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OPINION: Fubara, Wike And Day I Broke Duck’s Eggs

Published

2 years ago

December 19, 2023

By Suyi Ayodele

Have you ever broken a duck’s eggs intentionally? The duck does not come after you for doing that. Its siblings, known in the esoteric language as àpapò eleye (the combined forces of birds) do that on its behalf. I learnt the lesson that it takes the intervention of the Almighty to survive the war of àpapò eleye so young in life. They are a very unrelenting lot, who wage a war of attrition, and equally fatal. May my enemies not incur their wrath!

The duck is a dull bird, so we think. It is slow in virtually everything it does; never in a hurry. But beyond its ‘dullness’, the duck possesses some powers that make the human race avoid it. For those who are knowledgeable enough in the belief of our forebears, the duck is not just a bird. It is the bird of the elders. We are in the festive season when millions of chickens are sent to their early graves all in the name of celebration. Check up on your neighbours this season and tell me how many homes are using ducks as delicacies in celebration of Christmas. If you find any, I will advise you to respect such a home in all your dealings. Or, if you have a friend who boils or fries duck’s eggs for breakfast, know that your friend is deeper than you know. In poultry keeping, avian farmers hardly rear ducks in commercial quantities, at least in my part of the world. Yet, ducks lay more eggs in multiples than the chickens. Is there something about this gentle bird that is beyond the ordinary?

Growing up in the village, we discovered that if a driver mistakenly ran over a duck or its ducklings, the driver would not just run off. He would stop, look for a currency note or a coin and stick it in the mouth of the dead bird. Why? I will tell you the reason in a while. But let us talk more about the peculiarities of the strange bird, the duck. In terms of the heaviness of feathers, duck feathers are longer and heavier than those of chickens. But in terms of flight, the two are not the same. Chickens merely flop around. Whatever swiftness the duck lacks in walking, it makes up for in flying. The duck flies without flapping its wings like most birds. Once it takes to flight, it releases its wings for the winds to take over. And it goes a long distance before it stops. But on the ground, the duck and its ducklings are majestic; never in a hurry, and never paying attention to human activities around them. Another thing about this strange bird is that it makes no effort in protecting its eggs or ducklings from harm. It allows you to do whatever you want to do with them while it looks on with an expressionless stance. Even the ravenous hawks avoid ducklings while looking for supper. What is it about the duck? What is the mystery surrounding this being? I learnt about that while I was just crawling out of my cradle.

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We were three young cousins in our innocence. We got new catapults from an older cousin whose baskets we assisted in hawking. He was the honest type, who delivered on his promises. The gifts of catapults from him were priceless, and pronto, we went a-hunting. Our targets were the lizards on the rough walls of the houses in the neighbourhood. We were at this lizards-hunting venture when we suddenly stumbled on a duck in hibernation. We disturbed its peace and it left the eggs and moved a distance away. Waoh! There were many eggs. Whatever came over us. We tried our marksmanship on the eggs, aiming at them, and breaking them in relish as the stones hit them with a sound that excited us. It became a competition. Then an old woman showed up. We took off in different directions like the naughty boys we were. She raised an alarm and the neighbours, including our mothers, gathered to see what we had done. We needed nobody to tell us that we were in trouble. So, we stayed off our homes for as long as we could.

Something, however, soon brought us back home. We crawled back when hunger set in, waiting for the worst to happen. I was expecting the worst from my unsparing mother. But nothing happened to us. No beating, no scolding, no reprimand of any kind. Strange! We were fed our normal rations and we went to sleep. The following morning, the three of us were summoned, and given different types of left-over foods and asked to go and feed the duck. Again, strangely enough; we met the duck on the same spot, where we broke its eggs, as if it was in hibernation. We fed it for days until the duck left the spot to continue its normal lifestyle. Soon, we saw it with several ducklings and we never troubled it again. Another strange occurrence was that the owner of the duck, an old irascible woman, never asked us why we did what we did. She carried on as if we never offended her!

