News

Obasanjo: Day Obas Ate In Public [OPINION]

Published

2 years ago

September 19, 2023

By Suyi Ayodele

At the installation of an oba in Yorubaland, he is given a list of taboos and red lines he must never cross. One of them is that he must never eat in public. I once attended a royal banquet in one of the palaces in the South-West, where I saw two foremost traditional rulers eat in public. The two of them are the biggest masquerades in the pantheon of natural rulers in the land. The host oba is also one of the most respected obas in Yorubaland with a deity-like figure. His oriki (panegyrics) says he is the òrìsà of his people. I was not the only one who saw the mouths of the two òrìsàs as they ate openly and broke the taboo with relish. I saw them and my mouth could not be closed. I knew that in my place, obas are called “Odidimode” (the mysterious one) who must forever remain a mystery to mere men like me. My people say no one sees the mouth of an Odidimode (a kii rí enu Òdìdìmodè). It means no one beholds the mouth of the spirit – Òdìdìmodè – while eating. Why? It happened that during the time of ìwásè (time of creation), one oba ate too much, drank too much, and broke the gourd of respect. Since then, an oba who feels the pangs of hunger must repair into the inner recesses of his palace and do what mortals do in public.

The two obas who ate in public did not stop at eating. One of them topped it with two bottles of a beer brand. If that had happened in my place, the Alálès (ancestors) would have kicked at least a tooth out of the mouth of that desecrator of tradition. But modernity changed all that at the royal banquet. The two potentiates suspended tradition and all its vows.

Yet, they could have assuaged their hunger with wisdom. There is a cultural heritage I am familiar with. The head of the festival is the head of his clan, though not the main oba of the town. He prepares pounded yam for his kinsmen to eat to round off his clan’s festival every year. By tradition, the pounded yam must be prepared early in the morning before the first fly, appears. No fly must perch on the mortal or pestle, or when the food is being eaten (Esisi kò bà). After feeding them, all males in the clan, by protocol, must prostrate to pay homage to the chief. This is without exception. Yoruba tradition, however, does not allow a father to prostrate to a son. There was a time when the father of the occupant of the chieftaincy was still alive. No male is also exempted from the eating of the pounded yam. How did elders resolve the logjam? Before the last mould of the pounded yam was consumed, one of the elders stylishly excused the father of the chief to come and see something outside. As the two stepped out, the man saddled with the duty of calling out the traditional salutation gave the tributes cry. All the males went flat on all fours. The man who escorted the chief’s father rushed in and shut the old man out. Homage was paid. The chief got up from his traditional stool, went out and prostrated to greet his father good morning. Others took their turns to also greet the old man, who by virtue of his age, was then the oldest man in the clan. That is wisdom. If the father had stayed when the traditional homage was paid, by protocol, he would have prostrated to his own son!

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Modern state protocol and tradition are two opposing phenomena. One is superior to the other. And there is no controversy about which is superior. When tradition and state protocol meet, tradition takes the back seat. Painful! But that is the bitter truth. I am a child of culture and tradition. Equally, I am a realist. We are in a situation where the entire world is upside down all in the name of civilisation. The erosion of the powers of traditional rulers is not limited to the Yoruba race. The General Muhammadu Buhari military regime of December 31, 1983, to August 27, 1984, demystified the thrones of the Ooni of Ife and the Emir of Kano, when he had Oba Okunade Sijuade and Alhaji Ado Bayero suspended as the Ooni of Ife and Emir of Kano respectively for a period of six months, and restricted to their domains for the same period. The two foremost traditional rulers were accused of visiting Israel, a diplomatically unfriendly country as at that time, without permission. The government then decreed that no traditional ruler must leave his domain without the express permission of the Chairman of his local government. When the expired dark-goggled tyrant, General Sani Abacha, held sway as Head of State, the 18th Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki was dethroned in 1996. On March 9, 2020, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, of Kano State, dethroned Sanusi Lamido Sanusi II as the Emir of Kano and replaced him with the current Emir, Aminu Ado Bayero. In 2016, some three weeks to his exit as the governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole suspended the Onojie of Uromi, Anslem Aidonojie, for travelling abroad without the permission of the governor. Then three days to the terminal date of his administration, the embattled monarch was dethroned by Oshiomhole, as his ‘parting gift’ to the people of Uromi. The Onojie was only reinstated by Governor Godwin Obaseki in 2017. So, like we say in street lingo: no be today.

