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OPINION: A Nation Of Defectors [Monday Lines]

Published

7 months ago

April 28, 2025

By Lasisi Olagunju

“I am a defector, my dictionary defines the act of defecting as ‘abandoning a person or a cause, apostacy, revolt, backsliding.’ Not to put too fine an edge on it, I am a traitor…” (Joseph Frolik in ‘The Frolik Defection: The Memoirs of an Intelligence Agent’).

If in 2003 Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu did what Ifeanyi Okowa and the Delta State governor did in April 2025, he would not be president in 2023. Tinubu is president because long ago, he knew the power of staying strong, holding on and rowing hard inside his own boat. He clearly knew that “tough times don’t last, only tough people do.” It is the reason he stands.

If Tinubu had insisted on contesting the presidency in 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019, he would have lost on each of those occasions. And, losing exhausts and dissipates the loser. And, if he lost on those successive occasions, by now, he would be ragged, tired and thrashed. I hope all serial entitled contesters would reflect on this.

If Tinubu had refused to back down on his vice presidential ambition in 2015, and had, in anger, poured salt into the engine of his party, he would not have, in 2023, succeeded the man who jilted him and their agreement.

If Tinubu had vowed ‘Senate or nothing’ in 2007, where would he have been today? He tried going to the Senate in 2007. There was a storm. He used his might to pick the ticket but found it too hot for him to hold without losing his prized Lagos. He weighed the trophies, dropped the Senate ticket for Ganiyu Solomon and retained Lagos. He said: “I had obtained and filled the INEC form to go to the Senate, then I realised that I have a governorship candidate, Mr Babatunde Fashola and Obasanjo was the president, determined to win Lagos State. I told myself, ‘if I go ahead I will strive to win my seat while leaving Fashola to his fate’. Then one morning, I called Gani (Ganiyu Solomon) and told him to follow me to Abuja, we landed and off we went to INEC office, withdrew my form and handed him another form. Gani was shocked, he asked me for what sir, I said fill the form, he did and that was how I was able to concentrate in the governorship election, Fashola won and Gani (Solomon) also won his seat. We must make sacrifices.” If Tinubu had insisted on going to the Senate in 2007 and had lost Lagos that time, he probably would not be president of Nigeria today.

If Tinubu had, like the Delta defectors, feared arrest and trial for his sins (and we are all sinners), he would have abandoned his ACN and run into Goodluck Jonathan’s party in 2011. That was when the Code of Conduct Bureau got him arrested and the Code of Conduct Tribunal docked and took his plea for offending the law. And, if he had caved in that time, he would not be Commander-in-Chief today. Right before him this hour, those who arrested and tried him yesterday are on their knees. With total submission, they bow and pay him in hard currencies of homage and obeisance.

I have always believed that a life of political engagement is full of perks but fraught with risks. People should be ready to take the heat of those risks or they get out of the kitchen.

The vice presidency is just one life away from the very top job. Senator Ifeanyi Okowa almost became our vice president in 2023. Last week, he proved that he was (and forever is) unworthy of being in the presidency. He abandoned the rudder and jumped into the ship of the enemy. If he had been vice president and, like Goodluck Jonathan, become president, he most probably would have pleaded being under pressure and handed over our country to the enemy across the border. A trainee who jumped ship would sell his craft to the enemy if put in the cockpit.

Defectors are deserters. In war, desertion is a capital offence. William May in his ‘The Sin Against the Friend: Betrayal’ holds that betrayal and treason are babies of the same womb. He says: “Every act of betrayal—whether public or private—involves a very simple triad: the betrayer, the betrayed, and the enemy. In its primary form, the sin may be defined as a deed whereby we deliver into the hands of the enemy those who have placed themselves trustingly into our hands.” The Latin root for the terms ‘betrayal’ and ‘treason’, May says, is ‘tradere’ which means to “hand over, to hand on, to deliver, hence to betray.” The Greek word for ‘betray’ is ‘paradidomi’. It also means literally “to hand over or to deliver over” someone or something under one’s care. I heard those who defected in Delta State promising to deliver their people to their enemy in the next elections. Their act, their words and their lineup ghastly define betrayal with all its synonyms.

