…Governor Akeredolu, CAN Members, Ooni’s Wife Present At His Interment
Tears flowed freely, as emotions took center stage.
The Church auditorium and compound was filled to capacity. The mammoth crowd that thronged the Synagogue Churchof All Nations, SCOAN, to pay their last respect to the late founder of Synagogue Church of All Nations, SCOAN, Temitope Balogun Joshua as he was interred to Mother Earth at the Church premises located at Ikotun area of Lagos State, was unprecedented. Not even rain could deter them.
Governor Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State was among the dignitaries that ushered in the body of the late illustrious Son and Ambassador of Ondo State.
Akeredolu who spoke at the service said the late clergy left indelible prints and impacts which are visible in many parts of the world.
He said, “The people of Ondo State, Nigeria and the entire world have lost a rare gem, a special breed, and a worthy citizen and a true son of Ondo State.
“His passing is not only a loss to the people of Ondo, his own town, Ori Agidi Okoko, but a loss to humanity. The indelible prints and impacts of our dear brother, T.B Joshua are visible not only in Ondo, our State, they’re visible in many parts of Nigeria and in fact, throughout the world.
“No wonder this is a world congregation. I’m not too sure we’ve had the world so congregated in this number from different countries in many such services, maybe, that of Nelson Mandela but the world is more represented here than when Nelson Mandela was buried. Indeed it was and is being globally acknowledged today by all of us.”
Notable personalities in attendance at the laying-to-rest programme include, the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by the Lagos State Commissioner for Home Affairs, Mr. Anofiu Elegushi, Ondo State governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, the wife of Ooni of Ife, Olori Silekunola Naomi Ogunwusi, representatives of the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Diplomats and others.
The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, led by Pastor Samuel Ayokunle who had on several denied TB Joshua when he was alive as not their member, paid tributes.
TB Joshua, suddenly, died on June 5, aged 57 years.
If the defections from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) continue at the current pace, the only people left in the opposition may be those to pack and return the chairs to storage before the next general elections in two years.
It’s not funny. Apart from Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo who bucked the trend one year ago when he moved from APC to PDP on the eve of an off-season election, the drift has been the other way.
In eight months, three governors – Dave Umahi, Ebonyi; Ben Ayade, Cross River; and Bello Matawalle, Zamfara – have jumped on the gravy train, abandoning the platforms on which they were elected.
Apart from the mass defection of Governors in 2014 that sealed the fate of the ruling PDP at the time, the recent defections of three governors indicate, yet again, that democracy is not only still in its infancy, it’s also in very poor health.
The point at issue is not about freedom of association. The constitution is clear that strange bedfellows can flock together all the way to Fool’s Paradise and back, as long as they are not infringing other people’s rights.
Except if politicians have chosen to read the constitution upside down, as could well be the case, they know that it is illegal to stand election on the platform of a party and later invent convenient excuses to jump ship.
The salient condition under which defection is permissible under the constitution is when there is evidence that a party has become irredeemably factionalised, threatening not just its own existence but also the wellbeing of its members.
What we have seen is that when politicians try but fail to gut their party and gorge themselves on its entrails, they create imaginary crisis, improvise factions and declare that they have moved. And they do so without shame, remorse or consequence, while retaining all the benefits of the platform on which they came to office.
A politician in the South East once described politics as another business franchise. His cousin in the North Central and former Governor of Niger State, Aliyu Babangida, improved on that transactional description. He reportedly said, in January 2015, that, “Politics is not about morality. If you’re talking about politics or morals, go and become an Imam or a Pastor.”
Babangida should know. This veteran of defection brinkmanship was among those who plotted one of the deadliest defections in Nigeria’s recent history, only to relent and stay put in his party at the eleventh hour.
On his part, Ayade’s defection speech will make you cry and laugh at once. The inventor of bombast and theatrics offered yet more “kinetic shambolism”, which in effect means, his only reason for defecting was self-interest first, and self-interest last.
Same for Umahi and Matawalle – insecure and opportunistic politicians who dressed their defections in patriotic national colours.
In between these three major defections there have been other smaller different defections, which have left the rest of us mere mortals wondering the kind of politics and politicians we are blessed with in this country.
After the 2015 general elections, the ruling party, APC had 24 governors while the PDP had 12.
But of course, internal bickering and strife took their toll on APC and in no time, the party was left with only 19 governors, after losing five to PDP. And then, thanks partly to court-determined elections and defections, the tide is turning again.