Days later, I asked my mother why nobody scolded us and we were merely asked to feed the duck. She only warned me never to break the duck’s eggs again. “Only a bad child does that”, she retorted. I was not satisfied. I knew there was more to it than she said. Years later, while watching my late father, Baba Falade, on his divination mat, I got to know why one should not intentionally break the eggs of the duck. I will only recall the way he ended the Odu Ifa that day. It was a warning in the esoteric that rings bell in my ears till date. This is what Baba Falade said to his clients that day: “Honi bá fo eyin pepeye, li hi wa uja apapo eleye” – he who intentionally breaks the eggs of the duck is the one who looks for the trouble of the combined forces of the birds. You should know by now what the “birds” in the warning represent. If you don’t, how do I help your ignorance of the operations of our mothers; the real owners of the night! It is not for fun that they are not called: Òlamo níjà, gbemo níjà, sin omo de lé – he who settles her child’s fight, fights her child’s fight, and escorts her child back home!

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Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State is in a long battle with his benefactor, godfather, predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Wike. The masses will never get to know the root of the big men’s quarrel. What we all know is that this is a battle that will not end soon. In the coming days and weeks, a lot of interests will come to play, and the battle will be prolonged. While the battle lasts, the peace of Rivers State will suffer. The people of the state will suffer too. And finally, if care is not taken, the economy of the nation will suffer. Should that happen, Nigerians in their millions, will suffer untold economic hardship. This is because the raging battle is capable of crippling our economic mainstay, oil. Can Nigeria afford such? It is left for our new husband in Aso Rock, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his inner court members to decide. I am very much interested in the Fubara-Wike tango. I can predict the end. I can also do a character identikit of the dramatis personae. In this ongoing crisis, Fubara is the duck, while Wike is like the adolescents, who intentionally broke the eggs of a duck years back. Unless Wike sheats his swords and feeds Fubara’s duck for days, he may suffer the warning seconded in Baba Falade’s divination. Should this crisis degenerate to the level that the duck’s siblings would have to weigh in, Wike would have the real apapo eleye to contend with.

Fubara has already set the stage for what is to come. When a trap setter uses an elephant as bait, every discerning mind should know the size of the game that will go down. Last week, before our very eyes, the Rivers State governor did the most unthinkable. As early as 5.00am, on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, the governor moved in with about six bulldozers, a sizeable number of security agents, and demolished the entire state House of Assembly structures. That is the bait for Wike. A governor who could wake up and render an entire arm of government useless is capable of anything. He did not stop there. Fubara moved just four members of the 31-member assembly to the Government House, where he presented the N800 billion state budget to them. The “Assembly” ‘passed’ the budget the same day. By the following day, December 14, Governor Fubara signed the 2024 Appropriation Bill into law. Recall the speed of the duck mentioned above. Is Wike getting the message? I wish he continues in this battle of no victory. I ask this with every sense of sincerity: who would have believed that a Fubara with his ‘innocent’ look would have the nerves to pull off the happenings in that state in the last one week? That, again, is the way of the duck. You can only take its ‘dullness’ for granted at your own risk!

Now, the duck’s siblings are already coming into the fray. The battle ground is getting frenzied. The war music I listened to in Gbelebu town penultimate week is playing in my head. I don’t know the lyrics of the war song. The interpretation of the song as given by my Ijaw friend of over three decades, Fidelis Soriwei, keeps ringing in my head. I pictured the frenzy of the atmosphere as the musician hit the cord. I visualised the excitement of the crowd, especially the womenfolk. Then Fidelis’ voice came hitting me. “What he is saying is that the children are crying as they are being prevented from joining the war boats and canoes. The elders are saying the children should go back because this war is not for them.” I asked why women, I mean mothers, should be happy that a war is about to break out. My interlocutor’s response was daring. “When it comes to war, there is no man or woman in the Ijaw nation.” Without sounding unnecessarily sanguine, I think I love that! If war exterminates without gender discrimination, the one to keep the people alive should also not be gender-sensitive. Ijaw women are already on the battlefield on the side of Fubara. They are being led by the 53-year-old Boma Goodhead, who represents the Asari-Toru Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. The video of the grave allegation she levelled against Wike is all over the Internet. She is not alone.

