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OPINION: Between Wike And Gumi, Who Really Owns Abuja?

Published

2 years ago

October 30, 2023

By Lasisi Olagunju

Before Abuja, there was Lagos as our Federal Capital. And this is where I would want to believe that there is something about our North and Federal Capital Territories. Before independence and immediately after independence, Lagos had a succession of two ministers of Lagos Affairs, both were northerners. One was Alhaji Musa Yar’Adua, father of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. There was also Muhammadu Ribadu, grandfather of our immediate past First Lady, Hajia Aisha Buhari. Years later, Nigeria moved to Abuja and a long line of FCT ministers was recorded for the North. Now, some of the power elite from the north are said to be bellyaching over a southerner currently holding the steering wheel of Abuja, Lagos’ successor as the Federal Capital Territory. Leading the ground troops is fiery cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi. He and his army of angry purists are not happy with Nyesom Wike’s presence as minister and with his ways in the FCT.

Juju musician, Ebenezer Obey, sings in one of his records that there is nothing new under the sun (Kò s’oun tuntun l’ábé òrun mó…). There is nothing the current FCT minister, Wike, is doing in Abuja today that was not done in Lagos of the first republic by Minister Ribadu in his days as Lagos Affairs Minister. Ribadu and Wike are more than two generations apart but if you ask 18th century Irish writer, poet and lyricist, Thomas Moore, to study the two and describe his findings in a poetic phrase, he would likely say he discovered a pair of kindred spirits. Guts for guts, tongue for tongue, their adjectival numerals would be six and half a dozen. Wike can talk and do anything; Ribadu could talk and do anything. He did what he had to do in Lagos before he was moved to the Ministry of Defence, then he died suddenly on May 1, 1965 at the age of 55. This is what Ribadu’s biographer wrote on him and how he ran the affairs of Lagos: “Before going over to Defence, Ribadu held the post of Minister of Lagos Affairs where he was so effective for his admirable performance. He was in charge when the city was being rebuilt. He had several decisions not being implemented because of the opposition of some people to move out of their places of abode to new sites given them by the government after they had collected their compensations… (They) refused to move out in spite of constant reminders. One morning, he visited the area and to the surprise of the Power of Powers (Ribadu’s nickname), instead of those people to come and plead, they shouted at ‘Gambari’. He parked his car and sent a message for a tractor (a bulldozer) which he personally supervised (while it) pulled down buildings owned by those residents. From then, when Ribadu was seen, he was called ‘Baba Eko’ – the father of Lagos.

“A particular incident which made him more feared was the house of one feared babalawo or juju priest. Some prominent Lagosians who were good friends of Ribadu pleaded with him to skip that man’s house for fear of serious consequences befalling him, but he ignored them. The chief priest himself visited Ribadu’s quarters pouring some powder, and three times, deposited chained chickens, goat and even a ram. On Ribadu’s order, his houseboys made feasts whenever these were brought in. Finally, he went to the (juju man’s) house the day it was to be broken down. Today, the place is occupied by a multi-storey building housing several offices. This, indeed, was the man Ribadu. Contrary to what the Babalawo and his friends believed, not even a headache troubled the indefatigable Ribadu. Had he not put his feet firmly on the ground, probably we could not have done any development in Lagos as it is today” (see page 21-22 of ‘The Power of Powers: A biography of the Late Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu’ by Sidi H. Ali).

FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: A Yoruba King’s Sodom And Gomorrah

There are speculations about errant churches and mosques being threatened by Wike’s bulldozers. Mosques are sacred; churches are sacred. But Islam and Christianity are against persons who disdain the law and break it with impunity. The two religions have special hell fires for law breakers. If a mosque or a church finds itself running foul of the law, should it not willingly pay the price? A priest’s house was caught by the law in Lagos in the early sixties, Muhammadu Ribadu, the minister of Lagos Affairs, pulled down the sacred house. I do not think Wike would be doing anything new or strange if he also moves against sacred structures that offend the law.

