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The Dangote Petroleum Refinery yesterday said it had recorded 22 incidents of sabotage since it began operation at the 650,000 crude per day capacity refinery.

This is as the company insisted that the reorganisation carried out at the refinery had nothing to do with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).

Weekend Trust reports that the reorganisation affected no fewer than 800 staff working at the refinery, which triggered the strike embarked upon by PENGASSAN before it was suspended after the intervention of the federal government.

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Speaking with newsmen at the refinery when a former presidential aide and social media influencer, Reno Omokri embarked on a tour of the 650,000 crude per day capacity refinery, the vice president, Oil and Gas, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr Devakumar Edwin, revealed that the refinery recorded no fewer than 22 incidents of attempted sabotage since it began operations.

Also on the tour was the chairman of Bayelsa Traditional Rulers’ Council, King Bubaraye Dakolo.

The company said these deliberate acts were targeted at disrupting production and damaging equipment but were all successfully contained, thanks to the refinery’s advanced safety systems.

Edwin also dismissed recent speculations that the refinery was facing operational or crude supply problems, describing the claims as ‘completely wrong’ and part of a pattern of misinformation aimed at discrediting the refinery’s progress.

He said, ‘We have been under repeated attacks. Initially, they said the refinery would never come up. Then they said it would not be commissioned or start production. Later, they spread false news about gas supply problems. Now, they are trying to insinuate operational breakdowns. None of that is true.’

Edwin disclosed that the refinery currently has over 312 million litres of petrol in its storage tanks, aside from ongoing daily production.

With a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, he said the plant was capable of meeting Nigeria’s entire demand for petrol, diesel (AGO) and aviation fuel (Jet A1), while still exporting nearly 50 per cent of its products.

On the reported acts of sabotage, Edwin said the company had documented all incidents, including the specific dates and units affected.

‘We have experienced 22 cases of sabotage. In some cases, people tried to start fires or open valves to cause damage. Fortunately, because this is an ultra-modern refinery, our fire protection system immediately detects and controls such incidents,’ he stated.

Omokri, who visited the refinery section of the Dangote Fertiliser Plant, the Dangote Quays where fertilisers and other products are being shipped abroad, said Nigerians had no option than to support the refinery to succeed.

At the refinery’s terminal, Omokri was amazed with the scale of export activity already taking place at the facility, disclosing that about 650 ships had loaded products from the refinery within the past year.

‘In less than a year, 650 ships have come here to load petroleum products for export. That’s an incredible achievement,’ he said.

Omokri explained that the true strength of a country’s currency lies not in its volume but in the productive and export capacity of its economy.

He stressed that the more Nigeria produces and exports, the stronger the naira becomes, adding that both citizens and institutions must support the refinery’s operations.

King Bubaraye Dakolo commended the Dangote Group for the scale and impact of the refinery, describing it as a ‘revolutionary investment’ that must be sustained for the benefit of Nigeria’ economy.

Barring any alterations to the proposal by the National Assembly on the amendment to the 2022 Electoral Act, the presidential, governorship as well as national and state assembly elections will hold in or before November next year.

This forms the highlight of the bill seeking to repeal the Electoral Act 2022 to enact a new Electoral Act 2025.

Following a one-day public hearing by the Joint Committee on Electoral Matters chaired by Senator Simon Lalong, concerns have been raised across the board about the propriety, feasibility, and logic behind the idea of moving the date forward, with stakeholders, political parties, civil society organisations (CSOs), and electoral experts wading in.

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The amendment proposal was contained in the Reviewed Highlights of the Amendment of the Electoral Act obtained by Daily Trust during a public hearing in Abuja. It stipulates that elections into the offices of the president and governors must be conducted ‘not later than 185 days before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder of the office.’

According to the draft, the provision also extends to elections into the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly, which must now be held ‘not later than 185 days before the date on which each of the Houses stands dissolved.’

It adds that where a vacancy occurs in any of the Houses more than 90 days before the general elections, such vacancy must be filled within 30 days of its occurrence. The amendment also seeks to align the new electoral calendar with constitutional changes to Sections 76, 116, 132, and 178, which now delegate election timelines to the Electoral Act rather than the Constitution.

Before the public hearing, Weekend Trust confirmed that politicians, especially those hoping to seek elective offices in 2027, had taken it for granted that the next general elections would follow a similar pattern as previous ones, to hold either in February or March in the year of inauguration.

An aspirant said, ‘All our focus was on 2027 because that is the tradition, to hold the election in the year in which the tenure of the incumbents expires.’

In the last general polls, the governorship and presidential elections were conducted in February and March 2023 respectively.

Though there are other areas in the 2025 Act which seek to differ from that of 2023, the concentration has been on that particular aspect due to the effect it is likely to have on the electoral system in Nigeria.

For instance, it is also being proposed that amendments be made to allow security personnel, INEC officials, accredited journalists, observers, and ad-hoc staff to vote up to 14 days before election day.

The bill also seeks the removal of election timelines from the Constitution and their inclusion in the Electoral Act to make future adjustments more flexible.

While some are happy about the development, saying the moving of election day to 2026 will give enough time for legal issues to be settled ahead of the inauguration of new administrations, some have kicked against it, saying it would only favour incumbents, adding that it is bound to have negative effects on governance.

Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Adebayo Balogun, said the amendment would help prevent situations where court cases linger after winners assume office.

‘We are proposing that all election litigations be concluded before the swearing-in of declared winners. To achieve this, we are recommending that the current 180 days allowed for tribunal judgments be reduced to 90 days, while appellate and Supreme Court decisions should each take no more than 60 days, all within 185 days before inauguration,’ he said.

