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OPINION: Fulani, Hausa And Yoruba Truths [Monday Lines]

Published

11 months ago

January 6, 2025

Editor

By Lasisi Olagunju

We say in Yoruba that if we do a census of slaves, slaves will be sad. History, an account of facts of the past, is always injurious to the health of sick nations. And, Nigeria is sick. We’ve all become ethnic nationalists – especially after the coming of the last regime. Questions previously unasked are now being asked. What is the meaning of the name of my ethnic group? And my neighbours’? How did the word ‘Fulani’ come to be? How about the meanings of ‘Yoruba’, ‘Hausa’, Igbo’, ‘Nupe’? Who coined those names? You and I know you bear a name but have you ever asked who truly suggested that name? Your parents? A relation? Or a neighbour? Or is it just a plain alias?

On the last day of 2024, our Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, announced on Channels Television that from 2025, History would be reintroduced in our primary and secondary schools as a subject of study. “We now have people up to 30 years old totally disconnected from our history. It doesn’t happen in any part of the world. From 2025, our students in primary and secondary schools will have that as part of their studies,” he declared.

I heard him and wondered which ‘history’ would be taught in our schools that won’t ignite a ‘civil war’? The one written by my conquerors proving how inferior I am to them or the one written by me that affirms my tribe’s superiority over my neighbours’?

We are a nation that will never agree on anything. Not on history; not even on truth. Towards the end of last year, three ‘historians’ wrote on what is true about Yoruba history and each of the three accounts cancelled out the others. First it was Kemi Badenoch (a Yoruba and leader of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom), who said she should not be lumped with northern Nigeria because she had nothing in common with that part of the country. “Being Yoruba is my true identity, and I refuse to be lumped with northern people of Nigeria, who were our ethnic enemies, all in the name of being called a Nigerian,” she announced.

Then came a reaction from Nigerian-American professor of communication, Farooq Kperogi, a Bariba (Baatonu) from the north central who mocked Kemi’s position and told her that her Yoruba ethnic group owed its name and a chunk of its history and language to northern Nigeria. Kperogi wrote in his 21 December, 2024 Saturday Tribune column that even “the term Yoruba… originates from — of all places — northern Nigeria!” For effects, he dug down and declared that “‘Yoruba’ is, after all, an exonym first bestowed upon the Oyo people by their northern neighbours, the Baatonu (Bariba) of Borgu, before it was shared with the Songhai (whose scholar by the name of Ahmad Baba has the distinction of being the first person to mention the name in print as “Yariba” in his 1613 essay titled “Al-kashf wa-l-bayān li-aṣnāfmajlūb al-Sūdān”).” Kperogi went further to give examples of many Yoruba words that were borrowed from Hausa or Arabic or other northern Nigerian languages.

Kperogi’s position on ethnic identity and on who named whom generated considerable interest all through the last weeks of 2024. I read a commenter on LinkedIn who reacted to Kperogi with “Bariba is the father of the Yoruba.” I read counter posts. Reactions depended on the ethnic identity of the person reacting.

Nigerian-American Arts History professor, Moyo Okediji of the University of Texas at Austin soon joined the fray. He wrote on Monday, 23 December, 2024, that he was grateful to Kemi Badenoch for distancing herself, as a Yoruba, from northern Nigeria because of the terrorism there. Kemi’s remark, Okediji said, echoed what millions of Yoruba people had in mind but dared not say “in a country in which you get arrested and criminally prosecuted for saying what you consider to be plain truth.” Okediji noted reactions from the north on what Kemi said. He then dwelt extensively on Kperogi’s piece. He gave his own truth on the origin of the name ‘Yoruba’ quoting his grandmother: “Yoruba is a shortened form of ‘A yọ orù bá wọn dáná ọmọ tuntun.’ It is a panegyric phrase for both Ọ̀ṣun and Ọya, but especially for Ọ̀sun.” On the borrowed words, Okediji disagreed again with Kperogi. He wrote: “Would it occur to him— and others like him who have made similar claims in the past, and who continue to espouse that sentiment—that those foreigners could have borrowed the words from Yoruba people rather than the other way round? Why do they assume that if x is found in Yoruba language and it is also found in the Arabic language, x must be an Arabic word by default, but not a Yoruba word?” Okediji titled his piece ‘Of Kemi Badenoch and Yoruba etymologies.’ It was widely shared by Yoruba ‘nationalists’ across social media platforms.

I read Kperogi and told him I would try to add my voice to the discourse. He said he would read me. While I was reading him, I thought I should seek answers to similar questions of what meaning have the names Hausa and Fulani, the obvious point of reference of both Kemi and Okediji.

