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IBB: He Who Borrows Till The Creditor Forgets [OPINION]

Published

5 months ago

February 25, 2025

By Suyi Ayodele

Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, 1992/1993 academic session. Trendy Professor Adebayo Williams strolled into the class and gave us a term paper to write: “Chaka is a Man sinned against than sinning. Discuss.” Our teacher strolled off.

Professor Williams is a lecturer of delight. He taught my set Literary Criticism in our final year at the university. One of the classics we read for the course is Thomas Mofolo’s “Chaka.” The term paper is about Mofolo’s protagonist, Chaka, a pure-A-heroic character in pure oral characterisation. As Professor Williams strolled off, he left behind a group of rascals shouting, ‘Baba Aro’! What did he want us to write; ‘wicked’ lecturer? We attempted the paper based on our intelligence then. Williams scored every student and then came back to lecture us!

Two weeks later, Professor Williams returned to ‘dissect’ the term paper. The summary of the discourse is that every dictator comes across playing the victim! He passes to the audience, the people, the picture of a victim. And he gains their sympathy more than anyone else. That is what IBB did on our collective sensibilities last week in Abuja.

The legend of a rich man, Olówó-Etí-Ureje (the rich man by the bank of the Ureje River), aptly describes what retired General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) depicts in his memoir, “A Journey in Service.” The book of tales was launched in Abuja last Thursday. It is a book every lover of history ought to have. I paid through the nose to get a hardcover copy last Friday, less than 24 hours after it was launched.

Love him or hate him; IBB remains the darling of any discerning mind; any day, anytime! It must be so because the man his friends and foes call the Evil Genius is one person whose personality we cannot ignore. The aura around him is infectious. He has presence, he has candour, even if he is on the negative side of history.

IBB equally has humour, just as he has a good control of the English Language. He is a great non-acerbic polemicist. That’s a contrast; yes! Same way he says being called ‘Evil Genius’ “is a contradiction” because “You can’t simultaneously be a genius and an evil” (Pg 353). A man who laughs off virtually everything is someone one should be wary of; IBB is that man! He tells you he doesn’t join issues with his subordinates, nor does he engage his superiors. What does he do then, you may ask!

The self-styled Military President has never made any mistake about his audience. He demonstrated that in Abuja last Thursday. Only an Evil Genius has the capacity to assemble the figures that gathered for the book launch last week. Only Maradona, a dribbler and a man moulded in the shape of Thomas Mofolo’s protagonist, Chaka, in the epic novel of the same title, could assemble his ‘enemies’ and ‘friends’ under one roof, and all of them would sing his praises to high heavens the way the Minna retired General did. Does IBB have friends; does he have enemies? I doubt it! At least not by what we saw in Abuja last Thursday.

Like the legendary Chaka, IBB was deft at swaying public sympathy at his book launch such that his numerous ‘victims’ rose to salute him, to praise him for inflicting pain on them. Billions of Naira were donated. Those who had nothing to ‘donate’ bought the book at huge prices. On the spot sale attracted N200,000 for a hardcover and N100,000 for a softcover. At the publishers’ bookstore, the copies go for N50,00 and N40,000 respectively! IBB smiled to the bank because he succeeded in playing the victim. We were all his mugu!

Former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo was the only one who got the gist. Unfortunately, his audience was too laid-back; too torpid, to understand the innuendoes in the presentation made by the professor of Law. They simply laughed off a serious matter of the victims romanticising their tormentors. Such is the prowess, the dexterity of the Evil Genius at manipulating public opinion. Give it to IBB as the undisputed master of that art!

Even the contents of the book (I have read pages of the book as the discussion about it rages in the public space) speak more about the man than any other thing. The TELL Magazine interview of July 24, 1995, published on pages 323 to 359, is my favourite so far. The most interesting material in that interview is the submission of the senior journalists who conducted the interview that “It appears one can never pin you down…” (Pg 153). I read the interview long ago and I find it refreshing reading it again. IBB remained cagey all through the interview. That is vintage Evil Genius!

When juxtaposed with the entire memoir, the interview conducted 30 years ago and the book presented for public consumption less than a week ago, show that nothing has changed in the man, IBB! The length of the interview, a material that takes a whole 36 pages of the book in discourse, and the inability of the senior journalists to pin IBB down to anything, is an indication that till he enters his grave, IBB will continue to dribble us all! The entire “A Journey in Service” itself is about dribbling and “taking responsibility.” IBB is a man who selects his dictions carefully and understands both the surface and deep structure meanings of every word he utters.

