Viewpoint
Dahiru Maishanu
Your Excellency,
I’m writing this letter to you, a few days after, through a Presidential action, you and the members of the National Assembly decided to give me a rebirth from my resting place of decades. The last time I checked, I have been dead for over two decades and have been restfully resting in the Great Beyond.
I thought no mortal could waste their time making me to be born-again by fiat or default, including the President of the most populous black nation on planet earth.
To begin with Sir, what did I do to you to warrant such an unsolicited and unwarranted re-birth?
In a country like Nigeria, nobody would want to come back again after experiencing such a life that was almost worth nothing. Death, they say, comes only once but you decided to be audacious and play God by giving me another birth, without any prompt or consultation. You know the mirror doesn’t lie Sir!
At an auspicious time like this, when you and the National Assembly members are supposed to be taking stock of your achievements having clocked one year in office, you have chosen to embark on such a wild goose chase by insulting the sensibilities of Nigerians by re-awaken a dead Poem that nobody cared to adhere to, even when 'she' was alive.
Nigerians have been the most resilient people in the world by swallowing all the hooks that their leaders have choked down their throats. As simple as you as you think my reawakening is, Nigerians have concluded that you have taken the joke too far. After beating them to stupor, the leaders are now giving them a Barbie to play with while licking their wounds from the Bulala!
Sir, I implore you and Nigerians to give a post-mortem analysis of my verses before and after my first death and conclude whether or not I really deserve to be given another birth.
I put it to you that not a single verse of the whole poem that I’m made of, have come to pass in Nigeria. Sir, Why are you whipping a dead horse?
One verse says 'Arise o compatriots, Nigeria’s call obey'. Sir, in all honesty, whose call have been obeyed in Nigeria? The ones I know are those of avarice, ethnicity, corruption, nepotism and lately, banditry and kidnappings, among others.
Another verse says ‘to serve our father land, with love, strength and faith'. 'The labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain’.
Your Excellency, I thought this was noble and patriotic but with the hunger and want in the country, who remembers the father land? The only love in the land is the love of money, not that of its father. This has become contagious and perpetual.
Mr President, the labour of our heroes past have been callously let loose by capricious leaders and left in vain as soon as the Biafra war was poised on all of us.
Subsequent military adventures further disjointed the fabrics of the country, rather than uniting them.
Then came 1999, with all its paraphernalia of an imagined 'democracy' that crashed no sooner than it landed. You have remained a recurring active 'decimal' in Nigeria’s Democratic rag-tag experience ever since then.
You pocketed Lagos and now that it is you chance (Emilokan), you have taken the ride on the bigger turf, Nigeria. The poor man remains at the receiving end of this democratic experience in all ramifications.
Mr president, for any National Anthem to be meaningful, the first analgesic that you pumped in to Nigerians in the name of fuel subsidy removal must be reversed. If governance is for the benefit the citizens, then unending pain and sufferings must not be the antidote.
The lingering power crises, health and education deficits must be tackled before Nigerians will recite and memorise any Anthem again.
Nigeria’s call will not be obeyed if the land is full of hunger, Nigerians’ farms and houses are daily been ransacked, burnt and their loved ones kidnapped, raped and ‘sold’ back to them by semi naked marauders openly challenging government to dare them.
Finally Sir, allow me the chance to be re-buried again and compose another National Anthem for Nigerians. God bless Nigeria, my Country. Best Regards, Mr President.
*Maishanu writes from Sokoto
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Ultra-processed foods are linked to 32 adverse health effects including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and Type 2 diabetes.
That's according to a large new study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) that adds to growing research on the harms of foods that typically include five or more ingredients and several additives.
Common ultra-processed foods include ice cream, crisps, breakfast cereals, flavoured yoghurts, and biscuits, according to the British Heart Association.
An international team of researchers from Australia, the US, France and Ireland contributed to the umbrella review of 45 analyses that included a total population of 9.8 million participants.
“This is an important review giving us high-level recent data that calls for clear policy discussion and ultimately action to make it clear to the population what foods are ultra-processed and harmful to health," Amelia Lake, a professor of public health nutrition at Teesside University who was not involved in the study, said in a statement.
"This is a live and lively debate but we have strong knowledge around the harmful effects of diets high in fat, high in sugar, high in salt on our health.
“This is good quality research bringing together recent evidence (within 3 years), there are always issues around how dietary data is collected but the authors have reviewed the evidence and graded its quality," she added.
'Harmful to most if not all body systems'
In a linked editorial, Carlos Monteiro, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, wrote that the authors found "diets high in ultra-processed food may be harmful to most—perhaps all—body systems".
He added that these foods are not "merely modified" but often include "chemically manipulated cheap ingredients" such as modified starches, sugars and fats with little whole food.
"No reason exists to believe that humans can fully adapt to these products. The body may react to them as useless or harmful, so its systems may become impaired or damaged, depending on their vulnerability and the amount of ultra-processed food consumed," Monteiro added.
These foods are increasingly becoming part of diets globally, the authors said, making up more than half of daily caloric intake in the US and UK.
"We note the consistent trend linking ultra-processed foods to poor health outcomes is sufficient to warrant the development and evaluation of government-led policy and public health strategies aimed at targeting and reducing dietary exposure to ultra-processed foods," Melissa Lane, the lead author of the study from Deakin University, said in a social media post.
The researchers also assessed the credibility of the analyses' evidence.
They found that the strongest evidence revealed direct links between eating ultra-processed foods and a higher risk of death, cardiovascular disease-related mortality, mental health problems, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
They said that further randomised controlled trials are needed to determine causality, stating that there are several limitations to this type of overall review.
The inclusion of research with different methods of assessing diet for instance leads to "an inevitable measurement bias".
They also pointed out that some ultra-processed foods may present a higher risk than others, but said that overall these foods are consistently linked to a higher risk of chronic diseases.
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By Dayo da-Silva
Yes! No one wants to die in Nigeria, whether rich or poor, not even the old and elderly.
This reflects much in our timid and fragile life in which we all have become victims of our precarious society.
I am not saying people want to die in other countries, but the Nigerian case is a life lived in fear. Everyday, the prayer of an average Nigerian after what to eat and money to survive revolves round protection and security from God, thus “no one wants to die”.
Not even those who committed suicide; they never intended to die, they were just victims of an illness, a mental health disorder characterised by persistently depressed mood.
However, news of the death of an old school mate, who was a victim of poor medical care in Abeokuta; the death of a cousin who fell to the cold hands of hypertension and the death of a friend’s wife who passed away during childbirth in a Lagos Hospital within a spate of two days, jolted me into reality, that people die after all, even as no one would like to die.
