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OPINION: The North And Tinubu’s Appointments

Published

2 years ago

September 25, 2023

by Lasisi Olagunju

President Bola Tinubu gave our country’s Minister of Defence and Minister of State, Defence to the North; he gave the North Minister of Police Affairs and Minister of State, Police Affairs; he gave the North Minister of Education and Minister of State, Education; he gave the North Minister of Agriculture and Food Security and Minister of State, Agriculture and Food Security. Again; he gave the North the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare plus Minister of Steel Development and Minister of State, Steel Development. To the North, again, Tinubu gave Minister of Water Resources and Minister of State, Water Resources. I can go on and on and add the Minister of Housing and Urban Development and Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development. No part of the South has that privilege of having ‘couplet’ ministers managing key sectors. It is double, double blessing for the North. I don’t think any president has ever done that – not even the insular nepotist, Muhammadu Buhari, did. But why did Tinubu do that? Sacrifice, obedience and gratitude for favours. Sacrifice (libation) to power timekeepers, obedience to janitors of politics, and gratitude to regime makers. “O Lord that lends me life, lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!” (William Shakespeare in Henry VI).

But my people say it is impossible to get it right if you are asked to sweep the compound of the witch. If you do it well, she will accuse you of overdoing it; if you do not do it well enough, she will accuse you of not doing it at all. The North is like Hades. In the pantheon of the Greek, Hades is that greedy god who wants more of everything and who shares what he has with none. The Yoruba have Esu which takes everything wholly and completely. Those who know who Esu is know how fatally wrong it could be to appease him with one hand; he demands your two hands and ten fingers (owo meweewa) to deliver his offerings. Yet, whether at home or at the crossroads or even in palaces, Esu takes; he does not give; and when he takes, he offers neither thanks nor thankfulness. Those who know his oríkì say he is the master of the marketplace who buys without paying; the one who ensures that nothing is bought and nothing is sold unless it is nightfall – and on his own terms. For their way to be free of trouble, all other deities worship and propitiate him. That is northern Nigeria; it is not enough that it has all the above. It wants more, and maybe all.

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The North is complaining. Its elites say they made this president, now the supposed side chick is ‘forming’ independence; he is neither singing their song nor dancing to their beats – the right way. I have a sultry parallel to draw here: The bed is made, the room is scented with the fragrance of desire, the groom is unknotting his boxers, yet the bride is complaining that her husband is not paying enough attention to her needs. What does the hot bride want to eat that is not yet on fire?

I do not belong to the Tinubu orchestra; what I sing here is my own chord. We may complain about the quality of some of the Tinubu appointees but the justice of the spread between the north and the south no one should. The cluster structure of the appointments would be seen by critics as the president zoning and centralizing prebendal privileges in the hands of regional power lords. His friends and fans would argue that the cluster pattern is the president’s way of ticking problems and attaching them to localised solutions. If the North has Defence Minister and the defence ministry’s Minister of State; if it has Police Affairs Minister and the ministry’s minister of state in addition to the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Defence Staff, should it still have the mouth to complain of lack of official attention to its endemic insecurity? If the North has the Minister of Education and the ministry’s Minister of State, should it still rummage for policies that will wean it of the blight of mass illiteracy and of having uncountable millions of out-of-school-children? If the North has the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, should we ever hear it lament high incidences of child and maternal mortality and epidemics of preventable diseases? The whole of the agriculture ministry is ceded to the North; the entire Water Resources ministry belongs to the North. We wait to see how it will use these to feed its dying, hungry poor – more than eighty percent of its population. It is like now that the South-East has the Minister of Works, we wait to see who that zone will blame if the East-West Road remains unbuilt at the end of Tinubu’s reign. And, if the management of the economy is in the hands of the Lagos-Yoruba, the country knows who to attack now that a dollar is selling for a thousand naira.

