Author: Nouman Ali

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, on Saturday renewed calls for unity, mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence among Nigerians, urging citizens to embrace diversity as a source of national strength rather than division.

Delivering his goodwill message at the 25th anniversary celebration of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) in Kaduna, the Sultan said Nigerians of all backgrounds, Christians, Muslims, traditionalists, and people of diverse ethnic groups-must always remember that they are bound by a common destiny under one nation.

He said despite the country’s diversity, Nigerians must learn to ‘be united without being uniformed,’ stressing that the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, was right when he argued that Nigeria must understand its differences rather than ignore them.

According to him, recognising and respecting differences is the only way to build a society anchored on dignity, mutual respect and national cohesion. ‘Once we understand who we are, we will be able to work with one another with all dignity,’ he said.

The Sultan urged Nigerians not to allow differences to tear the country apart, warning that antagonism, divisiveness and bitterness only weaken collective progress, while calling for support for governments at all levels.

Also speaking, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, who described himself as ‘a friend of the North,’ said traditional institutions have a sacred responsibility to promote peace, cohesion and healthy relationships across communities.

He said the North, like Nigeria as a whole, remains greater than any individual or group, and must be treated as a collective heritage that deserves continuous protection and positive rebranding.

The Ooni acknowledged that security has become the most pressing challenge confronting the region but cautioned against dwelling solely on the negative, urging Nigerians to also highlight the North’s strengths, opportunities and cultural influence just as other nations promote their global image despite internal issues.

Nigeria stands at a perilous crossroads today. The spectre of insecurity looms large, threatening not only the safety of lives and property but also the very fabric of our national unity, economic stability, and collective destiny. From the northern plains to the southern forests, from bustling cities to rural hamlets, the menace of banditry, insurgency, kidnapping, and communal violence has become a daily reality. This is not merely a passing challenge; it is an existential crisis that demands urgent, pragmatic, and visionary intervention.

The time for rhetoric has long expired. What Nigeria requires now is decisive action anchored in innovation, cultural resonance, and institutional empowerment. It is within this context that I call upon the Federal Government to adopt what I term the Tripod Model of Security Intervention-a three-pillar framework designed to transform our approach to safeguarding lives and property. This model rests upon three strategic pillars: deploying drones and forest rangers to reclaim our forests and rural spaces, implementing state policing to localise and strengthen law enforcement, and constitutionally empowering our traditional monarchs to serve as grassroots patriotic security arms. Together, these pillars form a tripod-stable, balanced, and resilient. Without one, the structure falters; with all three, Nigeria can stand firm against the tide of insecurity.

Implementing Recommendations from Drone and Forest Rangers

Nigeria’s forests, once symbols of natural abundance and ecological heritage, have tragically become sanctuaries for criminality. Insurgents, kidnappers, and bandits exploit these vast, ungoverned spaces as hideouts, staging grounds, and operational bases. The inability of conventional policing to penetrate these terrains has emboldened criminal networks, leaving rural communities vulnerable and defenceless.

In my earlier article, Drone and Forest Rangers, I outlined a comprehensive strategy to reclaim these spaces. The Federal Government must now move beyond deliberation to implementation. Advanced drone technology offers unparalleled opportunities for surveillance, intelligence gathering, and rapid response. Drones can monitor vast forested regions in real time, detect suspicious movements, and relay actionable intelligence to security agencies.

Yet drones alone are insufficient. Technology must be complemented by human presence. This is where forest rangers come in-well-trained, well-equipped personnel dedicated to patrolling, monitoring, and securing our forests. These rangers should be armed not only with modern tools but also with ecological knowledge, enabling them to protect both human communities and environmental resources.

The synergy between drones and forest rangers will dismantle criminal hideouts, disrupt insurgent logistics, and restore confidence in rural and forested regions. Moreover, it will send a powerful message: Nigeria will no longer cede its natural spaces to criminality. Our forests must return to being sanctuaries of life, not death.

Implementing State Policing

Centralised policing, as currently practised in Nigeria, has proven inadequate in addressing the diverse and localised nature of our security challenges. A single, monolithic police structure cannot effectively respond to the unique cultural, geographical, and socio-political realities of thirty-six states and the Federal Capital Territory.

State policing is not merely an option; it is an urgent necessity. Empowering states to manage their own security architecture will ensure rapid response, cultural alignment, and accountability. Local officers, recruited from within communities, will possess intimate knowledge of the terrain, language, and social dynamics. They will be better positioned to detect early warning signs of unrest, mediate conflicts, and respond swiftly to emergencies.

Critics often raise concerns about the potential misuse of state police by governors for political purposes. While such concerns are valid, they are not insurmountable. Robust constitutional safeguards, independent oversight mechanisms, and federal coordination can mitigate these risks. Indeed, the dangers of inaction far outweigh the risks of reform.

The Federal Government must therefore collaborate with the National Assembly to amend the constitution and institutionalise state policing. This reform will decentralise security, empower communities, and strengthen the federation. It will also relieve the overstretched federal police, allowing them to focus on national and trans-state threats such as terrorism, cybercrime, and organised crime.

In truth, no modern federation thrives without localised policing. Nigeria must join the ranks of nations that recognise the indispensability of state-level law enforcement.

Constitutionally Empowering Nigeria’s Monarchs as Grassroots Patriotic Security Arms

Nigeria’s traditional rulers-Obas, Obis, Emirs, and other custodians of cultural heritage-occupy a unique position in our national life. They are not relics of the past but living institutions of trust, influence, and continuity. For centuries, they have served as custodians of community values, mediators of disputes, and guardians of local order.

In the contemporary context of insecurity, these monarchs must be constitutionally empowered to serve as grassroots patriotic security arms. This empowerment should not be symbolic; it must be practical, financial, and institutional. A fraction of the security votes currently reserved for governors should be allocated to fund monarch-led security initiatives.