My worry is, why have we turned, a people with no conscience, compassion and patriotism for our country? How did we get to this low level, where our quality of benevolence and value for human lives have dropped tremendously? Why do we intentionally disrupt the system and society that we live in? Why is everything about self against the common good of all?
“No one wants to die”, but people die daily in accident while travelling on bad roads, they die in various hospitals due to lack of drugs, facilities and personnel; Curable common illnesses still kill our people; many die of hunger and poverty; we are threatened daily by kidnappers, militants, terrorists and armed robbers who kill at random because our Nation failed to provide jobs and good life for our people; ordinary pipe- borne water, the Nigerian Government can not provide; a whole lot of our people die due to ignorance because of our failed education system. The reckless abandonment with which the present government has removed oil subsidy no doubt is affecting everybody. Many are frustrated and so depressed.
Most of these deaths are “appalling crimes against humanity” as they are caused by our man-made acts of corruption and greed, thus avoidable.
The deaths are the resultant effects of bad leadership and failed followership which transcends the All Progressives Congress, APC, Labour Party, LP and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP conundrum. Simply put, It is the failure of Nigerians as a people. We have failed to manage ourselves, even as we strive and thrive to become the best in other climes. Back home it is a tale of failures and corruption. Nigeria is a country where the worst rules the best!
When would our political office holders across various tiers of Governments realise that they are not necessarily the best in the society and the opportunity to hold positions is to serve, develop and improve humanity? Any political office holder is there for only a period of time and one day, they will become victims of the society they have created.
When would followers learn how to ask questions and revolt against political representatives holding the society to ransom?
Truly, we don’t want to die but the disunity, signs of war and terror in the land today, would not spare anyone if allowed to continue.
“In the past, the poor cannot sleep because they have nothing to eat, but at present the wealthy cannot sleep because the poor are awake”.
“Life itself is transient, People die anyway, but we have the choice to sound the death knell on the Nation or improve humanity and build a society that will preserve you and me”.
It is to our advantage if we have an enabling environment for us to thrive as a people. A place where good hospitals, motorable roads, regular electricity supply, potable water, access to loans, adequate security are assured. A good system that protects all and encourage self development.
“It is in our hands to stop playing dirty politics, embrace our unity in diversity and create a real essence of living to heal our Nation, Nigeria”!
Steve Oliyide
I have read several reactions and comments to my post on the Judases that made Dapo Abiodun lose the Ogun State governorship elections on the 18th of March, 2023. I discovered that some of those responding are self-serving; many people struggling to draw attention to themselves and in a way trying to be patronizing in expectation of an appointment.
One of the reactions, in one breath tried to attack the messenger and at the same time agreed that the neglect of the party excos was largely responsible for the Governor's failure at the polls. This appears contradictory. In actual fact, the so-called leadership of the party as well as his political appointees were some the reasons why the Governor failed. I will come to this shortly.
I am talking as an insider here, it is like analysing a drama in which I played a prominent part, notwithstanding the probability of being biased.
My boss, Otunba Gbenga Daniel joined the APC in 2021. And when it was apparent he was going to contest on the platform of that party, we decided to conduct an independent Public Opinion Poll about the status of the party especially in Ogun East Senatorial District. The Poll returned a highest public acceptance rating of a maximum 26 per cent for the incumbent Governor. Surprisingly, Ladi Adebutu of the PDP was rated higher than Dapo Abiodun of the APC in all the three Local Governments of the Remo Federal Constituency and in Odogbolu. During the Presentation, which was done in the open, (I remember I attended one of these with a Journalist friend of mine who has also served as Chairman of the Correspondents Chapel in the State), some close associates of the Governor, including Engr. Sosanwo were also invited, we sought to know how and why would the Governor be rated so poorly in his own Federal Constituency and especially in his own local government. We discovered that the Adebutu's are major employers of labour in those areas, as well as in Odogbolu. One of the APC aspirants who attended the Presentation actually confirmed the results of the poll and acknowledged that the rating of the Governor was so poor in the area. In the words of the aspirants, "I am not saying I will win o, but I can say I will have better results than the Governor in the election in my own Local Government".
This become so scary. Our challenge was how do we reverse this ugly trend especially because OGD was also going to run on the ticket of the same party. We held several interactive sessions with party leaders, Councillors and Stakeholders of the party, they all expressed similar fears. I remember a Local Government Chairman admitting that his own local Government is actually a fortress of the PDP and they will will need OGD's supports to change the narratives.
This of course was the reason why OGD hit the road canvassing for votes through the Ward tours. The party leadership expressed anger that the Governor abandoned them, he never met with them. They said Communication with Prince Dapo Abiodun was usually one way; he calls you only when he needs you and not the other way round. Several times OGD would always admonish them that they are the Ambassadors of the party, if they express their disappointmenta too often in the public, voters will loose confidence in the party.
Through the Ward tours, OGD put life back into the party and brought back disillusioned members with his Give Aways and patronage. Yet, in most places we visited, what the people said was that "we will only vote for you, if DA thinks he needs us, he will have to come and canvass for his own votes". They complained that Dapo Abiodun shut out on everybody after he became the Governor, in fact they said the rice he gave them in December for the Christmas and New Year holiday has expired and is not sweet. They said he doesn't pick calls, they lamented that only the Troika of Dapo Okubadejo, Tokunbo Talabi and Governor Abiodun are "eating" Ogun State money. They complained that members of the Transport unions are more powerful than Local Government Chairmen, and sadly LG Chairmen take directives from the leadership of these unions.
As the campaign progresses, we decided to expand the scope of research, to test other Senatorial Districts, West and Central, the results were awfully scarry and worse. If a Governor is not accepted in his own catchment area, which is supposed to be his sphere of influence, how would he be accepted by other people, especially the people of Ifo Local Government, Ado-Odo/Ota who he had actually abandoned to bad roads and lack of attention. The question then is, where did Dapo Abiodun get the results from Ifo and Ota? Clearly, it is a case of votes stealing. What Dapo Abiodun denied Ogun State citizens, he was ready to part with for INEC and Security officials. The money he denied the State civil servants by way of their entitlements, he can spend a paltry amount of that to buy the conscience of the electoral umpires whom he sees as more valuable to his reelection than the popular wishes and economic rights of Ogun State citizens. He went into the election with a mantra, "Get declared as the winner first, and we will settle the rest in court". That was the reason why his handlers were quick to resonate "Go to Court...", the silent part of that statement which they did not intone publicly is that "...as long as I am still in charge of Ogun State treasury, only workers salaries and pensioners will not get paid".
