Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, an exemplary gentleman, in this interview conducted by Huhuonline.com publisher, Emmanuel Emeke Asiwe and Managing Editor, Valerian Agbaw-Ebai bares his mind on mind-boggling issues bothering on his challenges in governance vis-a-viz his performance amid criticism, security in Northern Nigeria and many other national issues.
Huhuonline.com: For about a year, you ran Osun State without a cabinet. Is this an innovation in governance?
Rauf Aregbesola: No, it was not up to a year, I was sworn in November, 2010 and constituted my cabinet in August of 2011. It was about nine months. I ran the government without a cabinet because we had no money to pay wages. The state was bankrupt; I inherited an N18.3bn debt overhang. The debt overhang would not have been an issue if it were not a short-term debt with stringent terms. Every month for the state to meet its wage bill, the state had to take N1bn loan to augment whatever was left in terms of its revenue to settle salaries and wages. That was the state we met and; because of my commitment to the large pool of unemployed youth, I had to do something.
Rather than hold on to that critical need, I moved on the implementation of my youth empowerment programme and postponed the composition of the cabinet.
Please before you go further, ask yourself, is there any time line for cabinet composition in an executive government? For parliamentary system of government, of course there can`t be a government without a composition of cabinet. But in the executive government structures, it is usually unnecessary
Utilizing the same latitude the constitution provides, I was busy reorganizing my finances to meet pressing needs and critical programmes such as the youth empowerment scheme and again sufficiently building up reserve with which I will prosecute other important progammes as well as fund cabinet.
Cabinet is not just gathering of people, whether competent of incompetent. In my own case, I took time to select competent people. It is constituting a body; it is having the resources to make them do what they are supposed to do in government and provide them the wherewithal to serve in their respective positions. That, we struggled to do, which aided their performance when they were sworn in 12th August 2011.
Huhuonline.com: Your plan to introduce Ifa studies in secondary schools in your state has enraged parents, many of who now want to withdraw their wards from public schools. How do you plan to address this?
Rauf Aregbesola: First of all, I will not engage on religion, because when you reduce issues to emotions, not much is gained. You should therefore run away from sentiments and emotions. Religion is sensitive, emotive and could be sensational, to that extent I will not go into but I will answer your question. Before assuming office, I told the people that we would be fair to all manners of men. In my oath of office, it is so clear, it is constitutional that whoever occupies the position I occupy must shun discrimination of whatever nature, that is summarizing it. That particular line in the constitution says you should be fair to all manners of men regardless of any distinction be it gender distinction, shift distinction. You swear.
You must swear as part of oath of allegiance and duty to the people to be fair to all men. The question we must ask ourselves is, are there people in Osun State who are adherents of Ifa? We have to be careful when these issues come up. Don’t reduce it to religion. My religion does not accept Ifa, I don`t patronize Ifa. But the question we must ask ourselves are there people in Osun who are adherents of Ifa, if the answer is yes, then we ought to be careful. They are citizens; they are not sub citizens. They are full citizens deserving recognition, including government support just as you have Christians, Muslims, and atheists, who don’t believe in anything.
What do you call discrminatiom? Discrimination is conscious act against the interest of somebody who is equally recognized by constitution to have what you are denying them. I want to see the injury to anybody if as I have done, we recognize the rights of others.
Today in Osun, we recognise traditional religion in all official functions, so when a Muslim prays, a Christian prays also; traditional worshipers also pray. Initially it was offensive to the two dominant religions. But later they got to understand that it was indeed hypocritical for any government produced by plurality of votes to limit recognition of faith to just two. In the same manner, we are not forcing anybody in private institution to study anything.
What we are simply doing to the extent public school is for all those who believe in God and those who don`t believe in God- Those who worship God through Christian method and those who worship God through Muslim method and those who worship traditionally. It is our duty to allow them to worship the way they choose to worship and have knowledge of how they worship.