I heard the acting chairman of the PDP, Umar Damagum, saying the next election won’t be about how many governors a party controls. Really? He referenced Peter Obi, candidate without governors, whose velocity and momentum harvested votes in hurricane proportions in 2023. Perhaps, Obi would have won that election if he had just four governors to write some more election results for him. But he had none to match those who had heist for heist. Regime politicians who are buying governors and ex-governors; who are gathering dry wood and wet wood know the degree of fire they need to cook their enemies in the next desperate contest for food, power and privileges.

All armies know the worth of proven horses of war. That is why no side in war condones defection. A political party is an army just as politics is war. An army properly called, at great and in all costs, forbids desertion. When an army is fissured to the extent that it cannot keep its troops and commanders, its fate won’t be about just losing the present or the next war; it will die. Splits and side switching kill armies and their troops; depletion of human assets pushes a political party into the Intensive Care Unit.

Like Sango, Tinubu falls on his enemies like the blacksmith’s hammer. Bola Tinubu is not yet half-way into his first term but he is already all out buying all sorts of broke and terrified players in the other companies. Even Kwankwaso, owner of Kano and its two million votes, may soon steam his own ship under so that in peace and tranquility Tinubu’s submarine will sail smoothly into 2027. The proprietor of the NNPP was at the Villa a few days ago where he described the president as his brother and friend since 1992. Can the PDP and all who seek to dethrone Tinubu in 2027 find out why people who leave this president’s fold always go back to him and those he takes rarely leave? Why does he not lose his prized officers and men to his enemies?

But how useful will these defectors be to Tinubu’s army? Village nut crackers know what it means to expend energy and resources on nuts that lack kernels. I read stuffs online and listen to informed commentaries in critical circles. One stakeholder agreed that if Tinubu had behaved like the defectors, he won’t be in power today but queried how terrified, captured troops would be able to deliver victory to their captors. He said, “Even if INEC decamps to APC, it won’t change anything. The people will not support them (the defectors) since they did not join APC on account of any sterling performance or out of love for Tinubu.”

Some others say the defection blitzkrieg from the battle tanks of the potentate in Abuja was a counter-offensive. Regime loyalists say the defections were brilliant results of deft moves of the only political genius in Nigeria. A newspaper headline yesterday said ‘Tinubu’s counter-attack scatters opposition.’ The wounded parties say the fisher of men caught his latest captives with bribe or bludgeon – or both. Whichever, the man deserves some applause and I am giving it to him. But that appears to be where it ends.
Why is the genius in politics not felt in governance? Or is politicking both the means and the end of politicking? The World Bank said last week that more Nigerians will fall into poverty in 2027. Every Nigerian knows this projection to be an understatement. The prediction is already true in 2025. Yet, a genius is in charge of our affairs.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: [OPINION] Lugard: 80 Years After

As elections come, and elections go, hunger and insecurity worsen for the people; the system decays while politicians who run it get better. Privileged power elite in the south are busy messing up themselves in the banquet hall. From the elite of the north comes a stream of threats of doing Pakistan if this India won’t be theirs to use and keep. The people are not the reason for the threats. The entire north – north west and north east and north central – is wracked by mass poverty, mass hunger, mass death. The United Nations in January this year, in a report, painted a horrific picture of what life and living in Nigeria, particularly in the north, would be this year: “In 2025, 33 million people in Nigeria will face acute food insecurity during the lean season with alarming levels of malnutrition threatening millions of children. In Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, 5.1 million people will be affected.” The report added that 3.6 million people were already in need of life-saving assistance in those states while “a total of 7.8 million people are considered to be in need of humanitarian assistance.” The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Malick Fall, who read the report said the needs were “driven by conflict, climate shocks, and economic instability”, with the compounding effects of flooding, disease outbreaks, food insecurity and malnutrition deepening vulnerabilities. You won’t hear the elite issue threats because of these; they won’t hold conclaves on these because these problems are not theirs to suffer. Vulnerability is never an elite malaise. They would rather jump ship than suffer any loss of altitude.

