The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 616 (February 7 - 20 2024)
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger want to leave ECOWAS
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger want to leave ECOWAS
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<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Africans now have a voice... Founded in 1995<br />
V O L 30 N O <strong>616</strong> F E B R U A R Y 7 - <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong>24<br />
ECOWAS HQ Abuja<br />
Poll reveals<br />
seeking<br />
professional<br />
support<br />
improves<br />
mental<br />
health<br />
Mali, Burkina<br />
Faso and<br />
Niger want<br />
to leave<br />
ECOWAS:<br />
A political scientist<br />
explains the fallout<br />
By Olayinka Ajala, Leeds Beckett University<br />
Continued on Page 2><br />
Anew poll by NHS England<br />
has found that two thirds<br />
(66%) of people from Black<br />
communities have felt concerned<br />
about their mental health in the last<br />
year. In fact, just under 2 in 5 (39%)<br />
of those asked, said that they have<br />
experienced depression, and over a<br />
quarter (27%) have experienced<br />
generalised anxiety disorder.<br />
However, the responses also<br />
reveal that over three quarters<br />
(77%) of those from the Black<br />
community who have accessed<br />
professional help for an anxiety<br />
disorder or depression said they saw<br />
an improvement in their mental<br />
health.<br />
<strong>The</strong> NHS is encouraging anyone<br />
struggling with feelings of<br />
depression, or anxiety such as<br />
excessive worry, panic attacks, social<br />
anxiety, post-traumatic stress, or<br />
obsessions and compulsions, to seek<br />
help through NHS Talking <strong>The</strong>rapies<br />
services. <strong>The</strong>se are effective,<br />
confidential and free treatments<br />
delivered by trained clinicians,<br />
online, on the phone, or in person.<br />
Anyone struggling with feelings of<br />
depression or anxiety can seek help<br />
through an NHS Talking <strong>The</strong>rapies<br />
service and get back on track.<br />
Taking care of your mental health<br />
is a vital part of overall health, but it<br />
is something that can sometimes be a<br />
struggle to talk about with family and<br />
friends – and this can be a particular<br />
issue for men in the community.<br />
Talking <strong>The</strong>rapies can offer the<br />
opportunity to discuss your<br />
difficulties with someone who you<br />
don’t know, providing a welcome<br />
Continued on Page 6
Page2 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> FEBRUARY 7 - <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong>24<br />
News<br />
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger want to<br />
leave ECOWAS:<br />
A political scientist explains the fallout<br />
Continued from Page 1<<br />
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have<br />
sent ECOWAS, West Africa’s<br />
main political union of 15<br />
countries, a formal notice of their<br />
withdrawal from the bloc. <strong>The</strong> three<br />
countries are governed by military rulers<br />
who have overthrown democratically<br />
elected leaders since <strong>20</strong>21.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Conversation Africa’s Godfred<br />
Akoto Boafo asked political scientist<br />
Olayinka Ajala about the implications of<br />
the withdrawal.<br />
Why are Mali, Niger and Burkina<br />
Faso withdrawing?<br />
<strong>The</strong> three countries have given three<br />
main reasons.<br />
First is what they call the “illegal,<br />
illegitimate, inhumane and irresponsible<br />
sanctions” imposed on them for truncating<br />
their democracies.<br />
Second is the failure of ECOWAS to<br />
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assist them in their “existential fight against<br />
terrorism and insecurity”.<br />
<strong>The</strong> juntas have also argued that<br />
ECOWAS has deviated from the founding<br />
principles of the organisation and is now<br />
controlled by foreign powers.<br />
In <strong>20</strong>01, ECOWAS adopted a protocol<br />
on democracy and good governance which<br />
included a mechanism for unconstitutional<br />
changes of government. Article 1a of the<br />
protocol maintains a “zero tolerance for<br />
power obtained or maintained by<br />
unconstitutional means”.<br />
ECOWAS cited this clause as its reason<br />
for suspending the three countries and for<br />
imposing sanctions against them.<br />
ECOWAS has made it clear that it<br />
won’t work with the regimes. Its<br />
statements make it clear that it has taken a<br />
strong stance because it wishes to deter<br />
military coups in other countries within the<br />
bloc.<br />
<strong>The</strong> regional bloc is also clearly<br />
frustrated at the lack of interest the three<br />
countries have shown in returning to<br />
democratic rule. It has asked for a clear and<br />
definite transition timetable, especially for<br />
Mali and Burkina Faso.<br />
What impact will the withdrawal<br />
have on ECOWAS?<br />
<strong>The</strong> main impact will be on trade and<br />
economic development. ECOWAS is<br />
primarily an economic community and the<br />
loss of any member will affect trade and<br />
economic development.<br />
<strong>The</strong> three countries collectively<br />
account for 8% of the US$761 billion<br />
ECOWAS Gross Domestic Product<br />
(GDP). In <strong>20</strong>22, the total trade volume<br />
from the ECOWAS region totalled<br />
US$277.22 billion.<br />
<strong>The</strong> concern is that the exit of these<br />
countries could affect the flow of goods<br />
and services in the bloc.<br />
Leaving the bloc could have other<br />
knock-on effects too:<br />
• <strong>The</strong> economic collapse of the countries.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se countries have strategic<br />
importance, especially in food security.<br />
Niger is a key source of onions while<br />
Burkina Faso exports tomatoes to the<br />
sub-region.<br />
• This would lead to an exodus of<br />
citizens to other ECOWAS countries,<br />
further threatening the stability of the<br />
bloc.<br />
• Concerns that the three countries will<br />
enter into bilateral relationships with<br />
countries that might not be favourable<br />
to other ECOWAS countries. For<br />
example, there are already concerns<br />
about Niger’s alliance with Russia after<br />
it severed ties with France.<br />
What impact will it have on each of<br />
the countries?<br />
<strong>The</strong> main impact on the countries will<br />
be on the movement of people, goods and<br />
services.<br />
Under ECOWAS, members enjoy<br />
unrestricted movement of citizens within<br />
the bloc. Citizens of ECOWAS countries<br />
can live and work in any country in the<br />
bloc. For instance, there are more than 5<br />
ECOWAS flags<br />
million citizens of Burkina Faso, Mali and<br />
Niger living and working in Côte d’Ivoire<br />
alone. Ghana, Togo and Republic of Benin<br />
