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Nigerian doctor advises men to refrain from cruel behaviour towards pregnant wives, particularly during childbirth

A Nigerian doctor, Zainab Suleiman Buhari, has condemned certain ill and cruel behaviour exhibited by some men towards their pregnant wives, particularly during childbirth.

Dr. Zainab, who stated this on Facebook, said she’s witnessed how some men leave their pregnant wives in the labour room and then go home to stay. 

She prayed that God would grant women kind and emotionally intelligent husbands who would support them during pregnancy, postpartum, sickness, and other life’s challenging situations. 

“One ill behavior I’ve seen is some men dropping their wives it the labor room/ or operating room and then going back home. Not to look for money, or take care of a child, or bring anything. That’s Cruelty,” she wrote. 

“I wish for women to pray that Allah grants them a kind partner, someone who genuinely loves them, someone who will be there for them in health and in sickness, even in life’s challenging situations, and will hold hands with them. 

“May Allah bless you with a partner who is emotionally intelligent. Being with partners who don’t really care about how you survive or how you feel is a nightmare.

“As you are looking for the love of your life that has money my sister pray for the one that have feelings and emotions. It’s far better and good for you. If not, your experience will be brutal.” 

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Court holds that doctors can force-feed anorexic woman

Patricia's condition has left her unable to walk unaided and she has bedsores and osteoporosis

Doctors have been told they can force-feed an anorexic woman following a legal ruling.

In 2023, a court said 25-year-old Patricia, whose name has been changed for legal reasons, could not be forced to use a feeding tube.

Following a legal challenge by her family members, the the Court of Protection has now ruled treatment can be used “to save her life”.

Patricia, who weighs just three stone (19kg), is under the care of three different NHS bodies operating in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and, in a joint statement, they said they welcomed “the clarity” the ruling gave.

The judgment said that Patricia, who is autistic, has suffered from anorexia nervosa since the age of 10.

A court order made in 2023 ruled against force-feeding Patricia without her consent.

That was challenged by her parents at the Court of Protection, which makes decisions for people who “lack mental capacity”.

‘Patricia’s will to live remains strong’

Mrs Justice Arbuthnot now ruled Patricia could now be force-fed regardless of whether she had personally given permission, as this was in her “best interests”.

“Having considered the balance of the imminent risk of death versus the harm which will be caused psychologically and emotionally… the balance is in favour of trying to save her life,” she said.

“Patricia’s will to live remains strong. She speaks about what she would like to do in her life, including travelling.”

Patricia did not want the order lifted, and was “traumatised” by the thought of having to be force-fed, arguing it was “torture”, Mrs Justice Arbuthnot said.

“What struck me was how wrong it was that a potential life-saving option, open to every other anorexic in the country, was not available to Patricia,” she added.

Patricia has been treated by doctors from Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.

A spokesperson on behalf of the three NHS bodies said Patricia’s health and well-being remained their “priority”.

“We welcome the clarity this Court of Protection ruling provides and the court’s thorough review of this complex case,” they said.

Credit: BBC

Two convicted rapists enter Ekiti sex offenders’ register for gang raping 13-year-old

Sequel to their conviction for gang-raping a 13-year-old girl, the names Anu Olaniyi and Abidemi Alobaloye have been entered into the register of sex offenders in Ekiti State.

The Ekiti State Ministry of Justice disclosed this on Friday, August 8, 2025. 

A State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti Division had sentenced the two men to life imprisonment in March 2025. 

The duo who committed the offences on December 28, 2020, were arraigned on the charges of conspiracy and gang rape.

During the hearing, the victim told the court, “I was sent on an errand on 28th December 2020 when one of the convicts intercepted me and purposely directed me to his friend’s place where they both forcibly had carnal knowledge of me one after the other”.

“I was able to recognise both convicts and they were later arrested and charged to court.”

The Director of Public Prosecution, Julius Ajibare, said that the offences committed were “contrary to Section 421 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021 and Section 2(2)(c) of the Ekiti State Gender-Based Violence (Prohibition) (First Amendment) Law, 2020”.

Ajibare called four witnesses and tendered seven exhibits in support of his case.

But the defendants, who spoke through their counsel, Oluwafemi Alonge, gave evidence in their defence and called no witnesses.

In the judgment, Justice Adekunle Adeleye held that “the prosecution proved the offence of gangrape and conspiracy against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt”.

The judge consequently convicted the defendants and sentenced each of them to life imprisonment for gang rape and two years imprisonment for conspiracy.

Names of two convicted rapists entered in Ekiti s3x offenders register for gang r3ping a 13-year-old girl
Names of two convicted rapists entered in Ekiti s3x offenders register for gang r3ping a 13-year-old girl

Obscene, Profane Content on ‘Big Brother Naija: Abuja lawyer files another petition to NCC

By M.O.Ida, Esq.

In keeping with my commitment to pursue the ban or strict regulation of Big Brother Naija against the promotion, broadcast, and dissemination of repulsive or explicit content on the National Television and in public places. I have filed another petition to the @NCC just as I petitioned the NBC.

Read Also: Lawyer threatens court action if NBC fails to ban or regulate obscene, profane content on ‘Big Brother Naija’

Both petitions serve as Pre-Action Notices to the affected government agencies. The agencies are expected to address my complaint within 30 days.

Legal preparations are underway to enable me to approach the court at the expiration of the period given, where no action is taken towards addressing the complaints raised.

Notice must be taken that I am not going after Multi-Choice or BBNAIJA business, nor am I championing this cause as a moral police. I have no problem with what people do to make them happy, provided it does not offend or harm others.

Public decency, morality, belief, conscience, and thoughts would not be sacrificed to satisfy the monetary interests of a private organisation.

This cause will be pursued until it is decided one way or the other.