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Why did IBB include that lengthy interview in his autobiography? What is the position of an average student of Stylistics on that inclusion? Simple. IBB by that stroke, is saying that there is nothing new to be learnt from “A Journey in Service.” And that is regrettably sad! The Tell Magazine interview of 1995 tells all the stories that need to be told about June 12, 1993, presidential election “won”, according to IBB, by the late Aare Ònà Kankanfo, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola. The only addendum is the act of naming names that IBB introduced in chapter 12, ‘Transition to Civil Rule and the June 12 Saga (pgs 251-288).

Again, why did IBB wait for 32 years before he mentioned those who annulled the June 12, 1993, presidential election? To answer this, we will return to the legend of Olówó-Etí-Ureje (the rich man by the bank of the Ureje River) mentioned earlier.

Ureje River, an ancient river around Ado Ekiti, is popularised by so many stories. One of such stories is that of the rich man who built his house by the banks of the river. History simply gave him a descriptive name, Olówó-Etí-Ureje, because as rich as he was, the rich man stayed permanently by the riverside even when his creditors were scattered all over the place. Yet, he kept no records; mental or written. A very forgetful man!

Olówó-Etí-Ureje was said to be a man who lacked discretion and asked no questions. He trusted his debtors to be honest and faithful in their dealings with him. Though he was the richest and the most generous of his time, the rich man’s indiscretion and lackadaisical attitude was his undoing. Within a short time, he lost his fortunes and became as poor as the church rat. Only one debtor ruined him, and he never recovered as all efforts to bring him back to his prime days failed. How did it happen?

The story stated that one chronic debtor named Ayáwókíolówógbàgbé (He who borrows till the creditor forgets), borrowed money several times from the rich man and refused to pay after eliminating all those involved in the processes leading to the numerous loans.

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Ayáwókíolówógbàgbé had the habit of using his numerous slaves as pawns for the loans he took from the rich man. He equally used another set of slaves to stand as guarantors for the loans. A few months to when the loans were due for repayment, Ayáwókíolówógbàgbé would use a canoe to cross Ureje River to the other side and ask the pawns in the service of his creditor to cross the river in another canoe to his side to collect the money for the repayment of the loans.

On getting to his own side of the river, Ayáwókíolówógbàgbé would impound the canoes that brought the pawned slaves and ask them to swim back to the other side of the rich man. As slaves, the pawns had no option but to jump into the river and get drowned in the process of swimming back. Those who resisted the order were summarily executed. Since he owned the slaves, nobody would question the slave owner for whatever he did to his property.

Having settled the matter of the pawns, Ayáwókíolówógbàgbé would assemble all the slaves who stood as guarantors for the loans and conscript them for a needless war. At the war fronts, those unfortunate individuals would be given ordinary sticks to confront the opposing soldiers with guns and cannons. Your guess is as good as mine about the outcome of the battles and the fates of the slaves.

Thereafter, the debtor would approach Olówó-Etí-Ureje for the reconciliation of the loans. Trust Ayáwókíolówógbàgbé to argue that he had repaid all the loans and insisted that the rich man still owed him for the extra labour the various pawns worked on the rich man’s plantations. In most wicked cases, Ayáwókíolówógbàgbé would also ask for his slave-pawns to be given back to him because he intended to pawn them away somewhere else!

With no records to show; pawns and guarantors to corroborate his claims, Olówó-Etí-Ureje would be forced to give more money to his debtor and also monitise the ‘loss’ of Ayáwókíolówógbàgbé’s slaves! That was how the rich man by the Ureje River became poor and the one who used to borrow money from him became stupendously rich. This story births the saying: Ìwòfà kú s’ódò, ogun mú Onígbòwó lo, gbogbo eni tó mo ìdí owó ti run; òhun ló so Olówó Etí Ureje d’òtòsì (The pawn drowned in the river, the guarantor is killed in war, everyone who bore witness to the loan is exterminated; reason why the rich man by bank of Ureje River became poor).