In what is suspected to be a reaction to the wide interest the bill has generated, the Senate on Thursday stepped down the bill, which had earlier been slated for consideration, saying the lawmakers needed more time for wider consultations and a deeper understanding of its provisions.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, who presided over the Thursday session, said sufficient details on the general principles of the bill were not given and suggested an executive session to consider it.

There were also concerns earlier raised by Senator Binos Dauda Yaroe on the procedure, wondering why a bill which has yet to scale second reading went through a public hearing.

‘I support the second reading of this bill. But people will wonder. The second reading is supposed to come before the public hearing that was done last Monday. Holding a public hearing before second reading is confusing,’ he said.

Following similar observations by other senators, the bill was stepped down to allow the legislators to consult widely on it.

Before then, the proposal had elicited a wide range of reactions from the political class, election monitoring bodies, and the general public.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC), in a swift reaction, kicked against moving the general elections backward, saying doing so would undermine governance.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party argued that advancing the election date implies a perpetual campaign cycle, a short period for effective governance, and disruption in development planning, and further weakening of institutional focus.

The party said, in practice, elections happening in November 2026 mean campaigns will begin as early as 2025, which leaves barely one year of real governance before politics takes over.

‘The president, ministers, governors, and other public officials vying for office or campaigning for others will shift their focus from performance to positioning. Policies will stall, projects will be abandoned, and the entire system will tilt towards 2026 instead of 2027.

‘The solution lies in strengthening our institutions by enforcing strict timelines for tribunals, reforming electoral laws, and improving the capacity of the judiciary and INEC,’ the party stated.

On their part, the factions of the Labour Party differed on the proposal. While the faction led by Julius Abure said the party is fully prepared for the exercise if it holds next year, the Lamidi Apapa-led faction dismissed the idea as unconstitutional and premature.

National Publicity Secretary of the Abure-led faction, Obiora Ifoh, said the party is ‘100 percent ready’ for any election conducted within the timeframe allowed by law. ‘We are ready for any election, even if it comes in November 2026. But that is not even the problem. The real issue is for INEC to put its act together and address the lapses we witnessed during the 2023 elections,’ he said.

He said the Electoral Act provides flexibility on the election timetable as long as the polls are held within 60 to 150 days before the expiration of the incumbent’s tenure.

‘The constitution is very clear; between 60 and 150 days before the end of tenure. November to May is about five months, so it doesn’t violate any law,’ he explained. ‘INEC just needs to get its timetable right and ensure proper management of the process,’ he said.

However, the coordinator of the Obidient Movement, Yunusa Tanko, faulted the proposal, saying it contradicts the constitutionally guaranteed four-year term of elected officeholders.

‘Does it mean they will hold the election before the tenure of the current officeholders expires?’ Tanko queried. ‘It’s confusing. What happens to the remaining months of their term? The constitution provides for four years, not three.’

He argued that the plan was ‘too sudden’ and lacked clarity on its legal and practical implications.

‘Nobody is ready for an election except those proposing it. If they want to amend the constitution to shorten the election cycle, it should apply to the next one, not this one. Doing it now doesn’t make sense,’ he said.

Efforts to get reactions from the major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday proved abortive.

The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) spokesperson, Ladipo Johnson, also reacted to the proposal, describing it as ‘a good idea coming at the wrong time.’

The spokesperson of the party noted that while the intention behind the amendment could help resolve post-election litigations before the swearing-in of winners, the timing of the move would put opposition parties at a disadvantage.

‘Ordinarily, it would be a very good idea so that litigation would be over before swearing-in,’ he said. But at the present moment, it is coming late because it will shortchange parties. They will not have enough time to prepare, campaign, and reach the electorate, especially the opposition,’ he said.

He explained that most political parties had already based their programmes and campaign strategies on the 2027 election calendar.

‘Most people have planned that elections will hold in 2027. If you now shorten it to November 2026, they lose several months of preparation,’ he added.

The Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts, Dr. Sam Amadi, has hinted that the planned amendment to the election timeline in the country may favor the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Amadi told Weekend Trust that his position is because the opposition parties are undergoing severe crises at this time, adding that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC also needs to convince Nigerians that it has done a cost-benefit analysis that favors bringing backward the election timeline.

He said all the stakeholders must also agree that there is no extension or reduction in the tenure of elected officials and there is enough time for robust campaign.

He said, ‘I do not see the problem if it does not breach any provisions of the law and it does not reduce the tenure of elected officials. But INEC should first convince us that it has done a cost-benefit analysis that favors bringing backward the election timeline. ‘As long as the commission is acting in good faith and there is enough time for robust campaign it can go ahead and reschedule election dates. There should be no extension or reduction of tenure of elected officials.’

When contacted for the position of the umpire, the Deputy Director of Publicity at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Wilfred Osilama Ifogah, said the commission has not taken any decision regarding the conduct of elections next year.

‘We’re not there yet,’ he told Weekend Trust, declining to speak further on the matter.

Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters explained that so far, the House of Representatives has not taken a position on the proposed amendments. He said, ‘We cannot be speculative. It is a proposal; it is an ongoing thing. Until you do the consideration and third reading, that is when it becomes a position of the House.

‘So, everything is still speculative for now. There is no need for agitation by people. The documents were circulated to the people at the public hearing. It is until we consider it and we get the final report out that it becomes a decision. The documents are explicit enough.’

The Executive Director of YIAGA Africa, Mr Samson Itodo, said the organisation is in support of the proposal because it has many advantages outside settling all disputes arising from elections.

‘It provides clarity for INEC and for other institutions so that they don’t also get distracted, you know, with the whole business of settling down. It gives the institution the opportunity to conclude everything that it has to do with the post-election audit. And that can be done devoid of any sort of pressure or political interference.

