The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State has criticized the state government for what it described as an attempt to silence dissenting voices under the guise of fighting blackmail and cyber extortion.
Ondo State Government had raised the alarm over what it described as a disturbing and well-coordinated campaign of blackmail, cyber bullying, and misinformation targeted at the State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, and other senior officials.
According to the government, the smear campaign is being orchestrated by a handful of individuals, including two legal practitioners, that have allegedly resorted to malicious propaganda after failing to secure political appointments, contracts, and financial favours from the administration.
In a statement issued at the weekend by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Idowu Ajanaku, the government disclosed that the individuals recently demanded a staggering sum of ₦200 million under the guise of offering “support” for the Governor through a fraudulent and unregistered organization.
“Upon the administration’s refusal to yield to this extortion attempt, they allegedly launched a series of coordinated online attacks aimed at discrediting Governor Aiyedatiwa and the Attorney General of the State with baseless allegations and ridicule.”
Ajanaku described the actions as a calculated attempt to distract a government focused on transparency, accountability, and people-oriented development.
He emphasized that the Aiyedatiwa administration remains open to constructive criticism rooted in truth and fairness, but will not tolerate cyber harassment, deliberate misinformation, or politically motivated blackmail disguised as activism.
He went on, “The administration has shut its doors firmly against political opportunists and rent-seekers who see governance as a means of personal enrichment.”
In a statement issued on Sunday by its Director of Media and Public Communications, Wande Ajayi, the PDP described Ajanaku’s statement as an infantile attempt to paint the Lucky Aiyedatiwa administration as a victim.
It said such claims only reveal the government’s creeping paranoia and moral bankruptcy.
According to the opposition party, the administration has no moral right to speak about integrity when governance has been reduced to a bazaar of deceit, propaganda and self-glorification in the state.
“The only people blackmailing Ondo State today are those occupying Alagbaka,” the PDP said.
It challenged the government to publish details of contractors, payment records and the true state of the 2025 budget implementation.
The statement further accused the Aiyedatiwa administration of mismanaging public funds, failing to meet obligations to local governments and neglecting critical sectors such as health, education and infrastructure.
It also cited the ongoing strike at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), as evidence of the government’s alleged failure to address key issues affecting citizens.
The PDP cautioned the government against using the Cybercrime Act to intimidate critics, warning that any attempt to criminalize criticism and hound voices of accountability would be resisted.
“The people did not elect Governor Aiyedatiwa to trade insults with imaginary enemies. Truth is not defended by threats; it is proven by conduct,” the opposition party said.
Eight police officers, including a Deputy Inspector General of Police, (DIG) have had their disciplinary measures, earlier imposed on them reversed by the Police Service Commission, (PSC).
In a statement, PSC spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani, explained that this was part of the resolutions at ongoing plenary meeting of the Commission held over the weekend at the Solomon Arase Conference Hall.
He revealed that 24 appeals and one pending disciplinary matter were conclusively decided during the meeting.
The Commission has promised to henceforth ensure that all pending disciplinary matters and appeals before it receive due and timely attention to guarantee justice for officers of the Nigeria Police Force.
Shedding more light Ani stated that the Commission dismissed petitions against Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Bzigu Yakubu Kwazhi Dali, mni, over alleged falsification of his date of enlistment and other service irregularities.
The petition, purportedly from anonymous concerned senior officers from Adamawa State, was described as frivolous.
“The Commission further declared that a ‘warning letter’ earlier issued to the DIG did not emanate from it and was therefore null and void. It also quashed the purported reversal of his date of birth from April 10, 1967, to April 10, 1966.
“Similarly, the Commission reviewed the compulsory retirement of ACP Ejiofor Grace Obiageli, which followed the tragic events of September 8, 2023, at Old Netim Division, Akamkpa, Cross River State.
“After due consideration, the PSC approved her reinstatement from the date of her compulsory retirement and directed that she be properly placed in line with her contemporaries.
“In other decisions, the Commission freed ACP Muhammad Awwal Yunusa from a punishment of severe reprimand, restored the rank of CSP Ihekandu Allwell Okwuonu, and reinstated him subject to his retirement date.
