• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

AFR Business Media

AFR Business Media

Ad example

AFR Business

Buhari holds closed-door meeting with APC governors

August 30, 2023 by AFR Business

President Muhammadu Buhari has met behind closed doors with governors elected under the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Though the agenda of the meeting was not officially disclosed, it was gathered that some national issues including the ongoing currency swap, fuel shortages in some parts of the country and their possible effects on the February and March general elections might have been discussed at the meeting.

Some of the governors in attendance include the chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, governors of Ebonyi, Dave Umahi, Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Imo, Hope Uzodimma.

Others are those of Zamfara, Bello Matawalle; Ogun, Dapo Abiodun; Yobe, Mai Mala-Buni; Kaduna, Nasir El-Rufai; Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje; Kwara, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq; Niger, Sani Bello among others.

The Fulani and Endemic Insanity

August 30, 2023 by AFR Business

(Dedicated to those that see nothing wrong in the unprecedented maladministration, bigotry, fundamentalism, injustice, nepotism, insecurity, kidnapping, killings and genocides who themselves may end up being kidnapped, raped, maimed and killed by Fulani terrorists in the present dispensation).

Where are the sane Fulani population? Don’t they know that their race has a “psychiatric emergency” on its hands? Even if others don’t tell them, shouldn’t they be courageous enough to face themselves?

Among the sane Fulani who realize this is the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar. He lamented on Friday, February 25, 2021, at a meeting with Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN) that seven to eight (out of 10) of bandits on the rampage nationwide — kidnapping raping, burning, butchering men, women and children are Fulani.

With the relatively small population of Fulani in Nigeria, that is clearly a psychiatric emergency…
Youngsters who rape women their mother’s ages, adults who hack to death toddlers (of the same ages as their own children) in school uniforms, who rip open stomachs of pregnant women who have done them no wrong are not sane.

Men who, like Boko Haram, kidnap juveniles and teenagers in hundreds and threaten to kill them— and actually shoot some point-blank— for ransom are raving lunatics — whether or not they foam in the mouths.

Latest reports say whole Fulani towns have now taken to kidnapping as lifelihood…
The mad fellows who opened fire on fellow humans in a Sokoto market on Sunday, October 17, 2021 were not foreigners. They were recognized Fulani neighbours of their victims.

Survivors are still in shock at seeing the very boys whose mothers they have always helped opening fire on their own boys.

The killers are Fulani.

Realising that many had taken refuge in a particular shop, the Fulani lunatics concentrated fire on the said shop. Kicking the door open afterwards, the lunatics went round kicking the bodies to discover which was still with life, one of the survivors recounted…

Those who do that to fellow humans who had done them no wrong are insane.
Sokoto authorities, apparently embarrassed by the stark insanity of it all were said to be suppressing the gruesome reality: They have raised a generation of lunatic youths and psychotic adults…
In fact, Fulani lunatics now kill more Nigerians than Boko Haram, ISWAP and Covid-19 combined.

From Benue to Taraba, Edo, Oyo, Enugu, Ogun, Nasarawa, Borno, Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina etc, it is Fulani youths and adults kidnapping, raping, burning, maiming, slaughtering…
Where are their parents and elders?

These very same mindless crimes have placed Boko Haram and ISWAP high on the Global Terrorism Index, GTI.

On July 23, 2021, The Emir of Muri, Alhaji Abbas Tafida, fed up with the brazen crimes of the lunatic Fulani, issued an ultimatum to all killer Fulani in his domain:
“Our brothers, the nomadic herdsmen (Bororo) from neighbouring countries, you came to us to allow you to stay in our forests. We allowed you because you are our brothers. When you came, we welcomed you. We regarded you too as fellow Muslims. But the question you must answer is ‘are you Muslims?’ We deserve to know if you are Muslims.

“But if you are one of us (Muslims) and you decide to stay in the forest, coming only to kidnap us one by one for ransom, you should stop it because your attitude is not acceptable to Allah.
“But if you are not Muslims, I want to tell you, like we fought the infidels before, we are ready to fight you with all our strength.
“So, I have given you (Bororo) 30 days to leave my emirate. If we see any one of you after the expiration of my ultimatum, we will kill him. I am calling on my subjects to know that and be ready to fight or else I will draw the line…
“We kill him without asking him what he came to do or ask his name or where he comes from. If we are going to be all killed, let it be. We will not allow bastards come and be kidnapping our wives, take them to the forest and rape them or commit adultery with them…
“Any person found conniving with these criminals, we will go and kill his mother and other siblings…
“There is no way we cannot be free in our homes and work, we cannot sleep with our two eyes closed. I am calling on Ardos (Fulani leaders) to stop these barbaric acts in my emirate because you all know who are carrying out these criminal activities…”

