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OPINION: The Terrorists Are Winning

Published

1 month ago

November 24, 2025

By Lasisi Olagunju

“There were many famous warriors in the village during the pillaging by the Fulani and yet the village was swept off almost completely by the invading warriors. This was not because they (the enemies) were stronger but due to their trickery, the people of Eruku became susceptible (vulnerable). When the invaders came, they would besiege only one quarter at a time and they would send a message to the other quarters not to worry as they were not their intended target. Unfortunately, other quarters would stand by while one quarter was invaded. This same trickery continued and many of the inhabitants were captured and sold to the white slave traders until the whole village was reduced to only ten people and one dog at the end of the last war.”

That is an excerpt from a short history of the Kwara town, Eruku, that was ravaged in broad daylight by Fulani bandits last week. The account is credited to a 1956 publication by the late educationist and a leader of the community, Dr Alexander Omotosho Obateru. I got it on the Internet.

What is described in that history happened about 200 years ago (circa 1820-1825). In January last year (2024), there was an uproar online over the installation of a Fulani ‘king’ in that town (see Facebook post by Trust Bethnews/ Eruku Descendants Union on 26 January, 2024). In 1905, Spanish-born American philosopher, George Santayana, published ‘The Life of Reason, or The Phases of Human Progress’. In the twelfth chapter titled ‘Flux and Constancy In Human Nature’ he writes that “when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

I took time to read most of the eighty-eight comments which the Eruku chieftaincy post and the attached four photos attracted. A particular comment there foretells today: “We came home for the new year and our observation was what you posted. I noticed they have actually infiltrated our village. You see them everywhere with no manner at all, behaving like omo onile.” ‘Omo onile’ means child of the owner of the land.

The city of Nineveh was promised that “affliction shall not arise the second time.” For that Kwara ‘city’ and many more across Northern Nigeria, affliction coming in repeated times has become destiny. The attackers of two centuries ago have reincarnated. They are back; deadlier than they were during their earlier incarnation.

Last Friday, overwhelmed by bandits and banditry, the Federal Government closed down 47 federal secondary schools across the north, and some in the south, particularly in Ekiti. Same day, Plateau and Katsina states did the same. Yobe at the weekend. Niger State did its own before Friday; Kwara did in some local government areas; Taraba closed dormitories. The picture is scary. From the derived savannah of Kwara and Kogi, through the montane forest of the Jos Plateau, to the sahel of the far north, a canopy of tragedy has enveloped the country.

The terrorists are winning – or they have won.

Where I come from, proverbs are connecting rods; they bind generations and experiences; they carry the weight of morality and memory; they code meaning. Because big misfortunes assault Nigeria, miserable ones squat to shit into its mouth. As we grappled with this crisis, President Donald Trump of the United States doubled down on his verbal intervention in our affairs, he told Fox News at the weekend that Nigeria remained a disgrace:

“I think Nigeria’s a disgrace, the whole thing is a disgrace. They’re killing people by the thousands. It’s a genocide, and I’m really angry about it. And we pay, you know, we give a lot of subsidy to Nigeria. We’re going to end up stopping. The government’s done nothing. They are very ineffective. They’re killing Christians at will. And you know until I got involved in it two weeks ago — nobody even talked about it.” Trump said all this at a time Nigerian top shots were hopping from one elevator to another in US high-rise buildings begging to be heard. They are still there scrambling to extinguish the fire of global outrage at what we do to ourselves. Indeed, when bad luck chooses a man as a companion, even a ripe banana will knock out his teeth. Our ancestors were right.

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What does it mean to be a disgrace? David Lurie, the protagonist in J. M. Coetzee’s 1999 novel, ‘Disgrace’, loves Lucifer. He describes him as “a being who chooses his own path, who lives dangerously, even creating danger for himself.” Nigeria is that fallen angel; every word in the ‘Disgrace’ quote speaks to the ways of Nigeria. Choices have consequences; some of them eternal. The consequence of the path we chose is a nation cast into the furnace of disgracefully unremitting insecurity.