Traditional rulers, with their deep-rooted networks and moral authority, can mobilise community vigilance, foster intelligence gathering, and coordinate local defence efforts. They can serve as bridges between formal security agencies and grassroots communities, ensuring that information flows seamlessly and trust is maintained.

Moreover, empowering monarchs will restore a sense of ownership and patriotism at the community level. Citizens will no longer perceive security as a distant, government-imposed structure but as a collective responsibility anchored in familiar institutions. This cultural alignment is crucial; without it, security measures risk alienation and resistance.

By leveraging the influence of traditional rulers, Nigeria can create a patriotic force that complements formal security agencies and strengthens community resilience. In times of crisis, monarchs can rally their people, mediate conflicts, and prevent escalation. Their involvement will transform security from a top-down imposition into a bottom-up collaboration.

The Tripod Model: A Balanced Framework

The genius of the Tripod Model lies in its balance. Each pillar addresses a distinct dimension of insecurity: technology and terrain through drones and forest rangers, localisation and accountability through state policing, and culture and community trust through empowered monarchs. Together, they form a holistic framework that is pragmatic, technology-driven, and culturally aligned. No single pillar can suffice; all three must be implemented in concert. Just as a tripod cannot stand on two legs, Nigeria cannot overcome insecurity with partial measures.

This model also reflects the principle of subsidiarity: decisions and actions should be taken at the most immediate level consistent with their resolution. Forest rangers operate at the ecological level, state police at the political level, and monarchs at the cultural level. Each complements the other, creating a layered defence system that is both resilient and adaptive.

Conclusion: The Time to Act is Now

Insecurity is eroding Nigeria’s national unity, economic stability, and international reputation. It undermines investment, disrupts education, displaces communities, and corrodes trust in government. Left unchecked, it threatens to unravel the very fabric of our nation.

The Tripod Model offers a way forward-a pragmatic, balanced, and visionary solution. It combines technology with tradition, decentralisation with unity, and innovation with cultural resonance. It is not a utopian dream but a practical framework that can be implemented with political will, constitutional reform, and institutional commitment.

I therefore urge the Federal Government to act immediately. Implement these recommendations. Empower our institutions. Restore peace to Nigeria. History will not judge us by our intentions but by the actions we take today.

Nigeria must rise to the challenge. The tripod awaits its deployment. The time to act is now.

Ademola is Africa’s First Professor of Cybersecurity and Information Technology Management, Chartered Manager, UK Digital Journalist, Strategic Advisor and Prophetic Mobiliser for National Transformation, and General Evangelist of CAC Nigeria and Overseas

Stakeholders have stressed the urgent need for journalists, policymakers, researchers, diplomats, civil society leaders, and technology experts to come together to rethink the media’s role in protecting democracy in an age defined by data, artificial intelligence, and information disorder.

Across West Africa, the Executive Director, Akintunde Babatunde of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), said the integrity of public-interest journalism is increasingly challenged by political pressures, shrinking civic space, a collapsing business model, and the unchecked influence of Big Tech platforms that now control information flows and public discourse.

He said that is why the CJID found it imperative to convene a major regional conference in Abuja, bringing journalists, policymakers, researchers, diplomats, and civil society leaders together to examine how media can remain a stabilising force as Africa enters a decisive decade for governance and development.

Noting that the discussions are timely, Babatunde warned that ‘Democratic backsliding is accelerating, with coups, constitutional manipulation and shrinking civic space undermining trust across the region.

‘At the same time, Big Tech and AI companies now shape information, governance, and economies with little accountability.

‘Media ecosystems are collapsing under donor cuts, declining advertising and political repression, while misinformation distorts how young people see themselves, how families make health choices and how citizens engage politically.’

He, however, noted that Africa remains a site of innovation, with grassroots media regaining public trust, civic-tech platforms promoting transparency, researchers generating new data, and national AI strategies emerging across the continent.

‘The conference is designed to help us think clearly about the next decade and the role the media must play,’ he said.

The Conference, themed ‘Reimagining Democracy, Development and Data for the Next Decade’, which runs from Monday, 24 November in Abuja, will explore democratic resilience, media sustainability, the intersection of health and climate, digital rights, food security, fact-checking, and the growing influence of AI on public life.

According to the organisers, the gathering will also feature the launch of three DAIDAC research studies on information disorder, the presentation of the 2025 CJID Openness Index, exhibitions showcasing new research and innovations, and the annual CJID Journalism Awards.

High-level participation is expected, with ambassadors, development partners, and senior experts confirmed to deliver goodwill messages.

Diplomatic missions from up to 20 countries are listed on the official agenda, with the keynote address to be delivered by Juana Kweitel, Vice President and Chief Programmes Officer at Luminate, among other conversations on democracy, civic space, and data governance.

The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) is set to hold the third edition of its West Africa Media and Development Conference in Abuja.

According to the organisers, this conference will bring together journalists, policymakers, researchers, diplomats, civil society leaders and technology experts for four days of discussions on governance, development, and the information landscape.

Scheduled to begin from Monday 24 November to Wednesday, 27 November 2025, the conference is expected to place at the Abuja Continental Hotel.

In a statement, it said, ‘This year’s conference is themed ‘Reimagining Democracy, Development and Data for the Next Decade.’

‘Sessions will focus on democratic resilience, media sustainability, climate and extractive sector governance, digital rights, food security, fact-checking and the growing influence of artificial intelligence on public life.

‘High-level attendance expected

Several ambassadors, development partners and senior experts have confirmed participation. Goodwill messages will come from diplomatic missions representing up to 20 countries are listed in the official agenda.

‘The keynote will be delivered by Juana Kweitel, Vice President and Chief Programmes Officer at Luminate, followed by a fireside discussion on democracy, civic space and data governance.

‘More than twenty sessions are scheduled, with speakers from ECOWAS, Open Society Foundations (OSF), NRGI, CIPE, Africa Check, Channels Television, Premium Times, The Cable, and other media and governance institutions.’

