The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 623 (May 15 - 28 2024)

TheTrumpet
Africans now have a voice... Founded in 1995
V O L 30 N O 623 M AY 15 - 28 2024
For some youths, the bloodshed that ended the #EndSARS protests is a reason to 'Ja Pa' (Photo - Kaizenify - CCA-SA 4.0 Int)
Jailed for
indecent
exposure
and sexual
assaults
Young middleclass
Nigerians
are desperate to
leave the
country: insights
into why
By Jing Jing Liu, MacEwan University
Continued on Page 2>
Mohammed Amin
A28-year-old man -
Mohammed Amin, who
committed a string of
indecent exposure and sexual
assaults against women and girls in
the Stamford Hill area of North-East
London, has been sentenced to two
years and ten months in prison.
Met detectives compiled
thousands of hours of CCTV footage
and pieced together the Amin‘s
movements by tracking his GPS
through his bike hire accounts.
Specialist officers provided
support to the victims, who were all
Jewish, and sought advice and
guidance from the Shomrim in
Stamford Hill throughout the
investigation.
Amin of Sparsholt Road,
appeared at the Old Bailey and was
jailed after committing four sexual
offences against four victims over a
three-month period in 2021. The
youngest victim was 12.
Detective Constable Patrick
Godin, who led the investigation
said: “Today’s sentence
demonstrates how seriously we take
incidents of this nature. Our local
team are committed to pursuing
predators who threaten the safety of
women and girls in their own
neighbourhood.
“We did everything we could to
take this perverse individual off the
streets of Stamford Hill and were
supported throughout by the local
Shomrim. I’d like to thank the
Shomrim for their continued help
during this case – they were able to
use their knowledge of the area to
help us quickly identify Amin and
provided vital guidance and advice.
“It’s important that we work with
partners and listen to community
concerns. It’s our job and duty to act
Continued on Page 3

Page2 TheTrumpet MAY 15 - 28 2024
News
Young middle-class Nigerians
are desperate to leave the
country: insights into why
Continued from Page 1<
Since the 1980s, migration has been a
part of the Nigerian middle-class
psyche, catalysed by the usual
suspects: high unemployment, security
concerns, infrastructure gaps, and poor
governance. Migrants tends to be middleclass
since one needs resources to migrate.
For many young Nigerians, the
bloodshed that ended the 2020 #EndSARS
protests against police brutality proved to
be a decisive factor. Their desire to leave
the country crystallised into action.
Leaders had disregarded their criticisms
and, for some youth, it seemed futile to
continue struggling.
In 2022, 70% of Nigerians aged 18-35
surveyed by the African Polling Institute
reported they would relocate if given the
opportunity, a marked jump from 39%
across all age groups in 2019. Moreover,
the number of passports newly issued or
renewed almost doubled, from one million
in 2021 to 1.9 million in 2022.
Data from popular destinations, such
as the UK and Canada, suggest that
education is the primary migration
pathway. In the UK, the Office for
National Statistics reported an increase in
Nigerian students, from 6,798 in 2017 to
59,053 in 2022. Similarly, in Canada,
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
Canada reported an increase in the number
of study permits issued, from 12,565 in
2017 to 37,314 in 2022.
As a sociocultural anthropologist, I
have been researching migration and
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money flows between West Africa and
China since 2008. Global south
destinations like China were becoming
increasingly popular prior to the COVID-
19 pandemic. I was interested in
understanding what propelled Nigerian
youth to a variety of new locations.
While gaining prestigious degrees,
international work experience and a
pathway to citizenship are cited as reasons
to migrate, my recent research explores
how a new term, japa, has emerged to
capture an additional layer of
contemporary migration.
Japa stitches together the Yoruba
expression já pa, meaning “to run” or “to
flee”. But it’s more than another word for
migration. The expression captures the
sentiment of desperation and danger.
According to Michael, 27, a journalist
from Lagos who took part in my study,
“japa doesn’t mean to migrate; it means to
run for your life.”
For this research, I conducted inperson
and online interviews with 21
Nigerians aged 20-35 in Nigeria and the
diaspora in 2022 and 2023. I also analysed
20 interviews on migration, money, and
relationships published in the “Abroad
Life” and “Sunken Ships” sections of
Zikoko! from 2020 to 2023. Zikoko! is an
online media platform catering to Nigerian
youth.
An additional motivation to leave
When people think of “survival
migration”, the image that comes to mind
includes perilous journeys to escape
poverty or war. When middle-class
Nigerian youth draw on the same term,
they highlight another reason: existential
worry about the nation’s future.
Another study participant, David, 32,
an engineer in the UK, reinforced that
youth “are migrating out of survival and
necessity rather than choice” and that
Desperate to leave Nigeria
“there is a massive, massive difference”.
To speak of japa is to identify
Nigeria’s social, economic and political
circumstances as the drivers for migration,
but with the added twist of a refusal to
endure these conditions.
Chinaka, 20, an Economics student in
Lagos, declared: “This country is not
moving anywhere again; for me, that’s
why I want to japa. Nigeria has tired me.”
Specifically, youth in the study said
they were tired of interruptions to their
tertiary education in public institutions,
and unnerved by the unprecedented
currency depreciation of the naira. From
January 2022 to March 2024, the naira has
declined by 74% against the US dollar.
Rather than expending additional effort
to survive in Nigeria, they announce:
I’m not doing this anymore. (Aisha,
23, a student in Ibadan)
African survival migration tends to be
associated with impoverished migrants,
immediate and choiceless departures, and
irregular journeys. Japa complicates this
image. It invites us to see that survival
migration can be organised through urgent
but organised departures that require years
of planning, saving and managing
unpredictable events. Contingencies can
include sudden changes in visa policies,
such as the UK government’s decision in
May 2023 to exclude dependants from
accompanying certain international
students.
Japa also encourages a revised
understanding of destination “choice” in
migration. While Canada, the US and the
UK remain top of mind, the middle class
captures a range of people with varying
financial situations, travel timelines and
appetites for adventure. Under the impetus
“to flee”, youths are open to additional
destinations, including Germany, China
and Northern Cyprus.
Effects of japa
Besides State-level concerns with
“brain drain”, some of the more pressing
consequences of japa include secrecy,
solitude and the reorganisation of social
relations.
Much discussed by youths online and
in the interviews is the secrecy
surrounding japa plans for security or
personal reasons. Tired of losing friends or
feeling betrayed by friends concealing
their plans, the youths who remain in
Nigeria might withdraw from friendships
or be unwilling to make new ones. This
stance of solitude is accompanied by a
contradiction: a sadness about being left
behind and pressure to leave, even for
those who feel content to stay.
Lawrence, 26, a freelance writer, was
comfortable living in Nigeria, but faced
growing scrutiny over his decision.
Family, friends and strangers swarmed
him with incessant prodding: “When are
you leaving?” followed by “Why aren’t
you leaving?”
The desire to leave reconfigures youth
towards the near future at the expense of
their immediate social relations.
The state of japa
The reaction from the government and
current President - Bola Tinubu is one of
concern and alarm about the loss of
educated and talented youth. The issue,
however, runs deeper. Nigerian leaders
should not underestimate the profound
emotional and symbolic aspects of
“survival migration”.
Youth no longer see themselves in the
country. The double meaning here is
intentional. The desire to leave is
intensified by the feeling that the values
and ethos they embody and uphold are not
adequately represented by the nation and
its leadership.