Samuel Butler, author of ‘The Way of All Flesh’, warns that what is golden is tact, not silence. Although my fish does not swim in Tinubu’s river, I join this ‘noise’ because of the hypocrisy of those involved. New groups are being formed and old hacks are being activated to compose complaints. One of them is the Arewa Economic Forum (AEF) which recently accused Tinubu of what it termed ‘Yorubanisation’ and ‘Lagoslisation’ of his appointments in the economic and finance sectors. Chairman of the Forum, Alhaji Ibrahim Shehu Dandakata, at a press conference in Abuja said the North was not happy that it was being left out “in the Finance and ICT sectors.” Voices from outside the North are also being borrowed the perfect way slave owners deploy their bondmen to battle. There is an Ile Ife man whose business name is MURIC; he joined the orchestra from his Lagos base and wrapped the nepotism charge with boubou of religion: “All five key appointments made by President Tinubu to revive the economy were given to Christians and Yorubas mainly. These new appointees include the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun; the newly nominated CBN Governor, Dr. Michael Cardoso; Hon. Zacch Adedeji, acting chairman, FIRS; the chairman, Tax Reforms Committee, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, and Mr. Tope Fasua, Special Adviser on Economic Affairs,” MURIC’s promoter, Ishaq Akintola, said in a statement. The MURIC man’s puppeteers did not tell him or he forgot to remind them that an Atiku Bagudu from Kebbi State is the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning. Ishaq Akintola is Yoruba, he is attacking the Yoruba; he is Muslim; he accused his Muslim-Muslim presidency of marginalization of Muslims. Perfect isé erú (slave job) delivered the erú way. In folklore, we tell the hunter to use the sword of Tortoise to kill Tortoise (idà ahun la fií pa ahun). One of the best newspaper articles I read on Nigeria’s north-south relations was written in the early 1980s by Banji Kuroloja, editor of the Nigerian Tribune from 1984 to 1988. Because the title of the piece came very simple and catchy, I will remember it forever: “Singing Their Songs.” I can’t forget. I also can’t forget the takeaway from it: “The ubiquitous North has a way of making others sing their songs.” Forty years plus after that article was published, nothing has changed; the falconer still holds the falcon by the throat, making it say what it is told to say. We’ve seen how abjectly the MURIC man recited his verse, shedding blood when the owner of the problem was shedding tears.

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Even the National Publicity Secretary of the North’s apex organization, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Professor Tukur Muhammad-Baba, joined the discourse. In a newspaper interview, he accused Tinubu of giving sensitive and lucrative appointments to persons from his ethnic Yoruba stock. He said Tinubu should not be doing what he is doing “in a deeply fractious federation like ours.” He remembered that “a part of the constitution directs that… appointments must reflect the social diversity of the country in terms of balancing, of place of origin, indigeneship, ethnicity, religion, etc.” Muhammad-Baba and his ACF did not remember the existence of this constitutional provision throughout the eight years of imperial Buhari, Bayajjida II of the kingdom of Northern Nigeria. “Few love to hear the sins they love to act.” That is how William Shakespeare, in his ‘Pericles, Prince of Tyre’, elegantly explains what hypocrisy does to people’s sense of shame.

Not knowing when to complain is a problem. That the North believes it has the moral right to talk at all is because it thinks itself senior in the Nigerian arrangement. But I know that the greedy is red-eyed twice: when he eats his yam alone and when his neighbours converge to eat their pounded yam. For eight years, Muhammadu Buhari dared the other parts of Nigeria outside his north and fed àdí (palm kernel oil) to Èsù with his provocative nepotism. He did it without personal consequences because he stood on very firm grounds of regional supremacy. While he wantonly shredded Nigeria’s garment of diversity, today’s noisemakers (and their slaves) egged him on with claps of endorsement. They okayed Buhari’s cronyism and hollered that the spread of the appointments was not necessary but that what mattered were competence and performance. They felt (and feel) no shame that at the end of their Buhari’s eight years, what was harvested from their farm of ‘competence’ and ‘performance’ was mass hunger and mass misery.

I know that there are certain All Progressives Congress (APC) masquerades who wear costumes of region and religion to complain about their not having posts (yet). If they are in the cold, whose fault should that be? Tinubu’s is a government of libation, everyone who has sense knows. But when you refuse to offer prayers in the right temple and drop sacrifices in the proper shrines, expect disappointments. There is a Festus Keyamo whose ministerial dream suffered reluctance of nomination and controversy of clearance. But, apparently because he knew in what river to wash his hands, his troubles eased off with apologies in sherds of remorse. There is, on the other hand, the petite Nasir El Rufai who went through the examination process supervised by prayerful Godwin Akpabio but had his result withheld by those who held the yam and the knife. What else is there to say when a pupil finds their report card in the mouth of the headmaster’s goat? Yet, there are some who got what they wanted because of the good boy and good girl they had been to the new powers in town. If you keep your palms clean, it is not every time you pour libation to dispensers of favours. And, I have here Ezeulu in Chinua Achebe’s ‘Arrow of God’. The old priest is full of apologies for not setting before his guests “even a pot of palm wine.” The response he gets is to the effect that “when a father calls his children together, he should not worry about placing palm wine before them” (page 143). But that is a father that has paid his dues and has not taken more than he has put down.