With Umahi, Ayade and Matawalle joining the fold, APC has 22 governors, but the scorecard is not settled. Insiders told me that the current wave of defection is largely the scheme of one of the legacy parties – the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) – to secure its hold on power ahead of the APC convention.
By the time the conventions of the APC and PDP are over, the two parties would have been so consumed, almost beyond recognition, by defections and infighting, there would probably only be the ragged ends of their party flags left for their funeral.
There are two types of politicians in the world: Nigerian politicians and others. And since 1999 when the country returned to democracy after 16 years of military rule, it’s becoming ever more evident that our politicians are a special, but unlimited edition. If shamelessness was a person, it would be a Nigerian politician.
But we shouldn’t be surprised.
The entire thing is almost like a joke but unfortunately, the joke is on the rest of us who have become active and passive spectators as these politicians enjoy their shameless dance in the village square.
Defection is not new. It precedes Nigeria’s independence in 1960.
It began in 1951 when some lawmakers in the defunct Western House of Assembly who were members of the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons (NCNC), defected to the Action Group (AG) just so Obafemi Awolowo could become Premier of the Western Region, instead of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of the NCNC.
It wasn’t any different in the Second Republic.
Samuel Ladoke Akintola, who was Premier of the now defunct Western Region, had also defected from the AG to form a new party, the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP).
This was after he fell out with Awolowo.
In the same vein, the political rivalry between Azikiwe and Dr. Kingsley Mbadiwe in the Eastern Region forced the latter out of the NCNC to form a new party, Democratic Party of Nigerian Citizen (DPNC).
The Second Republic (1979-1983) also witnessed the defection of Akin Omoboriowo from the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) to the then National Party of Nigeria (NPN), where he became NPN’s governorship candidate for Ondo in the 1983 general elections.We all know that it ended in tears.
That was also the period Abubakar Rimi defected from his party, the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), to the Nigerian People’s Party (NPP).
Defections have since risen to dizzying heights, with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the modern poster child.
We watched in 2014 when Bukola Saraki and his fellow travellers walked out on President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP to join the newly formed APC. Thereafter, he became the Senate President on the platform of the APC, only for him and a few other members of the National Assembly to defect again to PDP, momentarily creating an interlude of partisan math that kept the country spellbound.
Unlike in South Africa where the African National Congress (ANC) had the so-called juggernaut effect, sucking the oxygen in the political space, because of the party’s role in the freedom struggle and its ideological leaning, PDP and APC are descendants of the infamous leprous fingers of one hand, as Bola Ige once described them. Like Tweedledum and Tweedledee, very little separates them.
Faced with a similar situation, India introduced an anti-defection law.
It’s tempting to try that, except that in Nigeria, laws tend to multiply transgressions. Some have argued that the pathetic lack of ideology may be responsible for the flux.
Perhaps that may have some residual effect. But around the world, ideology is waning and politics is claiming middle ground; not because politicians want it that way but because, thanks to the power of technology, citizens are getting more involved and holding government accountable.
Until we do our share of the slug, we shall continue to endure the unhealthy choice between rotten palm kernel and the broken mortar.
Worried about the increase in cases of cult activities in Ondo state, Government has warned operators of night clubs not to entertain customers beyond the stipulated time of midnight.
A Government statement, signed by the Commissioner for Information, Mr Donald Ojogo, reiterated that those found to be running foul of the order would be dealt with.
According to the statement, “The Ondo State Government notes with deep concern, the rising cases of insecurity in the State, especially the capital, Akure.
“Specifically, these noticeable cases are tracable to the activities of cult groups and ancillary circumstances.
“Further to this, Night Clubs and their late hour activities have heightened this ugly situation. Most importantly, such locations along major roads in the State Capital are most culpable. This is abhorrent, without doubt.
“In the light of the foregoing, Government wishes to reiterate its ban on late hour activities of Night Clubs, Pubs and Public Bars.
“Succinctly, any violation of this ban from 12 midnight shall be met with a commensurate action by relevant authorities.
“For emphasis, no night club, pub or public bar must operate beyond midnight, starting from today, Thursday July 8, 2021.
“Accordingly, relevant security agencies, including the Amotekun Corps, have been briefed and directed to carry out this renewed vigour and directive in this regard.”
The silence of the grave yard which has been the lot of the Imo House of Assembly, erupted Thursday at Plenary when six members were suspended.
