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Skunk, colorado and Nigeria’s bent destiny

By Funke Egbemode

Do you know what it means to find the severed heads of cats neatly arranged in trays at a market square? Only the initiated know. If curiosity pushes you further, speak to officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). They have seen things—unspeakable things. They have seen cat heads openly displayed for sale. Won ti rí orí ologbo l’á tê. One day, one discovery. A signpost into a very dark world.

Please follow me on this excursion on what happens from skunk farms in Colorado to Nigeria’s street corners:

Skunk inside plantain chips packaging.

Ketamine, ecstasy and tramadol pills hidden in coffee satchels and book parcels.

Cocaine concealed deep in a woman’s sacred place, yes, and then more in her footwear.

95 wraps of cocaine in a 62-year-old man’s stomach.

More skunk hidden inside rechargeable electrical bulbs.

Metamphetamine (Meth) concealed in giant music speakers.

Tramadol tablets packed inside car spare tyre, car doors.

And this!

Illicit ‘orisirisi’ hidden inside frozen snails.

Mind-bending drugs do to society what welders do with wrought iron. They bend reason, warp senses, destroy destinies and drag the bizarre into the open.

Seriously, if drugs had legs, they would be the most restless travellers in Nigeria. They travel by every means of transport available, including backpacks and innocent-looking lunch boxes of dispatch riders. If, for instance, cocaine, skunk and meth had mouths, they would be screaming, “Anywhere but there!” I mean, they get pushed into all kinds of hot, even smelly places. Because honestly, where haven’t drugs been found?

Once upon a time, when NDLEA said it had made a seizure, Nigerians pictured the usual suspects: airports, seaports, border towns, maybe one dark bush path where a nervous courier, whose village people had pursued to Lagos, bumps into an NDLEA checkpoint, sweating like a Christmas goat. Those were the innocent days. Today, NDLEA press releases read like stuff from a badly managed magician show. Drugs are no longer just smuggled; they are imaginatively hidden.

Creativity has gone virally criminal or crimininally viral because more and more people are becoming mules, couriers. More and more colorful drugs are getting into Nigeria and are being distributed with devil-may-care daring but foolhardy people. The recruitment drive must be something to be researched too. How is it that every week NDLEA reports its catch, a new arrest, complete with names photographs and visuals, right the following week, a new guy is caught with another dangerous drug hidden in another creative place? Every day, every week? Does Nigeria even have enough jail space to keep these people? Why is it that the arrests are not stopping this evil business? Whose children, fathers, mothers, even grandparents are these mules?

These are some of the questions that run around my head every weekend. I read those statements from NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.

For years, NDLEA officers have watched suitcases at the airports like hawks with binoculars. Drugs inside bags? Old news. Drugs sewn into clothes? Been there. Drugs swallowed, packed in the stomach like export goods? Sadly familiar.

But today’s smugglers have moved on to bigger things. They have moved to more irreverent locations.

Yes, drugs have turned up inside holy books. Yes, holy books. The irony and anger alone would power the national grid. Cocaine tucked neatly between pages of prayer, as if divine intervention would make NDLEA officers look the other way. Maybe the smugglers thought, “Surely God will understand.” No such luck.

NDLEA witchcraft understood and swooped in. How do they even do it, like they have ‘inside eyes’ or there is GPS installed inside the officers upon graduation from training college?

They see drugs hidden inside food items. Not just any food—our food. Yams, plantains, garri sacks, crayfish containers. Things your mother sends you from the village. Imagine opening a bag of foodstuff with joy, only to discover it carries enough illicit substances to rent a shop and put them evil things on display, if it were possible.

The drug trade in Nigeria now is free for all. Years ago, mules were beautiful girls believed maybe to have sexy ways to hoodwink airport officers. Not any longer. There is no age or gender barrier. There was Mama Kerosine, real name, Fatima Ilori, a 65-year-old female drug kingpin (also known as Mama Kerosine or Mamak Rousin), arrested in the Onireke/Elekuro area of Ibadan, Oyo State. The NDLEA found on her 238.4 kg of skunk, a cousin of cannabis. There was also a Remi Bamidele (45), arrested at Sasa, Ibadan, with over 10kg of various cannabis strains, including Colorado, Scottish Loud, Ghana Loud, and Canadian Loud. Read that again. I did not even know there are so many ‘Louds’. Maybe there is even Nigeria Loud.

And now to the two cases that informed this piece.

A suspected drug kingpin operating a “Colorado” synthetic cannabis lab at Badeku in Ibadan, Oyo State was nabbed recently. According to NDLEA officers, in his lab, they found and seized ‘precursor chemicals and skunk production paraphernalia’. Yeah, a skunk production laboratory. He was manufacturing what would kill, maim and steal other people’s joy and future. He was not a retailer or wholesaler. He was a manufacturer. He would have employees, marketers and supply chain.

The second guy is a 62-year-old drug dealer, Nwabueze Nicholas Izueke, who was arrested at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport with 95 jumbo wraps of cocaine concealed in his stomach. He is 62, probably with married children and a couple of grandchildren. He is probably a titled man, a deacon or some sort of church leader. When I saw the report, I felt like crying, for him, for all of us. I thought of how long he could spend in jail. He is eight years short of 70. What kind of life will he have in there? Then I thought of how many lives his past jumbo trips had ruined and I became even sadder.

Take a moment to think of all the angles of these two businessmen, how long they have been at it, and the hundreds of them still hiding in dark places and manufacturing skunk and packaging Loud.

Once upon a time, checking car boots was enough. NDLEA has since learned that smugglers think three steps ahead and one step sideways.

These days, drugs have been found inside fuel tanks—yes, fuel tanks. Because why not turn a car into a rolling chemistry experiment? Others were hidden in the dashboards, car doors, spare tyres, and shock absorbers. Vehicles are no longer means of transportation; they are mobile drug warehouses, stash houses on wheels.

Some smugglers have been known to hide drugs inside coffins. Coffins. The dead, apparently, are not exempt from being unwilling accomplices. Shouldn’t all of these force the nation to pause and ask deep questions about morals, desperation, and how far some people will go to make money?