” SP Clement Awoyemi also received approval for the adjustment of his reinstatement date, while ASPs Bamiselu Oluwaseun, Ahmed Monday, and Imoohi Doora were reinstated.”
Chairman of the Commission, retired DIG Hashimu Argungu, emphasized that the PSC would henceforth handle all disciplinary matters promptly.
He noted that while officers found guilty of misconduct would face appropriate sanctions, those exonerated would not have their career progression hindered.
“The Commission will not, at any time, impede the career advancement of any officer not found guilty of any misdemeanour,” Argungu assured.
Meanwhile, at the opening of its second plenary session on Thursday, the Commission approved the promotion of several deserving police officers, including the appointment of a Deputy Inspector General of Police and the elevation of one Commissioner of Police to the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG).
Other promoted officers include SP Omenihu Obinna, Commander, Anti-Cult Unit, Abia State Command; DSP Bankole Olajide Joseph, Commander, Bank Guard, Lagos State Command; Ede Stella Ukamaka, serving at Police Hospital, Awka, Anambra State; Omeife Bethrand Emeka of 45 PMF, Force Headquarters, Abuja; and Nnamdi Nwoba, Officer-in-Charge of Surveillance, Ubakala Division, Abia State Command.
ASP Adeyemi Adeola, Chief of Staff to the Chairman of one of the Task Forces in Lagos State, was earlier promoted to the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP).
A neck Surgeon and member, Nigeria Medical Association, (NMA) Dr. Adefolaseye Adebayo, has challenged the power of the medical body to declare a person fit to stand for trial.
Reacting to the recommendation of the NMA team, which certified detained leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu fit to stand trial, Adebayo maintained that there is no section of NMA which confers such responsibility on it.
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), mandated by the Court to ascertain the state of health of the IPOB leader declared that Kanu is medically fit to stand trial, following a thorough medical evaluation ordered by the Federal High Court in Abuja.
In a report submitted to the court, the NMA stated that Kanu’s current health condition is not life-threatening and that he is stable enough to continue his trial under the supervision of medical professionals within the Department of State Services (DSS) facility.
The submission follows a directive issued on September 26, 2025, by Justice James Omotosho, who had ordered the NMA president to constitute an independent medical panel to assess Kanu’s health.
In an open letter to the NMA President, Prof. Bala Mohammed Audu, the medical expert pointed out that “The NMA, as a professional body, does not issue such declarations in its institutional capacity unless the Association is merely acting as an administrative conduit to nominate experts.
The letter stated that “I write to you as a concerned and committed member of our great Association, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA). Recent reports in the national media have attributed to the NMA the declaration that Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, currently standing trial in Abuja, has been found fit to stand trial and that his illness is not life-threatening.
“While it is understandable that the courts may, from time to time, request professional medical input in cases where an accused person’s fitness to stand trial is in question, I must respectfully request clarification from the National Secretariat on what constitutional or statutory basis the NMA as a corporate body performs such a function.
“To the best of my knowledge, and according to the NMA Constitution and By-Laws available to members, our Association’s functions are primarily professional, ethical, and advocacy-based.
“Nowhere, as far as I can ascertain, is there any provision empowering the Association itself as opposed to independent medical experts or panels appointed by the court to declare a defendant fit or unfit to stand trial.
“Traditionally, and in line with standard medico-legal practice, the process has always been as follows: When a person’s fitness to stand trial is in question, the court appoints qualified medical experts, often forensic psychiatrists or a multidisciplinary medical board, to assess the individual’s physical and mental condition.
“The panel reports to the court, which then makes the legal determination of fitness to stand trial.
“The NMA, as a professional body, does not issue such declarations in its institutional capacity unless the Association is merely acting as an administrative conduit to nominate experts — in which case, it should be clearly stated that the declaration emanates from individual medical practitioners and not the NMA itself.
“Given this distinction, I, along with many colleagues, seek your kind clarification on the following points: Under what article or section of the NMA Constitution or By-Laws does the Association have the authority to constitute or endorse a medical panel for determining a person’s fitness to stand trial?
