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One woman said government MP Andrew Laming's comments online left her feeling suicidal.

The General Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari says Nigerians may likely pay more for petrol in April.

The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) had earlier released a template increasing petrol price to N212 per litre but it was later deleted.

Speaking with journalists at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Kyari said the NNPC can no longer bear the burden.

He also said the NNPC pays between N100 billion and N120 billion a month to keep the pump price at the current level, insisting that market forces must be allowed to determine the pump price of petrol in the country.

The NNPC GMD explained that while the actual cost of importation and handling charges amount to N234 per litre, the government is selling at N162 per litre.

“The price could have been anywhere between N211 and N234 to the litre. The meaning of this is that consumers are not paying for the full value of the PMS that we are consuming and therefore someone is paying that cost,” he said.

“As we speak today, the difference is being carried in the books of NNPC and I can confirm to you that NNPC may no longer be in a position to carry that burden.”

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The Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu has alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party is responsible for the insecurity currently witnessed in the country.

Okechukwu said this while reacting to the statement credited to the All Progressives Congress Caretaker Chairman, Mai Mala Buni that APC needs 32 years to fix the country.

He also noted that in a few months, the security challenges in the country will come to an end.

“A lot of people may not know that the insecurity we now talk about here and there is the investment of PDP.

“In the few months ahead, the issue of insecurity will come to a drastic end, and Governor Buni is looking at that before 2023, those foundations we have laid would start glittering.

”Dr Buni is relying on the fact that immediately we could curb this insecurity, then the Nigerian people will see what the APC has done. He relied on what we have done on the ground and he knows it is overwhelming,” he said. 

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No fewer than 30 students of the Government Girls College, Sokoto, has been hospitalised following a strange illness that broke out in the state, according to the Peoples Gazette.

Dr Abdurrahaman Dantsoho, the Director of Public Health in the state ministry of health, told journalists on Thursday.

Danstoho confirmed that the incident which began on Wednesday forced the infected students to be admitted to a specialist hospital where they were treated and discharged.

He said the ministry had started probing into the disease testing samples of water, food and other surrounding materials collected.

According to him, no death was reported during the hospitalisation, adding that the ministry was not aware of the rumour of death as a result of the incident.

Also speaking, the Commissioner of Science and Technology, Dr Kulu Haruna, whose ministry supervises the school confirmed the incident, saying that the Sokoto State government has deployed 10 medical doctors to the school.

“The situation was brought under control due to the quick intervention of the state government. And all the infected students have been isolated to curtail the spread of the disease,” she said.

 

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The Zamfara state government has directed security agencies to take action against journalists and media platforms that operate outside the ethics of the profession.

Ibrahim Dosara, Zamfara commissioner for information, disclosed this at a joint media briefing with security agencies on Thursday in Gusau, the state capital.

Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle

According to the commissioner, the government has realised that some media activities, especially the social media handlers, are undermining the peace process of the state government.

He said, “The Zamfara state government, among its resolutions, recently adopted to take appropriate action against unprofessional conduct in media practices.

“The state government realises that the print and electronic media activities, especially the social media handlers, undermine the peace process of the state government.

“Let me emphasise here that the state government will never continue to condone the unwholesome act.

“Consequent upon this, the state commissioner of information and security chiefs in the state have been directed to monitor the conduct of media practitioners in the state.

“The commissioner of police, the DSS, the civil defence and I, as commissioner, have been saddled with the responsibility of ensuring compliance with professionalism in media practices, as well as cyber crimes and the violation of public peace, fundamental human rights and the rule of law.”

The commissioner maintained that the government will not allow such media reports sabotage the peace process in the state.

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The Zamfara state government has directed security agencies to take action against journalists and media platforms that operate outside the ethics of the profession.

Ibrahim Dosara, Zamfara commissioner for information, disclosed this at a joint media briefing with security agencies on Thursday in Gusau, the state capital.

Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle

According to the commissioner, the government has realised that some media activities, especially the social media handlers, are undermining the peace process of the state government.

He said, “The Zamfara state government, among its resolutions, recently adopted to take appropriate action against unprofessional conduct in media practices.

“The state government realises that the print and electronic media activities, especially the social media handlers, undermine the peace process of the state government.

“Let me emphasise here that the state government will never continue to condone the unwholesome act.

“Consequent upon this, the state commissioner of information and security chiefs in the state have been directed to monitor the conduct of media practitioners in the state.

“The commissioner of police, the DSS, the civil defence and I, as commissioner, have been saddled with the responsibility of ensuring compliance with professionalism in media practices, as well as cyber crimes and the violation of public peace, fundamental human rights and the rule of law.”

The commissioner maintained that the government will not allow such media reports sabotage the peace process in the state.

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An Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has said the shoot-on-sight order given by President Muhammdu Buhari is hindering the efforts to negotiate the release of the kidnapped students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechaniszation, Afaka in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna state.

 

The students were abducted on March 11, 2021, exactly two weeks ago. 

A day after the abduction, a video surfaced online, where the students were seen sitting on the ground in an unknown location and guarded by armed men whose identities were concealed.

See Also Breaking News BREAKING: Bandits Storm Kaduna Primary School, Kidnap Many Pupils, Teachers 0 Comments 1 Week Ago

The victims, who were seen being tortured by the armed men, appealed to the government to rescue them.

 

President Buhari had earlier in the month asked security operatives to gun down those carrying arms illegally in the forests.

 

Speaking on Thursday, the cleric said some of the bandits he met in the forest during his peace meetings have assisted in identifying the leader of the gang responsible for the abduction of the students.

 

According to Daily Trust, Gumi said despite identifying the leader of the gang, he has been unable to reach out to him because of the shoot-on-sight order of the president.

 

The cleric added that during his previous tours to the bandits’ dens, he met with more than 80 percent of their leaders, saying if not for lack of encouragement from some government officials, he would have met all the leaders to persuade them to lay their arms for peace to reign.

 

He said, “If we had encouragement, we would have met all the leaders. All those we met usually offered to support us to negotiate on our behalf, just like what happened in Niger State.

 

“Presently, our ability has reached the extent that we can identify who is involved in any criminal act. We have identified the leader of those who took the students but he has never attended any peace meeting with us.

