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OPINION: Will Nigeria Be As Lucky As King Sunny Ade?

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Tunde Odesola

Bewildered by the riddle life was unravelling, King Sunny Ade, in 1974, lifted his voice in a plaintive cry, “È sú biri-biri kè bó mi o.” At the time, the fast-rising Juju maestro was merely 11 years into his musical odyssey when he birthed this evergreen song. Had the song been born in 2025, it might have been titled “Piti-piti Ayé”— to reflect the muttering of today’s youth generation navigating chaos in streetwise slang.

“È sú biri-biri kè bó mi o” is no mere lament; it is a philosophical lamentation, the outcry of a mind in a maze. In the song, a perplexed KSA pleads for an encompassing supernatural protection, confessing he cannot tell whether the bus of life he boarded is surging forward or sliding backwards.

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Yet, in his quandary, the minstrel offers his adoration to God. “Mo ti ṣe’bà Ẹdùmarè, Ọba tó l’àyé,” he declares—I have paid homage to the Creator, the King of the universe. He continues, “Mo ti ṣe’bà gbogbo àgbà tó n be niwaju mi, dede ọmọ àwọ”— I revere the elders and all devotees. I adulate the killing Òpàkí and the saving Òlàkí witches, whose silence thunders at midnight…decreeing my protection. For it is the solidity of kòkò igi—the core of the tree—that protects the kòkò from being chopped; just as the albino enjoys the same honour of the òrìṣà.

The classic song unfolds in a cascade of Yoruba oral chant, rich in metaphor and mischief: “No one dares thrust a sword to the back of the housefly; no one beheads the housefly with a sword; no one shackles the legs of the housefly.”

The song reveals the conspiracy against Àgbè, the bird, but the conspirators mistakenly dip its feathers in dye, and Àgbè emerges more resplendent. Enemies scheme to ruin Àlùkò, but they dip its plumage in camwood, and Àlùkò becomes even more prosperous. Haters plot against Òdídẹ̀rẹ̀, only to stain its feathers with palm oil, and misfortune turns to fortune. They connive to undo the Lẹ́kẹ́lẹ́kẹ́ by marking it with white powder, but the Lẹ́kẹ́lẹ́kẹ́ soars into luminous success.

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KSA goes on to dare ancient taboos by urinating and defecating on cowry-white cloth, and even wiping his butt with ìko ide, the tail feathers of the parrot. And yet, like the housefly untouched by the sword, he emerges, unscathed and unpunished. Like over 100 million Nigerians, I am scarred and scorched by what Nigeria has been offering since the roguish Ibrahim Babangida years till date. Leadership’s mouth is brimming with promises, but the masses’ hearts are hopeless. The honey and the bee reside on the top of the ladder.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: OPINION: Alaafin Owoade: Thy Bata Drum Is Sounding Too Loudly (1)

I tell you what, I am not the stranded King Sunny Ade, I know exactly where I’m going. I am going to South Carolina, USA, to bring you a story that grapples with human dignity in the boundless arena of freedom and corpse rights. Yes, you read right: criminal corpse’s right! In death or infamy, you and I, let’s consider the worth of Nigerian life.

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MM is a popular abbreviation that resonates in the world of firearms. In ballistic parlance, it stands for millimetres. The bore of a gun is its internal barrel. In the US and Britain, since 1950, the size of the internal barrel is measured in millimeters, hence some guns bear 9mm, 12mm, 15mm – codes to show the cartridge sizes they bear, and by extension, the kind of misery each gun can deliver.

But in South Carolina, MM is synonymous with sorrow. It is not just a unit of metric measurement—it is Mikal Mahdi, a man, a memory, and a murderer. In 2004, Mahdi wrote his name in blood, killing two people, one of them a police officer. He was caught and convicted, with his life loitering in the valley of the shadow of death, from 2004 to April 11, 2025, when a three-person firing squad aimed their muzzles at his heart and fired.

When bullets flew from the guns of the three sharpshooters, Mahdi did not die. He did not use ayeta. But he lived for about 60 seconds more than the law expected, and his relatives have headed for the courts, claiming Mahdi suffered ‘excruciating conscious pain and suffering for about 30 to 60 seconds’. The Yoruba have a saying: “Oro o dun lenu iya ole,” which means the mother of a thief is ashamed to make a plea, but Americans think otherwise; they are according a killer his rights in the grave.

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At 42, Mahdi was handed a deathly privilege: the opportunity to choose his choice of death. The law, like a vigorous vendor at the market of woe, hawked three types of hot death, ikú gbóná, to MM, who had killed by the gun, and must inescapably die by the gun. One: Death by the electric chair was a hellward shuttle available to Mahdi under the law. The electric chair, a throne of fire wired to the underworld. Two: Lethal injection – the needle, piercing hand of chemistry, quiet calamity. But the third option – the gun, cold and callous — was attractive to MM, who, being gun-friendly, chose death by the stake, because he knew the speed of the bullet. The bullet does not bargain. It does not blink. It arrives before the scream.