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Now, is it not a shame that the complaints we hear from the North are about elite privileges and not about the hardship in town? Think about the existential struggles of an average Nigerian and what interests the political class. Like an exasperated friend said on Friday, inflation is hitting the roof, the naira is sinking, market capitalisation at the Nigerian stock market is tumbling, people are dying, yet what interests the elite is what appointees come from their bedrooms. Instead of the northern elites complaining about the ethnic origin of those managing the economy, they should be worried about the calamity of their own failure as leaders and the collapse of all humanity in their region. On the streets of Ibadan, we encounter, daily, beggars from the North with heart-rending stories. This last Saturday, one of them, Harira Muhammadu, told the Saturday Tribune that she left her husband, aged father and children behind in Kano to face a “life of uncertainty” begging on the streets of Ibadan. She said she had no other choice than to beg because the North had collapsed and she could not afford to watch her children starve. “If things were easy and sweet for us back home, we would not come here to live this life of uncertainty. I have some children with me and I do not have anything to feed them with and it is a lot of work…I remember when I first came here many years ago, I did not know where to go or what to do and I was afraid and all. I would cry and wipe my tears. Sometimes, the children would cry with me but I endured because I knew that if I returned home (to the North) the suffering would be more severe,” she said.

There is no southern town or city without sad stories such as that of the beggar above. Yet, check all conferences, read books, monographs and pamphlets from the North, the poor perennially have no space there. There is never a conversation there on the imperative of finding a cure for the pandemic of poverty in that region. The North’s eunuch stands erect (or has an erection) only when there is a South to intimidate. Everything is about power and elite comfort carefully packaged as regional nationalism and/or duty imposed by religion. The elites of the North won’t keep quiet until they are back in power to ride roughshod on the other parts of Nigeria. Check how to deal with bullies. Stand up to them.

This article written by Dr. Lasisi Olagunju, Saturday Editor Nigerian Tribune was first published by the same newspaper, it’s published by INFO DAILY with permission from the author.

News

Full List: FG Releases Names Of 68 ambassadorial Nominees Sent To Senate For Confirmation

Published

7 hours ago

December 5, 2025

Editor

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded a list of 68 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for approval, signalling a major reshuffle of Nigeria’s diplomatic corps.

The list, read during Thursday’s plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, comprises 34 career diplomats, 31 non-career appointees, and three candidates previously cleared by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. The President is seeking swift confirmation to enable Nigeria to fill several key foreign missions.

According to the letter, the appointments aim to strengthen Nigeria’s international representation and reposition its diplomatic engagements. The Senate has referred the list to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, directing it to screen the nominees and submit a report within one week.

Among the non-career nominees are former Chief of Naval Staff and ex–Sole Administrator of Rivers State Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd.), former presidential aide Ita Enang, former Imo First Lady Chioma Ohakim, and former Minister of Interior Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd.).

Others include former Lagos Deputy Governor Olufemi Pedro, former Edo lawmaker Abbasi Brahma, media personality Reno Omokri, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, and former Minister Femi Fani-Kayode.

The career nominees, representing all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, are serving diplomats and senior foreign service officers recommended for ambassadorial postings.

The appointments follow ongoing efforts by the Federal Government to bolster Nigeria’s diplomatic presence globally and ensure representation in critical foreign missions.

The full list, as transmitted by the President, includes nominees for all states, with details of career and non-career appointments as well as the three candidates cleared earlier by the Senate Committee.

CAREER AMBASSADORS (34)

1. Abia – Mwaobiola Ezeuwo Chukwuemeka

2. Adamawa – Maimuna Ibrahim

News

9 Common Resume Mistakes Graduates Make – And How To Avoid Them

Published

7 hours ago

December 5, 2025

Editor

Graduates entering today’s job market face intense competition, and the first challenge is often getting their resume noticed.
Many employers spend only a few seconds scanning each application, which means even small mistakes can cost candidates valuable opportunities. Unfortunately, a large number of graduates unknowingly submit resumes that are poorly structured, unfocused, or not aligned with the roles they’re targeting.