Also, Hon. Arthur Egwim was removed as the Chief Whip, and replaced by Hon. Obinna Opara of Nkwerre Constituency.
Very prominent among the suspended members are Hon. Philip Ejiogu and Hon. Uche Ogbuagu.
Ejiogu, PDP, who represents Owerri North, is the Minority Leader in the Assembly. His father, Chief Ambrose Ejiogu, is the Chairman of the Imo PDP Elders’ Forum.
Ogbuagu’s case is more complicated. He was a staunch member of the PDP, and a strong ally of former Governor Emeka Ihedioha.
He campaigned vigorously for him and, his ownership of two FM Radio Stations came in handy.
But he, to the shock of the PDP, jumped ship as soon as Ihedioha was removed from office by the Supreme Court and Senator Hope Uzodinma declared the Governor of the State.
In jumping ship, reports alleged that he cited ill-treatment in the hands, of especially, former Deputy Governor Irona.
Once he defected to the APC, Ogbuagu was rewarded with the position of the Majority Leader of the House. But trouble was soon afoot.
One day, not quite to his knowledge, he was removed from that office. He was later to claim that he quit on his own, a claim many debunked.
But since then, his relationship with the APC in the State has been untidy. He was conspicuously absent when the Ikeduru LGA stakeholders went to hold a bipartisan meeting with Governor Uzodinma over the Security situation in the state.
The delegation was, incidentally, led by a PDP chieftain, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, for which the State PDP pillioried him.
The party had earlier warned its members not to attend the meetings on the behest of the Governor.
Ogbuagu’s suspension from the Assembly, along with five others, marks the ultimate in his political travails in the State.
There are speculations that he could go back to the PDP even though there has been no such move from him yet.
Others suspended along with Ogbuagu and Ejiogu are:
*Kennedy Ibe, Obowo LGA.
*Michael Onyemaechi, Ihitte Uboma LGA.
*Ezerioha Dominic, Oru West LGA.
*Barr. Anyadike, Ezinihitte LGA.
No specific reason was given for their suspension, but the Speaker cited “Unparliamentary Conduct.”
Former Military Governor of Kaduna state, Col Abubakar Umar, (rtd) has said the celebration and attention given to the abduction of the leader of the Independent People’s of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu shows that the Federal Government is overwhelmed by his activities.
The retired military officer, in a statement, Wednesday, noted that “the recent re-arrest of the IPOB leader, was greeted with a loud sigh of relief and celebration in some sections of the country.
“It also elicited congratulatory messages to the Federal government which appears overwhelmed by the intractable security challenges and in dire need of any redeeming act.
“This is clearly an exaggeration of the security threat Nnamdi Kanu and indeed IPOB pose to our nation’s security and unity.
“It is quite strange and disturbing that the Federal Government is according undue attention to the threats of separatist movements in contrast to the more daunting ones posed by bandits, kidnappers, and insurgents in the North West, some parts of North Central and North East.
“Activities of those criminals have resulted in the evacuation of over 20% of the villages in NW and NE. Hundreds are being murdered and maimed every week.
“Many more are kidnapped for ransom. Millions have been rendered internally displaced, facing disease and starvation.
“Over one thousand school children were abducted in the past 8 months with over 300 still in the hands of the bandits and kidnappers demanding humongous ransom payments. Rape of women and young girls has become a daily occurrence.
“Most economic activities, particularly farming, which is the mainstay of the people in these areas, are now all but impossible.
“Government’s earlier claim of having technically defeated the BH insurgency in the NE has turned out to be empty propaganda. Contrary to this claim, the enemy has morphed into a more determined and deadly force, threatening to overrun the whole of the NE.
“For the average Northerner living in these zones, who is barely aware of the activities of separatists, banditry, kidnappings, and insurgency are of greater threat and concern to him.
“The arrest of Nnamdi Kanu is of no serious consequence since it does nothing to ameliorate his harsh and brutal condition.
“In recognizing or reasserting the right of every citizen or group to express their desire for self-determination, one does not support or condone the use of violence for such purpose.
‘IPOB and its leader may well be responsible for some of the violence, including the murder of security personnel, arson, and destruction of public and private properties for which they should be held to account.
“We must however be honest enough to identify the cause of the current growing restiveness in the South East. By all means, Government needs to deploy nonviolent means in addressing the problem.
