The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 622 (May 1 - 14 2024)

TheTrumpet
Africans now have a voice... Founded in 1995
V O L 30 N O 622 M AY 1 - 14 2024
Bronze statutes of Nelson and Winnie Mandela (Photo - Jay Galvin, Flickr CC 2.0)
Convicted
of rapes
carried out
over 15
years ago
Kurt Forbes
How the Mandela
myth helped win
the battle for
democracy in
South Africa
By Jonny Steinberg, Yale University
Continued on Page 2>
Aman convicted of a series of
rapes carried out more than
15 years ago has been
sentenced following an investigation
by specialist detectives.
Kurt Forbes of no fixed address,
previously appeared at Wood Green
Crown Court where he was found
guilty by a jury of three counts of
rape and one attempted rape.
The offences, against a person
known to him, took place in Hackney
between 1998 and 2006.
Detective Constable Thomas
Millard, who led the investigation,
said: “The victim in this case has
shown extreme bravery, not only by
coming forward to police but in
providing extensive evidence at court
which left the jury in no doubt as to
Forbes’ guilt.
“Despite the time passed since the
offences took place, our team worked
tirelessly to gather the evidence
which proved Forbes had committed
these horrific crimes.
“We hope this demonstrates to
any other victims that whenever
sexual offences are reported to us,
however long ago they took place, we
will take them extremely seriously.”
In July 2022, a man came forward
to police to report that he had been
raped on four occasions by a man
known to him.
Officers took a video recorded
statement, and provided the victim
with specialist support including a
referral to an Independent Sexual
Violence Advocate.
A warrant was issued for Forbes’
arrest but he continued to evade
police. Following a manhunt, he was
arrested in Ilford in January 2023.

Page2 TheTrumpet MAY 1 - 14 2024
News
How the Mandela myth helped win the
battle for democracy in South Africa
Continued from Page 1<
Political History scholar Jonny
Steinberg’s 2023 book Winnie &
Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage
is a double biography of South Africa’s
most famous political figures – Nelson
Mandela and Winnie Madikizela
Mandela – and their role in the
country’s struggle for democracy. It’s
also a book that shatters countless
myths about the couple and the
liberation struggle that have been
formed in popular culture and even
academic tellings of history. As South
Africa commemorates 30 years of
democracy, we asked Steinberg for his
views on how and why these historical
myths are formed.
How did Winnie and Nelson
become so mythologised?
It may be best to start with a
working definition of myth. I don’t take
myth to mean fiction; to mythologise
isn’t necessarily to make things up that
are not true. To say that a person is
mythologised means that their personal
story is told in a way that exemplifies
something bigger, generally a lesson,
like how the oppressed should respond
to their own suffering, or how
oppressive systems of rule should end.
To begin with, Winnie and Nelson
mythologised themselves. Both
intuitively understood that their greatest
talent lay in public performance. Not
just any public performance, but the
sort that is exemplary, that embodies a
collective spirit, a set of yearnings.
When Nelson went underground to
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start the military wing of the African
National Congress (ANC) liberation
movement Umkhonto we Sizwe he
understood not just that he must wage
an armed struggle, but that people must
see what a black man who chooses to
fight looks like.
Same with Winnie. When she
appeared in court in Johannesburg
when Nelson was arrested in 1962, she
brought two pairs of clothes: a
traditional Thembu outfit for the
courtroom to match the jackal-skin
kaross she knew he would be wearing,
and a business suit for the illegal march
that would commence in the street after
the hearing. She understood that for a
black woman to confront the enemy in
style was not a trivial matter or a mere
detail. They both knew that wars were
won and lost by the power of the myths
one’s appearance tells.
But while Nelson and Winnie were
responsible for the beginning of their
mythologisation, others came on board
later. In the late 1970s, ANC leader
Oliver Tambo was approached with the
idea of celebrating Mandela’s 60th
birthday. He understood immediately
that he’d been presented with the
opportunity of crafting a hero figure to
embody the struggle for freedom. He
did not consult with the ANC executive
because he knew they’d shout it down,
warning of personality cults and so
forth.
And so he gave the ANC the most
powerful weapon imaginable, a simple
Nelson and Winnie Mandela (Photo - Archives de la Ville de Montréal CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
story about a good man and a good
woman who loved one another and had
been torn asunder by an evil regime.
Stories like that are worth their weight
in gold. Imagine if the Palestinians had
a story like that at their disposal now in
their fight against Israeli occupation.
How does this play into the
broader popular narrative about
liberation?
Well, it meant that the very idea of
freedom was embodied in a person,
Nelson Mandela, which is an
extraordinary thing, when you think
about it. Would South Africa have been
torn apart by civil war without the myth
of Nelson Mandela? It’s a
counterfactual question, the answer to
which we’ll never know. But it’s
certainly plausible to argue that we
could not have crossed the bridge from
apartheid to democracy without a
blinding myth to mesmerise us all, so
that we could walk together into the
unknown.
That’s the positive side of the story.
The negative side is that myths conceal
a great deal. Tambo told colleagues
quite bluntly that he promoted the myth
of Mandela because Mandela was ANC
and if the myth worked, rivals like the
Pan Africanist Congress and the Black
Consciousness Movement would lose.
And so leaders of those movements like
Robert Sobukwe and Steve Biko faded.
ANC partisan history became
hegemonic history. Vital,
uncomfortable questions were
suppressed. Like what it meant to be
black and to reconcile with whites and
on what terms such reconciliation was
acceptable.
How did you arrive at a different
telling of their stories?
I think that the Mandelas really did
embody the story of their people’s
struggle for freedom, but not in ways
that they could control. I was so moved
to discover that Nelson thought his life
tragic in much the same way that the
lives of so many black men under
apartheid were tragic. He was a
patriarch, and he was robbed of the
means to protect his family. This
humiliated and embittered him. It’s a
quintessential South African story.
Winnie, too. The insurrectionary
violence of the 1980s was so scarring.
So many people lost control over the
violence they wielded. She was one of
those people.
Winnie and Nelson’s story
exemplifies all the pain and damage
this country went through. They arrived
at their freedom, but, just like their
people, they did so battered and
bruised. That they both had the strength
to conceal the extent to which they
were damaged seems heroic to me.
They understood that they carried the
myth of their people on their shoulders,
and that if they broke, so would their
people.
Continued on Page 3

News
MAY 1 - 14 2024 TheTrumpet Page3
How the Mandela myth helped win the
Continued from Page 2<
Is South Africa ready to view this
struggle history through a clear lens?
If you’re asking whether there can
ever be a single, objective way of
understanding the past, one that we can
all agree on, the answer is surely No.
There is far too much of the past in the
present for it ever to become
uncontentious. But I do think that it is
both possible and very important to
fight against the falsification of the
past.
There’s a big difference between
mythologisation and falsification. The
former is about fashioning the facts of
the past to tell a value-laden story,
which is fine. The latter is to make up
facts about the past, which is truly
scary.
battle for democracy in South Africa
When people say that Winnie didn’t
hurt anyone in the late 1980s, that it
was all fabricated by a shadowy enemy,
they are doing harm. Similarly, when
people say that Nelson did not beat his
first wife, Evelyn Mase, when there is
plain evidence that he did, they are
doing harm. It is possible both to
mythologise the past and to be brave
enough to confront what actually
happened there.
Jonny Steinberg is a Senior lecturer
in African Studies at Yale University.
This article is republished from The
Conversation under a Creative
Commons license.
Read the original article at
https://theconversation.com/how-themandela-myth-helped-win-the-battlefor-democracy-in-south-africa-228798

Page4
TheTrumpet
MAY 1 - 14 2024
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News
Man who fired gun in
busy Tottenham street
convicted
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Aman who fired a gun at a
group of rivals in a busy
Tottenham street has been
convicted of firearms offences after
Metropolitan Police detectives
tracked him down.