To show who is more powerful between traditional rulers and the governor of a state, every traditional ruler’s letter of recommendation is signed by the Secretary to the Local Government (SLG), of the council where the traditional hails from. As a matter of protocol, during the selection process of a traditional ruler, the SLG must be physically present to monitor the process. Otherwise, the selection becomes a nullity. This goes to show that in terms of protocol, the SLG reigns supreme above the traditional settings. By the arrangement, the order of protocol for an oba is the SLG, the Local Government Area (LGA) Chairman, Commissioner for Chieftaincy Affairs and then the governor. The distance between an oba and a governor is what my people describe as “Imú elédè jìnà sójú” (the nose of a pig is far from its eyes).

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So, what happened at Iseyin in Oke Ogun, Oyo State, last Friday? There was a project to be commissioned by Governor Seyi Makinde. As a mark of honour, the governor invited former President Olusegun Obasanjo as Special Guest. Traditional rulers from that axis were also in attendance to underscore the importance of the project. All set and guest seated. The governor walked in. Everybody got up as protocol demanded. The traditional rulers remained on their seats. The governor walked to the podium to speak. Everybody, including Obasanjo, stood up. The obas, again, remained seated. Governor Makinde noticed that and took it in his stride. General Obasanjo equally noticed the breach of protocol. He decided to do something about it. When the opportunity came for the man known as Ebora Òwu to speak, Obasanjo upbraided the traditional rulers. After greeting them for taking time to be at the event, the Balógun Òwu told the obas that in any function, where either a governor or the president was present, everyone in attendance must stand up as a mark of honour for the governor or the president. In such a gathering, the retired General emphasised that the governor or the president would be the highest person. Then he erred when he commanded the obas to stand up. They all did. He ordered them to sit down. They all obeyed. He went further to lecture them that while he was the president, he, Obasanjo, openly prostrated for obas. But in the closet of privacy, obas paid obeisance to him. Ever since, the Yoruba landscape has lost its peace as ‘cultural reformists’ invaded the space, dishing out all manners of theories. They say Obasanjo must apologise for desecrating the land. Let us address the issues.

The desecration did not start today. Obasanjo did not start the so-called denigration and desecration of Yoruba obas. History is a beast. On May 9, 2014, at the special prayer session held at the Ijebu-Ode Central Mosque to mark the 80th birthday of the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, this is what the then National Leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who today is President of Nigeria, said of Yoruba obas while addressing the Awujale: “You are not part of the useless obas in Yorubaland who will sell out. We know them and it is not yet time to mention names. In Yorubaland today, you are the best monarch and that is not contestable. The good obas in Yorubaland, who are forthright, firm and who stand by the truth are not up to five; they are just three: Oba Awujale, Oba Akiolu and another.” Tinubu named only two of the “best” obas, he said others were “useless”. He did not even list the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi as one of the good ones. Yet, Oba Adeyemi was alive then. The then Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade (jingbinni bi ate akun) was also alive when Tinubu broke that calabash of taboo. Just like this Obasanjo wahala, there was an uproar, and, because Tinubu was not in government then, the same moral policemen of today came out to abuse him. They said he should apologise. And, like Obasanjo, he ignored them. But, responding to Tinubu, Oba Sijuwade, through his media aide, High Chief Funmilola Olorunnisola, reaffirmed his earlier position that: “If any of our leaders wants to make a categorical statement on an important issue like the oba in Yoruba land, he should please try to check records to know exactly what each one of them has done, because there is so much blackmailing… When our country was upside down, it was the traditional rulers in this country that saved the situation. If we left the country as politicians did, there would have been no state for the leader of APC to rule when he came back.” The present Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Lekan Balogun, who was then the Osi Olubadan of Ibadan land, had this to say: “How can Bola ever say such things about our traditional rulers? What else can an ignorant non-Yoruba politician say about our obas? Instead of just abusing them, Bola should strive to identify one particular area where they have failed to identify with their people’s interests. What else can an oba do in a modern political system when his “people’s interests” are divergent, and sometimes, in direct conflict? I am very disappointed with Bola.” There were other reactions to that assault. You can check online; the Internet does not forget.