IBB must have a version of this tale in his Nupe background. The man, like the chronic debtor, Ayáwókíolówógbàgbé, waited for over three decades to tell us the ‘true’ story of what happened to our darling June 12, 1993, presidential election! He told us that MKO won the poll! He mentioned those who cut Abiola’s victory short. Then he took “responsibility” as the man at the top then! Whether we like it or not, no version of that episode can be more authentic than the one from IBB himself. Unfortunately, many of the people IBB mentioned, like the pawns and guarantors in our story above, are long dead and forgotten. The dead don’t tell tales, so they say!

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: Buhari’s Poverty Of Truth

How do we authenticate IBB’s story? Difficult as it was for Olówó Etí Ureje! And what did we do to IBB, our modern-day Ayáwókíolówógbàgbé? We, of course, rewarded him with more credit facilities! If you are in doubt, just check how much IBB raked in from the launch of “A Journey in Service”. Also check out those who gathered to ‘honour’ the man and the beautiful eulogies showered on him by all the Olowo Etí Ureje who gathered at the public book presentation last Thursday. We are a unique people-what in Latin is called: sui generis!

It is only in Nigeria that we can get that kind of crowd that gathered in Abuja for IBB and raised such a huge amount of money! If you add the figures to the ones that were not announced and the ones that will still come from those IBB “made’, you will agree with me why Nigerians have remained poorer and why their oppressors have continued to be richer by the seconds. And what more: the man who rules over us today said he owes his political ascendancy to the man IBB who made it possible for him to go into politics. That was the summary of the testimony of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at IBB’s book launch!

God knows that I don’t begrudge IBB for whatever he is worth. I have read several comments about the book launch and the ‘anger’ expressed over the June 12 saga. And in all honesty, I see nothing in those comments beyond the usual crowd resentment that will, again, amount to nothing! Pity! If after watching the Abuja book launch and the unity of greed by the attendees, and you still have faith that these locusts in power have the interests of the masses in the hearts, then, you are indeed and, in deed, a man of great faith!

IBB, the man of ‘destiny’, whose future was predicted by a Dibia almost eight decades ago, is 83 years old. I believe so much in the account of the childhood prediction for IBB as narrated by General Abdulsalami Abubakar, the former Head of State. I believe it because I have witnessed such predictions in the past. And on that, I take a bet: if IBB lives to commission his Presidential Library, he will get more donations than it happened in Abuja last week. Why?

It is apodictic that every Ayáwókíolówógbàgbé will become richer at the expense of all Olówó Etí Ureje. We don’t keep records here. We are too forgetful, too forgiving. We are all victims; all Olówó Etí Ureje, including yours sincerely. Even at my level, IBB and his publishers still ripped me off my hard earned N50,000, the cost of a hardcover copy of “A Journey in Service!” Do I simply say: My head will judge them, or I should ask: who send me?

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Gov Mohammed Flags Off 1 Million Tree Planting Exercise In Bauchi

Published

34 minutes ago

August 8, 2025

Editor

Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi state, on Thursday, flagged off the plantation of one million trees in the state.

Speaking during the flagging off ceremony of the 2025 annual tree planting campaign in Dass Local Government Area of the state, Mohammed said that the trees contained both the indigenous and fruits bearing trees.

These trees, he said, were to be planted across all the 20 Local Government Areas of the state.

According to him, the forests in the state were under siege, saying that uncontrolled deforestation, illegal logging, bush burning and over grazing had left most of the lands barren.

“In response, tree planting must become a must movement, a people’s revolution to reclaim their land, restore their dignity and integrity and create a new hope within our environment.

“Trees are not just nature’s ornaments, they are life sustaining assets. They absorb carbon dioxide, improve soil fertility, recharge ground water, provide timber among others.

“This year, we are targeting the planting of 1 million trees across all the 20 Local Government Areas ranging from indigenous species to economic and other fruits like Mango, guava, cashew and oranges.

“These trees will not only green our environment, but also generate income for farmers, improve food and security, create jobs especially for our youth and women,” he said.

Mohammed explained that the seedlings would be provided to households, schools and farmers and the government would engage extension workers to support community restoration efforts to monitor survival rates.

The governor further said that the gesture was imperative as every tree planted was a shield against poverty, hunger, displacement and a reward from God after death.

“Every tree nurtured is an investment in our collective prosperity.

“I therefore call upon all the local government chairmen to visit all the local government headquarters to ensure that this gesture takes place everywhere.

“They must work with their counselors to make sure that this gesture is replicated in their wards,” said the governor.

