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By Paul Ade-Adeleye

I did not come to Governor Monday Okpebholo’s administration with applause . I came with a raised eyebrow. Before his election into the executive seat of Edo State, I was not sold on the man. I had seen too many promises dressed in fine agbada and too many campaigns that could talk a good game but could not put gravel where there was mud. 

Indeed, the former governor of the state was sold to us as a technocrat and I thought he would be like the frontend developer to put an interface to the backend work of former governor Adams Oshiomhole but he ended up being underwhelming. 

So, I did what any careful observer should do this time around; I watched closely. Not from the noisy marketplace of partisan excitement, but from that quieter corner where one waits for the dust to settle and the facts to begin speaking for themselves.

Now, more than a year into his tenure, I can say this much without choking on my own words: the governor appears to have settled on roads as the spine of his development argument. And in a place like Edo, that is no small thing. 

Roads are not merely strips of tar and stone. They are the veins through which commerce travels, the bridges between farms and markets, the difference between isolation and access, between movement and stagnation. When roads fail, communities do not simply complain. They shrink. Economies stiffen. Daily life becomes a wrestling match with distance.

What catches the eye in Edo is that the current road push is not being sold as one giant miracle project or as a single contractor’s parade. It is taking shape as something more layered, more thought through, more deliberate. 

There seems to be a three-part working model behind it. First, the state is pushing some construction capacity downward to local government councils. Second, it is trying to build a quicker maintenance and emergency-repair system. Third, it is reserving bigger and more technically demanding corridors for established construction firms. 

In plain terms, the approach looks like this: decentralised delivery even down to the councils, rapid intervention, and large-scale execution on the part of road construction firms. That distinction matters. 

In government, one size rarely fits all, and when leaders pretend otherwise, they usually end up carrying water in a basket.

Take the first prong. Earlier this year, the Edo State government moved to hand over 54 units of construction equipment to the 18 local government councils. Reports indicated that these included graders, excavators, rollers, and other heavy-duty machines meant to support road building, drainage works, rural access, and other community infrastructure needs. The logic was not hidden behind bureaucratic grammar. This way, policies and hindrances, which hitherto had a field day delaying road projects were securely pinioned in favour of the grassroots drive for development. 

By putting tools closer to the ground, the government says it wants to cut the bottlenecks that usually turn manageable problems into chronic wounds.

There is common sense in that. Road failure often begins as a local nuisance long before it becomes a statewide embarrassment. A collapsed drainage in one ward, a failing culvert in a farming settlement, a feeder road so battered that produce cannot leave the village without bruising both goods and patience, these things do not always require ribbon-cutting drama or a contractor with a convoy. Sometimes what they require is far simpler and far more urgent: machinery within reach, officials who cannot hide from the people affected, and responsibility placed near the scene of the trouble. If the shoe pinches, let the wearer be close enough to say so.

That is where decentralisation earns its keep. It takes some of the power to act out of distant offices and places it in the hands of councils that ought to know their terrain better than anyone else. Whether they will use that power well is another question, but as an administrative principle, it is harder to fault than the old habit of waiting for the capital to sneeze before the localities are allowed to breathe.

Then comes the second prong, and to my mind this may be the most revealing. It is one thing for a government to build roads. It is another thing entirely for it to respect maintenance. It is a bad habit to fall in love with groundbreaking ceremonies while treating maintenance like an unwanted stepchild. We praise the new and neglect the necessary. We wait until a road has gone from cracked to cratered before anyone begins to move. By then, the horse has bolted and the stable is on fire.

This maintenance-minded posture is reinforced by how the administration has reportedly supervised active sites. There have been reports of Governor Okpebholo directing contractors on ongoing road projects to work round the clock so that meaningful progress can be made before the heavy rains arrive in full force.

Projects such as Mechanic Road in Egor and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Road in Ugbiyoko were mentioned in that context. Some may dismiss such directives as political theatre, but time is not a decorative element in road construction. In our environment, the rainy season is an unforgiving auditor. Weak, delayed, or half-finished work can be swept backwards in weeks. On this score, speed is not only a political virtue. It is an engineering necessity.