21-year-old Ricardo Anderson of
Manor Road, Tottenham, was
convicted at the Central Criminal
Court (the Old Bailey) of possession
of a firearm with intent to endanger
life, possession of ammunition with
intent to endanger life and attempted
grievous bodily harm.
Investigating officer - Detective
Constable Rhiain John said: “This
incident took place in a busy street,
on a warm Summer’s evening
where people were out and shops
were open. Terrified onlookers
including children sought refuge in
shops and scrambled for safety
behind parked cars.
“Ricardo Anderson had
absolutely no concern for them at
all. But for sheer luck, this could
have been a murder investigation.
“From our enquiries, we
established the incident was part of
an ongoing dispute involving rival
gangs in the area.
“We worked tirelessly using
CCTV, witness and forensic
evidence that would help prove
Anderson’s guilt. These kinds of
offences are taken incredibly
seriously and we do everything in
our power to identify and prosecute
those responsible.”
The court heard that at 20:00hrs
on 27 May 2023, a blue R-Type VW
Golf sped along Park Lane, N17
before coming to an abrupt stop in
the middle of the road.
A man wearing a balaclava was
seen pulling a firearm from his
waistband, which he then fired
wildly towards the vehicle.
An occupant of the vehicle also
had a gun and attempted to fire back
but the weapon jammed.
The car sped off while the man
left the scene on foot.
Specialist firearms officers
deployed and scoured the area but
those involved could not be found.
Detectives began investigating
immediately and recovered a
number of shell casings.
They began examining CCTV
and found that only around half an
hour earlier, a group had been
congregating in the area to film a
music video.
One man was captured wearing a
distinctive blue North Face
tracksuit, black trainers, and a
balaclava. He would be the man
later seen firing at the car.
CCTV footage from a nearby
shop captured the same man without
his face covered, allowing officers
to identify him as Ricardo
Anderson.
He was arrested on 31 May and
Ricardo Anderson
charged on 1 June 2023.
He will be sentenced on
Wednesday, 22 May 2024.
The vehicle involved was later
traced and found to have been
stolen. Despite extensive enquiries,
the occupants were not identified.
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Opinion
The Yoruba Nation
“secessionists” of
Ibadan
MAY 1 - 14 2024
TheTrumpet
BY REUBEN ABATI
Page5
On Saturday, April 13, a group of
18 masked persons dressed in
army camouflage, armed with
rifles, charms and Oodua Nation flags
attempted to take over the Oyo State
House of Assembly and Government
Secretariat to proclaim the emergence
of a Yoruba Nation. They caused some
commotion as they insisted on hoisting
a flag, but the rag-tag team of
insurrectionists were soon overpowered
and arrested by officers of the Nigerian
Police Command. Well, not quite. They
resisted the police but when soldiers
from the 2 Div. of the Nigerian Army
arrived on the scene, the Oodua boys
took to their heels. Cowards! They
should have waited and argue with the
soldiers over the integrity and
sovereignty of Nigeria. But the twist in
the tale turned out to be the appearance
of a woman on several platforms -
Modupe Onitiri Abiola, who endorsed
the action of the Oodua 18 and
proclaimed that a Democratic Republic
of Yoruba had emerged with effect
from April 13, 2024. The additional
twist in the tale is that the woman
introduced herself as a widow of Chief
MKO Abiola, the undeclared winner of
the June 12, 1993 Presidential election,
pillar of sports in Africa, entrepreneur,
philanthropist and a martyr of
democracy.
Nigerians are probably used to
persons, groups – ethnic and sociocultural
- threatening to leave Nigeria
and declare their own separate country,
to as they argue correct the mistake of
1914, so-called, or to seek meaning in a
new association. Afterall, in February
1966, Isaac Adaka Boro, an Ijaw ethnic
minority rights activist, formed a group
known as the Niger Delta Volunteer
Force and declared the formation of a
Niger Delta Republic. He and his
group fought the Nigerian Forces for 12
days before they were overwhelmed,
arrested, tried for treason and thrown
into jail. This was the first major
rebellion against the Nigerian State.
The same year, following the Unitary
Decree No 34 of the Aguiyi Ironsi
military government, the people of
Northern Nigeria were so dissatisfied
with the turn of events in Nigeria; they
openly talked about “Araba” – meaning
“let us separate.” In January 1966,
there had been a military coup which
resulted in the death of Northern
leaders and others, notably Prime
Minister Tafawa Balewa, Sir Ahmadu
Bello, Northern Region Premier, Chief
Ladoke Akintola, Premier of the
Western Region, and Festus Okotie-
Eboh, Minister of Finance.
The coup was led by Kaduna
Nzeogwu, an Ibo man, and with that
collapse of Nigeria’s First Republic, the
new leader was also an Ibo man,
General Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-
Ironsi, the first military Head of State
of Nigeria. The North had wanted to
separate but eventually there was a
counter coup in July 1966, which
ousted the Ironsi regime, which further
widened the centrifugal ethnic fissures
in Nigeria. In July 1967, the Ibos fought
back. Led by Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka
Odimegwu Ojukwu, they declared the
Republic of Biafra, meaning they were
The Yoruba Nation activists arrested
determined to secede from Nigeria. The
war that ensued lasted three years: 6
July 1967 – 15 January 1970. That was
54 years ago, but there are signs that the
civil war in Nigeria has not really
ended. Nigeria took a turn for the
worse. The rain began to beat us.
The separatist spirit would again
show up on April 22, 1990 in the coup
speech by Major Gideon Orkar whose
plan, as announced, included the
excision of five Northern States of
Bauchi, Borno, Katsina, Kano and
Sokoto from Nigeria. The Orkar group
was convinced that the people from
these five States were the problem with
Nigeria and they should just get out and
form their own country. Thus, Orkar
and 41 of his colleagues wanted to seize
government and re-draw the map of
Nigeria. They were captured by
government troops, charged for treason,
convicted and executed by firing squad.
However, the fact that treason attracts
the punishment of death has not
deterred those who think that Nigeria
must be dismembered, or that the map
must be re-drawn. The year 2012
witnessed the emergence of a separatist,
nativist, Igbo nationalism, anti-Fulani,
neo-Biafra group called the Indigenous
People Of Biafra (IPOB) which aims to
restore and actualize the dream of
Biafra. IPOB is led by Mazi Nnamdi
Kanu who has been facing trial for
treasonable felony since 2016. Before
IPOB, there was also Radio Biafra
established by Mazi Kanu in 2009,
there was Movement for the
Actualization of the Sovereign State of
Biafra led by Ralph Uwazurike (1999)
and there was the Biafra Zionist
Movement (BZM) led by Benjamin
Igwe Onwuka (2012). There have also
been talks about the possibility of an
Arewa Republic.
A common thread in the foregoing
is that every attempt at separation in
Nigeria has been driven by frustration
with the Nigerian arrangement, protests
against bad governance, cries of
marginalization or victimization, with
ethnic identity and questions of
federalism, religion and resource
control thrown into the mix. For
example, in 1993, following the
annulment of the June 12, 1993
Presidential election which denied
MKO Abiola, a Yoruba man, victory,
the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC)
was formed to defend Yoruba rights and
to remind the Babangida military junta
that Yoruba people would not be
cheated. OPC was founded and led by
Dr. Frederick Fasheun. It was also
known as the Oodua Liberation
Movement, or the Revolutionary
Council of Nigeria. There would later
be a more militant faction of the group,
a breakaway faction, led by Gani
Adams, who is now the Aaare Ona
Kakanfo of Yorubaland, that is the
Yoruba Generalissimo, defender of the
Yoruba realm. The OPC never really
pushed the idea of leaving Nigeria: the
group, Fasheun or Gani Adams faction
has consistently focused on defending
Yorubaland against any form of attack
or aggression from other groups and to
protect Yorubaland, covering both the
Continued on Page 9

Page6 TheTrumpet MAY 1 - 14 2024
Opinion
Onakoya: Playing Chess from
The Slum to World Record
By Reuben Abati
Tunde Onakoya, the 29-year-old
Nigerian Chess Master who has
just broken the World Record for
the longest chess marathon is most
appropriately an embodiment of the
Nigerian can-do spirit, the capacity of the
average Nigerian to snatch victory from
the depths of despair, indeed just when
you think it is over, the Nigerian is so
resilient, he keeps foraging for
faith. Nigerian President Bola Ahmed
Tinubu has praised Onakoya’s audacity.