According to a story, “Inmate executed by firing squad died in ‘excruciating’ pain after bullets missed his heart, autopsy report suggests,” which was published by US-based news media, People, Mahdi’s execution is cruel.

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The story says, ‘When the state supreme court confirmed the legality of execution by firing squad in 2024, it did so with the understanding that the inmate would not suffer for more than ‘10-15 seconds’. Anything more than that would be deemed exceedingly cruel, unusual, and therefore, unconstitutional.”

An unnamed reporter for Associated Press, who was present at the execution, said Mahdi ‘cried out’ and flexed’ his arms after being shot, adding that ‘he groaned two more times for about 45 seconds, his breath continued for about 80 seconds before he appeared to take the final gasp’.

Mahdi’s case, which is before the State of South Carolina Supreme Court, is titled Mikal D. Mahdi (Petitioner) V. BRYAN P. STIRLING, Commissioner, South Carolina Department of Corrections (Respondent), with case number 2025-000491. It says a forensic pathologist, Dr Jonathan Arden, analysed the autopsy report on Mahdi.

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The court papers reads, “The undersigned respectfully alert this Court that the execution of our client, Mikal D. Mahdi, was botched. As this Court has noted, SCDC’s firing squad protocol calls for a condemned prisoner “to be shot in the heart by (three) members of the firing squad using ammunition calculated to do maximum damage to—and thereby immediately stop—the heart.

“When Mr. Mahdi faced the firing squad on April 11, 2025, it appears he was shot with only two bullets, not three. Both entered just above his abdomen, shattering into metal splinters that destroyed his liver and pancreas, but that largely missed his heart. Mr. Mahdi remained conscious while his heart pumped blood from his wounds into his chest cavity. These facts, drawn from the autopsy commissioned by the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), explain why witnesses to Mr. Mahdi’s execution heard him scream and groan both when he was shot and nearly a minute afterwards.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: Alaafin Owoade: Thy Bata Drum Is Sounding Too Loudly (2)

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“In assessing whether SCDC’s firing squad posed a “risk of unnecessary and conscious pain,” this Court ultimately determined that “though an inmate executed via the firing squad is likely to feel pain, perhaps excruciating pain…the pain will last only ten to fifteen seconds …. unless there is a massive botch of the execution in which each member of the firing squad simply misses the inmate’s heart.” Owens, 443 S.C. at 284, 904 S.E.2d at 600.

“A massive botch is exactly what happened to Mikal Mahdi. Counsel have attached the report from Mr. Mahdi’s autopsy (Exhibit A),1F 2 a photograph taken by the autopsy pathologist depicting the two entrance wounds to Mr. Mahdi’s chest (Exhibit B), a photograph taken of a small container with bullet fragments collected during the autopsy (Exhibit C), and an analysis by Dr. Jonathan Arden, a forensic pathologist (Exhibit D).2F 3 The autopsy documents only two entrance wounds on Mr. Mahdi’s chest—a fact that so alarmed the autopsy pathologist that he took the picture of the wounds and sent it to SCDC.3F 4 The two half-inch wounds are quite low on Mr. Mahdi’s torso and “just above the border with the abdomen, which is not an area largely overlying the heart.” Arden at 5.”

One of his attorneys, David Weiss, said they felt ‘obliged’ to share the information with the state to prevent other death row inmates from suffering a similar fate, stressing that Mahdi’s heart was left almost completely intact.

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However, the Director of Communications, SCDC, Chrysti Shain, said the autopsy report conducted by SCDC showed that all bullets struck Mahdi in the heart, dismissing the counterclaims as ‘interpretations from paid consultants’. She disclosed that a medical professional used a stethoscope to accurately place a clear target over Mahdi’s heart before the execution.

Alphabetically, Abia to Zamfara represent the A-Z of the Nigerian state. Which of the 36 states is safe? Which is prosperous? Which has an efficient power supply? Which has good roads, effective public hospitals and schools? In which Nigerian state can Mahdi enjoy his rights? Well, King Sunny Ade survived his trials; will Nigeria survive the consequences of misgovernance? Time is ticking.

Email: tundeodes2003@yahoo.com

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Facebook: @Tunde Odesola

X: @Tunde_Odesola

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Back To School: Lions Club Distributes Educational Materials In Edo Schools

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The Benin Etete Unique and Edo Heritage Lions of the International Association of Lions Club on Friday jointly distributed educational materials to two schools in Benin City as part of the association corporate services to humanity.

The two clubs in District 404-A4 Lions Nigeria, jointly carried out the distribution of notebooks, maths sets, school bags and sandals, pens and other writing materials to excited pupils in Ivbioba Primary School and Oghede-Ivioba Primary School, Ugbighoko, Egor Local Government Area, and Evbiyenava Primary School, in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State.

Themed, Back to School Project, pupils were also engaged in Reading Action Program (RAP) and Spelling Bee Competition, after which winners were presented with special prizes.

