Category: Security

By Tunde Olusunle

It may be well over two years to the next cycle of general elections in Nigeria. For the people of Apa/Agatu federal constituency in Benue South, however, the measure of their participation and integration into the governance scheme will be defined in the run-up to the general polls that year. Nine local government areas make up the predominantly Idoma country of Benue State also labelled Zone C in the senatorial tripod of the geo-polity. The zone is also home to the Igede ethnic stock and the Etulo. Local government areas in “Benue Zone C” include: Apa, Agatu, Oju, Obi, Ado, Ogbadibo, Okpokwu, Otukpo and Ohimini. The other zones, Benue North East and Benue North West, are wholly dominated by the Tiv nationality, striding across 14 local government areas. They are christened Zone A and Zone B in the local political scheme of the state. Federal constituencies in Benue South are: Apa/Agatu, Oju/Obi; Ado/Ogbadibo/Opokwu and Otukpo/Ohimini.

The subjugation of groups and ethnicities considered demographically smaller, by the larger groups which has dominated Nigeria’s politics over time, has not been any different for the Idoma of Benue State. Until the circumstantial emergence of a Yahaya Bello from the Ebira ethnicity in Kogi State in 2015, the Igala had the relay baton of governorship of Kogi State, in rounds and succession. The Ebiras and the Okun-Yoruba zones in the state could only aspire to be serial deputies or Secretaries to the State Government. This political template was virtually cast in stone. The Ilorin people of Kwara State have similarly wholly warehoused the gubernatorial office, sparingly conceding the position to other sociocultural groups in the state.

The only exception was the concession of the seat to a candidate from Kwara South, in the person of Abdulfatah Ahmed, by his predecessor, Bukola Saraki in 2011. Even at that, there were murmurs and dissent from those who believed Ahmed came from a community too close to the Ilorin emirate to be of genuine Igbomina stock, which prides itself as the pure Yoruba species in Kwara State.

Twenty-six years into the Fourth Republic, the maximum proximity of the Idoma to Government House, Makurdi, has been by the customary allocation of the Deputy Governor’s slot to its people. Ogirri Ajene from Oju/Obi, the charismatic blue-blood of blessed memory, was deputy to George Akume, incumbent Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), from 1999 to 2007. Akume it was reported, genuinely desired to be succeeded by Ajene who exhibited competence and loyalty and could build on their legacies. The Tiv nation we understand, shot down the proposal. Gabriel Suswam succeeded Akume and had the urbane multipreneur, Stephen Lawani from Ogbadibo as deputy. Samuel Ortom, a Minister in the Goodluck Jonathan presidency who took over from Suswam opted for Benson Abounu, an engineer from Otukpo as running mate, while Hyacinth Alia, the Catholic priest who succeeded Ortom, also chose as deputy, Samuel Ode, who was also a Minister in the Jonathan government, from Otukpo. Arising from this precedence, Apa/Agatu has not for once, been considered for a place in Government House, Makurdi.

In similar fashion, the position of Senator representing Benue South, has repeatedly precluded Apa/Agatu federal constituency. David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark a former army General from Otukpo, took the first shot at the office in 1999. He was to remain in the position for five consecutive times, a distinctive record by Nigerian standards. Mark would subsequently become President of the Senate and the third most senior political office holder in the nation’s governance scheme for a string of two terms between 2007 and 2015. He was replaced by Patrick Abba Moro, who hails from Okpokwu and was a former teacher, in 2019. Abba Moro who previously served as Minister of Interior in the Jonathan government from 2011 to 2015, won a second term at the 2023 general elections and remains substantive Senator for “Benue Zone C.” He is indeed incumbent Minority Leader of the Senate, and thus a principal officer in the leadership scheme of the “red chambers.”

While Moro is barely two years into his second term, there are suggestions that he is interested in a third term which should run from 2027 to 2031! This is the core issue which has dominated contemporary political discourse in Benue South, especially from the Apa/Agatu bloc. For Apa/Agatu, it is bad enough that they are repeatedly bypassed in the nomination of deputy governors in the scheme of state politics. It is worse that they are equally subjugated by their own kinsmen within the context of politics in Idoma and Igede land. This is particularly worrying when both local government areas constituting the Apa/Agatu federal constituency, Apa and Agatu, are not in anyway deficient in human resources to represent Benue South. Names like John Elaigwu Odogbo, the incumbent Och’Idoma and respected clergy; Isa Innocent Ekoja, renowned Professor and Librarian; Sonny Togo Echono, FNIA, OON, Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, (TETFUND), and John Mgbede, Emeritus State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Benue State, readily come to mind.

