Quote:
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams
If there is one notable game-changer standing tall above his peers, whose remarkable achievements within a short span of two years in office remain testament to the President Bola Tinubu-led government’s ‘Renewed Hope’ Agenda, he is none other than the Minister of Interior,Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo. This goes beyond sheer sentiments or gainful glorification. Yes, he might be on the quiet side of life, but given the fact that one’s stance is backed by empirical evidences, both on ground and in the public sphere, his sterling achievements need to be highlighted, as inspiration for fellow citizens, especially the younger generation to glean from. That is as he exemplifies a bright beacon to show the way forward, for other leaders in the country’s dark tunnel of the search for the long elusive good governance.
Name them: Standing out amongst the notable ones are the display of the humanity in him with the promotion of record 32,361 personnel, the implementation of transparent recruitment, and of course, ensuring timely decorations of deserving officers into their new ranks. What more, the transparent and streamlined recruitment process has been introduced. All these were done, because he is well aware that a motivated workforce remains the catalyst to driving the vision of the ministry forward.
Still on the human angle to leadership he remains an advocate for equitable compensation for workers in the ministry. A good example of this is that of aligning the workers’ salaries with of the Nigeria Police Force ( NPF ). So also is that of the functional pension board which has enhanced both their morale and productivity.
Going into the specifics, the ease with which Nigerians obtain their passports is linked to the establishment of a state-of-the-art Data Centre in addition to the Command and Control Centre. That is at the NIS headquarters. The new facilities are rightly designed with the salutatory aim to enhance the new visa and passport application processes.Interestingly, he has fulfilled his pledge to revolutionize passport processing, within a two-week timeline, in addition to the introduction of home and office delivery of passports. This commenced in February, 2024. He has also kept to his vision by implementing personal uploads of passport photographs. This also eases the streamlining the application process, thereby increasing both convenience and accessibility for the applicants. Not left out are the improved border management systems.
With regards to the correctional centres the interior minister has initiated their rehabilitation making them conducive for human habitation. In so doing it has bolstered Nigeria’s security infrastructure across the country.The decongestion of the correctional facilities through the clearance of fines and compensations worth N585 million for 4,068 inmates is exemplary. That is another display of the human aspect to the criminal justice reform. As Eleanor Roosevelt aptly stated: “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.” –
Taking the leadership narrative to the statutory functions of government to protect the lives of the citizens is the introduction of the Safe School Initiative. This, along with the improved emergency and fire response strengthened with the new fire engines and rapid intervention vehicles are equally commendable. And with the successful completion of a Dell 1.4 Petabyte (PB) Tier 4 Data Centre and Command at the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) headquarters, there is little doubt that Tunji-Ojo certainly knows his onions.
Rising to the increasing challenge of vandalism, especially in mining areas and to enhance revenue in the sector, Tunji-Ojo launched the Mining Marshal program at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) headquarters. This laudable initiative is complemented by the deployment of 10,000 Agro Rangers across the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT). The noble aim of course, is to protect our fertile farmlands and ensure safety for the farmers.
Lest we forget, another of his milestone achievements at the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), was the clearance of an overwhelming backlog of 204,332 passports within a record-breaking three-week period! Praiseworthy is it not? Of course, it is. By that fantastic feat he has saved Nigeria not only from a national crisis but an international embarrassment.
One other aspect of improvement on service delivery is on international relations. For instance, over the past two years the Minister of Interior has exhibited his patriotic rebranding in terms of reciprocating in visa processes to foreigners as
he has done for Nigerians.
With all these noteworthy achievements he has demonstrated that leadership by being prepared for it, with a pragmatic vision, along with people who believe in it and make the needed sacrifice for the common good. with the fear of God and love of the people is a possibility here in Nigeria. As a game changer he has switched the narrative of correctional centres from that of punishment to that of sober reflection to evolve the humanity in all of us.
It was in recognition of Tunji-Ojo’s inspiring achievements that he was awarded the “Public Service Person Of The Year 2023” by Leadership newspapers. That should serve as a lesson to others, in whatever leadership positions they find themselves to be guided by the doctrine of leaving behind worthy legacies. ” What will I be remembered for after my tenure in the service of my fatherland is done”?
Back then according to the media organization “he was found worthy for finding his way into the hearts of millions of citizens for whom obtaining or renewing the Nigerian passport had become a nightmare; for his bold, extensive and exceptional reforms tackling the perennial passport.”
So as Warren Bennis rightly stated: ” Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality” as Tunji-Ojo has done. He should therefore, keep going forward in the service of the nation.
Category: Politics
Court summons Surulere LG Chairman over Deeper Life Church demolition
A Lagos High Court has ordered the Chairman of Surulere Local Government, Hon. Sulaiman Bamidele Yusuf, to appear before it on June 30, 2025, to show cause why he should not be committed for contempt of court. This follows the local government’s unlawful demolition of the Deeper Life Bible Church located at 36 Aina Street, Lawanson, Surulere, Lagos.
The church had been in possession of the property since 2007. However, in January 2024, the Surulere Local Government sent a notice of intention to remove the church from the land to construct a modern market. The church responded by challenging the local government’s action in court, seeking to assert its ownership rights and restrain the demolition.
“We will not be intimidated by the actions of the Surulere Local Government. We have a valid court order, and we expect it to be respected,” a church representative said.
Despite a court order restraining the local government from taking over the church’s land, the Surulere Local Government, led by its chairman, proceeded to demolish the church’s fence on May 27, 2024, and later demolished the entire church premises on May 26, 2025.
“This demolition is a clear case of executive lawlessness and disregard for the judiciary. We condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” the church’s counsel, Nojim Tairu, said.
Justice E. O. Ashade subsequently made an order restoring the church to its property pending the determination of the matter. The court also ordered the chairman, head of administration, legal officer, and other management staff of Surulere Local Government to appear in court to show cause why they should not be committed for contempt.
“We are confident that the court will uphold the rule of law and protect our rights as a church. We will pursue this matter to its logical conclusion,” a church spokesperson added.
It was gathered that the current demolition is not an isolated incident. There appears to be a systematic pattern of attacks against the Church via desecration and demolition of her places of worship by Lagos State Government agencies. The chronicle includes:
1. Yaba Church – demolished by LAMATA on June 5, 2021.
2. Olorunishola Church, Ayobo – demolished by the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) on July 5, 2024.
3. Lawanson Church – demolished by Surulere LG
The cases highlight the ongoing struggles between government agencies and private property owners in Lagos, with concerns about the rule of law and property rights.
OBASANJO, ATIKU AND TINUBU AT A TIME LIKE THIS
By Tunde Olusunle
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was in his farmhouse address in Otta, Ogun State during the last weekend of January 2002. It was supposed to be a short get-away from work in Abuja where he was routinely out of bed before 6am and rarely retired before 2am the next morning. But work followed him to Otta, salient files from his Abuja office shipped over. Some of his senior aides and public officers also stopped by. From Otta, he was scheduled to undertake a two-day official visit to Katsina State. It was part of his countrywide tours, appraising the permeation of tangible dividends of democracy to Nigerians at all levels. I was on Obasanjo’s staff and had proceeded from Abuja on the advance team to tidy up preparations and to receive him. Sunday January 27, 2002, the evening before his scheduled departure from Otta en route Lagos to Katsina, however, unprecedented, massive explosions occurred in Lagos. The air was thick with uncertainty. Where could this earth-quaking “bombings” have taken place? Was it precedent to a coup to topple the nascent Obasanjo government?
The security ring around the President decided to be proactive. With the pervading confusion, the wisest probable thing to do was to move the President to safety, just in case it was a putsch. Should he be flown back to Abuja through Lagos? Should he drive to neighbouring Benin Republic as guest of his Beninoise counterpart? The genetically strong-willed Obasanjo would rather await security briefing. He wasn’t going anywhere, he said. Reports came in to the effect that the mishap occurred at the *Abalti Barracks, Ikeja Cantonment,* in Lagos. It occurred at the armoury of the military facility, where high calibre explosives were improperly stored. The tragedy claimed well over 1000 casualties, military and civilian. It displaced over 20,000, as it spread rapidly to adjoining districts and communities. Obasanjo had to be persuaded by his personal physician to get some sleep because of his loaded schedule ahead the following day. He stayed up, eyes wide open late into the night.
