25.07.2024 Views

The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 627 (July 10 - 23 2024)

Kenya's protests are different this time

Kenya's protests are different this time

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />

Africans now have a voice... Founded in 1995<br />

V O L 30 N O <strong>627</strong> J U LY <strong>10</strong> - <strong>23</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

Childrenenlisting<br />

drug<br />

dealer<br />

jailed<br />

Kenya protests <strong>2024</strong> (Photo - Capital FM Kenya via YouTube- Wikimedia CCA 3.0 Unported)<br />

Kenya’s<br />

protests are<br />

different<br />

this time:<br />

3 things that make it<br />

harder for government<br />

to crush them<br />

By Awino Okech, SOAS, University of London<br />

Continued on Page 2><br />

Jailed - Liam Atkins<br />

Following investigations by<br />

Essex Police’s team of<br />

officers dedicated to busting<br />

drug dealing gangs - “Operation<br />

Raptor,” a 24-year-old man who<br />

employed children to run crack<br />

cocaine and heroin has been jailed.<br />

“Operation Raptor” officers,<br />

who target county lines selling<br />

Class A drugs in Essex, secured a<br />

conviction against Liam Atkins –<br />

who was linked to the ‘Pedro’ drugs<br />

line, which was identified following<br />

the review of a Class A drug user’s<br />

telephone.<br />

It was found to be supplying<br />

crack cocaine and heroin in<br />

Southend from <strong>23</strong> October 20<strong>23</strong>.<br />

Raptor’s investigation into the<br />

line encompassed analysis of<br />

CCTV, surveillance of those<br />

involved and analysis of mobile<br />

telephones.<br />

Throughout the investigation, it<br />

was identified two children had<br />

been enlisted to work for the line.<br />

On Tuesday <strong>23</strong> January <strong>2024</strong>, a<br />

warrant was executed at Atkins’<br />

address in Ashanti Close,<br />

Shoeburyness, and he was<br />

subsequently arrested on suspicion<br />

of being concerned in the supply of<br />

Class A drugs.<br />

Cash was seized along with the<br />

drug line phone.<br />

On his personal phone, officers<br />

found messages relating to sourcing<br />

juveniles to run drugs for the<br />

operation.<br />

Continued on Page 3


Page2 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> JULY <strong>10</strong> - <strong>23</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

News<br />

Kenya’s protests are different this time:<br />

3 things that make it harder for government to crush them<br />

Continued from Page 1<<br />

On 25 June <strong>2024</strong>, a youth-led<br />

protest primarily composed of<br />

Gen Zs, as they are popularly<br />

referred to, stormed Kenya’s Parliament.<br />

Legislators voted to pass the Finance<br />

Bill <strong>2024</strong> in its third and last reading<br />

ahead of Presidential assent. This was<br />

the second countrywide protest over the<br />

proposed taxes in the draft law and<br />

excesses in government spending.<br />

<strong>The</strong> finance bill is a framework that<br />

determines how the government raises<br />

revenue. <strong>The</strong> Kenyan government had<br />

proposed raising US$2.7 billion by<br />

increasing taxes on essential goods and<br />

services, from cooking oil to bread. <strong>The</strong><br />

bill also targeted digital revenue, where<br />

the bulk of young people generate their<br />

income in an environment with high<br />

rates of youth unemployment.<br />

Kenyans took issue with plans to<br />

increase taxation that affects the<br />

working class and young people most,<br />

amid unnecessary government<br />

spending. This includes a US$7.8<br />

million State House renovations budget.<br />

Organising under the hashtag<br />

#RejectFinanceBill<strong>2024</strong> started in<br />

earnest from 13 May <strong>2024</strong>. Direct action<br />

gained momentum with protests on 18<br />

June following significant online<br />

mobilisation.<br />

Organising and direct action are not<br />

new to Kenya. <strong>The</strong> country has a long<br />

and healthy tradition of protests across<br />

its political history. This includes the<br />

1990s pro-democracy movement and<br />

environmental justice organising led by<br />

the late Wangari Maathai to stop state<br />

encroachment on a forest reserve. <strong>The</strong>re<br />

have also been economic and<br />

constitution-based mobilisations.<br />

As part of this history, Kenyans are<br />

Mobilising for the protests<br />

familiar with the use of the police to<br />

violently repress public protests. This<br />

often ends in death and other casualties.<br />

I have studied protests and<br />

movements and have been part of<br />

political change across Africa for the last<br />

15 years as an academic and civil<br />

society activist. In my view, the<br />

#RejectFinanceBill<strong>2024</strong> protests stand<br />

out for several reasons.<br />

I will focus on three:<br />

• the absence of a central organisation<br />

leading the protests<br />

• crowd sourcing the finances required<br />

• a heightened trust deficit between<br />

citizens and the state<br />

What’s different<br />

<strong>The</strong> first factor that makes the<br />

current wave of protests different from<br />

previous ones is the absence of civil<br />

society organisations or political parties<br />

steering protest actions.<br />

This is important because it avoids<br />

legitimate demands being sidetracked<br />

by the government framing them as<br />

opposition politics or distractions by<br />

“western-funded NGOs”, as has<br />

happened in the past. It has also created<br />

the ability to mobilise across party, age<br />

and regional divides by focusing on the<br />

things that bind protesters – the<br />

equalising effect of bad economic<br />

policy. In doing so, it has pierced longstanding,<br />

easily politicised identity<br />

divisions in Kenya.<br />

<strong>The</strong> second factor is the reliance on<br />

mutual aid as a framework to crowd<br />

source financial resources. As of 3 <strong>July</strong><br />

<strong>2024</strong>, Kenyans had raised about<br />

US$<strong>23</strong>4,000. <strong>The</strong>se funds have been<br />

used to pay hospital bills and funeral<br />

expenses brought on by the State’s<br />

response to protests. Lawyers and<br />

doctors have also offered pro bono<br />

services.<br />

This approach to resourcing avoids<br />

divisions around ownership and<br />

attribution that often plague<br />

mobilisations. It also makes it harder for<br />

governments to claim that protest<br />

movements are funded by external<br />

actors seeking to destabilise the regime.<br />

In the absence of a central financier, it<br />

has been difficult to isolate individuals<br />

who can be co-opted into negotiations<br />

with the regime. Co-opting<br />

“representatives” is a classic tactic used<br />

to destabilise and splinter movements.<br />

This can be seen in President William<br />

Ruto’s creation of a National Multi-<br />

Sectoral Forum for dialogue. In making<br />

demands from within an amorphous<br />

structure, protesters could hold firm to<br />

President William Samoei Ruto (Photo - William Samoei Ruto on X)<br />

their core demand to address systemic<br />

governance rot.<br />

<strong>The</strong> third feature is the heightened<br />

trust deficit between society and the<br />

sitting government. Ruto’s leadership<br />

challenge was illustrated in a roundtable<br />

conversation with Kenyan media on 30<br />

June. He failed to show empathy with<br />

Kenyans killed as a result of the protests<br />

despite evidence from the journalists.<br />

This interview made Ruto look even<br />

more out of touch with the people he<br />

was elected to lead. In his initial<br />

response to the protests, he<br />

demonstrated that he was unable to read<br />

the mood of the country.<br />

Ruto faces a serious leadership<br />

challenge, which is the loss of trust from<br />

the electorate that brought him into<br />

office. Despite asserting his<br />

commitment to stopping extrajudicial<br />

killings, he has presided over abductions<br />

and the use of brute force against<br />

protesters. Ruto has adopted a classic<br />

tactic used to fracture movements,<br />

which is to discredit them through<br />

criminalisation. His subsequent change<br />

of tone by withdrawing assent to the<br />

Finance Bill on 26 June was a little too<br />

late.<br />

What next<br />

Significant transitions in Kenya have<br />

occurred through the voices of masses<br />

and never through the formal structures<br />

of political parties. <strong>The</strong> next few weeks<br />

will determine the future of the youthled<br />

movement that was roused by the<br />

Finance Bill <strong>2024</strong>.<br />

<strong>The</strong> movement continues to hold<br />

firm but needs to move into a stronger<br />

coordination format. It must guard<br />

against the risk of leader-centricity,<br />

which the government would use to<br />

diffuse the movement.<br />

Given that the political regime<br />

continues to use heavy handed security<br />

tactics and agent-provocateurs,<br />

organising needs to move off social<br />

media. To minimise the loss of life,<br />

protesters need to be three steps ahead<br />

of the regime where direct action is<br />

concerned.<br />

Finally, can the movement heed the<br />

multiple ways in which class intersects<br />

with gender, youth, disability or<br />

ethnicity? <strong>The</strong> structuring of key<br />

demands must recognise how Kenya’s<br />

structural inequalities overlap.<br />

• Awino Okech, is Associate<br />

Professor in Political Sociology at<br />

SOAS, University of London.<br />

• This article is republished from <strong>The</strong><br />

Conversation under a Creative<br />

Commons license. Read the<br />

original article at:<br />

https://theconversation.com/kenyas-<br />

protests-are-different-this-time-3-<br />

things-that-make-it-harder-for-gove<br />

rnment-to-crush-them-<strong>23</strong>3790.