Sheikh Gumi and his supporters spoke on the ownership status of Abuja. The sheikh has not stopped being in the news since then. (Apologies to Justice Victor Ovie Whisky and his Verdict ’83), the Supreme Court and its Verdict ’23 of last Thursday hasn’t stopped Gumi from trending. Nor has the ghastly parting gift of filth and odium from Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad who declared that our judiciary had “become something else.” Gumi said some things that were as weighty as heavy. He spoke about Abuja and its ownership. He spoke on who was qualified to wield power there and who was not. He called the FCT minister “a satanic person” who should never have occupied a space reserved for Abuja, a city of saints. Gumi said “The Minister of the FCT is a satanic person; I said it before when he was appointed and some people were grumbling.” The sheikh said other things and it was from him that I learnt that nepotism has tribe and it is better in some than in others. Gumi said “Yet they kept blabbing about Buhari’s so-called nepotism. There was an element of nepotism under Buhari, I reckon. But our (northern Muslim) nepotism is not evil because it does no harm to anyone. If it cannot promote your interest, it won’t harm it either; here is the difference. That’s why I keep warning that power should not slip from our hands into theirs. Look how they took over all juicy and lucrative positions in the country. And they believe they’ll continue to govern us in the next four years and beyond. They think through their tricks they’ll get re-elected for another four-year term to make eight years in power. But that will not happen while we’re here by the will of God. Their ultimate goal is to impoverish the North…”

I asked questions and I was told Bola Tinubu’s choice of a southerner as FCT minister is heresy to the powers in the North. They think Abuja is the North’s property and a northerner must be in charge there in perpetuity.

FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: The North And Tinubu’s Appointments

But, shall we ask who really owns Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory? General Murtala Muhammed, the Kano man who created it, asked and answered that question at the very beginning. In his February 3, 1976 broadcast announcing that area as our new Federal Capital, he said it would “belong to all Nigerians” of all tribes and tongues. Here, I think I should quote him copiously: “The area is not within the control of any of the major ethnic groups in the country. We believe that the new capital created on such virgin lands as suggested will be for all Nigerians a symbol of their oneness and unity. The Federal Territory will belong to all Nigerians. The few local inhabitants in the area who need to be moved out of the territory for planning purposes will be resettled outside the area in places of their choice at government expense.” But, until Tinubu’s appointment of Wike to man that space, Abuja had been ruled as northern Nigeria’s 20th state to the shame of its history and the promise that birthed it.

Why did Nigeria build a new Federal Capital? And why the name Abuja? Linguistic historians say ‘Abuja’ is a combination of two lexical items: one is the name of the historical person who founded that emirate, the other an adjective: Abu+ja; ja is the Hausa word for red or fair in colour, while Abu is the shortened form of Abubakar. If I would translate ‘Abuja’ to Yoruba, it would be ‘Abú pupa.’ Two researchers, Julius Unumen and Adewale Adepoju, quoting several credible sources, give insights into this in a seminal article with the title: ‘Lessons of History for Planning and Development in Nigeria: The Example of the Contrast between Lagos and Abuja’, published in the January 2019 edition of the African Research Review, number 53. According to them, the old Abuja was named after its founder, Abubakar (Abu) Makau, who was said to be ‘red’ (fair) in complexion. When, in 1976, Nigeria chose that site as its new capital, it gave it no name – it was just FCT. But by 1978, it had become absurd that a country’s federal capital would be without a name. A committee was asked to recommend a name; it suggested Gurara (after River Gurara). The recommendation was rejected by the government which decided to snatch the name of the nearby Abuja emirate that contributed 80 percent of the FCT land. Would the Federal Capital Territory then be sharing a name with an emirate? The Olusegun Obasanjo military government said no, the virgin FCT must not be betrothed to any ‘tribe or tongue’. The government proceeded to force the then reigning emir of Abuja, Alhaji Suleiman Bara, to drop the name of his domain and coin a new one. The new one is today’s Suleja (Sule + ja) – the Sule in the name being coined from ‘Suleiman’ the fair complexioned emir. Now, why did Nigeria build a new Federal Capital?

