By Lasisi Olagunju

Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi (1924 –1992) was shocked when he got to Mecca for the first time in 1955 and discovered that the city had no streetlights. Sheikh Gumi was an Islamic scholar and Grand Khadi of the Northern Region from 1962 to 1967. He was the father of Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi, the man who makes waves today.

Kaduna, from where the Sheikh took off to Mecca, had a power plant built there as far back as 1929. Street lighting was introduced to Lagos in 1898 – seventeen years after London had it. History says “the first, practical, public use of electricity” in London was in 1881; it was for street lighting.

Every man’s story is a mirror of a part of the past; it is a window into the future of the world. ‘Where I Stand’ is the late Gumi’s autobiography. Gumi wrote on page 69 of that book: “I remember that during my first Hajj in 1955, there was not even electricity in the city of Mecca. The only electric lights were at the royal palaces and the Ka’aba. The streets were lit with oil lamps early in the evening every day, which were extinguished the following morning.”

An entry in William Camden’s book of proverbs published in 1605 says “the early bird gets the worm”. In electricity and other certain matters, Nigeria was that bird. The English word, ‘headstart’ means “an advantage granted or achieved at the beginning of a race, a chase, or a competition.” If development was a race, Nigeria had a headstart over Saudi Arabia 70 years ago. Nigeria also had it over the UAE; Lagos had it over Dubai. The very first power generator came alive in Dubai in 1952. That was the moment the city first tasted electric light and shook hands with modernity. Dubai had its first hospital, Al Maktoum, in 1951; by 1979, it built its first skyscraper. When was Cocoa House, Nigeria’s first skyscraper, built in Ibadan?

Mecca, the holy city that lit its streets with oil lamps in 1955 is today one of the world’s celebrated smart cities. Check the Smart Cities Index released in 2023, 2024 and 2025 by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD). What makes a city the most livable in 2025? In its World Competitiveness Ranking, IMD lists Dubai as the fourth smartest city in the world, and Mecca the 39th out of 146 cities globally. Where are Nigerian cities? Check.

The past was not this hopeless. In several areas, Nigeria started well. So, what happened to us? Or what has made a difference between our stunted growth and the grown/ growing nations? Quality of leadership and quality of ideas ruling. To be blessed with a good head is good, but a good head without character ruins. We say lack of character ruins good head.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR:OPINION: Escaping From Nigeria

There is the story of a swift young man who was well ahead of his peers in all races. Well-endowed with talents but lacking in character, the fast-footed went for a race. His feet were swift, but his head grew heavy with pride and prejudice. He stumbled, fell, and was overtaken by all; even the lame boy he once mocked left him behind. Then elders started telling their children: “When a good head forgets character, it runs itself backward, and that is how great heads go bad.”

That is how Nigeria’s Lagos which had electricity as early as 1898, became, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) 2025 report, the fifth most difficult city to live in globally (168th out of 173 cities).

But are we doomed to forever run ourselves backward?

I was in the audience at Dr Reuben Abati’s 60th birthday lecture and book launch on Friday in Lagos. I sat up when Bishop Matthew Kukah who delivered the birthday keynote, thoroughly trashed Nigeria for abandoning rational inquiry for magical thinking. Any country that abandons science for sorcery cannot be Saudi Arabia, cannot be United Arab Emirates and definitely cannot be Japan, or South Korea. It cannot have Copenhagen, the reigning best city to live in the world.

Bishop Kukah mentioned “marabouts” as our country’s guardian angels and the instructors of our pilots. Kukah’s imageries and metaphors point at the “spiritualists” as the compass we deploy for our journey of destiny. Superstition rots a nation; irrational beliefs corrode critical thinking; it poisons policy decisions and stunts progress. So, when we search for our golden years, they are always in the past. It is the reason the future increasingly becomes like the moon, unattainable for the moon catcher.