 

“Those groups we met identified him but we could not reach out to him because of the security implication since the government gave shoot-on-sight order and then the government said no negotiation. So, I don’t want us to go into the bush and the government will think we are encouraging them.”

 

Asked what needs to be done to get the victims released, Gumi said, “What I think is for the government to just relax and allow us to follow these people to teach them how to behave, admonish them and then negotiate so that they stop this thing. We are doing this for ourselves not for the government or any political party.

 

“We don’t want politicians to mess up our land because they will come and go while we remain here, God willing. So we are not doing it for political reasons, we are doing it for ourselves so that we stop killing each other.”

 

On the stand of Governor Nasir El-Rufai against negotiating with bandits, Gumi said, “I cannot change the state government's stand on negotiation and ransom payment. All I want from them is to allow us to continue discussion with the bandits.”

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An Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has said the shoot-on-sight order given by President Muhammdu Buhari is hindering the efforts to negotiate the release of the kidnapped students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechaniszation, Afaka in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna state.

 

The students were abducted on March 11, 2021, exactly two weeks ago. 

A day after the abduction, a video surfaced online, where the students were seen sitting on the ground in an unknown location and guarded by armed men whose identities were concealed.

See Also Breaking News BREAKING: Bandits Storm Kaduna Primary School, Kidnap Many Pupils, Teachers 0 Comments 1 Week Ago

The victims, who were seen being tortured by the armed men, appealed to the government to rescue them.

 

President Buhari had earlier in the month asked security operatives to gun down those carrying arms illegally in the forests.

 

Speaking on Thursday, the cleric said some of the bandits he met in the forest during his peace meetings have assisted in identifying the leader of the gang responsible for the abduction of the students.

 

According to Daily Trust, Gumi said despite identifying the leader of the gang, he has been unable to reach out to him because of the shoot-on-sight order of the president.

 

The cleric added that during his previous tours to the bandits’ dens, he met with more than 80 percent of their leaders, saying if not for lack of encouragement from some government officials, he would have met all the leaders to persuade them to lay their arms for peace to reign.

 

He said, “If we had encouragement, we would have met all the leaders. All those we met usually offered to support us to negotiate on our behalf, just like what happened in Niger State.

 

“Presently, our ability has reached the extent that we can identify who is involved in any criminal act. We have identified the leader of those who took the students but he has never attended any peace meeting with us.

 

“Those groups we met identified him but we could not reach out to him because of the security implication since the government gave shoot-on-sight order and then the government said no negotiation. So, I don’t want us to go into the bush and the government will think we are encouraging them.”

 

Asked what needs to be done to get the victims released, Gumi said, “What I think is for the government to just relax and allow us to follow these people to teach them how to behave, admonish them and then negotiate so that they stop this thing. We are doing this for ourselves not for the government or any political party.

 

“We don’t want politicians to mess up our land because they will come and go while we remain here, God willing. So we are not doing it for political reasons, we are doing it for ourselves so that we stop killing each other.”

 

On the stand of Governor Nasir El-Rufai against negotiating with bandits, Gumi said, “I cannot change the state government's stand on negotiation and ransom payment. All I want from them is to allow us to continue discussion with the bandits.”

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The University of Aberdeen in Scotland has said it would return a looted Benin Bronze to Nigeria within weeks.

 

In a statement on Thursday, the university said the development makes it one of the first public institutions to do so more than a century after Britain looted the sculptures and auctioned them to Western museums and collectors.

According to the statement, the sculpture depicting an Oba of Benin had left Nigeria in an "extremely immoral" fashion, leading it to reach out to authorities in 2019 to negotiate its return.

 

Aberdeen's head of museums and special collections, Neil Curtis, said the Bronze, purchased in 1957, had been "blatantly looted."

 

"It became clear we had to do something," Curtis said.

 

Director-General of Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Professor Abba Isa Tijani, said the importance of displaying the Bronze inside Nigeria for the first time in more than 120 years was inexpressible.

 

"It's part of our identity, part of our heritage... which has been taken away from us for many years," Tijani said.

 

Britain's soldiers seized thousands of metal castings and sculptures from the Kingdom of Benin, then separate from British-ruled Nigeria, in 1897.

 

The development is the latest in ongoing efforts to recovered looted artworks from Nigeria.

 

The British Museum, which holds hundreds of the sculptures, has alongside several other museums formed a Benin Dialogue Group to discuss displaying them in Benin City, some officially on loan. It has said discussions are ongoing.

 

Germany had earlier revealed that efforts were ongoing to send back 440 Benin Bronzes as early as the autumn while the University of Cambridge's Jesus College said it had finalised approvals in December to return another Bronze. 

 

Tijani also disclosed tbat US museums had also agreed to return two more Bronzes.

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The University of Aberdeen in Scotland has said it would return a looted Benin Bronze to Nigeria within weeks.

 

In a statement on Thursday, the university said the development makes it one of the first public institutions to do so more than a century after Britain looted the sculptures and auctioned them to Western museums and collectors.

According to the statement, the sculpture depicting an Oba of Benin had left Nigeria in an "extremely immoral" fashion, leading it to reach out to authorities in 2019 to negotiate its return.

 

Aberdeen's head of museums and special collections, Neil Curtis, said the Bronze, purchased in 1957, had been "blatantly looted."

 

"It became clear we had to do something," Curtis said.

 

Director-General of Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Professor Abba Isa Tijani, said the importance of displaying the Bronze inside Nigeria for the first time in more than 120 years was inexpressible.

 

"It's part of our identity, part of our heritage... which has been taken away from us for many years," Tijani said.

 

Britain's soldiers seized thousands of metal castings and sculptures from the Kingdom of Benin, then separate from British-ruled Nigeria, in 1897.

 

The development is the latest in ongoing efforts to recovered looted artworks from Nigeria.

 

The British Museum, which holds hundreds of the sculptures, has alongside several other museums formed a Benin Dialogue Group to discuss displaying them in Benin City, some officially on loan. It has said discussions are ongoing.

 

Germany had earlier revealed that efforts were ongoing to send back 440 Benin Bronzes as early as the autumn while the University of Cambridge's Jesus College said it had finalised approvals in December to return another Bronze. 

 

Tijani also disclosed tbat US museums had also agreed to return two more Bronzes.

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A Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, has ordered the Nigeria Police Force under the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to release the corpse of a man, Ebenezer Ajaero, who died under mysterious circumstances in police detention in 2015.