M.O.Idam

A Review of The Bubbles of Nigerian Democracy: The Musing of a Nigerian Journalist, and WADATA WONDERS: Memoirs of a Partisan Journalist written by Ike Abonyi

Reviewer: Martins Oloja, former MD/Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian

A TIME FOR OUR ONE-SIDED STORIES

My main task here today is to deconstruct the relevance of two books written by a partisan journalist. Ike Abonyi’s declaration of himself as a partisan journalist should be curious. The work is a complex and dangerous combination of journalism and public relations, a subject I have been researching for a ground-breaking work: ‘Journalism Isn’t Public Relations’. Ike Abonyi has challenged the central idea of my ‘hypothesis’ as he has now dared to ask public policy and politics experts: What is wrong with being a partisan journalist?  He is simplifying the question: Why can’t journalists be partisan too in a society that has entrenched a culture of impunity, where only men rule instead of the laws? That is: we need to pay attention to the message in the books we are about to launch today.

When you read the books, you are likely to renew your mind about some people who use some curious sophistry to impose their opinion that journalists are writing and promoting single or one-sided stories in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society. At a recent convention of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) a senior intelligence chief who delivered a keynote spoke extensively on “The danger of a one-sided story”. Now a political journalist who crossed over to a partisan beat of political management who was writing from the beat for the mass media as a partisan journalist may be challenging the allegation of one-sided stories? Who is a partisan journalist? The answer may be blowing in the wind until the book is unveiled for public consumption.   

The Bubbles of Nigeria Democracy: The Musing of a Nigerian Journalist 

The 530-page book is a compilation of the reportorial and analytical work of an organic journalist who spent more than 30 years in the newsroom of four different newspapers (Triumph, Kano, Champion, ThisDay and New Telegraph) plus a nearly a decade in the corridors of power of political Parties (PDP and Labour Party). It is a rich memoir, a guide for political writers and analysts.

The book has 106 articles capturing different topics depicting the political activities of this republic from 1999 to 2023. These works are mostly drawn from a weekly political column signed as “Political Musing”, published every Thursday on the Back Page of the New Telegraph Newspaper, where the author was a pioneer, Deputy Managing Director. He has maintained this column since the inception of the newspaper in February 2014. On the founding of the Global Upfront Newspaper in 2019, the column has also been published in the online (digital) newspaper every Thursday.

By its various topics, the book is a collector’s item, topic by topic of critical events in our polity in this republic. But it is undoubtedly a focused column that has its own ideological leaning. In the book, you will find out that there was a delegate from Cameroun in President Jonathan’s 2014 Conference from an article titled: “The confab’s Cameroun delegate”. You will also find interesting articles such as “Aisha’s rebellion and Buhari’s presidency”. Did Aisha, former First Lady actually rebel inside Aso Villa’s fortress? Find out in the book in the book too When the other room was locked”. You will find out an interesting piece on how “Almajiri puts northern leaders in the dock”. There more..

Wadata Wonders: Memoirs of A Partisan Journalist_ 

The book, whose name is derived from the name of the building housing the Headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is a 168-page work that mirrors the few years the author spent at the Headquarters of PDP serving as media Adviser to two the National Chairmen, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo and Prince Uche Secondus.

The author, as a journalist in this book, has put down some of his experiences mingling with politicians at a very high level in party management. According to the author, it is a story told by “a journalist inside the umbrella as it rains with the actors and actresses”.

The PDP has been rolling in and out of crisis even during their 16 years in power but it got worse when they lost power to the then-opposition APC in 2015. And the party is still smarting from its crisis of coherence. The book, in 29 short readable chapters, captured all the dimensions of PDP up to date.

The author feels from his journalistic perspective that what he saw politicians do in the PDP, especially in nearly four years of Prince Uche Secondus, easily the longest stable regime in the PDP life is nothing but wonders to the ordinary eyes. You will see this from interesting titles such as “From the Ashes”, through “Prayer, As A Weapon of Political War”, “Like Nwodo, Like Secondus”, “Wike: Tinubu Emerges PDP Highest Bidder”.”Wike, A TseTse Fly on PDP’s Scrotum” to “Will PDP NEC Mend Limping Fractures?” If you want to become an emergency oracle on what will happen to the PDP, now in the eye of a storm, buy a copy of the book and read. If you want to know the origin of Wike’s involvement in the rise and rise and tumbling of the fist ruling party in this dispensation, get a copy of the book and read. Let me wet your appetite with these excerpts on Chapter 24 of Wadata Wonders

The article titled: ‘Wike: Tinubu emerges PDP’s Hghest Bidder’ .

Who owns the People’s Democratic Party? Is it the people as the name implies? Today, there are two PDPs, one belonging to Nyesom Wike and working closely with the ruling APC, and another led by flag bearer Atiku Abubakar. None of them can stand strong as a credible opposition party. How and why did the party get to this crossroads? A one-word answer is GREED. The party’s leaders saw sugar and jumped at the Greek gift, engaging their faculties in the reverse gear…. They did not care a hoot about the after-effects of the sugar or is wheeler-dealer source until it had entered their bloodstream…’   

The full piece reveals how the rain began to beat the PDP now riding a terrible storm. Buy a copy the book to read the effects of the gift that is making a way for one of the owners the author identified in the article from page 114 of the book.

The rider in the second title, Memoirs of A Partisan Journalist excites me as a journalist. And here is why: In Nigeria, all of us in the media have been dragged into a single box office by long years over-centralisation of political activities and media ecosystem. What do we do in the box? We are told about the expediency of balancing stories. We have been wired to respect ‘fairness doctrine’ in addition to respecting a rule that is cast on a marble that “facts are sacred”. And here is the thing, any time we do a story about the North and the South, any time we report on the ruling and the opposition parties in any dispensation, we are bound by professionalism to be fair to all the parties, even if both parties evade the truth we are told to be loyal to.  In this mode, we are told to avoid use of certain terms while describing certain tribes and people even if your descriptions and epithets are factual. We are told to tell stories of troops in war zones in certain ways even if some criminal entities in command positions in the armed forces are endangering the lives of some officers.