“It is self-evident that Justice, fairness, and equity are the best means of building a united and virile nation, particularly one as diverse and fragile as Nigeria.
“It is my long-held (opinion) that this Country is more beneficial to all the federating units, if only because it provides a security umbrella to all its units. None of them will fare better in a balkanized Nigeria due to their similar diversities.
“The recognition of Nigeria as the giant of Africa is not on account of its huge oil wealth but its size, diversity as well as other potentials.
“These notwithstanding, the Nation can only remain united and prosperous when all its citizens and the component parts feel a true sense of belonging. Without it, the nation’s unity will be in serious jeopardy similar to what Nigeria is currently experiencing.
“Truth be told, the Buhari administration has so far exhibited poor skills in its management of our diversity. Yet it has the benefit of great examples by past administrations and statesmen which should guide it.
“This may account for his Government’s refusal to appoint an Ibo as Head of any of the Security services. A review of this ill-advised policy will go a long way to neutralize the growing influence of IPOB among Ndigbo, both at home and in the diaspora.
“The FGN must go beyond the arrest of Kanu and pay greater attention to the more serious security challenges threatening to cripple the country completely.
“The apparent failure of our security forces to deal decisively, as the President so often commands them to do, with these security threats is obviously due to the acute shortage of manpower and equipment.
“These deficiencies have resulted in the thin spread of our forces and a lack of timely rotation in areas of conflict. Government must massively increase security manpower and equipment. As we have seen, mere change of Service chiefs would appear far from being the solution.”
Commercial banks in the country have been directed by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS to freeze the account of MultiChoice Nigeria (MCN) Limited and MultiChoice Africa (MCA) over the company’s refusal to liquidate N1.8 trillion tax returns owed the government agency.
Whether the affected commercial banks will carry out the directive considering the legal implications that may arise, is another thing analyst said.
The FIRS said the action is necessary after the Satelite television provider failed to cooperate with the agency to audit its accounts. The company operates the widely subscribed DSTV platform.
This is contained in a statement issued by Abdullahi Ahmad, Director, Communications and Liaison Department of FIRS in Abuja on Thursday.
FIRS Executive Cahirman, Muhammad Nami accused Multichoice of failure to“promptly respond to correspondences, they lacked data integrity and are not transparent as they continually deny FIRS access to their records. Particularly, MCN has avoided giving the FIRS accurate information on the number of its subscribers and income.
“The companies are involved in the under-remittance of taxes which necessitated a critical review of the tax-compliance level of the company,” Nami said.
The service added that the groups’ performance did not reflect in their tax obligations and compliance level in the country.
The FIRS further noted that the level of non-compliance by Multi-Choice Africa (MCA), the parent Company MCN was very alarming adding that the parent company, which provided services to MCN had never paid Value Added Tax (VAT) since its inception.
“The issue with Tax collection in Nigeria, especially from foreign-based Companies conducting businesses in Nigeria and making massive profits is frustrating and infuriating to the FIRS.
“Regrettably, Companies come into Nigeria just to infringe on our tax laws by indulging in tax evasion. There is no doubt that broadcasting, telecommunications and the cable-satellite industries have changed the face of communication in Nigeria.
“However, when it comes to tax compliance, some companies are found wanting. They do with impunity in Nigeria what they dare not try in their countries of origin,” he said.
The chairman stated that Nigeria contributed 34 per cent of total revenue for the Multi-Choice group, and the next to Nigeria is Kenya with 11 per cent and Zambia in third place with 10 per cent.
According to him, other African countries where the company operates, account for 45 per cent of the group’s total revenue.
“Information currently at the disposal of FIRS has revealed a tax liability for relevant years of assessment for ₦1.8 trillion and 342.5 million dollars.
“FIRS is empowered in Section 49 of the Companies Income Tax Act Cap C21 LFN 2004 as amended, Section 41 of the Value Added Tax Act Cap V1 LFN 2004 as amended and Section 31 of the FIRS (Establishment) Act No. 13 of 2007. With these relevant sections all bankers to MCA and MCN in Nigeria are therefore appointed as Collecting Agents for the full recovery of the aforesaid tax debt.
“In this regard, the affected banks are required to sweep balances in each of the above-mentioned entities’ accounts and pay the same in full or part settlement of the companies’ respective tax debts until full recovery.