‘Secondly, it does provide some level of clarity, even for the other security agencies, because when you conclude an election, they have time to settle and plan before swearing-in. Once the disputes are being resolved, the coast becomes clearer for all the actors to know where they stand before they get into office.’

Despite the interest, however, it appears that the bill will not receive an accelerated hearing now that it has been stepped down for further consultations. Added to that, a lot, Weekend Trust learnt, would depend on the outcome of the constitution review process which is currently ongoing.

Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters, in an interview with our correspondent, said his committee is working together with the constitution review committee to ensure synergy.

‘The Electoral Act is also dragging a bit because of the constitution review. We are waiting for that because we know some of those things are still subject to the provisions of the constitution. Had it been we were not subjected to it, we would have concluded our own probably since last month. Our own does not need to go to the states. After this, we can go for third reading in the next one week and pass it, but because of their own issues, we have to slow down.’

If the amendment sails through, there are fears that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) may find it hard to cope, given that it has lots of off-cycle elections to conduct before 2027, some of which are the Anambra, Osun, and Ekiti governorship elections as well as the FCT council elections holding next year.

Former Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, alleged that the government wants to overload INEC so that it could be blamed for glitches.

‘What is playing out is that the party in government is not sure of coming back, so it wants to blame INEC for poor logistic arrangements,’ he said.

Soon after the Super Eagles trounced Benin Republic 4-0 in the final Group C match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, there were different reactions from Nigerian football fans. Most of the reactions were indeed thought-provoking and irresistible. For instance, a businessman and football enthusiast, Chief Robsinson Okwudili, who doubles as the chairman of Liverpool Fans’ Club in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, wrote on his Facebook page: ‘So Nigeria can score 4 goals.’ Surely, the reaction of the socialite and avid football fan was borne out of the fact that the Super Eagles have become so unproductive that asking for as many as four goals from them is like ordering a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.

So, going into the must-win match against Benin Republic, only a few incurable optimists believed that the Super Eagles would record such a high score-line. Apart from the fact that they were going up against a team on top of the group with 17 points, the Super Eagles had not scored more than two goals in their past 9 matches in the qualifying campaign. Therefore, those who boasted that the Super Eagles would roast their opponents in Uyo based their predictions on patriotism and not empirical evidence.

Apart from Chief Okwudili, the reaction of another football fan, Jessica Ngodoo Tsejime, a staunch fan of Chelsea and the Super Eagles, caught my attention. After the resounding victory over Benin Republic, she also wrote on her Facebook page: ‘Where was VO9 from the beginning of the WC qualifiers’? Obviously thrilled by the hat-trick and the overall performance of the Galatasaray’s point-man, she was simply stating that had Osimhen been there right from the beginning, we wouldn’t have been in such a mess. I couldn’t agree more with her because whether you like him or not, Oshimen, for now, is the force that propels the Super Eagles. Once he is not present, the team struggles to score.

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Indeed, we can’t discuss the precarious situation of the Super Eagles in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers without a mention of Oshimen. Despite his enormous contributions, he inarguably contributed significantly to the failure of the Super Eagles to qualify automatically for the World Cup. In the 10 matches played by the team in the qualifiers, Osimhen, who is the livewire of the Nigerian senior national team, featured in only five matches. At this point, it is not necessary to go into why he missed the matches, but it is on record that due to unconvincing reasons, the former African Footballer of the Year was conspicuously missing when Nigeria struggled to get results in the first four matches against Lesotho, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Benin Republic.

Osimhen’s absence in the four matches cost Nigeria 9 points. The Super Eagles managed to pick only three points out of a possible 12 following identical 1-1 draws against Lesotho, Zimbabwe and South Africa before the 1-2 defeat to the Cheetahs of Benin Republic in Abidjan. In all these matches, the powerful forward was absent, but the moment he returned, he did so with a bang. He scored a brace against Rwanda in Kigali in Super Eagles’ third away match of the campaign. Osimhen followed up with another goal in the next home match against Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, the match ended in a painful 1-1 draw because immediately he was substituted, his teammates conceded that backbreaking equaliser. Osimhen couldn’t conceal his disappointment as he condemned his teammates publicly and in private.

Although the deadly goal-poacher didn’t score in his third match of the campaign, which was the match day 7 clash with Rwanda in Uyo, many believed it was because of the injury he suffered early in the encounter. In order not to aggravate the injury, he was taken off and replaced with Tolu Arokadare, who eventually scored the only goal in the hard-fought 1-0 victory.

In fact, there was a little controversy over the Osimhen injury as some Nigerians doubted if it was serious enough to keep him out of the next match against South Africa. Whether he was seriously injured or not, the influential player returned to his club while the Super Eagles flew out to South Africa for the crucial match against the Bafana Bafana. In the end, Nigeria missed the chance to win the maximum points as the match ended in a 1-1 draw. An own goal by Nigeria’s captain, William Troost-Ekong put Bafana Bafana in front, but Calvin Bassey netted the equaliser before halftime.

Even as he didn’t score when he returned for the second to the last fixture against Lesotho at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in South Africa, he contributed immensely to the 2-1 victory that revived the team’s hope of at least a playoffs ticket. However, in the final group match, the former Napoli striker was on fire, scoring a hat-trick as the Super Eagles romped to a 4-0 win over Benin Republic.

In summary, Osimhen alone netted six out of the 15 goals the team scored in 10 matches. Let’s not forget that he played only five matches. Apart from Ekong, who scored one for and one against Nigeria, Semi Ajayi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Dele-Bashiru, Frank Onyedika, Tolu Arokadare, Calvin Bassey, Adams Akor and Frank Onyeka managed to score a goal each in the roller coaster campaign.

