News

OPINION: el-Rufai, Bedwetter And Cost Of Dye

Published

1 year ago

December 31, 2024

Editor

By Suyi Ayodele

“Two wrongs do not make a right. Sensible inclusion always trumps arrogant exclusion.” The quote belongs to Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State. He made the statement in his reaction to Farooq Kperogi’s column on the back page of the Saturday Tribune of December 28, 2024.

Kperogi, who teaches Journalism in the United States, had accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of playing the Yoruba ethnic card in his appointments of personnel to manage the nation’s cash cow, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC). That is the opportunity el-Rufai seized to lecture Nigerians. Wonders shall never end!

The Yoruba say that a bedwetter is estopped by his nightly bad acts from complaining about the high price of dye. A man is always judged by the content of what he says. A character is equally known and judged by what he does and what people say about him. Before we take el-Rufai seriously, I present to you what his former boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo, wrote about him in a book ten years ago:

“Nasir’s penchant for character savaging is almost pathological…I recognised his weaknesses; the worst being his inability to be loyal to anybody or any issue consistently for long, but only to Nasir el-Rufai. He barefacedly lied which he did to me against his colleagues and so-called friends…”

The former president added: “My vivid recollection of him is his penchant for lying, for unfair embellishment of stories and his inability to sustain loyalty for long…. He was described as a malicious liar. He was more than that; he is a pathological purveyor of untruths and half-truths with little or no regard for integrity. In all of this, he unwittingly does more harm than good to himself.” Please see Obasanjo’s “My Watch”, Volume 2, page 110.

The book was published ten years ago (2014), I wonder why El Rufai has not sued President Obasanjo or report him to Hisbah in Kano and the police in Kaduna for defamation.

READ MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: Yuletide Horror

When an inelegant person describes another as ugly, the elders of my place place them side by side and pigeonholed one as Ete (leprosy) and the other Eyi (hives), otherwise known as Urticaria in Medicine. Victims of both ailments are treated as pariahs! None is better than the other.

The year 2024 ends today. All surviving Nigerians have reasons to thank the Creator for making it possible for them to survive the pains of the last 19 months. I was almost halfway into what should have been the last column of the year before I changed my mind. I had titled the abandoned piece: “Certificate of survivor.” But I had to change the course of the discourse when the former governor of Kaduna State, el-Rufai, came up with his comments on Tinubu and his lack of inclusion in governance.

I am not going to defend Tinubu, but I will like Kperogi and all others who would insist that this president is pro-Yoruba to know that Tinubu is simply pro-himself. He has his own way and that is to surround himself with his boys – those that Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar described as “sleek-headed men.”

It is a great disservice to the nationalistic disposition of an average Yoruba man, that President Tinubu does not see beyond all the ‘boys’ who have been around him since his days as the governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007 To the President, Nigeria is just a larger version of Lagos! Too bad!

But that is where it ends for President Tinubu. It is a collective insult to all Nigerians that the man who should lecture us about how “sensible inclusion always trumps arrogant exclusion” is Nasir el-Rufai of all people! It is quite interesting to note, with his latest position, that el-Rufai is as diminutive in memory as he is in all human characteristics!

Who is el-Rufai to talk about “sensible inclusion” in the first instance? What were his dispositions to the issue of “inclusion” in the eight years that he ruled and ruined Kaduna State? Against all advice and wisdom, did the same el-Rufai not in 2019, while running for his second term as governor, not jettison the idea of inclusiveness when he chose Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, a Muslim, from Sanga local government area in the Southern part of the state, as his running mate from a district that has a huge population of Christians?

When confronted and advised to be ‘sensibly inclusive’, did el-Rufai not tell whoever cared to listen that the “Government House is not a place of worship, we come here to work for the people?” If that statement does not fall into his today’s taxonomy of “arrogant exclusion”, what does el-Rufai want us to call it?

Besides, for the eight years that Muhammadu Buhari practised his “…embarrassingly undisguised Arewacentricity”, where was el-Rufai? So, it was good for Buhari, a fellow Fulani like him, to pack only Fulani in his key appointments, but wrong for Tinubu to do the same? Where lies el-Rufai’s conscience? Or he thinks Nigerians have short memories? Bad enough that this line is sounding like a typical tu quoque argument; an ad hominem fallacy, but this is what we saw when Buhari started the shenanigan and the el-Rufais of this world all kept quiet because the tide favoured him and his parochial interest.

I do not doubt that attitudes like what Buhari displayed and what President Tinubu is reenacting have far-reaching implications for the unity of the nation. The best Tinubu will get is another term in office. The simple implication is that after his tour of duty, another region will take over and then up the ante of promoting a clique above national interest. The ultimate victims will be the hapless and helpless Nigerians who are always at the receiving end!