The third prong is where scale changes the conversation. Not every road can or should be handled at the council level, and not every job can be solved with emergency maintenance. Some projects are too large, too technical, too central to urban mobility to be managed with improvised arrangements. That is where established construction firms enter the picture.

The Ramat Park flyover in Benin City is the clearest example. When it was flagged off in November 2024, the state identified CCECC Nigeria Limited as the contractor and gave an 18-month completion timeline. By February 20, 2026, the project was said to be about 90 percent complete, with the governor expressing satisfaction at the pace and quality of work. 

This is not ward-level patching. It is structural infrastructure, the kind that requires engineering depth, traffic coordination, organisational discipline, and a contractor capable of carrying a heavier load without dropping the ball.

The Utteh Palace Road project in Benin City offers another glimpse of this third layer. The 4.7-kilometre road, flagged off in December 2024, was assigned to Risen Fan, and the state connected it to broader inter-local movement, saying it would link Ikpoba-Okha to Uhunmwonde. 

Here again, the pattern becomes clearer. The government does not appear to be throwing every problem into the same pot and hoping for soup. It is classifying roads by character and assigning them accordingly. Councils for local and distributed works. State-backed rapid response for maintenance and emerging failures. Major firms for the heavy lifting and headline connectors. 

That, at least on paper and increasingly in practice, is a rational division of labour. There are signs that this pattern stretches beyond Benin City. In Akoko-Edo, reports indicated that preparations were underway for reconstruction work along the Auchi-Sasaro-Igarra-Aiyetoro-Uneme-Nekua-Ibillo-Ekor-Ikiran-Oke corridor, with local inspection activity preceding the larger execution. Even where not every contractor’s name is always in public view, the method remains visible enough: state ownership at the political level, local coordination where needed, and contractor-led delivery on key routes.

Still, it would be foolish to break into premature applause. A framework can look elegant on paper and still stumble in the field. Councils can misuse equipment or allow machines to rot in the weeds. Rapid-response units can become loud in press releases and quiet on the ground. Big contractors can miss deadlines, cut corners, or hide behind excuses if supervision goes soft. 

In public works, the devil is not merely in the detail. Sometimes he is driving the bulldozer.

That is why the real measure of this model will not be the neatness of its design but the endurance of its outcomes. Roads must last. Machines must work. Councils must act. Contractors must deliver. Government must inspect not once for the cameras, but again and again until quality becomes habit rather than accident.

Yet even with those cautions firmly in place, one point stands out. What is emerging in Edo is not random motion. It is not governance by guesswork. It is an attempt at a coherent operating theory, one that recognises that different road problems require different tools. That may not be the final word on success, but it is certainly better than governing as though every crack in the road can be fixed by ceremony, slogan, or wishful thinking.

I began as a sceptic. I am not done watching. But I have seen enough to say this: when a government begins to understand that roads are not just projects but pathways to dignity, then perhaps it has at least put its foot on the right pedal. Whether it stays the course is the part history will judge.

The post Okpebholo’s roads and sceptics’ hearts appeared first on Vanguard News.

KUNLE Adewale, an arts-in-medicine advocate, says professionals in the arts and medicine should work together to improve global wellness. At a medical education conference in Lagos from March 26 to 29, Adewale shared his vision in a presentation called ‘Arts in Medicine: Creative Health for African Medical Educators and Healthcare Professionals.’ The event was organised […]

A popular actress joins a new church and decides to recommit herself to her faith. She takes it upon herself to perform a public ‘deliverance’ for a schoolgirl, who is still in her uniform. There are no teachers or parents in sight. Just the actress/pastor fiercely gripping the face of a teenager and performatively screeching at the top of her voice, with a media crew conveniently recording.

A General Overseer (GO) of a popular church has a number of young people living with disabilities who he adopted, since most of them were abandoned by their parents. One of these young people has Autism, the kind that is high on the spectrum. The GO approached his congregation and announced that his young ward has a high libido, according to him, he masturbates often. To prevent him from pouncing on any woman or girl in sight, the GO decided that he needed a volunteer to marry the young boy, for a generous financial reward. A widow who has three children volunteered, and the wedding was hastily arranged.

