News From Nigeria
UNEASY NEIGHBOURS AND THE BIAFRA DIALOGUES BY DR AUSTIN ORETTE
Lately, there have been eruption of kings and kingdoms of the Igbo people all over Nigeria and other parts of the world. If these occurrences were not being normalized, they will be easy to ignore.
Some months ago, I wrote that the two tribes militating against Nigeria progress are the Fulani and the Igbo. From the surface, they look different but their core ideology is the same.
I wrote a five part essay on how the Fulani people achieved their dominance of Nigeria. They used Religion. They are colonizers and they only want to be Nigerians if they are in charge.
The Igbo people only want to be in Nigeria if they are in charge. The South-East people want to achieve the same thing by using commerce and psychological warfare. Where the Fulani people are quiet, the Igbo people are haughty. You can hear their steps many miles away. The Fulani people are austere while the Igbo people are opposite. They tell you they are the best and without them Nigeria cannot move on. They will engage in de-marketing campaigns to prove their point.
Nnamdi Kanu started by declaring Nigeria a zoo. His acolytes took his campaign against Nigeria to a higher level where they will make fictitious gory films about Nigeria. They pumped negative news about Nigeria into the blogosphere. Most of the negative stories against Nigeria overseas are a well oil propaganda machine by the Biafrans. Nigeria is bad because the Igbo people are not in charge. While the Fulani will plot a comeback, the Igbo would settle for blackmail that they are being marginalized. They will not make any effort to collaborate with others to contest for power. They think power will be surrendered to them by blackmail and harassment of their irregular forces under the control of Nnamdi Kanu.
The recent proliferation of kingship in Igbo land, Nigerian and overseas is part of this agenda. They will cry victim and the world will come to their support. This behavior has confirmed the fact that the Igbo people have no respect for the rights of their hosts.
From Dallas to Lagos and China to Pakistan, they want to set up a kingdom and undermine their host. If this were not a threat to innocent Nigerians, it would not be a thing. This behavior has made many folks to distant themselves from Nigerians as they cannot tell who is who. These kingdoms have been associated with a high level of predation. This elephant in the room is too big to ignore. All politics, they say ends at the water’s edge. This means that whatever division we have at home should stay at home as we cross the seas as Nigerians to foreign lands. In this way, we subsume our local identity for the national identity. Igbo people have refused to do since the end of the civil war. Igbo nationalism became the norm after the civil war. Nigerians have been reluctant to push back because we don’t want anything to remind us of the bitter past. This lack of push back is a mistake that has led the proponents of Biafra to preach the rightness of their cause. Any attempt to tell the real history of the conflict is met with revisionist history where every Nigerian becomes a villain and cannot muster any argument to challenge the aggressiveness and unwarranted provocation of the Igbo. They have managed to spread lies and innuendo to obfuscate the reasons for our present discontent. The generation of Igbo people who were alive during Biafra handed lies to their children who now look at Nigeria with anger and bitterness. Their most popular lie is that all Igbo people were stripped of their wealth, genocide was committed against them and they were given twenty pounds at the end of the civil war. With that twenty pounds in their pocket, they used the Igbo ingenuity to create massive wealth in a Nigeria that hates and discriminates against them.
This HORATIO Algiers story is something only children will believe. This is the story the Igbo people believe. Since these children grew up, there was no counter narrative of the Nigerian civil war. Nigerian children consumed this history and they also became uninformed and they have been unwittingly made villains in this macabre dance. This is the history that made people like Nnamdi Kanu. This revisionist history is what they use as propaganda against the Nigerian state. This is the source of their righteous indignation against the Nigerian state. They started preaching Biafra with the authority of ignorance. Due to this ignorance, a lot of Nigerians did not know how to react to these new proponents of Biafra who have gradually adopted psychological warfare tactics. Any attempt to correct any lies by these groups is labeled Igbophobia. In order not to be cast with this label, a lot of opinion leaders ceded the discussion to this uninformed Nnamdi generation of Igbo people who started running wild in Igbo land. By the time the authorities knew what was happening, Nnamdi Kanu had a full-fledged army and a Biafran passport for his followers. He started declaring holidays and punishing anyone in Igbo land who opened their shops or violated their criminal directives.
This was the failure of the government of Nigeria to secure the peace at the end of the Nigerian civil war. If the leaders of the Biafran rebellion had been punished, a matter of reason will not be toyed with by anyone who knew of the damage that war did to Nigeria.
Nnamdi Kanu was placed under house arrest but he escaped back to London where he resumed his position as the Commander in Chief of the Biafran Army. He gave orders and they were carried out in Igboland. His activities became far reaching that those elected to govern became his subordinates in Igbo land. This is why you don’t see any prominent Igbo person who can vociferously challenge Nnamdi Kanu’s rebellion. The naive and uninformed Igbo people have made him their messiah and they have been donating generously to set up this Biafran state.
He was arrested for the second time in Kenya and brought to Nigeria for trial. Unfortunately for our nation, we don’t know how to compartmentalize crimes. The trial of Nnamdi Kanu should have been a criminal trial that should not take so much time or attention of Mr. President.
This is Nigeria where a criminal was made a martyr due to unnecessary political intervention. Instead of being tried and sentenced, we now cede decisions to the political arena. This is wrong. An unrepentant criminal will repeat his crime. His deputy was arrested and convicted in Finland within six months. The Finish people care about justice, they did not care about being labeled Igbophobia. Justice was dispensed. From the court proceedings, the criminality involved in these Biafran activities could not be denied. Sam Ekpa was convicted.
Where are the Igbo people who are opposed to this criminality? Why are they so quiet? They cannot talk because Nnamdi Kanu controls the foot soldiers that dispense justice without mercy in Igboland. Nnamdi is the product of Nigerians lackadaisical attitudes towards nationhood. This is what happens when a Nation refuses to punish those who try to dismember it. Surreptitiously groups like that of Nnamdi Kanu have been undermining Nigeria. They have used psychological tactics of labeling any opposition as Igbophobia. Well-meaning Nigerians have succumbed to this emotional blackmail. This has led to the paralysis of analysis of the struggles of the average Igboman in Igboland. The insecurity that the Biafrans created is what has led to the emptying of Igboland as people are fleeing from the South-East geo-political zone due to insecurity.