The foregoing highlights Osimhen’s role in the present ordeal of the Super Eagles. Without undermining or questioning his patriotism, had Osimhen shown more understanding and cooperation, he would have saved us those unnecessary permutations. As it is, Nigerian football fans who used their calculators to see how the Super Eagles would possibly make it to the World Cup without playoffs are left with no choice than to continue with the energy draining and time-consuming calculations.

Personally, I am not too disturbed because I still believe the Super Eagles have the capacity to qualify for the World Cup via the playoffs. They want to do it the hard way, so I am sure they know how difficult it is going to be. One important thing about the Super Eagles that some of us have come to understand is that they play when they want to play and disappoint when they want. Whenever their backs are to the wall, they fight aggressively.

Moreover, I am motivated by two reasons to believe that the Super Eagles will still make it to the 2026 World Cup: the narrow escape against Lesotho in Polokwane and Onyeka’s goal against Benin Republic in Uyo. Let me explain. Had it been the gods didn’t roll the goal-bound ball slightly away after the silly misunderstanding between Stanley Nwabali and Semi Ajayi in the final seconds of the must-win match with Lesotho, it would have been the end of the road for Nigeria. If Onyeka didn’t score the fourth goal against Benin Republic, the Super Eagles would have missed the playoff ticket despite the mauling of the Cheetahs. That invaluable goal gave Nigeria a slight edge over Burkina Faso, who missed the fourth playoff ticket because of an inferior goal difference. So, I say there is still hope for the unpredictable Super Eagles.

The number of children that died before reaching the age of 5 has dropped to 110 per 1,000, the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, 2023-24 has shown.

The survey stated the figure reduced from 132 per 1,000 children in 2018 survey.

According to the survey, which was released on Friday by the Minister of State for Health, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, the rates were estimated directly from information collected as part of a retrospective pregnancy history in which female respondents listed all of the children to whom they have given birth, along with each child’s date of birth, survivorship status and current age or age at death.

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It added that during the five years immediately preceding the survey, the neonatal mortality rate was 41 deaths per 1,000 live births.

‘This means that approximately, one out of every 25 infants dies within the first month of life,’ it stated.

It added that the infant mortality rate was 63 deaths per 1,000 live births, meaning that one out of every 16 children dies in the first year of life.

‘The under-5 mortality rate was 110 deaths per 1,000 live births. This means that one out of every 9 children dies before their fifth birthday.

‘Among the states, Kano had the highest neonatal mortality rate (59 deaths per 1,000 live births), Kebbi had the highest postneonatal (41 deaths per 1,000 live births) and infant (90 deaths per 1,000 live births) mortality rates, Yobe had the highest child mortality rate (96 deaths per 1,000 live births), and Jigawa had the highest under-5 mortality rate (161 deaths per 1,000 live births).

Speaking on the survey, Salako said it showed priority gaps that require urgent and coordinated responses.

‘These findings will be translated into policy change and programme action. Hence as a country we will continue to strengthen the health system across all levels towards addressing the noted gaps for better health outcomes,’ he added.

On his part, the chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Nasir Isah Kwarra, said the completion of the report demonstrated what is possible when institutions and partners work with a shared vision to strengthen Nigeria’s data systems, ensure accountability in the use of public resources and build a stronger foundation for national development planning.

In this interview with Weekend Trust, Professor Kamilu Sani Fage, a Kano-based political scientist, warns that the proposal could tilt the playing field in favour of the ruling party, undermine democratic fairness, and expose systemic weaknesses in Nigeria’s electoral and judicial institutions.

What is your view on the National Assembly’s proposal to shift the 2027 elections to November 2026?

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The idea behind the proposal is to change the timetable election period from what it used to be by six months. I think the argument they put forward is logical, the idea is that they need sufficient time so that all electoral cases will be settled before swearing in of elected people or elected leaders. I think it is a logical argument, but a wrong one.

Why is it a wrong argument?

The problem with our elections is that they are highly disputed. And the reason for the delay has to do with the way the judiciary handles electoral cases and necessarily the adjournment. That is one thing.

Secondly, you see a court of similar jurisdiction giving a contradictory verdict on the same issue, and so many things that cause delay. Besides, there is also the issue of corruption.

So, I think even if you draw the timetable to more than a year, provided that the attitude of our politicians and the lawyers remain the same, we are going nowhere, a year will not be enough for them to settle electoral disputes. If you look at what happened in the Sakai Republic, that was what used to be. They were able to complete all electoral cases within a very short period because the law then was very stringent on the issue and there were no unnecessary delays. So, I think it is more attitudinal than anything.

What implications could this shift have on Nigeria’s electoral system?

One, it will give unnecessary advantage to the ruling party because the party that is in office will use the incumbency factorto win the election. In other words, there will be no fair level playing ground for all contestants.

Secondly, it would be a dangerous thing for the country. Imagine a situation where a ruling party fails and it remains in office for six months. Wwithin that period, it will commit all sorts of atrocities.

It will use its own power to change anything that would implicate it

Are you insinuating that there won’t be a level field for all the parties if the elections are to go as proposed?

I don’t think there will be. As I said, it will only favour the ruling party. The ruling party already controls state resources and institutions. Extending its time in office before elections only deepens the imbalance. Opposition parties will be at a clear disadvantage, and the fairness of the electoral process will be compromised.

From a broader democratic perspective does the proposal have an advantage?

No. It is not going to be anything good. If you look at the intent behind the whole idea of this change, it is in the interest of the politicians. They are making democracy as if it is the exclusive reserve for only politicians. Every Nigerian has a stake in this system. So,I think what they should do is to consider that they are representing people, and secondly, they should consider the interest of the country, not their personal interest.

So, in doing that, I think it is not going to augur well for the country, democracy and the citizens of the country.

What other reforms do you believe are necessary to improve Nigeria’s electoral process?