He has been hailed as a worthy
ambassador, in whom the spirit of
excellence flowers by Vice President
Kashim Shettima, former Vice President
Professor Yemi Osinbajo, and Lagos State
Governor - Babajide Sanwoolu. He has
done well. He is doing well. Nigerians
have every reason to be proud of him. He
has demonstrated that the true Nigerians
are not those who bemoan their fate and
resort to the antics of the lower depths, but
those who turn even the smallest of
opportunities that come their way into an
avenue for glorious achievement with
determination and hard work.
And so it is with Tunde Onakoya, who
played chess from Wed, April 17, 2024 till
Saturday, April 21 (2. 40 a.m.), to beat the
world record of 56 hours, 9 minutes and
37 seconds set in 2018 by two
Norwegians – Hallvard Flatebo and Sjur
Ferkingstad. Tunde Onakoya teamed up
with the American Chess Master, Shawn
Martinez, to play chess for 60 hours nonstop.
He was unbeaten in more than 170
games. The World Guinness Book of
Records organization requires for its
purpose two players, playing against each
other and others, with short breaks of five
minutes for every hour or a longer 30-
minute break every six hours. The new
record is yet to be officially announced,
this may take a few weeks, but Onakoya’s
feat was not hidden - it was in the open, at
the Times Square in New York, with
spectators watching every move on the
board of play. History has been made and
it has come from the most unlikely place
for Nigeria – chess, in a country that often
fails to pay attention to other sports.
Onakoya himself alluded to this when he
said that “it is possible to do great things
from a small place.”
Indeed, it is possible for small things
and small places to result in significant
human experience of great proportions as
we have seen in that novel titled “The
God of Small Things” (1997) by Indian
writer - Arundhati Roy, and the 2008
British movie, “Slumdog Millionaire” set
in Mumbai. The idea of the slum as place
and metaphor is a strong referent in
Nigerian popular imagination more so the
fact that great things do happen in small
places. It is not the smallness of things
that matter but the greatness, the humanity
that is embedded in the most unthinkable
places. Ajegunle, for example, is a slum
neighbourhood in the city of Lagos: it is
probably the most popular location for
most of the creative outputs in the
country, the source of the music of
contemporary artistic talents such as
Daddy Fresh, Daddy Showkey, Baba
Fryo, Oritsefemi, Nico Gravity, Father U-
Turn, Don Jazzy, Basket Mouth, KC
Presh and the artistry of some of Nigeria’s
well-known footballers – Peter Rufai,
Taribo West, Samson Siasia, Victor Agali,
Emmanuel Amunike, Odion Ighalo. The
slum as an incubation hub for talent and
innovation is a fascinating subject for
further inquiry into the interconnectedness
of space, spirit and effort.
Tunde Onakoya, the chess-master, it
must be noted, learnt to play chess in a
slum in Ikorodu, Lagos State, precisely at
a barber’s shop. Now something about the
barber’s shop is that it is a very traditional
meeting point in communities in parts of
Nigeria, very much like the newspaper
stands of old which produced “Free
Newspaper Readers Associations” across
the country. The barber’s shop was an
ecosystem for games. While you waited
to have your hair cut, or you just happen
to show up as a spectator, you were bound
to see people playing draught, chess, ludo,
card, snake and ladder, or the more local,
Ayo game. Somewhere in a corner would
be a board displaying all the possible hair
styles: “Girls Follow Me”; “Rico Bay”,
“Gorimapa”, but over the years, the
haircut styles became trendier: “Line Up”,
“Waves”, “Twisted Curls”, “Afro”. The
barber has always been a wise man: he
attracts customers and company with
games and music. I know one person who
shall remain nameless, a veteran of the
barber’s shop ayo games of old, who went
on to become a Governor and an elder
statesman. The same ecosystem has now
produced a World Champion in Chess.
The good news about Tunde Onakoya
is his kindness and the fact that he never
Onakoya first saw a Chess board in a Barber's shop 19 years ago
forgot his humble beginnings. He kept
playing chess, and ended up as the
Number 13 Chess player in Nigeria. As a
student at the Yaba College of
Technology, he won prizes playing chess.
He is also a board member of The Gift of
Chess, a non-profit in New York, United
States. In 2018, he established a volunteer
non-profit group known as Chess in
Slums Africa under the auspices of which
he trained young persons, mostly from the
slums like Makoko in Lagos, and through
partnerships, the group promoted chess as
an educational tool. By 2021, Chess in
Africa Slums had trained over 1,000
children, and organized chess
competitions that even produced a 10-
year-old-boy with cerebral palsy as a
chess champion. One of his students once
defeated the acting Canadian High
Commissioner to Nigeria, Kevin Tokar in
a chess exhibition game. He plans to train
over one million children within the next
five years. Onakoya has pursued his
passion further by seeking to break the
extant Guinness World Record for the
longest chess marathon, not for personal
glory, but to raise US One million dollars
for the education of children in Africa,
and to build a free chess academy and a
STEM innovation lab in Lagos. He may
not have immediately achieved the
$1million mark, but he has given more
popularity to chess, and provided an
opportunity for the appreciation of the
Nigerian spirit. While the marathon
happened, many Nigerians trooped to
New York Times Square to cheer him on.
The cheer leaders included music stars,
Davido and Adekunle Gold, drummers,
and Nigerians in Diaspora in general who
counted the hours and were inspired by
the enthusiasm of being Nigerian,
witnessing the possibility of another
Nigerian making history. The weather was
wintry cold, but it did not matter. During
the intervals, the Nigerians played music
and danced. It was no longer just chess,
but culture, nationalism, art and diasporic
fraternity all rolled into one capsule, to
create memories and history.
This trope, for me, was strongly
captured in Tunde Onakoya’s post-victory
statement on his X handle (@Tunde_OD)
when he wrote as follows: “Catching up
on social media now and I’ve constantly
fought back tears. Love you guys very
much. I’ll do a proper post when I find the
right words to express all of the emotions
I feel right now. Let me delve into this
Jollof rice for now. It’s my first meal in
almost four days. I had some food
poisoning during the marathon so I
couldn’t eat anything at all. Just water.”
Such endurance. Such patriotism.
Onakoya was advised to discontinue the
marathon when he developed stomach
problems, but he insisted he would see the
mission to the end, and he did. He didn’t
eat for four days. “Just water.” He
refused to quit on the kids. This is the stuff
of endurance and determination. And
when the goal had been reached and
victory secured, his first meal was Jollof
Rice. Those who know would proclaim
the symbolism of the choice of jollof rice.
It is a subtle way of flying the Nigerian
flag. Jollof rice is a special delicacy for
Nigerians and the argument has not yet
been resolved about which country cooks
the best jollof rice in West Africa, between
Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal. Onakoya
Continued on Page 7

Opinion
MAY 1 - 14 2024 TheTrumpet
Onakoya: Playing Chess from
Page7
The Slum to World Record
Continued from Page 6<
has projected Nigerian Jollof Rice, as the
choice brand by announcing it as his first
meal after his victory at a Marathon. May
the God of Nigerian Jollof Rice continue
to bless him!
