News

OPINION: Lest China seize our President

Published

10 months ago

August 20, 2024

By Suyi Ayodele

“President Bola Tinubu will embark on a trip to France on Monday, August 19, departing from Abuja, the nation’s capital. The President will return to the country after his brief work stay in France.” I read this terse statement by Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), early Monday morning, and my heart skipped. Some people are bold! Why France of all places this time around?

Has the presidency forgotten that it was in France that a Chinese company seized our presidential jets? Are those who planned the president’s trip not aware that also owe China itself a huge sum of money? Is this Efun (bewitchment), Èdì (spell) or Àsàsì (enchantment)? Are there no Yoruba among the president’s aides who planned the trip? Do they not know that the deity that seizes the home and the stream is also capable of taking over the farmland (Òòsà tó gba’lé, gba odò ó lè gba oko lówó Eni)? What if those in the Chinese Finance Ministry swallowed the wrong frog and decided to approach a French court to seek to attach the President and his entourage as collateral? How can we owe, and the number one citizen is travelling in the type of luxury his creditors cannot afford?

From time immemorial, the Yoruba traditional setting devised three methods of recovering debts from chronic debtors. These methods are employed only when the debtor becomes recalcitrant, arrogant and ostentatious. Nothing angers a Yoruba creditor more than to see his debtor eating gizzard. This is why the elders of the land warn: A kìí je iwe lójú olówó eni (You don’t eat gizzard in the presence of your creditor). The Gizzard is the most precious part of the chicken. It is reserved for the rich or the head of the family. In a case of ritual, where a chicken is used as the sacrificial object, the one on whose behalf the ritual is performed is the one that is permitted to eat the gizzard. Yet another saying confirms this assertion thus: Eni a bá torí è pa adìye níí je iwe (It is he on whose behalf the chicken is sacrificed that eats the gizzard). When a debtor is caught eating gizzard, the creditor goes for the kill and employs any of the three methods to recover his money depending on the amount of money involved, the period of the indebtedness and the antecedents of the debtor.

The first of such traditional method is known as Òsómàáló, commonly used by the Ijesha people of the present-day Osun State. Òsómàáló involves the creditor coming to the debtor’s house in the wee hours of the morning before the debtor rises from his bed, to squat while asking for his money. While in that squatting position, the creditor does all manners of things. He can, for instance, begin to drink water continuously from the gourd of water he brought along, or he begins to eat wraps of corn meal (agidi or eko) from the basket he carried to the debtor’s house. The implication of these acts is that the creditor can suffer a health challenge or die in the process. Should any of these happen, it becomes a bigger problem for the debtor and his family. To prevent such an eventuality, the moment an Òsómàáló, which means: this is how I will squat till I collect my money, shows up, the debtor’s family members rally round to raise and pay off the debt. An Òsómàáló, must not suffer any untoward consequence in the house of the debtor!

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: Ifa’s Message For Our President

The second method is more nauseating. It is known as Ológo or Ológodò. This method entails sending an invalid person, or someone who has infectious diseases to the house of the debtor. Lepers, people with tuberculosis, or other highly communicable infections are engaged in this case. What they simply do is that they begin to live with the debtor, eat his food without permission, use his household items freely and sleep on his bed and those of members of the debtor’s family. Again, neither the debtor nor members of his family are permitted under Yoruba tradition to chase away the Ológo or Ológodò. In some extreme cases, Ológo or Ológodò can also go violent by destroying items in the house of the debtor. The debtor’s neighbours and family members are not spared. The aim is to get the family members to pay up the debt.

The third method is the Ìwòfà system in which a relation of the debtor is pawned off to the creditor till the debt owed is paid. The one so pawned works for the creditor, while the creditor feeds him and accommodates him. But it is beyond just working for the creditor. An Ìwòfà suffers a lot in the hands of the creditors. There is no moment of respite for him; he must work continuously under the rain and scorching sun. This is why it is said that Olówó kii gelete, kí Ìwòfà na gelete (The creditor will not sit comfortably, and the pawn also sits comfortably).

There is no one among these three methods that is palatable. The best option is for one to stay out of debt. And if it is inevitable that one must owe, the debtor should refrain from eating gizzard, especially, where his creditor can easily see him. This piece of traditional advice does not hold any value in today’s Nigeria. Nigeria owes many foreign creditors, yet the country’s leader displays uncommon affluence to the chagrin of the nation’s creditors!