In a 1984 article, Jonathan Moore of the Centre for International Affairs at Harvard University, United States, noted that “the removal of the seat of government from Lagos was a volatile issue throughout the period of British rule.” Lord Lugard and his successor, Hugh Clifford, clashed over it. Before Lugard, there was Sir Ralph Moore who was the High Commissioner of the Niger Coast Protectorate and Sir Henry Edward McCallum, Governor of Lagos (1897-1899). Both grappled with the location issue. Indeed, Moore continues, “each administrator who followed Clifford until Nigeria’s independence had to deal with the exigencies of the capital’s location.” Before and after independence, the issue of where the capital should be was one of the potent threats to the unity of the country. The Action Group and its leadership clashed several times with the NCNC and its Northern Peoples Congress over Lagos and where it should be. The war over Lagos and its status was a back and forth struggle. The matter remained alive throughout the first republic and in the life of the succeeding military governments. There were concerns of inadequate infrastructure, lack of land for expansion and what the system called “the dominance of a single tribe” in Lagos. (see ‘The Political History of Nigeria’s New Capital’ by Jonathan Moore in the Journal of Modern African Studies, 22, 1 (1984) page 167-175).

FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: ‘Alaafin’s Stool Is Not For Sale’

The fate of Lagos as the capital was finally decided by the Murtala-Obasanjo regime in February 1976. It felt Nigeria needed a new capital city and went for it. On August 7, 1975, less than three months after he took over, General Murtala Mohammed set up the Justice Akinola Aguda Panel and charged it with the duty of locating a suitable place as the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. On the Aguda panel were Chief E.E. Nsefik, Dr. Tai Solarin, Professor O. K. Ogan, Alhaji Muhammed Musa Isma, Chief Owen Fiebai, Dr. Ajato Candonu and Colonel Monsignor Pedro Martins.

The Aguda panel submitted its report in December 1975 recommending that: “1. The city of Lagos is incapable of functioning as both a federal capital and state capital, due to the problem of inadequate land space for development commensurate with its status as the capital of Nigeria. 2. Lagos is identified with predominantly one ethnic group, and a new capital is needed in a location that would provide equal access to Nigeria’s great diversity of cultural groups. 3. A new capital is desirable that would be secure, ethnically neutral, centrally accessible, comfortable and healthful, and possess adequate land and natural resources to provide a promising base for urban development. 4. A new capital is needed as a symbol of Nigeria’s aspirations for unity and greatness” (see page XII of Akinola Arabambi’s ‘A critique of the Planning of Abuja, The New Federal Capital of Nigeria’, an unpublished thesis submitted to the California Polytechnic State University in October 1980).

The Murtala Mohammed government accepted the recommendations and on February 5, 1976, it promulgated Decree 6 giving legal teeth to its white paper on the Aguda panel’s report. The law carved out 8,000 square kilometers from states in an area in the Middle Belt part of Nigeria. It stated that “as from the promulgation of the decree (the FCT land) ceases to be portion of the states concerned and would henceforth be governed and administered by or under the control of the Federal Government of Nigeria. No other person or authority was permitted to continue to exercise control over the entire area of the new Federal Capital Territory besides the Federal Government of Nigeria. Similarly, ownership of the lands comprised in the territory was vested in the Federal Government of Nigeria,” (see Unumen and Adepoju, 2019: 54). That law and all assurances given by Murtala Mohammed and the safety valves subsequently put in place by the succeeding military government of Obasanjo were wantonly subverted by the contradiction called Nigeria.

