The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 611 (November 29 - December 12 2023)

TheTrumpet 

Africans now have a voice... Founded in 1995 

V O L 29 N O 611 N O V E M B E R 29 - DECEMBER 12 2023 

25 th 

The row of graves of people killed during the Sharpeville massacre on 21 March 1960 (Photo Andrew Hall CCA SA Int 4.0) 

Sharpeville: 

New research on 1960 South 

African massacre shows 

the number of dead and 

injured was massively 

undercounted 

By Nancy L Clark and William H. Worger 

Continued on Page 2> 

Insurance 

Fraud Board 

(IFB) warns 

against 

buying bogus 

insurance 

The Insurance Fraud Board (IFB) - 

the not-for-profit organisation that 

acts as a central intelligence hub, 

using industry data to work with UK 

police to detect and disrupt organised 

criminal groups from committing 

insurance fraud, is warning motorists to 

stay alert to fake car insurance deals 

offered by ghost brokers. 

Increasingly clever fraudsters prey 

on unsuspecting victims looking for 

cheap car insurance deals - and buying 

from a ghost broker could leave drivers 

seriously out of pocket. As well as the 

money handed over to the fraudster, 

being caught driving uninsured results in 

fines, points on your licence and can 

impact all aspects of a duped customer’s 

life. 

‘Ghost Brokers’ are fraudsters that 

pose as genuine insurance brokers and 

are known to offer illegal broker services 

in online ads and social media channels 

such as Facebook, Instagram and 

Snapchat. 

Jon Radford, Head of Intelligence, 

Investigations & Data Services at IFB 

stated that: “It’s easy to get wrapped up 

in the excitement of sales, but it’s 

important to do the leg work and check 

when buying through a Broker that 

they’re legitimate. 

“The cost of falling victim to a 

‘Ghost Broker’ is more than just the 

money you hand over. Being caught 

driving uninsured will result in fines, 

points on your licence and if you rely on 

your car to get to work, it could even cost 

you your job.” 

Detective Chief Inspector Tom Hill, 

from the City of London Police’s 

Insurance Fraud Enforcement 

Department (IFED), said: “Everybody 

loves a bargain, but it truly does pay to 

make sure that you’re buying a genuine 

car insurance policy. A bogus policy 

could mean facing a fine, points on your 

license or your car being seized – not to 

mention covering the cost of a new, valid 

policy. 

“Be wary of cheap deals on social 

media and via messaging apps. If you’re 

unsure whether an insurance broker is 

legitimate, check the British Insurance 

Brokers’ Association or Financial 

Conduct Authority website for a list of 

all authorised brokers.”

Page2 TheTrumpet NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 12 2023 

News 

Sharpeville: New research on 1960 

South African massacre shows the 

number of dead and injured was 

massively undercounted 

Continued from Page 1< 

On 21 March 1960 at 1.40 in the 

afternoon, apartheid South 

Africa’s police opened fire on a 

peaceful crowd of about 4,000 residents 

of Sharpeville, who were protesting 

against carrying identity documents that 

restricted black people’s movement. The 

police minimised the number of victims 

by at least one third, and justified the 

shooting by claiming that the crowd was 

violent. This shocking story has been thus 

misrepresented for over 60 years. 

Our new research retells the story of 

Sharpeville, about 70km south of 

Johannesburg, from the viewpoint of the 

victims themselves. As experienced 

historians who have undertaken archival 

research in South Africa since the 1970s 

we based our research on interviews with 

survivors and investigation into 

government records in both the police 

archives and the national archives in 

Pretoria. Our work reveals the true 

number of victims and the exact role of 

the police in the massacre. 

The Sharpeville Massacre ignited 

international outrage and the birth of the 

Anti-Apartheid Movement worldwide. It 

also led to renewed political protests 

inside South Africa. These were met with 

the total suppression of political 

movements that lasted for 30 years. 

Despite its historic importance, 

Sharpeville as a place and a community 

has remained unknown to the wider public 

and its residents anonymous. Yet they 

have a story to tell. 

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Even though the Truth and 

Reconciliation Commission chose the 

1960 Sharpeville massacre as the formal 

beginning of its investigation of apartheid 

crimes, its examination of the massacre 

itself was perfunctory. Only three 

witnesses from the community were 

invited to testify during just part of one 

day (out of 2,000 witnesses during five 

years of hearings). 

People in Sharpeville believe that the 

lack of attention to their plight since 

democracy in 1994 is because the original 

protest was organised by the rival Pan- 

Africanist Congress of Azania, not the 

governing African National Congress 

(ANC). 

Changing the narrative 

Based on our research, the new book 

Voices of Sharpeville traces the long 

residence of Africans in the greater 

Sharpeville area, as far as the Cradle of 

Humankind World Heritage Site 100km 

north. It also emphasises the crucial 

industrial importance of the greater Vaal 

Triangle in which Sharpeville is located, 

from the 1930s onward. 

Our work details the rich culture 

developed by urban Sharpeville residents 

in defiance of the attempts of Prime 

Minister HF Verwoerd’s attempts to 

control African life. 

Using the words of witnesses as 

recorded from their hospital beds within 

days of the shooting, and for weeks and 

months later, the events of 21 March 1960 

are recounted in detail, increasing the 

number of victims to at least 91 dead, and 

281 injured. The official police figures 

first published in 1960 and repeated 

endlessly ever since were 69 and 180 

respectively. 