Japa should be understood as a
middle-class sensibility that conjoins a
critique of State viability and a mode of
self-care. Their existential reasons for
migrating must be addressed.
Jing Jing Liu is Assistant Professor of
Anthropology at MacEwan University.
This article is republished from The
Conversation under a Creative
Commons license. Read the at:
https://theconversation.com/youngmiddle-class-nigerians-are-desperate-toleave-the-country-insights-into-why-227
379

News
MAY 15 - 28 2024 TheTrumpet
Jailed for indecent exposure
Page3
and sexual assaults
Continued from Page 1<
on any information and make Londoners
as safe as they can be.”
In March 2021, The Stamford Hill
branch of Shomrim contacted local
officers after a victim came forward and
explained that a man had exposed
himself to her. Later that night, a man
matching the same description was
spotted by local community members
and called the police, who arrived in
minutes.
Officers watched hours of CCTV
from the surrounding areas of Stamford
Hill and collated vital information from
victims.
Once officers established Amin had
used a hire bike to commit offences,
investigators delved into Amin’s bank
records and hire bike accounts to build a
case. GPS mapping and examination of
Amin’s phone put him at the scene of all
of the crimes.
Amin had previously been found
guilty at Wood Green Crown Court in
March of: Sexual assault on a female;
Causing a child aged 13-15 to watch /
look at an image of sexual activity;
Exposure; and Attempted exposure.
Detectives continue to work closely
with community groups in Stamford Hill
to provide support and safeguard
victims.

Page4
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Two men have been found guilty of
murder after detectives gathered
extensive CCTV, forensic and
phone evidence to link them to the crime.
Abubakarr ‘Junior’ Jah was just 18
when he was fatally shot and stabbed in
Newham in April 2021.
25-year-old Awadh Saleh of Chesterton
Terrace, E13 and 25-year-old Rio Burton-
Devine of Burder Close, N1 were
convicted of Jah’s murder at the conclusion
of a trial at the Old Bailey.
Detective Inspector Gary Harreman,
who led the investigation, said: “Junior was
murdered just four years after his brother
Ahmed and his family have been through
unimaginable suffering. Our thoughts
continue to remain with them.
“Junior’s life was suddenly and
inexplicably cut short by two men who set
out that day on a ‘rideout’, intent on
carrying out the most brutal act of violence
against anyone they believed may be linked
to rival gangs.
“They believed they could get away
with their crimes but despite the length of
time passed, our team never gave up
fighting for justice for Junior and his
family.”
Officers and the London Ambulance
Service were called to reports of a stabbing
on Coolfin Road, Newham on 26 April
2021. Despite emergency treatment from
paramedics, Junior sadly died at the scene.
Detectives launched an immediate
investigation, including gathering and
analysing thousands of hours of CCTV.
News
Extensive CCTV, forensic
and phone evidence leads
to murder conviction
Rio Burton-Devine
Awadh Saleh
Footage captured showed that in the
middle of the afternoon, at 14:44hrs, a Land
Rover Discovery pulled up close to junior.
As he walked toward the car, within
seconds, he was shot in the chest.
The driver of the car, later identified by
officers as Saleh, then got out of the vehicle
and walked around to Junior, stabbing him
twice in the chest with a large knife.
The car was later found on fire at
nearby Routemaster Close. Forensic
examination found Junior’s DNA present
on one of the doors. A fingerprint was also
found belonging to Burton-Devine.
Phone analysis showed the men had
been in touch with and in each other’s
company in the hours leading up to the
murder, as well as placing them in the
vehicle used in the crime.
Both continued to deny their
involvement in the murder. Detectives
believe that they did not know Junior but
that the attack was motivated by a feud
between rival gangs.
The jury also found them both guilty of
possession of a firearm with intent to
endanger life, and Saleh was additionally
found guilty of possession of a
pointed/bladed article. They will be
sentenced at the same court on Wednesday,
12 June.
DI Harreman added: “Junior’s family
have shown great strength throughout this
investigation but we continue to fight for
justice and are working to find those
responsible for killing his brother, Ahmed
Deen-Jah, in April 2017.
“Seven years has passed since his
murder but we know people’s allegiances
can change over time. Anyone who has
information is asked to call police on 101 or
alternatively contact independent charity
Crimestoppers completely anonymously on
0800 555 111.”

MAY 15 - 28 2024 TheTrumpet
Page5

Page6 TheTrumpet MAY 15 - 28 2024
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MAY 15 - 28 2024
TheTrumpet
Page7
Produced in Association with HM Government
It’s never too late to tackle addiction
If you or someone you know is having issues
with drugs or alcohol, there are lots of ways
to access free & confidential advice and
support from local experts
Drug and alcohol problems
can affect anyone, with
many people keeping it a
secret, adding pressure to holding
down a job and juggling family
life. This can have a serious
impact on the people around you,
including those you love.
Whether you’ve become
dependent on drugs and alcohol,
or just find it difficult to control
your use, it can be difficult to
acknowledge and talk about what
is happening.
But it’s important to remember
that effective, confidential, and
non-judgemental help is available
for anyone who feels they, or
anyone they know, struggles with
alcohol or drugs. Support is also
available for families affected by a
loved one’s alcohol and drug
use.The government is investing
additional funding to improve the
capacity and quality of treatment.
This means that there will be
more help available in your local
area so you can get the help you
need quicker and the help you
receive will be better, including
from better-trained staff who can
spend longer with each person.
“You’ve got to
do it for yourself,
or nothing is
going to change”
*Aleena (name changed for
privacy), 37, has lived through
some challenging times. Her
father was killed in a road
accident when she was 11 years
old, triggering her to go “off the
rails” as she went into a spiral of
drug and alcohol use.
When she became pregnant in
late 2020, she reached a crisis
point and approached her local
drug and alcohol treatment
provider for support.
“When I was pregnant, I
thought enough is enough, and
became determined to change my
ways and surroundings. The
penny had dropped,” says
*Aleena.
“I was a mess when I walked
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back. I don’t have cravings
and I’ve got the willpower to carry
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“The talking support groups
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eyes to a lot of stuff - especially
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“I told my life story over six
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You’re encouraged to open up to
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your chest, you can put it in a box
and forget about it.
“I can’t thank my service
provider enough. My key workers
took the time to sit down with me
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about myself. They are like my
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“You’ve got to do it for
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didn't want to ask for help, but you
need it. Grab it with both hands
and give it a go. Then stay calm
and keep focused and busy. If
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With a fresh start, *Aleena is
now raising her daughter and
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is also still in touch with her local
treatment service, who continue to
offer support.
How to find help
You can find details of treatment services on your
local authority’s website. FRANK also has a
directory of adult and young people’s alcohol and
drug treatment services at talktofrank.com/help
If you are worried about a friend or family
member and they are happy for you to do so,
contact FRANK, or the local drug and alcohol
service on their behalf . You, or the person you
are worried for can call FRANK anytime on 0300
123 6600 for confidential advice and information.
You can talk to your GP, who can then refer you
to services, but if you are not comfortable doing
that you can approach your local drug and
alcohol treatment service yourself without a
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Remember that expert help is out there. Treatment
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Community support alongside treatment
There are also lots of groups within the community
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local treatment service.
You can call FRANK anytime on 0300 123 6600
for confidential advice and information.
Help is at hand: Scan to reach out to the nation’s
drug and alcohol advisory service FRANK

Page8 TheTrumpet MAY 15 - 28 2024
Opinion
Education: Southwest Nigeria
has lost its edge!
