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OPINION: Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, The North And Our Votes

Published

8 months ago

April 22, 2025

By Suyi Ayodele

“We have released Northern Nigeria from the leading strings of the treasury. The promising and well conducted youth is now on allowance on his own and is about to effect an alliance with a southern lady of means. I have issued the special licence, and Sir Frederick Lugard will perform the ceremony. May the union be fruitful and the couple constant.” That was Lord Lewis Harcourt, British Secretary of State for the Colonies on the decision to amalgamate Northern and Southern Nigeria on January 1, 1914.

Those who created Nigeria clearly made the North the husband and the South, the wife. In Africa, the husband is the head and driver of the home. We see and feel this each time the North has to deal with the South on matters of power and resources.

The latest is the movement towards the 2027 election. Northern leaders are no longer hiding their opposition to the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu government. They say he has not been fair to them. The poor husband is threatening the resourceful wife with sanctions.

A former Tinubu aide, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, spoke very loud at the weekend. He said nobody would be president in 2027 without the support of the North. He was right. But I will also be right if I say that no one outside the South will be president tomorrow or next year and forever without the support of the South. The poor husband and the rich wife need each other to have a functional home.

What all these means is that the Gídígbo gídígbó!/Hey! (battle cry) for the 2027 presidential election has started. The war drums up North have been rolled out with a full folk ensemble.

The percussion for President Tinubu up North is not melodious! The 2027 election is two long years away, yet there is cause for alarm for Tinubu and his political dynasty. Nobody should feign ignorance; nobody should ignore the pulsating sounds!

There is a counter battle cry that Tinubu needs at this moment. It has smooth, melodious, danceable and assuring lyrics. Tinubu mi má mikàn, a p’agbo yí o ká(2ice)/Gbogbo ènìyàn ún be léhìn re/Tinubu mi má mikàn, a p’agbo yí o ká/ – Tinubu don’t be troubled, we have formed a ring of protection around you/All the people are behind you/Tinubu don’t be troubled, we have formed a ring of protection around you.

But can any man of good conscience join the Tinubu orchestra to sing this song? The unfortunate answer is a resounding NO! When one’s masquerade dances very well at the village square, one is usually proud. But are Tinubu, our masquerade’s steps in accord with the beats from our musical instruments? How I wish the absentee President Tinubu gives one the confidence to approach the village square with our band in support of the man, the North of Baba-Ahmed is preparing for supper in 2027. Pity!

The lead drummer for the North in the impending battle for the soul of Nigeria in 2027 is a known figure, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, an ex-this and ex-that and a ‘familiar spirit’ in the political configuration of Nigeria and the North in particular. He is a man who thinks his North is the oxygen Nigeria breathes! Who is Hakeem Baba-Ahmed to arrogate to himself the position of the mouthpiece of the North?

When the wrapping leave stays too long with the soap, it becomes soap itself. Those are the words of our elders. They utter the eternal wisdom whenever our sages see a butterfly which thinks itself a bird.

Baba-Ahmed, the son of a cattle merchant migrant from Mauritania is more northerner than an aboriginal northerner. He thinks more for the North than the North thinks for itself. Whenever the levers of power are not in the hands of his supposed kith and kin across the River Niger, the only thing Hakeem sees is the ‘marginalisation’ of the North! He is at it again, singing his song of discord over the weekend.

Speaking in a video interview that went viral over the weekend, Baba-Ahmed intoned that no part of the country could win the 2027 election without the North. “One thing is clear: nobody can become president of Nigeria without northern support”, is the way he put it. He went ahead to announce that “In the next six months, the North will decide where it stands.” Then he warned: “If the rest of the country wants to join us, fine. If not, we will go our own way.”

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: Abdulkareem, The Deaf And His Son

Hakeem will not hang it there. He must threaten us: “If they plan to rig the election, they should be careful. It won’t be good for Nigeria. The North is watching. Elders, masses, and interest groups will soon say ‘enough is enough.’ The injustice and sidelining must stop.” What are his grouses with the present arrangement? Baba-Ahmed said that the North needed “a government that understands our problems and can address them. After Buhari’s eight years, we became wiser. Now, we are in another government, and we are still crying. Is crying all we know how to do?”