“This should be done before the execution of any transaction involving the companies or any of their subsidiaries. It is further requested that the FIRS be informed of any transactions before execution on the account, especially transfers of funds to any of their subsidiaries.
”It is important that Nigeria puts a stop to all tax frauds that had been going on for too long and all companies must be held accountable and made to pay their fair share of relevant taxes including back duty taxes owed especially VAT,” FIRS boss said.
BUA may have shattered the hopes of many Nigerians planning to build houses of their own over its decision to increase the factory price of its cement by at least N200 per bag. What this means, is that a bag of BUA Cement would now be sold between N3000 and N3400, market sources said.
The company’s latest move is however, contrary to its earlier resolve to retains its former price despite price surge introduced by competitors such as Dangote Cement.
The cement firm owned by billionaire business tycoon, Rabiu Abdulsammad, had in June assured its major distributors to discountenance rumour of a price surge following reports that the management was planning to hike the price of cement made at its factory.
Cement price has been on a steady rise for over a year, from N2800 to N4000 depending on the brand and locations in the country, and rumour had spread like wild fire, last month that another price increase was in the offing, forcing BUA to issue a statement that the firm had no plan to increase the price of its own product.
The major cement companies have been accused of manipulating production in order to push the price up claims that BUA denied. The company said it would ramp up production to stabilize the price rather than engaging in profiteering.
The firm said in a statement that “We stand by our previous statements that the timing is not right for any increase in the price of major commodities while we work towards ramping up our production capacity to ensure that commodities like cement remain accessible and affordable for our consumers.
“While we are aware that demand for cement is high with current supply levels not sufficient to meet this increased demand, we do not believe the solution lies in an increase in ex-factory prices of cement – especially not at this period.
“It is our strong conviction that any increase in prices of major commodities at a time like this is not right – while Nigerians are still trying to recover from the economic consequences brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic – especially for a product for which all raw materials are locally sourced.
“BUA Cement, therefore, wishes to restate that it is not a part of the purported increase in cement prices and, we once again, enjoin and appeal to our distributors, who have been advised, to ensure there are no further arbitrary increases or excessive profit-taking in the retail price of cement.”
The company said the clarification is necessary to clear the air on the purported increase of its cement price. Some distributors and customers of the company have been agitated over the rumour and wanted to know the truth, the firm said.
“We are compelled to release this statement following requests from our distributors and customers seeking clarification as to whether BUA also intends to increase the price of its cement. This is in view of a purported increase of N260 by another major Cement producer,” BUA said.
In spite of this, the factory price of BUA cement, the magazine learnt has now been increased by at least N200 per bag. “We did not get our last supply in the old price, so you don’t expect us to sell at former price. We can only sell based on the prevailing factory price,” a cement seller said, adding that “a bag of BUA cement is now between N3200 and N3300 in the market.”
This order day when Security Agents stormed the Ibadan home of Sunday Adeyemo, popular as Sunday Igboho, they probably planned it to be a double whammy for the Nigerian Government. You know, a double victory.
A couple of days earlier, they had, in a successful, but controversial coup, re-arrested (some say kidnapped) Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, and the founder of its militant wing, Eastern Security Network, ESN. So, what better week could they have than to, also, arrest Igboho, Kanu’s, recent, equivalent in the South-west?
Both men have the same mission. They say their agenda is to liberate their people from the fangs of injustice and inequality and marginalization. To achieve that, both want out of Nigeria. While Kanu seeks an Independent Biafra where honey would flow like a river, and poverty banished, Igboho seeks an Oduduwa Republic which would be an Eldorado.
The Nigerian Government feels otherwise. It sees both men as dangerous irritants. Having gotten one in the bag, Kanu, they went for the second one, Igboho.
But they failed.
Igboho is the proverbial cat with nine lives. For the number of times Igboho and his associates claimed Security Agents came after him for an arrest, the agents failed in their mission.
One of Igboho’s spectacular escapes happened along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway a couple of months back. Igboho was on his way to Lagos for a meeting with Chief Ayo Adebanjo, the Afenifere leader when he was, according to reports, accosted by a combination of Security Agents. They reportedly blocked his movement, and made to arrest him.He miraculously escaped that arrest. The Agents denied there was any such attempt. But confronting us, as proof, later that day, was a video of a parked security vehicle and a shirtless Igboho, accompanied by admirers and associates, marching along the express road. Why he pulled his shirt off, nobody could tell. But stories emerged later that it was his “African magic” at work. The way it worked that day, they said, was like “look me see another.” Meaning that the Security agents were looking at Igboho, but were seeing somebody else.
