There’s no doubt that a buffoon would stop at nothing to turn his estate into a state of buffoonery. The game is not always purely arithmetic in the timetable of power; there are always the religio-geographic pathways to the equation when it comes to the power of impact. For instance, Democracy, Pandemics, and Epidemics are of the same cognate family because they are all related in view of the fact that they all deal with “demos” (people).

While democracy often relies on numbers (majority vote), pandemics/epidemics too are about numbers (spread, infection rates). However, smart and intelligent thinkers who are always in the minority—either during a pandemic or an election—could triumph over the majority on the frontline of strategy, spirituality, ideas, and scientific breakthroughs.

The Yoruba often say, “Kikere labere kere kiise minmin f’adire” (The needle may appear small, but it’s never a token which the biggest cock would swallow without ruffling its throat).

What we are saying is that ideas matter, just as principles matter in the power equation. Let’s still give it to Democracy: quality of thought can outweigh quantity of people. One of my poems says: “The wheel of truth may crawl, but the wheel of truth will never rust.”

New ideas often come from smaller but focused groups. It is up to smart people in the minority to remain focused on the influence they often have. (The essence of leadership is not always on the side of “bossism” which thrives on figures and large spaces, especially not in our digital world where, as citizens of the global market, you are a leader where you are.) They remain persuasive.

There’s a world of difference between impact and result. The majority may rely on huge results, always in big figures, but smart and intelligent thinkers pride their ideas on the impact such ideas have on generations. This is why the thought of a great thinker still holds sway today, and even tomorrow: “Presidency is for a moment (no matter the terms in office); equation is for all times.”

When the concern of the average African politician is thinking about having many terms of office in order to define a legacy, the serious writer, in defining legacy, is concerned about how his or her book will have an impact in the next two centuries. Read Jotham’s Proverb in the Bible and the picture becomes clearer (Judges 9:8-15). The civil rights movement or scientific breakthroughs are instances where impactful change came, and still does come, from dedicated minorities.

When the concern of the average African politician is thinking about having many terms of office in order to define a legacy, the serious writer, in defining legacy, is concerned about how his or her book will have an impact in the next two centuries.

Let me briefly recall what happened in 1998/1999 at Ibadan to buttress my view on why the race to power is not always a game which automatically belongs to the swiftest in terms of numbers.

Alhaji Lam Adesina was the Oyo State Secretary of the Alliance for Democracy (AD). Equally, he wanted to contest the governorship race in the state, and he constituted members of his campaign team and fixed our inauguration at the Institute of Church and Society (ICS), Samonda, Ibadan. (His letter to me as one of the members is right in my archives.)

To cut a long story short, a respectable and respected elderly politician, also a member, raised what appeared to be very valid objections to Alhaji Adesina’s ambition. The atmosphere in the room suddenly became an unguarded moment in which he held ALL of us spellbound. But at that juncture, I remembered the vision God showed me about Lam Adesina in 1991, which I promptly communicated to him. (Read his biography of my authorship: Lam Adesina, The Incorruptible Democrat: 1999).

I barely allowed the dust of his mesmerism to settle when I raised my hand and was called to have the floor. My defense was that Lam Adesina may not then have been a “money bag,” but he was a “borokini” with great ideas that could transform the state, being a follower of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. My contention was that there was a need for the survival of the few men of great ideas to remain focused in perseverance.

The hall roared with applause, and that was how we moved ahead with the inauguration. It is true that in the political portmanteau of Nigeria, the few “borokinis” may have lost out simply because we have lost focus and perseverance while our dogs continue to bark at each other, even as our chickens are snatching at each other’s intestines.

The Biblical Joseph, who interpreted the dream that catapulted many “borokinis” to power, is always forgotten, but “the race is still not always to the swiftest…” and which is why the best candidate may not always win the race.

“It’s not about the ‘game’ but often about the power of ideas, innovation, and influence.”

Just meditating aloud.

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According to the school’s Games Master, Godwin Edem, four houses – Purple, Green, Blue and Yellow – are competing for honours in the forthcoming competition.

He added that Eledi Field, Beside Obasanjo Farm, Ota, hosted the heat events of the competition, which saw the Yellow House as the leading House so far.

The Games Master said that the Famex School Director, Chidi Afam, and School Principal, Abayomi Oladapo, were very passionate about sports and they were both driving the process to ensure the event was very glamorous for all the students and special guests on Saturday.

Coordinator of the leading house, Yellow House, Mrs Ruth Adesina, told our correspondent that her athletes would go all the way on the event day proper.

“We have very capable athletes in all the events and we are very optimistic that we are going to emerge overall winners on Saturday. The support from the school management has been wonderful and so we expect a good show on the event day.