News<br />

JULY <strong>10</strong> - <strong>23</strong> <strong>2024</strong> <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> Page3<br />

Children-enlisting drug dealer jailed<br />

Continued from Page 1<<br />

above Atkins, he held a management<br />

“<strong>The</strong> dangerous and risky work is<br />

undertaken by those they can either<br />

exploit or enlist with the, often false,<br />

promise of financial gain or reward.<br />

“Sadly, this often leads to the<br />

recruitment of children, who are either<br />

easily influenced or coerced into<br />

working with those holding the drug<br />

line phone.<br />

“We are working hard to address<br />

this cruel reality. We have specialist<br />

safeguarding officers within Operation<br />

Raptor, who work with education and<br />

criminal justice partners to identify<br />

those being exploited.<br />

“Children coerced or threatened into<br />

running drugs for lines like the ‘Pedro’<br />

line will be treated as victims.<br />

“Those committed to criminality<br />

and exploiting others will be dealt with<br />

using the full powers available to us.<br />

“<strong>The</strong> courts rightly take a strict<br />

stance on those involved in organised<br />

drug dealing.”<br />

Cash seized during the course of the investigation into the Pedro line<br />

Atkins was charged with and<br />

admitted being concerned in the supply<br />

of heroin and crack cocaine.<br />

Basildon Crown Court was told<br />

Atkins had actively tried to recruit<br />

young people into the operation.<br />

At a sentencing hearing on Friday<br />

28 June, the court heard Atkins had sole<br />

control of the line across the period of<br />

the police investigation.<br />

It was accepted, although others<br />

may have been involved at a level<br />

role in the operation.<br />

It was taken as an aggravating factor<br />

that he used children to deliver drugs.<br />

Atkins was sentenced to four years’<br />

imprisonment.<br />

Acting Detective Inspector Rob<br />

Maile, of Op Raptor South, said:<br />

“A common feature we find time<br />

and time again in these cases is the<br />

distancing of those at the top of the line<br />

from the active running and selling of<br />

drugs on the street.<br />

Class A drugs seized during the course of the investigation into the Pedro line<br />

Class A drugs seized during the course of the investigation into the Pedro line


Page4<br />

<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> Group<br />

Field: 07956 385 604<br />

E-mail:<br />

info@the-trumpet.com<br />

<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong>Team<br />

PUBLISHER / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:<br />

’Femi Okutubo<br />

CONTRIBUTORS:<br />

Moji Idowu, Ayo Odumade,<br />

Steve Mulindwa<br />

SPECIAL PROJECTS:<br />

Odafe Atogun<br />

John-Brown Adegunsoye (Abuja)<br />

DESIGN:<br />

Xandydesigns@gmail.com<br />

ATLANTA BUREAU CHIEF:<br />

Uko-Bendi Udo<br />

3695 F Cascade Road #2140 Atlanta,<br />

GA 30331 USA<br />

Tel: +1 404 889 3613<br />

E-mail: uudo1@hotmail.com<br />

BOARD OF CONSULTANTS<br />

CHAIRMAN:<br />

Pastor Kolade Adebayo-Oke<br />

MEMBERS:<br />

JULY <strong>10</strong> - <strong>23</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

Tunde Ajasa-Alashe<br />

Allison Shoyombo, Peter Osuhon<br />

<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> (ISSN: 1477-3392)<br />

is published in London fortnightly<br />

THINKING<br />

OF<br />

WRITING<br />

A BUSINESS<br />

PLAN?<br />

We can help you develop a<br />

professional business plan<br />

from only £250.<br />

For more information, contact us<br />

at 07402792146 or email us at:<br />

tolu.oyewole@consultant.com<br />

Following an investigation led by<br />

Essex Police’s Serious Crime<br />

Directorate, 36-year-old Virginia<br />

McCullough has admitted to murdering<br />

her parents four years ago.<br />

Virginia killed her father John, aged<br />

70 at the time of his death, and mother<br />

Lois, aged 71 at the time of her death, at<br />

their home in Pump Hill, Great Baddow.<br />

After carrying out the murders, which<br />

she told police took place at some stage<br />

in the summer of 2019, she concealed<br />

their bodies within the property and<br />

continued to live at the address.<br />

To cover her tracks, she told persistent<br />

lies about their whereabouts, frequently<br />

telling doctors and relatives her parents<br />

were unwell, on holiday or away on<br />

lengthy trips.<br />

Her actions were uncovered after her<br />

parents’ GPs raised concerns over missed<br />

appointments in 20<strong>23</strong>.<br />

An investigation was launched and,<br />

on Friday 15 September 20<strong>23</strong>, officers<br />

from Essex Police’s Operational Support<br />

Group executed a warrant at the Pump<br />

Hill address.<br />

In the moments afterwards, she<br />

confessed to poisoning her father with<br />

prescription medication and stabbing her<br />

mother shortly afterwards.<br />

She went on to admit two counts of<br />

murder during a hearing at Chelmsford<br />

Crown Court on Thursday 4 <strong>July</strong>.<br />

She will be sentenced at the same<br />

court on <strong>10</strong> October.<br />

Detective Inspector Lydia George, of<br />

the Kent and Essex Serious Crime<br />

News<br />

Daughter admits<br />

murdering parents<br />

Guilty - Virginia McCullough<br />

John and Lois McCullough<br />

Directorate, said: “At the heart of this<br />

investigation are John and Lois – and<br />

their whole family.<br />

“Virginia’s actions have had a significant<br />

and emotional impact on the family<br />

group and our thoughts today are first and<br />

foremost with them.<br />

“We have worked very closely with them<br />

and supported them from the outset as we<br />

established the circumstances around<br />

John and Lois’ deaths and gathered the<br />

evidence which has led to today’s guilty<br />

pleas.”<br />

DI George added: “Clearly this was a<br />

hugely complex investigation from the<br />

outset.<br />

“Officers were met with an incredibly<br />

challenging scene and worked at the<br />

address over the course of several days to<br />

carry out forensic enquiries.<br />

“This involved expertise and insight<br />

from several teams across the Force and<br />

it is thanks to the work of dozens of<br />

dedicated officers and staff, that we were<br />

able to bring this tragic case to court and,<br />

now, a satisfactory conviction.”<br />

<strong>The</strong> family wish to continue to<br />

request privacy at this difficult time.<br />

Officers were met with an incredibly challenging scene and worked for several days to carry out forensic<br />

enquiries


JULY <strong>10</strong> - <strong>23</strong> <strong>2024</strong> <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />

Page5


Page6 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> JULY <strong>10</strong> - <strong>23</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

Opinion<br />

June 12: Democracy<br />

Day with Lagos<br />

Lawmakers<br />

BY REUBEN ABATI<br />

One of the highlights of the recent<br />

celebrations of Democracy Day,<br />

on June 12, was the series of<br />

anniversary lectures organized to mark 25<br />

years of Unbroken Democracy in<br />

Nigeria. At the Presidential Villa, Alhaji<br />

Bello Masari, former Speaker of the<br />

House of Representatives was Guest<br />

Lecturer on the subject: “25 Years of<br />

Enduring Democracy: Prospects for the<br />

Future”. In Abeokuta, Ogun State, at the<br />

June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, the Ogun<br />

State Government held a public lecture<br />

with the theme: “June 12-Defining<br />

Moment in the Democratic Development<br />

in Nigeria.” <strong>The</strong>re was also a <strong>2024</strong><br />

Democracy Day Lecture organized by<br />

the Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic<br />

Research and Training in collaboration<br />

with SEDSAC: Humanitarian Initiative<br />

titled “Democracy and <strong>The</strong> Nigerian<br />

Citizens: Profit or Loss?” <strong>The</strong> lecture<br />

was delivered by Dr. Sa’idu Dukawa.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re were activities in other parts of<br />

Nigeria as well.<br />

It is interesting to see how June 12, its<br />

symbolism and place in Nigerian history<br />

has become a rallying point, that it was<br />

originally, and the man whose martyrdom<br />

underlines that symbolism, Chief MKO<br />

Abiola has now been accorded a rightful,<br />

and due recognition in the annals of<br />

Nigerian history for all that he did to<br />

champion the cause of democracy. This<br />

is both interesting and remarkable<br />

because indeed in this same country,<br />

many of those who benefitted from the<br />

democratic struggle conveniently revised<br />

the story of June 12. In the South West<br />

however, MKO Abiola Day was<br />

celebrated in Lagos, Oyo, Ondo, Ogun<br />

and Osun states. <strong>The</strong> Federal<br />

Government of Nigeria celebrated<br />

Democracy Day on May 29, the day<br />

Nigeria transitioned from decades of<br />

uninterrupted military rule to civilian rule<br />

in 1999. Despite the celebration of MKO<br />

Abiola across the South West – his<br />

statues were erected, streets, stadiums,<br />

schools and public buildings were named<br />

after him, and even with Lagos State<br />

iconizing some of the non-Yoruba heroes<br />

of the struggle, including Rear Admiral<br />

Ndubuisi Kanu, Bagauda Kaltho and<br />

many others, some revisionists came up<br />

with the patently false narrative that June<br />

12 was a Yoruba, South-West affair.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re were attempts to lobby the<br />