Obasanjo began his day on Monday January 28, 2002, at the Ikeja Cantonment. He toured the site of the occurrence and the adjoining areas which were flattened by the detonations and held a meeting with the military commanders. He considered rescheduling the Katsina trip in sympathy with the casualties. He was reminded by his protocol officials, however, that the Katsina visited had earlier been scheduled and cancelled because of the unavailability of the Governor of the state at the time, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Yar’Adua who succeeded Obasanjo in 2007, was abroad for a long spell, on cogent medical grounds. Before a sullen-faced Obasanjo addressed his hosts in Katsina when he eventually arrived, he called for two minutes of silence in memory of those that died in the Ikeja incident, and to empathise with the injured and displaced.
Ehigie Edobor Uzamere who represented Edo South Senatorial District in the seventh and eighth national assemblies, is 70 today. An elaborate event has been laid out to commemorate the landmark in Benin City, the Edo State capital. Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, GCON, is one of the very high profile dignitaries who was expected to grace the high profile programme. Reports indicate that members of Atiku’s entourage received reminders last night, detailing his itinerary. Earlier today, however, the Office of the Former Vice President put out the following statement:
*Cancellation of Benin Trip Due to Recent National Tragedies:*
*I write to inform you that His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, GCON, Waziri Adamawa, Vice President of Nigeria, (1999-2007), has reflected on the twin national tragedies in Niger and Kano States, where flooding and road traffic accidents have respectively claimed the lives of several Nigerians. In the light of this, he has decided to CANCEL his planned trip to Benin City, Edo State, this afternoon, June 1, 2025. This is to enable him mourn and pay his respects to the victims and their families.*
The statement was signed by Yahaya Ibrahim Zango, Principal Private Secretary to the former Vice President.
It is important to provide this background as counterpoint to the momentary retirement of President Bola Tinubu to Lagos for some official engagements, and the observance of the forthcoming *Eid-el-Kabir* festival. Tinubu left Abuja on Tuesday May 27, 2025, to attend a string of programmes. According to the press statement which announced his movements, he will remain in Nigeria’s old capital city until the conclusion of the *ileya* event on Monday June 9, 2025. To this extent, he will be away from Abuja for two weeks. Thus far, the President has attended ceremonies commemorating the 50th anniversary of the setting up of the Economic Community of West African States, (ECOWAS). He is equally commissioning and inspecting projects completed or initiated by his administration, to mark the second year anniversary of his presidency.
Before Tinubu’s departure from Abuja, he had been duly briefed about recent heightened attacks and incursions into parts of the North East, especially Borno State, which has been troubled by insurgents, for several years. He was acquainted about renewed, genocidal-scale killings in parts of the North Central, especially Benue and Plateau states. Bandits and miscreants have equally recently unsettled the peace and quiet of the Yoruba-speaking section of Kogi State, Okunland, across its six local government areas. Flooding in Niger State, also in the Middle Belt region, has claimed over 100 lives and disconnected parts of Nigeria’s North and South West, by the collapse of the all-important North-South bridge in Mokwa, in Niger State. Just yesterday, 22 members of the Kano State contingent to the recently concluded National Sports Festival in Ogun State, were consumed in an automobile mishap. The President’s prototype message of commiseration, and his directives to relevant departments of government to step in and provide succour in these various instances, is in the public space.
While spontaneous press releases and phone calls have their places in state administration, nothing compensates for that essential human touch, that conscientious empathy, in circumstances and periods of grave nationwide anguish such as we are in. The nation’s streets are lacquered by the blood of innocents, across our luminous geographical perimeters. The belly of the earth chokes and suffers reflux beneath the tonnages of unceasing and ill-timed cadavers it daily receives. *Death, to borrow from the evergreen lyrics of the revered, veteran Yoruba music artist, Ebenezer Obey, has become “two for half a penny.* Communities are displaced by the intolerable activities of rampagers and marauders, echoing memories of the 30-month bitter civil war which our country survived between 1967 and 1970. The living and medical conditions of internally displaced persons, (IDPs) in Benue State for example, are better not discussed. Yet, one generation of Nigerian toddlers bred and raised in those hovels, have never glimpsed another home, another community.
Times like this call for true, sincere leadership. Times like this demand way beyond the commandist outsourcing of responsibilities to scheduled appointees. They demand beyond monarchy-style overlordship as Nigerians perceive their leaders. They call for proactive and compassionate leadership. The Nigerian President is easily one of the most pampered across the world. He possesses every equipment and facility to enable his locomotion around the country, even the world, by the snap of his fingers. In a season such as this when gloom and despair pervade the nation, Tinubu should intentionally extricate himself from fawning aides and grovelling courtiers and demonstrate physical identification and genuine concern and humanity for his beleaguered constituents.
Very clearly, the campaign for the 2027 presidential election has been flagged off. President Tinubu is receiving endorsements and adoptions in places. His morale about the continuation of his job beyond his subsisting mandate which ends on May 29, 2027, is high. Tinubu, however, has pressing, present obligations to Nigerians, well ahead of 2027. The way he redeems these commitments by way of good governance of some sort, will largely determine the direction the hand of the clock ticks, come 2027. Except if the polls have been predetermined as has notoriously become the vogue with *Naija-style* democracy and electoral system.
*Tunde Olusunle, PhD, Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA), is an Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Abuja*
Two Years of President Tinubu: A Business Perspective
By Abdul Samad Rabiu
As Nigeria marks two years under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I believe it is important to reflect, not from the lens of politics, but from the perspective of business, of industry, and of the economy. I speak not only as the Chairman of BUA Group – one of Africa’s largest conglomerates, but also as someone who has lived through the complexity of Nigeria’s reforms. I have seen the cost of dysfunction, the burden of inefficiency, but more importantly, the promise of a level playing field and the dividends of decisive governance.
FUEL SUBSIDY REMOVAL
The removal of the fuel subsidy is one of the most important decisions taken by this administration. Before that, Nigeria was selling PMS at 200 or 250 Naira per litre, which was about 25 or 30 cents. I doubt there was any country in the world where fuel was being sold at that price. During my trip to Saudi Arabia for the lesser Hajj in February this year, I checked the pump price at one of the petrol stations as we drove from Jeddah to Mecca. When I converted the price to Naira, it was almost 1,500 Naira per litre. That was Saudi Arabia.
We could simply not afford the subsidy. It was not just Nigerians who were benefiting from it. We were subsidising the entire region. I remember visiting Niger Republic a few years ago when President Bazoum honoured us. During dinner, he joked and said, “Thank you for the subsidy.” He said 100 percent of all PMS consumed in Niger was coming from Nigeria because it would cost them three times more to import. There was no incentive for them to bring in their own fuel or refine crude at their own refinery. This was the situation across the region.
Today, I understand that our fuel consumption has dropped by almost 40 to 50 percent. It is not because Nigerians are consuming less, but because neighbouring countries have stopped tapping into our subsidised fuel. The PMS is still cheaper in Nigeria, even at 800 or 900 Naira per litre, but the logistics no longer support easy access. Countries like Niger and Benin Republic still take fuel from Nigeria, but others have stopped.
The removal of subsidies was needed not only to save the economy but to ensure that Nigerians alone benefit from what is imported. Even if there must be subsidy, it should be for Nigerians only. The money saved is now being channelled to infrastructure, to better support for states, and to other developmental priorities. All the states are receiving more money now, and that has made a real difference.
I am of firm opinion that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu made the right decision, and he made it boldly. On the first day he took office, he did what everyone knew had to be done but no one dared to do. He acted immediately. Many criticised him, but he did the right thing, and it saved the country. Had we continued under that burden, only God knows where we would be today. I always say, Mr President is probably the only one who had the courage to take such hard and necessary decisions.
ON THE UNIFICATION OF THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE REGIME
The unification of the foreign exchange market is another critical reform. Before this, many of us in the business community spent most of our time chasing foreign exchange. I personally spent half of my time trying to get FX from the Central Bank of Nigeria. The CBN was the only source of official exchange, offering FX at around 500 Naira when the parallel market was 800 or 900. No business could survive outside the CBN structure.