Abuja has had sixteen substantive ministers, fifteen of them came from the North. The exception is the incumbent. When you consider the pan-Nigerian character of the Aguda panel, the patriotic tone of its terms of reference and the nationalist innocence of its recommendations, you would feel sad at the great betrayal that Abuja has turned out to become. You would be ashamed of those who today think Abuja is their inheritance. It is on record that Dr Akinola Aguda, jurist without blemish, died regretting doing the duty of getting Abuja for Nigeria as Federal Capital. He lived to see a succession of governments at the federal level as they worked very hard to make Abuja another northern city/state. Aguda died 22 years ago but not before he wrote a piece for The Guardian with the title: ‘My Regret about Abuja’. Dr Aguda’s son, Olumuyiwa, an oba in Akureland, Ondo State, reinforced his dad’s feeling of being used for parochial causes. In an interview published by the New Telegraph newspaper two months ago, the younger Aguda said his father was disappointed that “Abuja became more like (the) capital of the North.”

Nigeria is built on a foundation of subversion of all things noble, and of iniquity and unfairness. But, I think on Abuja, a needle has fallen off the leper’s hands. With Wike’s appointment, a jinx of insults is broken. Today, the FCT belongs to all of Nigeria; it is no longer somebody’s inheritance. God is great.

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[OPINION] Gov Adeleke: Cure Madness With Madness

Published

10 hours ago

October 10, 2025

Editor

Tunde Odesola

This is the definition of shock. A squirrel’s stomach rumbles like a faucet belching water, despite a barn of walnuts in full view. But the barn is utterly inaccessible. Fidgety on the same spot, the squirrel sits, skips, sighs and yawns in hunger, furtively watching four moustachioed scarecrows guard the four pillars of the barn. Two of the scarecrows wear buba and sokoto, the other two wear agbada and abeti aja caps.

Then came a whirlwind. The squirrel, head peeping out of its burrow in the earth, watches as one abeti aja cap goes up in the air, while the scarecrow donning the abeti aja cap crashes facedown on the barn gbooaa!

Terrified, the squirrel dashes into the ground on the limbs of lightning. By the time it came back to peep from its burrow, another scarecrow had crashed and crumbled like Humpty Dumpty. If it were human, the squirrel would have spoken in pidgin English, with a thick Warri accent, “Ehn-ehn? I see. So, na effigy I bin dey fear since all dis days wey hunger dey wire me? Human beings wicked o. I go show dis farmer pepper!” In this moment of sudden realisation, the look on the squirrel is the definition of shock.

If I told you I became an Ambassador when I was 12 years old, I’m sure you would be shocked. But that’s the truth. It was at Araromi Baptist Church, located at 42, Sokunbi Street, Mushin, that I was made an Ambassador in the Layode Chapter of Royal Ambassadors – a male youth group that mentors teenagers and young adults in faith, leadership and service. The motto of the Boy Scouts-like organisation is, “We are ambassadors for Christ,” a quote domiciled in 2 Corinthians 5:20.

Though our church is located in Mushin, where we grew up, Royal Ambassadors didn’t take marijuana, not to talk of colos, loud, codeine, tramadol, cocaine, heroin, etc, hard substances popular among today’s youths.

According to Royal Ambassadors’ cherished manual, which contains the philosophy and guidelines of the organisation, “An ambassador is the one who represents a king at the court of another king.” All churches under the Nigerian Baptist Convention have Royal Ambassador chapters. In my days as an ambassador, we learnt how to pitch a tent in an open-air camp, make a lanyard, control traffic, conduct a march-past, sing and play martial and secular musical instruments, and preach the word of God.

Of late, in Nigeria, however, there’s a strong umbilical cord connecting shock and the term ambassador. Thesaurus, the book of meanings, says scandalise is a synonym for shock. It also gives ‘emissary’ as the equivalent of ambassador.