Nigerian Government to do the right<br />

thing: declare Abiola, the winner of the<br />

annulled June 12, 1993 Presidential<br />

election, grant him a post-humous<br />

national honour and make restitution for<br />

the injustice of 1993, beyond the fact of<br />

the political solution of 1999 which<br />

ensured that the two major contenders for<br />

the Presidency post-military era were<br />

Yorubas: Chief Olusegun Obasanjo<br />

(PDP) and Chief Olu Falae (AD/APP).<br />

<strong>The</strong> closest that Abiola and June 12 were<br />

Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola<br />

acknowledged at the centre was in 2014<br />

at the Nigeria Centenary Awards,<br />

honouring <strong>10</strong>0 remarkable individuals<br />

who have made great impact in the<br />

making of Nigeria in the last century. <strong>The</strong><br />

Abiola family did not think listing their<br />

patriarch among a long list of persons<br />

including Lord Lugard and his consort,<br />

Flora Shaw was good enough. <strong>The</strong> family<br />

turned down the award. Despite this<br />

politics of acknowledgement, MKO<br />

Abiola and June 12 nonetheless lived on<br />

in the hearts and on the tip of the pens of<br />

many: the media, civil society, artists<br />

across the genres and more importantly,<br />

the progressives who gathered at his<br />

graveside, every June to remember and<br />

honour him.<br />

<strong>The</strong> attempt to reduce MKO and the<br />

June 12 phenomenon to a narrow, ethnic<br />

moment has also been exposed for the lie<br />

that it is in the growing bibliography on<br />

the subject by both scholars and direct<br />

observers/participants. <strong>The</strong>se writings<br />

include, Heroes of Democracy by Joe<br />

Igbokwe, June 1993: Annulment by<br />

Abraham Oshoko, Frank Kokori, <strong>The</strong><br />

Struggle for June 12, Omo Omoruyi, <strong>The</strong><br />

Tale of June 12: <strong>The</strong> Betrayal of the<br />

Democratic Rights of Nigerians; Wale<br />

Oshun, <strong>The</strong> Open Grave: NADECO and<br />

the Struggle for Democracy and<br />

Clapping With One Hand: June 12 and<br />

the Crisis of a State Nation; Humphrey<br />

Nwosu, Laying the Foundation for<br />

Nigeria’s Democracy: My Account of<br />

June 12, 1993; Abimbola Aboderin,<br />

Democracy and the Untold Story of June<br />

12; Deba Uwadiae, Abiodun Adeniyi,<br />

Emeka Nwosu and Segun Olanipekun,<br />

Nigeria’s Aborted Third Republic and the<br />

June Debacle: Reporters’ Account and<br />

Wole Soyinka’s memoir, You Must Set<br />

Forth At Dawn. <strong>The</strong> major turning point<br />

arrived on June 6, 2018 when then<br />

President Muhammadu Buhari changed<br />

Democracy Day from May 29, to June<br />

12. As Buhari put it, “June 12 was the day<br />

when Nigerians in millions expressed<br />

their democratic will in what was<br />

undisputedly the freest, fairest and most<br />

peaceful elections since our<br />

independence. <strong>The</strong> fact that the outcome<br />

of that election was not upheld by the<br />

then military government doesn’t distract<br />

from the democratic credential of that<br />

process. Accordingly, after due<br />

consultations, the Federal Government<br />

has decided that henceforth June 12, will<br />

be celebrated as Democracy Day.<br />

<strong>The</strong>refore, the government has decided to<br />

award posthumously the highest honour<br />

of the land GCFR, to the late Chief MKO<br />

Abiola, the presumed winner of the June<br />

12, 1993 cancelled elections.” President<br />

Buhari sent a Public Holiday Amendment<br />

Bill to the National Assembly to remove<br />

May 29 as a public holiday and replace it<br />

Continued on Page 7


Opinion<br />

JULY <strong>10</strong> - <strong>23</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />

June 12: Democracy Day with<br />

Lagos Lawmakers<br />

Page7<br />

Continued from Page 6<<br />

with June 12. This was approved by the<br />

Senate. On Monday, June <strong>10</strong>, 2019,<br />

President Buhari assented to the Bill.<br />

This was an act of courage and bold<br />

assertiveness that would for long be<br />

remembered as a key aspect of Buhari’s<br />

legacy. Other Presidents before him<br />

skirted around the Abiola and June 12<br />

question or avoided it altogether,<br />

including Abiola’s kinsman, President<br />

Olusegun Obasanjo who had once<br />

quipped that “Abiola is not the Messiah<br />

Nigeria needs”. Buhari considered<br />

Abiola’s messianism so important, he<br />

gave him the highest honour in the land,<br />

placing him at the same rank as Nigerian<br />

Presidents and former Heads of State. He<br />

stopped short of declaring him the winner<br />

of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election,<br />

but he made it clear that the Abiola story<br />

is the Nigerian story. He practically shut<br />

up the reductionists and revisionists. With<br />

the amendment of the Public Holidays<br />

Act, turning June 12 into a national<br />

holiday, Buhari affirmed the nationalism<br />

of both Abiola and June 12. This was a<br />

special moment of epiphany for the<br />

President. He made a mark where others<br />

before him could not tread. <strong>The</strong> MKO<br />

Abiola story is a mix of narratives, false<br />

and true, intrigues, treachery,<br />

contradictions and tropes of<br />

disambiguation. Every year since 2019,<br />

the festival and the stories get re-enacted<br />

every June 12.<br />

I was invited to one of such special<br />

events, and for reasons of convenience<br />

and proximity, public and private, I was<br />

at the Lagos State House of Assembly<br />

Complex, Alausa, Ikeja to attend the<br />

commemoration of 25 years of Unbroken<br />

Democratic Governance in Nigeria put<br />

together by Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa<br />

and his colleagues. It was an evening<br />

event, a gala night, designed in the shape<br />

of a cocktail, with greater emphasis on<br />

discussions and reflections on key themes<br />

about Nigeria’s democratic process. A<br />

total of ten guest speakers had been<br />

invited to speak on different aspects of<br />

the democratic project in Nigeria, drawn<br />

from government, business, and the<br />

diplomatic community. <strong>The</strong> guest list was<br />

broadly inclusive: members of the Lagos<br />

State House of Assembly, the Executive<br />

and Judicial Arms of Government, past<br />

and present, the civil society, academia,<br />

traditional rulers and chiefs, business<br />

chieftains, members of the diplomatic<br />

corps, the Lagos Governance Advisory<br />

Council, chairmen and officials of Local<br />

Governments and LCDAs in Lagos and<br />

general ladies and gentlemen. <strong>The</strong> hall<br />

was filled up.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Lagos State House of Assembly<br />

section of the Secretariat in Alausa is a<br />

sprawling architectural wonder unto<br />

itself, with halls and large passageways,<br />

beautified and designed to give the<br />

lawmakers the dignity that befits that arm<br />

of government. As is to be expected, the<br />

Assembly’s invitation was honoured.<br />

Oftentimes, when stories are told about<br />

State Houses of Assembly, it could be<br />

when the members are quarrelling with<br />

the Executives over budgetary allocations<br />

or the Governor needs their services to<br />

impeach an errant Deputy Governor. For<br />

the most part, State Houses of Assembly,<br />

especially in States where the ruling Party<br />

in the State controls the majority in the<br />

House do their work obediently. <strong>The</strong>y<br />

simply do as the Governor wishes. It was<br />

therefore refreshing to hear that a State<br />

House of Assembly wanted to do<br />

something that requires some serious<br />

thinking and reflection. I carried my two<br />

eyes and two legs to go and see.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re were ten speakers, including<br />

Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN,<br />

former Governor of Lagos State (2007 –<br />

2015) speaking on “Federalism: <strong>The</strong><br />

Quest for a Perfect Union”; Hon. Abike<br />

Dabiri-Erewa, CEO, Nigerians in<br />

Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) on<br />

“<strong>The</strong> Role of Nigerian Women in Nation-<br />

Building”; Mr. Debo Adeniran, Chairman<br />

Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open<br />

Leadership (CACOL) on “<strong>The</strong> Concept<br />

of Democracy and Human Rights”; Dr.<br />

Muda Yusuf, Director, Centre for the<br />

Promotion of Private Enterprises (CPPE)<br />

and former DG, Lagos Chamber of<br />

Commerce and industry offering<br />

“Economic Perspective on Nigeria’s<br />

Democratic Governance; Professor<br />

Eghosa Osaghae, DG, Nigerian Institute<br />

of International Affairs (NIIA) on<br />

“Nigerian Foreign Policy in a<br />

Democracy: Gains and Prospect”; in<br />

addition to the Consul General of the<br />

French Embassy, Laurent Favier; Weert<br />

Buerner, the Consul General of Germany;<br />

Ugo Boni, the Consul General of Italy;<br />

Jonny Baxter, the British Deputy High<br />

Commissioner; Michael A. Ervin, US<br />

Political and Economic Chief in Lagos –<br />

all on “Foreign Perspectives on Nigeria’s<br />

Democratic Governance”. This was quite<br />

a broad range of topics and speakers,<br />

which I thought was rather long, but<br />

surprisingly everyone showed up and the<br />

evening soon got off to a spirited start. I<br />

was even more surprised that despite the<br />

design of the programme as an evening<br />

cocktail, with the people standing, people<br />

stood through it all till the end. Every<br />

Speaker had the chance to speak for<br />

about ten minutes. I recall a number of<br />

highlights.<br />

Hon Mudasiru Obasa, Speaker of the<br />

Assembly made an eloquent case for the<br />

role that the Lagos State House of<br />

Assembly has played in the democratic<br />

governance of Nigeria in the context of<br />

its own jurisdiction. Obasa was even<br />

generous enough going all the way back<br />

to the very first session of the House in<br />

October 1979 to date, that is - far beyond<br />

the 25-year reference term. He disclosed<br />

that the Lagos House specifically since<br />

1999 has passed over 300 laws and 2,000<br />

resolutions, many of which have become<br />

models for other State Houses of<br />

Assembly. Obasa is one of the longest<br />

serving legislators and Speakers in<br />

Nigeria. He has been a legislator since<br />

2007 and Speaker of the Lagos Assembly<br />

since 2015. <strong>The</strong>re must be something he<br />

does right that endears him to his<br />

constituency (Agege 1) and to his<br />

colleagues in Alausa. I was struck by two<br />

of his statements when he said, after<br />

paying tributes to the heroes of June 12,<br />

that “It is a duty to also remember those<br />

who are responsible for the annulment of<br />

that democratic process, some alive,<br />

some dead…This is also to remind those<br />

who are coming behind us that the<br />

democracy we are enjoying today was<br />

built by some people, some of whom lost<br />

their lives and properties.”<br />

Earlier the same day, in Abuja,<br />

President Bola Tinubu had delivered a<br />

Democracy Day Speech which was<br />

marred by the treatment of MKO Abiola<br />

in parenthesis, and the omission of many<br />

important heroes. <strong>The</strong> event in Abuja was<br />

also reduced by the thoughtless,<br />

sycophantic unveiling of a poorly painted<br />

portrait of President Tinubu at the Eagle<br />

Square on June 12. Obasa’s list was far<br />

more comprehensive and detailed than<br />

the President’s. And he did not forget to<br />

name and chide those who stood in the<br />

way of the people’s struggle, noting that<br />

“history will not forget all their roles<br />

while sabotaging the democratic progress<br />

of this nation”. Still, many names remain<br />

left out of the accounts simply because<br />

June 12 was truly the people’s struggle.<br />

How come Professor Humphrey Nwosu,<br />

the man who presided over the freest and<br />

fairest election in Nigeria has been<br />

forgotten? He was a hero. And why are<br />

we not naming the promoters of<br />

Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) by<br />

Arthur Nzeribe and Abimbola Davies, the<br />

disgraceful Youths Earnestly Ask for<br />

Abacha (YEAA) led by Daniel Kanu,<br />

rogue judges, and the hungry traditional<br />

rulers who identified with Abacha.<br />

Obasa’s list helped to give a fuller<br />

picture, more names and groups would<br />

still have to be called out for their role in<br />

the June debacle.<br />

Mr. Fashola, SAN echoed the same<br />

thoughts that we must ensure that<br />

democracy remains unbroken, and<br />

lawmakers have a crucial role to play in<br />

protecting democratic values, justice and<br />

human rights. Fashola posited that<br />

Nigeria is running a Federal system but<br />

the challenge is to make the system more<br />

perfect to protect individual rights. He<br />

believes that progress has been made in<br />

the past 25 years but there are still areas<br />

of improvement, citing the need for the<br />

Lagos Assembly to make laws, for<br />

example, to compel landlords in Lagos<br />

State not to collect rent for one or two<br />

years as is the norm. Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa<br />