“Was the panel that examined Mr. Nnamdi Kanu constituted as a court-appointed body through the NMA, or was it presented publicly as an NMA-declared verdict?
“If the latter, how does this align with the professional and ethical boundaries of our Association as defined by its constitution?
“Sir, as you would agree, clarity on this matter is necessary not only to uphold the integrity and independence of our profession, but also to ensure that the public correctly understands the role of the NMA in sensitive medico-legal proceedings.
“I therefore humbly urge the National Secretariat to issue an official clarification, citing the specific constitutional or statutory framework that underpinned the Association’s involvement in this particular case.”
On November 8, 2025 the governorship election would hold across the state, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has notified all political parties participating in the off-season election, the News agency of Nigeria reports.
The incumbent Governor Charles Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, who is seeking a second term in office is expected to slug it out with candidates of other political parties, from the ruling Al Progressives Congress, APC and other parties who have been registered to take part in the governorship election.
No fewer than 16 candidates, according to checks from INEC are expected to take part in the November 8 election.
According to the agency, INEC Public Relations Officer in the state, Mrs Ugomma Lechukwu, issued the notice, while briefing newsmen on Sunday in Awka, the state’s capital, saying the election would be conducted in accordance with the amended Electoral Act 2010.
“The INEC notice of poll is in accordance with sections of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended).
“Notice is hereby given that election to the office of the governorship shall be held on November 8, 2025,” Lechukwu said.
Uncertainty now surrounds the upcoming National Convention of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the National Secretary of the party has alleged that his signature was forged on the letter sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC notifying it of the convention.
The PDP scribe has now petitioned the Inspector General of Police, DSS and the INEC to investigate the allegation, a development which analysts insist has somehow cast a doubt on the proposed national convention.
According to those watching the PDP closely, there are undercurrent moves to stop the convention from holding, by some people in the party believed to be close to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike who are not happy with its current leadership led by Umar Damagun, and are bent in ensuring that the party remained embattled till the 2027 election.
The Minister has vowed to work for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu reelection despite being a member of the PDP.
The PDP National Convention is slated for November 15 and 16, 2025 in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital and the party says it’s poised to make it a hitch-free event.
According to separate petitions dated October 15, addressed to INEC, IGP and DSS Anyanwu demanded an investigation of the allegation, saying the letter sent to INEC was not approved nor signed by him as the National Secretary of the party, noting that his signature was “cloned and forged” on the letter.
In his letter to the Acting Chairman of INEC titled “RE: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Year 2025 Elective National Convention: Petition Against Forgery and Cloning of My Signature,” Anyanwu denied signing the letter sent to the election umpire.
“My attention has been drawn to the above-titled official letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with Ref. No. PDP/DOM/GF.2/Vol. 1M/25-140 dated Monday, August 25, 2025, purportedly signed by me.
“Regrettably, the quoted letter was never signed, authorised, or known to me. It is shocking to have a forged/cloned version of my signature on the letter.
“I therefore request that this criminal conduct by officers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and their collaborators within INEC be investigated and the culprits prosecuted.
“Attached herewith is an excerpt of the forged document for ease of reference,” Anyanwu said in the letter.
In a separate letter to the DSS Director General, titled “Petition Against Forgery and Cloning of My Signature,” Anyanwu urged an investigation and prosecution of PDP officials and INEC collaborators involved in the alleged crime.
It read in part, “My attention has been drawn to the above-titled official letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with Ref. No. PDP/DOM/GF.2/Vol. 1M/25-140 dated Monday, August 25, 2025, purportedly signed by me.
“Regrettably, the quoted letter was never signed, authorised or known to me. It is shocking to have a forged/cloned version of my signature on the letter.
“I therefore request that this criminal conduct by officers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and their collaborators within INEC be investigated and the culprits prosecuted.”
In a related letter to the Inspector General of Police, Anyanwu called for a thorough investigation and prosecution of those responsible.
Anyanwu’s letter read in part, “My attention has been drawn to the above-titled official letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with Ref. No. PDP/DOM/GF.2/Vol. 1M/25-140 dated Monday, August 25, 2025, purportedly signed by me.