So, foreign Fulani are also involved, apparently invited by their local kinsmen to join in the slaughter.
On Monday, September 6, 2021, Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, was virtually in tears on a national T.V station (Channels) as he admitted that the bandits ravaging the country are mainly Fulani like himself who have been resident in Nigeria for decades. He admitted that his colleagues from the North might not like his candor:

“They (bandits) are the same people like me, who speak the same language (fulfude), like me who profess the same religious beliefs like me.
“So what we have here on ground are bandits; they are not aliens, they are people we know. They are people that have been living with us for 100 years.
“The infiltration we have from some West African countries are also people of the Fulani extraction.
“Majority of those involved in this banditry are Fulani whether this is palatable or not palatable, but that is the truth. I am not saying 100% of them are Fulani but majority of them are, and these are people who live in the forest and their main occupation is rearing of cattle (herdsmen).”
In desperation, Masari closed several roads and suspended sale of cows in 14 councils in Katsina State.
He disclosed too that over 100 groups of lunatic Fulani herdsmen are in the forests, “all made up of bandits, kidnappers, rapists and armed robbers…”
Expectedly, lunatic members of Miyetti Allah attacked him as a drunk…
On the rare occasions when these terrorists are captured, they are found to be barely conscious caricatures of human beings with hardly anything that can be called a soul.

Asked his job, one of them in a video clip, responded: “finaffing”.

It was some of these psychos who kidnapped a respectable family of three who came home from Europe. They subjected the family go to nine days of dehumanizing torture — including their nine-year-old daughter who was visiting her parents’ country for the first time. The brave woman, in tears, subsequently addressed a press conference that went viral.
Naturally, Nigerians looked on the perfumed Fulani in the town to rein in their lunatic kinsmen in the bush. After all, one Fulani fellow (names withheld), on being sworn into power in 2015, told everybody that he “belonged to nobody but to everybody…”
But the madness has persisted till date.
Now, the bandits, most of them herdsmen, kill every day…
(Just yesterday in formerly peaceful Plateau State, 11 persons hoping to celebrate New Year were slaughtered by Fulani terrorists.)
Why?

It is because there is a far more dangerous version of Fulani lunatics outside the bush. Educated, polished, even dabbed in the best perfumes, neither Cambridge nor Oxford has cured this version of its insanity. And worse, they occupy high government and non-government positions.
Insanity has its distinctive stench, and a Pacific of perfumes cannot obliterate it out.
But first, a little digression.
I was at a function in Sokoto, the seat of the Caliphate. We guests in the expansive hall were having a rollicking time, all the tables were decked with a surplus of delicacies and juices — cool music was in the background. It was a miniature Paradise…
Suddenly, on one of the tables, a man in babanriga, reared up and, encircling the table as far as his arms could reach, dragged all the items on the table — juices, food plates and all, to himself.
At first, other guests were just aghast. But, seeing the tell-tale gleam in his eyeballs, something else dawned on them all, and the guests scrambled to leave the table…
“Mahaukaci, mahaukaci” many muttered as they scattered. It wasn’t until later that I understood “mahaukaci”.
But the “mahaukaci” was not silent.
Amidst the mouthfuls he was stuffing in his mouth with both hands, he kept screeching after those fleeing his madness …accusing them of “causing disunity in a peaceful hall…”
Mahaukaci cut quite a pathetic spectacle, what with blotches of oil and spilled juice all over his babanriga; but he didn’t appear to realize or care.

