01.08.2024 Views

The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 628 (July 24 - August 6 2024)

Can Kamala Harris win the US presidency after Joe Biden's withdrawal?

Can Kamala Harris win the US presidency after Joe Biden's withdrawal?

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

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

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

V O L 30 N O <strong>628</strong> J U LY <strong>24</strong> - AU G U S T 6 20<strong>24</strong><br />

Kamala Harris 3 (Photo - <strong>The</strong> White<br />

House CCA)<br />

Agriculture<br />

is key to<br />

exiting<br />

Nigeria’s<br />

economic<br />

woes -<br />

Bishop<br />

Oluyamo<br />

Can Kamala<br />

Harris win<br />

the US<br />

presidency<br />

after Joe<br />

Biden’s<br />

withdrawal?<br />

Here’s what the polls say<br />

By Adrian Beaumont, <strong>The</strong> University of Melbourne<br />

Continued on Page 2><br />

Bishop Oluyamo<br />

Nigerians and all levels of<br />

government have been told to<br />

show interest and invest heavily in<br />

agriculture as a means of getting out of the<br />

current economic woes facing the country.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Bishop of Ijesa North Anglican<br />

Diocese, the Rt. Revd Isaac Oluyamo<br />

stated these while delivering his keynote<br />

address at this year’s Synod of the Diocese.<br />

Oluyamo called on the Federal<br />

Government to boost food production by<br />

halting open grazing and prioritizing<br />

national security while taking steps to<br />

address critical issues like kidnapping and<br />

harassment of farmers.<br />

While commending Osun State<br />

Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke for<br />

rapidly developing infrastructure across the<br />

State, Oluyamo also lauded the efforts of<br />

the State Commissioner for Agriculture,<br />

Honourable Babatola Faseru, for taking<br />

steps to boost the State’s agriculture sector<br />

just as he saluted Senator Francis Adenigba<br />

Fadahunsi for his efforts at improving the<br />

lives of members of his Senatorial district.<br />

In his words, “We salute and appreciate<br />

our Governor, Senator Ademola Jackson<br />

Adeleke for doing good works in Osun<br />

State, most importantly, the reconstruction<br />

of damaged roads, rehabilitation of health<br />

centres, and recruitment of teachers. We<br />

encourage him to continue with these good<br />

works and also pray to God to grant him<br />

grace to finish well.<br />

“We also commend our son,<br />

Honourable Babatola Faseru, the<br />

Commissioner for Agriculture, for his<br />

impactful initiatives and strides in<br />

enhancing agricultural development within<br />

the state. Furthermore, we acknowledge<br />

and commend the efforts of our son,<br />

Senator Francis Adenigba Fadahunsi, in the<br />

Senate Chambers”.<br />

While thanking Adeniyi Agbola for<br />

hosting the Synod, Oluyamo described<br />

the Chancellor of the Diocese and Senior<br />

Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) as someone<br />

who has impacted humanity with all he<br />

has. <strong>The</strong> Bishop therefore prayed to God<br />

to continue to strengthen and uphold him.


Page2 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> JULY <strong>24</strong> - AUGUST 6 20<strong>24</strong><br />

News<br />

Can Kamala Harris win the US<br />

presidency after Joe Biden’s<br />

withdrawal?<br />

Continued from Page 1<<br />

<strong>The</strong> United States election will be<br />

held on November 5. On Sunday<br />

US time, President Joe Biden<br />

withdrew from the Presidential election<br />

contest and endorsed his Vice President,<br />

Kamala Harris.<br />

It’s not certain, but very likely Harris<br />

will now be the Democratic candidate to<br />

face former Republican President Donald<br />

Trump in November. During the<br />

Democratic Presidential primaries held<br />

early this year, Biden won about 95% of<br />

all delegates to the <strong>August</strong> 19–22<br />

Democratic convention. <strong>The</strong>se delegates<br />

are likely to support Harris given Biden’s<br />

endorsement.<br />

Since the debate with Trump on June<br />

27 that was widely thought to have been<br />

a disaster for Biden, he has faced pressure<br />

to withdraw. In an Ipsos poll for US ABC<br />

News that was released before Biden’s<br />

withdrawal on Sunday, Democratic<br />

voters wanted Biden to withdraw by 60–<br />

39.<br />

Following the assassination attempt<br />

against Trump on <strong>July</strong> 13 and the<br />

Republican convention from <strong>July</strong> 15–18,<br />

Trump’s lead over Biden in the<br />

FiveThirtyEight aggregate of national<br />

polls had increased to 3.2 points from 1.9<br />

points on <strong>July</strong> 13, the largest margin since<br />

the aggregate began in March. Vote<br />

shares were 43.5% Trump, 40.2% Biden<br />

and 8.7% for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<br />

I’ve written previously that the<br />

Presidency is not decided by the national<br />

popular vote. Instead each State has a<br />

certain amount of Electoral Votes (EVs),<br />

mostly based on population, with each<br />

State awarding their EVs winner takes<br />

all. It takes 270 EVs to win. <strong>The</strong> EV<br />

system is likely to skew to Trump, so<br />

Biden was further behind than in the<br />

national polls.<br />

Biden will continue as President until<br />

his term ends in January 2025. His net<br />

approval in the FiveThirtyEight<br />

aggregate is -17.7, with 56.2%<br />

disapproving and 38.5% approving. His<br />

net approval is worse than other previous<br />

Presidents at this point in their term,<br />

except George Bush Sr and Jimmy<br />

Carter.<br />

Trump’s net favourability in the<br />

FiveThirtyEight aggregate is -12.0, with<br />

53.7% unfavourable and 41.7%<br />

favourable. His ratings are relatively<br />

unchanged since April. Unfortunately,<br />

FiveThirtyEight has no favourability<br />

ratings for Harris.<br />

Will Harris win?<br />

It’s too soon to analyse Harris vs.<br />

Trump polls. Harris had not been a<br />

Presidential candidate before today and<br />

name recognition of Biden explains his<br />

often better numbers than Harris. A recent<br />

national YouGov poll for CBS News<br />

gave Trump a five-point lead over Biden<br />

and a three-point lead over Harris.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re are two things that should<br />

advantage Harris. One is that economic<br />

data has improved, with inflation<br />

dropping and real earnings up. <strong>The</strong> other<br />

is that, while Biden would have been<br />

almost 82 by the election, Harris will<br />

only be 60 by then. Trump is 78, so the<br />

age split that was unfavourable to Biden<br />

will be favourable to Harris.<br />

Nevertheless, nominating a candidate<br />

who has not been battle-tested in the<br />

primaries is very risky. When Harris ran<br />

for President in 2020, she withdrew from<br />

the contest in December 2019, before any<br />

primaries.<br />

However, with Biden’s age of great<br />

concern to voters, and with him already<br />

behind Trump, switching to a new<br />

candidate could prove a sensible move<br />

for the Democrats. Changes in Prime<br />

Kamala Harris and Joe Biden<br />

Minister have worked for Australian<br />

parties in the past, with Malcolm<br />

Turnbull winning the 2016 Federal<br />

election after replacing Tony Abbott, and<br />

Scott Morrison winning in 2019 after<br />

replacing Turnbull.<br />

While Biden has been losing, US<br />

Senate polls in the Presidential swing<br />

States of Pennsylvania, Nevada,<br />

Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona<br />

suggest the Democratic candidates are<br />

winning, and doing much better than<br />

Biden. So perhaps Democrats just have a<br />

Biden problem.<br />

US earnings up<br />

In June, headline inflation dropped<br />

0.1% after being unchanged in May and<br />

12-month inflation dropped to 3.0%, the<br />

lowest it has been since June 2023. Core<br />

inflation was up 0.1% in June after<br />

increasing 0.2% in May and has<br />

increased 3.3% in the last 12 months, the<br />

smallest increase since April 2021.<br />

<strong>The</strong> low inflation in May and June has<br />

boosted real (inflation-adjusted) earnings<br />

in those months, with real hourly<br />

earnings up 0.9% for May and June and<br />

real weekly earnings up 0.7%. In the 12<br />

months to June, real hourly earnings are<br />

up 0.8% and real weekly earnings up<br />

0.6%.<br />

In June, a net 206,000 jobs were<br />

added, but the unemployment rate<br />

increased 0.1% to 4.1%. This is the<br />

highest unemployment rate since<br />

November 2021.<br />

* Adrian Beaumont is Election Analyst<br />

(Psephologist) at <strong>The</strong> Conversation;<br />

and Honorary Associate, School of<br />

Mathematics and Statistics, <strong>The</strong><br />

University of Melbourne.<br />

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

Conversation under a Creative<br />

Commons license. Read the original<br />

article at:<br />

https://theconversation.com/cankamala-harris-win-the-uspresidency-after-joe-bidens-withdra<br />

wal-heres-what-the-polls-say-<br />

235185.


Finance<br />

JULY <strong>24</strong> - AUGUST 6 20<strong>24</strong> <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> Page3<br />

Lucidum Finance gets CBN’s nod<br />

Dr Samson Agbato<br />

Ahead of full-fledged operations,<br />

Lucidum Finance Company – a<br />

company that promises to<br />

“recalibrate the ethos of customer-centric<br />

service delivery in the nation’s financial<br />

services industry” has obtained an<br />

Approval In Principle (AIP) from the<br />

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).<br />

<strong>The</strong> AIP confirms Lucidum Finance’s<br />

completion of pre-licensing and<br />

fulfilment of the CBN Revised<br />

Guidelines for Finance Companies in<br />

Nigeria requirements, including the<br />

submission of all specified<br />

documentation – which will ultimately<br />

lead to the issuance of a final approval to<br />

commence business.<br />

This approval is a significant step and<br />

successful milestone for Lucidum<br />

Finance which was conceptualized in<br />

mid-2023. <strong>The</strong> Finance Company is now<br />

able to proceed with the incorporation of<br />

the company with its pioneer Board of<br />

Directors as approved by the CBN.<br />

<strong>The</strong> pioneer Board comprises of five<br />

accomplished professionals with a<br />

combined wealth of experience spanning<br />

more than 120 years.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Board will be chaired by<br />