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The Ijaw National Congress (INC) has also come into the fray. It is a case of one for all, all for one. Led by its President, Professor Benjamin Okaba, INC sees the Fubara-Wike tango beyond the ordinary. The Ijaw ethnic group is taking the battle to President Tinubu, who it accused of backing Wike against the governor. The group warned that having suffered marginalisation for too long despite being the golden goose that lays the golden eggs for the nation to live on, it would not fold its arms this time around. Should the crisis continue, INC said it could no longer guarantee the safety of the nation’s oil installations and facilities in the Niger Delta! “We are already angered that the government of President Bola Tinubu has marginalised the Ijaw people. In Delta State, where three persons were picked for a federal appointment, none are from the Ijaw nation….Meanwhile the Ijaw are the most economically viable in that state. We are noting all of this. But for him to keep quiet and allow Wike to misbehave shows that there is some tacit support. And we shall not take that. As we speak, our people are so angered; our people are so frustrated to the extent that we can no longer guarantee if things continue in this way, the safety of the oil installations in Ijaw land and our region….40 million Ijaw people are angered and aggrieved. And they are saying that a slap on Governor Fubara is a slap on the entire Ijaw nation. Any attempt to further close up our political space to remove Siminalayi Fubara from office is a call for fire.”

The simple interpretation of the INC warning is that a war will soon break out in Rivers State. Should that happen, the nation will suffer greatly. The Ijaw, in this impending war, will not fight conventionally. They will go for the soul of the nation. Unfortunately, Nigeria cannot afford any sabotage of its economy with the level of economic crisis the nation is passing through at the moment. Something must give. I don’t fully understand Wike’s worth in the President Tinubu government. I don’t know the level of damage Wike did to his own political party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), during the last election such that he occupies a prime position in the political calculation of President Tinubu. But I know one thing. When the chips are down, and the president is to make a choice between the economic prosperity of his government and Wike, he will go for the former. That will not make Tinubu an ingrate. The president will only be archetypal. After all, they say in politics and international relations, there are no permanent friends and enemies, but permanent interests. The coming days and weeks will be interesting. Wike has the window now to allow peace in Rivers State. He has fought many battles and won. How he intends to win the current war, I don’t know. He has everything to lose if President Tinubu decides to sacrifice him for the peace of the Niger Delta. No nation should take the INC’s warning lightly. In any case, they have done it before. And nothing can stop them from repeating the feat if that is their last card on the table. I can’t imagine Nigeria adding another avoidable Niger Delta crisis to the litany of woes confronting the nation because of an overbearing godfather. The matter is easier for President Tinubu to handle. He is the godfather of godfathers himself. So, it should not be difficult for him to take the call and avoid the looming battle of an àpapò eleye!!

Related Topics:#opinion Fubara Rivers Suyi Ayodele

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Otuaro: Baseless Allegations, Disregard Them, Group Urges Public

Published

21 hours ago

May 17, 2026

Editor

The Ijaw People’s Development Initiative, IPDI has reacted to a statement circulating online regarding the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), describing it as baseless.

The statement under the disguise ‘Niger Delta Stakeholders Forum and Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities,’ had demanded accountability regarding the management of the Programme and its administrator, Dr Dennis Otuaro.

Reacting to the statement, National President, IPDI, Comrade Austin Ozobo, said: “We consider it necessary to respond point by point to correct misconceptions, reject unsubstantiated claims, and keep the record straight in the interest of PAP beneficiaries, stakeholders, and the general public.

“It is worthy of note that the PAP operates under strict federal financial regulations and is subject to routine audits by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, the Ministry of Finance, and other oversight bodies.