“Regrettably, the quoted letter was never signed, authorised or known to me. It is shocking to have a forged/cloned version of my signature on the letter.
“I therefore request that this criminal conduct by officers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and their collaborators within INEC be investigated and the culprits prosecuted.
“Attached herewith is an excerpt of the forged document for ease of reference.”
Meanwhile, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state said few days ago that nothing would stop the party from going ahead with the National Convention.
The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has rubbished the claim by the National Chairman, of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr Nentawe Yilwatda to the effect that some key figures in the ADC would defect to the ruling party next week.
Bolaji Abdullahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC in a statement on Sunday said no amount of defections would save the party from defeat in the 2027 election, because Nigerians have already made up their minds to teach it a lesson for bringing so much hardship to them.
The ADC spokesman said no matter how many people defected to the ruling party, it will still be defeated in the next election, wondering why the ruling party is still looking for defectors despite the record number of the opposition governors who defected to the party recently, adding that the APC has become the ‘most hated” political party in the country.
Abdullahi wondered why the APC is till searching for senators from the ADC, saying whether the ruling party has ran out of “governors to seduce.”
“The truth remains that the APC realises that it has become the most hated party in Nigeria, and no amount of defections can save the party from Nigerians whose lives and livelihoods the ruling party has destroyed since it came to power.
“Like we have noted earlier, the recent gale of high-profile defections to the ruling party is properly understood by ordinary Nigerians as a gang-up against the people by a ruling elite who have left the people behind in abject poverty and are only interested in self-preservation, even as their people wallow in misery.
“We wonder if the APC has run out of governors to seduce, that it has now turned to shadowy references to unnamed ADC members? If these individuals are so “key”, let the chairman of the hated party mention their names.
“There is nothing new in the game that the APC is playing. It is the same ruinous game that the PDP played at the height of its powers. The APC will also learn the bitter lesson that real democratic power lies with the people and not a few power merchants,” the ADC statement noted in part.
The magazine had earlier reported that two state governors, Peter Mbah and Douye Diri , of Enugu and Bayelsa defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP last week, while Mbah has already joined the APC Dir is expected to join the ruling party anytime from now.
Members of a criminal syndicate that specializes in mass producing fake government documents and using same to deceive and extort money from unsuspecting members of the public have been smashed by Governor Hope Uzodimma’s eagle-eyed monitoring team.
Although the activities of the syndicate affects all the States in the South East, South South and even Middle Belt, they use Owerri as their operational base.
Governor Uzodimma’s officials, operating under the Monitoring and Compliance Enforcement team, swooped on the criminal syndicate Tuesday, October 14, 2025, arresting some of them and recovering highly incriminating fake government documents from them.
Some of the recovered documents include: Niger Delta Youth Empowerment Vehicle Support Scheme, Middle Belt Gateway By-pass membership Certificate, South West Gateway By-pass membership Certificate, National Union of Local Government Employees Consolidated emblem, 2025 Integrated File Coverage of Association of Emblem Operators, among others.
Recently, information got to the Governor about some motorists who reportedly said they were arrested by some persons at a road block at Ngor Okpala on Owerri-Aba road claiming to be working for the government.
At another time, a cleric of an Anglican Church who was coming to Owerri for medication reportedly had a similar experience where the syndicate claiming to be officials of VIO from the State extorted N30k from him and issued him with a fake receipt at the back of Imo State University, Owerri.
From the motorist who was stopped at Ngor Okpala came report that he was forced to pay N30k cash and presented a receipt by the criminal syndicate but which had Edo State insignia.
Armed with the knowledge that the operators were not working for the Imo State government, Governor Uzodimma directed his Monitoring and Compliance Enforcement team to mount surveillance on the syndicate.
On Tuesday, luck ran out on the Syndicate as two of the members were nabbed with huge cache of fake government documents with which they defraud and extort unsuspecting members of the public.
The two suspects have also been handed over to the police for further investigation as other members who are on the run are being sought after.