In his ‘The Wanderers’ published in African Affairs in January 1946, M. D. W. Jeffreys argues that many present-day tribal names were nicknames. He then proceeds to “show how widespread in Africa is a tribal name whose meaning boils down to “wanderers, migrants, nomads, foreigners, or strangers…”

The name ‘Hausa’, what does it mean? Getting an answer to that question has been of interest to researchers even before the last century. We see an effort in ‘The Origin of the Name ‘Hausa” authored by Neil Skinner and published in the Journal of the International African Institute in July 1968. Skinner suggested that the name was from the Songhay which held sway in Sub-Sahara Africa between the 15th and the 17th centuries. He wrote: “The Songhai word for ‘east’ is hausa, which would seem to be fairly conclusive. ‘Hausa’ also has the connotations of ‘left bank of river ‘ and ‘bush’ (in the West African sense of ‘wild, uncultivated country’); and it may be that for Songhai-speakers there was an added pejorative significance of ‘bushmen ‘ – a term of abuse in modern West African pidjin.”

Indeed, 58 years earlier, A. J. N. Tremearne, in his ‘Notes on The Origin of the Hausas’ published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts in July 1910, traced the root of the name and concluded that “the word ‘Habeshi’ was a term of contempt applied by Arabs to mixed races, and Hausa (ba-haushe) is a modification.” I wonder how many Hausas will agree to this history today.

The Fulani know that their traditional ethnic identity name is Fulbe but they have accepted to be called ‘Fulani’, the name their Hausa neighbours gave them. What does that mean? In ‘L’origine du nom Fulani’ published in 1944, Jeffreys tells us that the words ‘Philistine’ and ‘Fulani’ “come from a common root F-L which in the Indo-European languages means ‘foreigner, stranger, alien’ and, by a secondary meaning, ‘inferior.’” It is also from Jeffreys (1946) that we learn that ‘Nupe’ carries almost the same meaning. To state what ‘Nupe’ means, Jeffreys uses a Nupe tale of origin. He writes that: “‘Nupe’ itself means ‘stranger, fugitive, wanderer’. Among the Nupe, there is a legend to this effect, that a certain stranger, a hunter, called Abduazizi, travelling from the East, arrived with his family at the town of Doko Daji, where he settled among the Beni. He was given the title of Nefiu, the Arabic word for fugitive, whence arises the corruption Nufe (Nupe).” He apparently took that from O. Temple and Charles Lindsay Temple’s ‘Notes on the Tribes, Provinces, Emirates and States of the Northern Provinces of Nigeria’ (1919).

M.D.W. Jeffreys, quoted in the narratives above, was British government’s official anthropologist and colonial administrator in Southern Nigeria from 1915 to 1932. He did very extensive research into the histories and cultures of ethnic groups in southern Nigeria and is acknowledged as having published hundreds of articles on the subject “in specialist journals including ‘Africa’, ‘Man’, Folklore’ and the ‘Journal of the Royal African Society’.”

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: Mass Murder On River Niger[Monday Lines]

Like Kperogi, I am not a historian but I have always been interested in that part of his (Kperogi’s) piece on where and how the Yoruba got the name ‘Yoruba’. We had a back and forth exchange on it on the pages of the Tribune five years ago. In my column of 28 October, 2019, I engaged Kperogi on his claim that his Baatonu (Bariba) people gave the Yoruba people the name ‘Yoruba’. I suggested then that given what professional historians, ethnographers and anthropologists had done in that area, the name ‘Yoruba’ may have existed long before the Bariba and the Yoruba had cause to meet. I challenged his thesis then by asking if he did not think the existence of ‘Yoru’ or ‘Yorubu’ in his Baatonu (Baruba) language could be as a result of the very long history of interaction between Baruba and the Yoruba dating back to the sack of Oyo Ile by the Nupe and the exile of the Alaafin to Borgu in about 1535 (See Richard Smith’s ‘The Alaafin in Exile: A Study of the Igboho Period in Oyo History’ published in The Journal of African History, Vol. 6, Issue 1, March 1965 from pages 57 – 77). Could it be that the word was an export that accompanied the Alaafin to Baruba’s Borgu which then became corrupted to Yoru/Yorubu? Again, can Kperogi examine Sultan Bello’s and other researchers’ findings which indicate that the word ‘Yarba’ or ‘Yaarba’ may have existed outside sub-Sahara Africa long before Yoruba-Baruba and Yoruba-Hausa/Fulani interactions?

I have in the last one week reread eminent historian, Professor J.A. Atanda’s ‘The Historian and The Problem of Origins of Peoples in Nigerian Society’ published in December 1980. Atanda writes that “Sultan Bello’s account of the origin of the Yoruba people derived inspiration from an old Arabic text, ‘Azhar al-Ruba fi Akhbar Bilad Yoruba’ written by one Dan Masani, a noted scholar of Katsina, who lived in the seventeenth century and died in 1667.” Atanda explains further, with references, that even Dan Masani is believed to have “obtained his information from Yoruba converts to Islam.” What this suggests is ‘Yoruba’ as an endonym – the reverse of Kperogi’s exonymic explanation of the name.