“For us in Yellow House, we are ready for this and I am optimistic we will be champions on Saturday,” Mrs Adesina said.

St Micheal Anglican Junior School, Ota, will host the Famex School Inter House Sports competition on Saturday March 7.

Attractive prizes await the winners in each of the categories of the events.

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The announcement was made in a statement issued on Monday by the Public Affairs Unit of the WAEC National Office in Lagos by Moyosola Adesina, acting head of the unit.

It stated that candidates might check their results by visiting www.waecdirect.org to confirm their status before proceeding to the Digital Certificate platform at www.waec.org to access released digital certificate copies.

“Candidates are required to apply online for printing of hard copy certificates through the WAEC Certificate Request Portal, e-Certman, accessible via https://certrequest.waec.ng/ for processing.

“All candidates who sat for the exams are advised to carefully review their results and take necessary steps promptly, including accessing certificates and completing required applications online,” it added.

The statement recalled that 69,604 candidates, representing 1.8 per cent increase, compared with the 2024 entry figure of 68,342, enrolled for the examination, while 65,752 candidates sat for the examination at 370 centres spread across the country.

It added that among the people that sat for the examination, 235 candidates, with varying degrees of special needs (visually impaired, impaired hearing and albinos) registered for the examination.

According to the statement, out of the total number of 65,752 candidates that sat the examination, 32,005 were males while 33,747 were females, representing 48.68 per cent and 51.32 per cent respectively.

“61,943 candidates, representing 94.21 per cent have their results fully processed and released while 3,809 candidates, representing 5.79 per cent have a few of their subjects still being processed due to some errors traceable to them.”

It, however, assured that efforts were being made to speedily complete the processing to enable affected candidates to get their results fully processed and released, subsequently.

The analysis of the statistics of the candidates’ performance shows that out of the 65,752, candidates who sat for the examination, 33,989 candidates representing 51.69 per cent obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects (with or without English Language and/or Mathematics).

“27,727 candidates representing 42.17 per cent obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

“Of this number, 13,416, representing 48.39 per cent were male candidates, while 14,311, representing 51.61 per cent were female candidates.”

It was stated that 1,899 candidates’ results, representing 2.89 per cent of the total number of candidates that sat for the examination, were withheld in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice.

It added that investigations were ongoing and reports would be presented to the appropriate committee of the council for determination.

The statement said that the committee’s decisions would be communicated directly to the affected candidates, thereafter.

Source: NAN

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Adesina was honoured in recognition of his contributions to agriculture and food security in Africa.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by Mr Victor Oladokun and made available to newsmen on Thursday in Lagos.

President Adama Barrow unveiled a plaque on Wednesday formally designating the faculty as the Dr Akinwumi Adesina School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.

The honour celebrates Adesina’s leadership during his tenure as AfDB President from 2015 to 2025, when the bank implemented wide-ranging reforms that advanced economic development across the continent.

Speaking at the unveiling, Barrow said the renaming reflected The Gambia’s appreciation of Adesina’s “visionary leadership and lasting contributions to Africa’s agricultural transformation.”

Under Adesina’s leadership, the AfDB rolled out the High 5s development agenda which were Light Up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Integrate Africa, Industrialise Africa and Improve the Quality of Life of Africans.

This, according to bank data, impacted more than 535 million people.

During the same period, the Bank’s capital base grew from 93 billion dollars to 318 billion dollars, the highest in its history, while the institution retained its AAA credit rating and won several global awards.

Adesina also spearheaded the Feed Africa Strategy, which provided food security for more than 104 million people and strengthened agricultural productivity across the continent.

In The Gambia, the AfDB under Adesina financed the Senegambia Bridge, a landmark project that has significantly reduced travel time between The Gambia and Senegal and boosted trade and regional integration.

The decision to rename the faculty was conveyed in a letter dated November 27, 2025, by the Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Prof. Pierre Gomez.

“Your tenure as President of the African Development Bank has been transformative, driving economic growth, poverty reduction and sustainable development across Africa,” Gomez said.

He added that Adesina’s leadership in launching the Feed Africa Strategy and the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) initiative had “revolutionised agricultural productivity and food security.”

The university said the gesture was aimed at inspiring students to emulate Adesina’s vision, determination and commitment to Africa’s development.

In a letter of appreciation to President Barrow, Adesina described the honour as exceptional.

“It is with great humility and deep gratitude that I express my appreciation for the renaming of the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences in my honour,” he said.

President Barrow, in 2023, conferred on Adesina The Gambia’s highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Republic, in recognition of his contributions to the country and Africa.

