The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 624 (May 29 - June 11 2024)

TheTrumpet
Africans now have a voice... Founded in 1995
V O L 30 N O 624 M AY 29 - JUNE 11 2024
Teenage
murderer
convicted
South Africans
go to the polls
Victim - Rahaan Ahmed Amin
South Africans
go to the polls to
choose a new
government:
what’s different
this time
By Dirk Kotze, University of South Africa
Continued on Page 2>
A17-year-old male who cannot
be named for legal reasons,
has been convicted of the
murder of 16-year-old Rahaan
Ahmed Amin.
The conviction comes after
London Metropolitan Police
detectives put together a compelling
case, including tracing online orders
for knives.
The Old Bailey heard Rahaan was
fatally attacked in West Ham Park on
9 July 2023 after the 17-year-old
cycled up to him and stabbed him in
the chest. Rahaan died in hospital the
next day.
Homicide detectives launched an
investigation immediately and a long
red knife was found in a tree in the
park. Forensic testing uncovered the
17-year-old’s fingerprint and
Rahaan’s blood.
A number of eye-witnesses were
also spoken to and CCTV was
collated to piece together what had
happened.
A photograph was also identified
on a Snapchat account linked to the
17-year-old that showed a collection
of nine knives lined up on a bed. One
of those knives was identical in
appearance to the knife found in the
tree at West Ham Park - and also
identical in appearance to a knife
ordered on the internet through an
online shop, DNA Leisure on 12 June
2023.
Detectives traced the transaction
details of that order, along with two
similar orders, which had been placed
using the name of the father of one of
the 17-year-old’s friends. When the
police told the man about these
transactions, he had no knowledge of
them at all. The last of the three
orders for knives had a delivery
address the same as the 17-year-old’s.
The 17-year-old was arrested on
suspicion of murder two days after
Continued on Page 4

Page2 TheTrumpet MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024
News
South Africans go to the polls
to choose a new government:
what’s different this time
Continued from Page 1<
South Africa’s seventh general election since democracy in 1994, set for 29 May 2024, takes place
under circumstances different from any other election in the history of the nation. Some view the hotly
contested national and provincial elections as a watershed moment for the country. We asked political
scientist Dirk Kotze to explain the changed circumstances.
There’s a new electoral law in place.
What does this mean for the ballot
paper and voters’ choices?
The new electoral system means that
voters will receive three ballot papers instead
of the two they got in the past: two national
ballots (the regional and compensatory
ballots) and one provincial ballot paper.
The first national ballot has a list of
political parties that are contesting 200
National Assembly seats across the country.
The second is the regional ballot in each
province: it is for political parties and
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independent candidates in the nine provinces
contesting the other 200 seats in the National
Assembly. In total there are 400 seats in the
National Assembly. The third is the
provincial ballot for the provincial
legislatures. South Africa has nine provinces.
Voters will therefore have to make three
choices: two for the National Assembly and
one for their provincial legislature. It creates
the possibility of “strategic” voting. Voters
can choose between different parties (or a
party and an independent candidate) at the
national level. It will also be possible to vote
for one party at the national level and for
another party (or an independent) at the
provincial level.
The amended electoral system also
allows independent candidates to stand at
both the national and provincial levels for the
first time.
The new system is therefore a
combination of party lists and individual
candidates. The new lists for the provincial
legislatures look the same as the national
“regional” lists.
What about the choices on the ballot
paper?
Statutory Amendment (Date of Birth)
I, Miss Adiatu Victoria Ramos - an Indigene of
Lagos Island, Lagos State, Nigeria; known with a
previous Date of Birth of 8th February 1970 wish
to state that my correct Date of Birth
is 8th February 1961.
Nigeria High Commission London, Immigration &
Nationality UK, Department of Social Security UK,
Department for Work & Pensions, South
Gloucestershire Council and NatWest Bank UK,
should please take note
The options on the national ballot paper
increased from 48 parties in 2019 to 52 in
2024. In 1994, 19 parties participated in the
first national election. The number of parties
has increased gradually over 30 years, not
suddenly since the most recent elections.
During the 30 years, the number of
parties with seats in the National Assembly
has remained relatively constant at about 14.
In 1994, three – namely the African National
Congress (ANC), New National Party (NNP)
and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) – each
received more than 10% support at the
national level. In 1999, this changed with the
NNP’s dramatic loss of support and the
emergence of the Democratic Alliance (DA).
The NNP party was dissolved in 2005.
The Inkatha Freedom Party also declined
between 2009 and 2016, but started to
recover thereafter. The Congress of the
People (Cope) (2009) and the Economic
Freedom Fighters (EFF) (2014) emerged as
newcomers. Cope has largely disappeared
while the DA and EFF have increased their
support to between 10% and 20%.
The ANC, DA, EFF and IFP are therefore
the main options in 2024, followed by a host
of small parties with 1%-2% support. The
latest addition is the uMkhonto weSizwe
Party (MK Party) led by former President
Jacob Zuma. Its support is still untested but it
appears to have much potential in the
KwaZulu-Natal province. Opinion polls
suggest a national presence for the party of
about 8%. In principle it means that the main
contest is between about five to eight parties.
This establishes a truly multi-party
dispensation. It also enables a number of
options for coalition governments.
The ruling party risks losing 50%.
What does this mean?
The 2024 election might become a
milestone because, for the first time since
1994, a national coalition government is a
possibility. It will differ from the
Government of National Unity of 1994-1999
(consisting of the ANC, NNP and IFP),
which was an oversized, grand coalition
agreed upon before the election as part of the
negotiated transition package. It was thus not
a conventional coalition government.
The possibility that the ruling ANC might
receive less than 50%+1 of the votes at the
national level or in some of the provincial
legislatures will be highly significant. That’s
because the ANC has been a dominant party
for 30 years.
This is not unique and dominant parties
were in the past or still are in power in India,
Sweden, Japan, Botswana, Mexico, Namibia,
Continued on Page 3

News
MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024
TheTrumpet
South Africans go to the polls
to choose a new government:
Page3
Continued from Page 2<
Mozambique and Zimbabwe. This started to
change in South Africa at local government
level in 2016. The ANC’s dominance of
South African politics has been premised on
the fact that before 1990 it developed the
what’s different this time
status (together with the Pan Africanist
Congress of Azania) of an internationally
endorsed liberation movement of South
Africa.
The ANC also enjoyed elevated status as
the party of Nelson Mandela, its late worldrenowned
leader. It enjoyed international
recognition even before it was elected as the
government of South Africa. It occupied a
moral high ground which no other party
could challenge. That moral status and
popular support are now under pressure. The
risk for the ANC is that, if it loses its status as
the sole governing party, its decline may
accelerate without the possibility of recovery.
Dirk Kotze is a Professor in Political
Science at University of South Africa.
This article is republished from The
Conversation under a Creative Commons
license. Read the original article.