In the lecture entitled ‘Nigeria: Time to Reload’, Bishop Kukah made a striking connection between Nigeria’s underdevelopment and its deep entanglement with superstition, maraboutism, and the misuse of religion. He argued that one of the greatest obstacles to Nigeria’s progress is the replacement of reason and science with fear, fatalism, and spiritual manipulation. For Kukah, this overdependence on marabouts, prophets, and self-styled miracle workers reflects a dysfuntional national mindset. Kukah warned that “all this idea of government by marabouts, shamans, all this blood of sacrifice of protective gear against enemies, slaughtering of cross-bred cows, donkeys, camels, cats with three legs, one eye, no tail, black tongue and so on, will not cut it.” They have never, and will not.

The bishop observed and reminded us that Asian societies built their modernization on moral philosophy and scientific reasoning. He told us that those people drew on the teachings of Confucius, the Mahabharata, and the Japanese ethic of honour. He said Nigeria’s political and social life remained trapped in the orbit of primitive spirituality. He said we are a nation of shortcut takers and jilters of institutional solutions. With a dubious reputation of substitution of superstition for intellect, and of prophecy for planning, the only direction of the national vehicle is backwards. That is why everyone is leaving us behind in all spheres.

Bishop Kukah’s recommendation is that for Nigeria to attain greatness, it must “reload” and rediscover its moral compass; it must rebuild national cohesion, and renew trust in democracy by learning from past mistakes, reclaiming ethical and cultural values, and forging a unifying national spirit rooted in justice, integrity, and shared purpose. He said we must retrieve our country from religious extremists, marabouts and merchants of spirits.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR:OPINION: APC’s Slave-raiding Expeditions

What does it mean to have one’s destiny in the hand of conjurers and manipulators? What Kukah painted is a portrait of the black man trapped forever in the hole of nonsense. The black man outsources his life to men who claim to be God. He does it out of fear. Fear of visible man and invisible spirit. But, the value that is called excellence does not stay in the house of jitters. If you see a black man eating his pounded yam in the dark, it is not moderation, it is the fear of the world who always wants man to eat his pounded yam as boiled yam, soupless.

Swiss linguist, Heli Chatelain, left the United States for Luanda, the capital of Angola, in the year 1885. He was twenty five years old when he was employed to assist missionaries in producing a grammar and a dictionary of a major language in that area. The man soon saw the moral nakedness of his hosts so much that by 1895, he was no longer in doubt on the reason for the black man’s backwardness: “No serious progress is possible as long as this belief and practice (witchcraft) exists,” Chatelain wrote in his ‘Causes of the Retardation of African Progress’, published in September, 1895.

The Swiss told an interesting story: At a point between 1885 and 1895, he met a slave who learnt carpentry on a plantation in Luanda, Angola. The slave was one very intelligent man who laced his competence with diligence. He soon gained his freedom. In freedom, the carpenter quietly set to work on building a brand, and a business, and he was very successful. He became very rich and bought six or seven local houses. He made more money and bought two expensive stone houses which he rented out to white tenants. From the rent, the man’s riches blossomed and were in multiples.

However, despite his wealth, the man moved about in shabby, ragged clothes. He constantly made excuses and told small lies to make people think he was not as rich as they believed. When asked by Chatelain why he behaved that way, he explained: “If I lived well and dressed nicely, people would become jealous, and their envy could bring me harm through witchcraft.” To reinforce his fears, the wealthy carpenter wasted a chunk of his wealth on powerful charms to protect himself from evil spirits which he thought his jealous enemies might send against him. The short narrative ends with the carpenter’s growth severely limited by his belief and his fears.

Why is Nigeria increasingly left behind? Heli Chatelain told more than the carpenter story. There was no system of writing when he arrived his part of Africa in about 1885. His reading the why was that “a genius or innovator in Africa is almost sure to be accused of witchcraft and to suffer death.” He added that “if a man shows any spark of genius, either by an invention or more rational conceptions, his superior talents may be ascribed to an enlisted spirit.” Chatelain ended that point with a declaration that unless the rich was generous with his money “the man who dared to be richer than his neighbours” risked envy which “is as dangerous as revenge.”