 

Ajaero died at the Zone 9 Police headquarters, Umuahia, Abia State, sometime in 2015.

IGP Mohammed Adamu

The court, presided over by Justice Bello Kawu, gave the ruling on Thursday in a suit filed on behalf of the family of the deceased by an Abuja-based human rights lawyer and activist, Samuel Ihensekhien Jnr.

 

The case with suit number; FACT/HC/BW/M/06/2021, was filed in the name of the deceased’s brother, as Hillary Uwaoma Vs the Nigeria Police Force and others.

 

SaharaReporters learnt that the court did not only grant leave to formally bring an application for mandamus, but granted consequential interim orders viz a viz;

 

“That the grant of the leave herein for an order of mandamus shall also empower the defendants (the Nigeria Police Force) and the IGP to in the interim sign the official papers and correspondence to the police command in Owerri and the Aladinma mortuary in Owerri, Imo State to forthwith release the corpse of Ajaero to be buried in this regard,” the ruling stated.  

 

Reacting to the above, the counsel for the applicant, Ihensekhien described the ruling as fantastic and light in the tunnel for the family of the deceased, who had been severely hurt by the way the late Ajaero died.

 

“They had become worried about how the man died at the Zone 9, Umuahia detention centre in 2015 and the uncooperative attitude of the Nigeria police herein, even after all medical tests and autopsy on the dead corpse of Ajaero. The Nigeria police vide the different IGs had refused to sign for the release of the deceased corpse to his family for onward burial.

 

“In this regard, the legal counsel for the deceased family stated that steps will be taken to make sure the IG and the Nigeria police implement forthwith, and abide with the orders of the FCT High Court in respect of this issue.

 

“The IG in spite of subsisting orders of the court refused to sign the release. This will perhaps compel him to sign for the release of the corpse after six years,” a source stated.

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A Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, has ordered the Nigeria Police Force under the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to release the corpse of a man, Ebenezer Ajaero, who died under mysterious circumstances in police detention in 2015.

 

Ajaero died at the Zone 9 Police headquarters, Umuahia, Abia State, sometime in 2015.

IGP Mohammed Adamu

The court, presided over by Justice Bello Kawu, gave the ruling on Thursday in a suit filed on behalf of the family of the deceased by an Abuja-based human rights lawyer and activist, Samuel Ihensekhien Jnr.

 

The case with suit number; FACT/HC/BW/M/06/2021, was filed in the name of the deceased’s brother, as Hillary Uwaoma Vs the Nigeria Police Force and others.

 

SaharaReporters learnt that the court did not only grant leave to formally bring an application for mandamus, but granted consequential interim orders viz a viz;

 

“That the grant of the leave herein for an order of mandamus shall also empower the defendants (the Nigeria Police Force) and the IGP to in the interim sign the official papers and correspondence to the police command in Owerri and the Aladinma mortuary in Owerri, Imo State to forthwith release the corpse of Ajaero to be buried in this regard,” the ruling stated.  

 

Reacting to the above, the counsel for the applicant, Ihensekhien described the ruling as fantastic and light in the tunnel for the family of the deceased, who had been severely hurt by the way the late Ajaero died.

 

“They had become worried about how the man died at the Zone 9, Umuahia detention centre in 2015 and the uncooperative attitude of the Nigeria police herein, even after all medical tests and autopsy on the dead corpse of Ajaero. The Nigeria police vide the different IGs had refused to sign for the release of the deceased corpse to his family for onward burial.

 

“In this regard, the legal counsel for the deceased family stated that steps will be taken to make sure the IG and the Nigeria police implement forthwith, and abide with the orders of the FCT High Court in respect of this issue.

 

“The IG in spite of subsisting orders of the court refused to sign the release. This will perhaps compel him to sign for the release of the corpse after six years,” a source stated.

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A 19-year-old girl, Zalihatu Ismail, has confessed to stabbing her cousin to death in Adamawa State.

 

Ismail, who is a resident of Pella, in Hong local government area has been remanded in prison custody following her confession. 

She was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Court I in Yola, for allegedly killing her 24-year-old cousin, Kamal Yusuf during a fight over a mobile phone.

 

The Prosecutor, ASP Francis Audi had informed the court that the case was still being investigated.

 

However, she pleaded guilty, Magistrate Aliyu Bawuro ordered that she should be remanded in prison custody. 

 

The magistrate adjourned the case to April 14, 2021.

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A 19-year-old girl, Zalihatu Ismail, has confessed to stabbing her cousin to death in Adamawa State.

 

Ismail, who is a resident of Pella, in Hong local government area has been remanded in prison custody following her confession. 

She was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Court I in Yola, for allegedly killing her 24-year-old cousin, Kamal Yusuf during a fight over a mobile phone.

 

The Prosecutor, ASP Francis Audi had informed the court that the case was still being investigated.

 

However, she pleaded guilty, Magistrate Aliyu Bawuro ordered that she should be remanded in prison custody. 

 

The magistrate adjourned the case to April 14, 2021.

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We need new alliances – political, social, and humanitarian concordat. But we must start from a foreground of truth to achieve this holy grail. Our history as dispensed in public discourses and by government hagiographers is largely revised and contorted to suit pacifist narratives. We cannot paper over our past of fissures, but we can learn from it. Nigeria’s past is not glorious; in fact, the ‘’heroes past’’ as often refrained in our national anthem were not national heroes but ethnic and sectional champions.

As a matter of fact, our ‘’heroes past’’ never made pretensions of being national heroes. Obafemi Awolowo, the late sage, acknowledged this fact when he said in 1960 -- after the general election: “Our struggles for independence have produced no single national hero who is held in reverence and affection by the vast majority of the people of Nigeria.”

The political establishment at the time -- 1960-1966 – was steeply ethnic-governed. The major political parties – NCNC, NPC and AG – won elections by the strength of their ethnic complexions. For instance, the NPC, Tafawa Balewa and Ahmadu Bello’s party, won 134 seats in the Federal House of Representatives election of 1959, polling 2,027,194 votes. About 90 percent of the votes came from the north. In the east, Nnamdi Azikiwe’s NCNC won about 90 percent of the votes just as Awolowo’s AG won 80 percent of votes in the west. 

