in order to render them ineffective and ungovernable, the judgement by Justice Phuong Ngo is given credence. When a state government is overthrown and an unconstitutional Sole Administrator answerable to Abuja is appointed in its place, it is terrorism taken to unprecedented height.

    Going by Justice Phuong Ngo, Nigeria has been a terrorist state riding roughshod on the rule of law for many years. There is an irony in the judgement Egharevba got. He may not have got the sympathy he sought from a country with the pedigree for protecting foreigners seeking refuge. Buhari took delight in quickly getting the Independent People of Biara (IPOB) designated a terrorist organisation, but his Fulani kinsmen who have been globally acknowledged as one of the most deadly killer-group are only called bandits engaging in skirmishes with farmers.

    Femi Falana has put the Canadian judgement in proper perspective. It is up to APC and PDP, by extension, the federal government, to prove the Canadian judgement wrong, he said.

    When the various administrations of the political class were passing the baton of impunity from one party to another, they equated holding public office and access to the public treasury with patriotism and hard work. Buhari called the younger generation lazy. But thanks to information and communication technology, the world has become a global village. The misdeeds of the past catching up with the country and gradually shutting the exit doors to the rulers. As the saying goes, the hills have eyes. And the walls have ears too.

  • Lalong and poverty of Middle Belt leadership – By Pius Mordi

    Lalong and poverty of Middle Belt leadership – By Pius Mordi

    As governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong took delight in taunting his Benue State counterpart at the height of attacks and killings by Fulani terrorists.

    Governor Samuel Ortom had switched from APC to PDP after his first term, apparently dissatisfied with the response of late Muhammadu Buhari, then President, and security agencies to his cries for help in getting succour for his people following repeated killings by Fulani militias.

    Earlier, he had signed into law a bill that banned open crazing of cattle just as many other states had done, especially those in the south.

    It was a direct response to the various strategies unfolded by Buhari to carve out crazing routes and create so-called “cattle colonies” across the country for Fulani herders.

    Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association made good their vow to make Benue ungovernable with Buhari giving a tacit nod by ensuring the federal Police never enforced the law while Fulani militants had a field day killing people in Benue villages.

    Lalong did not believe in the anti-grazing law. Rather, he believed that Fulani herders should be courted and appeased. He thought his Plateau State had been spared the onslaught. It was a posture that condemned the Middle Belt to series of unchecked killings in the hands of Fulani herders with no concerted response from the governors.

    Lalong did not stop there. Now as senator representing Plateau South senatorial district, he took his belief of kowtowing to the Fulani by sponsoring a bill to make the Sultan of Sokoto and leader of the Muslim ummah the prime and permanent chairman of the council of national council for traditional rulers that “seeks to accord formal recognition to, as well as facilitate the important roles and functions of our traditional rulers” alongside the Ooni of Ife as co-chair.

    It was a daring proposition that triggered chain reactions from the various zones and traditional kingdoms across Nigeria. From the Middle Belt with fiercely proud kingdoms and traditional rulers to the Southeast with its legion of republican communities and the a nascent Hausa group that saw it as ill-informed, Senator Lalong’s bill was roundly condemned.

    It was the condemnation the bill attracted that made him to belatedly claim that there was no such proposal in the bill. But he did not table the bill before the public to give credence to his claim. The bill is puzzling.

    The Gbong Gwom Jos is one of the most prominent royal institutions in the country, not just in the Middle Belt, that never answered to an internal coloniser.

    What could have inspired Lalong to table such a bill that will subjugate traditional rulers in his zone to the seeming pre-eminence of the Sultan and Ooni? The successor political elites to the pioneer leaders in the region failed to imbibe the vision of getting the region excised from the northern region as Midwestern was done from the Western region. They failed then, but the dream never died.

    A key political figure in the Middle Belt was late Senator Joseph Tarka. He was one of the founding members of the United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC) in the immediate post-Independence era, an organization dedicated to advocating for the interests of the Middle Belt region.

