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OPINION: Ganduje And China’s Execution Noose
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By Suyi Ayodele
“I have not knelt since China’s liberation.” Those were the last words she spoke before the executioner put a shot in the back of her head. She refused to kneel down at her execution. She died standing!
Yan Jianhong was a Deputy Secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Planning Commission, People’s Republic of China. She was also a former member of the Standing Committee of the Guizhou Provincial Political Consultative Conference, and former Chairman, Guizhou International Trust and Investment Corporation. Her husband, Liu Zhengwei was Communist Party Secretary of Guizhou Province. She took undue advantage of those positions. She was executed on January 16, 1995, for corruption, her status did not count. She was not alone.
On September 14, 2000, China executed Cheng Kejie. He was the Chairman of the People’s Government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. China’s Supreme Court approved his death sentence on September 7, 2000, and he was executed a week later!
Cheng was executed for accepting bribes and was also accused of fraudulently procuring 7,000 tonnes of sugar from Guiyang Sugar Factory at a reduced price for resale, thereby generating a significant profit margin. Such a practice, the authority reasoned, was capable of ruining the nation’s economy.
Earlier on March 8, 2000, the Chinese Government executed Hu Changqinga, a prominent Chinese politician who served as vice governor of Jiangxi. He was found guilty of bribery and corruption and was executed by firing squad!
The same fate befell Lai Xiaomin, who served as Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary and Chairman of the Board of China Huarong Asset Management from September 2012 to April 2018. He was executed on January 29, 2021, for bribery, embezzlement, and bigamy. His private assets were also seized and his family left with nothing!
The former vice governor of Anhuli, Wang Huaizhong, was on February 12, 2004, executed by firing squad, also for corruption. The same thing happened to Wang Shouxin on January 8, 1980 when she was executed for the “biggest scandal of the People’s Republic of China prior to 1979.” She was said to have embezzled “at least 536,000 yuan of state funds”.
There were other executions for corrupt practices such as Wen Qiang, a judicial officer whose life was on July 7, 2010, snuffed out for taking more than 12 million yuan ($1.76 m) in bribes. Zheng Xiaoyu, Director, State Food and Drug Administration, who was executed on July 10, 2007, for “corruption and allowing possibly tainted products in mainland China.”
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China’s largest corruption case involved Li Jianping, a former official in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. He was said to have been involved in fraud running into $421 million (over three billion yuan). The 64-year-old was executed in August 2024.
I have taken the time to list the above cases in China since the present administration is likely to copy the one-party system operational in China. Unlike how we have messed up the presidential system of government we copied from America in 1979, Nigerians owe it a duty to ensure that as the nation slides, gradually, to a one-party State, a la China, we should also copy those things that make China great.
In China, it is a capital offence for politicians or government officials to be caught on camera stuffing dollars in their suits pocket. Such persons don’t live to spend the dollars. In multi-party Nigeria, such people get promoted!
Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the immediate past governor of Kano State and current National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Alliance (APC), loves China and its development. In contrast, given the examples above, China hates characters in Ganduje’s mould.
That Ganduje loves China for its development is good enough. It is equally noble that our leaders love the developmental strides they see in the sane nations of the world. But unfortunately, as much as Ganduje loves China, the countryhates the Gandujes of this world because it knows that people like Ganduje would hamper, hinder and retard its development.
China is not just a developed country; it is a nation that has converted its huge population to greater advantages for the Chinese people. Every rational mind and leader should be proud of a nation like China. Nigeria was also once on the path of greatness like China before wasters took over the reins of leadership, and the locusts we have as leaders ate up our vegetation!
China, contrary to Ganduje’s warped reasoning, is not developed because it practices a one-party system. One of the major factors, the most prominent, I say without prevarication, that made China what it is today, is that the country gives the worst treatment to its corrupt leaders.
Ganduje is happy that members of the opposition political parties are trooping daily to the ruling APC. The latest was the defection of the three senators from Kebbi State (Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central, Yahaya Abdullahi, Kebbi North and Garba Maidoki Kebbi South), who all abandoned their Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the APC.