The witness testimony places the 

responsibility for the shooting squarely 

with the police. 

New evidence 

The oral and documentary source 

material we used was previously off limits 

to researchers, insufficiently examined, or 

largely ignored. Access to many records 

held by the previous apartheid 

government was absolutely restricted 

prior to 1994, and since then many of the 

records have not been properly registered. 

This makes it challenging for researchers 

to find important documents. 

But with the help of archivists and 

librarians, we were able to locate rare and 

even hidden records of Sharpeville and its 

history, and record the voices of many of 

the town’s residents. 

History of Sharpeville 

The first settlement in the Sharpeville 

area – Top Location – was razed in the 

1950s to make space for white people’s 

businesses and homes. Official records 

and aerial photographs reveal the previous 

existence of a large community on the 

now empty land. There is also an 

unmarked cemetery where about 3,500 

residents were buried between around 

1900 and 1938. 

By the mid-20th century, apartheid 

officials began to plan a bigger settlement 

in the vicinity. Sharpeville and other 

places like it were designed in the 1950s to 

segregate Africans away from the cities, 

which were reserved for white people 

only. 

Sharpeville’s housing construction 

became a “model” for the ubiquitous fourroomed 

NE 51/9 houses in black 

townships throughout the country, none of 

which they could own outright but rent 

only. 

In almost 300 witness statements taken 

by the police immediately following the 

shooting, many of the everyday details of 

life in Sharpeville were revealed. These 

statements were recorded immediately 

after arrest and under oath by the police to 

determine guilt or innocence against the 

charges of “public violence and 

incitement” brought against them. They 

were also provided voluntarily in 1961 

and 1962, also under oath, by survivors 

and family members to establish a basis 

for the compensation the victims 

unsuccessfully requested. 

Details of family life – numbers of 

children, occupations, wages, and health 

– were recorded, providing a wealth of 

Sharpeville massacre memorial 

(Photo - Matt Brown CCA 2.0) 

information about Sharpeville’s residents. 

The massacre: Testimony, both from 

the official 1960 commission of enquiry 

into the massacre, and the criminal court 

trial of over 70 Sharpeville residents in 

1960-1961, detailed the actions of both the 

crowd and the police. 

The testimony by civilians and police 

alike, together with the claimants’ 

statements, provides a minute-by-minute 

narrative of the day. The testimonies of the 

residents, including all the Africans who 

worked for the municipality and as police 

officers in Sharpeville, unanimously 

attested to the fact that the crowd gathered 

peacefully to protest the pass law. 

According to these witnesses, by the time 

of the shooting, almost 300 policemen had 

been moved into the township, including 

at least 13 white policemen armed with 

Sten machine guns. There were five 

Saracen armoured vehicles. 

Police testimony makes it clear that the 

officer in charge gave the order to shoot, 

with the machine gunners firing directly 

into the crowd from a distance of no more 

than 3-5 metres. As one white official 

noted: 

It made me think of a wheat field, 

where a whirlwind had shaken it. 

The crowd was taken utterly by 

surprise by the police fusillade. Over three 

quarters of them, dead and injured alike, 

were shot in the back as they fled. 

The victims: Crucial to gaining an 

accurate understanding of the numbers of 

Continued on Page 3

News 

NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 12 2023 


Sharpeville: New research on 1960 South 

African massacre shows the number of dead 

and injured was massively undercounted 

Page3 


victims – their names, families, and 

injuries – were the autopsy and medical 

records detailing the exact causes of death 

and injury for the over 300 victims. These 

forms and narrative statements, filled out 

by the hospital physicians who treated the 

injured and performed autopsies on the 

dead, prove conclusively that the 

government under-counted the victims by 

at least one third. 

This new information remained 

embargoed in police records throughout 

the apartheid years to 1994. Some of it 

was finally transferred to the national 

archives in the late 1990s and early 2000s. 

It details the injuries. 

Remembrance 

The people of Sharpeville wonder why 

the world has not listened to their stories 

even as they have told them from the day 

of the shooting to the present. 

In 2023, residents were able to use the 

information uncovered in our research to 

update the Wall of Names Memorial 

(which lists the name of every person who 

gave their life fighting for freedom in 

South Africa) at Freedom Park in Pretoria 

to reflect accurately the number of victims 

killed on 21 March 1960. But still they 

have received no compensation for their 

injuries. 

• Nancy L Clark is Dean and Professor 

Emeritus at Louisiana State University 

and William H. Worger is Professor 

Emeritus of History at University of 

California, Los Angeles. 

• This article is republished from The 

Conversation under a Creative 

Commons license. Read the original 

article.

Page4 


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TheTrumpetTeam 

PUBLISHER / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: 

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News 

20 th Achievement 

Recognition Awards 

(ARA) honours achievers 

The 20 th edition of the Achievement 

Recognition Awards (ARA) 

organised by Building Blocks 

Initiative (BBI) with the theme: 

“BEYOND WINDRUSH 75 - 

AFRICAN RENAISSANCE” took place 

in London recently. 