Let us do the arithmetic. Nigeria gained independence in 1960. That was 65 years ago. Of the number, Baba-Ahmed’s North has ruled the country for 48 years. The entire South has just 17 years. By the time Tinubu completes his first term in 2027, the South would have been in the saddle for 19 years out of 67 years of the Nigerian nationhood.

Now tell me, what did the North do with its 48 years in power such that the region is ‘marginalised’ to warrant the colic from Baba-Ahmed? Who should have ‘marginalised’ who between those who have ruled for 48 years and those who have been in power for 19 years? If, in 2027, Baba-Ahmed’s craving is, “We just want a right leader; let him fall from heaven, we just want someone who will solve our problems,”, can we ask him what the leaders from the North did in 48 years to “solve” the North’s “problems”?

We would not argue with the North that every part of the nation needs it to win the presidency. Baba-Ahmed is absolutely correct with that assertion. But it should also not be lost on the northern irredentist that no one from the North can be president of Nigeria without the votes of the people down South. The electoral law says to be elected president, a candidate needs 25 percent of the votes cast in two-third of the states of the Federation (Section 134 (2), 1999 constitution as amended).

There are 36 states in Nigeria. The entire North has 19 states, and the South, 17. Two-third of 36, my Mathematics teachers say is 24. Good! If the entire northern states voted for a northern candidate in 2027, Baba-Ahmed’s candidate would still need five states from the South to win the presidency! If his candidate fails to get that, assuming the South followed Hakeem’s analogy of the North taking its destiny in its hands, what happens? This brings us back to Baba-Ahmed’s threat of “It won’t be good for Nigeria.” Should that happen, what gives?

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There are messages for the Hakeem Baba-Ahmeds of this epoch who think the North can end Nigeria in 2027. Nigeria belongs to all of us. That should sink in, deeply too! Nobody is afraid of what happens to Nigeria again. We have gone beyond that era when the refrain: ‘To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done’, was our unofficial anthem.

Àgunlá, àguntètè means who cares! That is the stage where all the ethnic nationalities that make up the country are now. No ethnic group is happy with our present configuration. Nigeria, to many, is an ‘expired’ entity; a nation that has long passed its nationhood! We are only enduring because our elders counsel that if the hands refuse swinging, we fold them on our heads. So be it with the Nigeria of Baba-Ahmed and his the-country-will-break-up slogan!

In fact, those of us down South will celebrate should the North re-enact its Araba (secession) cry of 1953, when the late nationalist, Chief Anthony Eromosele Enahoro, moved the motion for independence. Baba-Ahmed should be told that a deer with an inguinal hernia is a gain to the hunter (Àgbòrín tó so ìpá, ìfà olóde). Nobody needs the marriage of inconvenience that Nigeria has turned into. Someone should help us tell Baba-Ahmed that whenever the town experiences turmoil, the diviner gains something. We no dey fear again!

Baba-Ahmed said that the North would do it alone in 2027 if the rest of us down South were not ready. Really? So, we should shiver at that? Let us register this, here, again: We (Southerners) shall surely clap for Baba-Ahmed and his ilk if the North can walk the talk and “do it alone in 2027. Like they say in the street: we asked the slave for acrobatic displays, he says the ground is too hard; who wishes him to land and survive in the first instance? Let Hakeem and those he represents give us from the pockets of their sòkòtò (trousers) what we are going to Sokoto to look for. The jollification down South will drown him!

I hate to sound this way. But we need to tell ourselves some painful truths! Who does Baba-Ahmed think is afraid of 2027? Who needs a united Nigeria more, between the North and the South? What gives him this irritating sense of arrogance that the North is the soul of Nigeria? Has Baba-Ahmed ever released the dog and the red monkey to the boxing ring to discover who is covered with blood? If 2027 breaks up Nigeria as he threatened, to whose disadvantage(s) will the polarisation be?

It is okay for Baba-Ahmed’s woodpecker to boast that it would carve stone as a coffin for his father-in-law. The only caution here is that the woodpecker should also not forget the possibility of developing a boil on its beak before its father-in-law’s funeral! 2027 is still far away. Who told Baba-Ahmed what would have been the fate of the nation before then? When a man buys a calabash and identifies it with marks, and the calabash gets lost, our elders say that it is when the owner sees the calabash that he can identify his marks on it? Does Baba-Ahmed understand that?