“Seasons come and go, but nothing ever happens. We are never saved.” That sums up our situation. It is the simplification – or domestication – of a verse of despair and helplessness in the Bible: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved” (Jeremiah 8:20). The despair in that verse is followed by a barrage of desperate, desolate demands: “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing of the land?” You and I know why there can’t be any healing of this land. If this land is healed and made to walk, our doctors will lose their job, their billions will lose value and their status debased.

The president comes on fiery as Sango. Sango is the spirit that commands relatives of his victims to come give thanks. Worshippers of Sango say he folds his arms deceitfully before causing havoc (Ebiri ká’wó pòn’yìn s’oró). They say he is the owner of the jungle from whom people must run (Oní’gbèé à n sá fún). They call Sango gatherer and keeper of important heads for special use (A sa nlá nlá orí pa mó). He is the one who fights dirty and still maintains his innocence. To President Tinubu I present this tribute.

A brilliant ex Tribune, ex The Guardian top journalist (now in the US) gasped at the game of Delta. He chose to salute our Sango and his feat in his own words – these: “The Lagosisation of Abuja is fully on course. The judiciary. Checked. The legislature. Checked. The five fingers of a leprous hand, well on course. What’s left? A Daniel Kanu for the mother of all rallies — one million man march! Could anyone have imagined that even Abacha was a learner; that, in the camp of the ‘progressives’ was the ultimate idán gangan? Who cares about food on the table of voters, or jobs, or good hospitals, or fuel prices? All steakholders – sorry, stakeholders – have been taken care of one way or another. The state is me! L’etat, c’est moi! Pure genius!!”

Dr. Lasisi is the Saturday Editor of Nigerian Tribune, and a columnist in the same newspaper. This publication is permitted by the author – Dr. Lasisi Olagunju.

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Lagos, UNICEF Unveil E-birth Registration

Published

4 minutes ago

November 17, 2025

Editor

Lagos State Government, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the National Population Commission (NPC), and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), has launched an electronic birth registration initiative aimed at ensuring that every child born in the state is captured in the national database and granted legal identity.

Speaking at the launch, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu emphasised the importance of the initiative, which seeks to strengthen the digital registration of children under one year, as part of efforts to achieve universal birth registration across all local government areas.

Lagos currently leads the nation with about 94 per cent of children under five already registered. Chief of UNICEF Lagos Field Office, Celine Lafoucriere, described the initiative as a major step toward protecting children’s rights.

“Birth registration is not a bureaucratic process but a vital tool that grants every child access to healthcare, education, and social protection. Without a birth certificate, a child remains invisible,” she said.

Lafoucriere commended the Lagos State Government for demonstrating leadership and commitment to child protection.

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Account For N3tn Or Face Legal Action, SERAP Tells CBN

Published

11 hours ago

November 16, 2025

Editor

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has given the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, a seven-day ultimatum to account for what it described as “missing or diverted N3 trillion of public funds” cited in the 2022 annual report of the Auditor-General of the Federation.

SERAP said the allegations, published on September 9, 2025, point to major breaches of financial regulations and constitutional provisions.

It urged Cardoso to identify individuals responsible for the alleged diversions and hand them over to the ICPC and EFCC, as well as recover all funds involved.

In a letter dated November 15 and signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said the Auditor-General’s findings “suggest grave violations of the public trust, the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the CBN Act, and anticorruption standards.”

The group also warned that the alleged violations undermine public confidence in the apex bank.