I was particularly interested in the results of Abeokuta North for instance. I kept monitoring from the field officers for updates. As at 10pm on Saturday 18th, PDP had won nine (9) of the 16 urban wards and ADC won two (2) in that Local Government. Then, I was told that the Collation Centre will close for the day to await the results of five (5) rural wards and continue Collation the following day. I am not a good student of mathematics, but I am lettered enough to know that some diabolical magic must have taken place to have the results of five rural wards overriding the results of eleven (11) urban wards. I also monitored results of Sagamu and Odogbolu because while preparing for OGD's Senate election I took particular interests in Polling Units where there are more than 500 and 1,000 voters which I tagged "Plus".
Whatever is stolen can never be yours, DA will battle the issue of legitimacy till the mandate is reclaimed from him. Ogun State has been mourning, those who are in Abeokuta can tell, Sagamu is worse off, Ijebu Ode appears cut off from civilization, Ota and Ifo ostracized and excised from Ogun State, only tapping from the little breath of fresh air and succour that the reelection of Babajide Sanwoolu can blow in their direction. DA is an affliction that should not be allowed to rise like COVID-19 again in Ogun State.
Steve Oliyide is a Mass Communication expert and a media aide to Former Governor Gbenga Daniel
..Steve Oliyide insists Governor Dapo Abiodun is too deficient to be given a second Chance
An aide of former governor Gbenga Daniel and a Mass Communication expert , Mr Steve Oliyide has again warned Ogun State indigenes and residents not to toil with their lives by giving the incumbent governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun another chance to lead them as he strives to retain the number one seat in the State.
The media expert who has been blowing hot on a WhatsApp platform, in his fourth message urged the Governor to show transparency and accountability if truly he deserves another term.
He also exonerated his boss, former Governor Gbenga Daniel who is presently an All Progressives Congress, APC Senator-elect from what he described as 'his personal opinion and unbiased assessment".
As you know, the Nigerian Newstrack will gladly bring to your notice any government reply when issued, since it has such right of response.
In the meantime, below is the excerpt of the latest write up and the three messages written earlier by Mr Oliyide even as the State government has not deemed it fit to reply.
"For the umpteenth time, I repeat, the opinions I have expressed in the last few days are mine, and mine alone. The futile attempts to masquerade my views as that of my Principal is unjust and laced with mischief, except I have to take a new lesson to suggest that I am not entitled to an independent assessment of what is and should not be in accountability in public service.
As an adult, with a family and adult children I think my opinions should be so respected and appreciated as entirely mine. I am a Nigerian, an indigene of Ogun State, I am a stakeholder in the Project Ogun and I can distinguish between a good government and a bad one.
The last I checked, I know that Otunba Gbenga Daniel is and remains in APC and I quite sympathize with him because I know that his ideals of good governance is not being appropriated by the administration he is constrained to support. I know he has been under extreme pressure by the National leadership of the APC and some friends and associates; and he could not have given instructions otherwise to the wishes of such party leadership who do not know the pains being suffered by the people under the administration they foist on them in Ogun State. I could as well in the circumstance just walk- out of my Consultancy job for him out of respect for the collateral damage he could suffer from my extreme views and opinions on the Prince Dapo Abiodun led administration.
In the last two days, I have raised several posers and questions that are begging for answers, yet the Governor and his handlers have failed to provide answers to them for the benefit of the people of Ogun State. I have questioned the obnoxious awards of contracts which are being shrouded in secrecy; I queried why workers entitlements, salary and cooperative deductions, pensions etc are being denied them while the Governor opened up a Bazaar of procurement of amphibious politicians and endorsements of all sorts at the last minutes to election right in front of the same workers as if to spite them. I insisted on behalf of the people of Ogun State, my extended family members inclusive, that the Government should explain the line items in the budget for the people's knowledge so that they can know how their money is being spent, they deserve and have the right to know; I pointed in the direction of the cost of the Airport Project and the need for transparency in the awards of contracts, who is doing what and at what cost? They ignored or pretended to be. Instead, just yesterday again, the Governor went on another circus show, taking some Undertakers to the same airport which was believed to have been awarded and called them "Foreign Investors". In the pictures, I could see Group MD of a bank etc. The question is, is the airport being sold at the twilight of the Dapo Abiodun's administration? Two days to the election, the Governor claims to be taking "foreign investors" to a supposedly ongoing project. This beats my logic. I thought planes have landed at the airport already as completed? Don't the people of Ogun State deserve to know what the Undertakers are buying or selling at the airport? Everything is just summarized as "foreign investors" and 'guyman' shows of map readers.
My quest is about good and transparent leadership, not one that looks like every citizen is up for sale. Buy their votes at election time, shut them out for the next three and half years and when it is election time, you come out to the political markets with money for another purchase of their franchise. We need to sanitize our politics and political administration, and bring transparency into government. That is what good governance is all about.
Cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore, I live)
Steve Oliyide still is my name.
Steve Oliyide raises critical questions for the Government of Prince Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State (3rd write up)
In the last 48 hours I have raised some critical issues about the maladministration of the prince Dapo Abiodun led administration in Ogun State, I have done all I could to insulate my Principal from my personally held opinions, but rather than attending to the real the Issues, Governor Dapo Abiodun's incompetent media handlers are making futile attempts at personal insults. That is the value of service you get when you make someone who started a career as a bar attendant at a backstreet bar opposite Faslak hotels in Apapa your party's information manager. Their dilemma is even more compounded because the product they have to sell to the people of Ogun State in itself is questionable in several areas; educational records, conducts and character. A man who can promise the people of Ogun State "Beer, Whiskey and Gin" to the youths instead of jobs, Employments and scholarships. Iru kaun kaun, obe gbegiri. Likes always attracts like though.
The reason why they cannot be bold enough to append their names on their write ups, they skirted around the issues to go after personality. I consider this as a deliberate diversion from what the people of Ogun State want to hear, and I will not allow them to run away from this. I will campaign for DA if, and only if:
1. They could tell the people of Ogun State *the cost of Prince Dapo Abiodun's projects, how much he constructed a kilometre of roads.* We have asked this question over and over, but they have parried it.
2. Civil Servants have been owed 22 months of Cooperative deductions. The excuse has always been there is no money. But we need to ask, *where does the governor get the money for the emergency Procurement of amphibious politicians and endorsement of various kinds of people in the twilight of elections.*
3. Local Government staff (including Councilors) have been owed, pensioners are crying to be paid, gratuities are in arrears default, *but the amount of money the governor is spending on procurement of endorsements can take care of all these statutory entitlements of those people suffering to serve Ogun State.*
4. The Airport Project is the flagship of this administration, a wonderful initiative of the OGD Administration. But the people of Ogun State need to be told *the total costs already spent or should I say looted by this outgoing administration for the international cargo airport*. The Agro Cargo Airport is a lofty initiative, well conceived by those who have vision, but Prince Dapo Abiodun has hurriedly turned it into a glorified highway with no control tower, arrival/departure halls; it has simply become a 4- lane highway presented as a runway. Ogun State people are being insulted, even 'yoruwood' movies are better packaged. But we need to know the amount expended on this so far? All ancestral lands, tens of thousands of hectares adjoining the airport projects have been connered by the Troika Government-in-Council (DA+Talabi+Dapo Okubadejo) for themselves. They got a Land Speculator to stand in as a foreign investor, to be selling lands already acquired since 2008 by the government for an Airport city.