It is rather unfortunate that Baba-Ahmed is becoming a bad recurrent decimal anytime the issue of the North and South dichotomy is discussed. At his age and clout, he should not be the signpost of everything that is bad from the North. Ordinarily, with all the positions he has occupied in governments at different levels, the old folk should be concerned that he has not been able to change the fortune of the North and its large number of Almajiris on the streets. His blame game is no longer working; nobody fancies that anymore.

Whatever happens to Nigeria either now, before or in 2027, we all shall have our fair share of it. Nobody should threaten anyone! While on the character of Baba-Ahmed on this page on September 28, 2021, in a piece titled: “Between Shehu Sani and Hakeem Baba-Ahmed”, I submitted that Nigeria is like a calabash that is turned face downward. If we have difficulties in opening it, we have the capacity to break it! Baba-Ahmed and his gang don’t have the monopoly of threat. If they throw pebbles at us, we will hurl stones at them!

Thomas Abiodun Friday: A Lord’s General @ 60

There are a few pastors I closely identify with. Pastor Thomas Abiodun Friday is one of them. On Wednesday, April 16, 2022, the man we all call Daddy PICP (Pastor in Charge of Province), turned 60 years old.

Pastor Friday was posted to Edo Province 4 of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Benin City, as the PICP in 2019. His arrival changed a lot of things in the province.

His predecessor, Pastor Tunde Okunlola, did a wonderful job as the pioneer PICP for the province. So, it can be said that the new PICP, Pastor Friday, had a solid foundation laid by his predecessor. Taking off was never a problem and he went straight for the job, throwing his being at propagating the Gospel of the Lord. He introduced some innovations to the administration of the church and allowed every department to flourish while he provided leadership and ensured that all stayed focused on the doctrine of RCCG.

Without any fear of contradiction, I say boldly here that Pastor Friday is a Man of God (MoG) in deeds and indeed! His consummate leadership acumen, friendly dispositions, charming smiles and his listening ears are too obvious to be ignored. Having worked closely with him for over four years, I conclude here that he is a good manager of men and resources, a thorough administrator and one who allows subordinates to expand their horizons!

That Pastor Friday is a wonderful soul, loving brother, dependable ally and top-notch mentor, is not in doubt. He left Edo Province 4, indelible prints in the minds of people. He remained very unassuming, but always on top of his calling as a Shepherd! His transfer to Niger State by the Church authority was something one could not resist.

image.pngGetting to the Diamond age of 60 is a gift and grace from the Almighty, especially in this clime. Today, I join my voice with thousands of others to wish this impactful personality the very best God can offer! Happy birthday SIR!

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OPINION: Time For The Abachas To Rejoice

Published

6 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Editor

By Lasisi Olagunju

General Sani Abacha was a great teacher. He pioneered the doctrine of consensus candidacy in Nigeria. He founded a country of five political parties and when it was time for the parties to pick their candidates for the presidency, all the five reached a consensus that the man fit for the job was Abacha himself. Today, from party primaries to consensus candidacy; from setting the opposition on fire, to everything and every thing, Abacha’s students are showing exceptionally remarkable brilliance.

Anti-Abacha democrats of 28 years ago are orchestrating and celebrating the collapse of opposition parties today. They are rejoicing at the prospect of a one-party, one-candidate presidential election in 2027. Abacha did the same. So, what are we saying? Children who set out to resemble their parents almost always exceed their mark; they recreate the parents in perfect form and format. Abacha was a democrat; his pupils inherited his political estate and have, today, turned it into an academy. Its classes are bursting at the seams with students and scholars. Aristotle and his Lyceum will be green with envy, and very jealous of this busy academy.

Like it was under Abacha, the opposition suffers from a blaze ignited by the palace. But, and this is where I am going: fires, once started, rarely obey and respect their makers.

My friend, the storyteller, gave me an old folktale of a man who thought the world must revolve around him, alone. One cold night, the man set his neighbours’ huts on fire so he alone would stand as the ‘big man’ of the village. The man watched with satisfaction as the flames rose, dancing dangerously close to the skies. But the wind had a scheme of its own. It hijacked the fire, lifted it, and dropped it squarely on the arsonist’s own thatched roof. By dawn, all huts in the village had become small heaps of ash.