accomplished realtor and businessman:<br />

Lekan Sanusi<br />

Dr. Samson Efuwape Agbato - Principal<br />

Partner at Samson Agbato Consulting<br />

(SAC), a leading firm of Estate Surveyors<br />

and Valuers based in Lagos. A Fellow of<br />

the Nigerian Institution of Estate<br />

Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) and<br />

consummate real estate consultant,<br />

researcher, author, and public speaker;<br />

Agbato received his Bachelor’s,<br />

Master’s, and Doctor of Philosophy<br />

degrees in Estate Management from the<br />

Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife,<br />

Osun State.<br />

Also on the board is Mr. Lekan<br />

Sanusi, Lucidum Finance’s pioneer<br />

Managing Director - an erudite<br />

Economist and Banker. Sanusi is the<br />

Founder of Bancor Group - a Finance,<br />

Consulting, Real Estate, and Investment<br />

Management group based in Lagos. He<br />

is an experienced executive business<br />

leader with over 33 years of extensive<br />

and incisive exposure to the national,<br />

regional and international financial<br />

markets – over 17 years of which were<br />

spent in executive management (CEO)<br />

roles in three commercial banks in West<br />

and East Africa. Until recently, he was<br />

CEO/Managing Director of Guaranty<br />

Trust Bank (GTBank) Uganda. Prior to<br />

his stint in Kampala, he led GTBank<br />

Ghana and GTBank Gambia as<br />

CEO/Managing Director of both banks.<br />

He was once the Chief Economist at the<br />

Nigerian LNG Limited and has sat on<br />

several boards cutting across key sectors,<br />

namely: financial services (banking,<br />

insurance), manufacturing, real estate,<br />

arts & culture, and agriculture.<br />

An Honorary Member of the<br />

Chartered Institute of Bankers Nigeria<br />

(CIBN), Sanusi holds a First-Class<br />

honours degree in Economics, a Master’s<br />

degree in Economics, and a Master’s<br />

degree (with distinction) in Money,<br />

Banking & Finance. He is a British<br />

Chevening Scholar (1996/97), and also<br />

the winner of the Chancellor’s Prize as<br />

the best all-round graduating student at<br />

the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun<br />

State (1989).<br />

Other members of the CBN-approved<br />

pioneer Board for Lucidum Finance are<br />

Messrs. Taiwo Sowole, Ademola Fajobi,<br />

and Ademisola Sanusi.<br />

Sowole is an Economist, Fellow of<br />

the Institute of Chartered Accountants of<br />

Nigeria (ICAN) and Managing Partner of<br />

Taiwo Sowole & Co, a Lagos-based<br />

Accounting and Tax Advisory firm.<br />

Fajobi is an Economist and Banker<br />

who served for several years in Sterling<br />

Bank and its legacy institutions in<br />

various key functional areas.<br />

Ademisola Sanusi is a Law graduate<br />

of Lancaster University in the United<br />

Kingdom (UK) who also holds a<br />

postgraduate qualification in Law (LLM)<br />

from the University of Buckingham, UK.<br />

A press statement by Lucidum<br />

Finance noted that “<strong>The</strong> foresight and<br />

resilience of the team have brought<br />

Lucidum Finance to this milestone. By<br />

taking a strategic, long-term view of the<br />

inherent opportunities, risks, and<br />

challenges in the operating environment,<br />

members of the pioneer board seek to<br />

plug the gaps in service delivery in the<br />

finance companies’ sub-segment of the<br />

Nigerian financial services industry and<br />

are positioned to make a difference.<br />

“In tandem with the corporate<br />

character and visionary ideals of this<br />

nascent financial institution, the pioneer<br />

board of Lucidum Finance is very aware<br />

that fulfilling the apex bank’s AIP<br />

conditions and subsequent smooth<br />

commencement of operations will require<br />

focus, diligence, discipline, and the<br />

robust application of their professional,<br />

intellectual, and ethical governance<br />

capabilities.”


Page4<br />

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

JULY <strong>24</strong> - AUGUST 6 20<strong>24</strong><br />

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

Education<br />

GBS churns out 1,500<br />

graduates<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 />

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 />

Almost 1,500 graduates of the<br />

Global Banking School (GBS)<br />

received their certificates at a<br />

colourful ceremony held in central<br />

London this week.<br />

In attendance at the ceremony held at<br />

the Queen Elizabeth II Centre were<br />

Guest Speakers - Lord Bilimoria; Mr<br />

Alex Mejia - Division Director at United<br />

Nations Institute and Research<br />

(UNITAR); and Mrs Seema Malhotra,<br />

Labour Member of Parliament (MP).<br />

Some of the VIP guests were<br />

Baroness Pola Uddin; Mr James Murray<br />

- Labour MP; Mr Anwar Choudhury -<br />

former Governor Cayman Islands at<br />

Foreign and Commonwealth Office and<br />

former British High Commissioner; Mr<br />

Howard Dawber - Deputy Mayor of<br />

London; Virendar Sharma - former<br />

Labour MP; Mr Rajesh Agrawal -<br />

former Deputy Mayor of London; Sir<br />

Graham Brady - former MP; Mr Stanley<br />

Johnson; Sir Tim Lankester - Member of<br />

GBS Advisory Board; representatives<br />

GBS graduates are from humble beginnings, and their stories exemplify the power of education<br />

GBS graduation took place at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London<br />

Celebrating the achievements of the graduating students<br />

from the British Army, Royal Navy and<br />

many more.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Founder of GBS and Global<br />

Education (GEDU) Group CEO - Dr<br />

Vishwajeet Rana; GBS CEO - Prof Ray<br />

Lloyd and GBS Deputy CEO James<br />

Kennedy also attended the ceremony to<br />

support and celebrate the achievements<br />

of the graduating students.<br />

GBS noted that: “Our student<br />

community, with an average age of 37,<br />

living in some of the UK’s most<br />

underrepresented areas for higher<br />

education... have demonstrated<br />

remarkable dedication to selfimprovement,<br />

committing to a better<br />

future for themselves and their families<br />

while contributing to the progress of<br />

their local communities.”<br />

It added that: “GBS has diligently<br />

crafted a learning environment that<br />

supports our students in balancing<br />

education with work and family<br />

commitments, enabling them to realise<br />

their full potential. Many of our<br />

graduates exhibit a strong<br />

entrepreneurial spirit and through GBS<br />

are now equipped with the tools to<br />

advance their own ventures.<br />

“<strong>The</strong>se incredible individuals are<br />

from humble beginnings, and their<br />

stories exemplify the power of education<br />

in a supportive environment. We are<br />

steadfast in our commitment to<br />

providing high-quality teaching,<br />

guidance, and support, ensuring that our<br />

students receive the education they truly<br />

deserve.”<br />

GBS has experienced significant<br />

growth in the past three years, with over<br />

35,000 students across ten campuses in<br />

London, Birmingham, Manchester and<br />

Leeds and the creation of more than<br />

1,500 jobs. GBS’ success is grounded in<br />

its mission of changing lives through<br />

education and widening access to<br />

opportunities in communities that need<br />

it the most.


JULY <strong>24</strong> - AUGUST 6 20<strong>24</strong> <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />

Page5


Page6 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> JULY <strong>24</strong> - AUGUST 6 20<strong>24</strong><br />

Opinion<br />

Salute to Soyinka,<br />

Osoba and Obaigbena<br />

Iwrite about three icons born in the<br />

month of <strong>July</strong> - <strong>July</strong> People - not in<br />

the sense in which students of<br />

literature are wont to think of Nadine<br />

Gordimer’s novel of the same title –<br />

which correctly is actually <strong>July</strong>’s People<br />

(1981) - but in terms of the horoscopic<br />

significance of the month of <strong>July</strong> and the<br />

people born under the Zodiac sign of<br />

Cancer (June 21 – <strong>July</strong> 22). Cancer is the<br />

fourth sign of the Zodiac sign, and it does<br />

not simply mean that persons who are<br />

born under the sign would end up with<br />

Cancer as an ailment. Rather, the<br />

significant elements associated with this<br />

sign are Water and the planet, Moon, and<br />

the symbol is the Crab. Astrologists<br />

describe them as persons who are<br />

compassionate, creative, inquisitive,<br />

changeable, sensitive and protective.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y work hard because they want to be<br />

the best at what they do. Prominent<br />

Cancerians we are told include Princess<br />

Diana, Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Arianna<br />

Grande, Harrison Ford, Selena Gomez,<br />

Jaden Smith, Forest Whitaker – intensely<br />

creative persons, stand-out figures who<br />

just want to excel. Within the week, there<br />

have been Nigerians born under this<br />

Zodiac sign whose celebration on their<br />

birthdays has proven to be impressive<br />

moments on this year’s cultural calendar:<br />

Professor Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka<br />

(<strong>July</strong> 13), Prince Nduka Obaigbena (<strong>July</strong><br />

14), Aremo Olusegun Osoba (<strong>July</strong><br />

15).<strong>The</strong>y are on every count, persons<br />

worthy of celebration given their<br />

monumental achievements in their fields<br />

of engagement and the impact they have<br />

made on society and the enormous<br />

influence that they continue to wield.<br />

Soyinka, also known as W.S., Prof.,<br />

Kongi, Eni Ogun, was 90. Obaigbena,<br />

known as the Duke or Prince, Chairman<br />

turned 65 on <strong>July</strong> 14. Osoba, also known<br />

as Akinrogun, Aremo, Oluwo Oba is 85:<br />

each in his own way, a major national<br />

figure, meaning different things to many<br />

people, but altogether distinguished by<br />

their individual differentness and<br />

originality.<br />

Professor Wole Soyinka is a<br />

towering, dominant, distinguished figure<br />

in world literatures, academia, activism<br />

and one of Africa’s leading figures in the<br />

21 st Century. Poet, dramatist, essayist,<br />

polemicist, musician, raconteur, novelist,<br />

fabulist, he was the first African to win<br />

the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986,<br />

with the Swedish Nobel Academy noting<br />

how Soyinka’s prodigious oeuvre<br />

fashions the drama of existence in “a<br />

wide cultural perspective and with poetic<br />

overtones”. <strong>The</strong> evidence is seen in over<br />

20 published plays including <strong>The</strong> Lion<br />

and the Jewel, <strong>The</strong> Trials of Brother Jero,<br />

Kongi’s Harvest, Death and the King’s<br />

Horseman, and Opera Wonyosi, and in<br />

novels – <strong>The</strong> Interpreters, Season of<br />

Anomy, or memoirs – Ake - the Years of<br />

Childhood, Isara – A Voyage Around<br />

Essay, You Must Set Forth at Dawn, <strong>The</strong><br />

Man Died, Chronicles From the Land of<br />

<strong>The</strong> Happiest People on Earth, or poetry<br />

– Idanre and Other Poems, A Shuttle in<br />

the Crypt, Ogun Abibiman, Samarkand<br />

and Other Markets I have Known,<br />

Mandela’s Earth and Other Poems,<br />

Interventions (a series in about 10<br />

volumes), and so on and so forth, a long<br />

Soyinka bibliography that is an industry<br />

in itself. Many Nobel Prize winners in<br />

Literature went on to experience a<br />

decline in their productivity afterwards,<br />

victims as it were of what is known not<br />

necessarily as the Nobel Prize Effect, but<br />

better still the Nobel Prize Disease, but<br />

Aremo Segun Osoba<br />

not so with Wole Soyinka, who since<br />

1986 has remained productive with a<br />

long list of publications urging students<br />

of the subject to find a worthy enterprise<br />

in comparing Soyinka, before and after<br />

the Nobel. This is a Nobel Prize winner<br />

who has in addition won the glory of<br />

canonization.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Nobel Prize as known is reserved<br />