We closed schools and closed life. American philosopher, John Dewey (1859-1952) said “education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” He was right. Closure of schools pauses the life and future of learners. Whether students are locked out of school or schools are locked out of learning and teaching, it is a catastrophe to all of humanity. Tragically, both experiences are happening right now in Northern Nigeria. The enemy is winning, wining and happy. I pray this flu of banditry and terrorism does not become covid-2025/26 locking down the whole country. The cloud is heavy.

In ‘Getting Ready for the Dark Ages?’ Kajsa Friedman and Jonathan Friedman say “When things get bad we get worse.” They speak about the “polarization that increases to near hysteria when elites lose control”, and the “interminable decline” and “internal self-destruction” that follow. Internal self-destruction is the poor stealing children of the poor like fish eating fish to get fat. The Nigerian elite have lost control of the steering wheel; the polarisation is galling, the decline is real and unstoppable; it looks like an irreversible teeter towards the apocalypse.

To the victims of the rounds of havoc, there is no government, there is no state. Their state is helplessness. The people wreaking havoc all over the country are extremists of the worst order. They operate without masks and damn the state to cough, catch or caution them. They think the truth of their criminal existence is the truth we must all abide with. Ghanaian writer, Ayi Kwei Armah, writes in ‘Two Thousand Seasons’ that destroyers come always chanting one extreme truth. They always come to “turn earth to desert.” They are a people “whose spirit is itself the seed of death.” The destroyers came for Nigerians, and Nigeria looked away in complicit criminality. That is why they keep coming. And that exactly is why our government is panting and the reason Nigeria is “a disgrace.”

Government said the mass closure of schools was a temporary safety measure. But how brief is that temporary? When ‘temporary’ ends, will the destroyers not renew their coming and we close again? This fall is a free-fall.

There is a country called Afghanistan; its own madness was thought temporary, it is now permanent. And the world has abandoned the madman with his mother’s corpse. It is having a good meal of the cadaver. Northern Nigeria has Afghanistan as a model of what its future could be.

“They are in a very bad situation… the only thing they had was education, but right now they do not have it.” This quote is about the female children of Afghanistan where secondary education for girls was outlawed four years ago by the ruling Taliban. The reign of the Taliban was thought a joke; it is now permanent. Some people in this country covet what Afghanistan does. And they are working very hard to have it.

Two months ago, the United Nations published an interview with activist Fatima Amiri, a victim of Afghanistan’s peculiar regime of repression. The voice in the quote above is hers; and she says more. She says: “It has been four years that people in Afghanistan are having these problems…There are no changes in Afghanistan; still schools are closed, still universities are closed, still a woman cannot go outside alone.”

The lady speaks about Afghan girls who continue to learn “in secret, in the dark, online, through whispers, through books that are like precious treasures.” Some people here earnestly yearn for this experience. And they are winning.

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Sixty-two-year old Dauda Chekula told The Associated Press news agency at the weekend that four of his grandchildren, aged seven to 10, were taken at the Catholic school in Niger State where over 300 school children were abducted on Friday. “We don’t know what is happening now, because we have not heard anything since this morning,” he said. That was on Saturday. Today is Monday, the question is still: What is happening?

Now, you watched the horror of that Kwara church attack: Old women who wanted to run from danger but could not run because old age refused to let them; children wailing and wondering why it must be some people’s job to hunt them like rabbits? Pastors asking God why it was that moment of triumph that defeat walked in. The worshippers’ voices were shrill, high-pitched, in victory over calamities when they were shut up by gunshots followed quickly by the boots of the unwanted visitors.

Do criminals reincarnate? I read somewhere a New York prison physician who wrote in 1903 that “few indeed are the criminals who come to our prison at Sing Sing with minds that were at birth tabularasa, whose mental powers at birth were not already thickly sown with seeds of crime.” What is the difference between what we saw in the Christ Apostolic Church video, the agony of the aged and the cries of children, and the scene described by Samuel Ajayi Crowther on his own capture by bandits in March 1821?

I reproduce Crowther’s banditry and abduction story:

“I suppose sometime about the commencement of the year 1821, I was in my native country, enjoying the comforts of father and mother, and affectionate love of brothers and sisters. From this period I must date the unhappy…day, which I shall never forget in my life.