POOR NIGERIAN GOVERNORS: Most Nigerian governors have performed below par since 1999. But some have been abysmal. Current Lagos State governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwoolu falls into the latter category: among of the poorest of the class. Sanwoolu’s output is particularly pathetic especially in the face of Lagos’ bounteous resources. But of course, Lagosians are not oblivious of his peculiar status.
EXPRESSO will publish a comprehensive Sanwoolu scorecard next year, but today, a certain magnificent complex called GIWA GARDENS Waterpark and Resorts is the telling metaphor we shall apply here as a signpost to the morass that is governance in Lagos state currently.
PARADISE IN THE JUNGLE: Nestled in the immediate outlay of the Atlantic Ocean in a place called Sangotedo, is GIWA GARDENS (GG),
Sangotedo which is a few minutes away from the Lagos Business School (LBS) on the Lekki-Epe Expressway.
Apart from the LBS and a Shoprite mall down the road, Sangotedo is a backward community hemmed between the Ocean and the highway.
But thereabouts in 2021, a plucky young man, Keji Giwa, chose to build GIWA Gardens Waterpark and Resort in Sangotedo. It turned out to be a magical facility that portends to turn poor Sangotedo into a fairyland. Well, almost.
Let’s call it an iconic paradise in an uncharted jungle of sandy mash and brackish sea water.
The project which sits on 14 acres of land is a magnificent themed waterpark and accommodation.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu
Telling his story to Thisday, the visioner, Keji Giwa, a Nigerian-British, noted that Lagosian who cannot readily visit Disneyland and Dubai, would find a wonderful alternative at Giwa Gardens, especially during festivities.
It has to be the best family getaway in Lagos at weekends and holiday periods, he enthused.
There’s no doubt that it is.
Eventually opened in December, 2023, it was a complete ticket sellout from the first day. The entire sleepy community came alive! Cars, crowds, colours and carnivals overwhelmed its Sangotedo locale. It was a joyful epiphany for the neighbourhood for nobody thought such latent energy was waiting to be switched on like electricity.
But after the December 2023 opening, there was a little mishap involving a fun-seeker and the Lagos State Government (LASG) was quick to move against the Waterpark and had its operations suspended for safety reviews.
LASG, A MOST ANTI-BUSINESS GOVERNMENT: But the story here is that the LASG and her officials had posed as stumbling blocks to the actualisation of this revolutionary project. Opening deadlines were missed a couple of times. There were of course multiple layers of charges and fees, often tending towards extortion, which of course, most developers in Lagos have to put up with.
But beyond the official rent-seeking antics, Giwa traversed Alausa umpteenth time to get the LASG’s attention to his epochal project. No dice.
Not even the most basic support like paving the streets and access ways to the park, channeling of water and possibly lighting the streets.
The result is that, barely two years after a boom opening, Giwa Gardens, the multi billion naira investment is becoming a DOA (Dead On Arrival) project. The ruinous investment climate in Lagos wouldn’t allow it to thrive.
All the access roads to GG are still unpaved, un-motorable and waterlogged. All the vicinity is dark at night, while the environmental architecture and aesthetics required for a facility like this, are absent.
Why would an investor embark on a hospitality and tourism project of this magnitude without sparing a thought for the environment, one might ask?
The obvious answer is that there’s a limit to what an investor can do in an environment that is stark and bereft of any iota of enablement. An environment where governments at all levels are disabling, extortionate and has a punitive attitude to investors.
This is an environment in which there’s no public power supply, no potable water, no paved roads, no water channels and no visible security system. It’s an environment that boasts of a total absence of government presence!
PROBABLY THE WORST GOVERNOR IN LAGOS STATE: We may also take liberty to say that there’s virtually no government in sight in Lagos currently.
A project of this nature, a Local Direct Investment (LDI) of this size which not only drives the economy of a community but creates thousands of direct and indirect jobs ought to be prioritised and supported by both the state and local governments.
But it’s a shame that the LASG never lifted a finger even as you read this. But the governments at all levels had collected all sorts of rents and anytime the facility is open, you can bet that state officials would slither in like serpents to make one demand or the other of the management.