BY REUBEN ABATI<br />

for winners who have “conferred the<br />

greatest good upon mankind”.<br />

And so it is with Soyinka, who<br />

beyond literature is actively connected<br />

with the human space in many spheres.<br />

This is a man who is literally a genius.<br />

Traditionalists in his native home towns<br />

of Abeokuta and Isara know him as a<br />

hunter - a key chieftain of the Egbe<br />

Olode community. He is Captain Blood<br />

of Tortuga in the Pyrates, SeaDog<br />

Confraternity (No Fren No Foe, Sworn<br />

Enemy of Convention) which he cofounded.<br />

And in more than five decades,<br />

he has been in the frontlines of the<br />

struggle to make Nigeria and Africa a<br />

better place for humanity: a scourge in<br />

the practical field of action, a thorn in the<br />

flesh of dictators, a fighter at the<br />

barricades in defence of justice and<br />

democracy, fearless, dogged, consistent,<br />

he has refused to keep silent in the face<br />

of tyranny. At 90 and four days, Wole<br />

Soyinka now falls in the category of<br />

Nobel Laureates who lived beyond the<br />

age of 90 viz George Bernard Shaw, Sir<br />

Winston Churchill, Nadine Gordimer,<br />

Bertrand Russel, Knut Hamsun, and<br />

Naguib Mafouz. <strong>The</strong> grace of longevity<br />

that he has enjoyed is a natural aspiration<br />

of living men and women, but what<br />

distinguishes Soyinka remarkedly is the<br />

quality and impact that he brings to the<br />

fore at every moment in his journey. It is<br />

therefore most painful to find a coterie of<br />

badly brought up children writing on<br />

social media having the effrontery to<br />

disrespect the sage. Soyinka had once<br />

written that culture is not idyllic nor is it<br />

fossilized as a romantic sign, ever so<br />

dynamic culture grows, mutates, but<br />

Soyinka probably never imagined the<br />

terrible manner in which basic African<br />

values and cultures have changed in the<br />

face of the forces of modernization, a<br />

prominent trope in his writings. One<br />

disrespectful young man once asked him<br />

to stand up for him in a domestic flight,<br />

claiming that he was the rightful owner<br />

of the seat, and the young man went<br />

ahead to boast about it on social media.<br />

Even at 90, Soyinka has shown many of<br />

his critics, including the social media<br />

antagonists that he still has enough fire<br />

in him to fight back, whether in the<br />

trenches or in the more dignified arena of<br />

intellection.<br />

Wole Soyinka has been honoured in<br />

virtually every continent of the world.<br />

Cities have declared special Wole<br />

Soyinka days in appreciation of his<br />

impact. Among his Egba people in Ogun<br />

State, <strong>July</strong> 13 has been declared by the<br />

Alake of Egbaland, Kabiyesi Adedotun<br />

Gbadebo, Okukenu IV as Wole Soyinka<br />

Day. In New Orleans, United States,<br />

there is already a Wole Soyinka Day. Oba<br />

Gbadebo also wants Soyinka to be<br />

conferred with the national honour of<br />

Grand Commander of the Order of the<br />

Niger (GCON). On the occasion of his<br />

Continued on Page 7


Opinion<br />

JULY <strong>24</strong> - AUGUST 6 20<strong>24</strong> <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />

Salute to Soyinka, Osoba and<br />

Page7<br />

Obaigbena<br />

Continued from Page 6<<br />

Nduka Obaigbena (Photo - Benedikt von Loebell, World Economic Forum - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)<br />

90 th birthday, Soyinka has been<br />

celebrated as far away as Morocco, and<br />

here in his home country, Nigeria, the<br />

drums have been rolled out. <strong>The</strong>re is no<br />

honour that can be too much for him. It is<br />

most appropriate that the National<br />

<strong>The</strong>atre of Nigeria at Iganmu, Lagos has<br />

now been renamed Wole Soyinka Centre<br />

for Culture and Creative Arts. It is most<br />

befitting. It is the only edifice of its type<br />

so named after a writer in Africa.<br />

Soyinka beyond the universal appeal of<br />

his literature is a nationalist, capturing<br />

through a repertoire of literary devices<br />

the story of our lives. Once upon a time,<br />

the National <strong>The</strong>atre was going to be<br />

turned into banking halls, hotels and<br />

restaurants. <strong>The</strong> stamp of Soyinka’s<br />

brand and symbolism on that institution<br />

should rescue it and return it to the<br />

original purpose for which it was built.<br />

In journalism, politics and popular<br />

struggle, Chief Olusegun Osoba who<br />

turned 85 yesterday has also lived a life<br />

of extraordinary impact and distinction.<br />

Soyinka distinguished himself as a writer<br />

of verses; Osoba is the iconic Reporter,<br />

and promoter of excellence in<br />

Journalism. He got his first job as a<br />

reporter at <strong>The</strong> Daily Times under the<br />

legendary Alhaji Ismail Babatunde Jose<br />

in 1964. He was 25 years old at the time.<br />

Today, at 85, Osoba is still active in the<br />

journalism community; it is not unusual<br />

to find him at important functions of all<br />

the major organs of the profession, as an<br />

inspirational figure to the generations<br />

behind him and a living library of the<br />

profession. Osoba’s example and brand<br />

project journalism and its practice most<br />

positively. Many journalists seek to<br />

excel. Osoba is a true model. He rose<br />

through the ranks as a Reporter to<br />

become Editor and head of three major<br />

newspaper establishments - Nigerian<br />

Herald, Daily Sketch and Daily Times.<br />

He had a hand in the design and delivery<br />

of another newspaper – <strong>The</strong> Guardian<br />

and he appointed its first Editor! Osoba<br />

was a master of the scoop as a Reporter,<br />

and he earned the sobriquet, Timesman<br />

on the front pages. He was well<br />

connected in society and had contacts in<br />

every sphere. He was so successful, long<br />

before his colleagues could buy a<br />

bicycle, he owned a scooter. He had a<br />

phone at home. He also got himself a<br />

beautiful wife. He would later go into<br />

politics, and in that process, he was<br />

Governor of Ogun State twice in his<br />

career (1992 – 1993, 1999 - 2003).<br />

Osoba has shown a remarkable capacity<br />

for self-reinvention and consistent<br />

relevance. He is today a father figure in<br />

Ogun State politics and at the Federal<br />

level, he is one of the founding fathers of<br />

the ruling All Progressives Congress<br />

party (APC). He is highly regarded for<br />

the role he played during the June 12,<br />

1993 debacle and his commitment to<br />

progressive politics. He has told his own<br />

story in a detailed memoir titled<br />

Battlelines: Adventures in Journalism<br />

and Politics (2019, 341 pp.), an<br />

immensely informative book which was<br />

publicly presented to mark his 80 th<br />

birthday five years ago.<br />

<strong>The</strong> story of his journalism career has<br />

also been told in a book by Mike<br />

Awoyinfa and Dimgba Igwe titled<br />

Osoba: <strong>The</strong> <strong>Newspaper</strong> Years (2012, 396<br />

pp.). Now to mark his 85 th birthday, he<br />

has presented to the public a new book<br />

titled Segun Osoba, My Life in the Public<br />

Eye (Lagos: Diamond Publications,<br />

20<strong>24</strong>, xi + 212 pp). <strong>The</strong> book was<br />

unveiled at Eko Hotel, Lagos on <strong>July</strong> 13,<br />

the same day that Soyinka turned 90. My<br />

Life in <strong>The</strong> Public Eye focusses largely<br />

on many of the tributes that were written<br />

to celebrate Osoba at 80 and reviews of<br />

his book, Battlelines, in addition to a<br />

number of commentaries by the author<br />

himself. Divided into five parts -<br />

Institutional Assessments (editorials on<br />

Osoba by <strong>The</strong> Nation, Vanguard, and <strong>The</strong><br />

Guardian); In the Eyes of Associates<br />

(tributes by other journalists), Unveiling<br />

Battlelines, Dissecting battlelines and<br />

Continued on Page 8


Page8 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> JULY <strong>24</strong> - AUGUST 6 20<strong>24</strong><br />