From popular marijuana-smoking Naira Marley to tarmac-invader, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshall, and the content-creating irritant, Ayomiposi Oluwadahunsi, aka Mandy Kiss, who sought to bed 100 men in 24 hours, and earn Guinness World Record fame – the official reward for infamy in Nigeria is an ambassadorial award.

But the ambassadorship conferred on me by Araromi Baptist Church is in Christ, not in crisis. Nigerianly, the ambassadorships conferred on Naira Marley, Wasiu Ayinde and Mandy Kiss were rewards for the crises they precipitated.

In the southwestern domain of Governor Nurueen Ademola Jackson Adeleke, three issues stand out as either befitting of Nigeria’s present-day ambassadorial awards or outright condemnation. They are the embarrassment the Osun Amotekun Corps is fast becoming, the Apetu of Ipetumodu saga, and the gassing Oluwo of Iwo. Thank goodness, Adeleke has not yet glorified the ridicule these three have smeared on public consciousness by making them ambassadors. It is, however, instructive to note that he has yet to condemn any of them. And, silence, wisdom whispers, is another name for consent.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR:OPINION: Death Has Made Another Mistake

Dear Governor Adeleke, the people of Osun are asking, “Where has one of the kings in our State of the Living Spring, the Apetu of Ipetumodu, Oba Joseph Oloyede, gone? The people of Osun are saying the Apetu’s royal head that wears the beaded crown of Ipetumodu has been exposed koroboto in a US jail, shining to the derision of inmates who wonder why a king dragged his nobility in criminal mud. It is too big for my basketmouth to ask the Oba Elewon if it was greed or ambition, or both, that pushed him off the throne into the trash of dishonour. Your Excellency can help the people of Osun ask him, using the authority of your office.

My governor, the Oriade of Ipetumodu will not only be sleeping outside his domain in the next four and a half years, the Igba Keji Orisa will be sleeping in a foreign prison, wearing prison clothes, eating prison food, bathing with fellow prisoners and doing prison labour. Abomination! Do the Yoruba not say ‘oriade kii sun ita?’ Governor Adeleke, this oriade has slept outside; it should not be allowed back into the palace.

Thank heavens, Governor Adeleke has no visual challenge; thus, I ask, “Is the optics of Apetu in prison orange uniform good for the integrity and image of Osun? If it is not, why has the Peoples Democratic Party-led Osun administration kept quiet for many weeks after the jailing of the Alayeluwa? Remember, Mr Governor, many months after the Apetu was arrested in the US over a multimillion-dollar COVID-19 relief fund fraud, your administration said it would await court judgment to know the direction to go on the matter.

On August 28, 2025, however, a US Distinct Judge in Ohio, Christopher Boyko, found Oloyede guilty of leading a conspiracy to exploit COVID-19 emergency loan programmes designed to assist struggling small businesses, sentenced him to 56 months in prison and ordered him to refund $4,408,543.38, $90,006.89, forfeiting the house he bought in Medina, Ohio, with the proceeds of the fraud.

Speaking exclusively to PUNCH newspaper after the judgment, Osun State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Dosu Babatunde, said the Adeleke administration would not act based on social media reports.

Babatunde said, “While it may be true that the monarch has been convicted and jailed, there is no official record with us. We cannot rely on Facebook posts and stories to justify such a serious matter.” Babatunde added that the government would get the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment before making any decision regarding the stool.

In a shocking move that unfolded two days after his imprisonment, however, persons believed to be loyal to the 62-year-old Oloyede, subsequently ransacked the palace and allegedly carted into hiding crowns and royal paraphernalia in a bid to stall the appointment and installation of a new king. While the people of Ipetumodu are calling on the state government to commence the process of appointing a new king, the deafening silence on the part of the Adeleke government appears to be a tacit tactic to stall and hold the crown down for the criminal king.