    The UMBC played a significant role in Nigerian politics, particularly in representing the diverse ethnic groups of the area.

    Unfortunately, the successor elite are bereft of the vision that drove Tarka and his crop of leaders. Apart from Audu Ogbeh who passed on recently, most of the ones that emerged during the second republic had dubious inspiration and aspirations. Ogbeh was one of the leaders that stood out under late President Shehu Shagari.

    He did not compromise on his principles and was one of the few that stood up to Olusegun Obasanjo who saw party leadership as an adjunct of the Presidency unlike what obtained under Shagari.

    The poverty of leadership in the region got its ugly manifestation with the coming of Hyacinth Iormem Alia, a Roman Catholic priest, as governor of Benue State. While his state burned and Fulani terrorists routinely and daily killed his people, he even sought to stifle reportage of the killings.

    When President Bola Tinubu came calling to ostensibly commiserate with the people over the overnight mass murder of over 200 people, Alia deployed school children to line the streets under heavy down pour to give the President a “rousing welcome” that turned to a raining welcome.

    While the Middle Belt Forum chided the President for a “disturbingly casual” response to the ongoing violence and displacement plaguing the North Central region.

    The group also accused the President of ignoring what it said was an “ethnic cleansing campaign” allegedly carried out by Fulani militias. But for the Reverend Father, it was all about the politics of 2027.

    In the politics of the north, leaders in the Middle Belt are always available as chairs and spokesmen of what is often portrayed as a unified and monolithic north – the Arewa Consultative Forum. That plays only when their numbers are used to taunt the rest of the country that the north holds all the aces on who emerged president.

    Where are the Joseph Tarkas of contemporary politics needed to effectively reshape the “north”? They have lost Audu Ogbeh.

    But someone has to step up to the plate and provide leadership to the people that have almost become refugees and internally displaced persons in the unfolding land grab in the region.

  • Crisis of Nigerian citizenship – By Pius Mordi

    Crisis of Nigerian citizenship – By Pius Mordi

    Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher universally acknowledged as the greatest talent in the history of philosophy, in outlining the duties of citizens qualified the level of respect for lawful authorities.

    Citizenship, he wrote, involves not just rights and privileges, but also responsibilities and a commitment to the common good, including active participation in civic life and adherence to JUST LAWS (emphasis mine).

    Invariably, when laws validly passed by a law making body are deemed not to be in tandem with common good and in agreement between rulers and the ruled, there is enough ground for dissent by citizens.

    Mohamed Bouazizi was a young man eking a living from trading on the streets of Tunis, Tunisia. He often had to contend with the Police who routinely harassed and extorted money from him. On December 17, 2010, he had had enough.

    He took his own life through self-immolation. The protests his self immolation triggered eventually led to the Tunisian Revolution. It did not end with the fall of the regime, but culminated in the fall of a number of regimes that the world dubbed the Arab Spring. The outcome forever changed the political dynamics in the Middle East.

    There is no shortage of courage within Nigeria to fight for what is right in the face of the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election. Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi led the stellar cast of activists that damned their personal safety to fight against tyranny of the military.

    It was a practical demonstration of Plato’s admonition that citizens will face difficult choices between personal interests and the requirements of justice in the inevitable conflict to protect democratic systems from demagogues who might manipulate citizens for their own gain. Like Plato, Gani believed that true citizenship requires a commitment to reason and justice, rather than mere popularity.

    In the midst of unadulterated poverty of the people, Nigerians have almost abandoned the responsibilities that come with citizenship as well as the task of doing the basic things. Dissent through peaceful means was one virtue Gani taught Nigeria.

    His was not to just complain of demagoguery, he fought vociferously public office holders, especially members of the executive branch. He, perhaps, had more court suits challenging the overreach of the government and those that sought to protect the liberty and rights of the people than suits that made him rich.