Earlier, Alh Danlami Kaule, the state Commissioner for Housing and Environment, said the theme of the 2025 annual tree planting campaign is ‘Plant a tree for a better tomorrow’.

He expressed the ministry’s commitment in promoting sustainable environmental practices and urban development.

“Our goal is to restore, enhance biodiversity and create greener communities that support both humans and ecological well-being”. He said.

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OPINION: Oluwo Holier Than The Godless Ilorin Imam (2)

Published

1 hour ago

August 8, 2025

Editor

Tunde Odesola

It’s my third day in the serene city of Ilorin, where no fly has perched on my gleamy spacecraft, nor has anyone come near to vandalise it. What curious onlookers have done is to stand in awe at a distance and fantasise – ‘oh, what a steely capsule of gravity-defying engineering!’ If it were in some notorious cities, a blue whale washed ashore would take more hours to be stripped to the bone than for my spacecraft to be dismembered by itinerant metal scavengers. Though the cloud of insecurity hovers above the whole country, the sky is darker in some states than others. In Ilorin, my spacecraft was unscratched for three unguarded nights.

I’m still in the Oke-Kudu area of Ilorin, where I have come to see the chest-thumping Magaji of Oke-Kudu, who claimed in a viral video that he made a Canadian female witness, Loranie, go mad so that then-prince Abdulrasheed Akanbi, now the Oluwo of Iwo, could be let off the hook in a criminal case in Toronto, Canada, many years ago. This lord of Oke-Kudu said he prayed to his god (certainly not Allah) to throw a spanner into Loranie’s brain, and his god did, Magaji noted with aplomb.

To believe the Magaji is to believe the old wives’ tale of the tiger giving birth in the forest whenever the rain pours down its water and the sun radiates its fire, simultaneously. Before human feet began to trample on the eyes of the earth, Yoruba forebears evolved a proverb. It says, “If the wicked pleads his case before a court, it is not the wicked who will sit in judgment over the case.” As the Magaji has stated his case against the Oluwo, and the world awaits a response from the monarch, I’ll offer Akanbi some sincere advice – free of charge. He should sue the Magaji and be ready to prove his innocence in court. To go online and threaten some imaginary persons for defamation is not regal; the Oluwo should walk the talk by dragging the Magaji to court and scapegoat him.

I make this charge because only yesterday, another viral video of the Oluwo surfaced, in which he threatened to ensure that anyone who defames him goes to jail. I implore Oba Akanbi to make good his threat by making an example of the Magaji.

Meanwhile, while the masses await Oluwo’s proof of innocence, which I think may never come, the Magaji should be made to boil in the broth of his egotism and lies. Nothing better describes evil than an Islamic cleric, who boastfully affirms in a viral video that God heard his prayer to make an innocent Canadian go mad for a criminal suspect to be freed.

There is a proverb that stands on two legs instead of three. It is: ‘Speech is silver, silence is golden’. The third leg should be ‘Not always’. Akanbi should not remain silent in the face of the weighty criminal allegations levelled by Magaji, his erstwhile associate. The Oluwo should redeem his reputation.

Though I respect Islam and its adherents, many of whom are my friends, I do not believe the Magaji has any spiritual powers at all, let alone the power to make anyone go mad. If he does have such a power, I dare him to make me go mad! I dare him to count the beads of his ‘tesbih’ one million times, chant ‘yasin’, ‘yasin’, two million times, and do 100 ablutions on Mount Arafat, a hair on my body won’t fall off.

However, if some Muslim faithful anywhere believe that certain Islamic clerics can use the Holy Quran to invoke God to do injustice, then it is apposite to conclude that such Muslims are ignorant of who Allah truly is. Allah is love. So, to clear the air and sustain belief among the Muslim laity, prominent Islamic bodies should denounce the teaching and example of Mgaji Oke-Kudu. This is the juncture where the League of Imams and Alfas in Yorubaland, Edo, and Delta states needs to speak up against the Magaji and his misleading ilk who speak ill of Islam. This is the junction where Islamic activists such as Ishaq Akintola of Muslim Rights Concern should condemn the blatant claims of the Magaji. To keep quiet and turn a deaf ear to the blasphemy oozing from Ilorin is to confirm Magaji’s claim that Allah is manipulable. Allah should not be disfigured by charlatans while Nigerian Islamdom watches and keeps silent. The reach of the mouth is farther than the reach of the foot; ‘ibi ti enu de, ese o de be’. Talk is potent.