also host large numbers of Nigeriens.<br />
<strong>The</strong> citizens of all three landlocked<br />
countries would no longer be able to travel<br />
to other ECOWAS States without<br />
impediments. Niger also shares a border of<br />
over 1,600km with seven States in Nigeria<br />
and 80% of its trade is done with Nigeria.<br />
<strong>The</strong> sanctions imposed on Niger by<br />
ECOWAS are already affecting citizens of<br />
the country. Hardship is likely to increase<br />
after the exit if Nigeria decides to police its<br />
borders.<br />
Also, depending on how ECOWAS<br />
agrees to relate to the countries in future,<br />
there could be restrictions on goods and<br />
services which would further affect the<br />
economies of these countries.<br />
What impact will it have on security<br />
in the region?<br />
<strong>The</strong> security arrangement might not be<br />
affected in the short term. But it could be in<br />
the long term. <strong>The</strong>re is already limited<br />
security cooperation between the three<br />
countries and other ECOWAS members.<br />
For instance, they have all withdrawn from<br />
the G5 Sahel, resulting in the collapse of<br />
the organisation.<br />
Although the lack of security support<br />
from ECOWAS was stated as one of the<br />
reasons for exiting ECOWAS, a total<br />
collapse of existing security infrastructure<br />
would affect not only the three countries<br />
but also other relatively stable States such<br />
as Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo and Benin.<br />
<strong>The</strong> three States have joined forces to form<br />
the Alliance of Sahel States, but without<br />
support from regional groups such as<br />
ECOWAS, they will struggle to curtail<br />
insurgencies.<br />
Currently, Mali has over 1,000<br />
members of Africa Corps (formerly<br />
Continued on Page 3
News<br />
FEBRUARY 7 - <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong>24<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger want to<br />
leave ECOWAS:<br />
A political scientist explains the fallout<br />
Page3<br />
Continued from Page 2<<br />
Wagner group), supported by Russia.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are 100 in Burkina Faso. After<br />
months of Burkina Faso insisting it would<br />
not engage foreign mercenaries, the first<br />
contingent arrived in January <strong>20</strong>24 and<br />
more are expected soon. Niger also<br />
recently agreed to military cooperation<br />
with Russia.<br />
This indicates the three countries still<br />
require external assistance to combat<br />
insecurity. <strong>The</strong> problem is that Russia is<br />
fighting a huge war in Ukraine and might<br />
not be able to support the three countries<br />
as much as they would require. If the three<br />
countries fail to combat insurgence through<br />
the newly formed Alliance of Sahel States,<br />
the threat will spread to other countries in<br />
the bloc and beyond.<br />
ECOWAS leaders have indicated that<br />
they are willing to have a dialogue with the<br />
three countries. I think ECOWAS granting<br />
some concessions to prevent them from<br />
exiting would be in the interest of the bloc<br />
and all the citizens of ECOWAS countries.<br />
* Olayinka Ajala is a Senior lecturer in<br />
Politics and International Relations at<br />
Leeds Beckett University.<br />
This article is republished from <strong>The</strong><br />
Conversation under a Creative Commons<br />
license. Read the original article.
Page4<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
FEBRUARY 7 - <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong>24<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> Group<br />
News<br />
Teenager convicted of<br />
murdering 16-year-old<br />
Field: 07956 385 604<br />
E-mail:<br />
info@the-trumpet.com<br />
Victim - Renell Charles<br />
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A17-year-old teenager who<br />
can’t be named, has been<br />
convicted of murder after a<br />
swift investigation by detectives saw<br />
him charged with the offence within<br />
three days. He was found guilty at<br />
Snaresbrook Crown Court of murder<br />
and possession of a bladed article.<br />
<strong>The</strong> teenager stabbed 16-year-old<br />
Renell Charles to death on a busy east<br />
London street as the victim waited for<br />
a bus.<br />
At around 16.00hrs on Friday, 5<br />
May, Renell was sat at a bus stop on<br />
Markhouse Road in Walthamstow E17<br />
with friends when he was approached<br />
by the defendant who had jumped out<br />
of a taxi after spotting him.<br />
Following a brief verbal altercation<br />
between Renell and the defendant,<br />
Renell attempted to run away from<br />
him, but the defendant gave chase. He<br />
was able to catch up with him and<br />
stabbed him twice – the second time as<br />
Renell lay defenceless on the ground.<br />
As the defendant ran from the scene<br />
Renell got up, but collapsed nearby.<br />
Officers and LAS attended and<br />
provided medical assistance, but sadly<br />
Renell died a short time later.<br />
Following the incident, the<br />
defendant took deliberate steps to try<br />
and evade capture, immediately<br />
changing his clothes and swapping<br />
SIM cards. On the night of the murder<br />
instead of returning to his home in<br />
Newham, he stayed in Clapton, so<br />
when detectives turned up at his house<br />
on Saturday 6 May he wasn’t there.<br />
<strong>The</strong>n, in the early hours of Monday,<br />
8 May, he attended Forest Gate police<br />
station claiming to be confused as to<br />
why police had attended his address<br />
days earlier. He was arrested on<br />
suspicion of murder and charged later<br />
that day.<br />
After initially providing a “no<br />
comment” interview, he later claimed<br />
that he was in fear of the victim and<br />
had simply acted in self-defence.<br />
Detective Chief Inspector Mark<br />
Rogers said: “My thoughts today are<br />
with Renell’s family and loved ones.<br />
Nothing will ease their pain, but I hope<br />
it is of some comfort to them that his<br />
killer has been brought to justice. <strong>The</strong><br />
defendant – just a child himself -<br />
subjected Renell to a brutal attack over<br />
a minor dispute on a busy road in view<br />
of countless witnesses.<br />
“This is yet another example of a<br />
willingness by some to carry and use<br />
knives to resolve issues with<br />
seemingly no care or thought for the<br />
consequences. Such senseless acts of<br />
violence will never cease to shock us<br />
all, and in this case made all the more<br />
tragic given Renell was so young.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> defendant’s attempt to justify<br />
his actions as an act of self-defence<br />
were contradicted by both CCTV and<br />
witnesses, both of which confirmed<br />
that he chased Renell before stabbing<br />
him. I thank the jury for rightly seeing<br />
through his lies.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> 17-year-old teenager will be<br />
sentenced on Thursday, 14 March.