By Abiodun Komolafe
The purported ranking of States by the
West African Examinations Council
(WAEC), based on their
performance in the 2023 Senior Secondary
School Certificate Examination (SSCE), is
the focus of this piece.
In the said publication, ‘Lagos State,
which hosts many private schools and home
to virtually all Nigerians, is in the 6 th
position. The next Southwest State is Ekiti,
in the 11 th position. Others are Ondo: 13 th ;
Ogun: 19 th ; Oyo: 26 th ; and Osun: 29 th . Edo
State came 3 rd . Even Kwara State outperformed
most of the Southwest States as
it clinched the 18 th position.’ WAEC has
since denied “any association” with the
publication. But then, do we need any
rocket science to know that education in
Southwest Nigeria has gone comatose and
that the collapse is an indictment on its
leadership over the past thirty years? Isn’t
the leadership shameful that the region that
started Free Education and levied taxation
to fund education and health has now lost
its pride of place? As for the followership,
it’s already in a state of anomie, browbeaten
into confusion. So, it can no longer ask
questions!
The Southwest is no longer interested in
education because the political economy of
what we call the leadership in the zone,
especially as pronounced in the past 30 or
so years, has been based on sharing which
translated into low wages. In this way, what
has happened, unlike before, is that, by
developing low-wages, the leadership has
developed a clientele-patron relationship.
All the flotsam and the jetsam of the society
didn’t happen by accident. A political
economy of the time we never had before
was developed! After all, education means
that one’s child would plan for, and pursue
a high-wage economy.
In the 1950s, one of the ‘problems’
Western Region had was that it was
difficult to get people in the region to fulfill
its quota in the Federal Civil Service. While
the East and the North were fulfilling their
respective quotas, Western Region could
not, simply because it was paying 18%
more than the Federal Civil Service. Thus,
for a man to leave Ibadan for Lagos to earn
18% less might attract eviction notice from
his wife. To put it succinctly, the projection
of the Southwest was a high-wage
economy. The minimum wage in the
Western Region was also higher than that
of the East and the North; and it was
deliberate! The late Obafemi Awolowo did
it to steal a match on the other regions; and
by the time they woke up from their
slumber, Western Nigeria was miles ahead
as multinational companies had already
taken root in Awolowo’s West, simply
because the purchasing power parity in the
region was higher than the other regions.
Obviously, the multinational companies
knew that that kind of economic world
would invest in education which in turn
would translate into higher skills. Higher
skills would translate into higher wages!
Higher wages would ultimately translate
into higher purchasing power parity; and
that attracts investments! But what the
Southwest has witnessed over the years has
only shown that its leaders have not been
interested in education but the proliferation
of apparatchiks, knuckleheads and
imbeciles who’d help them rig elections
and do voter suppression! Therefore, if the
zone is behind in education, it didn’t
happen by accident; it happened by choice!
All over the world, political economy
serves as the determinant of education. For
example, how come the Law Students who
founded the West African Students Union
(WASU) were predominantly from Western
Nigeria? How come Christopher Sapara
Williams, the first indigenous Nigerian
lawyer was a Yoruba man? That was as far
back as 1879! How come Adetokunbo
Ademola, the first indigenous Chief Justice
of the Nigerian Supreme Court, and
Akintola Williams, Nigeria’s first
indigenous chartered accountant, were also
of Yoruba extraction? So, what has
changed? If the Yorubas had produced
about 43 lawyers before the East could
produce one, where then did the rain start
beating the Yoruba nation? That other zones
have taken over has clearly shown that the
Southwest no longer has a focus plan and
that the political class in Yorubaland no
longer has the central thrust of what politics
was in the Western Region in the 1930s.
The tragic truth is that the West practically
lost what remained of its focus after the fall
of the 2 nd Republic and has not had any
ideological base for politics ever since.
Awolowo borrowed from the 1945
Labour Party Election Manifesto, ‘Let us
Continued on Page 15 >
Mama Ijesa North

Opinion
MAY 15 - 28 2024
TheTrumpet
Bobrisky and tax reforms in
Nigeria
By Abiodun Komolafe
Page9
The charade of Nigeria is neverending!
Only recently, one of
Nigeria’s best-known cross-dressers,
Idris Okuneye, alias Bobrisky, was arrested
on charges of abusing banknotes. He was
later convicted and sentenced to six months
in prison. Not long after, popular socialite,
Pascal Okechukwu, aka Cubana Chief
Priest, was also arrested for alleged naira
abuse and he’s already being prosecuted.
Nigerians wait to see how events unfold!
In the considered opinion of this writer,
jailing Bobrisky is, to say the least,
amusing! It’s too pedestrian! As things
stand, Nigeria’s revenue target reportedly
stands at N18 trillion. Of course, that’s
pathetic! Where things work, the target
should be nothing less than N50 trillion. So,
the country needs revenue, certainly not by
Nollywood sideshows but by passing an
Unexplained Source of Income Act.
For God’s sake, why pick Bobrisky and
what does the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission ((EFCC) want from
him? Well, if the arrest was to teach the selfstyled
cross-dresser some lessons of life,
then, that’s a different story. Otherwise, it
was a mere distraction and whoever mooted
the ideas in the first place did not deserve
our claps.
If we are talking about the debasement
of the naira and what ought not, what the
EFCC needs is not whether people spray
money or not. Yes, Bobrisky was spraying
naira! But what happens next? In other
climes, Bobrisky would never be banned for
disdainfully soothing his ego. In countries
like the United Kingdom and Sweden for
example, if one goes to an ‘Owambe’ party
and spices it up recklessly with pounds or
euros, that’s one’s business! If one even
likes, one can invite King Sunny Ade and
‘Professor Master General’ Kollington
Ayinla to England to treat one’s audience to
the melodious tunes of ‘Ijo Yoyo’. Nobody
cares! But the consequence is that a tax bill
awaits one immediately the party is over! In
other words, what the government does is
to invoke the Unexplained Wealth Orders
(UWOs) 2017. By implication, the Nigerian
government doesn’t need to pass a law
restraining the people from ‘spraying’ naira
notes. It only needs to ask some pertinent
questions relating to the defaulter’s sources
of wealth vis-à-vis his or her tax returns.
Unfortunately, Nigeria’s government
agencies are either too lazy or are not
sincerely interested in generating revenue
for the government.
If we are serious about fighting
corruption in Nigeria, what we need is not
some showboating. Nigeria doesn’t have to
reinvent the wheel! So, instead of running
round and round in circles, wasting so much
time doing nothing, what’s needed is a
surgical operation on the economy. The real
issue is that Nigerians are not paying taxes
and that’s why they are always ‘spraying’
Idris Okuneye - aka Bobrisk
money rashly. If we have the Unexplained
Source of Income Act in Nigeria, which we
ought to have had about 30 or 40 years ago,
no Bob would have attempted to risk his
waist on our naira notes because he
perfectly understood the consequences.
This brings us to another sideshow a la
Yahaya Bello! The fact that the immediate
past Governor of Kogi State is evading
arrest from lawful authorities is
symptomatic of a country without
functional laws; and that’s unacceptable! It
is because it has happened and nothing ever
happened thereafter that it is now
happening, because nothing will eventually
happen! After all, once upon a time in
Nigeria’s chequered history, one Nyesom
Wike shielded one Rotimi Amaechi from
lawful arrest and nothing happened! So,
what’s the big deal? Could we have
contemplated the former Governor of
Wisconsin in the USA evading arrest? Even
former President Donald Trump submitted
himself to investigation and he’s currently
having his day in court. So, who is Yahaya
Bello and what’s special about the ‘ta-ta-tata’
inventor? Shouldn’t Nigeria, at least, for
once, be spared of pantomimes fooling
around?
