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The Crowning Of Shekau

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Tunde Odesola

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It’s 2:30am but she lays wide awake in bed. Her disturbed mind, with the measured precision of an expert blacksmith, tongs each issue troubling her mind on the anvil and sets the hammer to work, forging shapes into metals, burnishing hope into a grave polity. I-Sha needs to quickly find an elixir to the two ailments plaguing her husband – deafness to reason and numbness to reality.

The thoughts came pouring down her soul like snowflakes in winter – white, feathery and beautiful yet icy, bone-freezing and deadly. She gently turns on her side, pulls the succulent duvet under her chin and lolls up on the kingsize bed, glancing at her husband sitting on the chair by the lamp.

She looks at the lion she married several years ago and sadness fills her heart. In place of the lion, a cat she sees. Though still slim and suave, the bouncy confidence has departed the gait of the man she adored. Boo, as she fondly calls him, was efficient when he donned the green khaki – only needing to open his mouth, and a horde of subordinates would fall over themselves in submissive obedience to his command. But this democracy babariga is too large and too complicated for Boo to wear. With his gangly frame, he always seems lost in the billows of the parachute the agbada of democracy has turned into. In democracy, Boo seems like a whale stranded on seashore. In the military, the zombie structure masks his inadequacies.

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I-Sha: (She clears her throat) What’s going on, Your Excellency?

Boo: Menene, I-Sha?

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I-Sha: What’s going on in your government? Don’t feign ignorance, you know what I’m talking about, Your Excellency.

Boo: It’s midnight; you need to be in bed, sleeping.

I-Sha: I’m in bed. I’ll sleep when you put my mind at rest.

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Boo: Picks his teeth.

I-Sha: You see, that’s what I’m saying; it’s about 3am and you’re picking your teeth. You ate at 8pm, you’re picking your teeth at 3am! Whenever there’s an urgent issue, you pick your teeth.

Boo: I-Sha, picking my teeth is a strategy.

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I-Sha: Strategy?

Boo: Yes, and an art of war.

I-Sha: Art of war?

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Boo: Haka ne! It masks the mind’s construction from the face.

I-Sha: Mind’s construction?

Boo: Exactly!

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I-Sha: So, you know the strategy and art of war, and Boko Haram has been feeding the flesh of your soldiers to the birds? You know how to mask the mind’s construction from the face, yet you can’t do anything without your rough-riding relative, Haba Kia, and the manipulative Mammon Dowrat, who have completely seized power from you.

Boo: What do you mean?

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I-Sha: Who gives commands to your service chiefs? Who gives directives to ministers and heads of government agencies? Nigerians know who they voted for, but they’re amazed how another C-i-C emerged in Kia. They also know that Mammon is the voice on the throne. The masses are utterly disappointed in you, muji na. You deceitfully kept the promise of change to their ears and shattered it to their hope.

Boo: (His phone rings, he picks it) That’s Mammon calling. He’s in my private room.

I-Sha: Mammon calling?

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Boo: Yes.

I-Sha: So?

Boo: I need to go and answer him or should I tell him to come into the bedroom?

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I-Sha: (Exasperated, speaks in Hausa) Is it Mammon who should answer to you or you answer to Mammon?

Boo: This is a democracy; everyone is equal.

He gets up and leaves the bedroom. Tears roll down I-Sha’s eyes.

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Interlude
Both Dowrat and Kia greet as Boo steps into the private room.

Boo: Why is everybody shouting your name all over the place, Kia?

Kia: (Chuckling) I don’t know, Your Excellency. I must be doing something great.

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Boo: Even I-Sha won’t sleep; she’s worried. They say you and Mammon have taken over governance. Do these people know anything about devolution of power?

Dowrat: Anyone can say whatever they like. An urgent matter of state brought us here, Your Excellency. It’s the coronavirus.

Boo: Oh yes, I heard that the coronavirus is now in Lagos. What’re you doing about it?

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Dowrat: That’s why we’re here.