Page4
TheTrumpet
MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024
TheTrumpet Group
News
Jailed for the murder of
Johanita Dogbey
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BOARD OF CONSULTANTS
CHAIRMAN:
Pastor Kolade Adebayo-Oke
The Old Bailey has jailed 34-yearold
Mohammed Nur for a series of
random violent attacks which
culminated in the murder of 31-year-old
Johanita Dogbey in Brixton. He was
sentenced to life with a minimum of 32
years to be spent behind bars.
Nur had earlier admitted to Johanita’s
murder, possession of an offensive
weapon and possession of a pointed /
bladed article at a hearing at the Old
Bailey on 17 November 2023.
On Monday, 13 May he was found
guilty of three counts of unlawful
wounding following a trial at the same
court – these offences related to three
assaults carried out in the space of five
minutes in the Brixton area on 29 April
2023, two days before he attacked
Johanita.
In a statement read out to the court,
Johanita’s father said: “Johanita passing,
so violently, has left a big hole in our
lives and a massive hole in our hearts. It
wasn’t her time to go.
“There are parts of your heart you
could never imagine could feel so much
pain unless you go through the loss we
have gone through. It is not possible to
fully explain how much this has impacted
our family and all of us individually.
Though we will remember her as the
beautiful, caring, funny and bubbly
daughter, sister and friend she was, her
murder and death will always be one of
the hardest realities we will have to live
with. We are the ones with the life
sentence now.”
An investigation was under way by
Jailed - Mohammed Nur
police after three people had been
attacked in and around the Acre Lane
area of Brixton on Saturday, 29 April.
The attacks took place between 23:25hrs
and 23:29hrs. On each occasion Nur
walked up to his victim and slashed their
cheek with a sharp implement before
walking off.
On Monday, 1 May Nur attacked and
killed Johanita as she walked in
Stockwell Park Walk, SW9.
After Nur was arrested by officers
following a stop and search in Brixton
Hill in the early hours of Tuesday 2 May,
he was interviewed by police about all
four offences. He refused to answer any
questions put to him by police.
Detectives had already recovered the
weapon used in the attack on Johanita
after it had been discarded as Nur had
fled the scene. Forensic examination
revealed traces of Johanita’s blood on it,
alongside Nur’s DNA on a piece of fabric
used to hold the weapon together.
When Nur was arrested, he was found
to be wearing distinctive clothing that
matched the suspect captured in CCTV
on the night of the 29 April attacks, and
also the man seen to attack Johanita.
Investigating officers trawled numerous
hours of CCTV footage to build a
timeline of Nur’s movements,
demonstrating his behaviours in the lead
up to and after the attacks.
Detective Chief Inspector Matthew
Webb, the senior investigating officer
who led the investigation into Nur, said:
“Mohammed Nur has been jailed for four
violent offences, carried out at random in
terrifying circumstances. I realise nothing
can alleviate the pain and suffering that
Johanita’s family continue to endure, but
I hope they – and the three other people
Nur attacked and injured – can take some
comfort from the fact he has been
convicted and will spend a lengthy period
of time in prison.
“Following these incidents, extra
officers were drafted into the Brixton area
to provide reassurance to the local
community and support the investigation.
It was as a result of a stop and search
carried out by one of these teams that Nur
was arrested. He was found in possession
of a makeshift weapon and it can only be
presumed he was intent on carrying out
further violence.
“The proactive work of these officers
stopped Nur in his tracks and he has now
been held to account for his actions.”
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Allison Shoyombo, Peter Osuhon
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Teenage murderer convicted
Continued from Page 1<
Rahaan died in hospital (12 July) and he
was charged on 13 July.
Detective Chief Inspector Kelly
Allen, the lead investigator, said:
“Another young life has sadly been lost
as the result of knife crime.
“My team of detectives swiftly and
diligently uncovered the evidence of the
defendant’s guilt. This included
forensically linking him to the knife and
tracking him to the scene on CCTV.
“The defendant’s claim that he acted
in self-defence was completely rejected
by the jury. Rahaan was murdered in cold
blood after the 17-year-old cycled up to
him and stabbed him within seconds of
arriving, giving him no opportunity to
react.
“This case demonstrates how easy it
is for young people to purchase deadly
knives online. I would urge all parents to
be aware of their child’s online activity
and what purchases they are making. It is
also important for parents to keep their
ID documents secure to ensure they are
not misused by their children.”
The youth will be sentenced on 6
September.
Photograph on a Snapchat account linked to the 17-year-old showed a
ollection of nine knives lined up on a bed

MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024 TheTrumpet
Page5

Page6 TheTrumpet MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024
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MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024
TheTrumpet
Page7
Produced in Association with HM Government
It’s never too late to tackle addiction
If you or someone you know is having issues
with drugs or alcohol, there are lots of ways
to access free & confidential advice and
support from local experts
Drug and alcohol problems
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Whether you’ve become
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But it’s important to remember
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“You’ve got to
do it for yourself,
or nothing is
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*Aleena (name changed for
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How to find help
You can find details of treatment services on your
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You can call FRANK anytime on 0300 123 6600
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Help is at hand: Scan to reach out to the nation’s
drug and alcohol advisory service FRANK