Even political alliances at the time were not forged out of ideology, patriotism or national cohesion; they were forged out of the atavistic pursuit of vendetta – to crush other groups and the opposition. In fact, it was as a result of this deep-seated bitterness, that Zik’s NCNC went into a congress with Bello’s NPC against Awolowo’s AG. According to Zik, Awolowo’s party must be stopped from taking power at the centre because ‘’it would destroy political opposition’’.

Fredrick Nwabufo
We must deconstruct revisionist fabrications and pretensions to make good of the future. Knowing that we started off on a faulty foundation should thrust us into consciously working out our destiny. We cannot hold on to an acrimonious past as a precedent for the present and the future. We take the lessons from the past and forge a new path. 

We need to hammer out new alliances across spectrum – not only political pacts, but social and humanitarian accords. Political ententes in the past, as I explained earlier, were not brokered for national cohesion or unity. They were negotiated for certain provincial designs. So, we have to build from the basics new alliances incorporating all sections of Nigeria, not devious concords pitting one section of the country against another. 

We need new alliances wedding the north with the south, and the east with the west in national matrimony.  But to achieve this, we need to have a NATIONAL DIALOGUE. 

A fundamental flaw with Nigeria is a lack of consonance. We inherited a military tradition where policies and directives are knocked down the throats of citizens – without their consultation. So naturally, citizens rebel against the order. We have fervid conversations and arguments on national issues in silos; taking sides whether rational or irrational. But will it not do great good if citizens converge on a national colloquy to speak on their interest, challenges, and to decide their own path within Nigeria?

We all have something to say. Everyone is talking but no one is listening. No argument is silly. Nigerians need to be heard. The #EndSARS protests that jolted the country to its bottoms were largely as a result of years of insouciance and insensitivity on the part of the government while law enforcement agents menace Nigerians. 

The same pachydermatous disposition of the leadership(s) is the reason for the secessionist agitations across the country. Nigerians want to be heard. Though the agitations are mere thoughtless gyrations, the overarching propulsion for these performances must not be dismissed. Concerns of nepotism, marginalisation, favouritism and state bigotry should be addressed. 

We must manage our diversity with ‘’care, fear and trembling’’. Any perceived bias or prejudice from the leadership will set off an alarm in a section of the country that feels short-changed. The reason for the bedlam everywhere in the country today is because our diversity was mismanaged. 

The government must decide; to listen to Nigerians or to continue on the primrose path to doom. It is either the leadership revisits the recommendations of the 2014 national confab or convoke a national jawing. Considering the huge expense that will be involved in having another grand confabulation, the government can decide to implement the recommendations wholly or partially. It could also fashion its own way of achieving this. At least, let it be seen that the government is attuned to the zeitgeist. 

Nigerians want to be heard.

By Fredrick Nwabufo; Nwabufo is a writer and journalist
Twitter: @FredrickNwabufo

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The Police in Norwich, Connecticut have arrested a Nigerian man, Dexter Enwerem for engaging in a phone scam crime involving an international organisation.

 

Enwerem, 34, of 29 Ward St., Norwich, was charged with first-degree robbery and is being held in lieu of a $50,000 bond, according to a Norwich Police Department news statement Wednesday.

Google/cybercrime

Police have begun an investigation into a complaint in September 2020 from someone who said their 80-year-old mother-in-law sent money to “unknown individuals for the benefit of ‘helping the homeless.’”

 

“The victim sent gift cards to suspects totalling $13,500 and an $18,000 money order to a suspect identified as Norwich resident Dexter Enwerem,” the release reads.

 

“After a thorough investigation by Detective Scott Meikle, it was determined Enwerem was part of a Nigerian phone scam crime organisation." it added.

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The Police in Norwich, Connecticut have arrested a Nigerian man, Dexter Enwerem for engaging in a phone scam crime involving an international organisation.

 

Enwerem, 34, of 29 Ward St., Norwich, was charged with first-degree robbery and is being held in lieu of a $50,000 bond, according to a Norwich Police Department news statement Wednesday.

Google/cybercrime

Police have begun an investigation into a complaint in September 2020 from someone who said their 80-year-old mother-in-law sent money to “unknown individuals for the benefit of ‘helping the homeless.’”

 

“The victim sent gift cards to suspects totalling $13,500 and an $18,000 money order to a suspect identified as Norwich resident Dexter Enwerem,” the release reads.

 

“After a thorough investigation by Detective Scott Meikle, it was determined Enwerem was part of a Nigerian phone scam crime organisation." it added.

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A group of Igbo youths under the aegis of The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), has said Nigeria has one more opportunity in 2023 to save itself from disintegration.

 

The group stated that the only thing that can save the country is to allow the South-East region to produce the next President to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.

This was contained in a statement made by the group on Wednesday in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

 

In a statement by its President-General, Goodluck Ibem, the group vowed to resist any attempt by any individual, group or political party to discard the agitation for Igbo presidency in 2023.

 

The group had earlier condemned the report of the Bala Mohammed-led Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in which it declared “no zoning formula” for the party in the 2023 presidential contest.

 

In his latest statement, Ibem said Igbo was long overdue to produce Nigeria’s president, noting that “nobody can deny that fact. It is our turn and it is sine qua non.”

 

The COSEYL leader insisted that Igbo people had sacrificed and waited patiently for the “plum job” and would therefore not accept any excuse this time.

 

“It is an undeniable fact that Ndigbo have been more committed to the development and economic advancement of the country and deserve to be supported by other geopolitical zones to occupy the number one office in the country.

 

“The orchestrated plot by some persons to jettison zoning of the presidency now that it is the turn of the South-East to produce a Nigerian President come 2023 is a declaration of political war against Ndigbo. It is a calculated attempt to relegate to the background all the sacrifices and political investments made by Ndigbo towards the progress of the country and we will resist it,” Ibem warned.

 

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume, has said he is against the North producing the next President after Buhari’s tenure. He said for the sake of justice, fairness and equality, the South deserves to produce the next President, although he said the South-East must first believe in the unity of the country.

 

“I’m against APC (All Progressives Congress) producing its presidential candidate from the North. The APC presidential candidate should come from the South.

 

“I have said it before and will still say it again that if we have a Northerner as APC presidential candidate, to me, it is tantamount to the third term and it is not constitutional.