Kperogi was sure that some illustrious Basorun of Oyo, including Basorun Gaa were not Yoruba. Kperogi wrote that “well-regarded Basoruns like Magaji, Worudua, Biri, Yamba, Jambu, and Gaa who helped extend Oyo’s frontiers were of Borgu origin.” He said he “was shocked to read recently that even Ibadan, the administrative capital of Western Nigeria, was founded by a northern Nigerian of Borgu origins. Oluyole, the founder of modern Ibadan, was the scion of Bashorun Yau Yamba, who was of Borgu ancestry.” That is from Kperogi. First, Oluyole did not found Ibadan. He came and joined the founders after 1830. Read Toyin Falola’s ‘Ibadan: Foundation, Growth and Change: 1830-1960. Available historical facts say that Oluyole’s father was a noble man in Old Oyo (Oyo Ile) called Olukuoye Ajala while his mother was a daughter of Alaafin Abiodun. Iwe Itan Ibadan published in 1911 by I. B. Akinyele, who later became an Olubadan, gives some clarity on this. Akinwumi Ogundiran’s ‘The Yoruba: A New History’ published in 2020 says so too on page 395.

Professor Kperogi’s claim is more intriguing when he described the six Basorun he listed as Bariba. History says until 1783, Borgu, the country of the Bariba, was under the rule of Oyo Ile. That fact is in grand old I. A. Akinjogbin’s 1963 PhD thesis titled: ‘Dahomey and its Neighbours 1708-1818’. This fact he reinforces in his ‘The Oyo Empire in The 18th Century’ published in 1966, on page 453. History, however, agrees that there is a long tradition of interaction between Oyo and Borgu people – an Alaafin actually lived and died in exile in Borgu after Oyo Ile was sacked by the Nupe. But it is also true that that friendship ended in fracas and fiasco. Read Robert Smith’s ‘Alaafin in Exile’, 1965: page 61-63. The hostility was very evident when Richard and John Lander visited Borgu in around 1830. The explorers were quoted by Robin Hallet (1965:112) as noting that: “perhaps no two people in the universe residing so near each other, differ more widely in their habits and customs, and even in their natures, than the natives of Yariiba (Yoruba) and Borgoo (Borgu). The former are perpetually engaged in trading with each other from town to town; the latter never quit their towns except in case of war, or when engaged in predatory excursions…”

So, I find Kperogi’s claim of a succession of non-Yoruba Basorun of Oyo, Alaafin’s second-in-command, quite worthy of scientific interrogation by historians.

Kperogi mentioned a Basorun Worubia, whom, because of his name, he took to be Bariba. Well, ‘Woru’ exists as a Yoruba name among the Sabe Yoruba community. The Sabe Yoruba are in Benin Republic surrounded by Borgu people. Olasope Oyelaran’s ‘Orita Borgu: The Yoruba and the Baatonu down the Ages’ (2018) says so on page 245. Yau Yamba (Yamba bi Ekun), mentioned variously by Kperogi, is described by Samuel Johnson in his ‘The History of the Yorubas’ (page 174) as “one of the most famous men in Yoruba history.” Yamba is said to be Basorun Gaa’s father (or ancestor). This presupposes that he was Basorun long before 1754 when Gaa became Basorun. This fact also means that both of them were Basorun at a time the Borgu country was a vassal of Old Oyo. So, at what point did a subject (before 1783) and an enemy or rival (post 1783) become so involved and indispensable that they started supplying candidates for Oyo Empire’s prime ministership?

A foremost authority on Yoruba history, Professor Banji Akintoye wrote in his ‘A History of the Yoruba People’ published in 2010 that “most of the greatest warriors of Yoruba history were produced by Oyo Empire.” He proceeded to name one of such warriors as “Iba Magaji, who served both Obalokun and Ajagbo as Basorun and commanded the earliest campaigns that conquered most of Nupe and Bariba countries.” So, would a Bariba lead outsiders to conquer his own people? Akintoye named a Basorun Akindein – his name is clearly Yoruba. He mentioned another – “the Basorun under the Alaafin Ojigi, the personage known to history by the nickname Yau Yamba…” (see page 242). It is possible that some of the Basorun of Oyo listed by Kperogi as Borgu (Bariba) merely used aliases possibly derived from the interactions they had with their non-Yoruba neighbours. As suggested by Akintoye, their real Oyo-Yoruba names may have been lost to history.