The last one week has not been good enough for our dear country. The international embarrassment the nation suffered at the hands of a Chinese investment company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd, leading to the seizure of three of our presidential aircraft is something that should give us all concern. In all honesty, if there is any time President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has my faint sympathy, it is over this international embarrassment. I said faintly because I have read a lot by some people who believed that the Tinubu team stage-managed the ‘seizures’ so that Mr. President could bring home his N150 billion newly acquired luxury Airbus A330. As much as one is tempted not to believe that storyline in the face of the embarrassing situation we found ourselves, the fact that the new aircraft is the one the Chinese firm graciously released to President Tinubu to travel to France, speaks volume. I cannot, indeed, beat my chest for Tinubu’s presidency over this, especially when his government has turned out to be like the Àjàntálá child that is full of mischief. We may come to this later if space permits.

The issue of Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment and the seizure of our presidential fleet should not have happened at all but for the dearth of good leadership in the country. I have read all the explanations given by the Federal Government, the Ogun State Government, and former Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun state over the matter. The only message I got is that there is an acute absence of sincere leadership, especially on the part of the Ogun State Government. The contract, whatever it was or is, between the Chinese firm and the Ogun State Government, went bad 14 years ago! If it has taken the state government 14 solid years to prepare for madness, may we ask them in Ogun State when exactly would enter the market in full-blown madness? Everything that has happened in this matter is part of the lethargic system we run where no one is made accountable for anything. It is a collective shame that an ordinary company could get our sovereign assets seized just because a contractual agreement between it and a state government went bad! This is so when there is no evidence to show that those seized items were used as collateral for the agreement! But this does not exonerate the Federal Government completely.

Elementary Government teaches us that the Federal Government enters into agreements or treaties with foreign countries. It is after the Federal Government might have established a contact (bilateral) with another country that the states can begin to draw from the goodwill. This then confers the responsibility of close monitoring of any agreement by any state in the Federation with any foreign company or country, on the one entity who signed the initial bilateral agreement. So, at what point did our Federal Government get to know about the dispute? What did it do to ensure that the nation was not subjected to this kind of international ridicule? But we are in Nigeria. The responses from Abuja have always been too much grammar. Nobody will be punished. We have had Ministers of Trades and Industries in the last 14 years; nobody will ask them what they did or did not do. In a matter of days, especially now that President Tinubu has his new jet to use, this matter will be forgotten like others before it. We may not come to it until something bigger happens. And I see that happening. If a firm could seize our presidential jets over a trade dispute, China may be emboldened by that to seize our president! Alarmed?

I believe that China can seize President Tinubu as a collateral for our indebtedness to the Chinese Government because of the lifestyle of our leaders. Nigeria is behaving like the proverbial chronic debtor who eats gizzard in the presence of his creditor. The records by the Debt Management Office (DMO) showed that Nigeria owes China $5.04 billion as of March 31, 2024. That is well over N6 trillion! The same country that owes so much is the one that could afford to buy a N150 billion aircraft for the use of the president. In addition, the President now rides a Cadillac Escalade SUV that is almost N1 billion. How do we convince our numerous creditors that we are a poor country? In the face of all this profligacy by the one-wristwatch-wearing President, how do we justify our continuous borrowing like the chronic debtor-wife of Oshin?

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: If Tinubu Were Today’s Opposition Leader

Have we forgotten that as far back as 2020, there has been the rumour that Nigeria has been ‘colonised’ by China due to the nation’s indebtedness to Beijing? The rumour then was that Nigeria pledged its assets as collateral for the loans it took from China, such that China can come at any time to take over those assets. Rotimi Amaechi, who was the Minister of Transport, said in August 2020 that Nigeria had waived immunity on one of the loans. The simple implication is that with that waiver, China might not have to go to arbitration before the take-over. Amaechi, while dismissing the rumour, however said: “We must learn to pay our debts and we are paying, and once you are paying, nobody will come and take any of your assets.” How much have we paid back? How much do we still owe? If China were to take over our assets today, which asset is the biggest in Nigeria? We should also not forget that we took loans from France, Japan, India and Germany.