FEBRUARY 7 - <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong>24<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Page5<br />
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______________________________<br />
For more energy-saving tips, visit:<br />
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• Reduce your boiler flow<br />
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Page6 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> FEBRUARY 7 - <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong>24<br />
News<br />
Poll reveals seeking professional<br />
support improves mental health<br />
Continued from Page 1<<br />
outlet for many people.<br />
Sharon Black, Senior Counsellor<br />
and IPT Lead Interpersonal<br />
Psychotherapist and accredited<br />
Talking <strong>The</strong>rapies clinician said:<br />
“Often in our community we prefer ‘not<br />
to talk about it’ – but that’s not helpful for<br />
our mental health. Anxiety and<br />
depression can take a bigger toll on our<br />
lives than we might like to admit, and<br />
talking to a trained professional can<br />
really help. We’re here to support you and<br />
to give you an outlet to discuss issues that<br />
you might not want to raise with your<br />
friends and family. You don’t even have to<br />
go to your GP to get referred to Talking<br />
<strong>The</strong>rapies; you can simply self-refer<br />
online.”<br />
Nicholas Pinnock, actor, and<br />
producer said: “When I first experienced<br />
depression, I found it hard to articulate<br />
Nicholas Pinnock -<br />
(Photo credit Joseph Sinclair 3<strong>20</strong>41)<br />
what was happening to me and just<br />
dismissed this feeling of numbing sadness<br />
as a dark spell everybody went through.<br />
Sharon Black<br />
Discussing mental illness was not<br />
something my community or anyone I<br />
knew spoke about when I was in my early<br />
30s and you would think I’d have known<br />
about such things at that time in my life<br />
but even then, I wasn’t equipped with the<br />
knowledge to understand that I needed<br />
help.<br />
“It’s important to me to support<br />
initiatives such as Talking <strong>The</strong>rapies. As<br />
I believe speaking with a professional,<br />
when you’re struggling with a mental<br />
ailment, can provide the necessary tools<br />
and processes to help get you through<br />
each day. Seeking therapeutic support not<br />
only helped me, I believe it saved my<br />
life.”<br />
When asked in the survey, over half<br />
(57%) of Black people did not know that<br />
they could refer themselves to NHS<br />
Talking <strong>The</strong>rapies online to access<br />
treatment for anxiety and depression.<br />
You don’t need to have a diagnosed<br />
mental health problem to refer yourself to<br />
an NHS Talking <strong>The</strong>rapies service, and<br />
you can choose whether to refer yourself<br />
online, or to ask your GP to refer you. For<br />
those whose first language is not English,<br />
talking therapies can be delivered through<br />
multi-lingual therapists or through<br />
confidential interpreters. <strong>The</strong> service is<br />
available for anyone over 18 who is<br />
registered with a GP.<br />
Dr Chinea Eziefula Clinical<br />
Psychologist for NHS Talking<br />
<strong>The</strong>rapies within the North London<br />
Mental Health Partnership & Regional<br />
Clinical Lead for NHS Talking<br />
<strong>The</strong>rapies long-term physical health<br />
conditions pathways, NHS<br />
England: “I’ve seen many people over<br />
the years who have struggled privately<br />
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NHS Talking <strong>The</strong>rapies can help<br />
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• feeling anxious<br />
• feeling low and hopeless<br />
• having panic attacks<br />
• finding it hard to cope with work, life<br />
or relationships<br />
• struggling with flashbacks or<br />
nightmares about upsetting events from<br />
your past<br />
• feeling stressed<br />
• worrying a lot<br />
• obsessive thoughts or behaviours<br />
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• being afraid of things, such as spiders,<br />
flying or heights (phobias)<br />
Your GP can refer you for NHS<br />
Talking <strong>The</strong>rapies, or you can refer<br />
yourself online at nhs.uk/talk
FEBRUARY 7 - <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong>24<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
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Don’t hesitate to reach out to your<br />
doctor if you experience any of these<br />
warning signs. Your health is<br />
important, and early diagnosis can<br />
make a significant difference in<br />
managing any potential health<br />
issues.<br />
If you have any concerns speak<br />
to your GP practice<br />
If you reach out to your GP and they have concerns about cancer, they<br />
may ask you to do some tests, like go for a chest X-ray or complete a<br />
home test kit that looks for hidden traces of blood in your poo, or refer<br />
you to a specialist.<br />
For more information go to: nhs.uk/cancersymptoms<br />
NHS: Help us,<br />
help you<br />
If you notice anything unusual in your body, it’s<br />
important to contact your GP practice. Some symptoms<br />
may be less obvious and easy to put down to other causes,<br />
such as coughing, feeling tired, heartburn, or tummy<br />
discomfort, but it’s important to get unusual or persistent<br />
changes checked out.<br />
Contact your GP practice if<br />
something in your body doesn’t feel<br />
right or you experience any of these<br />
symptoms, some of these symptoms<br />
can be harder to notice:<br />
• Breathlessness.<br />
• Frequent infections.<br />
• Unexplained heavy, drenching<br />
night sweats.<br />
• Unexplained weight loss.<br />
• An unusuallump anywhere on<br />
the body, like in the neck or<br />
armpit.<br />
• Unexpected or unexplained<br />
bruising or bleeding<br />
• Difficulty swallowing.<br />
• Blood in your pee.<br />
• Blood in your poo, which may<br />
look red or black.<br />
If you experience any of these<br />
symptoms for three weeks or more,<br />
it’s crucial to seek medical<br />
attention:<br />
• A cough or a change to an<br />
existing cough.<br />
• Changes in the voice such as<br />
hoarseness.<br />
• Tummy trouble, such as<br />
discomfort or bloating.<br />
• Feeling tired and unwell and not<br />
sure why.<br />
• Heartburn or indigestion.<br />
• Changes to your bowelhabits,<br />
such as diarrhoea or constipation,<br />
or unusual, pale or greasy poo.<br />
• Unexplained pain or discomfort.<br />
It may be nothing serious, but<br />
finding cancer early makes it more<br />
treatable.<br />
Be body aware<br />
Cancer signs and symptoms can manifest in various ways.<br />
It’s essential to stay in tune with your body and be aware<br />
of any new or unusual changes that don’t align with your<br />
normal health.<br />
While many symptoms may be nothing serious, early<br />
diagnosis of cancer significantly improves the chances of<br />