What is more, the gatekeepers, the editors have been wired to be conflict-sensitive in national interest, even if it is to protect the enlightened self-interest of the heads of state and political leaders. We are told to ensure that we don’t undermine state security by telling certain truths about state actors even if they are stealing our pubic funds with all their strength. That has been a dilemma we haven’t resolved.

My analogy above is the story of the relevance of Ike Abonyi’s one-sided stories of a partisan journalist the two books threaten to represent. In the book, Abonyi the political journalist and columnist has demonstrated to us what been happening in most media ecosystems in the world: there is no neutrality anywhere. In the United States, people of various backgrounds including university scholars freely join political parties. The political parties are distinctively ideological in orientation. People are either of the Republican Party (conservative) or National Democratic Party (liberal).

In 2013, as Editor of The Guardian, I was invited to be on the entourage of scholars from NIPSS, Kuru, Plateau State who were then on a study tour of United States for the year’s study theme: “Management of Political Parties”. The team led by the then Director General of the Institute, Professor Tijjani Muhammad Bande, hired two professors from George Washington University’s Political Management School as resource persons to one of the sessions for the study in the U.S capital. The two professors, one female and the other male, introduced themselves as members of the Republican Party and National Democratic Party respectively. Here we don’t have respectable political parties that can attract members from various backgrounds. Political Parties here (in Nigeria) that appear to be acting as just special purpose vehicles (SPVs), don’t shop for members from even the business communities, let alone the universities. They attract members only from what Franz Fanon calls “the wretched of the earth” from professional bodies such as National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). So, they are there expecting at all times the balancing acts from the media. They don’t remember what they see in the West, specifically in the United States where there is a great deal of diversity in the media ecosystem: The CNN audience is different from the FOX NEWS’, for instance. The New York Times editorial orientation is different from the Los Angeles Times’ and Washington Post’s, etc. In the United Kingdom, the BBC isn’t re-echoing or competing with the SKY NEWS in covering the old Great Britain. They have their BBC World, covering the world for Britain, while SKY NEWS covers Britain for the world.

What UK newspapers do you read? Why?

Years ago, on a very clever and funny British sitcom about government (yes, I know, but it really was clever, funny and very popular), called Yes, Prime Minister there was a lovely bit of dialogue on the subject of who reads which newspapers:

PM Jim Hacker: Don’t tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers:

The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country, The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country, The Timesis read by people who actually do run the country, the Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country, the Financial Timesis read by people who own the country, the Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country and The Telegraph is read by people who think it is the PM. 


Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun? Bernard Woolley: The Sun readers don’t care who runs the country, as long as she’s got big tits. This joke wasn’t new, it actually predated Yes, Prime Minister by several years, but it referred to the Sun’s tradition of Page 3 girls (wearing very little) in particular. It was close enough overall to the perceived truth to be funny!

Personally, as someone in no position of importance, and without much money, I actually read The Timesfor preference. It’s mildly conservative in style (nowhere near as consistently right-wing as The Telegraph and The Daily Mail) but actually provides space for a very wide spectrum of political views, the writing is mostly of a high standard, and the online discussions between readers are very lively and entertaining. Worth the subscription to get past the paywall, in my opinion.

Abonyi and imperative of alternative views in a democracy

The author shows in so many articles in both books that in a functioning democracy, the presence of alternative views is crucial for ensuring that citizens have access to a wide range of perspectives and ideas. This diversity of thought allows for informed decision-making, promotes critical thinking, and fosters a more inclusive and equitable society.

The benefits of alternative views

Alternative views provide a necessary check on power and ensure that those in authority are held accountable for their actions. By presenting different perspectives, alternative views encourage critical thinking and promote a more nuanced understanding of complex issues. This, in turn, leads to more informed decision-making and a more engaged citizenry.

The importance of dissent

Dissent is a vital component of a healthy democracy. It provides a necessary check on power and ensures that those in authority are held accountable for their actions. Dissent also promotes critical thinking and encourages citizens to question the status quo.

The challenges of promoting alternative views

Promoting alternative views in a democracy can be challenging. Those who hold dominant views may seek to suppress dissenting voices, and the media may be pressured to promote a particular agenda or ideology. However, it is essential to overcome these challenges and ensure that alternative views are given a platform.

Abonyi’s courage in declaring himself as a partisan journalist is a remarkable statement to the media and managers of the political parties that we can’t continue to follow the same line of action or policy thrust. The imperative of alternative views in a democracy cannot be overstated. Alternative views provide a necessary check on power, promote critical thinking, and ensure that citizens have access to a wide range of perspectives and ideas. The media plays a crucial role in promoting alternative views, and dissent is a vital component of a healthy democracy. By promoting alternative views and embracing dissent, we can create a more inclusive, equitable, and just society. That is what Abonyi has shown and Editors who are blaming the social media for poor sales and advertising patronage should ask market surveyors and scholars to do a survey and research on What Nigerian newspapers do you read and why? The responses to questionnaire here will help us to be more focused and customer-centric in our content production, just like the British and others. 

Abonyi’s bold statement in his books demonstrates that a time to be balanced is gone. It ‘s a digital journalism story time. It’s a time to have news journal that will tell the story of enterprise in the South East. It is a time for the story of very educated elite and in the South West. It is a time to ask the media and the elite what happened to the South West. It is a time to tell the story of intentional agriculture in the North. It is yet another time to ask the northern elite and their media what happened to the Ground pyramid in Kano?