5. Budget: *Why have line items of the state's budget been shrouded in secrecy, so much that even members of the Ogun State House of Assembly don't have the details of the budget passed in the last four years?*
These, and many more are the real issues that are begging for answers. This is not about me as a person, the rule should be about "eni ti o ba ruu re, l'o maa soo 're". If you do well while in the office, you can be rewarded with a return, but if the people of Ogun State can make a statement with their votes and refuse to reward failures with a re-election, then anyone who emerges as Governor will not take the people for granted anymore. This is about liberating Ogun State from the clutches of bad governance; a system where you rule the people as it pleases you, ignore them when it mattered to them, keep their entitlements in your personal vaults, then bring out same out on the eve of elections to buy supports. This is an act of wickedness.
Steve Oliyide is still my name..
'Don't reward non-performance', Steve Oliyide indicts Governor Dapo Abiodun (The 2nd Statement)
Since yesterday when I posted on this platform my personal views about the desire of Prince Dapo Abiodun to seek a re-election from the people of Ogun State, a people that he had clearly abandoned for close to four years now, I have been inundated with several calls. My opinion remains unchanged and I pray that the good people of Ogun State should not suffer a second misfortune and calamity of rewarding non performance and abandonment. And I repeat, should he by any means be rigged back into the office, good luck to him. It probably could be that we have sinned and God is punishing the people of the state.
I was less bothered about most of the calls, some of which came as conciliatory as they could be, and I am not God, I have only just a vote, which in good conscience I could not invest in Dapo Abiodun again. People are at liberty of the choice(s) they make.
My attention however was drawn to a lazy response by someone who is so scared to append his own name just like I did in my own post. That clearly is cowardice. Yourbas have a name for those who are unwilling to answer their father's name and often use the left finger to point the direction of their homes. On further enquiry I was told that the piece was written by a former head waiter in a backstreet peppersoup and beer parlor joint in Apapa who is struggling to justify his undeserved pay when I was practicing as a journalist in Lagos and all over Nigeria.
I like to speak to issues and not the mundane. The faceless writer said I am not a "trained journalist". Of course he was right because that is truly what I am not, rather I was trained in Mass Communication, which is about talking to a large number of people of diverse origin and most of whom I don't even know. They are heterogeneous and usually anonymous. Journalism is just a subset of my entire and composite training. I could not be reduced to a part when I have liberty to function in diverse areas of my profession; which includes Perception Management, Public Relations, Advertising and even Marketing. If this knowledge is lost on the writer of the piece, I can't help his ignorance and a little bit of education might suffice.
I have school and course mates, many of whom are doing very well in their areas of calling. I have professional colleagues who have identities and are well known. And that clearly distinguishes me from Prince Dapo Abiodun with odious history and questionable identity. I do not have records of fraud and identity theft like Shawn Michael-Davis. I never claimed certificates that are not mine; I finally collected my first graduate certificate in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown, clear 27 years after I graduated and it was there sitting in the school's archive. I am a certified professional of different organisations and my academic records never sat in the courts and I can well speak about them. I hope Prince Dapo Abiodun can openly reel out his own short CV as I have done. My names (both given and Baptismal) have never changed since I was born. I have records of political activism, an unpaid but conscientious vocation that I willingly and voluntarily subscribed to. If I could choose a path of unpaid services, even spending my hard earned resources, it speaks to the idea of my contentment. The mischievous reference to desperation for appointment is unrelated to my persona.
By my training, I was taught that Bad Products can't sell twice, unless repackaged like some are trying to sell Governor Dapo Abiodun to Ogun State people again. The content and rottenness remain the same, it is only the package they are struggling to change, that will be a great disservice to the good people of Ogun State. I will find it difficult to sell DA a second time, so looking for an appointment under someone with such questionable character is like deliberately applying for a difficult task which leads to no good end.
I have borne all responsibilities to my family, before, in and outside government from my Consultancy firm which I incorporated since September 26, 1996. The writer should approach the Corporate Affairs Commission and relate to my company's Tax Identification Number (TIN) for my corporate, social and economic existence.
Steve Oliyide is my name.
Steve Oliyide passes a vote of no confidence on Governor Dapo Abiodun says "he does not deserve a second term". (1st statement)
I have been off this platform for the past hours and on the social media generally as I felt I need to take a much needed introspection on the politics of our country and especially Ogun State. The signals and reactions that I am seeing and observing are clearly worrisome as they are troubling.
I have read comments from both pro and anti DA members of the OGD Political family and the clear lines of views are defined by one, the pecuniary interests of those who think a DA loss might cause them and other varied perspectives on the overall ill-treatment and wickedness this political family suffered under the Dapo Abiodun led administration despite having supported him to emerge as the Governor of Ogun State.
For instance, I spoke with a younger brother of mine, himself also a member of this political family a few days ago, and his reasoned argument for supporting DA was the promise of becoming a Special Assistant to the Governor made to him by a former Commissioner for Information in Ondo State and now a de-jure Commissioner for Information under the Dapo Abiodun administration in Ogun State. He may be quite right, though short-circuited in logic that the same administration made a promise of being appointed an SA to the Chairman of a Local Government in the outgoing term which turned out to be a fluke and remained a Promissory Note up until this election time.
In all of this, the person that I honestly sympathize with is my boss who has been caught in a web of betrayals by the person he helped to enthrone in 2019 against all odds and options and the cul-sac of Statesmanship and having to serve as a loyal party man. I equally share his pains about his avowed commitment to the mandate of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who has been his political ally and friend since 1999 and he has no other option than to work for him; his commitments to his handful of loyalists who now run errands in the Dapo Abiodun's government. In the present circumstance, orders and directives are becoming too difficult to enforce. What justifications will he give to his teeming supporters spread across the State on the need to support a man who has once stabbed them in the back without risking a rebellion. I can mirror my Principal's dilemma from the prism of my own inability to convince members of my extended family in Ota who have been trapped for months and unable to attend any functions outside our narrow enclave, courtesy of a less than three kilometers of bad roads that needs only a palliative, even if the Government cannot tar same. How do I tell them that this government is working.