“All disbursements, including stipends, vocational training, education support, and third-party contracts, are processed through the Treasury Single Account, TSA, with verifiable records”, the statement read.

According to the IPDI, the Programme welcomes lawful criticism and scrutiny at any time. However, linking such a call to specific individuals without evidence amounts to trial by the media and undermines due process.

“Dr Dennis Otuaro, administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme has maintained a good record of financial management, hence no formal petition with verifiable evidence has been submitted to any anti-graft agency till date”.

“It may interest you to know that the N65,000 monthly stipend is fixed by the Appropriation Act and can only be reviewed through a budgetary process approved by the National Assembly and the Presidency.

‘The PAP management has consistently conveyed beneficiaries’ concerns on cost of living to relevant authorities”.

“Again, claims that allocations to the Programme have risen significantly while stipends remain unchanged misrepresents the budget structure.

“Note, increased allocations in recent years have been tied to expanded reintegration programs, education sponsorships, skills acquisition, and infrastructure support for training centers, not solely to stipend payments”.

The group reiterated that the allegation that the Amnesty Programme Office “kidnaps and detains delegates” is false, reckless, and defamatory, adding that the PAP has no paramilitary or law enforcement mandate, nor does it operate detention facilities and that any incident involving law enforcement is outside the control and purview of the Programme.

“We challenge the authors to provide verifiable details of time, place, and persons involved so the matter can be addressed through appropriate legal channels,” the group said

On Claims of Selective Empowerment and 500% Payment Increases, the group maintained that payments to contractors, ex-agitator leaders, and service providers were governed by existing contracts and agreements predating the current administration.

“No individual or camp has received unilateral increases without contractual basis or due process. Allegations of 500% increases are unsubstantiated and designed to stoke division among beneficiaries,” it added.

“The current administration has maintained a policy of transparency in engagement with leaders and has expanded inclusion by verifying and capturing previously omitted beneficiaries where due“, IPDI added.

The group further said, “The PAP remains a neutral, peace-building institution established under the 2009 Amnesty Declaration. Its mandate is to coordinate disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration. The Office does not engage in political victimization, intimidation, or exclusion of stakeholders. Engagement with ex-agitator leaders and community structures is conducted based on their role in maintaining peace and facilitating reintegration, not political alignment”.

“The PAP under Chief Denis Otuaro’s leadership remains committed to transparency, fairness, and the original mandate of the Amnesty Programme. Constructive criticism is welcome and has informed policy adjustments in the past. However, campaigns of calumny, unverified allegations, and attempts to drag the Programme into commercial or political disputes do not serve the interest of peace in the Niger Delta”, IPDI said.

“We urge all stakeholders to channel grievances through the established engagement channels of the Programme and to avoid statements that threaten the fragile stability we have worked to sustain”.

Consequently, the IPDI urges members of the public to disregard what its described as “flimsy and unsubstantiated allegations, misconception, and missives by faceless groups above“.

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[OPINION] Olukoyede’s EFCC: Taming The ‘Fantastically-Corrupt’

Published

22 hours ago

May 17, 2026

Editor

Since its creation 23 years ago, by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, as president of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous and influential country, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had apparently not gotten a head, who had piloted the affairs of the commission, like Mr. Olanipekun Olukoyede, its Executive Chairman, a chief-operations-officer of the Commission.

It could be said that Olukoyede, the Czar thief catcher and arrestor of economic saboteurs, has given the EFCC’s enemies such a tough time as he has taking the anti-graft fight to the doorsteps of the high-profile individuals across the country. These range from former state governors, serving and former ministers, retired and serving civil servants, businessmen, clergies, traditional rulers, cyber-influencer, entertainers, professionals and numerous others.

Olukoyede brings years of experience in law, fraud management, and business intelligence to bear on the position. Before him, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu was EFCC’s inaugural chair; succeeded by the first and only female, Mrs. Farida Waziri; Ibrahim Lamorde, Ibrahim Magu, and Abdul Rasheed Bawa.