There is no agreement on this – even among well established Yoruba historians. Kperogi’s claim on the Basoruns appear to draw its roots from Akinwumi Ogundiran’s ‘The Yoruba: A New History’, cited earlier. Ogundiran wrote on what he called “the revitalized Oyo polity after 1570” which “bore the strong marks of power sharing” between the Oyo (Yoruba) on the one hand and the Bariba, Nupe, Songhai, Mossi, and others who “adopted the Oyo political identity and by extension became members of the Yoruba community of practice” (page 191). Ogundiran agreed that in post 1570 Oyo, Bariba families started controlling the office of Basorun, and the Nupe families, the Alapinni, head of the egungun cult. Ogundiran did not cite any authority to back this claim.

Kperogi also wrote that the Bariba (Baatonu) founded many Yoruba towns in present Oyo State. History says that what some Yorubanised Baribas founded were ruling dynasties, not towns and kingdoms. Kperogi mentioned Ogbomoso. There are three versions of the tradition of origin of that town. None of them says that Soun Ogunlola, the Bariba-Yoruba man, founded Ogbomoso. Ogunlola met people at that military post although his valour later gave the name ‘Ogbomoso’ to the settlement. Read Babatunde Agiri’s ‘When was Ogbomoso Founded’ published by the Transafrican Journal of History in 1976. You can also read N.D. Oyerinde’s ‘Iwe Itan Ogbomoso’ published in 1934.

I read something from Kperogi about “Kishi, another major town in Oyo State” being “founded by a Borgu prince by the name of Kilishi Yeruma.” Well, I have an eighty-something-year-old friend, a very literate man, who hails from Kishi. We say here that no one can carry a baby better than its mother. And, so, to my octogenarian friend I went in search of the truth in the history of Kishi. He disagreed with Kperogi; he gave to me what he knew to be the truth of that aspect of his people’s history. This is how he put it:

“As I sought to say sometime ago about Kishi, Kilishi met people already living in our town at Ilé Ògoríodó and his people exclaimed: “So, people are hiding here—Kìrìsí!” Kishi (Kisi) is thus derived from Kirisi. That is the origin of the name of the town. Otherwise, if the town was founded by Ìbàrùbá how come our language is pure Yoruba and so is our mode of dressing and our culture and not the way of the Ìbàrùbá? The Ìbàrùbá ethnic group still inhabit their own land in Borgu…?” So, how did the Borgu man, Kilishi Yeruma come to start the dynasty ruling Kishi till tomorrow? My aged friend told me: “What we were told as children by our great and grand parents was that Kilishi was a brave and valiant warrior. The people lived in an era of wars. He was, therefore, asked to lead them in their frequent wars. That was how the lineage of Kishi kings came from them, and instead of referring to the king as Oba, he is called Iba. So we have Iba of Kishi and not Oba of Kishi. Along the line, one of the Ibas married one of the daughters of an Alaafin called Àdàsóbo. From then the Iba became entitled to wearing a crown bestowed by the Alaafin.

“When Igboho was under siege, and similarly Shaki, by the Fulanis in the course of Ilorin’s expansionism, it was Kishi that went to the rescue of the two towns. The song that arose from the Kishi warding off the invaders went as follows:
Tí kò bá sí Lágbùlú,
Shakí a run, Ìgbòho a bàjé;
Shakí a run, Ìgbòho a bàjé!

“Lagbulu was Kishi’s lead warrior. Now, you would want to ask why that song was not rendered in Bariba if truly Kishi is a Bariba town? Even a Bariba-Yoruba won’t sing such deep lyrics.

“Kìshí became the fortress protecting Yorùbá land in the North-Western part of Yorùbáland. When Òyó’lé disintegrated, an arm of the Aláàfin Ruling House moved to Kìshí and they were given abode and land to cultivate onions,àlùbósà eléwé! Their compound is called Ilé Alálùbósà (the house in which onion is cultivated and grown). Indeed, by our own history, it was the reluctance of the Òyómèsì to pick one of the princes from Kishi to succeed Alaafin Atiba that led to the rebellion of Kúrúnmi at Ìjàyè more known as Ìjàyè War. After the war, a majority of the fighters from Kishi decided to settle at Ibadan. Their wives started Ojà-Iba (Ojà’ba). Many people including historians thought and believed Ojà’ba was founded by or named after Basorun Olúyòlé. What made the market to be markedly different was that it was a night market that would open by say 7pm and close by 10pm.

“The Kishi people in Ibadan founded Màpó – named after Òkè Màpó (Iya Mapo) back home in Kishi. Molete is the other area of Ibadan where fighters of Kishi descent who participated in the Ìjàyè war settled. The Molete people in Ibadan are from Molete area in Kishi. The point I am getting at, therefore, is that Farooq Kperogi got only the popular angle of the stories, not the actual, true angle.”

So, if the Nigerian government will reintroduce history as a subject in primary and secondary schools in 2025, whose history will that be? Who will write it? Even among the vociferous Yoruba, there is no consensus on what Yoruba history is. Samuel Johnson’s monumental ‘The History of the Yorubas’, to some critics, is Oyo-centric.