The whole thing is, wherever you see democracy works, there is a rule of law. What we need to do is to make rule of law prevail in Nigeria. If it does, all other things will fall in place.

Give the law powernot just on paper, so that they have the capacity to punish anybody who violates the law according to the laws of the land. Secondly, we have to fight corruption, which affects all sectors of the society, including the judiciary. If we can sanitise the judiciary and strengthen the law, we don’t need to draw the election period back.

After all, Nigerians are not the only people practicing democracy. People are practicing it all over the world. If we want democracy, let’s abide by the basic tenets of it. And one of the major tenets of democracy is rule of law.

But other democracies hold elections well before inauguration and still resolve disputes in time. Why do you think Nigeria’s case would be different?

In our own case, there is impunity. There The rules are flagrantly violated with impunity.

So unless we do that, we cannott try to copy others and succeed. Democracy is not about institution. It is also about the values.

If you keep on borrowing institutions without creating the necessary political culture for it to thrive, then democracy will just remain a sham in Nigeria.

Do you think INEC is ready for elections to beheld in November 2026?

This part of the problem. I doubt INEC will be fully prepared by the time you have this. So, they may go to the election without clearly defined rules and regulations.

And they may go without having the necessary instrument for them to operate. In other words, they would just be mere rubber stamps of what the politicians want.

How will this proposal affect opposition parties?

I say the way it will be disadvantageous to them as we are not going to have a level playing ground. So, where the coin is loaded in favor of one person, obviously the other person will be at adisadvantage. Because, under normal circumstances, we have what is known as a cynical view about incumbency factor.

If you look at our own history, except for 2015, when in our history did a ruling party lose election in Nigeria? So by the time you do that, you are now creating that situation. And that is what is going to happen.

The Arewa Think Tank has condemned United States Senator Ted Cruz for alleging a systematic genocide against Christians in Nigeria, describing his comments as false, reckless and divisive.

In a statement signed by its convener, Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu, the group noted that Senator Cruz’s claim was ‘a dangerous and deliberate falsehood designed to poison our national unity and undermine our sovereignty.’

Yakubu noted that terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and ISWAP had attacked Nigerians of all faiths, adding that ‘bandits slaughter Muslims and Christians alike.’ He said Cruz’s remarks distorted Nigeria’s complex security realities and were driven by ‘foreign political games, not truth.’

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The group commended the National Assembly for rejecting the US senator’s comments, and urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to remain focused on securing the country.

‘We echo the Presidency’s clear statement that terrorism respects no religion. Nigeria is not a pawn in anyone’s political theatre,’ the statement noted.

Arewa Think Tank also called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to engage US authorities and demand an end to what it described as ‘irresponsible commentary’ on Nigeria’s internal affairs.

He said, ‘Nigeria’s resilience is forged in the fire of our diversity. We will not be broken by lies. We remain focused on a secure, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria for all.’

In Nigerian homes, where vows of love were once exchanged has increasingly seen violence claim lives. The lives of 136 spouses who once professed love to one another have been lost in just four years Weekend Trust reports from data compiled by Daily Trust Library This analyses cuts across all the states, where the statistics reveal a pattern of domestic conflicts often turning fatal over reasons such as food, phone arguments or accusations of infidelity.

The findings underscore a disturbing reality, where beneath the surface of family life lies a growing wave of lethal domestic violence that cuts across regions, religions and social classes.

The data, compiled from national dailies between 2021 and 2025, shows that wives were overwhelmingly the victims, accounting for 96 out of the 1364 deaths, husbands made up 39 victims, while a single case involved a ‘wife-to-be.’ One incident was recorded where both man and wife died.

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From the 134 recorded cases of spousal killings across Nigeria between 2021 and 2025, Lagos State has the highest cases, with 17 recorded. Almost all the victims in Lagos were wives (16 out of 17), pointing to a persistent pattern of women bearing the brunt of intimate partner violence.

Behind Lagos are Edo, Ogun and Adamawa states, each recording 10 deaths within the same period. These states, though in different regions, share common triggers: domestic violence, jealousy and economic frustration. In Lagos, for example, one woman was set ablaze by her husband, another killed for refusing to cook, while a third one was murdered after requesting repayment of a loan. One shocking case involved a man who removed his wife’s oxygen mask while she lay on a hospital bed.

In Edo, the causes ranged from domestic violence, refusal of sex and financial disputes, to more bizarre reasons like ‘refusing to lend him N2,000.’ Similarly, in Ogun, where 10 cases were documented, triggers included infidelity, control over family property and extra-marital affairs.

Adamawa, the leading state in the North, also recorded 10 killings. Here, the motives reflected deep-rooted gender conflicts. From the data, one woman was killed ‘for denying her husband sex,’ another ‘for taking his phone,’ and another one after she accused her husband of infidelity. These cases paint a vivid picture of fragile relationships, where simple disagreements escalate into deadly confrontations.

Other states with high numbers include Anambra (9 cases), Delta (7) and Ondo (7), all in the southern belt, showing that the problem cuts across both urban and rural areas.

While northern states recorded fewer numbers, analysts caution that the data may not reflect the true scale as many northern families settle domestic tragedies privately, without police or media reporting.

Similarly, regional analysis shows that what happened between 2021 and 2025 spanned all the six geopolitical zones, though at varying levels of intensity. The data shows that South accounts for nearly two-thirds (about 88 cases), while the northern regions collectively account for 46.

The South-West recorded the highest regional total with 45 deaths, led by Lagos (17), Ogun (10), Ondo (7), Oyo (6), Ekiti (4), and Osun (1). Here, domestic violence, infidelity and arguments over food or household duties were the dominant causes. In one Oyo case, a husband was killed ‘over dinner,’ while in Ondo, another man was murdered ‘after an argument over how to spend their earnings.’ The pattern shows that high literacy or urbanisation has not diminished the culture of domestic aggression.