How does OGD persuade his thousands of supporters and people of Ogun State, many of those who look up to him as an exemplary leader that Dapo Abiodun who has refused to speak nor pick the phone calls of traditional rulers, political leaders, including members of his own political party as well as the several civil servants who toil for the smooth running of the state will pick their calls if he ever returns as their chief executive once again.
On my own part, I am not God, neither am I that religious to foretell if Dapo Abiodun will win a re-election or not, notwithstanding the amount of solid rejection in public opinion, but my conscience does not give me the approval to add my thumping in his support. Not that my single vote will matter in support or rejection of Dapo Abiodun, but I will be much at peace with myself and my conscience that I did not contribute into enthroning a bad government in whom practically everything is suspect and vile. It is a Season of procurement, but coming from my background as an informed but conscientious objector, I remain a Non-consprirator to bad leadership. My whole years of political activism would have gone to nought if I submit to an endorsement of criminality, what lessons am I passing on to my children and the next generation of those who look up to me as a hero of good conduct.
I need to state for emphasis, that it is a political robbery for any Governor who had abandoned and neglected the civil servants for close to four years to start looking for their endorsements in the twilight of election, it speaks to the idea of deceit in public administration and governance. What would OGD tell them if after throwing his weight behind someone who had once deceived them and their expectations are once again dashed. My take and recommendation is that he should allow the people of Ogun State to decide their own fate, just as he should allow his followers and supporters to do the same. He is an elder Statesman now and he should live up to that calling and not to burn the bridges of his goodwill for an ungrateful person whose entire life has been lived in odious opulence.
Kukute kan ko gbodo fo ni l'epo ni eemeji. If the people of Ogun State will again suffer the misfortune and affliction of a second time, it should be on record that I speak out when it mattered. "The Man dies in him, who fails to speak in the face of tyranny". I care less about who wins on March 18, but it is a win and a victory for the people of Ogun State if Dapo Abiodun should lose the election because whoever emerges the Governor will no longer take the people for granted and hope to be rewarded with a re-election. Ogun State people, workers, market men and women would have reclaimed their deserved powers that anyone deceitful can no longer rule over them and that they can change any non performing leader.
Disclaimer:
I sign this in my own name as an adult who knows what he wants and can decipher between good and bad leadership, with all the responsibilities, respect, honour, frailties and infallibility that goes with it. Dapo Abiodun is not worth the trust investment that he seeks from the good people of Ogun State. And should he win, good luck to him. My boss and Principal should be insulated and excused from this view.
Steve Oliyide is my name.
The late couple assassinated at the early hours of New Year day in their private residence in Government Reservation Area (GRA), Ibara, Abeokuta, Ogun State Capital made a distressed telephone calls for help when the assassins stormed their home, penpushing online has reported.
Penpushing reports exclusively that sources informed that, a complainant who reported the case to the police in a statement informed the authorities that, he was at another Church in the town for the crossover service, when he noticed an unusual flash from the telephone line of the late Mrs Oluwabukola Fatinoye.
The report has it that, this repeated flash from the wife made him to rush down home alongside with another member of the family in a Hyundai car ,while on arrival at the home, they were seized by three armed men who tied them up.
The gunmen were reported to have started cleaning blood in the master bedroom of the couple and thereafter threw them (complainants) into the booth of the said vehicle, before driving them to Adigbe River.
The complainant added that the suspects threw them from the bridge into the river and that he managed to swim out of the river but the other victim said to be the deceased son was yet to be seen based on the report.
The police at Ibara station, was said to have promptly mobilized its men to lead the anti robbery team and crack detectives to the scene. On arrival at the scene, it was discovered that the assassins after committing the heinous crime, set the building on fire.
The source added that Kehinde Fatinoye (56) a Marketing Manager with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), his wife Olubukola Fatinoye (50) occupants of the building were burnt beyond recognition, while the fire was later put off by firefighters.
Photographs were taken at the scene which was cordoned off, while the Commissioner of Police Lanre Bankole who was at the scene later led the team to the river and mobilized local divers for possible search/ rescue of victim.
The complainant reported to have sustained injury and taken to hospital for treatment by the police was said to have during the course of inquiry claimed to recognize one of the suspects, and added that the suspects took away the Hyundai car to unknown destination
Findings revealed that the mangled bodies of the deceased were taken to General Hospital, Ijaiye, Abeokuta where they were confirmed dead by the Doctor on duty and corpses deposited in the morgue for autopsy.
The report has it that the entire Adigbe river and Ibara environs are being combed for possible rescue of victim and recovery of the Hyundai car, as well as the arrest of other suspects now at large, while the case will be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department(SCID), Eleweran after preliminary investigation .
When I wrote ‘Tinubu’s albatrosses’ not too long ago, many people thought I was unjustly harsh and probably seeking for my own ‘pound’ of flesh, whatever that means and therefore writing balderdash.
I mentioned Tinubu’s health, his controversial educational back ground, his age vis-à-vis his mobility and morbidity as many of the tides that may count against him in the 2023 general election race.
So many, especially from his political flank dismissed my write up as mere ranting of a supposed ‘Pen’ enemy.
But the events at the official flag-off of the APC Presidential campaign in Jos Tuesday 15th November,2022, were horrible for Tinubu and somewhat, a vindication of my “insinuations”.
The happenings of that evening were very embarrassing to both Asiwaju Tinubu, the Presidential Candidate and President Buhari who was present at the occasion as a sitting President and leader of the Party.
The duo and the entire APC membership and the nation at large were taken aback when amidst proceedings at the highly publicised and advertised flag-off, a group of youths stormed the venue with various weapons.
They hurled arsenals across the heavily populated arena wounding many and making many to scamper for safety despite the MCs persistent call for peace to reign in the arena.( kuyi hakuri)
The pandemonium diluted the place and devoured it completely despite the Presidential presence. The President and the candidate were literally taken hostages by those urchins, hoodlums and hooligans who were there supposedly as APC members.
President Buhari, as the National Leader of the Party was also naturally expected to deliver an address at the event but unfortunately didn’t.
This has made tongues wagged and open bare, the possible rift in the APC between the President and the Candidate as often filtered in the media.
This gap, after the occasion was widened by this unexpected inaction of the President and the ultimate looser is without doubt the Jagaban.
After the intervention of the security services, the aura of the flag-off was somehow restored until towards the end of the occasion when the Presidential Candidate goofed to the embarrassment of all and sundry. Mr Tinubu surprised everybody when he said at the end of his address God bless PD..APC and then immediately changed to God bless APC.
This is one goof too many for Mr. Tinubu who has already been dubbed a ‘goof master’ based on so many blunders of the mouth he had committed previously. That Mr Tinubu has never been a member of the PDP is never in doubt.