Source: NAN

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What a year it has been for Nigeria, one that might yet go down in the country’s foreign relations history as one of the most consequential. Not since the era in which Nigeria played a frontline role in decolonising Africa and ending the ignoble reign of apartheid in South Africa, and then, her defining role as the team leader of ECOMOG Forces in Liberia and Sierra Leone, has Nigeria’s exertions on the foreign front become a front-burner issue.

It is tempting to dwell on the dramatic end-of-year developments, starting with the ‘coup’ in Guinea-Bissau following a hotly contested election, which pitched incumbent President Umaro Embalo and Opposition Candidate, Fernando Dias da Costa, or the coup in the neighbouring Benin Republic, which Nigeria, in response to a request by the democratically elected government there, had to step in with military support to quell, or the incident in Burkina Faso which has had Nigeria’s military aircraft, said to have made emergency landing, grounded along with 11 of our soldiers who were on board of the plane that was on its way to Portugal for maintenance.

But we choose to focus on something else – the giant strides by two Nigerians who this year separately ended a ten-year tour of duty on the continent, leaving behind an impressive legacy that should continue to speak for them and Nigeria for years to come. The stories of Dr Akinwunmi Adesina and Professor Benedict Oramah might have started separately and from different points in Nigeria, but they would eventually coincide with time in their illustrious runs on the continent as Heads of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) respectively, at just about the same period. Both men assumed the presidency of the organisations in 2015, with Oramah rising through the ranks, while Adesina came in as President of the AfDB after his time as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture.  These two Nigerians spearheaded a visionary regime of strategic transformations at AfDB and Afreximbank that not only significantly enhanced the capacities and outreach of the institutions but also delivered tangible economic and social gains for the continent, leaving behind an enduring legacy in Africa’s developmental financing landscape.

Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina’s presidency at the AfDB was bold and audacious, redefining African multilateral development cooperation with ambitious objectives framed around five core goals known as the “High 5s” These are: Light up and power Africa; Feed Africa; Industrialise Africa; Integrate Africa; and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa. Reports have it that these programmes have transformed over 500 million lives, with 127 million people gaining improved health services, 61 million having access to clean water, 33 million benefiting from better sanitation, 46 million gaining access to ICT services, and 25 million gaining access to electricity, alongside millions reached through food security and jobs programmes.

He radically transformed the bank’s financial strength, growing its capital base from $93 billion at the time of his assumption of office to $325 billion by the end of his tenure, representing an unprecedented growth of nearly 250%. This historic expansion enhanced the bank’s ability to mobilise over $273 billion across infrastructure, industrialization, agriculture, and social sectors across Africa. Nigeria has been a central beneficiary of these strategic priorities, attracting over $5.6 billion in private investments. Under Adesina’s guidance, the AfDB mobilised $2.2 billion to create Special Agro-Processing Zones in 28 states in Nigeria, a landmark initiative to reduce agricultural post-harvest losses and strengthen value chains, boosting rural incomes and industrial linkages.

Professor Benedict Oramah’s record at Afreximbank is no different from that of Adesina in terms of landmark achievements. He expanded Afreximbank’s asset base from $6 billion to over $40 billion by 2025, a more than sixfold increase during his time in office, exponentially increasing the bank’s lending capacity and financial clout, steering its emphasis towards trade finance, export-import facilitation, and risk guarantees, with a direct focus on increasing African countries’ export competitiveness, bolstering intra-African trade and export diversification.

For Nigeria, the Adesina and Oramah legacies have demonstrated in clear terms how strong Nigerian leadership within continental institutions can be leveraged to the country’s advantage.

The landmark initiatives of the Oramah era were built around turning the institution from a narrow export credit institution into a full trade and development group: building payments and adjustment mechanisms for AfCFTA, creating new equity and insurance arms, harmonising standards, financing industrial and health infrastructure, and using culture and diaspora platforms to embed “Global Africa” in world trade and finance.

Under Benedict Oramah, Nigeria received substantial benefits, particularly through the massive financing the Dangote Refinery received toward the completion of its 650, 000 bpd refinery. Afreximbank provided over $4 billion in total support to the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Complex, including a landmark $1.35 billion tranche as lead arranger in an August 2025 $4 billion syndicated facility to refinance construction costs, easing Dangote Industries’ operational pressures, strengthening its balance sheet, enabling Nigeria’s drive to attain energy independence and industrial growth. Indeed, Nigeria had received about 60% of Afreximbank’s $30 billion energy sector funding across Africa by 2024, with the refinery as the flagship intervention. A point Oramah highlighted as proof that African institutions can finance continent-scale projects without external help.