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The APC National Chairman took the trio to the Aso Rock Villa on Friday to see President Bola Ahmed Tinubu like trophies. He was accosted by State House correspondents who asked him about his feeling concerning the shift towards a one-party State in Nigeria.
Ganduje, rightly though, noted that nobody should quarrel with the fact that politicians were moving in droves to the APC. He assured that leaders who worried “about a one-party State have no need to fear.”
Then he posited: “A one-party State is not by force; it is by negotiation. It is by other political parties seeing the effect of the positive governance of our party. If they decide to come to our party willingly, I think there is nothing wrong with that.”
To further allay the fear, the Kano politician drew a parallel from China’s one-party system, saying, “Today, China is one of the strongest countries in the world and is a one-party system. We are not saying we are working for a one-party system, but if this is the wish of Nigerians, we cannot quarrel with that.” He went further to slam the current multi-party system Nigeria runs philosophising, “You know they say too many cooks spoil the soup; too many political parties spoil governance.”
There are some fundamental issues in Ganduje’s submissions. One, the APC National Chairman lied when he tried to project that those moving over to the APC were doing so because they were “seeing the effect of the positive governance of our party.” We all know that nothing can be farther from the truth than this assertion. Except Ganduje lives in another Nigeria than the one we have; every rational mind knows that the APC-led government since 2015 has led Nigeria to the bottomless pit of poverty and despair. I cannot see anything enviable that should attract this level of bandwagon folly going on in our political space!
Again, the attempt by Ganduje to condemn the multi-party system is equally an unfair judgement on that system by the very people who made nonsense of the system. If, for instance, the PDP had behaved the way the Ganduje APC is behaving, there would not have been a party called APC today! It is people like Ganduje and the intolerant president like his principal that make the multi-party system to look like it is a failed system.
That Ganduje also made the attempt to hoodwink us to believe that his party and government were not forcing people to join the APC goes to confirm the hopelessness of our situation in the hands of these guys whose penchant for the tall tale is legendary! The most doltish of us knows that there is nothing ‘voluntary’ in the gale of defections we are witnessing.
It is also fallacious for Ganduje to think that China is developed because it practices a one-party system! We need to impress on Ganduje that a nation that hates corruption is bound to develop. China abhors corruption and executes corrupt leaders. Anyone who shows any sign that could hinder China’s paths to greatness does not live to tell the story. Evidence of that attitude abounds. That is what makes China great. That is what can make Nigeria to be great again, if we all desire greatness.
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It is also perilous for Ganduje to think Nigeria becoming a one-party State will have no consequences. For him to believe that the heavens will not fall if Nigeria slides to a one-party State as the APC is wont to have it, tells more about the shallowness of his discernment!
So, justifying the intended perfidy of a one-party State, Ganduje drew an analogy from China. Can we ask the former Kano State governor, who was once caught on camera stuffing dollar bills into his babariga, what would have been his fate if he were Chinese? If Nigeria were to be China, what would have happened to Ganduje and his acolytes in the face of the allegations of corruption the Kano State Government brought against them after he left office?
Honestly, a one-party State like China would not have been a bad idea here if only we could copy China wholesale by doing to people like Ganduje what China does to its citizens who are caught with their hands in the nation’s cookie jar. The elders of my place say that when one prays to be as rich as the man with a big mansion, the one praying should also be prepared to go the same route the owner of the mansion passed through (Òòsa òkè jé kí ndà bí onílé yí gbúdò se òhun tí onílé se). Is Ganduje ready to be given the Chinese treatment for corrupt leaders? Is his neck thick enough for the Chinese hangman’s noose?
This is what Ganduje should consider before drawing a parallel between Nigeria and the one-party State of China. He should have mentioned that China has no room for the type of leaders we have in Nigeria. That if it were to be China, there would have been no way President Tinubu would be occupying Aso rock Villa now. That 99.9 percent of our political leaders would have either been in jail or serving as manure in their shallow graves having been executed by the State.
How do we reconcile the fact that the man once adjudged “the most corrupt governor in Nigeria” is the current President who is also desperately chasing his second term? How do we come to terms with the fact that the number three man in the hierarchy, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, did not contest the primary of his party where the senatorial candidate was nominated, but today, he ‘won’ an election to the senate where he emerged the Senate President because the Supreme Court said so?