Nigeria is an agricultural nation, but NDLEA’s discoveries have added an unexpected crop to the list of what we plant. There are cannabis farms tucked away in forests, plantations hidden among legitimate crops, fields that look peaceful until you realize they are not cassava or corn farms. They are rogue farms, desecrating the soil that should grow yam and cocoa yam, cocoa and kola nut.

More saddening still are the offices, corporate spaces and even homes where these evil transactions are going on even as you read this. Drugs have been found inside bedrooms, kitchens, wardrobes, and ceilings. Not just hidden but stored with intention. Some homes function like quiet distribution centres, blending into neighbourhoods where everyone greets everyone and jog together.

Even offices have not been spared. Corporate respectability has occasionally turned out to be just a costume, with drugs hidden in filing cabinets, behind shelves, or inside office equipment. It turns out that not all paperwork is paper. Some are paperwork to wrap colorado and skunk.

But why won’t these dark evil stop? This thing is real evil, deep, present danger with long scrawny demonic finger reaching out to destroy the tomorrow of every user and cause pain, indescribable sorrow to the friends and family of victims.

How is it that some people are comfortable building their wealth and empire on the tears and terror of the drug business? They build places of worship and hospitals, set up foundations and charities to ‘help the less-privileged’. They destroy millions and pay the school fees of a hundred and continue as if that will somehow wash away the evil they inflict on the world.

For as long as mind-bending substances are circulated by dry-eyed, mean men and women, there will be no real development in Nigeria. We can amend the electoral act from now till hell freezes over, buy new equipment to fight terror, those whose minds are bent, young and old, will continue to bend our destinies.

The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.

Bandits Strike Again: Mass abductions in Kaduna, church kidnap in Benue expose security failures

In yet another grim chapter of Nigeria’s deepening insecurity, suspected terrorists and armed bandits have carried out coordinated abductions that further expose the federal government’s inability to protect its citizens, even as official reassurances echo unfulfilled promises.

Late Sunday night, more than 55 villagers — including elderly infirm individuals and children — were abducted from Kutaho Gida and Kujir villages in Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State, according to a prominent law teacher and former Chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission, who broke the news on X. “Do not allow anyone to deny this one too!” the rights advocate warned, underscoring public distrust in official narratives.

This latest mass abduction follows an unsettling pattern in northern and central Nigeria where criminal gangs have elevated kidnapping from sporadic crime to an entrenched national crisis.

Church Worshippers Snatched, Soldier Shot Dead

In Benue State, police have confirmed that nine worshippers were seized during a night vigil at St. John’s Catholic Church in Ojije, Utonkon, Ado Local Government Area. Police spokesperson DSP Edet Udeme said tactical teams have been deployed to secure their release, a now familiar refrain after every such attack.

Also in Benue, a retired army officer, Sgt. Chiayongo Jem’m, was gunned down in a suspected bandit ambush in Anem Village, Ikyurav-Ya, Kwande LGA, as investigators comb nearby forests for the assailants.

Family of Four Taken at Midnight in Kaduna

In another chilling incident just after midnight on February 9, gunmen stormed a home in Danhono 2 village, Millennium City, Kaduna, abducting four members of the Abdulrazak household, including two young children aged 13 and 10. Security forces, including the Nigerian Army Strike Force and Special Police Unit, were deployed to track the kidnappers and rescue the victims.

These latest attacks arrive against a backdrop of staggering national kidnapping figures that paint a horrifying picture of insecurity:

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (May 2023–April 2024), an estimated 2.2 million Nigerians were kidnapped nationwide in just 12 months, with the majority in rural areas and the North-West region leading all zones.

Ransom payments during this period reportedly reached over ₦2.2 trillion, with households paying an average of roughly ₦2.7 million per case — a massive economic burden on families already under siege.

Other analysts note a similar trend: between July 2023 and June 2024, at least 7,568 people were abducted in 1,130 incidents, spread across states such as Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina. (

The scope of violence deepens when mass kidnappings are considered. In recent years, heavily reported school abductions — like the November 2025 seizure of 303 students and 12 staff at a Catholic school in Niger State — have drawn international attention to Nigeria’s insecurity crisis. (

Experts Sound the Alarm

Security experts and analysts say the situation has evolved far beyond isolated conflict into a sprawling economy of fear and ransom.

Confidence McHarry, a policy researcher at SBM Intelligence, told Newsweek Nigeria that the cycle has become self-reinforcing:

“Kidnapping has become a profitable enterprise. Gangs now operate sophisticated networks across states — with entire communities paying huge sums as ransoms. Government responses often follow attacks rather than prevent them, creating a sense that authorities are always one step behind.”

McHarry noted that even when hostages are freed — as in the case of 166 churchgoers released recently in Kaduna — the absence of transparent rescue strategies fuels scepticism about government efficacy.

Another analyst, Kenn Maduagwu of Nextier’s Nigeria Violent Conflict Database project, warned that violent conflicts, including kidnapping, accounted for thousands of casualties and displacements between 2023 and 2024, offering a broader context of escalating threats alongside banditry and terrorism.

Public Trust Plummets, Fear Rises

For many Nigerians, the repeated cycle of tragic headlines and delayed responses has eroded public trust.

In rural and urban areas alike, families now employ private guards, negotiate ransom payments, or abandon farmlands and schools — decisions driven by sheer survival rather than confidence in state security forces.

Critics argue that despite periodic government declarations — including a national emergency response and plans to recruit tens of thousands of security personnel — tangible improvements have remained elusive.

While authorities continue to deploy troops and tactical units after headline-grabbing kidnappings, the sheer scale of abduction figures and rampant ransom economy suggests the crisis has metastasised into a systemic failure of security policy and enforcement.

The question for Nigeria now is stark: Can a nation under siege reclaim its streets, churches, and homes — or will insecurity become the country’s new normal?