CONTRIBUTORS: 

Moji Idowu, Ayo Odumade, 

Steve Mulindwa 

SPECIAL PROJECTS: 

Odafe Atogun 

John-Brown Adegunsoye (Abuja) 

DESIGN: 

Xandydesigns@gmail.com 

ATLANTA BUREAU CHIEF: 

Uko-Bendi Udo 

3695 F Cascade Road #2140 Atlanta, 

GA 30331 USA 

Tel: +1 404 889 3613 

E-mail: uudo1@hotmail.com 

BOARD OF CONSULTANTS 

CHAIRMAN: 

Pastor Kolade Adebayo-Oke 

MEMBERS: 

Tunde Ajasa-Alashe 

Allison Shoyombo, Peter Osuhon 

TheTrumpet (ISSN: 1477-3392) 

is published in London fortnightly 

Honoured during the Awards were: 

· Lucille Moffatt-Asante, YEGA 2023 

WINNER, In recognition of her 

Creative Enterprising Mind, 

Determination & Perseverance. 

· Cllr (Dr) Mahamed Hashi, Young 

Leadership Development Recognition. 

In recognition of his immeasurable acts 

of selflessness, outstanding 

professional contribution and political 

leadership in knowledge transfer, 

community and youth development 

support. 

· Oluwatosin Khadijat Adesina, Save the 

Woman, Community Volunteering 

Recognition. In recognition of her 

consistent acts of selflessness and 

positive contribution to the 

development of Save the Woman 

charity, service users, wider 

Community and the Voluntary Sector. 

· Dr Imambay Kamara, Exemplary 

Community Lifetime Leadership 


outstanding professional activism on 

women’s rights, protection from 

domestic abuse and public education 

on the harms domestic abuse does to 

both the victim and the whole family. 

· Cllr Nneka Keazor, Exemplary 

Political & Professional Leadership 


outstanding professional contribution 

to political participation and 

community development. 

· Caroline Namugabi, Professional 

Leadership Recognition for 

Community Development & 

Empowerment. In recognition of her 

immeasurable positive contribution to 

Black community economic 

development and empowerment. 

· Prof Ojo Emmanuel Ademola, 

Professional Leadership Excellence 

Recognition, In recognition of his 

immeasurable outstanding professional 

contribution to leadership excellence in 

knowledge transfer, Cyber Security, 

business and community development. 

· Hon. Kenneth Gbandi, Exemplary 

Diaspora Community & Political 

Leadership Recognition. In recognition 

of his immeasurable exemplary 

community development and political 

leadership, and also serving as a great 

inspiration to the Nigerian diaspora 

communities and beyond. 

· Ony Ikeji, Exemplary Professional 


Achievement Recognition Award plaques 

of her immeasurable exemplary 

professional leadership. 

· Anthony Everest (AREMUORIN), 

Exemplary Professional Creative Artist 

of the year. In recognition and 

appreciation of his immeasurable acts 

of generousity and exemplary 

professional leadership contribution to 

performing arts and the creative 

industry. 

· Tahira Tofa, YSDNDY, Exemplary 

Creative Artist of the year. In 

recognition and appreciation of her 

boldness, creativity and imaginative 

thinking in challenging societal norms 

and stereotypes through creative arts. 

· Tolu Osinderu, CLEVENARD. 

Outstanding Diaspora Professional 


of his immeasurable outstanding sense 

of generous professional contribution 

Continued on Page 5< 

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News 



20 th Achievement Recognition 

Awards (ARA) honours achievers 

Page5 


and commitment to community 

empowerment and development. 

· Ebony Bain, Braids and Beauty, 

Entrepreneur of the Year. In recognition 

of her outstanding professional 

contribution to personal development 

and self-economic empowerment. 

· Martin Forde KC. Honorary 

Exemplary Professional Leadership 

Recognition in Legal Profession. In 

recognition of his passion, commitment 

and immeasurable exemplary personal 

sacrifice and positive legal professional 

contribution to fighting for equality, 

fairness and social justice for all. 

· Prof Ojo Emmanuel Ademola, 

Honorary Exemplary Professional & 

Community Leadership Recognition in 

academia and Cyber Security. In 

recognition of his immeasurable 

exemplary positive professional 

contribution to academic and 

community development. 

· Sandra Popoola OBE JP, Honorary 

Professional and Community 


of her immeasurable exemplary sense 

of civic responsibility, volunteering, 

and positive professional contribution 

to the public sector and community 

development. 

· Kingsley Abrams, Honorary Political 

and Community Leadership 

Recognition. In recognition of his 

decades-long immeasurable exemplary 

positive contribution to community 

development, trade union movement 

and political activism. 

· Nadia Denton, Honorary Professional 

Leadership Recognition. In Creative 

Arts and Heritage. In recognition of her 

immeasurable exemplary outstanding 

positive professional contribution to the 

creative arts and heritage industry. 

· Peter Akinbowale, Honorary 

Professional Excellence & Leadership 

Recognition. In recognition of his 

immeasurable exemplary outstanding 

professional leadership excellence in 

the financial services sector, most 

especially in Mortgage Brokerage. 

· Arthur Torrington CBE, Honorary 

Lifetime Achievement Recognition. In 

appreciation of his immeasurable 

exemplary outstanding lifetime 

commitment and dedication to fighting 

for fairness and social justice for the 

Windrush generation who answered to 

the distress call of the motherland 

Britain for her rebuilding following 

devastation of the second world war. 

· Aline Ngaoba, Honorary Community 

Leadership to Volunteering. In 

recognition and appreciation of her 

consistent acts of selflessness and 

positive contribution to the 

Aline Naoba BBI ARA Awards Volunteer of the Year 2023 and Cllr Sunny Lambe, BBI Founder & Chief 

Executive 

Martin Forde KC, Kingsley Abrams, Honorary ARA Award Winners, family & friends 

Cllr Michael Situ, Mayor of Southwark, Cllr Yemi Osho MBE, Prince Mike Abiola, Ayan Ayabdosu (Mr 

Culture), Dr Sheriff Alabi and Princess Toyin Onagoruwa 

development of Building Blocks 

Initiative (BBI), Community and the 

Voluntary Sector for many years. 