Fire, in all cultures, is a communal danger; whoever releases it cannot control its path. The Fulani warn that he who lights a fire in the savannah must not sleep among dry grass, a wisdom another African people echo by saying that the man who sets a field ablaze should not lie beside raffia in the same field. Yet our rulers strike anti-opposition matches with reckless confidence, believing fire is a loyal servant that burns only the huts of opponents. They forget that power is a strong wind, and wind has no party card and respects none.

When it is state policy to weaken institutions, criminalise dissent and have rivals crushed with the excuse of order, the blaze spreads quietly, patiently, until it reaches the bed of its maker. Fire does not negotiate; it does not remember or know who started it (iná ò mo eni ó dáa). In politics, as in the grassland, those who weaponise flames rarely die with unburnt roofs over their heads.

The folktale above is the story of today’s ruling party. People in power think it is wisdom to weaken, scatter, or destroy opposition platforms outright. They have forgotten the ancient lesson of the village: When you burn every hut around you, you leave nothing to break the wind when it blows back. A democratic system that cannibalises opposition always ends up consuming itself. Our First Republic is a golden example to cite here. History is full of parties that dug graves for their rivals and ended up falling inside.

Literature is rich with warnings about the danger of lighting fires; they more often than not get out of control. In Duro Ladipo’s ‘Oba Koso’, Sango is the lord of fire and ultimately victim of his fire. In Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’, we see how a single spark of regicide grows into a blaze of paranoia and bloodshed that ultimately consumes Macbeth himself. In D. O. Fagunwa’s Adiitu Olodumare, we see how Èsù lé̟̟hìn ìbejì is consumed by the fire of his intrigues; Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’ shows a similar pattern with Macbeth: Okonkwo’s role in Ikemefuna’s death ignites a chain of misfortunes that destroys his honour and his life. In ‘The Crucible’, Arthur Miller’s characters take turns to unleash hysteria through lies, only to be trapped by the inferno they created. Ola Rotimi’s ‘The Gods Are Not to Blame’ and even Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ echo the same lesson. Again and again, literature insists that those who start dangerous fires whether of ambition, deceit, violence, or pride, should never expect to sleep safely. Always, the tongue of the flames turns and returns home.

Abacha must be very proud that the democrats who fought and hounded him to death have turned out his faithful students. From NADECO to labour unions and to the media, every snail that smeared Abacha with its slime is today rubbing its mouth on the hallowed hallways of his palace.

Under Abacha, to be in opposition was to toy with trouble. Under this democracy, all opposition parties suffer pains of fracture. Parallel excos here; factional groups there. Opposition figures are in greater trouble. It does not take much discernment before anyone knows that Tiger it is that is behind Oloruntowo’s troubles; Oloruntowo is not at all a bad dog. But how long in comfort can the troubler be?

In 1996, Professor Jeffrey Herbst of the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, United States, asked: “Is Nigeria a Viable State?” He went on to assert – and predict – that “Nigeria does not work and probably cannot work.” He said the country was failing not from any other cause but “from a particular pattern of politics …that threatens to even further impoverish the population and to cause a catastrophic collapse…” That was Nigeria under Abacha. We struggled to avert that “catastrophic collapse”; with death’s help, we got Abacha off the cockpit, and birthed for ourselves this democracy. Now, we are not even sure of the definitions of ‘state’, ‘viable’ and ‘viability’. What is sure is that the “particular pattern of politics” that caught the attention of the American in 1996, is here in 2025. As it was under Sani Abacha, everyone today sings one song, the same song.

Abacha died in 1998; Abacha is alive in 2025. It is strange that his family members are not celebrating. How can you win a race and shut yourself up? My people say happiness is too sweet to be endured. The default response to joy is celebration but we are not seeing it in the family of the victorious Abacha. Because the man in dark goggles professed this democracy, this democracy and its democrats have apotheosised Abacha; he is their prophet. They take their lessons from his sacred texts; his shrine is their preferred place of worship.

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“As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.” – Romans 14:11. Our political lords copied those words and, in profaned arrogance, read it to Nigeria and its terrorised people. Now, everyone, from governors to the governed, bows; their tongue confesses that the president is king, unqueriable and unquestionable.