The last hope (1), By Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN

INTRODUCTION

The judiciary in Nigeria is going through very turbulent times and it is very worrisome. In democratic societies, the judiciary serves as the final arbiter of disputes, ensuring that laws are applied fairly and justly. The Nigerian Constitution, which lays the foundation for the country’s legal and political systems, also underscores the crucial role of the judiciary in protecting citizens’ rights and maintaining the rule of law. Section 6(6)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is particularly significant as it asserts the judiciary as “the last hope” of citizens, reinforcing its position as a vital safeguard for the protection of constitutional rights and the delivery of justice. Section 6 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution deals with the powers and functions of the judiciary. Specifically, subsection (6)(b) states that “the judicial power of the Federation shall not be exercised by any person or authority except the courts of law and, when authorised by law, tribunals.” This provision firmly establishes that judicial power in Nigeria is exclusively vested in the courts and tribunals. It also highlights the critical role of the judiciary in upholding the rule of law, ensuring accountability, and protecting the rights of individuals against potential violations by other branches of government or individuals with undue power.

The Concept of the Judiciary as the “Last Hope”

The phrase “last hope” implies a final safeguard or recourse. In the context of Section 6(6)(b), the judiciary is seen as the ultimate institution to resolve disputes, particularly those relating to individual rights, freedoms, and the proper functioning of government institutions. This provision recognises the judiciary’s position as a critical pillar in the democratic structure, tasked with providing justice when all other avenues might fail. For Nigerian citizens, the judiciary serves as the last line of defense when the other branches of government—the executive and legislature—fail to protect their rights or act unlawfully. The courts act as an independent body, free from political influence or pressure, to uphold the Constitution and ensure that justice is served, particularly in cases where there are abuses of power or violations of human rights.

The Judiciary’s Role in Protecting Fundamental Rights

One of the most important aspects of the judiciary’s function as the “last hope” is its responsibility to protect fundamental human rights. The Nigerian Constitution guarantees a range of rights for citizens, including the right to life, personal liberty, fair trial, and freedom of expression. However, these rights can often be infringed upon, either by government actions or private parties. In such instances, individuals can turn to the judiciary to seek redress. Courts are empowered to review the constitutionality of actions taken by the executive or legislative branches and declare them unconstitutional if they violate any of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. This serves to maintain the balance of power among the various arms of government and prevents the abuse of power.

Judiciary to the Rescue

In March 2020, the Kano State Government announced the deposition and subsequent banishment of Muhammad Sanusi II as the Emir of Kano. It took the brave intervention of the judiciary to save the situation. Very recently, the Supreme Court struck out the criminal case against the former Chief Security Officer to late General Sani Abacha, Major Al-Mustapha (Rtd) for want of diligent prosecution. Though General Sani Abacha himself was never known to have used the courts to seek justice during his lifetime (given his autocratic rule), his family became involved in lengthy legal battles after his sudden death in 1998. Abacha’s family members, particularly his children, resorted to legal actions to reclaim assets and properties that were seized by the Nigerian government or discovered in various international jurisdictions following the collapse of his regime. Abacha’s family sued both in Nigerian courts and abroad, contesting asset seizures and attempting to block the confiscation of wealth accumulated during Abacha’s rule. Many of these cases have continued to unfold over the years, with Nigerian courts being one of the critical venues for these posthumous legal disputes. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President of Nigeria, has made several legal challenges throughout his political career, particularly in relation to election outcomes. His actions have also highlighted how public officers, even at the highest level, turn to the judiciary to challenge political outcomes they believe to be unjust. In 2015, former President Goodluck Jonathan approached the court for a determination of his eligibility. During his tenure as the governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu (now President) challenged the power of the federal government of Nigeria to withhold funds meant for the local government councils in Lagos State. Retired judges in Ogun State filed an action in court for the payment of their pensions while the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon Justice Walter Onnoghen fought his sudden removal from office in court. These are few examples of leaders and public officers who have resorted to the judiciary as their last hope. One therefore wonders how while in office, leaders treat the judiciary with disdain, with contempt, neglect and even disobey lawful orders made by the courts. It calls for urgent judicial review.

Judicial Review: A Mechanism of Accountability

Judicial review is one of the core mechanisms through which the judiciary functions as the “last hope” in protecting the rule of law and upholding constitutional principles. It refers to the judiciary’s authority to review and, if necessary, invalidate laws, policies, or actions that are inconsistent with the Constitution. Judicial review, particularly in cases involving unconstitutional legislation or executive actions, is a powerful tool in the hands of the judiciary. In Nigeria, courts regularly engage in judicial review to ensure that laws, executive orders, and administrative actions do not violate constitutional provisions. This is especially vital in safeguarding the rights of citizens and ensuring that governmental actions are conducted within the boundaries of the law.

Ensuring Justice Through the Courts

In a country as diverse and complex as Nigeria, the judiciary’s role as the “last hope” is amplified by the potential for inequality and injustice. The courts serve not only as an adjudicator of disputes but also as an equalizer, ensuring that every citizen, regardless of their status, ethnicity, or background, has access to justice. This is important because without the assurance of fair and impartial adjudication, the fundamental ideals of democracy and justice would be compromised. For instance, in cases of political corruption, human rights violations, or electoral malpractice, the judiciary has often played a key role in holding wrongdoers accountable, irrespective of their political or social status. By providing an independent forum for legal redress, the judiciary ensures that justice prevails and that citizens can rely on the legal system to protect their interests.

Challenges to the Judiciary’s Role as the Last Hope

Despite its critical role, the judiciary in Nigeria faces significant challenges in fulfilling its duties as the “last hope”. These challenges include:

1.    Political Interference: The judiciary is often under pressure from the executive and legislative branches, which can compromise its independence. Political interference, especially in high-profile cases, undermines public confidence in the judiciary’s ability to deliver impartial justice.

2.    Corruption: Corruption within the judiciary can also hinder its effectiveness. Cases of bribery, favouritism, and other forms of unethical behaviour tarnish the integrity of the courts and prevent citizens from obtaining justice.

3.    Inadequate Funding and Resources: The Nigerian judiciary often suffers from insufficient funding, outdated infrastructure, and a backlog of cases. These issues impede the ability of the judiciary to deliver timely justice and meet the demands of a growing population.

4.    Public Confidence: Public trust in the judiciary can erode when there is a perception of bias, corruption, or inefficiency. Ensuring the independence and impartiality of judges is critical to maintaining faith in the judicial system.

