By Suyi Ayodele

How should a king react to an in-your-face abuse by his son’s schoolmate? An altercation on a football field led to a physical engagement between two schoolboys: one a prince; the other sired by a poor farmer. The one who was farmer-born was dexterous in (eke) wrestling. He had the upper hand in the fight; threw the prince a couple of times and enjoyed himself, beating the hell out of him. Other friends stepped in and separated the combatants.

But it didn’t end there. The prince instantly became the butt of the jokes by the others on their way home. Most boys do that, you know.

The path to the community runs in front of the palace. The prince walked slowly and deliberately. But as soon as the boisterous group entered the palace precinct, the prince regained his mojo, his boldness and confidence. He hurled curses at his opponent, who remained calm, aware that the king was watching from the palace balcony, flanked by a few chiefs.

Sighting his father, the king, the prince did the unthinkable. He walked up to his opponent and uttered the following words in his Ekiti dialect: “Ayé ùba re hí a dáa (may it not be well with your father)!” The son of the farmer stopped in his tracks. The party became silent. Kabiyesi and his chiefs heard the prince clearly. They waited in suspended breath to see what the other boy would do or say. They did not have to wait for a long time.

The boy looked up to Kabiyesi on the balcony, and at the prince. Then he pointed at the king and told the prince: “Sé òrúba re [mentioned the title of the king] kì mì o o, ayé rè hí a dáa (you see this your father I am looking at; it will not be well with him)!” Silence! What did the king do?

On hearing what the boy said, Kabiyesi first restrained his palace guards from acting. He ordered the children to be brought to the palace. He descended the stairs, followed by his chiefs and the palace griot chanting his praises. The king asked the two combatants to relay what happened. He got corroborations from the other students. Then he made his pronouncement.

The Oba asked a palace guard to get a cane. Done. He ordered two more guards to stretch out the prince, the naughty way rascals are stretched out for punishment. Then without counting, the king asked the palace guard holding the cane to do justice to the buttocks of the prince with the cane. He resisted the pleas from his chiefs.

The Olori, mother of the prince, dared not venture into the open space. Satisfied that enough strokes of the cane had been donated to the prince, Kabiyesi stopped the guard. He lectured the children on why they should not fight, and if they must, why they must never extend their vituperations to the parents of their opponents. Did the message sink? The prince in this story is a judge of a High Court of Justice today. The farmer’s son is a successful businessman and a big farmer too! Are they still friends? I will find out!

The children prostrated. The son of the farmer offered apologies for what he said. Kabiyesi responded that he did the right thing by defending himself against the prince. He dismissed the party. The news travelled fast. The farmer gathered relations and the elders of his clan. They went back to the palace to beg the king. They brought gifts, farm produce to appease the Oba.

Kabiyesi would have none of those. The king insisted that the boy did no wrong by cursing back at the prince. He asked the farmer if he would be happy if his child had come back home to say that the prince cursed him (father) but he (child) could not retaliate because his opponent’s father was a king. The farmer answered in the negative. Kabiyesi said he would feel the same way if it had happened to the prince.

Then he dropped the moral of the incident to wit: children must be trained so well so that if the parents looked back in their hereafter, they would be proud of the children’s conducts!

Children upbringing in Yoruba emphasises character (iwà). From the cradle, children are moulded to be of good conduct (behaviour) and the pride of the family. A child is beautiful only if he has good character (iwà lewà). Yoruba also categorise character. There is a type called iwà abínibí (congenital character), which is hereditary or one that easily depicts a family a child comes from. If it is good, the family source can be identified; likewise, if it is otherwise.

There is also iwà atowádá (a character trait a child develops by himself). Modern sociologists trace this type of character to so many things with the influence of peer groups being the most visible culprit. No matter the fine upbringing a child had, if he gets involved in a negative peer group activity, such a child could derail.

Another category is iwà atúnraenibí (reenactment of one’s congenital character). A child with this type of character trait is rated as the best. This is the type of child who is conscious of his enviable background and takes steps to preserve the good name, the family pride and heritage.

He is the type that is always conscious that he cannot behave contrary to his solid upbringing. In this case, the name of the family counts, what others would say about him, and his background comes into play and thus, the child remains within acceptable boundaries. This, to a greater extent, births the saying: resemblance depicts ancestry (àbíjo làá mo iran).