made a case for women empowerment<br />

which naturally drew cheers from the<br />

women folk in attendance. Mr. Adeniran<br />

was clear-minded about the important<br />

role of the civil society in Nigeria’s<br />

democratic process. Dr. Muda Yusuf said<br />

democracy must be protected to protect<br />

and attract investment, and thus promote<br />

prosperity. <strong>The</strong> diplomats from France,<br />

Germany, Italy, UK, and US in unison<br />

and almost in a rehearsed manner<br />

congratulated Nigerians and urged us to<br />

sustain and consolidate democratic rule.<br />

It is easy to hold talks in Nigeria, and<br />

commemorate anniversaries but the key<br />

challenge is for our leaders to walk the<br />

talk and live up to the same ideals and<br />

values that they espouse. In all, June 12 is<br />

about us, our country and how seriously<br />

we take ourselves and our future. <strong>The</strong><br />

Lagos State House of Assembly should<br />

organize more events, to provide<br />

opportunities for interaction with the<br />

public, on key subjects and ideas which<br />

may not necessarily fall under the<br />

purview of public hearing. <strong>The</strong>re are 40<br />

members in the Lagos House,<br />

representing 20 Local Government Areas<br />

further sub-divided into Local Council<br />

Development Areas, with two members<br />

representing a Local Government. I met<br />

one of the members who introduced<br />

herself as Okanlawon, the only non-APC<br />

member in the Lagos Assembly. I<br />

predicted to her verily, that she would be<br />

a member of the APC before the 2027<br />

election, given the nature of Nigerian<br />

politics. In the future, the Lagos State<br />

House of Assembly should allow us to sit<br />

down at public events of the type they<br />

had on June 12, and there should be room<br />

for interventions by the audience.<br />

Altogether, that was a good outing.<br />

ERRATUM: In this column last<br />

week: “A Day With Seyi Makinde,”<br />

(June 11), I wrote that “Governor<br />

Makinde is the only Governor to have<br />

broken the jinx of a second term in<br />

office in Oyo State.” My attention has<br />

been drawn to the fact that the honour<br />

of being the first to do so, belongs to<br />

late Senator Abiola Ajimobi,<br />

nicknamed KOSELERI, Oyo State<br />

Governor, 2011 -2019. I stand<br />

corrected. <strong>The</strong> error is regretted.


Page8 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> JULY <strong>10</strong> - <strong>23</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

Opinion<br />

Tales the country told me<br />

By Reuben Abati<br />

“My friend, where are<br />

you? I have been<br />

calling your line<br />

since, you no dey pick”<br />

“Where else would I be at this<br />

time? I am either at work or at<br />

home. But to tell you the truth, I<br />

didn’t see your calls. I am at this<br />

joint that I just discovered. Omo, the<br />

pepper-soup is something else. <strong>The</strong><br />

fish tastes like it was brought to my<br />

plate from the very eye of the<br />

Atlantic Ocean itself.”<br />

“One of these days, they will use<br />

food to carry you away. Just<br />

remember that you are not<br />

responsible for yourself alone. You<br />

have a family, and very soon, you’d<br />

be a grandfather. You can’t be eating<br />

all about, looking for where soup is<br />

sweet all over town. But that is not<br />

why I am calling.”<br />

“So what’s up? Come and join<br />

me. I will send you the address and<br />

we can talk over some nice<br />

delicacies. <strong>The</strong>y even have<br />

palmwine. Frothing palm wine.<br />

Tastes as if it was tapped by my<br />

great grandfather who was famous<br />

for being a champion palm wine<br />

tapper in his days. I wasn’t there, but<br />

I was told the story by my father<br />

who heard it from his own father. I<br />

come from a long line of<br />

distinguished professionals you<br />

see.”<br />

“I am calling you because of<br />

you”<br />

“Calling me because of me. What<br />

kind of English is that?”<br />

Davido and Chioma<br />

“It is your wife.”<br />

“What about her? I still spoke<br />

with her about an hour ago”<br />

“She asked me to talk to you.”<br />

“I don’t remember getting her<br />

upset in any way. When I am done<br />

with this pepper soup, and palm<br />

wine. I am almost done. I am going<br />

straight home to eat her food. I.<br />

know if I don’t eat at home, there<br />

would be trouble.”<br />

“She told me you are planning to<br />

travel to Port Harcourt and she<br />

doesn’t think that is a good idea at<br />

this time. <strong>The</strong>re is crisis in that<br />

State.”<br />

“Oh. God. God. This woman and<br />

her troubles. Okay, you tell me.<br />

What does she say is the problem in<br />

Port Harcourt? I am going there for<br />

business. You know the nature of<br />

my work.”<br />

“She says the work can wait. It is<br />

not just Port Harcourt. <strong>The</strong> entire<br />

Rivers State. She does not want you<br />

to go to a place where the Governor<br />

and his Godfather in Abuja are<br />

fighting. Policemen have turned the<br />

State into a Police zone. Deposed<br />

Council Chairmen are aggrieved.<br />

Lawmakers are in court, over who is<br />

a genuine or fake member of<br />

Parliament. Everybody in Rivers<br />

State is now a lawyer quoting<br />

Section this, Section that of the 1999<br />

Constitution. Angry youths are<br />

threatening fire and brimstone.”<br />

“Oh my. For Heavens’ sake,<br />

there are about <strong>10</strong> million people in<br />

Rivers State. Why are we behaving<br />

Continued on Page 9


Opinion<br />

Tales the country told me<br />

Continued from Page 8<<br />

JULY <strong>10</strong> - <strong>23</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />

Page9<br />

like these white people who sit in<br />

their own countries, read one or two<br />

stories in a part of Africa, and they<br />

quickly issue a frightening travel<br />

advisory or write a whole book:<br />

Nigeria On <strong>The</strong> Brink, <strong>The</strong> Coming<br />

Death of Democracy in Africa. We<br />

exaggerate too much. <strong>The</strong>re are<br />

people living in Rivers State who<br />

have given testimony that there is no<br />

crisis in the State. It is just<br />

politicians behaving like overpampered<br />

children.”<br />

“<strong>The</strong> interim Chairman of APC<br />

in Rivers State says the State is at<br />

war. APC wants the Federal<br />

Government to declare a state of<br />

emergency in the State. Chief Tony<br />

Okocha should know.”<br />

“What do you expect him to say?<br />

<strong>The</strong> APC is playing a script in<br />

Rivers. <strong>The</strong>y have grabbed 27<br />

members of the House of Assembly<br />

who defected from PDP to APC.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y want to take the State through<br />

the back door and mischief. Wike is<br />

helping them. It is all politics. I can’t<br />

stop my business transactions in<br />

Port Harcourt because of some of<br />

the politicians. I have spoken to<br />

some of the elders, they say…”<br />

“I beg, elders, we all know these<br />

elders… Well, your wife is<br />

concerned and troubled. If there is a<br />

blow out in Rivers and you are<br />

caught in-between, nobody will<br />

know that you are just a greedy<br />

Ijesha man, always looking for<br />

where to eat.”<br />

“I am a man of courage. Nothing<br />

scares me. <strong>The</strong> logic of making<br />

money is that in the midst of crisis,<br />

you look for opportunities.”<br />

“<strong>The</strong> only thriving business in<br />

Rivers State today is to be either<br />

pro-Fubara or pro-Wike. I hear that<br />

business is becoming more lucrative<br />

than crude oil theft.”<br />

“You know me. I am a man who<br />

goes to where even angels fear to<br />

tread.”<br />

“Your wife said exactly the same<br />

thing. She said you are an angel. But<br />

she does not want you to join the<br />

angels yet.”<br />

“Oh God. Don’t worry. I know<br />

her problem. <strong>The</strong>re is this Aso Ebi<br />

she wants to buy. Once I give her the<br />

money for it, she’d go for her<br />

owambe and allow me go to Port<br />

Harcourt. How can some characters<br />

fighting for their own stomach in<br />

Port Harcourt become an issue in<br />

my house in Lagos. Tomorrow, now,<br />

if I decide I want to go to Kano for<br />

business, my wife will again carry<br />

placard, and start calling friends and<br />

neighbours…”<br />

“No. It won’t be your wife then.<br />

I will be the one to carry the placard.<br />

You don’t know this country? You<br />

want to go to where two brothers are<br />

quarrelling over the stool of the<br />

Sarkin Kano? Have you seen those<br />

tough-looking boys carrying hefty<br />

sticks about, each one defending his<br />

own Emir? If they hit you twice<br />

with those local baseball sticks, all<br />

the bones in your body will give<br />

way immediately. You know your<br />

wife won’t be able to come to Kano<br />

to rescue you. Even if anybody asks<br />

me to come and rescue you, my wife<br />

and children will refuse. You want<br />

to go to a State where lawyers and<br />

judges are part of the confusion. Let<br />

them resolve their matter first before<br />

you go and start looking for<br />

Sim Fubara and Nyesom Wike<br />

business in troubled zones. What<br />

business are you looking for in<br />

Kano? You want to go and buy<br />

kolanuts?”<br />

“Lawyers and judges are part of<br />

the problem in this country. <strong>The</strong>y<br />

are messing things up in Rivers, and<br />

in Kano. <strong>The</strong>se days, I don’t even<br />

know which court ruling to believe.<br />

One judge says one thing, another<br />

judge says another thing…creating<br />

panic within the community. I<br />

thought Lawyers always say that the<br />

law is meant to help modulate<br />

society and ensure order”<br />

“<strong>The</strong> law is an ass…Have you<br />

not heard that? When judges make<br />

mistakes, they tell you to go and file<br />

an appeal in a higher court. When<br />

you get to the Appeal Court and they<br />

make a mistake again, your lawyers<br />

will advise you to go the Supreme<br />

Court. If you fail again at the<br />

Supreme Court, the Justices will tell<br />

you that it is part of their<br />

fundamental human rights to make<br />

mistakes because they are human<br />

beings and if you are not happy, you<br />

can take your matter to God. You<br />

see, this is why we all have to be<br />

careful.”<br />

“What a country!”<br />

“What a people!”<br />

“When will we ever get it right in<br />

this country? <strong>The</strong> people are<br />

complaining of hunger and wages.<br />

<strong>The</strong> leaders want new Presidential<br />

aircraft. University teachers are<br />

threatening to go on strike over<br />

unpaid wages. Prostitutes are telling<br />

their customers that the dollar has<br />

gone up against the Naira….”<br />

“Wait. Wait. I think I am running<br />

Continued on Page <strong>10</strong>


Page<strong>10</strong> <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> JULY <strong>10</strong> - <strong>23</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