This has become the stock in trade of the LASG and LGAs officials (same story all over Nigeria though).
Lagos government officials of today are wired to collect rent, extort and intimidate businesses and investors. They don’t think of value, they don’t understand sustainability! This is one reason Nigeria remains backwards.
LASG is particularly the worst of all states in Nigeria considering the opportunities that abound all around the state. If officials are tuned towards creating win-win values, Lagos would have grown ten fold more than it is today.
GG would have exploded into a behemoth of tourism, entertainment and hospitality powerhouse.
Sangotedo would have become a thriving community with hundreds of ancillary businesses springing up around GG.
WE NEVER HAD IT SO BAD: Previous governors from 1999, starting from Tinubu to Babatunde Fashola and Akinwummi Ambode were not only upfront in huge infrastructure development, they moved the LGAs and LCDAs to do a bit as well.
But today, all these lower tiers of government are all but moribund in terms of providing basic services to Lagosians. Hardly any work goes on anymore.
The streets, drainages and culverts around the vicinity of Giwa Gardens are actually things within the purview of ETI-OSA LCDA and not Alausa.
But it takes an awake governor to have picked up GG in its radar and made sure the needful was done for such a strategic infrastructure.
NOTHING GOING ON BUT THE RACKET: A cursory look around Lagos shows that the state government is practically on holidays especially in Sanwoolu’s second term.
For instance, Fashola and Ambode had an agency that fixed potholes and did quick interventions on roads. We don’t see that agency anymore. So one small pothole on Lekki-Epe road around phase one, for instance, would manifest for years and torment commuters for so long.
Fashola and Ambode collaborated with LGAs to fix/build hundreds of street and inner roads every year.
EXPRESSO here challenges LASG to publish the list of streets and inner roads it has fixed in the last two years so people living in those places may verify by themselves.
SUSPENDED ANIMATION IN LAGOS STATE: Discerning minds would have noticed that the Lagos State governor/government has been in a state of suspended animation since 2023, which marked the beginning of the second term of Governor Sanwoolu.
The LASG has been merely going through the motions of governance. Apart from the reconstruction of the Lekki-Epe Expressway which has been in the making for about four years and still ongoing, hardly any major project is taking place in Lagos state today.
The Federal Ministry of Works did a bit of rehabilitation work in Apapa, Ikoyi and Lagos Island areas, which have a semblance of Lagos working. But in the last two years, the state government seems to have been deliberately hamstrung.
THE ABUJA FACTOR: Lagos has been a state under the vice grips of a godfather since 2007. But the noose apparently tightened to a chokehold with the coming of Governor Babajide Sanwoolu in 2019.
When Bola Tinubu, the godfather and El supremo of Lagos became president of Nigeria, the Lagos situation became darker.
Governor Sanwoolu became fully and completely lame-ducked.
The world saw a bit of a sample during his recent face-off with the Speaker of the State House of Assembly. The man in Abuja trashed both the governor and the Office.
So right now, Lagos is in a state of suspended animation, perhaps until 2027 when a certain Seyi would be shooed in as the next governor. Otherwise, hardly anything is going on. It must be noted that Mr. Governor is a good natured gentle folk but bound to the stakes by a vicious Klepto-kakistocracy that is growing roots in Nigeria. (This Lagos model has recently been replicated in States like Kogi, Ebonyi and Rivers. It has become incumbent on the people to move to liberate their states from the hands of petit godfathers).
This may explain why a multitude of street urchins have been let loose on the highways of Lagos openly extorting transporters and making a grimy unsightliness in the so-called mega city.
There’s also a young man going about with bulldozers (as if they were toys) happily targeting ‘enemy’ businesses to pull down. He seems to be on special mission to harm non-indigenes, especially Igbo businesses in Lagos, and the commissioner seems to make a sport of doing this especial dirty assignment.
Lagos has the worst environmental situation amongst global cities and successive officials put in charge of this delicate assignment hardly understand the call.
For instance, the city state is traversed by canals yet over the years, the government has not been able to master these channels by investing in them and creating proper throughput for free flow of water. Where are the canals with the right gradients, concrete embankments, fortifications and demarcation walling. But Very little intellectual attention has been paid to Lagos’ environment since 1999.