Boo: Good. What’re you doing?

Dowrat: We need to embark on vaccination of cows against the dreaded disease before it leaves Lagos for the North. We need about N20bn for the exercise.

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Boo: Coronavirus is a very deadly disease, Mammon! Will N20bn be enough?

Kia: We’ll manage it and take N300m from the N386m earmarked for the treatment and prevention of the disease from being transmitted among humans.

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Boo: That’s ok; humans can talk, cows can’t.

Kia: When I leave here, I’m going to look for a professor of virology and appoint him as the head of government’s intervention on coronavirus initiative for cows.

Boo: Will you appoint another professor of virology to oversee the remaining N86m earmarked for human vaccination, treatment and prevention?

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Kia: The disease was discovered in Lagos, not Kaduna, Your Excellency. A primary healthcare officer will be ok for humans.

Boo: You this boy, you’re very wise. I don’t know why everybody is shouting coronavirus! coronavirus! Kenya has suspended all flights from China, South Africa has evacuated her nationals from China.

Kia: People from the North don’t travel abroad, so we don’t need to evacuate anybody.

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Boo: Even Ateekoo that I defeated is advising that I suspend flights from countries affected by coronavirus. What does that one know about governance?

Dowrat: I wonder o, Your Excellency. His former boss from the rock city has gone mute after your re-election

Boo: You’ll soon begin to hear his voice when the new policy comes on stream.

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Kia: Which of the lofty policies? Is it the one seeking southern land for herdsmen? Or the one seeking to criminalise resistance to herdsmen killings?

Boo: No, it’s the bill seeking to crown Boko Haram leader, Shekau, the Shehu of Terrorism; grant amnesty to repentant Boko Haram members and allow them enjoy foreign education.

Kia: Haa! Those bills? They will just shout and keep quiet. When they refused to allow rugga and Boko Haram was killing them, they shouted and shouted and stopped. This one also, they’ll shout and keep quiet.

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Boo: I like it that the bill emanated from the senate. If it was from Azo Roc, they would’ve, by now, been burning tyres on the streets.

Kia: Don’t mind them, Your Excellency.

Boo: Have you spoken to Shekau?

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Kia: Yes. He’s very happy. Particularly, he loves the policy that seeks to enlist his members into the army. He even expressed his desire to head the joint Army with its headquarters in Sambisa.

Dowrat:Lofty as these policies are, we need to be wary of the western world; you know they like poking their noses into people’s affairs. They’ll make an issue out of the babies Boko Haram mistakenly threw into bonfires. They’ll listen to the false allegation that Boko Haram is a terrorist group that kills and rapes.

Boo: People don’t know that everything that has an advantage, has a disadvantage. Did Odion Ighalo not profit from the coronavirus outbreak in China? This is why I’m not going to worry myself banning flights, setting up quarantine centres or providing any support. What will be, wll be.

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Dowrat: We should even thank God the disease was discovered in Lagos, like the Ebola case. The coronavirus would’ve been uncontrollable if it broke out in the North.

Boo: I’ve said it; everything that has an advantage, has a disadvantage. They said I should sack service chiefs, I refused. If I had sacked them, would we be having this wonderful partnership with Boko Haram today?

I-Sha, who overheard all their conversation, looks through the door and shouts, “Takulahi!” meaning “Fear God!”

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One of the men countered, “Allah ya halince ka!” meaning, “May God punish you!”, and he goes after I-Sha.

Tunde Odesola is a seasoned journalist and a columnist with the Punch newspapers

Email: tundeodes2003@yahoo.com

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Lagos Suspends BRT Lane Enforcement On Eko Bridge, Odo Iya-Alaro

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The Lagos State Government has temporarily suspended enforcement of the Bus Rapid Transit lane along the Eko Bridge and Odo Iya-Alaro corridor to ease growing traffic congestion.

This gridlock is a result of the ongoing structural rehabilitation on the Ogudu-Ifako Bridge expansion joint.