Opinion<br />

Tales the country told me<br />

Continued from Page 9<<br />

out of credit. My phone is saying<br />

you have one minute left. I think<br />

they do this ‘you have one minute<br />

left,’ just so someone can buy credit<br />

and help them make more money.<br />

<strong>The</strong>se Telcos. Please you will have<br />

to call me back…”<br />

“Hello”<br />

“Hello.”<br />

“Can you hear me?”<br />

“I moved from where I was. Let<br />

me change my location… Can you<br />

hear me now?”<br />

Okay, I think it is better. <strong>The</strong>se<br />

telcos. Well, let’s thank God. You<br />

remember those days when we used<br />

to climb on top of a tree or look for<br />

a mountain top before we could get<br />

a phone signal, or those days when<br />

we used to queue for a whole day at<br />

P and T to place a call to someone<br />

in London or the US.”<br />

“We are in the age of Artificial<br />

Intelligence, bros. We need to do<br />

better. Let me even run something<br />

by you. I met some Oyinbos. We are<br />

thinking of doing business in<br />

Zamfara. Gold mining, especially<br />

now that the Nigerian Government<br />

is beginning to focus on gold for<br />

Central Bank Reserves, Foreign<br />

Reserves and for addressing shoring<br />

up the value of the Naira. You saw<br />

the Minister of Steel Development<br />

presenting gold bars to the President<br />

the other day, product of artisanal<br />

mining of gold. I am trying to think<br />

ahead. We can get into that line of<br />

business.”<br />

“Razzmatazz. What did I call it?<br />

Razzmatazz. Photo. Is it from<br />

artisanal mining and alluvial<br />

deposits, Nigeria will join the league<br />

of gold mining countries? We have<br />

been prospecting for gold in this<br />

country since 1913. <strong>The</strong>re was<br />

something like a small boom in the<br />

1930s. In the 1980s, Nigeria formed<br />

the Nigerian Mining Corporation.<br />

Section 44(3) of the Nigerian<br />

Minerals and Mining law of 1999<br />

vests ownership of mineral<br />

resources in the Federal<br />

Government. But the big problem in<br />

this country is illegal mining.”<br />

“That is precisely what the<br />

Tinubu administration is trying to<br />

do. Close ranks with artisanal<br />

miners, bring them into the fold, and<br />

provide a framework. It is called a<br />

National Gold Purchase Programme<br />

that meets the London Gold Market<br />

Standard.”<br />

“<strong>The</strong>re is no framework that they<br />

are going to come up with that is<br />

new. When Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili<br />

was Minister of Steel and Mining,<br />

she designed a framework for<br />

mining development in Nigeria. Dr.<br />

Kayode Fayemi as Minister of Steel<br />

further fine-tuned the road map. Go<br />

to the website of the World Gold<br />

Council. This is serious business,<br />

not a business for small-time<br />

miners. Do we have the technical<br />

capacity? Do we have technical<br />

partners? What lessons are we<br />

learning from the example of<br />

Ghana, a country that was originally<br />

known as Gold Coast? Before you<br />

join the Gold Rush, do your homework.”<br />

“I try to look at the positive side<br />

of things. Nigeria has just sold about<br />

70 kilogrammes of gold to the<br />

London Bullion Market, making<br />

about N6 billion. We have to start<br />

from somewhere. <strong>The</strong> country has<br />

about 600,000 tonnes of gold<br />

reserves. <strong>The</strong>re are possibilities<br />

here. Besides, going to and fro<br />

Zamfara will become very easy,<br />

very soon, now that the State<br />

Governor is building an<br />

international airport to promote<br />

trade and tourism.”<br />

“Tourism in Zamfara. You want<br />

to go and get yourself kidnapped.<br />

<strong>The</strong> bandits of Zamfara are so<br />

daring, they can even kidnap aircraft<br />

and all passengers. I don’t think the<br />

Governor is serious. Has he paid<br />

civil servants and pensioners before<br />

embarking on a white elephant<br />

project? I think he must have heard<br />

that when you try to build an airport,<br />

you can award big, big contracts.”<br />

“I am already talking to my<br />

Chinese contacts”<br />

“Just be careful with these<br />

Chinese people. One Chinese<br />

investor has just seized Nigerian<br />

properties in the UK”<br />

“If you go and check the case, I<br />

am sure you would find that our<br />

people are the problem. We don’t<br />

ever respect terms of contracts. We<br />

gamble with everything and when<br />

our partners move against us, we<br />

would start shouting sovereignty. In<br />

any partnership, trust is important.”<br />

“Just be careful. By the way,<br />

have you heard that the Governor of<br />

Sokoto after deposing 15 traditional<br />

rulers is also planning to remove the<br />

Sultan of Sokoto. I saw a statement<br />

by the Muslim Rights Concern<br />

(MURIC) warning Governor<br />

Ahmed Aliyu not to try it because<br />

the jurisdiction of the Sultan goes<br />

beyond Sokoto. He is the spiritual<br />

head of all Nigerian Muslims.”<br />

“I keep wondering why<br />

Governors no longer respect<br />

traditional rulers. Tension<br />

everywhere. I just hope that one day,<br />

one Governor will not wake up on<br />

the wrong side of the bed and make<br />

an attempt to depose a traditional<br />

ruler and cause real mayhem in the<br />

country.”<br />

“Na wa. Are you going for<br />

Chivido?”<br />

“What is that”<br />

“<strong>The</strong> wedding of Chioma and<br />

David Adeleke. I hear all the<br />

billionaires in town will be there.”<br />

“So, are you a billionaire? Why<br />

do you want to go to a billionaire’s<br />

wedding party? You don’t have<br />

important things to do with your<br />

time?”<br />

“I have just been following the<br />

story, and the gbas gbos between<br />

Davido and his baby Mama,<br />

Sophia.”<br />

“Look, let me wash my hand. As<br />

old as you are, you go about<br />

monitoring society gossip. Go and<br />

get busy my friend.”<br />

“Wash that your hand very well.<br />

No carry cholera from pepper soup<br />

joint go house oh.”<br />

“Comot my friend. Old man wey<br />

sabi gossip.”<br />

STALLIONS AIR<br />

Ipanema Travel Ltd<br />

AFRICA FLIGHTS<br />

SPECIALISTS<br />

LAGOS fr £477<br />

(2 Bags)<br />

020 7580 5999<br />

07979 861 455<br />

Call AMIT / ALEX<br />

73 WELLS ST, W1T 3QG<br />

All Fares Seasonal<br />

ATOL 9179<br />

It pays to Advertise in<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Trumpet</strong> Call<br />

020 8522 6600 or<br />

email: adverts@thetrumpet.com


JULY <strong>10</strong> - <strong>23</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />

Page11<br />

Produced in Association with HM Government<br />

It’s never too late to tackle addiction<br />

If you or someone you know is having issues<br />

with drugs or alcohol, there are lots of ways<br />

to access free & confidential advice and<br />

support from local experts<br />

Drug and alcohol problems<br />

can affect anyone, with<br />

many people keeping it a<br />

secret, adding pressure to holding<br />

down a job and juggling family<br />

life. This can have a serious<br />

impact on the people around you,<br />

including those you love.<br />

Whether you’ve become<br />

dependent on drugs and alcohol,<br />

or just find it difficult to control<br />

your use, it can be difficult to<br />

acknowledge and talk about what<br />

is happening.<br />

But it’s important to remember<br />

that effective, confidential, and<br />

non-judgemental help is available<br />

for anyone who feels they, or<br />

anyone they know, struggles with<br />

alcohol or drugs. Support is also<br />

available for families affected by a<br />

loved one’s alcohol and drug<br />

use.<strong>The</strong> government is investing<br />

additional funding to improve the<br />

capacity and quality of treatment.<br />

This means that there will be<br />

more help available in your local<br />

area so you can get the help you<br />

need quicker and the help you<br />

receive will be better, including<br />

from better-trained staff who can<br />

spend longer with each person.<br />

“You’ve got to<br />

do it for yourself,<br />

or nothing is<br />

going to change”<br />

*Aleena (name changed for<br />

privacy), 37, has lived through<br />

some challenging times. Her<br />

father was killed in a road<br />

accident when she was 11 years<br />

old, triggering her to go “off the<br />

rails” as she went into a spiral of<br />

drug and alcohol use.<br />

When she became pregnant in<br />

late 2020, she reached a crisis<br />

point and approached her local<br />

drug and alcohol treatment<br />

provider for support.<br />

“When I was pregnant, I<br />

thought enough is enough, and<br />

became determined to change my<br />

ways and surroundings. <strong>The</strong><br />

penny had dropped,” says<br />

*Aleena.<br />

“I was a mess when I walked<br />

into drug and alcohol support<br />

services and now, I’m more<br />

confident and have my selfesteem<br />

back. I don’t have cravings<br />

and I’ve got the willpower to carry<br />

on.<br />

“<strong>The</strong> talking support groups<br />

are intense, but they have got to be<br />

intense to work. It opens your<br />

eyes to a lot of stuff - especially<br />

what you thought was normality.<br />

“I told my life story over six<br />

months, from childhood to now.<br />

You’re encouraged to open up to<br />

your key worker and once it is off<br />

your chest, you can put it in a box<br />

and forget about it.<br />

“I can’t thank my service<br />

provider enough. My key workers<br />

took the time to sit down with me<br />

and make me feel a lot better<br />

about myself. <strong>The</strong>y are like my<br />

family and have been excellent<br />

with me and my little girl.<br />

“You’ve got to do it for<br />

yourself, or nothing is going to<br />

change. Even if you’re proud. I<br />

didn't want to ask for help, but you<br />

need it. Grab it with both hands<br />

and give it a go. <strong>The</strong>n stay calm<br />

and keep focused and busy. If<br />

you’re bored, your mind starts<br />

wandering. You need a routine<br />

and structure.”<br />

With a fresh start, *Aleena is<br />

now raising her daughter and<br />

continues to rebuild her life. She<br />

is also still in touch with her local<br />

treatment service, who continue to<br />

offer support.<br />

How to find help<br />

You can find details of treatment services on your<br />

local authority’s website. FRANK also has a<br />

directory of adult and young people’s alcohol and<br />

drug treatment services at talktofrank.com/help<br />

If you are worried about a friend or family<br />

member and they are happy for you to do so,<br />

contact FRANK, or the local drug and alcohol<br />

service on their behalf . You, or the person you<br />

are worried for can call FRANK anytime on 0300<br />

1<strong>23</strong> 6600 for confidential advice and information.<br />

You can talk to your GP, who can then refer you<br />

to services, but if you are not comfortable doing<br />

that you can approach your local drug and<br />

alcohol treatment service yourself without a<br />

referral or a friend or family member can, contact<br />

the local service on your behalf.<br />

Remember that expert help is out there. Treatment<br />

is available for anyone who is dependent on drugs<br />

or alcohol. Staff in the local service will talk you<br />

through all of your personal treatment options and<br />

agree on a plan with you.<br />

Community support alongside treatment<br />

<strong>The</strong>re are also lots of groups within the community<br />

of people in recovery that offer support, including<br />

Alcoholics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous,<br />

Narcotics Anonymous and UK SMART<br />

Recovery - and, for families and friends, Al-Anon<br />

and Families Anonymous.<br />

<strong>The</strong>se self-helps groups can provide a vital source<br />

of support, alongside the help provided by the<br />

local treatment service.<br />

You can call FRANK anytime on 0300 1<strong>23</strong> 6600<br />

for confidential advice and information.<br />

Help is at hand: Scan to reach out to the nation’s<br />

drug and alcohol advisory service FRANK


Page12 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> JULY <strong>10</strong> - <strong>23</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong>Trump et<br />

Africans now have a voice... Founded in 1995<br />

SUBSCRIBE to the authentic newspaper<br />

focusing on Africa and Friends of Africa.<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Trumpet</strong> <strong>Newspaper</strong> which was<br />

established in 1995 has over the years grown<br />

to be the <strong>Newspaper</strong> of choice and voice for<br />

Diaspora Africans.<br />

It also has a readership among Africans on<br />

the Continent who want to connect and<br />

keep up with Diaspora Africans; and Friends<br />

of Africa who want to connect and keep up<br />

with Africa.<br />

We are pleased to offer more choices to read<br />

<strong>Trumpet</strong> <strong>Newspaper</strong> via Subscription to our<br />

Digital edition or Print edition (or both).<br />

As a paid Subscriber, you will enjoy:<br />

• Priority and Direct delivery of every<br />

fortnightly issue to you (Digital - via email<br />

and Print via Post).<br />

• Occasional exclusive offers and event<br />

invitations (subject to availability).<br />

Our Subscription Rates vary according to<br />

where you are in the world: UK, Europe<br />

or Rest of the World.<br />

You can Subscribe online at:<br />

<strong>Trumpet</strong>MediaGroup.com/Shop<br />

or complete the form below.<br />

I / We wish to subscribe to<br />

<strong>Trumpet</strong> <strong>Newspaper</strong> until further notice:<br />

Name:<br />

Rates and options ( Tick ✔)<br />

Address:<br />

Email:<br />

Tel No:<br />

I/We made a payment of £ on (date) into<br />

your Bank Account: Account Name: Target Today Ltd.<br />

Sort Code: 20 32 00<br />

Account No: 03946<strong>23</strong>1<br />

I am / We are enclosing cheque for £<br />

Target Today Ltd.<br />

made payable to<br />

Signature:<br />

I / We have sent a payment of £<br />

targettoday@the-trumpet.com<br />

via Paypal to<br />

Date:<br />

Please send me a Stripe Payment Link<br />

Return Subscription Form by Email: info@the-trumpet.com<br />

or Post: <strong>Trumpet</strong> Media, 3rd Floor, 86 - 90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE


JULY <strong>10</strong> - <strong>23</strong> <strong>2024</strong> <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />

Page13


Page14 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> JULY <strong>10</strong> - <strong>23</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