    At a time we should have louder complaints to match the level of grinding poverty, the stage has been taken over by a different set of citizens – the ones ordained by the government to be more vocal than any other segment of the population.

    While most of the people are quietly wallowing through hunger and deprivation, the media space has been taken over by a horde of paid agents who masquerade as social media influencers and commentators. They now speak for the people and all we hear from them is that the government is doing the right things. Using dubious figures, they unabashedly tell Nigerians that they are having the best time under President Bola Tinubu.

    The increase in minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000, an increase of more than 100 percent is the major tool for driving their narrative. Any contrary opinions are loudly drowned by the galaxy of promoters of the government who do not mind that they are using the same words, the same data in driving their narrative.

    From the recent workshop or gathering in Abuja of the paid promoters of government, it is apparent government is giving Nigerians a new definition of citizenship and the responsibilities that come with it. Criticism of the government is almost being aggregated with subversion. The road to conquering poverty now lies with applauding the government and whatever it does.

    There is crisis of citizenship in the country. In addition to being dubbed unpatriotic, the new ‘citizens’ have unleashed a new, but sophisticated level of bigotry on Nigerians. Before the nature and content of people’s opinions are evaluated, the first thing they look out for is the name of the opinion holder. That enables the colouration given to the views. There is no merit in opinions or genuine criticisms of the government anymore.

    Elsewhere, regular gauging of public opinion tend to inspire the government on the direction to take in policy formation and implementation. Going through social media posts, it will seem like the federal government is contending only with a tiny minority of saboteurs intent on painting the government and the country black.

    It is as if the federal government is battling against liars and evil people. The public space has been taken over by the people Abuja has been grooming to be the new citizens that will be the real Nigerians to tell it the kind of story it wants to hear. That is the crisis of citizenship in the country. Who is the citizen by Abuja’s definition?

    Plato said in his ancient Greece that the “burden of citizenship” refers to the responsibilities and obligations that come with being a citizen of a country, including upholding the law, participating in civic life, and contributing to society. If he was alive, he would have had to redefine citizenship.

  • Apotheosis of Kwankwasiyya – By Pius Mordi

    Apotheosis of Kwankwasiyya – By Pius Mordi

    As the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, when Rose Chinyere Uzoma visited Kano State not long after her appointment in July 2010 by President Goodluck Jonathan, she had to visit the citystate that hosts major training and operational facilities.

    Of course, she paid the customary courtesy call on Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso, governor of the State at the time. On receiving her, Kwankwaso virtually admonished the Immigration chief for becoming the Comptroller General when, by his thinking, the position ought to be occupied by his own kinsman, someone from Kano.

    It was a shocking encounter. Nigerians were shocked at such indecorous disposition. If Uzoma was taken aback, she did not betray any emotion. Stoic, she went about the business of the day. The amazing thing was that Kwankwaso did not allege Uzoma was not qualified or that she was picked ahead of others ahead of her superiors. His only point was that the post should have gone to someone from his Kano State.

    And on July 21, 2025, he visited President Bola Tinubu in in his official residence during which they were said to have had a closed meeting, although an actual meeting is now in the realm of speculation. The first pronouncement he made after the meeting was to accuse the President of marginalising the north.

    “Let me advise those who are struggling by all means to take everything to remember that some of the issues that we have in this part of the country today have to do with the lack of enough resources and mismanagement of the little that comes in”, he said at a stakeholders’ dialogue on the review of the constitution in Kano.

    “That is why we have insecurity, we have poverty and so on. It is happening here mainly, but like a desert, it would go everywhere,” he said as if threatening the rest of the country while speaking at a stakeholders’ dialogue on the review of the constitution in Kano. He did elaborate on his claim that Tinubu was “dumping” all of Nigeria’s resources in the south. To him, in just two years, all that has been wrong with the country are due to Tinubu.