Keep that story in a corner of your mind…
Now, look at the list of appointments in Nigeria below:
Major revenue earners:
Nigerian National Petrol Corporation, NNPC — Mele Kyari (Fulani)
Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS –Muhammad Mamman Nami (Fulani)
Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, — Col. Mamee Ali (Fulani)
Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA —Muhammad Koko (Fulani) — acting after Hadiza Bala’s suspension.
The major spenders
Defence ministry —Bashir Saliu Magashi (Fulani)
Finance Ministry — Zainab Shamsuna (Fulani)
Education Ministry—Adamu Adamu (Fulani)
Justice Ministry— Abubakar Malami (Fulani)
Federal Capital Territory —Alhaji Mohammed Musa Bello (Fulani)
Agric Ministry — Sabo Nanono (Fulani)
Police Affairs Ministry –Maigari Dingyadi (Fulani)
Aviation Ministry — Hadi Sirika (Fulani)
Communications Ministry—Isa Patami (Fulani)
Power Ministry—Mamman Kwagyaig (Fulani)
Water Resources Ministry — Hussein Adamu (Fulani)
Humanitarian Affairs Ministry — Sadiya Umar farouk (Fulani)
Federal Road Management Agency, FERMA —Nurudeen Abdulrahman Rafindadi (Fulani)
National Youth Service, NYSC —Brig. Gen. Shaibu Ibrahim (Fulani)
Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF — Dr Bello Aliyu Aliyu Gusau (Fulani)
Nigerian Television Authority, NTA — Yakubu Ibn Mohammed (Fulani)
Federal Aviation Agency Of Nigeria, FAAN — Cap. Rabiu Hamisu (Fulani)
Office of Accountant General — Ahmed Idris (Fulani)
National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA — Inuwa Kashifu Abdullahi (Fulani)
Anti-corruption Agencies
Economic and financial Crimes Commission, EFCC — Abdulrasheed Bawa (Fulani)
Nigerian Financial intelligence Unit, NFIU — Tukur Modibbo (Fulani)
Office of The Auditor General —Ahmed Idris (Fulani)
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, —R.t.d. Gen Muhammad Buba Marwa (Fulani)
National Orientation Agency, NOA — Garba??? (Fulani)
What comes in and goes out of Nigeria
Federal Aviation Agency of Nigeria, FAAN— Capt. Rabiu Hamisu (Fulani)
Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS — Muhammed Babandede (Fulani)
Boundary Commission— Adamu Adaji (Fulani)
Education
Education Ministry — Prof. Abubakar Rasheed (Fulani)
Nigerian Educational Research and Developmen Council, NERDC — Ismail Junaid (Fulani)
National Teachers Institute, NTI —Garba Dahuwa Azare (Fulani)
Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC — Hamid Boboyi (Fulani)
Technical Institutions
Nigerian Nuclear Regulation Authority, NNRA —Dr Yau Usman Idris (Fulani)
National Atomic Energy Commission, NAEC —Prof Yusuf Ahmad (Fulani)
National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, NASENI —Prof M.S Haruna (Fulani)
National Space Research and Development Agency, NASRDA — Dr Halilu Ahmad Shaba (Fulani)
RMDA — Ibrahim Hussain Doko (Fulani)
National Electricity Regulation Commission, NERC, — Sanusi Garba (Fulani)
*Standard Organisation of Nigeria, SON* —Farouk Salim (Fulani)

All the big money earners and the big money spenders are in the clutches of the perfumed Fulani. In fact, over 80% of all key government positions in Nigeria have been dragged to the Fulani side of the table.
Do the calculation: 80% of 500 is 400. There are at least 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria.
It is like one person grabbing for himself 400 out of 500 items meant for 250 persons!
That is “haukaci”…
Even guests at that Sokoto event, the seat of the Caliphate, recognized “haukaci” on a small scale of a table.
Don’t they recognize the far more terrible “haukaci” on the larger Nigerian scale?
Why then has none of them spoken up?
That silence in itself is “haukaci”.
Not only the rampaging bush versions of Fulani are insane; many of the heavily perfumed ones in the corridors of power are just as demented.- And they have infiltrated Aso Rock!

And their number is substantial enough to determine government actions and policies.
I know, many sane Fulani are embarrassed to hell by this. But they dare not raise their voices?
Any race where the voices of the insane drowns out those of the sane is headed for perdition.
Virtually, everything, every policy, every action from Aso Rock betrays a working alliance between the Fulani lunatics in the bush and the perfumed ones in the corridors of power.
Sane men don’t collaborate with lunatics.
Until yesterday when this piece was nearing completion, the perfumed version had refused to declare the bush lunatics by their right name: “Terrorists”.
Why?
The same regime that was quick to brand the IPOB “terrorist” nearly five years ago even when the latter had not fired a shot, refused to brand as “terrorists” the rampaging Fulani bandits who have kidnapped and shot more juvenile school children and teenagers than Boko Haram. And have raped, maimed, burned and slaughtered more Nigerians than ISWAP and Boko Haram put together.

The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) has long branded killer herdsmen (a.k.a bandits) the fourth most vicious in the whole world.
Only “haukaci” did not recognize them for what they are…
Aso Rock and other Fulani powers, through policies and actions, have been brazenly supporting, defending, excusing and even aiding the atrocities of the bush lunatics: RUGA, grazing routes, water bill etc.
And it has carefully appointed Fulani “security Chiefs” and Inspectors general of police in the past six years who have treated their lunatic kinsmen with kid gloves allowing them to wax stronger and stronger in their brazen insanity. At least one IG openly ignored/flouted “presidential” orders to “go after killer herdsmen”.
Haukaci…

In 2017, Miyetti Allah, one of the lunatic organisations openly threatened to attack Benue people over the anti-grazing law in that state.

The Fulani government did nothing to forestall the attack or stop it. On New Year Eve, December 31, 2017, lunatic herdsmen swooped on Benue citizens returning from church service joyfully, believing they had survived the old year. Over 75 persons, were slaughtered, including women and children. It was a lunatic New Year gift, madly timed.

The whole world was horrified. Condolences poured in from all over the world. The footages were so bloody some social media platforms refused to publish the pictures…
But as Benue people buried their loved ones, what did the perfumed lunatics do?
Led by El Rufai of “body bag” fame, several northern governors trooped to Buhari in Aso Rock on “solidarity visit”. They beamed into the camera in celebration. They commended the Fulani president for a “job well done” and told him he had earned their support for a second term in office.