Opinion<br />

Salute to Soyinka, Osoba and<br />

Obaigbena<br />

Continued from Page 7<<br />

Perspectives - in a total of 33 chapters<br />

and an index. It is a well compiled<br />

account of reflections on the essence of<br />

Chief Osoba which students and teachers<br />

of journalism will find useful. But this is<br />

in no way a substitute for the main<br />

memoir - Battlelines which tells Osoba’s<br />

story in a more comprehensive manner.<br />

<strong>The</strong> documentation of Osoba’s art and<br />

craft is an interesting addition to media<br />

biography in Nigeria. Stuck in the hectic<br />

pursuit of headlines and deadlines,<br />

journalists often forget to tell their own<br />

stories while busy telling other people’s<br />

stories. Osoba sets another good example<br />

by telling his own story in his own words<br />

and through the words of others. <strong>The</strong><br />

fact that he is a politician is also a<br />

noteworthy part of his career. At the Eko<br />

Hotel presentation of his book on <strong>July</strong><br />

13, there were more politicians than<br />

journalists, many of them falling over<br />

each other to be noticed by their party<br />

leader and close companion of the<br />

President of Nigeria. But in the long run,<br />

Osoba would always be remembered as<br />

much for his politics as he would be<br />

remembered for the craft that brought<br />

him to national reckoning.<br />

And now to Prince Nduka Obaigbena<br />

who is now 65, a towering figure also in<br />

Nigerian journalism, who has practically<br />

redefined the practice over the decades<br />

with his publications, ThisWeek<br />

magazine, and later ThisDay newspaper,<br />

cultural events such as the Arise Fashion<br />

and Arise Shows, and more recently, the<br />

influential television station, Arise News.<br />

Obaigbena is a media entrepreneur of the<br />

very first rank, who has used his various<br />

platforms to create jobs and opportunities<br />

for more than a generation of journalists.<br />

This past weekend, former ThisDay<br />

journalists under the auspices of a group<br />

known as ThisDay Alumni Association<br />

thought it fit to honour him. <strong>The</strong>y said in<br />

a statement: “With an unparalleled ability<br />

to anticipate and shape the future of<br />

media, he has redefined journalistic<br />

standards and expanded the horizons for<br />

media practitioners globally.” <strong>The</strong>re<br />

were no formal invitations but the<br />

number, shape and size of people that<br />

converged at Obaigbena’s Ikoyi<br />

residence was truly impressive. A day<br />

like Sunday is when most people in<br />

Lagos try to rest at home to prepare for<br />

the beginning of a new week, besides, the<br />

group of persons that gathered are<br />

ordinarily very busy people, but they all<br />

turned up – captains of industry,<br />

businessmen, government officials,<br />

former Governors – to wish Obaigbena a<br />

happy 65 th birthday. I could not attend the<br />

Osoba book event. I was held up in<br />

Abuja but I was at the Obaigbena<br />

informal birthday celebration. I left with<br />

the strong impression that success is like<br />

honey: it attracts those who like the<br />

sweetness of things and that is why<br />

persons who make impact in their chosen<br />

lines of work are rewarded with<br />

recognition and celebration. It is a moral<br />

fact that young people need to<br />

understand: that hard work pays,<br />

commitment brings honour. Obaigbena<br />

proved to be a good host. It was a<br />

pleasant Sunday evening, with more than<br />

enough to drink and eat. On Monday, the<br />

Chairman of Arise Group responded<br />

appropriately to our usual calls for<br />

“implications”. He sent food packs to the<br />

studio at Arise News – small chops,<br />

chicken and jollof rice, and swallow with<br />

soup.<br />

Birthdays after all, are happy<br />

moments, not for mourning. Regardless<br />

of one’s circumstances of birth, it is<br />

Wole Soyinka (Credits - Frankie Fouganthin, CCA 4.0 Share Alike)<br />

possible to touch the sky literally<br />

speaking through self-discipline and<br />

tenacity of purpose. Soyinka, the son of<br />

“the Wild Christian” and Ess-Ay” was<br />

raised in Abeokuta but today, the same<br />

Soyinka, product of St. Peter’s Primary<br />

School, Ake is a global icon; Osoba, also<br />

from Abeokuta, was born in Osogbo in<br />

Osun State, and he attended Methodist<br />

Boys High School in Lagos, only to end<br />

up as one of the most prominent and<br />

well-rounded journalists of his<br />

generation. Obaigbena, born in Ibadan,<br />

1959, is from Owan Kingdom in Delta<br />

State. He began his journalism career as<br />

a cartoonist, graphic artist, and stringer<br />

and now, today, the history of journalism<br />

in Nigeria would be incomplete without<br />

an acknowledgement of his many<br />

innovations in the business, - his<br />

introduction of colourful mastheads,<br />

back-page columns, and a newspaper<br />

that reports business and politics in the<br />

language that the reader understands and<br />

now a television station that speaks the<br />

minds of the people. Soyinka’s creativity<br />

is the catalyst for many careers all over<br />

the world: students that he taught, many<br />

who became writers because they wanted<br />

to be like him, graduate students who<br />

earned Masters and PhDs as Soyinka<br />

scholars, researchers, academics,<br />

filmmakers – all for whom Soyinka is an<br />

industry. Osoba is a role model for many<br />

journalists who hope that they too can be<br />

just as successful. <strong>The</strong>re are also many<br />

young journalists who aspire to be like<br />

Obaigbena. He is fondly called “<strong>The</strong><br />

Duke” and I have seen quite a few<br />

persons carrying on like his alter egos.<br />

Three prominent members of the<br />

Nigerian cultural elite celebrating<br />

another year, offer rich perspectives on<br />

the linkages between them and how so<br />

different they also are. Many happy<br />

returns to this <strong>July</strong> troika.


Opinion<br />

JULY <strong>24</strong> - AUGUST 6 20<strong>24</strong> <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong> other side of the Kenyan<br />

Page9<br />

Tax Riots<br />

<strong>The</strong>re is something eerily familiar (SARS), and other policemen as well. <strong>The</strong><br />

about the protests that engulfed protesters had no single leader, they were<br />

Kenya last week. Many Nigerians driven by their youthfulness and their<br />

would easily recognize the parallels<br />

between this and the #EndSars protests in<br />

Nigeria in 2020. Four years ago,<br />

confronted with a police force that had<br />

anger. Things eventually got violent and<br />

bloody. People died. Thousands were<br />

arrested or intimidated. Many of the<br />

youths fled into exile. Some of the youths<br />

become notorious for corruption, who participated in the protests are still in<br />

accidental killing, torture and brutality,<br />

the youths of Nigeria trooped into the<br />

streets in protest. <strong>The</strong>y gathered at the<br />

tollgate in Lekki, Lagos, waving flags,<br />

singing the national anthem but the<br />

#Endsars protest, also involving ladies,<br />

students, even children, soon became a<br />

riot, acquiring a life of its own, spreading<br />

to other parts of the country. <strong>The</strong> angry<br />

youths were labelled the Soro-Soke<br />

generation, and indeed, they spoke up,<br />

demanding accountability from Nigerian<br />

leaders and psychiatric tests for members<br />

of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad<br />

detention. Not much has changed since<br />

then.<br />

Kenya has just experienced its own<br />

version of #EndSars, further exposing the<br />

alienation between the leaders and the<br />

young people of Africa. <strong>The</strong> population of<br />

Africa is predominantly young, a strategic<br />

demographic that is often projected as the<br />

engine room of the future, but this is a<br />

category that is poorly served and hence,<br />

it is angry and disillusioned. In Kenya,<br />

Nigeria and Ghana, we have a growing<br />

population of young people: they are<br />

educated but they have no jobs, their<br />

President William Ruto (Photo -<br />

Magiondolo, Wikimedia<br />

Commons CCA-SA-4.0 Int)<br />

parents once lived in a country that<br />

prospered but which has been<br />

mismanaged, basic infrastructure for<br />

healthy living has collapsed, the cost of<br />

living is high. While the older generation<br />

may have resigned to their fate, for the<br />

most part, the youth are finding their<br />

voice, and they are speaking up, and when<br />

they do, they make sure their voices are<br />

loud and clear and that they are heard.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y are no longer silent voices, but a<br />

loud majority. <strong>The</strong> trigger for the youth<br />

revolution in Kenya is the Finance Bill of<br />

20<strong>24</strong>. Last year, there had been protests<br />

over the same Bill, resulting in the death<br />

of about six persons. But this year,<br />

Kenya’s Parliamentarians returned to the<br />

same piece of legislation. <strong>The</strong> story is that<br />

Kenya had been advised by the<br />

International Monetary Fund (IMF) to<br />

increase its tax to GDP ratio from<br />

13.5%% to at least 20%. This is supposed<br />

By Reuben Abati<br />

to generate about $2.3 billion and help<br />

reduce fiscal deficit. Kenya is a heavily<br />

indebted country - 68% of its GDP - about<br />

$80 billion in domestic and foreign debt.<br />

When President Ruto was invited on a<br />

State visit to the United States in May, one<br />

of the major gains of the trip was the<br />

pledge by the Biden administration to<br />

assist the country with part of its debt. But<br />

even that was not enough. Kenya owes<br />

China alone over $5.7 billion, a victim<br />

obviously of China’s debt trap diplomacy.<br />

<strong>The</strong> country was left with no option to<br />

avoid default, and raise revenue, but to<br />

take IMF’s advice. IMF prescriptions may<br />

be fine on paper, but they do not often<br />

align with the psychology of the streets in<br />

developing countries.<br />

Kenya’s parliament tabled the Finance<br />

Bill in May/June, and all hell broke loose,<br />

first on social media, with young Kenyans<br />

actively protesting with<br />

#RejectFinanceBill. Kenya’s leaders<br />

underestimated the anger of the youths.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y dismissed their protest as the<br />

rantings of over-pampered youths, with a<br />

sense of entitlement. <strong>The</strong> Bill as proposed<br />

has a long list of taxes: 16% Value Added<br />

Tax on bread, eggs, onions, potatoes and<br />

all petroleum products, 15-20% tax on<br />

mobile money transfer charges and<br />

similar additional taxes to widen the<br />

country’s tax base. In the face of the<br />

protests, Kenya’s Parliament, June 18<br />

modified parts of the Bill, and removed<br />

other parts completely and quickly passed<br />

the Bill. <strong>The</strong> angry youths of Kenya were<br />

inconsolable. <strong>The</strong>y did not want any<br />

modification. <strong>The</strong>y want the entire Bill<br />

dropped. <strong>The</strong>y took to the streets in<br />

protest, and from the capital, Nairobi the<br />

voices of dissent were echoed in 35 of the<br />

47 counties. Last Tuesday, President Ruto<br />

reportedly said those on the streets were<br />

“criminals”, and they would be dealt with.<br />

On June <strong>24</strong>, the lawmakers passed the Bill<br />

to be sent for President Ruto’s assent. It<br />

was a grave miscalculation. On June 26,<br />

the people took their physical anger to<br />

Parliament, with the slogan<br />

#tupataneThursday – “see you on<br />

Thursday.” Many of the lawmakers took<br />

to their heels. Not even the cafeteria was<br />

spared. Outside, Kenya burned. <strong>The</strong> fire<br />

of the people’s anger raged like wildfire.<br />

President Ruto did not wait for Thursday<br />

– penitently, he quickly announced that he<br />

would not sign the Bill and that he would<br />

respect the will of the people. He further<br />

announced austerity measures in<br />

government spending and promised to<br />

hold a multi-sectoral, multi-stakeholder<br />

consultation process with the people. On<br />

Thursday as promised, the protests<br />

continued. <strong>The</strong> President’s promise not to<br />

sign the Bill was not enough. <strong>The</strong> chant<br />

Continued on Page 10


Page10 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> JULY <strong>24</strong> - AUGUST 6 20<strong>24</strong><br />