The more people flee, the more they aggregate in some locales. It is okay to settle in new places. That is the story of man. What I find disturbing about these new Igbo settlers is their propensity to set up the Igbo kingdom anywhere they go. We have never seen this kind of Igbo nationalism at this level. What is happening in Igboland? There was no monarchy or central governing system in Igbo history. Why the rush to become kings in other peoples land? Why do Igbo people think it is okay for them to set up their kingdom in another man’s kingdom? An action like this is considered an act of war in some climes. To be a king, you have to conquer the territory. Two kings cannot rule one domain? These actions have not been challenged in Nigeria and a lot of Igbo people think they can take this behavior overseas. It is obvious they were not prepared for the fireworks that come with such proclamation. This confirms that the Igbo people had no monarchy in their history? If they did, they would understand that there is a lot of bloodletting on the way to royalty.
In the past, I said Igbo complained most about tribalism. My observation is that Igbo are the most tribalistic people in Nigeria. It is this tribal propensity that makes them want to set up a tribal hegemony anywhere they find themselves.
Why is it necessary to tell an Isoko man that his ancestors are Igbo when all the historical facts are contrary? Why is it necessary to tell an Ikwere man that he is denying his Igbo ancestry? It is rude for an Igboman to tell an Isoko or Itsekiri that their lineage is from Igboland. This is a direct assault on the history of these people. The claims by Igbo are becoming so absurd that they stress credulity.
Recently an Igbo man on YouTube said they were in Ile Ife before the Yoruba people arrived. How can you expect Yoruba people to take you seriously with these kinds of outlandish proclamations? So many unsubstantiated and outlandish remarks have been made by Igbo scholars that we don’t know what to believe anymore. The Igbo people claim they are the lost tribe of Israel. There is no DNA evidence in this regard. The farthest East their DNA went is the Bantu tribes of the Congo. The people in the Horn of Africa have direct lineage to Palestine. They don’t use that as a bragging right.
From the above, I am beginning to see that the Igbo people are still in the tribal stage of development where tribal identity is paramount for survival. Most of the other tribes in Nigeria came from empires and have shed the tribal cocoon that is necessary to form a nation. So it is easier for them to adapt to their new realities.
The Igbo people are still at a stage where they are trying to form a nation from their disparate tribes. This process was interrupted by the colonialists. It is possible the Benin Empire could have conquered and annexed Igbo land if the British did not invade the empire. Forming a country is a union of Nations. The Benin Empire, the Oyo Empire and the Kanem Bornu Empire, Mali Empire and others were the nations within the Nigerian space. The Igbo people were just a group of disparate tribes that have not become a nation at the arrival of the colonialists. The present struggles are the attempts by people to hold on to an identity in a changing world. This is the atavism we see today. If the Igbo people succeed in having their Biafra, they will still negotiate these intricacies in order to form a united Biafra. These painful negotiations require patience and diplomacy. These are the kind of experiences they need instead of using bellicosity as a tool of diplomacy.
DR AUSTIN ORETTE WRITES FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS
Religion in Nigeria will always be a cog in the wheel of progress because this is the Trojan horse the colonizers left behind. It is the only thing that leads to arrested development of any intelligent discussion of finding solutions to what is holding Nigeria back.
At the time the British left, they were very happy that the religion they brought had displaced our traditional methods of worship. Besides, the African religion is not inducing passion for hatred and killing of each other as their religions needed constant sacrifice of the unbelievers. They trained the African how to kill and die for their gods and forget self-inquiry and self-improvement.
In Nigeria, they made it potent for these religions to constantly be at war with each other and forget they are the victims of a master puppeteer. The African especially the Nigerian has lost his mind in the macabre of this zealotry. He is always in a perpetual state of hallucinations, religious ecstasy and zealotry. The White man’s god became African with all its hateful passions and pride.
Since we hate ourselves, we kill the self we see in each other. It is not necessary for the white man to kill us. We can do that better than him. Now and then, we call them for supervision. This reassures them of the superiority of their god. Their religion always reminds us that we are birds of different plumage. We have to deny our brothers, friends and family in order to devote our time to their god who has blessed them with technology. It must be true that their god gave them the gadget directly. We also have to build big houses for their gods because he does not like huts.. We sleep there every day but don’t see god. They tell us to just continue to pray and have faith. We don’t have to work or think. Nothing is needed but faith.
If you are a Muslim, you have to kill your neighbor if you see him tear a page from the Holy Book. Islam is peace you know! The only requirement is prayer. Five times a day or make it continuous for effect. The decibel of the loudspeakers has to be increased to drive out the demons. Those who cannot make it through the noise be damned or join in this state of lost civility. The brainwashing has started. These religions made the African supplicant and will always see the white god as their savior.
We have white Jesus and we have off white Mohammad. An African can never have any angel that looks like him and he has to always turn the other cheek. Mission accomplished. Africans cannot look for solutions from within. If a problem is too difficult to solve, all he has to do is to go to Mecca or Rome. He has to talk to the white god personally because the white god has all the answers. If he cannot see the white god, the white man will do as his deputy. This is the beginning of white worship which is the most common idolatry in Africa. The ways and whys of the conqueror become supreme; He cannot pray in Africa because his prayers will be thwarted by the many demons that abound in Africa. The land of Africa is not holy enough for the white god. This took away the agency and self-confidence of the African. Nothing in his vicinity reminds him of his divinity. Gradually, his self-confidence erodes and he sees himself as having everything in common with his colonial oppressors. Any attempt to loosen these chains of oppression is vehemently opposed by the guard of his oppressor. These guards are the various pastors and imams who play the role of interpreting the white man’s god to him. Any dream of the sheep leaving the plantation and finding the meaning of his existence, the chains is tightened and he continues with his anesthetic prayers that confuse and consume him. He can’t leave if he is a Muslim because he will be killed in the North of Nigeria. If he is in the South, he is ashamed to enforce compliance. From the cradle to the grave, the African lives with the fog of knowingness that gnaws at him. He lacks the courage to break free from the shackles of these foreign religions and he gradually evolves a duality in his existence. In most cases, he will seek the help of his ancestors to intercede by stealth. So it can be said that the African maintains a duality that is necessary to survive his environment. This duality results in double loyalty; one to the oppressors and one of his traditional roots which he has been forced to vilify. On Sundays or Fridays, he goes to the church or mosque. On the days that he can have his privacy, he goes to the Babalawo for his incantation. This double loyalty places him in an uncomfortable position where his loyalty to his imported religion becomes the same as loyalty to his colonial oppressor.
Nothing can highlight this more than the death of Charlie Kirk in America. Before the bullet could land, Nigerians have already taken sides because of this loyalty to the oppressor. All they heard is that he was a Christian. They don’t have the presence of mind to know the definition of Christianity in the land of their oppressors. They make statements that are ignorant and out of context with the issues. They start speaking and arguing about issues they know nothing about with the authority and bravado of ignorance. All they hear is that a prominent American Christian was killed. That is all. They suddenly become Christian warriors trying to force the gate of heaven to be opened for this “lovely” Christian who was killed by the devil. They will even prepare a sermon to tell their congregation to live the righteous life of Charles Kirk who was killed by the devil.