It was a brazen demonstration of the dominant Fulani spirit. Again, no sane Fulani voice was raised in reprimand.
Another sample. After open threats to the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, by Miyetti Allah and other Fulani elements over the anti-grazing law in the state, an attempt was made on the governor’s life. Gunmen attacked the governor’s convoy in his own state.
While Fulani elements were naturally suspected, a group that goes by the name Fulani Nationality Movement (FUNAM) came out boldly to claim responsibility for the attack. It blamed logistics for the governor’s escape. And openly expressed hope that next time, it would succeed in the assassination of a sitting governor. FUNAM was confident of its tacit licence to kill.

And true, no sanction came from the Fulani government.
Haukaci…
And no sane voice in the Fulani regime was heard raised against the group.

All the while Fulani bandits were raping, kidnapping and slaughtering Oke Ogun people in Oyo State, Aso Rock played deaf and dumb. Even when an indigene who came home from the United Kingdom, to establish a farming business, Dr Fatai Aborode, was killed by Fulani lunatics on December 11, 2020, Aso Rock did nothing.

But when collaborators of the killers, Wakil and the Fulani traditional leader in Igangan, Salihu Umar, were confronted, the perfumed lunatics of Aso Rock roused to action.

Malami and Garba Shehu were vociferous in defending the rights of the accused to reside anywhere in Nigeria— despite criminal activities..
Those who arrested Wakil were arrested and jailed…
Then in June 2021, Igangan Town came under attack by the bush version of Fulani lunatics. About 20 persons were killed. One of the casualties was a baby held by his disconsolate father – the baby was burnt…
Reacting, rights activist, Femi Falana disclosed that security reports of an impending attack on Igangan were ignored by Police authorities.
Lately, Abolongo Prison in Oyo town, where Wakil, is suspected to have been kept was attacked by “unknown gunmen” and hundreds of prisoners freed. Hundreds are still “missing”. Since then, prison authorities have been evasive in on the whereabouts of Wakil.
Have the Fulani freed their terrorist?
Of course, every crime of the Fulani terrorist that goes unpunished emboldens them to commit worse crimes. It has been so for six years.
Don’t be fooled by the empty lamentations of the perfumed Fulani in Aso Rock and elsewhere, the pervasive insecurity nationwide is mainly fuelled by known perfumed Fulani. All the frantic meetings and conferences on insecurity are mere “play acting” or just another means of lining pockets.

As a former member of the nation’s military intelligence, Commodore Kunle Olawunmi, disclosed in that interview, governors, senators, officials in this regime are behind the lingering insecurity. But this regime refuses to name them.
“I can’t come on air and start mentioning names of people that are presently in government that the boys we arrested mentioned,” he said…
“Some of them are governors now. Some of them are in the Senate. Some of them are in Aso Rock,” Olawunmi said.
The late Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Obadiah Mailafia, said as much. A serving governor, he disclosed, was named by bandits, as one of the commanders of Boko Haram.

In short, the lingering insecurity is government-sponsored.

Other symptoms of stark insanity abound in this regime. While many of the Fulani fellows holding unmerited key positions are compulsively plundering the country in billions, even trillions, what passes for the central government is engaged in maniacal profligacy and maniacal borrowing. Borrowing to loot and squander…

While the perfumed Fulani are doing this, the bush ones are also doing their own thing: raking in billions in ransoms. As the bush ones are taking over communities, the perfumed ones are taking over government positions.
They are two sides of the same lunatic coin.
The country’s debt has been run up to an unprecedented N44.5 trillion. Yet the roads remain deplorable, functional hospitals remain rare and stable power remains elusive.
Amidst all the needless hardship, the regime is building rail roads to, and refinery in Niger Republic—while the ones at home are moribund.
Haukaci…

It is really Plunder, Massacre and Banditry…
Even the military has been compromised and weakened. At least a section, if not all of the military works for Fulani interest. And it seems too powerful to be questioned — or sanctioned.
In 2017, two Nigeria Army trucks materialized in the Igbo community of Ugwuleshi, Enugu State. Seventy-six farmers, all male, protesting harassment by killer herdsmen were herded into the trucks by men in military fatigue and transported all the way to Abia State and handed over to the Abia State Police. They were arraigned the following day.
All were pronounced guilty and jailed.

Following nationwide protests, all the 76 were released. Till today, the army denies any involvement in the episode. Till date, Abia Police insists the farmers were handed to them by the military.
So who in the Army deployed Nigerian Army personnel and Army trucks to defend the interest of Fulani bandits?

Till today, the army has not made public its findings if at all it bothered to investigate. Till today it has not cleared itself of the allegation of being officially pro-Fulani. How can a truly “federal” military care so little about its reputation?

Now, many army equipment continue to find their ways into the hands of bandits and kidnappers.
How?
On March 13, 2021, the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee headed by Olaide Akinremi asked the Chief of Army Staff, Major Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, to explain how military weapons got to bandits. This followed the allegation by the National Security Adviser, (NSA) Mohammed Babagana Monguno, in a BBC Hausa programme that former Service Chiefs could not account for billions voted for arms purchase.