Abonyi is saying through his book you will enjoy that it is a time to ask the Nigerian elite and in the North and the South what happened to the very influential New Nigerian, Daily Sketch, Herald, The Tide, The Star, The Standard, The Chronicle, (where it all began for Raymond Ekpu), The Pioneer, Triumph, which used to tell Nigerian readers the difference Kano used to make via the party of the ‘talakawas’, People’s Redemption Party (PRP).

It is a time to tell the story of the ‘Tiv Riot’ and how its effects are still fuelling the current insurgency in Benue State some alleged ancient land grabbers have vowed to conquer.

It is a time to tell the so-called one-sided story of how a businessman from the Hausa people they continue to claim the Fulani conquered has established the world’s only single largest train of refinery in Lagos and not in Kano. It is a time to tell the world that the only rival who is trying to compete with Alhaji Dangote in Lagos is another man from Kano, the same Kano of the Bua Group, Alhaji Rabiu.

It is a time to tell a single significant story of how Ernest Sisei Ikoli, the first notable journalist in Lagos and indeed West Coast of Africa from Brass in Today’s oii-rich Bayelsa State formed the first Lagos elite party, Lagos Youth Movement, which he later renamed Nigerian Youth Movement.

It is a time to ask Alhaji Bukar Zarma, a Babur man, not Kanuri from Borno state why there is no longer an Abuja Newsday,Abuja’s premier newspaper, which began to tell a so-called single story of the Abuja’s indigenous population, original inhabitants and how they surrendered their heritage their organic fathers’ land to other Nigerians who were looking for a new national capital, exactly forty-nine year ago.

It is a time to tell another one-sided but significant story from Africa to the so-called powerful G-7/8 members that “Africa has come age” as was originally told some 49 years ago when Hurricane Ramat Hohammed told them when the Africa was united about the independence of Angola.

It is a time to find a journal of a one-sided story, which will contextually report the main reasons the Kanuri-centric people of North East are resisting the renaming of their iconic University of Maiduguri after a General and a former President of north-western extraction.

It is a time to tell the one-sided (partisan story) of the plights of Christians in Tafawa Balewa LG areas in Bauchi State, Biliri People in Gombe State, Zuru in Kebbi State, and in many Local Governments Areas in Adamawa state. These people and many others from other places including Christian-dominated Southern Kaduna (state) where their even brilliant children still cannot gain admission to read some courses even in federal universities such as Medicines even if they score the maximum point in UTME. Who will tell the single story of even the professors who are Christians but can never apply to be vice chancellors of even federal and state universities located in certain jurisdictions in the same northern Nigeria?

Who has written a one-sided story of how a state in the South South, Akwa Ibom State, has established actually one of the most reliable, if not most preferred airline, Ibom Air, in a complex federation where even the federal government duped its people for eight years about revival of a national carrier they claimed  they established on their last day in office with a scandalously painted aircraft from Ethiopian airline? It is a time for the same Akwa Ibom people to tell a one-sided story of how they also constructed the only FIFA-certified stadium in their capital Uyo, which is very close to Malabo, capital of another country.

What is the significance of all these so-called single or one sided stories as some narratives of some state actors and non-state actors who are paid to spin for them always try to impose some agenda on all us? We need to emulate Ike Abonyi even if we are called partisan reporters or writers so that most of the muted voices in various locations across the country can be heard through community journals, newspapers and radio and televisions.

On the whole, Ike Abonyi’s two well-written books should be encouraged by buying more copies because they represent alternative views. Let us have more so-called partisan voices and pieces so that we can be better informed about what our public officers are doing and what they have failed to do.

Date: August 6, 2025

Venue: Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.

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Our World-Class NNPCL reflects strategies of Petroleum Minister, Tinubu?

By Ikeddy Isiguzo

When we demand that President Bola Tinubu do better, what do we truly mean? Are we asking him to continue excelling in personalising decisions and setting standards for government business – business that should rightly belong to the people?

Do established governance standards matter to Tinubu if they don’t align with his “global standards,” derived from his experience in international businesses across two continents?

Tinubu, as a self-proclaimed strategist, seems to treat the management of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Plc (NNPCL) with a lack of urgency, reflected in his appointments.

More significantly, he is also the Minister of Petroleum. The NNPCL, which remains the focus, currently lacks a board. Everything is reported directly to Tinubu.

This arrangement presents potential risks. The President’s constitutional immunity shields him from investigations into his decisions and indecisions.

This isn’t entirely unprecedented. Except for Presidents Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, previous presidents since 1999 have also served as Ministers of Petroleum. The resultant abuses have become entrenched within the company.

NNPCL markets itself as a global energy business aspiring to be the world’s energy company of choice, using the typical buzzwords: excellence, integrity, reliability, resilience, and the like.

However, aside from its sheer size and operational scope, even the smallest filling station might be managed more effectively. The key difference lies in the fact that the owner of a small filling station has a vested interest in its profitability and sustainability. These concepts appear largely irrelevant to how NNPCL is operated.

Recent events have portrayed NNPCL as a family-run business plagued by conflicting directives emanating from various family members, security personnel, and external figures with unclear authority.

We often celebrate NNPCL as our national oil company, the primary custodian of our oil and gas assets, which underpin the national economy and fuel the ambition of influential figures.

How can such a crucial organization be rocked by news of the purportedly forced resignation of the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), followed by seemingly inadequate official statements that suggest a deeper crisis than we are aware of?

Does the fact that the GCEO of this “global company” was reportedly removed and then reinstated amidst uninvestigated allegations have no impact on how it conducts its business?

Why is the government acting as if the GCEO’s return is an accomplishment? Does the President/Minister of Petroleum Resources view NNPCL as his personal company, to be managed according to his individual preferences?