Despite all these loans, President Tinubu still, presumptuously, went ahead to purchase a N150 billion aircraft using the ignoble Service Wide Vote, a euphemism for spending without the permission of the National Assembly! How cruel can our leaders be? How unfeeling can those lording over us be? For his personal comfort alone in 15 months, President Tinubu has expended over N160 billion! Yet, his government is asking Nigerians to keep hope alive and to continue to bear with the government. From a N5 billion Presidential Yacht to the state-of-the art Cadillac Escalade SUV and now the N150 billion jet, Tinubu lives larger than life amid poverty, hunger and inflation ravaging the country. It is this same man that his deputy, Kashim Shettima, wants us to believe is modest and poor, using only one wristwatch almost his entire life!

The most embarrassing aspect of this Chinese company’s saga is the fact that President Tinubu chose to travel in the new Airbus A330 aircraft that Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd said it released to the president on “goodwill.” If the president must travel, couldn’t he have used another means? How will the president convince us that the whole seizure saga is indeed not an arrangee for him to bring the luxurious Airbus A330 aircraft home? How coincidental is the arrival of the new presidential jet on Sunday evening and the president jetting out in it on Monday? My major concern is that none of our foreign creditors will get the funny idea of taking human collateral for our various debts! Festus Adedayo in his Sunday, August 18, 2024, Flickers column published by the Sunday Tribune under the headline, “Nigeria as shock-horror skits”, concludes by saying: “Nigeria is a joke!” We are indeed a theatre of comedy!

News

Ground Rent: 34 Embassies Risk Closure Tuesday

Published

2 hours ago

June 9, 2025

Editor

Thirty-four embassies in Abuja risk being closed down by the Federal Capital Territory Administration over unpaid ground rents spanning 11 years, according to The PUNCH.

The PUNCH, however, learnt that the opposition Peoples Democratic, Federal Inland Revenue Service and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, who were also listed as defaulters, had settled their ground rent with the FCTA.

A publication by the FCTA revealed that many foreign missions had not paid their ground rents since 2014, with the affected diplomatic missions collectively owing N3,662,196.

On May 26, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, ordered officials to commence enforcement on 4,794 properties that were revoked due to non-payment of ground rent, spanning between 10 and 43 years.

But President Bola Tinubu intervened, granting a 14-day grace period, which ends on Monday (today), to affected property holders to settle their outstanding obligations.

The Director of Land, FCTA, Chijioke Nwankwoeze, disclosed that the defaulters would pay penalty fees of N2m and N3m respectively, depending on their locations.

The defaulting embassies include the Ghana High Commission Defence Section (N5,950); Embassy of Thailand (N5,350), Embassy of Côte d’Ivoire (N5,500); Embassy of the Russian Federation (N1,100); Embassy of the Philippines (N5,950); Royal Netherlands Embassy (N5,950); Embassy of Turkey (N3,350), and the Embassy of the Republic of Guinea (N5,950).

Also included are the embassies of Ireland (N500), Uganda (N5,950), Iraq (N550), and the Zambia High Commission, which owes (N1,189,990).

Other missions on the list include the Tanzania High Commission (N6,000), German Embassy (N1,000), Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo (N5,950), Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (N459,055), Embassy of the Republic of Korea (N5,950), and the High Commission of Trinidad and Tobago (N500).

The Embassy of Egypt (N5,950), Embassy of Chad (N5,950), Sierra Leone Commission (N5,900), High Commission of India (N150), Embassy of Sudan (N5,950), Embassy of Niger Republic (N500), and Kenya High Commission (N5,950) are also listed among the defaulters.

Others are the embassies of Zimbabwe (N500), Ethiopia (N5,950), and Indonesia (Defence Attaché), which has an outstanding balance of (N1,718,211).

The Delegation of the European Union (N1,500), Embassy of Switzerland (N5,950), Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia (N5,950), China’s Economic and Commercial Counselor’s Office (N12,000), South African High Commission (N4,950), and the Government of Equatorial Guinea (N1,137,240) also featured on the list.

Reacting, the Embassy of the Russian Federation firmly denied any outstanding debts.

“The Embassy pays all bills for the rent of the territory on which the Embassy complex is located in good faith and on time. The Embassy also has all necessary documents confirming payment,” it stated.

Similarly, the Embassy of Turkiye questioned its inclusion on the FCTA’s list, citing a possible administrative error.

A Turkish official told our correspondent, “We have not received a formal notification about the debt. We regularly make our payments on time, and we will check if we are on the list because of a bureaucratic mistake or a misunderstanding, and will fix the issue as soon as possible.”