This also make pundits wonder how sound and balanced his mental health is when juxtaposed with the gigantic responsibilities resting on the shoulders of a President of the most powerful and most populous black nation on earth.
Nigerians at the venue and those who watched via the media were also embarrassed by Tinubu’s inability to remember the correct names of his campaign’s Councils Director General who is also his chief host as the sitting governor of Plateau State and convener of the event. The Presidential Candidate referred to Chief Simon Bako Lalong as simply Solomon Lalong confusing him for a former minister of Sports Solomon Dalung who had already severed his relationship with the ruling party for long.
This put Tinubu’s health and mental stability in question as the opposition has always been hammering. The common understanding here is that the APC is trying to sell a mentally unstable and physically weak individual to Nigerians even when the party is fully aware of this and the Nigeria’s patrimony and common wealth would suffer as a result for future generations.
The above and many others are truly disturbing signs that there is something fundamentally serious about the opposition’s pointers to the ability of the Jagaban to steer the affairs of this ship well, bearing in mind what has been happening so far.
Nigeria has just borne the financial and economic crunch of a sick leader who has travelled dozens of times in search of his health at the peril of the tax payer within seven years. Nigerians are saying once beaten, twice shy. Make hay while the sun shines.
*Dr Maishanu is a former Commissioner of Information, Sokoto State.
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Dahiru Maishanu
Watching the flurry of activities happening in the political spectrum as the polity is being heated on daily basis in the build up to next year’s elections, the Presidential candidates of the major political parties exchange banters, one is naturally obliged to focus on the central figures and dwell on the Principals.
One is not bothered to waste useful time on candidates who can best be described as ‘third eleven’ who themselves, know they are running only to fill-in the gaps, if the gaps really exist.
Obviously, Dr. Peter Obi is raising some kind of dust and is being celebrated by certain group of elites and some ethnic ‘jingoits’ who are only spoiling his run and doing more harm than good to a seeming force that’s running ahead of it’s time. Evidently, Mr. Obi's time is tomorrow, rather than today.
That leaves only the two real heavy-weights in the ring, both veteran foxes. Both focussed and dexterous. Both experienced and armed with resources beyond the ordinary bounds. These are the Waziri of Adamawa, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the Jagaban Borgu, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola.
This is no doubt going to be an unprecedented game of wits between two foxes. One of them must of course, outfox the other. Most certainly, it is a titanic encounter, a battle royale.
At the moment, most pundits are loathe to put their money into the bet. They think that, "it is too close to call." I differ by refusing to seat on the fence.
From my years of experience as a Journalist and a media manager, with more than a causal sojourn in the intriguing world of partisan politics, I should be able to decipher between the sand and the real castles. After all, the sand castle can not stand the slightest threat of the wind.
My position is based on a clear-headed, unencumbered reading of the scientific, empirical facts so glaringly obvious.
Based on over flogging albatrosses, only the most self-serving and delusional will expect the pendulum to swing the way of the contender from Bourdilon.
Yes, Bola Tinubu will no doubt, put up a praiseworthy show. But, that will be just so far that he can go. That is because, like the fable Don Quixote, the man is coming into the duel, so heavy-laden, so war weary and so much bereft of several critical accoutrements of war.
Firstly, the much vaunted magical effects of the contents of the famous (or infamous?) Bullion trucks cannot do the trick as in the past. This is Nigeria, the vast space of Nigeria and not the narrow enclave of Tinubu's empire of Lagos. This time around, the stakes are much higher.
Nigerians know they are at crossroads when their decision or choice, will either make or mar their Country. It is a moment of choosing between progress and stagnation or, as it has been their experience in the preceding seven painful years, backward steps away from all gains made over the years!
Beside the prevailing currents that show that the nation's electorates are now wiser and therefore, resolute in electing their leaders, the impending scenario will be, unlike the way the humongous sums of Dollars did the abracadabra enacted at the last presidential primary of the APC. Anyway, Tinubu will be meeting his match in Atiku, in all ‘fronts’!
Again, it doesn't look like wads, bags or tons of Naira will be a major determinant of victory in 2023. Not in the face of the many measures, such as the Biometric Voter Accreditation System, BVAS and the electronic transfer of results being perfected by the INEC.
Did I hear somebody saying that the APC is already strategizing on ways of subverting the new security measures? My simple response is: they are joking. The opposition parties, the electoral umpire and the citizens are on the lookout as they are united in their zeal to, for once, have credible and transparent elections in which the votes of the electorate count.
From his utterances such as his infamous Abeokuta gaffe, “Emilokan"( translating to: "it is my turn), as well as the remarks of a number of his key campaigners, Tinubu is clearly playing the primordial ethnic and regional cards.
This is an obsolete political balderdash that cannot fly in present day Nigeria. At best, he will be going back to the situation of a regional champion or a chieftain at the head of the opposition.
Among his other myriads of handicaps, Tinubu has, hanging heavily on his shoulders, the albatross of President Buhari and his APC government. How can the Jagaban distance himself from the abysmal failure of a President he played very important role in installing?
Coming into the duel, Tinubu has yet to shed off the odious pall raised by issues of the vital credentials about his age and academic qualifications.
Is the Asiwaju seventy years old when it is widely known that he has a daughter who is sixty-two? Was he at the University of Chicago or the Chicago State University?
Finally, who needs a talisman to know that Nigerians will be wary of electing a sick President so soon after their experience of the debilitating repercussions of a leader that is most of the time on a sick bed in London?
Head or tail, after all the hullabaloo and the razzmatazz, the pendulum swings the way of Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, Wazirin Adamawa. That's my bet, my take. I leave in peace. ✌️
Dr Dahiru Maishanu is a former Commissioner of Information, Sokoto State
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Dahiru Maishanu
I woke up this morning with a very sober reflection and a ‘want’ of what to write. That can be very awful for somebody who thinks he always has his thoughts and his ears to the ground. Especially, in this period of political summersaults.
There are so many story lines that pundits have been following. But away from the epicentre of political activities of the Nation, I thought I would be needing extra vernaculars to be able to feed my readers with the usual me.
The whispers blowing across my ears were still not enough to move my pen until the big bang that heralded a crescendo to what the pen has been wittingly or unwittingly paraphrasing that an enigma of political heavyweight was already hitting the ground for good. Only my followers will understand my pedestrian way of writing.
I wrote a few weeks ago that the Audacity of Hope was not just a book for every hopeless hope. His Excellency President Obama has already forgiven me for Africanising his Hope, but not the ‘Audacity’ which he has no monopoly of using as a relative English word and therefore deserves no apology from me.
The Queen’s English is after all Ultra Universal that benefit not only the English, the Scottish and the Irish as collateral ‘Accidents’ including Africa, America, Australia, India, South America, and the rest, also have every right to be English complacent and therefore, so complicit.