 

“The (APC) constitution says the president shall serve two terms and we said then that the North should serve two terms.

 

“If you say the North should produce the presidential candidate again, it means you are going for the third term, which is not fair and I believe in fairness, justice and equality.

 

“Let candidate from the South — and that means, South-South, South-East and South-West clinch the ticket.

 

“For the South-East, let me say, for example, you want to be the head of this house and you are calling for the division of the house, will it work?

 

“And I think the South-East needs to think about it. That is what is creating the rumour for the northerners to even say they want to be the president again. If you want to be president of Nigeria, you must believe in the unity of Nigeria. I support the candidate to come anywhere from the South.”

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A group of Igbo youths under the aegis of The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), has said Nigeria has one more opportunity in 2023 to save itself from disintegration.

 

The group stated that the only thing that can save the country is to allow the South-East region to produce the next President to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.

This was contained in a statement made by the group on Wednesday in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

 

In a statement by its President-General, Goodluck Ibem, the group vowed to resist any attempt by any individual, group or political party to discard the agitation for Igbo presidency in 2023.

 

The group had earlier condemned the report of the Bala Mohammed-led Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in which it declared “no zoning formula” for the party in the 2023 presidential contest.

 

In his latest statement, Ibem said Igbo was long overdue to produce Nigeria’s president, noting that “nobody can deny that fact. It is our turn and it is sine qua non.”

 

The COSEYL leader insisted that Igbo people had sacrificed and waited patiently for the “plum job” and would therefore not accept any excuse this time.

 

“It is an undeniable fact that Ndigbo have been more committed to the development and economic advancement of the country and deserve to be supported by other geopolitical zones to occupy the number one office in the country.

 

“The orchestrated plot by some persons to jettison zoning of the presidency now that it is the turn of the South-East to produce a Nigerian President come 2023 is a declaration of political war against Ndigbo. It is a calculated attempt to relegate to the background all the sacrifices and political investments made by Ndigbo towards the progress of the country and we will resist it,” Ibem warned.

 

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume, has said he is against the North producing the next President after Buhari’s tenure. He said for the sake of justice, fairness and equality, the South deserves to produce the next President, although he said the South-East must first believe in the unity of the country.

 

“I’m against APC (All Progressives Congress) producing its presidential candidate from the North. The APC presidential candidate should come from the South.

 

“I have said it before and will still say it again that if we have a Northerner as APC presidential candidate, to me, it is tantamount to the third term and it is not constitutional.

 

“The (APC) constitution says the president shall serve two terms and we said then that the North should serve two terms.

 

“If you say the North should produce the presidential candidate again, it means you are going for the third term, which is not fair and I believe in fairness, justice and equality.

 

“Let candidate from the South — and that means, South-South, South-East and South-West clinch the ticket.

 

“For the South-East, let me say, for example, you want to be the head of this house and you are calling for the division of the house, will it work?

 

“And I think the South-East needs to think about it. That is what is creating the rumour for the northerners to even say they want to be the president again. If you want to be president of Nigeria, you must believe in the unity of Nigeria. I support the candidate to come anywhere from the South.”

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Big Brother Naija will return for its sixth edition later this year, the organisers have announced.

Multichoice Nigeria has announced a grand prize of N90 million. MultiChoice Nigeria, on Wednesday, announced that it is offering customers on its DStv and GOtv platforms the opportunity to be among the first to audition for the sixth season of the Big Brother Naija reality show.

BBNaija hopeful, who are 21 years or older and of Nigerian nationality with a valid Nigerian passport will get an early audition when they pay on either DStv Premium, Compact Plus, Compact, Confam, Yanga package or on GOtv Max or Jolli package between Wednesday, March 24 and Wednesday, March 31, 2021.

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One of the umbrella bodies of herders in Nigeria, the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, says South-West governors, with their anti-herdsmen stance, create a problem for the All Progressives Congress chieftain, Bola Tinubu, and his rumoured presidential ambition in 2023.

The spokesman for the group, Saleh Alhassan, spoke on Wednesday while featuring on PUNCH Online interview programme, The Roundtable.

Of late, nomadic herders in parts of the country, especially in the South-West geopolitical zone, have been accused of trespassing on farmlands of host farmers with their cattle. 

Farm produce worth millions of naira have been destroyed in the last few months. Some herders have also been accused of raping women in host communities, kidnapping the rich and, in some cases, killing host residents, amongst other unprintable crimes.

Governors in the zone under the aegis of the South-West Governors' Forum chaired by Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, have come up with proposed solutions, including the prohibition of open grazing, night grazing, under-age grazing, amongst others.

Many leaders in Yorubaland, including the leader of the socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, have also said Tinubu was afraid to speak on the herder's crisis because he does not want to jeopardise his 2023 presidential ambition and because he does not want to offend the President Muhammadu Buhari.

But the former Lagos State governor broke his silence on the matter on March 13, 2021, in a statement titled, 'Tinubu's Statement On The Herder Crisis'.

In the statement made available to The PUNCH, the former Lagos State governor urged state governments to convert unoccupied public lands to ranches for herders.

Reacting to the proposed idea by Tinubu as a way of solving the near-perennial farmers-herders crisis rocking the nation, the Miyetti Allah spokesman lauded the idea but said the country was not yet ready to embrace or implement "progressive solutions."

Alhassan said, "I sympathise with him (Tinubu) because if he says more than what he is saying, they will say maybe he is pushing for his presidential ambition. That is why he takes time before he even responds but I expected him to call all his political godsons —who are governors — causing this confusion to order. 

"He should call them and say, 'Hey, when I become president, I will solve this problem for us' (and) not to create problems for him, for his ambition."

When asked whether the farmers-herders crisis could affect the political ambition of Tinubu, Alhassan alleged, "When you have a group of people attacking citizens, does it translate to political love? When you have the supposed Amotekun joining militants to attack traders in Shasha (in Oyo State), burn their properties, does it give a good political value to whoever wants to get support from those people?"

He also said the crisis was exaggerated to score political points, adding that the Fulani herders who are of the same ethnic stock as the President are not enjoying any particular preference or benefits from the Buhari regime.

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President Muhammadu Buhari has denied reports of an alleged rift with a leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu.

In a statement on Wednesday, signed by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, President Buhari described the Asiwaju of Lagos as "one of the most respected political leaders in the country who has stuck to his principles in the face of all adversities."