    For the eight-year duration of Muhammadu Buhari Presidency, Kwankwaso was at peace with the distribution of resources and appointments. To be fair to him, Kwankwaso’s grievance was not with the quality of governance. At a time Nigerians in all corners of the nation were contending with multi-dimensional poverty, all that mattered to the Kwankwasiyya founder was the citing of projects.

    While acknowledging that all  highways nationwide are in poor shape, he still had to play the regional card by imagining a road in the south. “Now, we are told that there is a road from the South to the East”, whatever that means.

    Derived from his village, Kwankwasiyya is said to encapsulate the quest for good governance, politics without bitterness, and educating people to know their rights under a democratic government. But Kwankwaso is not known to espouse ideas that provide solutions to burning national issues. He is first a northern and to the extent that the his core north is in the forefront.

    While late President Buhari held sway and made sure that all the key positions were held by not just northerners of his ilk but his religion. While the rest of the north was embroiled in ceaseless killings, the  insecurity was tolerable.

    But it is barely two years into the Tinubu presidency and it is convenient to now parrot insecurity and marginalisation of the north. While Kwankwasiyya advertised good governance as its mantra, Kwankwaso’s intervention in national discourse is coloured in precepts that his own north should always be above others. While all seemed rosy with him while Buhari personified marginalisation in his appointments and citing of projects, Kwankwaso felt the status quo must remain no matter who is President

    His complaint of marginalisation of the north is a product of his difficulty in accepting the fact that Tinubu could dare to tinker with ranking of personnel at the federal level. Tinubu simply borrowed a leaf from Buhari’s playbook on putting his region first. But while he could ignore the rest of the zones, he did not trifle with the north.

    After his southwest, Tinubu made sure Kwankwaso’s northwest came next. Probably that is what the bill the National Assembly to make the Sultan of Sokoto and the Ooni of Ife the permanent co-chair of a council of traditional rulers. That was not good enough for the Kano political godfather.

    Kwankwasiyya is a political movement that Nigerians did not get to understand its tenets. They thought the founder just wanted to personalise its name. However, it is becoming clear that the driving philosophy goes beyond the ordinary. It is about Kwankwaso’s north anchored on Kano.

    That is his definition of good governance and fairness. It is not like the legendary late Kano politician, Aminu Kano, who made the talakawa the focus of his political life. This godfather is not fighting to improve the quality of living of the talakawa. Its all about him and the ruling elite.

  • Adelabu: A Minister at work – By Pius Mordi

    Adelabu: A Minister at work – By Pius Mordi

    The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has been in the news since his appointment by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. For a critical determinant of development as electricity is, being constantly on the front burners is not a surprise given the monumental promise his principal made before the election that got him into office as President.

    In the lead up to the election, Tinubu had boldly declared that he will ensure there is stable public power supply within his first term.

    He was so bullish in his belief that he challenged Nigerians not to vote him for a second term if he failed to deliver regular power supply or if estimated billing of electricity consumers continues. Giving Nigerians stable and reliable power supply was positioned as a low hanging fruit that will be delivered without much fuss. It was akin to declaring a state of emergency in the sector. And for good reasons.

    It was a campaign promise that required a minister with radical ideas and drive to fast track the dismantling of the nebulous “national grid” with the transfer of the electricity from the exclusive to the concurrent list.

    Unfortunately, Minister Adelabu did not read the script. He seemed pre-occupied with the wellbeing of the various electricity distribution companies (DISCOs). His introduction of different bands of tariff for electricity that benchmarked 20 hours supply to Band A consumers is akin to the declaration made by David Mark as Minister of Communication under Ibrahim Babangida that telephone is not for the poor.

    To Adelabu, reliable power supply is not for the poor. Only the well-to-do should aspire to have reliable power supply. But he failed to study the immediate and long term effects of his Band A clients, especially public institutions.

    Universities and the teaching hospitals found they could not cope with the geometric rise in tariff best illustrated by events at the University College Hospital, Ibadan where patients going for surgery were compelled to provide the electricity generators to power and operate critical equipment during surgeries.