Page8 TheTrumpet MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024
Opinion
Democracy,
governance and
credible elections (1)
BY ABIODUN
KOMOLAFE
There is a problem about the
institutional framework in which
the Nigerian State as presently
constituted is based. To have democracy,
good governance and credible elections,
there must be institutional reforms and
great accountability in government. The
three are interwoven, only that we tend to
think that democracy is all about
elections. In any case, the fact that those
ingredients are currently missing is an
indication that Nigeria still has a long
way to go. After all, without democracy
and governance, there can’t be credible
elections.
To put it politely, Nigeria, even as we
speak, has very weak institutions, and
without a functional justice system, she
can’t be said to have credible elections.
For any democracy to stand and be as its
definition, the power of credibility cannot
be underestimated. However, the
achievement of this ‘credibility’ is a huge
task, because credibility means different
things to different actors in democracy,
more so as the definition hovers around
the same center: the people.
Notwithstanding, the issues of credibility
in our elections requires a serious
conference, taking into consideration the
level of litigations that always go with
elections in Nigeria. Take, for example,
the United Kingdom where only one
electoral dispute has ever gone to court
over a long period of time. Of course, it is
because she has a functional judiciary and
nobody would want to waste his
resources on frivolous litigations. The
lawyer who handles such cases can even
be disbarred. So, how come Nigeria
remains a semi-democratic country 25
years into the 4th Republic?
In any serious democracy, it is the
government that sets the right template
for an election to hold. Unlike countries
like Spain, France, South Africa, even
some other African countries, Nigeria
needs a constitutional court so that her
political practitioners can originate and
conclude constitutional issues in record
time. In a constitutional court for
instance, the needless imbroglio currently
troubling the peace of Rivers State won’t
even take more than two to three weeks
to resolve, instead of this long-winded
abracadabra, which is no doubt affecting
the perception of Nigeria as an unserious
economy.
What we are saying is that
governance and elections are intertwined
and that a political economy that is
lacking in internal security mechanisms,
weaponizes and actually glorifies poverty
is not one where credible elections can be
held because it is based on State capture.
In a country under the subordination of
the State to powerful individuals and
vested interests, the idea is to make the
people very poor so that, on an election
day, prospective voters can be induced.
Even when there’s no election, the
masses are induced with palliatives. The
tragic truth is that political
entrepreneurship has become the
parameter for politicking and the
determinant of victory. Otherwise, why
should minimum wage even be a debate
in Nigeria?
Continued on Page 9

Opinion
MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024
TheTrumpet
Democracy, governance and
credible elections (1)
Page9
Continued from Page 8<
Again, that’s where the late Obafemi
Awolowo excelled as a leader! But how
come successive leaders have not been
seeing the link between the minimum
wage, the purchasing power parity and
investments? Call it an election gimmick
but that’s why Governor Godwin Obaseki
of Edo State deserves a standing ovation.
Well, it’s not that N70,000 as minimum
wage for workers in the State is fair
enough but then, the Governor has
demonstrated that a worthy credit analyst
would prefer Benin City where the
purchasing power parity is N50,000 to
Gusau where the purchasing power parity
is N31,000. In a way, Obaseki has shown
that, for any economy to attain its
potentials, it is better to have 15 million
people who are on a living wage of
N105,000 per month than to have 200
million people who are on a minimum
wage of N30,000 per month.
‘Ojú to dilè ni iroré ń so.’ (Pimples
usually infect an idle face. The notorious
truth is that we can’t have functional
democracy, good governance and
credible elections without a sound
educational system. Had Nigeria also
been blessed with a sensitive political
class, Nigerians would have been
benefiting from free and compulsory
education as far back as 1974 or 1975. Of
course, the difference would have been
that Nigeria would not have been having
all these problems because of a better
educated population. Matter-of-factly, the
better educated the people are, the better
and the saner the choices. A better
educated population is a better informed
and more productive population. But
when politics fails to deliver its goods to
the people, waiting for much chemistry
to work at the same pace for development
to show up becomes the norm.
Obviously, that’s what Awolowo got right
and that’s why people like Joseph Stiglitz
won the Nobel Prize for Economics.
Secondly, compulsory education is
the best form of population control. On
the day of Nigeria’s independence in
1960, the United Kingdom as the parting
colonial power had 7 million more people
than Nigeria. Whereas Nigeria’s
population grew from 44,928,342 in 1960
to 229,152,217 in 2024, the British
population has grown by only 15.34
million since 1960. The implementation
of the Education Act of 1947, which
made education free and compulsory up
to the age of 18 in the UK, led to the
halving of her population within one
generation. Why and how? Educated
people “marry later” and have fewer
children. What’s more? Educated
populace is better skilled, has higher
Nigeria Democracy
purchasing power parity and many other
advantages. That’s why countries like
Italy and Japan have declining population
growth. They are actually begging and
bribing their citizens to have more
children. For Nigeria, the story is
pathetically different!
Forget the delusion of grandeur,
unless some steps are taken in the right
direction, Nigeria as a country may be
fast sliding into irrelevance. For example,
South Africa is currently the biggest
economy in Africa, of course with the
soundest fundamentals. She is followed
by Egypt and Algeria and only God
knows the true occupier of the 4th
position between Nigeria and Morocco.
South Africa has strong institutions of the
State. As a matter of fact, the ruling
African National Congress (ANC) is
already terrified of losing the
forthcoming elections. Most importantly,
she has basic industries like iron and steel
and machine tools. So, she manufactures
and exports cars to Europe. Unlike
Nigeria, South Africa doesn’t assemble
cars. As former President Donald Trump
once said, “If you don’t have steel, you
don’t have a country.” In terms of
fundamentals therefore, how to arrest
Nigeria’s descent into irrelevance should
be the key question.
But how did we get here? When
Nigeria decided to throw away the
Lyttleton’s, 1960 and 1963 Constitutions,
it became obvious that the country was
gone. Brazil currently operates the 1988
Constitution, which is the 7th enacted
since the country’s independence in 1822,
and the 6th since the proclamation of the
Republic in 1889. Look at today’s Brazil!
She’s currently the world’s 9th largest
economy. Not only that, 92% of all new
cars sold in Brazil are powered, not by
Petroleum Motor Spirit - PMS, but by the
ethanol derived from sugarcane. For
greater certainty, Brazil is a huge
producer of sugarcane. Impliedly, had
Nigeria kept up her existence on the 1960
and 1963 Constitutions, she’d have been
powering not less than 92% of her cars
by ethanol derived from cassava. After
all, dear country is currently the world’s
largest producer of cassava with an
annual output of over 34 million tonnes
of tuberous roots. What this means is that,
instead of buying a litre of PMS for
N700.00, ethanol derived from cassava
would not have cost more than N130.00.
Besides, that would have been a boost for
agriculture and industry would have been
competitive because its cost would be
lower. Added to these is that the destiny
of employment generation in the country
would have been given a lift-up.
● To be concluded.
● KOMOLAFE wrote in from Ijebu-
Jesa, Osun State, Nigeria
(ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)