But I suppose the more important
thing about the euphoria would be the
lessons that we can learn from his
example. He is a young man of 29, who
has never seen what a silver spoon looks
like, but with the talent that God has given
him, he has tried to help encourage and
assist street children and the
underprivileged to give them hope. Many
Nigerian leaders who have been wielding
stolen silver spoons have no vision of
doing anything for anybody. It is always
about their self-interest, and not public
interest and it is the reason there is so
much angst and despair in the land, and
so much lack of trust between Nigerian
leaders and the people. We need leaders,
including those who are products of
privilege to learn to commit to the
common good, not their own ego and
insecurities. It is encouraging that
Nigerian leaders including the President
are full of praise for Tunde Onakoya. It is
people like him that should be on the next
National Honours List of Nigeria, not the
money-miss-road, chieftaincy title crowd.
Every year, we miss out most people who
are true ambassadors for our nation and
give big honours to the most undeserving.
President Tinubu must reverse that ugly
trend.
Meanwhile, Tunde Onakoya is the
latest Nigerian to seek and emerge,
pending confirmation, as a Guinness
Book World Record holder. The frenzy
would seem to have hit the roof when Ms
Hilda Effiong Bassey, Hilda Baci for
short, won a marathon cooking record
with 93 hours and 11 minutes in May
2023. Her record was surpassed later that
same year by Irish chef Alan Fisher but
her feat ignited a World Record fever in
Nigeria, the imprint of which continues to
endure. Nigerians love opportunities.
When they identify one, or someone
points them in a direction, they would
rush as if they were competing for gold.
Hilda Baci became an instant celebrity:
receptions were organized for her by
governments and companies, she got plots
of land and many gifts, she became an
actress, and with her beauty and culinary
skills, she became the darling of suitors
and men who ogled her pictures. The
Madonna University graduate had done
everyone so proud that many Nigerians
actually wanted to cook too. Less than a
month after her victory, one Chef Dammy
of Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State entered the
kitchen in search of a Guinness World
Record that would beat Baci’s record. In
Ondo State, there was a Chef Deo who
wanted to cook for 150 hours. In Oyo
State, there was Chef Adebayo, a 140-
hour aspirant. There have been other
attempts as well. A computer Science
lecturer, Joshua Hassan Bature of the
Department of Computer Science, Federal
University of Technology, Ado Ekiti
reportedly announced a 150-hour teaching
marathon.
There was also Alejo Pataki who
announced a 200-hour singing marathon.
In Ekiti State, one Sugartee proposed a
kissing marathon – kiss-a-thon. He ended
up not kissing anybody, but Sugartee
generated some interest and even got
invited to Government House! One Joyce
Ijeoma embarked on a body massaging
Marathon. She collapsed in the
process. In more recent cases, there is
Zahan Isaac Kuma (aka Mr. Reliable)
who wants to do a marathon Ironing
Festival in pursuit of a Guinness World
Onakoya playing at Times Square in New York
Record (23 – 28 April, 2024) in Abuja at
the Jabi Lake Mall, he says - “for the sake
of that little child on the street.” When.
Mr. Reliable appeared on The Morning
Show of Arise News yesterday, I had
asked him questions about electricity
supply – availability and cost -
considering the fact that the Jabi Lake
Mall is a Band A location on the
electricity spectrum. He sounded upbeat
and confident. He said people should
bring their clothes for ironing. I pray he
does not burn anybody’s cloth, just in case
he gets tired or there is a power surge -
because that could add a new twist to the
story.
What is noteworthy is that the
attempts by Nigerians have inspired
others across the border in Ghana and also
in Cameroon, where one lady said she
wanted a sex-a-thon – sex with strong
men for 200 hours. Imagine!
Tunde Onakoya sets a different
example and represents a far more
ennobling engagement. The Nigerian
government should through his Times
Square outing see that chess has the
potential of becoming an important sport
in Nigeria and thereby make the necessary
effort to promote it in the country.
Onakoya was raised in a slum in Ikorodu,
now he is in New York, jollofing! The first
time he boarded a plane and travelled
abroad was only about two years ago.
Now his story is on every major news
channel in the world, and the front pages
of newspapers, all because he started
playing chess in one small place on the
map called Ikorodu, and turned it into a
life-long passion. Truly, “it is possible to
do great things from a small place” – an
inspiration for every young person out
there in search of meaning and
purpose. Congratulations, Tunde
Onakoya and to everyone who supported
him along the way, well done.

Page8 TheTrumpet MAY 1 - 14 2024
Opinion
Afenifere and the
progressive camp (2)
In the course of the week, I had cause to
be at the Akure, Ondo State-home of
the Afenifere Leader, Reuben
Fasoranti, and I saw modesty in its raw
form. From Fasoranti’s symbolic
bungalow which has played host to
Presidents, Governors and other crème-dela-crème
of the society in their monstrous
agbada or Babarigas, to the information
gleaned from Nigerians in and around his
residence, yours sincerely couldn’t stop
marveling at the Spartan lifestyle of this
97-year-old Awoist. Anyway, that’s a story
for another day!
Well, the threatening truth is that
Afenifere is down and the progressive
camp is beaten! So, when will Yorubaland
laugh and when will the progressive camp
shout uhuru? When will our land smile
again and when will Yoruba leaders wake
up and face reality? When will they
appropriate the social capital as it was in
the days of Egbe Omo Oduduwa, whose
existence wasn’t structured around tea
party or ‘owambe’? Right now, the
Yorubas are behind in terms of capital
formation, financial intermediation and
allied stuff. Of course, we have never been
this behind in a century and a half! Even at
the time of the Kiriji War, the Lagos
Colony was very advanced, vis-à-vis the
rest of Africa, save for South Africa.
For now, what Yorubaland refers to as
strength is just the property values of a few
capital cities like Lagos and Ibadan. Take
that away, what remains is zero capital
strength, compared to what obtained in the
1920s and the 1940s, up to the 1960s. So
it’s like basking in the euphoria of past
glories! Take, for example, the Banks
created by our heroes past were not just
Banks but strategic financial institutions.
Had successful generations of Yoruba
leaders stayed faithful to the cause,
National Bank and Wema Bank would
have become the biggest, dominant
financial institutions in Africa outside of
Standard Bank in South Africa for, whereas
Central Bank of Nigeria is talking about
N500 billion naira paid-up capital,
Standard Bank of South Africa already has
a paid-up capital of $13 billion, which of
course makes ours a joke.
So, how can Afenifere restore the
strength of the Yorubas and let their eyes
receive sight and how can the progressive
camp make everything perfect at its time?
Interestingly, while the former seems to
have been demobilized by political
partisanship, the latter, as it is, is walking
on its knees and somebody needs to create
a positive narrative before players in the
sector completely hijack its ideological
relevance.
Talking about the progressive camp,
yours sincerely wasn’t a small boy during
the ‘June 12’ crises and the roles played by
Frank Ovie Kokori and other prominent
Nigerians, all in a bid to bequeath a lasting
democracy to Nigeria. The then Secretary
General of the National Union of
Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers
(NUPENG) was hounded into prison and
could only heave a sigh of relief after death
struck Sani Abacha like a thief in the night.
BY ABIODUN
KOMOLAFE
Thereafter, Kokori lived unsung and died
like a pauper, which was a devastating
indictment on the progressives.
