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OPINION: 2025 Sends Off 2024 And Its Baggage Of Rubbish

Published

11 months ago

January 3, 2025

The good, the bad and the ugly incidents that fetishised the ‘Ember’ months, notwithstanding, the year 2024 rolled off Earth’s cliff two days ago, plunging into the domain of history.

For most Nigerians, 2024 was a plummet down the valley of penury, like the restless Jabulani ball, scissors-kicked over the bar by a striker in a team of wanton boys playing soccer on a hill. F-r-e-e-z-e: Players and spectators watch, mouths agape, as the ball bounces– gba, gba, gba, gba, gbos – into the abyss of no return.

Leaving T-Pain’s tonnes of pain in the memory of multidimensionally poor Nigerians, 2024 melts away like a candle in the wind as 2025 unveils its almanac of hope and promise at January’s doorstep: hope and promise– fodders for the poor.

But I often hear Generation Z say, ‘Nigeria is a cruise’; whatever that means is not a compliment. Dis Gen Z no send. They also describe Nigeria as an ‘active crime scene’. I strongly do not disagree.

“Proverbs, prophets, profits, politics and pains” is the other headline I considered for this piece. The white man is wise; He pronounces prophet and profit the same way—probably because He knows one is a mirror, the other is a reflection. Playing politics, He brought us the Books of the Prophets to enslave and make profits from our pains. The white man: He deserves a capital H because He is very wise. His H, however, could also mean Heaven or Hell. What does His H mean?

In their wisdom, the Igbo say the proverb is the palm oil with which words are eaten. I concur. According to the Yoruba, a proverb is the horse deployed in search of speech when words go AWOL. I daresay that for Africans, in general, a proverb is the thread the needle threads to hold together the verbal embroidery in everyday conversation.

Charity should not end at home, though it begins there. To this intent and purpose, I intend, in this article, to use proverbs to contextualise Nigeria’s political and religious leadership on the canvas of hypocrisy, starting with Igbo proverbs.

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But wait oh, do you know why footballers bore holes in their socks? It is because they want their legs to breathe. Do you remember the squished black American, George Floyd, and his neck, grunting under the knee of breakneck brutality in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2020?

Well, soccer players cut holes in their socks to reduce tightness and pressure on the calves, thereby preventing cramps and spasms. Holes in socks also allow better air flow and blood circulation in the feet.

Ex-House of Representatives member from Edo State, Patrick Obahiagbon, is both a jokesmith and a wordsmith. From him, I learnt Isi-ewu-lysing and peppersouping.

In the years of the military, the phrase ‘Fellow Nigerians’ sent khaki-chill down the spine of the citizenry when potbellied isi-ewu-lysing and peppersouping coup plotters seized the air to announce the death of a reigning government and the birth of a new one.

But a serving Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Alozie Ogugbuaja, dared the military by telling Nigerians that the country’s soldiers were more adept at isi-ewu-lysing and peppersouping than cocking a gun. I still do not know how Ogugbuaja never stopped a bullet!

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: The Cockroach Called Dele Farotimi (1)

“Fellow Nigerians” and “With immediate effect” are military phrases invented by the late General Murtala Mohammed, who seized power from General Yakubu Gowon at 36, with Gowon himself being 31 when he shot to power. Those were the years when youths were truly the leaders of tomorrow. But ancestors are in power today.

So, it is with the utmost sense of political history that I hereby use the phrase ‘Fellow Nigerians’.

Fellow Nigerians, to survive religious and political asphyxiation in 2025, there is the need to use our heads more than our hearts and move away in the opposite direction from profiteering politicians and crooked prophets, whose yearly predictions and projections are emptier than emptiness. To buttress my charge, I bring you the Igbo proverb that says, “Ukwu na ga wara; anya na ga wara na hu ya.” Meaning: When the legs walk in the shadows, eyes in the shadows will see it.

The Igbo are not done; they have another proverb that speaks to the hypocrisy exemplified by Nigeria’s military bombing of innocent citizens in Sokoto last Christmas. Here is the proverb: “O bu mmuo ndi na-efe na-egbu ha.” Meaning: It’s the deity that people worship that kills them.

In Sokoto, Nigerian soldiers made another tactless error by raining bombs on the innocent, killing no fewer than 10 people. But instead of military authorities owning up and apologising for the human error, the Chief of Air Staff, Hassan Abubakar, in a Christmas broadcast, thanked members of the Air Force.

Unlike stronger, more equipped and better-educated armies worldwide, the Nigerian Army never says sorry for intentional and unintentional wrongdoing. N-E-V-E-R! From the throwing of Mrs Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti out of an upstairs window to the Odi massacre and other senseless killings nationwide, the Nigerian military never says sorry, whereas the strongest army in the world, the US Army, apologises whenever it errs against the citizenry.