Anambra State governorship election was held on Saturday. I am almost certain that all candidates in that election were told by dibias that they would win. A winner has emerged. What happened to the ‘holy’ words of the seers? Governorship elections come up next year in Ekiti and Osun states. Marabouts must have whispered to every aspirant in our states that they are the anointed one, the next governor. Already, tremors and quakes are rumbling the political landscape; old walls are cracking; familiar trees are losing their roots and branches. Even if the heavens were to fall, no aspirant would yield ground for another. Brothers will fight brothers; friends will square up against friends. It is happening already. None, not even the most hopeless among them, will step aside or step down. Each has probably been told a vision that the crown is theirs to seize, take and flee with.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR:OPINION: ‘Federal Highways of Horror’

You and I know that the ‘gods’ can only be right if each state were to have more than one ruler. But who will dare tell the desperate to pause and think before the storm comes for all?

For the 2027 presidential election, keep an eye on the main opposition parties. You heard that in the ADC no one will step down for no one, no matter how old. The rumble in their jungle is probably rooted in spiritual assurances from marabouts in Niger, Senegal, Egypt, Morocco etc that each of them is the next president. Some politicians take their hope from the same spiritual tray, yet the prophecy of electoral success is the same for all who bow before the seers.

Keep an eye on the ruling party, the APC. No one is contesting the ticket with the incumbent president. But, if you find persons angling to be vice president and displace the incumbent number two, find out which dibia or cleric ‘sees’ for them. They know that the incumbent president will have only one running mate, yet all of them are sure that they will be that person. Robert J. Sternberg, the author of ‘Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid’, says “the stupid should wear signs so we know not to rely on them.” Unfortunately, they don’t wear signs and some get voted in as our leaders.

Why are smart persons stupid as politicians? They believe what the seers serially tell them. What is the meaning of stupidity? I read Lewis Anthony Dexter’s ‘Politics and Sociology of Stupidity’ (1962). The author writes about what to do to help the stupid get out of their stupid hole. He writes about introducing technology as a way of “teaching the stupid not to be stupid” or to be “less stupid.” But I also read the frustration of the author at the stupid insisting on remaining “fundamentally” stupid.

As I listened to Bishop Kukah’s lecture on Friday in Lagos, my mind went straight to what a top politician from the north told me recently. The big man said to me that the real problem of Nigeria are the mystics; the seers, prophets and marabouts to whom politicians have outsourced the running of the country and its politics. Our husbands in the political parties seek and woo clerics as the real electorate. Your votes and mine are mere dummies set up to mask what the ‘gods’ have resolved to do on election day. After the election, the oracles rule, they dictate policies and projects; they decide who gets blessed, and who gets damned. They make and unmake the throne and those who sit on it. “That is where we are; the reason we are far behind our past,” the top politician told me.

I believe him. Man won’t learn. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Banquo asks the witches to speak if they “can look into the seeds of time, / And say which grain will grow and which will not.” The seers speak to Banquo and more to Macbeth. They tell Macbeth he will be king, and he becomes king. But what is that that we read as the end of King Macbeth?

Fresh facts have emerged in the ongoing Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), controversy as Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has ordered the revocation of the Right of Occupancy (R.O.O.) earlier granted to the museum’s management by the former administration of Godwin Obaseki.

Okpebholo’s move follows weeks of heightened controversy surrounding MOWAA, after the Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty Oba Ewuare II, accused the former governor of diverting donor funds and altering the original plan for the Benin Royal Museum without the palace’s consent.

The Oba had described Obaseki’s actions as a betrayal of trust, alleging that the former administration sought to “mortgage” the rights of the Benin people over their ancestral artefacts through the establishment of the Legacy Restoration Trust—a private entity said to have taken control of the museum project.

The governor’s directive, contained in a letter he personally signed, and dated October 21, 2025, was made public on Monday in Benin City.

READ ALSO:Okpebholo Announces Plan To Recruit 3,000 Teachers In Edo

According to the governor, the revocation was carried out “in the overriding public interest.”

In the official statement titled,In the official statement titled, “Land Use Decree 1978: Revocation of Statutory Rights of Occupancy Pursuant to Sections 28 and 38,” the governor cited the authority vested in him by Sections 28 and 38 of the Land Use Decree No. 6 of 1978 (now the Land Use Act).