This day, then, when they carried “war” to his Ibadan residence, his African magic was at work. Igboho inexplicably slipped through their fingers. He simply disappeared. How he escaped it, nobody knows. It was much like the story of Kanu’s escape from the onslaught of Soldiers who laid siege on his father’s compound, and forced him to jump bail.
The Security Agents, who missed Igboho, have tried to explain his escape. He escaped, they said, on hearing the exchange of gun shots between them and Igboho’s guards. How, and why, they did not case the place before moving in is a story for another day.
But stories have since been circulating of how the rampaging Security Agents saw so many pussy cats in the compound and, having heard that Igboho could turn into anything, including pussy cats, it is reported, they allegedly went on a killing spree of the poor cats and, even arrested one. Being us, it is not surprising that nobody has produced the bodies of the dead pussy cats, or shown us the arrested one. Nigerians! We can lie! And we can make a joke out of anything, no matter how serious.
However, Igboho’s African magic is a selfish one. Otherwise, how come its potency did not extend to his guards, or even his wife? They were arrested, and or killed.
Sunday Igboho
According to reports, one of his closest associates withstood the whole of 48 gun shots rained on him, but was, eventually, butchered with machetes. Sad their native doctor thought only of gun shots. Even then, the question I have been asking nobody, in particular, is: who stood there to count the number of gunshots since no bullet penetrated?
How, and from where did Igboho, suddenly, emerge to become the hurricane he is today? Unarguably, he is, in his category, the most influential Yoruba man alive today.
Until a few months ago, not many outside his environment knew him. Initially, he was described as a political thug. Some even called him a motor park tout. It was the sad era of the rogue Fulani Herdsmen that brought him into national prominence. Like a hurricane, Igboho, suddenly, emerged as the number one defender of his race. He declared war on rogue Herdsmen. He made it clear that he was not against every Fulani, or all Herdsmen. His war of no-return was against those who maim, and kill, and rape, and kidnap, and destroy farmlands. He was against those who brazenly claimed people’s ancestral land as theirs.
His war against them started in his community.
He gave them seven days to leave, or he would flush them out of forests and farmlands and their residences. Igboho was ignored. They ignored him to their eternal regret.
He carried out his threats. The day he moved against them, he was like a folk hero. He was received as such. He was their fearless hero. Igboho destroyed houses and sent Herdsmen packing. Their leader, Seriki, barely escaped with his head on his neck. But not so his houses and cars. He has since relocated to Ilorin, to the anger of not a few of Igboho’s supporters. They say the Seriki is a murderer. A kidnapper. And more.
Having succeeded in his first outing, he took off from there, like a thunderbolt to other South-west States in pursuit of rogue Fulani Herdsmen. He became the real deal. The fearless warrior. And overshadowed Gani Adams.
Adams, you remember, is the officially crowned lead warrior of the Yoruba – the Are Ona Kakanfo. Not many still remember him as the boss.For the Yoruba defence and protection, Igboho and the Amotekun are the in-thing. Adams and the OPC are fast becoming history.
At a point, Adams tried to re-assert himself. In an interview with a television station, he recounted when, and how he started. And his travails. But the vehicle has since moved. He needs to run to get on the bus again. Adams and the OPC need to repackage.
Igboho repackages everyday. From pursuing the rogue Herdsmen, he elevated himself to a freedom fighter, and Yoruba spokesman. He is the one, he says, who would wipe the tears off the eyes of the Yoruba. He has since added a couple of teeth to the fight for Oduduwa Republic – out of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He became a secession fighter – in the mould of Kanu.
Differences though.
He is in Nigeria. He gets on with a good number of the Yoruba stakeholders, even the Governors, even the Traditional Rulers. He does not call them names. Nor curse them. He does not call them idiots, or fools, or :efulefu”, or worse. He does not say their mothers were impregnated by Fulani men. Or worse. Once, when Igboho spoke out of tune about the Ooni of Ife, he tendered a public apology.
Having elevated himself to the status of a freedom fighter, he began to talk like one. He began to mobilise people. He began to move from State to State. He acquired body guards. And Special Assistants, and Spokesman. The crowds followed him.
The defender of the people, he held rallies. The rallies were successful. He had support from not a few people, including the Yoruba in the Diaspora. Once, when a Traditional Ruler denied him entry into his Palace, he reportedly jumped the wall.