Would China have closed its eyes to the fact that while the returning officer for the 2019 senatorial election in Akpabio’s Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District, Professor Peter Ogban, is in jail for announcing fake results in two local government areas – Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo – in Akpabio’s favour, the sole beneficiary of the electoral heist is busy “sending prayers to the emails” of other senators today?
Go to Imo State. Would China allow a man who came fourth in an election to be the governor of any of its provinces? Can any minister in China ride a Rolls Royce to the office without the State interrogating his sources of income? Or can the son of President Xi Jinping embark on ‘state visits’ to any of the provinces in China with crass impunity as we have here in Nigeria?
The axiom: “a nation gets the type of leaders it deserves”, has proven to be true of our calamity as a nation. The possibility of a one-party State before 2027 is something that should not scare us again. If it happens, we SHALL all live to savour the sour taste! So, for the Gandujes of this era, I say, ride on!
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By Suyi Ayodele
When a man says, ‘Here is where my friend was disgraced yesterday,’ our elders ask us to remind him that the disgrace has become a communal one. No sensible man derives joy from the shameful conduct of his kinsman. Does that philosophy still hold water in Yorubaland today?
A big Yoruba king was jailed in the faraway United States of America last week. He was arraigned, tried and found guilty of blood profiteering. The Apetu of Ipetumodu, Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, was sentenced to four-and-a-half-year imprisonment by Justice Christopher Boyko of the North District of Ohio, US, for stealing COVID-19 relief funds running into millions of dollars.
Oba Oloyede was portrayed as a blood-sucking demon who took delight in the blood of the victims of the pandemic, COVID-19. He stole $4.2 million meant for the relief programme for the victims. In addition to the jail term, the monarch will also refund the sum of $4,408,543.38 to the US Government.
He will add his home on Foote Road, Medina, Ohio, to the restitution. Oba Oloyede’s bank account with a balance of $96,006.89 will be taken over by the government. The troubled monarch is not entitled to a Cent of the money in the account. The court said the money therein was the proceeds of fraud! That is not the end of his troubles.
When eventually released, the jailed Ipetumodu monarch will be on the watch-list for three good years. The devil helps him if he misbehaves during his suspended release. He goes back to jail, summarily!
The saddest aspect of the tragedy is that while the trial lasted, Oba Oloyede did not put up any defence, no alibi. He admitted committing the crime. When the charges were read to him, Oba Oloyede simply pleaded guilty to the crimes he committed between April 2020 and February 2022. Kabiyesi was arrested on May 4, 2024, when he travelled to the US. He was sentenced on August 26, 2025!
This is a sad development for the entire Yoruba Race. It is a sad development that we would not want to tell our children. But not the Yoruba of our time. If we were to be the true products of the Omoluabi ethos handed over to us by our forebears, Yorubaland would have been in mourning over the Apetumodu shameful outing in the US. But what do we have now?
Instead of showing remorse, the elders and elites of the land are busy exchanging words over inanities. Hot exchanges are being traded over unimportant matters. Words that, like the proverbial egg which breaks when thrown on the floor, have been uttered. When the storm calms, the scars will be visible for us to see. Outsiders alike will also see the relics of this current useless war over a non-issue. We left leprosy to treat ringworms!
We are in ruins in this land. The entire Yoruba race is dancing naked in the market square. Those who have no ancestry have come to the open to deride a race that is acknowledged worldwide as the most civilised and most cosmopolitan. The entire Kaaro Oojire is in shambles, dressed in garments of shame because our monarchs are behaving badly!
I sighed in sadness after reading the Apetumodu’s ordeals, I tried to reflect on how Yorubaland arrived at this turning point. Whom did we offend? Has what happened to the children of Oduduwa had anything to do with the curse placed on the race by Alaafin Aole Arogangan? Why are most Yoruba thrones occupied by the dregs of humanity nowadays? Why do we have charlatans and other undesirable elements occupying Yoruba palaces? At the point of my confusion, history beckoned. Yoruba thrones and nitwits, history says, predates this era. How?
