The Wednesday coup in Niger finally succeeded at midnight with soldiers announcing on national TV the dissolution of the Constitution, Parliament and Government. Sigh…. This makes it the sixth country in the West Africa region to experience a coup since August 2020. Adding Chad makes it the seventh. Early on Wednesday morning, it had been reported that President Mohammed Bazoum had been held in the presidential palace by his own presidential guard. It appeared the guard then had to negotiate with the regular army while shooting in the air to keep anti coup protesters at bay. President Bola Tinubu sent a strong message to the putschists warning them that West Africa was no longer willing to tolerate coups. He also consulted with President Patrice Talon of Benin Republic who is acting as mediator with the military. The US, France, UN, ECOWAS and African Union also condemned the coup calling for a return to status quo.
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Two weeks ago, the Federal Government of Nigeria declared a state of emergency on food security. The declaration of emergency is the best policy pronouncement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) since the assumption into office about two months ago. If this declaration was done with a similar pronouncement of emergency on education and security before the withdrawal of fuel subsidy, it would have set the ball rolling at an exponential speed. It would have been an excellent starting and hopes would have been rekindled, desperation would have been dampened. Nevertheless, we must commend the responsiveness and sensitivity of BAT to the yearning of Nigerians. So far, BAT is the only President who has made such a pronouncement on food security, which is the most essential security to life. Death by hunger is more devastating and traumatic than death by a bullet as hunger takes days of pain and suffering before the body succumbs to the final breath while a bullet takes life in a matter of seconds. Thus, a bullet may be a preferable way to end it all than hunger. We must remember, food insecurity is the mastermind of all other insecurities; banditry, corruption, insurgence, kidnapping, and robbery.
Last week, the federal government, through the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), banned two loan app banks, permanently removing them from Google Play Store and initiating the process of deleting their respective apps.
At the ECOWAS Summit in Bissau on 9th July 2023, President Bola Tinubu was elected Chairman of ECOWAS. In his acceptance speech, he warned that the threat to peace in the region had reached an alarming proportion with terrorism and an emerging pattern of military takeovers that ECOWAS must take concerted action addressing with the urgency the matter demands. Shortly after, he was in Addis for the African Union Summit. His first action point as ECOWAS Chairman was establishing the Presidential Troika + 1 (Talon – Benin, Embalo – Guinea Bissau and Bazoum – Niger + Umar Tourray, President of ECOWAS Commission to develop an immediate action plan to address terrorism and coups d’états in West Africa. The four presidents met in Abuja on 18th July and drew up plans to engage Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea on expeditious return to constitutional rule, credible and inclusive elections. They also proposed a pathway to an expeditious OPERATIONALISATION of ECOWAS Revised Plan of Action for the eradication of terrorism in West Africa. This action-man approach by President Tinubu is raising hopes that Nigeria is now ready to assume once again its traditional leadership role in West Africa, which the country has abandoned for almost two decades.
Who has not had an old car before? The type of car that makes you become a friend to the mechanic? This is because when one issue is resolved, another rears its head, necessitating you to visit again. Sometimes the problem may be those of “rings”. Repair them and the gearbox seeks your notice. Pacify it, the brake pad packs up. Change it; the shock absorber begins to get shocked.
In these strange times, the story of the Nigerian State is daily written in the crime pages of our newspapers and broadcasts. One set of stories that is emerging repeatedly is the dismantling and theft of the country’s infrastructure. This week, it was reported that thieves have removed and stolen the recently installed airfield ground lighting systems at the domestic runway (18L/36R) of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos. The runway lights are critical because they help pilots to do landing and take-off safely at night, or in low visibility conditions. As these are highly specialized lights with specific use on runways, the thieves must have access to security zones and band have knowledge of where they can sell them. It was only in November 2022 that the runway was reopened for 24 hours flight services after the successful installation of the ground lights.
Last week, some of the road fittings installed on the newly inaugurated Second Niger bridge were vandalized by robbers. Specifically, the metal expansion joints are removed and sold as scrap metals by the robbers. This problem has been on-going in Lagos for years where similar joints and metal reinforcement for bridge safety are regularly removed and sold compromising the integrity and safety of the bridges. Railings and crash barriers from manholes meant to reinforce bridges from vibrating, as well as protect vehicles from falling from the bridge are also removed and sold.
The Titanic crash of 1912 was among the four most calamitous tragedies of the 20th century in the history of humanity. The others were World War I (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), World War II (1939 to 1945), and the Challenger STS Explosion of 28th January 1986. World War I and II claimed millions of lives and properties worth inestimable trillions of US Dollars principally caused by human conflicts oiled by power greed, colonialism, selfishness, and muscle-flexing among the so-called superpowers and their allies. However, the Titanic crash and Challenger explosion claimed less than 2,000 lives and properties worth a few billion US Dollars were caused by human unforeseen errors that eroded the confidence, which was created by human intelligence and advancement. These two tragedies, the Titanic crash, and the Challenger explosion shocked the world, brought out the fallibility of human technologies, and reinforced the conviction of some of us that Nature has omniscient power, which is auto-galvanized by the Almighty.
While we knew and respected each other from a distance, I first met Ja’afar Ja’afar in 2015 when I was serving my second stint as the editor of Friday Leadership.
I doubt that the judiciary would be able to settle the deep disagreements between Nigerians about the outcome of the 2023 elections, especially the result of the presidential election. For some, Bola Tinubu proved his mettle of being a great political actor by securing a nomination where the odds were stacked heavily against him and obtaining sufficient support among political gladiators and citizens to win the presidency. Others think the evidence is clear that Peter Obi won but the results were changed and the evidence is found in the non-transmission of results on the IReV portal because had the process been followed, the evidence of the Obi victory would have been clear. Poor Atiku Abubakar who came second in the race as shown in the official results is largely missing from a lot of the on-going passionate debate and is assumed not to be a factor for reasons that are not clear to me. Every day, there are widespread public debates on the unfolding case at the election tribunal on how the evidence shows clearly that Tinubu or Obi won. Both lawyers and non-lawyers are engaged in the production of the running bifurcated narratives.
Mr. Xnopia (not a real name but a true story) was (un)happily accompanied by his wife and younger brother on euthanasia tourism to Switzerland. Mr. Xnopia had decided that nothing matters anymore and the time has finally come to just end it all. Assumingly, a due consultation was done between Xnopia’s family and friends and a painful(?) decision was reached that Mr. Xnopia should finally end it all in a legally permitted and assisted suicide. A designated place for such services was approached. Lethal drugs were given to Mr. Xnopia, he willingly accepted after his last handshake with his younger brother while the wife was massaging his hand and assuring him of taking care of his wishes after his death. The lethal drug administrator, a lady, was professional in this life-ending service as she meticulously helped him to his last breath. In a matter of less than ten minutes, Mr. Xnopia was no more, he peacefully and sadly passed away in the presence of his wife and brother who were in black attire symbolizing their planned and expected grief. This death or suicide mission is not monetarily costless, there is a price tag for it.