The GO is pleased with himself that he has ‘solved’ the problem of a young boy living with a severe disability. The boy looks quite young, and the ‘wife’ is a much older woman. When the GO was asked how old the boy is, he said he does not know, but he has seen his genitals and knows that they are ‘not the equipment of a small boy’. Let us note the ludicrousness of this statement, but since we have nothing else to go by, the GO has the last word on the question of age. The boy now has a carer, cook,cleaner and bedmate. The GO is so happy with this outcome that he is now offering up a ten-year-old girl, also living with a disability, for someone to take care of her. Considering the financial reward attached to this, someone will take this up soon.

A well-known female influencer announced that she has Stage 4 cancer. She shaved her hair and went online to appeal for financial support. Even though there were several skeptics, she received generous donations. Then it was revealed that she had used the medical report of a real cancer patient. She was invited to an interview on Arise TV, where she was grilled non-stop by Journalists, Doctors and Lawyers.  Her story fell apart and she was revealed for the brazen scammer she was.

Somewhere in Ibadan, a private school organised an inter-house sports day for the students. Inter-house sports are for students to compete amongst themselves. The focus is on sporting events and students displaying their various talents. This inter-house sports in Ibadan was different. The parents showed up in Aso-Ebi and did a parade, as if they were at a cultural event. The headlines the next day screamed, ‘Parents hijack interhouse sports’, ‘Parents turn inter-house sports into cultural festival’. It was an inter-house sports day, meant for students.If there was to be any cultural display, it should have been by the non-competing students, not parents.

There was a video of another school event, where a female teenager was twerking sexily. She twerked on her own for a few minutes, then she danced on to a male adult nearby, perhaps one of the school administrators or teachers. She twerked and ground herself all over him. Whoever was recording did not stop, and the video was shared online. This happened in the presence of adults.

The five scenarios I have described have some things in common. They point to an obvious collapse in common decency and values, a lack of responsibility and accountability, poor judgement, abuse of power and ignorance of systems that are meant to be in place to protect the vulnerable, demand appropriate behaviour and provide sanctions when necessary.

Starting from the case of the actress/pastor. Grabbing a schoolgirl and performing a silly ‘deliverance’ session on her is in contravention of the 2003 Child Rights Act (CRA). One of the key provisions of the CRA is ‘Protection from Sexual/Physical Abuse’, which prohibits all forms of exploitation and abuse of children. What this child was subjected to at the hands of this actress was abuse in no uncertain terms. We have not heard of her being questioned by any government agencies or law enforcement. This means she is free to pounce on other school kids who might need ‘deliverance’. 

The case of the young boy with Autism inspired a lot of debates back and forth. We live in a society that is decidedly cruel towards Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWD). Not only do the PLWD community have to deal with stigma and ostracism, we also ignore the policy, institutional, human and physical infrastructure that is supposed to be in place to fully respond to their needs. There is the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act of 2018 and the subsequent National Disability Policy. We also have a National Commission for Persons with Disabilities. However, these provisions do not seem to be working effectively. This is why others such as the GO step in to provide what the governments should but cannot, and for this they should be commended. However, marrying off someone who is so severely disabled, he cannot give consent, raises serious ethical questions. I shudder to think of what will happen when the GO is successful with his attempts at finding a guardian for the ten-year-old girl. Can you imagine the fate of this child should she fall into the hands of people who will take advantage of her vulnerability? It is a disaster waiting to happen.

The influencer who declared herself a State 4 cancer patient, in my own opinion, is not just a case about scamming. This individual was arrested a few years ago for claiming to be the owner of a property that belonged to someone else. She was publicly humiliated and she apologised for her behaviour. That she has continued this way of life is therefore nothing new. What I found quite concerning was her total lack of awareness of the implications of what she was doing and what she was talking about. The criminality of her actions is one thing. There is also a dissonance about her that suggests that questions need to be asked and answered about her mental health. Again, our lack of resources and capacity in this area as a country is painful.