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The President also described Tinubu as being "instrumental to the formation, growth and development of the APC into a formidable political party and the political alliance is waxing even stronger."

The statement partly read, "Recent reports of a rift between the two leaders of our party are false; the handiwork of some media mischief-makers. Unfortunately, certain media sections feed on birthing controversies, providing a nexus for naysayers who work behind the scenes planting such false stories.

"This administration is aware of pessimists and cynics who willfully spread misinformation to create doubts in the minds of the people about the relationship between its leaders and whether the party will remain intact or not.

"There is no doubt that the President and the party are focused on development, peace and security, restructuring the economy and war against corruption in the country and will not be diverted to anything else. This desperate attempt to fool the people will not succeed."

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It was all supposed to happen in 2020, but Japan has finally kicked off its Olympic torch relay.

The celebration, on Wednesday, March 17, 2021, by Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, caught me napping.  I stumbled on it when Channels Television abruptly broke KICC’s daily telecast and took viewers to Onikan Sports Stadium, Lagos, where Lagosians, led by Sanwo-Olu, their servant-leader, had gathered to celebrate the legend: Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande, the state’s first civilian governor.

Since Jakande’s demise, on February 11, 2021, at 91, and burial day after, I had been ruminating on how Nigeria under-celebrates its authentic heroes. I never stopped chewing the cud over the way February 13, 1976, and August 12, 1989 etc. gradually faded from our collective consciousness. Gen. Murtala Ramat Mohammed was only 37 when Lt. Col. Buka Suka Dimka and his gang ambushed and brutally murdered him near the Federal Secretariat in Ikoyi, Lagos, on February 13, 1976. He ruled Nigeria for just six months but he wrote his name in gold as a sterling game changer. 

Samuel Sochukuma Okwaraji was just 25 when, on August 12, 1989, he slumped and died inside the National Stadium, Surulere, while playing for Nigeria in a crucial World Cup qualifying match. Although we commemorate January 15, 1966, the day Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and colleagues violently terminated the First Republic as our Armed Forces Remembrance Day, that date and July 29, 1966, the day of the ‘revenge coup’, still produced some national heroes, tragic as they were. One of the heroes, to me, was Lt. Colonel Francis Adekunle Fajuyi, then military governor of the old Western Region. He was only 40 when he was assassinated while hosting then Head of State, General J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi in Ibadan. By electing to die defending his visiting boss, Fajuyi wrote his name with his blood in the heart of Nigerians. Loyalty.

Sadly, anniversaries of these dates, and more, pass these days without any memoriam. Even the Yoruba who should be celebrating Fajuyi are too busy with limitless existential matters to remember the date of his sacrifice. Thank God for President Muhammadu Buhari who, in 2018, reignited the fire around June 12, 1993. He annulled May 29 as our Democracy and proclaimed June 12 in its stead. Perhaps, if he had not done that, Nigerians would have forgotten that Basorun M.KO. Abiola watered the seed of our democracy with his blood. He won the freest presidential election in this country, denied his trophy, and got murdered for it. Yet, people would kill the fatted calf for rogues who pushed fellow humans into the swamp of poverty and trapped their potentials in the morass. 

However, the Day of Tributes held in commemoration of the life and times of Alhaji Lateef Jakande doused my skepticism. One after the other, leading lights of the state took turns to eulogise the man Lagosians call Baba Kekere; the man they perceive as a perfect clone of the great leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, for his courage, honesty, humility, frugality, fear of God, selfless service and steely resolve to give his best to the generality of the people at all times. 

“Baba Kekere was a transformational leader who led by example,” attested Hon. Adekunle Ali, a Second Republic member of the Lagos State House of Assembly. “He was a leader who never saw political position as a means for personal enrichment.” LKJ, others testified, was true to his God till he breathed his last. Beautiful testimony.

Sanwo-Olu capped the matter when he told the crowd that he drew so much inspiration from the virtues of Alhaji Lateef Jakande that he made the late leader’s former allies the core of the Governor’s Consultative Committee. He established the group to help him steer the ship of state on the path of progress and greatness regardless of the challenges that may come his way. Legion are the challenges.

Sanwo-Olu must have cracked some ribs when he alluded to a revelation by Hon. Ali that Jakande always kept a packet of Tom-Tom in his pocket and would slip one into his mouth any time he felt like refreshing during those marathon meetings politicians often hold. “He never forgot his packet of Tom-Tom,” Ali said. “Once he is tired and wants to refresh, he will just slip one into his mouth.” 

Like Jakande, Sanwo-Olu also cannot do without his pack of Tom-Tom. “I like and lick Tom-Tom too,” Sanwo-Olu told the cheering crowd. 

Ali summed his moving eulogy with another revelation: LKJ’s father, Aina Jakande, was a committed Ifa (Yoruba God of Divinity) worshipper, as denoted by his panegyric: KayodeOmo Jakande Agbefa Kari… (Kayode, the son of Jakande, the unwavering devotee of Ifa). And as the true son of Jakande Agbefa Kari, Ali continued, “Alhaji Jakande was an essential Omoluwabi; he was compassionate, humble…” And as a true son of his father, he never called a spade by any other name. 

All these virtues and more were the hallmark of Jakande’s highly engaging column which he wrote under the pseudonym, John West. He maintained the column for many years during which he rubbed shoulders with other all-time greats like Chief Olabisi Onabanjo, the first civilian governor of Ogun State who used the pen name, Ayekooto; Alhaji Alade Odunewu, Allah De, Alhaji Babatunde Jose, among others.

The profuse reference to Jakande as Omoluabi during the occasion reminded me of my encounters with the legend, and our connection to Ilesa Grammar School, our glorious alma mater. He attended Ilesa Grammar School between 1945 and 1949. I did between 1970 and 1974.

Ilesa Grammar School is the great institution that produced legends like Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God; Hon. Justice Salihu Modibbo Alfa Belgore, a retired Chief Justice of Nigeria; Justice Emmanuel Araka, a former Judge of the High Court of old East Central State and later, Chief Judge of Anambra State;  Dr. Festus Ajayi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, and the first Nigerian to make first class in Law at the University of London; Justice Egbert Udo Udoma, former ChiefJustice of Uganda, Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and Chairman, Constituent Assembly (1977-1978); and Dr. Jaja Anucha Wachukwu, first Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, first Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, first Nigerian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations. 