The ultimate rally was to be in Lagos – the melting pot of the Yoruba and Nigeria’s economic center. The Lagos rally was to be Igboho’s crowning glory. But he was warned not to. Even some stakeholders who usually supported him asked him to shelve it. Lagos is not Akure. Or Ado- Ekiti. Or Osogbo. Or even Ibadan. It is the melting point of Nigeria.
Behind their caution is the unprecedented destruction in Lagos during the #EndSARS protest. Igboho felt he had become the ultimate. His answer was: He insisted on the rally.
But “power pass power.”
Two days after Kanu was re-arrested and brought back to Nigeria, Igboho got the message. If it could happen to Kanu, a British citizen, it could happen to him too. He shelved the rally. But he had so mobilised, and so sensitised people that the plan had gone beyond him. Many people “eat” from such rallies. So, one Yoruba group insisted the rally must go on.
To cage Igboho, Security Agents paid him a visit at an uncivilised time. The visit was at his Ibadan residence. They missed him. But not so his foot soldiers and guards. And the madam of the house. There were two fatalities. Mercifully, not seven, as was first reported by the Social media. In Nigeria, these days, when two people are killed, you heave a sigh of relief, and thank God they were not more.
The Security Agents, also, descended on his luxury cars. A G-wagon. A Mercedes Benz S class. And more. Why the vehicles became subjects of interest and destruction is what one hardly understands. One thought they were on a mission to arrest and harvest the weapons which intelligence report, they said, led them to Igboho. Not the vehicles. Was the destruction anger at missing Igboho? Perhaps? Or, anger at the luxurious life Igoho is living?Plausible.
If so, one wonders why Lai Mohammed, the Minister for Information and Culture,did not address a Press Conference on Igboho’s luxurious life.
In the case of Kanu, the Minister left more serious issues to talk about Kanu’s designer FENDI wears. How did that address the issues at hand? It was like one pursuing a rat when one’s house is on fire. That was a low. But I digress.
Sure, the Security Agents harvested an uncomfortable quantity of weapons at Igboho’s, but they were not enough to wage a war on even a kindred. The worrying aspect, however, is how Igboho was able to stockpile such quantity of arms. What were they for? Were they legal? Does he have a license to own and/or keep them?
He has, expectedly, denied the ownership of the weapons. And accused the Security agents who invaded his home of planting them. Igboho is playing the victim, and has quite some support and sympathy from his home base.
Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has backed him to the hilt. He has chided the Nigerian State for invading Igboho’s home, and asked that Igboho be apologised to, unreservedly, and publicly. Just as he has chided Nigeria over Kanu’s re-arrest. He says Kanu was kidnapped by the Nigerian State. Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, who has been quiet since after the death of her husband, Yinka, spoke up too. She asked that Igboho be left alone. And so has Afenifere.
From his hiding place, Igboho has not kept quiet. He is thinking money. He has sued the Nigerian State to the tune of ₦500m. For good measure, it is reported that, at least, 100 lawyers, of his Yoruba race, have indicated their interest to defend him and the others, pro bono. Soyinka says the FG will be embarrassed in court, explaining that Igboho committed no offence. But the FG is celebrating their feat on Kanu and Igboho, even though the later is not in their custody yet.
And Igboho is boasting.
He says he is not in hiding. He says he is in his Ibadan House. True? And he boasts that if 1,000 Policemen are sent to arrest him, not more than 100 of them would go back alive. Even the 100, he said, would be alive only if they have spiritual powers, perhaps, the type he has. He, also, has an unsolicited advice for them. They should come with barrows and shovels. One can guess what for.
However, from whichever angle one looks at it, the sad incident at Igboho’s residence has changed the rhythm of the music. For him, It would never be the same dance step. His place, perhaps, another would take.
Check out the effect of his absence on the Lagos rally. Of course it held, but it was the least successful of all the rallies in the region. His absence took the shine off the rally. So did the alleged, shooting to death of a 25-year old woman, not 14 years, as was initially reported, mar it. It shifted attention from whatever was said at the rally. And so did the photograph of the Osun River goddess who took to her heels when the Police used water cannons on the protesters.