Since Independence, the Nigerian Army has proudly worn its ‘big-for-nothing’ badge, always bullying the citizenry rather than offering protection. I aver without equivocation that the Nigerian Army is the most arrogant of all the agencies of government. And the most lawless, too. It is the stupid god that kills its people.

It took the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, and Sokoto State Governor, Ahmed Aliyu, to apologise and sympathise with the families of the Sokoto bereaved. What would it cost the Army to apologise for an unintended error?

Yoruba proverbs are as plentiful as the sands of the beach. One of them is “Oju abere ni okun n to”. It means the thread follows the path created by the needle.

But the thread of Nigeria’s priesthood has deviated from the path created by the needle. The needle here is a metaphor for the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran, with the Ifa priesthood being not as ridiculous as the Christian and Islamic priesthoods.

January is the time of the year when Christian clerics especially, and some of their Muslim counterparts, who are playing catch-up, come up with spurious predictions for the New Year.

They claim they hear from God, but 101 per cent of their puerile predictions do not come to pass. I wonder how they face their congregation days after their predictions come to nought. Some people are shameless, thick-skinned toads.

I also wonder how their congregations face them after their litanies of failed predictions. Is it a case of “iso inu eku, a mu mo’ra ni” or “Esin alatosin ko si lowo okobo”? In the ‘iso inu eku’ proverb, the Yoruba deduce that when the masquerader farts inside its masquerade, he cannot complain of the smell.

Also, the Yoruba call a man suffering from gonorrhoea (‘alatosin’). They reason that a man suffering from gonorrhoea is better than another suffering from erectile dysfunction. Surely, there is a dire dysfunction in the nation’s priesthood.

None of Nigeria’s lying seers saw the spate of drownings nationwide. Their gods could not tell them specifically about impending flooding, building collapse and fire outbreaks. I would not mention names because they know themselves and the mugus know them.

If their thread was following the path charted by the needle, they would have been as exact as the dreamer called Joseph or Elijah, the rainmaker or Jacob, who saw heaven. But the needle and the thread of priesthood in Nigeria have fallen apart.

I will end this piece with two Hausa proverbs, “Rua ba su yami banza,” and “Kadda ya yi chikki, ya haifu wauya.” The first means water does not get bitter without a cause, while the second means do not do something that you would be sorry for afterwards.

It is a new year; let’s be patriotically wise. Only a stubborn dog disregards the hunter’s whistle. A word is enough for the wise. Welcome, 2025!

News

VIDEO: Jonathan Breaks Silence On Guinea-Bissau’s Military Takeover

Published

5 hours ago

November 29, 2025

Editor

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has broken silence following the recent military takeover in Guinea-Bissau, describing it as a conventional coup, insisting it was “maybe a ceremonial coup” given the strange manner in which it unfolded.

Jonathan, who spoke extensively in an interview with Symfoni posted on YouTube on Friday, said he felt compelled to address the media to thank Nigerians for their concern and to clarify what truly happened while he was in Bissau as head of the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission.

“You know, since I left office, I’ve always been scared of talking to the media,” he said. “But in this particular case, I decided to speak… first and foremost, to thank Nigerians for the show of empathy, the encouragement.”

Gunfire erupted around key government buildings in Bissau on Wednesday, with soldiers claiming they had “total control” of the country and followed by curfew, border closures and the detention of top government and security officials.

In another development, Tribune Online reports that ousted President, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, flew to Senegal after the intervention of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Reacting to the development, Jonathan however suggested the situation defied all known patterns of a coup.

“I wouldn’t call it a coup. It was not a coup. I would just say, for want of a better word, maybe it was a ceremonial coup,” he said. “For two things: It is the president, President Embaló, who announced the coup. Later, the military men came up to address the world that they were in charge of everywhere.”

He continued, “Then Embaló had already announced the coup, which is strange. Not only announcing the coup, but Embaló, while the coup took place, was using his phone and addressing media organisations across the world that he had been arrested.”

The former president, drawing from his experience as a Nigerian and a regional mediator, said the events were unlike anything he had seen.

“I’m a Nigerian close to 70, and I know how they keep heads of state when a coup takes place. Recently, I was a mediator in Mali, and within that period, we had a military coup. The military doesn’t take over governments, and the sitting president that they overthrew would be allowed to be addressing press conferences and announcing that he has been arrested. Why does this happen? Who is fooling whom?”

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Federal Government had earlier condemned the development as “a serious threat to democracy and regional stability,” and confirmed Jonathan’s safe evacuation by a special flight alongside his delegation.

Jonathan used the interview to call on ECOWAS and the African Union to promptly announce results of the election that was underway in Guinea-Bissau before the military disrupted the process.

“They have the results because AU and ECOWAS officials were in all the regions when the results were collated. They cannot change those results. They should tally all those results and announce them. They cannot force the military out. They must announce and let the world know who won that election.”

He stressed that the integrity of elections must be upheld in West Africa, recalling his experience overseeing Côte d’Ivoire’s contentious 2010 presidential poll.