Speaking ahead of the conference, Akintunde Babatunde, Executive Director of CJID, said the gathering comes at a time of major shifts for governance and public-interest media in Africa.

‘The world is entering a decisive decade for democracy, development and civic life, and Africa stands at a crossroads. Democratic backsliding is accelerating, with coups, constitutional manipulation and shrinking civic space undermining trust.

‘Regional cooperation is under strain as ECOWAS marks 50 years amid legitimacy crises following the AES exits.’

‘At the same time, Big Tech and AI companies now shape information, governance and economies with little accountability.

‘Media ecosystems are collapsing under donor cuts, declining advertising and political repression, while misinformation distorts how young people see themselves, how families make health choices and how citizens engage politically.’

‘Yet Africa is also a space of innovation and resilience, from grassroots media regaining trust to civic-tech platforms opening governments, researchers generating new data and national AI strategies shaping global debates. The conference is designed to help us think clearly about the next decade and the role the media must play.’

According to the organisers, this year’s conference will examine the state of democracy, governance and civic space in Africa; explore how health, climate change and development intersect; interrogate the sustainability of media organisations amid financial pressures and geopolitical shifts; and assess the growing impact of AI and Big Tech on rights, economies and democratic processes.

The event will also feature the launch of three DAIDAC research studies on information disorder, the presentation of the 2025 CJID Openness Index, opportunities for partners and researchers to showcase emerging innovations, and the annual awards recognising excellence in journalism.

The week will conclude with the West Africa Journalism Awards, recognising excellence in investigative reporting, fact-checking, climate journalism and campus journalism across the region.

Of Nigeria’s 65 years of independence, leaders of Northern extraction have controlled the Federal government for approximately 40 to 41 years.

Nigeria gained independence from Britain on October 1, 1960. This means that leaders from the North have held the primary executive power for over four decades out of Nigeria’s 65-year history as a sovereign nation.

Throughout that period, Northerners ruled the region, whether as Sultan, Emir, Governor etc but, unfortunately, with no discernible positive developmental impact, whatever .

As a result of this negativity, the following factors combined to birth a virulent banditry and all kinds of terrorism, spearheaded by all kinds of murderous Islamic groups, which soon spread their violence to the southern extremities of the country:

widespread poverty, unemployment, competition over scarce resources, poor, almost non- existent education with more than 10 million -out – of – school children which, as a group, has become a super market for recruitment of would – be terrorists; poor governance and

the weakening of state authority as well as poor law enforcement which have all further exacerbated the problem and allowed armed groups to operate with impunity in every corner of the region.

Additionally, the North became literally ungovernable, especially given the large swathes of ungoverned spaces which terrorist groups, keen on spreading Sharia, use to maximum effect, daily killing in numbers.

Terrorism was given such free rein, no arrests, no trial, that some sponsors of Boko Haram, fingered by the UAE, and recommended for trial in Nigeria, were left completely untouched by the Muhamadu Buhari government.

Back during the Buhari years, as a result of neither the Federal Government, respective Northern states nor consequential leaders in the region doing anything meaningful to stanch the unbelievable bloodletting, I saw all that was happening then as only a precussor of far worse things in the future and I have been more than proven right.

This, indeed, was the background to my article of 21 April, 2019 which now appears on pages 195 – 197 of my book ‘ Simply a Citizen Journalist’ (Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/dXnfY77).

What particularly underpinned that premonition was the attitude of President Muhammadu Buhari when he visited Benue State on March 12, 2018 in response to mass killings by Fulani herdsmen which saw no less than 70 people killed and mass buried in the state.

He had visited only because of significant public criticism, including that from former President Olusegun Obasanjo and, even, Ibrahim Babangida, both of who condemned his delayed and indifferent response to the killings.

And what did he, an ethnic Fulani, tell the grieving people of Benue? ‘Live in peace and cooperate with your neighbours’, meaning those who had just killed them in numbers. Meanwhile, that was the same man who, a few years earlier, led a Miyetti Allah delegation to the Oyo state governor to protest the killing of a few Fulani herdsmen.

Titled: The North – Militancy, Bandits and The Rest of Us’, the referenced article reads as follows:

‘It is really a crunch time. This harvest of despair is the product of many years of servile bondage, repression, suppression, deliberate pauperization of the people and placing their destinies and lives at impossible angles. My late father used to warn the

Northern elite. This is morning yet, the Somalization of the far North is fast becoming a reality’ – Dr C.C. Nwagwu.

Completely unknown to me that this newspaper would be running an interview it had with Anthony N. Z Sani, my friend, and Secretary- General of the Arewa Consultative

Forum, in its edition of Sunday, 14 April 2019 in which, incidentally, my own article:’It is Crunch Time’ appeared, I had written to him as follows some three days earlier on Friday, 12 April, 2019: ‘Tony what’s the problem with the North? Please talk to me at some length.

Why has the North become a killing field? Is it that human lives mean nothing up there?

I am at a complete loss; so am raising these questions in my column this Sunday.

I wrote further:

Without a doubt feudalism, I guess, is the root of Northern problems. For far too long education was denied the children of the poor. Of course, you know that religion and illiteracy are the two things invigorating Boko Haram.

But who and who is funding BH and are our security agencies so helpless they can’t find them out all this while? Has it occurred to Northern leaders that the region is becoming

a massive drain on the country?

What is the exact cause of the problems in Zamfara? The million dollar question really, is: how do we exit these North- inspired problems?

Please feel free to share this within your circle so that we can generate well distilled reactions.

Never known to disappoint, Tony wrote back as follows: ‘Good morning and thank you for the concerns. I think there is a swarm of locust in the land and we do not seem to know the pests. Hence our inability to device the appropriate pesticides. I am happy some of you down there are also concerned. This is because Nigeria is a big river being fed by tributaries, and when one tributary is poisoned, the whole river is contaminated.