Opinion<br />

<strong>The</strong> other side of the Kenyan<br />

Tax Riots<br />

Continued from Page 9<<br />

had become #RutoMustGo.”<br />

<strong>The</strong> youths of Kenya have every<br />

justification to express personal<br />

disappointment with their President. <strong>The</strong>y<br />

believe it is Ruto himself that is behind<br />

the Finance Bill, using members of his<br />

Party to see it through parliament. And yet<br />

this is the same President who while<br />

looking for the job, told the people that he<br />

came from a low background like most of<br />

the people, he even described himself as<br />

“a hustler”, and a champion of the poor<br />

and the downtrodden. “I sold chicken at<br />

a railway crossing near my home as a<br />

child…” he said. “I paid fees for my<br />

siblings. God has been kind to me…” It is<br />

the same Ruto who wants to tax the<br />

people? After the fact, he now wants to<br />

consult the people after calling the youths<br />

criminals: his arrogance is his undoing.<br />

<strong>The</strong> consultation should have been the<br />

first thing to do. Kenya is one of Africa’s<br />

richest economies, but the people have<br />

seen their country mismanaged. Even if<br />

Kenya wants to take a credit facility from<br />

the IMF, the people have the right to know<br />

what has been done with all the debts that<br />

their government accumulated over the<br />

years.<br />

Ruto cannot exonerate himself. He<br />

was Vice President for 10 years. He has<br />

been President since 2022.<strong>The</strong> youths of<br />

Kenya have taught their leader a very<br />

strong lesson: that the people own the<br />

government, not the other way round. <strong>The</strong><br />

usual tricks of divide and rule, through<br />

ethnicization of all matters political, did<br />

not work this time around in Kenya.<br />

Neither the ethnic nor the class card could<br />

be played against the youths, in Eldoret,<br />

Ruto’s home town and among his kith and<br />

kin, the Kalenjin, there are on-going<br />

protests. To worsen President Ruto’s<br />

agony, his own Deputy President, Rigathi<br />

Gachagua does not seem to be on the<br />

same side with him. It is not only the IMF<br />

that he has to worry about. He has his<br />

Deputy and the angry youth too, making<br />

three sources of headache. Gachagua has<br />

openly picked a quarrel with members of<br />

the cabinet and he recently accused the<br />

Director of the National Intelligence<br />

Service of causing the protests because of<br />

his incompetence. <strong>The</strong> Kenya Kwanza<br />

Alliance of 2022 seems to be unravelling.<br />

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta and<br />

former Prime Minister Raila Odinga must<br />

be chuckling. But first, President Ruto<br />

needs to rebuild trust with the young<br />

people of Kenya who as recently as June<br />

30 were besieging hospitals to donate<br />

blood for their colleagues who were shot<br />

by the police. What Ruto has done as of<br />

yesterday was to scrap the office of the<br />

First Lady, Rachel Ruto and the Second<br />

Lady, Dorcas Rigathi Gachagua from the<br />

new Budget. <strong>The</strong> Office of the Chief<br />

Administrative Secretary (CAS) has also<br />

been scrapped. Ruto has also promised to<br />

halt opulence and extravagance among<br />

Kwanza leaders. He will need to do more.<br />

His government must ensure that all the<br />

wounded persons who are currently in<br />

hospital have their bills picked up by the<br />

government and the families of the dead<br />

are compensated. Like the youths of<br />

Nigeria in 2020, Kenyan youths are<br />

insisting that they have no leader that is<br />

dictating the pace of the rebellion; they<br />

are united by their resolve that the people<br />

of Kenya deserve good governance.<br />

President Ruto must also take steps to<br />

ensure that justice is done. Kenyan<br />

policemen behaved exactly like their<br />

Nigerian counterparts: firing teargas<br />

canisters, water cannons, cracking skulls<br />

and shooting live bullets into the crowd,<br />

and lying about their brutality, with their<br />

faces hidden behind masks. <strong>The</strong>y simply<br />

helped to drive a wedge between the<br />

people and President Ruto. <strong>The</strong>y must not<br />

be allowed to get away with their folly. In<br />

2020, Nigerian youths demanded that the<br />

policemen must undergo psychiatric tests.<br />

It is an option that the Kenyan<br />

government should consider. President<br />

Ruto must move swiftly and sack all<br />

sycophants around him, in uniform or not.<br />

Besides, all the protesters who were<br />

abducted and are languishing in detention<br />

centres across the country must be<br />

released. <strong>The</strong> Independent Policing<br />

Oversight Authority is said to be<br />

investigating the conduct of the police.<br />

<strong>The</strong>ir report should be made public, and<br />

the President should stop saying that he is<br />

pleased with the conduct of the police<br />

until a proper inquiry is carried out. Many<br />

innocent Kenyans lost property running<br />

into millions. <strong>The</strong>y deserve to be<br />

compensated.<br />

Other African leaders must learn from<br />

the Kenyan debacle. Leadership must be<br />

driven by respect for the people. <strong>The</strong><br />

youths of Kenya have set an example that<br />

would inspire other young persons in the<br />

continent. Already in Ghana, young<br />

persons have gone to X (formerly Twitter)<br />

to ask questions about the sale of SSNIT<br />

hotels (#HandsOffOurHotels) and they<br />

are asking President Nana Akufo-Addo to<br />

take note of what is happening in Kenya.<br />

Here in Nigeria, not a few commentators<br />

have been using the Kenyan situation to<br />

illustrate how African leaders take their<br />

citizens for granted and the risks that they<br />

run in doing so.<br />

Youths in Kenya share a lot in<br />

common with their Nigerian counterparts,<br />

especially in a post-COVID season.<br />

Kenya is in debt. Nigeria is also heavily<br />

indebted, and the government at the centre<br />

is reportedly trying to run four different<br />

budgets in one year creating room for<br />

suspicion and doubt. In 2023, President<br />

Tinubu promised Nigerians: “e lo fokan<br />

bale, emi lo kan.” We were told that he<br />

has done it before in Lagos, at the centre,<br />

he would even do better. He became<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 />

President in 2023. But there is hunger in<br />

the land, with the people shouting “ebi n<br />

pa wa” or as Eedris Adulkareem, the<br />

musician puts it, “ebi lo kan.” <strong>The</strong> cost of<br />

living is high in Kenya, so it is in Nigeria.<br />

Food has become so expensive around<br />

here, people who live in communal spaces<br />

have learnt to avoid that old practice of<br />

leaving your pot of soup on fire to go and<br />

pick something in the room. Your pot of<br />

soup could get stolen before you get back.<br />

In the past, if you went to visit a friend<br />

and you met him eating, you were likely<br />

to be told to “come and join me, let’s eat.”<br />

Not many Nigerians can offer free food<br />

again. <strong>The</strong>re is insecurity in the land and<br />

it keeps getting worse. Only last weekend,<br />

female suicide bombers wreaked havoc in<br />

Gwoza and Monguno areas of Borno<br />

State, at a wedding, a funeral and a<br />

hospital. It is not even safe to get married<br />

or fall sick or go to a hospital in Nigeria.<br />

Not too long ago, Nigerians were told that<br />

terrorists had been decimated, and that the<br />

government was winning the war. But it<br />

looks like the Boko Haram terrorists are<br />

back with greater ferocity. It is<br />

frightening. <strong>The</strong> Tinubu administration<br />

has been careful not to tell Nigerians that<br />

they would raise taxes. One of the<br />

officials has also said Nigeria is not<br />

considering asking the IMF for a loan,<br />

even if there is widespread suspicion that<br />

the government is unusually “friendly”<br />

with the IMF/World Bank.<br />

One preliminary lesson that Nigerian<br />

leaders can take away from the Kenya<br />

situation is to avoid the error of careless<br />

talk that often gives the impression that<br />

the leaders are insensitive. This is<br />

certainly not the time for any Nigerian<br />

leader to keep saying there is no money to<br />

pay Nigerian workers and pensioners a<br />

minimum wage. Or that the people should<br />

be ready to make sacrifices. <strong>The</strong> people<br />

want better pay, and if there is no money,<br />

the leaders should be the ones to take a<br />

pay cut. Nigerian leaders cannot ask the<br />

people to make sacrifices, and they would<br />

be talking about buying new jets, SUVs<br />

and building new houses, with taxpayers’<br />

money. Nigerians don’t want to be told by<br />

members of the National Assembly that<br />

any request that the Executive brings to<br />

the Assembly will be granted<br />

automatically and there is nothing any<br />

citizen can do about it. What Nigerians<br />

want to hear are words of hope,<br />

reassurance and clear, meaningful<br />

attempts to make their lives better. African<br />

leaders like to talk loosely. Once they get<br />

to power, they forget all the promises that<br />

they made, and begin to blame other<br />

people for their omissions. President Ruto<br />

of Kenya called the youth “treasonous<br />

criminals.” He got the answer he did not<br />

expect. We can only hope that he has<br />

learnt his lesson.


Opinion<br />

Powerless: Nigeria’s<br />

unending struggle with<br />

electricity<br />

Available records show that the first<br />

public electricity generation took<br />

place at Pearl Street Station in<br />

New York in 1882 and that electricity<br />

generation in Nigeria began in Lagos in<br />

1886. <strong>The</strong>refore, one can safely say that this<br />

year marks the 142 nd anniversary of<br />

commercial electricity globally. It also<br />

means that all this talk about artificial<br />

intelligence as if the world wants to come to<br />

an end is the same way the world looked at<br />

electricity as a game changer almost a<br />

century and a half ago. Put simply, railways<br />

were the game changers of an era before<br />

electricity happened to our world! It also<br />

means that artificial intelligence is similar<br />

to how we once had steam and internal<br />

combustion engines, which were<br />

revolutionary in their time.<br />

In all frankness, Nigeria’s electricity<br />

crisis is a stark reminder of her chronic<br />

inability to address critical infrastructure<br />

needs. That we are not taking the issue<br />

seriously is just another Nigerian debacle<br />

which, if not resolved, may catalyse<br />

unintended consequences. <strong>The</strong> botched<br />

privatization of the power sector, marred by<br />

a lack of technical expertise and plagued by<br />

cronyism, has failed to deliver on its<br />

promises. Instead of ushering in a new era<br />

of reliable power supply, Nigerians are still<br />

grappling with the same old ‘padi-padi’<br />

problems that have held us back for<br />

decades. Of course, that’s why we keep<br />

seeing the same Egyptians we had left<br />

many decades ago! To avoid exacerbating<br />

this prevailing illusion, we must rethink our<br />

approach and prioritize competence over<br />

connections.<br />

Nigeria’s electricity generation is<br />

grossly insufficient, woefully hindering<br />

economic growth and global<br />

competitiveness. Despite 142 years of<br />

global electricity generation, Nigeria’s<br />

output remains abysmally low, struggling<br />

to reach 10,000 megawatts for its large<br />

population. For perspective, a city like<br />

Lagos requires significantly more energy to<br />

power its districts, with estimates<br />

suggesting over 40,000 megawatts to rival<br />

global hubs like New York, Singapore, or<br />

Johannesburg. Addressing this energy gap<br />

is crucial for the country’s development.<br />

If we had been as serious, Nigeria ought<br />

to have prioritized alternative energy<br />

sources, like solar power. While previous<br />

governments’ efforts were commendable,<br />

the country could have done more. With<br />

abundant raw materials and a large market,<br />

Nigeria could have become a significant<br />

producer and exporter of solar panels,<br />

generating billions in foreign exchange and<br />

reducing electricity costs. This would have<br />

created sustainable jobs and stimulated<br />

economic growth. With the creation of the<br />

credit corporations by President Bola<br />

Tinubu, access to credit would have made it<br />

Nigeria's Minister of Power - Chief Adebayo Adekola<br />

Adelabu<br />

easier for individuals to invest in solar<br />

panels. By developing our renewable<br />

energy sector, we can unlock economic<br />

benefits and create a more sustainable<br />

future.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Gujarat Hybrid Renewable Energy<br />