The anti-graft agency has its hands full with massive financial fraud and money laundering cases. In the clause of “physicians, look at thyself”, EFCC in its resolve is known to have been flushing out officers within the body, who run foul to the law.

In the past, before Olukoyede’s appointment, it was widely believed that it was only the “fries and not the big fishes”, who the Commission could summon the courage to prosecute; and that most culprits were also left from the hook, because of compromise by some corrupt officers of the Commission, and feeble litigation processes.

Mr. Godwin Emefiele, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), happened to have opened to Olukoyede’s a deluge of “big-men and women”, who have been arrested, investigated and cooling their feet in detention or those bailed, that are facing severe court trials. There is the biggest 19-count charge at the Ikeja Special Offences Court, involving an alleged $4.5 billion fraud.
Immediate-paste governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, faces two massive, but separate legal battles totalling over N190 billion on fraud allegation. EFCC secured from the Court of Appeal, forfeiture of 14 properties and huge money linked to him.

Abubakar Malami (former Attorney-General of the Federation), with his son, Abdulaziz and his wife, is currently charged on a-16-count of money laundering. The court has stayed interim forfeiture of 57 properties valued at over N213 billion.

EFCC had also secured the arrest of Sadiya Umar-Farouq, a female former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, and a former Permanent Secretary, through a Federal High Court, on a 21-point alleged fraud and corruption charge, involving $1.3 million and N746.6m and others amounting to 37.1 billion.

Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, also female and former Minister of Women Affairs, was removed from office by President Bola Tinubu, over alleged misappropriation and diversion of N138.4 million, and had been under EFCC questioning.

A recent discovery, which startled Nigerians and the world, the Commission (EFCC) had reportedly arrested a serving Director-General of the Energy Commission of Nigeria, Dr. Mustapha Abdullahi, over alleged money laundering involving about ₦500 billion.

Somewhat, this had deflated the claim that those arrested and persecuted are political opponents and not serving officers of the Tinubu’s government.

EFCC is a “Nigerian law enforcement and anti-graft agency that investigates financial crimes, such as advance fee fraud (419 Fraud) and money laundering. It was also set up to fight against corruption and to protect the country from economic saboteurs”.

The Commission, whilst responding to pressures from the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), that named Nigeria as one of 23 countries not cooperating in the international community’s efforts to fight money laundering, had revved in performance, in a bid to roll back the blights.

And so, it is a strenuous goal for EFCC, as entrenched in the ‘EFCC Establishment Act 2004’, which gives it specialist jurisdiction against severe financial and commercial crime – covering multiple high and lower levels.

Born on 14 October 1969, Olukoyede, a civil servant, has had a clear break from past, where past executive chairmen of the Commission had left the Commission, where all serving officers were drafted from the Nigerian Police Force (NPF). However, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is widely commended for Olukoyede’s appointment to the position, with the Senate also eulogized for screening him.

Whilst briefing the Press in Abuja, on his two-year activities in office, on October 23, 2025, the Commission’s boss certainly made unprecedented progress in the fight against economic and financial crimes. He spoke through the Director of Public Affairs of the Commission, Wilson Uwujaren, as he listed the recovery of N566 billion, alongside other currencies and assets, among the achievements of the Commission.

He further revealed that the Commission received over 19,000 petitions, conducted 29,240 investigations, filed 10,525 cases in court, and secured 7,503 convictions.

Olukoyede asserted that the Commission recovered ₦566,319,820,343.40, $411,566,192.32, £71,306.25, €182,877.10, and other foreign currencies from proceeds of financial and economic crimes. Added to this was the recovery of 1,502 non-monetary assets, comprising 402 properties in 2023, 975 in 2024, and 125 so far in 2025.

“Among these recovered assets are two notable landmarks: the final forfeiture of 753 units of duplexes in Lokogoma, Abuja, and the forfeiture of Nok University, now the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, Kaduna State,” he said.