When in 2011 there was post election problems and the hoodlums burnt down some traditional rulers’ houses, Prof Bolaji Akinyemi called, and warned about the consequences of destroying the only platform of effective control in the North. To him, it is not time to dismiss the vestiges of indirect rule. That is, he saw wisdom in indirect

rule by the British. Then there was the problem of education whose slow pace of development in the North cannot be blamed entirely on the leadership all of who could not possibly be depicted as feckless. I told him to consider the time Western education started in the South and when it reached the North which is almost a century. There is also the factor of unbridled growth in population. I mentioned ‘unbridled growth in population’ because, the rate is not commensurate with growth of the economy, hence

the poverty that comes with unemployment. For instance, the population of Nigeria and Britain were at par at our independence but today Britain is 62M while Nigeria is

about 180M. What rate of GDP can cope with such increase? Without a doubt, the challenges are far more overwhelming than the capacity of the leaders, considering the difference between the level of education at independence, and today, in the North. The difference is much. Somehow, I believe in what Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore once wrote that: order, justice, liberty, common decency, and prosperity, are never the natural order of things, but are attained through ceaseless hard work by the leaders, and the led, and that there is no country or society that is perfect. What matters when challenges arise is consciously directed effort to overcome them. I believe that President Buhari has what it takes to overcome our challenges.

Terrorism is universal, and unfolding; and Nigeria has predisposing factors that encourage it. The sponsors of BH may not even be Nigerians. During one of our interactions with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar on the underlying factors of terrorism or insecurity, he traced BH to thugs used by Gov Kachalla and Senator Modu Sheriff. Whether he is right or not, one cannot say. When the minister of finance (read Defence) accused traditional rulers in Zamfara of complicity in banditry, I had my doubts.

Sani and I went on, and on, in a few exchanges later, but then let’s cut to the chase and properly distil his full-throated piece in which he identified: lack of education, uncontrolled and unbridled population growth and poor governance.

It is sad that poor governance continues till today as exemplified in the 10M plus out – of – school children who wander about as Alamjiris, whilst the governors live in opulence and go about in their free flowing

babarigas, at best buying them okadas after which they are trucked down, in their hundreds, to every nook and cranny of the South, as Okada riders maiming themselves as well as their patrons. I am sure the governors see this as Youth Empowerment. May Allah forgive them.

So, what has been the response of the Northern elite to the factors so perspicaciously identified by the Secretary – General of the ACF which, this past week, weighed in on the increasing Somalisation of the region when it called on President Buhari to stop the killings? Northern political elite read politics into it when, before and after independence, Chief Obafemi Awolowo drew their attention to what trouble the North was breeding when it chose, deliberately, not to educate the children of the poor; when it looked askance at both the Western and Eastern regions putting massive investments into education.

Today village chiefs, even some minor

Emirs, are being chased out of their palaces in the North. And like Dr Nwagwu wrote in my intro, this, unfortunately, is only the beginning, as Somali, Sudan and Syria have shown.

With regards to over population, what was the North’s take away when during the 2015 campaigns Mrs Patience Jonathan, poked fun at the North on account of its many children most of who are thrown into the streets from early age? Which one single governor made a move towards checking his state’s unproductive population growth? Or which cleric lent a hand in their tough preaching’s which governor El Rufai had to warn against? The North has many, if not most, of our highly regarded monarchs.

What has any of them done to mitigate the factors that continue to undermine the North economically, and socially?

Isn’t political, even traditional power, for a purpose?

How exactly has the Northern traditional and religious elite – helped to positively impact the region? Or wasn’t it only this past week we heard that Zamfara monarchs are helping bandits with intelligence? Have they taken time to reflect on a future when the North begins to reap the whirlwind? Finally, as we can infer from Sani’s statement, when will this Northern tributary stop contaminating the big Nigerian river?

When?

A stitch in time can still save nine.

FoodCo Nigeria, a Top 3 retailer and operators of the largest supermarket chain brand in south-west Nigeria, has been named the Best Retail Organisation for Range Excellence at the just concluded Africa Retail Awards (ARA) 2025.

The Awards, organised by the Africa Retail Congress of the Lagos Business School, recognises retailers offering a diverse and customer-centric product range that drives accessibility, innovation, and sustained business growth across markets.

Speaking at the event, Prof. Louis Nzegwu, Chairperson of the African Retail Congress 2025, said: ‘The Africa Retail Awards 2025 recognises and celebrates outstanding achievements across the retail sector. From established retail chains to innovative digital platforms, the awards highlight those driving growth, setting new standards, and transforming the way business is done in Africa. This ceremony is a testament to the talent, vision, and dedication shaping a stronger, smarter, and more inclusive retail sector across the continent.’

Receiving the award on behalf of the company, Ade Sun-Basorun, the CEO of FoodCo who was represented by Ayodele Adio, stated that the recognition reinforces FoodCo’s leadership in driving modern retail growth and its continued relevance in shaping consumer access to quality products.

While thanking the organisers for the honour, Sun-Basorun continued, ‘Our approach to range development is rooted in data, market understanding, and customer insight. We are intentional about creating a retail environment where consumers can find what they need, at the right price point, and at consistent quality. This recognition affirms the strength of that strategy and its role in supporting business expansion within the sector. We see range excellence not just as a retail objective but as a contribution to improving access and choice for consumers across the markets we serve.’

Solomon Huesu, Marketing Manager, FoodCo, noted that, ‘Consumer needs are dynamic, and our responsibility is to anticipate and respond with relevance. This award underscores the effectiveness of our assortment strategy in driving customer satisfaction and supporting commercial performance. We are grateful to our customers whose continued trust guides our product decisions and keeps us accountable to the market. It is an encouragement to continue refining our product mix in ways that contribute to industry and economic growth.’

What we had thought was settled has unfortunately been re-opened: it is the subject of employing indigenous languages to teach children in their early part of schooling. The National Language Policy which formally gave the nod to the use of indigenous languages to teach in primary schools has been thrown out of the window. The policy stipulated that children from early childhood education to Primary Six should be taught in their mother tongue or the language of the environment. It was approved in 2022 as the National Language Policy for instruction in primary schools. The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announcing its cancellation, said the policy did not deliver.