Park in India is five times the size of Paris.<br />

Do we know how much energy that is? But<br />

again, how did we get here? In Nigeria,<br />

there are places in the North that are so hot<br />

that we could have had solar farms that can<br />

generate electricity. However, the country’s<br />

energy development is hindered by a<br />

constitution that prioritizes internal<br />

consumption over export-oriented<br />

production. This has led to a system<br />

characterized by State-funded privileges,<br />

parasitic elitism and patronage politics.<br />

Clientelism, corruption and lack of political<br />

will are also part of the party. Regrettably<br />

too, organized labor has limited influence<br />

in this context. Since it was not involved in<br />

the privatization process, its input to resolve<br />

“this deeper crisis of values” is zero!<br />

Gone were the days of the 1950s and<br />

1960s when Nigeria was a productive<br />

powerhouse. According to the 1961 UN<br />

Yearbook, the Nigerian Ports Authority<br />

ranked 7th globally in efficiency. <strong>The</strong>n,<br />

Nigeria was a significant exporter of<br />

commodities like cocoa, rubber, palm oil,<br />

and groundnuts. If the country had<br />

maintained this momentum, what Nigeria<br />

would have been is that, by now, she would<br />

have diversified her economy and<br />

developed a robust rubber industry. This<br />

could have led to significant exports of<br />

tyres to major car manufacturers in South<br />

Africa, Japan, and the UK, potentially<br />

generating billions of dollars in revenue<br />

annually.<br />

Thirty years ago, China was not<br />

considered a major player in global<br />

electricity production. However, through<br />

vision and seriousness of intent, China has<br />

become a leader in this field. Similarly,<br />

Iran, Qatar, Russia and Vietnam have<br />

achieved notable success in providing<br />

affordable electricity even as Nigeria still<br />

struggles to provide basic necessities like<br />

education and electricity to her teeming<br />

population. So, do we have to do a degree<br />

in Statistics before coming to terms with the<br />

fact that a large population without<br />

education and other basic necessities of life<br />

is not an achievement?<br />

Ekiti, Enugu, and Imo States deserve<br />

recognition for their efforts to establish<br />

independent electricity generation<br />

frameworks. However, it’s concerning that<br />

only a few States are taking proactive steps<br />

towards energy self-sufficiency. Osun is a<br />

special case and the reasons are obvious! In<br />

the current situation, even the blind can see<br />

that a dynasty owns Osun State in the way<br />

Obafemi Awolowo could not have thought<br />

of owning the now-rested Western Region.<br />

But who do we blame? After all, he who<br />

controls the government controls the<br />

resources of the State! Coincidentally, the<br />

template has already been institutionalized<br />

and there’s nothing anyone can do about it!<br />

Anyway, that’s an issue for another day!<br />

Energy ‘is indeed the lifeblood of<br />

modern society’, as former US Secretary of<br />

Energy Ernest Moniz once said. To get out<br />

of the woods therefore, Tinubu as an<br />

affirmed Federalist has a historic<br />

opportunity to make a lasting impact on<br />

Nigeria’s energy landscape. To achieve this,<br />

the President must listen to reason and act<br />

decisively. He must recognize the fact that,<br />

by fostering collective progress, regional<br />

cooperation, shared expertise and a<br />

cohesive strategy can accelerate electricity<br />

development. <strong>The</strong> proposed Southwest<br />

Electricity Development Board offers a<br />

promising model, and similar initiatives in<br />

other regions could replicate its success.<br />

<strong>The</strong> paradox of Nigeria’s power sector<br />

reforms is that they reveal the fragility of<br />

human control and that, despite our vaunted<br />

JULY <strong>24</strong> - AUGUST 6 20<strong>24</strong><br />

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

BY ABIODUN<br />

KOMOLAFE<br />

Page11<br />

technological advancements, the flickering<br />

lights and darkness that pervade our lives<br />

bear witness to the limits of our mastery. It<br />

is sad to note that electricity - that transient<br />

force we daily seek to harness - remains an<br />

elusive will-o’-the-wisp, always promising<br />

but never fully delivering! Bearing these in<br />

mind, Tinubu must recognize that the<br />

complexity of agreements and<br />

arrangements in the energy sector stifles<br />

meaningful reform, discourages new<br />

investment and hinders progress and that<br />

the sector must be liberalized to achieve<br />

economies of scale and reduce prices.<br />

However, the dominant players’ reluctance<br />

to adopt metering and end estimated billing<br />

raises questions about these monopolists’<br />

commitment to a competitive market.<br />

Unlike telecommunication companies,<br />

which have embraced transparent billing<br />

practices, the energy sector’s resistance to<br />

reform is striking.<br />

<strong>The</strong> introduction of foreign concepts<br />

like band grading has been misguided from<br />

the start, undermining the effectiveness of<br />

the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory<br />

Commission (NERC). Yes, the focus on<br />

increasing power availability hours is<br />

crucial, as it directly translates to increased<br />

revenue for generation and distribution<br />

companies. Nonetheless, the excuses for<br />

rate hikes become unjustifiable, especially<br />

when their destinies are tied to the<br />

temperatures of the dollar.<br />

In the final analysis, the President must<br />

hold his appointees accountable for their<br />

performance. If they fail to deliver, he<br />

should not hesitate to fire them. <strong>The</strong> sweet<br />

truth is that Nigeria cannot afford to repeat<br />

past mistakes, which have hindered<br />

progress for generations. To move forward,<br />

we need diligence and integrity.<br />

International examples like Germany’s<br />

Energiewende program and Australia’s<br />

willingness to reassess her privatization<br />

approach offer valuable lessons. By<br />

learning from these success stories and<br />

leveraging economies of scale, we can<br />

drive Nigeria’s progress and achieve<br />

meaningful reform.<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)


Page12 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> JULY 10 - 23 20<strong>24</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: 03946231<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>24</strong> - AUGUST 6 20<strong>24</strong> <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />

Page13


Page14 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> JULY <strong>24</strong> - AUGUST 6 20<strong>24</strong><br />

Opinion<br />

Lessons from the British<br />

elections<br />

By Reuben Abati<br />

This year, 20<strong>24</strong> is clearly the year of<br />

democratic elections, the year that<br />

democracy is put to the test in<br />

virtually every continent of the world –<br />

at least 97 elections worldwide and so far,<br />

we have witnessed and reported some of<br />

the significant ones - India, the world’s<br />

most populous country which ran an<br />

election for 44 days, with over one<br />

million voters, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait,<br />

Mexico, Russia, Iran, European<br />

Parliament, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh,<br />

France, Britain, and here in Africa, we<br />

have Senegal, South Africa, Togo,<br />

Tunisia, Rwanda, Ghana, Guinea Bissau,<br />

Mauritius, Mauritania, Namibia; in the<br />

Americas - Jamaica, Dominican<br />

Republic, Brazil, Belize, Canada, Chile,<br />

Costa Rica, Venezuela, Uruguay, United<br />

States. We also have - Finland, South<br />

Korea, Thailand, Austria, Cyprus, Czech<br />

Republic, Turkey, Poland, Belgium,<br />

Georgia, Hungary, Finland, Italy, Iceland,<br />

Moldova, North Macedonia, Poland,<br />

Portugal, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, and<br />

so on and so forth.<br />

Nigeria held its own General<br />

Elections in 2023, producing President<br />

Bola Tinubu as winner. For reasons<br />

owing to consanguinity or proximity, or<br />

shared historical affinity, or simply<br />

comparison, Nigerians have found<br />

themselves having to compare their own<br />

experience of democratic rule – 25 years<br />

of unbroken democratic rule since 1999<br />

and the General Elections in Nigeria in<br />

2023. Most of the comparisons to put the<br />

matter in context, are with Senegal, South<br />

Africa, and now Britain, where a new<br />

Prime Minister, Labour Party leader, Sir<br />

Keir Starmer has assumed office and<br />

power, and the Conservatives have<br />

packed out of Downing Street. <strong>The</strong><br />

reference to Britain is understandable:<br />

Britain used to be Nigeria’s colonial<br />

master, Everything Nigerian is linked to<br />

Britain, our common law heritage,<br />

history, culture, including the artefacts<br />

that the British stole from our people.<br />

For more than two centuries, Nigeria<br />

and Britain have been linked almost<br />

umbilically. <strong>The</strong>re is hardly any family or<br />

community in Nigeria that does not have<br />

any relative, immediate or distant, in the<br />

United Kingdom. In the just concluded<br />

election in the UK, there was even a<br />

Yoruba Political Party, with a Dr. Olusola<br />

Oni running for MP from Peckham on<br />

<strong>July</strong> 4. A total of 30 persons of Nigerian<br />

descent who may identify as British-<br />

Nigerian made a bid to be in the British<br />

parliament. In the end about six of them<br />

won election into parliament including<br />

Chi Onwurah (Labour MP for Newcastle<br />

Central and West), Kemi Badenoch (reelected<br />

as Conservative MP from Saffron<br />

Walden and the immediate-past Business<br />

British Prime Minister - Sir Keir Starmer. (Photo - Kirsty O'Connor, No 10 Downing Street)<br />