I can imagine, God willing, if a president of an Igbo extraction should emerge and all we have in the government circles are Obinna, Ikechukwu, Ikeduru, Emeka and Obiakor as heads of all key sectors of the nation! The labour of our heroes’ past, especially those who fought to “keep Nigeria one”, is lost, completely, in a Presidency where only men and women from the president’s ethnic background are holding the key positions in government! Such an arrangement is not healthy enough and no one should support such because his kinsman is the president!

That notwithstanding, Nigerians still don’t need an el-Rufai to tell them about “sensible inclusion”, a mantra that he never practised when he had the opportunity. Those who know the former governor of Kaduna State don’t have kind words to describe his years in government. He ran Kaduna State as an enclave of his religious and ethnic clique to the consternation of the other groups in the state.

For instance, in his immediate reaction to el-Rufai’s sanctimonious position, Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the 8th Senate, said that the former governor was not in the best position to criticise Tinubu on matters of ethnic bigotry.

Sani wrote online: “There are people who were silent when Buhari was fielding (filling) political offices with his kinsmen and have now found their voice to speak out when the equation doesn’t favor them.” Sani goes further to assert that El Rufai “marginalised Southern Kaduna for eight years. Kaduna was an apartheid state for eight years.”

Was that why Tinubu nominated him to be minister and the senate said no? Would el-Rufai be talking about “sensible inclusion” if he had scaled through the Senate hurdle? Like Obasanjo said of him, el-Rufai is “brilliant and smart”, and Nigerians must always make “allowance for the psychology of his petit size and his elephantine brain” (Pg 110). I agree and warn that anybody who underrates el-Rufai does so at his own peril.

His engagements with Nigeria since he came into our lives have been phenomenal. el-Rufal led the caste of northern governors who stopped Buhari from foisting another northern president on Nigeria in 2023. He stopped Buhari and his cabal and made Tinubu (and his cabal) possible. You ignore him to your sorrow. Who knows if his latest sanctimonious outing about “two wrongs don’t make a right” is the first in a series of actions he may take to correct the ‘mistake’ of 2022/23?

I honestly wished President Tinubu had given one the boldness and pride to defend him against all the el-Rufais of this era. But it is not too late. He has 2025, which starts tomorrow, to reinvent himself and make all who call him Asiwaju (leader) proud. May his Saul go to Damascus in the new year.

Happy New Year, Nigerians.

News

Xenophobic Attacks: Oshiomhole Tells FG To Retaliate Against South African Companies In Nigeria

Published

13 hours ago

May 5, 2026

Editor

Senator Adams Oshiomhole has called on the Federal Government to retaliate against South African businesses operating in Nigeria following the recent attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.

Speaking during plenary on Tuesday, Oshiomhole said the Federal Government should consider revoking the working license of South African owned companies such as MTN and DSTV.

He argued that Nigeria must respond firmly to what he described as persistent hostility against its citizens.

“I am not going to shed tears. If you hit me, I hit you. I think it is appropriate in diplomacy. It is an economic struggle,” Oshiomhole said.

He argued that while some South Africans accuse Nigerians of taking their jobs, Nigerians should return home and take over employment opportunities created by major South African companies operating in the country, including MTN and DSTV.

“When we hit back, the President of South Africa will not only talk but will also go on his knees to recognise that Nigeria cannot be intimidated.

“We will not condone any life being lost. If a crime has been committed under the South African law they have the right to bring any such person to justice, but to kill our people as if we are helpless, we will not allow that,” Oshiomhole added.

DAILY POST reports that several Nigerians in South Africa have reportedly been attacked, and their businesses destroyed, in ongoing xenophobic attacks in the country.

News

IGP Orders Officers Display Name Tag On Uniform, Gives Update On State Police

Published

13 hours ago

May 5, 2026

Editor

The Inspector General of Police, IGP, Tunji Disu, has ordered all police personnel to always have their name tags on their uniforms for easy identification.

Disu disclosed that only police personnel who are undercover are exempted from displaying their name tags.

Speaking on Tuesday, Disu said: “All police officers should have their name tags. All of us on the high table have our names apart from the undercover among us so if you look at all the Commissioners of Police we have our name tags, so it’s not our standard.

News

Court Orders SERAP To Pay DSS Operatives N100m For Defamation

Published

18 hours ago

May 5, 2026

Editor

The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has ordered a non-governmental organization, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, to pay N100 million as damaged to two operatives of the Department of the State Services, DSS, for unjustly defaming them in some publications.

The court also ordered SERAP to tender public apologies to the defamed officers,
Sarah John and Gabriel Ogundele, in two national newspapers, two television stations and its website.

Besides, the organization was also ordered to pay the two operatives N1 million as cost of litigation and 10 percent post-judgment interest annually on the judgment sum until it’s fully liquidated.