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Years ago, when the ant could carry the tortoise on its head, a rich man died. Though the man had two sons, he bequeathed his estate to the extended family members. He left nothing for his sons! Nobody knew why he did that. But the two boys were not stupid. They knew where their father kept his most valuable possession, a giant box of precious stones. The boys, at the cover of the night, stole the box. When the time came for the family to share the rich man’s estate, the box was discovered missing.
From time to time, the boys were selling the gold and other precious stones in the box. They had a mutual understanding until one day, the older boy got greedy. He wondered why his younger one would share the proceeds of their heist with him equally. He decided to have the entire stuff to himself. The older brother stole the remaining items and told his younger one that they had been robbed of them.
Stealing the king’s flute is not the problem; where to blow it is the issue. The younger brother, suspecting that his older brother was up to something, decided to keep him under close monitoring. With no moment of respite, the older brother used the only available opportunity he had to be alone and carried the box to the palace for their king to keep for him.
Our elders say the third generation of greed will be a burglar (ipele keta okanjuwa, ile lo unko). The king saw the gold and decided to keep it to himself. He called his sorcerer and got the deadliest poison from him. He planned to kill the one who asked him to keep the precious stones. While at it, an incident occurred that required the attention of the king’s diviner.
The diviner, Àsèsèdà Ifá (The one who is new at divination), cast his Opele. But rather than address the issue that brought him to the palace, he told the king that he (the king) was about to do something that would bring eternal shame to him and the throne. He asked the king not to mix gold with poison because the hereafter would spell doom for the king’s lineage. The Oracle, Àsèsèdà Ifá said, directed that the king should return what was kept in his custody to the owner.
Àsèsèdà Ifá was still on the divination mat when a commotion was heard within the palace precincts. Who had the audacity to fight before Kabiyesi? The parties were brought before the king, and lo, they were the two brothers. The younger one, who suspected that the older brother wanted to cheat him, resorted to violence. When the combatants became inseparable, their family members dragged them before the king.
The king asked what the matter was. The two brothers reported how they stole the box containing their father’s precious stones and how they sold some of the items, and the remaining items went missing. Everyone present was shocked that the boys could steal what their father gave to the entire extended family. But the king had a better understanding of what happened.
The king sent for the box he kept in his room. When brought, he removed the poison on top and emptied the contents on the floor. There were the missing pieces of gold. The king went ahead to share the items between the two brothers and ordered that all the other property the family had taken over be returned to the boys.
Diviners of old who narrated this story said it is from Ifa Corpus (Odu Ifa) known as Ogunda Ofun, named after the king (Ogunda), who wanted to appropriate what Ofun (name of the older brother) kept in his care. To date, in Yorubaland, one of the divinations done for a would-be oba is Ogunda Ofun with the admonition that he, the would-be oba, must never covet that which belongs to another man- Ogunda Ofun, ogbe mohun folohun (Ogunda Ofun, let the king return that which belongs to another to the owner). Did the Ipetumodu people take Oba Oloyede through this Ifa divination?
Yet another story to buttress that Yoruba thrones have been under siege for a long time.
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A group of alájàpá (itinerant traders) market women set out early in the morning. The destination was Ibadan, Gbagi Market to be precise. They were cramped at the back of the Bedford vehicle, sitting on the wooden benches that were rammed to the floor, and holding on to the wooden body of the vehicle for stability.
Their monies were tied around their waists inside their yèrì and òpóò (long cloth purses). Those purses would not be untied until they got to Gbagi Market, where they would buy the wares they traded in.
The Bedford vehicle, on top speed, suddenly ran into a pothole. The passengers were thrown at one another, knocking heads. The vehicle came to a sudden halt. The driver cursed! He was familiar with the road. It had no pothole on that spot. He could swear to that; the driver knew where the potholes were. And those were not as deep as the one that halted the vehicle.
His instincts instantly came alive. Danger! This must be the handiwork of some adigunjalè (armed robbers), he muttered to himself. But nobody emerged from the bush to attack them. Shocked! What could have happened then? He asked no one in particular.