Page10 TheTrumpet MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024
Opinion
When Helicopters crash:
Wigwe, Kobe, Iran...
Media Vita In Morte Sumus (In the
midst of life we are in death.)
This is a Gregorian chant that I
often recall whenever there is an accident,
a sudden, shocking abbreviation of life in
the midst of hope and promise, a most
tragic reminder of man’s mortality. Life
as either a chemical or biological process
must come to an end when it will, but it is
the time and manner of it that leaves the
lasting imprint on our memory. The tragic
death of the President of Iran, Ebrahim
Raisi (63), his foreign Minister, Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian (60) and seven others
in a helicopter crash on Sunday evokes
these thoughts afresh, as well as
frightening memories.
Nigeria was thrown into shock in
February this year when the tragic news
was reported that Herbert Wigwe, Group
Managing Director and CEO of Access
Holdings had died in a helicopter crash in
the United States along with his wife,
Chizoba, his 29-year-old son, Chizzy and
his lawyer, Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo on
their way to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas.
The quartet had a great future ahead of
them. Wigwe had just completed a
university, the Wigwe University in his
home town of Isiokpo, Rivers State,
through which he planned to raise
educational standards and provide
opportunities and quality. He and
Ogunbanjo were full of life. The death of
three members of a family in one tragic
accident was beyond comprehension.
Nigerians and the international
community mourned. The week before
his death, I had received a phone call from
Herbert, sharing his views about a subject
we had discussed on The Morning Show.
He was a kind, affable gentleman,
completely without airs. I know many
people in high places who are just full of
hydrogen, with blown up ego. Not
Wigwe.
“Reuben, I am travelling, but when I
get back next Wednesday, I will call you”,
he had said. He did not return. I was at a
wedding party when news of the accident
broke. It sounded like a fairy-tale but soon
it was confirmed. Jesus! I was supposed
to leave the wedding party and rush to a
birthday party. I could not bring myself to
go to that other party. I checked my
phone. The call from Wigwe was still on
my call log. How can somebody that
spoke with me just a few days ago, die
like that?”, I asked. There was an
Hossein Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (Photo - Wotld Economic Forum - CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0)
outpouring of tributes from every segment
of society that he was involved with
proving the maxim, that a man’s worth is
not determined by the length of his life,
but the impact that he makes. As Abraham
Lincoln put it: “In the end, it’s not the
years in your life that count. It’s the life
in your years.” Thucydides says: “What
you leave behind is not what is engraved
in stone monuments but what is woven
into the lives of others”.
Herbert Wigwe’s life was short, but
his impact was profound. As was the case
also with Kobe Bryant, American
professional basketball player, five-time
NBA Champion, two times NBA Finals
Most Valuable Player and NBA Most
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BY REUBEN ABATI
Valuable Player (2008), one of the most
outstanding men on America’s basketball
court. He died in a helicopter crash on
January 26, 2020, along with nine others,
including his 13-year-old daughter,
Gianna. They were going for a basketball
game in Thousand Oaks, California.
And now again, in the past few days,
there has been yet another case of a
helicopter crash involving prominent
persons in Iran: the President, the Foreign
Minister and seven others. They were
returning from a diplomatic mission to
Azerbaijan, namely, the inauguration of a
dam at the Eastern border which was
attended by President Ilham Aliyev of
Azerbaijan. It took a search and rescue
party led by the Iranian Red Crescent
Society, scouting around for 15 hours,
before it was confirmed yesterday
morning that the wreckage of the
helicopter had been found, and there were
no signs of life. President Ebrahim Raisi
was a prominent political and religious
figure in Iranian politics. He and the late
Foreign Minister were aligned with the
conservative and hardline factions in
Iranian politics. Raisi had served as a
prosecutor in his early years, and as a
member of a panel of judges, the so-called
Assembly of Experts which sanctioned
the execution of political prisoners. He
later became Attorney General of the
Republic. He ran for the Presidency in
2017, but lost to the more moderate
Hassan Rouhani. He would be lucky in
2021 when he won, and became President
in what was a controversial election with
low voter turn-out. It was believed that his
emergence as President was carefully
managed by his mentor, the man who has
the final say in all matters in Iran, the
Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini.
He was looking forward to running for a
second term in office in 2025. And now
he is dead. As is the case with the death of
all prominent public figures, there has
been a surfeit of tributes from the Middle
East, the EU, India, Russia, China,
Hamas, Hezbollah, Malaysia, Pakistan,
France, Turkey and the UN. Syria and
Lebanon have announced three days of
mourning.
He has been described as a martyr who
died while serving the nation by the
Iranian State media. In the face of the
testy relationship between Iran and the US
and its allies, Raisi was a fierce
nationalist, rabidly anti-Israel and anti-
Continued on Page 11