Now we may ask: Who was Charlie Kirk? To answer this question, you have to know American culture and politics in real time. Nigerians without any iota of fact will pontificate about this man’s exemplary life. Due to the fact that he is white, they will go further and equate him to Jesus Christ. If you don’t believe this, just read comments coming from Nigerians on YouTube and other social media.
This lack of knowledge and loquaciousness is very embarrassing to those of us who live in this culture and follow the issues closely. These ignorant discussions can place us in danger as those who don’t know the difference assume every Nigerian has sympathy with the white oppressors of America who use Christianity for their hateful actions against black people in America.
A white Christian went into a black church. He was welcomed. After prayers, he brought his gun and killed everyone there. His Christian god told him to do so. When he was arrested, the police took him to MacDonald for lunch. They are Christian police. What did this “good “Christian police do when they arrested George Floyd? They strangled him in plain view of the public. Here in America, rational people don’t jump to conclusions or make saints out of sinners just because they say they are Christians.
The Kkk that terrorized and lynched black Americans after the civil war were Christians. The burning cross is their insignia. Right wing Christianity in America is a white supremacy organization. Here in America, people look at the issues with objective lenses. We even ask questions and go to the archive to examine the records. The Nigerian will not do this because he cannot see beyond his narrow lens of religion and confuses his version of Christianity with American right wing Christianity which is nothing but white Supremacy organization. Please stop. Your ignorance will get a lot of people killed in America.
In America, the pace of news is very rapid and a big story today is overshadowed by bigger stories tomorrow and what seems monumental today becomes a footnote tomorrow. Who was Charlie Kirk? He was thirty one year old and dropped out of college after the first semester. He is a Christian but he preached the gospel of the Pharisees. He engages in revisionist history and uses pseudo intellectualism to argue points that cannot be factually verified. His main hatred is against Black Americans and any other blacks who live in the US. His organization, Turning Point, USA was sponsored by racist American billionaires. He does not let facts get in his way when he is talking about black people. Time after time, he says black people are mentally inferior. He tells the World that black people are very violent, and they are 13 percent of the population and fifty percent in jail. This is clearly a lie. He was the one who started the rumor that white South Africans are being subjected to genocide. This is what led to the confrontation of Donald Trump and the South African president. Trump did not believe the South African president. He sent a plane to South Africa to carry the white people to America and granted all of them asylum. I just use these few points to introduce Charlie Kirk to the Nigerian audience who have been blinded by religion.
Charlie Kirk is your oppressor. He is not a follower of Jesus. He uses the name of Jesus the way the colonial master used the name of Jesus for slavery and colonialism. Charlie Kirk was the person encouraging counter protests when George Floyd was murdered in broad daylight by strangulation at the hands of the police. On January 6, 2017, he was the one who bused protesters to riot at the capitol. He is what is known as an agent provocateur. He is a right winger. He believes there should not be any amendments to the second amendment of the constitution which gives the American citizens the right to bear arms. He is opposed to any legislation that will interfere with the people’s right to bear arms. He says any death from gunshot in America should be considered collateral damage in the fight for freedom. Due to the bellicose stand of these right wingers like Charles Kirk, it is impossible to pass any sensible gun laws. These people believe very deeply that guns don’t kill people. People kill people. One can actually deduce from this summary that Charles Kirk died from his own hemlock. His hatred of black people is so visceral that at the time he was killed, he was talking about black violence in an auditorium in University in Salt Lake City, Utah. This cannot be rationalized. Utah is more than 98 % white. Why would a white man talk about the violent criminality of black people to an audience of mostly white people in Utah? The only reason is that he is on a crusade to unite white people against black people in America. He was telescoping racism to young white people who live in Utah to start hating black people they have not met. He was fomenting racial animosity. He frequently goes to Europe to give lectures and recruit white Europeans to his violent anti-black racism .This is the stuff the right wing of America feeds on.
In this journey of hatred, they identify themselves as Christians. They are Christians alright but they are not followers of Christ who taught love, tolerance and charity. He hates immigrants and wants borders closed. Recently, he said in a speech that America does not need more Indians. Are these the actions of a Christian? If he is Christian, then Donald Trump must be his pastor. They worship at the temple of bigotry. He is one of the architects of the policies that trample on the vulnerable in our society. I don’t wish for anyone dead but he is a victim of his own poison. In his own words, he can be considered collateral damage. If you ask me to shed a tear for him, then it is okay to cry for Osama bin Laden. We don’t worship the same God, so I cannot ask God to open the gates of Heaven for him even when a majority of those he hurt with his hatred have opened the gates of hell without any bumps and unambiguous road signs.
Charlie Kirk said it himself. Empathy is a bad thing. Mourning his death is against his personal wishes.
DR AUSTIN ORETTE WRITES FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS
Are we really divided by geography or culture? Nigeria is a very heterogeneous society. From the cacophony of our disagreements, there is a straight line that separates the North and the South, the East and the West.
We have been presented with the scenario that the North will always want the opposite of what the South wants. This means if the South wants unity, then the North by default will want disunity. At the moment, most people in the south want restructuring. The North does not want it as we are told.
To what extent has geography decided our destiny? Are we really different temperamentally due to accidents in our geography? We will believe so if we subscribe to the prevailing notion that we are incapable of brewing a culture that is inclusive because of our geographic placements.
Nigeria is a very heterogeneous and variegated society that has failed to evolve a theme that is inclusive of all the people within our borders. The failure to achieve this elusive unity is due to our primordial loyalties and attachments to our origins. There is a failure of imagination and expansion of our consciousness. At this place, we will see each other. This failure also means we are still like children, who have refused to grow up and will not leave home.
Some have posited that we could have been better if the imaginary line that separated the North and South was made more visible and not blurred by the interposition of Lord Lugard. Most Nigerians will always blame the British for this amalgamation. I don’t, because Lord Lugard did what he had to do for the love of Britain. He needed to save costs and make the colonization easier for His Royal Majesty. All he did was for the love of his homeland. No matter how much we blame the British, the constant is that they did what they have to do for the love of Britain.
My question is: What have we done for the love of our people and Nigeria? This is the question we should ask ourselves every day. Have we evolved any system to bring us together as the largest concentration of black people in the World? The answer is no. At the time Africans were crying for the unity of black people, some Nigerians wanted more fragmentation. This means that we cannot go beyond the artificial lines that were created to confine us and we have accepted an imaginary line that makes neighbors to be strangers perpetually. It also suggests that we are lazy and cannot go beyond our comfort zone.