But a caveat here is necessary. That a child behaves badly or turns out to be a miserable, terrible adult does not mean that such a child was not nurtured very well. A parent can be lucky to have a child who combines iwà abínibí and iwà atúnraenibí to produce the Yoruba ethos of Omoluabi. A society or group populated more by Omoluabi thrives. When that Yoruba primordial ethos is in short supply in any society or group, what you have is what the once dominant Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is experiencing at the moment.

Last week, two top leaders of the PDP in the South-West spoke about the present and future of the party. The two top figures share so many things in common. One is a prince. The other is a son of a clergyman. The two are separated in age by 10 years.

The first is Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, a retired Brigadier-General, former Military Governor of Lagos State and former civilian governor of Osun State. His late father was the Olokuku of Okuku, Oba Moses Oyewole Oyinlola, who reigned between 1934 and 1960.

The second PDP leader is Ayodele Peter Fayose, a son of a preacher of the Gospel and was brought up in ‘the ways of the Lord and in His Vineyard!’ Fayose is phenomenal in politics. At two different times, he defeated two incumbent governors to clinch the governorship of Ekiti State.

In 2003, Fayose was a nobody. But through the instrumentality of ‘street credibility’, he led the PDP to victory in the governorship election, defeating the then Governor Adeniyi Adebayo of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 12 out of the 16 local government areas of the state.

While ‘street credibility’ brought Fayose to power, character could not sustain him. Within a short time in office, he plunged the state into unprecedented crises. He had dispensed with two deputy governors before the system got rid of him six months to the end of his first term. A state of emergency was declared in Ekiti State by General Olusegun Obasanjo, the then president and Fayose was parcelled out of the state like contraband goods.

Like the proverbial once-defeated ram, Fayose turned his misfortune to fortune, re-strategised and challenged his removal in the courts. Luckily, and just as many people believed that Obasanjo overreached himself, the court declared Fayose’s removal as invalid. That paved the way for him and having rebuilt the PDP in Ekiti, he again became the gubernatorial flag bearer of the party for the 2014 governorship election.

More like the 2003 election, Fayose’s opponent in the 2014 gubernatorial race was another soft target, a far more vulnerable target with lacklustre performance in office. Thus, it was a total political tsunami as Fayose routed the then Governor Kayode John Fayemi of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), in all the 18 local government areas of the state.

Again, by the time Fayose signed off in 2018 as Ekiti State governor, he had little, or nothing left of him in terms of politics. He had wasted his goodwill so much that installing a ward councillor became a herculean task for him. His PDP performed so woefully in that election that one began to wonder if the party ever existed in the state. And that was the beginning of Fayose’s descent.

When a man falls, our elders counsel that he should look at all the factors responsible for the fall. That is not for Fayose. By the time another election came calling in 2022, Fayose had become Mr. Giwa, the legendary trader of our primary school New Oxford English Course (NOEC) textbook, openly supported the All Progressives Congress (APC) that defeated his deputy and PDP governorship candidate in the 2018 election, Professor Olusola Eleka.

Ironically, Fayose remains in the PDP. What he did in the 2022 Ekiti State gubernatorial election, he repeated in the 2023 presidential election by throwing his weight behind the candidature of Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC against Atiku Abubakar of the PDP. Today, the PDP is on oxygen. Everyone who is a member of the PDP political family, except Fayose, is all over the place, looking for the cure for the party’s seeming terminal ailment.

It is against this background that Oyinlola and Fayose spoke last week, assessing the fate that has befallen the PDP and how the party could get out of coma. This is where the character of the two personalities came to play.

I watched the video clips of the interviews where Oyinlola and Fayose featured. My reactions are predictable. One, there was nothing new that Fayose said. Besides, there is nothing he said in that interview that is not within his character portraiture. He couldn’t have acted otherwise. Who are his friends, by the way?

The only baffling thing is how Fayose, in bringing down the PDP, failed to realise that a knife which destroys its pouch invariably destroys its own home. Ever since Fayose started this journey of let-the-PDP-die-if-it-wants, I have not seen any gain that comes his way, politically. His camp keeps dwindling; his popularity keeps sinking; yet he feels destroying the party that gave him life is the best way to please the powers that be! In the last general election, all his former aides who contested lost woefully.