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One of the questions to ask about the Iseyin incident is: Is it right for the traditional rulers to sit down when the governor walked in to the event? The answer is capital NO! That is a breach of protocol. The age of the governor is immaterial; he is the number one citizen of the state. I have seen videos of former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun State at public events, where after the traditional rulers in attendance had stood up to receive him, the former governor went back to where the obas were seated to prostrate and greet them as tradition demanded. But he did that after the obas had observed the required state protocol at public functions. That was not the case in Iseyin on Friday. The first breach was by the obas. What were they thinking? Who coached them to do what they did? Who appointed them in the first instance? Former Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State ran into problems with obas in the state when he attempted to distort the Pelúpelú (Crowned Oba structure) settings in the state. When the heat was becoming consuming, Fayemi ran to the departed Alaafin Adeyemi III for counsel and intervention. The ex-governor was pictured prostrating to revere the monarch. One of the Obasanjo-denigrated-Yoruba-obas choristers sent Fayemi’s picture to justify that a governor prostrated to greet an Alaafin. I told him that Fayemi’s issue had no iota of relevance to the issue at hand. One, Fayemi, was in Alaafin Palace. He had no choice than to obey tradition there. Two, the governor was in distress as at that time and he was not in any position to remember protocol. The event in Oyo Palace was not a public function and as such no government protocol was required and none was offered. A senior journalist, while speaking on the same issue said that in all the functions that the departed Oba Adeyemi III attended, he would be the first to rise in honour of the governors and the governors would in turn pay homage to him as a foremost oba in Yorubaland.

One of the obas who is angry that Obasanjo denigrated Yoruba obas is the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi. I wonder where morality lies with Oluwo, who on February 21, 2020, was suspended by the Osun State Traditional Council for six months. The Council took the position after Oba Akanbi physically beat up another Oba, the Agbowu of Ogbaagba, at a peace meeting over land matters, presided over by an Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG). It is the same oba who threw punches openly that is at the vanguard of the campaign against “Obasanjo for desecrating Yoruba crowns.” Which is more sacrilegious? Just as the Obasanjo issue broke out, another picture went viral, showing another oba from the same Oke Ogun area, who removed his crown and put it on the floor, publicly, leaving his head uncovered. Strange nobody has blamed Obasanjo for that sacrilege!

The major issue for me in this Obasanjo-Oke Ogun obas saga is the primary school-like command of ‘all-stand-greet’ order Obasanjo barked at the obas. Was he right to have done that? My answer is capital NO! There is a saying in my place that when a child defecates in the family mortar and the elder uses a rag to clean it, it is a movement from one dirt to another (Omodé ilé ya ìgbé sínú odó, àgbà fi àkísà nu; àti ègbin dé ègbin). Obasanjo holds the title of Balógun Òwu. He is equally an old man, and he has promoted Yoruba culture socially and spiritually very well. He had in the past been pictured prostrating for obas in and out of office. A man who has seen it all at that stage should not, in my judgement, have ordered obas to stand up and sit down like naughty school children the way he did. Much more, his obas-prostrate-for-me-inside comment leaves much to be desired. If that statement is true, the Òwu chief and elder statesman should have been more circumspect and ought not to have behaved like a common kiss-and-tell late adolescent! He opened his flank and that is why a man like the Oluwo, who in the past, and in the full glare of the public, threw punches like an enraged Mike Tyson, had the guts to come out to condemn Obasanjo for “desecrating” Yoruba obas. Those whose conducts in and outside the palaces have made a mess of the thrones they sit on are now out, wearing the garment of culture renaissance to get even with Obasanjo. Agba (elder), my people note, speaks more in his stomach than his mouth. Whatever came over Obasanjo and made him see those obas as troops of his 3rd Marine Commando can only be explained by the cosmic. That notwithstanding, we must make it clear to our obas that any oba who does not want to obey protocol and stand up when the governor walks in should not attend any state function. Such an Oba should stay in his palace. At state functions, protocol prevails over tradition.