As for the parents who turned their children’s inter-house sports into a cultural show that featured them and not their children, they should have known better. This is a private school, which means the parents are middle-upper class. Their profile would include professionals, senior civil servants, politicians, and entrepreneurs. They are therefore decision-makers in many important spaces. These are the people who are supposed to implement government or corporate policies. Yet, they came together and decided that the best use of their time and resources on their children’s sporting day was to deck themselves out and go on parade. They could have asked for a Parents Day and used that for their parade, instead of centering themselves at an event for their children. There has been a lot in the news recently about the antics of parents of children in private schools. Organising elaborate graduation ceremonies. Buying expensive souvenirs to celebrate the birthdays of their children, thereby creating unhealthy competition amongst themselves and the kids. Then, we are surprised when the spoiled kids start acting out.

With regards to the teenager who twerked and ground herself all over an adult at a school event, this is what happens when discipline and timely correction become optional. The teenager who does this without being told it is wrong, is the same one who will show up at a public event years later, dressed in two yards of material, twerking for attention, while adults will helplessly watch in silent judgement.

We are all responsible for these systemic and systematic failures. The government has laws and policies in place which are hardly implemented, due to a lack of political will, adequate resources, clarity of mandates and effective leadership. This is why we need partnership frameworks that ensure accountability and responsibility. Faith based organisations, corporate bodies, schools, traditional institutions, and civil society organisations can support the efforts of the government, within agreed regulations and an understanding of roles and responsibilities.All these bodies, particularly places of worship and charities, should also understand when their activities are in breach of extant laws and policies.

It should not be possible for a child to be subjected to public abuse without intervention from the relevant authorities. We should not applaud when a young boy with a severe disability finds himself transacted into the arms of a much older ‘wife’, instead of appropriate therapy and rehabilitation. We should be alarmed when a vulnerable female child is offered up for guardianship for a financial reward. We should be concerned when privileged members of society make questionable choices that fuel the proliferation of poor values, and there needs to be a point at which we draw the line between entertainment and indiscipline.

As some young people say these days, Nigeria is one big ‘crime scene’. It does not have to be so. There are many things we do not have control over. We can, however, concern ourselves with making better decisions and speaking up when we should. Our silence, inaction and choices in the small things will matter when the big issues emerge.

The post When systems fail, by Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi appeared first on Vanguard News.

No other group played a greater role than the media in the struggle for Nigeria’s independence. The British had to harass Nigerian media professionals using obnoxious laws that confiscated freedom of speech in the colony. The Newspaper Ordinance of 1903, the Seditious Offences Ordinance of 1909, the Criminal Code of 1916 and the Newspaper Registration Act of 1917 were all enacted to gag the press from continuing to criticise the colonial government. For the same reason, media freedom was in absolute jeopardy during military rule as several anti-media decrees were promulgated to scare off all activists especially the media.

To prohibit the circulation of any newspaper considered detrimental to any part of the country, the Head of the federal military government was empowered by the draconian provisions of Decree No. 17 of 1967. That was the spirit behind the banning of the New Breed Magazine in 1978 as well as Concord and Punch Newspapers in 1993.  Decree No. 11 of 1976 was another legislation which made it an offence for any person to publish any false allegation of corruption. To instil fear into all media professionals that it would not tolerate investigative journalism in matters of public finances, the same Decree was quickly reproduced as No. 4 of 1984 when the military returned to power in December 1983.  

The point to be made is that any elite group in Nigeria that finds itself in power usually resorts to the harassment of the media so as to avoid accountability. Our so-called democrats have been the worst because in their own case, they have continued to gag the media in breach of extant laws especially Section 22 of the Nigerian Constitution which mandates the media to hold government accountable to the people. The offending elite does not have to be at the highest level of governance; it could be done even at the lowest local level.  For example, in 2020 a journalist was allegedly arrested on the orders of the chairman of Ohaukwu local government council in Ebonyi state. Following agitation by the media demanding to know the offence of the journalist, he was released some hours later without a single charge.