When he launched his book, ‘Frank
Kokori: The struggle for June 12’ in 2014,
reports had it that only Segun Osoba
attended the event among “the ensemble of
characters who led the famous June 12
struggle.” Others simply slept beside their
wives in the comfort of their homes, which
was a disgrace of monumental proportion
to the bent. It’s even on record that when
Kokori was in Bama Prison in Borno State,
only Osoba was paying regular visits and
rendering financial assistance to his
(Kokori’s) family. Yes, that’s the kind of
progressive class we are dealing with in
Continued on Page 11<
Mama Ijesa North

Opinion
MAY 1 - 14 2024
The Yoruba Nation
“secessionists” of Ibadan
TheTrumpet
Page9
Continued from Page 5<
South Western States and Itsekiri-land
in the Delta. The Itsekiri are cousins of
the Yoruba. They share cultural,
linguistic and political heritage
What we must note is that the
Yoruba who had been maintaining a
pacifist, federalist position in the matter
soon began to talk about secession too,
with the emergence under the Buhari
administration (2015 – 2023) of the
likes of Professor Banji Akintoye, and
the militant Sunday Igboho who
announced an Oodua Republic with a
group known as Ilana Omo Yoruba in
response to what they considered the
Fulanization of Nigeria by the Buhari
government and the assault on Yoruba
territories by Hausa-Fulani herders.
Ideologically, their objective was to
protect Yoruba territory against Fulani
invasion, to avoid a repeat of the
seizure of Ilorin, a Yoruba town, in the
19 th century. The group petitioned the
United Nations. The mainstream
Yoruba position however had always
been restructuring and federalism, as
canvassed by the Awoist group, the
OPC and the Afenifere. The idea of an
Oodua Republic looked like a fall-back
position.
Sunday Igboho’s activism and
militancy telegraphed what happened in
Ibadan on Saturday. He is a selfdetermination
activist who went
beyond Professor Akintoye’s
theoretical disposition to ask for an
immediate declaration of an Oodua
Republic. Of course, the Nigerian State
went after him. He had to spend three
years in exile and only recently
returned for his mother’s burial. But
that is another story. It would be
recalled, however, that in April 2021,
more than 100 self-determination
groups stormed Ibadan to declare an
Oduduwa Republic, and a Yoruba
nation. They included the Nigerian
Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for
Self-Determination (NINAS), the
Youth Initiative, Itsekiri National Youth
Council, Ilana Omo Oodua and the
Homeland Group. They were dispersed
by the police. Now in 2024, we have a
Mrs. Modupe Onitiri-Abiola, leading a
relatively unknown Ominira Yoruba
group, trying to take over power in Oyo
State. Special attention should be paid
to the fact that the group has been
disowned by both Professor Banji
Akintoye and Sunday Igboho whose
real name is actually Chief Sunday
Adeyemo. Professor Akintoye says the
group must be an agent of the Fulanis
still desperate to destabilize
Yorubaland. Igboho says he does not
know the group, and that they are so
“low-brained”. Akintoye and Igboho
seem convinced that the Ibadan
secessionists must be insane. No
Yoruba leader has come out to identify
with Mrs. Abiola’s group.
My take however is that the Yoruba
elite cannot distance themselves from
what has happened. Each and every one
of them who has been calling for this or
that or else, is guilty. I refer them to
Ebrahim Hussein’s Kinjekitile, a 1979
play written by the Tanzanian
playwright on the Maji Maji war. The
lesson of that play is that a word when
spoken develops a life of its own,
beyond the author of the word. You can
break a community, nation and even the
world, by the power of words spoken.
Those who ask that the mistake of 1914
must be revisited and that Nigeria must
be renegotiated have their point, but let
them also think about the effect of their
pronouncements. MASSOB created
IPOB. Nnamdi Kanu gave birth to
Simon Ekpa. Self-determination, the
right of a people to decide their own
destiny is a fundamental right under the
UN Charter (Article 1 sub. 2), and we
have seen that in the case of Kosovo,
and Abhkazia, and the unresolved,
ongoing cases of Kurdistan, Northern
Cyprus, Quebec, Scotland, Western
Sahara, Tibet and Taiwan. Nonetheless,
the April secessionists of Ibadan led by
Mrs. Onitiri -Abiola and others of their
ilk must be reminded that whereas
Nigeria is a signatory to international
laws and conventions, it remains a
country governed by specific domestic
laws, and this is where I think Mrs.
Abiola and her band of 18 soldiers are
in troubled waters. Section 2 of the
Nigerian 1999 Constitution states
clearly that Nigeria is “one indivisible
and indissoluble sovereign State to be
known by the name of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.” Section 37 of the
Criminal Code prescribes the death
penalty for anyone who tries to tamper
with Nigeria’s sovereignty. The offence
is defined as treason. In Sections 40 –
43 of the same Code, the law refers to
treasonable felony which attracts the
punishment of a life imprisonment.
Mrs. Abiola and her gang have
definitely ran foul of the law. They
must be arrested, investigated, and
prosecuted. Mrs. Onitiri-Abiola is said
to be abroad; proceedings should be
initiated post-haste for her extradition
and interception wherever she may be
in the world, and made to answer for
her sin.
She reportedly disclosed with her
own mouth that she is a widow of Chief
MKO Abiola, a man who struggled and
died in the process, to rescue this
country from sheer hopelessness. In
1993, every section of Nigeria,
including the North voted massively for
Abiola in what was acknowledged as
the freest and fairest election ever
conducted in Nigeria. He was both a
hero and a martyr of democracy. And
just like that, here comes Mrs. Modupe
Onitiri-Abiola, one of Chief’s many
wives, suddenly showing up from
Alhaji’s harem, many years after,
spitting on his grave and legacy. Is she
truly of the MKO stock? I think the
Abiola family owes us a duty of issuing
a statement to clarify at least one point:
that Mrs. Onitiri-Abiola does not speak
for the family. MKO Abiola is one of
Yorubaland’s major icons of the 20 th
and 21 st centuries, and a Nigerian hero.
It is sad that anyone at all, would dare
associate his name with less noble
causes.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must
feel personally embarrassed. He is
President of Nigeria from the Yoruba
stock and his own people, whoever they
are, are trying to take over government?
It is either he is terribly disconnected
from his own people or he is not paying
enough attention to certain details. The
other month, he came to Lagos and on
his way to the mosque, his own people
trooped out to complain about hunger.
When he came back home for the Eidel-Fitri
festival, a week ago, he
conveniently restricted himself to Ikoyi
and worshipped at a place not farther
than the Dolphin Estate. Wait a
moment. Are Yorubas in a position to
even claim that they are marginalized
now that they have their own kinsman
and half of the tribe of Lagos in
government? President Tinubu must
address “the peculiar mess” that
occurred in Ibadan on April 13. He
should find out if there are certain fifth
columnists seeking to embarrass his
government, using Yorubaland as their
play field. He took an oath to defend the
Nigerian Constitution. Every Nigerian
leader that I have worked or interacted
with insists that they are sworn to an
oath to protect the indivisibility of
Nigeria under their watch. Tinubu must
wake up. He must not allow a situation
whereby his own people are the ones
calling for the dissolution of Nigeria
while he is President, whatever all the
textbook arguments may be. Mrs.
Modupe Onitiri-Abiola must be given
the Nnamdi Kanu treatment!
We had Chief Olabode George on
The Morning Show (TMS) of Arise
News yesterday and he drew attention
to the failure of intelligence in the
Ibadan matter. The old man was right. I
share his view. How on earth did the
Yoruba secessionists plan, organize and
move to the Oyo State Government
Secretariat without anybody catching a
whiff of their intentions. Their
spokesperson lives abroad. They must
have been in touch with her through
phone calls, messages and all that. And
nobody picked that up? They even
bought and wore military camouflage.
And all the spokespersons of the
Service Chiefs will come and tell us
that they are committed to the defence
of the sovereignty of Nigeria? Please
how do you and your troops defend this
country when you sleep on duty? And
where was the station manager of the
Department of State Security (DSS) in
Oyo State and all the other agencies?