Justice Yusuf Halilu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory gave the order on Tuesday while delivering judgment in a N5.5 billion defamation suit instituted against SERAP by the DSS operatives.

The judge found SERAP liable for unjustly defaming the two DSS operatives with allegations that they unlawfully invaded its Abuja office, harassed and intimidated its staff, in September 2024.

In the offending publication on its website and Twitter handle, SERAP alleged that the two operatives unlawfully invaded and occupied its office with sinister motives.

The judge held that the publication was in bad taste especially from an organization established to promote transparency and accountability, as nothing in the publication was found to be truthful.

The DSS staff had listed SERAP as 1st defendant in the suit marked CV/4547/2024. SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, was listed as the 2nd defendant.

In the suit, the claimants – Sarah John and Gabriel Ogundele – accused the two defendants of making false claims that they invaded SERAP’s Abuja office on September 9, 2024..

Counsel to the DSS, Oluwagbemileke Samuel Kehinde, had while adopting his final address in the mater urged the judge to grant all the reliefs sought by his client in the interest of justice.

He admitted that although the names of the two claimants were not mentioned in the defamation materials, they had however established substantial circumstances that they are the ones referred to in the published defamation article by SERAP on its website.

The counsel submitted that all ingredients of defamation have been clearly established and the offending publication referred to the two officials of the secret police.

However, SERAP, through its counsel, Victoria Bassey from Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, law firm, asked the court to dismiss the suit on the ground that the two claimants did not establish that they were the ones referred to in the alleged defamation materials.

She said that SERAP used “DSS officials” in the alleged offending publication, adding that the two claimants must establish that they are the ones referred to before their case can succeed.

Similar arguments were canvassed by Oluwatosin Adefioye who stood for the second defendant, adding that there was no dispute in the September 9, 2024 operation of DSS in SERAP’s office.

He said that since SERAP in the publication did not name any particular person, the claimants must plead special circumstances that they were the ones referred to as the DSS officials.

Besides, he said that there is no organization by name Department of State Services in law, hence, DSS cannot claim being defamed adding that the only entity known to law is National Security Agency.

The claimants had in the suit stated that the alleged false claim by SERAP has negatively impacted on their reputation.

The DSS also stated, in the statement of claim, that, in line with the agency’s practice of engaging with officials of non-governmental organisations operating in the FCT to establish a relationship with their new leadership, it directed the two officials – John and Ogunleye – to visit SERAP’s office and invite them for a familiarization meeting.

The claimants added that in carrying out the directive, John and Ogunleye paid a friendly visit to SERAP’s office at 18 Bamako Street, Wuse Zone 1, Abuja on September 9 and met with one Ruth, who upon being informed about the purpose of the visit, claimed that none of SERAP’s management staff was in the country and advised that a formal letter of invitation be written by the DSS.

John and Ogundele, who claimed that their interactions with Ruth were recorded, said before they immediately exited SERAP’s office, Ruth promised to inform her organisation’s management about the visit and volunteered a phone number – 08160537202.

They said it was surprising that, shortly after their visit, SERAP posted on its X (Twitter) handle – @SERAPNigeria – that officers of the DSS are presently unlawfully occupying its office.

The claimant added, “On the same day, the defendants also published a statement on SERAP’s website, which was widely reported by several media outfits, falsely alleging that some officers from the DSS, described as “a tall, large, dark-skinned woman” and “a slim, dark skinned man,” invaded their Abuja office and interrogated the staff of the first defendant (SERAP).

John and Ogundele stated that “due to the false statements published by the defendants, the DSS has been ridiculed and criticised by international agencies such as the Amnesty International and prominent members of the Nigerian society, such as Femi Falana (SAN)”.

“Due to the false statements published by the defendants, members of the public and the international community formed the opinion that the Federal Government is using the DSS to harass the defendants.”

They added that the defendants’ statements caused harm to their reputation because the staff and management of the DSS have formed the opinion that the claimants did not follow orders and carried out an unsanctioned operation and are therefore, incompetent and unprofessional.

The claimants therefore prayed the court for the following reliefs: “An order directing the defendants to tender an apology to the claimants via the first defendant’s (SERAP’s) website, X (twitter) handle, two national daily newspapers (Punch and Vanguard) and two national news television stations (Arise Television and Channels Television) for falsely accusing the claimants of unlawfully invading the first defendant’s office and interrogating the first defendant’s staff.

“An order directing the defendants to pay the claimants the sum of N5 billion as damages for the libellous statements published about the claimants.

“Interest on the sum of N5b at the rate of 10 percent per annum from the date of judgment until the judgment sum is realised or liquidated.

“An order directing the defendants to pay the claimants the sum of N50 million as costs of this action.”