The potency of talk came to the fore in Otu, an Oyo town, once upon a time. A foremost custodian of African history, culture and tradition, Prof Wande Abimbola, told me a certain man built his house on the slope of a hill. “Ha! Who built a house along a hill? “Eh, whose house is this?” Yeepa, ta lo ko ile si ara oke?” Tongues wagged. But the house stood its ground.

However, the awuyewuye talk did not cease; it grew in intensity. “Did this man not see a plain ground to build his house?” “Why did he choose a slope to build his house? “What is wrong with some people, sef?” Is he blind?” “Ha, people don’t fear o!” “This is a wrong place to build a house nah.” “If he wants to die, he should die alone. Why does he want to take his wives and children along with him?” “Some people are just wicked.”

Then, one day, the house collapsed, and the Olúbòbòtiribò story emerged from Otu, thus. The Olúbòbòtiribò story has a song. This is how it goes, “Omo kekere enu lebo o; enu lebo. Agbalagba enu lebo o, enu lebo, Olúbòbòtiribò, awo enu,” meaning: “Children, the mouth is a sacrifice. Adults, the mouth is a sacrifice, Olúbòbòtiribò, the disciple of the mouth.”

Today, in Ile-Ife, the Olúbòbòtiribò myth has grown to be deified in deference to the potency of the spoken word, says Abimbola. Many musicians, such as the plane-stopping Wasiu Ayinde, had made a song about Olúbòbòtiribò awo enu. And, I wonder why a musician who knows how the tongue can engender reputational ruin could engage in an embarrassing public display unbefitting of his age, position and commonsense. Iru kileyi, Omo Anifowose?

This is the time for self-check, Baba Sultan. While you blocked the Value Jet plane from taking off at the Abuja airport, I heard you say in the viral video, “Je a ma ja lo; let’s continue fighting.” At 68 years of age, you should bridle your actions and mouth, o ye ki e ko ara yin ni ijanu, boda Wasiu. That tarmac display was very shameful. Watching an online video recently, I was shocked when the Lagos State Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers, Alhaji Mustapha Adekunle, aka Sego, punished an NUTRW member who maltreated a female commercial driver. Alhaji Wasiu, if you stand in the way of my spacecraft as I make to leave Ilorin now for Iwo, I will use you to ‘ko bodi’ into space.

Moving away from that yeye on the tarmac, I return to my exploration in earnest. After spending three days in Ikoro-Ekiti and three days in Ilorin, I plan to spend just one day in Iwo, where I am about to head now. Iwo is no less a town than Ikoro-Ekiti or Ilorin, but a day is enough for the assignment at hand because my guest, the Oluwo, is a very busy oba; busy hoisting Islam over Yoruba tradition and culture. I think I’ve done half of the Iwo job by charging Akanbi to man up and challenge to court the Magaji.

The lift off from Ilorin was great. Within the blink of an eye, Iwo came into aerial focus. Iwo, my Iwo! Iwo Olodo Oba, Iwo Atenigbola, Ateni Gbare! Iwo holds a special place in my heart because I have more friends and mentors in it than in Ikoro-Ekiti and Ilorin combined.

My spacecraft splashed down gently into the Oba River in Iwo, and indigenes came rushing to see the alloy wonder and its Igbajo astronaut. I smiled and waved teeming crowd.

Oba Akanbi, long may you reign! Long may the crown remain on our head, long may the king’s horse eat the fodder, may thy horsetail become a needle, kabiyesi. Àse!

Kabiyesi, I can hear grumblings in the land. No sooner had I landed than I sighted a letter by an Iwo-based association, the Mogajis and Forum of Iwo Princes, seeking an official meeting with Osun State Governor, Asiwaju Ademola Adeleke, over some “issues of urgent public concern which had for quite some time loomed as worrying and warning signals to possible breach of peace in Iwoland”.

The letter addressed to the governor reads further, “It is on the basis of the above that we intend to get an audience with you at your earliest convenience. These issues, painful as they are to report, having exhausted all humanly reasonable internal interventional mechanisms, without results, are to be discussed at the meeting being proposed.”

Signed by its chairman, Alhaji Fatai Owokoniran, and secretary, Prince Saheed Ganiyu, the letter, whose receipt was acknowledged by the Governor’s Office, Osun State, on July 4, 2025, expressed confidence in the governor’s ability in conflict resolution.