Opinion<br />

Father’s Day and the<br />

essence of fatherhood<br />

“A father is a man who expects his son to be<br />

as good a man as he meant to be.”<br />

- Frank A. Clark.<br />

Tomorrow, Sunday, June 16, is<br />

‘Father’s Day <strong>2024</strong>!’ Father’s<br />

Day, which began as a largely<br />

religious observance and recognized in<br />

some way dating back to the Middle Ages, is<br />

now celebrated in more than 111 countries,<br />

with the first of its kind on June 19, 19<strong>10</strong>.<br />

A traditional Roman Catholic holiday to<br />

celebrate fatherhood, Father’s Day is<br />

“celebrated on the third Sunday in June<br />

each year.” Fairly clearly, the day is meant<br />

to recall and recognize the endless efforts,<br />

initiatives and contributions of all the fathers<br />

around us. It is a mark of the kinship,<br />

affection, guidance and patience between<br />

fathers on the one hand and their families on<br />

the other.<br />

Fathers are the heads of, and the role<br />

models for the(ir) families. Even in<br />

psychological explanations, it is the father<br />

figures who set the moral tones of<br />

households. Whenever irritants attempt to<br />

test the loyalty of the household, it is the<br />

father who risks everything with truly<br />

solidified violations to display manly<br />

attributes.<br />

Etymologically, ‘husband’ also arose<br />

from the word ‘cultivate’, ‘tend’, or<br />

‘nurture’. <strong>The</strong>refore, the concept of husband<br />

refers to the ‘male head of a household’, the<br />

‘manager’ and the ‘steward’. He is the<br />

‘master of a house’, ‘occupier and tiller of<br />

the soil’. Thus, a husband is one who<br />

nurtures the wife with pious love, cultivates<br />

the wife and family, and tills the soil of the<br />

family.<br />

Fathers are no little men. Of course, they<br />

are too big to be small. <strong>The</strong>y have muscles<br />

in their places with which they not only<br />

perform feats of impressiveness but also<br />

create new, bigger and stronger foundations<br />

for their children. So, it’s only a<br />

marginalized group of men that can actually<br />

be referred to as irresponsible as most men<br />

are struggling. But we know that they can<br />

do better!<br />

For quite some time, there has been a lot<br />

of negative portrayal of fathers and<br />

husbands. But what does an ideal father or<br />

husband look like? To begin with, the<br />

concept of father actually arises from the<br />

Almighty God as Creator. So, every human<br />

father is only a derivative, a copy and a<br />

limited expression of the ‘Olódùmarè’ (the<br />

Creator, Cause and Origin of all Things),<br />

‘Baba wa tí mbe lí òrun’ (Our Father, who<br />

art in heaven), the One who’s so<br />

compassionate that He gave His only<br />

begotten Son to die for us.<br />

In an article, ‘Appreciating a responsible<br />

father’, I described a father as “an important<br />

source of a child’s genetic makeup” and “his<br />

or her first teacher” and that “a father loves<br />

his child and provides for him or her as a<br />

precious jewel.” Since “children are<br />

a heritage from the Lord”, I wrote that “a<br />

good father prays for his children and<br />

engages them in deep, heart-to-heart<br />

conversations that impart more than facts,<br />

but teach wisdom.” Fathers are “expected to<br />

study and teach God’s Word to their<br />

children.” What’s more? “God blesses the<br />

children through their fathers.”<br />

According to Wade Boggs, “anyone can<br />

be a father, but it takes someone special to<br />

be a dad”. It is interesting to note that many<br />

people do have fond memories of their<br />

fathers - how their fathers loved, taught,<br />

even corrected identified misdemeanors so<br />

that they might live well. In remembering<br />

my father, Sunday Alaba Komolafe, who<br />

died on August 11, 2020 and was buried on<br />

September 11, 2020, comparisons are<br />

obvious. On a day like this, I remember my<br />

father as the one who “gave us (his children)<br />

partnership and protection” and as “a<br />

peacemaker whose life depicted concrete<br />

evidence of an organized future.” Close to<br />

4 years after, I still find it difficult to accept<br />

that I have lost ‘Baba Kayode’, as my dad<br />

was fondly called, to the wild, wicked hands<br />

of death at 92! Well, it is well!<br />

Of course, there have been many lamebrains<br />

who pretend to be fathers. But then,<br />

that does not mean that they are in the<br />

majority! Surely certainly, the drunken and<br />

the incestuous fathers, wife beaters and<br />

deadbeat fathers are in a small minority. Fish<br />

or cut bait, we are in a culture where fathers<br />

are supposed to be providers, and many<br />

people who go into marriage take that aspect<br />

of matrimony seriously. So, they will not<br />

just abandon those God-given<br />

responsibilities only to pursue a career in<br />

drinking.<br />

Talking about the African patriarchal<br />

culture where some men act as if they own<br />

their wives, it must also be noted that the<br />

overwhelming majority of men are alive and<br />

accountable to their responsibilities. So,<br />

Father’s Day is a day to celebrate the ideal<br />

father! It is a day to also say that those who<br />

Many are fond of their fathers<br />

(Photo - Lawrence Crayton,<br />

Unsplash)<br />

are irresponsible most probably came from<br />

dysfunctional families where they never had<br />

good role models and that they’re only<br />

transferring their wounds to the people they<br />

got married to or the children they gave birth<br />

to!<br />

For their efforts, men need to be<br />

encouraged, especially at a time like this<br />

when the majority of our men are on the<br />

verge of social and mental collapse. In a<br />

country where hunger and deprivation are<br />

already busting the people’s asses, where the<br />

prevailing inflation rate is stifling and<br />

BY ABIODUN<br />

KOMOLAFE<br />

asphyxiating, and where many Nigerians are<br />

dead before their death, this is not the time to<br />

be excoriating or burlesquing fathers.<br />

Yes, times are tough and things are hard!<br />

However, men should also avoid taking out<br />

their frustrations on their families because<br />

we are all in it together! Besides, it is in the<br />

nature of man to be persevering,<br />

courageous, “stay positive and look for<br />

solutions”, just as Caleb and Joshua did<br />

when they were asked to spy out the Land of<br />

Canaan. For men therefore, this is the time<br />

to make sacrifices which, in every possible<br />

way, are instinctual for the adult male. In a<br />

word, Father’s Day is meant to call for<br />

investment, training and retraining, forming<br />

and reforming of boys for the critical work<br />

of being fathers in the future.<br />

In the past 20 to 30 years, there have<br />

been many programmes for the girl child.<br />

Actually, 90% of the Funding/Donor<br />

Agencies would always tell the world that<br />

their programmes were for the woman<br />

and/or the girl but there has been very little,<br />

if any, for the boy child and young men. We<br />

have Ministries of Women Affairs that focus<br />

on the woman and the girl child but none to<br />

cater for the needs of the boy child and/or<br />

young men. In the past, traditional societies<br />

also had programmes for initiating boys into<br />

adulthood. Lamentably, we’ve lost that and<br />

there’s nothing in place to replace it! A few<br />

workshops and youth programmes for the<br />

boys here and there but that’s not enough!<br />

All said, it’s time well-meaning<br />

individuals, private organizations, corporate<br />

agencies and religious organizations started<br />

programmes aimed at transforming boys<br />

into men and young men into husbands,<br />

with all the accompanying values and<br />

virtues, if we do not want to have beasts and<br />

abusive husbands in the future. In a world<br />

that derives its oxygen from narcotics and<br />

human sacrifices and where brothers are<br />

afraid of becoming fathers for obvious<br />

reasons, the boy child needs something that<br />

will actually lead young men to grow into<br />

manhood.<br />

Tragically, Nigeria is stagnated because<br />

there haven’t been father figures of the types<br />

that she had some 50 to 60 years ago. Is it<br />

any wonder why moral re-armament has<br />

become a scarce commodity in our clime?<br />

May the Lamb of God, who takes away<br />

the sin of the world, give us peace in our<br />

time!<br />

Komolafe wrote in from Ijebu-Jesa,<br />

Osun State, Nigeria<br />

(ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)


Opinion<br />

JULY <strong>10</strong> - <strong>23</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />

Oyebamiji, NIWA and Blue<br />

Economy<br />

By Abiodun Komolafe<br />

Page15<br />

From the track records of Munirudeen<br />

Bola Oyebamiji, his appointment<br />

into the hitherto moribund National<br />

Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) as its<br />

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer<br />

(MD/CEO) is well deserved. Given his<br />

pedigree, experience and previous<br />

positions, expectations are high that<br />

Oyebamiji’s good leadership style will<br />

ultimately impact inland waterways in a<br />

way as to make Marine and Blue Economy<br />

relevant and fulfill its mandate.<br />

In the past, not much has been heard<br />

about NIWA as it has just been a job-forthe-boys<br />

kind of establishment. But now<br />

that a technocrat, famously called Bola<br />

Oyebamiji, has been put in the saddle, it’s<br />

believed that there will be a major<br />

turnaround in the inland water<br />

transportation sector; and, since the focus of<br />

the Bola Tinubu-led administration is<br />

restructuring to boost revenue, it’s also<br />

believed that the Ikire, Osun State-born<br />

banker, economist, public administrator and<br />

politician will make a mark in his new<br />

assignment.<br />

No doubt about it, Nigeria is in<br />

economic dire straits and all eyes can see it!<br />

<strong>The</strong>refore, the strategic position in an<br />

agency or department that can help to<br />

diversify the country’s economy and boost<br />

productivity and revenue in the short and<br />

medium term is vital. If we had known what<br />

we’re doing, inland waters, like the Marine<br />

and Blue Economy, should have been a<br />

driving force of the economy. <strong>The</strong> two of<br />

them should be worth trillions of naira<br />

annually in terms of output and be<br />

responsible, directly and indirectly, for five<br />

to six hundred thousand employment<br />

opportunities, with almost all of them<br />

captured in the taxpaying scheme.<br />

In the First Republic, the Nigerian Ports<br />

Authority (NPA) contributed circa 42% of<br />

the Federal Government’s revenue; and that<br />

was under the legendary F.S. McEwen, a<br />

brilliant technocrat from Warri in today’s<br />

Delta State. As a matter of fact, NPA was<br />

the Nigeria National Petroleum<br />

Corporation (NNPC) of that era. In today’s<br />

globalized world, international trade as well<br />

as internal trade mechanisms must once<br />

again be the propelling mechanism for the<br />

economy as a whole.<br />

It also needs to be noted that Nigeria’s<br />

navigable rivers are grotesquely untapped.<br />

Well, this is not surprising, especially since<br />

the political economy is based on rentseeking,<br />

prebendal politics, corruption and<br />

poor service delivery, not productivity-fired<br />

value-addition. Under normal<br />

circumstances, the territorial waters can<br />

provide immense services in terms of<br />

moving cargoes and passengers, thereby<br />

saving the country from constantly<br />

repairing roads. It can also generate a lot of<br />

employment with the development of<br />

internal ports which will become bases of<br />

production activities such as light<br />

manufacturing and commodity exchanges,<br />

which are vital as price modulating<br />

frameworks, especially in a country battling<br />

unprecedented 40% food inflation.<br />

Yes, the national inland waterways<br />

ought to be the vineyard for a N4 trillion<br />

economy, which is an unambitious,<br />

deliberately conservative target; for the<br />

Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji<br />

multiplier effect of well-structured<br />

developed internal waterways is massive. It<br />

is our belief that Oyebamiji as a seasoned<br />

technocrat has the captivating managerial<br />

capability to drive such a process in tandem<br />

with the Honourable Minister of the Blue<br />

Economy, H.E. Gboyega Oyetola, and<br />

reflecting Tinubu’s desire to diversify the<br />

economy and its operating modules from<br />

consumption to a productive, increasingly<br />

export-oriented, internationally competitive<br />

economy. <strong>The</strong> neglect of the inland<br />

waterway system is a clear indication of the<br />

way we have lost our way and the President<br />

should be given an ovation for creating a<br />

Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy and<br />

characteristically finding an astute<br />

technocrat such as Oyebamiji to be the<br />

driver of the reinvigorating process. If, as<br />

expected, Oyebamiji delivers on his<br />

mandate, the benefits will be<br />

unquantifiable.<br />

In the considered opinion of yours<br />

sincerely, the Asiwaju of Ikireland should<br />

outline a private sector-led framework for<br />

the inland waterways – if he has not already<br />

done so – by detailing the immense<br />

untapped benefits of the Blue Economy.<br />

<strong>The</strong> private sector will be awake to a new<br />

vista of investment opportunities and the<br />

well-above-the-average return on<br />

investment. This will also attract foreign<br />

investment capital as the world<br />

contradictorily is awash with capital<br />

looking for investment destinations. For<br />

example, ferry services for the movement<br />

of passengers and cargoes alone under a<br />

well-structured operating framework can<br />

bring in hundreds of millions of dollars of<br />

direct foreign investments.<br />

At a time like this, the NIWA boss<br />

should call an investment summit – if he has<br />

not already done so – under the working<br />

title, ‘<strong>The</strong> Immense Possibilities of the<br />

Inland Waterways’, tying the private sector<br />

and international capital, insurers,<br />

professional services and banks. <strong>The</strong><br />

possibilities are simply mouth-watering!<br />

<strong>The</strong> investment summit should not be a<br />

talk-shop of limited value. Instead, there<br />

must be strict timelines as to the<br />

achievements of defined performance<br />

targets. <strong>The</strong> aim must be production-led,<br />

job-creating, industry-stimulating,<br />

investment-attracting and revenuegenerating<br />

inland waterways, and the key<br />

ingredient towards achieving a trillion<br />

dollar economy.<br />

Birmingham is the 2 nd largest city in<br />

England. But, in spite of its Spaghetti<br />

Junction, 60% of movement of passengers<br />

and goods in Birmingham is by canals.<br />

Coming back to Nigeria, there are more<br />

than fifteen hitherto untouched areas where<br />

Oyebamiji’s expertise can be applied to<br />

provide job opportunities for Nigeria’s<br />

teeming-yet-unemployed youths as well as<br />

generate revenue for the country. For<br />

example, there are internal waters that can<br />

be turned to commercial and/or<br />

transportation hubs. So, what prevents<br />

NIWA from dredging River Osun from<br />

Osogbo, through Ijebu-Jesa, to Esa-Odo? If<br />

internal waterways can reach remote areas,<br />

promoting trade and development in<br />

Nigeria, what stops NIWA from dredging<br />

Sokoto River, to get to Bakura in Zamfara<br />

State, ending with a light port? Beyond the<br />

fact that it is safer, cheaper, efficient and less<br />

polluting by sea or water, what that means<br />

in economic terms cannot be quantified.<br />

<strong>The</strong> development of River Osun alone<br />

will help create jobs; and jobs create<br />

revenue. Added to this is that the damage<br />

incessantly done to our roads will be<br />

drastically reduced! Of course, River Osun<br />

is just one out of the only-God-knows-howmany<br />

Rivers in Nigeria. Tragically,<br />

Nigerians are not exploiting this<br />

opportunity because everybody is too<br />

fixated on oil rubbish which, pathetically,<br />

has continued to rubbish our fortunes as a<br />

nation and people! Even the oil that we are<br />

so much talking about can be moved by<br />

ferries! If these are possible, why destroy<br />

the roads?<br />

For an economy to grow, determination<br />

is key! Refinement is also important!<br />

Former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola<br />

of Lagos State understood these and Lagos<br />

State was better for it! For example, by<br />

banning night parties in Lagos, the State<br />

accessed a sudden boom in the hospitality<br />

business, ranging from event centres, to<br />

ushering and ancillary services. Even<br />

clothing, fashion and footwear retailers<br />

were not left out as everybody would want<br />

to look good during the day. To this end,<br />

NIWA must work determinedly to support<br />

recreational and related critical activities<br />

that can aid economic development, trade<br />

and sustainability. For optimal success, it is<br />

also expected that Oyebamiji and Oyetola<br />

as the Supervising Minister would enjoy<br />

excellent unity, more so as either by choice<br />

or divine design, the two great technocrats<br />

are from the same State. A road to the<br />

contrary will be a big opportunity gone<br />

wrong and … a beautiful disaster!<br />

Oyebamiji has started on the right foot<br />

and the can-do technocrat should put<br />

himself at the end of his shift among the<br />

greats such as McEwen. If he does so, the<br />

economy will be better off and, his place in<br />

history, assured.<br />

It is in all our interests as stakeholders<br />

to wish the Balogun Musulimi of Irewole,<br />

Isokan and Ayedaade the very best!<br />

May the Lamb of God, who takes away<br />

the sin of the world, grant us peace in<br />

Nigeria!<br />

Komolafe wrote in from Ijebu-Jesa,<br />

Osun State, Nigeria<br />

(ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)