Should the public not be informed of the underlying circumstances beyond the weak explanation that contracts from NNPCL were being awarded to an associate of a political opponent? Does a connection to an opposition politician automatically disqualify someone from receiving contracts, even if they are otherwise qualified?

Doesn’t that raise questions about potential abuse of office?

The President faces many unanswered questions. Numerous activities at NNPCL remain shrouded in uncertainty. If the Minister of Petroleum, who is also the President, is unwilling to address these issues as part of his own commitment to accountability and integrity, he should at least avoid adding to them.

Whatever transpired at NNPCL in the past week seems to stem from treating a global corporation like a sole proprietorship. It allows individuals with questionable influence to disrupt the company’s operations.

Strategists can lead us down unexpected paths. There is a reluctance to disclose information about the billions of dollars squandered on refineries, fuel subsidies, and NNPCL’s own opaque accounting systems, which obscure trillions of Naira.

Could addressing these questions and pursuing those implicated open up vulnerabilities that could damage the President’s prospects in 2027?

How does the Minister of Petroleum intend to manage NNPCL in the months ahead? Can we at least learn the details of the recent events at NNPCL? Who orchestrated the events that unfolded there?

If the President is unable to sanction those involved, he could at least publicly commend them for their efforts. The Minister of Petroleum and President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria must be aware of how a significant part of his office functions.

It would be difficult to believe that he is not interested in the leadership of NNPCL and how it is run.

Finally…

JUST imagine in the ValueJet and others versus Alhaji Ayinde Marshal, more popularly known as, K1 De Ultimate, matter, if the owner of the airline and pilot were of different origin, and maybe if the airport was not Abuja. It would have been a clear case of attempted assassination, linked to a well-known presidential candidate, on whose behalf the airline acted, knowing fully well that K1 is an ardent support of the President. May the Almighty keep protecting Nigeria, and Nigerians from chaos in any form it tries to present itself.

CONGRATULATIONS D’Tigress for your fifth straight win of the African women’s basketball title. I am more included to call you Super D’Tigress. The President did not fall into the temptation of not rewarding you as he did with the football team. Let us see who will tell the President not to reward other teams in the same terms as the Super Falcons. Our money will not “finish” – we can always borrow.

IF you are in any political coalition these days, the standard code is to be in at least three different groups. The different factions – or fractions – are fusing and diffusing at a pace that primes confusion, especially as many keep talking about 2027 as if they have abolished next year, 2026.

MOTHER of the nation, as many now call the President’s wife, Mrs Remi Tinubu, is growing by the day in her welfare and philanthropic activities. Does anyone know Mrs Tinubu’s net worth? What is the source of the billions of Naira she donates? How much tax does she pay annually? We should not stand by while all manners of insinuations are made about her wealth. Or shouldn’t she speak up for herself?

PETER Obi got some roasting on X for speaking out against the arrest of another presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, whose supporters said Obi was chasing relevance. “Did he tweet about the plane crash in Ghana (he did) or the tarmac incident involving K1 De Ultimate?,” they asked. They advised Obi to learn how to bear grudges because he would need it heading to 2027.

DR. Mumini Alao, a long-term sports journalist, launches his biography, MUMINI ALAO, today 10 August at the University of Lagos. Mr. Babatunde Fashola, former Governor of Lagos, former Minister of Works, has confirmed that he will deliver the keynote address.

A COALITION of Nigeria’s aviation unions has declared an indefinite strike from Monday, 11 August. The unions blame the Federal Government’s failure to implement a long-promised salary structure for airspace management personnel of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, for the strike that is expected to disrupt flight operations nationwide.

WEST African Examination Council, WAEC has joined in mangling the future of the youth. The matter will as usual be treated as of it does not matter. When JAMB released its results earlier in the year, protests attended it. Parents and their wards complained.

JAMB finally admitted something was wrong. WAEC has followed the same steps in the 2025 examinations. Will there be any consequences for those toying with our future? Not when neither the present nor the past had counted in how the authorities manage Nigeria.

Isiguzo is a major commentator on minor issues

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

Abuja lawyer Cordelia Chinedu Asouzu dies at 59

An Abuja corporate lawyer, Mrs Cordelia Chinedu Asouzu, has died.

Born on 28 July 1966, Cordelia Asouzu, who died on 7 July 2025, will be buried on Wednesday, 13 August 2025, after a funeral Mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Akunwanta-Uno, Arondizuogu, Ideato North L.G.A., Imo State.

Midnight Attack: Church leaders killed, churches, homes burnt, in Plateau community

In another wave of fresh violence, armed men launched a deadly overnight attack on Ding’ak community in Mushere Chiefdom, Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State, leaving at least two people dead, churches and homes burnt, and food supplies looted.

The assault, which began around midnight and lasted until about 4:30 a.m., reportedly saw the attackers wielding sophisticated weapons that overpowered local vigilantes.

The Chairman of the Bokkos Cultural Development Forum (BCDF), Farmasum Fudang, told our correspondent in a phone interview that the victims include two officials with the Church Of Christ In Nations (COCIN).

Fudang also said two COCIN churches and several homes were set ablaze. Maize farms were destroyed, while livestock, including cows, goats, sheep, chickens, and ducks, were stolen alongside stored food.

“They came through the usual route between Ding’ak and Kopmur,” Fudang said, lamenting that a security checkpoint is located less than a kilometre away from the scene. “Soldiers fired shots into the air but did not engage the attackers,” he alleged.

The BCDF chairman described the incident as part of a sustained wave of terror in Mushere land, noting that it came just two days after a similar attack in the Ndimar community. He called on both the federal and Plateau State governments to urgently intervene and bring the perpetrators to justice.

A Legacy Larger than Sport: Christian Chukwu, 4 January 1951 – 14 April 2025

By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

On 6 December 1977, Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s military Head of State, received a group of young men from the east who had come to present him with a trophy won in the field of football contest against the rest of Africa. They were members of a football team known as Rangers International Football Club of Enugu.