successful treatment and can save lives so it’s important to<br />
get things checked out by a health professional.<br />
If your GP suspects cancer, they may refer you for<br />
tests. Regardless of the test results, remember that your<br />
NHS is here to support you.<br />
Getting the necessary tests<br />
can provide peace of mind.<br />
Until you have the results, it’s<br />
essential not to rule out the<br />
possibility of a health issue.<br />
Don’t hesitate to contact your<br />
GP practice if things change<br />
or get worse. Your health is a<br />
priority.<br />
If something in your body<br />
doesn’t feel right contact your<br />
GP practice.<br />
For more information go to:<br />
nhs.uk/cancersymptoms
Page8 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> FEBRUARY 7 - <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong>24<br />
Opinion<br />
A national emergency on<br />
insecurity<br />
<strong>The</strong> biggest problem Nigeria faces<br />
at the moment beyond the parlous<br />
state of the economy is the general<br />
insecurity in the land and it is about time<br />
government declared a national<br />
emergency on the challenge. Certainly,<br />
the phrase “national emergency” must be<br />
familiar with most Nigerians: it has been<br />
declared once too often by the Nigerian<br />
government to acknowledge that a<br />
particular aspect of national life is in<br />
urgent need of attention but once the<br />
spokespersons mouth the phrase,<br />
everyone soon moves on. Nothing is<br />
done. <strong>The</strong> problem persists. A classical<br />
case in point would be the declaration of<br />
an” immediate state of emergency on<br />
food insecurity” in July <strong>20</strong>23 by the<br />
Tinubu administration. We were told that<br />
the government was “not unmindful of<br />
the rising cost of food and how it affects<br />
the citizens.” At the time Nigeria’s<br />
inflation rate was 22.41%. Food inflation<br />
stood at 24.82%. <strong>The</strong> plan was to deploy<br />
savings from the fuel subsidy removal<br />
into the agricultural sector, and bring “all<br />
matters pertaining to food and water<br />
availability within the purview of the<br />
National Security Council.”<br />
Months down the line, the emergency<br />
has had no effect in the short or medium<br />
term. As of December <strong>20</strong>23, headline<br />
inflation had risen to 28.9%, and food<br />
inflation was 33.93%. <strong>The</strong> situation is<br />
now so bad that average Nigerians are<br />
groaning under the terror of sharp rises,<br />
over a consecutive <strong>20</strong>-month period, in<br />
the average prices of oil and fat, meat,<br />
bread, cereals, potatoes, yam and other<br />
tubers, with food prices as high as<br />
44.73% in Kogi State, 41.33% in Kwara<br />
and 39.55% in Imo. <strong>The</strong> so-called<br />
savings from fuel subsidy removal is<br />
seen majorly in terms of higher<br />
allocations to States and the Federal<br />
Government, the removal of fuel subsidy<br />
itself has fuelled further distortions<br />
within the economy to the people’s<br />
disadvantage. People are now eating<br />
from dustbins. Nigerians are depressed<br />
and angry.<br />
<strong>The</strong> focus on food insecurity may<br />
have stemmed from the folkloric belief<br />
that once a people can feed themselves,<br />
then their poverty is significantly<br />
reduced. <strong>The</strong> reality is that more<br />
Nigerians have slipped into poverty and<br />
misery. Government may also have done<br />
well to recognize that insecurity is multidimensional<br />
even if it has not made any<br />
difference or showed any signs in that<br />
direction. We have also seen that having<br />
your kinsman in power and office does<br />
not guarantee prosperity on the grounds<br />
of proximity.<br />
But the big elephant in the room, it<br />
seems, is the complete dehumanization<br />
of the Nigerian person, the increasing<br />
worthlessness of lives and properties, the<br />
spread of violence and anomie in the<br />
land, in the face of an obvious and<br />
beguiling failure of the Nigerian State.<br />
<strong>The</strong> legitimacy of the modern State,<br />
beyond the controversies about sources<br />
and typologies inheres more in the<br />
connection between State authority and<br />
the people’s interests and how those<br />
interests are served through the<br />
deployment of State resources and<br />
infrastructure. In Nigeria’s 1999<br />
Constitution, the purpose of government<br />
is defined as ensuring the security and<br />
welfare of the people. But the Nigerian<br />
government is detached. <strong>The</strong> people are<br />
BY REUBEN ABATI<br />
not sure if the government is for them or<br />
against them. What they see is the State<br />
apparatus at all levels being used to serve<br />
the people in power who merely mouth<br />
commitment to their primary assignment<br />
as convenient slogans. <strong>The</strong> people do not<br />
feel secure, hence the resort to self-help<br />
by all manners of persons setting up<br />
ethnic militias, State militias, vigilante<br />
groups. <strong>The</strong> government having failed<br />
them, and the government showing<br />
persistently a lack of capacity to listen<br />
and act, Nigeria is a security nightmare.<br />
Nobody is safe, not even traditional rulers<br />
who used to be sacred persons within the<br />
community. Yesterday, in Ekiti State, two<br />
traditional rulers – the Onimojo of Imojo-<br />
Ekiti and the Elesun of Esun-Ekiti were<br />
killed in an ambush by armed men.<br />
Before now, there had been regular<br />
Continued on Page 9
Opinion<br />
FEBRUARY 7 - <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong>24 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> Page9<br />
A national emergency on insecurity<br />
Continued from Page 6<<br />
reports of the abduction of traditional<br />
rulers in the South East, the most recent<br />
victim was the traditional ruler of Orodo<br />
Autonomous Community in Mbaitoli<br />
Local Government Area of Imo State.<br />
<strong>The</strong> problem is not new, but it has<br />
never been this bad in a literal sense. In<br />
<strong>20</strong>14, the then emergent political Special<br />
Purpose Vehicle (SPV), that is the All<br />
Progressives Congress ran a campaign<br />
against the incumbent Goodluck<br />
Jonathan administration partly on the<br />
grounds that as a civilian, President<br />
Jonathan could not handle the country’s<br />
security challenges. <strong>The</strong> party sold the<br />
dummy to the electorate that a leader<br />
with a military background was the best<br />
bet for Nigeria. <strong>The</strong>y advertised General<br />
Muhammadu Buhari, a civil war hero<br />
and former military Head of State as the<br />
messiah who would drive the bandits, the<br />
terrorists, crude oil thieves, insurgents<br />
and all kinds of criminals away from the<br />
shores of Nigeria. <strong>The</strong> people bought this<br />