Remember Alphonse Gabriel Capone,
aka Scarface, the American gangster,
businessman and boss of the ‘Chicago
Outfit’! Remember also Eliot Ness, the
brilliant, incorruptible American Prohibition
agent and leader of ‘The Untouchables’! In
his time, Capone killed a lot of people,
including the Saint Valentine’s Day
Massacre, but he didn’t leave any trace that
could lead to his arrest for murder. He was
also making millions of dollars without
declaring tax returns. On Ness’s advice,
Capone’s accountant was dragged into the
case. On October 18, 1931, Capone was
convicted after trial and jailed for income
tax evasion, not murder, on November 24,
1931.
The heart of the matter is that these are
tax issues! So, the Federal Inland Revenue
Service (FIRS) should have asked Bello the
sources of his wealth vis-à-vis his tax
returns. Pure and simple! In sane climes, the
EFCC itself should be nothing more than a
desk in the Police Force, just like the Fraud
Office in England; and Nigeria would have
been spared the rigour of the creation and
duplication of the functions in the
Ministries, Departments and Agencies. As
a matter of fact, the Fraud Office operatives
are more technically competent than the
EFCC can ever be!
At a time like this, it’s better Nigeria
faces the real issue; and the real issue is that
super-rich Nigerians have not been paying
taxes. Let’s face it, the day Nigeria gets
serious, she will catch up with the
developed nations within 15 years. For
instance, the EFCC is accusing Bobrisky
and Cubana of naira debasement, there are
lots of wedding activities across the country,
even as we speak. Has the EFCC prepared
its operatives for the onerous task of even
arresting prospective naira abusers? Has the
Commission ever asked how some
Nigerians get brand new, untouched notes
while those who run legitimate accounts are
starved of even the old ones? If one may
also ask, how do our Point of Sale (PoS)
system operators source the wares for their
ventures?
President Bola Tinubu is the head of the
government. Again, this where he has to act
before things get out of hand! If he truly
wants to reform the country, this is the time
to do so. But if he wants business to
continue as usual, then good luck to him and
good luck to Nigeria! So far, so good, a lot
of his policies are right and are on the right
path! Definitely, the criminal subsidy
removal is painful; he should have thought
about it better and come up with better ideas
about how to mitigate its effects! The
merging of the foreign exchange rates was
also traumatizing. But it should be
applauded! At least, the naira is now coming
down and the speculators now know how
far they can go! Going forward, let Tinubu
go the whole hog! From the look of things,
Nigeria is a One-Party State, as most of the
National Assembly members are from the
ruling All Progressives Congress (APC),
which makes his job easier. Therefore, let
the President lobby the National Assembly
to enact the Unexplained Source of Income
Bill, modeled on the UWOs which was
introduced into the United Kingdom
legislation under the 201 Criminal Finances
Act.
Except we want to be economical with
the truth, tax evasion is feasible when the
system allows for it! All the more reason
Tinubu should empower the FIRS by
making it the pivotal figure in revenue
generation. Those who earn more should
pay more and the charade of over-taxing the
poor to pay the rich should come to an end.
With the passage of the Unexplained Source
of Income Act, the government will
generate more revenue, especially from
those who are currently evading taxes. It is
really annoying that Nigeria keeps taxing
the poor while ‘blessing’ the rich with tax
holidays.
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)

Page10 TheTrumpet MAY 15 - 28 2024
Opinion
The wife-beater from Kenya
It is always very embarrassing to read
stories of Nigerians who go abroad to
give the county a bad name. Nigeria
became known as a country of internet
scammers and fraudsters not because all
Nigerians deserve to be so labelled, but
when a few bad eggs behave wrongly in
other countries, it is every Nigerian that
suffers from the profiling that results and
the reputational damage to the country. It
got so bad at a point that the Nigerian
green passport became a badge of
dishonour at many international airports
where special attention was always paid
to any flight from Nigeria. And yet this is
a country of very talented and
distinguished persons who have excelled
in virtually every field of human
endeavour. Those who bring disgrace
unto the nation may get sanctioned for
their offences or crimes, but that is hardly
ever where the matter ends.
The latest story in this regard is that
of a certain John Nwankwo Noko who
was deported from Kenya on Saturday,
May 4 by the Kenyan authorities, for
beating his partner, identified as Ms.
Pauline who happens to be a Kenyan. The
story is all over the media in Kenya with
the headline: “Nigerian man captured on
CCTV assaulting Kenyan woman on
wheel deported.” The Nigerian was
caught on a surveillance camera
assaulting a woman sitting in a
wheelchair. Two ladies were shown
trying to restrain him, but he refused. The
footage has since gone viral, generating
outrage. The woman looked helpless. It
was later revealed that John Nwankwo
Noko even threatened to kill her and her
domestic servants if any word about his
actions got out, and in the event of a court
case, if they dared testify against him. It
was not the first time that Ms. Pauline
would be subjected to such violence by
her partner. She has children for the
Nigerian who has been living in Kenya
for years, and has a work permit.
Somehow, the video got out to the
public. The matter was taken up by
Senator Gloria Orwoba who reported it at
the Karen Police Station. Kenyan
policemen are like Nigerian policemen.
They tried to slow down the case, quoting
technicalities. Many would be familiar
with what happens in Nigerian police
stations. There is that story, probably
apocryphal about a woman who had gone
to a police station to lodge a complaint
against her husband.
The uniformed man at the counter
listened carefully to her, only to ask her:
“Madam, did you say this man is your
husband?” The woman answered in the
affirmative.
The question was repeated. The
woman again affirmed.
“This your husband, he paid your
dowry?”
“Yes”, the woman replied.
The policeman reportedly drew
himself to full length and said: “Madam,
this is a police station, we don’t inquire
into husband-and-wife matters here. Go
back home and settle with your husband,
or call your in-laws make dey settle your
quarrel. Person don pay dowry, put you
for house, you dey come report am for
station.”
Kenyan policemen are probably like
that too. But for the tenacity of Senator
Orwoba who took up the matter with
higher authorities. The matter went to
court. The Ministry of Gender got
involved. The Ministry of Interior too.
However, the Kenyan authorities
didn’t bother to spend too much time on
the case. John Nwankwo Noko was
treated with the utmost contempt that he
deserves. Assault and threat to inflict
bodily harm or kill, as well as domestic
violence are serious offences in Kenya as
they are in Nigeria. Section 251 at
Chapter 63 of the Penal Code of Kenya
prescribes a penalty of five years
imprisonment for “assault causing bodily
harm”. Section 74 of the 2010
Constitution of Kenya explicitly protects
both men and women from any form of
inhuman treatment. Taking Nwankwo
through a court process would have
meant using the Kenyan taxpayer’s
money to engage lawyers and the court
system, and having to battle with
“technicalities”. A quick decision was
taken to expel him from the country. He
was thus sent away as a persona non
grata, in the fashion of a good riddance.