Furthermore, the South-South followed closely with 33 cases, spread across Edo (10), Delta (7), Rivers (6), Bayelsa (2), and Akwa Ibom (2). Many of these cases were linked to domestic quarrels, financial stress and accusations of infidelity. In Delta, one husband slit his wife’s throat for ‘coming home late,’ while another woman was murdered ‘over a N55,000 debt.’

Edo State stood out for the number of men who also became victims, with one husband stabbed to death ‘after catching his wife with another man.’

In the South-East, a total of 16 killings were recorded: Anambra (9), Ebonyi (5), and Enugu (1). Infidelity and domestic violence were the major drivers. In Anambra, a woman was killed ‘over a loaf of bread,’ while in Ebonyi, another was murdered ‘for roasting yam instead of cooking it.’ These small domestic quarrels, often fueled by economic tension, continue to escalate into tragic outcomes.

The North-East recorded 20 cases, with Adamawa (10) topping, followed by Yobe (4), Borno (3) and Gombe (3). The region’s stories reflect deep emotional and gender struggles. Reports in the region show how a man killed his wife ‘for denying him sex,’ another ‘for accusing him of theft,’ while one woman was slain ‘because she hated marriage.’ Domestic violence and forced marriage were among the reported causes, pointing to the persistence of traditional gender expectations that sometimes turn deadly.

The North-Central region had about 16 cases spread across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) (4), Niger (5), Nasarawa (3), Benue (2), and Kwara (1). Here, many killings stemmed from domestic disagreement, jealousy and misunderstanding. In Nasarawa, a woman was killed ‘for inviting a carpenter to fix a window net,’ while another was murdered ‘over a second wife.’

In the FCT, one man lost his life after an ‘argument over a phone charger.’ The killings in the region suggest that even the country’s administrative heart is not immune to marital violence.

The North-West recorded the fewest cases (10) spread across Jigawa (2), Kano (1) and Kebbi (1), with others possibly unreported. Even within these smaller figures, domestic violence and non-consensual sex appeared as key causes.

The underlying causes of the 136 spousal killings reveal a disturbing mix of anger, economic hardship, mistrust and cultural expectations. Across the cases, domestic violence accounted for the largest share with over 40 incidents, while infidelity and jealousy appeared in about 30. Another 20 cases were linked to financial disputes, hunger and sexual denial, among others.

Cleric reflects on hidden triggers

For Rev Amos (not real name) of St Matthias Anglican Church, Ushafa, the stories behind most spousal killings are not sudden explosions of rage but slow-burning fires that had long been left unattended.

‘Spousal killings rarely happen suddenly. They are often the tragic end of a long process of emotional decay. Beneath every act of violence is a history of anger, silence, pride and neglect,’ he noted.

According to the cleric, one of the most common tendencies that sow the seeds of violence is poor communication. He explained that many couples approach conversations like competition rather than opportunities for understanding.

‘Many couples do not talk to understand, they talk to win arguments. Over time, resentment grows and what begins as a small misunderstanding becomes a deep wound. When tempers flare and egos take over, peace gives way to rage,’ he added.

Amos also linked the growing trend of domestic violence to emotional rigidity and unforgiveness within marriages. For him, refusal to let go of past wrongs often turns love into resentment.

‘In our counselling sessions, we see spouses who carry grievances for months, even years, refusing to let go. They rehearse their hurts until they explode. Once the heart becomes hardened, even a minor provocation can lead to violence. As the scripture says, ‘The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God,” he said.

He further pointed out that economic hardship had become a silent driver of conflict in many homes.

‘With the rising cost of living and unemployment, financial strain has eroded patience and emotional stability. Many homes are under intense financial pressure. When men or women feel inadequate or disrespected because of poverty or job loss, frustration can easily turn to aggression. Poverty by itself does not cause murder but it magnifies every other weakness in the home.

‘Nothing breaks trust faster than betrayal, either real or imagined. Accusations of cheating are behind many domestic quarrels that ended in tragedy. When couples stop trusting one another, the home becomes a war zone. Jealousy, combined with anger and alcohol often leads to irreversible actions,’ he further said.

Beyond personal failings, Rev Amos also identified some misconceptions that enable violence. He lamented that some men still view physical domination as a mark of authority.

He also said, ‘Some men believe that ‘disciplining’ a wife through violence proves authority, while some women respond with defiance that escalates conflict. When love is replaced by power struggle, both sides lose sight of God’s intention for marriage, which is companionship, not competition.

‘I always tell couples that seeking help early is not weakness, it is wisdom. The home is sacred, but silence in the face of abuse is not holiness.

‘No marriage collapses in a day. Every act of violence begins as a thought – a seed of anger watered by silence, pride and neglect. When that seed is not uprooted, it grows into tragedy. We must rebuild homes on forgiveness, patience, prayer and mutual respect.’

Adebayo Balogun is Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters. In this interview, he explained the rationale for the proposal for the general elections to hold in November, 2026.

What is the position of the House on concerns being raised over some provisions in the electoral act amendment bill 2025.

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This is still a public hearing stage. There is no position of the House yet until we conclude. So we cannot be speculative. It is a proposal, it is an ongoing thing. Until you do the consideration and third reading, that is when it becomes a position of the House. So everything is still speculative for now. There is no need for agitation by people. The documents were circulated to the people at the public hearing. It is until we consider it and we get the final position out. The documents are explicit enough.

Yes, the documents are explicit but there are concerns over some provisions particularly, the one that proposes that election should hold in November 2026 instead of February 2027. Why the proposal at this time?