What has become of that allegation and that investigation?

Fulani bandits and their sympathisers have infiltrated the military. Now, they leak military secrets to enemies. The Fulani regime has in fact, talked openly of absorbing “repentant” bandits into the army, thus exposing our gallant troops to needless danger.

Now Nigerian soldiers are slaughtered virtually every day.
Findings on Lekki Shooting clearly show premeditated murder. The lights were carefully removed preparatory to the shooting. Nine shot dead. Four missing. The Nigerian youths were waving the Nigerian Flag when what passes for the “Nigerian Military” opened fire on them — exactly what Fulani bandits will do. Or Boko Haram. Or ISWAP.

If that is not insanity, what is it?
Even as you read this, many communities in Benue, Taraba, Sokoto, Zamfara etc, have been taken over by Fulani herdsmen after driving out or killing off the rightful owners who are now kept in IDP camps — as refugees in their own country.
Must sanity be so helpless in the face of brazen insanity?

True, there are lunatics in all tribes in Nigeria. Yoruba lunatics, Efik Lunatics, Igbira lunatics, Hausa lunatics, Birom lunatics, Agatu lunatics, Ibiobio lunatics, Igbo lunatics, Irohobo lunatics, Tivi lunatics, Ijaw lunatics etc.
How come that Fulani lunatics are the most numerous and most unruly. Why has the Fulani lunatic acquired such notorious distinction?
It is because while other Nigerian tribes strive to keep their lunatic populations low, under control and out of public eye (away in mental asylums) , the Fulani do the opposite.
They breed lunatics as assets to unleash on other peoples; then push them up into positions of power.
Of course, when insanity is bred, nurtured and pampered in a population, it festers… and explodes.

It is these lunatics in high places who are committing a myriad of heinous crimes against the Nigerian state every day. They should be the ones fleeing, with Nigerians in hot pursuit. Ironically, it is the perfumed lunatics who are now hounding sane Nigerians all about…
Should news seep out today that a sizeable number of perfumed Fulani lunatics, by way of penitence, have decided to plunge into the River Niger without life jackets, it would at least be some sign of redeemability. Unfortunately, we’ll have to stop them because suicide, by Nigerian law, is illegal.

Brave, sane ones like Aminu Masari take great risk by openly admitting their racial tragedy. The poor governor admitted in the interview that his kinsmen will be unhappy about his revelations. And true to type. Miyetti Allah attacked him, calling him “drunkard”.
Evidence of ill-breeding among the perfumed Fulani is rampant.

The Code of Conduct Tribunal Chairman, Justice Danladi Umar, saw nothing amiss in public gross misconduct. On March, 30, 2021, he assaulted a security man, Clement Sargwak, at Banex Plaza, Wuse, Abuja.

Another senator, suspiciously Fulani, Ishaku Elisha Abbo, from Adamawa State, on May 11, 2019, saw nothing unsenatorial in assaulting a married woman at a supermarket. El Rufai’s son, Bello, threatened on social media to gang-rape another fellow’s mother … His poor mother quickly apologized on behalf of the brat.

Fact is, sane Fulani are ashamed over the crimes of their kinsmen. But many of them are too scared to speak up. Aisha Buhari tried. She has been silenced. Or has she?
Truly sane Nigerians should not look on passively while lunatics run amock.
At the very conservative estimate of 30 Nigerians kidnapped, maimed or killed by Fulani lunatics per day, between now and February 2023, 12,630 {30 x (365+28+28+28)} more Nigerians would have been slaughtered by Fulani terrorists.
So, even 2023 is too far away…
Flushing lunatics out of a nation’s seat of power is patriotic duty. Only lunatics will dispute that.
Of course, the inmates of Aso Rock and others outside may rage and foam in the mouth at this submission.

Is the Fulani problem in their genes? Frankly, that requires genetic test.
But even if yes, genes only incline; they don’t compel. We are all products of Nature and nurture.
Some environments discourage/inhibit the expression of some genes. For instance, hardly any genetically inclined pick-pocket will pick any pocket when he knows that a loaded gun is held to his head…
On the contrary, the environment of impunity provided the Fulani by the current regime is so conducive to the expression of the gene of insanity that even those Fulani without the genetic inclination acquire it – and express it.
Watch them mouthing ideals, big dreams so as to appear sane; they don’t have the character to achieve it. Because they are lunatics.
Such spectacles are not uncommon in asylums where mentally challenged midgets drape themselves in the gowns of giants…
Why won’t they run Nigeria aground as they are doing now?
Lunatics have no business in governance.
Life is now hell for the average Nigerian. Satisfying the basics of life, food, shelter, has become herculean. Ordinary cooking gas has more than tripled in price in a country that flares gas every minute.
Now, they are out with a lunatic plan to worsen the hardship with another astronomical hike in fuel prices.