Every two weeks, we would go to Abuja to seek allocations. It was exhausting and inefficient. You had to camp there for three or four days before Allocation Monday, waiting for the CBN to allocate dollars. Today, I have met the new CBN Governor, Mr Cardoso, only once in two years. The reason is simple: I do not need to go to Abuja now to get foreign exchange. The system is open. It is working.
This was also a bold move by President Tinubu. It was necessary, and he took that decision as well. We are very glad because today we can focus on our businesses. These reforms are saving the economy.
FAIRNESS, SANITY AND STABILITY IN BUSINESS
Under this administration, we have seen a return to fairness and stability in business. We no longer worry about arbitrary shutdowns or politically motivated disruptions. Let me give a real example. We started a new business in Port Harcourt four or five years ago under BUA Foods, operating at the Rivers Ports under a concession with the Nigerian Ports Authority. It was going very well. One day, we woke up to a letter stating that the concession had been revoked, the terminal shut down, and the lease agreement terminated. There was no prior warning, no issue, no conflict.
Later, we discovered that the Managing Director of NPA at the time decided to close the business simply because our operations were competing with those of her friend. She wanted to impress her friend. That was the only reason. Today, that kind of thing cannot happen. Nobody would dare take such an action under President Tinubu. You can wake up now without fear that your business has been shut down by an agency or politician.
That stability is critical. That Port Harcourt plant alone has seen over 500 million dollars in investment and has employed over 4,000 people. The confidence this government has brought is real, and it is helping us plan better.
I must also personally acknowledge former President Muhammadu Buhari. When our Port Harcourt plant was unfairly shut down, it was his intervention that saved it. I had the privilege of explaining the situation to him. He agreed it was wrong and acted. He said he would not permit injustice under his watch. That decision saved the business. But the reality is, I had access. What if I did not? That is the difference today. Now, nobody needs access to the President to be treated fairly. Everyone knows that if you do something wrong under President Tinubu, you may lose your job or even face prosecution and go to jail. That is why I can now spend more time focusing on the business and relaxing.
The President Tinubu reforms are creating a level playing field. Like I said previously, every business had to lobby the CBN for FX. If you did not, your business would collapse. Now, you do not need to go to Abuja. You just focus on your operations.
INFRASTRUCTURE AS A KEY DRIVER OF DEVELOPMENT
In infrastructure, the difference is also clear. Look at the Lagos-Calabar highway. Look at the Sokoto-Badagry road. Look at the Kwara projects we are executing under the tax credit scheme. Look at Kano-Kongolam. Look at the Okpella to Kogi State corridor. These projects are progressing because of the savings from subsidy removal and FX unification. With more revenue, Nigeria is building.
These roads and others being built are critical because logistics have become a major challenge. Transporting goods from Lagos to the North is very expensive due to bad roads. Now, the President is addressing this. With better infrastructure, logistics will improve, and businesses will grow. These reforms have enabled long-term planning and serious investment.
BUA WILL CONTINUE TO BET ON NIGERIA
Since President Tinubu took office, BUA Group has invested over one billion dollars in the Nigerian economy. We are expanding our food business, doubling our flour and pasta facilities in Port Harcourt and building another in Lagos. Demand is increasing. People are earning more. Confidence is returning. We have also completed the first POP plaster manufacturing plant in Nigeria which is now operating and are soon starting construction of a 30MW solar energy project in Sokoto State.
In the oil and gas sector, we are completing our LNG project in Ajaokuta, Kogi State. These investments are possible because of stability that has been brought about by President Tinubu’s reforms. We can plan now. The exchange rate has been fairly stable for almost a year. FX is accessible. Money is coming in from different sources, and investors are responding. If you want 200 million dollars a week for trade, you can get it without lobbying anyone at the Central Bank. These are the results of good policies.
ON FOOD SECURITY
When I met President Tinubu recently, he raised concerns about food prices. He wanted to know what BUA Foods was doing. I explained that his six-month tariff waiver had worked. It disrupted hoarding in the rice market. In Nigeria, the rice harvest is short and runs for about three months. Middlemen were buying paddy rice, hoarding it, and raising prices post-harvest. This artificial scarcity drove prices to as high as 110,000 Naira per bag. The farmers did not benefit. Farmers just wanted to sell and move on yet some people were buying from them, hoarding it, and creating a food crises in the country.
The temporary waiver allowed rice to be brought in, and milled immediately. The hoarders were cut out. Prices began to drop. It was a short-term solution, but it worked. It showed foresight. I told the President it helped and that if the situation persists, further steps can be taken. But for now, it has made a difference.
PRESIDENT TINUBU’S NIGERIA FIRST POLICY AND BACKWARD INTEGRATION
President Tinubu’s Nigeria First policy has aligned well with our own belief in backward integration. Our cement business is almost entirely local. We mine our own limestone. We use Nigerian gas even though it is dollar-denominated. The only foreign element is the equipment, and even that benefits from government concessions for mining equipment which everyone else in the industry benefits. If we had to import cement today, prices would be over 15,000 Naira per bag. Nigeria does not have the port infrastructure to even handle the import volume. Producing locally has saved the economy and stabilised the sector.
We are doing more, and we will continue to do more. Nigeria has everything—population, arable land, resources, water, and now, strong leadership under President Tinubu. We believe in Nigeria because the fundamentals are now strong. My advice to all is to take a Bet on Nigeria. This is the place to be.
So for me, what has this administration done right? First, it removed the fuel subsidy which was the biggest economic scam in our history. Second, it unified the foreign exchange market and third, it restored stability, fairness, and confidence in the economy. These are the foundations of growth. Nigeria is full of potential. With the right leadership, which we now have, there is no limit to what we can achieve.
– Rabiu is the Founder and Chairman, BUA Group
TEARDROPS FOR SHEHU IYAL, “CAPTAIN OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC”
By Tunde Olusunle
It was not the kind of news you expected, when it rode on the wings of the evening breeze of Thursday May 15, 2025. The opening months of the year have been bad enough with reference to the very sad, untimely departures of well-known colleagues with whom we served in the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The ranks of “alumni” of principal officers who served in that circa, had been depleted this year alone by the eternal exits of notable members of that team. Major General Christopher Jemitola, who was aide-de-camp to Obasanjo, during his second term, and Dr Doyin Okupe, the first of three media advisers who served the former President, had passed in quick succession in the months of February and March this year. But here on the telephone was Oladimeji Jimoh, a technician who managed heavy duty appliances for the genial Captain Shehu Usman Iyal and I, relaying the unpalatable news of his transition.
Iyal and I first met in the earliest days of the politicking which produced Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s former military Head of State, as presidential candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP). His aviation outfit, *Dana Afri-Air International Ltd,* it was, which flew Obasanjo around and about Nigeria during those tasking meetings with prominent individuals, engagements with various political tendencies and jaw-jawing with disparate groups, preceding the party’s primary and the subsequent presidential poll. Iyal’s Afri-Air provided the 19-seater *Dornier 228* turbo-prop airplane, which we flew between October 1998 and February 1999, when Obasanjo was elected President. I was Obasanjo’s campaign media attache which implied I travelled with him wherever he went. I managed a trim team which consisted of a photographer, Tumo Ojelabi, and a videographer, Taiwo Akinyemi, who moved around with us.
Travelling together in that small plane the days, weeks and months was something of a unifier. As the unmistakable regulars on every trip, we all became close-knit working on the same project with a unanimity of resolve. Apart from Obasanjo, there were Otunba Oyewole Fasawe; Chief Tunde Osunrinde; Dr Femi Majekodunmi; Ad’Obe Obe; Tokunbo Adeola; Bodunde Adeyanju; Andy Uba; Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo, among others. It was a function of Iyal’s commitment to the Obasanjo presidential project, that he elected, dedicatedly, to travel with us all through the campaign trail, rather than sit back in the comfort of his office. He diligently ensured operational fluidity and availed his pilots his variegated experiences garnered over the years.