The question I expect from you and several other media practioners is, are we making Ifa studies compulsory? The answer is no. Just as we are not making the study of the Bible compulsory or study of the Quran compulsory. We can`t make study of Ifa compulsory. It is optional!
Can anybody legislate faith? When people talk I just laugh. If up till now in Nigeria. CRS( Christian Religious Studies) and IRK(Islamic Religious Knowledge) are not legislated in public schools, why would Ifa be legislated in schools.
We tend to glamorize rubbish- by seeing issues in their clear and reasonable perspective but attempt to confuse what has been done. CRS has been on for as long as we have had western education. Same with the IRK. But no government has ever given recognition to traditional religious studies. Thus we don’t even have teachers to teach Ifa religion.
All we have done is develop a system of electronic learning, in the system we have all examinable subjects that are taught in High School in Osun. This includes CRK, an examinable subject, and IRK, another examinable subject.
Besides those examinable subjects, the only other place you can have any semblance of Ifa knowledge is in Yoruba. There will be some mention, reference to Ifa but there is no exposure to Ifa. CRK as a subject is distinct from Bible. You may say Bible is the source. There is no doubt about that. IRK has its source from the Quran, but its distinct from the Quran.
For those who want to know about Ifa, we have provided a reference material in the “tablet of knowledge.” just like we did with Bible and Quran.
In the usual annual prayers, we have been having in Osun, one of the priests raised the issue of recognition of traditional religion and I informed him that it not just a question of recognizing traditional religion, we have in the “tablet of knowledge” that we shall be distributing Quran, Bible and Ifa.
That does not mean that Ifa is made compulsory; it is an elective, it’s uploaded in this electronic device for whoever cares to know read about it.
Ifa religion is morals- the course content are importance of patience, importance of money, sex education, roles of language in society, dangers in polygamy, awareness and appreciation of God.
Religion is a touchy subject. In our society are people who do nothing but worship Ifa, just as you feel about your own religion, they too feel bad that their children are taught CRK and IRK. If we want to strip it of any arrogance, what is it that gives one the right to think his religion is superior to others? It is bigamy, prejudice conditioned and forced by those who have been managing our affairs. We cannot be so enslaved for life.
I am Muslim, my religion tells me it is the only religion, only way of life. The question which we should ask ourselves is, is that permitted in modern civilized society? The answer is no. No matter how hard I feel about my religion, I can only have such say for myself. I can’t impose it on you. That is the ethos of modernity that is civilization; that is what we call socialization in modern time: accommodation and acceptance of differences between you and the other. If that becomes relevant, we must be able tolerate those with varying opinions on faith. You don’t have more rights than the man who does not believe anything. What must not be done to you is for your child to be compelled to study Ifa. At that time, you must say no, because it is against your belief. So also it is against the belief of Ifa adherents to have their children forced to learn Bible or the Quran.
Huhuonline.com: Can we say, the governor has taken in terms of public policy, take the least common denominator and say ok, this issue is controversial and heat up the polity, let us take way religion whether western or indigenous out public space.
Rauf Aregbesola: Listen, If we remove the study of IRK and CRK, there will be more hoopla. It may be difficult for you to accept, but your mind tells you this man is telling you the truth. What is called civilization? It is matured relationship. That is the capacity to absorb the nuances and excesses of the other man without taking offence because you know in the public space you have the right. Somebody can be Agnosium, It unethical, unhealthy, but the best you can is to move away from him. I had to make that point to know that what is called civility is the ability to accommodate others. The point I’m trying to make is, what is it is about Ifa that offends so badly?
Ifa teaches about the importance of patience. Let’s read what it says: “In Yoruba traditional religion, patience and perseverance in every human endeavor is held in high esteem. They believe that for one to excel in life one needs to endure a more challenging encounter to one’s journey to success.”
If indeed governance is about creation of awareness, popularization of culture, promote accommodation of differences, I think it perfectly in order to allow students know their culture very well and not screened of an aspect of their lives, that is as relevant to them regardless of their faith.