The implication of the trend in which everyone fights the media – colonialists, military dictators and pseudo democrats and their agents, is that because no one really wants to do what is right, they all have something to hide.  Yet, the media has a duty to expose what is wrong which is why opposition politicians cherish the media. But as soon as they get into power, the media is immediately seen as an opponent or at best a spy paid to work against the government of the day. Nigeria is thus made up of groups that are ever suspicious of media activities at one point or the other. At the same time, it provides an opportunity for the media to be blamed for the failings of others with some refuting statements that people watched them make in the media.

I often wonder what our leaders have in mind when they keep sermonizing to the media on issues of patriotism or social responsibility. Last week, I watched parts of speech credited to the new INEC chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan (SAN) admonishing the media to endeavour to always be fair and responsible. Every day, it utterly confuses me to hear one government spokesperson or the other credited with calls to the media to join the government in building our nation. I honestly don’t know what those unity speeches mean. Is that how to hold government accountable to the people? Until very recently, I used to think that the best way for the media to help government is for it to point out areas needing attention so they can be redressed.

In the case of INEC, I could not rationalize why the Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria BON imagined that the INEC boss was best positioned to address their 81st General Assembly. If it was because the Assembly was expected to elect new leaders, they should have known that the man they invited was yet to conduct any election having just assumed office. Besides, should BON not have distanced itself from INEC, as soon as it made a decision that heated-up the political environment? Well may be the organizers of the BON assembly love Latin and needed a man who might further illuminate ‘statusquo ante bellum’ by introducing more terminologies of the dead language.

But Amupitan didn’t go that way; he merely returned to the status quo of people drawing attention to perceived ills of the media. He spoke about the essence of fair coverage, equal time and the sore topic of media responsibility. In the case of equal and fair coverage, there is so much that the guest speaker may not have known; the most important being the contributory negligence of some political parties. Equal time and fair coverage can only be given to parties who come forward for political broadcasts. Many don’t come. While the ruling party stays away because some of its members do not want their leaders to be insulted, the smaller ones have no capacity for the engagement.

 If a political party organises 4 political rallies in 2 months, while another has 8 events every week, how can the media equalize the opportunity available to all parties? If an incumbent uses law enforcement agencies to block opposition parties from public media and venues, where does fair coverage stand?  In addition, fair and equal coverage is not a matter of logic. It is instead deeply engrained in professional practice. Media coverage is not expected to be done to please INEC or other segments, it is done in line with professional guidelines and ethical values. In every event there are interested parties who think it is only what suits them that should be emphasized.

In the media, a news angle is the work of the relevant reporter who picks what stands out to him as the highlight, it does not have to tally with the stance of an interested party. INEC is free to expect that what matters most at a polling centre is the counting of votes but the media may decide that the permanent lateness of election officials to an event makes more news. That would be reflected in addition to the counting of votes. By so doing, the media uses one stone to kill two birds by announcing the results of an election in addition to holding INEC as an agency of government accountable to the people. To INEC, that does not show the media as responsible.

Urging the media to uphold fairness, to avoid misinformation and indeed to be responsible is not really bad. The only issue is that it looks like a stone thrown from a glasshouse. How much of responsibility has INEC shown in its work?  No matter how close a voting centre is to INEC structures, election personnel and materials are always generally late. During an election petition, INEC deliberately works against the petitioner by playing games with the release of relevant materials needed for the case. They begin to tell us how hard it is to retrieve information from their own branches whereas everyone knows that it is nothing more than a strategy to frustrate the petitioner.

Under Amupitan, it would have been nice to see a fire-brand posture the way ADC was threatened the other day. For example, INEC knows that the only way a person can be a governor in Nigeria is to be sponsored and elected under the platform of a political party. There is no other way. Consequently, a firebrand announcement from INEC should have since stated that while it has no power to remove a governor from office, all governors are listed in the INEC portal as sponsored and elected under the banner of a particular party. If that had happened everyone would have been scared of INEC now and perhaps no one would have been engaged in premature electioneering campaigns.

Second, Amupitan must not be seen to support the plan by politicians to change election results under INEC cover. Again, as part of the firebrand innovations of the time the INEC boss should work for a change in the practice where INEC who conducted an election has no obligation to defend it. It suggests that the electoral body as an agency of government is unaccountable to the public. Also, the impression that no one can announce an election result before INEC declares a winner is wrong. Any election result announced at any level can be publicised by the media provided it was announced by the INEC designated official. If INEC declares a different figure from magical late night collation, it should also be published by the media while INEC is left to determine the credible result. It’s all about responsibility.   