Following Obasanjo’s inauguration as President, Commander-in-Chief on May 29, 1999, Iyal was appointed *Special Assistant to the President on Aviation Matters.* True, there was an Aviation Minister and a Commander for the Presidential Air Fleet, (PAF), Obasanjo usually needed second opinions on issues. To be sure, it was the same way Obasanjo benefited from the aggregate wisdoms of retired, very senior military officers, who served in his administration. Generals Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma and Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, for instance were both former Chiefs of Army Staff, (COAS). Abdullahi Mohammed was pioneer head of the defunct Nigeria Security Organisation, (NSO). They are all very distinguished and decorated military icons, who were within earshot to dissect issues with the President. Such was the multilayered, experiential resources Obasanjo benefited from in many sectors.
As the Obasanjo administration settled down, his appointees who were quartered in hotels for several months, were finally allocated residences, mostly in housing estates. Providentially, Captain Iyal and I found ourselves in the same estate in Maitama District, Abuja. Our colleagues in the State House who were in the same estate included: Dr Gbolade Osinowo, (of blessed memory); Handel Okoli; Tokunbo Adeola; Ajuji Ahmed and Ambassador Baba Gana Zanna, Director of Protocol to the Vice President. It soon became imperative to have an estate chairman to coordinate common services, principally security and sanitation, in the estate. At the very first meeting we had, Iyal nominated me for the job. Since we had 13 houses in the compact estate, the thinking was that the brief would be rotated on an annual basis. When we called a meeting to effect change after a year, Iyal suggested that I had done well and should be retained on the assignment. I thought he took advantage of my being the youngest landlord in the estate who he fondly addressed as his “junior brother.” And that was how I served as Chairman of the estate for over 20 years!
I had a special relationship with Captain Shehu Iyal. We flew around the world with President Obasanjo as he strove to imprint the name of Nigeria on global consciousness after long years of military rulership had strained the country’s relationship and perception in the eyes of the world. We enjoyed jokes and banters in our corners of the presidential jet. Our relationship went on the ascendancy when he realised that I was born in Kaduna, capital of the primordial North Central State, his home state. He hailed from the historical city of Zaria, reputed for being host to one of Nigeria’s largest concentrations of citadels of learning within one city. Iyal and I were never short of subjects to talk about. Iyal indeed attended the famous *St Paul’s College, Kufena, Zaria,* an Anglican school, despite being from a Muslim family. The realisation that my brother, Dr Toba Olusunle attended the same institution years after he, Iyal, graduated, brought Iyal and I even closer. Since he had adopted me his younger sibling, I deferred to him being evidently younger.
His cultivated, cosmopolitan, carriage became clearer to me after these findings. The puzzle around his liberal outlook began to straighten out as I pieced aspects of his constitution together. His vocation as an aviator would also have exposed him to people and publics, across tongues, creeds and cultures. Captain Iyal loved dialogue. He would invite me for dinner and the meeting would snowball into robust discussions, typically about contemporaneous issues, the state of the nation. He “conferred” a doctorate on me before I eventually got one. He would hail me as *Mallam Tunde, PhD English,* usually because of what he perceived as my grammatically elevated perspectives. We would both laugh. I reciprocated by serenading him as *Captain of the Federal Republic, (CFR)!* Iyal, by the way, never served spirits or liquors in his house. Occasionally, however, he indulged me. Especially whenever feigned I couldn’t put my thoughts together because I needed a kick by way of a tot or two. He seemed to have a liking for journalists and had many friends amongst us. On a casual visit to his home, you were likely to find Steve Itugbu or Yomi Odunnuga or Henry Ugbolue, all experienced media practitioners. He trusted our analytical objectivity.
Captain Iyal listed me on the inaugural British Airways direct flight from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, (NAIA), Abuja, to London Heathrow Airport, (LHR), back in February 2001. Segun Runsewe, my friend and former Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture, (NCAC), was on the same trip. That innovation by BA which has been sustained into the 25th year now, has reduced the hassles, troubles and traumas of travellers who previously had to board local flights from Abuja to Murtala Mohammed International Airport, (MMIA), Lagos, before connecting to London. He had so much belief in my ability to make so much authorial capital out of situations and experiences with my pen, even when others cannot seem to find that pin in a haystack. His generosity of spirit knew no boundaries. When yuletide hampers streamed in for him, he would typically invite me to his home to take my pick from a host of gifts, boxes and baskets in his place.
Iyal, who would have been 70 this year, was an alumnus of the Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU), Zaria. He was trained in some of the best flying schools around the world, beginning from the iconic Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, (NCAT), Zaria. He was certified as assistant flying instructor at Rogers Aviation, Belford, United Kingdom, and logged four full decades in the cockpit, classroom and administrator’s desk, all within the aviation ecosystem. He was knowledgeable, immensely articulate and was never shy of facing the cameras and mini-recorders of prying journalists who desired information on the state of the aviation industry. He once served as a Board Member of the Skyway Aviation Handling Company Ltd, providers of ground handling services. He equally headed the aviation committee of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, (NAHCON), responsible for the safe and seamless freighting of Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, for years.
Captain Shehu Usman Iyal, who was deservedly decorated with the respected national honour of *Officer of the Order of the Niger, (OON),* for his services to national development was a genuine gentleman. He would typically walk his guests to their cars or to their homes, like when we resided in the same housing estate. This was the same way he accompanied them to the elevators of the serviced apartment he lived in Abuja in recent years. He will be missed for his inquisitiveness, his laughter, his smiles, his infinite capacities as an exemplary brother and host. He passed in Lagos Thursday May 15, 2025, and his body was flown to Zaria his birthplace early the next day, Friday May 16, for interment. May his soul rest peacefully in the bosom of the Most High God.
*Tunde Olusunle, PhD, Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA), is an Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Abuja*
Dangote Splashes N11bn in Gifts, Cash on Cement Distributors, Customers at Awards Nite
L-R: MD/CEO, Gilbert Igweka Global Concepts Nig. Ltd, Chief Gilbert Igweka, receiving the 2nd runner-up award of Top National Distributor, from Chairman, Dangote Cement Plc, Aliko Dangote at Dangote Cement Plc Customer Awards and Gala Nite, in Lagos on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
L-R: Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Olakunle Alake; Independence Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Ernest Ebi; Independence Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Emmanuel Ikazoboh; CEO, Nwa Ado Multi Biz Limited, Chief Akukalia Ikwueme, receiving the 1st runner-up award of Top National Distributor from Chairman, Dangote Cement Plc, Aliko Dangote; Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Abdu Dantata; Group Executive Director, Commercial Operations, Dangote Industries Limited, Fatima Aliko Dangote; GMD/CEO, Dangote Cement Plc, Arvind Pathak; Independence Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Dorothy Udeme Ufot at Dangote Cement Plc Customer Awards and Gala Nite, in Lagos on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
L-R: CEO, Nwa Ado Multi Biz Limited, Chief Akukalia Ikwueme, receiving the 1st runner-up award of Top National Distributor from Chairman, Dangote Cement Plc, Aliko Dangote, at Dangote Cement Plc Customer Awards and Gala Nite, in Lagos on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
L-R: MD/CEO, Kazab Heritage Limited, Otunba Kazeem Odeyeyiwa, with his wife, Chief (Mrs) Adesola Olaide Odeyeyiwa receiving the winner award of Top National Distributor from Chairman, Dangote Cement Plc, Aliko Dangote, at Dangote Cement Customer Plc Awards and Gala Nite, in Lagos on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
L-R: Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Olakunle Alake; Independence Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Ernest Ebi; Independence Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Emmanuel Ikazoboh; MD/CEO, Gilbert Igweka Global Concepts Nig. Ltd, Chief Gilbert Igweka; MD/CEO, Kazab Heritage Limited, Otunba Kazeem Odeyeyiwa; Chairman, Dangote Cement Plc, Aliko Dangote; Otunba Kazeem Odeyeyiwa’s wife, Chief (Mrs) Adesola Olaide Odeyeyiwa; CEO, Nwa Ado Multi Biz Limited, Chief Akukalia Ikwueme, Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Abdu Dantata; Group Executive Director, Commercial Operations, Dangote Industries Limited, Fatima Aliko Dangote; GMD/CEO, Dangote Cement Plc, Arvind Pathak; Independence Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Dorothy Udeme Ufot at Dangote Cement Plc Customer Awards and Gala Nite, in Lagos on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
L-R: Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Olakunle Alake; Independence Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Ernest Ebi; Independence Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Emmanuel Ikazoboh; MD/CEO, Gilbert Igweka Global Concepts Nig. Ltd, Chief Gilbert Igweka, receiving the 2nd runner-up award of Top National Distributor, from Chairman, Dangote Cement Plc, Aliko Dangote; Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Abdu Dantata; Group Executive Director, Commercial Operations, Dangote Industries Limited, Fatima Aliko Dangote; GMD/CEO, Dangote Cement Plc, Arvind Pathak; Independence Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Dorothy Udeme Ufot at Dangote Cement Plc Customer Awards and Gala Nite, in Lagos on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
L-R: Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Olakunle Alake; Independence Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Ernest Ebi; Independence Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Emmanuel Ikazoboh; MD/CEO, Kazab Heritage Limited, Otunba Kazeem Odeyeyiwa, with his wife, Chief (Mrs) Adesola Olaide Odeyeyiwa receiving the winner award of Top National Distributor from Chairman, Dangote Cement Plc, Aliko Dangote; Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Abdu Dantata; Group Executive Director, Commercial Operations, Dangote Industries Limited, Fatima Aliko Dangote; GMD/CEO, Dangote Cement Plc, Arvind Pathak; Independence Non-Executive Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Dorothy Udeme Ufot at Dangote Cement Plc Customer Awards and Gala Nite, in Lagos on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
For their continued loyalty and patronage, Dangote Cement Plc has rewarded its distributors and customers with various choice gift items and cash worth N11 billion.