Understanding the most common resume errors is the first step toward creating a document that truly reflects your strengths and potential. This guide by the experts at ResumeWriterDen highlights these mistakes and how to avoid them.

Mistake #1: Using a Generic Resume for Every Job

Many graduates make the mistake of using one generic resume to apply for every job. Recruiters can easily spot a one-size-fits-all application, and it often signals a lack of genuine interest in the role.
Each position has unique requirements, preferred skills, and keywords that employers expect to see. When your resume doesn’t reflect these details, it becomes less relevant and may be filtered out early in the process.

To avoid this, graduates should tailor their resume for each application by aligning their skills, achievements, and summary with the job description. Personalization consistently increases interview chances.

Mistake #2: Overloading the Resume With Personal Information

Most graduates mistakenly believe that adding plenty of personal details makes their resume look complete, but it actually distracts employers and wastes valuable space.

Information like age, state of origin, religion, marital status, or home address adds no value to your application and may even introduce unconscious bias.
Recruiters care about your skills, education, and achievements, not personal details that don’t relate to the job. A professional resume writer ensures your resume remain strictly professional and focused on what you bring to the role.
How to Avoid It: Keep personal information minimal and stick to contact details, location (city only), and professional links.

Mistake #3: Poor Resume FormattingMistake #3: Poor Resume Formatting

A lot of graduates underestimate how much resume formatting affects first impressions. Recruiters often skim documents in seconds, so a cluttered layout, unusual fonts, or inconsistent spacing can make your resume look unprofessional or difficult to read.
Poor formatting also confuses Applicant Tracking Systems, causing important details to be missed. A clean structure helps your strengths stand out quickly.
To avoid this mistake, use a simple, modern layout with clear headings, consistent spacing, and readable fonts. Keep sections well-organized and avoid unnecessary graphics. Good formatting doesn’t just improve appearance — it increases your chances of getting noticed.

Mistake #4: Not Highlighting Relevant Skills

Most graduates either list too many unrelated skills or fail to showcase the ones employers actually care about.
Recruiters and Applicant Tracking Systems scan resumes for specific skills that match the job description, so a generic list weakens your chances. Instead of filling the skills section with every tool or software you’ve ever used, focus on abilities that align directly with the role. Prioritize skills that demonstrate problem-solving, communication, technical proficiency, or industry-specific knowledge. Through presenting the right strengths clearly, you make it easier for employers to immediately see your value.

Mistake #5: Weak or Vague Career Summary

Several jobseekers and graduates fill their resumes with generic statements like “Hardworking and motivated” without showing real value.
A weak summary fails to grab an employer’s attention and doesn’t communicate why the candidate is a strong fit. Recruiters often spend seconds scanning this section, so vague phrases are easily overlooked.
How to Avoid It: Craft a concise, results-oriented summary that highlights your key skills, achievements, and career goals. For example, instead of generic words, describe your expertise, relevant experience, and what you bring to a prospective employer.

Mistake #6: Listing Responsibilities Instead of Achievements

The error of simply listing what they did in previous roles or internships, rather than highlighting what they accomplished is common amongst many graduates. For example, stating “Handled customer inquiries” is vague and unimpressive. Employers want to see results, impact, and measurable contributions.
How to Avoid It: Frame experiences as achievements using action verbs and quantifiable outcomes. Instead of “Managed social media accounts,” write “Increased social media engagement by 30% in three months through targeted campaigns.” This approach demonstrates value and sets your resume apart from the competition.

Mistake #7: Typos and Grammar Errors

Underestimating how critical a flawless resume should be is common among graduates. Even minor typos or grammatical mistakes can make a candidate appear careless or unprofessional, often causing hiring managers to discard the resume immediately.
Recruiters typically spend only a few seconds reviewing each application, so errors stand out instantly.
How to Avoid It: Always proofread your resume multiple times and consider using grammar tools like Grammarly. Asking a friend or a professional to review it can also catch mistakes you might overlook. A polished resume reflects attention to detail and professionalism.

Mistake #8: Making the Resume Too Long
Many fresh graduates think more is better, but overly long resumes can actually hurt their chances.
Recruiters often skim resumes in seconds, so unnecessary details bury key achievements. Including every course, internship, or extracurricular activity makes the document cluttered and hard to read.
How to Avoid It: Focus on the most relevant experiences and skills. One well-structured page is usually enough for a graduate.
Highlight achievements that demonstrate your value, and remove anything that doesn’t directly support your application. Concise resumes leave a stronger, more memorable impression.