The gale of failure that hit his camp did not spare his own biological son, who contested the House of Representatives election and lost. Yet, the people in opposition that Fayose is selling the PDP to are not just in power and government, they have their children and running dogs fixed up in government as commissioners, members of the legislative arm and heads of choice statutory Boards!

How do we then describe an elder who eats his yesterday, his today and his tomorrow? My elders posit that the owner of the hut will not allow it to be demolished. Where is that wisdom in Fayose and his attitude of household enemy that he has turned himself to in the PDP?

If I were close to the one once hailed as Oshokomole, ebora to unje jollof rice (the deity that eats jollof rice) in recognition of his fabled ‘street credibility’ and mass mobilisation, I would advise him to walk the streets of Afao Ekiti, his hometown, to see the reaction of the people. Can he still amass the crowd of yesteryears in Ekiti today?

And coming to Oyinlola’s interview on the same misfortune of the PDP, it is not surprising that his message, his tone, his mien and candour while the interview lasted, are in sharp contrast to Fayose’s. A child who witnesses the setting of the yam barn, our elders say, cannot be mistaken while removing a tuber from the stack (omo tí a bí nínú ogbà kò ní si isu ogbà yo). You cannot be a prince, a retired General, an officer and gentleman, former military and civilian governor and lack decency in public engagement!

But my view of Oyinlola’s interview, his use of anecdotes, the folkloristic voyage to the deceitful game-hunting party and the weight of the tail of a crocodile and that of the lizard are more in the message Kabiyesi in the introductory story passed across when he adjudicated over the matter involving his son and the son of the farmer.

Character is the ornament on a man (ìwà ni èsó ènìyàn) is a saying of our elders. They have another one: Character is beauty (ìwà lewà). What informed the wisdom? This is what the prince and the son of a pastor displayed in their attitudes to their party, the PDP!

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

Press Release

The recent wave of street renaming in Lagos State, particularly in Bariga Local Council Development Area (LCDA), has sparked widespread concern over the erosion of cultural inclusivity and the marginalization of non Yoruba communities, especially Ndi Igbo. The decision, spearheaded by outgoing Chairman Kolade Alabi David, is not only ethically divisive but also legally questionable, raising serious concerns about the abuse of power by the outgoing Chairman and the marginalization of the Ndi Igbo community in Lagos.

Otu Oka-Iwu Abuja endorses the views expressed by Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, Dr. Monday Ubani, SAN, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, and other civic voices who have condemned the renaming of historically significant streets without public consultation or State Government approval. Mr. Femi Falan, SAN described the actions as unconstitutional, authoritarian, and undemocratic, while Dr. Monday Ubani, SAN described the renaming trend as a “dangerous descent into tribal politics and hatred,” warning that it undermines Lagos’ legacy as a cosmopolitan hub. Mr. Omoyele Sowore, activist and former presidential candidate, called the renaming exercise “xenophobic” and “politically vindictive,” alleging that it targets specific ethnic groups and erases legacies tied to creative resistance and cultural diversity. The leaders emphasized that Lagos belongs to no single tribe, and any policy that promotes exclusion must be reversed immediately.

Otu Oka-Iwu submits that if these renaming actions were not approved by the Lagos State Government and which the State can not do in the instant case, they represent a clear violation of democratic norms and should be reversed. No doubt, street naming and renaming in Lagos falls under the jurisdiction of Local Government Authorities, as provided by Section 1 of the Lagos State Local Government Law and Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, which empowers local governments to manage street naming and numbering.

However, this authority is not absolute as against the statement issued by the Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotosho, suggesting that street naming is entirely a Local Government affair. Street naming indeed, is a Local Government Affair but such power did not grant the Chairman powers to rename streets without it been exercised in accordance with the relevant laws and procedures which include but not limited to public consultation and hearings, approval by the State Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, gazetting of changes through official state channels. Thus, if these procedures were bypassed, the renaming exercise is ultra vires and beyond the powers of the chairman.

Mr. Falana, SAN emphasized that only constitutionally recognized local government councils have the authority to name or rename streets, as outlined in the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution. He argued that Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), like Bariga LCDA, lack constitutional recognition, and therefore cannot legally rename public spaces.