A recent viral video by Prince Lawuyi and Prince Abimbola Alade suggested why the forum of Iwo princes wrote to Governor Adeleke. In the video viewed on online TV, Atopinpin, the two octogenarian princes faulted Oluwo’s preference to be called Alaafin of Iwo, instead of the Oluwo of Iwo title borne by his ancestors. Also, the princes said it was wrong for Oluwo to charge princes money for traditional titles, a development they said was strange to Iwo.

Although I am not from Iwo, I believe I can offer some sincere advice to the Oluwo and Iwo people. Everyone knows the Oluwo is no stranger to controversy, but when a king is about to clock 10 years on the throne, he should be dignified in speech and conduct. As the king looks forward to another decade, I pray that his corpses of fraud and imprisonment in the US would be buried for good. However, for people not to refer to those embarrassing cases, the Oluwo must learn to be royal and less controversial.

But if the Oluwo refuses to change in the coming days, the people of Iwo should call on ‘oluganbe’, the potent leaf the Yoruba use for curing sobia – the guineaworm. No king is more powerful than his people.

My assignment is done in Iwo. But before I leave for my Igbajo Iloro abode, I need to etch the Ikoro-Ekiti myth of Onikoro Mèbí, Àgbìgbònìwònràn and the Queen in a riddle for the wise to solve.

Who typifies the Oluwo, the Magaji, and the queen in this exploration story?

For reminders, the Àgbìgbònìwònràn, who should be a change agent, ended up needing change himself as he worsened the situation he met on the ground. Onikoro Mèbí was arrogant and beastly, killing with impunity. I will unscrew the riddle of the queen: the queen typifies the government, and the kingmakers who enthrone misfits as princes. I will leave you to figure out who typifies Àgbìgbònìwònràn and who typifies Onikoro Mèbí? Goodbye, Oluwo; goodbye, Magaji.

* Concluded.

News

NCAA Seeks K1 De Ultimate’s Arrest, Petitions AGF, IG

Published

13 hours ago

August 7, 2025

Editor

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has formally petitioned the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Inspector-General of Police, asking them to investigate and prosecute veteran Fuji musician, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, popularly known as K1 De Ultimate, over an incident that occurred aboard a domestic ValueJet flight.

The incident, which happened on Tuesday, reportedly disrupted standard operational procedures and has raised serious concerns about passenger behaviour and compliance with aviation safety protocols.

According to preliminary reports, K1 De Ultimate was allegedly involved in conduct during ValueJet flight VK201 that contravenes the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations.

According to a statement signed by the agency on Thursday, it noted that in the petition, the NCAA urged the Attorney-General and the IGP to “launch a thorough investigation into the incident” and commence “appropriate prosecution in accordance with the provisions of the Nigeria Civil Aviation regulations 2023 supra and all other applicable laws.”

In a further move to reinforce compliance and accountability, the Director General of Civil Aviation, Capt. Chris Najomo has issued an advisory to the Airline Operators of Nigeria recommending that K1 De Ultimate be placed on a No-Fly List for all commercial flights pending the conclusion of the investigation.

The advisory, according to the NCAA, is in line with international aviation best practices designed to ensure the safety of passengers, crew, and aircraft operations.

The statement read, “In a letter addressed to both the Attorney-General and the Inspector-General of Police, the NCAA called for a comprehensive criminal investigation and the initiation of appropriate prosecution in accordance with the provisions of the Nigeria Civil Aviation regulations 2023 supra and all other applicable laws.

“Furthermore, and in light of the growing concern, the Director General of Civil Aviation, Capt. Chris Najomo, has also issued an advisory to the Airline Operators of Nigeria, urging the immediate consideration and institution of a No-Fly List for K1 De Ultimate (on any commercial flight), pending the outcome of official investigations.

“This advisory is in line with global aviation standards that prioritise the safety of passengers, crew, and airline operations.

“The NCAA reiterates its commitment to ensuring that no individual, regardless of their status or public image, undermines the integrity of our aviation industry as passengers are held to the same standards of behavior and compliance within Nigeria’s airspace.”

The Authority emphasised that aviation safety and discipline remain non-negotiable and that the industry cannot afford to tolerate acts that could endanger lives or compromise the integrity of flight operations.