Nnamdi Kanu
Some people insist Igboho pushed his luck too far. They say he became very talkative. Perhaps. They say he should have called off the Lagos rally earlier than he did. Perhaps. They said he should have been more careful after Kanu’s arrest. I agree. Once Kanu was arrested, Igboho ought to have known he could be next. They say he became boastful too.
Months ago, when the immediate past IGP invited Igboho, he brazenly told those who came to invite him to ask their boss to invite the headships of Boko Haram, Rogue Herdsmen, and Bandits before inviting him. A number of people supported him on that. For, indeed, they said, that is the crux of the matter. And that is the expectation. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.
Not a few people have wondered how anybody could say, or ever imagine, that both Kanu and Igboho are more dangerous to the survival of Nigeria than, for example, Bandits and Rogue Herdsmen. Let’s not even talk about Boko Haram. Those ones are the masters of the game.
But look at this: Bandits have gradually torpedoed education in the North. Just look at Kaduna.
This other day when Bandits went to a Leprosy Centre and kidnapped Nurses and a one year old baby, I felt Nigeria has hit rock-bottom.
As I write this, about 300 of our children, kidnapped from their schools, are in their custody. Yet…
But back to Igboho. He has lost the magic. The mystery around him is gone. The Directorate of State Security, DSS, has declared him wanted. From that day, he became a fugitive of law. He is not likely to parade “anyhow” again.
He would always watch his back. When he speaks, now, it will be from hiding. His tail has been cut. But no big deal.
During the President Olusegun Obasanjo Government, Gani Adams was a fugitive at some point. On arrest, he was thrown into Prisons. His release was, reportedly, negotiated. On regaining his freedom, he calmed down, brushed up, improved himself educationally, and began to dine and wine with Kings. The ultimate was when he was installed the Are Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland by the Alaafin of Oyo. That’s packaging. Or, has he led the Yoruba in any “serious war” since then?
Igboho, this is Nigeria. Very soon it will be over. Something else will happen, soon, and nobody will remember this ever happened. Be a good student of Adams. And all shall be well. Believe me.
Senate President, Ahmad Lawan has urged the federal government not to engage in frivolous spending, after the Upper chamber approved the $6.1 billion loan requested by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The president, in May this year requested for the approval of the loan which he said is needed to fund critical infrastructure in the country. Part of the loan will also be used to finance part of the 2021 Budget deficit, Buhari said.
The $6.1 billion loan request — N2.343 trillion — was approved after Clifford Ordia, chairman of the loan and debts committee, presented a report on the floor of the upper legislative chamber on Wednesday.
Buhari said the loan will be raised from multilateral and bilateral tenders as well as the international capital market.
While presenting his report, Ordia said the request is not new as it was approved in the borrowing plan when the national assembly passed the 2021 budget.
“What we are about to pass is not a new borrowing, it has been approved in the 2021 budget,” the senator representing Edo central said.
Lawan said “Let me thank the committee, this is not a new loan. This is a borrowing plan we have approved,” Lawan said.
“What we have done is to provide the necessary resolutions for the implementation of it.
“Every cent counts. Our committees must be alive to oversee it. No frivolous expenditures should be entertained.”
Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has been cleared of any breach of the law for taken up Ministerial appointment without evidence of participating in the National Youths Service Corps, (NYSC) scheme.
Mrs Adeosun was the first Minister of Finance, appointed during the first tenure of the present administration.
She voluntarily resigned her appointment, following Media reports that she not only evaded the NYSC service year after her graduation from a foreign university, but forged and presented a forged certificate of discharge purported to have been issued to her by the NYSC.
But a Federal High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, ruled that the former Finance Minister did not need the NYSC discharge certificate to take up any Ministerial appointment or any elective office in the country.
The court held that Mrs Adeosun, who graduated in a London University in 1989, was already 36 years of age, therefore, exempted from participating in the NYSC scheme.
The judgment was on a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/303/2021 filed by Mrs Adeosun, with the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) as the sole defendant.
Delivering judgment in the suit, Justice Taiwo Oladipupo Taiwo, held that Adeosun, from available facts, was a United Kingdom citizen, having been born in the UK in 1967, and remained there till 2003 when she came back to Nigeria.
Justice Taiwo held that Adeosun became a Nigerian citizen by virtue of the 1999 Constitution, which came into force on May 29 of the year, therefore, the NYSC Act will have no effect on her.
The Judge pointed out that Adeosun would have committed a grave crime against Nigeria, if she had participated in the NYSC, having attained the exemption age of 36 years.