This article written Suyi Ayedele, South-South/South-East Editor, Nigerian Tribune, was first published by the same paper. INFO DAILY published it with permission from the author.

News

How To Calculate Your Taxable Income

Published

6 hours ago

January 7, 2026

Editor

Contents

Current Personal Income Tax Brackets (2026 Onward)

Personal income tax applies to:

*Residents: on worldwide income

*Non-residents: on Nigeria-sourced income

For employees, tax is usually deducted at source under the Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) system.

Current Personal Income Tax Brackets (2026 Onward)

Nigeria operates a progressive tax system, meaning income is taxed in layers. Only the portion of income within each band is taxed at the applicable rate.

Annual Taxable Income (₦)	Tax Rate
First ₦800,000	0%
Next ₦1,400,000 (₦800,001 – ₦3,000,000)	15%
Next ₦9,000,000 (₦3,000,001 – ₦12,000,000)	18%
Next ₦13,000,000 (₦12,000,001 – ₦25,000,000)	21%
Next ₦25,000,000 (₦25,000,001 – ₦50,000,000)	23%
Above ₦50,000,000	25%

Your tax bracket refers to the highest (marginal) rate that applies to any portion of your income.
For example:

₦10 million → 18% bracket

₦60 million → 25% bracket

Steps to Calculate Your Taxable Income

1. Determine Your Gross Income

Add all annual earnings, including:

Salary and wages
Bonuses and allowances
Business or professional income
Rental income and other earnings

2. Subtract Allowable Deductions and Reliefs

These include:

Pension contribution: 8% of salary (employee portion)
National Housing Fund (NHF) (where applicable)
Rent relief: higher of ₦500,000 or 20% of annual rent paid
Other approved deductions (e.g. life insurance premiums, eligible mortgage interest)

Note: The former Consolidated Relief Allowance (CRA) has been abolished.

3. Arrive at Taxable Income

Taxable income = Gross income – deductions and reliefs

4. Apply the Progressive Tax Rates

Tax each portion of income according to the applicable band.

Worked Example

Annual gross salary: ₦15,000,000

Pension (8%): ₦1,200,000
Rent relief: ₦600,000

Taxable income:
₦15,000,000 − ₦1,200,000 − ₦600,000 = ₦13,200,000

Tax Breakdown:

First ₦800,000 @ 0% = ₦0
Next ₦2,200,000 @ 15% = ₦330,000
Next ₦9,000,000 @ 18% = ₦1,620,000
Remaining ₦1,200,000 @ 21% = ₦252,000

Total tax payable: ₦2,202,000
Marginal tax rate: 21%
Effective tax rate: ~16.7%

Important Notes

Low-income earners, including those below the minimum wage threshold, may be fully exempt.
PAYE administration may vary slightly by state.
For exact figures, taxpayers should consult their state internal revenue service or a licensed tax professional.

Source: Tribune

News

Foundation Offers Free Medical Serves To Edo Community

Published

19 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Editor

As part of its campaign against extractive activities and promotion of healthy living in the Niger Delta region, an environmental think-tank organisation — The Ecological Action Advocacy Foundation (TEAAF) on Monday offered free medical services to the people of Gelegele community in Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo State.

The free medical services which included eye screening, sugar level and BP tests, general medical examination and counseling, etc, saw over 150 people benefitting from the free medical outreach.

The beneficiaries were also offered the appropriate reading eyeglasses and medications as the outcome of their tests required.

In her speech, Project Director, TEAAF, Ann Ajirioghene Offi, said though it was not the first time her organisation is taking free medical services to the community, the need to offer the current free medical services to Gelegele people arise during a dialogue with them where they narrated different health challenges to the representatives of the organisation.