But then, “why does history matter?” A Polish dipomat asked himself that question in 2004. The man provided the answer; he said “knowledge about the past can, and should, influence the course of current and future developments” while “negligence of the wisdom that history offers to us can lead to fateful consequences.” But, there are dire consequences for saying certain truths in Nigeria. Because of such consequences, we can only teach compromised facts as history. And what purpose will that serve? I think we should just continue doing what we are doing – hiding the fire even when we do not know what to do with the smoke.

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Trump Places Nigeria, 14 Others On Partial Travel Restrictions To US

Published

12 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Editor

The United States has partially suspended the issuance of immigrant and non-immigrant visas to Nigeria and 14 other countries, citing concerns on radical Islamic terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State operating freely in certain parts of the West African country.

Specifically, the classes of visas affected include the B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J Visas.

President Donald J. Trump, on Monday, signed a proclamation expanding and strengthening entry restrictions on nationals from countries with demonstrated, persistent, and severe deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing to protect the country from national security and public safety threats.

The United States also cited the Overstay Report, noting that Nigeria had a B-1/B-2 visa overstay rate of 5.56 per cent and an F, M, and J visa overstay rate of 11.90 per cent.

The Proclamation includes exceptions for lawful permanent residents, existing visa holders, certain visa categories like athletes and diplomats, and individuals whose entry serves U.S. national interests. It narrows broad family-based immigrant visa carve-outs that carry demonstrated fraud risks, while preserving case-by-case waivers.

While the proclamation continues the full restrictions and entry limitations of nationals from the original 12 high-risk countries established under Proclamation 10949: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, it adds full restrictions and entry limitations on 5 additional countries based on recent analysis: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria.

On October 31, the U.S. President Trump redesignated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern (CPC)” for the persecution of Christians by violent Islamic groups.

In a Truth Social post, Trump hinted that the US will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria and may very well go into the country, “guns-a-blazing,” and that the military intervention “will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our cherished Christians.

In his first term, President Trump imposed travel restrictions that restricted entry from several countries with inadequate vetting processes or that posed significant security risks.

The Supreme Court upheld the travel restrictions put in place in the prior Administration, ruling that it “is squarely within the scope of Presidential authority” and noting that it is “expressly premised on legitimate purposes”—namely, “preventing entry of nationals who cannot be adequately vetted and inducing other nations to improve their practices.”

Trump in recent weeks has used increasingly loaded languages in denouncing African-origin immigrants.

At a rally last week he said that the United States was only taking people from “shithole countries” and instead should seek immigrants from Norway and Sweden.

In June 2025, President Trump restored the travel restrictions from his first term, incorporating an updated assessment of current global screening, vetting, and security risks.

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OPINION: Man-of-the-people, Man-of-himself

Published

13 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Editor

By Suyi Ayodele

Whatever Comrade Adams Oshiomhole lacks in height and body volume, he makes up for in mischief. If you are not prepared for the mud, don’t engage the pint-size Edo senator in any combat.

His greatest weapon is his tongue. This is why he prefers to be called ‘Comrade’ – just an appellation he acquired in his hey days in the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), when the masses thought that he was fighting their battles. His public persona tilts towards that of the man-of-the-people. But on a scrutiny, the man is a man-of-himself.

Comrade’s best strategy in any argumentation is sheer sophistry! His eloquence is top-notch, his argumentative prowess arresting and his rhetoric captivating. He can be sarcastic and can also be deadly acerbic! He speaks and gyrates at the same time. Give him a microphone stand a bit lower than his height; Oshiomhole still leaps forward to emit incomprehensible verbiage. He is a dramatist par excellence. No. He is the drama itself! He combines all the characterisation of a folklore as he quadruples as heroic, non-heroic; anti heroic and A-heroic figure – beating the trinity to a distant second place!

Oshiomhole is a man one cannot afford to hate. He is equally a man too dangerous to love. His basket of mischief remains inexhaustible, his repertoire of goodwill also bottomless! He disappoints when one expects wisdom; and equally excels just when one gives up on him. A master of confusion while he remains unperturbed, Comrade is a summary of the dysfunctionality of the Nigerian political system! He displayed that in good measure last week.

I would have made a huge cash-out last week if the childhood experience I had over gambling had not taken the better part of me. Someone, who was ready to put anything to it that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ambassadorial nominees like Reno Omokri, Fani-Kayode and Mahmood Yakubu, the former Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would not make it through the senate, had staked a huge amount of money. I held a different opinion. He asked us to bet, not like the small finger-thrust displayed by Governor Monday Okpebholo on national television recently. This was real-time betting.