Major General R.I. Adoba, (rtd), a former Chief Training and Operations in the Nigerian Army; Professor Emmanuel Adanu, former Director of the Kaduna-based National Water Resources Institute, (NWRI) and the US-based specialist in internal medicine, Dr Raymond Audu, are eminent Apa/Agatu constituents. There are also Ada Egahi, long-serving technocrat who retired from the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, (NPHDA), and Super Eagles forward, Moses Simon, (why not, hasn’t the retired soccer star, George Opong Weah just completed his term as President of Liberia)? The Member Representing Apa/Agatu in the House of Representatives, Godday Samuel Odagboyi, an office previously held by Solomon Agidani, as well as Adamu Ochepo Entonu, is, like his predecessors, a prominent figure from the resourceful Apa/Agatu federal constituency.

The Olofu brothers, Tony Adejoh, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, (AIG), and David, PhD, a renowned management and financial strategist, who is also an Emeritus Member of the Benue State Executive Council during the Ortom dispensation, are from the same federal constituency. So is Abu Umoru, a serial entrepreneur who represents Apa State Constituency in the Benue State House of Assembly. The continuing intra-zonal alienation of Apa-Agatu from the politics of Benue Zone C, remains a sore thumb which must be clinically diagnosed and intentionally treated in the run-up to 2027.

If previous top level political office holders from Idomaland in general and Apa/Agatu in particular, had diligently applied themselves to tangible, multisectoral development of the zone and constituency, the present clamour for inclusiveness would probably been less vociferous. River Agatu which flows from Kogi State, and runs through Agatu before emptying into River Benue, is a potential game changer in the socioeconomy of Apa/Agatu, Benue South and Benue State in general. Properly harnessed, it can revolutionise agriculture and aquaculture in the state, beyond subsistence levels which are the primary vocations of the indigenous people. Rice, yam, guinea corn, millet and similar grains, thrive in the fertile soils of the area. These can support “first level” processing of produce and guarantee value addition beneficial to the primary producers, before being shipped to other markets. River Agatu can indeed be dammed to provide hydro-electricity to power the entire gamut of Idomaland.

The infrastructure deficit in Benue South with specific reference to Apa/Agatu is equally very concerning. A notable pattern in Nigerian politics is its self-centeredness, the penchant for political players to prioritise their personal wellbeing and the development of their immediate space. This has accentuated the ever recurring desire of people to ascend the political pedestals of their predecessors if that is the principal window by which they can also privilege their own primary constituents. Motorable roads are non-existent, seamless travel between communities therefore encumbered. Expectedly this has been a major impediment to subsistent trade and social engagements between constituents and their kinsmen. Primary health facilities are almost non-existent, compelling people to flock to Otukpo, headquarters of Benue South, for the minutest of medical advice and treatment.

Apa/Agatu pitiably bleeds from the relentless and condemnable activities of vagrants and bandits who have reduced the constituency into a killing field. Reports suggest that in the past 15 years, no less than 2500 lives were lost to the vicious attacks of marauders and trespassers in the area under reference. This unnerving situation has compelled engagements between concerned Apa/Agatu leaders, and the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force, (NPF). The prayer is for the swift establishment of a mobile police outpost in the troubled sub-zone to contain bloodletting. The proposal, anchored by AIG Tony Olofu, NPOM, (rtd), and Echono, has received the blessings of the police high command. At the last update, a commander for the outfit had been named, while the deployment of personnel had begun in earnest.

It is very clear that in the march towards 2027, Apa/Agatu will refuse, very vehemently, to be sidelined and trampled upon in the political scheme of their senatorial zone. Abba Moro may desire a third term in the Senate, but the people of Apa/Agatu are quick to remind him that his curriculum vitae as a politician is sufficiently sumptuous for him to yield the seat in the “red chambers” and sit back like an elder statesman. They remind you that for a man who began his working life modestly as a lecturer in the Federal Polytechnic, Ugbokolo in 1991, Abba Moro has done extremely well for himself in Nigerian politics. For reminders, Abba Moro was elected Chairman of Okpokwu local government in the state as far back as 1998. Ever since, he has remained a permanent fixture in Nigeria’s national politics.

The people of Apa/Agatu will put up a determined fight for the Benue South senatorial seat in 2027, and no one should begrudge them. They are the proverbial ram which was pushed to the wall, which must of necessity push back with angered horns to liberate itself. They are already engaging with their kith across “Benue Zone C” to ensure that intra-zonal equity, fairness and justice, prevails in communal politics.

Tunde Olusunle, PhD, Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA), teaches Creative Writing at the University of Abuja

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has approved the appointment of Prince Abimbola Owoade as the new Alaafin of Oyo.