We have a duty to reframe and recalibrate our relationships that are devoid of exploitation by those who gave a numerical advantage. The respect for the rights of minorities is a sine qua non in a society that aspires to be democratic. As the largest concentration of Black people in the world, it is our responsibility to evolve beyond our present conditions of strife and ethnic hostilities and adopt a more inclusive theme for our polity.
I have emphasized at various times that if you remove the imported religions, we have more in common as Nigerians. These foreign religions are actually the fuel for the tribalism and ethnic divisions that are tearing the nation apart.
There are more minorities in the North than in the South. The North is actually more advanced in terms of inter-ethnic harmony than the South. A Northerner is more likely to say he is a Northerner than a Southerner. A southerner will identify with his tribe first. This is where the Northerner is more advanced in inter-ethnic relations. They have a more panoramic view of Nigeria than the average southerner.
The South is still a basin of inter-ethnic rivalries. The reason for this is that the South is not as variegated as the North. The rivalry and low intensity animus between the South-west and South-East is becoming tiresome. This rivalry makes it difficult to evolve ethos that are beyond ethnic nationalism. These tribes instead of developing a blueprint of cohabitation with the minority tribes, they engage in parasitic relationships that are injurious to the minority tribes. They even want the minority tribes to forget their history and become members of the large tribes. Can the parasite absorb the host? Nature says no. The host just wants to be left alone to survive the interplay and ignominy of the so-called big tribes. The way Yoruba and Igbo behave in the South makes me wonder if they are aware of any other people besides them who occupy this terrain we call Southern Nigeria. They need to take a lesson from the North on how to unify people.
We need unity all over the country, but Southern unity is very essential for the unity and progress of Nigeria. Southern unity is needed to free the North from Religious tyranny that impedes progress and imprison Northern youth in a cocoon of Ignorance. This state of ignorance makes the Northern youth to erroneously identify with the vision of his oppressor.
How did the North become so united? They used a language of common purpose. No matter the drawback of the Fulani, they were able to draw up a philosophy of a common heritage. This could be religion or culture. Since we don’t have a common heritage in the South, we can draw up a common theme that can unify us. We could adopt the theme: Justice, equality and fairness. It is not enough to say you are Igbo. Do you believe in justice? Do you believe in equality? Do you believe in fairness? If the answer is yes, I will work with you to evolve a better relationship.
What does it mean to be a Yoruba? Do you believe in Justice? Do you believe in fairness? Do you believe in equality? If the answer is yes, I will work with you to evolve a better terrain for our people. It is the negative answers that come from these groups that militate against any form of unity in Nigeria.
Lord Lugard amalgamated Nigeria for the love of Britain. What have we Nigerians done for the love of Nigeria? The answer to this question will lead to our evolution to a better place where our vision is not blurred. One out of every four black people in the world is a Nigerian. This is power and should be backed by our sense of responsibility to all black people around the World. This is a leadership position that every Nigerian must take as his responsibility.
To be effective, we must as a matter of urgency restructure Nigeria for proper governance. Restructuring will reduce hostilities and arbitrariness of governance. Knowledgeable people will move from a mediocre and moribund unitary/Central governance and improve the lives of people at the local level who can be trusted to pick the right people for leadership. Our focus should be on this solemn obligation that must not be trifled by any singular loyalty to the village idiot who is still a troglodyte.
DR AUSTIN ORETTE WRITES FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS
Women in the North Central geo-political zone on Wednesday urged President Bola Tinubu not to allow forces of progress to be intimidated.
‘’The recent action of the Senate leadership can only lead to moral and political disorder’’
They also criticized the leadership of the Senate for contributing to the general frustration of bright and articulate minds in the National Assembly.
‘’The Senate appears to have become a casual blackboard for juvenile graffiti’’
The women in a statement in Makurdi applauded the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for its stand on the issues in the Senate.
They described the position of the Senate leadership on Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as an ascendancy of evil in the country.
‘’Majority of the senators now find themselves as hostages in the crude hands of the Senate leadership’’
The statement issued by the Chairperson of North Central Women Front (NCWF), Mrs. Mary Adamu lamented the activities of the forces of despotism in the country and the degradation to which Akpoti-Uduaghan has been subjected by the leadership of the Senate.
‘’Of what use are people who stay put and cowardly allow evil to exist?
The women described Akpoti-Uduaghan as a leading activist and one of the intellectual pillars of the Senate.
Particularly, the North Central women denounced the contention made by the Clerk of the Senate and called on other geo-political zones to join them in freeing the majority of the senators from the clutches of the so-called leadership.
The statement emphasized fascism, crude, beastly nature and style of deciding when to allow Akpoti-Uduaghan to the Senate.
The Alliance for Good Governance (AGG), a non-governmental organization has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to look into the issue of backlog of non- payment of Rations and Gas Contractors dues by the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCos).
The organization cited the high cost of foodstuffs such as Beans, Rice and Garri as a major factor exacerbating the problem adding that the situation has severe implication for the livelihoods of the contractors and the inmates and the overall economy.
The group said outstanding dues that the NCos owes contractors was over #5.6 billion for food supplied to inmates across the country adding that the non –payment of contractor’s dues puts the welfare of over 75,000 inmates at risk potentially that could lead to starvation and other health issues.
The NGO in a statement made available to newsmen signed by Chris Sanwo and Jude Nwokolo, group Coordinator and Secretary respectively revealed that this nonpayment can lead to abandonment of the feeding of the inmate, job losses to those under the employment of these contractors and in turn lead to increase in poverty, which the statement noted with melancholy that the Tinubu administration in seriously making concerted to address through several programme under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
The group recalled that the Federal Government recently increased the daily feeding allowances for inmates from #750 to #1,125 aiming to improve their nutritional welfare for which the group said is a good development, however with this development the Rations and Gas Contractors are yet to be paid for October, November and December 2023 while some are yet to be paid for the food and Gas supplied for August 2024 and some still have outstanding payment.
‘’We urge President to take swift action to address this issue ensuring that contractors receive their payment they deserve for their work. We also call on the Committee on Interior at the National Assembly to investigate this matter and provide oversight to prevent similar situations in the future’’.
‘’Many contractors have borrowed money from financial institutions with interest rates to supply food to inmates and the non- payment of their dues is causing them significant financial hardship’’.
The group called on the National Assembly to investigate this matter and provide oversight to prevent similar situations in the future
It also urged President to take swift action, intervene in the situation and ensure prompt payment of outstanding dues to Ration and Gas Contractors.