Yet, the perfumed lunatics still prance around…like anthropoids amidst wrecked china…
Let the Fulani population ( including those holding government positions)go into voluntary isolation for at least six months during which they will undergo intensive psychotherapy.
The success of the therapy will subsequently be gauged by how the returnees handle and relate to their kinsmen in the bush.

Tribute to Chief Frank Odunayo Akinrele SAN By Bashorun J.K. Randle

August 30, 2023 by AFR Business

When in the matter of Chief Frank Odunayo Akinrele, SAN and Mrs. Ibidun Akinrele, the learned silk pronounced judgement in open court:

“I have fulfilled all my obligations”

at his beloved wife’s 80th birthday on 5th April 2018, those of us who do not belong to the learned profession expected both Ademola Akinrele, SAN (alas an old boy of St. Gregory’s College!!) and Adedolapo Akinrele, SAN to immediately lodge an objection and proceed to file papers to appeal the matter directly to the Supreme Court on the grounds that Chief Frank Akinrele, SAN should have been restrained from pronouncing judgement in a matter in which there was clearly profound conflict of interest. For the benefit of lay men and women, it has been firmly established as a fundamental principle of law that you cannot approbate and reprobate.

For this lapse, we must hold Ademola “The Gregorian” responsible!!

He did not even lodge a preliminary objection nor an ex parte motion demanding a retraction compelling Chief Akinrele, SAN to continue the excellent work he had been doing for several decades – as a loving husband, devoted father, inspirational mentor, rock solid confidant and unblemished role model.

Perhaps the court would be minded to pursue vigorous enquiry regarding what would appear to be an oversight on the part of Chief Akinrele who may have vicariously permitted Ademola to attend St. Gregory’s College, instead of his own Alma Mater, King’s College, Lagos.

It is on record that all the three brothers of Uncle Frank – Christopher Olufemi Akinrele; Dayo Akinrele; and Marshall Olatunde Akinrele attended King’s College where they all excelled. They were simply brilliant. Both Dayo and Marshall graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge University.

The phenomenal academic achievements of Uncle Frank at King’s College, starting with double promotion in his first year, have been preserved for posterity.

Hence, it was no surprise that he earned spectacular laurels at University of Hull where he obtained an LL. B. degree in 1953 (at the age of twenty-three). Eyimofe Atake, SAN has availed the court of his evidence in chief:

“At Hull University he was awarded the Andrew Marvell Prize for the best graduating law student.”

This was followed by an LL. M. from the same university in 1954.

With consummate ease, Uncle Frank bagged bountiful commendations from his peers:

i.) Late Hon. Justice Adewale Thompson (in his book “REMINISCES”): “F.O. Akinrele was the most brilliant junior of our time”

ii.) Late Hon. Justice Franklin Atake

“F.O. Akinrele is one of the best Criminal Law Lawyers in Nigeria”

It is almost tempting (at the risk of being charged with contempt of court) to challenge the late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Sir Darnley Alexander, SAN; GCON; KBE who persuaded Uncle Frank to apply for silk (the elevated rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria).

His Lordship should have directed his energy and his court to serving a bench warrant on Chief Frank Odunayo Akinrele to join the bench. The judiciary would have been abundantly enriched and our nation would have been better served.

Another missed opportunity was when Uncle Frank retired at the age of 56 and proceeded to spend the next thirty-two years on learning French, playing the piano, boating and annual cruises in the company of his wife and Ambassador and Mrs. Omotayo Ogunsulire. We can only speculate and savour the difference such a brilliant mind would have made to the bench either at the Appeal Court or the Supreme Court.

Rather than insist on a cogent answer to the question:

“But Why Was He Missing From The Bench?”,

Time and space compel me to confine my tribute to recalling my first encounter with late Chief Frank Akinrele when in our final year (1963), I was one of several King’s College students who bumped into him as he emerged from his law office on Bamgbose Street, in central Lagos. We exchanged the traditional greeting of “FLOREAT!!”. Waiting for him was his sleek, brand- new, long-wheel based American limousine. It was either a Chevrolet or Pontiac. He was wearing his King’s College tie and he greeted us warmly. We owe him our eternal gratitude for the impromptu message he delivered – you too can own a car like this provided you work hard with integrity, confidence and zeal as your guiding principles.

At the Lagos Motor Boat Club, Uncle Frank would regale us with those landmark cases which appear to have been relegated into the realm of our collective amnesia – the Apalara murder case; Njemanze murder case; Abakaliki ritual murder; Alphonse and Abayomi murder case; and many others. He recalled everything with clinical precision even though almost fifty years had lapsed. He was also very much involved with the investigation of the U.S. $2.8 billion which was alleged to be missing from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

I leave it to history to judge how and why we missed the red flags. About three years ago, Uncle Frank surprised me when he declared that for almost a decade, he had not travelled out of Nigeria – not even to go on his annual cruises or vacation in Chelsea, London where he had owned a swanky pair of flats for several decades. According to him, he found all the hazards of going through the airport, customs, immigration, passport control etc. too tiresome and energy sapping.