At the 2025 edition of its Customers Awards & Gala Nite held in Lagos, a premium celebration dedicated to recognising and rewarding its highest-performing distributors, with the theme ‘Let’s Acceler8’, the cement giant rewarded its distributors with gift items comprising several CNG trucks, containers filled with products, and cash valued at over N11 billion.
Welcoming customers of the company to the distributors’ award ceremony, Chairman of Dangote Cement / President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, commended the distributors for their unwavering commitment and resilience “in driving our business forward, even amidst economic challenges.”
He lauded “their perseverance and determination in ensuring our products remain available in the market. Thanks to your efforts, we have secured over 57 per cent of the market share, and we encourage you to continue pushing for more growth.”
Dangote noted that “this year’s theme serves as a rallying call for unity and collective growth as we strive for unmatched market leadership in 2025. This theme reflects the strength of our partnership with valued customers, which continues to drive the success of Dangote Cement.”
He also noted that “Our leadership in the building and construction sector is rooted in this mutually beneficial relationship. Also, the partnership has been instrumental in elevating us to the position of Africa’s largest cement producer.”
He said, “in appreciation of the hard work, unflinching loyalty, and commitment of our esteemed customers in the year 2024, we are rewarding you with gift items and cash valued at over N11 billion. We are also celebrating our valued corporate customers, who have consistently chosen our cement products for a wide array of construction projects.”
He assured the stakeholders of the Company’s commitment to research and continuous improvement in its production processes and the highest quality products.
In his welcome address, Group Managing Director of Dangote Cement Plc, Arvind Pathak, stated, “Tonight, we celebrate the pivotal role our customers play in ensuring the widespread availability of our products across every region of Nigeria. We recognise and appreciate your remarkable efforts in driving the sales, distribution, and usage of our products throughout the year 2024.”
He said, “The outstanding performance of our company, especially in the past year, is a testament to your collective commitment and resilience. We are thankful for your continued dedication, which has made our products visible across all geopolitical regions. As vital partners in our value chain, from quarry to customer, your role is instrumental.
“To support your growth, we have distributed over 5,000 containers to various retailers. This initiative not only enhances our business value but also ensures that consumers receive products with an extended shelf life directly from the factory. In alignment with our chairman’s vision, we aim to distribute an additional 4,000 containers to our customers and retailers this year.”
Pathak added, “In line with DCP’s commitment to sustainability and the country’s clean fuel policy, we are transitioning our fleet of over 7,000 trucks from AGO to CNG by the end of 2026.
“We are making significant investments in new CNG trucks and the necessary infrastructure to support this transition. Currently, 3,100 trucks are operational, and our initiatives in alternative fuel utilisation have gained global recognition, with Dangote Cement receiving a commendable score from CDP in climate change and water security.”
He pointed out that “we are excited to reward some of our customers who have shown outstanding performance with CNG trucks to further develop their businesses. These rewards demonstrate our dedication to supporting our customers’ growth and commitment to sustainability. We are focused on strengthening the partnerships that have positioned us as the leading civil manufacturer in the nation.”
The Group Executive Director of Commercial Operations at Dangote Industries Limited, Fatima Aliko Dangote, acknowledged the significant contributions of the distributors. She emphasised the importance of their outstanding performance and achievements to the company’s sales growth and market expansion in 2024.
She noted that their efforts play a crucial role in sustaining public awareness and developing a market for Dangote’s cement products.
Aliko Dangote identified and highlighted the distributors as the backbone of the company’s growth and success, and encouraged them to aim for even higher performance levels in 2025.
The awards categories were in phases; Regional Award, Growth Award, Best Performing Customers.
WE HAVE MADE UNDENIABLE PROGRESS:
PRESIDENT BOLA TINUBU’S STATEMENT ON THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF HIS ADMINISTRATION ON MAY 29, 2025
Fellow Nigerians, as we mark the second anniversary of our administration, I salute your resilience and undaunted spirit. Two years ago, you entrusted me with the sacred responsibility to lead our nation at a time of historic challenges. Together, we have faced these headwinds with courage and determination.
The economic and general situation of the country I inherited required that we redirect the country’s affairs with a bold and new vision. I immediately implemented two necessary policies to stop our country from further drifting into the precipice. It was apparent that if the federal government and the other two tiers of government must remain viable and cater to the citizens’ welfare, we must do away with decades-long fuel subsidies and the corruption-ridden multiple foreign exchange windows. The two were no longer sustainable and have become a chokehold on our nation’s neck, strangling our nation’s future.
While our administration has implemented the reforms to restore and reinvigorate our national economy and strengthen our social fabric as a strong and united country, I must thank my fellow citizens for your unrelenting support and belief in the grand vision we share to uplift our nation and renew our collective hopes and aspirations.
We are halfway through the journey that began 24 months ago. Today, May 29, 2025, offers our administration the opportunity to share again how far we have gone and our progress in steering our country along the critical path of socio-economic development.
When we embarked on this journey, propelled by a burst of hope and abiding faith in Nigeria’s unity and progress, I made a pledge before God and fellow countrymen and women to confront Nigeria’s challenges head-on by rebuilding trust, fostering prosperity, and restoring our nation’s economic health. Today, I proudly affirm that our economic reforms are working. We are on course to building a greater, more economically stable nation.
Under our Renewed Hope Agenda, our administration pledged to tackle economic instability, improve security nationwide, reduce corruption, reform governance, and lift our people out of poverty.
While implementing the reforms necessary to strengthen our economy and deliver shared prosperity, we have remained honest by acknowledging some of the difficulties experienced by our compatriots and families. We do not take your patience for granted. I must restate that the only alternative to the reforms our administration initiated was a fiscal crisis that would have bred runaway inflation, external debt default, crippling fuel shortages, a plunging Naira, and an economy in a free-fall.
Despite the bump in the cost of living, we have made undeniable progress.
Inflation has begun to ease, with rice prices and other staples declining. The oil and gas sector is recovering; rig counts are up by over 400% in 2025 compared to 2021, and over $8 billion in new investments have been committed. We have stabilised our economy and are now better positioned for growth and prepared to withstand global shocks.
In 2025, we remain on track with our fiscal targets. Gross proceeds per barrel from crude oil are broadly aligned with our forecasts as we intensify our efforts to ramp up production. Our fiscal deficit has narrowed sharply from 5.4% of GDP in 2023 to 3.0% in 2024. We achieved this through improved revenue generation and greater transparency in government finances. In the first quarter of this year, we recorded over N6 trillion in revenue.
We have discontinued Ways & Means financing, which has been a major contributor to high and sticky inflation. The NNPC, no longer burdened by unsustainable fuel subsidies, is now a net contributor to the Federation Account. We are also achieving fuel supply security through local refining.