A woman asked what happened. The driver remained silent. He manoeuvred the vehicle out of the pothole. He dared not check if he had lost a tyre. Experience taught him never to do that on that spot. Yes, he must move a distance before he can check the state of the vehicle. Then he remembered. The pothole could have been dug to slow the vehicle down. “Òràn dé” (danger looms), he whispered loudly. The tension in the vehicle became intense.
He steadied the vehicle back on the road. Moved a distance, engaged the gear for acceleration. His headlamp picked up the objects ahead. Logs of wood, they were. Someone had barricaded the road. Nobody needed anyone to say who did that. Armed robbers were at work!
The driver applied the brake and jumped off before the vehicle came to a complete halt. His motor boy did the same. The duo dashed into the bush. Only the women were trapped. It was a case of olórí d’orí è mú (everyone for himself).
Running was useless for the women. Before the first of them could jump out of the vehicle, the armed robbers were already on them. They were ordered out of the vehicle. One after the other, their attackers dispossessed them of their money. Then the unthinkable happened.
One of the women recognised a figure among the armed robbers. She could not be mistaken. It was a figure she would identify among a million men! Sure of her vision, the woman saluted: “Alayé (owner of the world), Kábíyèsí (he who no one can question) Àdìmúlà” (the one you hold to survive).
Two other women turned to look at the man. They recognised him to be the Kábíyèsí (king) of one of the biggest towns in that axis. Ah! What was Orí Adé (the head that wears the crown) doing among armed robbers? They wondered as they made to pay obeisance as tradition demands. What they got shocked them.
Kábíyèsí raised his cutlass and dealt the first matchet blow on the head of the first woman who identified him. A chilling cry, and she went down. Alayé moved to hit the next woman. She ducked, but not before she got a bow to her arm. The other women took to flight. The party scattered. Àdìmúlà and his gang also took off. They did not forget their loot, anyway!
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The next vehicle carrying another set of traders came to the scene. The driver and the passengers began a rescue operation. The first woman was stone dead. They simply packed her corpse by the roadside; attention focused on the wounded but living. Those who ran away were attracted by the accompanying wailing and came out of hiding.
The day broke with the news of the armed robbery incident. The two women who identified kábíyèsí could only tell their husbands. They were sternly cautioned not to tell any other person. Their husbands then volunteered the information to the elders of the town, who, in turn, also maintained the oath of secrecy.
Later in the day, Kábíyèsí summoned a meeting of his chiefs. He called neighbouring kings too. A company of the esoteric was dispatched to the robbery incident to go and do what tradition stipulates. Curses were laid, and the gods of the land were asked to avenge the sacrilege instantly. Then everyone went home. Did the curses work?
Yes, they did. Days later, it was discovered that all the trees around the spot withered; they all shed their leaves in the rainy season! What happened? It was gathered that after the esoteric team had performed their rites and left, Kábíyèsí led another team of traditional experts to the spot. Being the king, nobody could question him for the second traditional journey. He was not just Kábíyèsí for fun.
According to the story, on the second trip, kábíyèsí asked that a pig (elédè) be sacrificed. He alone did the ìwúre (royal pronouncement) on that occasion. He simply told the party that he wanted to commune with his ancestors in silence. They responded: Kábíyèsí! Nobody heard what he said. They only noticed that his lips moved. The pig was slaughtered, its blood sprinkled on both sides of the road, and the party headed home. End of ritual! The result was the withering of the trees.
Any adult from Ayebode Ekiti up to the then Arigidi Ekiti (now Ayedogbon Ekiti) in the mid-70s would remember this ugly incident. The Ekiti-ethno-music icon, the late Elemure Ogunyemi, later in one of his albums, alluded to the incident when he sang: Ha ti m’òrí elédè rúbo (we have sacrificed the head of a pig)/ùgbàyí á dèrò kooko (this season will be peaceful).
But that incident did not go without repercussions for the erring Kábíyèsí. Conscious of the shame that an open reprimand would bring to the town, the elders came together and confronted their king. Of course, when in ìgbàlè (traditional coven) with the elders, Àdìmúlà owned up to the crime.