The previous day, led by the charismatic Christian Chukwu,  by an aggregate margin of five goals to two, they had beaten arguably the most legendary generation of footballers from Cameroon’s Canon Sportif de Yaoundé to win the African Cup Winners Cup. On their way to the title, they toppled the defending champions, IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan, who won the title the previous year by beating Tonnerre Kalara Football Club also of Yaoundé.

Odinkalu with the trustees of the Enugu Rangers Veterans comprising “Chairman” Christian Chukwu, captain of the @NGSuperEagles team that won the #AFCON1980; Emmanuel Okala, the goalkeeper of that team & Dr. Johnny Egbuonu

In reality, the full import of that Dodan Barracks encounter between the Christian Chukwu-led Rangers International team and General Obasanjo transcended sport. The last time a bunch of young men from the East and Obasanjo met at the same venue on 15 January 1970, it was in his capacity as guarantor of their safe passage as the make-shift leadership of the short-lived secession handed in their instrument of capitulation to then Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, bringing to an end the 30 months of the Nigerian Civil War. Separated by eight years, the contrast between the two scenes could hardly have been starker.

A mere five months after the end of the civil war, on 30 May 1970, a bunch of young men recovering from the traumas of the conflict, were handed a new mission by the visionary duo of sports administrator, Jerry Enyeazu and coach, Dan Anyiam. Unlike the civil war, the battles of the new mission were to be fought not with guns and bayonets but with natural talent, skill and grit on the football pitch.

To prosecute this mission, they christened the new team Rangers. Their base was in Enugu, the regional capital of east, which later became the capital of what was then called the East Central State. The name of the team was a memorial to an experimental “strike force” originally conceived in the embers of the war by Timothy Onwuatuegwu, a major in the Biafran army, but which became stillborn. Indeed, the team drew some of its original talent from the core of that strike force. Its motto was “never say die.”

The story that ensued could itself have been stillborn too. Their first official match was scheduled for 30 May 1970. It was the anniversary of the declaration by Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu in 1967 of the Biafran secession. The military authorities in Lagos were jumpy and appeared set to dismantle the team even before it played its first match. Ukpabi Asika, the political scientist who served as the Administrator of the East Central State at the time, persuaded them to stay their hand. It was a deft work of advocacy that would alter the lives of many young men and, even more importantly, the destiny of a people.

At the end of the war, General Gowon declared that there was “no victor, no vanquished.” In that spirit, presumably, he promised a programme of post-war reconstruction, reintegration and reconciliation. The reality was anything but. This was the context in which the Rangers Football Club began in Enugu. By the end of their first year, they had come close to upending the football hierarchy in the country, just coming up short of lifting the Football Association Cup.

In that year, 1971, however, the team from the East Central State successfully bested the rest of the country in a national academicals football competition in Lagos, then known as the Adebajo-Manuwa Cup. The leading talent in that team was a young man called Christian Chukwu, the son of a butcher whose mother was also a petty trader. He made the Academicals team of the East Central State from the National Grammar School, Nike, where he marshalled the defence and captained the football team with supreme talent and confidence. On his return from the Adebajo-Manuwa cup triumph, Dan Anyiam, then coach of the Rangers Football Club, recruited him into the team. He was 20.

Three years later, the team became national champions. In 1974, Christian Chukwu became the team captain and ushered in the profound period of success in the history of organized sports in Nigeria. Over the following decade, he would lead Rangers to a prodigious haul of nine championships.

In 1975, Christian Chukwu led the team to a national league and cup double and, in 1976, captained the Rangers to become the first team to win the Football Association Cup for an unprecedented three times. His surname made him a god on the football pitch. His leadership skills were commanding beyond it. In recognition of this unusual combination, Ernest Okonkwo, nicknamed him “Chairman”. He was the first truly pan-Nigerian superstar.

The achievements of that Rangers team transcended sport. Jim Nwobodo, the English language teacher who parlayed his success as the principal impresario for the Christian Chukwu-led Rangers and club chairman into a successful political career, described it as a “veritable instrument of Igbo diplomacy”, crediting the team with having “restored our people’s hopes…. Rangers pushed our people’s education, promoted our international commerce in Africa and beyond.” Researcher, Ugochukwu Ekemezie, puts it even more starkly: “Rangers played an essential role in postwar Igbo psychological victories and healing experiences, identity formation and dignified existence in Nigeria.”

For a people dispirited at the end of the war, the sporting conquests of Christian Chukwu’s Rangers International provided a foundation for the post-war rebuilding of Igbo dignity and humanity as well as constructive narratives of national coexistence. Around the country at this time, football teams helped to hew together constructive identities. In Ibadan, former regional capital of Nigeria’s Western Region, the IICC Shooting Stars held sway. In Kano, Nigeria’s north-west, Raccah Rovers did the same; and in Jos, north-central Nigeria, there was Mighty Jets. The contest between these teams and others around the country forged healthy competition, in which Christian Chukwu’s Rangers emerged pre-eminent.

Following their success in the African continent by 1977, the team acquired the moniker “international”, becoming known as Enugu Rangers International.

The previous year, in 1976, a mere two years old as a member of the national football team, Christian Chukwu emerged as the Captain also of that team. That year, he led the team to third place in the African Cup of Nations, a feat that the team repeated in 1978. In 1980, he captained Nigeria’s national team, then called the Green Eagles, to its first continental triumph. By this time, Shehu Shagari, the elected president who succeeded Olusegun Obasanjo the previous year as president of Nigeria again received Christian Chukwu at the head of the all-conquering national team. Christian Chukwu had also been voted the best player of the tournament.