Our debt position is improving. While foreign exchange revaluation pushed our debt-to-GDP ratio to around 53%, our debt service-to-revenue ratio dropped from nearly 100% in 2022 to under 40% by 2024. We paid off our IMF obligations and grew our net external reserves by almost 500% from $4 billion in 2023 to over $23 billion by the end of 2024.
Thanks to our reforms, state revenue increased by over N6 trillion in 2024, ensuring that subnational governments can reduce their debt burden, meet salaries and pension obligations on a timely basis, and invest more in critical infrastructure and human capital development.
One of our administration’s most impactful achievements is our bold tax reform agenda, which is already yielding results. By the end of 2024, our tax-to-GDP ratio rose from 10% to over 13.5%, a remarkable leap in just one year. This was not by accident. It results from deliberate improvement in our tax administration and policies designed to make our tax system fairer, more efficient, and more growth-oriented.
We are eliminating the burden of multiple taxation, making it easier for small businesses to grow and join the formal economy. The tax reforms will protect low-income households and support workers by expanding their disposable income. Essential goods and services such as food, education, and healthcare will now attract 0% VAT. Rent, public transportation, and renewable energy will be fully exempted from VAT to reduce household costs further.
We are ending the era of wasteful and opaque tax waivers. Instead, we have introduced targeted and transparent incentives supporting high-impact manufacturing, technology, and agriculture sectors. These reforms are not just about revenue but about stimulating inclusive economic growth.
There is a deliberate focus on our youth, who a friendlier tax environment for digital jobs and remote work will empower. Through export incentives, Nigerian businesses will be able to compete globally. Our National Single Window project streamlines international trade, reduces delays, and enhances Nigeria’s competitiveness.
To promote fairness and accountability, we are establishing a Tax Ombudsman, an independent institution that will protect vulnerable taxpayers and ensure the system works for everyone, especially small businesses.
Most importantly, we are laying the foundation for a more sustainable future by introducing a new national fiscal policy. This strategic framework will guide our approach to fair taxation, responsible borrowing, and disciplined spending.
These reforms are designed to reduce the cost of living, promote economic justice, and build a business-friendly economy that attracts investment and supports every Nigerian. Together, we are creating a system where prosperity is shared, and no one is left behind.
We have breathed new life into the Solid Minerals sector as part of our efforts to diversify the economy. Revenue has increased phenomenally, and investors are setting up processing plants as the sector dumps the old pit-to-port policy and embraces a new value-added policy.
We have also repositioned our health sector despite all odds.
Over 1,000 Primary Health Centres are being revitalised nationwide. An additional 5,500 PHCs are being upgraded under our Renewed Hope Health Agenda. We are establishing Six new cancer treatment centres. Three are ready. We offer free dialysis services in pilot tertiary hospitals and subsidise the service in others. Under the Presidential Maternal Health Initiative, over 4,000 women have undergone free cesarean sections. Lastly, we have expanded Health Insurance Coverage from 16 million to 20 million within two years.
As a result of our bold and deliberate policies, the economy is growing stronger again. Real GDP rose by 4.6% in Q4 2024, with full-year growth of 3.4%. This is one of the strongest in a decade.
Without a responsive and reliable national security infrastructure that can protect lives and properties, our economy will not perform optimally, and those who seek to harm us will impair and disrupt our way of life. Our administration is committed to the security and safety of our people. For our government, protecting our people and their peaceful way of life is the utmost priority.
Since I assumed our country’s leadership, our administration has improved collaboration among security agencies, increased intelligence-driven operations, and better ensured the welfare of our armed forces and security personnel. I use this opportunity to salute the courage and everyday sacrifice of our service men and women. We may not always witness the tremendous efforts they make to keep us safe, but we benefit every day from the results of their dedication. Even if we do not thank them often enough, they willingly face danger so we can go about our lives freely and without fear.
Our military, police, and intelligence agencies are committed to always responding to emerging security threats and new challenges because it is the patriotic duty they owe a grateful nation.
Amid the new security challenges, we can report some successes. In some areas of the northwest, hitherto under the control of bandits, our gallant armed forces have restored order, reducing and eliminating threats to lives and livelihoods. With the success achieved, farmers are back tilling the land to feed us. Highways, hitherto dangerous for travellers, have become safer. Our security agencies have succeeded many times in rescuing the abducted citizens from the hands of their tormentors. I promise you, we shall remain vigilant, as I told security chiefs during the last meeting to up their game and collaborate to end this plague of evil men. Every Nigerian deserves to live without fear.
Outside of Security, we have prioritised human capital development as a central pillar of our national development strategy.
To this end, we have significantly expanded access to quality education through infrastructure investments and the student loan scheme to support indigent students in tertiary institutions. Through the Renewed Hope Health initiative, our administration has begun equipping health facilities and deploying skilled personnel to unserved areas. We are also strengthening our response to public health threats and implementing targeted social investment schemes.
Our youth empowerment initiatives include access to funds, skill development, and creating employment opportunities. Through our MSME support, we empower the next generation and bridge inequality. In our mission to empower the next generation, we have taken bold steps to place young Nigerians at the heart of national development. Nowhere is this more evident than at the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), where the current management is making giant strides. NASENI has embraced a digital-first approach, introduced real-time dashboards, and implemented end-to-end e-procurement through its Unified ERP System—setting a new governance benchmark for public institutions.
Through bold, high-impact programmes like Innovate Naija, Irrigate Nigeria, the Asset Restoration Programme, and the Renewable Energy and Innovation Park in Gora, NASENI drives inclusive industrialisation at scale. From assembling electric vehicles and reviving idle assets to launching Africa’s most advanced Rapid Diagnostic Kit Factory and training female drone engineers through the NASCAV programme, these initiatives are creating jobs, restoring dignity to work, and opening up a future of possibilities for our youth. This is the movement we promised—a government of action powered by the energy and innovation of young Nigerians.
Agriculture and food security are top priorities of our Renewed Hope Agenda. We have launched aggressive initiatives to boost local food production, support farmers, and stabilise food prices. We have also invested in mechanised farming by procuring thousands of tractors, other farming tools, and fertilisers.
Under the Renewed Hope Agenda, the federal government has continued with major road construction and rehabilitation projects across all geopolitical zones, from the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Dual Carriageway, the 9th Mile-Oturkpo-Makurdi Road, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Abuja-Lokoja-Benin Road, Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, Oyo-OgbomosoRoad, Sokoto-Badagry Road, Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, Second Niger Bridge Access Road to Bodo-Bonny Road among hundreds of ongoing road projects across the country.
We have launched initiatives to improve electricity generation by upgrading generation and transmission infrastructure and investing in off-grid solar energy to power our homes, business premises, industries, schools and hospitals.
In the spirit of democracy and national renewal, we are preparing to welcome the world to Nigeria soon for the Motherland Festival. This landmark gathering will spotlight our rich heritage, dynamic creative industries, and the vibrant energy of our people. It will showcase Nigeria’s beauty through tourism, culture, and innovation, inviting the world to rediscover our nation.
The Nigerian diaspora plays a vital role in our national transformation. Their expertise, investment, and global perspective are key to shaping the future we seek. In recognition, the government has introduced policies like the diaspora bond and the non-resident Bank Verification Number to make it easier for Nigerians abroad to invest, engage, and contribute meaningfully to the country’s progress.
The Motherland Festival will bring together voices from across the continent and the diaspora in a decisive moment of unity and purpose, affirming that Nigeria is not only a leader in Africa but a committed global partner ready to engage, inspire, and lead.
Once again, I acknowledge the sacrifices many Nigerians have made and continue to make as we reposition our country, not just for today but for generations yet unborn. Our journey is not over, but our direction is clear. So is our resolve to tackle emerging challenges. By the Grace of God, we are confident that the worst is behind us. The real impact of our governance objectives is beginning to take hold. The future is bright, and together, we will build a stronger, more inclusive Nigeria that we can all be proud of.