The elders did what they needed to do and sealed it with a traditional pronouncement. No blood descendant of the kábíyèsí would ever ascend the throne again! They sealed that with Olugbohun. Whoever attempted it would pay with his entire sires. Kábíyèsí was asked to pass the message to his children for onward transmission to the generations to come. He also paid a heavy fine couched as etutu (appeasement items).
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Àdìmúlà thereafter lived and died at an old age. His remaining days on the throne witnessed a lot of crises, though. Other members of his gang died miserable deaths. Another kábíyèsí is on the throne in that town. The people await whether that secret seal will be broken! This story was told in hushed tones, as I tell you today!
Before the above ugly incident, another Yoruba king was once executed for murder. The king was hanged in 1949. He was said to have used a 15-month-old baby girl, Adediwura, for rituals.
The trial of the oba was a huge sensation. The advocacy in the court was the best anyone could imagine. But that could not save him and his accomplices. The trio were executed by hanging. What did the people, his subjects, do to the family of the executed king? Would they ever allow any of his offspring to ascend the throne of the rocky town? But more importantly, what was the Ifa prediction before the oba was enthroned?
This is where we are missing it in Yorubaland. A lot of misfits are today wearing crowns in the land because they were chosen by other external forces apart from Ifa. The modern-day civilisation has robbed us of our heritage. No would-be oba who spent an average of three weeks in Ipebi (seclusion) would misbehave on the throne.
But that is no more. A would-be oba was once asked to go into seclusion for seven days. He got to the door of Ipebi and put one of his legs inside seven times. He told the people that each step into the Ipebi represented a day. Guess what? He was still crowned king. It happened because the influential members of the community were behind him; he was their candidate! With good money and connections in high places, anyone can become an oba today. Ifa, Yoruba religion, has been shifted and shoved to the background.
Today’s Yoruba foremost kings are at loggerheads. Others are queuing behind them, forming camps. While the fire rages, the farmlands their ancestors left for them are in ruins. The subjects Edumare put under their care are daily killed, kidnapped, maimed and rendered homeless! Obas are going to jail, some fight in public, and many are facing trial for rape and other misdemeanours.
The Daily Mail of UK on May 19, 2024, ran a story about another king who was “twice deported from America with a lengthy criminal record and a distinct murky past. The paper described the oba as “a conman”, stating that he tried to “cash stolen £247k cheque.” Interestingly, the king has not contested the report as he pontificates on virtually every issue of Yoruba ancestry! The circle of shame has gone round!
Ascending the thrones of Oduduwa is no child’s play. It comes with responsibilities; it comes with self-worth and dignity. If we cannot question these kings’ misbehaving because they are kábíyèsí, they should know that Alálé (progenitors) will ask them; Èsìdá (owners of the land) will judge them on our behalf. Enough should be enough. Our Yoruba obas should allow us to walk the streets with our heads raised. Ìtìjú yi ti ún pò jù (This shame is becoming too much)!

Swiss food giant, Nestle, on Monday dismissed Laurent Freixe as chief executive with immediate effect over an “undisclosed romantic relationship with a direct subordinate.”
The multinational behind Nespresso coffee capsules and KitKat chocolate bars said Freixe’s dismissal followed an investigation.
In a swift move, Nespresso CEO, Philipp Navratil, was appointed to take over by his fellow board members.
“The departure of Laurent Freixe follows an investigation into an undisclosed romantic relationship with a direct subordinate which breached Nestle’s code of business conduct,” a statement said.
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The board said it had ordered an investigation overseen by chairman Paul Bulcke and lead independent director Pablo Isla, with the support of outside counsel.
“This was a necessary decision. Nestle’s values and governance are strong foundations of our company. I thank Laurent for his years of service,” Bulcke said in a statement.
A company veteran, Freixe joined Nestle in France in 1986. He ran the firm’s European operations until 2014, steering them through the subprime and euro crises that began in 2008.
He headed the Latin America division before his promotion as CEO.
Freixe had only been in the top spot since a surprise switch in September 2024, entrusted with reversing soft spending by consumers for the company’s food and household goods.
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Nestle’s share price slumped by nearly a quarter last year, raising concerns in Switzerland, where pension funds invest heavily in the company, whose brands also include Purina dog food, Maggi bouillon cubes, Gerber baby food and Nesquik chocolate-flavoured drinks.