When a man is truly blessed, all the world, big and small, will line up to bless him and the work of his hand. Governors of all parties are singing ‘Bola on Your Mandate We Shall Stand.’ In the whole of southern Nigeria, only one or two governors are not singing his anthem. Northern governors sing ‘Asiwaju’ better and with greater gusto than the owners of the word. In their obsessive love for the big man’s power and the largesse it dispenses, they assume that ‘Asiwaju’ is the president’s first name. They say “President Asiwaju.” The last time a leader was this blessed was 1998 – twenty-seven years ago.

Our thirst for disaster is unslaked. All that the man wanted was to be president; he became president and our progressive democrats are making a king out of him. And we watch them and what they do either in sheepish horror, complicit acquiescence or in criminal collusion. We should not blame the leader for seeing in himself Kabiyesi. That is the status we conferred on him. Even the humblest person begins to gallop once put on a horse. True. Humility or simplicity disappears the moment power unlimited is offered.

The chant of the president’s personal anthem is what Pawley and Müllensiefen call “Singing along.” It is never a stringless act. Worse than Abacha’s Two-Million-Man March, we see two hundred million people, crowds of crowds, move together in one voice, bound by an invisible script and spell. We feel a ‘terrorised’ democracy where citizens learn, through bowing, concurring and context rather than conviction, to sing the song of the kingly emperor. People who are not sure of anything again discover that synchronised voices create safety, and belonging. They proceed to stage it as a ritual for economic and political survival.

The popular Abacha badge decorated the left and right breasts of many fallen angels. Collective chanting signalled loyalty and reduced individual risk. Under this regime of democrats, the badge will soon come, but the chant is louder and wider cast. Unitarised voices have become instruments through which power is normalised, and by which dissent is dissolved.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR:OPINION: Kukah And A Nation Of Marabouts

Two years into this democracy in 2001, Nigerian-American professor of African history and global studies, Raphael Chijioke Njoku, warned that “new democracies often revert to dictatorships.” He was a prophet and his scholarship prescient. We are there.

There are sorries to say and apologies to drop. On September 8, 1971, Nigeria killed Ishola Oyenusi and his armed robbery gang members because they stole a few thousands of Nigerian pounds. Why did the past have to shoot them when it knew it would stage greater heists in the future? It is the same with Sani Abacha and his politics. Why did we fight him so viciously if this grim harbour was our destination? I do not have to say it before you know that the spirit of the dead is out celebrating its vindication.

American political scientist, Samuel Huntington, in his ‘The Third Wave’, lists four typologies of authoritarian regimes: one-party, personal, military and racial oligarchy. The last on this list (racial) we may never experience in Nigeria but we’ve seen military rule and its unseemly possibilities. The emergence of the first two (one-party and personal dictatorship) was what we fought and quenched in the struggle with Abacha. Unfortunately, the evil we ran out of town has now walked in to assert its invincibility. What did Abacha’s sons do that today’s children of Eli are not doing ten-fold? Democracy is a scam, or, at best, an ambush.

Politicians have borrowed God’s language without His temperament. They have restructured the Presidential Villa into Nigeria’s Mount Sinai where commandments descend on tablets of gold bars. The whole country has become an endless Sunday service; the president sits on the altar, ministers and party chieftains swing incense burners, emitting smokes of deceit and self-righteousness; the masses kneel in reverence and awe of power. They look up to their Lord Bishop, the president, as he dispenses sweet holy communion to the converted – and dips the bottom of the stubborn into baptismal hot waters. We were not fair to Sani Abacha.

We cannot eat banana and have swollen cheek. But we can eat banana and have swollen cheeks. What will account for the difference is the sacrifice we offer to the mouth of the world. The words of the world rebuke absolute power. By choking the space for alternative voices, my Fulani friend said the ruling party is setting the whole political village ablaze, including the patch of ground on which its own structure stands. No parties or leaders survive the inferno they unleash on others. The flame of the fire the ruling party ignites and fans today will, inevitably, find its way home tomorrow.

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Ex-Nigerian Amb., Igali, To Deliver Keynote Address As IPF Holds Ijaw Media Conference

Published

8 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Editor

…invites general public to grace event

A former Nigerian ambassador to Scandinavian countries, Amb (Dr.) Godknows Igali, is billed to deliver a keynote address at the second edition of the Ijaw Media Conference, scheduled for Wednesday, December 17, 2025, in Warri, Delta State.