The governor declared that the land previously allocated to the Edo Museum of West African Art Trust (EMOWAA) Ltd/GTE has been reclaimed by the state and would be restored to its original use as the Benin Central Hospital, a historic medical institution that has served the city for over a century.

The statement reads: “Notice is hereby given that in exercise of the power conferred upon me by Section (28) 1 and 38 of the Land Use Decree No. 6 of 1978 and by virtue of all other laws enabling me on that behalf, I, Sen. Monday Okpebholo, Executive Governor of Edo State of Nigeria, hereby revoke the Statutory Rights of Occupancy granted to Edo Museum Of West African Art Trust (EMOWAA) Ltd/GTE for overriding public interest.”

READ ALSO:Okpebholo Announces Plan To Recruit 3,000 Teachers In Edo

Okpebholo explained that the land in question, known as Digital Plot No. 61977, Zone HI/A12/Ogboka, Benin City, in Oredo Local Government Area, measures approximately 6.210 hectares and was the site of the demolished Central Hospital, controversially cleared during Obaseki’s tenure to make way for the museum project.

He further noted that the boundaries of the property were contained in the survey attached to the Certificate of Occupancy dated November 28, 2022, registered as No. 169 at page 3 in Volume 45, and now kept in the EDOGIS Land Registry, Benin City.

The revocation marks a dramatic reversal of the Obaseki-era decision that sparked widespread public outrage, particularly from the Benin Royal Palace and heritage advocates, who had condemned the demolition of the historic hospital and the alleged sidelining of traditional authorities in the museum project.

Management of the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) has denied allegations that it presented itself as the Benin Royal Museum in order to secure funding.

It urged relevant authorities to confirm directly with any of it donors if it ever misrepresented its status.

Director of MOWAA Institute, Ore Disu, in a statement issued in Benin City, said the body would continue to uphold deep respect for His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, the Oba of Benin.

Disu said MOWAA would make every effort to foster understanding and goodwill as well as remain dedicated to engaging respectfully.

READ ALSO:MOWAA To Host State-of-the-art Facilities When Completed, Says Director

She said the organisation remained committed to a collective effort to contribute to the preservation and advancement of West Africa’s rich cultural legacy.

According to the statement, “MOWAA does not hold, nor have we ever claimed title to any Benin Bronzes. Since our inception in 2020, the Museum has consistently affirmed that it has no claims to these artefacts.

“Our focus for the last four years has been firmly on broader West African art, research, education, and conservation, with a strong focus on modern and contemporary, as well as historical works from Nigeria and beyond. There are no Benin Bronzes on display at the Museum, nor have there ever been.

“We are committed to supporting other museums and cultural institutions in Benin City and across West Africa as part of our mission to contribute to the city’s economic development and strengthen its image as a cultural capital for the region.

READ ALSO:EMOWAA: Obaseki’s Stance On Looted Benin Artifacts Threat To Peace, Group Raises The Alarm

“MOWAA’s goal has always been to complement, not compete with, other cultural institutions. We do this by fostering collaboration with artists, researchers, universities and museums across the region. We look forward to working as part of this wider ecosystem, supporting and strengthening Nigeria’s growing network of cultural institutions.”

Disu clarified that there was no planned formal commissioning or official. opening of the Museum but that Sunday’s event was a private preview for partners and stakeholders.

She said none of the historical works on display were of Benin heritage.

READ ALSO:Police Evacuate Expertriates As Thugs Invade MOWAA In Benin

“We set out to demonstrate that it’s possible to build world-class conservation facilities, research, and exhibition spaces right here in Nigeria. We’ve shown that African stories can be told on our own terms, and I’m incredibly proud and grateful for what we’ve accomplished so far. This is a gift for black and African people everywhere; for people today and future generations.”

Director of MOWAA, Philip Iheanacho, said they were saddened by the events of Sunday.

“But we hope this moment can lead to renewed dialogue, engagement and understanding, so that together we can realise the full potential of what MOWAA can represent for Nigeria and Africa at large.”