Other luminaries produced by the school include: Hon. Justice Kayode Eso, former Justice of the Court of Appeal of the old Western Nigeria, former Chief Judge of the old Oyo State, and former Justice of the Supreme Court; and Hon. Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, former Chief Justice of the Gambia, former Justice of the Court of Appeal of Seychelles, and former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC. 

Other eminent Made-in-Ilesa Grammar School Nigerians are: billionaire businessman, Alhaji Wahab Iyanda Folawiyo; former Health Minister and ex-Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. Isaac Adewole; his successor as VC, also my classmate, Prof. Abel Idowu Olayinka; another classmate of mine who started as a first-class scientist but ended up as the first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, ever produced by the University of Ibadan, Chief Mrs. Funmilayo Victoria Awomolo. The list also includes Prof. Femi Odekunle, Nigeria’s first Professor of Criminology and former political Adviser to the former Chief of General Staff, Lt. General Oladipo Diya; Prof. Sola Adeyeye, former Senator representing Osun Central; and Senator Francis Adenigba Fadahunsi, a retired Assistant Comptroller General of Customs and Senator representing Ilesa East in the 9th National Assembly. The list is endless.

To understand the reason Ilesa Grammar School products shine so brightly in whatever space they occupy, nationally or globally, is to understand the cord that binds them. That cord is the Omoluabi or Omoluwabi trait that the school ingrained in them. 

The motto of our great alma mater is: E huwa Omoluwabi. Transliterated, it means: Behave like a person of integrity and paragon of excellence in character. As Professor Wande Abimbola, former Vice Chancellor of then University of Ife, Dr. Fola Kareem Olajoku of the Department of Philosophy, Lagos State University, and Dr. Dolapo Adeniji-Neill of the Ruth S. Ammon School of Education, Adelphi University, New York, espoused in their works, an Omoluwabi or Omoluabi, is a child begotten by God; for Olu-iwa (Chief or Master (Olu) of character(iwa) is a Yoruba name for God. (Wikipedia)

Now, the virtues of Omoluwabi or Omoluabi are: the spoken word (oro siso), for the Yoruba greatly appreciate and respect intelligent use of language); respect (iteriba); goodwill, or having good mind towards others (inu rere); truth (otito); character (iwa); and bravery (akinkanju) (Wikipedia).  

These are the great virtues that Ilesa Grammar School taught us, taught generations before us, and still teaches till date, despite the political pollution it suffered in its recent history. The principles are the cornerstone of the exemplary moral rectitude that LKJ exhibited both in private and public life.

He demonstrated all these attributes, and more, in the 51 months he spent as the first civilian governor of Lagos State (October 1, 1979 to December 31, 1983). 

Though Jakande’s reign was short, he convinced even his most virulent traducer that he was a true Omoluwabi, a true ambassador of Ilesa Grammar School. He exhibited excellent strength of character, remained true to his God and oath of office, spending every minute of his four years and three months tenure to write his name in gold in the minds of Lagosians; especially the poor and the lowly. He served Lagosians with every fibre of his being. He made every kobo count for them. He never stole from them. 

Rather, he used his personal resources to serve them. For instance, he lived in house personal house throughout his tenure, never had an official car, never drove in long convoy that would send citizens scampering for cover on the road. He used his car, a Toyota Crown, all through. Though he built over 30, 000 units of houses for Lagosians under his populist housing scheme, though he built the largest estate in Africa, Gwarimpa Estate in Abuja, during his tenure as Housing Minister under General Sani Abacha, he never allocated a single unit to himself or any member of his family. Integrity.  Omoluwabi. 

This was why it was extremely difficult for the Buhari/Idiagbon Regime that dismantled the Second Republic on December 31, 1983, to indict him for any malfeasance. Though the regime threw most political actors of that era either into long detention or jail, Jakande, though detained, was never prosecuted for any misdemeanour.

A staunch believer of education as a veritable tool to break and destroy the vicious cycle of poverty, LKJ, at his inauguration as governor on Monday, October 1, 1979, declared free and compulsory education throughout the state. Prior to his ascendancy to power, Lagos used to run a three-shift school system: morning, afternoon and evening, due to chronic shortage of classrooms. But Jakande collapsed the three shifts to one, 8a.m. to 2 p.m. He built schools in every nook and cranny of the state, ensuring that no kid had to travel one kilometer to attend school. Result? School enrolment galloped exponentially. 

When Jakande started building schools everywhere, the party at the centre, the National Party of Nigeria, NPN, scoffed; mocked. They called the classrooms ‘poultry sheds’. They likened them to structures where domesticated birds, especially chickens, are bred for eggs, meat or feathers. 

Jakande was undaunted. He increased primary schools to 812 as against 605 he inherited; secondary schools to 223 against 105 he met. Primary school enrolment galloped from434,545 pupils to 533,001; secondary school enrolment from 107,835 students in 105 schools to 167,629 students in 223 schools. 

Unlike what others in his shoes normally do, sending their kids to expensive schools abroad, Jakande showed leadership by ensuring that his children attended the ‘poultry sheds’. At last Wednesday’s commemoration, one of his sons, Hon. Deji Jakande, a member of the House of Representatives, bore witness to that, and thumbed his chest as a proud product of the ‘poultry sheds’. Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu is another product flying the banner of the ‘poultry sheds’ so high. My late younger brother, Rev. Michael Mabayoje Oshunkeye, a first-class sociologist made in the University of Ibadan, who, sadly, passed in London last April 24 at 60, was another great product of the ‘poultry sheds’. God rest his loving soul.

Many, indeed, are the products of those ‘poultry sheds’ who are now superstars in their respective areas of calling. Jakande laid a solid foundation for their glorious future within the short time he governed. Or, how can we forget the many great Nigerians who passed through the several Teacher Training Colleges and Colleges of Education, and the Lagos State University, that LKJ established? 

LKJ not only built tertiary institutions, his administration also ensured that Lagos students in various institutions of higher learning, in the state and across Nigeria, never starved. Like in all the states controlled by his party, the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the Jakande Administration paid bursary allowances to them. 