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Special Adviser to the Lagos Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa announced the suspension on Wednesday, describing it as a strategic move to tackle gridlock in affected parts of the city.

This remedial measure, conceived as a palliative response to mitigate commuter hardship, aligns with the Lagos State Government’s forward-thinking and adaptive transportation strategy under the THEMES Plus Agenda of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, particularly within the framework of sustainable traffic management and infrastructure modernisation,” Giwa said.

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He explained that the temporary suspension is a transitional and conditional measure aimed at absorbing the anticipated vehicular overflow caused by the partial closure of the Ifako-bound carriageway of the Third Mainland corridor.

We are fully cognizant of the immense strain currently imposed on key ingress routes into the Lagos Mainland. Consequently, this tactical suspension of BRT lane enforcement is a calculated response designed to deliver immediate relief, reduce commuting time, and preserve the fluidity of vehicular movement throughout the duration of the bridge repairs,” he added.

According to him, the directive takes immediate effect and allows general vehicular access to previously restricted BRT corridors on Eko Bridge and Odo Iya-Alaro, particularly during peak travel periods.

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He said this move is expected to expand available road capacity and ease traffic along critical routes.

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Giwa, however, stressed that commercial buses and articulated vehicles must remain in compliance with existing safety rules and loading guidelines to avoid worsening traffic conditions or compromising public safety.

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He also disclosed that the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority has been mobilised to strengthen its presence along the affected corridors.

Enhanced personnel deployment and traffic equipment are now in place to ensure orderly conduct, prevent exploitation of the temporary suspension, and respond promptly to any emergent traffic disturbances,” Giwa stated.

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Lagos Opens Teacher Recruitment Portal For Two Weeks

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The Lagos State Government has announced the reactivation of its teaching job recruitment portal to allow qualified individuals to apply for entry-level teaching positions.

In a notice issued by the Lagos State Teaching Service Commission on Tuesday, the portal will be open for applications from Tuesday, July 1 to Monday, July 14, 2025.

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The Lagos State Teaching Service Commission is set to reactivate its Recruitment Portal as a bold step towards improving access to employment opportunities, equity, and fairness.

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The job portal, which will be accessible for two weeks (Tuesday, July 1st 2025, to Monday, July 14th, 2025), is intended to provide a centralised platform where individuals can apply for State Teaching jobs at the entry level (GL 08) in their relevant fields,” the notice read.

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The move, according to the Commission, is aimed at improving access to employment opportunities in the education sector while ensuring equity and fairness.

TESCOM urged interested applicants with a degree in Education or other relevant qualifications to visit the official portal https://tescomjobs.lagosstate.gov.ng and apply for teaching roles at Grade Level 08.

The notice was signed by the Chairman of the Lagos State Teaching Service Commission.

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FG Unveils N50m Grant To Boost Student Innovation, Entrepreneurship

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The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has announced a N50m Student Grant Venture Capital Initiative to support scaling student-led enterprises in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

Alausa said the initiative aims to bridge the gap between academia and industry by turning homegrown research into commercially viable products and services.

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The minister made the announcement on Wednesday in Abuja when he inaugurated the Research and Innovation Commercialisation Committee.

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He said the scheme, which will be anchored by TETFund in partnership with the Bank of India, targets undergraduate students in 300-level and above with viable business models and innovations ready for market expansion.

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According to the minister, the development is aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s agenda of transitioning Nigeria from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-driven one.

We have hundreds of thousands of young geniuses across our institutions. This fund is designed to unlock their potential and help them build globally competitive enterprises,” the minister said.

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On her part, the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, described the inauguration as a landmark moment in Nigeria’s education and innovation history.

For too long, research in our tertiary institutions has been reduced to tools for promotion rather than solutions for development. This must change,” she said.

In his response, the Committee Chairman, Dr. Tayo Aduloju, described the RICC as “a matter of national urgency”, noting that Nigeria’s research investment as a percentage of GDP is among the lowest when compared to peer nations.

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