In his words: ‘We have seen a mass failure rate in WAEC, NECO, and JAMB in certain geo-political zones of the country, and those are the ones that adopted the mother tongue in an over-subscribed manner. This is about evidence-based governance. English now stands as the medium of instruction from pre-primary, primary, junior secondary, senior secondary and tertiary education.’

According to reports, the scrapping was approved at a meeting of the National Council on Education, its 69th that took place in Akure earlier this month, from 3rd November to 7th. Dr. Alausa said pupils taught in indigenous languages struggled with basic English comprehension, hence the higher failure rates. He said using the mother tongue in Nigeria for the past 15 years has literally destroyed education in certain regions. ‘We have to talk about evidence, not emotions.’

Anticipating criticisms, the Minister said stakeholders who might differ were welcome but asked that they come forward with verifiable data to support their positions, assuring them that the government remained open.

When the report of the cancellation of the policy reached me, my mind raced to Professor Babs Fafunwa now of blessed memory. He passed away 15 years ago, but not until he had witnessed the enheartening positive triumph of decades of his struggle to see indigenous languages as medium of instruction in our schools. I began to wonder how far he may have gone in the Beyond. I do pray, very far. I recall what appeared as correlation of indigenous language with the importance of names at a certain point in his life.

Maria Virginia Haoa writing about language in January 2022 stated: ‘Language is inseparable from our way of being, our thoughts, our feelings, our joys and much more. It is through our language that we show who we are. If our language disappears, the whole socio-cultural foundation of our community of our speakers is put at risk.’

Since each human being is his name; he is not just the name he bears, he is the name, it came as a surprise and it was instructive when Prof. announced his change of name. A name when it is called rings out using voice waves. In 1990, he decided to readjust his name and I could not help but spread it in this column, so I wrote as follows: Captioned ‘Je m’appelle Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa’

‘Meanwhile, I have been advised of the affidavit to which Professor Fafunwa swore recently. He, formerly known as Professor Babs Fafunwa wishes to be known and addressed henceforth as Professor Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa. All former documents remain the same. Federal Ministry of Education and Tai Solarin to note.

‘Tai Solarin is the Prof.’s friend. The change of name is coming at a time Dr. Solarin has renewed his battle against what he has described as foreign names. Dr. Solarin admires Professor Fafunwa’s scholarship in the same manner and degree he respects Professor Sam Aluko and the late Professor Ayodele Awojobi. Dr. Tai Solarin has to adjust a habit that has endured for nearly 30 years of their friendship and mutual respect. He has no choice in the matter. It is a decree issued by the bearer and owner of the name: ‘Je m’appelle Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa.”

That was 35 years ago. Today I wish him help and pray that his path may be blessed wherever he may be, awakened into joyful activities in his continuing journey through Creation with gaze turned upwards.

According to UNESCO 2016: Studies indicate that instruction in a student’s native language improves understanding, analytical skills, and over all academic achievement. It enriches the learning experience but also promotes environmental stewardship and cultural resilience.

A study published in December 2021 by the Australian National University, according to UNESCO website, corroborates this, raising alarm on the future of linguistic diversity and underlying the point that of the world’s 7,000 recognised languages -6,000 of which are indigenous languages-around half are currently endangered, with 1, 500 particularly at risk. When an indigenous language is lost, not only does the knowledge accumulated by the community of its speakers fade away, but also the world’s cultural and biological diversity.

The principle of using native language as medium of instruction is stretched wider than just school teaching to what the UN considers as touching on fundamental rights of the citizens. This is reflected in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) adopted by the UN in 2007 to which the International Labour Organization (ILO) is said to have made substantial input. It encompasses the right for communities to practise and transmit their traditions and languages as well as to protect their heritage and objects. It is not from what any society would want to cut off their children, but to ingrain in them their uniqueness. For this reason, most major countries of the world, notably China, Germany, France, for example use native languages to teach in their schools. In the Philippines, indigenous peoples use their mother tongue as the primary language of instruction. The same obtains in Tanzania, Kenya and Tanzania. Kenya’s renowned writer Ngugi wa Thiong ‘o says: ‘Language exists as culture; it is the collective memory bank of people’s experience in history.’

International Expert Group meeting on Indigenous Languages from 8th to 10th January 2008 in New York considered language as the cornerstone of culture and the ultimate expression of belonging as it is through language that culture is shared and transmitted; a unique world view is expressed and identity is moulded and created. Connected with language is indigenous peoples’ ultimate relationship with the land.

The scrapping of the policy and the plan is obviously to halt the embarrassing high failure rates. The nation is eagerly awaiting the coming on stream of what the Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Ahmed announced as other measures to address learning challenges at the foundational level. She said a training package for teachers that focuses on literacy and numeracy is being designed. It specifically targets teachers of pre-primary to Primary One to Three. ‘We are training them on the best methods to teach literacy and numeracy and the approach to classroom learning.’ It is to be hoped the training is going on simultaneously in all parts of the country and sight will not be lost of the essence of returning to the use of indigenous languages ultimately. What happens during the gestation period to stem failures must be in focus, too.

We would not know from where Professor Fafunwa was coming that made him apply himself unremittingly in the pursuit of getting indigenous languages used in Nigerian schools. I intervened in the debate at its peak in 1990, as follows:

Professor Babs Fafunwa will, it seems, need salesman Alex Nwokedi to push his product, Mother Tongue in schools, which refreshing and appealing as it is to our saturated ethnic sentiments, is not finding enthusiastic buyers in the market. Alex Nwokedi was that guy who had the magic of turning NEPA’s powerlessness to light. Darkness is darkness. What description, what definition are you going to give to a situation where there is power outage and there is no light, but utter darkness? In those days, Ogbuefi would make you to disbelieve yourself; he would try to make you comfortable and create a situation of light in your mind even though all around you was darkness. He was adept at it. He was tireless. He cared. All he was getting at was understanding. In the State House as General Obasanjo’s Press Secretary, he explained Obasanjo so well that Obasanjo smelled so sweet that the General could almost get away with anything.