MIRE FROM THE AUTHOR:OPINION: The Unkingly Timi And Lousy Wasiu Ayinde (2)

As a US resident, I know it is not likely to take up to 15 minutes to obtain the CTC of a case in a US court, upon application, having obtained information myself in a court sometime ago. The statement by the Osun State government that it needed a CTC to commence action on the Apetu’s case reeks of foot-dragging and hypocrisy when the king had been held in prison since April 2024, sentenced in August 2025, with the report of the sentencing on the official website of the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Ohio.

By asking for the CTC, does the Adeleke administration intend to appeal the judgment on behalf of the Apetu? If yes, did the state governor or government benefit from the proceeds of the fraud? And, why has the government not obtained the Almighty CTC since judgment was given? Oba Oloyede is the second case of an Osun monarch jailed for criminal offences in the US, the first one being the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba, Emir, Alaafin Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi, the Telu I. Why is the Adeleke government buying time for a king whose royal gourd Ipetumode kingmakers should have smashed into oblivion by now? Is the state government saying the monarch has been on a sabbatical holiday since April 2024, when he was held in the US? Now that the king has been jailed and the report has grabbed headlines across the world, it is absolutely unthinkable that the Osun State government appears undecided and clueless on the matter. The people of Osun need an answer to the question of the jailed Apetu urgently.

My governor and aburo Serubawon of blessed memory, getting a CTC in a US court is far less stressful than the energy you exert dancing. The people of Osun voted for you to show good leadership. There is no better time to prove your mettle than now. You bear the illustrious title of Asiwaju; it’s time to prove you are not the snail that carries two horns on its head, but lacks the power to butt.

Egbon Ademola, the lastborn of Pa Ayoola Adeleke and Mama Esther Adeleke, remember the son of whom you are. You’re the descendant of Timi Agbale, Olofa ina. You are omo arogun ma fi t’ibon se, omo Mapo Arogun, iyako agbo, omo aji lala oso, aji f’ojo gbogbo dara bi egbin. The pall of darkness cast over Ipetumodu by the Apetu’s imprisonment needs your Imole. Shine your light to chase away darkness in Ipetu.

I’m sure you know Dr Olusegun Mimiko. He is a former Governor of Ondo State. His nickname is Iroko. When the then Deji of Akure, Oba Oluwadare Adeshina Adepoju, engaged his wife in a public brawl, Iroko uprooted him and flung him outside the palace, replacing him with the incumbent king, Oba Adegboye Adesida. Baba B-Red, please, prove to the world that if Ondo State had Iroko, Osun State has a true Asiwaju, too.

But if Imole is jittery to take action on Oloyede because of his re-election bid in 2026, I’ll advise him to listen and take courage from the song titled, “Were la fi n wo were,” by a Juju musician named G Melody.

Is the governor surprised that the song doesn’t even belong to Taye Currency, a low-current Ibadan-based Fuji musician, who inappropriately sang the song at the recent coronation of the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Adewolu Rashidi Ladoja? I was surprised, too. The song belongs to G Melody. But Currency sang it energetically as if it were his own, without giving credit to Melody.

While investigating the ownership of the song, I called music aficionado, Bimbo Esho, of the Evergreen Musical Company fame, and asked who owns Were la fi n wo were. Bimbo sent me a voice note containing the voice of Ogun State-based G Melody in which he told the story of how he got the inspiration to compose the song.

Melody said, “It’s my song. People have been calling me about the song. Some of the boys I trained, like Ola Liberty, sing it. Ola Liberty is my very good son. I’m not a noise maker. It’s my song. There’s another song of mine, “Kilode te n ya were, abosi?”, that they are singing all over the place now. I composed Were la fi n wo were song in Imeko, where I had gone to sing at a political rally. Some guys were trying to disrupt the rally, and I said they should calm down, that they cannot stop me. I infused it with political undertones, saying they cannot steal our votes, and if they do, we would cure madness with madness – were la fi n wo were.”