A lucky winner went away with the 

mystery BBI ARA AWARDS 

AMBASSADOR OF THE YEAR 2023 

interactive competition trophy while 

some lucky winners walked away with 

the raffle prizes which included a donated 

FREE Night’s Stay at the Hilton London 

Kensington. 

The BBI’s annual Awards has become 

a much anticipated event within the 

Black and Minority Ethnic business and 

social calendar, bringing about 

community and industrial recognition, 

professional networking opportunities, 

social celebration and a spirit of 

togetherness. 

Among dignitaries present were Cllr 

Michael Situ, the Worshipful Mayor of 

Southwark accompanied by his deputy, 

Cllr Naima Ali. Among very important 

guests were Cllr Joy Laguda former 

Mayor Newham and her husband; Mrs 

Yemi Oso, former Mayor Waltham 

Forest; Dawn Grant, Black 

Economics and former award winner; 

Prince Mike Abiola of the African Voice; 

Femi Okutubo - Founder of both the 

GAB Awards and the Trumpet 

Newspapers; Jennifer Obaseki of the 

Obasaeki Solicitors; Joy Nichols, 

Founder and the Chief Executive of 

former Nichols Employment Agency; 

representatives of Kato Enterprises, the 

drinks sponsors; Ayan Ayandosu, (Mr 

Culture); and Anthony Everest, 

(AREMUORIN), the performing artist 

and winner of an award setting the stage 

alight with some cool live jazzy 

melodious tuned performance. 

Aremuorin’s performance was later 

complemented by a superb act from 

Aslan 

Nester making his debut at the ARA 

Awards. 

The Awards returned as a physical 

event following three years of virtual 

awards events forced by the COVID-19 

lockdown. 

Martin Forde KC, Kingsley Abrams, Honorary ARA 

Award Winners, family & friendsCllr Michael Situ, 

The Worshipful Mayor of Southwark & Olayomi 

Koiki of Koiki Media

Page6 TheTrumpet NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 12 2023

NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 12 2023 TheTrumpet 

Page7


Opinion 

Fixing the Power sector 

Following the three-day retreat 

held for Ministers, Special 

Advisers, Permanent 

Secretaries and heads of Agencies and 

Departments by President Bola 

Tinubu, rather belatedly, three weeks 

ago with the theme: “Delivering on 

the Renewed Hope Agenda” some of 

the Ministers have been jumping up 

and down, as if the Retreat was the 

shot in the arm they needed to shift 

out of their slumber. We have seen 

quite a number of body movements 

lately: from the Minister of Aviation 

and Aerospace, Festus Keyamo, 

telling the heads of agencies and 

parastatals under his Ministry that 

whoever wants to sabotage him 

through non-performance would be 

fired. The Minister of Women Affairs, 

Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye has also 

made a big show of launching 

tricycles and sewing machines to 

empower women – the Pink Riders 

Transport Scheme. Candidly, I don’t 

know how many women ride tricycles 

across Nigeria, but it is the pattern 

around here that policies are often 

rolled out without thought or reason 

or prior research. The Minister of 

Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, 

Hannatu Musawa has also launched a 

road map for the cultural sector. But 

the Ministry that is the focus of this 

piece is Power, and its new Minister, 

Adebayo Adelabu, grandson of the 

inimitable legend, Adegoke Adelabu, 

a stormy petrel of Nigeria’s First 

Republic/Ibadan/Western region 

politics and brilliant author of the 

book, Africa in Ebullition. It must 

have occurred to Adebayo Adelabu 

that as Power Minister, he too must be 

seen to be doing something. So, 

shortly after the Presidential retreat, 

he called a press conference where in 

a copy-cat manner, he read out a riot 

act to the heads of agencies under his 

Ministry with the tone of 

condescension already copyrighted 

by Festus Keyamo: anybody that does 

not support me will be fired! 

President Tinubu may have to call the 

mini-Emperors, closet Headmasters, 

in his cabinet to order. Going about 

intimidating people with threats is not 

how to be a Minister. One Minister 

has even turned himself into a quasimilitary 

administrator of the Federal 

Capital Territory! 

However, Minister Adelabu has 

shown some enthusiasm for the job, 

and he should be advised on the basis 

of the things that he has said. On 

November 8, he told his audience, in 

addition to the afore-mentioned threat 

that (2) President Tinubu has directed 

that stable electricity supply must be 

achieved before anyone can raise the 

issue of cost-reflective tariff, which 

should have been done before now, 

but with the present administration 

having removed fuel subsidy, it would 

be politically inexpedient to add to the 

people’s burden by increasing 

electricity tariffs. Hence, the Federal 

Government is subsidizing electricity 

up to N70 per kilowatt hour whereas 

the actual cost should be about 

N130/N140 per kilowatt hour. Indeed 

in 2015, President Buhari disallowed 

the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO). 