Out Oka-Iwu is on firm ground with the Learned Silk on this point. It is trite that Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in Nigeria can not legally act in the same manner as constitutionally recognized Local Government Areas (LGAs). LGAs are listed in Part I of the First Schedule to the 1999 Constitution, giving them full legal recognition and access to federal allocations. LCDAs, on the other hand, are creations of state laws and not recognized by the Constitution, meaning they lack the constitutional authority to perform core governmental functions like renaming streets or conducting elections.

In the case of Attorney-General of Lagos State V Attorney-General of the Federation (2004) LPELR-10(SC) (Pp. 96-97 paras. D), the Supreme Court held that States can propose new LGAs, but they must be approved and listed by the National Assembly to be valid. Thus, the entities known as (LCDAs) which are not recognised as LGA’s yet, can not exercise the powers of LGAs. See also the case of Attorney-General of the Federation v. Attorney-General of the 36 States of the Federation (SC/CV/343/2024), delivered on July 11, 2024 where the Supreme Court held that only democratically elected LGAs listed in the Constitution are entitled to federal allocations. It also held that State Governors can not appoint caretaker committees or divert funds meant for LGAs to LCDAs. This effectively puts the use of LCDAs as substitutes for LGAs in governance and funding unconstitutional. Therefore, LCDAs are administrative conveniences, not legal entities with constitutional backing. Their continued existence depends on State Government discretion, and any unconstitutional action carried out by them are ultra-vires

Why this matters is important is that renaming streets without due process, especially at this time, suggests a sinister attempt to rewrite history, particularly targeting the Igbo community whose contributions to Lagos are ongoing and substantial. Despite the lack of formal listing of every contribution to the Bariga Local Government, Ndi Igbo has played a critical role in the development of Bariga. Igbo entrepreneurs dominate retail and wholesale markets in Bariga, especially in areas like Pedro Road, Ilaje, and Obanikoro, contributing to local revenue and employment. Many Igbo families have invested in housing developments, transforming Bariga from a slum-like suburb into a thriving residential zone. Igbo-led NGOs and religious institutions have supported school renovations, scholarship programs, and community health drives. Through festivals, churches, and intermarriage, Ndi Igbo has helped shape Bariga’s multicultural identity, reinforcing Lagos’ reputation as Nigeria’s melting pot.

Bariga LCDA is not the largest local government area in Lagos by landmass or population. That distinction belongs to Epe (largest by land area) and Alimosho (largest by population). However, Bariga holds symbolic weight as a cultural and artistic hub, and its actions may represent a test run of broader exclusionary policies across Lagos. Else, the State Government should be bold enough to reverse this divisive policy by an outgoing administrative staff.

Indeed, if Lagos must be seen to remain a beacon of unity, then all renaming policies should be reversed because they are divisive, biased, ethnically engineered, and procedurally flawed Lagos must not become a theatre of ethnic cleansing through street signs. Lagos thrives on diversity, and the greatness of the city lies not in the dominance of one tribe but in the peaceful coexistence among its inhabitants.

Signed

Sir. Chidi Udekwe
PRESIDENT
Otu Oka-Iwu, Abuja

By Lasisi Olagunju

Each time this country discounts tribe and tongue, region and religion, it wins. Nigeria’s stunning victory in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final on Saturday was more than a football triumph. Trailing 2-0 in Rabat at half-time, the Super Falcons initially looked outmanned and outgunned by Morocco. Yet, unity of purpose, unwavering belief, and a collective resolve turned the tide. Esther Okoronkwo’s cool penalty, Folashade Ijamilusi’s equaliser, and Jennifer Echegini’s decisive last minute goal completed a remarkable comeback to secure Nigeria’s 10th WAFCON crown. I have not read anyone whining that Okoronkwo is Igbo, that Jamilusi is Yoruba, that Jennifer Onyinyechi Echegini is Igbo and that Coach Justin Madugu is from the North-East. No one has complained that a region or religion was marginalised in the constitution of that team that won. From the Muslim North’s ACF, through Middle Belt’s MBF, to Yoruba’s Afenifere, the SouthEast’s Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Niger Delta’s PANDEF, everyone danced and savoured the sweet stew of collective victory.

On football’s field of play, national pride is projected, political legitimacy is bolstered, collective national identity is strengthened. This is not just a Nigerian experience; it is so in the West, in Brazil, in Argentina, in Chile, in Uruguay, etc, and in all football-playing nations of Africa. Read David Goldblatt’s ‘Futebol Nation: The Story of Brazil through Soccer’; or read Kirk Bowman’s ‘Futebol/ Fútbol: Identity and Politics in Latin America’ (2015), a review of six books on soccer, the state and national identity.