“A similar thing happened in Côte d’Ivoire when I was the Chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS,” he said. He narrated how Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara went into a second round after neither met the 50% +1 requirement.

“In the second round, Ouattara then got more votes than Gbagbo. And Gbagbo said he was not going, that he won the election,” Jonathan recounted. “But all the observers in the international community said Ouattara won the election. And we in ECOWAS said, well, you are our colleague, but you have to go.”

According to him, his insistence on respecting the will of the people ensured a peaceful transfer of power at the time.

“I stood my ground, and Ouattara was sworn in,” he said.

Jonathan reiterated that Guinea-Bissau’s situation was “disturbing” to anyone who believes in democracy and insisted that respecting election results remains the only path to stability in the region.

Watch video here

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(VIDEO) Obasanjo To Tinubu: Why Are We Negotiating With Bandits?

Published

5 hours ago

November 29, 2025

Editor

Former Nigeria’s President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has berated what he described as seeming failure of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration to wipe out bandits terrorising the country, questioning the rationale behind the government reportedly negotiating with armed groups.

The former President said this on Friday while speaking at the Plateau Unity Christmas and Praise Festival, ongoing at the Ten Commandments Prayer Altar, Dwei-Du, Jos South LGA of Plateau State.

According to him, Nigerians are at liberty to seek help from the international community if their own government fails in its core responsibility.

He noted that despite Nigerians, across regions and religions being killed, the Nigerian government seems incapable of protecting its citizens, describing the killings as “nonsensical.”

“We are part of the world community. If our government cannot do it, we have the right to call on the international community to do for us what our government cannot do for us. If we are being killed, it is the responsibility of government to do something about it.

“We should ask government to do what it has to do at all levels. We should ask our leaders to do what they have to do at all levels, in all walks of life,” he said.

Continuing, Obasanjo stated that the world is advanced enough for anyone to hide anywhere and go scot-free after committing a crime.

“In these days of technology, there should be nobody hiding anywhere after he has committed a crime that cannot be seen with the present day satellite,” he added.

Recalling his time as Nigeria’s President, Obasanjo said the opportunity of drones has now made it easy for anyone to be picked out from anywhere unlike his time.

“Before I left government, I knew we had the capacity to pick up anybody in Nigeria. The capacity we didn’t have then was that, after we had identified and located such a criminal, we didn’t have the capacity to pick him up without moving on land or by air. Now we have capacity with drones. You can take them out. Why are we not doing that?

“Why are we negotiating? And after government has paid these criminals, government denies!

“We should appeal to our government to do what needs to be done to stop Nigerians being killed.

“We are tired of being killed, and we want the killing of Nigerians, whether they are Christians or Muslims or pagans, they are Nigerians, and the life of every Nigerian matters. It should stop,” he stressed.

Watch video here

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Why I Returned To Nigeria On Ivorian Jet — Jonathan

Published

14 hours ago

November 29, 2025

Editor

Jonathan has explained why he returned to Nigeria aboard an Ivorian aircraft following the recent political unrest in Guinea-Bissau, saying President Bola Tinubu had also prepared to dispatch a jet before Côte d’Ivoire secured an earlier landing permit.

Jonathan, who was in the country as head of the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission, spoke in an interview with Symfoni posted on YouTube on Friday, his first public comment since gunfire erupted around key government institutions in Bissau, prompting reports of a possible coup.

He said he felt compelled to speak “to thank Nigerians for the show of empathy and encouragement” after the incident, noting that he was aware of the national anxiety that followed the reports.

“While we were in Bissau and this so-called coup happened, the information we got was that the whole country was agitated, young and old, irrespective of religious or political divides,” he said.

According to him, both President Tinubu and Côte d’Ivoire’s President Alassane Ouattara made arrangements to evacuate him and his delegation from Bissau.

However, the Ivorian team secured landing clearance first due to what he described as stronger regional links.

“And I sincerely appreciate Nigerians, and I want them to hear directly from my mouth to appreciate their concern. And secondly, to thank my president, President Tinubu, and the Ivorian president, President Ouattara.

“Both presidents were to send aircraft to lift us, but somehow you know Côte d’Ivoire is closer to Guinea-Bissau, and there’s always some relationship between the Francophone countries and the Lusophones, who are among the Francophones.

“They were able to penetrate their system to get a a landing permit before Nigeria could do that. So the Ivorian aircraft was already on its way to pick us up,” he said.

He explained that Côte d’Ivoire’s aircraft was already en route when he was informed that the Nigerian jet had received approval to depart.

“So when we learnt that the Nigerian aircraft were about leaving, we asked them not to bother. That is why, if you see the pictures, I was brought by an Ivorian aircraft,” he said.

Jonathan thanked the two West African leaders “and indeed Nigerians, young and old” for their concern during the episode.

“So we thank the two presidents, President Wachara and President Tinubu, and indeed thank Nigerians, young and old, for that,” he said.