‘’This will alleviate the suffering of inmates and the contractors alike, and ensure the continued provision of essential services to the correctional facilities stressing this challenge may undermines investor confidence and slows economic and exacerbate fiscal policies’’, the group said.
Women in the North Central geo-political zone on Wednesday urged President Bola Tinubu not to allow forces of progress to be intimidated.
‘’The recent action of the Senate leadership can only lead to moral and political disorder’’
They also criticized the leadership of the Senate for contributing to the general frustration of bright and articulate minds in the National Assembly.
‘’The Senate appears to have become a casual blackboard for juvenile graffiti’’
The women in a statement in Makurdi applauded the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for its stand on the issues in the Senate.
They described the position of the Senate leadership on Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as an ascendancy of evil in the country.
‘’Majority of the senators now find themselves as hostages in the crude hands of the Senate leadership’’
The statement issued by the Chairperson of North Central Women Front (NCWF), Mrs. Mary Adamu lamented the activities of the forces of despotism in the country and the degradation to which Akpoti-Uduaghan has been subjected by the leadership of the Senate.
‘’Of what use are people who stay put and cowardly allow evil to exist?
The women described Akpoti-Uduaghan as a leading activist and one of the intellectual pillars of the Senate.
Particularly, the North Central women denounced the contention made by the Clerk of the Senate and called on other geo-political zones to join them in freeing the majority of the senators from the clutches of the so-called leadership.
The statement emphasized fascism, crude, beastly nature and style of deciding when to allow Akpoti-Uduaghan to the Senate.
Religion in Nigeria will always be a cog in the wheel of progress because this is the Trojan horse the colonizers left behind. It is the only thing that leads to arrested development of any intelligent discussion of finding solutions to what is holding Nigeria back.
At the time the British left, they were very happy that the religion they brought had displaced our traditional methods of worship. Besides, the African religion is not inducing passion for hatred and killing of each other as their religions needed constant sacrifice of the unbelievers. They trained the African how to kill and die for their gods and forget self-inquiry and self-improvement.
In Nigeria, they made it potent for these religions to constantly be at war with each other and forget they are the victims of a master puppeteer. The African especially the Nigerian has lost his mind in the macabre of this zealotry. He is always in a perpetual state of hallucinations, religious ecstasy and zealotry. The White man’s god became African with all its hateful passions and pride.
Since we hate ourselves, we kill the self we see in each other. It is not necessary for the white man to kill us. We can do that better than him. Now and then, we call them for supervision. This reassures them of the superiority of their god. Their religion always reminds us that we are birds of different plumage. We have to deny our brothers, friends and family in order to devote our time to their god who has blessed them with technology. It must be true that their god gave them the gadget directly. We also have to build big houses for their gods because he does not like huts.. We sleep there every day but don’t see god. They tell us to just continue to pray and have faith. We don’t have to work or think. Nothing is needed but faith.
If you are a Muslim, you have to kill your neighbor if you see him tear a page from the Holy Book. Islam is peace you know! The only requirement is prayer. Five times a day or make it continuous for effect. The decibel of the loudspeakers has to be increased to drive out the demons. Those who cannot make it through the noise be damned or join in this state of lost civility. The brainwashing has started. These religions made the African supplicant and will always see the white god as their savior.
We have white Jesus and we have off white Mohammad. An African can never have any angel that looks like him and he has to always turn the other cheek. Mission accomplished. Africans cannot look for solutions from within. If a problem is too difficult to solve, all he has to do is to go to Mecca or Rome. He has to talk to the white god personally because the white god has all the answers. If he cannot see the white god, the white man will do as his deputy. This is the beginning of white worship which is the most common idolatry in Africa. The ways and whys of the conqueror become supreme; He cannot pray in Africa because his prayers will be thwarted by the many demons that abound in Africa. The land of Africa is not holy enough for the white god. This took away the agency and self-confidence of the African. Nothing in his vicinity reminds him of his divinity. Gradually, his self-confidence erodes and he sees himself as having everything in common with his colonial oppressors. Any attempt to loosen these chains of oppression is vehemently opposed by the guard of his oppressor. These guards are the various pastors and imams who play the role of interpreting the white man’s god to him. Any dream of the sheep leaving the plantation and finding the meaning of his existence, the chains is tightened and he continues with his anesthetic prayers that confuse and consume him. He can’t leave if he is a Muslim because he will be killed in the North of Nigeria. If he is in the South, he is ashamed to enforce compliance. From the cradle to the grave, the African lives with the fog of knowingness that gnaws at him. He lacks the courage to break free from the shackles of these foreign religions and he gradually evolves a duality in his existence. In most cases, he will seek the help of his ancestors to intercede by stealth. So it can be said that the African maintains a duality that is necessary to survive his environment. This duality results in double loyalty; one to the oppressors and one of his traditional roots which he has been forced to vilify. On Sundays or Fridays, he goes to the church or mosque. On the days that he can have his privacy, he goes to the Babalawo for his incantation. This double loyalty places him in an uncomfortable position where his loyalty to his imported religion becomes the same as loyalty to his colonial oppressor.
Nothing can highlight this more than the death of Charlie Kirk in America. Before the bullet could land, Nigerians have already taken sides because of this loyalty to the oppressor. All they heard is that he was a Christian. They don’t have the presence of mind to know the definition of Christianity in the land of their oppressors. They make statements that are ignorant and out of context with the issues. They start speaking and arguing about issues they know nothing about with the authority and bravado of ignorance. All they hear is that a prominent American Christian was killed. That is all. They suddenly become Christian warriors trying to force the gate of heaven to be opened for this “lovely” Christian who was killed by the devil. They will even prepare a sermon to tell their congregation to live the righteous life of Charles Kirk who was killed by the devil.
Now we may ask: Who was Charlie Kirk? To answer this question, you have to know American culture and politics in real time. Nigerians without any iota of fact will pontificate about this man’s exemplary life. Due to the fact that he is white, they will go further and equate him to Jesus Christ. If you don’t believe this, just read comments coming from Nigerians on YouTube and other social media.
This lack of knowledge and loquaciousness is very embarrassing to those of us who live in this culture and follow the issues closely. These ignorant discussions can place us in danger as those who don’t know the difference assume every Nigerian has sympathy with the white oppressors of America who use Christianity for their hateful actions against black people in America.
A white Christian went into a black church. He was welcomed. After prayers, he brought his gun and killed everyone there. His Christian god told him to do so. When he was arrested, the police took him to MacDonald for lunch. They are Christian police. What did this “good “Christian police do when they arrested George Floyd? They strangled him in plain view of the public. Here in America, rational people don’t jump to conclusions or make saints out of sinners just because they say they are Christians.