But there are questions: what then
happens to the innocent children he has
left behind, and the woman in a
wheelchair that he has traumatized? He
has also given his home country, a bad
name. Nigerians are not particularly
popular in Kenya. Quite a number of our
compatriots have been implicated in
money laundering and drug trafficking
cases in that country. From Central Africa
to the South, Nigerian men are also not
popular with the male folk: they are
accused of competing for the attention of
local women and acting superior towards
their hosts. Whatever may be the
legitimate reason for this, the very picture
of a man assaulting a woman in a
wheelchair is horrendous. Violent
behaviour of any sort is unacceptable.
Hitting a defenceless person is clearly
animalistic. Even animals sometimes
behave better.
This is why I think the wife-beater of
Kenya should not just slip into Nigeria
and feel relieved that he has escaped the
wrath of the law in Kenya. He may have
escaped lightly also because as in
Nigeria, women in Kenya in a marital
situation may refuse to testify against
their husband in court. Women often
imagine that the man will turn a new leaf,
and may generally not want the marriage
to end. See for example, Piah Njpoki
Kagwai vs. Jackson Kagwai, High Court
of Kenya, Civil Case No 1897 of 1986
where a husband gorged out his wife’s
eye. Church teachings and local traditions
have also not helped. But I think here in
Nigeria, anybody that disgraces the
country and misbehaves in diaspora
should upon return to Nigeria either by
deportation or relocation be made to face
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sanctions. The rule about double jeopardy
should not apply to such persons. Our
laws should be amended where necessary
to make sure that any Nigerian in
diaspora who becomes a persona non
grata in his or her place of domicile
abroad, also gets sanctioned in Nigeria
for bad conduct. This is perhaps the only
way we can send a strong message to
those Nigerians abroad who give the
entire country a bad image. We are quick
to celebrate Nigerians who do well
abroad, including those who may have
taken up the citizenship of their host
countries, in any case, the Nigerian
Constitution allows dual nationality. By
the same token, Nigeria must begin to
name and shame those who bring shame
to the country abroad.
Thirty-four States in Nigeria have
domesticated the Violence Against
Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act of 2015.
Two States, Lagos and Ekiti have
domestic violence registers where they
list the names of those who have been
found guilty of gender-based or domestic
violence. I don’t know John Nwankwo
Noko’s State of origin but here at home,
his name should be in the black book
containing the names of wife-beaters in
States where such exists. Mrs. Abike
Dabiri-Erewa, Chair of the Nigerians in
Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM)
interacts regularly with Nigerians in
Diaspora across the world and whenever
she holds one of her interactive sessions,
she always tells her audience that
Nigerians have an obligation to respect
the laws of the countries where they live.
And of course, she always cautions
against illegal migration. But there are
persons in diaspora who will never listen
or accept that they are Nigerian
ambassadors abroad. The way to address
the matter is to ensure that anybody that
breaks the law abroad also faces the full
wrath of the law in Nigeria.
John Nwankwo Noko was deported
from Kenya on Saturday. He is probably
walking free in a part of Nigeria today.
There is no way the Kenyan authorities
would not have contacted the Nigerian
Embassy in Nairobi to report his conduct
before taking a decision to deport him.
We have various desks at our embassies
abroad: Immigration, Nigeria
Intelligence Agency (NIA) etc. On arrival
in Nigeria, Nwankwo Noko must have
passed through a Nigerian airport. He
should have been detained at the Nigerian

Opinion
The wife-beater from Kenya
MAY 15 - 28 2024
TheTrumpet
Page11
Continued from Page 11<
end, and subjected to serious
interrogation. Kenya sends away a
violent man, and he would just walk into
Nigeria like that? His name should be at
every immigration post in Nigeria.
Persons like him must never be allowed
to go out of this country again. In some
other countries, he will be closely
monitored. There is the argument about
the freedom of movement and how
Nigerians are free to choose wherever
they want to live in the world, but if
anybody is found to have shown a
tendency to disgrace this country abroad,
such persons must also enjoy the status
of a persona non grata inside Nigeria.
Whoever finds himself or herself in such
circumstances may go to court to seek
enforcement of fundamental human
rights, and that is why we need to firm up
our laws. Rights under the law are not
absolute. We must strengthen our
sanctions to re-build the national ethos
and value system.
The big problem we face however is
the enforcement of laws. Nigerian State
officials choose which laws to enforce
and the ones that they would rather
ignore. Our law enforcement officials
routinely break the law. It is not that they
do not know what is right, or their job,
but there is an established culture of
impunity that creates a crisis of moral
turpitude. This is why civil servants will
break the law and have the temerity to
boast about it in the media; it is also why
all kinds of men and women flaunting
dubious wealth are among some of the
most influential persons in society. The
people of Kenya are happy that the
problematic Nigerian who battered a
Kenyan woman has been expelled from
their country. They see the case as a
milestone in their country’s fight against
gender-based violence. Senator Orwoba
who fought for the enforcement of Ms.
Pauline’s right to dignity has been praised
deservedly for her intervention: a good
case of a woman supporting another
woman in distress, and a Parliamentarian
standing up for one of her constituents.
Nigerian women in general have lessons
to learn from her example, and all those
SUV-riding lawmakers in Abuja and the
States who only remember their
constituents when they need votes should
see what it means to be a lawmaker.
II: Togo, Faure Gnassingbe’s
Dictatorship And Chad
One of the biggest problems we face
in Africa is the sit-tight attitude of African
leaders. We have seen leaders who turned
the Presidency of their countries into
chieftaincy positions and have worked
hard to rule till death separates them from
the office. We have also seen African
leaders who change or manipulate the
Constitution to extend their stay on
power perpetually as in Guinea in 2001
and Togo in 2002, Gabon in 2003 and
Uganda in 2005. They cling to power not
to promote the people’s interest but to
satisfy their own greed and in some of the
worst manifestations we have seen
emergence of dynasties in some of the
countries: sons taking over from their
fathers as in Gabon, Chad and Togo or
watching in the wings to do so as we have
seen in Equatorial Guinea. Democracy
continues to suffer at the hands of these
leaders who plan coups against the
people thus making Africa’s democratic
consolidation a permanent work in
progress. Some of Africa’s living
dictators include Teodoro Nguema
Mbasogo in Equatorial Guinea (44 years
in power), Paul Biya in Cameroon (42
years), Dennis Sassou Nguesso in the
Republic of Congo (38 years), Yoweri
Museveni in Uganda (39 years), Paul
Kagame in Rwanda (24 years) and Isaias
Afewerki in Eritrea (33 years). Most
recently, President Macky Sall of Senegal
attempted a “Constitutional coup” in
Africa’s most stable democracy. He was
John Nwankwo Noko
stoutly resisted by the people and the
Constitutional Court. The lesson of the
Senegalese experience is that the people’s
will prevails if the people take ownership
of their democracy.
The people of Togo are however not
so lucky. They have failed to resist Faure
Gnassingbe’s impunity. Last Friday, the
ruling party of Togo, the Union for the
Republic (UNIR) was declared winner of
108 out of 113 seats paving the way for
President Faure Gnassingbe to extend his
rule in Togo. He became President in
2005, after his father’s death. He has
done more or less what his own father did
in 2002, by changing the constitution.
The Gnassingbe dynasty has been in
power in Togo since 1967. In March,
President Gnassingbe introduced a
parliamentary system of government,
which means he would be elected by
parliament rather than through popular
elections. The legislative elections were
delayed twice because of protests by the
opposition. Now Gnassingbe has had his
way. He could remain in power till 2033,
if he is re-elected in 2025, which is
certain. It is most unfortunate what has
befallen the people of Togo and if the
Togolese opposition thought that their
protests would make any difference, it
did not. Unfortunately, dictatorship in
African countries has never translated
into prosperity for the people, rather, it
has served as an ugly vehicle for
stagnated growth, kleptomania and the
abuse of the people’s potential.
Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe was a
place of misery. The Democratic
Republic of Congo continues to be the
theatre of one of the world’s most terrible
conflicts.
Faure Gnassingbe needs to be
reminded of the fate of Ali Bongo
Ondimba of Gabon. His father, Omar
Bongo Ondimba ruled Gabon from 1967
until he died in 2009. Ali Bongo seized
Senator Gloria Orwoba
power and was President for 14 years. In
2023 he was forced out by a military
junta. The international community
condemned the coup in Gabon, but the
underlying consensus was that Ali Bongo
deserved no pity. It is good to report
history but African leaders appear to be
tone-deaf. The next major theatre of
power play is most likely to be Chad
where interim President Mahamat Deby
Itno confirmed his interest in the
country’s Presidential election, and
indeed was on the ballot in the
Presidential election in that country that
took place yesterday. Chad has been
under military rule since the death of
Deby Itno’s father in 2021. The late
President was President for more than 30
years. He was killed on the war front,
fighting rebels. His son seized power and
declared himself Interim President. Deby
Itno is expected to win yesterday’s
election thus creating another dynasty in
Chad. He too will get away with it. Chad
is about the only ally of France and the
United States in the Sahel, Burkina Faso,
Mali and Niger having turned against the
two countries. Deby Itno may pretty
much do as he wishes and the world will
look away. Those who tried to stand in
his way ahead of yesterday’s election
were either co-opted or they died
mysteriously. Sad.

Page12 TheTrumpet MAY 15 - 28 2024
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MAY 15 - 28 2024 TheTrumpet
Page13

Opinion
Page14 TheTrumpet MAY 15 - 28 2024
Cybersecurity Levy: Matters
arising
By Reuben Abati
The report that President Bola Tinubu
has now ordered the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) to suspend the
implementation of the proposed
Cybersecurity Levy must come to many
Nigerians as some sort of relief, but before
we deal with the sense or non-sense of the
levy itself, where does this leave the
autonomy of the CBN? The Presidency has
tried to walk back the narrative by saying
that the directive is to the Office of the
National Security Adviser (ONSA), and not
the CBN, but come off it, it is the CBN that
has given a directive to the banks, ONSA is
to manage the fund, and receive 40% of
whatever is collected by the CBN. It is
therefore not surprising that many civil
society groups and experts have raised
questions about the law, the process, and
the policy. These include the Nigerian
Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union
Congress (TUC), NACCIMA, KPMG,
Afenifere, Northern Elders Forum,
Coalition of Northern Groups, Centre for
the Promotion of Private Enterprise
(CIPPE), BudgIT, SERAP and others. The
CBN directive is based on Section 44 (2) of
the Cybercrime Prevention and Prohibition
Act of 2024, itself an amendment of the
same law of 2015.
Femi Falana, SAN, in an informed
opinion has raised the point that the CBN
misinterpreted the law, and that the Act
itself is contradictory. His specific reference
is to the fact that the CBN wrongly directed
all financial institutions to apply the levy at
the point of electronic transfer origination,
and to be so explicitly noted in customer
accounts under the description
Cybersecurity Levy and remitted to the
CBN. Falana argues that the erroneous
impression has been created that the levy is
payable by individual customers using the
services of commercial banks, payment
system banks, non-interest banks, merchant
banks, mobile money operators, and
payment service providers. The phrase
“businesses” in the 2015 Act has been
substituted for “business” in the 2024
amendment, and there is confusion as to
whether the levy is 0.005% or 0.5%. He
argues further that the CBN owes Nigerians
an apology for the misleading interpretation
of the clear and unambiguous provisions of
the Act to wit: Section 42(a) which makes it
clear that the levy shall be applicable to
GSM providers, Internet Service Providers,
Banks and other Financial Institutions,
Insurance Companies and the Nigerian
Stock Exchange.
Falana’s position was subsequently on
all fours with the decision of the House of
Representatives that the implementation of
the levy should be suspended because, as
Hon. Kingsley Chinda puts it, it contradicts
the Second Schedule of the Act. Last
Thursday, Hon. Chinda, representing
Obio/Akpor Constituency moved a motion
for the immediate halt and modification of
the levy announced by the CBN on May 6.
The House concurred, and so resolved.
However, the Senate speaking through
Senator Shehu Umar Buba, Chair of the
Senate Committee on National Security and
Intelligence, argued that the CBN circular
is in line with the Act as amended and that
there are exemptions duly stated in the law.
These exemptions, 16 in all are listed in the
appendix to the CBN circular, but what we
see is apparent confusion even among the
lawmakers, despite the fact that the best
way to know the value of any law is
through its implementation. This is one
clear instance in which the implementation
of a law has been subjected to a rigorous
test and robust opinion by those it is meant
to serve. The law has raised a number of
interesting questions that should serve as
necessary guide: Can public institutions be
funded directly by bank deposits with the
CBN as a collecting agent? Can the Office
of the National Security Adviser receive
unappropriated funding for its activities?
Since banks already charge fees for
electronic transfers, does the electronic
transfer levy for cybercrime protection not
amount to double taxation? Should ONSA
be a revenue collecting agency? And how
do we reconcile the obvious confusion in
the law?
Olisa Agbakoba, SAN has since added
his voice to the controversy by noting that
the cybersecurity levy is unconstitutional.
It runs counter to the letter and spirit of
Section 162(1) and 162(3) of the 1999
Constitution which make it clear that all
federally collected revenue must go into the
Federation Account and “shall be
distributed among the Federal and State
governments and the Local government
Councils in each State on such terms and in
such manner as may be prescribed by the
National Assembly”. A combined reading
of both sections is instructive. It has been
argued that some agencies such as the
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS),
Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian
Maritime and Safety Agency (NIMASA)
and Customs retain a percentage of their
revenue, but the point is clear that ONSA
cannot transform itself into a revenue
collection agency. Agbakoba has served
notice that he will challenge the law in
court. SERAP has already gone to court on
the same matter in suit number
FHC/LCS/822/2024 filed at the weekend to
seek an order of interim injunction against
the CBN.
In sum, the key arguments against the
Cybersecurity Levy is that the timing is
bad, it is not a good idea and that the 2024
Amendment is fuzzy, the proposed
implementation is unconstitutional. Senator
Buba who has been most vociferous in
defending the law says “it is customary that
a public hearing is held before every bill is
passed, and the amendment of the
Cybercrime Act 2024 was no exception,
involving the participation of people from
all spheres of human endeavour who
witnessed the process.” Nigerians are
asking where were we when this law was
amended and passed? Perhaps there is a
lesson here about the need for the Nigerian
citizenry to be more vigilant and attentive
where lawmaking is concerned. Buba adds
that “Nigeria’s Cyber Threat profile extends
far beyond cybercrime, with other major
cyber threats classified under the National
Cybersecurity strategy. To survive as a
nation, the current weak approach to
enforcing national cybersecurity directives
must be re-examined and prioritized,
among other considerations. The country
must fund its cyber security and counterterrorism
programme independently, not
through foreign aid.” I have not heard
anyone disagreeing with the fact that
Nigeria needs a strong cybersecurity
framework.