While Adesina’s tenure represents a leap in institutional clout and development financing scale, Oramah’s tenure marks a transformative expansion that has repositioned Afreximbank as a pivotal trade finance enabler in Africa.  The institutions’ increased lending capacity and innovative financing tools have helped crowd in private and international capital, amplifying development impact beyond traditional aid and concessional finance models.

For Nigeria, the Adesina and Oramah legacies have demonstrated in clear terms how strong Nigerian leadership within continental institutions can be leveraged to the country’s advantage. Through their efforts, Nigeria has enjoyed enhanced access to large-scale infrastructure financing, enabling critical investments in power generation, transport corridors, and agriculture.  Their legacies underscore the power of strategic, homegrown leadership in African multilateral institutions in unlocking transformative developmental dividends. Nigeria’s increased access to development finance, strengthened trade capabilities, and accelerated infrastructure and industrial projects through these organizations position the country to sustainably address key growth constraints and chart a path towards inclusive prosperity and continental integration in the coming decades.

Their leadership and legacies also furthered Nigeria’s foreign policy objectives, enhancing Nigeria’s stature in Africa’s development finance architecture and facilitating regional integration, leaving us with valuable lessons for 2026 and beyond on the need to be more strategic, intentional, and deliberate in our engagement with the world and the calibre of people we put forward as the country’s Ambassadors and Representatives in international institutions. There is no doubt that both men still have a lot in their tanks that Nigeria, other international institutions, and the world at large can still tap into.

*Olorunfemi is a Specialist on Nigeria’s Foreign Policy and Managing Editor of Africa Enterprise, while Adefeko is Director, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, Olam Agri, ex officio, NACCIMA. They are co-authors of the book, For God, Africa and Diplomacy.

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The plan is a landmark initiative approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address structural bottlenecks and lay the groundwork for large-scale private sector-led investment and sustained economic growth.

On Tuesday, 7 October 2025, in Abuja, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, the Minister of Power, Chief Bayo Adelabu, and the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Mrs. Olu Verheijen, met with senior executives of Nigeria’s electricity generation companies (GenCos) to review settlement modalities for the outstanding debt.

The meeting concluded with a consensus on the way forward, which includes conducting bilateral negotiations to finalize full and final settlement agreements that balance fiscal realities with the financial constraints of the GenCos.

Approved by President Tinubu and endorsed by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in August 2025, the plan authorizes the issuance of up to ₦4 trillion in government-backed bonds to settle verified arrears owed to generation companies and gas suppliers.

This intervention, the largest in over a decade, addresses a legacy debt overhang that has constrained investment, weakened utility balance sheets, and hindered reliable power delivery across the country.

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“For the first time in years, we are seeing a credible and systematic effort by government to tackle the root liquidity challenges in the power sector,” said Mr. Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings and Transcorp Power. “We commend President Tinubu and his economic team for this bold and transformative step.”

Mr. Kola Adesina, Group Managing Director of @iamsaharagroup, echoed this sentiment: “This initiative is significant in every respect. It gives us renewed confidence in the reform process and a clear signal that the government is serious about building a sustainable power sector.”

Beyond clearing arrears, the debt reduction plan signals a strategic reset of Nigeria’s electricity market. By restoring the financial health of power companies, it will enable new investment in generation capacity, modernize grid infrastructure, and deliver more reliable electricity to homes and businesses, creating a stronger foundation for industrialization, job creation, and inclusive economic growth.

“Our focus is on creating the right conditions for investment, from modernizing the grid and improving distribution to scaling embedded generation,” said Mrs. @OluVerheijen, Special Adviser to the President on Energy. “By closing metering gaps, aligning tariffs with efficient costs, improving subsidy targeting to support the poor and vulnerable, and restoring regulatory trust, we are shifting from crisis response to sustained delivery and building the confidence needed to attract large-scale private capital.”

“These reforms go beyond liquidity,” said Mr. Edun. “They are about rebuilding the fundamentals so that Nigeria’s power sector works for investors, for citizens, and for the next generation. This is how we create the enabling conditions for sustained private investment and transform reliable power into a catalyst for economic growth.”

Complementary efforts to scale renewable energy, leverage domestic gas as a transition fuel, and build local technical and institutional capacity will position Nigeria not just for energy security, but for energy sovereignty, creating one of Africa’s most attractive power markets.

The Presidential Power Sector Debt Reduction Plan is being jointly implemented by the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Federal Ministry of Power, and the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, in collaboration with the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc and other key stakeholders.

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Talking of Ibadan, where I served my mandatory one-year NYSC; thereafter enrolling for a post-graduate course in Political Science at the nation’s premier university, the University of Ibadan, before going on to kick-start my journalism career at the now defunct Ibadan-based Sketch newspapers, my mind always raced back in time to one of those poems that we read for our West African School Certificate examination – John Pepper Clark’s laconic poem – Ibadan. “Ibadan/Running splash of rust and gold/Flung and scattered among seven Hills/Like broken china in the sun.”