The post Even INEC admonishes the media? By Tonnie Iredia appeared first on Vanguard News.

As part of its activities celebrating 2026 Ibadan Cultural Festival, the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes, CCII, has honoured the founder of Royal Entertainment Cruise, Ibadan, Dr Sanmi Bamidele, for his contributions to the growth of Ibadan land. The event which was held on Friday at the Royal Entertainment Cruise, Eleyele, Ibadan, also witnessed competition […]

“There are some situations one simply cannot be neutral about; because when you are neutral, you become an accomplice” – Christiana Anampour, CNN.

For reasons too numerous to discuss, I had since my days in university vowed never to participate in politics by becoming a member of any political party. That should not be interpreted to mean that I was always neutral on issues concerning society over which politicians rule. In fact, there has never been a time when absolute neutrality was my stand. In the past, I had worked for Chief Awolowo and Buhari, Christian and Muslim, Yoruba and Fulani – on different occasions, based on my judgment, at the time, that they were the best presidential candidates.

Awolowo never made it; Buhari did and I will regret my support for the hypocrite forever. Consequently, I have never had a political party card; and it is not my intention to start now; particularly, when the options are, to say the least, so unappealing – given the horrible experience of Nigerians since 2015. Neutrality is out of the question; when Nigerian politicians are embarking on digging their own graves, as well as our own. Only God knows what we did to deserve this.

I watched the National Convention of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Abuja, two weeks ago, with the misgivings of someone attending a funeral after a monumental genocide. Nigeria’s democracy has been condemned to death at that convention, from the hands of politicians claiming to be political descendants of the founding fathers – Ahmadu Bello, Awolowo and Azikiwe (in alphabetical order, please); who must be rolling uneasily in their graves. Politicians, from all the 36 states of Nigeria, gathered ostensibly to attend a convention. Instead, they laid the foundation for three things which might not have been intended; but, which will occur eventually – one-man dictatorship, third term and life time presidency.

Already, one Yoruba traditional ruler is urging lawmakers in a National Assembly, NASS, still to be elected, to amend the constitution and allow a Third Term Presidency. Obviously, he has assumed that the 2027 election is a foregone conclusion. A fanatic, Sunday Igboho, seeking to secure a good appointment in the government, had become part of the advance team of demagogues who would not tolerate any criticism of their new god. Hitlerism started this way; most Germans were not aware of the ultimate consequences – until it happened and six million Jews, several million other ethnic minorities were slaughtered. If the horrors of the worst sort of dictatorship can happen in an advanced civilization, like Germany, worse can happen here – where jungle justice is more acceptable.

COMPROMISES OF POLITICAL COWARDS

“There is nothing more agreeable in this life than to make peace with the Establishment; nothing more corrupt.” A J P Taylor, New Statesman.

Foreigners resident in Nigeria, as well as those keenly following events in this country, must be shaking their heads in disbelief. A long term American friend (we bbecame friends in my second year in the university, 1965-66, called me a week ago. His question summarises the bewilderment experienced by objective observers. “My friend, have you Nigerians gone totally nuts? Why are the politicians flocking to a leader under whose tenure your lives are infinitely worse than before?”

Good question; thee simple answer to which can only be: “because they are Africans and black men and women.” Look around the world and the Dark continent, and it id easy to discover that Africa comprises of the worst governed and most backward nations headed by dictators – civilians and military. It is still the largest Slaves continent in the world. Furthermore, the vast majority of us are quite contented to be enslaved by dictators; rather than risk being free. There are less than six democracies in the entire continent and Nigeria is about to reduce the number by one.

SILENCE OF PATRIOTIC MEN AND WOMEN MAKES THEM ACCOMPLICES

“In a sick country, every step to health is an insult to those who live on its sickness.”

Bernard Malamud 1914-1986, in THE FIXER.