Huhuonline.com: Your Excellency, you seem to court controversy. Recall that you were in court for three years, trying to reclaim your mandate; you were accused of masterminding a bombing; and more recently, you were alleged to have ties with a radical Moslem group linked with the Boko Haram Islamist sect. Do you actually have ties with Boko Haram?
Rauf Aregbesola :You claimed that I have been linked with radical Islam, How? I won a popular mandate. Even going by your own admission, which I say is false. How can somebody win a popular mandate if he is identified with a radical sect, which is in the minority? When was the phenomenon of Boko Haram? When was my mandate? Boko Haram became a phenomenon in 2009, I ran for office in 2007. So where is the link?
You went further to say I was linked with a bombing incident, honorably speaking, nothing can be more fallacious; there was no such thing anywhere; they’re just your own fabrication. And I want to appeal to people in the media that it is in our collective interest to take pain to crosscheck our facts before putting them in public domain, because once they are in the public domain they are permanent; because we do not want misinform the public. This is high responsibility, which we must all seek to be conscious of before we launch out, otherwise we will be injuring people unnecessarily while propagating rubbish and falsehood. But I will put the issues in context. Rauf Aregbesola is confidently and unpretentious a Muslim. And that is a right I have, just as very one the right to bear the faith they profess.
Rauf Aregbesola, however, from school, had always proclaimed the amiable right of everybody to freely profess their religion and on that ground I can lay down my life to ensure that nobody is disallowed from professing his religion. I don’t understand anything that we mean by radical Islam; criminals are criminals, whether they are Christians or they are Muslims. A criminal is a criminal. Whoever takes life for any reason either in the course of posolisation or robbery for material gain is a criminal and must be seen as such. That you must understand and that you must see from the fact that I will defend the right of anybody to profess their faith
Thirdly, it is unfortunate that we are very quick to hold on to allegations even when several statements have been issued to debunk those allegations. You read the allegation that I was sponsoring radical Islam, One will like to you to equally make reference to our rebuttal to the allegations.
Huhonline.com: That is why we are giving you this opportunity.
Rauf Aregbesola: If you have read it, you will not even bother asking such questions, because SSS denied issuing that statement. I went to the DG of SSS and said to him, I read this about my person, please for goodness sake, let me have your proof. And he asked me, did I ever contact you that any such statement was made? So why are you accusing us.
I was interviewed in the premises of SSS, and I told the world that the SSS Czar denied issuing such statement.
Huhuonline.com: Excellency, The SSS lie a lot !!!
Rauf Aregbesola: Why was that statement issued? We told the world! Our opponents, believing that if were so stigmatized, it would help them, went about the campaign of calumny, submitting falsehood. We did not stop there; we told the whole world that a man that will accused of Islamisation must be seen in its total form. I have cabinet of 36 members. Cabinents are not formed by elections, cabinets are formed by choice. So a man interested in Islamazation will surround himself with muslims. I have six Muslims among 36 cabinet members. I had a choice when I was running to pick a Muslim as my running mate; I picked a fire brand Christian as running mate, a member of Mountain of Fire and Miracles. That is not all, we have 26 members in the state house of assembly, 10 or less are Muslims.
Huhuonline.com: Your Excellency, Assembly members came in by elections, anyway.
Rauf Aregbesola : Listen, now, you will say that the man wanted to run a faith-based government. You know I am the governor, don’t miss it. Don`t forget I was already a governor before they were elected, before they even ran for the election. Don`t try to reduce the impact of my influence if I wanted to do otherwise. I became a governor in 2010, Assembly election was 2011. I had enough time. Don’t ever gloss over it, please, it is important, because when you want to tell people that I am simply mischievous, you can`t just close it down. If you do, you are mischievous, too.
We have 31 executives at the local government level, sworn in by me, as caretaker committee members, only 10 are Muslims. When you now sum this up, where then is the meat of this allegation? Probably what they are telling you.
Huhuonline.com: It is what we read.