And (3), the Minister said it is 

shameful that Nigeria is generating 

just about 4,000 MW. Previously, he 

had promised that under his watch, 

Nigeria should have 20,000 MW of 

electricity supply by 2026; (4) he 

promised to investigate the legality of 

the five-year license extension of the 

licenses given to Discos and Gencos 

which expired on October 31, 2023, 

and (5) he talked about government 

BY REUBEN ABATI 

playing a more central role in the 

electricity sector. “I am determined to 

make impact”, he reportedly said. 

I like his enthusiasm, but that is 

not enough. I have seen at least one 

detailed commentary, on aspects of 

the Minister’s rhetoric, notably 

Ijeoma Nwogwugwu’s “Penkelemesi 

in The Power Sector” (ThisDay, back 

page, Nov. 13). I want to add my 

voice to the conversation that my big 

worry is that Minister Adelabu has 

been sounding too strident as if he is 

a Regulator. No, he is not, and he has 

to resist the temptation to keep 

sounding as if he is from the Moon. 

The remit of the Minister is policy 

and helping to provide an enabling 

Continued on Page 10

News 


London raises awareness about 

voting system changes 


Page9 

The Greater London Authority 

(GLA), in collaboration with Shout 

Out UK, London borough electoral 

services and a coalition of civil society 

organisations, has launched an impartial 

public awareness campaign seeking to aid 

under-represented and under-registered 

Londoners, including Black Londoners, 

access their right to vote. The campaign 

also enjoys support from faith leaders and 

community groups. 

The campaign launch is against the 

backdrop of the fact that: London has one 

of the lowest voter registration rates in 

England, with analysis from the GLA 

showing that close to one in five people (18 

per cent) from a Black, South Asian or 

Minority Ethnic background are at risk of 

losing their democratic voice because they 

are not registered to vote, compared to just 

five per cent of White British Londoners 

who are in the same situation. 

The campaign aims to let those from 

under-registered and under-represented 

groups, including Black Londoners, know 

about the need for eligible voters to register 

as a first step. This includes the option to 

register anonymously for those concerned 

about their name and address appearing on 

the electoral register. 

It will also highlight the new 

requirement to show an accepted form of 

photo ID to vote in person. This can be a 

UK, EU and Commonwealth passport; a 

UK and EU Driving Licence, a Blue Badge, 

Oyster 60+ photocard or a Freedom Pass. 

Almost one in four Black Londoners (27 

per cent) are currently unaware of the new 

need for photo ID to vote in person. 

The campaign will also advise on steps 

to apply for a free Voter Authority 

Certificate for Londoners who do not have 

one of the accepted forms of photo ID. Just 

one in five Londoners have heard of the 

free Voter Authority Certificates (20 per 

cent), and only four per cent have applied 

for one. Black Londoners are by far the 

most likely ethnic group to have either 

applied already or have a plan to apply. 

The campaign will reach Black 

Londoners across a variety of engagement 

methods and channels including social 

Accepted forms of Voter ID 

media, traditional media, grassroots 

community engagement and through a 

WhatsApp Democracy chatbot (+44 7908 

820 136). This includes accessible 

materials for Deaf and disabled Londoners, 

with resources available in Easy Read 

format and 16 community languages, 

including British Sign Language. 

Minister and Pastor Marjorie Esomowei 

- Co-Founder of Triumphant Church 

International emphasised that: “Voting is a 

Pastor Marjorie Esomowei 

method to reaffirm our civil rights and 

shape policies on issues like education, 

healthcare, housing and justice, and much 

more. Black Londoners are amongst those 

that are under-registered and underrepresented, 

with almost one in four Black 

Londoners currently unaware of the need 

for photo ID to vote in person. This means 

too many Black Londoners are at risk of 

losing the opportunity to exercise their 

democratic right to vote. 

We are proud to support the GLA Voter 

ID awareness campaign to ensure that 

Black Londoners have access to correct and 

reliable information so that we can increase 

confidence, literacy and action in this 

important matter. It’s really important that 

people take heed of this and act because, no 

vote, no voice.” 

There are three simple steps to getting 

heard: 

Register to vote 

Check if you have an accepted form of 

photo voter ID 

If not, apply for the free Voter Authority 

Certificate 

Further information is available at the 

GLA Democracy Hub: 

https://registertovote.london/


Opinion 



environment for the sector to thrive. 

Nigeria needs a reform-minded 

Minister in the power sector. The 

Minister needs to break the jinx, and 

so, he cannot afford to gamble. The 

road map for the electricity sector in 

Nigeria was put in place from 

Obasanjo to Jonathan as Presidents. 

The latter kick-started a 

comprehensive reform. But under 

President Buhari, the privatization 

and deregulation process got 

truncated, mismanaged, and turned 

upside down. Nothing worked 

because there was no proper 

coordination in the whole of eight 

years. Nigeria would need a 

minimum of about 42,000 MW to 

jump-start anything but here we are, 

at the level of 4,000 MW, far behind 

most African countries and yet our 

electricity needs, given our 

population, far outstrips the African 

average. South Africa with a 

population of 57.3 million people 

generates about 41,194 MW and that 

is not even enough for it. The 

Minister is right when he describes 

the situation as shameful. It is 

embarrassingly obvious however that 

he has not been talking to industry 

stakeholders. Nigeria is not short of 

ideas. What we lack is effective 

implementation. He needs to set out 

by finding out what the problems are. 

Managing the electricity sector is a 

specialized job, and there are people 

in this country who know where the 

corpses are buried, and who the 

members of the dangerous cabal in 

that sector are. The more he talks, the 

more the cabal people will plot 

against him. He must ask questions 

from the regulatory agencies also: 

what is their roadmap? What 

happened to the original road map? 