Page16 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> JULY <strong>10</strong> - <strong>23</strong> <strong>2024</strong><br />

Opinion<br />

FIRS: <strong>The</strong> picture is here!<br />

By Abiodun Komolafe<br />

We are in a time of pronounced<br />

change of thinking in a positive<br />

direction in Nigeria after<br />

decades of misadventures. To support this<br />

change, we must focus on the key policies<br />

and drivers of reform in order to assist<br />

them in their endeavours. A crucial aspect<br />

of this transformation is transitioning from<br />

a consumption-based economy to one<br />

driven by productivity, essential for<br />

achieving sustainable development. To<br />

achieve this, there is an urgent need for the<br />

prioritization of revenue collection to<br />

redirect Nigeria’s very economic<br />

foundation. While we may not subscribe to<br />

the ‘great man theory of history’, the<br />

individual chosen to drive the process is<br />

indeed vital. In this context, the country’s<br />

chief revenue-earning driver plays a critical<br />

role, making him or her indispensable,<br />

especially in the situation we have found<br />

ourselves as a country and people.<br />

In the case of Nigeria, empirical<br />

evidence has shown that the ascent of<br />

Zacch Adedeji into the propeller of the<br />

engine room of the revenue collection<br />

process was imaginative and wellconsidered.<br />

Matter-of-factly, this is the first<br />

time Nigerians are seeing a seriousness of<br />

intent to move the country towards<br />

sustainable development on the part of the<br />

government at the centre and Adedeji must<br />

be commended for being at the epicenter<br />

of this effort. At a time like this in the<br />

history of global economic downturn and<br />

diminishing purchasing powers, an<br />

increase in government revenue without<br />

any corresponding increase in taxation is<br />

an attestation to one’s being on top of one’s<br />

job - that one has the managerial nuances to<br />

do the right thing because the country<br />

needs revenue without digging overly deep<br />

into extra tax regimes.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Federal Inland Revenue Service<br />

(FIRS), under Adedeji, has started on a<br />

good note. It has done so impressively well<br />

that, less than one year in office, it recorded<br />

its highest tax revenue in six months and<br />

set an ambitious N19.4 trillion revenue<br />

target for <strong>2024</strong>. Unlike Kenya and<br />

Argentina which faced challenges in<br />

managing their revenue collection, FIRS<br />

has successfully shown that ‘widening the<br />

tax net’ shouldn’t be interpreted as “being<br />

forced to pay but willingness to pay.”<br />

FIRS’ approach has shown that, if taxes are<br />

used properly, people will not hesitate to<br />

pay! In a word, that Nigeria has avoided<br />

the road to Kenya and Argentina is a plus<br />

for the “consequential agency.”<br />

Towards complementing President<br />

Bola Tinubu’s fiscal reforms, FIRS has<br />

created an environment that’s conducive<br />

for growth. It has introduced and<br />

implemented far-reaching fiscal reforms in<br />

specific areas like Innovation and<br />

Technology, Voluntary Tax Compliance,<br />

Data-Driven Strategies, Open-Door Policy,<br />

Tax System Simplification and ISO<br />

Certification. <strong>The</strong> Service has also<br />

migrated from annual filing of Transfer<br />

Pricing Returns and Country-by-Country<br />

Zacch<br />

Adelabu<br />

Adedeji<br />

Reporting notifications from e-TPPlat to<br />

TaxPro-Max Platform even as it has also<br />

waived administrative penalties previously<br />

imposed in accordance with Income Tax<br />

Regulations.<br />

Governments use tax incentives “to<br />

help increase economic development” and<br />

incentivized taxes make it less expensive<br />

and more profitable for a business to<br />

function. If intended and applied according<br />

to plan, tax incentives can attract<br />

investment to a country, increase<br />

employment as well as lead to a higher<br />

number of capital transfers. <strong>The</strong>y can also<br />

encourage research and technology<br />

development, and bring improvement to<br />

less-developed areas. With these, even<br />

more, in mind, the introduction of means<br />

to encourage increase in tax compliance<br />

rate by the government becomes<br />

imperative.<br />

Reform in any form generally refers to<br />

the process of altering, improving or<br />

correcting a system, institution, or practice<br />

to make it more effective and equitable.<br />

<strong>The</strong> overall objective is to achieve a<br />

specific goal or set of goals. Reforms can<br />

have far-reaching impacts, and their effects<br />

may vary, depending on the specific<br />

context, implementation and stakeholders<br />

involved. Among its many positive<br />

advantages are improved efficiency,<br />

increased transparency, enhanced<br />

accountability and economic growth.<br />

Others are encouragement of investment,<br />

improvement in public services and<br />

enhancement of social justice.<br />

That said, resistance to reforms can rear<br />

its ugly head in many ways, ranging from<br />

institutional inertia, public apathy and<br />

opposition from vested interests to<br />

disinformation, political or ideological<br />

disagreements and resistance from, or<br />

lobbying by, those who benefit from the<br />

status quo. Among others are intimidation,<br />

political polarization and passiveaggressive<br />

behaviour.<br />

Reforms can be a periodic moment of<br />

sacrifices for future benefits. It can also<br />

involve temporary disruptions to existing<br />

systems. Expectedly however, reforms<br />

have always been met with criticisms,<br />

skepticism and impatience, especially<br />

during the gestation period. In most cases,<br />

these may lead to media trials, raising and<br />

sharing of unsubstantiated allegations and<br />

the like.<br />

Assuredly, FIRS is on a good foot. It is<br />

also doing the right job. Thankfully, the<br />

reinvigorated Service is being led by a<br />

shrewd accountant, corporate tax and<br />

public finance expert. He is an icon of<br />

capacity, competence and visionary<br />

leadership. Without a shred of doubt, he is<br />

one valuable member of the President’s<br />

team who has exhibited great political will,<br />

especially by shifting the course from the<br />

belief that the national government cannot<br />

generate enough revenue without raising<br />

taxes. But then, the journey to reform is not<br />

without challenges. So, FIRS as an<br />

important agency of the government must<br />

avoid distractions. It must at all times<br />

demolish cyber mischiefs, deal with insider<br />

connivance and prevent lousy merchants<br />

of retrogression from hijacking the gains<br />

of the very good start that it has made. For<br />

example, there may be companies which<br />

may not want to pay their taxes and will<br />

want to rubbish, especially, its leadership.<br />

Ethno-religious dimensions to disruptions<br />

may also not be ruled out! After all, in a<br />

war of this shape and size, ‘win na win!’<br />

Well, insider connivance may not be<br />

anything strange or surprising in a clime<br />

like ours because any reform-compliant<br />

organization worth its mission is bound to<br />

face this type of fight-back from<br />

reactionary forces whose remit is in rolling<br />

back the tide of progress. So, the Service’s<br />

path must be well-illuminated to discover<br />

and destroy traps from afar. Yes, the tasks<br />

before FIRS shouldn’t just be seen as a<br />

favour but a battlefield that requires<br />

formidable and effective security<br />

mechanisms which will ensure that insider<br />

distractions won’t survive in the Service.<br />

<strong>The</strong> essence of the media is to stabilize<br />

society! But society cannot be stabilized by<br />

taking public naivety as an advantage and<br />

an avenue to shove innuendoes and factual<br />

errors down the people’s throats. To this<br />

end, while FIRS shouldn’t hesitate to<br />

develop legs strong enough to dance to a<br />

music, it must also strive to address<br />

contrived disruptions by reactionary forces<br />

who expectedly will want to resist the new<br />

thrust of policy that the country so vitally<br />

needs; otherwise, it may indirectly be<br />

adopting a ‘blowout’ strategy in which case<br />

it will become a recurring decimal because<br />

the blackmailer never goes away!<br />

Coincidentally, this is the age of<br />

multimedia and the seriousness of the<br />

situation may draw its oxygen from the fact<br />

that bad news is not only noisier but also<br />

“sells because the amygdala is always<br />

looking for something to fear.”<br />

As Nigeria moves forward, FIRS must<br />

always foster a culture of transparency and<br />

accountability. It must also encourage<br />

internal whistleblowing and protect<br />

whistleblowers. Besides, it will be in the<br />

interest of the apex tax authority in Nigeria<br />

to strengthen internal controls and audit<br />

processes, and engage in effective<br />

communication and stakeholder<br />

management. Last of all, the Service must<br />

stay focused on its mandate and goals<br />

because once Nigeria’s internal revenue<br />

mechanism is not top-notch and<br />

internationally competitive, a sure road to<br />

derailment in her monetary policies and<br />

internal stability beckons.<br />

May the Lamb of God, who takes away<br />

the sin of the world, grant us peace in<br />

Nigeria!<br />

Komolafe wrote in from Ijebu-Jesa,<br />

Osun State, Nigeria. He can be reached<br />

via (ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)<br />

<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> is published in London fortnightly by <strong>Trumpet</strong><br />

Field: 07956 385 604 E-mail: info@the-trumpet.com (ISSN: 1477-3392)

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!