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In their remarks, Lions Darlington Uyi and Franca Nikoro, presidents of Benin Etete Unique and Edo Heritage Lions Clubs stated that the vision of the Lions International is to serve humanity.

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They, therefore, tasked pupils on commitment to their studies in order to attain their fullest potentials in life.

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Emulate Lions in your visions for tomorrow. We have various professionals as members, and if you are committed to your studies, obedient to your parents and teachers, you will attain great heights,” Lion Uyi Darlinton Stated.

Our vision is to serve, and we are here like we do every period to ensure Literacy is inculcated in pupils to enable them to attain their full potential. It is our earnest desire that you grow into well rounded personalities. Literacy is important in order to actualize that aspiration,” Franca Nikoro stated.

Earlier, in his address, Lion Sir Dede Henry Idemudia, Zone 6A Chairperson, tasked the pupils on good conduct, honour to parents and guardians and obedience to instructions of school authority.

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NAFDAC Gives Nigerian Food Companies 18 Months To Cut Trans Fats

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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has set an 18-month grace period, effectively giving food companies until early 2026 before facing full enforcement of regulations to eliminate industrially produced Trans-Fatty Acids (TFA).

The initiative, launched as a comprehensive strategy and roadmap for TFA regulation, moves Nigeria from simply having the policy to enforcing its world-class standard: a regulatory limit of no more than two grams of industrially produced trans fat per 100 grams of total fat or oil.

The Director-General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, emphasised that the roadmap moves the country beyond policy creation to aggressive enforcement and implementation.

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This was contained in the NAFDAC DG’s keynote speech posted on the agency’s official X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.

Adeyeye stressed the moral imperative of the Agency’s mission.

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The removal of industrially produced trans fats from the food chain is not only a technical achievement, but a moral imperative.

“Eliminating industrially produced trans fats is possible, achievable, necessary, and urgent,” Adeyeye stated, calling for national collaboration.

The moratorium period is designed to allow manufacturers to exhaust existing stock with outdated labels and reformulate their products to comply with the legal limit.

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NAFDAC’s action targets a dangerous dietary risk factor strongly linked to cardiovascular disease, stroke, and premature death globally.

Adeyeye emphasised the significance of the move beyond technical compliance, noting, “The removal of industrially produced trans fats from the food chain is not only a technical achievement, but a moral imperative.”

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This aggressive step builds upon Nigeria’s existing reputation; the country was recognised by the World Health Organisation in 2023 for adopting best-practice TFA elimination policies.

The new roadmap is key to securing WHO validation of Nigeria’s full TFA elimination programme, establishing the nation as a regional leader in public health interventions.

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Mohbad’s Father Urges Lagos AG To Prosecute Wife, Nurse, Others

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Joseph Aloba, the father of late singer Mohbad, has urged the Lagos State government to initiate criminal proceedings against individuals named in the coroner’s inquest into his son’s death.

Mohbad passed away on September 12, 2023, following an injection administered by auxiliary nurse Feyisayo Ogedengbe.

Despite being buried the next day, public outcry and ongoing investigations led to the exhumation of his body on September 21, 2023, for an autopsy.

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In a letter dated October 3 and addressed to the attorney general of Lagos State through his lawyers, Aloba demanded that criminal charges be filed against those indicted within 14 days.

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Specifically, we refer to persons indicted by the coroner’s verdict hereunder: Miss Ogedengbe Fisayo, indicted for unlawful medical practice and gross medical negligence; and Mrs. Omowunmi Aloba, indicted for negligence,” the letter reads.

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“This includes Ibrahim Owodunni, a.k.a. Prime Boy, and others who either facilitated the invitation of the auxiliary nurse or refused to take him promptly to a recognised medical facility for treatment.”

Mohbad’s father said he was concerned that despite the coroner’s clear verdict, no prosecutorial steps had been taken against those indicted nearly three months after the judgment.

He asked the attorney general to exercise prosecutorial powers within the 14 days, or, in the alternative, grant him and his legal team a fiat to prosecute the matter on behalf of the state.

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“Our Client, as a bereaved father desirous of ensuring that justice is done and seen to be done, is deeply concerned that notwithstanding the clear indictments contained in the Coroner’s Verdict, no prosecutorial steps have been taken against the aforementioned persons since the delivery of the Verdict on 11th July, 2025,” the letter reads.

The judicial observations amount to clear indictments warranting the prosecution of the said individuals in order to give full effect to the Coroner’s findings and recommendations, and to ensure that justice is manifestly and adequately served in this matter.

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“We request that you exercise your prosecutorial power on the above subject matter within 14 Days Next, in view of the high sensitivity of this matter and the public attention and outrage it has generated.”

In October 2023, Naira Marley and Sam Larry were arrested over allegations linking them to Mohbad’s death, but were released on bail after five weeks in detention.

By February 2025, a magistrate court cleared them of any involvement in the singer’s demise.

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