He should study the terrain and 

simplify the issues through rigorous 

consultations. Why for example has 

the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 

of 2005, not worked? Who are the 

perpetrators of impunity, lapses and 

sabotage within the sector? Then he 

must clear the table: Nigeria’s 

electricity sector is corrupt. All the 

people feeding fat at the people’s 

expense, be they government officials 

or contractors must be identified and 

sanctioned through a proper, 

preliminary audit of performance 

Chief Adebayo Adelabu 

within the value-chain. 

Minister Adelabu can learn from 

the experience of two previous 

Ministers. He knows Bola Ige, SAN, 

orator, lawyer, statesman who was 

Minister of Mines and Power (1999 – 

2000). Upon assumption of office, 

Bola Ige of the Alliance for 

Democracy (AD), working for 

Obasanjo’s People’s Democratic 

Party (PDP) government boasted that 

he was going to fix Nigeria’s 

electricity problems in six months. He 

underestimated the problem. Those 

were the days of National Electric 

Power Authority (NEPA). It is 

commonly agreed that Bola Ige was 

sabotaged by the generator importers 

and contractors who were making 

humongous profits from Nigeria’s 

inefficiency. Chief Ige later became 

the Attorney General of the 

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Federation and Minister of Justice but 

his tenure in the Ministry of Mines 

and Power was a low point in his 

otherwise sterling career in Nigeria’s 

public space. The Obasanjo 

administration spent over $12 trillion 

on the power sector in eight years. 

Everything went down the drain. 

Years later, when former Governor of 

Lagos, Babatunde Raji Fashola was 

appointed by President Muhammadu 

Buhari as Minister of Power, Works 

and Housing, and some people started 

suggesting that he had promised that 

he too would fix Nigeria’s power 

supply in six months; he quickly 

rushed to the media to say that he 

never said so. Buhari spent eight 

years but Nigeria still faces the crisis 

of epileptic power supply. 

In fairness to Fashola though, he 

prioritized consultation with 

stakeholders. He held regular sectoral 

meetings, even if those meetings 

eventually degenerated into conflicts 

between him and the distribution 

companies (DISCOs), but those 

meetings offered him a better 

understanding of the sector, even if 

the challenges in the sector were 

overwhelming. Adelabu must 

proceed with a sense of history. There 

are other stakeholders in the sector 

that should be consulted: Dr. Ransom 

Owan, Dr Sam Amadi, both formerly 

of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory 

Commission (NERC), Ambassador 

Godknows Igali, former Permanent 

Secretary of the Ministry of Power, 

Engr. Beks Dagogo-Jack, former 

Chairman of the Presidential Task 

Force on Power and co-Chairman of 

the Committee on Gas to Power 

(2012 - 2014), Professor Chinedu 

Nebo who handed over the assets of 

the Power Holding Company of 

Nigeria (PHCN), successor of NEPA, 

to private investors in November 

2013, Rilwan Lanre Babalola who 

was Minister of Power 2008 to 2010, 

and a host of others. They are in a 

position to show him where the 

corpses are buried in a sector that is 

practically a graveyard of hopes and 

aspirations! In his time, Professor 

Nebo, who is a man of the cloth 

promised that he would drive away 

the evil spirits in the power sector. 

Those evil spirits defied Nebo. They 

are still there. The Minister also needs 

to find out what happened with the 

Rural Electrification Agency which 

became a cesspool of corruption. 

Every Minister comes along with the 

Continued on Page 15


Page11

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Page13


Opinion 

The passable view of 

roads in Southwest 

Nigeria 

From time immemorial, the masses 

have relied on constituted 

governments to implement road 

projects for the socio-political economy 

of the society. Whichever government got 

the construction right would be praised 

while those who focused on the 

maintenance would also be eulogised by 

the masses. However, those who neither 

got the construction nor the maintenance 

right would be recorded in the psyche of 

the people. Hence the adage: ‘The king 

who sits on the throne in halcyon times, 

his name shall not be forgotten. Same for 

that whose reign is turbulent.’ 

To say the truth, an emergency should 

be declared on the Nigerian roads. 

Without sounding alarmist, there is no 

road in any part of the country that is 

recommended, either as passable or 

standard; not even in Abuja, the nation’s 

seat of power. It is that bad! It is after we 

have accepted this that we may begin to 

appreciate the enormity of our problems. 

Whether “a Minister has more than three 

Land Cruisers, Prado and other 

vehicles” or a Senator Sunday Karimi 

“spends a lot on” his N160 million Prado 

Jeep “because our roads are bad” is 

perhaps the least of our problems. 

For God’s sake, how can we be 

talking about movement of goods and 

services when our roads have become 

appallingly impassable? How can we 

relish the domestic economy or may 

attract foreign investments to the country 

when our roads have practically become 

death traps, and the standard of living is 

affected immediately? Exchange is 

inhibited locally and physically if and 

when movement is impossible on a daily 

basis. Energy sector is an important 

driver of growth but, talking about the 

wonkiness of our development, power 

outages have sadly become Nigeria’s 

middle name. Even the waterways that 

are supposed to bridge the gap are already 

filled with filth. 

Once upon a time in Nigeria, 

whenever we said that a contract has been 

given to the Germans, the thinking then 

was that the Germans were full of iron 

and that the job they would do would be 

solid. It used to be with former President 

Muhammadu Buhari but, now, it is 

President Bola Tinubu. The question is: 

is it in terms of the structure or quality of 

the job that’s being done? In terms of 

Buhari and Tinubu, what do we now 

have? 