    However, despite the band system, many consumers, particularly those in Band A, have reported receiving less than the promised hours of supply, leading to dissatisfaction and accusations of unfair practices. The higher tariffs associated with Band A and other bands have raised concerns about affordability, especially for low-income households and small businesses.

    Minister Adelabu thought nothing of  taking a cue from his principal’s pledge to make his reelection for a second term contingent on his giving Nigerians regular power supply. With state governments granted the power to set up their individual power grids, Adelabu’s job was made easier. He could have engaged the governors to key into the search for stable power by evolving guidelines for them to set up their own power infrastructure. Rather, he contrived to frighten the people about a phantom subsidy in electricity.

    The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) alleged that the federal government spent N1.94 trillion on electricity subsidies in 2024 due to the continued gap between customer tariffs and actual market costs. If Adelabu had taken the smart option of paving the way for states, especially those in the south to establish their own electricity independent of the national grid, the burden of improving access to power would have been shared with the governors.

    A former President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Professor Segun Ajibola, described the recent tariff adjustment by NERC as a rational move that could help retain more consumers on the national grid. He said the forces of demand and supply must be considered, warning that a monopolist cannot fix both price and quantity simultaneously.

    The 2027 deadline President Tinubu gave himself to solve the electricity conundrum is already here, albeit, at a time that governance has taken the backstage. Minister Adelabu is yet to read the script. If ours is a society where leaders are held to account for their campaign promises, Tinubu’s reelection would have hung on the balance, even if the subject of electricity alone was the only challenge. Luckily, this is Nigeria.

  • ‘Desperate politicians’ and other stories – By Pius Mordi

    ‘Desperate politicians’ and other stories – By Pius Mordi

    Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, the French critic, journalist, and novelist, made one of the most often quoted statements in 1849. “The more things change, the more they remain the same”, he said in his satirical publication ‘Les Guêpes’ (The Wasps).

    He may have used it to express the idea that despite superficial changes, certain fundamental aspects of society or human nature stay constant. It has been accepted as an eternal truth and applies to political and economic issues.

    This was what came to mind as Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Tinubu’s spokesman, issued his rebuttal shortly after the new political coalition, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), was born. It was an attempt to brand the new party as one designed to drag Nigeria. He dismissed the group as one that poses a threat to Nigeria’s democratic progress and stability.

    That sounded very familiar with what transpired in 2014 when the tables were different. Then APC was called an alliance of strange bedfellows who had no game plan on what to do with power except the desire to just capture it from the ruling PDP.

    APC was portrayed as a coalition of diverse groups with conflicting interests, suggesting it would not be a cohesive or sustainable political force. To PDP spokespersons at the time, the newly formed opposition party will implode sooner than later due to internal conflicts before the end of 2014. The rest, they say, is history.

    Against the backdrop of repeatedly acknowledging that former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was an unmitigated disaster, Onanuga and his team have their job cut out convincing Nigerians that APC, the same APC that saw Buhari through his eight years in office, is the real deal and not the “political desperados driven by personal ambition and bitterness” he labelled ADC. Onanuga’s predecessor in 2014, Lai Mohammed unleashed a series of salvos, many vitriolic, that really hurt Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and his government at the time.

    He labelled the PDP government as corrupt and inefficient, and highlighted issues like the handling of the Boko Haram insurgency and economic challenges. He perfected the art of blaming the PDP for what ordinarily should have been the electoral liability APC undertook to fix. By May 2016, Lai had laid the ground work for Buhari’s penchant to blame PDP for his failures he employed well into his second term. “President Jonathan’s men have stolen so much; they are richer than government,” Lai Mohammed often repeated.

    Specific criticisms included accusations of failing to tackle corruption effectively, mismanagement of the economy, and a weak response to the growing threat of Boko Haram and also portrayed Jonathan’s government as lacking transparency and accountability. It is a template ADC may not need to rejig now they are on the other side.