Opinion
When Helicopters crash:
Wigwe, Kobe, Iran...
MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024
TheTrumpet
Page11
Continued from Page 10<
America. In the on-going conflict
between Israel and Hamas, his sympathies
were with the latter. Whatever praises
may have been heaped on him in Iran and
the Islamic world, Raisi championed a
policy of oppression. It was under his
watch in 2022, for example, that a 22-
year-old woman, Mahsa Amini was
detained, and allegedly killed in detention
for wearing a loose headscarf. In the
course of the mass protests that followed,
more than 500 people were killed, over
22,000 others were detained. He is praised
however for the diplomatic truce that was
reached with Saudi Arabia last year.
In all the three cases of deaths
resulting from helicopter crashes cited
above: one common thread is that every
accident occurred as a result of the
malfunctioning of the helicopter and
weather issues as well. In the Wigwe
case, the reports cited poor weather, rain
and showers in the area of the crash, on
the edge of the Mojave Desert Preserve.
When Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter
accident at Calabasas, investigators also
cited poor visibility and low cloud ceiling
in addition to pilot error. Preliminary
investigations into the crash in Iran have
indicated challenging weather conditions
and technical fault. In a political twist to
the Iran incident, former Iranian Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif blames
US sanctions for the crash. The truth is
that Iranian aircraft cannot be serviced
with spare parts, due to sanctions, and
hence, the fleet belong to the pre-1979
Revolution era, old and deteriorating. The
helicopter that crashed did not even have
a functional signal system. Besides, the
Bell 212 that crashed is US-made.
In all three, the aircraft crash landed
and burst into fire. But the thing about
death, is that even “in the midst of death,
there is life, and that should shock us” –a
reversal of the original saying by James
Koester. My simple interpretation of that
is that even when loved ones die, despite
the pain and the anguish, life moves on
nonetheless. Human beings have learnt
the art of clinging to life. The finality is
individual, personal. The community
grieves and returns to the art of living.
Herbert Wigwe died on Friday, February
9, 2024. By Monday, February 12, the
Board of Access Holdings Plc had
announced Ms. Bolaji Agbede as the
Acting Group Chief Executive Officer.
By March 14, the company re-appointed
its co-founder, and non-executive
chairman, as Chief Executive Officer of
Access Holdings in a substantive capacity.
Kobe Bryant’s wife, Vanessa has at every
turn memorialized and honoured her
husband, Kobe but she and her three
surviving daughters have embraced life
Helicopters are not as stable as regular planes.
with equanimity. The family naturally
feels the pain of death most, some people
never heal, but still life goes on.
In Iran, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah
Khameini had urged the nation not to
worry, and that “there will be no
disruption in the country’s work”. Iran has
declared five days of mourning, and the
first official State funeral will take place
today. Meanwhile, the Cabinet of
Ministers has met, and replacements have
been announced. Article 131 of the
Iranian Constitution prescribes that in the
event of the death of the President, the
first Vice President assumes office, hence
Mohammed Mokhber is now the Acting
President of Iran. Ali Bagheri Kani,
former Deputy Foreign Minister is also
now the Acting Foreign Minister. Within
50 days, the Constitution prescribes that a
new election must be held to elect another
President. So, even in Iran, life goes on.
What remains is the country’s next
election in early July. Who will be Iran’s
next President? A hardliner or a moderate
and what would be the implications of the
choice among likely candidates at a time
Iran faces serious economic, regional and
global challenges?
Helicopters are scary things, from the
swirling blades that you have to be
mindful of as you board or disembark, to
the fact that they are very shaky most of
the time when they are air-borne
especially when there is a little shift in the
weather condition. Helicopters are not as
stable as regular planes. One of the
reasons I felt all hope was not lost when
the Jonathan administration left office in
2015 was that I would not have to travel
in those machines again, at least not as
part of regular duty routine. In 2012, it
was a really sad moment for the Nigerian
government when General Andrew
Owoye Azazi - National Security Adviser,
Governor of Kaduna State - Patrick
Yakowa, and four others died in a Navy
helicopter crash in the forest of Okoroba
in Nembe Local Government Area of
Bayelsa State on their way to the Port
Harcourt International Airport. The
helicopter burst into flames; its occupants
were burnt beyond recognition. Every
Nigerian President and senior government
officials use the helicopter a lot, to cover
distances, and in our time, the helicopter
was the regular shuttle from the airport to
the Villa, or to some nearby locations. On
more than one occasion, going to the
same Bayelsa State from Port Harcourt,
we have had quite some anxiety.
But it was in Switzerland that we had
real anxiety about flying in a helicopter in
a mountainous region. It was January
2013, I think. We had travelled to
Continued on Page 15

Page12 TheTrumpet MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024
Opinion
Celebrating Ken Calebs
Olumese, The Guv’nor, at 80
By Reuben Abati
Yesterday, May 27, one of
Nigeria’s iconic figures in the