“I call it an unhappy day, because it was the day in which I was violently turned out of my father’s house, and separated from relations; … and which I was made to experience what is called slavery…

“For some years, war had been carried on in my Eyo (Oyo) country, which was always attended with much devastation and bloodshed; The enemies were principally the Oyo Mahomedans, with the Foulahs (Fulbe), and such foreign slaves as had escaped from their owners. Joined together, making a formidable force of about 20,000, they had no other employment but selling slaves to the Spaniards and Portuguese on the coast.

“The morning in which my town, Ocho-gu (Osogun), shared the same fate was fair and delightful; when, about 9 o’clock a.m. a rumour was spread in the town that the enemies had approached. It was not long after when they had almost surrounded the town; the men being surprised, the enemies entered the town after about three or four hours’ resistance.

“Women, some with three, four, six children clinging to their arms, running through prickly shrubs, which, hooking their loads, drew them down. While they found impossible to go along with their loads, they endeavoured only to save themselves and their children, they were overtaken and caught, with a noose of rope thrown over the neck of every individual, to be led in the manner of goats. In many cases a family was violently divided, each led his away, to see one another no more.

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“Your humble servant was thus caught — with his mother, two sisters (one an infant about ten months old), and a cousin — while endeavouring to escape. My load consisted in nothing else than my bow, and five arrows in the quiver, the bow I had lost in the shrub while I was extricating myself, before I could think of making any use of it. The last view I had of my father was when he came to give us the signal to flee. He entered into our house which was burnt. Hence I never saw him more. Here I must take thy leave, unhappy, comfortless father! I learned, some time afterward, that he was killed in another battle.”

If this 204-year-old story is told in some villages in today’s Northern Nigeria, it will easily pass as their current experience. Nigeria’s terrorists come in our history as Shakespeare’s “twice-told tale.” G. R. S. Mead in 1912 thoroughly examined life beyond “the cribbed, cabined, and confined area of one short earth-life.” If the dead are gone forever, why do we have descendants of bandits of 200 years ago re-enacting the crimes of their forebears today with gripping exactitude? Why are the crimes committed today done with the same cold-blooded barbarity as they were done two, three centuries ago? And if we know terrorists will always come back, even after now, why are we negotiating peace with them? Why are we not thinking of permanently shredding and flushing them into the Atlantic, soul and all? A dubious Masai proverb says “If your enemies poison the well, you don’t purify the well, you invent a sharper poison.” Nigeria’s terrorists need that “sharper poison” not accommodation.

Besides, politicians love it when their enemy is served poisoned dinner. Is that why today’s power is getting the George Floyd treatment from Northern Nigeria? Some people are happy that the blistering insecurity wracking the country will sink their enemies who are in power. They think terror will help them defeat this government in 2027. They are mistaken. Unless we all rise up and find a quick way out of this hole, these contrived, horrendous landslides will bury all of us before 2027. That is if we are not defeated already.

May the captured in states across the country not die in captivity.

News

OPINION: Nigeria Deserves A President Donald Trump

Published

6 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Editor

By Suyi Ayodele

“I spoke with AJ on the phone to personally convey my condolences… He assured me that he is receiving the best care in the hospital.” From wherever he then was, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu relayed that Anthony Joshua, the British-born boxer of Nigerian descent involved in a recent car accident, had told him he was receiving the best medical attention in Nigeria.

Yet, with something as ordinary as a headache, the same president routinely jets out of the country for treatment, sometimes to the United Kingdom, sometimes to France, sometimes to destinations left undisclosed. No one asks Mr. President why he can not stay behind and partake of that same “best care in the hospital” available at home.

Instead, we busy ourselves with tallying the number of days he spends abroad, and when the arithmetic is done, we move on. Nothing more is demanded; nothing more is explained.

So, if tomorrow a President Donald Trump were to bar Nigerians from travelling to the United States for medical treatment, we would promptly denounce him as a racist. Yet the very next day, we would assemble a cultural troupe to welcome home a medical tourist president, one who left Nigeria quietly, without telling us what ailed him, and returned triumphantly after treatment abroad.