Rauf Aregbesola: What they are telling you, you now take hook line and sinker, in a clime where it is almost a crime to appear as Muslim, I do with relish. In a clime where public office is already seen as a caucus for conformity, a non-conformist is there, who does not give any nonsense about his own faith. I therefore appear in the public sometimes as traditional Yoruba person, sometimes as a Muslim. I concede to others the right to be who they are within the law. I think I have a right to be who I am within the law. That is all.
Huhuonline.com: Do you wear your religion on your sleeve?
Rauf Aregbesola: What makes you think you don’t wear yours on your sleeve?
Huhuonline.com: I don’t hold public office, you are the governor.
Rauf Aregbesola: (Laughter) everything about me is liberal, unless when you want to be openly mischievous.
You met me yesterday; did anything suggest to you that I am a fundamentalist? Nothing, it is a question of perception and the impression you want to have. I said there can’t be a more determined advocate of accommodation than me. In all public statements and outings, I tell people that what you call life has no other definition than service, and service has no colour of religion or colour of nationalism, either ethnic or general nationalism. Service is service, so if that is my ethos, which I preach, which I live by, which I demonstrate, where is this absolute falsehood of somebody being what he is not.
This is not my first time in public office. I was in public office for eight years; I have not changed a bit, in either my public appearance or attitude. I have been like this. I appear in the way that I believe is best suited, for as long as it does not offend the laws of the land. I want to believe just I expect of others; I want to believe everybody has the right to live by his own code, which does not offend the general code of society. I don`t know how well I have responded to you.
Huhuonline.com: In the last presidential election, your state voted against President Jonathan, despite your party`s stance, which made it possible for the presidential candidate of the ruling party to win the presidential election in all ACN-controlled states. What informed this decision, and if the same scenario reoccurs in 2015, will you tow the same line?
Rauf Aregbesola: I don’t know where got you this information from, Can you let me have the categorical endorsement of Jonathan by the ACN. There was no open or secret endorsement of President Ebele Jonathan by my party. My party fielded a candidate, and what we did in Osun was to tow the party line. People must not forget that National Chairman of my party, Chief Bisi Akande is from Osun and sensitive and all important election like that it will have been difficult for the party not to give total support to the most senior person, to the highest leadership of the party as exemplified by Chief Bisi Akande. So without any doubt or cause to want to reduce the decision of the party in Osun as well as the overwhelming support that the party enjoys, I want to tell you that we simply voted for our party to justify the level of popularity that we enjoy in the state.
Huhuonline.com: What is your take on the present security challenge in Nigeria? what does Nigeria needs to overcome the security problems, particularly in the North?
Rauf Aregbesola: In all my public statements on the instability in Northern Nigeria, I have all ways been very didactic. When you are didactic about a thing, you are not just superficial. I have spoken at two public events, specifically on the challenges of security in Northern Nigeria. I said that in any environment where disparity exists in the economic status of the people there to the extent that some have more than what they need and a large majority wallow in poverty, unless you bridge the gap, tension, social tension crisis and all sorts of criminality cannot be avoided.
Today, the insurgency in the North is such that we must embark on an immediate youth empowerment programme that will remove the social base for the recruitment of disempowered, disaffected, angered youths that readily gravitate to the misdirected sponsors of the violence. That was why rather than go about forming cabinet even in my own state, in spite of my challenges in funding I pursued aggressively Youth empowerment and I am the first government in the history of Nigeria to develop mass youth empowerment programme that engages 20,000 able-bodied, educated unemployed youths. The programme has been adjudged as the best social safety net by the World Bank. When I began that, am still talking about that, I expect social commentators to readily link my position on the economy and the consequences of solving the economic ethos in the Nigerian polity as the antidote to removing the tension, instability and insecurity.
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Former Anambra State governor and presidential candidate Peter Obi has disagreed with Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to restore Nigeria’s fuel subsidy if elected president in 2027.
Speaking on Monday at the Nigerian Bar Association conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Obi argued that removing the subsidy was necessary but faulted the Federal Government for failing to properly manage the resources generated from its removal.