Secretary), Kate Osamor (Labour MP<br />

from Edmonton and Winchmore Hill<br />

since 2019, now re-elected); Florence<br />

Eshalomi (Labour MP since 2019, now<br />

representing Vauxhall and Camberwell<br />

Green, Taiwo Owatemi (Labour MP from<br />

Coventry West), and Bayo Alaba (MP,<br />

Southend East and Rochford). <strong>The</strong>se<br />

Nigerians in Diaspora are not alone, there<br />

are many others serving as Councillors,<br />

or Mayors, not just in Britain, but across<br />

Europe and as far as Canada, the United<br />

States and Australia. Those who are not<br />

in politics, are doing well in sports or<br />

business and other professions, all linked<br />

to their motherland by blood and<br />

ancestry, and legitimately, we are proud<br />

of them. What is proven is that “Nigeria<br />

no dey carry last” and the ones who<br />

project us brilliantly like Bukayo Saka<br />

and Kemi Badenoch deserve to be<br />

celebrated, for showing that although<br />

Nigerians these days talk about the “Japa<br />

syndrome”, the Nigerian DNA has<br />

excellence in its imprints.<br />

However, the temptation to review the<br />

British election, and compare it has been<br />

strong and compelling. Whereas it can be<br />

said that the British democracy is one of<br />

the oldest in the world dating back to the<br />

Magna Carta, in 1215, the creation of the<br />

British Parliament in 1707, the Reform<br />

Act of 1832, the Representation of the<br />

People Act of 1918, and the UK General<br />

Election of 1950 pointing to a long<br />

history and tradition, with tested<br />

institutions, democracy in Nigeria has<br />

been relatively new, but the key argument<br />

about the government of the people for<br />

the people and by the people is that<br />

democracy is a symbol, a standard and a<br />

system of politics which does not require<br />

a reinvention of the wheel. Democracy in<br />

modern times is certainly not about the<br />

Age of Methuselah, but the values that<br />

each country presents as its own<br />

standards. This therefore explains some<br />

of the observations that Nigerians have<br />

made, by way of public education, and<br />

self-derision perhaps, about the 20<strong>24</strong> UK<br />

elections. <strong>The</strong> <strong>July</strong> 4 General Elections<br />

in the UK has been two years in the<br />

making with people predicting that the<br />

way the Conservatives were carrying on,<br />

they were bound to lose the next General<br />

Elections to Labour, even if no one could<br />

predict the exact date until some<br />

gamblers around the Rishi Sunak circle<br />

and the Conservative Party were found to<br />

have placed bets on <strong>July</strong> 4, and as it<br />

turned out former Prime Minister Rishi<br />

Sunak announced <strong>July</strong> 4. <strong>The</strong> furore over<br />

the gambling over the date spoke to the<br />

moral content of British politics. In the<br />

course of the campaigns, the debate was<br />

about issues that are of interest to the<br />

British people: immigration, taxation,<br />

housing, public spending, NHS, Brexit<br />

and the EU. <strong>The</strong> character of the frontrunners<br />

was clear. Starmer is probusiness,<br />

pro-reforms, pro-EU. He<br />

promised to drive economic growth,<br />

invest in Green Energy, overhaul the<br />

NHS, create safer streets, and deliver<br />

opportunity through a New Skills agenda.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Tories had been in power for 14<br />

years, with five Prime Ministers – David<br />

Cameron (2010 – 2016), <strong>The</strong>resa May<br />

(2016 – 2019), Boris Johnson (2019 –<br />

2022), Rishi Sunak (2022 - 20<strong>24</strong>) with<br />

the most disastrous of them being Liz<br />

Truss who was PM for a historically short<br />

period of 49 days. <strong>The</strong> Tories presided<br />

over austerity, Brexit, the pandemic and<br />

high inflation. <strong>The</strong> people got tired of<br />

them and this was reflected in the various<br />

polls – YouGov and Ipsos ahead of <strong>July</strong><br />

4, indicating that the British people<br />

wanted change. <strong>The</strong>y were tired of the<br />

chaos that the Conservatives had<br />

introduced into public life. <strong>The</strong> Party<br />

itself was divided down the middle with<br />

many key members defecting either to<br />

Labour or to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.<br />

It was certain that the Conservatives were<br />

on their way out, and that was exactly<br />

what happened, the Party’s worst result<br />

in its 190-year history was announced on<br />

<strong>July</strong> 5. It wasn’t exactly a wipe out, but<br />

the scale of the landslide that the Labour<br />

Party recorded was their best<br />

performance since Tony Blair entered<br />

Downing Street in 1997, and the Tory’s<br />

worst performance in recent history.<br />

<strong>The</strong> character of the election race and<br />

the outcome is remarkably different from<br />

what we have seen in Nigeria and what<br />

obtains in the United States which goes<br />

to the polls on November 5. <strong>The</strong> UK<br />

election was for six weeks. <strong>The</strong>re was no<br />

time to waste. In the United States, the<br />

race can take up to two years of<br />

campaign. In Nigeria, so much time is<br />

taken up by the time table of the<br />

Independent National Electoral<br />

Commission (INEC), voter registration,<br />

voters register, delineation of wards and<br />

polling units. In the UK, nobody heard of<br />

the Chairman of the Electoral<br />

Commission and there was no debate<br />

over polling units or wards. <strong>The</strong> British<br />

did not have to borrow and sell property<br />

to raise funds for political campaigns.<br />

Political advertising on radio and TV is<br />

restricted, and the spending limits on<br />

advertisement are strictly controlled. <strong>The</strong><br />

American election is a bit more elaborate<br />

and expensive, but not the British. Even<br />

at the height of the campaign in the UK,<br />

with Rishi Sunak being pushed by his<br />

Continued on Page 15>


Opinion<br />

Lessons from the British<br />

elections<br />

JULY <strong>24</strong> - AUGUST 6 20<strong>24</strong><br />

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

Page15<br />

Continued from Page 14<<br />

allies to launch personal attacks on Keir<br />

Starmer and Nigel Farage, still there were<br />

no absurd diversions into personality<br />

attacks, insults and culture wars. If Rishi<br />

Sunak had been a candidate in a Nigerian<br />

election, he would have been told stories<br />

about how he came to England and how<br />

he is able to make it in life because he is<br />

married to a rich man’s daughter! <strong>The</strong>re<br />

were no professional spokespersons<br />

fighting proxy wars in the media and<br />

claiming to know everything about<br />

almost everything. <strong>The</strong> British do not do<br />

God. <strong>The</strong>re were no clerics offering<br />

predictions about who the eventual<br />

winner would be. <strong>The</strong> candidates were<br />

not going about proclaiming “God bless<br />

Britain”. <strong>The</strong>re was no attempt to bribe<br />

God.<br />

In Nigeria, election time is boon<br />

season for clerics who distort the process<br />

with all kinds of dreams and visions, and<br />

shamanists who perform rituals and place<br />

sacrificial offerings at crossroads. Age<br />

was not an issue in the UK either. Sunak<br />

is 44. Starmer is 61. Age is a big issue in<br />

the forthcoming US elections but in the<br />

UK, the youngest candidate and elected<br />

Labour MP from Northwest<br />

Cambridgeshire is a certain Sam Carling,<br />

a 22-year-old Science graduate of<br />

Cambridge University – the first MP in<br />

British history to be born in the 21 st<br />

Century. He defeated Shailesh Vara with<br />

39 votes. Vara had been in the Commons<br />

since 2005. Carling is now “Baby of the<br />

House” but the very confident Carling<br />

says his age is not an issue - he had been<br />

a Councillor before now and he knows<br />

his example will inspire other young<br />

people, but he wants to get on with the<br />

job. He has ideas he wants to pursue in<br />

Parliament. I laugh in original vernacular.<br />

In Nigeria, he would not even have been<br />

allowed to buy a nomination form. He<br />

would have been advised to go and play<br />

with his mates.<br />

On election day, voting started at 7am<br />

and ended the same day at 10pm. By the<br />

following morning, all the votes had been<br />

counted and the result was in the public<br />

domain with Labour winning 412 seats,<br />

Conservatives – 121 (much better than<br />

the 61 that had been predicted; Lib Dems<br />

– 72, Reform UK – 5 (a big gain for the<br />

Nigel Farage-led Party), Scottish<br />

National Party - 9, Plaid Cymru – 4;<br />

Green – 4: more or less a strong showing<br />

by the smaller parties. By Friday, <strong>July</strong> 5,<br />

Rishi Sunak tendered his resignation.<br />

Starmer was invited to Buckingham<br />

Palace and asked to form the new<br />

government and by evening a Cabinet<br />

had been announced. Such a smooth,<br />

seamless transition is not possible in<br />

Nigeria. On election day in the UK, there<br />

was no such thing as the late arrival of<br />

voting materials. <strong>The</strong>re were no BVAS<br />

machines or stories about technical<br />

glitches. No thugs on the streets. 49<br />

million voters, 650 constituencies, turnout<br />

of 60% and yet no policemen or<br />

soldiers at polling stations. No stories that<br />

touched the heart about voters’ cards: to<br />

vote in the UK, you only need a photo ID<br />

showing that you are of age. Nobody has<br />

gone to court to challenge the results.<br />

Even the persons who lost their seats in<br />

Parliament like former Prime Minister<br />

Liz Truss, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Grant<br />

Shapps, Gillian Keegan and Penny<br />

Mordaunt - 175 Tory MPs - have<br />

accepted their loss in good faith. <strong>The</strong>re<br />

has been no post-election throwing of<br />

tantrums in the UK because the<br />

institutions function, and the people<br />

understand what it means to live in an<br />

organized society. Nobody has had to<br />

wait for months before a cabinet would<br />

be announced. <strong>The</strong> very day that Keir<br />

PM Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria arrive Downing Street upon his appointment. (Photo - Kirsty<br />

O'Connor, No 10 Downing Street)<br />

Starmer assumed office, work started;<br />

what we have seen is a clockwork relay<br />

race, indicating the efficiency of the<br />

British model. For the first time in British<br />

history, a woman – Rachel Reeves is<br />

Chancellor of the Exchequer. <strong>The</strong>re are<br />

other high profile women in the cabinet<br />

as well: Angela Rayner is the new Deputy<br />

Prime Minister and Secretary for<br />

Levelling Up, Housing and communities.<br />

Yvette Cooper is Home Secretary. Lisa<br />

Nandy – Secretary of State for Culture,<br />

Media and Sport. Pat McFadden is<br />

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. In<br />

all, a total of 11 women Ministers. It is<br />

the most gender-balanced cabinet in UK<br />

history, relatively youthful and<br />

experienced but largely White. <strong>The</strong>re has<br />

been no quarrel over the appointments.<br />

Nobody has protested that his or her<br />

constituency has not been represented.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re have been no thanksgiving services<br />

in churches or notices to that effect nor<br />

has anyone placed congratulatory adverts<br />

in the media. We have not heard that the<br />

King or his sons had a hand in the<br />

appointment of Ministers.<br />

After every election season in<br />

Nigeria, we tend to spend months<br />

agonizing over the outcome of the<br />

elections, with politicians and their<br />

lawyers seeking to win the election at the<br />

courts of law. Nobody trusts the process;<br />

every politician becomes an emergency<br />

lawyer. Our democracy is significantly<br />

court-determined. But what we have seen<br />

in Senegal, South Africa, India. Iran,<br />

Britain, and even just over the weekend,<br />

in France, is that it is possible for<br />

democracy to work. Some commentators<br />

have suggested that in seeking a solution<br />

to the contradictions in the Nigerian<br />

system, there should be electoral reform<br />

every cycle, but it would appear that the<br />

problem is not the complexity of the<br />

democratic process itself but the<br />

underdeveloped nature of Nigeria’s<br />

political machinery and the character of<br />

the people themselves. Democracy is<br />

seen as a form of coronation in Nigeria<br />

which grants access to public resources<br />

and other privileges. This is why when<br />

our leaders get to power, they seem to be<br />

more interested in exotic vehicles, choice<br />

accommodation, yachts, brand new<br />

aircraft, chieftaincy titles and fat security<br />

votes.<br />

Last Friday, Sir Keir Starmer, the 58 th<br />

Prime Minister of the UK, promised the<br />

people of the United Kingdom that he<br />

will lead a “government of service” on a<br />

mission of national renewal. Times will<br />

tell as they say, but whatever happens the<br />

British desired change, they have voted<br />

for it and now, they have it. In Nigeria,<br />

one year after the general elections,<br />

Nigerians are still wondering what<br />

happened to their country.