That is our lot; the predicament of a people wedded to decay and decadence. And it is precisely this contradiction, this ritual of self-deception, that makes it easy for some world leaders to dismiss Nigeria as a disgraced country.

President Trump is a man many love to hate. And justifiably too. The man attracts ‘hatred’ for himself as if his mission on earth is to do what many consider ‘despicable.’

I, however, have a different opinion about the man who rules America at the moment. I see him as more of an American patriot than the brute many people project him to be. I don’t see anything wrong in a president asking non-nationals to go back and fix their own countries. That, to me, is the central message of the Trump Presidency. My understanding of his philosophy on governance is that citizens should hold their leaders accountable, rather than fleeing their countries.

This is one of the reasons I hardly argue about Nigeria and its numerous failing institutions with any Nigerian living outside the shores of the country, especially those who japa less than 20 years ago. My position is simple: if you know that Nigeria is being run by the best of men now, just pack your bags and baggage and come back home. A friend once asked me why I don’t see anything wrong in “the racist called Trump”, and I responded by asking him to come back home and enjoy our nationalist president. If farming is an easy venture, blacksmiths will not sell hoes and cutlasses. Those are the words of our elders.

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Three days into the New Year 2026, President Trump opened the New Year on a very good note for the people of Venezuela. Venezuelans, at home and in the diaspora, woke up that Saturday, January 3, 2026, morning to discover that they had no president. Trump, using the sophisticated American soldiers in the US elite corps, invaded Venezuela in the dead of the night and abducted, if you like, kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. Surprisingly, the people rejoiced at the news!

The husband and wife were in bed when the American soldiers came calling. One can picture how startled they were when they saw the strange faces in their inner room. The shock, especially when Maduro had, less than a month ago, boasted that he was safe and secure and dared America to come after him, is better imagined! What if the couple were making out when the intruders arrived?

Hours later, Trump boasted of the feat as “an extraordinary military operation,” during which “air, land, and sea were used to launch a spectacular assault. And it was an assault like people have not seen since World War Two.” He then described the operation as “…. One of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history” as the Venezuelan military capacities were “rendered powerless”, and “…. the men and women of our military working with US law enforcement successfully captured Maduro in the dead of night.” Could this be the reason why our elders advise that when one’s mother’s co-wife is older, one must call her mother (Tí ìyàwó ìyá eni bá ju ìyà eni lo, ìyá làá pèé).

A great public speaker, Trump warned that “This extremely successful operation should serve as a warning to anyone who would threaten American sovereignty or endanger American lives.” He listed those to be warned to include Cuba, saying, “I think Cuba is going to be something we’ll end up talking about because Cuba is a failing nation right now, a very badly failing nation. And we want to help the people. It’s very similar in the sense that we want to help the people in Cuba.”

Trump is a consummate power wielder. He did not forget Colombia. It is a known fact worldwide that Colombia and drugs are Siamese twins. If President Maduro of Venezuela could be ‘captured’ because he was accused of importing cocaine to America, the Colombian President, Gustavo Petro, President Trump warned, should “watch his ass”, because “He’s making cocaine and they’re sending it into the United States, so he does have to watch his ass.”

We must get this right from the start. No law permits what President Trump did in Venezuela. The invasion of the presidential palace and the kidnapping of President Maduro and his wife are bad in all ramifications. America is not the world police. At least, the United Nations (UN), that toothless world bulldog, Charter does not permit such an infraction. The sovereignty of Venezuela was raped by Trump. The sanctity of the human person of President Maduro was violated. Oh, yes, I must add this: the solemnity of the bedroom of Maduro and his wife was desecrated! What if Maduro and his wife had slept naked, as most couples do?

Article 2(4) of the UN Charter prohibits any member state from using force against the territorial integrity (sovereignty) of an independent country. The Charter, in Article 51, only allows the use of force in self-defence, while Articles 24 and 25 permit only the Security Council to use joint or collective force against any independent nation that threatens world peace. So, where did President Trump derive the power to invade another country, pick up the incumbent president, and transport him to America in handcuffs, as he did to President Maduro of Venezuela?