In a statement jointly issued by Arex Akemotubo and Tare Magbei, chairman and secretary of the planning committee respectively, said the conference, with the theme: ‘Safeguarding Niger Delta’s Natural Resources for Future Generations,’ speaks to the urgent need for responsible stewardship of the region’s land and waterways.

According to the statement, the conference will feature
Dr Dennis Otuaro, Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, as the chairman while a former president of the Ijaw Youth Council, Engr Udengs Eradiri, will deliver the lead presentation.

The statement described Otuaro’s chairing the event as a reflection of the conference focus on policy, accountability and sustainable development in the Niger Delta.

According to the statement, both the keynote speaker and the lead presenter are expected to shape discussions on environmental protection, governance and the role of the media.

According to the statement, the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Emomotimi Guwor, is expected to attend as Special Guest of Honour.

The statement further list Pere of Akugbene-Mein Kingdom, HRM Pere Luke Kalanama VIII, first Vice Chairman of the Delta State Traditional Rulers Council, as Royal Father of the Day, while Chief Tunde Smooth, the Bolowei of the Niger Delta, as Father of the Day.

Others include: Mr Lethemsay Braboke Ineibagha, Managing Director of Vettel Mega Services Nigeria Limited; Prof Benjamin Okaba, President of the Ijaw National Congress; Sir Jonathan Lokpobiri, President of the Ijaw Youth Council; Hon. Spencer Okpoye of DESOPADEC; Dr Paul Bebenimibo, Registrar of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko; Chief Boro Opudu, Chairman of Delta Waterways and Land Security; and Chief Promise Lawuru, President of the Egbema Brotherhood.

The organising committee said the conference is expected to bring together journalists, policymakers, community leaders, and researchers to promote informed dialogue and collective action toward protecting the Niger Delta for future generations.

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Okpebholo Pledges To Clear Inherited Salary Arrears, Gratuities At AAU

Published

8 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Editor

Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has assured the management of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, of his administration’s commitment to addressing accumulated unpaid salaries, gratuities and other critical challenges inherited from past administrations.

In a statement, Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Dr. Patrick Ebojele, said the governor gave the assurance when he received the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor (Mrs.) Eunice Eboserehimen Omonzejie, and members of her management team on a courtesy visit to Government House, Benin City.

Okpebholo, who congratulated the Vice-Chancellor and her team on their appointments, noted that their presentation underscored the depth of challenges confronting the institution.

“From what you have outlined today, it is clear that Ambrose Alli University was on life support. I must commend the progress you have recorded so far since assuming the office,” the governor said.

“I am impressed by your efforts, and I want to assure you that in any way possible, this administration will support the university to reposition it and restore its lost glory.”

Addressing the issue of accumulated salary arrears, the governor described the non-payment of staff salaries over several years as unfair and unacceptable.

“It is not right for people to work and not be paid. The issue of unpaid salaries, pensions and gratuities running into billions of naira is something I will take as a project,” he said.

“These are issues inherited from the past government, and we will address them.”

Okpebholo also acknowledged other concerns raised by the university management, including hostel infrastructure, accreditation-related challenges and facilities required for programmes such as Medical Laboratory Science.

“This year’s budget is already at an advanced stage, but I expect that these critical needs will be properly captured in your budget proposals. Once that is done, we will see how best to move the institution forward,” he added.

Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Omonzejie, explained that the delay in paying a courtesy visit to the governor was due to a recently concluded accreditation exercise and the need to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the state of the university.

She noted that the university she inherited was in a moribund state, plagued by infrastructural decay, unpaid salaries and accreditation challenges, among others.

Omonzejie expressed profound appreciation to Governor Okpebholo for what she described as “life-saving interventions” since his assumption of office.

According to her, the governor’s approval of an increased monthly subvention, restoration of affected staff to the payroll, support for graduating backlog medical students, improved security logistics, and the facilitation of road construction through the Niger Delta Development Commission have significantly revived the institution.

She also formally presented pressing needs requiring urgent attention, including accumulated unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities and union deductions, as well as the construction of lecture theatres and hostels to enhance accreditation and expand student intake, particularly in the College of Medicine.