The Kkk that terrorized and lynched black Americans after the civil war were Christians. The burning cross is their insignia. Right wing Christianity in America is a white supremacy organization. Here in America, people look at the issues with objective lenses. We even ask questions and go to the archive to examine the records. The Nigerian will not do this because he cannot see beyond his narrow lens of religion and confuses his version of Christianity with American right wing Christianity which is nothing but white Supremacy organization. Please stop. Your ignorance will get a lot of people killed in America.
In America, the pace of news is very rapid and a big story today is overshadowed by bigger stories tomorrow and what seems monumental today becomes a footnote tomorrow. Who was Charlie Kirk? He was thirty one year old and dropped out of college after the first semester. He is a Christian but he preached the gospel of the Pharisees. He engages in revisionist history and uses pseudo intellectualism to argue points that cannot be factually verified. His main hatred is against Black Americans and any other blacks who live in the US. His organization, Turning Point, USA was sponsored by racist American billionaires. He does not let facts get in his way when he is talking about black people. Time after time, he says black people are mentally inferior. He tells the World that black people are very violent, and they are 13 percent of the population and fifty percent in jail. This is clearly a lie. He was the one who started the rumor that white South Africans are being subjected to genocide. This is what led to the confrontation of Donald Trump and the South African president. Trump did not believe the South African president. He sent a plane to South Africa to carry the white people to America and granted all of them asylum. I just use these few points to introduce Charlie Kirk to the Nigerian audience who have been blinded by religion.
Charlie Kirk is your oppressor. He is not a follower of Jesus. He uses the name of Jesus the way the colonial master used the name of Jesus for slavery and colonialism. Charlie Kirk was the person encouraging counter protests when George Floyd was murdered in broad daylight by strangulation at the hands of the police. On January 6, 2017, he was the one who bused protesters to riot at the capitol. He is what is known as an agent provocateur. He is a right winger. He believes there should not be any amendments to the second amendment of the constitution which gives the American citizens the right to bear arms. He is opposed to any legislation that will interfere with the people’s right to bear arms. He says any death from gunshot in America should be considered collateral damage in the fight for freedom. Due to the bellicose stand of these right wingers like Charles Kirk, it is impossible to pass any sensible gun laws. These people believe very deeply that guns don’t kill people. People kill people. One can actually deduce from this summary that Charles Kirk died from his own hemlock. His hatred of black people is so visceral that at the time he was killed, he was talking about black violence in an auditorium in University in Salt Lake City, Utah. This cannot be rationalized. Utah is more than 98 % white. Why would a white man talk about the violent criminality of black people to an audience of mostly white people in Utah? The only reason is that he is on a crusade to unite white people against black people in America. He was telescoping racism to young white people who live in Utah to start hating black people they have not met. He was fomenting racial animosity. He frequently goes to Europe to give lectures and recruit white Europeans to his violent anti-black racism .This is the stuff the right wing of America feeds on.
In this journey of hatred, they identify themselves as Christians. They are Christians alright but they are not followers of Christ who taught love, tolerance and charity. He hates immigrants and wants borders closed. Recently, he said in a speech that America does not need more Indians. Are these the actions of a Christian? If he is Christian, then Donald Trump must be his pastor. They worship at the temple of bigotry. He is one of the architects of the policies that trample on the vulnerable in our society. I don’t wish for anyone dead but he is a victim of his own poison. In his own words, he can be considered collateral damage. If you ask me to shed a tear for him, then it is okay to cry for Osama bin Laden. We don’t worship the same God, so I cannot ask God to open the gates of Heaven for him even when a majority of those he hurt with his hatred have opened the gates of hell without any bumps and unambiguous road signs.
Charlie Kirk said it himself. Empathy is a bad thing. Mourning his death is against his personal wishes.
DR AUSTIN ORETTE WRITES FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Wednesday described Senate’s persecution of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as a descent into legislative dictatorship and democratic anarchy.
The Union also condemned the Godswill Akpabio-led Senate’s decision to continue barring Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan from performing her sacred constitutional duties.
‘’This act is not merely an error in judgement; it is a brazen, premeditated assault on democracy itself, a direct threat to the social contract, and a dangerous slide towards fascism masquerading as governance’’.
NLC in a statement issued by its President, Comrade Joe Ajaero said the action, led by Senator Akpabio, constitutes a gross abuse of power that shames the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly and spits on the collective will of the people of Kogi Central who elected Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan.
‘’That you suspended a fellow Senator from her constitutional roles depriving her people proper representation is not sinful enough, but you went ahead to ignore the rulings of the Court that voided her suspension and at the expiration of your illegal suspension, you are still denying her a return is the height of impunity and morally reprehensible. This is no longer democracy’’.
The statement dismissed the Senate’s pathetic recourse to a frivolous legal technicality that the matter is subjudice; after the expiration of a patently illegal six-month suspension.
‘’This is the height of legislative bad faith. It is a cynical ploy that reveals a sinister agenda to silence dissent, crush opposition, and manipulate the judiciary as a tool of political persecution’’.
The union labeled Akpabio’s action as a direct attack on the Nigerian people.
‘’It is a declaration by a privileged political elite that they are not accountable to the citizens they purport to serve. By willfully disenfranchising an entire senatorial district, the Senate is effectively stealing the political representation for which the people pay taxes. This denies Kogi Central its right to participate in lawmaking, oversight, and the appropriation of national resources, directly impoverishing the constituents and perpetuating a system of exclusion and economic injustice. It signals to all Nigerians that their votes are meaningless and can be invalidated by the whims of any tyrannical leadership’’.
According to the union, ‘’the action of the Senate is a calculated test-run for the emasculation of opposition and the subjugation of sovereign will as 2027 approaches’’
‘’It is an attempt to punish integrity and honour and hound men and women of conscience out of the political space. A Senate that operates as a court in its matter, suspends members, and then ignores the expiry of its own sanctions, is a Senate that has declared war on the very principles of representative democracy and on our nation’’.
The union warned the leadership of the National Assembly and their enablers.
‘’The Nigerian people, united across ethnic and religious lines, will not stand idly by while you cannibalise our democracy. The labour movement, as the historic defender of justice and the common good, will mobilize its immense membership and moral authority to resist this slide into autocracy. An attack on one senator today is an attack on the sovereignty of every Nigerian voter tomorrow’’.