false narrative and Buhari became<br />
President, with the additional promise<br />
that he will strengthen the economy and<br />
fight corruption. For eight years we kept<br />
hearing that the Buhari government had<br />
decimated the ranks of terrorists and<br />
bandits. But nothing was decimated.<br />
Under Buhari, criminals became bolder.<br />
Trains were hijacked and attacked. Crude<br />
oil thieves in the Niger Delta had a field<br />
day. <strong>The</strong> economy failed, and that much<br />
has been confirmed by members of his<br />
own party who are now in charge in<br />
Abuja. No amount of deodorant can<br />
eliminate the stench of failure in those<br />
eight years.<br />
<strong>The</strong> APC retained power at the centre<br />
Insecurity in Nigeria<br />
after the <strong>20</strong>23 general elections, in the<br />
person of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu<br />
who says he has a “Renewed Hope<br />
agenda.” Under him, Nigeria has now<br />
even witnessed some of the most<br />
shocking security breaches in recent<br />
memory. Nobody has come forward to<br />
say that this is so because Bola Tinubu is<br />
a civilian and not a soldier. Buhari had<br />
exploded the myth that a man who had<br />
donned the uniform is best suited to fight<br />
in an asymmetrical war. Leading troops<br />
in a fratricidal civil war is not the same<br />
as fighting groups of terrorists, bandits,<br />
Jihadists and criminals. It must not be<br />
possible to fool Nigerians with such<br />
poppycock again. <strong>The</strong> Buhari<br />
administration indeed worsened the<br />
situation by sending wrong signals on the<br />
security situation. He would on several<br />
occasions direct the security forces to<br />
deal with terrorists, but at the same time<br />
his government actively sought to<br />
appease the same terrorists.<br />
Terrorists were for the most part<br />
treated as agitators rather than as<br />
criminals. <strong>The</strong> Americans killed Osama<br />
Bin Laden, Al Baghdadi and Al<br />
Zawahiri; in Buhari’s Nigeria, the<br />
government pursued the task, so<br />
vigorously of rehabilitating Nigerian<br />
terrorists who had been identified as the<br />
fourth deadliest in the world. <strong>The</strong>y were<br />
given money, food, clothing and<br />
chieftaincy titles. In <strong>20</strong>21, the Buhari<br />
administration pardoned over 1,000<br />
Boko Haram fighters. <strong>The</strong> same<br />
government that talked about “Operation<br />
Lafiya Dole”, and “Operation Last Hold”<br />
was also the same administration that<br />
adopted Operation Safe Corridor for<br />
terrorists! This policy incoherence<br />
merely emboldened the criminals. It did<br />
not help. In <strong>20</strong>22, terrorists attacked<br />
innocent Nigerians travelling in a train<br />
between Abuja and Kaduna. <strong>The</strong>y also<br />
attacked airports. <strong>The</strong> government was<br />
helpless, if not complicit.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Tinubu administration is facing<br />
the harvest of that failure. Criminal<br />
elements continue to dare his<br />
administration with such temerity that it<br />
is difficult to believe that Nigeria’s<br />
security agencies take the lion share of<br />
the country’s annual budget estimates.<br />
What exactly do they do with all that<br />
money? On Christmas Eve in <strong>20</strong>23,<br />
bandits killed close to <strong>20</strong>0 persons in<br />
three local government areas of Bokkos,<br />
Mangu and Barkin Ladi in Plateau State.<br />
At the mass burial of some of the victims,<br />
a Commander of Operation Safe Haven<br />
told the grieving community that it was<br />
the “work of the Devil.” <strong>The</strong> Devil has<br />
since returned to kill more people in<br />
Plateau and in other States like Zamfara,<br />
turning the Middle Belt and the North<br />
Central into the killing fields of Nigeria.<br />
As usual, the President condemned the<br />
killings, and gave the security chiefs<br />
marching orders to bring the perpetrators<br />
to book. Terrorists and kidnappers in<br />
Nigeria are so used to these sermons that<br />
they merely shrug off statements from<br />
Aso Rock and move on to the next target.<br />
Kidnappers in particular have put the<br />
Nigerian security establishment to<br />
shame. <strong>The</strong>y operate at will, collect<br />
ransoms openly, and even that does not<br />
guarantee safety or the release of the<br />
abducted persons. In one shocking<br />
example, kidnappers went to a military<br />
estate, and made away with people.<br />
When policemen and soldiers cannot<br />
protect themselves, where does that leave<br />
the people? <strong>The</strong> government keeps<br />
feeding the people with the pill of hope<br />
and promises. Nigeria has a high rate of<br />
unemployment, poverty is rife. Certain<br />
elements have found kidnapping to be a<br />
more enabling business ecosystem, so<br />
much, that there have been cases of<br />
persons who organized their own kidnap<br />
in order to extort money from family<br />
members! Desperate people resort to<br />
desperate means to survive.<br />
But perhaps, <strong>The</strong> Economist<br />
magazine in its editorial of January 24<br />
titled “Kidnappers are wreaking havoc in<br />
Nigeria, yet President Tinubu’s security<br />
plan is worryingly like his predecessor’s”<br />
placed its fingers on why the dilemma<br />
persists when it wrote as follows: “How<br />
much politicians in Nigeria care about<br />
national insecurity has long been<br />
correlated with how close it gets to their<br />
mansions in Abuja, the capital.” Is that<br />
leadership? And where does that leave<br />
the hapless people who live in places like<br />
central Nigeria who are slaughtered in<br />
their hundreds, and the security agencies<br />
respond only after damage has been<br />
done?<br />
<strong>The</strong> Economist added: “At his<br />
inauguration last May, Mr. Tinubu<br />
declared security his “top priority.” Yet<br />
more than 3,600 people were kidnapped<br />
in <strong>20</strong>23, the most ever, according to<br />
ACLED, a global monitor of conflict.<br />
<strong>The</strong> snatching rose sharply after Mr.<br />
Tinubu took office. And almost 9,000<br />
Nigerians were killed in conflict last<br />
Continued on Page 11
Page10 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> FEBRUARY 7 - <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong>24<br />
Opinion<br />
Sanwo-Olu and the<br />
pursuit of a social market<br />
economy (2)<br />
Babajide Sanwo-Olu 3 (Photo - @JideSanwoolu on X)<br />
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Section 25 of the Nigerian<br />
Constitution is explicit on the<br />
differences between citizens and<br />
settlers. But then, there’s a saying in<br />
Ijesaland: ‘Gbogbo ìjesà ni omo Owá,<br />
sùgbón b’álé bá lé, àwon omo Owá mo<br />
ara won.’ Translated literally, it means<br />
‘Kings have many children but when<br />
the chips are down, each king knows<br />