Atiku, who supported the removal of fuel subsidy during the 2023 presidential election, has since indicated that he would reconsider the policy and restore the subsidy if he wins the 2027 election.
Obi, however, maintained that reversing the policy would not address the underlying problems. According to him, the major failure has been the poor management of the funds saved after the subsidy was removed.
He said the government should have accompanied the policy with measures designed to reduce the hardship faced by Nigerians and should have channelled the resulting savings into productive areas of the economy.
“What we should have done is that when we removed it, we should have given the people alternative usage for the subsidy,” Obi said.
He further alleged that the funds recovered from subsidy removal had not been adequately accounted for, claiming that the resources were being “mismanaged and stolen.”
Obi said he had advocated a more structured approach to subsidy removal before the 2023 election, arguing that the savings should have been deliberately invested in areas capable of improving the lives of Nigerians and strengthening the economy.
“Go to my manifesto, I said it before, I said I will do it in an organised manner and whatever we recover would be invested appropriately,” he said.
President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy during his inauguration on May 29, 2023. The decision led to a significant increase in petrol prices and intensified concerns over inflation and the rising cost of living.
While the Federal Government has defended the policy as necessary to reduce pressure on public finances and redirect government resources, the implementation of the reform and the management of the resulting savings remain contentious issues.
With the 2027 election approaching, the contrasting positions of Obi and Atiku have added fuel subsidy to the growing debate over how Nigeria should manage its economy, protect vulnerable citizens and use public resources more effectively.
News
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has warned the 31 companies that emerged successful in the 2025 oil and gas licensing round to pay their required signature bonuses within the statutory timeframe or risk losing their provisional awards.
The warning comes one month after the commission conducted the commercial bid conference in Abuja, where the successful bidders were announced for 37 oil and gas blocks.
In a notice issued on Sunday, the NUPRC said the compliance process had commenced following the issuance of provisional award letters to the successful companies.
The commission stated that bidders who failed to meet the payment deadline in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) would forfeit their bid guarantees and have their provisional awards transferred to the next-ranked reserve bidders.
“Exactly a month ago, the NUPRC hosted the 2025 commercial bid conference in Abuja where 31 companies emerged winners of 37 oil and gas blocks. Having issued the winners with the provisional awards, compliance with the payment of signature bonuses has already begun,” the commission said.
The 37 blocks awarded in the licensing round cover several areas, including the Niger Delta onshore and shallow-water fields, deep offshore assets and frontier basins.
The assets include PPL 2A29 to PPL 2A62 in the Niger Delta, PPL 2010 in the deep offshore, PPL 308 in the Benin Basin, PPL 900 to PPL 903 in the Anambra Basin, PPL 700 in the Chad Basin, and PPL 800 and PPL 801 in the Benue Trough.
The NUPRC also released the names of the 31 successful companies, together with the ranked reserve bidders for each of the 37 blocks.
A total of 143 companies participated in the licensing exercise, submitting about 200 bids for the assets on offer. However, 13 of the 50 blocks originally listed for the round received no bids.
Under the PIA and the applicable licensing guidelines, successful bidders are required to pay signature bonuses ranging from $3 million to $7 million for each awarded block.
In addition to the signature bonus, the companies must provide the required guarantees, pay first-year rents and fulfil other post-award obligations within the prescribed period.
Failure to satisfy these requirements will result in the forfeiture of the affected company's bid guarantee and the revocation of its provisional award. The block will then be offered to the designated reserve bidder.
The NUPRC Chief Executive Officer, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, had previously urged the successful bidders to complete their payments promptly and move ahead with the development of their awarded assets.
The commission has advised bidders, industry stakeholders and members of the public to consult the 2025 Licensing Round portal for additional information on the awards and compliance requirements.
Under the applicable PIA framework, successful bidders have 90 days from the issuance of their provisional awards to complete the required payments and other conditions.
With the provisional awards issued following the July 21, 2026 commercial bid conference, the 90-day compliance period expires on October 19, 2026.