Mistake #9: Not Including Keywords for ATS

This is highly underestimated. Many graduates don’t realize that most employers use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to screen resumes before a human ever sees them.
If your resume lacks the right keywords such as relevant skills, job titles, or industry terms, it may be automatically filtered out, no matter how qualified you are. To avoid this, carefully review each job description and include the exact terms employers use.

According to experts at https://www.resumewriterden.com tailoring your resume with targeted keywords significantly increases the chances of passing ATS filters and landing interviews.

Final Thoughts
A well-crafted resume can open doors that might otherwise remain closed. Graduates should avoid common mistakes, tailor their content, and highlight achievements clearly.
For those seeking expert guidance, executive resume writers can provide the structure and insight needed to stand out in a competitive job market. Remember, your resume is often the first impression an employer has: make every word count.
(GUARDIAN)

News

Food Security: 14,000 Smallholder Farmers To Benefit From N4bn Smart Agriculture Training In Bauchi

Published

9 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Editor

The Heineken Africa Foundation, through Nigerian Breweries Plc is investing N4 billion to train 14,000 smallholder farmers on smart agriculture across seven Local Government Areas of Bauchi state for three years.

Mr Chukwuemeka Aniukwu, Head of Public, External and Government Affairs, Nigerian Breweries Plc, disclosed this in Bauchi on Thursday during the official Launch of the ‘empowerment of Smallholder farmers to thrive and build climate resilience through regenerative agriculture’.

Aniukwu, who explained that the foundation is in collaboration with the Foundation for Sustainable Smallholder Solutions (FSSS), added that the investment builds on the Foundation’s long-standing commitment to improving access to healthcare, water, sanitation, and hygiene across Africa.

“Our decision to invest in Bauchi is both deliberate and strategic. Bauchi is home to resilient, resourceful, and industrious smallholder farmers whose contributions are essential to Nigeria’s food security.

“The strength of your farming communities, combined with the natural potential of this land, gives us confidence that meaningful and lasting impact can take root here. We are here because we believe in the people of Bauchi.

“This project is designed to strengthen the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, particularly women and young people, by enhancing their capacity to generate sustainable income.

“It will deliver training, access to quality inputs, stronger market linkages, and opportunities across the agricultural value chain,” he said.

Also, Dr Isaiah Gabriel, Executive Director, Foundation for Sustainable Smallholder Solutions (FSSS), explained that the farmers would receive hands-on training through Farmer Field Schools and demonstration plots in.

According to him, out of the 14,000 smallholder farmers, 60 per cent were women and 40 per cent of youth.

The farmers, he said, would also be trained on regenerative and climate-smart agriculture, soil and water conservation, pest and disease management, crop diversification and post-harvest handling, among others.

“The project supports the restoration and protection of natural resources by promoting regenerative farming that rebuilds soil fertility, efficient water management and irrigation practices, and adoption of drought-tolerant crop varieties.

“We are here to make smallholder farmers big players and our target is to increase incomes by at least 30 per cent, but our dream is bigger.

“This programme spans seven Local government areas of Katagum, Shira, Jama’are, Giade, Itas-Gadau, Zaki, and Gamawa. Women and youth are not an afterthought, they are at the heart of this intervention because the future of agriculture depends on their strength, creativity, and leadership,” he said.

The Executive Director commended the Bauchi state government for its partnership, support and provision of an enabling environment and promised that the programme would be effectively implemented.

In his address, Mr Iliyasu Gital, Bauchi state’s Commissioner for Agriculture commended the foundation for bringing the programme to the state and expressed the state government’s commitment to support the training in every capacity.

Some of the beneficiaries commended the gesture, adding it would transform agriculture and encourage productivity towards achieving food security in the country.

Maimunatu Sani, a farmer, who had benefited from the programme in Kano state, said that she learnt how to recycle farm residues and transform it into an effective organic fertilizer, calling smallholder farmers in the state to key into the programme.

She said she acquired practical skills to improve her farming activities and increase output.

Another farmer from Kano, Mama Mairam, said the introduction of new techniques assisted farmers to significantly reduce wastage and increase yields per hectare.