his real children.’ To put it succinctly<br />
therefore, when it comes to nativity, no<br />
settler in Lagos can claim to be an Igbo<br />
and a Lagosian at the same time. Not<br />
only that, while an indigene can be<br />
likened to a tap root with the capacity<br />
to regenerate, a settler is like a<br />
transplanted seedling; and it is a<br />
common phenomenon in every<br />
community. In other words, the fact that<br />
an Igbo man is living in Lagos does not<br />
make him a Lagosian. A trueborn Igbo<br />
knows this! That’s why he would want<br />
to build a house, first, in his hometown<br />
before doing so elsewhere. <strong>The</strong>se are<br />
some of the areas Sanwo-Olu and,<br />
indeed, those who mean well for Lagos<br />
State in particular and Nigeria in<br />
general must critically look into before<br />
things get blown up. Failure to do it<br />
now will be tantamount to postponing<br />
the evil days.<br />
In his book, ‘<strong>The</strong> Red Book of West<br />
Africa’ (first published in 19<strong>20</strong>),<br />
Allister Macmillan showed that, in<br />
terms professions and commerce,<br />
Yorubaland was probably the most<br />
advanced part of the British West<br />
African colonies. Macmillan<br />
unambiguously discussed in detail the<br />
intriguing amount of commercial<br />
advancements in the Colony of Lagos.<br />
Of course, what that shows is that the<br />
advancement in Lagos was Yorubacentric.<br />
Thus, any contrary assertion is<br />
nothing but a repudiation of historical<br />
facts. Besides, Lagos being a port has<br />
also been an advantage in that it has<br />
since time immemorial been playing<br />
host to enterprising individuals as well<br />
as big entry and exit economic<br />
activities. So, the fact remains that<br />
Lagos wasn’t just the capital of Nigeria<br />
at a time, it was – still remains - a<br />
dynamic port that has been defining the<br />
path and creating the space in a liberal<br />
environment. Lagos is a State that’s<br />
over the years allowed non-indigenes to<br />
thrive.<br />
In any case, if Bola Tinubu actually<br />
did well as Lagos State Governor, why<br />
then did he lose the State in the<br />
presidential election of <strong>February</strong> 25,<br />
<strong>20</strong>23? Had the governorship election<br />
not been shifted by two weeks, would<br />
Sanwo-Olu have also won a return<br />
ticket for 2 nd Term? Arguably, what<br />
propelled the presidential election<br />
result was different in the sense that<br />
there was a lot of disaffection with the<br />
APC/PDP hegemony. For example, it’s<br />
difficult to have 133 million Nigerians<br />
in multidimensional poverty and say<br />
that the two political parties that have<br />
been exchanging batons of governance<br />
for the past 24 years have not<br />
disappointed Nigerians. From available<br />
indices, the issue remains pathetically<br />
unaddressed. So, the presidential<br />
election was practically a protest vote<br />
in cosmopolitan Lagos. Indeed, that has<br />
nothing to do with an individual.<br />
To borrow from the immortal words<br />
of Andre Gunther Frank, Nigeria is a<br />
classic case of “the development of<br />
underdevelopment”. Dear fatherland is<br />
one big, pathetic example of growth<br />
without development. Here, we keep<br />
peddling big figures about growth but<br />
where is the development? Admitted<br />
that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is presently<br />
the biggest economist in Africa! But<br />
how has that translated into food on the<br />
table for my two little kids, aged 13 and<br />
10? In our very eyes, a mudu of garri is<br />
now N800.00 while a 50kg of rice now<br />
sells for N62,000.00. A sachet of<br />
Paracetamol tablets, which used to cost<br />
N70.00 a few months back, now goes<br />
for N<strong>20</strong>0.00. As if the gods are angry,<br />
Continued on Page 11
Opinion<br />
FEBRUARY 7 - <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong>24<br />
Sanwo-Olu and the pursuit of a<br />
social market economy (2)<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Page11<br />
Continued from Page 10<<br />
crowd-funding has taken over the social<br />
media space for illnesses as mild as<br />
headache. With these and many others<br />
currently troubling our Israel, whatever<br />
is left of the middle class is just one<br />
illness away from poverty.<br />
In a social market economy, the<br />
raging issues of Area Boys, aka<br />
‘agberos’, illegal drugs and marijuana<br />
consumption are a deathtrap, more so<br />
as they are interlinked. While Area<br />
Boys are a creation of successive<br />
leaders’ refusal to sincerely empower<br />
Nigerians for the future, illegal drugs<br />
and marijuana consumption is a<br />
dependency syndrome which has<br />
benefitted only the ruling class. Over<br />
the years, Nigeria’s leaders have built a<br />
low-scale, low-wage economy and<br />
there’s been no concrete political will<br />
to tackle it headlong. Deliberately or<br />
otherwise, our leaders have refused to<br />
build the kinds of Industrial Parks or<br />
Agricultural Settlements which<br />
Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe<br />
and Ahmadu Bello envisioned and built<br />
in their respective regions.<br />
<strong>The</strong> truth of the matter is that<br />
agberos as a creation of the state are<br />
convenient battering rams for the<br />
political class who see them as willing<br />
tools during elections. But the danger<br />
in it is that the chickens will always<br />
come home to roost because we can’t<br />
have elections every day or every year.<br />
So, what happens in-between the<br />
elections? Of course, things will always<br />
get worse, because we have created an<br />
underclass of people without skills, and<br />
without hope. Karl Marx politely<br />
described it as a ‘dangerous class’.<br />
Regrettably, this creation of<br />
Frankenstein monsters has been the lot<br />
of the urban areas and Lagos State is<br />
not an exception. Of course, it’s going<br />
to get worse unless the needful is done.<br />
What do I mean? Well, has Nigeria<br />
been doing value additioning, wouldn’t<br />
earnings from the agriculture sector<br />
which remains primitive have by now<br />
been thrice the earnings from crude oil?<br />
Much as Lagos is seen – and, truly<br />
so – as the ‘Centre of Excellence’, it is<br />
also where things happen! No doubt<br />
about it, Lagos State remains a visible<br />
template for other States in Nigeria,<br />
with lots of things building an edge<br />
above them all. Since the beginning of<br />
the 4 th Republic, it has been enjoying a<br />
stable, uninterrupted rule. With a metro<br />
area population of 16,536,000, it is also<br />
bigger than some countries. Nationally,<br />
Lagos is rated as the commercial nerve<br />
center of Nigeria. Her Value Added Tax,<br />
VAT, remains unsurpassed by any other<br />
State in the country and, thank God, we<br />
are now living witnesses to the exploits<br />