entertainment sector turned
80: Ken Calebs Olumese, an Esan man
from the university town of Ekpoma
as he likes to describe his home town
of which he is proud, as if every other
town these days does not have a
university but in those days when a
university was established in Ekpoma
(1981), it was such a thing of pride and
achievement that Olumese took upon
himself as a personal badge. But the
real story about him and his life is his
immense contributions to the cultural
space in Nigeria, the impact that he
has made in turning music, art, song,
food, drinks, space and dance into
entrepreneurial tools for the promotion
of social cohesion, inclusion,
solidarity, creativity and pure fun. He
was the Don Cornelius, without the
controversy, of the night club scene
and entertainment arena in Lagos in
the 80s and 90s. He was colourful,
charismatic, decent, debonair, affable,
and quite astute in making friends, and
building bridges and relationships. In
the Opebi, Ikeja area where he ran a
nightclub that was famously known as
Niteshift Coliseum, he was a lord of
the territory, father of the kids on the
streets and friend of the gentrified
class with an understanding of the
register of social and communal
survival beyond the pale of regular
entrepreneurship. He moved with a
swag. He strutted with poise. He was
the Guv’nor: who never went on
transfer, or had to seek seasonal
elections, or go on break, he was his
own constituted authority running an
entertainment empire. The phrase
Guv’nor was first used in the 1840s, a
variant of the more popular noun -
Governor, but over time, it would gain
resonance as the title of a film in 1935,
and as the nickname of a number of
sports figures – Diego Costa, Bobby
Abel, Paul Ince, Lenny McLean.
When Ken Calebs Olumese
established the Niteshift club in Opebi,
Lagos in 1988, he took the title as
label, brand and cognomen, and thus
began a fresh chapter in the
entertainment story of the city of
Lagos.
Ken Calebs Olumese did not invent
nightlife in Lagos, but he helped for
about two decades to shape and enrich
Ken Calebs Olumese (Photo - Reuben Abati on Instagram)
it. The people of Lagos, being Yorubas
are naturally fun-loving, and having
fun at night time has been part of their
culture even before the Victorian times
in the 19 th century, aspects of which
have been examined at great length by
Professor Michael J.C. Echeruo in a
book titled “Victorian Lagos.” The
city that became known as “The
Liverpool of West Africa” in the 19 th
Century, an emerging commercial,
port city was also a community of
persons and cultural developments,
including the media, culture and
nationalism. Lagosians love the good
life. They enjoy the thrill of evening
fun be it at the beach, or at the clubs,
or on the streets of Ebute Metta where
there used to be a party every evening,
or anywhere else where the people
could dance to highlife. By his own
account, Ken Calebs Olumese arrived
in Lagos in the late 60s or early 70s
just like many of these persons from
the hinterland who continue to troop
into Lagos on a daily basis. Thousands
arrive daily from all parts of Nigeria,
very few go back to where they came
from, indeed over time, they become
part of the Lagos ecosystem, get lucky
and excel. In Olumese’s case, when he
left Ekpoma, he lived in Benin. He got
involved in the Socialist Movement,
which was quite a rave in Nigeria’s
70s, the season of the cold war. He
would eventually gain a scholarship to
study Medicine in the Soviet Union.
Many young Nigerians went to the
Soviet Union at the time. The then
young Ken Calebs Olumese returned
with a degree in Microbiology. By
1977, he, with the help of his kinsman,
Chief Anthony Enahoro, played some
role in the arrangements for FESTAC
77, his first major direct involvement
in cultural diplomacy. He was also
closely associated with the likes of Dr
Tunji Otegbeye, trade unionist,
medical doctor and leader of the
Socialist Workers and Farmers Party
of Nigeria (SWAFP). The most
notable part of that phase of his return
is not necessarily FESTAC 77,
however but the fact that he eventually
ended up as a Sales Representative
with the French Pharmaceutical
Company - Roussel, where he rose
through the ranks to become the
Director of Administration and
Finance. Olumese was like the rest of
us: waking up in the morning,
pursuing the nine to five hustle,
struggling like everyone else to raise a
family. He had a good career.
It is one of those ironies of life that
he would eventually become famous
through his hobby, rather than his
vocation. In 1988, he decided to set up
a Night Club at 21 Opebi Street with a
corporate office at 5, Ogundana Street,
off Opebi Road, marking Olumese’s
transition into the arena of
entrepreneurship, from selling
pharmaceutical products, to the retail
of songs, food, drinks, and whatever
brings joy. He had been a prolific
nightlife denizen himself. He turned
his interest into a passion and his
passion into business. When Olumese
arrived on the nightclub scene in Ikeja
and Lagos in the 80s, there was
already a thriving, habitual ecosystem
in place. From Idi-oro in Mushin, to
Jibowu, Ayilara and Ojuelegba, there
was a buzzing axis of nightlife
entertainment. In Ikeja, Ipodo,
Awolowo Road, Allen and Opebi
streets came alive similarly at sun
down. There was a gentleman called
Omieba Dan Princewill, he ran two
clubs – City Tavern and Daniel’s.
There was the colourful, stand-up
comedian, John Chukwu who owned
a club called Klass, with Eddie Jay
Omodiagbe as Dee Jay. There was
Ozone owned by Jibola Shitta-Bey on
Allen Avenue. There was also at some
point, De Roof, Singer’s Cruise, Bread
Continued on Page 14

MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024 TheTrumpet
Page13

Opinion
Page14 TheTrumpet MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024
Celebrating Ken Calebs
Olumese, The Guv’nor, at 80
Continued from Page 12<
and Butter and another club called
Princes. On Allen Avenue, Jerry Jones
Anazia ran a night club called Ace. On
Toyin Street, there was Climax, with a
DJ called Stagger Lee. In those days
of course, there was Shrine, the main
watering hole for night crawlers, and
beyond Ikeja, all the way towards
Ojuelegba, there was a long list of fun
spots including pepper soup joints
such as Igbinedion, or Fafolu: point
and kill joint, No. 67 Bode Thomas in
Surulere, Empire Hotel, Tarmac.
Many would also remember Kakadu
Nite Club in Alagomeji, Yaba, where
Fela used to perform in the 60s, and
Bobby Benson’s Caban Bamboo,
which in many ways was the old
version of what the Niteshift Coliseum
later became. There was at some point
Paradiso in Yaba, Faze 2, Lord’s Club
around Maryland, and Hotspot Club at
Abibu Oki, off Broad Street. Basically,
for a while, the Lagos social scene was
a mix of band life, joints and
discotheques. The latter would later
prevail.
Ken Calebs Olumese changed the
face of night life in Lagos, particularly
with the rise of the discotheque, which
he capitalized upon turning Niteshift
Coliseum into a space where the
hottest and latest music could be
heard. He invested heavily in music
and equipment. He raised the bar to
such a level that others began to learn
from him, and even copy him. He
changed the game. Even when there
was a seeming rivalry between Lagos
Island and the Mainland, the arrival of
Niteshift Coliseum gave nightlife on
the Mainland, an edge. What Olumese
did was simply to be different. He
carved a niche and constantly
reinvented it. Whereas you could go to
Ozone, DeRoof, Klass and Climax and
run into celebrities and prominent
persons, mingling with others, dressed
in both formal and bohemian attires,
Olumese made it clear from the very
beginning that his club was meant for
the middle class and the upper middleclass
members of society. It was an
exclusive club and there were rules.
There was a man at the door, “The
First Man” who would not even allow
you to buy a ticket if you looked out
of place. Jeans, slippers, any form of
scruffy dressing were not allowed.
You didn’t have to wear a tie, but you
were required to appear decent.
The club also had different
segments. There was an exclusive
section reserved for Senior Fellows of
the Gold Card Sector. This was a
section reserved for prominent
persons, diplomats, captains of
industry on a discreet night out. The
lighting for that section was also
deliberately dim. And there was the
Section for the Glamour Boys (later -
and Girls) of Nigeria: the reserved
section for the upwardly mobile in
society, but even then you had to be
admitted as a member to sit there. In
the general hall was the popular
section. The status of a guest or
member was indicated in the colour of
the glass with which you were served.
The staff were trained to know the
differences. Everyone wanted to be
part of the Niteshift crowd. Usually,
when people left other clubs, they
ended up at the Coliseum. The food
was good. The air-conditioning was
the coldest in the business. To add to
the snobbery, Niteshift did not use the
same terms as other clubs. Its
bathrooms were called “The Vanity”
for example. The hostesses wore
something called “Oriental
Ornamental.” The Dee Jay was “The
Flight Captain” sitting in “The
Cockpit.” And the entire night was a
cruise. Olumese was the master of
razzmatazz.
He had a personal touch that could
not be found among other club
owners. He knew most of the regular
clientele personally, and took an
interest in their personal lives. He
served drinks, and could be found
correcting any error by any of his staff.
His dressing was impeccable. From
his hair cut to his shoes, he paid
attention to every detail. He drank
Remy Martin, and he could hold his
drink. He was very generous to his
guests. For young persons and others
close to him, the first drink was always
on the house, and in the morning, the
club served tea or coffee on the house
depending on individual choices.
There were days patrons stayed in the
club till 7 am, not knowing it was
daybreak. The Guv’nor of Niteshift
Coliseum actively cultivated the
friendship of the media. He knew
every entertainment, arts and culture
reporter and editor on the beat. He was
similarly friendly with publishers and
editors. He had one or two friends in
every newsroom. Journalists were
understandably some of the more
prominent members of the club, and
through this connection Niteshift
became a place of choice for many
media events. There were times
however when he had issues with
journalists. He protected the privacy of
celebrities who came to the club
jealously and he would not hesitate to
quarrel with any journalist who
published gossip about any of his
patrons. He used to quip that the club
does not ask for marriage certificates.
It is place of fun, not a church. Funny
enough, Olumese is the son of an
Anglican priest.
Niteshift was not just about disco.
The Guv’nor was constantly reinventing
the concept. There was in
due course a full Niteshift band, which
mixed the idea of disco with live
performance. There was also the
Niteshift Musical Talent Show, on the
platform of which the club provided
space for the flowering of many
talents including Felix and Moses,
Tuface, Tony Tetuila, Tony Montana,
Eedris Abdulkareem, Platanshun
Boys, Sunny Neji, Daddy Showkey,
Nel Oliver. There was also Miss
Niteshift beauty pageant. Niteshift was
also the watering hole for many
Nollywood artists – actors, actresses
and producers. But the high point
arrived in the early 90s when the club
was moved from 21 Opebi Street to a
bigger, more permanent space, the
purpose-built Coliseum at 21
Salvation Road, off Opebi. At this
new location, the club had more space,
more meeting rooms, a bigger dance
floor, more of everything: an
impressive edifice that was a
testament to the success of the club,
and the dogged vision of the founder.
There was even a place called The
Dacha: a block of 12 rooms reserved
exclusively for the use of members.
The major highlight at the Coliseum
was the increased focus on a special
programme which Olumese had
introduced at the 21 Opebi address -
the Grand House Reception (GHR).
This further differentiated the Niteshift
Coliseum from its peers. The GHR
was an evening of interaction with
major public figures. It was a huge hit
which attracted exactly the clientele
that the Guv’nor wanted. Some of the
prominent persons who featured on
the platform included, to cite just a
few: Chief Emeka Odumegwu
Ojukwu, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, Fela
Anikulapo Kuti, Beko Ransome-Kuti,
Alhaji Tafa Balogun, Mallam Nasir el-
Rufai, Governor Gbenga Daniel,
Governor Segun Osoba, Governor
Orji Kalu, Chief Lucky Igbinedion,
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu… H. E.
Flt Lt. Jerry Rawlings, Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar… and others.
Ken Olumese kept raising the bar,
and he was good at research, and
monitoring the competition. I was one
of the Glamour Boys of the Club,
having joined that section sometime
around 1989. I would later end up as
one of the club’s major resource
persons. I can conveniently report that
I was actively involved. On many
occasions we visited other clubs,
before the start of business at the
Coliseum. There were occasions when
the Guv’nor would arrange for us to
go on a West Africa tour. We were in
Ghana again and again to attend
different night clubs and observe their
operations. We used to travel on
Wednesday and return on Monday.
Niteshift Coliseum would also
eventually introduce a Wednesday
programme, a Ladies night, free entry
for ladies and other programmes to
boost the clientele.
In 2011, I left for Abuja on national
assignment. By the time I returned in
2015, circumstances had changed on
the Lagos night scene. The pulse had
shifted from the Mainland to the
Island, with new clubs patronized by
the nouveaux riche and the Gen Z
springing up on the other side of the
city. Ken Calebs Olumese was also
advancing in age. He has since retired
and rented out the premises of the
Niteshift Coliseum to another
entertainment group called Floating
World. Indeed, we live in a world that
floats. But the Niteshift dream would
be remembered for its impact and
longevity. Many ventures of its type
have short mortality rates, but Ken
Calebs Olumese kept it going for more
than two decades, even after the club
was razed down in a mysterious
midnight fire on December 18, 2003.
It was a brilliant run, still and long is
the echo of the Niteshift Bugaloo, the
opening sequence of the club at 12
midnight, taken from the song by the
Commodores of the same title:
Nightshift. Happy Birthday, Guv’nor.
Lord Have Mercy!