There is confidence in unity (àgbájo owo lafíí soyà). Imagine Nigeria positively united in all we do as the Falcons did on Saturday. When stakeholders from everywhere pull in the same direction, even what looks like certain defeat becomes an opportunity. I watched President Bola Tinubu’s video call to the victorious girls. The Nigerian leader spoke very coolly presidential, and the ladies received the call with obvious happiness. I wished he would be that cool, collected, and prompt in all areas.

Duke University’s renowned basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski, told an interviewer in 2011 that “leadership is plural, not singular.” By that he meant that every member of a team has something to donate to the coaching process. I read on CAFonline that Coach Justin Madugu’s halftime pep talk and the team spirit of the girls reframed the match for the Nigerian side on Saturday. I agree. I also think that a shared national vision can reframe Nigeria’s trajectory from tribal, regional squabbling to collective excellence. A mindset of team over tribe dramatically turned defeat into triumph on the Rabat pitch two nights ago; it can do the same off it. If we choose our governance team as we chose the Falcons that played on Saturday, Nigeria will defeat all its present troubles. But the pessimist in me says we won’t ever do what is right.

And I ask: Outside sports, can we ever be united and win well as a nation? A British colonial officer wrote in 1912 that his country met this country as “vast territories in which slave raiding and war were rife, where every man’s hand was against his neighbour, and security of life and property hardly known.” Those scarlet words were written 113 years ago. Now, does that passage not sound like a history of Nigeria of 2025? The British halted the drift, created calm and handed over a largely peaceful country to us. But the misfortune of having a pervert elite has reversed all the gains we made in the last century. Yet, politicians who want to rule us are very busy tying the strands of the forehead to the hairs of the occiput, the back. And they get applauded for it.

My allusion here directly addresses Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. Last Thursday, he made a grossly divisive claim that the Tinubu administration had been diverting resources to the South at the expense of infrastructure and opportunity in northern Nigeria. The presidency responded that he lied. It said the North is far from being sidelined. It listed major expressways in the North; agriculture projects, health facilities, energy pipelines, and irrigation schemes that are under way across the region. A huge debate is rippling the polity and diverting attention from the real ailments of this sick nation. I sat back and marvelled at how a politician’s careless, opportunistic talk can fragment relations, poison discourses and blind citizens to shared gains.

Dropping his bomb during a stakeholders’ dialogue on the 2025 constitutional amendment proposals in Kano, Kwankwaso accused the Tinubu government of building roads only in the South while the North is left to decay. He said the Federal Government had diverted attention and resources to the South at the expense of the North. He was strategic and deliberate in making that allegation; he got loudly applauded by his Kano crowd. His statement rang alarm bells in the South. I heard some people asking how Kwankwaso could lie so calmly even as he seeks to rule the whole country as president. But that was really how Muhammadu Buhari started his hugely successful political career.

Buba Galadima, two weeks ago, said: “Some of us who recruited Buhari (into politics) had a mission.” He said the mission was to fight the OPC and its mission. The late General truly entered politics and never pretended where his loyalty was between Nigeria and northern Nigeria. His country was the North and he served it with all his heart and might, and his people appreciated him. The spell of division that gave Buhari his 12 million followers is exactly what Kwankwaso seeks to cast once again on the trusting, struggling masses of northern Nigeria. And, if it worked for Buhari, who says it won’t work for Rabiu Kwankwaso? All that the Kano big man needs to become a greater Buhari is to carry that message of northern marginalisation to all the major capitals of the North this week, next month and next year. His testing-testing-the-mic magic worked in Kano; the crowd is waiting for his Mark Anthony in other places.

Many southerners who heard the Kano strongman laughed at the strategic ignorance of a man who wants to be the president of Nigeria. Was his claim of southern heaven and northern hell true? No. The ride is bumpy in the South as it is in the North. I am from the South-West where the president comes from. If we have issues with him, it is because his politics courts the maiden outside at the expense of the wife at home. His charity is yet to begin at home. Virtually all federal roads in the South-West have collapsed. And he does not appear to care.