Without attempting to tamper with the court records, we must accept both circumstantial and substantive evidence from Uncle Frank:

“My wife was only twenty-one years old when we got married and we have been happily married for fifty-eight years. She has been my soul mate and I remain eternally grateful for her love and devotion. We have been blessed with four children – Ademola, Adedolapo, Olufemi and Adebayo and numerous grandchildren – whose ages range from five to thiry years.”

As you are all aware, Uncle Frank was the victim of a freak accident at the Lagos Motor Boat Club on 29th August 2018 while attempting to retrieve his mobile phone which had dropped from his hand when he was seated on a chair. The result was a fractured hip which required surgery. Sadly, he never fully recovered.

The timing of the demise of Chief Frank Odunayo Akinrele, SAN on Christmas Day when King’s College Old Boys (KCOB’s) were hoping that the spate of deaths of KCOB’s in 2018 had been finally halted is a severe blow. The catalogue of attempted “genocide” is under investigation by the police – Dr. Alex Ekwueme [aged 85]; Prince Adedapo Adeniran [aged 94]; Chief Tunji Gomez [aged 90]; Chief Allison Ayida [aged 88] and now Chief Frank Akinrele [also aged 88] – all of them very distinguished old boys of King’s College. We all know where the finger of suspicion is pointing!!

Regardless, we shall not present before the court damning evidence – when the freak accident occurred, the nearest doctor was an old boy of St. Gregory’s College. Good grief!! I am not at liberty to disclose his name. It is up to him to volunteer the information.

It was inevitable that the freak accident would engage the attention of social media. Perhaps, that was what prompted a Professor of Law at Stanford University to interject that if the accident had occurred in California, the police would have invaded the scene and cordoned it off with yellow tape in addition to seizing both the phone and the chair for forensic investigation. Thereafter, the legal process (criminal or civil) would commence – starting with the chair being subjected to laboratory tests by experts in ergonomics. Having regard to the fact that Chief Akinrele was a Trustee and former Commodore while Ademola, the Gregorian is a former Commodore of the Lagos Motor Boat Club, there is no chance that matters would proceed beyond accepting the will of the Almighty.

At Chelsea Football Club, those players who are relegated to the bench are those who cannot make the first eleven. In the case of Uncle Frank, he was in a class of his own. All the more reason why “The Gregorian” should have employed his abundant persuasive skills to steering his superstar father towards the bench – either local or international.

While we mourn the loss of a rare gem, the bench is still being kept warm for either Ademola and/or Adedolapo as well as Adebayo.

Truly, Chief Akinrele is fully entitled to the swan song:

“I Did It My Way” except that he never got round to writing his autobiography for which he had ample time following his retirement from the practice of law in 1986.

As for politics, he had a pretty dim view of Nigeria’s brand of politics and even dimmer view of our avaricious politicians whose incompetence and unscrupulousness he found most nauseating and baffling. He had come to the conclusion that the damage done to our national character has become irreversible.

What is beyond dispute is that he was an encyclopaedia endowed with vast knowledge and wisdom nurtured and nourished by his insatiable intellectual curiosity. He was always abreast of international affairs.

Not only was he a quintessential gentleman, his sense of humour was legendary. He was a raconteur extraordinaire.

It was consistent with his large heartedness that he readily supported my campaign as the next president of St. Gregory’s College Old Boys Association. The case is now in court!!

When I presented him with the video tape of my posters being pulled down within the college premises and beyond; manipulation of the primaries; stuffed ballot boxes; compromised electoral officers; doctored list of eligible voters; announcement of wrong results; election being conducted after midnight and intimidation/harassment of my teeming supporters – all in an effort to rig me out, the great Chief was in top form:

“Election in Nigeria is not cricket!!”

Now that our nation is in disarray with insurgency, kidnapping, ritual murder and treasury looting as the order of the day is precisely when we desperately need a much longer life for the great Ondo Chief.

The national newspapers have today 3rd January 2019 provided us with proof of evidence on their front page:

i.) “ThisDay”

“We Are Under Armed Bandits’ Siege, Governor Of Katsina State, Alhaji Aminu Masari Cries Out.”

“Our state is currently under serious siege by armed robbers, kidnappers and armed bandits, who arrest rural people at the grassroots at will and demand ransom, which if not paid, they kill their victims”

ii.) “Nigerian Tribune”

“Katsina Under Siege, Governor Cries Out”

iii.) “Vanguard”

“Nobody’s safe in Katsina now, Gov Masari cries out”

Says state under siege by bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers

Discloses electricity poles stolen in front of Government House

Visitors to Governor trailed, robbed after visit

It was his call but he chose to draw the curtain with the blessing of the Almighty at the ripe old age of 88. When Chief Akinrele was rushed to the hospital following his accident, the admission nurse enquired: “How old are you sir?” In spite of his considerable pain, in the tradition of King’s College he replied: “Two fat ladies” (in Bingo lingo it translates as 88!!).