Governor Adeleke, it is high time you cured madness with madness in Osun. It is not right for a hunter to flee homeward from the forest, shouting, “Help! Help! Save me! A ferocious animal is on my heels!” Please, restore the Omoluabi ethos of dignity, integrity and honour to Ipetumodu royalty.

It’s obvious the same affliction of greed that plagues the Ipetumodu crown plagues the Iwo monarchy; àrùn to n se Ipetumodu lo n se Iwo, but Iwo manifests a malignant and metastasised cancer needing urgent surgery. First, the Oluwo should be deposed for his criminal conviction in the US over fraud, just like the Apetu. Second, the public actions and utterances of the Oluwo negating the honour and source of the Yoruba should be investigated and sanctioned by the state government.

In an old video, Oluwo said, “Me and Ooni do talk, we have a very good relationship. He (Ooni) is the head of all kings in Yorubaland; that is the source. It doesn’t matter what anybody says; Ife is the source of all crowns. Ife is where Oduduwa lived and got his crown from. Every other king who is from ancient town is a prince from Ife. I am a prince from Ife. Every other crown that you see, that is an ancient crown in Yoruba land, is prince from Yorubaland. So, the crown he (Ooni) is wearing is the father of all the crowns. It doesn’t matter what anybody says.”

In a new video, Akanbi, who named his palace, “Aafin Olodumare Iwo,” dares the Ooni to speak Ife dialect in Ibadan, and inferred that the Ooni was not a Yoruba king because he does not wear ofi clothe, insisting that Yoruba kings do not tie their clothes over their shoulders as the Ooni does. In a moment of epiphany, fueled by God-knows-what, Akanbi also says Ife is not the source of the Yoruba, leaving people who had watched his earlier acceptance of Ife as the source of all crowns, wondering if all is well with the Oluwo of Iwo.

Were la fi n wo were. Governor Adeleke, as a matter of urgency, should take this song to the headquarters of the Osun State Amotekun Corps, where a malignant form of madness is festering.

Reports emanating across Osun against the modus operandi of Amotekun indicate that the corps has turned into a full-fledged organ of terror. The corps, under the leadership of a retired policeman, Isaac Omoyele, is a classical example to be cited by antagonists of state police. Evidence abounds that the corps now extorts the citizenry, detaining people and charging them money for bail.

In June, officials of the corps were accused of illegal arrest of residents in the Itaapa community, a situation which led the residents to stage a protest in Osogbo, the Osun State capital. The Odofin of Itaapa, Olusegun Owoeye, who led the protesters, said Amotekun officers arrested some members of the community’s security volunteer team alongside some chiefs, following a complaint by a leader of the governor’s party, the PDP.

Omoyele had insisted that those arrested were criminals armed with guns, but the community said the guns belonged to the town’s vigilante members.

Before he was appointed by Adeleke as Amotekun commander, Omoyele, in 2022, was accused of brutality by an #ENDSARS panel while serving as a police officer.

In its latest show of barbarity, officials of the corps stormed the Akinlalu community and opened fire on innocent citizens, killing no fewer than four people, while claiming that they did so in an attempt to retrieve a pump-action gun some youths of the community seized.

Before Osun is turned into a lake of fire, the governor should tell his Amotekun that it is wrong to carry out reprisal attacks on innocent people while trying to retrieve a gun, just as the arrest of 20 members of the corps by a special squad of the police is commendable.

Omoyele, who was the chief security officer to Adeleke, should be relieved of his post, while a more mature, disciplined and experienced replacement should take his stead.

I won’t mind if my governor gyrates to Were la fi n wo were, sliding two fingers over the corner of his eyes while his followers shout themselves hoarse, but he must truly cure the madness in Osun with madness.

Email: tundeodes2003@yahoo.com

Facebook: @Tunde Odesola

X: @Tunde_Odesola

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Jonathan To Meet Tinubu Over Nnamdi Kanu’s Detention — Sowore

Published

14 hours ago

October 10, 2025

Editor

Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, said former President Goodluck Jonathan has agreed to engage President Bola Tinubu on the continued detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

Sowore disclosed this on Friday via his X handle after meeting with Jonathan in Abuja.