Even the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) referred to the importance of a
cybersecurity framework during the
presentations of its Article IV Consultation
Report. Despite the people’s skepticism
about IMF and its bitter pills, nobody has
raised any objection against this
observation. What the people are saying is
that a cybersecurity levy is likely to harm
businesses which already pay more than 40
taxes. It will drive people away from the
banking system, since it would be wiser to
keep money at home than go through
formal payment systems and be over-taxed.
By introducing the cybersecurity levy,
government has inadvertently hobbled its
financial inclusion and cashless transaction
policy. KPMG has made the point that
government cannot achieve economic
growth through over-taxation. Dr. Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, the Director General of the
Word Trade Organization (WTO) has said
Nigeria needs to streamline its taxes.
Nobody likes the tax man. But what
bothers Nigerians is the fact that the Tinubu
administration keeps sending mixed signals
about its revenue drive. Both the CBN
Governor, Yemi Cardoso, and the Minister
of Finance, Wale Edun once famously said
that the Tinubu administration is not out to
tax people to raise revenue, even if it would
broaden its revenue collection strategies.
Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy
and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo
Oyedele, at the closing out session of the
body over the weekend, said 95% of the
informal sector should be exempted from
all taxes, especially businesses earning N25
million a year or less. His words: “We think
that the informal sector are people who are
trying to earn legitimate living, we should
allow them to be, and support them to
be…” The Tinubu administration has a
good supply of persons who say the right
things but do the very opposite. President
Tinubu himself promised “renewed hope”
but Nigerians have never been this nervous.
For no fault of theirs, the people have been
the target of a heavy burden of multiple
taxation: the very day that President Tinubu
assumed office on May 29, 2023, he
removed fuel subsidy, the same subsidy
removal that the Buhari administration
cleverly avoided. Life has become harder
for Nigerians since then, and the price of
everything has gone up, and keeps going
up, against the natural law of gravitation.
Headline inflation is over 32%, threatening
to go higher (experts are projecting that it
could go as high as 34% when the National
Bureau of Statistics announces April
inflation figures tomorrow), food inflation
is at an unprecedented level in known
history. Electricity tariff at N206.80 for
Band A customers has thrown many homes
into darkness and agony, the DISCOs do
not provide 20 hours of electricity as
promised, and the people cannot pay
because they are overburdened. Businesses
are naturally transferring their own burdens
to the people. Telecommunication operators
have asked for the leave of the Nigeria
Communications Commission (NCC) to
increase call rates. Cable TV service
providers have also hiked their rates.
Organized Labour is fighting for a
minimum wage but the minimum of
N615,000 that they are asking for sounds
airy. Nigeria has become dystopian and
what the people cannot understand is the
manner in which government officials carry
on as if they live in paradise.
It is important to fund cybersecurity,
yes, but that money can come from
plugging wastages in government.
Continued on Page 15>

Opinion
MAY 15 - 28 2024
Cybersecurity Levy: Matters
arising
TheTrumpet
Page15
Continued from Page 14<
Ministers go about in a convoy of exotic
vehicles, lawmakers in Abuja ride SUVs
which they pass on as project vehicles but
we all know that no lawmaker inspects any
project. And by the way, what happened to
the Nigerian government’s monetization
policy? The salary of Ministers was
adjusted upwards years back to address
accommodation and transportation needs,
but the government has refused to
implement the policy. It is easier to impose
hardship on the people, but the easiest
option is not always the best.
What also irks the people is the lack of
accountability, and the opaqueness at the
heart of government processes. The
cybersecurity levy would raise over N4
trillion annually, and 40% of that would be
managed by the ONSA. Defence and
security already take the bulk of
government budget and expenditure every
year, and yet insecurity remains Nigeria’s
major problem. Even if Nigerians
understand the importance of cybersecurity,
they do not trust their government enough
to pay additional tax. And why is the CBN
involved in the collection of tax – what is
primarily a fiscal policy function? Is the
CBN a pawn in a revenue collection game?
It has now been driven into a corner. Much
worse is the fact that some banks did not
even wait till the specified date of May 20
in the CBN circular; they have started
taking people’s money, duly stating same as
cybersecurity levy. Nigerian banks must
resist the temptation to act as criminal
enterprises. They don’t serve their
customers well – always complaining that
there is no money or that their network is
down. When they manage to pay across the
counter, they give out dirty, torn notes.
Most of the ATMs in banks across the
nation no longer dispense cash. Mobile
payment operators have more cash than the
banks, and are far more reliable, and Naira
retailers at social events have new notes
that are not available in the banks! All the
banks that have collected cybersecurity
levies from their customers, ahead of May
20, must refund all the deductions, with an
apology. Banks should serve their
customers and not steal from them!
Thievery is incompatible with the task of
financial intermediation.
President Tinubu has directed that the
implementation of the Cybersecurity levy
should be suspended. This is a welcome
development. It makes the people happy. It
shows that the government has listened to
the yearnings of the people. This is a habit
that the Tinubu administration should
cultivate: to restore hope, the government
must avoid anti-people policies. The CBN
is yet to withdraw its circular on
Cybersecurity Levy. It must do so
forthwith, otherwise the banks would insist
that they have not received any counterdirective
from the Regulator. The
withdrawal must be well-publicized, and
there must be an apology attached to it. But
that is not the end of the matter. The
National Assembly must take another look
at the amended Act and re-amend it further.
Members of that Assembly are in Abuja to
defend the people’s interest and promote
the common good. It is downright offensive
to see the Senate and the House of
Representatives arguing over a piece of
legislation that they both worked on and
passed. Their confusion is unhelpful. On
the Cybersecurity Prevention and
Prohibition Act of 2024 (as amended), they
need to go back to the drawing table, and
be properly guided by public responses.
Besides, as Agbakoba SAN has rightly
argued, the National Assembly cannot
make a subsidiary legislation that bypasses
the Constitution and puts federally
collected revenue in the hands of an agency.
This was the decision in AG Rivers State vs.
AG Federation and others in 2022, where
the court upheld the provisions of Section
162(3) of the 1999 Constitution with regard
to the controversy over the Nigeria Police
Trust Fund. And let everyone pay attention
to their schedule: it doesn’t look tidy having
the President overruling the Central Bank.
Education: Southwest Nigeria
has lost its edge!
Continued from Page 8<
face the future’, which made Education and
Health as the centerpiece of development.
Unarguably, that’s what transformed the
fortunes of the UK forever. The Action
Group (AG) manifesto, which declared to
make ‘life more abundant’ became the
conventional wisdom in the Western
Region and it produced decisive gains. Had
the Southwest maintained its lead,
shouldn’t it have been feeding itself and the
rest of the country by now, more so as
Agriculture is now based on technology?
Had the zone applied science to
Agriculture, which was what Akinola Deko
and S. D. Onabamiro used in the 1950s,
wouldn’t it have become the food basket of
West Africa? Had it maintained education
and had it developed research institutes and
applied technology to upgrade agriculture,
wouldn’t the zone have been feeding the
rest of Africa? Unfortunately, Southwest,
the beloved-but-now-troubled zone, now
depends heavily on food items supplied by
the North; and there is no end in sight!