The German Embassy, in a chat with The PUNCH, clarified that no formal claim or demand regarding unpaid rent had been brought to its attention by the FCTA.

“We understand that you are referring to reports suggesting that the German Embassy in Abuja has outstanding rent obligations. We would like to clarify that no such claim or demand has been formally brought to our attention by the Federal Capital Territory Administration,” the embassy stated.

It further insisted that all official financial obligations relating to the embassy’s premises had been settled as of the end of 2024, adding that there are no known outstanding payments.

The embassy emphasised its commitment to maintaining a respectful and cooperative relationship with the Nigerian government and the FCTA, reaffirming its dedication to transparency and mutual trust.

“Moreover, we can confirm that all official financial obligations relating to the Embassy’s premises have been fully settled as of the end of 2024. There are no known outstanding payments.

“The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany highly values its respectful and cooperative relationship with the government of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory Administration and remains fully committed to transparency and mutual trust,” the statement added.

The Embassy of Ghana also told The PUNCH that even though it had not been notified officially of the development, it would reach out to the Foreign Affairs on ways to resolve the issue.

The embassy stated, “The High Commission has noted the publication but has not been officially communicated to. We will liaise with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on this matter.”

An official at the Sierra Leone Embassy said they were unaware of the issue and would verify the claim.

He noted, “I am not aware and I am not in the office now. On my return, I will inform my authorities to cross-check.”

Concerning the claims by some embassies that they were not indebted to the FCTA, spokesman for the FCT minister, Lere Olayinka, stated, “This claim will be promptly investigated and appropriate action will be taken.”

Commenting on the development, a former Nigerian ambassador to Mexico, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, referenced the 1961 Vienna Convention and urged caution.

“For the diplomatic premises, if we are to go by the Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations, the premises of a diplomatic mission are inviolable,” he submitted.

“But that is not to say that they are not supposed to obey local municipal rules and regulations or the rules and regulations governing such things as relate to property ownership. However, there may be a caveat,” Amedu-Ode said.

He suggested that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should handle the matter diplomatically.

“It is a question of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs looking at each one on a bilateral basis and implementing it on a reciprocal basis,” the ex-envoy stated.

A foreign affairs analyst, Charles Onunaiju, also questioned the legality of applying ground rent rules to diplomatic missions, arguing that it was not applicable under international laws.

“By the Vienna Convention establishing diplomatic missions, diplomatic premises are sovereign territory of their respective countries,” Onunaiju pointed out.

He warned that any enforcement action against embassies could trigger diplomatic fallout.

“If you get into their premises to lock it down, you are obviously violating a very advanced diplomatic protocol. It will be a breach of diplomatic protocol,” the analyst warned.

Meanwhile, a reliable source close to the Peoples Democratic Party leadership, who spoke on condition of requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the issue, told The PUNCH that the PDP had settled all matters related to ground rent with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

He stated, “The PDP has resolved all issues with Wike regarding the ground rent. Action was taken on Friday to make the payment, so there is no longer any problem.”

When asked about the development, the FCT minister’s spokesman, Lere Olayinka, said, “Some of these things, there is no way we can know. Some are paying through Remita, people are paying online. So, it’s until they bring their receipts that we can know.”

It was also learnt that the Federal Inland Revenue Service had mended fences with the FCTA after their offices were sealed off following non-compliance.

On May 26, the FCTA sealed off the FIRS premises for non-payment of its ground rent, but the action sparked a row between both bodies, with the latter denying owing ground rent on its properties in Abuja. The revenue generating firm thus demanded a public apology from the FCTA for sealing off one of its offices.

However, the FCTA insisted that the shutdown was due to the non-payment of ground rent, a statutory land charge.

Refuting the allegation that FIRS owed 25-year ground on two of its office at No 12 and 14, Sokode Crescent, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja, Director, Facility Management Department, FIRS, Tyofa Abeghe, said nothing could be further from the truth on the claim as FIRS had paid the said money.

He said a demand notice from Abuja Geographic Information System dated September 2023, asking for ground rent on the properties was honoured with a payment of N2, 364, 003 three months after the notice was issued.

It was learnt that the payment issue had been resolved.

In a similar vein, NAPTIP, which also had its office sealed, had settled their outstanding ground net, a source at the federal agency told The PUNCH.

“It’s been resolved,” the source said.