They must all be called in for
questioning. Sleeping on duty is not
allowed. And one more point, where
was the Nigerian Security and Civil
Defence Corps? It is the duty of that
agency to protect and defend public
infrastructure. Section 3 of the Civil
Defence Act as amended (2007) gives
the agency broad powers “to assist in
the maintenance of peace and order and
in the protection and rescuing of the
civil population during the period of
emergency.” The agency also has
powers under section 3 (f) “to arrest
with or without warrant, detain,
investigate and institute legal
proceedings by or in the name of the
Attorney General of the Federation in
accordance with the provisions of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria…” Where was Civil Defence
even if the other agencies failed?
The bigger issue that we have to
deal with perhaps is the increasing,
creeping failure of the Nigerian State.
Much fewer people today believe in the
idea of Nigeria. This is why we have
people challenging the State either
through secessionist or separatist
moves or complete abandonment of the
country, the Japa phenomenon, with
many believing or thinking that they
would be better off in foreign lands.
When Nigeria becomes attractive to its
own people, we would have managed
to create a nation.

Page10 TheTrumpet MAY 1 - 14 2024
Opinion
Chibok: Destroying the future
of our tomorrow?
By Abiodun Komolafe
The 10 th anniversary of the
abduction of 276 school children
from the Government Girls
Secondary School in Chibok, Nigeria,
has again brought an eerie feeling of
despair and panic. The anniversary is a
high point as it has again shown the entire
security apparatus of Nigeria as gravely
inept and compromised. That’s what it
tells us!
The most important thing about
Chibok is not just that it happened! As a
matter of fact, it ought not to have
happened! Instead, it is about what the
country has learnt in ten years! People’s
lives have been destroyed but it seems as
if Nigeria has moved on! According to
reports, “48 of the victims’ parents have
died since the girls were kidnapped.” So
far, 22 rescued schoolgirls were said to
have come back, with 37 children. In any
case, that the school children even have
children is in itself a social crisis!
Of course, things happen! But the
difference between Nigeria and other
countries is that, whenever things happen
in sane climes, they are used as an
opportunity for an advance – to improve
society as well as prevent a repeat. A
good example was the cholera outbreak
in the Lagos Colony in 1922. Of course,
people died! But the colonial government
made a lot of improvements in sanitation
and sewage drainage. Indeed, that’s what
led to the establishment of the
Environmental Health Officers or
Sanitary Inspectors, famously referred to
as ‘woléwolé’. Since then, things have
been improving in terms of
environmental conditions, though not as
much as one would have liked or wanted.
But what has the Nigerian government
learnt from the Chibok saga and how has
it been managing the people’s
expectations? From the look of things,
Rescue our Chibok girls
nothing so far!
When the Chibok girls were abducted
on April 14, 2014, it wasn’t taken
seriously by the Goodluck Jonathan-led
until Nigerians became confronted with
the open truth. A cross-section of
Nigerians even opined that Leah Sharibu
happened under the Muhammadu
Buhari-led administration because
nobody supervised Defence spending and
contracts. To them, lots of things
happened under the immediate-past
regime and those who reaped from the
ruination of the country would not want
to give up without fighting back. But for
how long will the Bola Tinubu
administration bear them?
Chibok! Dapchi! Kuriga! It is pathetic
to note that the Safe School Initiative
looks like just another scam! Yes,
humongous sums of money were sourced
from far and near for the scheme but how
many of our schools have become safe
through, say, parameter fencing? All the
more reason President Tinubu must
commission a Judicial Panel of Inquiry
and an audit to carry out an audit on how
the funds have been spent since
inception, the impact it has made and the
modus operandi for (its) revampment.
Arguably, it is difficult to kidnap
students from St. Charles Grammar
School, Osogbo because it is in the
metropolis but one doesn’t have to be a
military strategist to know that Chibok
cannot be too far from an exposed
environment like Urban Day Grammar
School in Ijebu-Jesa. Therefore, simple
elementary common sense demands that
the environment be cleared two miles
before the school to dissuade criminal
minds and tendencies. Have the handlers
of our education system done that?
Well, we can deceive ourselves as
much as we like but it is unfortunate that
the whole stuff has become what
America’s 34 th President, Dwight D.
Eisenhower described as the Military
Industrial Complex. In the words of the
Singaporean author and political
commentator, Chua Chin Leng, “When
there is peace in the world, the Americans
would have to create jobs for themselves,
to make themselves useful again as
responsible people, not warmongers and
murderers, not merchants of war. There
will be no one to buy their expensive war
machine, no more needs for military
gangs aka allies.” Of course, that’s why
America has to be going around, looking
for conflicts to win. Otherwise, how will
‘God’s own country’ keep its people
employed? It therefore goes to say that,
once we allow a conflict to take root, it
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becomes an economy. Tragically, Boko
Haram and ISWAP have become part of
Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product
(GDP). The only challenge is that it
cannot be measured. To Nigerians, it has
become a way of life on all sides; and it is
fear-provoking!
May the Lamb of God, who takes
away the sin of the world, grant us peace
in Nigeria!
Komolafe wrote in from Ijebu-Jesa,
Osun State, Nigeria
(ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)
Re: Afenifere and the progressive
camp
I read your column on April 6, 2024
and I was impressed by the Afenifere
story and the need to reawaken the
Yoruba people and re-ignite the streak of
development in a nation trapped in the
tragic crossroads of development
planning and elite complacency.
It is unfortunate that the dynamics of
time have left Afenifere behind. So, only
ARG can chart a new path of visionary
progress and renewed doctrine of
socialism which the current generation
can key into.
Emmanuel Awe,
Abeokuta, Ogun State.
____________________________
From what our gentleman (Mr
Abiodun Komolafe) has written, it shows
that he is an insider. I rejoice with him for
being alive to reveal to Nigerians a
fractional part of what he actually knew
about ARG and our elders in Yorubaland.
To all our elders, this is the actual time
we have to make good use of our talented
gentlemen. If we do, we are going to
recover what we have lost as a result of
our unfeeling attitude.
Chief Olusola Fayemi,
Osogbo, Osun State.
____________________________
As you have pointed out, the DAWN
Document isn’t a separatist agenda; it’s
for the social, economic, educational and
psychological development of the
Southwest.
DAWN is all about charity beginning
at home: if we can’t control the whole,
let’s control and develop our region! So,
the gospel of DAWN is the only way to
go for the region to get back on track.
Unless the DAWN Document is
implemented wholeheartedly by the
States; and, unless it becomes their
guiding principle and working tool, the
zone will forever be lost and wandering.
So, Afenifere must first believe in the
DAWN initiative. Until that’s done, it
Continued on Page 11

Opinion
MAY 1 - 14 2024 TheTrumpet
Afenifere and the progressive
Page11
camp (2)
Continued from Page 8<
Nigeria!
But Kokori wasn’t alone in this
progressive embarrassment. Ola Oni!Akin
Makinde! Chima Ubani! And others!
They’re an unforgettable part of the
struggles that eventually brought Nigeria
to where she is. But didn’t the country they
served with all their strengths abandon
them when they needed it most? I doubt if
any of the friends in power even
remembers the likes of Alfred Rewane,
Babatunde Elegbede, Olu Omotehinwa,
Bisoye Tejuosho, Suliat Adedeji, Shola
Omosola and Bagauda Kaltho who paid
the ultimate price for us to get to this pass!
Abiola and Kudirat, his wife, are only
lucky that they have some few monuments
named after them; and the reason is simple!
We are even hearing that Governor
Ademola Adeleke is planning to rename
MKO Abiola Airport in Ido Osun, Osun
State after Isiaka Adetunji, his late brother
and former Governor of the State. Well,
Nigerians hope it’s fake news; and it had
better be!
In sane climes, the progressives are
supposed to be the main drivers of social
change. But is that happening in this part
of the world? If we couldn’t honour people
like Kokori for their active, frontline roles
while they lived, it only goes to show that
everything about democracy in Nigeria is
self-centered, half-hearted and
transactional. Had Kokori for example
been honoured, maybe the man would still
be alive today!