Suggested Solutions

To strengthen the judiciary in Nigeria as the “last hope” for citizens and ensure that it continues to effectively uphold the rule of law, several reforms and strategic solutions are needed. These solutions must address both institutional and systemic challenges, with the goal of enhancing the judiciary’s independence, efficiency, and capacity to deliver justice fairly and impartially. Below are key recommendations to strengthen Nigeria’s judiciary:

Enhance Judicial Independence

To ensure that the judiciary is the true “last hope” of Nigerians, its independence must be safeguarded from political and executive interference. This can be achieved through clear separation of powers among the executive, legislature, and judiciary, ensuring that judges and judicial officers are free from undue influence by political or governmental pressures. Also, it will be necessary to secure the appointment and tenure of judges by ensuring that the appointment process for judges is transparent and based on merit, rather than political patronage. Additionally, judges should have security of tenure, meaning they cannot be arbitrarily removed from office. There should also be independent judicial fund through the establishment of an independent, constitutionally protected budget for the judiciary, separate from the executive, to prevent financial manipulation and ensure adequate resources for the judiciary’s operations. This should not be a matter of cosmetic legislation without concrete implementation.

The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.

Three Nigerians won Grammys, but Nigeria didn’t notice

By Azuka Onwuka

At the 2026 Grammy Awards, three people of Nigerian descent won Grammys. Their names are Shaboozey (born Collins Obinna Chibueze), Tyler, the Creator (born Tyler Okonma), and Cynthia Erivo (born Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanazu Amarachukwu Owezuke Echimino Erivo).

Yet, in much of the Nigerian media, it was almost as if nothing happened. Instead, the headlines and social media posts focused on Davido, Burna Boy, Ayra Starr, and Wizkid, who were nominated but did not win. These are brilliant artists, and their global success deserves respect. But something was deeply wrong about what happened. Nigeria failed to celebrate its own people who actually won.

This silence was not a small mistake. It sends a message that to be celebrated as Nigerian, you must live in Nigeria, sound Nigerian, or work in the Nigerian entertainment industry. That idea is not only narrow but self-destructive on the global stage.

Shaboozey, Tyler Okonma, and Cynthia Erivo did not suddenly become something else because they live in the United States or the United Kingdom. Their blood did not change. Their family roots did not change. Their Nigerian names did not change. They carry Nigeria with them, whether or not they wave the flag on stage.

So, why did Nigeria ignore them? Some may say it is because they are not based in Nigeria. But that is not a serious reason. We live in a world where people move across borders every day. Doctors trained in Nigeria work in Canada. Engineers born in Nigeria build systems in the United States. Writers raised in Nigeria publish books in the UK. Nobody says they are no longer Nigerian.

Some may say it is because their stage names do not sound Nigerian. Shaboozey, Tyler, and Cynthia are not names that immediately make people think of Nigeria. But the job of journalists is not to guess. It is to know. When someone wins a Grammy, it takes only a few minutes of research to find their background. Their full names are clearly Nigerian. Their family histories are public. There was no excuse.

Others may argue that these three do not speak much about Nigeria. That may or may not be true. But even if it is true, it still does not remove their ancestry. A child born in Canada to Nigerian parents is still Nigerian, even if that child has never been to Lagos, Enugu or Ibadan. Identity does not disappear because of geography.

What Nigeria did was something Shakespeare described in Julius Caesar, when Mark Antony spoke about a “grievous fault”. It was not an accident. It was a serious failure of judgment. Smart countries do not behave this way.

When someone with Israeli roots becomes powerful or famous anywhere in the world, Israel claims that person. When someone with Indian roots becomes a tech leader or movie star, India celebrates that person. When someone with Chinese or Japanese roots rises in business, sports, or culture, their countries loudly say, “This is one of ours.”

They do not wait for that person to live in their country. They do not wait for that person to speak the language perfectly. They do not wait for that person to hold a local passport. They understand something many Nigerians don’t: global success by your people improves your country’s image.

Foreign countries also understand the other side of the coin. When a citizen of a Western country with Nigerian roots does something negative, the country plays up the culprit’s Nigerian ancestry, but if it is something positive, the country claims the achiever. Nigeria, on the other hand, often does the opposite. If someone with Nigerian roots is arrested or accused of a crime in another country, the Nigerian media is quick to point out the Nigerian connection. But when someone with Nigerian roots wins one of the biggest awards in the world, sometimes the response is silence. That is not how a serious country behaves.

Shaboozey, for example, is not just some American singer with a Nigerian name. He spent part of his childhood in Nigeria. He attended boarding school here.

His connection to Nigeria is real and lived. Even though Tyler was angry with his Nigerian father for being absent in his life, when he found out that his mother lied to him about his dad, he changed his attitude towards him and adopted his surname, Okonma, identifying as Tyler Okonma. That shows how he cherishes his Nigerian roots. How many Nigerians have as many Nigerian name components as Cynthia Erivo? The Igbo meaning of Onyedinmanazu (who is not gossiped about when absent?) is particularly deep in native wisdom. These are not people pretending to be Nigerian. They are Nigerian by blood. Nigeria should be proud of that.

There is another important reason for these matters. Every time someone searches for “Nigeria” on Google, the articles and stories they find shape how the world sees the country. If the Nigerian media only writes about corruption, insecurity, poverty, crime, and failed elections, that becomes Nigeria’s image. But when Nigerian media also writes about Nigerians winning Grammys, leading global companies, acting in major films, or shaping world culture, that changes the story. It shows that Nigeria produces people who succeed at the highest level. That is how countries build soft power.

Soft power is all about influence rather than weapons or money. It is about how people feel about your country. When Nigeria is linked to global excellence, it becomes harder for the world to dismiss Nigerians as only desperate migrants or poor refugees. It shows that Nigerians are contributors, not just survivors.

And this matters even more because of migration. Every year, thousands of Nigerians leave Nigeria. Some go to school. Some go to work. Some go because they are tired. Millions of children of Nigerian parents will be born in other countries in the coming decades. Some of them will grow up speaking English with foreign accents. Some will not speak any Nigerian language. Some may never live in Nigeria at all. But their blood will still be Nigerian.