And I have a witness to this in Dave Umahi, Tinubu’s Minister of Works. The man gave a reply to Kwankwaso late on Friday. He said Kwankwaso lied and added that as Works Minister, he had “been badly accused” of doing projects “only in the North, especially North-West.” I am more interested in what Umahi said he has not done than in what he said he has done. And, I am happy he admitted that his ministry has been very unfair to the South-West in the execution of road projects. Hear him: “I have been under pressure by some stakeholders for the construction of their major roads like the abandoned Ibadan-Oyo by Arab Contractors; Ibadan – Ife-llesa; Ilesa-Akure-Benin; and Ore-Sagamu roads. These are the real major projects in the South-West which I have been appealing to Mr President to give me money to do… The people of the South-West may think that I am doing nothing about the major projects in their zone. These are projects that are within major economic corridors between the South and the North and (which) deserve attention.”

You heard the minister saying he is begging the president for funds to do roads in the president’s region of origin. When the falcon struggles to hear the falconer, know that “surely some revelation is at hand.” God bless W.B. Yeats and his ‘Second Coming!’

“If you pardon, we will mend” says Shakespeare in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Umahi asked Kwankwaso to apologise to Tinubu. The minister got it wrong. The apology from Kwankwaso should be directed at the suffering people of southern Nigeria who have been wrongly accused by this aspiring northern leader of eating other people’s ration.

A bad workman blames his tool. The issues the North has today, according to Kwankwaso, “have to do with the lack of enough resources and mismanagement of the little that comes in.” He said that is why the North had insecurity and poverty. Then, from him came a warning and a threat: “It (insecurity and poverty) is happening here mainly, but like a desert, it will go everywhere.” Go where? I am not a Tinubu man but I wonder how the North not having resources and “mismanagement of the little that comes in” has become an albatross on the neck of a man who became president two years ago. Kwankwaso himself has been everything except the president in Nigeria. His share of the problems of the North and of the nation is huge. The rain that beats the northern vulture today did not start today. If there will be a respite, the source of the deluge will have to be traced and plugged. And that source is right there in the North. The pest that is devouring the vegetable of the North is on the stem of the vegetable. All politicians of Kwankwaso’s mindset should learn from the magic of the Super Falcons. It won because it is a team without tribe and tongue.

Now, this before we go: If you have an eye for the trivia like me, you would see the most important paragraph in the 26-paragraph “Message of Gratitude” published by the family of General Muhammadu Buhari in The Nation newspaper of Thursday, 24 July, 2025. It was inserted right after the first paragraph. The family wrote: “It is the humble request to everyone to keep the departed soul in their thoughts and continue with their pre-decided schedules and commitments. That would be a befitting tribute to the late president.”

If I had been consulted by the Buhari family for the appropriate words to use in that paragraph, I would have donated a masterstroke proverb from the Yoruba armoury: “Bí ojú bá ye ojú, kí ohùn má yè” (if the eyes no longer align; make sure the voice, the word, does not waver). It is a poetic metaphor for loyalty beyond presence, especially potent in a political landscape where betrayal is the norm.

The second paragraph of a 26-paragraph appreciation statement is prime real estate. To occupy that space with a request to keep “pre-decided schedules and commitments” is not trivial, ordinary or accidental. In a society like Nigeria, where political statements are often padded with lethal hints, dark euphemism and dank proverbs, such a phrase is more than an appeal for calm. I read in it a signal. I showed it to a friend; his verdict is that the family of the late General Buhari, by this phrasing, had positioned his death as a pivot. Me, I call this whole thing the politics of the ‘Second Paragraph’. In mourning, people often seek closure. In power, they seek continuity. The Buhari family, via this carefully crafted and strategically positioned line, appears to choose the latter. But continuity of what?

Between Thursday and now, I have read the paragraph repeatedly and asked: What are those “pre-decided schedules and commitments” that are so crucially important that they had to be inserted as the very second paragraph in a 26-paragraph statement of appreciation to those who mourned the dead? In other words, the Buhari family’s demand for fidelity to commitments is curious. What are those commitments? Are the commitments political? Or are they financial? Were there unfinished political alignments or pacts tied to Buhari’s legacy? Is it about the 2027 elections now on the horizon? Or, is it another Gordian knot beckoning on the sword of an Alexander the Great?