Even the most charitable supporter of governments in Nigeria must admit, honestly, that this is a sick country. Even the village idiot knows that it is impossible to cure a serious pandemic by allowing those who infected everybody to run the health sector. I am keenly aware that courage, which is the finest of all human attributes, is very rare among people. But, wholesale surrender to fear, either for material gain or personal safety, is what has kept Africa down and backward since the dawn of history. Through the 200 years of the slave trade, white men never went inland to capture slaves. Our conscienceless fore-fathers, including empire builders, did the dirty jobs. Paul Barre is in France, Kagame and Museveni are on ground in Cameroun, Uganda and Rwanda, respectively, terrorizing their people because they have installed slave-holders, called security men, to hold down the millions of cowards in their countries for years. Nigeria is heading that way; unless enough patriotic and non-partisan Nigerians rise up and save the nation from a civilian government worse than Abacha’s.

 Don’t say “it can’t happen here”. America, today, symbolizes what can happen when good people sit back and confidently assume that their freedoms are secure – until a Trump steps up. Few people believed him when he casually remarked that “I will be a dictator”. They clapped at the campaign rallies where he said this. Now, they have a President who insults the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice and other justices. Anything can happen when a dictator assumes power – including getting you killed. More on this later.

WHY WRITE THIS NOW?

“Our lives begin to end; the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Rev (Dr) Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929-1968.

To me, democracy matters, freedom matters. That was why, unlike the cowards, who ran to exile during Abacha’s murderous dictatorship, I did not cut and run – even when I had the easiest opportunity to flee. Instead, from August 1994, on this page, Abacha was battered verbally until his death on June 8, 1998. At almost 82, I don’t intend to spend the rest of my life worshipping a human god created by yellow-belly politicians.

Almost every Third Term Presidency had ended in Life Presidency – if it is not terminated by violent, usually military, uprising – Nkrumah, Sekou Toure, William Tubman, Robert Mugabe, Kabila, Mobutu, Uganda, Rwanda, Cameroun,

MOST OF THE ACCOMPLICES END AS VICTIMS

“….people and governments never have learnt anything from history…”

George Hegel, 1770-1831.

For those who are now eagerly sowing the seeds of our destruction, as well as theirs, the true story of Professor George Saitoti, 1945-2012, former Kenya’s Vice President, under Arap MOI, 1924-2020, should serve as a warning to those eager to promote dictatorship in Nigeria. George was my senior by one year, and my friend, as an undergraduate, reading Economics in the 1960s. He was brilliant; too brilliant, as a matter of fact. He returned to Kenya after bagging a Ph.D, taught in the university for a while, before being appointed a Minister. After serving in two other Ministries, he became the Minister of Finance and quickly got promoted as Vice President. Neither George nor anybody else could have known that his good luck was coming to an end. As Interior Minister, he had helped to delete virtually all of Arap Moi’s political opponents. Moi ruled for twenty four years, after amending the constitution to allow multiple tenures – thanks to George.

 Then, the roof caved in. Moi was getting too old; and Kenyans were sick and tired of the old man. Rumours started flying, amplified by TIME Magazine, touting George as the successor to Moi. The old man was not ready to go. First, Saitoti was poisoned; next he disappeared for a long time and only re-emerged after Moi left office. Still, his enemies were not finished with him. He died in a mysterious helicopter crash on June 10, 2012. Speculators attribute the death to planned assassination.

 Moral of the story? Be careful when promoting dictators; you might become a victim of the monster you create. Ever heard of Beria? He was Stalin’s Chief Security Officer; who helped the Russian maximum dictator to send over 20 million people to early graves until he faced a firing squad himself – when newspapers described Beria as the “second most powerful man in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR. Dictators hate 2ICs. Those seeking to be closest to the throne better acquire a coffin and grave first. Dictators are also predators. Today you sit at their table (remember General Diya?); tomorrow you are on the menu.

WILL NIGERIAN POLITICIANS LISTEN?

“Washing a donkey’s head is a waste of water.” Italian Proverb.