NEPA’s case was bad; Obasanjo’s policies were not always without discomfort. Fafunwa’s case has merit. But habits change hard, at the same pace as the geological face of the earth. In the villages, what Fafunwa is struggling to persuade the urban people to buy is in place. It is in the villages more than 70 per cent of Nigerians live. Yet the strong opposition is coming from the substantial minority in the cities.

Part of the reason for the opposition may well be the desire to see one’s son speak Queen’s English and make him intelligent before his time so he can have a headstart in the future. The apprehension is understandable for the reason that a Mr. Crondje may emerge who will decree that you fail in English you fail in all subjects.

The experiment has been successful at Ife, by that we mean University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University. Professor Fafunwa has achievement statistics to brandish to buttress his argument. But we don’t know how successful it is in the villages which have been on the same page and have been at home with Fafunwa’s programme. Ife, it can be argued, provides a rich and receptive soil to grow all-round pupils. There is hardly any parent on the campus who will fold his arms and cross his legs while his child is doing poorly in school. This is not in any way meant to diminish the noble thought behind Fafunwa’s programme.

The merit of Professor Fafunwa’s drive is, in my view, obvious. A child’s first contact with the world is through its mother and as it grows it communicates in her language. The homes where this is not the pattern must be few, indeed. Perhaps it may have to do with a medical condition that necessitates taking the baby away from her. The mother tongue is thus the language in the home. The first three years in the primary school when the local language will be the medium of instruction is the period of transition. It makes eminent sense that there is no sudden jump from language being spoken at home to a foreign language being spoken in school. It is unnatural. A child will be more at home if it first has grounding in its mother tongue and it moves step by step into the next stages of development.

A far more fundamental point is that language is a people’s culture. And culture is a manifestation of their development, that is the level of the development of their inner being. A rich inner life forms a rich culture, civility, humility and grace. Who does not rejoice in the culture of his people no matter where he may be, radiating warmth, the face shining and proudly in smiles, indeed, sunshine smiles? Time was-in the early stages of the development of man-when mankind were raw savages and their highest achievement was merry-making, pleasure, bloodletting, marriage and endless childbearing. As man developed, he grew out of primitivity and began to have high and noble aims and standards. As people must develop at their own pace in the exercise of their free will, the inalienable gift given to every man it follows that their inner clarity, perception must vary. The vehicles of expression of their perceptions must correspondingly vary-the Tower of Babel. No people may therefore be disturbed in their development. It means much more harm than is apparent to us debaters.

Everyone speaks the language that is appropriate for him and his development. When he is mature to recognise and speak the perfect language, he will do so and the perfect language already exists on the face of the earth-prepared for thousands of years for this time. It is, therefore, cruel, borne out of ignorance to attempt to separate a school child from his indigenous language that is inseparable from his being. The language of each people was derived from sounds in the elements special to their environment, infused with radiations were fashioned and shaped by Nature Beings to give each people their language intrinsic to them. The closer they are to Nature, observing Nature and obeying the Laws of Nature the sharper their perception, the higher their wisdom and the richer their proverbs.

Step forward Abraham Adesanya: Ibi ti a ti nlu lati injo. Enit’o ni nwon nlu l’oke Orun ko puro; eni t’o ni nwon jo ni Ajule Orun ko si so! (‘Where there is music, there is dancing. Therefore, whoever says there is beating of drum in Paradise, the Spiritual Realm has said the truth; and whoever says there is dancing in Primordial Spiritual Realm has not spoken amiss!’

Fafunwa’s programme is not as unworkable as it is being touted. There was a famous teacher at Abeokuta Grammar School who taught his students a science subject in the local language. The old boys of the school should remember him. There was hardly any of the students who offered the subject that did not pass it in high grades.

That said, it ought to be pointed out that Fafunwa’s critics have legitimate fears. The critics are from the cities and the cities are cosmopolitan. Do they send their children to the villages so they can be taught in the language of their parents? Their must be a way to allay their fears. If you asked me, I would say it is a question each parent should answer himself. The choice of what is best for his child is his.

Professor Fafunwa is on course, but he should be ready for battle. By the way, it may be interesting to know what the medium of instruction was in the primary school Professor Ayo Banjo, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan attended; the primary school for Professor Alfred Opubor; ‘Cicero’ Bola Ige; Professor Wole Soyinka; Professor Richard Anao; Justice Omololu Thomas; Dr. Stanley Macebuh; Emeka Odumegwu- Ojukwu; and some Speakers of the First Republic such as Adeleke Adedoyin. There are more, Great speakers of English Language-all’.

We learn from the unique Work, In the Light of Truth the Grail Message, by Abd-ru-shin, and I quote: ‘True progress for each people lies solely in the development of its own culture adapted to the soil, climate and race. Man must become indigenous in the purest sense, if he wishes to develop and expect help from the Light. He should beware of adopting the habits and customs of peoples alien to his nature, not to mention foreign opinions. To be rooted in one’s native soil is a basic condition and alone guarantees health, strength and maturity.’

Unless two things happen, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the separatist leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), will spend the rest of his life in prison, following his conviction on terrorism-related charges by the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, November 20. One, Kanu may be off the hook if President Bola Tinubu decides to exercise his prerogative of mercy powers and, two, if the convict appeals the judgment and finds favour in the eyes of the appellate court.

Justice James Omotosho who delivered the judgment said that prosecutors had proved beyond reasonable doubts that Kanu’s orders and broadcasts incited deadly attacks on security forces and citizens in the southeast. Not only businesses but the entire south east region was usually paralysed whenever Kanu issued sit-at-home orders to the people in the region, banning businesses, schooling and other activities.