Among them will be future scientists, artists, athletes, and business leaders. Some will become famous. Some will become powerful. When they succeed, will Nigeria pretend they are not ours because they were born in London, Vancouver, or Los Angeles? That would be foolish.

These people will shape how the world sees Nigeria, whether Nigeria claims them or not. If Nigeria ignores them, other countries will happily take credit for them. But if Nigeria claims them, celebrates them, and tells their stories, Nigeria gains from the image it has built.

This is why the media has a serious responsibility. The media should not only report what happens in Lagos or Abuja. It should also track what Nigerians are doing around the world. It should know who has Nigerian roots, whether through the father or the mother. It should highlight them, not hide them.

Shaboozey, Tyler Okonma, and Cynthia Erivo winning Grammys was not just a music story. It was a Nigerian story. It was about what Nigerian families are producing across the world. It was about how far Nigerian talent has spread. Ignoring that story was a missed chance.

Nigeria is not only the people who live within its borders. Nigeria is also in Houston, in Shanghai, in Halifax, in Paris, and in Melbourne. Nigeria is in every place where Nigerians and their children are building lives.

If Nigeria wants to boost its image faster, it must learn to act like other smart countries. When Nigerians win, Nigeria should notice. Every achiever with an ounce of Nigerian blood must be claimed and celebrated.

The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.

Just In: Senate alters Electoral Act to accommodate electronic transmission of results with conditions

The Senate on Tuesday rescinded its earlier decision on the Electoral Act amendment in which it had rejected the mandatory electronic transmission of election results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IREV) after vote counting.

The upper chamber consequently re-amended the Electoral Act to accommodate the electronic transmission of results. However, the provision comes with a caveat that, in the event of internet failure, Form EC8A will serve as the primary means of result collation.

Despite the change, the amendment does not make electronic transmission mandatory. Instead, it allows results to be transmitted electronically while providing an alternative in cases of network failure.

The decision followed a motion moved by the Senate Chief Whip, Tahir Monguno, during an emergency plenary session.

Mr Monguno (APC, Borno North) said the decision to rescind the Senate’s earlier rejection of electronic transmission was informed by the need for the Electoral Act to reflect the wishes of Nigerians.

“This amendment is to bring our laws to make it a replica of the wishes and aspirations of the people,” he said.

The Minority Leader, Abba Moro, seconded the motion.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, subsequently put the motion to a voice vote, which was supported by a majority of lawmakers.

During the earlier clause-by-clause consideration of the Electoral Act amendment last Wednesday, Mr Monguno had requested that the Senate retain the provision in Clause 60 of the 2022 Electoral Act, which allows for the transmission of election results to collation centres.

With the latest amendment, the Senate has effectively admitted that its earlier version of the amendment was passed without a provision for electronic transmission of results.

Details later…

Neuroscientist dubs Gen Z less intelligent than millennials, other generations

The Gen-Z generation, born between 1997 and 2010, is the very first generation that did worse in school than the generation before them, according to a top neuroscientist. 

“They’re the first generation in modern history to score lower on standardised academic tests than the one before it,” Dr Jared Cooney Horvath, 43, told The Post. 

“And to make matters worse, most of these young people are overconfident about how smart they are. The smarter people think they are, the dumber they actually are. 

“They underperformed on basically every cognitive measure, from basic attention, memory, literacy, numeracy, executive function and general IQ.” 

Horvath recently testified to the sad facts before Congress, telling a panel of lawmakers that Generation Zers, who followed the Millennial generation, negatively blew up humanity’s proud academic record. 

Horvath, who studied reams of data from standardised academic tests, told Congress that Gen Z’s struggles stem from the fact that they’re the first generation to grow up with constant screen time. And it’s no substitute for real learning. 

“More than half of the time a teenager is awake, half of it is spent staring at a screen,” said Horvath, who’s taught at universities around the world, including Harvard and the University of Melbourne in Australia. 

“Humans are biologically programmed to learn from other humans and from deep study, not flipping through screens for bullet point summaries.” 

But digital devices, called educational technology (Edtech), take up most of their brain matter during class time and homework. 

Then, students spend their hours away from the classroom consulting with their phones, tablets and laptops where they scroll through TikTok captions and Snapchats in between skimming through summaries of classic literature — instead of picking up a book and actually reading it. 

Learning from screens has turned them into skimmers, Horvath said. And without the heavy lifting, even beautiful minds can turn to mush. 

“I’m not anti-tech. I’m pro-rigor,” said Horvath, who wants schools to limit the amount of screen time for students and go back to the good old days when kids had to open a book and pull an all-nighter to pass a test. 

“A sad fact our generation has to face is this: Our kids are less cognitively capable than we were at their age,” Horvath told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology. 

“We have been standardizing and measuring cognitive development since the late 1800s. 

“Every generation has outperformed their parents” said Horvath. “Until Gen Z.” 

Sadly, it’s not just happening in the US. 

“Across 80 countries, if you look at the data, once countries adopt digital technology widely in schools, performance goes down significantly,” said Horvath, who is also founder of LME Global, an Arizona-based group that bridges research and classroom practices to improve academic outcomes. 

“Any time tech enters education, learning goes down.” 

Looking ahead, he said he hopes for new policies in which schools are forced to pull back on tech in the classrooms and give the upcoming kids, Generation Alpha a better chance at becoming brainiacs.

The Senate coup against Nigerians

By Suyi Ayodele

Chief Whip Senator Monguno, moved the motion to sustain the old Electoral Act; Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, hurriedly seconded it. The Senate Leader, the Villa lickspittle from Ekiti, Opeyemi Bamidele, was salivating! Senator Abaribe raised his hands to alert his colleagues who were chatting and not concentrating. The Elésin Oba, (Remember the Abóbakú in Soyinka’s “Death and the King’s Horseman”), Senator Godswill Akpabio, smartly hit the gavel!! Coup hatched, executed against Electoral Transmission real time.

The above was sent to me by a senior journalist who witnessed the putsch on the floor of the senate last week.