    Just months after Tinubu unleashed the rash of policies that overnight dragged millions of homes into multidimensional poverty bracket, the “bring our corruption back” mantra that trended from Nigerians was a stark reminder to the new government that its reforms had made life excruciatingly challenging for them.

    Now that the tables are turned, Bolaji Abdullahi and his ADC media team may not have to change anything if they haul the words wholesale back to APC. And if alleged looters in PDP were wealthier than the government as Lai alleged, that much can be said of the President’s men. Ironically, one of the Tinubu’s main men is not even a member of the ruling party, not officially at least.

    Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister, takes delight in flaunting his Rolls Royce luxury car in public official functions after hounding his elected successor out of office with Aso Rock’s undisguised backing. He is just one of the many, the only difference being that others may be more discretional and have more emotional intelligence than him.

    Team Onanuga no longer has the multiple fronts they enjoyed in 2014 this time. What they see as the most effective strategy so far is keep attacking Peter Obi who was not even part of the fray in 2014. Obi was derisively reminded that he only came third in the 2023 presidential election.

    But that belies the barely concealed fear in the ruling party of the man who defeated Tinubu in his home state, Lagos and made inroads in other zones at a time he was not reckoned with. The other strategy now employed to demarket ADC is to call the coalition as driven by hatred for Tinubu.

    I am not sure what that means, but there is no doubt Onanuga knows that narrative does not gel with Nigerians. A leader is as loved as the good life he gets his people to lead.

    Unfortunately unlike in 2015, the election of 2027 will not be determined by the level of false propaganda parroted by the parties. The outcome may be determined by what comes out when a bread winner dips his hand in the pocket.

  • A race to waste more money – By Pius Mordi

    A race to waste more money – By Pius Mordi

    There is race among state governors on who will build the most expensive and ineffectual and, perhaps, useless edifices. At first it was airports in their capital cities. It costs a lot of money to build one and only the federal government built new ones in the second republic. However, there is a new fad that has caught the fancy of today’s state governors – building new or renovating existing official residence for the governor usually called Government House.

    The new platform for extravagant and bogus projects was actually modelled by the federal government with the boisterous Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, presiding. One of the first projects he initiated and executed as FCT Minister was to rehabilitate the official residence of the Vice President of the country at N21 billion. The amount involved at a time Nigerians were reeling from the effects of the economic reforms was roundly condemned.

    But trust Wike, he doubled down and went for an even more grandiose project. He decided to “renovate” the International Conference Centre (ICC) built in 1991 at a cost of ₦240 million by the military regime of Ibrahim Babangida. Wike did the job, the renovation, with N39 billion and renamed it after his boss, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Even though the Naira has lost value, that amount is a princely $23.4 million.

    The Wike playbook which was recently enriched with another venture, a new corporate headquarters for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was too juicy to ignore by state governors. Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, got approval from the Oyo State House of Assembly to “overhaul” the Government House in Ibadan at the cost of N63.4 billion ($39.6 million). Justifying the venture, the state said the current abode of the governor which Makinde has not lived in since becoming governor is “an embarrassment and an unbefitting facility.” This is coming two years to the governor completing his eight-year tenure.

    Amid poverty, David Umahi as governor Ebonyi State spent over N53 billion to build an airport in Abakaliki, a town just about 68 kilometres from nearby Enugu or about an hour’s drive. The exchange rate was not as bad then as now. It was ostensibly “commissioned” before he left office two years ago and became Tinubu’s Minister of Works.

    But it took Friday, June 13, 2025 at 10:30 am, more than two years after commissioning, for the first commercial flight to land at the Ebonyi airport named after late Senate President Chuba Okadigbo. Until then, the terminal building was essentially a worship centre for Pentecostal churches. It has duly reverted to a church! At least that keeps the terminal building busy to generate income for the state.