As of August 23, 2026, 33 days of the 90-day period have elapsed, leaving 57 days for the successful companies to complete their statutory obligations.
Companies that fail to pay their signature bonuses and first-year rents within the deadline risk losing both their bid guarantees and the provisional awards. The affected blocks would subsequently be reassigned to the respective reserve bidders in line with the licensing rules.
The NUPRC's latest notice therefore signals that the successful bidders have entered the final stages of the award process, with compliance now required before the provisional awards can progress toward full development of the assets.
Business
In The Spotlight
Vanguard recently published pathetic pictures of the Benin-Sapele-Warri Expressway; and Punch revealed to us what happens to the Lagos-Calabar Expressway, not even 15 per cent completed, each time there is a heavy downpour in the Lekki peninsula.
The road becomes so flooded, it becomes barely usable. Morning shows the day. If Tinubu-Umahi’s legacy road already shows evidence of long-term stress, pity the Nigerians who will ply that road ten years from now.
The Minister was in Lagos State recently, half-begging, half attempting to blackmail Governor Sanwo-Olu to cough up funds to repair the mistakes made by Engineer Umahi and the contractors who hastily embarked on the road without Environmental Impact Assessment. He is building in Lagos and coastal states the sort of rickety roads he left in Ebonyi State. He has the right President for that sort of shoddy business. Right now, parts of the road have been vandalized – even before completion. Fellow Nigerians are not paying attention as they should. Pity.
Vanguard, Punch and Daily Trust have been doing Nigerians a favour by pointing to one of the greatest failures of the Tinubu administration – the maintenance of federal highways under Minister David Umahi – whose major achievement in three years had been attracting attention to himself through a scandal involving homicide. On the whole, Nigerian roads, federal and state, have not been receiving the attention they deserve in the last eleven years; the neglect just got worse.
Experience on Nigerian roads from 1974-2019
“Hit the road, Jack”. Advice from my Sales Manager, in Boston, USA, 1968.
My first full time job was in selling. It was as a salesman for a leading pharmaceutical company, Lederle Laboratories, in 1968, that Mr. Al, for Albert, Abby, came into my life. As my Sales Manager, he monitored my activities and also as my mentor. He drilled into my head the idea that a salesman’s work consists of being on the road as much as possible; in order to meet customers. By the time I arrived in Nigeria, in 1974, to start work as the Marketing Manager of Abbott Laboratories, marketers of SIMILAC baby food, being on the road 70 per cent of the time had become routine. It was new to my sales staff, but proved rewarding for all concerned – company, staff and especially me.
Until August 1974, Ughelli, Delta State, was the farthest distance I ever traveled in Nigeria. I hit the road. By August 1975, I had covered all the 12 State capitals created by General Gowon, at least three times; and the trips had just begun. By 1998, after Abacha had increased the number of states to 36, I was in charge of Circulation in Vanguard; and my annual itinerary called for visiting all the offices at least once a quarter. In fact, I opened new Vanguard Offices in Ado-Ekiti, Yenagoa, Abakaliki, Gombe, Damaturu, Birnin Kebbi and Dutse. From 2001 to 2007, I traveled to all the stations at least three times a year. Over 80 per cent of the trips were by road – even though flight options were available to me. I got to know Nigerian roads as nobody I have ever met knew them. Divorce was threatened by the occupants of the home front. There was no major road constructed, expanded or diverted which I was not familiar with. By 2017, the trips were reduced to about 20 states every year.
Thus, each time a new Minister of Works is appointed, at least until 2019, I know the problems he faces. Shortly after President Jonathan assumed office, I published an article titled Nigeria’s 70 Most Important roads. These are the roads over which 70 to 80 per cent of goods are transported every day. Lagos-Ibadan Expressway remains the first one in all respects. I went further. The biggest map available at the CMS Bookshop was obtained and all the 70 roads were identified for the Minister in charge of roads with the advice: “take care of these roads and Nigerians will never forget you”. I wasted my time and effort; and Nigerians have been paying dearly for it. Since then, two Ministers of Works were appointed; each left Nigerian roads infinitely worse than when he started.