Opinion
When Helicopters crash:
Wigwe, Kobe, Iran...
MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024
TheTrumpet
Page15
Continued from Page 11<
Switzerland to attend the World
Economic Forum in Davos, something we
did every year. But the weather was truly
harsh that particular year. We landed in
Geneva and hopped into the helicopter to
take us straight to Davos. When we were
airborne, it turned out that the weather
was almost zero. It was so foggy up there
we could not see anything ahead. And this
was in Switzerland with the mountains or
the Swiss Alps as they are otherwise
called. We all became anxious. There was
panic written all over our faces, including
the President’s.
“It is not good for a President to die in
a helicopter crash, and in a foreign
country”, President Jonathan said, trying
his best to remain Presidential. It is not
good for a Special Adviser to die in a
helicopter crash either, I thought quietly to
myself.
“But sir, these are oyinbo people sir and
this is their country. They will know the
terrain very well, and I think they have
good technology.”
The President directed there and then
that on our way back from Davos, if the
weather was still foggy, we would all
return to Geneva by road. No helicopter
ride in that kind of foggy weather.
Later that year, July 2013, President
Goodluck Jonathan was in China on a fiveday
State visit. It was a significant trip to
strengthen bilateral relations between
Nigeria and China. We were well received
and everything went well. The hospitality
was great. The chemistry was right. But I
recall that one of the programmes on our
list could not take place. We were to visit a
particular province, but the issue came up
that we would have to go in a Chinese
aircraft, flown by Chinese pilots, because
the route to the province is mountainous
and even only carefully chosen and trained
pilots are allowed to fly on that route.
Mountains again, after the experience in
Switzerland? The Foreign Affairs people
and the PAF Commander had to find a
diplomatic way of standing down that part
of the trip. Besides, it would have been odd
to allow another sovereign and its pilots to
take over the management of the
movement of the Nigerian President.
Nonetheless, President Jonathan’s visit to
China was successful. It prepared the
grounds for the deepening of bilateral
relations between both countries. There
were no more issues with helicopters and
foggy weather for a while, except when we
had a bird strike stopping our aircraft in
South Africa and we had to change planes,
and yet another bird strike during the 2015
election campaigns in Northern Nigeria,
and an aircraft had to be brought from
Abuja to take us back. In life, we survive
only by chance.
Helicopter crashes have claimed the
lives of many prominent State officials in
the line of duty, including President Rene
Ortuno of Bolivia (1969), Prime Minister
Rashid Karami of Lebanon (1984),
Burundi Defence Minister - Colonel
President Ebrahim Raisi (Photo - duma.gov.ru - CCA-SA 4.0 Int)
Firmin Sinzoyiheba (1998) due to poor
weather, President Ibrahim Nasir of the
Maldives (2008), Vice President John
Garang of Sudan (2005), and Chief of
Kenya’s military - General Francis
Omondi Ogolla (2024). There is also a
long list of leaders across the world who
died in plane crashes. Between man,
technology and nature, there is a lot about
man’s inability to master and control the
universe. There have been survivors
though: In February 2019, Vice President
Yemi Osinbajo of Nigeria escaped unhurt
from a helicopter crash in Kabba, Kogi
State. In Iran, two helicopters travelling
with President Ebrahim Raisi made it back
to Tehran safely. Life is complex, the
mysteries within it are far more so. May the
souls of all departed persons find peace
eternal.
Sport
The old lion and the cub
Continued from Page 16<
from the village of Nkenglikok.
Rigobert Song was still only 17 but,
on the recommendation of his
Tonnerre team-mate, was the
unexpected cub in the Indomitable
Lions’ pride. If height had divided
Julius and Vincent immeasurably,
age did the same for Roger and his
“little brother” Rigobert. A
staggering 24 years and 42 days to
be precise – what remains the
biggest gap between team-mates in
World Cup history.
“I was in disbelief when I made
the squad,” said Song. “I’d watched
the 1990 World Cup huddled round
a black-and-white television. I was
in awe of Roger Milla. He created
complete euphoria in Cameroon.
“Not in my wildest dreams could
I have imagined that, only four years
later, I’d be his team-mate at a
World Cup! I was only 17 and he
was Roger Milla!” Milla told FIFA:
Roger Milla played his first match in the Americas in Haiti in1998 (Photo - Belmond, CCA-SA 4.0 Int)
“It’s a record I am proud of. We
showed that Cameroon is a land
populated with talent and that we
don’t have a generational gap.
That’s something that continues to
this day. “I’m old enough to be his
father! But I learned as much from
him as he learned from me. I was
blown away by his enthusiasm. He
put the same energy into training as
he did into matches. In a way, when
you’re around young people, it
pushes you to maintain your rhythm
and energy, and I think that helped
me.”
California was now the setting
for the most peculiar partnerships in
cinematic and World Cup history.

Page16 TheTrumpet MAY 29 - JUNE 11 2024
Sport
The old lion and the cub
By FIFA.com
FIFA spotlights a World Cup record:
Two of the most implausible of call-ups enabled two Cameroonians to set one at USA 1994.
Twins, the 1988 Hollywood
blockbuster, featured the
oddest double act in
cinematic history. It comprised
Vincent, a pudgy, 4ft 10ins crook
played by Danny DeVito, and
Julius, a happy-go-lucky hulk
played by former Mr. Universe
Arnold Schwarzenegger. Its final
scene was as emotional as it was
euphoric. The brothers finally found
their long-pursued mother.
That same year, the final scene of
a script written 13,000-plus
kilometres away also saw tears and
cheers. Its solitary star was a man
who, like Schwarzenegger, once
dreamed of competing in the
Olympics. Roger Milla, whose
teenage target was to become a
gold-medallist in the high jump, was
ending one of Africa’s greatest-ever
football careers. The hip-wiggling
forward had become the first
Cameroonian to be named African
Footballer of the Year. His 1981
brace had upset Morocco and
qualified the Indomitable Lions for
a first World Cup. He was retiring as
his nation’s all-time leading
marksman, on 38 goals from 61
outings, and fresh from propelling
them to a second AFCON crown in
three editions. His extravagant sendoff,
marketed as ‘Roger Milla
Jubilee’, featured local legends such
as Joseph-Antoine Bell and Francois
Omam-Biyik, and Gallic royalty
Manuel Amoros and Alain Giresse.
Salif Keita and Pele sent their wellwishes.
A staggering crowd of
115,000 watched the second match
in Yaounde, with its headliner
swapping sides at half-time just as
‘The King’ had done at his own
swansong between New York
Cosmos and Santos in 1977.
An awestruck 11-year-old will
never forget watching it live on
national television. Not even the
most fanciful of scriptwriters could
have concocted the same kid going
on become Milla’s team-mate at a
World Cup in the statal setting of
Twins. There was, however, an
intervening chapter. In April 1990,
Milla played in a charity game in
Douala. Cameroon President - Paul
Biya, in the crowd, was wowed. He
asked the former Saint-Etienne and
Montpellier man to go to Italia ’90.
The soon-to-be 38-year-old laughed
it off. The following day Biya called
Milla. After some persuasion, ‘Old
Lion’ came around. Biya, thrilled,
called Cameroon coach Valery
Nepomnyashchy and told him the
news. The bull-headed Russian
responded that it was not happening.
Biya actioned Presidential privilege.
The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon
He issued a decree, Milla signed it
and Nepomnyashchy had no choice
but to accept. Milla went on to be a
sensation at the tournament,
averaging a goal every 59 minutes
and 30 seconds of action as
Cameroon became the first African
representatives to reach the quarterfinals.
It seemed unthinkable at the time
that there could be life in Milla’s
World Cup career. No outfield
player in their 40s had ever been to
the global finals. Yet when Henri
Michel reserved 22 seats for
California, where their Group B
outings would unfold, his was one.
So too, preposterously, was the kid
who had watched Milla’s swansong
Roger Milla at the Olympic Village Beijing in August 2008 (Photo - Jmex, CCA-SA 3.0 Unported) Continued on Page 15>
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