    Of the lot, Chukwuma Charles Soludo of Anambra State seemed to have been modest. He said it cost him N8 billion to complete a new Government House in Akwa which was started by his predecessors and which was commissioned with fanfare by Tinubu when he visited the state recently.

    Fanfare and a sense of accomplishment usually characterise the completion and unveiling of such projects. If the essence of government is providing security and welfare for its citizens, I wonder how governors think embarking on new official residences at embarrassingly outrageous costs will impress their people and improve their welfare. It seems there is lack of understanding of the essence of governance by most people that eventually occupy public offices through elections.

    Building airports at locations that are contiguous, to existing ones and less than an hour’s drive by road is unimaginative and shows lack of depth, no sense of prudent management as well as absence of prioritisation of needs of the people at times of economic challenges. In the midst of the challenges Nigeria is still contending with, more funds are being shared by states, giving them the muscle to execute projects and programmes that will uplift the living standard of the people. Fancy official residence for governors and exotic but unviable airports do not.

    While Wike bestrode the landscape as Rivers State governor, he left a trail of civil servants lacking motivation as they were denied promotions for years. He transferred the mentality to Abuja where he is initiating a number of high cost projects while pupils no longer go to school because teachers have downed tools for plausible reasons. Unlike their counterparts elsewhere, Wike still pays them the old salary structure where the minimum wage is N30,000, just 50 percent of the current minimum wage at a time workers are already agitating for upward review.

    Although No. 10 Downing Street, home of the British prime minister, is said to be over 300 years old with expansive interior comprising more than 100 rooms, no incoming leader contemplates building a new one or appropriate stupendous resources to “rehabilitate” the residence.

    The priority is to impress the citizens by executing projects that will make life and living more convenient for them. Those seeking the prime office state in clear terms what they will do for the people when voted into office. If they deviate or flounder, they know their party will lose the next election. Sometimes, the parties may not wait for the next general election. An internal “coup” within the party may be staged to oust a prime minister whose unpopularity may jeopardize their chances in the election.

    The absence of responsiveness and desire to woo the citizens by governors as well as the Presidency in Nigeria through good governance may be a fallout of how power is secured. To win an election, the endorsement and patronage of political godfathers and power brokers are essential.

    Voters and a credible electoral process hardly factor in the equation basically because the process will still be manipulated either during voting, collation of votes or at the courts after results may have been declared. If governors are mindful that if the projects they embark on will not win the approval of the citizens, they will subject such ideas to public scrutiny.

    The road to having responsive and responsible governors is by creating an electoral process where the people will vote and their votes count. Nigeria has not had one and there is little hope it can be done by the present administration.

  • Supreme Court’s travesty on Sunday Jackson – By Pius Mordi

    Supreme Court’s travesty on Sunday Jackson – By Pius Mordi

    By Pius Mordi 

    Sunday Jackson is a farmer in his community in Adamawa State. While working in his farm sometime in 2020, he was attacked by a Fulani man who posed as a herdsman.

    Characteristic of his ilk, Ardo Buba Bawuro, the herder, was armed with a machete with the intention to kill Jackson, dealing several blows on him. But Jackson was better and smarter.

    Despite bleeding from the two cuts he sustained, he managed to disarm Bawuro and dealt him fatal blows. Bawuro died from his injury while Jackson survived.

    When Police intervened, Jackson was arrested and the Adamawa Director of Prosecution deemed that Jackson had committed murder and charged him to court with murder. He admitted that he fought back on being attacked by Bawuro who died from the altercation.

    Justice Fatima Ahmed Tafida who sat over the case upheld the prosecution’s argument that Jackson committed murder and sentence him to death. In her view, Jackson should have run away rather than fight Bawuro.

    Strangely, the Court of Appeal upheld the Justice Fatima Ahmed Tafida’s judgement. If the appeal court’s ruling was strange, that of the Supreme Court was baffling. The apex court agreed that Jackson should have run away rather than fight back.