A cross section of beneficiaries of the outreach

Offi, who described Gelegele as a Community of Particular Concern to her organisation, said the health challenges keep increasing by the day as a result of extractive activities, gas flares and negligence.

She said: “We have seen that there are a lot of health challenges in this community, and this is as a result of the location of the community, and the ongoing extractive activities in the community, most especially the gas flares in the heart of the community. The gas flare has resulted in a lot of health challenges in the community, according to our research.

“We felt it’s very vital for us to bring free medical services here going by the health challenges facing the people.

“The challenges keep increasing by the day as a result of negligence. Negligence in the sense that the health centre in the community is not functional as it ought to be, and from my observation, no medical equipment in the clinic to take care of people.”

Eyeglasses display displayed during the medical outreach for distribution.

One of the beneficiaries, Clement Eyenmi, expressed joy and appreciated TEAAF for the free medical services, saying “our people need an organisation as this to come to their aid.”

He lamented that despite his age, he’s already having eye challenges as a result of the gas flares in the heart of the community.

“In this our environment, and personally for me, I have an eye challenge as a result of this gas flaring in the heart of our community. But today, I was attended to; I was given a reading glasses.

“The oil company flares the gas but does not bother about the welfare of the people, or show concern about the environment. This is a major problem we have here.

Medical personnel attending to a beneficiary.

“What this organisation is doing today is what we expect the government and the oil company to do, but they will never do such,” he added.

Also speaking, another beneficiary, Bobby Ikinbor, also appreciated TEAAF for the free medical services, saying “we do not have a standard hospital here, so, today, as this organisation brings this free medical services, it is a relief to us. We appreciate the organisation.”

He added: “You see, at times when we have an emergency health challenge and we try to rush the person to the city, we have to pray because of the bad condition of the road. At times the emergency patient dies before we get to the city.”

News

OPINION: Nigeria Deserves A President Donald Trump

Published

1 day ago

January 6, 2026

Editor

By Suyi Ayodele

“I spoke with AJ on the phone to personally convey my condolences… He assured me that he is receiving the best care in the hospital.” From wherever he then was, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu relayed that Anthony Joshua, the British-born boxer of Nigerian descent involved in a recent car accident, had told him he was receiving the best medical attention in Nigeria.

Yet, with something as ordinary as a headache, the same president routinely jets out of the country for treatment, sometimes to the United Kingdom, sometimes to France, sometimes to destinations left undisclosed. No one asks Mr. President why he can not stay behind and partake of that same “best care in the hospital” available at home.

Instead, we busy ourselves with tallying the number of days he spends abroad, and when the arithmetic is done, we move on. Nothing more is demanded; nothing more is explained.

So, if tomorrow a President Donald Trump were to bar Nigerians from travelling to the United States for medical treatment, we would promptly denounce him as a racist. Yet the very next day, we would assemble a cultural troupe to welcome home a medical tourist president, one who left Nigeria quietly, without telling us what ailed him, and returned triumphantly after treatment abroad.

That is our lot; the predicament of a people wedded to decay and decadence. And it is precisely this contradiction, this ritual of self-deception, that makes it easy for some world leaders to dismiss Nigeria as a disgraced country.

President Trump is a man many love to hate. And justifiably too. The man attracts ‘hatred’ for himself as if his mission on earth is to do what many consider ‘despicable.’

I, however, have a different opinion about the man who rules America at the moment. I see him as more of an American patriot than the brute many people project him to be. I don’t see anything wrong in a president asking non-nationals to go back and fix their own countries. That, to me, is the central message of the Trump Presidency. My understanding of his philosophy on governance is that citizens should hold their leaders accountable, rather than fleeing their countries.

This is one of the reasons I hardly argue about Nigeria and its numerous failing institutions with any Nigerian living outside the shores of the country, especially those who japa less than 20 years ago. My position is simple: if you know that Nigeria is being run by the best of men now, just pack your bags and baggage and come back home. A friend once asked me why I don’t see anything wrong in “the racist called Trump”, and I responded by asking him to come back home and enjoy our nationalist president. If farming is an easy venture, blacksmiths will not sell hoes and cutlasses. Those are the words of our elders.