If the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Amendment Bill 2026 passed by the Godswill Akpabio-led senate is allowed to be the guiding laws and principles for the 2027 general elections, Nigerians can kiss democracy goodbye. With the new bill as passed by the senate, everything called credibility, fairness, decency and moral, is gone and gone forever!

With what the senate did last week, it is true that elections are not rigged on the day of balloting. No. The simple analogy is that the Nigerian Senate, with the electoral bill passed, has rigged the forthcoming election for the incumbents – president, governors, senators, House of Representatives members and any other person in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), seeking election or re-election in 2027 and the years to come.

I wished I could find a better way to describe the action of the senate. My frustration at describing the open electoral murder committed on the floor of the Red Chamber was, however, mitigated by the response of the senior journalist above in a chat we had over the matter.

He sent me a 48-second video. It is an edited video of last week Wednesday’s proceedings on the floor of the senate. The discussion was on the controversial electoral bill. Underneath the video, he wrote: “The 3 (three) coup plotters against democracy.” Their names?” I asked. Then he responded.

Nothing could be more apt. His response in the opening paragraph is the best I have had over the removal of “real-time” electronic transmission of election results by Akpabio and his co-conspirators against free and fair elections in Nigeria. It is sad; rather unfortunate that we have a National Assembly populated by representatives, who would openly shortchange the destiny of the people on the altar of political desperation!

Here is the Clause 60 (3) of the bill that Akpabio killed with his gavel: “The Presiding Officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to IREV portal in real time and such transmission shall be done after the prescribed Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the Presiding Officer and or countersigned by the candidates or polling agents available at the polling unit.”

The Clause is simple. Elections shall hold, with voting taking place. The ballots will be sorted. Each participating political party shall have a party agent present at the voting unit. The ballots will be counted. The results of the votes scored by each political party shall be announced openly by the Presiding officer. The Presiding Officer shall proceed to enter the results on Form EC8A, that is, the result sheet.

He or she shall sign the Form EC8A. He or she shall also stamp the form. All the party agents shall sign thereafter. Then, the Presiding Officer shall snapshot the Form EC8A and shall upload it to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) IReV (INEC Election results Viewing Portal). From the IReV portal, any human being can view the results.

The implications of an all-time electronic transmission of election results are too lofty. One, the controversy over result swapping is eliminated. Two, from the comfort of our homes, Nigerians can collate the result of any election, get the result and wait for INEC to officially announce the winner. Again, the idea of political thugs or any undesirable element attacking INEC officials on their way to the physical collation centre, to hijack the result, is eliminated.

More importantly, if there is any controversy, all that is needed is a visit to the IReV portal to ascertain the accurate figure entered. And should there be any litigation, the IReV portal comes handy. So, ask me: what are Akpabio and his gang of electoral murderers afraid of? What can be more honourable than Clause 60 (3)?

Instead, Akpabio’s senate insisted that the existing provision of the 2022 Electoral Act, which stipulates that “The Presiding Officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the Commission”, should stand!

Before you shout perfidy, you need to hear this. In addition to rejecting the all-time electronic transmission of results, Akpabio also rejected the 10-year jail term for PVC traders, and opted for a two-year imprisonment term. In essence, the senate is saying that a 10-year jail term is too harsh for anyone caught either selling or buying PVC. Such a felon, the senate voted, should be punished for just two years.

After watching the video and reading the footnote, I changed the topic. Nothing can be sadder than the senate under Akpabio. I doubt if the Akwa Ibom State senator reads or hears what people say about him. Nigeria can never be more unfortunate than to have the present crop of leaders; especially at the executive and legislative levels.

I don’t know what Akpabio and his APC members are afraid of in a real-time ELECTRONIC transmission of election results. All the indices favour the party to win the 2027 general elections without any wùrùwúrú. In terms of spread, APC has 30 state governors out of 36 in its kitty. It has 75 of the 109 senators and in the House of Representatives, the party has over 231 members out of the total 360 members and it is still counting.

All the ministers in the Tinubu cabinet, including Nyesom Wike, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, are APC members without an exception. Forget Wike and his pretension to be a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Truth is that between Tinubu and Wike, nobody knows who is more APC! All board appointees are loyalists of the party and the President. Numerous board members fall over one another to impress the appointing authority, Tinubu. Many more people in the opposition have gotten their boarding passes, ready to board the APC ship.

What then is the party afraid of such that it cannot allow the results of the forthcoming elections to be transmitted immediately the ballot is counted and the results are announced? Why would a party which claims to have the most expansive nationwide spread be afraid of uploading election results immediately they are announced? Why should any nation of this age be afraid of immediate electronic transmission of election results? Whose interest are Akpabio and his hellions in the National Assembly serving?

Expectedly, the uproar against the Akpabio shenanigan has been all-consuming. From the opposition parties and men and women of good conscience, the opinions are on the negative side for the senate. More amusingly, in his response to the public condemnation of the senate under his watch, Akpabio quipped: “Why are people setting up panels on television stations and abusing senators? I leave them to God.”

Suddenly, in the face of public opprobrium, Akpabio knew that there is God! What a sacrilege! Who is Akpabio’s spiritual mentor? Why did his priest fail to tutor him that God is just, fair and good? Where was God when the Senate President inherited an electoral victory in an election he did not participate in?

With his antecedents either as a governor, minister and now Senate President, Nigerians should not be troubled about Akpabio. He could not have been otherwise; he could not have acted differently. He is not just a type character; he is also static and more A-heroic. Our focus should be on other seemingly honourable lawmakers who endorsed this open murder. How Senator Bamidele Opeyemi, the Senate Leader, with his antecedents in human rights struggles, would be a party to the amendment bill baffles any rational mind. But then, as someone suggested: “human rights and politics are two parallel lines.”  

The biggest lesson of the senate’s action is that those in charge of affairs of our destiny have taken us for granted for too long. This is why the senate could summon the courage to pass a bill that outlaws an real-time electronic transmission of election results. Akpabio’s excuse that the entire country could be thrown into chaos if network or power failure affected the uploading of results remains as superficial as it is laughable!