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

Time to throw all the pretences away. What to do with Peter Obi is still among major challenges Nigerians face as the presidential race revs on reckless gears heading for 2027. He was in 2023. He will continue to raise questions on what Nigerians want. And what we intend to do about it.

Obi is daring, deft, and deaf to the din of traditional political practices. His bravery troubles opponents endlessly.

What do we do with Obi? What do we do without him? Are we ready for Obi and his proposals?

The answers are cures to the hyped hypocrisies masquerading as competence to manage Nigeria. The most intriguing of these nagging issues is the displacement of competence with entitlement.

Obi does not preach. He simply shares in crisp citations, evidential proof of what he did in Anambra State as Governor. He intends to replicate them as President of Nigeria when elected. We applaud. Will the matter end there?

Nigerians claim their country is at the brink. The same Nigerians want someone to pull the country back from the proclivity to accelerating demise. Obi has offered himself. His proposals are clear.

No governor in his era left the hefty sums and investments he bequeathed to his successor. None of his mates compiled his handover note, revealing cheques that had been left to pay teachers, pensioners, contractors, other obligations. His records in other areas are indisputable.

He then swore an affidavit to authenticate the details of his tenure at a High Court.

The savings he made in local and foreign bonds were worth $156m in March 2014. Nobody has done a fraction of that. He never borrowed; he left no debts.

Obi lifted Anambra State out of the chaos it was. He ignored the fat cats that dubbed themselves godfathers. He rescued a State that had adopted rambunctiousness as its alias.
He is not earning any pension from Anambra State, at a time Governors across Nigeria approved hefty pensions for themselves – there are few exceptions.

Alas, other things impress Nigerians, chiefly, how much someone is willing to give them to get into office. The season of harvests for political merchants is already near.

Many aspirants have lined up seemingly for the same mission. Many words are being tossed about in line with the season. What stands Obi out is the clarity of his thoughts, exampled by his works as Governor, and his understandable positions on every issue.

Obi has built on his competence to court a nationwide following that is not procured through a heavy pocket. There are more differences.

He is frugal. He lives it. People mock him for his simplicity that abhors the pomp of office. He reminds Nigerians that the country is in dire straits and needed to be cured of its wastefulness.

Parts of the wastes are repeated with dedicated choice of leaders that take us to booming doom.

President Muhammadu Buhari remains a sterling example. Those who chose him to feed their selfishness spent the years defending his bumblings. They blame everyone except the man and themselves for his serial failures. They continue praising him to feed their future.

Nigeria is bound for further doldrums if measures that can redeem it are mixed up with choices that eat our tomorrow, today.

Obi is ready to offer innovative service that would strip Nigeria of the huge baggage she lugs around as it tries to make progress. Obi is that opportunity.

He is not a saint. If he were, he probably would not be in the race. His demonstrated abilities to turn around situations should count for something beyond annoying opponents as his charity does.
Do the heights he expects Nigeria to attain matter? What are others offering? What did they do with past opportunities? How are they managing Nigeria’s resources?

If we ignore Obi, we would have chosen to continue with the next level of nothingness. We can change for better when we join Obi to make a difference in our lives as a people, and a country.

The choice remains the same as in 2023 when Nigerians decided. Were we not aware then? What has changed?
Nigeria has worsened. The divisions have widened. We can no longer agree on what a crime is though laws define it. Hardly anything makes meaning any more.

Obi stands distinct from the distractions that are thrown at Nigeria’s flimsy chances of making any meaningful progress under the guises of party squabbles, insecurity, hunger, and a poverty that tempts even saints to be perfidious.

Obi is a judgement on who the majority of Nigerians are – lovers of hypocrisy.

Finally…

IF we are what we eat, what are those who have nothing to eat? Food prices are still soaring. The determination of our leaders to nurture poverty is disturbing.

WHO will be the next President? Political profiteers, prophets, plain thieves, who live on the gullible, are whispering names, making millions in the process. Some claim the Almighty has told them!

SENATE President Obong Godswill Akpabio has assured Plateau State that the killings would end soon. “As the President of the 10th Senate, I hear you loud and clear, and be rest assured that your travails will be given the needed attention and response from the relevant agencies,” Akpabio said at a funeral in Jos. Can we start a countdown to peace in Plateau? Only Plateau?

■ Isiguzo is a major commentator on minor issues.

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