The announcement was made in a statement on Friday by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Dotun Oyelade.

Oyelade stated that Owoade was chosen after extensive consultations and traditional divinations conducted by the Oyo kingmakers, the Oyomesi.

“Prince Abimbola Akeem Owoade, after thorough consultations and divinations, has been recommended by the Oyomesi and approved by Governor Seyi Makinde as the new Alaafin of Oyo,” the statement read.

The Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ademola Ojo, in his remarks, said the announcement ends the legal and social disputes that followed the passing of the former Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, who died on April 22, 2022.

“This decision has put to rest all the socio-legal controversies that have arisen since the transition of the late Oba Adeyemi. We urge the people of Oyo State to support the new Alaafin and join the government in celebrating this historic moment,” Ojo said.
Oyelade expressed optimism that the reign of the new Alaafin would usher in peace, unity, and prosperity for the Oyo Kingdom.

“We pray that his reign brings progress and harmony to the people of Oyo and strengthens the historic legacy of the Alaafin institution,” he added.

By Shade Damiro 

Subomi the fun loving son of billionaire businessman, Razaq Okoya, is literally swimming in troubled waters for publicly abusing the naira.

So bad is the situation that the police have arrested and detained the policeman attached to him who assisted him in abusing the naira.

In a viral video, Subomi and his brother Wahab are seen spraying naira notes while the detained officer holds stacks of the currency.

Subomi Okoya

This act violates Section 21(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, which prohibits the abuse of the nation’s currency.

Spraying or mishandling naira notes is a punishable offence. In 2024, popular socialite and cross-dresser Okuneye Idris, also known as Bobrisky, was imprisoned for a similar violation.

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) announced on its official X handle on Friday that the officer involved had been identified and detained for disciplinary action.

Subomi Okoya and the policeman 

“The policeman captured in the recent viral video shared by the sons of Lagos businessman Chief Okoya, where they were abusing the naira, has been identified and detained for disciplinary action,” the NPF stated.

The force condemned the officer’s involvement, describing his actions as unethical and contrary to the values of the police. “We remain committed to upholding the sanctity, credibility, and core values of the police force,” the statement read.

In response to the criticism, Subomi apologized via a post on his X account expressing regret for his actions.

“To the Nigerian people, my actions were not intended to cause any trouble or harm. My intentions were pure and naive,” he wrote. “I ask for your forgiveness and support as I had no intention of raising such an alarm. I wasn’t fully aware of the consequences of my action.”

By Tunde Olusunle

A studious interrogation of his educational background, offers some insight into the experiences which crystallised into his latter day exertions as a left-inclined personality and public figure. He studied Economics at the University of Port Harcourt, posting a second class upper performance with honours. He encountered acclaimed radical theorists, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin and so on in the course of his studies and research. He was mentored by the famous, radical political economist, Bade Onimode, Emeritus Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, who sadly passed at 57 in 2001, among a cream of other influencers. He would thereafter pursue a career in journalism, opting for the labour beat in a vocation which was undergoing very rapid professionalisation at the time.

The Kano-based Triumph newspapers was his first address back in 1981. It was a milieu during which almost each of Nigeria’s 19 states owned print and electronic media organisations. He thereafter underwent the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps, (NYSC), at the upcoming Concord newspapers in Lagos, between 1985 and 1986. He was engaged upon the completion of his NYSC, at the national headquarters of the Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC). He thus became one of the country’s first university graduates employed by the nation’s foremost umbrella association for Nigerian workers. The gravitation of young technocrats like him was thenceforth going to energise the labour superstructure and impact public perception of the labour movement in Nigeria.

Born in Ijagbo in Kwara State, January 8, 1961, Issa Obalowu Aremu’s life is as cosmopolitan as can be imagined. His untiring quest for knowledge has taken him around and about his home country and beyond. He has traversed educational institutions in Ilorin, Kwara State; Zaria, Kaduna State; Port Harcourt, Rivers State; Jos, Plateau State; Maryland in the United States of America, (USA), and The Hague in the Netherlands. The journey of his life has been populated by significant milestones all the way. He headed the Economics and Research Department of the NLC headquarters domiciled in Lagos at the time, between 1987 and 1989. He was on the Senior Executive Course 27 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, (NIPSS), graduating in 2005. He would later serve for two terms, 2013 to 2017, as Secretary-General of the Alumni Association of NIPSS, known by the acronym AANI. He was Vice President of the NLC for two terms, stretching from 2007 to 2015.