In any case, there is nothing new under
the sun! For the first time in two
generations, the leadership in Yorubaland is
not ideologically driven. All the more
reason it has to go back to its roots. Yoruba
leaders have done their best but they have
to up the ante by going back to the
knowledge base of the past and put
education at the centre because, whether it
is agriculture or industry, there is a new
forte in industrial revolution and education
is at the center space. The Southwest must
reconstruct its economy and invest in
education because it believes that
education, just as it believed in it some 100
years or 150 years ago, is the way to a
competitive economy and job creation. Not
only that, it must determine to build a
certain kind of internationally competitive
A school classroom in Lagos (Photo - Unsplash)
skilled labour force that can transit into an
export-oriented economy. Since a
manifesto cannot be separated from the
cultural base of its people, the Southwest
should go back to the AG and Unity Party
of Nigeria (UPN) manifestoes of 1952 and
1978 respectively if it’s to make any
headway educationally, because they
actually reflected the cultural base of
Yorubaland.
The hood does not make a monk! Put
differently, monstrous structures and
grandiose aggrandizement without an
accompaniment of teachers’ motivation will
always end up as an illusion! A teacher who
is thinking of how to sell bags of cement at
Ijebu-Jesa Central Market after the school
hours to augment his means cannot think of
how to impact the students meaningfully.
Since the zone is in dire need of teachers
whose skills can be constantly upgraded,
the Southwest governments must think of
how to build and equip the Teacher
Training Colleges with a view to
redeveloping the teaching cadre as a
profession, not the last resort position
which it presently occupies. They must also
embark on curriculum revamp because the
one currently in use is too lazy to prepare
the pupils for a data-driven future that’s
based on artificial intelligence, robotics and
the like. Lastly, since education is a standout
discipline and teaching is an art, it is
actually something that must be learnt in a
disciplined society. To be certified as a
capable teacher who must stand before the
students, methodology matters!
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)

Page16 TheTrumpet MAY 15 - 28 2024
Opinion
NIMASA: Tasks
and expectations
from Mobereola
The trajectory of the Nigerian
Maritime Administration and
Safety Agency (NIMASA) has
always been in the news for negative
reasons. For instance, among its past
Directors-General, we have those who
have faced corruption charges in the law
courts. But the new helmsman, Anthony
Ekundayo Mobereola, has a high
reputation for integrity, performance, and
delivery on expectations. He has renewed
hope amongst the maritime stakeholders
that the organization’s ship will be
redirected along the right path.
Dr Anthony
Ekundayo
Mobereola
People who have interfaced with
Mobereola have spoken glowingly about
his high value for professionalism, vision,
patience, and a striking resemblance to
public etiquette in whatever he does. His
maiden interactive session with Maritime
stakeholders which was held on Thursday
was a testament to how highly rated he is
in the industry and shows that
expectations are a mouth full. He is
perceived as a man with the Midas touch
under whom substantial transformation of
the sector is anticipated.
As a brand, Mobereola is a man of
powerful spirituality, absolute purity, and
all-round spiritual flexibility. Even in his
alma mater, where he presides over its
National Alumni Association, he has
within one year brought a lot of changes
to the old students’ body, by inspiring and
mobilizing the Alumni to give back to the
alma mater. Ayo Aluko-Olokun, who
works closely with him as the General
Secretary of Saint Patrick’s Grammar
School, Ibadan Alumni Association,
NIMASA building
describes Mobereola as “a visionary
leader and team player with a strong sense
of patriotism. He is a leader who takes
service to humanity, not as a job but a
mission. The NIMASA DG leads by
generously donating and contacting other
old students to donate handsomely to the
progress and development of the school
and the academic excellence of the
students.”
Social formation teaches that a change
in nomenclature will also lead to a change
in the status of any newly established
institution, and it is bound to affect
everything around it. With this in mind,
one may wish to ask: what’s President
Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda all
about and how does Mobereola as the
new NIMASA DG fit in? To start with,
the Agency is very central to the concept
of the blue economy, not only in terms of
maritime safety and the development of
an exceptional trade facilitation
framework in Nigeria but also in its
potential to help grow the economy and
raise the revenue profile of the sector.
Mobereola holds a Ph.D. and a M.Sc. in
Transport Economics from the University
of Wales, United Kingdom, which makes
him suitable for the job. The Marine and
Blue Economy Ministry is a new creation
and it is in the delivery of performance of
parastatals like NIMASA and others that
the Ministry will be able to deliver on its
mandate and Nigerians would now see the
need for the creation of that Ministry.
NIMASA has a task to protect the local
shipping industry to generate wealth for
Nigeria.
According to Henry Ford, “coming
together is the beginning, staying together
is progress, and working together is
success.” From what yours sincerely have
heard about the new appointments in
NIMASA, Mobereola’s choice is very
endearing and it is in the right direction. It
is hoped that he would live up to his
billing, with his rich track record.
Born on August 26, 1959, the new DG
was the pioneer Managing Director/Chief
Executive Officer of Lagos Metropolitan
Area Transport Authority (LAMATA),
where he was popularly called ‘Dr.
MOB’. He led the processes that took the
public transport system in Lagos out of its
“dysfunctional and chaotic” state to its
present enviable status. Between 2015
and 2016, Mobereola served as
Commissioner for Transportation in
Lagos State and was later appointed the
Chairman of The Board at Lagos Bus
Services Limited (LBSL) by the Babajide
Sanwo-Olu-led administration. He was
the architect of much of what is being
celebrated in Lagos today as the Blue and
Red Rail Lines projects.
I have argued elsewhere that in the
First Republic, under the 1960 and 1963
Constitutions, the Nigerian Ports
Authority (NPA) was contributing 42% of
its earnings to the coffers of the Federal
Government annually. It’s time we went
back to that framework, and NIMASA has
a big role to play in it. It is estimated that
the maritime sector can turn about N7
trillion into the economy annually.
NIMASA can achieve this by focusing on
its core mandate and not trying to be
everything to everybody. For those who
care to know, NIMASA is currently one
of the most important agencies in Nigeria,
after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
and the military. So, its technical capacity
has to be top-notch because it’s the
agency that will enable the country to earn
the kind of foreign exchange that the
BY ABIODUN
KOMOLAFE
Maritime and Blue Economy will need to
solve the balance of payment and
currency crises currently confronting our
dear country.
For Tinubu to make this happen, he
must make sure that NIMASA is very
well-funded and supported with policies
and FEC approvals to drive its
transformation and also unbundle the
Maritime fund which is 3% of freight on
every cargo. And for Mobereola to
succeed, the strategic option is to remain
the patriot that he has always been – an
exceptional manager who has the
technical capacity, intellectual
nourishment, and strategic opportunity to
run an Agency as complex in shape and
size as NIMASA. Not only that, members
of staff of the Agency should be wellremunerated
and motivated. He should
also introduce data-driven processes and
ensure ease of doing business by the
shipping lines. Technology should be
deployed to move the sector forward and
faster - and can be first-class, bringing in
the foreign exchange that the country
needs to survive. Failure to do these will
be catastrophic for the country’s economy
because, if Nigeria doesn’t diversify her
economy from crude oil, she is finished!
Yes, if Nigeria is to get her way out of the
critical balance of payment crisis,
NIMASA should be at the centerpiece as
a formidable front for the maritime base,
in agreement with “the policies and
programs outlined for the sector, guided
by the Honourable Minister of Marine
and Blue Economy, H.E. Adegboyega
Oyetola.”
A word of advice, though: as
Nigerians are expecting an even bigger
performance from this man of wisdom
and impressive capacity, let Mobereola
make clear the government’s policies and
direction for the sector. An Agenda not
politically driven but industry-focused
and friendly must be stated for him to etch
his name in gold!
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
(ijebuijesa@yahoo.co.uk)
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