By Oguwike Nwachuku

The Vanguard Personality of the Year Award 2024 has come and gone. From all indications, it was a huge success.

The turnout of Nigerians from all walks of life, who emptied themselves into the venue at Eko Hotel and Suites Convention Centre on Friday, April 11, 2025 was impressive and massive.

Across political, business, religious, civil society, media, security, students demographic strata, this year’s award, like the ones before it, lived up to the expectations of the organisers and the Nigerian society.

Not only were those physically present to witness the occasion satisfied with the choice and quality of awardees, others who, for one reason or the other could not make it to Lagos, but watched the live coverage on television, could not agree less.

Only one man – Steve Osuji, a Nigerian journalist, and I believe, a proud indigene of Imo State, but who has suddenly found joy in criticising everything that crosses his view, no matter how noble, is crying wolf over the Vanguard award.

Since April 11, 2025, when the event took place, Steve has been weeping like a baby subjected to a punishment by the guardians that is beyond his/her carrying capacity.

From the piece he wrote on his column – Expresso, and published on the social media platforms on April 15, one could see Steve’s blood-shot eyes, the result of weeping he must have subjected himself to.

In fact, I am tempted to believe that Steve’s weeping is only comparable to what is contained in the Bible verse in Jeremiah 31:15 (or Matthew 2:18), “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children, refused to be comforted for her children, because they are not.”

The last time I checked, Steve did not lose anyone to warrant such weeping that is only comparable to that of Rachel who was distraught over the fate of her children – Joseph and Benjamin – or better still, the Babylonian exile as it concerned the Israelites in another interpretation.

Why then is Steve weeping like a baby, you may ask?

The reason is obvious. He is weeping because the Governor of Imo State, Dist. Sen. (Dr.) Hope Uzodimma, CON, was a recipient of the prestigious Vanguard Personality award in the area of infrastructure.

Steve belongs to the few persons, (by the way, they are all from Imo State) who hate to hear that anything good, contrary to their wish, happens to Uzodimma. They have been in this situation since January 15, 2020 when Uzodimma took over the levers of power as the Governor of Imo State.

Five years down the road, they have been suffering from a self-afflicted sickness called hate diarrhoea. The sickness rankles with them anytime there’s good news in Imo and Hope Uzodimma’s name is mentioned.

Each passing day, those in this circle look for ways and means to discredit the Governor. Their only reason – Hope Uzodimma, via judicial pronouncement, not through any fiat or coercion, but through a globally acceptable judicial process, defeated and replaced their political benefactor from office.

Since then, they are ready to do anything to please their master, including telling cheap and unfounded lies to discredit Uzodimma and his government.

That also explains why a Steve who lives in Lagos, the place for the award, would be busy in his house diagnosing misinformation, spreading rumour and orchestrating mischief while the whole Imo State citizens in Lagos were at Eko Hotel and Suites serenading their Governor for the prestigious Vanguard honour.

As far as Steve and his gang of rabid Uzodimma critics were concerned, the Infrastructure Governor of the Year honour which Vanguard painstaking and carefully shortlisted and awarded Uzodimma was misplaced.

To Steve, Vanguard goofed. To him, Uncle Sam goofed. And Vanguard has lowered the standard of her award. I shall return to this shortly.

Let me be clear, Steve Osuji is my friend, brother, and professional colleague. He is one person I have considerable respect for. And I still do despite his unexpected unbecoming demeanour lately due to his failure to juxtapose his emotions with political interests.

By the way, I am not the only one surprised about this current trend and the harm it has done to brother Steve. But I will continue to pray for him maka na ihere onye ara na eme onye nweya (it is the relative of the mad person who suffers the shame of the brother’s madness).

As a matter of fact, two persons who are well known to Steve sent me a message regarding his latest bitter harangue about the Vanguard award and both of them raised the same concern in a question form – Is Steve okay?

In Steve’s own words, the Vanguard award to Uzodimma for the impact his administration has made in the area of infrastructure “traumatised” him.

But I think different why Steve said he is traumatised. I think the real reason why he is  taunted, both physically, psychologically, spiritually and mentally, is because against all odds, Steve and his gang of critics cannot come to terms with the level of development associated with Uzodimma in Imo State.

Put differently, they never believed that Uzodimma will have any record of achievement to show for coming to power. That has always been their supplication. They wanted him to fail.

Unfortunately for Steve and his cohort, that is not the situation in Imo today. So, the trauma is self-inflicted.

It is a shame Steve said that Vanguard gave the Governor award on infrastructure for building only three sub-standard roads –  Owerri-Orlu, Owerri-Okigwe and Owerri-Umuahia in five years.

What a laughable, puerile, and unfortunate comment from someone of Steve’s standing, a former banker, editor, and media aide to two governors.

For the records, let me remind Steve, again, that apart from the Owerri- Orlu, Owerri-Okigwe, and Owerri- Mbaise- Obowo- Umuahia roads, Governor Hope Uzodimma has more than 200 internal roads credited to his administration. Copies of the report on the roads which are available are for his asking.

