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OPINION: Will Nigeria Be As Lucky As King Sunny Ade?
Published
2 months agoon
By
Editor
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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
Facebook: @Tunde Odesola
X: @Tunde_Odesola
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JUST IN: Dino Melaye Resigns From PDP, Cites Party’s ‘Lack Of Potency’
Published
3 hours agoon
July 31, 2025By
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Former Senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye, has formally resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party, citing the party’s inability to provide credible leadership and deliver good governance to Nigerians.
In a resignation letter shared on his official X account on Thursday, dated July 4, 2025, and addressed to the chairman of the PDP in Ward 1, Aiyetoro Gbede, Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, Melaye announced his immediate withdrawal from all party activities.
“I hereby tender my resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party at all levels of involvement.
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“This decision has become imperative due to the lack of potency and capacity by the party to deliver the Nigerian people from the prevailing political cankerworms that have eaten deeply into the fabric of our dear nation”, the letter partly read.
Melaye, who once served as the PDP’s candidate in the 2023 Kogi State governorship election, said his decision followed deep reflection on the party’s current state and trajectory.
“Having carefully reflected on the state of the party, I can no longer in good conscience participate in the activities of the parties or lend my support to her agenda”, the letter continued.
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He further requested that his resignation be treated as a formal and total withdrawal from all party levels and structures.
“In view of the above, please consider this as my formal withdrawal from the party and all its activities at all levels with immediate effect”, the letter added.
In his closing remarks, Melaye expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve under the party’s platform during his time as a member.
“Thank you for the opportunity to serve under the platform during my period of membership,” the letter concluded.
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JUST IN: Tinubu Approves Tenure Extension For Customs CG
Published
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July 31, 2025By
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President Bola Tinubu has approved a one-year extension of the tenure of the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi.
Adeniyi, whose tenure was initially set to expire on August 31, 2025, will now remain in office until August 2026.
According to a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the extension is aimed at allowing Adeniyi to consolidate ongoing reforms and complete key initiatives of the Tinubu administration.
These include the modernisation of the Customs Service, implementation of the National Single Window Project, and Nigeria’s obligations under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) protocol.
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“President Tinubu recognises Mr. Adeniyi’s steadfast leadership and commitment to service.
“The President is confident that this extension will further strengthen the Nigeria Customs Service in achieving its strategic mandate of trade facilitation, revenue generation, and border security,” the statement read.
Tinubu appointed Adeniyi as the CG of the Nigeria Customs Service in October 2023.
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[OPINION] The Gaffe And The Uproar: Okpebholo In The Public Eye
Published
6 hours agoon
July 31, 2025By
Editor
By Tony Abolo
It was widely circulated. The statement by Senator Monday Okpebholo at the welcoming of Hon. Marcus Onobun back into the APC in Uromi about a week plus ago. Sadly the statement that he escalated loud himself on Peter Obi got more traction than the event itself. And the reason is simple. It was an unnecessary bile against Peter Obi who had come to make a philanthropic gesture at St. Philomena Hospital, gifting their School of Nursing, in his characteristic manner, nationwide.
Only Senator Okpebholo can tell his intentions in stating that “if H.E Obi came to town, to Edo State without his permission informing him prior, then came the clIncher- “anything wen he see, let him take it”.”There is a new Sheriff in town” One can only surmise Okpebholo’s intentions. Wanting to placate his Supreme Court award of Governorship through the kind courtesy of, well, you know who. He wants to please Tinubu in anyway he can. This must be one of them. Ensure, the Obedients do not pose any build up inside Edo State as a form of opposition to Tinubu’s ambition in 2027. But was it necessary as at this time? By the fact of freedom of movement, any Nigerian can be anywhere he or she chooses. Peter Obi was not on a state visit and besides, both being on opposite ends of politics, was it going to be comfortable or necessary for any prior information before Peter Obi comes into town? As a Nigerian, could he not slip into town as he has done when Barrister Osaigbovo Akpata was contesting for the Governorship position under the Labour party? He even traversed Edo State, and there was no problem. So what is special when he comes to do charity in Edo State? Instead of being applauded, Okpebholo thought it mindful to chide Peter Obi.
Too many things come to mind. When H.E Gregory Peter Obi was Governor in Anambra State, where was Okpebholo? That was when he was doing his WEAC in which he passed only maths and flunked five on the papers. Then there is the issue of thoughtfulness. The occasion in Uromi did not warrant the outburst. But even if for security reason, or being solicitous over the safety of Peter Obi, was it not better it was an issue handled diplomatically, through phone calls, person to person conversation or a Governor to a former Governor and a former Presidential Candidate, a position, Okpebholo could and would never attain even if Nigeria came down to a Democratic Republic of the Congo or a run down South Sudan or Yemen.
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What rankles more is the uncouth and uncivilized language Okpebholo used in issuing his rude remarks about “those wen no get shi shi, where e see N1.5million, N15million to give” or the entirely needless asking Peter Obi to clear with him otherwise “anything wen e see, make e take am”. Where Nigeria’s morality and discipline not so run down, how could a sane country choose a neophyte, a barely literate and a less exposed person, to become a Governor in a state in Nigeria, more so, Edo State with its long tradition of quality and excellence in leadership since 1963. There is a language of dignity and of decorum expected of a personage of a Governor. Okpebholo fell so far below and off the mark.
The situation was made worse when the whole country rose up in utter shock and disbelief at the gaffe of Senator Monday Okpebholo and his media aides offered limp and lame defences, egged on, no doubt by his two enablers, Wike and Oshiomhole, he was still quoted as saying that
P byhe was not sorry for what he said against Obi. The rebuttal only reveals who Edo state has as Governor, a man who neither can act the part, nor has a mind of his own. His enablers and trainers now urged him to sound brave, a courage which ho does not have. To Nigerians, he only stood worsted and a sorry sight. To Edo State, he only brought us lower in National esteem and estimation. It only shows, we must all stand akimbo in shock as more gaffes are coming and we should be less shocked as this is all we have and must endure for another three years and three months. We didn’t bargain for this. Tinubu brought this on us.
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