of tested and trusted leadership which,<br />
in some decades back, one would have<br />
considered an unattainable feat. Many<br />
thanks to Tinubu and his successors in<br />
office for making Lagos the 19 th best<br />
city in the world to live in <strong>20</strong>24! Added<br />
to this is that Nigeria’s current<br />
President and Commander-in-Chief of<br />
the Armed Forces is from the State.<br />
Sanwo-Olu is therefore blessed to<br />
have the rare opportunity of being in<br />
the driver’s seat of the number one<br />
State in West Africa. But for him to<br />
benefit from the green fruits of ruling a<br />
State like Lagos, he needs to really aim<br />
for the highest, and the best. After all,<br />
hardly can one find a tribe, culture or<br />
tradition not represented in the State,<br />
and the Governor shouldn’t allow<br />
partisan politics to rob him of the<br />
opportunity of harnessing the<br />
multidimensional benefits of such<br />
wealth. Not too long ago, Tinubu<br />
became the ‘Jagaban of Borgu’ through<br />
his mastery of the art while governing<br />
the State.<br />
Be that as it may, the Governor must<br />
bear in mind that Lagos State is not<br />
only about Ikeja, or Marina, or Banana<br />
Island. It is also about Ikorodu and<br />
Ayobo-Ipaja! It is about Badagry and<br />
Epe. For the State to have stability and<br />
witness economic progress therefore,<br />
Iyana Ipaja–Toll Gate axis of the<br />
Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, which,<br />
presently, is an eyesore, must be fixed;<br />
and ditto for other roads. Let Sanwo-<br />
Olu do his bit and leave the rest of the<br />
impassable expressway for Dapo<br />
Abiodun whose major achievements as<br />
Ogun State Governor are yet to be seen.<br />
*To be concluded.<br />
*Komolafe wrote in from Ijebu-<br />
Jesa, Osun State, Nigeria<br />
(ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)<br />
Continued from Page 6<<br />
year.” Human beings oh, not animals!<br />
And hear this: “the government tends to<br />
splurge on fancy weapons systems that<br />
fail to tackle the roots of the problem<br />
which is poverty, poor education and<br />
anger at many atrocities…Another huge<br />
problem is graft in security<br />
spending…This is worsened by a system<br />
known as security votes, whereby parts<br />
of defence spending are deemed too<br />
sensitive.”<br />
What the newspaper did not add is<br />
that even the language of engagement has<br />
not changed. <strong>The</strong> Defence Headquarters<br />
is always boasting that “perpetrators will<br />
be exposed” (for where?), when people<br />
have been killed, properties razed, the<br />
Police is always quick wake up from its<br />
slumber to announce a special operation<br />
to be led by an Assistant Inspector<br />
General of Police, and the President<br />
summons a National Security Council<br />
meeting and gives directives. <strong>The</strong> Service<br />
Chiefs for the past eight years have told<br />
Nigerians that they are working on<br />
Nigeria’s security architecture, or<br />
National Security Strategy which will<br />
deploy kinetic and non-kinetic measures.<br />
A national emergency on insecurity<br />
To tell the truth, when I hear anybody<br />
talking about “kinetic and non-kinetic” I<br />
simply conclude that some security<br />
chiefs are again looking for an<br />
opportunity to collect more money and<br />
do nothing. It is pure madness to keep<br />
doing the same thing and keep getting the<br />
same results again and again without any<br />
progress.<br />
Nigeria needs new thinking, new<br />
ideas in security management. Hard<br />
questions need to be asked, more so as<br />
we are now at a turning point, even in the<br />
sub-region. <strong>The</strong> decision to withdraw,<br />
“without delay”, from ECOWAS by<br />
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, this week,<br />
is bound to escalate the security crisis<br />
within the sub-region, and pose<br />
challenges for Nigeria. We share a border<br />
of about 1,668 kilometres with Niger.<br />
Our borders are porous. Niger may see<br />
no further obligation to help fight<br />
terrorists within its own borders to<br />
prevent a spill-over. <strong>The</strong> only thing we<br />
can safely assume is that the Tinubu<br />
administration may not resort to the old<br />
practice of providing accommodation,<br />
clothes and food for bandits and<br />
terrorists. Or could that be why there has<br />
been an unprecedented resurgence of<br />
criminality in the country?<br />
<strong>The</strong> new ideas that we call for cannot<br />
come from the Security Council or<br />
Defence Headquarters and the rest of the<br />
security establishment. It has been<br />
established that intelligence is a problem<br />
at the heart of Nigeria’s National Security<br />
Strategy. Even when actionable<br />
intelligence is made available to our<br />
security agencies, they are hardly ever<br />
pro-active. Our recommendation is, as a<br />
starting point, the convocation of a<br />
National Summit on Insecurity in Nigeria<br />
to be attended by a broad section of<br />
society drawn from among stakeholders<br />
at all levels. <strong>The</strong> theme shall be strictly<br />
focused on insecurity and what needs to<br />
be done. A counter argument may well be<br />
that there is nothing new under the sun,<br />
and that even if the best ideas emerge<br />
from the summit, how can anyone be<br />
sure that the ideas will be implemented,<br />
and correctly too? <strong>The</strong>re may be some<br />
merit in this. After all, there have been<br />
studies and recommendations on the<br />
crisis in the Plateau since 1994. But it is<br />
either the reports are not implemented or<br />
they are not even considered at all. Our<br />
leaders don’t care enough.<br />
Insecurity is making everything else<br />
difficult; it discourages foreign and local<br />
investments. Farmers cannot go to their<br />
farms. It is an act of faith to travel in<br />
certain parts of the country. <strong>The</strong> country<br />
is under threat. Anomie is upon the land,<br />
and the risk is real, given the manner in<br />
which such factors as religion, ethnicity,<br />
attachment to land, the fight over<br />
resources and indigene/settler conflicts<br />
have turned Nigeria into a keg of<br />
gunpowder. With the security<br />
establishment at its wits’ end, all hands<br />
must be on deck to address the challenges<br />
urgently. Let the Federal Government<br />
declare a national emergency on<br />
insecurity. It needs not wait till the day<br />
when a sitting Governor is abducted, and<br />
kidnappers ask that ransom be paid<br />
before such a Governor and his family<br />
members are released. It would also not<br />
be enough to argue that some elements<br />
are out to sabotage the Tinubu<br />
administration. <strong>The</strong> time to act is now.<br />
Tinubu must take the security situation in<br />
the country more seriously. <strong>The</strong> solutions<br />
are within, not in Paris or London.