PRESS RELEASE
10TH OF SEPTEMBER, 2025*
SENATE’S PERSECUTION OF SENATOR NATASHA AKPOTI-UDUAGHAN IS A DESCENT INTO LEGISLATIVE DICTATORSHIP AND DEMOCRATIC ANARCHY
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) rises in vehement condemnation of the Godswill Akpabio-led Senate’s decision to continue barring Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from performing her sacred constitutional duties. This act is not merely an error in judgement; it is a brazen, premeditated assault on democracy itself, a direct threat to the social contract, and a dangerous slide towards fascism masquerading as governance.
That you suspended a fellow Senator from her constitutional roles depriving her people proper representation is not sinful enough but you went ahead to ignore the rulings of the Court that voided her suspension and at the expiration of your illegal suspension, you are still denying her a return is the height of impunity and morally reprehensible. This is no longer democracy.
The Senate’s pathetic recourse to a frivolous legal technicality; claiming the matter is subjudice; after the expiration of a patently illegal six-month suspension, is the height of legislative bad faith. It is a cynical ploy that reveals a sinister agenda to silence dissent, crush opposition, and manipulate the judiciary as a tool of political persecution. This action, led by Senator Akpabio, constitutes a gross abuse of power that shames the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly and spits on the collective will of the people of Kogi Central who elected Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan.
From our standpoint, this action is a direct attack on the Nigerian people. It is a declaration by a privileged political elite that they are not accountable to the citizens they purport to serve. By willfully disenfranchising an entire senatorial district, the Senate is effectively stealing the political representation for which the people pay taxes. This denies Kogi Central its right to participate in lawmaking, oversight, and the appropriation of national resources, directly impoverishing the constituents and perpetuating a system of exclusion and economic injustice. It signals to all Nigerians that their votes are meaningless and can be invalidated by the whims of any tyrannical leadership.
The NLC stands on the side of democracy and wishes to state that this action is: a calculated test-run for the emasculation of opposition and the subjugation of sovereign will as 2027 approaches. It is an attempt to punish integrity and honour and hound men and women of conscience out of the political space. A Senate that operates as a court in its matter, suspends members, and then ignores the expiry of its own sanctions, is a Senate that has declared war on the very principles of representative democracy and on our nation.
We warn the leadership of the National Assembly and their enablers: the Nigerian people, united across ethnic and religious lines, will not stand idly by while you cannibalise our democracy. The labour movement, as the historic defender of justice and the common good, will mobilise its immense membership and moral authority to resist this slide into autocracy. An attack on one senator today is an attack on the sovereignty of every Nigerian voter tomorrow.
Comrade Joe Ajaero
President
We must teach our history. I cannot find any reason why Nigeria’s history is not being taught in Nigerian schools. This is a terrible mistake. What are we afraid of? Whose idea is it, that teaching Nigerian history will be unhealthy to our nation?
This must be one of the mediocre ideas of the mercenaries that imprisoned Nigeria for more than fifty years. Our history is who we are and why we are here and where we are going.
As a nation, we are not perfect. We have made mistakes and we have done some good things. Our history is the record of this journey as a nation. Our history should give us constant hindsight so that we don’t repeat mistakes. If we take the good and bad and give a proper account, it will be discovered we have made some great strides as a people.
We fought wars and we have managed to win the peace. Out of the cacophony of our existence, we have produced the Nigerian character. The Nigerian is the product from this blast furnace. It is this character that is under attack throughout the world. Nigeria does not have the monopoly of criminality. What the West is attacking is the virility of Nigeria. If we know this, it will give us the fortitude to persevere.
We cannot know who we are if our history is not made known to us. Knowing who we are will give us the ammunition to fight in a world that has become hostile to the Nigerian. We will be able to define ourselves instead of letting others define us. We must tell our story if not others will tell it and are unpalatable by using our least common denominator. We are Nigerians and we are not more corrupt than any other group of people.
The western press can make you hate your friends and make you love your enemies. At the end, it induces its audience into a state of celebrated ignorance. As Africa is waking up from its doldrums, the west is beginning to recalibrate their positions. They have chosen Nigeria as the bogeyman because the Nigerian represents everything they fear about the awake African.
For centuries, they used their instrument of coercion and education to tell the lion that it can only survive by stealing food from the hyena. A few Africans and the Nigerian never accepted this. The lion, within, was never slayed. It roamed without a purpose and it used its strength to attack its own kind and listen to the tails of the gazelle. It wandered in self-doubt. Every now and then, there is a glimpse of the glorious past which appeared as hallucinations. The dreams became more vivid and took on a reality of real life. He is the lion and must not wait for the meals provided by the hyena. He is the lion and must make his own kill and establish his pride. This is Nigeria from Slavery to Colonialism and Neo-colonialism. We lost our way. It is this awakening that the World is fighting. They have made the Nigerian a pariah because he wants to stand on his own two feet. The attack on the Nigerian is the attack on the manhood of Africa.
From wars, coups and disrespect, we have survived what the world has thrown at us. Out of this crucible, we have created a citizen who believes in himself and his people. This is what the world is attacking. Every one of these attacks tries to gain legitimacy by using our own against us. In South Africa, the black South Africans blamed the Nigerian for his problem. In West Africa, the Ghanaians blamed Nigeria for their problems. In America, the black America blamed Nigeria for their problems.
When Trump started his orgy of deportation, the black Americans were celebrating the deportation of Nigerians. When the world and our own are against us, we have to rely on each other and our history. Due to the lack of this history, we cannot tell the world what Nigeria has done for the freedom of all black people in the world. If we have history, we will tell the South African that we paid a heavy price to fight for their freedom. Western Companies like Shell, Barclays and others were nationalized due to their relationship with apartheid South Africa. Nigeria spearheaded and funded the anti-apartheid committee that negotiated the final phase of apartheid.
If we have history, we will tell the Ghanaian that the stability they enjoy in West Africa today was made possible by Nigeria. When Sierra Leone and Liberia caught fire, Nigeria became the fire fighters. America that created Liberia was nowhere to be found. People were dying in thousands and they were preaching human rights to those who were dying. Nigeria created the peace and did not ask for their land or their gold. Nigeria brought the soldiers who died in that war to be buried in Nigeria. We did not even ask for a place to bury our dead. We did not ask for their Diamond or their Gold. Nigeria did not impose any system of government on them. America or Britain will never give that kind of selfless service.
My country Nigeria did that. If we have that history, we will tell the black Americans that during the oil embargo of the 1970, a certain American president visited Nigeria to request for energy. The price of energy was prohibitive .Americans were losing their homes and could not afford to mitigate the brutal winters. Nigeria helped America by supplying them fuel at a very reasonable price, and also donated fuel to various foundations in America who were helping the poor to survive those brutal winters.