Life is a huge irony! If one Olubadan does not join his ancestors, another Olubadan cannot mount the saddle. The sadness of one, therefore, is the joy of another. Fortunately in Ibadan, they usually depart in ripe old age; the type of transition that we say in Yoruba land is not one of mourning but of the celebration of a life well spent. Long may the king reign!

Ask any Olubadan: My suspicion is that the most joyous day of his life – and his greatest achievement – regardless of whatever other achievements he might have chalked up in life – is the day he ascends the highly exalted throne of his fore-fathers. Every other achievement pales in its significance. And it is not likely that anything he achieves while on that throne will be as momentous and as celebrated as the day he ascends the throne. Incidentally – and that is the irony of life – the next momentous event of his life will be the day he, too, vacates the throne for another person to occupy!

Someone vacated the throne for him. That occasion, without doubt, was momentous in his own life. He, too, will vacate the throne for another person. And the event will also be momentous in the other person’s life. The same rejoicing that was witnessed when the throne became vacant for the present Olubadan to occupy will also be witnessed long, long down the line (we pray), but in another direction. No one can prevent that from happening in the fullness of time, since no one has ever succeeded in preventing it from happening in the past!

The beauty of the Olubadan succession system is that it takes the lucky occupant a long, long wait before it becomes his turn. It is what is called turn-by-turn. So, they usually grow old before it gets to their turn. Another beauty of the system is that while it has embedded in it the “Emilokan” principle, this is also not cast in iron. The next-in-line is known, but only God decides who gets there. Long may the king reign! But I am sure you understand that the other flip of the coin as far as this prayer is concerned is “Long may the next-in-line wait!”

But there is no cheating involved here because every incumbent had also passed through that long wait before it became his turn. Let God grant the incumbent good health and long life to enjoy his long wait, which has now become a reality! And let God grant those coming behind good health and long life to see out their own long wait! The patience to endure the long wait and the fortitude to accept God’s decision on the matter, may the good Lord grant everyone concerned!

As we close, let me make a reference to a podcast which featured Chief Bisi Akande, one-time civilian governor of Osun state, who was asked the yet-to-be-answered trillion-Naira question of “Who killed Bola Ige?“ Ige was a one-time governor of Oyo state, chieftain of the Left-leaning Alliance for Democracy which controlled the politics of the South-west region of Nigeria at the time, and Minister, first of Power, and then of Justice before he was gruesomely murdered on 23 December, 2001 in his home at Ibadan, despite the hordes of security operatives around him.

Let us begin to straighten and elongate the arms of the law here – like they do abroad, where our leaders always run when they want to enjoy the better life they have bluntly refused to replicate here.

Efforts to find Ige’s killers have eluded everyone. Only rumours and speculations fill the air. Mercifully, but sadly in the same breath, Chief Akande took us a step closer to unravelling the mystery by saying, without mincing words, that “Government killed Bola Ige”. He repeated that statement again and again. Which government? Many will understand him to mean the federal government? But how? And why?

While Chief Akande revealed something, he chose to still put a lot more useful information under wraps. Some things you know, you may not reveal but take with you to the grave, he said! Why?  Opportunities to redress wrongs are lost. Chances of doing justice are thrown to the dogs. The need to purify our society and cleanse our conscience is glossed over – all on the altar of wanting to sound and act politically correct! Chief Akande said Ige spoke with him before his assassination, but what Ige told him, he would not say.

The Oyo state governor at the time of Ige’s murder, Comrade Lam Adesina, also reportedly spoke with Chief Akande, but the contents of their discussion, Akande would also not disclose. He said with both men dead, who would be his witness! Instead, he said we should ask Ladoja, who succeeded Lam Adesina as the governor of Oyo state, why he discontinued the court case filed by Lam over the murder of Ige. Would Lam have unravelled the issues surrounding the murder of Ige in open court? Akande said probably! But should a successor-governor’s hands (in this wise, Ladoja’s) be tied over a matter in court or should he be free to review the matter and take whatever he considers the best decision in the circumstance?

We need to know! Because that is how public interest can be served in this matter! Surely, public interest is not served when those who know something choose to keep silent. “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”, says Edmund Burke who is believed to have echoed John Stuart Mill’s earlier admonition that “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing”. As they always say on the set of LTV, Ikeja, Lagos, “If you see something, say something!” And I add: Not only say something, do something! Our own Wole Soyinka says “The man dies in all those that keep silent in the face of tyranny”. And what can be more tyrannical than the gruesome murder, in his own bedroom, of a serving Minister of the Federal Republic?