John McCain was an American Senator
who had his own distinct mind. He went to
school. He also maintained tradition. He
was a “soldier of soldiers” who fought for
his fatherland. In the process, he was
captured and almost killed. But, as fate
would have it, McCain ‘graduated’ to a
Prisoner of War (POW). After his release,
he came back to the USA, again, to serve
his fatherland until death. Even, in death,
the Senator from Arizona remained
justified for the actions he took while he
lived. Now, look at McCain’s children and
what they are achieving for selves and
fatherland?
In the considered opinion of this writer,
this is not the time to forget those who
risked what they had for what the country
needed but now lack the voice and the
mobility because of dispensational factors
or nature of their creation. To get out of the
woods therefore, Afenifere has to set out
the real development agenda with the
ferocious finesse that will define its very
boundaries and prescribe the landscape of
institutional democracy for the Yoruba
nation. It is unfortunate that the region is
falling so behind, especially in times of
credit and this is not too good for us! So,
we need a leadership that will celebrate not
only the generations of love among us but
also the legacy, inspiration and the
testimony of our founding fathers.
More than ever, the Yoruba nation
needs an established culture of political
consciousness that can demand and stand
for its rights and a Development Agenda
that can truly negotiate the future, capture
the interests of the race, synthesize and
stick to the needs of the people, and
entrench a system of democratic awareness
Pa Reuben
Fasoranti
in the people. Again, this is where DAWN
Document and Yoruba Academy come in!
Let Afenifere rethink its vision and work
with the State governments in the region
on how to make things happen!
As a Yorubaman, President Bola
Tinubu has an important role to play in
ensuring that the race doesn’t go extinct
and this is a historic opportunity for him to
spearhead a federalist agenda, which was
what Awolowo and, indeed, most of his
colleagues from the other regions, had
always believed in and fought for. A proper
federalism is what is of utmost benefit to
Yorubaland and everything will fall into
place! Of course, that’s the biggest legacy
Tinubu can bequeath to Nigerians!
Last of all, isn’t there an urgent need for
the progressive icons in Nigeria to call a
solemn assembly for the revival of the
hopes of their forefathers?
May the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sin of the world, grant us peace in
Nigeria!
Concluded.
Komolafe wrote in from Ijebu-Jesa,
Osun State, Nigeria
(ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)
Chibok: Destroying the future
of our tomorrow?
Continued from Page 10<
will remain a toothless bulldog and an
insignificant wailing wailer!
Gideon Ogunleye,
Lagos, Nigeria.
____________________________
Hmmm! This is a deep and thoughtprovoking
piece.
But where did we lose it?
Unfortunately, successive leaders are
only interested in themselves, not
communal togetherness.
Many of the ARG members who have
had access to power seemed to have
forgotten where they were coming from.
May God help us!
Ahmed Lawal,
Aramoko-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
____________________________
I like this good piece on Afenifere.
But who breaks the Berlin Wall
between the factional groups in
Afenifere?
My brother, Afenifere is no more!
Dr. Jimoh Agboola,
Osogbo, Osun State
____________________________
Those who inherited Afenifere only
did so for political gains, not service to
the Southwest. Since they’re not attuned
to the attributes of its founding fathers,
we can now see the effects of the absence
of ideology on the part of those parading
themselves as Afenifere/ARG.
In the olden days, whenever Afenifere
spoke, it was with one voice and the
country would be shaken to its
foundation. Unfortunately, that attribute
has been sold for selfish interests! It is
sad!
One way forward is to collapse all the
factional and fractional groups of
Fasoranti, Adebanjo and ARG to become
one old and bold Afenifere, because
united we stand, divided we fall! This can
be done by way of the Afenifere Peace
Summit, involving the three groups.
Chief Biodun Aguda,
Iloro-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
____________________________
Is Tinubu a candidate of Afenifere? If
not, it will be morally wrong for
Afenifere to set Yoruba Agenda for the
President.
Besides, Afenifere is to protect and
promote Yoruba Agenda. So, how on
earth would a socio-ethnic organisation
support a candidate outside its territory?
Tunde A. Akinpelu,
Ibadan, Oyo State.

Page12 TheTrumpet MAY 1 - 14 2024
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MAY 1 - 14 2024 TheTrumpet
Page13

Opinion
Page14 TheTrumpet MAY 1 - 14 2024
Fuel Scarcity, Abidoshaker and
other stories
By Reuben Abati
are you coping with this
fuel scarcity? Fuel queues
“How
everywhere. Even the bus
stops are crowded. People waiting for
buses that also do not have fuel.”
“What I don’t understand is why
every administration since 1999,
marking the return to civilian rule, has
had to deal with exactly the same
problems: fuel scarcity, a big debt
burden, lack of electricity supply,
unemployment, big corruption, terrorism
and banditry. Sometimes, I take a look at
this democracy and I am like: what really
have we gained putting civilians in
power?”
“The worst civilian government is
better than the best military
government.”
“I hear that all the time, yes. But why
are we not making progress? Can you
believe that one of my brothers had to
contact me to ask if I could help get fuel.
How am I supposed to do that from
Lagos, when I am also looking for fuel.”
“Don’t worry when the Dangote
refinery starts producing PMS and the
Warri refinery kicks off, everything will
be fine.”
“I have been hearing that for about a
year. Were we not also told that the Port
Harcourt Refinery has been
mechanically completed? A mechanical
refinery that has refused to produce
petrol. We don’t need mechanical stories
we want fuel at the filling stations”
“President Tinubu has advised us to
be patient. At the Special Meeting of the
World Economic Forum in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia, he told his audience that
his government had to remove fuel
subsidy and manage the foreign
exchange market to prevent the country
from slipping into bankruptcy.”
“I watched the video. He spoke well,
ex tempore. He keeps doing a good job
of marketing the country and selling the
country as an important destination for
Foreign Direct Investment. Good outing
overall. You know City Boy is a show
man. He met with the Dutch Prime
Minister, Bill Gates, Chairman of
shipping giant AP Moeller-Maersk, CEO
of Samsung. But he didn’t tell the full
story”
“Which full story do you want him to
tell the international community? Which
story?”
“He should have been honest enough
to tell the business community that
Nigeria under his watch is still a work in
progress. Electricity supply is epileptic.
Diesel is expensive. The cost of business
is so high many businesses are leaving
the country, the latest being PZ Cussons
which has been in West Africa for more
than 140 years. Even the businesses that
are still in the country are raising prices.
Multichoice has increased its
subscription rates, effective May 1. The
Telecom companies have also served
notice that call rates will go up…”
“Market forces. Companies are doing
business not charity. They have to make
ends meet. For a business to be
profitable, the Return on Investment
(ROI) must be higher than the Cost of
Investment. If you can’t afford to pay for
Multichoice Premium, the same
company offers you other options. If the
Telcos increase their call rates, you
simply talk less and reduce the number
of calls you make.”
“But are you aware that one court has
barred MultiChoice from increasing its
subscription rates? And I guess the same
thing will happen to the telcos. And if
they cannot make ends meet, some of
these companies will also close shop.”
“Just hearing that from you.”
“That is why I am talking about
honesty. You are asking me to adjust and
adapt. President Tinubu should have told
his audience that back home IPMAN has
announced that this fuel scarcity will
linger for two weeks, further making life
difficult for businesses and persons.”
“IPMAN talked about fuel scarcity
and supply chain problems. The
Independent Petroleum Marketers did
not say there will be fuel queues for two
weeks.”
“What is the difference?”
“So, what do you expect President
Tinubu to do? To promise potential
investors an enabling environment and
then at the same time, de-market his own
country? Trust is the biggest element in
international trade. President Tinubu
only needs potential investors to trust
him. Or do you want him to behave like
President Buhari who used to go abroad
to tell people that Nigerian youths are
lazy, or that a woman’s place belongs in
the other room? Sorry, Tinubu is much
smarter.”