The provision is because we want to provide enough time to conclude litigations arising from the elections. That’s why I said the document is explicit enough. We want to conclude litigations. People are proposing that all litigations be concluded before swearing in. And the minimum time, you can use for the litigation is six months. So count it. If six months is the minimum you can use for the litigation, then, that provision has to be made. It used to be almost a year before it was reduced to six months. So, six months from May 2027, when new president is to be sworn in, count six months backward, it’s going to be nothing later than November 2026. The proposal is from people, from CSOs and the public. There are the ones proposing that litigations be concluded before swearing in. It is what the people want it, it’s not the House. So if you want it, this is what it’s going to look like. It’s going to look like this. Is it going to be convenient at the end of the day? That’s another thing. That is the earliest date you can have. It used to be one year before. They have reduced it to 90 days. You know the position of the law, what they are not proposing, what is the implication. And it’s very explicit in the documents circulated that day.

But Nigerians and stakeholders are reading meaning to the proposed amendment, that, it is a move to favour the incumbent president and the ruling APC. What do you say to that?

Who is the person reacting? Is it the same people that say they want conclusions of litigations before swearing in is done? Can it be achieved if you don’t give the time? Can you eat your cake and still have it?

Some of the political parties are already saying that 2026 is too early for them, because they had already set their minds for 2027. Is it what they want or what the people say? The law is about what we all agree upon at the end of the day. That’s why you do public hearing. And at the public hearing, many people were applauding it. Yes, you have to complete litigation before the swearing in. They were happy with it. If it’s going to scale through at the House at the end of the day, it’s a different ball game. All parties are represented in the House to make their inputs during the consideration. So, if it’s going to succeed or they will go back to what it used to be at the end of the day, we will know. It’s still a proposal. It’s not yet approved. It’s a proposal based on what we compiled from requests from the public. We are compiling requests from the public. That’s why we are doing public presentation now. These are the things we agreed on during the hearing. And nobody there said they did not like it. Everybody was saying we want it this way. As to whether the whole House, the general House will accept it or not, it’s another game. It will get to the House for consideration and every party is there; Labour, NNPP, everybody is there. The committee is less than 10 per cent of the total House. So, when the committee presents its report at the end of the day, there will be a general vote. So, if you like any of this provisions, go and meet your representative to support it during the consideration. Because it’s not just about saying, I like it and you sit down. By the time we vote, maybe your own member in the House will not even support it.

And for it to happen, the constitution has to be amended because the timeline is in the constitution not in the Electoral Act. So, what we want to do now is to remove it from the constitution and bring it to the Electoral Act; that’s when the amendment can take effect. We want to bring it to the Electoral Act so that when we want to do subsequent amendments, we don’t need to be going through constitution amendment because amending the constitution means you have to go to the states. So, if they don’t allow it to be removed, that provision, it can’t be effected in the Electoral Act until it is effected in the constitution.

But if this aspect does not pass through, will it affect the other provisions in the proposed amendments because they are quite a number of other provisions?

The removal of that provision will not affect the others. That’s why we have to conclude the constitution review on time. We are working together to ensure that we have synergy with the constitution review committee. That’s why we must conclude at the same time. The Electoral Act is dragging a bit now because of the constitution review. We are waiting for that because we know some of those things are still subject to the provisions of the constitution. If not, we would have concluded our own probably since last month. Our own does not need to go to the states. After this, we can go for third reading in the next one week and pass it but because of their own issues, we have to slow down. The constitution is supposed to have been in front. We are supposed to be coming behind them. So, if you read through the provisions of the Electoral Act, they are still things that are also subject to the constitution and the amendment is written there. This area is subject to the constitution. You will see it.

Some stakeholders said holding election in November 2026 is early and might affect preparations; what is your take?

They still have up to a year to prepare. If you are not prepared, you are not prepared. Even if it is November, they still have over a year to prepare. If you are not ready that means you are not ready.

The late first woman to serve as Nigeria’s permanent representative at the United Nations, Joy Uche Angela Ogwu, has been described as a distinguished diplomat and scholar defined by a commitment to women’s empowerment, global peace and equitable development.

According to Archiving, Ogwu also served as the director-general of the National Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) and minister of foreign affairs between August 2006 and May 2007 under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, during which she was said to have prioritised regional stability and advanced the country’s diplomatic interests.

At the United Nations, she was said to have played a key role in shaping international policy, particularly on issues affecting African countries. She was an active voice in debates on peace and security, championing resolutions that addressed conflicts and human rights abuses.

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Ogwu, who was born on August 22, 1946 and died October 13, 2025, was also an adviser, and later, board chairman to the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) on Disarmament Issues; and had published books promoting more African ties to Latin America.

In 2008, while serving as the Nigerian permanent representative to the UN in New York City, Ogwu was the president of the UN Security Council in July 2010 and October 2011, while also emerging the president of the executive board of the UN Women Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

She obtained her BA and MA in Political Science from the Rutgers University, and later, a PhD from the University of Lagos when she served at the NIIA in 1977.

Ogwu started her career as an assistant lecturer at the National War College and the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru, Plateau State before joining the NIIA as a lecturer. She obtained a research fellowship to produce her very seminal work, Nigerian Foreign Policy: Alternative Futures (Macmillan, 1986). She eventually headed the research department in International Politics, leading to her role as the first female director-general.

Ogwu developed research interest and wrote several seminal works on the developing countries of Latin America, enabling an investigation into the possibilities of a proficient South-South relationship between sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. She also held a Visiting Fellowship at the University of London’s Institute of Latin American Studies, with much of her work appearing in translated forms in Portuguese, Spanish, French and Croatian.

Alhaji Lawal Idi Bagiwa spent all the 34 years of his career in the Nigerian Customs Service. He joined the Service in 1965 as a preventive officer Grade 3 and rose through the ranks to become an Assistant comptroller general. He served at nearly all the borders in the country, as well as many state and zonal commands. He is presently the village head of Hamcheta and one of ten councilors in the Katsina emirate council.