    For daring to stand his ground on his farm and fight to stay alive, the Supreme Court ordered that Jackson should die. Yes, he is about the only one who survived a violent attack by an herdsman.

    And for successfully fighting back and staying alive while his attacker died from his injuries, the lordships in Supreme Court ruled on March 7, 2025 that Jackson should die.

    The judicial assassination of a survivor of a farmer whose only crime is that he had the audacity to fend off an attack by a Fulani and even kill him in the process had attracted global attention, especially legal experts.

    Having established that Jackson was the victim of an audacious attack in his farm, extant laws which recognise the right of individuals to fight back say Jackson only engaged in self defence.

    Rather, Justice Fatima Tafida chose to misinterpret Section 23 of the Adamawa State Penal Code Laws to mean that Jackson should have fled and not fight in self-defense.

    Besides, the judgement of the Adamawa High Court was said to have been given well outside the 90 days provided in the constitution after the adoption of final written addresses of counsel to the prosecution and the defence for judgement to be given.

    After the prosecution concluded its argument and Jackson testified for himself on February 27, 2020, the case was adjourned to August 27, 2020 for the adoption of final written addresses of counsel to the prosecution and the defence.

    Between the adoption of written addresses by counsel to both parties and the February 10, 2021 date of judgement by Justice Tafida, 167 days had elapsed.

    Given the time lapse, Ngozi Molokwu, CEO of Injustice Is Real, questioned the credibility of the judgement.

    “This clearly proves that due to the prolonged period of time from close of arguments to the rendering of judgment – a whopping 167 days – almost double the constitutional 90 days – the judge had confused the facts of the case resulting in a horrendous miscarriage of justice and as such it must be voided”, said Emmanuel Ogebe, and attorney and international human rights advocate.

    He said that from prosecution’s brief of argument, it is patently clear that Jackson’s constitutional right and protection of self defense were unjustly and injudiciously denied him by the trial judge.

    As the audacity of attacks by Fulani terrorists masquerading as cattle herders have been rising in intensity without any concerted strategy and effort by security agencies to rein them in, Nigerians had long concluded that the security architecture had been rigged to not just shield the herders from being answerable to the law but even being provided support by some elements among the security agencies.

    Now, from the suspected security coverage for the terrorists and the Supreme Court’s verdict on Sunday Jackson, there is the growing belief that even the judiciary may have become complicit in the attacks.

    As Jackson was the one farming on his land when he was attacked by an intruder, legal experts say the law on self defence should have justified his action that led to Ardo Bawuro’s death.

    But even if the Adamawa Director of Public Prosecution felt Ardo Bawuro’s death could have been avoided, which is actually untenable, the worst he could have been charged Jackson with is manslaughter.

    By the Supreme Court decision, however, the judiciary has given the impression that it is an enabler of the murderous gang of Fulani terrorists in a game of killing, rape, kidnap, occupation and genocide.

    As communities in Benue state are now routinely sacked and their occupied, the Supreme Court bears vicarious responsibility for the rising audacious attacks by the Fulani.

    According to Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List, Nigeria ranks seventh on the list of the 50 worst countries for Christians, remaining among the most dangerous places on earth for them. Of the 4,476 Christians killed for their faith worldwide during the reporting period, 3,100 (69 percent) were in Nigeria, according to the WWL.

    Judgements as that given by the Supreme Court reinforce the perception that the country is being overrun by religious extremists, protected and egged on by the state.

    Jackson has been in detention since 2020 when he was arranged for refusing to allow a Fulani kill him in his farm. Unfortunately, the apex court was the last platform where justice would have been dispensed. It chose to sell its soul. Jackson is now on death row awaiting state murder. It is something that cannot be stomached by large sections of the country.

    It is up to Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri to save Nigeria from its darkest hour since the civil war by giving unconditional state pardon to Jackson. His murder, if it happens, portends a future too dark to imagine.