“But why was he behaving like that
during the campaigns making it look like
he could not complete his sentences and
had to be assisted to complete ordinary
tasks like climbing the stairs. The same
man is now energetic and bouncing,
prancing, with energy and panache.”
“Strategy my friend. People
underestimated Asiwaju Bola Tinubu,
even within his own Party. He
outsmarted them all, even with the power
of the tongue. Strategy is the soul of
politics.”
“Okay, congratulations. Let him solve
the problem of electricity, fuel supply,
foreign exchange and the hunger in the
land. Soon, it will be May 29, one year
since he assumed office. Enough of the
promises of hope. I want action, results.”
“You have to be patient. You cannot
expect Tinubu to fix eight years of
maladministration in one year. But come
to think of it, I think in a mysterious
manner, Nigeria has just stumbled on a
divine solution.”
“Beware of blasphemy. Leave God
out of this. Our problems in Nigeria are
man-made. Nobody should blame God.”
“I said divine. I didn’t mention God
but you know God works through human
beings. God has sent unto us one of his
prophets to solve our problems.”
“And who is that?”
“Prophet Odumeje. Abidoshaker.
Ganduka Gandusa. Indaboski. The
Liquid Metal. The man has acquired
powers. He says with his powers, he
brought down the value of the dollar
against the Naira and the Naira
appreciated. But he left town for London
with his powers, the Naira lost a little
value and now that he is back, he will fix
the Naira.”
“What powers?”
“Citadel. Pandemic. Epidemic.
Pandemonium. Sanctus Sanitorias and
Burning Fire.”
“Listen to that meaningless mumbojumbo.
And who is Abido Shaker?”
“Man of God.”
“I think he is a clown. A comedian.
Prophet Odumeje
An entertainer. I think he should be in
Nollywood, not anywhere near a pulpit.
You people worship pastors, not God.
You actually believe that a prophet is the
solution to Nigeria’s problems?”
“When the man went to London,
people rushed to the airport to receive
him. They even paid to watch him
perform his latest song: Powers. He
attracted a large crowd. When he
returned to Nigeria, he was received by a
large crowd, dancing and singing his
praises. The man has his own style.”
“Nigerians like entertainment and
that pastor is good at making skits. I am
not surprised.”
“I hear he can use his powers to
ensure steady electricity supply, generate
employment and place Nigeria on the
path of growth. You never know with
these spiritualists. Don’t you think he
should be consulted by the Nigerian
government? Yemi Cardoso and Wale
Edun can invite him to a meeting and
explore ways of how his powers can be
unleashed to fix monetary and fiscal
policies.”
“He should be given a stern warning
to stop misleading people. One of these
days he would cause a pandemonium.
The person that actually shocks me is
that musician called Flavour. What does
he hope to gain doing a collabo with
Indaboski?”
“He probably hopes to get powers
that would jump-start his musical
Continued on Page 15

Opinion
MAY 1 - 14 2024 TheTrumpet Page15
Fuel Scarcity, Abidoshaker and
other stories
Continued from Page 14<
career.”
“I sympathize with him if that is the
case. He doesn’t need powers to do well
as an artiste. Let him go and work hard
on his talent and concentrate on his craft.
Can’t he see that Indaboski is using him?
Nonsense.”
“His choice. This is a free country. He
is responsible for his own brand and
identity. And in any case, I don’t think
anybody is using anybody. They are both
using each other. You will be surprised
that their song may end up as a bestseller
on the charts.”
“What I know is that people make
stupid choices in this country. Like those
young men who went to protest at the
EFCC Headquarters yesterday. They
turned EFCC vs. Alhaji Yahaya Bello
into an Ebira youths vs Igalla youths
conflict. I hear the protesters were ethnic
gladiators.”
“Everything in Nigeria is always
ethnicized. With so much unemployment
in the country, you will always find more
than enough idle youths to support any
cause.”
“EFCC has already staged enough
drama around this case. It should not get
involved in Ebira or Igalla politics. The
matter is already in court. The courts will
decide on the weight of evidence
provided. Enough of the circus and all
you television lawyers should beware of
running foul of the law.”
“I understand what you are saying.
The part of the story that shocks me,
actually, is the fact that people spend
Fuel scarcity in Nigeria has resulted in long queues at Petrol stations
foreign currency in this country as if it
were the national currency. The Chinese
supermarket that was shut down in Abuja
the other day, we were told designates
items in Chinese and price tags in Yuan,
not Naira. There are many schools, real
estate companies, and luxury stores that
transact business in dollars only.”
“Even some government agencies
collect tariffs in dollars and claim that it
is because their business is international.
Nigeria’s crude oil is sold in dollars for
example.”
“So, how do we expect the Naira to
remain stable? I think what the American
International School Abuja (AISA)’s
involvement in the Bello case so far is
that the government must move swiftly
to outlaw the use of dollars for basic
transactions in the country, instead of
chasing people who are spraying small
change at social parties.”
“Even that is an offence. There is no
such thing as a small offence. The law is
the law.”
“The law must be seen to be fair to all
parties concerned. This is why I support
the idea of a justice sector reform. For
Heaven’s sake, we can’t even maintain
correctional facilities. There was a small
downpour the other day in Suleja and the
perimeter wall of the correctional facility
gave way. Over 100 inmates escaped.
Before now, there have been jail breaks
in Koton Karfe in Kogi State, Benin and
Oko in Edo State, Kuje in FCT, and
Okitipupa in Ondo State. Every incident
has been traced to the poor management
of the correctional facilities.”
“But what has this got to do with
justice sector reform?”
“Everything. Justice administration is
a chain from law enforcement to the
judicial system to the custodial centres.
There is no justice if the prisons are
congested, if children are kept in
maximum prison facilities, if security
dogs are fed with N800 per day and
inmates N700 per day. There is no justice
when cases are delayed and the prisons
are full of awaiting trial persons.”
“I am really sorry. I don’t want to talk
about the plight of prisoners. Even those
of us who are not in custodial centres are
in prison in real terms. This country is a
big prison yard.”
“I won’t put it like that. I guess we
should at least be grateful for the little
opportunities we get. There is nothing
like being free, and having tomorrow to
look forward to. Look at one example.
The Edo State Government has just
increased the minimum wage in the State
to N70,000. That is good news.”
“I hear Lagos has also done the same
thing.”
“No. That story has been debunked
by Gbenga Omotoso, the Lagos
Commissioner for Information. What
Lagos has in place is a comprehensive
welfare programme called Eko Cares
which covers food, healthcare and
transportation.”
“Lagos can in fact pay up to
N100,000 if it so decides. Afterall, the
Governor’s nickname is Sanwo Eko. Let
him bring out the money. Sanwo Eko,
show us the money. What is money?”
“Just confess that your sister works
with the Lagos State Government and
you want her to earn more.”
“There is nothing wrong with that.
We are in a country where you have to
look out for yourself.”
“This is why we are where we are”
“That is why Africa is the way it is.”
“Look at South Africa. Thirty years
after the end of apartheid rule, the racist
masters have been replaced by a local
elite which has not really done much for
the poor black majority. Our leaders in
Africa only want power for power’s
sake. If the ANC is not careful, it may not
even get up to 40% in the May 29
elections. Obsession with power and
corruption have broken up the party.”
“Typically African. South Africa after
Mandela.”
“Look at Togo where the people went
to the polls yesterday in a parliamentary
election.”
“Is that an election? Faure
Gnassingbe amended the Constitution to
keep him in power till 2033. There is also
the chance that he will remain President
for life. He has been in power since 2005,
the year that he seized power as
birthright. His family has been ruling
Togo since 1967.”
“The opposition parties do not stand
any chance in Togo.”
“The Black man is the biggest
problem to himself and to others.”

Page16 TheTrumpet MAY 1 - 14 2024
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