I was tempted to enter the ring especially when he was willing to double his stake while mine remained static. But I remembered that I must honour the solemn pledge I made to my late father. I assured the old man that I would never gamble again in my life. I had used the two Kobo he gave to me to buy Phensic, a type of analgesic medicine of those days, to play kàlòkàlò. It was an experience I never hoped for again. As the offer came, my father’s voice rang in my head: É s’ómo kèé hì ta tété kì ha jalè (a child who gambles will eventually steal). I declined and I lost what would have been a Christmas bonus!

Alas, the screening turned out to be a hollow ritual; a drama of the absurd with Oshiomhole playing the lead villainous character! The former governor of Edo State was at his sophistry best at the screening of the 68 rotten tomatoes and sweet potatoes President Tinubu packaged as ambassadorial nominees and sent to the Senate for screening and approval. Many of us were entertained by the charade the National Assembly displayed at the ‘screening’. The only people who were disappointed were those who expected the senators to ‘skin’ the nominees.

As it turned out, all the 68 nominees were cleared. Any moment from now, Reno Omokri will be presenting his letter of credence endorsed by Tinubu, to the president of his ambassadorial post. By then, Tinubu would no longer be a “drug Lord” and certificate forger as Omokri alleged when he ‘was in the world’! It was Omokri’s screening that provoked Comrade Oshiomhole to tackle one of the oldest senators in this political dispensation, Ali Ndume of Borno State.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR:OPINION: Nigerian Soldiers In Benin Republic

For Oshiomhole, who, in one of his numerous campaign frenzies, had once opined that once a politician decamped to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), all his sins are forgiven, one cannot put anything past the Iyamoh-born politician. No cause is too dirty for him to defend, no candidate is too unpopular for him to support, project and vow for.

A short voyage to the Comrade’s political shenanigans. In 2016, as the out-going governor of Edo State, Oshiomhole, while projecting the chairman of his economic team, Godwin Obaseki, as the governorship candidate of the APC, said that Obaseki was the “compressor” of the air conditioning of the state economic successes under his watch. He told the people to vote for Obaseki because Obaseki was the one who brought all the funds the government used in achieving feats for the people.

Then he went after the jugular of Obaseki’s opponent and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. Comrade Oshiomhole said that in his entire life, I quote him: “I have never seen a pastor who lies effortlessly like Ize-Iyamu.” He went further to label Ize-Iyamu as a violent pastor “who carries Bible in the day and gun at night.” The crowd cheered. He added so many other unprintable expletives and Ize-Iyamu lost the election.

Four years later in 2020, Obaseki and Oshiomhole fell apart. As the National Chairman of the APC, Oshiomhole denied Obaseki a second term ticket. Obaseki, who had earlier got Oshiomhole suspended from the APC, changed to the PDP and picked the party’s gubernatorial ticket.

On the other side, Ize-Iyamu left the PDP and picked the APC ticket. Edo people waited to see what Oshiomhole, who had been disgraced out of the APC national chairmanship office, would do. Brazenly, Comrade took over the campaign machinery of Ize-Iyamu. Oshiomhole on several occasions knelt to beg the people to vote for Ize-Iyamu!

Oshiomhole told bewildered audiences from town to town that he was misinformed of Ize-Iyamu’s character! He said so, jumping from one end of the podium to another without any modicum of remorse! According to him, after the practice of dipping Agege bread into a hot beverage, the next best thing that has ever happened to humanity is Ize-Iyamu! Fortunately, the people could see through the Comrade’s hypocrisy! His candidate was beaten blue-black at the count of the ballot.

That was the Oshiomhole that spoke last week in defense of Omokri’s nomination as an ambassador. In his warped reasoning, now that Omokri had weaned himself of his infantile perennial attacks on the character of President Tinubu, ‘all his sins are forgiven’ and he is worthy to be an ambassador! His argument, if projected further, is that once a man becomes transformed, his past would no longer count!

That argument did not sit down well with Senator Ndume, and possibly some others who would rather get Omokri to explain how he saw the light and heard the voice on his way to Damascus to persecute Tinubu! Oshiomhole’s response was his sophistry of “when I talk, those who have not been governors should listen”, as if we have not seen governors and former governors as witless as the next-door fatuous Gardner in this dispensation.

The elders of my place said when a song is bad, nobody justifies it as being a palace song. That is exactly what Oshiomhole did in his defence of the irritation that Omokri and his ambassadorial nomination have constituted. Who would ever think that a day would come when a once fascinating character like Comrade would rise to defend a figure like Omokri!

The response by Ndume that he had been senator before Oshiomhole ever dreamed of becoming one took the argument to the highest buffoonery! What has been the impact of the decades Ndume has spent in the senate on his people? How many of his constituents are in captivity? How many of the people he represents are working as slaves on the farms of bandits so that they can live? Beyond the numeric of his years in the senate who Ndume epp?