Nestle shares closed up 0.13 percent at 75.49 Swiss francs on the Swiss stock exchange.
– Net profits –
In late July, Nestle reported a 10.3-percent drop in first half profits as it struggled to turn around its fortunes amid sluggish consumer spending in China, even as it passed on higher cocoa and coffee prices to consumers.
New chief executive Navratil had been an executive vice-president at Nestle, which is headquartered in Vevey on Lake Geneva.
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“The board is confident that he will drive our growth plans forward and accelerate efficiency efforts. We are not changing course on strategy and we will not lose pace on performance,” insisted chairman Bulcke.
Navratil started his career with Nestle in 2001 and took on various roles in Central America, leading the coffee and beverage business in Mexico from 2013 to 2020, when he took over responsibility for global strategy and innovation for the Nescafe and Starbucks brands.
He became chief executive of the Nespresso brand in July last year and joined the company board in January 2025.
“I fully embrace the company’s strategic direction, as well as the action plan in place to drive Nestle’s performance,” said Navratil, pledging to “drive the value creation plan with intensity.”
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VIDEO: Motorists Stranded As Bridge Fails On Lagos-Benin Expressway
Published
12 hours agoon
September 1, 2025By
Editor
Motorists and passengers were stranded for hours after a truck fell near a failed portion of a bridge along the Isoko axis of the Lagos-Benin Expressway, exposing the river beneath and rendering the route impassable.
A viral video from the scene showed queues of trapped vehicles as frustrated road users called on the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to urgently repair the dilapidated sections of the highway.
One stranded passenger, who was filmed in the video, lamented that the incident left commuters stuck for over two hours, halting both vehicular movement and the flow of goods.
He said, “I’m currently standing on the Benin-Lagos Expressway, and where we are now is Isoko Camp. This is a bridge, a very short bridge, and this message is to the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, the one who is building a road from Lagos-Calabar Highway, the road to nowhere. This place is currently shut down.
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“This truck fell here, and there’s no way. Look at this place. Vehicles are blocked. Look this way, everywhere packed up.”
The visibly frustrated commuter revealed the deteriorating state of the bridge, pointing to exposed sections above the river, which he described as a threat to lives and businesses.
He criticised the Federal Government’s focus on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, accusing Umahi of neglecting critical economic routes such as the Lagos-Benin Expressway.
“This is an expressway, and we have a minister. This is the Lagos-Benin Expressway yet, our minister, dey do Lagos – Calabar Highway,” he said.
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“This is what we have. Do you know how many people pass here? As I’m speaking to you now, if you look up, trailer. If you know the number of trailers that are here and are trapped, it means the economy of Nigeria is affected. Because the number of goods and services has been shut down. Everywhere is shut down.
“This road now, everywhere is at standstill. This vehicle is even lucky that it didn’t fall into the water. And we have a Minister of Works wasting money, saying Calabar Expressway.”
He further argued that the Lagos-Benin Expressway carries more economic importance than the Lagos-Calabar Highway, urging the minister to prioritise repairs.
READ ALSO:Early Morning Accident Claims Eight Lives, Injures Eight Others In Lagos
He said, “Mr. Minister, let me educate you. If you have a small economic sense, you will know that this road alone is affecting Nigeria’s economy. But that Calabar Expressway, it’s not affecting anybody. If you go there now, you won’t see vehicles parked lined up there. The only place where you will see vehicles lined up is on this road. So if the Minister has more direction, he will go and fix this road.
“I see when they say they need more money, they are borrowing more money to put in the road we don’t use. Then the one we use is abandoned. So please, those who are close to the Minister, talk to him. We are stranded here now. We have been here for over two hours now, and nothing is moving.”
The video has gained the attention of concerned citizens on social media, some of whom describe the road as a “death trap” and joined in calling for quick intervention on the road.
Watch video below:
https://x.com/MobilePunch/status/1962577345832714466?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1962577345832714466%7Ctwgr%5Edf307ccd0eb71fe84e2d24b726307513398112b3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpunchng.com%2Fvideo-motorists-stranded-as-bridge-fails-on-lagos-benin-expressway%2F
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