It will amount to an unnecessary minimization of Baba Kekere’s iconic stature to say he was a true and loyal party man. He was more. He implemented the UPN’s four cardinal programmes to the letter. They are: free education for all, free medical treatment, full and gainful employment, as well as integrated rural development. With his fidelity to the party’s programmes, he scripted and assured his own immortality. He used ingenious methods to solve critical social problems. By the way, Jakande earned himself the sobriquet Baba Kekere for his realism and unflinching commitment to Awoism.

Like I said, LKJ was never swayed by the bad mouth of the NPN. He implemented a massive masses-oriented housing programme aimed at providing accommodation for low-income earners. His administration constructed over 30,000 housing units. Through that aggressive policy, many Nigerians became home owners. ‘Jakande Estates’, as they are popularly called, dot virtually all the zones in Lagos State: Ijaiye, Dolphin, Oke-Afa, Ije, Abesan, Iponri, Ipaja, Abule Nla, Epe, Amuwo-Odofin, Anikantamo, Surulere, Iba, Ikorodu, Badagry, Isheri/Olowu, and Orisigun. He also created a haven for the superrich: Banana Island. He laid the foundation.

Without waiting for any legislation or government gazette, Lagosians immortalized the legend, naming the housing estates Jakande Estate. It couldn’t have been otherwise. Or, has the Holy Book not said: when the righteous rule, the people rejoice? 

The man also foretold the immortality of his own legend through the over $700 million (huge sum at the time) Lagos Metroline project designed to ease the choking traffic crippling the city. At the ground-breaking ceremony, attended by President Shehu Shagari, Vice President Dr. Alex Ekwueme, and Senate President Dr. Joseph Wayas, at Yaba, on Saturday, July 16, 1983, Jakande declared:

“We are making history today. One hundred years from now, generations yet unborn will thank us for the wisdom in establishing this project. At that time, the metroline would have expanded from the north-south route of Lagos to other states. I dream of a comfortable future and I thank God for making me and this administration instruments for this future.” Vision.

The first phase of the project, awarded to a Japanese firm and a consortium of 19 French companies, Interinfra, was to be concluded in July 1986; just like the Cairo and Algiers metrolines awarded the same period. Had the project not been amputated, it would have substantially solved the Lagos traffic chaos. But when General Muhammadu Buhari struck on December 31,1983, the project was one of the first casualties. The regime scrapped the project and plunged Lagos State into avoidable debt. However, light appeared at the end of the tunnel when then Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu revived it in 2003. Now, more than ever before, the city is yearning for the metroline. Given the commitment of Tinubu’s successors, from Babatunde Fashola to Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos may yet laugh.

Like politics, LKJ also used journalism to define his legend, scoring many firsts, leaving enduring legacies. Again, the foundation of his journalism was laid in Ilesa Grammar School where he produced and edited the students’ newspaper, The Quarterly Mirror. The newspaper prepared him for an outstanding career in journalism; first with Daily Service as a reporter (later Editor in 1953) and the Nigerian Tribune (Editor-in-Chief, 1968 to 1975).

Jakande was a leader writer of a different hue. His editorials were factual, forthright, and fearless. They were an ever-present thorn in the flesh of Nigeria’s colonial masters and whoever attempted to oppress the masses. After leaving Nigerian Tribune in 1975, Jakande established John West Publications and began to publish The Lagos News. 

LKJ scored some powerful firsts in global journalism too. A foundation member of both the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, and the Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, he founded both the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN, and the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, NIJ (with the support of the International Press Institute, IPI). He would later emerge as the first black African Chairman of the IPI, a body of Publishers and Editors across the world. 

Though, I had been admiring Jakande from afar since 1978 when the military government of General Olusegun Obasanjo lifted the ban on politics, my path never crossed his directly until January 1989. This was at the beginning of my one-year postgraduate programme at NIJ, Ogba, Lagos. 

He taught us Ethics of Journalism. Another great Nigerian, Alhaji Kola Animasaun, then Chief Sub-Editor of Vanguard newspapers, later Chairman of the Editorial Board, taught us sub-editing and page planning. Jakande taught us that truth and strict adherence to the ethics of the profession are the unshakable pivot for successful and effective journalistic practice. 

A pragmatist, LKJ opened our eyes to the various booby traps dotting the field of journalism, and the twin devices that effectively detonate them-truth and personal integrity. Baba Kekeretaught us essential journalism and the value of effective time management. Just like everything he did, he taught by example. For instance, if his lecture was to start at 9a.m., he would have driven in about 20 minutes before. At 8.55a.m., he would be at the veranda, counting the seconds. On the dot of 9, he would be right at the door of the class. Then, straight to business. If Jakande had any reason to skip class, and it was rare, he would serve a long notice. He was that committed. He was always dead serious. Unsmiling. Many even thought he was ‘too serious’. 

But he smiled widely and heartily at our graduation in December 1989 when I was announced as the best graduating postgraduate student. He and Basorun M.K.O. Abiola, the billionaire Chairman and Publisher of the trailblazing Concord newspapers who would become my employer few months later, presented my prize to me. As I posed for photographs with the two great men at the podium that day, LKJ shook my hands and smiled again; and said softly: “I’m proud of you, young man. If you do not limit yourself, the sky would not be your limit. It would be your starting point.”  I said a loud ‘Amen’ and returned to my seat. I savour that moment till date. The prayer was prophetic. He touched me in ways words cannot describe. Jakande touched many Nigerians. 

That was why last Wednesday’s celebration of his life and times was a carnival of sort. It couldn’t have been otherwise. This is because while many live and die in shame, LKJ lived in honour and left in a blaze of glory. Even if people still gather at his grave, and their tears form a flood or puddle, it can only be for joy. It can only be an expression of adulation for a visionary who came, saw and secured the future for his people. It can only be for the celebration of an iroko which a million axes and thousand saws couldn’t fall; a diamond that glows powerfully in the swirling dust of a groping nation and nothing couldn’t bury; a superstar with a million sparkles in our cloudy firmament. 

Good night, Baba Kekere.

 

Shola Oshunkeye, a former Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Sun Publishing Ghana Limited, is the President/CEO of The Crest online newspaper (www.thecrestng.com).

He could be reached through: shola.oshunkeye@thecrestng.com and/or shola.oshunkeye@gmail.com

+234 805 618 0011; +233 26 772 0147

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