Ilesa – Ijebu-Jesa - Ado-Ekiti Road! 

Lagos – Abeokuta Road! Lagos – 

David Umahi - Nigeria's Works Minister 

Badagry Road! Lagos – Epe Road! 

Gbongan - Osogbo – Ilorin Road! The 

Southwest is the worst hit! From Ibadan 

– Ogbomoso - Ilorin Road which has 

been under construction since my days at 

the University of Ilorin, to Ibadan – Ile- 

Ife – Akure Road which has been under 

construction for over 15 years, the trouble 

is that there’s no vision; and, where 

there’s no vision, one can’t really move 

because concrete vision signposts 

development. Evidently, it is because 

governance has lost its meaning that we 

continue to eat our seed instead of sowing 

it. And if we may ask: interconnectedness 

in the Southwest, is it anything to write 

home about for a country that has become 

independent since October 1, 1960? 

Chief Obafemi Awolowo died on May 

9, 1987. But isn’t it a big shame that, as of 

today, Saturday, October 28, 2023, 

people still refer to ‘Awo Roads’? Bisi 

Akande also governed Osun State 

between 1999 and 2003. This is 2023, yet 

Nigerians still refer to ‘Bisi Akande 

Roads’. Whereas elsewhere, people are 

talking about 14 lanes, what we have in 

the Southwest, which are mostly single 

lanes, remain unattended to. So, when 

exactly is Nigeria ever going to develop? 

If goods must exchange hands - and there 

must be exchange - how many roads are 

there, linking, say, Ijebu-Jesa to Ilesa in 

Osun State? We talk about Lagos-Ibadan 

Expressway, yet it is difficult to maintain 

it. So, where exactly are we developing 

into? Nigerians started fighting one 

another over subsidy and all kinds of 

indiscreet things. They strived to earn 

resources, but … they didn’t know how 

to spend resources; and that’s 

unfortunate! Take it or leave it, ability to 

spend resources wisely is in itself an 

innovation and a motivation for 

development. These are the issues! 

That Nigeria has no capacity to 

maintain its extant roads is a shame. It is 

also a shame that governance in this part 

of the world has lost its meaning. Of 

course, that’s what gave the military the 

effrontery that it could do and undo, and 

ignore the people. In his days as Nigeria’s 

Head of State, Yakubu Gowon didn’t 

know that Nigerians were so powerless 

Dualisation of the outstanding portion of Calabar–Odukpani–Itu–Ikot Ekpene Road 

until he was told that they were mere 

rabble-rousers, that they didn’t know 

much and that they were not in any way 

organised. Gowon was thankful to his 

informants. The rest is history! The 

military predators who came after ‘Jack’ 

only perfected the art. Is it any wonder 

that Nigeria has found herself in this 

mess? 

Back then, only in extreme cases 

would the military roll out tanks and fire 

one or two bullets in the air before 

everybody would talk to his or her feet 

because nobody wanted to die. As such, 

nobody wanted to know what his or her 

rights entailed, and that’s even if they 

knew that they had any rights in the first 

place. So, it is simple mathematics that 

BY ABIODUN 

KOMOLAFE 

where we have now found ourselves has 

a history. We are where we are because 

our leaders are asleep. But again, 

everything boils down to visionary 

leadership. It is the lack of vision that has 

brought Nigeria to her knees. Contractors 

look for higher pay in Nigeria, not 

because higher pay will make the job 

better, but higher pay will surely balloon 

the leisure; and that’s annoying. Until we 

change that orientation, nothing is going 

to change. 

Nigerians have been thrown into the 

mud due to lack of concrete knowledge. 

Tragically, to rise from the mud is a very 

difficult voyage. It is like a struggling 

man from the swamp. But it is 

achievable; and it is never too late. So, let 

the architects come with plain sheets of 

paper to, say, the National Stadium in 

Lagos or Liberty Stadium in Ibadan with 

a view to recalibrating the roads for the 

Southwest. What are we saying? That I 

used to go through this place in the past 

doesn’t matter. If we don’t have people 

who can dream, then we are in trouble. 

Surely, the entire roads can be redrawn to 

reflect modern reality; and that’s what 

development in the Southwest is all 

about. It is eternally on; and it will never 

stop. To stop is for development to stop. 

But nothing stops and rests except in 

docile societies. 

To sum up, it needs to be noted that, 

except one wants to be mischievous, the 

opposition now has a credible landing 

site. The Supreme Court said it; and that 

settled it. As things stand, nobody will 

say that the Atiku Abubakars and the 

Peter Obis of Nigeria ran away from the 

battle. No, not at all! Instead, they waited 

for the highest court in the land; and 

that’s all! They have fought a good fight 

and it has ended. Impliedly, Tinubu has 

no excuses again. Let him now get to 

work. Let him work diligently at fixing 

our roads. Those who can work with the 

President, let them stay while those who 

have nothing to offer again should look 

for where their expertise will be in high 

demand. And for Nigerians, the only 

hope is to keep trying and keep pushing 

until it bursts. After all, it is in the history 

of revolutions: even when one is not 

expecting things to burst, something will 

surely give. 

May the Lamb of God, who takes 

away the sin of the world, grant us peace 

in Nigeria!