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I wonder how many of our leaders have chosen the path of not standing up to be counted in the arduous task of sanitizing our society. Despite repeated prodding by his interviewer, Chief Akande insisted he would go to his grave with some secrets that he knew. The other day, another ex-governor of Oyo state, Chief Omololu Olunloyo, also doggedly rejected suggestions that he put pen to paper. He knew so much, he said, but would prefer to take everything to his grave; which he did some months ago! Oftentimes, we hear leaders say if they divulge all they know about this country, or even a cent of it, the entire country will go up in flames. Why not, if not? To spill the beans and clean up the Augean stable or keep piling stuff under the carpets – which is more profitable?

Yes, States keep secrets and leaders know the limit of what they can divulge at a particular point in time. That is why some information or documents are described as “classified”. But because enlightened societies also know that public interest is not served if such documents are permanently kept under wraps, they are declassified after a given period. For example, evidence relating to the assassination of the 35th president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, on 22 November, 1963, were recently declassified by the US Government.

One critical pillar of Western societies is their relentless pursuit of the public good. No effort is spared and no stone is left unturned in the pursuit of justice. Even if it takes decades and tons of money, they keep pursuing criminals until they are caught and are brought to book. That way, every criminal knows that the chances of getting caught are high, and that they ultimately will face the music. That, alone, is deterrence. And that is why we speak of the “long arms of the law”. That is also why they have the saying: Crime does not pay! Here, however, nothing pays better than crime. Here, the arms of the law are not long at all; they are crooked, miserably short, ineffective, and ineffectual.

Another advantage of a relentless pursuit of truth by the countries of the West is that we have seen cases of historic injustices upturned when new truths and evidence are unearthed. Can we ever have such happen here? Whereas we all complain, especially when we lose our vantage position and are now at the receiving end of the same system we have helped, we are mostly all complicit in the decadence that envelopes our society. If we know the truth but fail to speak, act, pursue or defend it, then, we qualify as part of the hordes of “good men” that Burke and Mill say do nothing but look on while evil men perpetrate and perpetuate their evil.

Therefore, I do not know whether, at this point in time when he has already attained to the very pinnacle of his life-time ambition, Kabiyesi Olubadan will want to take up the challenge thrown his way by his fellow ex-governor, Chief Bisi Akande. Let us begin to straighten and elongate the arms of the law here – like they do abroad, where our leaders always run when they want to enjoy the better life they have bluntly refused to replicate here. It is by so doing that we can make our own society a safer and saner place for all of us – and for generations yet unborn.

*Bolawole (turnpot@gmail.com 0807 552 5533), former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, was also the Managing Director/ Editor-in-chief of the Westerner newsmagazine. He writes the “ON THE LORD’S DAY” column in the Sunday Tribune and “TREASURES” column in the New Telegraph newspapers. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.

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Falconets displayed fantastic football artistry and dominated proceedings since inception to the end of the encounter.

Falconets were in cruise control as Precious Oscar bagged the game opener in the 15th minutes of the game throwing jubilations in the midst of teaming fans who trooped to the stadium to watch the national female football team live.

Fatimoh Adesina converted a sublime free-kick in the 20th minutes to double the lead for the hosts while Janet Akekoromowei consolidated the scoring sheet for falconets in the 64th minute, firing a powerful strike from box line into Rwanda’s net to hand the hosts a comfortable lead.

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She-Amavubi would have secured a consolation goal in the 79th minutes but reflex of falconets goalie, Christiana Uzoma, frustrated the Rwanda’s strikers efforts.

Taiwo Afolabi put the icing on falconets victory cake with the fourth goal just at the official regulated time making the match a goal rainy game for the hosts.

Speaking during a post-match news conference, Falconets Head Coach, Moses Aduku, commended the fighting spirit of She-Amavubi, noting that the visitor refused to give up, even till the last whistle.

He noted that Falconets and technical crew carefully watched the tape of the first leg game against She-Amavubi in Kigali and made necessary corrections, particularly in the goal scoring aspect which eventually yielded expected results.

Also, the She-Amavubi Head Coach, Andre Cassa-mbungo, said that he came to Nigeria with a game plan to win but his team played against better side.

The victory gave Nigeria 5-0 win over Rwanda on the aggregate having won the first leg 1-0 in Kigali.

Nigeria will play against winner in the game between Senegal and Algeria for the third and final round of the qualifiers.

The 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup would be the 12th edition of the tournament scheduled to be hosted by Poland.

Source: NAN

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He and some other senior policemen had been demoted, I think from Commissioner of Police (CP) to Deputy Commissioner. It was untidy and unjust.