Page12 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> FEBRUARY 7 - <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong>24<br />
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Page13
Page14 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> FEBRUARY 7 - <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong>24<br />
Opinion<br />
Osun APC and some hard home<br />
truths – (2)<br />
By Abiodun Komolafe<br />
As of July 16, <strong>20</strong>22, Iyiola<br />
Omisore, a Prince of Ife and a<br />
celebrated political strategist and<br />
master of the game, was the party’s<br />
National Secretary. Still, APC lost very<br />
badly in Ife land. Incidentally, that’s<br />
where Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, the party’s<br />
current State Chairman, was also born.<br />
Lawal was at the time its State Vice<br />
Chairman. Most, if not all those who<br />
pretended to be Big Boys from Ife land<br />
who served in the Oyetola-led<br />
government lost even their polling units.<br />
Was that also caused by Aregbesola?<br />
Again, why did APC contentedly slip into<br />
its familiar routine in Oriade and Obokun<br />
Local Governments? Why did it end up<br />
soaking in the enthusiasm of defeat in<br />
Iree in Boripe Local Government, despite<br />
what the former Governor planted in the<br />
ancient town?<br />
For Osun APC to have lost 28 out of<br />
30 Local Governments and 1 Area Office,<br />
25 out of 26 members in the State House<br />
of Assembly, and all the National<br />
Assembly seats, that speaks volume! But,<br />
rather than address the whys and<br />
wherefores that broke its heart, among<br />
which were greed, indiscipline,<br />
uncontrolled lust for privileges and the<br />
love of self, blame game took over. Osun<br />
APC surrendered to the superior<br />
firepower of betrayal from the people in<br />
power, failure to connect with the people,<br />
lack of sense of purpose, lack of shared<br />
vision and lofty ideals, lack of cohesion<br />
in the party and lack of control, and it was<br />
as if the gods were angry.<br />
Whither the roles of the opposition in<br />
democracy and why is Osun APC not<br />
delivering on its newly-acquired<br />
mandate? Take, for instance, reports have<br />
it that Adeleke has for over a year been<br />
living in his sister’s house but<br />
unfortunately, the opposition is not seen<br />
to have been hard on an issue which in<br />
Yoruba culture amounts to a taboo. Well,<br />
while it’s not unusual for Governors to<br />
live in their private residences while<br />
serving (as Lateef Jakande lived in his<br />
personal house, even rode in his famous<br />
Toyota Crown car as Governor of Lagos<br />
State, which of course could be attributed<br />
to his known simplicity and frugality),<br />
Nigerians hold the notion that Adeleke<br />
opted for that path so that the real<br />
masquerades who’re behind the scene<br />
can manage him and his excesses, and<br />
shield him from those who might wish to<br />
exploit his naivety in governance.<br />
Although the Governor has his<br />
personal house in Ede, he hardly ever<br />
stays there, and it is believed that he runs<br />
Osun State with the counsel and input<br />
from his sister who has her imprimatur on<br />
every appointment in the State. She’s<br />
even believed to be the de facto<br />
Commissioner for Works, a portfolio the<br />
Governor withheld to himself. So,<br />
anyone who cannot cringe in their court<br />
had better forget getting anything from<br />
the government. Is it any wonder that, in<br />
Osun, the fear of ‘Yeye’ is the beginning<br />
of wisdom?<br />
When Oyetola was to lose power in<br />
<strong>20</strong>22, an uninformed cross-section of the<br />
public asked that power be taken away<br />
from ‘alakowe’ and given to ‘alakori’. In<br />
their opinion, if the former could not do it<br />
well, why not hand over the destiny of<br />
dear State to the latter? Not<br />
unsurprisingly, ‘Imole Osun’ has now<br />
come to town and … ‘the difference is<br />
clear.’ Amidst a litany of avoidable<br />
gaffes, the State Chief Judge would have<br />
long been removed from office and the<br />
Governor’s vuvuzelas would have stood<br />
up and clapped for the king, were it not<br />
for the timely intervention of the National<br />
Judicial Council, NJC.<br />
Again, who will help save Osun APC<br />
from Osun APC? Well, I have argued<br />
elsewhere that opposition roles are very<br />
difficult, especially in a democracy like<br />
ours. Not even in a situation where the<br />
ruling party has many advantages to its<br />
bidding: a monstrously rich dynasty,<br />
power which it knows how to effectively<br />
deploy, resources sufficient enough to<br />
play around with, and the sympathy of<br />
the electorate which, for obvious reasons,<br />
the ruling party currently enjoys.<br />
I have also had the privilege of raising<br />
the issue of contact persons or rallying<br />
points in some of the localities in the<br />
State. For instance, I’ve cited the case of<br />
Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola (Photo - Twitter @GboyegaOyetola)<br />
High Chief Dele Faseru, a respected PDP<br />
chieftain in Ijebu-Jesa who, for a very<br />
long time, has been the face of the PDP in<br />
Oriade Local Government and its<br />
environs; and the colourful politician has<br />
been delivering on that mandate. How<br />
many Dele Faserus are available to Osun<br />
APC and how many of them are<br />
accessible in the real sense of the word?<br />
Like him or hate him, Oyetola is a<br />
fine gentleman and a true reflection of<br />
himself. He is not a pretender. Some<br />
Nigerians even accused the former<br />
Governor of being accountable to the last<br />
penny at the expense of those who<br />
worked for him. In their view, it was<br />
accountability taken too far when he left<br />
N14 billion in Osun government coffers<br />
while the arrears of modulated salaries<br />
owed workers as well as November <strong>20</strong>22<br />
salaries of political functionaries in the<br />
State remained unsorted.<br />
Back to the substance of the situation,<br />
it needs to be noted that taking Osun APC<br />
back on the path of honour demands that<br />
Oyetola rethink strategies that can open<br />
the gate of hope. To get policies right,<br />
politics has to be alive. So, he needs to<br />
increase his efforts. He also needs to dig<br />
deeper into what variance of illness is<br />
actually attacking the party. He needs to<br />
look beyond the pathetic admonitions of<br />
the swallowers, time-servers and<br />
transactional politicians whose personal<br />
interests are at variance with the party’s<br />
overall interest. In a word, unless the<br />
party is prepared to let past troubles ignite<br />
positive opportunities, things will only<br />
get worse; and that will be bad for<br />
opposition politics.<br />
Politics isn’t a funny game; it’s just<br />
that some of its practitioners are simply<br />
heartless and exceptionally selfish. Since<br />
ages, sycophancy has also been a big<br />
problem in politics. So, the onus is on<br />
Oyetola to rise above the deceit of the<br />
men-pleasers because money may<br />
manipulate the people but it doesn’t<br />
actually deceive the enemies. Since all<br />
politics is local, it behooves the<br />
leadership to instill a sense of trust in the<br />
followership and the followership to<br />
believe in the leadership, if the battle<br />
ahead is to be won. Who even knows if<br />
God allowed July 16, <strong>20</strong>22 to happen to<br />
Osun APC so that He can use Oyetola to<br />
change the course of progressive politics<br />
in Nigeria, beginning with Osun State?<br />
So, it is up to the current Minister of<br />
Marine and Blue Economy to see to it<br />
that this House does not fall, for this, not<br />
the office he now occupies in Abuja, will<br />
define his legacy. While current efforts in<br />
that direction are a welcome<br />
development, public opinions favour<br />
something deeper than the ongoing<br />
sensitization ritual. Most importantly, the<br />
poor reward system and selection<br />
process, which contributed significantly<br />
to the party’s dismal outings in the past,<br />
must also be reviewed with a view to<br />
righting past wrongs.<br />
In all, just as we expect in public<br />
administration, that ‘one person cannot<br />
know it all’; and, in democracy, that ‘one<br />
party cannot be omnipotent’, let there be<br />
‘room for admissibility of divergent<br />
opinions’. Let ideas be transformed or<br />
updated ‘in line with dispensations’.<br />
Above all, let those working with Oyetola<br />
in this task of repositioning Osun APC<br />
bear in mind that politics is not a cult and<br />
that what defines it is not always about<br />
one geography against another but<br />
inclusive winning streaks that will help<br />
return the party to its past glory.<br />
May the Lamb of God, who takes<br />
away the sin of the world, grant us peace<br />
in Osun State!<br />
Concluded.
GAB Awards<br />
FEBRUARY 7 - <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong>24 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> Page15<br />
Faces at the 25th Annual GAB Awards<br />
Continued on Page 16>
Page16 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> FEBRUARY 7 - <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong>24<br />
GAB Awards<br />
Faces at the 25th Annual GAB Awards<br />
Continued from Page 15<<br />
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