Kanu, who was arraigned on a seven-count charge, was convicted on all. The least of the sentence for the offences was imprisonment for five years without an option of fine for count seven, whilst the maximum punishment for terrorism was death penalty. However, Justice Omotosho noted that death sentence was becoming anachronistic; he also considered the allocutus made on Kanu’s behalf to hand him the life sentence despite the prosecutor’s plea that he be handed the stiffest punishment of death by hanging till he be pronounced dead. A fair deal, if you ask me; considering the havoc Kanu and his goons had caused not only to security agencies but also his people who defied his sit-at-home orders in his heyday.

According to Justice Omotosho, ‘The court finds that the defendant, Nnamdi Kanu, is an international terrorist and must be treated accordingly.’ He added that ‘His intention was quite clear as he believed in violence. These threats of violence were nothing but terrorist acts.’

It is significant that Kanu was cantankerous for the better part of the trial. Indeed, on the day of judgment, this cantankerousness reached a crescendo as he lambasted Justice Omotosho who he said did not know the law. The 58-year-old secessionist leader who had earlier dismissed his legal team and represented himself during the trial, had to be ejected from the court for ‘unruly’ behaviour. ‘Which law states that you can charge me on an unwritten law? Show me,’ Kanu said before he was removed from the court. ‘Omotosho, where is the law? Any judgment declared in this court is complete rubbish’, he said.

Kanu was first arrested in 2015, and taken into custody in October of the same year, and slammed with multiple charges, including treasonable felony. He was granted bail 18 months later from where he disappeared, or jumped bail, as it were, before he was reportedly arrested in Kenya in controversial circumstances in 2021.

IPOB, like some other Igbo separatist movements sought to revive the short-lived state of Biafra, which seceded from Nigeria in 1967. The secession sparked a three-year civil war that lasted from 1967 to 1970, and which claimed the lives of about three million people. But, after Biafra troops surrendered to the federal troops in 1970, the then General Yakubu Gowon military regime came up with a policy to reintegrate the Eastern Region back into the country under its three ‘Rs’ of Reconciliation, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction.

Somehow, years after, some people in the eastern region still felt the country was not fair to them and had formed several secessionist movements to protest against what they see as political and economic marginalisation. In the course of doing that, some of them have had to rally indigenes of the region in the diaspora to donate to the agitation for independence, including training militia in the region’s forests.

It is unfortunate that IPOB that was formed in 2012 as a peaceful movement later metamorphosed and launched an armed wing in south-eastern Nigeria in 2020, ostensibly to defend the Igbo ethnic group.

We have had other Igbo separatist groups like the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), which was founded by Ralph Uwazuruike in 1999. But he adopted the principle of nonviolence as propagated by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., as the philosophy of the struggle. Naturally, he was detained several times and charged with treason in Nigerian courts.

Of course we also had the Simon Ekpa wing of IPOB that broke away from its parent body and was led by Ekpa, who was only in September jailed for terrorism against Nigeria, in faraway Finland. Between the two factions of IPOB, the geopolitical risk consultancy SBM Intelligence, had claimed that as many as ‘700 deaths have been linked to separatist militants since 2021, including a May 2024 incident where five soldiers and six others were killed in an ambush in Abia State. During the conflict, military personnel have also been implicated in multiple cases of human rights abuses.’

Even the court that sentenced Kanu said that the prosecution proved that about 175 security personnel lost their lives; 134 police stations were destroyed and nine offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were burnt on the orders of Kanu in his broadcasts. This was apparently why the court said Kanu should forfeit the transmitter used for his broadcasts to the Federal Government.

These are not all. The court also found Kanu culpable of incitement in the destruction of government properties in Lagos during the EndSARS protest in 2020, as well as that Kanu had called upon his listeners or supporters to attack the British High Commission in Nigeria.

All of these made Justice Omotosho to conclude that ‘His action was aimed at causing anarchy, which will in turn lead to the breakdown of law and order. His evil intention was to wreak havoc on the people of Nigeria. Were all these actions for self-determination? The answer is No’, Justice Omotosho concluded.

It is instructive that it is not only the Igbo in the southeastern part of the country that are crying of marginalisation. Several other parts of the country also have one grievance or the other against the Nigerian state, including the south-south region where the country’s golden eggs are being laid. Other parts of the country had also suffered one form of marginalisation or the other at one time or the other.

Even at that, it is not that people cannot agitate for ethnic or whatever freedom. But there are constitutionally laid-down processes for doing this, as Justice Omotosho noted while delivering his judgment. ‘Agitations for self-determination can only pass through the constitutional amendment through the National Assembly’, the judge said. But Kanu’s model deviated from this norm to embrace violence, illegal broadcasts, incitement, intimidation, threats and actual commission of crimes, including murder, to promote whatever cause he believed he was promoting.

In actual fact, both Kanu and Ekpa committed virtually the same crime. While Kanu committed his own crime within, Ekpa was throwing violence across the seas to Nigeria from abroad. Ekpa activated the Biafra Government In Exile (BGIE) in 2022, and in 2023 declared himself leader of the government. The Federal Government protested to the Finnish authorities which initially seemed not keen on arresting him (a thing some people initially attributed to his being a Finnish citizen of Nigerian origin). Indeed, at a point, the Nigerian government called for his extradition, so he could come and face justice at home. In March, 2024, the Nigerian Army declared him and 96 others wanted for terrorism, violent extremism and secessionist threats.

He was eventually arrested in Finland, in 2023. Ekpa’s trial which ran from May 30, 2025, to June 25, 2025, consisted of only 12 days of hearings as the verdict which sentenced him to six years in prison was delivered on September 1, 2025.