I had known Mr Solomon Arase when he was serving as Principal Staff Officer (PSO) to Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun. A very efficient officer and good man, if ever there was one.

When he, therefore, suffered that unfair demotion, as the person supervising the Editorial Board of The Sun Newspapers then, I got the Board to discuss the matter, and we did a strongly worded editorial, condemning the injustice.

The powers that be must have been listening. A short while later, they reversed the infamous decision. Arase and others got their promotions back.

And that was when I got the phone call. Solomon Arase was effusive in his appreciation. A lifelong friendship began.

We stayed in touch since that time, till his sad passage on August 31, 2025, aged 69.

We were looking forward to June 2026, when he would have turned 70, and we would have been able to celebrate him, and returned some of the good things he did to us. Alas, it was not to be. Sad. Painful.

When I was appointed Special Adviser on Media and Publicity by President Muhammadu Buhari on May 31, 2015, it was the first time I would live in Abuja. And IG Arase made sure I felt at home in an uncharted territory. He showed me friendship, making sure my every need was met.

A year later, he had to retire statutorily, since he had turned 60.  After the pulling out ceremony, I was at the church for his Thanksgiving Service, and also at the reception. A good man had taken a honorable bow out of service.

Later that night, I visited President Buhari at home, and knowing how much he cherished Arase, I sympathized with him.

And the President said: “I am sorry to see Arase go. Such a brilliant and efficient IG. I wish he had stayed longer with me. A big loss, as he had to retire according to the law.”

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To show his appreciation further, President Buhari hosted Arase to a private dinner, where he said very good things about him.

Some years later, when there was vacancy at the Police Service Commission, the President did not hesitate in nominating his friend as the Chairman. Sadly, about 6 weeks stood between the home call of the two great men. Buhari at 82, on July 13, Arase, 69, on August 31.

Let me tell you a story about Arase’s humanity and humaneness. Sometime in early 2016, a friend who knew I was close to the police boss approached me. He had a relation who was a retired middle level police officer, but who had suffered serious injury in the line of duty. He had been holding a tear gas canister in his hands, when the thing accidentally exploded, blowing off the man’s palm and a couple of fingers. Till he retired from service, nothing was done to rehabilitate him. Could I talk to Arase for help?

My friend gave me the relevant papers, including the letters of appeal that had been done to police authorities in the past. I called the IG, asked for an appointment, and went to the Force Headquarters.

Arase listened to me patiently, and was quite shocked that nothing had been done for the injured man, till he retired. He checked the papers, saw that it contained the man’s phone number. He dialed it.

“This is Solo Arase,” he told the man at the other end of the line.

“Solo what?” the man enquired.

“Solo Arase, the IGP”

The man began to scream. “My Oga, my Oga, the IG. God bless you sir. You are calling me? You are calling me? This is wonderful.”

Arase told him to calm down, and tell his story. He listened carefully. He then pledged that the matter would be looked into, that he would hand it to those who would treat it with despatch.

He then promised the man: “Please stay in touch with me, and let me know the developments.”

I learnt a lesson in humility, in humaneness, in compassion and benevolence. If only we can relate in that manner with our fellow human beings, especially to  those who life has been rather unkind.

I learnt a lesson in humility, in humaneness, in compassion and benevolence.

About a week before we left government in May 2023, Arase organized a farewell dinner for me at a highbrow restaurant in Maitama, Abuja.  He had brought in my close friends from different parts of the country. Grand, very grand.

I am glad that the event happened, as I was able to thank the Arases, (his dear wife was there) for all they did for me in my eight years in Abuja. No Christmas season passed without a show of goodwill from the former IG. A very good man, I say again.

When I launched my memoir, Working with Buhari, in January 2024, Arase showed himself a friend that sticks closer than a brother. He gave great support in all ways.

His passage shook me, sent me into the doldrums. Such a man should ideally live forever. But God has not ordained life to be that way.

Sleep well, my dear senior friend. You will never be forgotten. You were special in very many ways. As a cop, a lawyer, an academic, author of many seminal books. Whence cometh another Solo Arase? Eternal rest grant him O Lord.

*Adesina, OON, FNGE, was Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Buhari, 2015-2023

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When you have a bachelors degree in English and Drama tucked in your belt, and follow up with higher degrees in Communication Studies up to doctoral level, you are poised to conquer the world of journalism. And that was what she did.

Dr Doyin Abiola (née Aboaba) took Nigerian journalism by storm. From Daily Sketch, to Daily Times, and then Concord Press, she was a lady of many firsts. First female to edit a national daily (National Concord), first woman to be Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of a newspaper conglomerate (Concord Press), and many other landmark achievements.