His posturing that the senate “will not be intimidated” is an indication that he and his gang of weak-willed, leg-massaging legislators are already intimidated. And we shall continue to ‘intimidate’ them until they do the right thing. This matter, the Senate President should know, is like the proverbial thief who steals the only hen of the poor; he should know that he has stolen from a rabble-rouser (Eni gbé adìye òtòsì, ó gbé t’aláròyé).  We shall not rest; we shall not sleep. We will neither curse nor praise; but our mouths shall not be shut over the matter.

Nigerians have gotten to a level where they don’t care who wins or loses the 2027 election. They have heard stories of how President Tinubu has done so well and transformed Nigeria to an Eldorado. Good enough for the man in the Villa and his promoters. Methinks it is proper if such a wonderfully-performing President is allowed to go into the next election without the laws tilted in his favour.

Only elements like Akpabio are scared of a real-time electronic transmission of results. Only those who are beneficiaries of past electoral heists look forward to a future electoral robbery, and as such, make laws to promote electoral fraud. This is what the senate did last week. This is what Nigerians must understand. And more importantly, this is what all men and women of good conscience must resist and be counted on the side of that which is fair, just and of good moral standing.

As we await the review of the last Wednesday’s “Votes and Proceedings of the day’s sitting” on the amended electoral bill, we encourage other legislators to take time off their sybaritic fantasies as septuagenarian masseurs, by concentrating on the business of building faith in our electoral processes. All romance and no conscientious legislation make a senator a mere hedonist!

The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.

Inside the Psychological Prison of R. Kelly: ‘I had to rebuild my entire self’

Picture Reshona Landfair in 1996 at 12 years old, when she met the R&B superstar R Kelly (real name Robert Kelly). Her world, she says, seemed like “a buffet” spread out before her. She was a popular girl, a seriously talented basketball player and the youngest member – in her words, “the pint-sized girl rapper” – of 4 The Cause, the singing group she had formed with three cousins.

They’d been signed to a record label, made the Top 10 in eight countries and toured much of Europe. Her large extended family from the West Side of Chicago was tight-knit. Life was filled with music, sport, church, Sunday lunch at Grandma’s, family road trips and everybody knowing everybody’s business. “That was a beautiful time,” she says. “I had love and good people all around me. I was living in my true light of who I wanted to become. I felt like I was on my way.”

Click here to continue reading.

Trust crisis deepens as protesters demand real-time election results amid democracy fears

Nigeria’s fragile democratic landscape edged closer to confrontation on Wednesday as heavily armed security personnel flooded the National Assembly complex in Abuja, where protesters gathered to demand the mandatory inclusion of real-time electronic transmission of election results in the amended Electoral Act.

Under the banner “Occupy National Assembly,” demonstrators converged at the entrance of the legislative complex, warning that any attempt to weaken electronic safeguards would expose future elections to manipulation and further erode public trust in government institutions.

Personnel from the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were deployed in large numbers, underscoring the growing tension around electoral reforms widely viewed as critical to the credibility of the 2027 general elections.

The protest comes amid mounting backlash over the National Assembly’s handling of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026, with civil society groups, labour activists, legal experts and governance watchdogs accusing lawmakers of preserving loopholes historically exploited to influence election outcomes.

Although the Senate has recently denied rejecting electronic transmission outright, protesters insist the law must explicitly mandate it rather than leave the decision to the discretion of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“We are here because democracy must not be negotiated behind closed doors,” one protester said. “If the law is ambiguous, the will of the people becomes vulnerable.”

Democracy at a Crossroads

For many observers, the scene of armed security guarding lawmakers from pro-democracy demonstrators reflects a deeper national anxiety: that Nigeria may be drifting toward another cycle of disputed elections at a time of worsening insecurity and economic strain.

Critics argue that blocking—or diluting—mandatory electronic transmission risks reopening the very cracks that triggered widespread distrust after the 2023 elections, when failures in uploading results to INEC’s Results Viewing Portal fuelled allegations of electoral manipulation and years of litigation.

The Concerned Citizens Leadership Integrity and Transparency Advocacy Initiative (CLITA) described the Senate’s position as a dangerous regression.

“Mandatory electronic transmission is not a luxury; it is a safeguard,” said CLITA Executive Director Isaiah Davies Ijele. “It limits human interference and strengthens public confidence. Removing certainty from the process suggests some actors prefer discretion over democracy.”

‘When Transparency Is Optional, Democracy Is at Risk’

Governance watchdog Connected Development (CODE) warned that Nigeria’s electoral credibility has historically been undermined not at polling units but during collation and transmission—precisely where digital systems provide oversight.

“With legal ambiguity preserved and timelines compressed, discretionary spaces remain,” said acting CEO Hyeladzira James Mshelia. “When transparency is left to discretion, democracy is left to chance.”

Legal practitioner Louis Koko dismissed claims that technological barriers justify caution, arguing that the infrastructure supporting BVAS and electronic transmission relies on satellite connectivity capable of reaching even remote regions.

“Arguments about technological limitations are misleading,” he said. “They risk confusing the public and weakening reform.”

Beyond Politics: The Cost of Distrust

Analysts warn that electoral uncertainty carries consequences far beyond politics. Nigeria is already battling banditry, insurgency, kidnappings and communal violence, while investors remain wary of instability in Africa’s largest economy.

“Credible elections are a pillar of national security,” said a political risk analyst. “When legitimacy is questioned, social tensions rise, investor confidence falls, and governance becomes harder.”

Labour groups and rights advocates have similarly cautioned that flawed elections could deepen divisions and heighten the risk of unrest, particularly in regions already stretched by violence and displacement.

Senate and House on Diverging Paths

The controversy has sharpened institutional fault lines within the National Assembly itself. The House of Representatives passed a version of the reform bill in December 2025 that explicitly mandates real-time electronic transmission of results—a provision widely supported by civil society.

The Senate’s more ambiguous language now sets the stage for a high-stakes harmonisation process before the bill can be forwarded to President Bola Tinubu for assent.

In a strongly worded editorial, Premium Times described the Senate’s move as a “deliberate assault on electoral transparency,” warning it could enable manipulation in 2027 and entrench public distrust.

Opposition lawmakers have also raised concerns, alleging that provisions backed by a majority were sidelined during closed-door deliberations led by Senate leadership.