Thank you all, and May God continue to bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU,
ASO ROCK,
ABUJA
29/5/2025
Achieving a brighter future for Nigerian children
By Ayo Oyoze Baje
Quote:
“A Nigerian child who survives at birth is faced with hunger and malnutrition. Our nation today is home to over 18 million out-of-school children, among the highest in the world. This is not just a statistic — it is a deep national wound”
– Peter Obi ( Labour Party Presidential candidate, 2023 )
With the 2025 Children ‘s Day theme anchored on the moving mantra of: “Stand Up, Speak Up: Building a Bullying-Free Generation,” it should serve as a clarion call on all the stakeholders in the significant function of child upbringing. That is, to walk the talk on providing a safe, secure, morally sound environment with access to quality education and healthcare delivery that are affordable for the socio-economic development of the Nigerian child, for now and the future. That of course, involves the critical role parents, teachers, opinion leaders, religious and traditional rulers in addition to that of the government have to play in safeguarding their lives and providing for their welfare. This has become imperative considering the dire economic situation that the present generation of our children are battling with.
Though President Bola Tinubu in his speech on the Children ‘s Day pledged to prioritize child protection under the Renewed Hope Agenda, with the full implementation of Nigeria’s National Plan of Action on Ending Violence Against Children (2024–2030), which he recently launched he has to be reminded on the root causes of violence against children. These include the escalating wave of poverty, hunger, joblessness amidst high cost of living. These have affected that of food items , fuel, electricity tariff, taxes, school fees, and of course rents all of which have skyrocketed over the past two years of his administration.
In as much as his plan to provide a comprehensive roadmap to prevent abuse, prosecute perpetrators, and support victims, backed by robust financing and multi-sectoral coordination are commendable initiatives, the fear factor right from the family level through educational and Industrial sectors will persist as long as the operational environment is harsh on both the psychological and physical wellbeing of the average Nigerian citizen.
All the same, his administration should take decisive steps to prevent, detect, and respond to all forms of violence against children, as promised. So, it is good to note that his government has initiated a comprehensive review of the Child Rights Act (2003) and the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (2015). The aim is to expand the scope of protection, strengthen their provisions, close implementation gaps, and ensure nationwide enforcement. Also notable is the that of leveraging the Cybercrime Act, which is in full force, to protect children from cyberbullying, exploitation, and abuse
Similarly, it is worthy of commendation that the 36 states of the federation have domesticated the Child Rights Act. This, according to Tinubu reflects the governments’ collective resolve to protect and provide for the welfare of children. And with the introduction of the National Policy on Safety, Security, and Violence-Free Schools and developed Guidelines for School Administrators, the learning environment should be free from fear and all forms of threats and intimidation.
Of significance also is the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children. Its noble aim is to create inclusive pathways for every child to learn, thrive, and succeed, regardless of background. That reminds of the Almajiri School Program under the then President Goodluck Jonathan. It should have been sustained devoid of political sentiments. As Peter Obi rightly noted: “Each out-of-school child represents a dream deferred, a future endangered, and a country that is failing to uphold its most sacred responsibility.”
With specific regards to the children ‘s welfare urgent steps should be taken to reduce the scourge of poverty. In fact, a 2024 UNICEF report revealed that around 11 million children here in Nigeria are suffering from severe food poverty, with one in four under the age of five stunted due to malnutrition—particularly in rural areas. That on its own is a form of brutality. So is that of the 2022 National Bureau of Statistics report which found that 46.5% of Nigerian children aged 5–14 were engaged in child labour.
Yet, with the 2023 report from UNICEF estimating that over 110 million people under the age of 18 live in Nigeria no effort should be spared to ensure that this national asset is provided with the best quality of life. But doing so would involve the contribution of all the stakeholders. Certainly, all manner of terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers, yahoo-yahoo scammers and drug traffickers come from one home or the other. If the parents are there for them they would not be engaged with such crimes and criminality.
Both the state and federal governments should learn some lessons from the laudable initiatives of one of the most patriotic Nigerians, the Efik-born Prof. Eyo It’s. He returned to Nigeria from the United States in 1933 after clinching two Masters Degrees and a doctorate degree in Philosophy. Concerned about the future of Nigerian children the educationist saw to the birth of the Nigerian Youth Movement, NYM. He predicated his vision on the palm philosophy with the five fingers of Health, Economy,Beauty, Knowledge, Patriotism and Religion. He was passionate about young Nigerians who would be well educated and resourceful, to become useful citizens to the country. That was during the colonial era. If he could actively engage the young minds then why not our current leaders in the first quarter of the 21st Century?
In fact, so impactful was the NYM in the training of young Nigerian doctors,lawyers and teachers that in that same 1933 the likes of Dr. J. C. Vaughan,Ernest Okoli, Samuel Akinsanya and H.O. Davies all based in Lagos keyed into the vision. With it they challenged the poor quality of the then Yaba Higher College. Its tempo and tenor spread nationwide prompting the return of the Great Zik from Ghana to kick start and give life to the dream and desire for Nigeria’s political independence. That was then.
Now we need our political leaders to drastically reduce the issue of both physical and emotional brutality. The government should therefore, provide the enabling environment for businesses to thrive. The costs of transportation, food items, electricity tariff, school fees and rents should be reduced to make them affordable. The government should reduce both the tax and debt burdens on the citizens so that the parents would be capable of meeting the financial burdens of their children. It should also come up with pro-people policies that would act as catalysts for both industrialization and good governance. With all that there will be a brighter future for Nigerian children
2027: Northern Muslim group urges Tinubu to pick Christian VP
A northern Muslim advocacy group has called on President Bola Tinubu to consider choosing a northern Christian as his running mate for the 2027 presidential election.
The group, Concerned Northern Muslim Ummah, made the call in a press statement issued on Sunday by its convener, Bala Duguri.
It said the appeal followed wide consultations across northern states with various Islamic organisations, aimed at forging a unified political direction ahead of 2027.
Duguri noted that the group’s decision stems from its support for President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which he described as yielding “positive results toward a greater Nigeria.”
“Our group has undertaken wider consultations across the northern states with different Islamic organisations in a bid to speak with one voice over the political direction in the APC-led administration. The outcome is very encouraging,” Duguri said.
He emphasised that, based on their findings, there was a growing consensus that political equity and fairness demanded a religious balance in the 2027 ticket.
“We have carefully considered the present situation of our country, coupled with deep concern for the well-being of our people, in the spirit of fairness, equity, and justice,” he said.
The group acknowledged the success of the Muslim-Muslim ticket during the 2023 elections, attributing it partly to the support of the Christian community, and called for that gesture to be reciprocated.
“The sacrifices made by our fellow Christian brothers and sisters in the 2023 presidential elections, in the spirit of unity and national progress, need to be acknowledged. It’s time for Muslim political actors to make similar sacrifices,” Duguri added.
The statement appealed to potential Muslim vice-presidential aspirants within the APC to step aside and support the nomination of a Christian running mate in 2027.
“As a Muslim organisation, we use this opportunity to call on all potential Muslim nominees for the vice presidential slot to make the necessary sacrifice by dropping their ambitions for the good of the country.”
The group also urged President Tinubu, the APC National Executive Committee, the National Working Committee, the Board of Trustees, the Progressive Governors Forum, and other stakeholders to consider its appeal in the spirit of unity, equity, and justice.
Duguri stressed that the recommendation was not merely political but rooted in a genuine concern for national cohesion, democratic stability, and the continued success of Tinubu’s administration.
“After extensive consultations across religious, ethnic, and political lines in the North, we believe the most appropriate step forward is for a Northern Christian to be selected as the Vice Presidential candidate in 2027,” he said.
The group pledged to continue engagement with major religious and traditional institutions, including the NSCIA, JIBWIS, CAN, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, JNI, and the Northern Traditional Institution, to lobby for support for their position.
“This move will not only stabilise our democracy but also improve the electoral chances of President Tinubu, who, with this adjustment, will surely win by a landslide,” the group stated.
However, its call is in sharp contrast to that of Borno State APC stakeholders who have called on President Tinubu to retain Vice President Kashim Shettima, a Muslim from Borno State, as his running mate.
The Borno APC made the call in April in a communiqué issued following a critical stakeholders meeting held at the Multi-Purpose Hall of the Government House, Maiduguri.
“The meeting prayed for Mr. President to retain His Excellency Senator Kashim Shettima as his Vice President for his second term,” the communiqué read in part.
IS ATIKU “SERUBAWON?”