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Three days into the New Year 2026, President Trump opened the New Year on a very good note for the people of Venezuela. Venezuelans, at home and in the diaspora, woke up that Saturday, January 3, 2026, morning to discover that they had no president. Trump, using the sophisticated American soldiers in the US elite corps, invaded Venezuela in the dead of the night and abducted, if you like, kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. Surprisingly, the people rejoiced at the news!

The husband and wife were in bed when the American soldiers came calling. One can picture how startled they were when they saw the strange faces in their inner room. The shock, especially when Maduro had, less than a month ago, boasted that he was safe and secure and dared America to come after him, is better imagined! What if the couple were making out when the intruders arrived?

Hours later, Trump boasted of the feat as “an extraordinary military operation,” during which “air, land, and sea were used to launch a spectacular assault. And it was an assault like people have not seen since World War Two.” He then described the operation as “…. One of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history” as the Venezuelan military capacities were “rendered powerless”, and “…. the men and women of our military working with US law enforcement successfully captured Maduro in the dead of night.” Could this be the reason why our elders advise that when one’s mother’s co-wife is older, one must call her mother (Tí ìyàwó ìyá eni bá ju ìyà eni lo, ìyá làá pèé).

A great public speaker, Trump warned that “This extremely successful operation should serve as a warning to anyone who would threaten American sovereignty or endanger American lives.” He listed those to be warned to include Cuba, saying, “I think Cuba is going to be something we’ll end up talking about because Cuba is a failing nation right now, a very badly failing nation. And we want to help the people. It’s very similar in the sense that we want to help the people in Cuba.”

Trump is a consummate power wielder. He did not forget Colombia. It is a known fact worldwide that Colombia and drugs are Siamese twins. If President Maduro of Venezuela could be ‘captured’ because he was accused of importing cocaine to America, the Colombian President, Gustavo Petro, President Trump warned, should “watch his ass”, because “He’s making cocaine and they’re sending it into the United States, so he does have to watch his ass.”

We must get this right from the start. No law permits what President Trump did in Venezuela. The invasion of the presidential palace and the kidnapping of President Maduro and his wife are bad in all ramifications. America is not the world police. At least, the United Nations (UN), that toothless world bulldog, Charter does not permit such an infraction. The sovereignty of Venezuela was raped by Trump. The sanctity of the human person of President Maduro was violated. Oh, yes, I must add this: the solemnity of the bedroom of Maduro and his wife was desecrated! What if Maduro and his wife had slept naked, as most couples do?

Article 2(4) of the UN Charter prohibits any member state from using force against the territorial integrity (sovereignty) of an independent country. The Charter, in Article 51, only allows the use of force in self-defence, while Articles 24 and 25 permit only the Security Council to use joint or collective force against any independent nation that threatens world peace. So, where did President Trump derive the power to invade another country, pick up the incumbent president, and transport him to America in handcuffs, as he did to President Maduro of Venezuela?

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I have read many comments about the Trump Presidency. This recent action in Venezuela added fuel to the inferno of hatred for the American President. If Nigerians in the Diaspora in America were to choose who governs God’s Own Country, Trump would not have smelled the presidency. In fact, he would not have been elected as the mayor of any city. But unfortunately for the entire world, the American people, or, as someone argued, ‘the American skewed system’, elected Trump as president. Everybody, haters or lovers alike, would have to deal with that fact.

From day one, Trump never hid his identity. He never pretended to be a gentleman. He did not tell anyone that he would run America for foreigners. His ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) mantra is self-explicit. America would be for Americans, he promised. And he has lived up to that. That is honesty in its illiterate form! If you ask me, that is the type of president every nation deserves. No pretence, no diplomacy; all that matters is American interests. I wish Nigeria had such a President, the one who thinks, sleeps and dreams of Nigeria. We have been unfortunate with the selfish individuals that we have had as leaders. The present crop of transactional leaders is the very worst in our recent history.