While on this assignment, Issa Aremu was tapped as a Delegate of the Organised Labour, to the National Conference convened by Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014, and was Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Civil Society, Labour, Youths and Sports. Aremu previously described the Conference as “wasteful and diversionary.” He canvassed good governance, in place of talkshops. His perspective was different, however, after his participation in the Conference. He confirmed in a television interview that about 500 recommendations were proposed by the assembly to issues at the heart of the nation, which received concurrence by consensus. He alluded to labour-related issues such as workers’ remuneration; pensions and gratuities; hours of work and maternity duration as some of the issues canvassed by the organised Labour.

On May 18, 2021, Issa Aremu widely known in labour and trade union circles as Comrade, was appointed Director-General of the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies, (MINILS), by the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari. The institute was established by the administration of Nigeria’s Second Republic President, Usman Shehu Shagari, in 1983. It has been suggested that Senate Leader in that era, Olusola Saraki, was largely influential in siting the institution in Kwara State, the charismatic politician’s home state. This tallies with the latter day disposition of the older Saraki’s son, Bukola, governor of Kwara State between 2003 to 2011, who substantially assisted with the construction and modernisation of structures in the institute. MINILS is supervised by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment. It is headquartered in Ilorin, Kwara State, with a number of regional outposts in select states across the country. Aremu thus became the very first core, career trade and labour practitioner to be appointed to the position.

Aremu has successfully undertaken the renovation of the training block of the institution and installed solar facilities for the supply of energy to the directorate, administrative, training and education blocks, as well as the resource centre of the organisation. From time to time, he rehabilitates the dirt access from the Ajasse-Ipo road approach, to the institution’s main gate, to ensure motorability. The said road is long overdue for asphalt or concrete tarring, both for the convenience of commuters and the health of other users, presently condemned to dangerous, daily dust inhalation. The parent ministry of the institute is reportedly collaborating with its parastatal, MINILS, and the Government of Kwara State to make the perimeters and precincts of the institution much better. Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his successor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, were very supportive of the physical development of the institute. They built accommodation facilities and resource infrastructures to augment the evolution of MINILS.

There is, reportedly, continuing tripartite dialogue about how best to relocate illegal vendors and hawkers lining the major approach entrance into MINILS, as soon as feasible. Parties in the talks are said to include the Kwara State Government; the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, and MINILS. The tertiary institution is reputed to be the only such establishment, solely devoted to capacity building for labour and trade unionists on the west coast of Africa. It is imperative to impose more sightly aesthetics around and about the 42 year old institute, both for Nigerian nationals, and potential foreign subscribers and partners. The sprawling beauty into which the older University of Ilorin within the same city as MINILS has evolved into, has become a veritable inspiration for other tertiary institutions in Kwara State. MINILS under Aremu’s leadership last year, successfully hosted the 10th National Labour Summit in its Ilorin facility.

Unknown to many, Issa Aremu is indeed a public scholar with many published works to his credit. These include: The Crises of Pricing Petroleum Products in Nigeria, and The National Union of Textiles, Garments and Tailors, both published in 2001. In 2015, four anthologies of Aremu’s essays were released namely: Reflections on Friends, Comrades and Heroes; Reflections on Industry and Economy; Reflections on Labour and Trade Unions and Reflections on Africa and Global Affairs. The reputable Malthouse Press, in Ibadan did professional justice to the aesthetics of the books. Creative alternative titles, however, should have been deployed to distinguish all four publications which titles begin with the word “Reflections.” Synonyms like “Thoughts,” “Musings,” even “Thinkings” are credible possibilities.

Aremu who still finds time to contribute to issues on the front burner of public discourse, from time to time, had previously functioned as Member, National Executive Council of the NLC and General Secretary, National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, (NUTGTWN). He was Board Member, National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, (NSIWC), and Vice President, Industrial Global Union, representing over 50 million members globally. Apart from NIPSS, Aremu was at the Institute for Social Studies, (ISS), The Hague, Netherlands from 1990 to 1991, from where he obtained a masters degree in Labour and Development. He was also at the George Meany Centre of the National Labour College in the United States, in 2003.

Issa Aremu wears an almost permanent smile on his face. He attempted the governorship of Kwara State in 2019, on the platform of the Labour Party, (LP). His endeavours as a Comrade over time have been acknowledged at various times. A Member of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, (NIPSS), since 2005, the mni appellation is affixed to his name. He also received the Nigerian Productivity Order of Merit, (NPOM) in 2014, and the Gold Prize Public Service Award in 2024. He enjoys debate and cycling. He is happily married to Khadijat Aremu and blessed with children. His family has attuned to his lifelong career on the frontlines of trade and labour unionism.

Tunde Olusunle, PhD, Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA), teaches Creative Writing at the University of Abuja