Three years of Umahi, more of the same
“It aint the things you don’t know that cause the problem; it’s things that you think you know that aint so.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882
To the best of my knowledge, no Minister of Works has been appointed in Nigeria, with the exception of late General Mamman Kontagora, who can be said to have had a fairly good knowledge of Nigerian roads by the time he was appointed. Consequently, we have selected so many good men; but, for the wrong task. Many people, including me, would have protested if Fashola was not appointed Minister by Buhari after his sterling performance as Governor of Lagos State. But, he failed dismally as Minister of Works. So, in all fairness to Umahi, many of the roads in terrible condition were inherited from past administrations. That said; it is also a fact that every new appointee is not compelled to accept the offer; and “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”. Umahi inherited several death traps; but, like all members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, he also helped to conceal the truth from Nigerians. Now, he is holding the bag; with all the incriminating evidence of poor performance. Umahi should also be excused for the failure to establish priorities. His boss, without consultations, despite all the lies told, had already conceived of a new road – the Lagos-Calabar Expressway – and the preferred contractor was determined, without bidding. The Minister spent his first year defending a decision made without his input. He added his own.
Umahi started out sounding like a “know-it-all”. He is an Engineer; so he knows all there is about road construction. He even dictated that all federal roads, irrespective of terrain, would be paved with cement – without consideration for the impact on the price of cement; which is essential for building construction.
Perhaps, not establishing objective priorities was his biggest blunder. Some Nigerian roads carry most of the heavy loads and require more attention. The Lapai-Bida, the Benin-Sapele and the Asaba-Onitsha roads each carry more loads than all the Federal roads in Taraba, Ebonyi and Kebbi states put together. I could not agree more with Senator Adams Oshiomole who recently carpeted Umahi for lack of priority in his selection of roads receiving his attention. The Okene-Auchi-Benin road carries the largest load of cement heading for Southern States, as well as fuel tankers moving North. Without prioritizing the most important federal roads, we are indirectly slowing down economic development, making products made in Nigeria less competitive and entrenching poverty. In the absence of rail nationwide, roads constitute the life-blood of our nation. They are soaked now with our blood.
By Dele Sobowale
In The Spotlight
How many fake agencies can the Tinubu Presidency go after at a time? When I posed this question in my column in early August, I intended it as rhetoric. The fake agencies and their operators apparently took it as a challenge.
On Friday evening, the ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Aliyu, SAN, emerged from his second meeting with the President in 48 hours to announce the discovery of yet another fake agency, grandly named the National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office and promoted by one Prince George Buchi Nwabueze.
Side note: Because of the length of these agency names, I’ll refer to them by their promoters, who happen to be ‘Princes’. Say, Prince Adeyemi’s PFIFC or Prince George’s agency. Okay?
So, I sat there among my colleagues, listening to Aliyu reel out another episode of an ongoing soap opera whose production studio is in the Nigerian civil service. We were arguably the first set of ears to get the gist, a privilege that comes with the burden of sharing it with the rest of the world.
Twenty-four hours earlier, I spotted the ICPC chairman making his way through the corridors leading to the President’s office for the umpteenth time. Aliyu had since become a standard feature at the State House since revelations about Prince Adeyemi’s fake agency, the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, first went public.
Draped in a white agbada, Aliyu sounded fulfilled as he announced another big catch, Prince George. Unlike his counterpart in the PFIFC, Prince George did not settle for a spot in the Federal Secretariat. No! He operated from inside the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. He was also found to operate under at least five variations of his own name, which is fitting. A fake agency deserves a fake agency’s worth of aliases.
The President ordered his immediate arrest and suspended three permanent secretaries: M.S. Danjuma, Nadungu Gagare and Richard Pheelangwah.