According to him, their discussion centred on the “urgent and compelling need” to address Kanu’s case “decisively and justly.”

Sowore said, “Earlier today in Abuja, I met with former President @GEJonathan (Goodluck Jonathan) to discuss the continued incarceration of Mazi @NnamdiKanu

“President Jonathan agreed that there is an urgent and compelling need to address this matter decisively and justly. I thank him sincerely for recognising the importance of resolving Kanu’s case in the interest of peace, fairness, and national healing.

“Particularly assuring was that he promised to meet @officialabat (President Bola Tinubu) to discuss this issue as soon as possible.”

He noted that with this development, Jonathan joins a growing list of Nigerians who have called for justice in Nnamdi Kanu’s case.

“A list that already includes ex-Vice President @atiku, Femi Falana SAN, Senator @ShehuSani, and many others across political and regional divides,” Sowore said.

The activist reiterated his call for Kanu’s release, saying the IPOB leader “remains in detention today because he took up the just cause of confronting the long-standing issue of marginalisation in Nigeria.”

He also urged political, cultural, and religious leaders, including Peter Obi, Chukwuma Soludo, Alex Otti, Francis Nwifuru, Peter Mbah, Hope Uzodinma, Oby Ezekwesili, and Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s John Mbata, to join the campaign for Kanu’s release.

Kanu has been in detention since 2021 after being re-arrested abroad and returned to Nigeria to face trial on charges bordering on terrorism and treasonable felony.

Several court orders granting him bail or ordering his release have yet to be implemented.

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Yiaga Africa, Kukah Centre, Others Demand Live Broadcast Of INEC Chair Screening

Published

14 hours ago

October 10, 2025

Editor

Civil society organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria have appealed to the Senate to ensure that the screening of Professor Joash Amupitan (SAN) for the position of Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is broadcast live to the public.

According to the groups, a live broadcast of the screening would promote transparency, accountability, and public confidence in the process of appointing the head of the nation’s electoral body.

In a statement made available to The Guardian on Friday, they emphasised that, given the crucial role INEC plays in safeguarding Nigeria’s democracy, citizens have a right to witness and assess the integrity, competence, and independence of the nominee being considered for such a sensitive position.

The CSOs include Yiaga Africa, Women Rights Advancement Protection Alternative (WRAPA), International Press Centre, The Kukah Centre, Centre for Media and Society, TAF Africa, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD), Nigeria Women Trust Fund, Accountability Lab Nigeria, and YERP Naija Campaign.

According to the organisations, live coverage would help dispel any suspicion of bias or backroom dealings, while allowing Nigerians to engage more meaningfully in discussions about electoral reforms and leadership within the electoral body.

“We call on the Senate to ensure that its confirmation hearings are transparent, televised, and inclusive of citizen and civil society input through memoranda, petitions, and participation in the confirmation hearings.

“The Senate should undertake a rigorous examination of his competence, public records, vision for electoral reform, INEC’s institutional strengthening, as well as his capacity to resist political interference and uphold electoral integrity.

“The Senate should also interrogate the nominee’s plans to address systemic challenges, including voter registration, result transmission, and enforcement of INEC’s regulations and guidelines.

“Nigerians expect the Senate confirmation process to be open to citizens’ participation in line with the Framework for Citizens’ Engagement in the INEC Appointment Process previously submitted to the Senate by the undersigned civil society organisations. This includes full disclosure of the nominee’s credentials, public service history, and capacity to manage elections without political interference,” the statement reads.

While acknowledging Professor Amupitan’s academic and professional accomplishments, they declared that they have no objection to his nomination, even as they tasked him to “demonstrate moral courage and resistance to political interference,” if confirmed by the Senate.
(GUARDIAN)