In the piece, I opined that Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto was metaphorically, the person referred to by Mr Obama when he wrote the Audacity of Hope, long before he, Obama, became the President of the most powerful Nation in the world and much later, when Tambuwal became the Governor of his own State of Sokoto.
The big bang referred to above was when, without any inclinations, the Governor suddenly emerged as the Chairman of the all powerful tri-partisan Nigerian Governors Forum.
The Audacity of hope is surely manifesting itself wherever this phenomenon from the Caliphate touches ground. Again, only my ardent readers can understand my pedestrian way of writing but I know my friend of decades at The Governors Forum, Abdul Razak Barkindo, that Special writer, will understand, being a comrade of the pen too.
If I thought that the big bang ended with Governor Tambuwal's emergence as the ‘Chair’ of NGF, the erstwhile Chairman of PDP governor’s Forum came out with a bigger bang and left me further dumbfounded.
He suddenly metamorphosed to the Director General of his party’s, the PDP, Presidential Campaign Council which will be inaugurated in the next couple of hours. That’s ultra-phenomenal!
I quickly told myself to ‘scribble’ something before another positive surprise is sprung up by the enigma called Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal. I rest my case.
*Dr Maishanu is a former Commissioner of Information, Sokoto State
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By Dr Usama Dandare
The glaring lack of heroism in the crop of individuals called leaders in today's Nigeria often deceived the common man into making heroes out of villains, thus celebrating crime and criminals with pride, to the extent of portraying them as role models. The saddest part is that most Nigerians have failed to see the looming danger with this ‘abominable culture,’ as the same people who are impoverished go about singing the praises of the very people who impoverished them. It is like one using his own hands to dig his own grave without realizing it.
Such ludicrous Nigerian acumen was on display when Sokoto State APC gubernatorial Candidate, Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto, was quoted to have insisted during an interview that "he will emulate the leadership style of his godfather and former Governor of the state, Sen. Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko" if given the chance to govern Sokoto come 2023.
Albeit one can't hold Ahmad Aliyu censurable for his trifling sense of logic going by the accompli that Sen. Wamakko stood against all odds to make him who he is today but for the collective interest of peace and development of the electorate, one must surely wringer him.
I’m not unaware of the backlog and unpleasant dust that this Article will raise especially amongst those that have had wool in their eyes for so long at Gawon Nama, Sokoto. I’m also aware of the abuse , condemnations, character assassination that will follow but such thin linings have been crossed severally and the heavens did not fall.
However, this piece isn't meant to shatter the glass houses in which Ahmad Aliyu and other Wamakko's apologists live, but an honest attempt to set straight record for the emphasis of learning. The travails of the then Governor Wamakko (who was the Sokoto State Governor between 2007-2015) were well documented, his style of leadership and also his achievements have all been written in the book of history.
The series of events that unfolded during Wamakko's administration prompted several commentators to conclude that the daunting challenges that has been an Achilles’ heel for Tambuwal led administration is righting the wrongs of Wamakko's administration, these challenges are so unanimous that one will only comprehend by posing this fundamental poser: what did Sen. Wamakko achieved that's worthy of emulation?
Despite riding on the crest of an unprecedented goodwill and the collective endorsement of the masses of the people. And after being embraced by almost the entirety of the people of Sokoto state who braved the prowess of a serving government to practically hole him out of obscurity, rejection, political oblivion and financial incapacitation and gave him their mandate freely and graciously to govern them on a platter of gold. Governor Wamakko left power with series of unpleasant memories to recall.
Wamakko's style of leadership was a dubiously scripted agenda anchored on a crude welfarist system which seek as well as captured and exploited the vulnerable nature of a society that was not only educationally backward, religiously sanctimonious but more importantly, economically on the brinks. These included throwing of wads of naira to the people on the streets in a free-for-all manner which often resulted in injuries and sometimes fatalities to the weak and the elderly, without any qualms. This is in addition to pauperizing the people by lining them up in queues to collect tokens in often dehumanizing and dangerous atmosphere with undesirable consequences. Is this the voodoo leadership style that's worthy of emulation?
Wamakko will forever be remembered for his sudden attempt to desecrate our renowned and averred religious and traditional institutions that have been standing for more than 200 years by declaring a fiat order transferring two of the most senior traditional rulers in the state to junior districts, a practice that endangered the peace and tranquillity of the state in general. I wonder how our highly revered traditional and religious institutions will fare under the stewardship of a man who's hell-bent on copying Wamakko's gorilla style of leadership.
What will Ahmad Aliyu say about these vexatious issues concerning youth un-employment, immorality, the destruction of the civil service in both mien and structure and the common practice of allegedly slapping of government officials at will said to have characterised Wamakko's stewardship? Will he ditto them too?
Is Ahmad Aliyu telling us he wants to clinch power and revitalize the architecture of the so-called independent power project scam which has gulped billions of naira but remained where it started since 2008? A project which was supposed to bring power to the people but ended up becoming a conduit pipe for siphoning the collective resources of the people’s common wealth.
Was this not the same Wamakko that came into power and met our priced forest reserves that have provided leisure and shelter against desert encroachment for dozens of years but allegedly distributed them to sidekicks and left the rest of us at the mercy of the ever encroaching Almighty Sahara desert?
Wamakko was known for using white elephants to squander the state and empty its treasury, he was notorious for awarding contracts at a very exorbitant price but the funds ended up being siphoned and the projects abandoned. The Sokoto Government House fencing project which Wamakko awarded at a miraculous price of NO.7bn still rings in our minds, the fence is still as it was eleven years ago. The N5.6bn Usman Faruk Secretariat Project is yet another in the series of Wamakko's dubious contracts. Let's remember not to forget the N3bn Illela International Border Market project, the multi-billion Housing Estate project behind Gidan Man Ada and many more.
But in all of this, someone somewhere is trying to take Sokoto people back to a catastrophic era of leadership, and negative political jinks. Wamakko's administration has arguably been thrown down the memory lane as perhaps one of the most dubious and corrupt in the history of the state And yet here is a gubernatorial aspirant proudly aligning himself to those failures and promising Sokoto people that he will holistically emulate them.
If Ahmad Aliyu is bereft of leadership ideas and has nothing to offer except emulating the leadership style that bastardized the good fortunes of Sokoto and expunged her chances of development, then he has no business fighting for any position of trust as he clearly lack all the requisite skills of leadership. He seems to forget that the people of Sokoto are now wiser and more oriented as than his pedestal thoughts.
Dr Usama Dandare wrote in from Sokoto State
Adding another 100 years to your lifespan might be the stuff of science fiction but scientists are working on a miracle drug that would make it a reality.