Opinion 




Page15 


promise to improve electricity supply 

but the only people who benefit from 

all the investments are corrupt people 

within the value chain. It has become 

fashionable to blame the DISCOs, 

who occupy the last mile of electricity 

delivery, but the problem is not with 

the DISCOs. 

Has the Minister bothered to find 

out what happened or is happening to 

the Transmission Company of Nigeria 

(TCN)? The Nigerian Government 

appointed Manitoba, a Canadian 

Company to manage power 

transmission in Nigeria – a 

management contract of over $200 

million. Money was released to 

Manitoba but the company was never 

allowed to function. It could not 

execute all the projects that it was 

supposed to manage and deliver 

upon. Manitoba has since left Nigeria 

out of frustration. The Transmission 

Company is now unfortunately in the 

hands of government officials, the 

same old NEPA officials whose 

cognomen is “Never Expect Power 

Always.” There must be an audit of 

TCN as soon as possible, and an 

urgent probe of all persons who have 

subverted government policy. Nigeria 

cannot continue to move from 

darkness to darkness – the 

unfortunate reality that we are dealing 

with is that there are incompetent 

people in the value chain. And how 

effective is the interface between 

TCN and the GENCOs and DISCOs? 

What happened to loans disbursed in 

the past? The other major challenge is 

the supply of gas. The Governor of 

Niger State has been asking for a 

share of the Derivation Fund because 

his State hosts hydro dams, and he 

thinks his people deserve more from 

the national cake because of the hydro 

dams in Kainji, Jebba, and Shiroro in 

his State. Some of these Nigerian 

Governors and Ministers sound like 

they just left primary school, but that 

is not the focus of this piece today. 

The truth is that in the power sector, 

the main source of power is gas-fired 

power – that is thermal power which 

relies on natural gas to generate 

electricity – about 85% gas as 

opposed to 15% hydro. Nigeria’s 

thermal plants include Olorunsogo, 

Geregu, Egbin, Omotosho, Afam, and 

Sapele. But gas supply is a problem, a 

big constraint for the GENCOS, in 

part because gas supply has not been 

decoupled from oil. 

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has 

been discussing the power sector with 

the Germans. Olaf Scholz, the 

German Chancellor was in Nigeria on 

a State visit in October. Nigeria and 

Germany have had strong bilateral 

relations for more than 60 years. 

Recently, President Tinubu also 

travelled to Germany to attend the 

Compact with Africa summit on the 

sidelines of the G-20 meeting. He and 

Chancellor Scholz met again and one 

of the issues they discussed was 

Nigeria’s power sector and 

specifically Nigeria’s deal with 

Siemens, the German company with 

which the Buhari administration 

entered into an agreement – a threephase 

plan to provide electricity in 

Nigeria. The agreement was signed 

under what was called the 

Presidential Power Initiative (PPI). 

By that plan it was expected that by 

2023, Siemens would have provided 

up to 11,000 MW. We are at year-end. 

That has not happened. Even the idea 

of mini-grids has not worked. 

Siemens is an equipment company, 

not a Transmission company, not a 

DISCO, but everyone refers to how 

that company has helped the 

electricity generation process in 

Egypt. Siemens has not worked well 

here because it is mired in Nigeria’s 

complex web of zero transparency 

and lack of accountability. As it 

turned out, Nigeria started adding 

other things, talking about local 

content. Which local content? What 

does Nigeria produce as local content 

in the electricity sector? Then, 

COVID-19. Then the Russia-Ukraine 

War. And then, no magic from 

Siemens. The German Chancellor 

reportedly told President Tinubu that 

generating the electricity is not the 

problem but Nigeria has to follow 

through at its end. He was absolutely 

right. Everything is about us. We 

have to follow through. Minister 

Fashola managed to plug some 

missing links in distribution because 

he paid attention. Adelabu must pay 

attention to details. 

What is the way forward? The 

Minister must sit down with 

stakeholders. When they call him, he 

should have enough presence of mind 

to return their calls. He is holding a 

public office, not a private office. He 

must also work hard to dismantle the 

cartels in the sector. The industry 

needs to be more investor-friendly, 

and it is the duty of the Ministry to 

create an enabling environment. In 

addressing petty corruption in the 

sector, government also needs to 

focus on energy theft. More than 50% 

of the meters supplied so far to 

consumers are being by-passed. 

Nobody really wants to pay for 

electricity because the chaos in the 

sector is well known. To break the 

jinx, the TCN must be handed over to 

concessionaires. TCN and the 

Nigerian Gas Company are controlled 

by government. It is not clear how the 

industry can make progress if 

government continues to constitute 

itself into an obstacle. The Minister 

wants to review the extension of 

licenses. If he had done his homework, 

he would have discovered that 

the extension is the result of a mutual 

agreement between government and 

the DISCOs – both parties having 

failed to fulfil their own parts of the 

bargain since 2013. 

Going forward, the Tinubu 

administration must come up with a 

National Position on Power beyond 

the general statements in the 2023 

election campaign manifesto. At 

pages 30 to 32 of the Renewed Hope 

Manifesto, Tinubu promised to 

eliminate the disconnect between 

generation and distribution, provide 

support for meter asset providers, 

investment for power in rural areas, 

power sector governance reforms, and 

what is generally described as 

“Nigeria First Power Policy.” I 

suggest that the President should set 

up a National Council on Power 

Reforms which will report directly to 

him, to begin a much-needed 

conversation about and around the 

electricity sector.


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