Reform Window Narrowing

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission has cautioned that delays in finalising the legal framework are already disrupting election planning. The statutory notice period for elections has reportedly been reduced from 360 days to 180 days, compressing preparation timelines.

Democracy advocates say such uncertainty risks repeating a familiar pattern—rushed reforms, contested results and prolonged court battles.

Nigeria has amended its electoral laws five times since returning to civilian rule in 1999, yet each cycle has produced fresh controversies tied to vague provisions and inconsistent enforcement.

A Test of Political Will

As protesters faced rows of security operatives outside the National Assembly gates, the symbolism was difficult to ignore: a democracy under guard, wrestling with the question of whether clarity or ambiguity will define its next election.

Civil society groups are urging lawmakers to choose decisively.

Quoting former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, one advocacy group reminded legislators that elections must be anchored on two non-negotiable pillars—credibility and integrity.

With the 2027 elections approaching against a backdrop of insecurity and economic pressure, the battle over electronic transmission has evolved into more than a legislative dispute.

It is increasingly seen as a referendum on whether Nigeria’s leaders are prepared to rebuild constitutional trust—or risk pushing Africa’s largest democracy toward another legitimacy crisis.

Tribe or Training? Ethnicity allegations rock Nigerian teaching hospital as doctor shortage deepens

Nigeria’s fragile healthcare system is facing renewed scrutiny after 17 newly qualified doctors alleged they were rejected by the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) on ethnic and regional grounds — a claim the hospital has neither confirmed nor directly addressed but insists is rooted in administrative procedures.

The dispute has quickly grown beyond a local staffing disagreement, exposing deeper fractures in Nigeria’s medical training pipeline, where thousands of graduates each year are unable to secure mandatory clinical placements required for full licensure.

At the heart of the controversy is the country’s Centralised Housemanship System, a bottleneck that regulators warn is accelerating the exodus of young doctors abroad.

A System Under Pressure

Appearing before the Senate Committee on Health during the 2026 budget defence, Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) Registrar Dr Fatimah Kyari revealed a stark mismatch between supply and capacity.

“About 6,000 medical doctors are produced annually from various medical schools, while the Centralised Housemanship System has the capacity for only 4,000,” Kyari told lawmakers.

The shortfall leaves roughly 2,000 graduates stranded each year, unable to complete the one-year housemanship programme that unlocks independent practice.

Kyari urged urgent reforms, including expanding the scheme to state-owned and private hospitals to eliminate the backlog — a delay she warned is fueling Nigeria’s worsening brain drain.

The Calabar Flashpoint

The latest storm erupted after the affected doctors claimed they were turned away upon reporting to UCTH despite receiving approval for placement.

One doctor, whose complaint was obtained by local media, described the moment their expectations collapsed.

“To my surprise, he rejected us — all 17 of us,” the doctor said, alleging that concerns were raised about the ethnic composition of the group and the absence of Cross River indigenes.

The doctor further claimed an official suggested that Igbo graduates were “saturating the place,” while accusing them — without evidence — of paying for the placements.

“I never for once thought I would face this level of tribalism in my life,” the doctor said, warning that experiences like this only intensify the ‘Japa’ migration wave among healthcare workers seeking opportunities overseas.

Some of the stranded graduates reportedly endured harsh living conditions, with a few allegedly sleeping on the floors of senior colleagues’ rooms while awaiting clarity.

Hospital Pushes Back

UCTH, however, rejected suggestions that the doctors were endangered or mistreated.

“All House Officers who reported to UCTH are safe and not at any risk as their welfare remains important to the hospital management,” the hospital said in a statement.

Management described the situation as strictly administrative and regulatory, adding that it had contacted the Federal Ministry of Health and other authorities for guidance.

“The issues currently being discussed relate to administrative and regulatory processes connected to postings and clearance,” the statement noted, urging calm while the matter is resolved.

MDCN Denies Posting Doctors

Complicating the narrative, an MDCN official insisted the council does not post graduates to hospitals.

“It is wrong to say that MDCN posted the graduates to UCTH. We don’t post people. What we do is approve the choices made by candidates based on available vacancies,” the official said.

The graduates selected UCTH themselves, the council maintained, and approvals were granted based on reported capacity at the time.

When asked what happens next for the affected doctors, the official was blunt:

“It is not MDCN that should tell them what to do. I believe they themselves know what to do at this point.”

Illegal Fee Allegations Surface

The dispute has been further inflamed by a January 9 petition accusing the council of sharp practices through a proxy group, Doclumina Networking, allegedly charging prospective House Officers between ₦250,000 and ₦300,000 for preferred postings.

The petition, signed by Dr. Felix Archibong, Deputy Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee (Training & Research), raised questions about transparency in a system already strained by limited slots.

Efforts to reach UCTH’s Chief Medical Director were unsuccessful.

NMA Moves to Contain Fallout

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) sought to cool tensions, emphasizing that the matter is being handled internally.

“We are in touch with the MDCN… and we don’t want it to turn into a matter of unionism because we are very confident that the issue will be resolved,” said NMA President Prof. Bala Abdul.

He stressed that accredited institutions are obligated to accept candidates approved by the council, which remains the sole authority empowered to determine training capacity.

Funding Woes Add to Crisis

Even as the dispute unfolds, the MDCN itself faces financial constraints.

Kyari disclosed that none of the ₦1.2 billion capital allocation approved in the 2025 budget had been released. Only ₦37.5 million of the ₦100 million overhead provision was disbursed, though most personnel funds were paid.

Senate Health Committee Chairman Senator Banigo Ipalibo pledged legislative support to improve funding.

Bigger Than One Hospital

The Federal Ministry of Health had yet to issue an official response as of press time, but analysts say the episode underscores a troubling paradox: Nigeria desperately needs doctors, yet structural failures — from limited training slots to alleged discrimination and opaque placement practices — continue to push young professionals away.

For many graduates, the housemanship year is meant to mark the transition from student to physician.

Instead, for these 17 doctors, it has become a test of whether merit — or identity — ultimately determines who gets to heal in Africa’s most populous nation.

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