If I were to choose a president for Nigeria, I would not think twice before picking a character like Trump. A man who places the nation’s interest above any other consideration is the man after my heart. This is what is lacking in Africa, and particularly in Nigeria. A nation that has no defined national interest is bound to be in ruins, like most nations of Africa.

Nigeria has the capacity, in all ramifications, to be great. What we lack is a president who is purposeful, courageous and above all, patriotic. We can imagine that our military became suddenly effective and efficient only after Trump ‘invaded’ Sokoto and cleared out a good number of terrorists. Yet again, nobody is asking what went wrong before the coming of Trump.

I have read so much about the sovereignty of Venezuela. I have no problem with that. But the one question I keep asking the proponents of national sovereignty is: at what time does the respect for a nation’s sovereignty stop? If, for instance, the sovereignty of Nation A threatens the peace of Nation B, what should Nation B do? Should it act in the interest of its own peace or fold its hands while the rudderless nation A acts anyhow?

If President Maduro was exporting drugs to America as Trump alleged, what should be the response of President Trump? I also find it curious that many who talked about the sanctity of the American judiciary in the case involving President Tinubu and the Chicago University certificate are the same set of people saying Maduro would not get justice in America! What a people!

After the ‘capture’ of President Maduro, the American President said that the US would “run” Venezuela. Many said that Trump was only interested in Venezuelan crude oil. Trump himself did not deny that. His press conference after Maduro had been taken into custody was clear enough. America had a huge investment profile in the oil sector of Venezuela. One of the responsibilities of President Trump, and this is applicable to all presidents, is the protection of the American economy at home and abroad. If the US investments are threatened in Venezuela because of the activities of Maduro, would Trump not be failing in his responsibility if he did not act in the name of sovereignty?

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Nnamdi Kingsley Akanni, a professor of International Law and Diplomacy, Rivers State University, in a 2019 paper on “The Concept of Sovereignty in International Law and Relations,” suggests that the concept of sovereignty may be a ruse after all. According to him, “The paper found that what third world countries enjoy is not sovereignty but ‘sovereignty on dictated terms’ of the so-called developed powers.”

The erudite scholar states further that at the end of the research exercise, “The paper also found that smaller States are not accorded protection from developed countries and that until that is done, the concept of sovereignty will continue to be elusive to smaller nations.” He then recommends “…that the UN should take proactive steps to give greater recognition and voice to developing countries as well as offering them the platform to assert their sovereignty in line with international law.”

What the scholar is saying here is that the concept of ‘sovereignty’ exists only when the developed countries are involved. When there is a conflict of interest between the world superpowers and any of the developing or ‘disgraced’ countries of the world, the principle of “Just War” applies. This is why Trump is going to get away with the Saturday invasion of Venezuela and the impending similar exercises in Cuba and Colombia, as the American President hinted.

If the UN wakes up today and gets its mojo back to interrogate Trump on Venezuela, the US can simply hide under the cover of the principle of ‘Just war’ as the invasion of Venezuela and the ‘capture’ of its president satisfied the jus ad bellum requirements of the ‘just cause’, just intention’; ‘just peace’; reasonable chance of success’; and ‘expected benefits outweighing anticipated cost.’. We don’t need a seer to predict that many drug-friendly leaders across the globe will think twice before making America their ‘depots.’ Trump took the American oath of office to protect American interests. This is why there has been no serious condemnation of the invasion in the US today.

The invasion of Venezuela is a lesson for third-world countries. The argument that Trump took that decision because of the last Venezuelan election and economic interest is noble in my opinion. That is what he was elected to do: protect America and its interests world over.

In Africa, in general, and in Nigeria in particular, let our leaders learn to develop our lands. Let those saddled with the responsibilities of paddling our canoes do so with utmost patriotism. And more importantly, let those who want to lord it over us do so through free and fair elections. Otherwise, we will all clap and celebrate should Trump decide to ‘capture’ and ship all undesirable elements with questionable character to America for trial. Venezuelans set the precedent on Saturday when they trooped to the streets in jubilation at the news of the removal of Maduro!1