To top it all, Nigeria took an unprecedented step to assist Historical Black Colleges in America who were in danger of closing due to a serious financial crisis. Nigeria seized this opportunity. Nigeria awarded scholarships to many Nigerians to further their education at these Historical Black Colleges.
This is the beginning of Nigerians moving to the United States for education. The presence of Nigerians in those colleges brought a new lease of life to them. Today the Black American and the South African and the rest have joined the league of those who hate Nigeria with passion. Out of our difficulties, we have created a unique individual we call the Nigerian. He may be beaten but his head is unbowed. He is not bound by geography. His identity is justice, enterprise and fair play. We may tear at each other from North to South, East to West; let us never forget that the strength of our fabric will stand the test of time if we learn to understand that we are one people bound by a common identity that seeks justice and fair play in our common struggles. This struggles, created this individual we call the Nigerian.
When the World tugs at us, we remember that we are more than the sum of our differences. The Nigerian is not bound by geography or race. The Nigerian has a keen sense of justice. and knows that we are more than the sum total of our differences. He is indefatigable. The Nigerian is the hope of the African renaissance. The World is beginning to recognize this Nigerian and they all want to be members of this tribe. All that is needed to be members of this tribe is a keen sense of justice, agape love and fair play. Indeed, love of service and enterprise. Let us be this Nigerian. The world is waiting.
DR AUSTIN ORETTE WRITES FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) over “the proposed salary increase for political and public office holders in Nigeria particularly the president, vice-president, governors, their deputies, and lawmakers.”
RMAFC had last month disclosed the commission’s proposal to increase the salaries for the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers in Nigeria, claiming that the salaries for these office holders are ‘paltry.’
In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1834/2025 filed last week at the Federal High Court, Abuja, SERAP is asking the court to determine “whether RMAFC’s proposed salary hike for the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers in Nigeria is not unlawful, unconstitutional and inconsistent with the rule of law.”
SERAP is asking the court for “a declaration that the proposed salary increase for the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers in Nigeria is unlawful, unconstitutional and inconsistent with the rule of law as it violates the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and RMAFC’s Act.”
SERAP is seeking “an order of injunction restraining RMAFC, its agents and privies from taking any step to review upward the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers in Nigeria.”
SERAP is also seeking “an order directing RMAFC, its agents to review downward the salaries and allowances of the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers in Nigeria to reflect the economic realities in the country.”
In the suit, SERAP is arguing that, “restraining the commission from arbitrarily increasing the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors, their deputies, and lawmakers would serve legitimate public interests.”
SERAP is also arguing that, “The RMAFC’s constitutional and statutory mandates do not imply the unrestrained powers to increase the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors, their deputies, and lawmakers.”
According to SERAP, “Reviewing downward the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors, their deputies, and lawmakers would be entirely consistent and compatible with the Nigerian Constitution, the country’s international human rights obligations, and the current economic realities in the country.”
The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare, Ms Oluwakemi Oni, and Andrew Nwankwo, read in part: “When the exercise of RMAFC’s constitutional and statutory mandates clashes with Nigerians’ fundamental rights, the public interests in upholding these rights ought to prevail.”
“The imminent pay rise for political office holders is a gross violation of the provisions of chapter 2 of the Nigerian Constitution relating to Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, and the country’s international human rights obligations.”
“The combined provisions of chapter 2, and chapter 4 on fundamental rights particularly section 42 give meaning and substance to the socio-economic rights of Nigerians and their right to equality and non-discrimination.”
“The RMAFC should properly discharge its constitutional and statutory mandates to ‘monitor the accruals to and disbursement of revenue from the Federation Account and ‘advise the Federal and State Governments on fiscal efficiency and methods by which their revenue can be increased.”
“The imminent pay rise for political and public office holders in Nigeria particularly the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers is a gross misuse of the RMAFC’s constitutional and statutory mandates.”
“The RMAFC has neither unrestrained constitutional and statutory mandates nor unbridled discretion to increase the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers.”
“The RMAFC has improperly and incorrectly exercised its constitutional and statutory mandates by increasing the salaries of political office holders. The proposed salary increase is a violation of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, the country’s human rights obligations and the legal doctrine of reasonableness.”
“RMAFC cannot legitimately or justifiably increase the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers at a time when over 133 million Nigerians are poor and several state governments are failing to pay salaries of workers and pensions.”
“RMAFC seems to act consistently to give advantage to political office holders over the interests of poor Nigerians. The RMAFC, in the exercise of its constitutional and statutory mandates ought to balance the interests of the marginalised and vulnerable sectors of the population against the ‘interests’ of political office holders.”
“The RMAFC ought to prioritise cutting the excessive amounts yearly budgeted as allowances for political office holders and life pensions for former presidents, vice-presidents, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers.”
“The idea of representative democracy, fairness and equality and non-discrimination would mean little if the salaries of political office holders are arbitrarily increased while millions of poor Nigerians continue to pass through harrowing times and watch their standards of living plummet.”
“The grim condition of many Nigerians is worsened by the deterioration of public services where access to pipe-borne water and affordable health-care remains a dream and the supply of electricity is epileptic and unreliable in an era in which globalisation has made such services ubiquitous and cheap.”
“The RMAFC Chairman Mohammed Bello on 18 August 2025 reportedly stated the commission’s decision to propose a pay rise for the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers in Nigeria on the seriously flawed ground that the salaries for these office-holders are ‘paltry.’”
“The commission claimed that the ‘review package’ ‘remain fair, realistic, and sustainable,’ and ‘align with the country`s current socio-economic realities.’”
“According to him, the allocation formula was last overhauled in 1992, saying that there had been several executive adjustments since 2002, but a full-scale overhaul had not been undertaken until now.”
“Justice Chuka Austine Obiozor of the Federal High Court Lagos ordered the RMAFC to review downward and fix the salaries, remuneration or allowances of members of the National Assembly to reflect the economic realities in the country.”
“The judgment dated 4 June 2021 followed the consolidated suits brought by Mr Monday Ubani, Mr John Nwokwu, more than 1,500 concerned Nigerians, SERAP, BudgIT and Enough is Enough Nigeria (EiE).”
“Under sections 154(1) and 156(3) and paragraph 31, Part I of the Third Schedule to the Nigerian Constitution, members of the Commission are appointed by the President subject to the confirmation of the Senate.”
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
Kolawole Oluwadare
SERAP Deputy Director
7/09/2025
Lagos, Nigeria
Emails: info@serap-nigeria.org; news@serap-nigeria.org
Twitter: @SERAPNigeria
Website: www.serap-nigeria.org
For more information or to request an interview, please contact us on: +2348160537202