He listed several high-profile cases prosecuted within the period, including those involving former governors Willie Obiano, Abdulfatah Ahmed, Darius Ishaku, Theodore Orji, and Yahaya Bello. Others are former ministers Olu Agunloye, Mamman Saleh, Hadi Sirika, Charles Ugwu, and former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

EFCC was also said to have reentered and invigorated some longstanding fraud cases, such as ones linking Fred Ajudua, former People Democratic Party, PDP National Chairman Haliru Bello Mohammed, ex-National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki, and former Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF boss, Ngozi Olojeme.

The EFCC said it arrested 792 suspects involved in asset and cryptocurrency frauds in Lagos, among who were 192 foreigners who were prosecuted and deported.

A Task Force on Naira Abuse and Dollarisation of the Economy was established by EFCC, which accordingly, had notable impacts in sanitizing money actions countrywide. “The campaign against naira abuse, racketeering, and speculative currency trading has helped reduce pressure on the naira and complemented the Central Bank’s efforts in stabilizing the economy,” he said.

Olukoyede also spoke on the Commission’s strengthened partnerships with foreign law enforcement agencies, including the Korean Police, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Spanish Police, and German Police.

He also mention benefitting synergy with the FBI, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), INTERPOL, and Japan’s JICA, in subsequent joint investigations and the repatriation of stolen assets to victims from Spain, Canada, and the United States.

Strengthening EFFC’s mandate at the regional level, and in Africa, Olukoyede and the Commission are said to be up and doing. For instance, a thing that had never happened to EFFC, he had been twice elected as President of the Network of National Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa (NACIWA), which led to the founding of a permanent secretariat in Abuja.

A strong media presence is needed to successfully inform the public of the ideals of EFCC and its update activities. And so, ‘EFCC Radio 97.3FM’, Nigeria’s first anti-corruption radio station, was established Olukoyede. EFCC should count itself very lucky for having in its fold, tested, diligent and veteran journalists who are ostensibly seasoned in the ideals and watchdog principles of the Commission.

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APC Primaries: Johnny Rallies Support For Senator Thomas’ Re-election Bid

Published

22 hours ago

May 17, 2026

Editor

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Delta State, Chief Michael Johnny, has called on Delta South Senatorial District’s party faithful to come out in large tomorrow and vote for Senator Joel-Onowakpo Thomas (JOT) in the party senatorial primary election.

Johnny, widely regarded as a leader par excellence within the APC, described the primary election as a critical moment that will determine the political stability, unity, and future direction of Delta South.

According to him, Delta South needs a detribalized leader with the capacity to unite people beyond ethnic sentiments and political divisions.

He warned against leaders whose style of politics promotes ethnic division and unnecessary tension within the region.

Chief Johnny stated that Senator Thomas has continued to distinguish himself as a leader who carries everyone along, irrespective of tribe, political background, or local government affiliation.

He noted that JOT’s leadership style has strengthened cooperation, peace, fairness, and political inclusion across Delta South.

Speaking further, Chief Johnny declared that the Ijaw people have resolved to stand firmly behind Thomas because fairness, justice, and political balance must prevail in Delta South.

“As Ijaw people, we have decided to support Senator Joel because this is the turn of the Isoko nation, and Ijaw stands for truth. That is our position,” he stated.

He also appreciated what he described as “genuine Itsekiri sons and daughters” who believe in fairness, equity, and peaceful coexistence, adding that Delta South can only move forward when the various ethnic nationalities work together in unity and mutual respect.

Chief Johnny maintained that the senatorial district must not be dragged backward by divisive politics or ethnic interests capable of weakening the collective strength of the region.

He stressed that all APC members in Delta South must remain united in their support for Senator Joel-Onowakpo Thomas.

“Delta South is bigger than personal interests. This election is about unity, stability, fairness, and the future of our people. Senator JOT represents continuity, experience, and inclusive leadership for all ethnic groups in Delta South,” Chief Johnny added.