This was a remarkable difference from that of Kanu that lasted a whole 10 years (2015-2025). Granted that the wheel of justice travels at a snail’s speed in Nigeria, Kanu made his spectacularly so. Apart from jumping bail, he has had cause to use delay tactic to prolong his trial. He had cause to reject at least three justices from sitting on his matter, citing either bias or lack of jurisdiction. Justice Omotosho who eventually decided the case was the fourth judge to sit on it. He too might have been put off by Kanu’s unruly behaviour even in the face of the court, but for his patience. All kinds of excuses that would not be tolerated in courts elsewhere were tolerated in the matter. So, Kanu is the architect of his own fortune as he even at a point fired his entire defence team and decided to defend himself. However, despite its slow pace, and Kanu’s grandstanding, it is gratifying that a court of competent jurisdiction eventually found him guilty and sentenced him accordingly. If Ekpa could be convicted in Finland, why should Kanu’s case be different? This is why it is surprising that some people are wondering why Kanu should be convicted. Why did they not raise eyebrows when Ekpa was convicted? Is it because Kanu was tried in Nigeria?

It would seem to me that Obi Aguocha, a member of the House of Representatives representing the Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal Constituency of Abia State, who delivered the allocutus on behalf of Kanu at the court shortly before Justice Omotosho delivered his judgment in the case of the Federal Government of Nigeria vs. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, loved the accused more than the accused loves himself, given the sober manner he delivered the allocutus. ‘My lord, I am the direct representative of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. That is why you see me here almost every time, showing presence and solidarity with him.’ Aguocha explained that he and Kanu attended primary and secondary school together, noting that despite being Kanu’s senior, he felt a personal responsibility to speak for him, especially in his capacity as a federal lawmaker.

But Kanu and his co-travellers should have seen what eventually befell him coming. It could not have been otherwise, given the gravity of the charges levelled against him. Neither terrorism nor treasonable felony is a minor crime.

I know Kanu has his admirers as he indeed received royal treatment in his heyday; with some prominent Igbo personalities paying homage to him. The fact of the matter is that the law is the law. It is no respecter of anybody.

It is good we have finally had a closure to the matter, unless Kanu appeals the judgment. If he does and the judgment is reversed, fine. Otherwise, it is President Tinubu we should all look up to for prerogative of mercy. Given Kanu’s recalcitrance, the latter option seems more like it.

The Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy has announced the postponement of the 2025 edition of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the festival billed to be hosted by Enugu State was scheduled to commence on November 22.

However, the postponement announcement was made in statement by Nneka Anibeze, Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Minister, in Abuja yesterday.

He said the decision for the postponement was made after a careful assessment of the national mood and the recent problem of insecurity in different parts of the country.

‘In solidarity with the affected families and communities, and out of deep respect for the lives lost, the Minister, Hannatu Musawa, in consultation with stakeholders, has approved the postponement of the festival to a later date.

‘NAFEST has always played a powerful role in nation-building as it brings Nigerians together, strengthens social cohesion, and offers a platform for cultural diplomacy and soft power.

‘NAFEST remains one of the rare national events capable of projecting a different and more accurate picture of Nigeria-a picture of unity, inclusiveness, hospitality, and national confidence.

The Nation Newspaper journalist, Juliana Agbo, has clinched the Best Print Category prize at the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) Africa Media Awards held in Nairobi, Kenya.

Agbo received the continental honour on Friday during the climax of OFAB Africa’s Annual Review and Planning Meeting, which brought together journalists and biotechnology stakeholders from across the continent.

The win added to her growing list of achievements. On November 4, 2025, she had swept the OFAB Nigeria Media Awards, emerging both Best Print and Overall Winner, where she won a HP laptop, Samsung Galaxy Tablet and a cash prize.

Her latest recognition also came with a cash prize, an iPhone 15 Pro, and a certificate.

Representing Nigeria among 38 contestants from 10 African countries, Agbo distinguished herself with a compelling and deeply reported story on agricultural biotechnology, an area increasingly vital to Africa’s food security and climate resilience.

OFAB, a collaborative initiative of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) AfriCenter, operates in 10 countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Mozambique and Malawi.

Agbo’s win not only celebrates her professional excellence but also reinforces Nigeria’s rising profile in science and agriculture journalism on the African stage.

After receiving her award, Agbo dedicated the honour to Nigerian journalists committed to impactful development reporting. She expressed optimism that her recognition would ‘inspire more media professionals to engage deeply with science reporting.’

The ceremony drew policymakers, researchers, media leaders, and development partners from across Africa, all united in their call for stronger science communication.

Director of ISAAA AfriCenter, Margaret Karembu, stressed that innovation must be supported by public trust and effective communication to create real impact.

‘We can adopt innovations, we can regulate them but innovation alone is not enough for research to impact people. Communities must trust it. Policymakers must support it. Farmers must feel empowered when they adopt these innovations,’ she said.

According to her, journalists remain at the heart of this process as interpreters of scientific innovations, bridging the gap between laboratories and communities.

By simplifying complex research for public understanding, she said, the media ensures that ‘innovations are not only discovered but effectively applied to improve lives.’

Welcoming guests to the event, Executive Director of AATF, Dr. Canisius Kanangire, described journalists as essential partners in making science accessible to farmers, policymakers, and the public.

Accurate, engaging, and evidence-based reporting, he noted, helps communities embrace agricultural innovations while holding leaders accountable.

Dr. Kanangire emphasised that ‘a well-informed public is crucial for building trust in new technologies and fostering sustainable agricultural development across the continent.’

He added, ‘In an era of remarkable scientific progress, innovation alone is insufficient. It must be matched by effective communication, public trust, and inclusive dialogue.’

He encouraged journalists to keep probing emerging trends, challenging narratives, and ensuring that the benefits of biotechnology reach people equitably. He also praised media organizations for their dedication to integrity, accuracy, and impactful storytelling.

Dr. Kanangire explained that the OFAB program draws from global frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union Agenda 2063, using biotechnology and strategic communication to empower smallholder farmers, reduce poverty, and strengthen food security.

The initiative, he said, is vital in raising awareness, fostering stakeholder dialogue, and promoting evidence-based policymaking.