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I have read many comments about the Trump Presidency. This recent action in Venezuela added fuel to the inferno of hatred for the American President. If Nigerians in the Diaspora in America were to choose who governs God’s Own Country, Trump would not have smelled the presidency. In fact, he would not have been elected as the mayor of any city. But unfortunately for the entire world, the American people, or, as someone argued, ‘the American skewed system’, elected Trump as president. Everybody, haters or lovers alike, would have to deal with that fact.

From day one, Trump never hid his identity. He never pretended to be a gentleman. He did not tell anyone that he would run America for foreigners. His ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) mantra is self-explicit. America would be for Americans, he promised. And he has lived up to that. That is honesty in its illiterate form! If you ask me, that is the type of president every nation deserves. No pretence, no diplomacy; all that matters is American interests. I wish Nigeria had such a President, the one who thinks, sleeps and dreams of Nigeria. We have been unfortunate with the selfish individuals that we have had as leaders. The present crop of transactional leaders is the very worst in our recent history.

If I were to choose a president for Nigeria, I would not think twice before picking a character like Trump. A man who places the nation’s interest above any other consideration is the man after my heart. This is what is lacking in Africa, and particularly in Nigeria. A nation that has no defined national interest is bound to be in ruins, like most nations of Africa.

Nigeria has the capacity, in all ramifications, to be great. What we lack is a president who is purposeful, courageous and above all, patriotic. We can imagine that our military became suddenly effective and efficient only after Trump ‘invaded’ Sokoto and cleared out a good number of terrorists. Yet again, nobody is asking what went wrong before the coming of Trump.

I have read so much about the sovereignty of Venezuela. I have no problem with that. But the one question I keep asking the proponents of national sovereignty is: at what time does the respect for a nation’s sovereignty stop? If, for instance, the sovereignty of Nation A threatens the peace of Nation B, what should Nation B do? Should it act in the interest of its own peace or fold its hands while the rudderless nation A acts anyhow?

If President Maduro was exporting drugs to America as Trump alleged, what should be the response of President Trump? I also find it curious that many who talked about the sanctity of the American judiciary in the case involving President Tinubu and the Chicago University certificate are the same set of people saying Maduro would not get justice in America! What a people!

After the ‘capture’ of President Maduro, the American President said that the US would “run” Venezuela. Many said that Trump was only interested in Venezuelan crude oil. Trump himself did not deny that. His press conference after Maduro had been taken into custody was clear enough. America had a huge investment profile in the oil sector of Venezuela. One of the responsibilities of President Trump, and this is applicable to all presidents, is the protection of the American economy at home and abroad. If the US investments are threatened in Venezuela because of the activities of Maduro, would Trump not be failing in his responsibility if he did not act in the name of sovereignty?

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Nnamdi Kingsley Akanni, a professor of International Law and Diplomacy, Rivers State University, in a 2019 paper on “The Concept of Sovereignty in International Law and Relations,” suggests that the concept of sovereignty may be a ruse after all. According to him, “The paper found that what third world countries enjoy is not sovereignty but ‘sovereignty on dictated terms’ of the so-called developed powers.”

The erudite scholar states further that at the end of the research exercise, “The paper also found that smaller States are not accorded protection from developed countries and that until that is done, the concept of sovereignty will continue to be elusive to smaller nations.” He then recommends “…that the UN should take proactive steps to give greater recognition and voice to developing countries as well as offering them the platform to assert their sovereignty in line with international law.”

What the scholar is saying here is that the concept of ‘sovereignty’ exists only when the developed countries are involved. When there is a conflict of interest between the world superpowers and any of the developing or ‘disgraced’ countries of the world, the principle of “Just War” applies. This is why Trump is going to get away with the Saturday invasion of Venezuela and the impending similar exercises in Cuba and Colombia, as the American President hinted.