If only the Gregorian had lodged his objection, the great chief would have felt compelled to tarry a while longer – to dust of his abandoned wig and gown and show up in court to defend himself no matter for how long the case would drag on.

Even in his old age he could sing the King’s College song: “Floreat Collegium” flawlessly. He had taken to heart the command: “When the call is sounded, we must all answer HERE!!”.

From all accounts, Chief Frank Akinrele was a very patient man. It was to no avail he awaited a counter motion or summons of the court.

In the end, he delivered his final goodbye to his family and friends with the cryptic message: “I rest my case. The storm is over.”

The burial of Chief Akinrele is scheduled for next week. In the meantime, it seems inconceivable to venture into the ambience of the Lagos Motor Boat Club in the evening without immediately sighting the late Chief at his usual table reading the latest edition of the French newspaper “Le Monde”. One salutary lesson has emerged from the demise of the much adored Chief Akinrele, at the Lagos Motor Boat Club, old boys of King’s College now sit only on benches (not chairs!!) and they check that no old boy of St. Gregory’s College is lurking in the vicinity. They also leave their phones at home or in the car.

On a final note, a few months ago Chief Olufemi Majekodunmi (ex- St. Gregory’s College) and I were in the midst of a heated argument over his handling of the Chief J.K. Randle Memorial Hall when Mrs. Ibidun Akinrele walked in. Without prior consultation, we simultaneously declared that if there was a competition for the family with the most courteous and respectful children, the first prize would go to the Akinrele family. Rather than start an even more heated argument, I refrained from telling Olufemi that the prize already belonged to J.K. Randle.

May the soul of Chief Frank Akinrele rest in perfect peace.

Tony Elumelu Foundation starts accepting applications for Green Entrepreneurship Program

August 30, 2023 by AFR Business

The Green Entrepreneurship Programme has been launched by the Tony Elumelu Foundation in partnership with UNICEF Generation Unlimited (GenU), the IKEA Foundation, and Young Green Entrepreneurs in order to address the high rate of youth unemployment in Africa.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation’s digital platform, TEFConnect, is now accepting applications for BeGreen Africa from all Kenyan waste management start-ups as well as green start-ups in Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa.

Also read: AIIM invests in N+ONE
The project will gather data on young people starting businesses in high-impact green industries and investigate how they can support circular economies and a long-lasting green revolution in Africa.

This mission-aligned partnership’s main goal is to establish a comprehensive, long-lasting, and youth-led green entrepreneurship initiative in the waste sector (in Kenya) and the green sector (in Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal, and South Africa), in order to advance the social and economic prosperity of marginalized youth while addressing the triple planetary crisis by eradicating inequalities and generating sustainable livelihoods for themselves and their peers.

Also read: Demystifying sovereign debt swaps in Africa: a simple breakdown
In this pilot program, #BeGreenAfrica hopes to teach 1,000 Kenyan youth in the field of waste management and give 120 of them access to the economy, as well as give 25 green sector entrepreneurs in Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa, all of whom are under 35, the opportunity to start or expand green firms in their respective countries.

UBA Ghana and UNDP to boost MSMEs

August 30, 2023 by AFR Business

UBA Ghana and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have joined forces through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide substantial support to youth and women-led micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) in Ghana. This partnership aims to uplift such enterprises, leading to job creation, increased revenue, and a meaningful reduction in environmental impact. The collaboration also seeks to facilitate access to climate financing schemes, augment financial inflows from climate funding channels, and translate Ghana’s climate commitments into tangible actions.

The cooperative effort between UNDP and UBA Ghana will involve the development and execution of innovative programmes and mechanisms, bolstering UBA Ghana’s capability to access climate financing avenues, including the Green Climate Fund (GCF). Chris Ofikulu, the Managing Director of UBA Ghana and Regional Chief Executive Officer of UBA West Africa, underscored UBA Ghana’s commitment to supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its dedication to providing tailored financial solutions for businesses of all sizes, including SMEs.

Dr. Angela Lusigi, the UNDP Resident Representative in Ghana, highlighted the initiative’s goal to channel resources towards development by encouraging businesses to integrate the SDGs and climate action into their decision-making processes.

This collaboration will offer comprehensive service support, capacity building, and specialised guidance in areas such as corporate governance, branding, marketing, financial support, and product development. As a leading financial institution across Africa, UBA Group’s extensive network of branches further strengthens its collective capacity to drive positive change in Ghana’s entrepreneurial landscape.

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 30
  • Page 31
  • Page 32
  • Page 33
  • Page 34
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 106
  • Go to Next Page »

Footer

News Tip? Email editor@afrbusiness.com