It explains why the behemoth smells. It explains why most parts are perpetually flooded with the slightest of rain. It explains why the city is not green, but instead , has the face of an open sewer…
Nobody is thinking about it. One therefore shudders at the obduracy of government officials gayly going about the city looking for built up structures to pull down. Imagine invading a shopping complex and pulling down 19 multi-story malls (worth about N10 billion) under the guise that they are obstructing a canal!
Meanwhile canals are not de-silted in years.
IN SUMMARY: The bottom line is that Lagos has been vastly set back in the last six years having been shorn of perspicacious leadership. Consider the loss of new age infrastructure like the damaged Landmark beach resort and now, Giwa Gardens Waterpark.
And things look to get worse if the current place-holder is replaced by the first son. Lagos would regress further, becoming a fiefdom of rent collectors and carpetbaggers.
The auguries are indeed very dim for Lagos in terms of political succession, intellectual flair to drive a forward looking, eco-friendly and innovative global mega city. Who’s thinking here?
Osuji was editor at The Guardian and THISDAY among others.
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, has called for value-driven leadership anchored on integrity, empathy, and human development as the foundation for restoring Nigeria’s dignity.
He made the call in Birmingham, United Kingdom, while delivering the keynote address at the 8th Annual Conference of the University of Nigeria Alumni Association, UK, on the theme of “Restoring the Dignity of Man through Building an Equitable, Inclusive, and Compassionate Society.”
Before the conference, Mr. Obi visited Birmingham City University, where he met with the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. David Mbah—one of only two Black Vice-Chancellors among more than 160 universities in the UK, both Nigerians. He commended Prof. Mbah and his team for their commitment to inclusive education and excellence.
At the conference, Obi decried leadership failure as Nigeria’s greatest challenge, citing the collapse of the education and health sectors, the growing number of out-of-school children, and the erosion of the rule of law. He urged leaders to govern with integrity and compassion, and citizens to elect only competent and upright individuals.
In a related message, Obi celebrated Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for bringing pride to Nigeria through her recent international recognitions, including the Mermaid Award (Sweden), Felix Jud Prize (Germany), and Women’s Prize for Fiction – Winner of Winners (UK).
He described her as “a beacon of excellence and inspiration to millions,” commending her for reminding the world that excellence, integrity, and hard work remain the true measures of success.
The Defence Headquarters has maintained that none of its officers is being detained over a planned coup to overthrow the Government of President Bola Tinubu.
Reacting to an inquiry by The ICIR on Saturday, the Director of Defence Information, Tukur Gusau, a Brigadier General, described the claim as false.
He stated that the statement issued by the Armed Forces over the arrest of some officers weeks ago never mentioned that the officers were being investigated for a coup plot.
“We issued a press release on this weeks ago and we never mentioned officers were arrested for a coup,” Gusau told The ICIR.
The clarification followed an online report alleging that 16 senior officers were being held by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) for planning to overthrow the Tinubu-led government.
The report also claimed that the alleged plot led to the cancellation of Nigeria’s Independence Day parade on October 1.
In its earlier statement on October 4, the Defence Headquarters explained that the officers were arrested during a routine military exercise for “indiscipline and breach of service regulations,” not for political reasons.
The statement, signed by Gusau, said investigations revealed that the officers’ grievances were linked to “perceived career stagnation” and repeated failure in promotion examinations.
It added that some of the apprehended personnel were already facing disciplinary actions for various offences.
“Their conduct was deemed incompatible with the standards of military service. Upon completion of investigations, indicted officers will face the full military disciplinary process,” the statement read.
The military also stressed that the action was purely disciplinary and part of ongoing efforts to preserve order and professionalism within the ranks.
“The Armed Forces will not tolerate behaviour that undermines the integrity of the institution or threatens its constitutional role under democratic authority,” the statement added.
The Defence Headquarters reaffirmed its commitment to constitutional governance and reiterated that the Nigerian Armed Forces remained professional, loyal, and fully dedicated to protecting the nation’s democracy.