If you are keeping count, you would have counted six fake agencies or actors in the past few months. Four! First came Prince Adeyemi’s now-dissolved PFIFC. Then the ICPC’s interim report of August 6 unearthed two more: the FCT Investment Promotion Agency and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency and Public-Private Partnership.
There is also the Presidential Implementation Committee on the Alienation of Federal Government Properties, a body created in 2000 under Obasanjo to manage the sale and lease of federal landed assets.
Though now dissolved, its erstwhile secretary, B.S. Dutsin-Ma, had continued operating. In early August, the Presidency directed him to cease acting on behalf of the committee and the Federal Government.
Last September, the Presidency distanced itself from Mr Fegho Umunubo, an erstwhile Special Assistant on Digital and Creative Economy in the Vice President’s office, whom it warned was still acting in his old capacity despite being let go.
Now Prince George’s outfit makes six similar instances in under a year. At this rate, the fake agencies and actors may soon require their own coordinating ministry. And who knows if the next ‘Prince’ may be found operating from the Presidential Villa itself?
Lest we think this plague is new, history says otherwise. You see, Nigeria has always had people who understood that in a country where government is everywhere, the most profitable business is to impersonate it. From the 1980s and 1990s, there are tales of fake recruitment syndicates selling appointment letters into the Army, Customs and NNPC from rented offices with convincing letterheads. Some past regimes responded with periodic raids, tribunals and occasional decrees. But the racket always reincarnates.
Over the years, the ICPC and EFCC have busted fake job-racketeering “ministries” in Abuja that interviewed hundreds of applicants and collected “processing fees” for years before anyone really noticed. The sobering reality is that we have always chased the “Princes” one at a time. And there will always be another ‘Prince’ to sit on that throne.
Also, it is not uniquely a Nigerian thing. In California in 2015, authorities uncovered a self-declared “Masonic Fraternal Police Department”, a policing outfit with its own badges, uniforms and a website claiming a 3,000-year history. It was run by three “Princes” until the state of California charged them with impersonating officers.
The difference is not that other countries breed fewer fraudsters than we do. It is that their systems make the fraud quite short-lived because the list of legitimate agencies is knowable by the public, leaving the fake ones to glow in the dark.
Moreover, if government ministries, departments and agencies were fewer than they are now, there would be fewer hiding places for the fakes.
Which brings me, once again, to one document still gathering dust on the President’s desk: the Oronsaye report. Commissioned in 2011 and submitted in 2012, Steve Oronsaye’s committee found 541 federal parastatals, commissions and agencies and recommended pruning them to about 263. It recommended mergers, scrapping, subsuming and anything else that could shrink that number.
To his credit, President Tinubu revived it in February 2024, ordering full implementation. Two and a half years later, however, the rathole of redundant agencies has only widened, and now fake ones are camouflaging among the real ones. Implementing Oronsaye would arguably leave fewer agencies with clearer supervision and a slimmer cost of governance. Again, it is not a silver bullet. Matter of fact, the report is 14 years old; some recommendations would need fresh legislation. But why chase rats one by one when we can fumigate the entire network of holes?
While the ICPC is hunting “Princes”, President Tinubu is assembling his Avengers. According to the APC Presidential Campaign Council list the Presidency released on Saturday morning, Tinubu will sit as chairman; Vice President Kashim Shettima and party chairman Nentawe Yilwatda will co-chair the council. Ex-Zamfara governor Abdulaziz Yari will serve as DG, and Hope Uzodimma, still fresh from surviving the storm that rocked the Progressives Governors’ Forum months ago, will serve as secretary.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker Abbas and Governor Buni will serve as zonal heads; Oshiomhole will head mobilisation, while James Faleke will return to his 2022 role in election planning.
The media directorate already looks like a special-purpose media house of its own. Information Minister Mohammed Idris will coordinate alongside Dr Dele Alake, Bayo Onanuga, Issa-Onilu, Mr Tunde Rahman, Dr Sunday Dare, Daniel Bwala and Felix Morka.
By Stephen Angbulu