If the UN wakes up today and gets its mojo back to interrogate Trump on Venezuela, the US can simply hide under the cover of the principle of ‘Just war’ as the invasion of Venezuela and the ‘capture’ of its president satisfied the jus ad bellum requirements of the ‘just cause’, just intention’; ‘just peace’; reasonable chance of success’; and ‘expected benefits outweighing anticipated cost.’. We don’t need a seer to predict that many drug-friendly leaders across the globe will think twice before making America their ‘depots.’ Trump took the American oath of office to protect American interests. This is why there has been no serious condemnation of the invasion in the US today.

The invasion of Venezuela is a lesson for third-world countries. The argument that Trump took that decision because of the last Venezuelan election and economic interest is noble in my opinion. That is what he was elected to do: protect America and its interests world over.

In Africa, in general, and in Nigeria in particular, let our leaders learn to develop our lands. Let those saddled with the responsibilities of paddling our canoes do so with utmost patriotism. And more importantly, let those who want to lord it over us do so through free and fair elections. Otherwise, we will all clap and celebrate should Trump decide to ‘capture’ and ship all undesirable elements with questionable character to America for trial. Venezuelans set the precedent on Saturday when they trooped to the streets in jubilation at the news of the removal of Maduro!1

News

Oyo Traditional Ruler Suspended Over Alleged Illegal Mining

Published

8 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Editor

The Oyo State Government has suspended the Sobaloju of Ofiki, Chief Jacob Sobaloju, following allegations linking him to illegal mining activities and breaches of Executive Order 001/2023, which governs mining operations within the state.

The state government said the action was taken to protect the public interest and preserve government-gazetted assets.

In a suspension letter issued by the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters and signed by the Director of Chieftaincy Matters, Mr Olajire A.M., the traditional ruler was accused of contravening the executive order and forest reserve regulations by allegedly issuing consent letters to mining firms without lawful authorisation.

The letter further alleged that Chief Sobaloju permitted mining activities within government-reserved forest areas and facilitated unauthorised mining operations, actions said to be in violation of extant laws and regulations.

According to the ministry, the monarch was suspended from the palace of the Onitọ of Ito with effect from Monday, January 5, 2026, pending the outcome of investigations.

The suspension was described as a precautionary step to ensure an unhindered and credible investigation process.

The correspondence, titled “Re: Complaint against Chief Sobaloju of Ofiki for violation of State Executive Order, Forest Reserve Regulations and encouraging trespassing of government gazetted assets,” stated that the allegations bordered on violations of Executive Order 001/2023 and unlawful encroachment on state-owned assets.

Chief Sobaloju was also directed to immediately cease all mining-related activities, including the issuance of consent letters, avoid interference with the investigation, and make himself available to investigators whenever required.

The Oyo State Government reaffirmed its zero-tolerance stance on illegal mining and related infractions, warning that any individual found culpable would be sanctioned in line with the law.

News

Why I Resigned As CIGM Boss – Arogundade Breaks Silence

Published

24 hours ago

January 5, 2026

Editor

Jubril Arogundade, former senior executive of CIG Motors, has clarified the circumstances surrounding his departure from the company.

He explained that his exit was voluntary and motivated by concerns over corporate governance, not misconduct.

Recall that Arogundade resigned from his position on December 2, 2025, citing persistent issues with internal controls, financial management, and regulatory compliance.

“I resigned from my position at CIG Motors after careful reflection and in line with due process,” he said.

“It is therefore deeply concerning that my voluntary exit has been publicly mischaracterized. My decision was guided by principle and professional responsibility.”

He explained that over a sustained period, he had raised concerns internally about corporate governance gaps, growing debt, and unresolved regulatory obligations but did not see meaningful corrective action.

“As a Nigerian professional, I take governance, compliance, and institutional responsibility very seriously,” Arogundade said.

“When internal efforts to address these matters did not yield results, I chose to resign rather than compromise on standards that I believe are fundamental to sustainable business.”

Addressing reports linking him to financial impropriety, Arogundade said, “I have nothing to hide and welcome any lawful, independent, and objective review of my conduct during my tenure. Contrary to public insinuations, no regulatory or law enforcement agency has contacted me regarding these claims, and I remain fully available to cooperate should any legitimate inquiry arise.”