“These violations have seriously undermined the ability of the CBN to effectively discharge its statutory functions and the public trust and confidence in the bank,” it said.

According to SERAP’s summary of the report, the Auditor-General queried the non-remittance of over N1.4tn operating surplus, failure to recover N629bn paid to “unknown beneficiaries” under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, and the non-recovery of N784bn in overdue intervention loans.

One of the key portions of the Auditor-General’s report quoted by SERAP states that the CBN “failed to remit over N1 trillion [N1,445,593,400,000.00] of ‘the Federal Government’s portion of operating surplus’ into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) account.”

He also raised concerns over the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, noting that “the numbers of beneficiaries who collected the money are unknown.”

The report further questioned intervention spending, with the Auditor-General saying the bank spent “over N125 billion [N125,374,000,000.00] ‘on questionable intervention activities’” without supporting documents.

SERAP added that the CBN spent over N1.7bn on operational vehicles for the Nigeria Immigration Service, noting the Auditor-General’s remark that the spending was “unjustified because there is no connection with buying operational vehicles for the NIS and the objectives of the CBN.”

The organisation reminded the CBN of its constitutional obligations and insisted that Nigerians “have the right to know the whereabouts of the public funds.”

SERAP said it would take legal action if the bank fails to respond within seven days.

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Ekweremadu: S’East Leaders Divided Over Planned Transfer To Nigerian Prison

Published

11 hours ago

November 16, 2025

Editor

Leaders of top south-eastern groups have expressed divided opinions over the move of the Federal Government to transfer a former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, from a United Kingdom correctional facility to a Nigerian custodial centre.

While some queried the plan which they said was meant to boost President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election chances, others said motives did not matter.

The embattled senator was convicted in the UK for organ trafficking.

Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, were arrested by the London Metropolitan Police in June 2022 after a man was presented as a cousin to their daughter, Sonia, in an attempt to facilitate a kidney transplant for her.

The incident led to their conviction under the UK Modern Slavery Act in 2023.

While Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison, his wife received four years and six months jail term.

Beatrice was released earlier this year and has since returned to Nigeria.

However, President Bola Tinubu sent a high-level delegation to London to discuss the case of the former Deputy Senate President.

According to The PUNCH, the Federal Government was seeking arrangements that would allow Ekweremadu to serve the remainder of his sentence in Nigeria.

The delegation, led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, met with officials of the UK Ministry of Justice to discuss Ekweremadu’s incarceration and the possibility of allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence in Nigeria.

Following the meeting, the delegation visited the Nigerian High Commission in London, where the Acting High Commissioner, Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu, received them.

Speaking on the matter with The PUNCH, the President of the Igbo National Council, Chilos Godsent, questioned the motive and timing of the government’s request, warning against what he described as “political manipulation” or “vendetta” disguised as compassion.

He accused former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration of failing to protect Ekweremadu during his legal ordeal in the UK.

Godsent argued that the negligence allowed British authorities to try a sitting senator of the Federal Republic.

He said, “There is one thing that is really not clear: are they bringing him back to Nigeria to set him free or bringing him back to put him on trial, or to let him continue his jail term? These things are not really clear.

“That is why people are sceptical that he can be brought back and then, as part of political vendetta, he might be retried, which is not proper. It is better to allow him to serve his term in the UK, where he was found guilty. Why this time, why this election period? It is because they want to use him to play politics.

“Earlier, if the government had put in efforts for him as a citizen of this country to compel the British government, there wouldn’t have been any need for the UK government to try him as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria when this issue took place. That was negligence on the part of the Nigerian government.”

While commending Tinubu for what they described as a “laudable” plan if the intention was to reintegrate Ekweremadu with his family and community, he cautioned that any attempt to use his return for political ends would be condemned.

He raised doubts about the independence of the Nigerian judiciary, expressing fears that Ekweremadu could become a victim of political retribution if transferred at this time.