I was both privileged and fortunate to have passed through the tutelage of Dr Doyin Abiola, and became one of her editors at the Concord Press.

From Staff Writer at Vanguard Newspaper, I joined Concord in 1991 as a Senior Staff Writer, recruited by the great and inimitable Mike Awoyinfa, who was editor of the soar away Weekend Concord.

That very first year, I won the award of Best Editorial Staff at Weekend Concord, nominated by Awoyinfa. And that was my first opportunity to meet Doyin (as we called her behind her back) in her office. She congratulated me for winning the award, and put the icing on the cake by saying, “I read your stories. You are very literary.”

It takes a person of literature to recognize another one. And Doyin was one of the best we had. A couple of years later, I did one column on Ibrahim Babangida, where I said what he gave to his friend, MKO Abiola (Concord Publisher and Doyin’s husband)  was “the unkindest cut of all.” I added that Babangida smiled a lot, but “there’s dagger in men’s smile. The near in blood, the nearer bloody.” Those were William Shakespeare’s words, and Dr Abiola was quite impressed.

“I love your literary allusions,” she said when she met me a couple of days after the article appeared.

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Woman of iron and steel. That was Dr Abiola for you. She didn’t suffer fools gladly. If you were sloppy (a favorite word of hers) or unprofessional in any way, you got the sharp part of her tongue, or you may end up being screamed at.

The day I was appointed deputy editor of National Concord, I was presented to her in the office. She congratulated me, and said we would be working closer now. Of course, I had made it a point of duty to avoid her as much as I could as a much junior person. She told me:

“I bark a lot, but I don’t bite. If you do your work well, we will be best of friends, but if you are sloppy (that word again), we will fight. I’ll scream and shout at you.”

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Fortunately for me, that never happened. Not once.

I worked as deputy editor to Dele Alake, and later Tunji Bello, when the former went into government first as Special Adviser to Governor Bola Tinubu of Lagos State, and later Commissioner for Information and Strategy. Eventually, I was named editor of National Concord.

Concord Press had become quite troubled by then due to the privations of the Publisher in the hands of the military. Chief MKO Abiola was held in solitary confinement for upwards of five years, simply because he claimed the mandate Nigerians freely gave him as President in June 1993, but voided by the military.

We were all waiting for Chief Abiola to come out of detention, so that the newspaper could be reflated. But it didn’t happen. He died. We kept Concord Press alive for a couple of more years, but “a cold coming we had of it.”  (T.S Eliot, Journey of the Magi). The paper also died.

While a lot of people had left when the newspaper was gasping for breath and couldn’t pay salaries, I stayed, though I also could have gone to ply my trade elsewhere. That meant I saw Dr Abiola daily. I was abreast with all her efforts to resuscitate the newspaper, in honour and memory of her husband. It didn’t work.

Eventually, a senior friend and editor-in-chief of the  Nigerian Tribune titles, Sir Folu Olamiti, invited me to join the editorial board of the newspaper on visiting basis. That meant I had to leave Concord Press, where I had spent 11 years.

The day I approached Dr Abiola to tell her about the offer from Nigerian Tribune, we were both crestfallen, sad that things got to that sorry turn.

Dr Doyin Abiola showed me friendship, which lasted for life. Eternal rest grant her oh Lord.

“Your life has to continue. Your career has to continue. Me, I’m a wife, I can’t go anywhere,” she said. “You have my blessings. But who knows, our paths may still cross in future.”

She added in Yoruba: “Omo atijo ni e (meaning you are a child of yesteryear). So very well brought up, so loyal. I watched how you related with the two editors you were deputy to. So loyal to them. I noticed that you never came to me to backbite or run them down in any way. You will go far in life.”

How prescient! From Tribune, I became the pioneer editor of Daily Sun, and rose to Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief of the company. From there, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed me as his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, a position I held for eight years.

All through, I was in regular touch with Dr Abiola. She had valuable pieces of advice for me whenever things got rough, and also words of commendation when we did things right.

When she turned 80 on February 1, 2023, she had personally told me a few days before. She got presidential greetings.

A doting mother, she lived with her daughter, Doyin Abiola-Tobun, in her final years. Many times when we spoke on phone, I heard her remonstrating lovingly with her grandchildren in the background. I was glad she was happy in her twilight days.

When I heard of her passing from my ‘Oga for life’ Mike Awoyinfa in the wee hours of August 6, it was a huge shock to me, though she was 82. She had seemed indestructible.

Dr Doyin Abiola showed me friendship, which lasted for life. Eternal rest grant her oh Lord.

*Adesina was editor of National Concord under Dr Abiola, and adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, 2015-2023.

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