Attempting to wash the heads of 100,000 donkeys would require emptying all the water in the Abuja waterworks; and it would still be to no avail. Africans have written very little of their own history; and they seldom read it. It will be amazing if Nigerian politicians pull back from the brink of self-destruction. I wait to see the miracle occur. Myopic leaders constitute the black man’s burden. No hope for salvation.

Fortunately, the dictator eventually passes on, either by coup or to eternity. All the monuments erected for his vainglory are demolished. Then, it is dust to dust e.g Stalin.

•Follow me on Facebook @ J Israel Biola

The post The lights of democracy are going out in Nigeria, by Dele Sobowale appeared first on Vanguard News.

ARTS advocacy group Unchained Vibes Africa has addressed the ongoing dispute between Grammy-winning artist Burna Boy and DJ Tunez, as well as the Nigerian DJ Association’s response. In a statement signed by Executive Producer Ayodele Ganiu, the group said it is closely watching the situation after reports of a physical altercation between the two artists. […]

In a defining moment for Africa’s luxury landscape, Nigeria is set to become the global focal point for niche perfumery this month. Seinde Signature, the nation’s premier destination for high-end scents, has announced an unprecedented three-city experiential launch in partnership with the globally celebrated perfumer Sarah Baker. The tour will begin on April 16 in […]

 INEC CHAIRMAN HAS NO ACCOUNT ON X, DISREGARD PARTISAN FABRICATIONS

The attention of the Office of the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has been drawn to a malicious and coordinated campaign of calumny circulating on social media. The false claim alleges that the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, has, in the past, endorsed a partisan post on the platform X (formerly Twitter).

The Commission wishes to state categorically that this allegation is entirely baseless, a total fabrication, and a figment of the imagination of its purveyors. For the avoidance of doubt, the INEC Chairman does not own or operate any personal account on X. He has at no time engaged in partisan commentary, nor has he ever associated himself with any political leaning or activity in his private or public capacity.

This contrived X post is a desperate attempt to impugn the integrity and neutrality of the Chairman at a critical period when the Commission is focused on significant electoral reforms and preparations for upcoming polls. It is a needless distraction designed to stir public distrust in the electoral umpire.

Beyond this partisan mischief, the Commission is aware that cybercriminals have been on the prowl, utilising fake social media accounts in the Chairman’s name to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians. We wish to place it on record that several of such fraudulent accounts had been identified and reported to security agencies in the past. This latest fabrication is merely a continuation of a criminal pattern aimed at exploiting the Commission’s profile for illicit gains.

The Commission will not fold its arms while the character of its leadership is being assassinated by digital imposters and mischief-makers. We wish to notify the public that we are working in close collaboration with relevant security agencies and cyber-intelligence units to track and identify the individuals or groups behind this identity theft and misinformation.

Let it be clearly understood that the Commission will ensure that these imposters face the full wrath of the law. Identity theft and the dissemination of deepfake or forged social media interactions are criminal offenses under the Cybercrimes Act. Those responsible for this mischief will be tracked and prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others who believe the digital space is a safe haven for criminality.

The general public is hereby urged to disregard this falsehood in its entirety. We will continue to disseminate official information regarding the Commission and the Chairman’s activities only through our verified institutional channels and formal press statements.

The Commission remains undeterred and fully committed to its mandate of delivering free, fair, and credible elections for all Nigerians.

E-Signed:

Adedayo Oketola

Chief Press Secretary/Media Adviser to the INEC Chairman

Abuja, Nigeria.

10th April, 2026

Arsenal striker, Viktor Gyokeres, has given an excuse for his side’s Premier League 2-1 loss to Bournemouth on Saturday.

Despite finding the net himself, Gyokeres couldn’t prevent the Gunners from falling to the Cherries at the Emirates Stadium.

Junior Kroupi and Alex Scott scored the goals for Bournemouth against Mikel Arteta’s side.

Speaking to BBC Sport after the final whistle, Gyokeres said. “We had some chances toward the end.

“The pitch was a bit dry, to be honest, so that didn’t help. But as I said, we all need to do better and take our chances.”

Arsenal have now turned their attention to European action as they welcome Sporting CP in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday at Emirates Stadium.

EPL: Gyokeres makes excuses for Arsenal’s 2-1 loss to Bournemouth