Similarly, the President of the Ala-Igbo Development Foundation, Prof. Awuzie Unachukwu, questioned the government’s motive.

He said, “If it is appreciated that Senator Ekweremadu should come back having paid his dues for his offence, why does this same government shy away from releasing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who was only asking for self-determination for the Igbos?

“Nnamdi Kanu deserves immediate release if the action of the government in asking for the return of Senator Ike Ekweremadu is not political or a means of mobilising some influential Igbos like Senator Ekweremadu for the President’s 2027 second-term ambition.”

He commended President Tinubu for initiating steps toward the repatriation of the embattled senator. Unachukwu said: “However, he shouldn’t bring him back to Nigeria to serve a jail term in this dungeon of a prison. He suffered for his crime enough. If he is coming back to Nigeria, it shouldn’t be for a jail term,” Unachukwu added.

But the Deputy President General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said the move was not politically motivated.

Isiguzoro stated, “Ohanaeze is supporting the President and we are at the forefront to ensure that the President repatriates and rehabilitates him. He is a political leader. The President doesn’t hate the Igbo people. Ekweremadu was instrumental to the release of Nnamdi Kanu in 2017.”

“The senator has paid his dues in the region and to Igbo nation. That move is being applauded by us. Ohanaeze will not tolerate anybody who stands to block this move. If the President thinks bringing Ekweremadu will help him stabilise his re-election in 2027, the South-East has no choice than to support. We must be devoid of politics in issues that regard to ethnic nationalities in Nigeria.”

Expressing a similar opinion, the Abia State Peoples Democratic Party Chairman, Abraham Amah, said there was nothing wrong with any administration taking steps it considered appropriate in the interest of justice, humanitarian consideration, or national responsibility.

He stated that Buhari’s inaction did not invalidate Tinubu’s decision to do so now.

Amah added that governance was a continuum, and each administration exercised its judgment based on the realities before it.

“The insinuation that the move is driven by politics does not, by itself, make the action improper or undesirable. In matters like this, motives will always be debated, but what ultimately matters is whether the action aligns with national interest, compassion, and due process.

“What is important here is that a Nigerian citizen who has served the country at the highest legislative levels is in a difficult situation, and if the current government believes it can intervene within the confines of the law and diplomatic norms, there is no justification to condemn such an effort,” he said.

Also, the President-General of the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, Goodluck Ibem, expressed support for the government to facilitate the return of the embattled senator, saying his return was crucial for the rule of law in the country.

He said, “This move is not just about a singular individual; it is about fostering a sense of justice and integrity that resonates deeply within our community. The people of the South East are committed to a future where justice prevails, and we stand firmly behind the Federal Government in its efforts to uphold these values.

“We urge all stakeholders and members of the public to focus on the broader implications of this process. Our collective goal should be the restoration of justice and creating a political environment founded on transparency and accountability.”

FG to revive Nigeria–UK prisoner transfer programme

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has begun fresh efforts to revive the long-stalled Nigeria–United Kingdom prisoner transfer programme, as part of diplomatic consultations to repatriate Ekweremadu.

Ekweremadu’s case reopened talks about the 2014 Nigeria–UK Prisoner Transfer Agreement, which has remained unimplemented more than a decade after it was signed.

The agreement, signed under former President Goodluck Jonathan and then UK Prime Minister David Cameron, was intended to allow convicted nationals to serve their sentences in their home countries.

To support its implementation, the UK funded the construction of a £700,000, 112-bed wing at the Kirikiri Custodial Centre in Lagos, compliant with United Nations standards.

Despite these arrangements, no prisoner has been transferred under the scheme.

The spokesperson for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alkasim AbdulKadir, on Monday told Arise News that discussions with UK authorities to extradite Ekweremadu were still ongoing.

He revealed that a formal request had been submitted for Ekweremadu’s transfer under the existing prisoner exchange framework.

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