Things happen. One of the things that have happened to Nigeria is the current senate – a dump site for former governors. No sane mind will not be scandalised by the conduct of the senate under Godswill Akpabio! The upper chamber has turned into a stinking chamber pot of anything goes. Last week, the chamber took the perfidy of “bow and go” to another annoying level when virtually all the ambassadorial nominees were cleared without any serious questions asked.

What, for instance, are the wives of former governors nominated as ambassadors bringing to the table? What are their pedigrees? Are they not the same peacocks we saw when their husbands were governors? Beyond rubbing pancakes and spending our patrimony as non-state actors, how else can we assess those ex-first ladies?

Without sounding pessimistic, except for the career diplomats among them, the rest of Tinubu’s ambassadors are disasters packaged in golden wrappers. The qualities of the figures nominated by the president and endorsed by the senate speak to the quality of those in power today. Sure, no man gives what he does not have. President Tinubu has given us his best men and women as our ambassadors. We wish them diplomatic successes!

Adibe Emenyonu and Michael Adeleye: It is hard to say goodbye

We lose those dear to us. That is what nature dictates. Every loss is painful. But when it doubles, it becomes very painful. I experienced double losses this last weekend. Two souls, very dear to me, were lowered to their graves. The reality that I would not see or talk to them again hurts!

I joined a group of other journalists led by Patrick Ochoga of the Leadership Newspapers, who doubles as the Chairman, Edo Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Edo State Council, to Obibiezena community in Owerri, Imo State, for the funeral rites for Adibe Augustine Emenyonu.

Emenyonu, whom I called Adibs, slumped and died on October 18, 2025, at the age of 62. He was – imagine Adibs now being referred to in the past tense – until his death, the Edo State Correspondent of ThisDay Newspapers. Our paths crossed over two decades ago in Benin City where we plied the ‘he-said’ and ‘he-emphasised’ trade of journalism together. Adibs was a fearless and colourful writer.

Even when I left journalism for the corporate world, we continued to bond. On my return to the pen fraternity after 16 years, Adibs received me warmly, opening his contacts to me like many others did. We became closer, turning friendship to brotherhood!

I was devastated, when on the morning of Saturday, October 18, 2025, Ochoga called to announce: “Leader, I have bad news for you. We have lost Adibe!” The news was hurtful and seeing Adibs, naked in the morgue when I visited alongside the Edo State NUJ Chairman, Festus Alenkhe, and others, broke me.

Talk of a man who laboured and did not eat the fruits thereof; talk of Adibs. He was a good father to his four beautiful daughters. Three of them are university graduates today and the last baby of the house is a sophomore. Two of the three graduates attended private universities, and the last girl is also in a private university. But the man who toiled to ensure the girls got good education is no more. This is a tragedy!

Travelling to Obibiezena to pay my last respect to a wonderful friend was an eye opener. I saw Adibs’ modest country home bungalow. I saw his bust, commissioned by Genevieve, his first daughter, with Adibs’ traditional ishiagwu cap. I dared him on several occasions to wear the cap to Igbo land, and I felt sad. I became sadder with the reality that Adibs’ 93-year-old mother was inside a room in the house while the rites of passage were being performed for the son who travelled home every month to attend to her!

The entire Obibiezena mourned Adibs! The wailing, when his body arrived for the traditional lying-in-state was infectious. The old, walking with the aid of walking sticks turned up. Everyone spoke well of the departed. When I was asked to talk to his Obibiezena Development Union (ODU) executive, I gave a new name to Adibs – Adáraníléadáraníta. It means he who is good both at home and outside. Adibs was. His people testified to his goodness, his kindness, his generosity and his commitment to the community. He was, for many years, the Secretary General of ODU!

Adibs was a devout Catholic. He never joked with his creator and faith. In his ‘mischief’ whenever we talked about our religious inclinations, he would ask: “Are you sure you are a Pentecostal or a penterascal?” Adibs had a deep voice, and he equally had a deep character. Like all humans, he had his flaws. But his greatest strength was his inability to betray a trust. He was dependable, he was reliable!

I could not bring myself to go near his grave as Adibs’ remains were lowered. Coincidentally, Adibs was buried under the same avocado tree he used to taunt his friends, anytime he was in the village saying: “I am sitting under the avocado tree.” Now, Adibs sits no more, he rests, permanently, under the avocado tree! Fare thee well, Adibs!

As we journeyed back to Benin, my mind was in far away Canada, where another friend and brother, Michael Adeleye, simply Mike, was being committed to mother earth.

The news of Mike’s demise was broken to me by another friend, Tunde Laniyan. I met the duo during my voyage to the corporate world. Mike adopted me as his elder brother and all through, he called me “Oga Suyi”. His respect for age and experience remain inimitable. There was no time of the day Mike could not call to ask: ‘Oga Suyi, ki ni kin se’ (Oga Suyi, what should I do?). Mike resigned and left for Canada with his family. I was in the know of the plan to relocate from incubation to fruition. And while over there, we maintained that line of communication.