In retirement from active playing days, Christian Chukwu went into management, coaching many teams at both club and national levels within including stints as the coach of the national teams of Kenya and of Lebanon. In 1994, he was Chief Coach of Nigeria’s national team when it won the continental trophy a second time, the first person to achieve that feat as both player and coach. The Technical Adviser of the team at the time was Dutchman, Clemens Westerhof.

In 1977, when he received Christian Chukwu and the Rangers team at Dodan Barracks, the military Head of State, Olusegun Obasanjo, announced a gift of N25,000 to each member of the team. At the time, the Dollar was worth 65 kobo. It was a lot of money, but the team never saw it. The distrust sown by the fate of that largesse hurt team morale and performance irretrievably. This mismanagement has been the bane of Nigerian sport and public life more generally.

For a man whose immortality transcends sport, Christian Chukwu and his generation of athletes and sports administrators deserved better. The greatest honour that the country can render to his memory at the end of his final earthly journey next week is to redress this lingering injustice to a selfless generation of athletes who, more than most, helped to bind the wounds of a people and heal the afflictions of a nation.

A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at [email protected]

How poor infrastructure and long distance is hinder schooling in Abuja community

By Fortune Eromonsele

 At the Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School, Dagiri, a community in the university town of Gwagwalada on the outskirts of Abuja, pupils sit on wooden chairs inside a classroom. When the pupils look up, they see that parts of the inner ceiling of their classroom have fallen off, and the rest hang loosely, threatening to collapse. It is not the school environment you expect to find in one of the six area councils of the Nigerian capital.

However, the damaged ceiling is arguably one of the Abuja school’s smallest problems. The school has no toilet, so the pupils use the open ground behind the classroom blocks when nature calls, putting the health of pupils and staff at risk. Also, because they also have no functional playground, they have adapted to kicking about sand, laughing, and running around an open space in the schoolyard during break.

The school also lacks a sickbay or library, and the computer laboratory, meant to introduce the pupils to digital learning, is inadequately equipped.

Research shows that missing or non-functional facilities affect quality education. According to UNESCO, the physical school environment, including health services, libraries, and access to technology, plays a vital role in shaping student outcomes. It is the bedrock of an inclusive and effective learning experience.

Infrastructures

The Dagiri school is one of hundreds of primary and secondary schools across Nigeria with dilapidated or inadequate infrastructure. Many of such schools also lack internet access.

UNESCO’s 2023 Global Education Monitoring(GEM) Report highlights that only 40 per cent of primary, 50 per cent of lower secondary, and 65 per cent of upper secondary schools globally have internet access for educational purposes, revealing stark inequities in digital infrastructure. UNESCO further notes that digital tools serve as key inputs for learning and planning and that their presence significantly impacts students’ performance, especially in under-resourced settings.

School health services are equally critical. A joint global report by UNESCO and partners shows that school health and nutrition programmes improve enrolment and attendance increase by as much as eight to nine per cent when meals are provided. There is currently no school feeding programme for children in Nigerian public schools, although the government has pledged to restart the programme it suspended about two years ago.

In areas plagued by malnutrition and parasites, interventions like deworming can add up to 2.5 years of schooling.

Also, libraries, though often overlooked, are essential hubs for literacy development and independent thinking. They provide a quiet, resource-rich space where students can cultivate research skills, deepen their understanding of subjects, and develop a lifelong love for reading.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 4, call for the provision of safe, inclusive, and effective learning environments, including access to electricity, computers, the internet, libraries, water, and sanitation.

Overall, the state of many of Nigeria’s public schools reflects the country’s failure to meet global standards for basic educational infrastructure.

Visiting the School

When PREMIUM TIMES visited the Dagiri school in March, an uncompleted structure stood out behind the classrooms. Grass had begun to grow inside the plastered and partly roofed building, and parts of the roof’s wooden framework had collapsed.

The abandoned project behind the class room
The abandoned project behind the class room (PHOTO CREDIT: Fortune Eromonsele)

“That building has been there for four years now,” the head teacher, Abubakar Sadiq, said. “I reported to my head office late last year that there is an abandoned building on the premises. They asked me to do a video and take a picture, which I did. They also came for inspection themselves, but nothing has been done till now,” Mr Sadiq explained.

PREMIUM TIMES also observed that the computer laboratory was too small for a full class of pupils and poorly equipped to serve their needs. The laboratory’s head, Halima Ibrahim, described how the inadequacies had contributed to the challenges of digital learning in the school.

The Computer Laboratory
The Computer Laboratory at Gwagwalada Junior Secondary School (PHOTO CREDIT: Fortune Eromonsele)

She said that because the computers were insufficient, students had to work in groups and take turns just so each could “have a feel of it.” She added that the few available systems were ageing and unreliable. Many no longer retain battery power, making them unusable.

“Having a computer lab is very important for children; they are always happy to come here because of their curiosity,” she said.

According to the headteacher, the school has over 1,800 pupils — including 711 boys and 806 girls in the primary section, and 133 boys and 154 girls in the nursery.

Infrastructure, Psychological Impact, and Educational Access

In many parts of Nigeria, children are learning in classrooms that fail every standard of safety and functionality.

The consequences are not only visible in poor academic outcomes but also in deeper psychological harm and long-term systemic setbacks.

Hassan Soweto, the national coordinator of the Education Rights Campaign (ERC), highlighted the critical role of infrastructure in shaping educational outcomes.

He said quality physical and teaching infrastructures, a conducive environment, an up-to-date curriculum, and a highly motivated teaching and non-teaching staff are essential for a successful education system.

He warned that the absence of these elements can lead to “unsatisfactory educational outcomes” and even “permanently damage” students’ prospects.

This perspective aligns with a 2024 study in Gombe State, which found that poor infrastructure negatively impacts productivity, learner interest, and overall academic outcomes.