Page16 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> JULY <strong>24</strong> - AUGUST 6 20<strong>24</strong><br />

Opinion<br />

<strong>The</strong> political traditions of our<br />

By Abiodun Komolafe<br />

fathers<br />

Right now, the Yorubas must have to<br />

build a leadership that honours their<br />

legacy. Again, remember the treaty<br />

that ended the Kiriji War, which sparked a<br />

rebirth in learning and progressive<br />

thinking! This led to a thirst for education,<br />

resulting in an explosion of investments in<br />

community scholarships, sponsoring<br />

individuals to pursue higher education, and<br />

the establishment of numerous primary and<br />

secondary schools. <strong>The</strong>se efforts<br />

contributed significantly to the economic<br />

development of the Lagos Colony, driven<br />

by Yoruba entrepreneurship both within the<br />

colony and from the hinterland, as captured<br />

in the 1920 publication, ‘<strong>The</strong> Red Book of<br />

West Africa’. This important work, now out<br />

of print, should be reprinted by the<br />

Development Agenda for Western Nigeria<br />

(DAWN), as the copyright has expired.<br />

‘<strong>The</strong> Red Book of West Africa’ is a<br />

foundation of contemporary Yoruba history<br />

and a vital piece of economic history.<br />

Coming home from there, the West<br />

African Students Union (WASU) was<br />

initiated on <strong>August</strong> 7, 1925, marking a<br />

significant milestone in the development of<br />

Yoruba leadership. This led to the<br />

formation of the ‘Egbe Omo Oduduwa,’<br />

the Action Group (AG), and the AG’s<br />

motto, ‘Freedom for all, life more<br />

abundant’, which embodied the critical<br />

thinking and ideological thrust that drove<br />

the region’s developmental strides.<br />

However, it needs to be noted that the<br />

current Yoruba leadership has departed<br />

from this tradition of critical thinking and<br />

ideological drive, resulting in a decline<br />

from the economic and educational<br />

dominance achieved in the 1850s. Otto von<br />

Bismarck, the German economic<br />

anthropologist, drew inspiration from the<br />

‘Osomalo’ financial intermediation<br />

methods used in Ijesaland to establish the<br />

German Landesbank system, widely<br />

regarded as one of the best banking systems<br />

globally. Highlighting this decline and its<br />

impact is essential.<br />

Since 1945, British Finance Ministers<br />

have consistently praised the Landesbank<br />

system for its robust regulation, supervision<br />

and focus on lending to the real economy.<br />

In fact, the refinement of the Osomalo can<br />

be considered the foundation of<br />

development finance. However, it is ironic<br />

that Ijesaland, once a pioneer in innovation,<br />

has lost its way! Given its past<br />

achievements, Ijesaland should be at the<br />

forefront of new technologies like Artificial<br />

Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML),<br />

Quantum Computing, Internet of Things<br />

(IoT), Electric and Autonomous Vehicles<br />

and Extended Reality (XR). Remember<br />

Christopher Alexander Sapara Williams,<br />

that Yoruba man from Ijesaland, who was<br />

the first Nigerian called to the Bar on<br />

November 17, 1879, and Oguntolu, his<br />

brother, who became a medical doctor<br />

through his sponsorship! It is also on record<br />

that Yorubaland made significant strides in<br />

education and professional development<br />

during the colonial and post-colonial<br />

periods, making the current decline even<br />

more striking.<br />

Truth be told, the political traditions of<br />

our ancestors are not solely defined by<br />

struggles and sacrifices; they are also<br />

characterized by exceptional leadership and<br />

vision. Many of our forebears were<br />

inspiring leaders who motivated others to<br />

work together towards a common goal.<br />

With a clear vision for a brighter future,<br />

they tirelessly strove to make it a reality.<br />

<strong>The</strong> political legacies of our ancestors are<br />

exemplified by the courageous leadership<br />

and unwavering commitment to justice<br />

displayed by icons like Mahatma Ghandi<br />

and Nelson Mandela. For instance,<br />

Gandhi’s guiding principles in India’s fight<br />

for independence and Mandela’s steadfast<br />

resolve against apartheid inspired<br />

movements and mobilized masses to take<br />

action. <strong>The</strong>ir leadership not only shaped the<br />

course of history but also continues to<br />

inspire generations to stand up for justice<br />

and equality<br />

<strong>The</strong> political landscape of the Yoruba<br />

nation has been profoundly shaped by the<br />

visionary leadership and unwavering<br />

commitment of our fathers. <strong>The</strong>y tirelessly<br />

fought for the emancipation, development<br />

and prosperity of their people. From<br />

Obafemi Awolowo’s championing of<br />

Federalism and economic empowerment to<br />

Moshood Abiola’s courageous advocacy<br />

for democracy and human rights, our<br />

fathers’ politics has been defined by an<br />

unrelenting dedication to the welfare and<br />

advancement of the Yoruba nation. Despite<br />

the challenges and setbacks that have<br />

marked our political journey, their<br />

unwavering dedication, courage in<br />

adversity, and unshakeable belief in our<br />

people’s potential remain a beacon of hope<br />

and inspiration, reminding us that politics<br />

can be a powerful force for good and that<br />

leadership can transform lives.<br />

Awolowo’s political philosophy, which<br />

guided our fathers, was rooted in the pursuit<br />

of regional autonomy, economic<br />

development and social justice. His vision<br />

for the Western Region, later adopted as the<br />

blueprint for the Yoruba nation, was<br />

founded on federalism, democratic<br />

governance, and economic empowerment.<br />

This leadership inspired a generation of<br />

Yoruba leaders, including Samuel Akintola,<br />

Adekunle Ajasin, Abraham Adesanya and<br />

Obafemi Awolowo<br />

(Credits - Kaizen<br />

Photography,<br />

CCA Share Alike<br />

4.0 International<br />

Bolanle Gbonigi, who continued to<br />

champion Yoruba unity and progress.<br />

Now, to the questions: why have<br />

successive leaders not been building upon<br />

the legacy of our fathers, learning from<br />

their experiences and/or charting a new<br />

course that honours their memory and<br />

fulfils their vision for a brighter future for<br />

our people? Why have the sacrifices,<br />

achievements and the transformative power<br />

of courage and leadership of our heroes’<br />

past not been inspiring and guiding us<br />

towards a more prosperous and united<br />

Yoruba nation? Why has the state of STEM<br />

(Science, Technology, Engineering, and<br />

Mathematics) among the Yoruba people<br />

today become a sobering disgrace to the<br />

extent that it now demands our urgent<br />

attention and collective action?<br />

Let it be noted that the political<br />

traditions of our fathers are not just a legacy<br />

of the past but also a clarion call to a more<br />

just and equitable world. <strong>The</strong>y represent an<br />

informed and educated society that<br />

mobilizes others to work towards a<br />

common goal. Currently, the Yoruba people<br />

are lagging behind, and our leaders’ limited<br />

vision has hindered our progress. When a<br />

supposed Yoruba leader engages in<br />

behaviours that are unYoruba, ranting and<br />

raving without restraint, it’s a clear sign that<br />

a grand rethink is overdue. When a<br />

Distinguished Senator of the Federal<br />

Republic openly confesses to, and<br />

vaingloriously gloats in buying votes in an<br />

election that was supposed to be free, fair<br />

and credible, and society looks on as if<br />

nothing is amiss, then something has<br />

happened to us as a race. Take it or leave it,<br />

this is not the Yoruba way!<br />

Our greatest challenge is clinging to the<br />

past, desiring its comforts without the<br />

willingness to pay the price. Regrettably,<br />

Yorubaland is now vulnerable to Nigeria’s<br />

shifting political landscape. We’ve<br />

forgotten that our relevance is measured by<br />

our achievements at home. <strong>The</strong> motto of<br />

the Yoruba Tennis Club, ‘Awa Lo Yo Saaju,’<br />

(We are the ones destined to make things<br />

happen) echoes loudly today. It is a crying<br />

shame that demands immediate action, a<br />

planned reboot to restore our heritage.<br />

As we navigate the complexities of<br />

modern politics, there’s an urgent need for<br />

a radical re-evaluation in Yorubaland, a<br />

return to our original development plan. It’s<br />

time for us to engage in meaningful<br />

conversations with history and reclaim our<br />

heritage of excellence, lest we risk losing<br />

our footing in the march of progress. Again,<br />

it is doable! It all comes down to vision and<br />

strategy. When Noah had a clear vision, he<br />

built the Ark, but when he lost sight of it,<br />

he succumbed to temptation. Samson’s<br />

vision gave him the strength to slay lions,<br />

but when it faded, he fell for Delilah’s<br />

schemes. John’s vision enabled him to<br />

baptize Jesus, but when it wavered, he<br />

doubted whether Jesus was the ‘One who’s<br />

to come or we should look for another.”<br />

Even the serpent in Genesis, once a<br />

benevolent guide, became a destructive<br />

dragon in Revelation. <strong>The</strong>se examples<br />

remind us that vision and strategy are<br />

essential for success and survival. <strong>The</strong><br />

harsh truth we tend to ignore will inevitably<br />

confront us, unyielding and undeniable. So,<br />

time is not on our side; and there’s no<br />

alternative. We must act now!<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. He can be reached via<br />

(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!