On October 9, 2025, at about 3.09 pm Nigerian time, I sent a message to him thus: “Hello. How are my people? Can you get this book for me: “For One More Day”, a novel by Mitch Albom.” Six minutes later, Mike responded with a screenshot of the book and asked for confirmation, which I did. “Okay, I will order it now. I should get it latest tomorrow. Then we shall discuss how to send it to you.” He responded and the following day, he had the book.

After the initial plan of sending the book by hand through someone travelling to Benin failed, Mike put the book in the mail on November 1, 2025. At my last tracking shortly before I dropped off this piece, the information on the tracking platform was to the effect that the book is with the Nigeria Customs having been presented to the agency on November 20, 2025, at 11.04 am! The country we live in!

We kept chatting and then the news came. Mike is dead! How? What killed him? Just like that! Mike, gone like vapour! Mid this year, Mike called to announce that he had completed his house in Lagos. “Oga Suyi, it is your project o”, he gleefully announced. I answered by saying that I was looking forward to being hosted to a meal of pounded yam whenever his family visited Nigeria. Now, Mike is gone and gone forever! What is this life!

As I penned this, my mind raced to Mummy Oyin, Mike’s wife. The two were inseparable; they were more than a husband and wife. How is she coping, herself? What about the two beautiful daughters? Why should nature be this cruel! Mike was industrious. He had hopes and aspirations.

They caution us in Christendom not to mourn as unbelievers. I will keep to that doctrine.

Rest on Mike; sleep from all your labour! May the good Lord comfort your wife and children. Good night, Mike, fare thee well!

News

Okpebholo Presents ₦939.85bn ‘Budget Of Hope, Growth’ To Edo Assembly

Published

14 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Editor

Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State on Tuesday presented a ₦939.85 billion 2026 Appropriation Bill christened ‘Budget of Hope and Growth,’ to the state House of Assembly.

Presenting the budget, Okpebholo said the 2026 fiscal plan was carefully designed to build on the foundation laid in 2025, while expanding the reach of government programmes to directly impact the lives of Edo people across all sectors of the economy.

The governor said the budget prioritises critical areas of sustainable development, including security, infrastructure, agriculture, education, job creation and healthcare.

He stressed that his administration remains committed to delivering “development the people can see and feel.”the governor, the budget prioritises critical areas of sustainable development, including security, infrastructure, agriculture, education, job creation and healthcare, stressing that his administration remains committed to delivering “development the people can see and feel.”

A breakdown of the proposal shows a total expenditure of ₦939.85 billion, with capital expenditure standing at ₦637 billion, representing 68 percent of the budget, while recurrent expenditure is pegged at ₦302 billion, accounting for 32 per cent.

Okpebholo explained that the strong emphasis on capital spending reflects his administration’s determination to fast-track development through strategic investments in roads, schools, hospitals, water supply, housing and other high-impact economic projects across the state.

He disclosed that the 2026 budget would be funded through Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) estimated at ₦160 billion, Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations projected at ₦480 billion, capital receipts and grants of ₦153 billion, ₦146 billion from Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), as well as other viable revenue windows available to the state.

The governor, who assured Edo residents that his government would not impose unnecessary financial burdens on citizens, noted that the administration would instead intensify efforts to strengthen revenue systems, block leakages and improve public finance management.

Under sectoral allocation, the economic sector received the largest share with ₦614.2 billion earmarked for agriculture, roads, transport, urban development and energy. Priority areas include rural and urban road construction, completion of two flyovers, drainage works, urban renewal, and expansion of farm estates and irrigation facilities.

The social sector was allocated ₦148.9 billion to cater for education, healthcare, youth development, women affairs and social welfare.

Planned interventions include extensive school renovations, recruitment and training of teachers, expansion of primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities, as well as investments in youth skills, sports and entrepreneurship programmes.

For governance and service delivery, the administration sector received ₦157.7 billion to drive civil service reforms, staff training, deployment of digital tools, improved revenue collection systems, support for ministries, departments and agencies, and the full rollout of e-governance platforms.

The justice sector was allocated ₦19 billion to strengthen the courts, improve justice delivery and support legal reforms and access-to-justice programmes, while regional development and local government support will focus on grassroots empowerment, community road construction, rural electrification, water and sanitation projects, and security outposts in border communities.

Governor Okpebholo said the 2026 Budget of Hope and Growth is anchored on his SHINE Agenda, built on five pillars—Security, Health, Infrastructure, Natural Resources/Agriculture and Education—with the overarching vision of creating a prosperous and united Edo State where every citizen feels the impact of governance.