The drug, taken in pill form, works by eliminating cells that contribute to the ageing process in the human body, thus potentially doubling our lifespan.
Human ageing is hurried along by cells called ‘zombie cells’, scientifically known as senescent cells. These cells stop dividing over our lifespan, accumulate inside our bodies, and eventually release compounds that speed up ageing.
The drug has been tested on mice in a 2020 trial and the result was improved physical function and extended health and lifespan. Scientists are now working on replicating the result in humans.
British computational biologist Andrew Steele, in his book on the longevity of human life, argued that it was entirely feasible for humans to live beyond 100 with a certain kind of drug.
In the book, he states that research in the field of senolytics – drugs that work to eliminate cells that degrade tissue function – are already showing promising results and could become available on the market within the next decade.
‘I don’t think there is any kind of absolute cap on how long we can live,’ Steele told the MailOnline.
‘I can’t see a physical or biological reason why people couldn’t live to 200 — the challenge is whether we can develop the biomedical science to make it possible.’
‘Studies come out every few years that propose some kind of fundamental limit on human lifespan, but they’re always missing one crucial piece: we’ve never tried treating the ageing process before,’
The pills are reportedly already in the human trial stage and could very well hit the market within the next ten years.
However, even if science is successful, the question remain whether people would want to live for another 100 years.
By Dahiru Maishanu
The current wave of defections of political heavyweights leaving the APC to the PDP in Sokoto has brought a lot of, hitherto hidden facts to the public domain.
A lot of commentaries have been made on the reasons likely responsible for the seemingly unstoppable Tsunami. Obviously, the party has been bruised already beyond recognition and needs more than miracles to recover.
The Tsunami however, though not directly the subject of this piece, is complicit. It serves as a catalyst for a nostalgic revisit of the political savvy of the political giant at the centre of the massive political upset the APC is witnessing in Sokoto and elsewhere in the country. Rt. Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal is no doubt both the ‘bow’ and the ‘arrow’ of this “revolution”.
It all began on the first day of August 2018 when, against all serene comprehension, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal woke up and told everyone who cared to listen that he was leaving the Party that brought him to power and the Party at the centre, the APC to the PDP, a mere struggling opposition party. Of course, he must have made his own calculations before arriving at such a decision.
The journey had been tricky, tumultuous and akin to every relative adjective you can use to qualify it. The Governor took up the gauntlet, prepared well, braved the odds, reloaded his arsenals like never before and ventured into the war front with an uncommon bravado and an almost suicidal gallantry.
We all thought he was going berserk, astray and committing Broad day suicide for venturing into this journey of no return. We thought he would not survive the onslaught and would only be returned in a political casket through the services of an Undertaker, and despatched to the great beyond.
We left our friend in the wilderness, to carry his own cross but he proved us all wrong. Only the late Barrister Inuwa Abdulkadir believed him; but even him, pecked from a ‘safe’ distance. That was vintage Rt. Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal in his true elements.
At the declaration, he described the country’s democratic experience under the APC government as a ‘prison yard’ democracy . He subsequently covered all the fronts and fought the old war horse, Senator Aliyu Wamakko and his army of foot soldiers and brigades of area boys from head to toe.
He eventually emerged victorious against all predictions and booby traps set up for him. The Governor was later subjected to litigations at the electoral Tribunals which went all the way to the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court and still, he emerged victorious.
The present scenario therefore is no strange terrain to the former Speaker.
With the calibre of those politicians that have so far decamped to the PDP in Sokoto, all pointers are signifying a repeat of the 2019 episode with even more casualties for the APC come 2023.
Three former APC, gubernatorial candidates, two former Senators, two former Ambassadors, and many former commissioners with their hordes of supporters were amongst thousands of APC supporters who changed sides to the PDP in the latest count.
Finally, Tambuwal is again proving the master strategist that he is. He is stealthily gathering momentum as the countdown to the 2023 elections continues. From all indices, victory for Tambuwal seems a fait accompli.
Dahiru Maishanu
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Nigeria’s human rights record is “very poor” and is “worse than [the] average in sub-Saharan Africa,” a new report by an international organisation has said.
The report was authored and released on Wednesday by the Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI), a New Zealand-based organisation measuring the human rights performance of countries.
The HRMI “Rights Tracker” is the first global report to assess the 13 different human rights contained in United Nations treaties for around 200 countries.
“Compared with other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria is performing worse than average,” the report said, confirming what observers and rights advocates are saying about the Nigerian state’s human rights record and the daily experience of Nigerians.
In the report, HRMI said Nigeria’s score for economic and social rights falls within a ‘very bad’ range.
The country scored 54.6 per cent for the right to food; 48.7 per cent for the right to health; 35.7 per cent for the right to housing and 32.0 per cent for the right to work.
For all the four rights, Nigeria performed worse than most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“There is no reason for any country to score this low,” HRMI said. “Not only are countries scoring below 75 per cent failing to put in place the kinds of structures and policies that help people claim the right concerned, but the structures and policies in place most likely prevent many people from claiming their rights.”Methodology
HRMI researchers adopted two different methods for appraising a country’s performance; with the first benchmark being ‘income adjusted.’
Using the income-adjusted benchmark, the report compared countries with other countries of a similar income level, to evaluate how effectively each country is using its available resources.
“The second benchmark is ‘global test.’ This benchmark evaluates country performance relative to the best-performing countries at any level of resources,” the organisation said, noting “each assessment standard uses a set of indicators that are commonly available and most relevant for these countries.”
“Every country gets assessed on both standards to the extent the information is available in international databases,” HRMI added.
“To measure Quality of Life – economic and social rights – we start with data from international databases. Then we use econometric techniques to combine the data with each country’s level of income, to produce a score,”
“The score, expressed as a percentage, shows how well a country is using its resources to produce good human rights outcomes. Every country should be able to get near its 100% income-adjusted target by improving policies and practices, even without more money.”
Data for the economic and social rights metrics were drawn from “the 2022 update of the International Social and Economic Rights Fulfilment (SERF) Index, which covers the period from 2007 to 2019.”
The findings of the report convey a picture at odds with the human rights record Nigeria’s government repeatedly claimed has improved.
On the right to health, the report ranked Nigeria 41st out of 42 countries it reviewed in Sub-Saharan Africa; sitting just behind Equatorial Guinea.
On the right to food, Nigeria ranked 37th, sitting above Sudan, Niger, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, and Burundi on the log.
The country was also placed 35th on the right to work, finishing ahead of Mali, Benin, Zambia, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, and Madagascar.
Eerily similar in tone to last year’s report, the 2022 data highlights the seriousness of the Nigerian situation, captured by citizens’ and observers’ persistent concern about impunity and the continued disjuncture between democratic transition and democratic norms.