Depending on when last Steve visited Imo State, having been enconsced, nay cocooned himself in Lagos, the Orlu-Mgbidi road, the Orlu-Omuma-Mgbidi road, the Okwudor-Awommamma road, the MCC-Toronto-Orji-Road Safety road have long been in use by appreciative Imolites.

If I were Steve, I would have been silent about those periods he claimed he worked for two governors as he mentioned.

My reason. Under Uzodimma, Imo State is a proud owner of a brand new House of Assembly Complex that is the best in Nigeria. Uzodimma built brand new State Banquet Hall, brand new Executive Chambers, brand new Governor’s Lodge, three brand new General Hospitals at Omuma, Oguta and Ohaji, brand new Assumpta Control Post Flyover, brand new Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu International Conference Centre, to name but a few.

If these did not qualify as infrastructure facilities, one wonders how Steve defines his.

Steve unwittingly brought out for comparison the periods under which he served as media aide to two governors without sparing a thought that under those periods, his principals were too short-sighted to imagine what ought to constitute the infrastructure of Imo State of the future. What they could not do then are the things Uzodimma conceived the idea today and did, hence the Vanguard honour.

I do not know why Steve thinks that the infrastructure template for Imo State should be the one existing only in his mind. Or better still, why he thinks Vanguard should have consulted him before arriving at her informed decision on what constitutes critical infrastructure in Imo.

Recently at an event at Owu Amakohia Ikeduru, I was introduced to one Retired Major General Augustine Oguledo who told me he was pleased to meet yours sincerely as a member of the Hope Uzodimma’s administration.

He said the Uzodimma administration has done so much for Imo in the area of roads and other infrastructure, and confessed that no governor in the history of the current democratic dispensation has taken it upon himself to sincerely serve Imo people the way Uzodimma has.

General Oguledo emphasised so much about the quality of Owerri -Umuahia road, indicating that ever since he knew that road, this is the only time it has been properly constructed.

We have always said that we are not averse to criticisms when they are constructive and  informative since such brand of criticisms helps to advance the course of democracy and good governance.

But it hurts when those who supposedly ought to know, people like Steve, deliberately disinform the public, out of sheer hatred for someone, or as a result of outright wickedness and mischief.

I recall vividly some of yours sincerely’s interventions to Steve’s earlier pieces that also bordered on feeding the public with half truths or even public incitement. Obviously, these are not qualities that should be linked to Steve, a man who, by right, is now an elder statesman.

I do not think that if Vanguard award to Governor Hope Uzodimma was misplaced as Steve imagined, the calibre of Imo sons and daughters, friends and well wishers from across the country who joined in celebrating with him on the said day would have been possible.

Prominent sons and daughters of Okigwe zone where Steve issues from did not just show massive solidarity with Uzodimma on the honour, they also used the opportunity to thank him for extending his infrastructure facilities to their area.

Okigwe zone was not alone as prominent sons and daughters from other zones – Owerri and Orlu did almost the same thing.

As Christians, we are admonished to celebrate with those who celebrate and mourn with those who mourn.

Even without the Vanguard award to Uzodimma, why would Steve choose to mourn like Rachel when he ought to be celebrating his governor if he really means well for him?

So, where then lies his own faith as a Christian?

It is not enough for Steve to tactically shift loyalty to the Governors of Enugu and Abia States, just to further his hatred for Uzodimma. What I know is that the solicitation for the relationship will come to naught in no time. He will soon realise that those in charge of the States in question are no match to Uzodimma in terms of verifiable achievements.

Those who constitute themselves into oka nma na’ama (that is, those who have little regard for their home base) will always have themselves to blame when the chips are down.

I am certain that those who pretend to be blind over Uzodimma’s developmental strides in Imo State, including the ones that are brought to their doorstep, will have no choice than to praise him after he must have left office when, God willing, their self- inflicted blindness would have been cured and their sight restored.

Nwachuku is Governor Uzodimma’s Chief Press Secretary/Special Adviser, Media

By Azu Ishiekwene

It’s understandable if you have not paid attention. I can’t help noticing because minding other people’s business is a part of my job description. On Tuesday, the newspapers reported a spat between the children of two leading politicians, Mohammed Abubakar and ShamsudeenBala Mohammed.

Mohammed and Shamsudeen are the children of Atiku and Bala. Atiku was Nigeria’svice president, and Bala isthe Bauchi State governorand chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum.

Both are ranking members of the main opposition,PDP, a party making as much effort to find its way as it is desperate to lose it. The tweetstorm between the children of these leaders has only piled on the party’s misery, and what lies ahead doesn’t look pretty, especially after the PDP governors’ meeting in Ibadan.

Back story

The fight between both sons is the political equivalent in the music industry of the bitter sibling rivalry between Peter and Jude Okoye, siblings now dragging themselves publicly over royalty from their once famous band, P-Square. If PDP had any royalty left, it squandered it on the insatiable appetite of its leaders, who have eaten the present and future of the party.