Mr Soweto emphasised the psychological toll of substandard learning environments, noting that students exposed to unsafe or dilapidated schools may develop a lasting aversion to education.

These concerns are echoed in a 2025 World Bank report, which notes that Nigeria spends only about $23 per capita on basic education, one of the lowest rates globally.

This chronic underinvestment results in severe shortages of classrooms, sanitation, and essential teaching materials.

The report revealed that only 27 per cent of Nigerian children aged seven to 14 demonstrate foundational reading skills, and just 25 per cent possess foundational numeracy skills.

It also highlighted institutional inefficiencies, with the Universal Basic Education Intervention Fund (UBEIF), intended to support subnational investments, plagued by poor governance, inequitable allocations, and overly complex procedures.

These bottlenecks deepen disparities in education access and quality, particularly in communities like Dagiri.

Financial barriers compound challenges

Safiya Alhassan (Abudulwassiu’s mother), (PHOTO CREDIT: Fortune Eromonsele)
Safiya Alhassan (Abudulwassiu’s mother), (PHOTO CREDIT: Fortune Eromonsele)

Safiya Alhassan, a Dagiri resident, told PREMIUM TIMES that her third child, Abudulwassiu Alhassan, could not resume senior secondary school after the previous academic session due to financial difficulties.

Abudulwassiu Alhassan (PHOTO CREDIT: Fortune Eromonsele)
Abudulwassiu Alhassan (PHOTO CREDIT: Fortune Eromonsele)

“My husband is unemployed; he just does anything he sees. And even now, he is not around. The school said it would cost N43,000 just to enroll Abdulwasiu. It is not easy for me”.

For the boy, the emotional toll has been difficult to bear. “I am not happy seeing my mates going to school while I am at home,” he said.

Millions of Nigerian kids face financial obstacles to their education. In a country where over 100 million people are multidimensionally poor, the cost of education, even in public schools that should be free, is a formidable barrier. From levies to books, uniforms, and exam fees, hidden expenses often derail a child’s educational journey.

Mr Soweto argues that economic pressures force parents to make painful decisions, often prioritising immediate survival over long-term educational investments.

He warns that this trend risks creating a generation ill-equipped for the demands of a modern, AI-driven world.

He advocates for increased public funding and the provision of free education at all levels and warned that without addressing issues of access and affordability, the goal of universal education remains unattainable.

Funding for the Dagiri primary school and other public primary schools in the six area councils of Abuja is inadequate.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that the schools’ teachers were on strike for three months due to poor remuneration and the area council management’s failure to implement the N70,000 minimum wage for the teachers. The strike was only suspended earlier this month following the intervention of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

However, schools in Abuja are not the only ones underfunded. In the 2025 fiscal year, the Nigerian government allocated N3.52 trillion to education, approximately 7.3 per cent of the total national budget. While this marks an increase compared to previous years, it still falls short of the 15–20 per cent benchmark for education spending recommended by UNESCO and supported by the World Bank.

Sub-Saharan African countries, including Nigeria, spend an average of $54 per student annually, compared to $8,500 in high-income nations.

Long distance and unsafe route

Ramatu Saidu, a junior student at Gwagwalada Junior Secondary School (PHOTO CREDIT: Fortune Eromonsele)
Ramatu Saidu, a junior student at Gwagwalada Junior Secondary School
(PHOTO CREDIT: Fortune Eromonsele)

It was a difficult Friday for Ramatu Saidu, a junior student at Gwagwalada Junior Secondary School. That afternoon, she became unwell after walking to her home in Dagiri from school. According to Ramatu, it takes her nearly an hour to trek the approximately 7km distance between her home and school, and the trip places considerable strain on her health. Ramatu, who lives with sickle cell anaemia, said she could not attend school for some days after the experience. Since then, her family gives her money for transport every day she goes to school.

Junior Secondary School Gwagwalada
Junior Secondary School Gwagwalada (PHOTO CREDIT: Fortune Eromonsele)

“That day, I didn’t take a bike; I trekked. I passed the flyover, and by the time I got home, my whole body was aching. My legs were aching. I felt like I could just die,” Ramatu recalled.

Ramatu’s elder sister, Fatima, told PREMIUM TIMES that the distance is a problem for the family.

Ramatu’s elder sister, Fatima (PHOTO CREDIT: Fortune Eromonsele)
Ramatu’s elder sister, Fatima (PHOTO CREDIT: Fortune Eromonsele)

“If you do not have N800 or N700 for transportation, you have to trek to school. It is not easy for them, especially my little sister. She is a sickle cell patient, so her own issue is a very critical one.”

Another parent, Salihu Saidu, said the children also face physical danger on the road to school.

Parent, Salihu Saidu (PHOTO CREDIT: Fortune Eromonsele)
Salihu Saidu (PHOTO CREDIT: Fortune Eromonsele)

“My heart always beats faster when it’s time for them to return. That road is a highway. It is dangerous. When your child does not return home in time, you will be scared,” he explained.

PREMIUM TIMES’ reporter took a motorcycle ride from Dagiri to the nearest secondary school.

She observed that the route cuts across a busy expressway frequently plied by speeding trailers and heavy-duty vehicles. Although there is a pedestrian bridge directly in front of the school, many students prefer to cross the dangerous road.

The senior secondary school is visible from the expressway, while the junior secondary school is located deeper in a more isolated area and is not easily accessible on foot, unless in the company of friends to ease the long and tiring trek. For a child, walking that distance alone is a gruelling task.

A 2022 UNESCO report on out-of-school children found long or unsafe journeys to school significantly reduce attendance rates, particularly for girls, children with disabilities, and those in poor rural communities. The report emphasised that when schools are not within a reasonable walking distance, dropout rates increase sharply.

This article was originally published by Premium Times.

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