By Tunde Olusunle
Politics in Nigeria over the years has always been denominated by notable peculiarities. This of course is relative to time and season. The gamut of its aesthetics resides in the frills and thrills, dramas and theatrics, which it throws up. Electioneering engenders colourful rallies in stadia and open arenas, complete with songs, chants and dance. Oftentimes, such events build up into resplendent carnival crescendos in the African sunshine. Roadshows offer similar excitement, music booming and blaring from loudspeakers mounted on branded automobiles, electrifying the streets and cities, as huge processions accompany mobile platforms. It is the season when aliases are minted and sobriquets conjured, when major political dramatis personae are conferred with novel honorifics and nomenclatures.
Nigeria’s First and Second Republic politics featured notable legends like Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo; Samuel Ladoke Akintola; Augustus Meredith Adisa Akinloye; Moses Adekoyejo Majekodunmi; Busari Adelakun and Adeniran Ogunsanya, from Nigeria’s present day South West. From the South East came icons like Alvan Azinna Ikoku; Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe; Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe; Michael Iheonukara Okpara, while today’s global North had the Abubakar Tafawa Balewas; Sa’adu Zungurs; Aminu Kanos; Yusuf Maitama Sules, among others. Awolowo was nicknamed Awo evidently derived from the full spelling of his surname, while the fearless, daring Adelakun was festooned with the alias Eruobodo, which means the “river fears no one.” For his pan-Africanist endeavours, Azikiwe was commonly referred to as Zik of Africa, while Aminu Kano was the Baba’n Talakawa, on account of his strident advocacy for the proletariat, the down-trodden.
Aliasing on the political trail subsists even up until the present. Lamidi Adedibu a colossus in the politics of Oyo State in his time, was reputed for his affinity with the underprivileged. As many urchins and street kids who accessed his expansive home in Molete, Ibadan, were assured of regular meals, the staple being amala, yam flour. While Adedibu in one breath was the exemplar of amala politics, he was also famously known as Alaafin Molete. Alaafin is the title of the king of Oyo, a foremost kingdom in Yoruba and Nigerian history. Adedibu was said to have been eminently influential in his district, Molete, Ibadan, his hands strengthened by the swarming army of youngsters beholden to him as their ultimate benefactor. His wishes were his commands. The title of Alaafin, arguably the Number One royal in Oyo State, was therefore appropriated and honorarily bestowed on him. For as long as he lived, Adedibu was a major factor in the politics of Oyo State, whose voice indeed echoed in Aso Villa, seat of national governance.
Nigeria’s botched Third Republic brought forth Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke as Governor of Osun State, in January 1992. He was a very cosmopolitan and charismatic personality who was born in Enugu in Nigeria’s South East. He was noted for the remarkable styling of his headgear, which pointed skywards like that of a chef, as against the norm in Yoruba land. He contested for the governorship of Osun State on the platform of the extinct Social Democratic Party, (SDP) and won, just months after the creation of the entity in August 1991. The manner of his first time sweep of the gubernatorial poll earned him the sobriquet Serubawon, the one dreaded by his adversaries. Isiaka Adeleke’s younger brother, Ademola Adeleke who like his older sibling is Governor of Osun State, has since adopted and popularised his brother’s signature cap. Such are the variegated spin-offs of politics in our own part of the world.
Conversations around Nigeria’s 2027 presidential poll have begun rather early. The administration of President Bola Tinubu is barely two years in office, yet the national space has been drowned in the din of an election which is more than 700 days away. Cross-carpeting and defections have assumed fever-pitch as politicians try to secure their places in the political scheme, post-2027. Governors, parliamentarians, government appointees, serving and retired continue to move around like yo-yos. Their whole lives, their eternal relevance seem solely predicated on the sustenance of their proboscis, deep inside the torso of our collective patrimony. Many politicians in the present milieu have become permanent fixtures in our politics. As though they are the only Nigerians capable of adding value to governance and nation-building.
Proclamations about Tinubu being the sole presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) in the 2027 presidential ticket have been made. He will run unopposed. Olusegun Obasanjo, the First President of the ongoing Fourth Republic, was challenged at the 2003 presidential primary of his party at the time, the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), by no less a politician and statesman, than Alex Ekwueme, Nigeria’s Second Republic Vice President, a foundation member of the PDP. This underscores the politics of accommodation promoted by Obasanjo a strong President in his own era. Affirmations are equally being chanted, as affixture to the on your mandate we shall stand chant, popularised by Tinubu promoters during the 2022/2023 electioneering exercise. Mere mortals are making matter-of-fact declarations and pronouncements with the manner of certitude and conviction about the future which presupposes they know the plans and workings of the mind of the Almighty God Himself.
Nigeria’s former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has remained a very formidable factor in Nigeria’s politics since the days of the primordial SDP, back in 1992. Despite being a newcomer to partisan politics having just retired from public service at the time, Atiku posted a notably strong performance for a newbie at the party’s presidential primary in 1993. This ensured he was a decider in the subsequent emergence of Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, (MKO), as presidential candidate of the SDP. Abiola beat Baba Gana Kingibe, in the runoff between both men, in Jos that year, largely because of Atiku’s personal sacrifice. Atiku continued to hone his skills as a politician, build cross-national friendships and relationships and to align with democratic elements even under the dreadful regime of Nigeria’s former pseudo-maximum ruler, Sani Abacha. He was tracked to his Kaduna home by Abacha agents and attacked. A number of armed security operatives on guard in his house were neutralised just as he escaped by the whiskers and went into exile.
Atiku was Governor-elect of Adamawa State, early 1999. He was awaiting inauguration when he was chosen to pair Obasanjo’s presidential ticket, after the PDP presidential primary. Instructively, the primary took place in Jos, where the SDP presidential primary in which he previously participated, held six years before. The Obasanjo/Atiku ticket won the presidential election proper and Atiku Abubakar became the First Vice President of Nigeria subsisting Fourth Republic. Talk about one politician who has friends and associates across all of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas and you find that in Atiku Abubakar. He needs not grope in the dark searching for acolytes. And because he is ever in touch with his affiliates and foot soldiers, they rally spontaneously to his beckoning and causes.
If there is one politician today whose name evokes trepidation in the ranks of the establishment, that person has to be Atiku Abubakar. His vast public service experience; his successful forays into the private sector; his profound knowledge of the Nigerian conundrum; his deft organisational skills; his flexibility as a team player; his charm and charisma, combine to underline his formidability. Concerned Nigerians in recent weeks and months, have been reaching out to Atiku to lead the charge for change in the nation’s political leadership. While the overall socioeconomic health of the nation is draped in gloss and fine print by incumbents, the situation is excruciating on the streets. There is palpable hunger, worsened by skyrocketing inflation. Insecurity continues to pummel the citizenry by way of kidnappings, banditry, insurgency and wanton killings across the breadth of the country. Depression has accentuated suicide rates as many succumb to despair and despondency. The national space is thick and dark with tangible foreboding.
True, Nigeria’s opposition parties are almost irredeemably discombobulated as we speak. The very thought of Atiku commitedly attempting to sew a pathway out of the tatters, however, is very concerning to the status quo. The experience of the 2023 presidential election where the APC capitalised on the fact of the dismemberment of the PDP behemoth into three political smithereens remains very fresh. Hopefully, political archaeologists will some day unearth the debauchery and chicanery which attended the tallying of the final results of that election. To forestall a recurrence of that incident, a viable cross-party partnership is being conceived to rescue Nigeria from its present abyss, as Nigerians continue to agonise about the glaring failures and failings of the incumbent regime. This underlines mass angst, with the Tinubu administration consistently fingered for excruciating hardship and the attendant national lachrymose.
The evolving political alliance calculated to confront the incumbent dispensation, is gathering adherents by the day. At the centre of this movement is Atiku Abubakar whose every guest, every visit to like-minded politicians, every event he participates in, evokes interest and debate, in opposing political quarters. Atiku is fittingly the contemporary Serubawon. He is the one whose sneezes reverberate across the political sphere, causing tremors in the ranks of his adversaries. The journey to 2027, by the way, is just beginning. There are no foreclosures as yet. Not at all.
Tunde Olusunle, PhD, Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA), is an Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Abuja