Atiku’s son is accusing Governor Mohammed of stabbing his father in the back when he ran for the presidency in 2023.The governor’s son responded that nobody plays as dirty as Atiku, whom he accused of undermining his father’s bid for a second term in Bauchi.

The tweet rage has sparked discussions about how far the children of politicians in power should go to fight publicly for or against their parents’ political interests and whether or not such brawls hinder or help their parents’ political fortunes.

In another life, it would have been considered poor breeding for teenagers or young adults to insert themselves in a fight between adults.

For example, despite the fight-to-the-finish between MKO Abiola and military president General Ibrahim Babangida, who cancelled the 1993 presidential election won by Abiola, their children stayed mainly out of the fray. The equivalence of social media has changed all that.

Born to rage

The pervasiveness of social media and its popularity, especially among teenagers and young adults, has increased the sense of agency among these groups and amplified their voices, however strident and deeply worrying they may get sometimes.

From the blogger and daughter of the famous Ibadan politician Kemi Olunloyo, who recently declared on her blog that she would have nothing to do with her family again after her father died, to Bashir, an unabashedly vile tweep and the son of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, there is an emerging activism among the children of politicians. It’s a cross between rebellion and the search for identity or the process of becoming.

The more you look

Does it make sense? Is it always an indication of parental values or a measure of the family’s stand on political issues? Neither Atiku Abubakar nor Bala Mohammed has weighed in yet.Even though their children’s public fight feels like a scene from “Sons of the Caliphate”, nothing they said was false.Perhaps, it was how and the speed of the venom that raised eyebrows.

Before the 2023 elections, when Atiku’s protégé and prominent traditional titleholder in Bauchi, Bello Kirfi, fell out with Bala, the latter (with former Speaker Yakubu Dogara) openly worked against Bala’s reelection. During the presidential primaries in Abuja, Bala ran against Atiku.

The proxy war between Atiku’s man, Kirfi, and Bala almost cost the governor his reelection, an offence the governor will not forgive. He was saved by the skin of his teeth and the support of former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and the G5, after which Mohammed stripped Kirfi of his traditional title.

Rise of social media

Older adults who are used to nuanced, conservative methods of airing their grievances may be embarrassed, even offended, by the tweet brawl between Mohammed and Shamsudeen. Still, in the last two decades, we have seen that social media, the playground for teenagers and young adults, has also become a legitimate sphere of politics – and in the currentTrumpoverse,it’s even a tool of diplomacy, thanks to US President Donald Trump.

But should blog posts, often typically lacking in depth and context, become the measure of what is truly important and enduring? Do they represent more than what they are – random outbursts of fleeting thoughts from entitled or angry tribes? Or do they teach us something we need to pay attention to?

Price of feuds

Some years ago, Bobby Goodlatte took a stand on Twitter against his father, Bob, a Republican, whom he accused of “political grandstanding” that led to the sacking of an FBI agent Bobby described as “a patriot.” For that reason, he sided with a Democrat running against his father and used social media to mobilise votes for him.

We don’t even need to go far. In 2017, Moremi, daughter ofBabafemiOjudu, the former Special Adviser (Political Matters) to President Muhammadu Buhari, attacked the government, her father’s employer. Although she later apologised to her father, her action raisedquestions about who she was speaking for. Yet everyone knows it’s a generation that wears its emotions on its sleeve.

Who pays?

Seyi, son of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who uses the handle @STinubu, last tweeted in May 2023. But his activities offline, which invariably become rich social media harvests, have generated no less interest than that of the more social-media active children of other politicians. Do these children’s actions, especially online, carry any significant political risk for their parents?

The answer is, sometimes. A 2020 media psychology study said, “When people believe they are not alone in their cause, it encourages them to take action. For the children of well-known or newsworthy parents in the contentious political arena, their actions also become newsworthy by virtue of proximity to their parents and the unceasing demand for news content that will attract audience attention.”

The potential impact of such feuds could range from damage to political image to loss of credibility arising from a perception of lack of parental authority and a house divided against itself.

High-profile family disputes or squabbles amongst the children of political heavyweights can amplify the controversy and undermine the politician’s agenda.An example is the spectacular case of Bukola and Gbemisola in the Saraki dynasty. In cases where such children are viewed as potential successors, it could haunt them and fracture support.

“Sins” of the children

Even when children are old enough to answer their own names, in largely conservative societies, the “sins” of the children may weigh heavily on how their parents are perceived.

The tweet by Bashir El-Rufai, for example, that the killings in Southern Kaduna would continue until the attacks on Fulani herdsmen ceased was considered inflammatoryand insensitive. It was also deemed a reflection of his father’s politics as governor for eight years.

Seyi Tinubu’s offline comment that his father is the greatest president in Nigeria’s history raised a firestorm on social media. Whatever the cost of his comment, he is unlikely to be deterred, and his actions will continue to enrich social media content in the days ahead.

As we move closer to 2027, the actions of the children of newsworthy politicians will be a valuable lens by which we try to view and understand the political space. We’ll wait to see how much this currency will shape the future.

Ishiekwene is Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the book Writing for Media and Monetising It.