One thing I noticed in your curriculum vitae is that you identified yourself as Fulani. Most of us in this part of the country tend to call ourselves Hausa-Fulani; why do you prefer to be identified as a Fulani man, rather than Hausa-Fulani?

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I think the coinage, Hausa-Fulani, is a recent development. Initially, when we were identifying ourselves by tribe, one was expected to identify oneself with a single tribe. Naturally, because of my background and the origin of both my father and mother, I chose to be identified as Fulani. Although I was born into Hausa setting and couldn’t even speak the Fulani language, I still preferred to be seen as Fulani, not Hausa-Fulani.

And your traditional title is Sarkin Fulani Hamcheta?

Yes. We have Sarkin Fulanis in Katsina, like Sarkin Fulani Dambo, as well as many other places, including Sarkin Fulani Hamcheta. We also have Sarkin Fulani Dangin and Tumaki – several Fulani settlements.

You are the village head of this largely Fulani settlement up to now; how Fulani is it now?

Initially, it was a Fulani settlement, but with time, it is now more cosmopolitan. You can find many other Nigerians – Igbo, Yoruba – everybody is there, but predominantly Hausa-Fulani.

Tell us about your childhood and education.

I was born and raised in Katsina because my father was a civil servant. Initially, he was a teacher in Katsina Primary School, but was later relocated to Mani, where he was an education officer. In those days you called them education organisers, under the late Alhaji Ahmadu Coomassie, who was the main coordinator of adult education in Katsina. My father worked under him as organiser for Mani District, from where he was eventually appointed Sarkin Fulani sometime in 1957. From there, we started going to Hamcheta, up to my adulthood and the time I entered public service.

Did you join the Nigeria Customs Service after your secondary education in Katsina?

Yes, in 1965. I completed secondary education in 1964. I visited a relative in Kano, the late Ibrahim Indala, who was also married to my sister. It was from there that I joined customs.

Coincidentally, there was a recruitment drive by the Service, and as destiny would have it, I approached the recruiting team and was recruited.

So it was an opportunity that offered itself and not something you planned to do?

It was purely coincidental and somehow providential because I just walked into this thing without even knowing what it was. When my host said there was recruitment in Customs Service, why not try it; I asked what it was.

He explained: ‘It is a federal government job. You wear a uniform and have prospects.’ He felt it would be a good job for me.

I had no aversion to the military and uniformed services right from my boyhood. I can vividly recall an incident when Katsina Radio interviewed us in primary school. We were in primary two and they were asking all the children what they would want to become when they grew up. That was in 1954. I said I wanted to be a dan doka

A policeman?

Yes. Asked why I wanted to be a dan doka, I said I wanted their uniform. When I got home, everybody was blaming me, asking why I could not pick any serious job. I kept quiet.

I joined the Boys’ Scout right from primary school; and later, in secondary school, we were doing cadet corps. So, I was sort of obsessed with uniform. But it was a coincidence that I joined Customs, not because I planned it.

You were the best student during your recruitment and even cadet training?

I would have said it was a coincidence, but naturally, I am always very thorough. I apply myself to anything I really endeavour to do. When we were in the police college, it was my first introduction to that type of thing in 1965. I emerged as the best recruit.

I can remember that during our passing out parade, the then governor of the Northern Region, Kashim Ibrahim, came to present a baton of honour to me as the best recruit. From then, I had chains of such successes.

Didn’t that require physical stature?

I think it was zeal and charisma – what you have in mind, not necessarily the physical stature.

At that point, why didn’t you think of the police, which was one of your early dreams, rather than Customs?

Certainly, I thought of the police. Initially, I filled a form to join the Air Force when I was in primary school, but my grandmother intervened and said no. Because of her influence, my form was withdrawn and the application dropped.

Later, when I was almost at the end of secondary school in 1964, I applied to join the police. I still have the letter replied to me by the staff officer, Katsina, stating that they had received my application but there was no vacancy. He promised to contact me whenever vacancy was available.

So I tried to join more serious formations, starting with the Air Force, then Police before I landed in Customs. All along, I was a Boy Scout; I even rose to the position of scoutmaster for Katsina Province before I finished secondary school.

Would you say you are happy to have remained in the Customs rather than any other security organisation?

Absolutely. Eventually, I saw that it was God’s wish, so I made the best out of it. I applied myself thoroughly to the job. I was really a very successful Customs officer.

I am proud to say that even now in the Service, we have become role models of sort. Even young trainees are always told (to) emulate good officers like so and so.

If you go to the Customs training school now, you will find a hall, street, barracks named after Bagiwa. So even Customs are proud of the achievements and standard set up by people like us.

Didn’t you attempt to change job at any point in time?

There was a time I wanted to leave the Customs Service, especially when the atmosphere or public opinion was very much against them. Everything was dumped on Customs.

One day, I decided to approach one of my mentors when I was serving in Lagos, telling him that I wanted to leave. He asked why I wanted to leave and I told him that I didn’t want the bad publicity attached to the Service. He listened to me very well. Because of the bad publicity, in most cases I introduced myself as working in the Ministry of Finance.

Would you like to mention his name?

The late Alhaji Shehu Shagari, who later became president. He was the federal minister of finance under the then military government. He asked if I thought I would not have bad publicity if I were a teacher, saying that even in the teaching profession, people are harassed, cajoled and blamed.

He said, ‘If it is because of that bad publicity, I would advise you to keep your job; otherwise, I already have a line of jobs I can easily recommend you and they will pick you. But you will not find anything different. What is important is for you to satisfy your conscience that you are doing the right thing and put your God first. Don’t bother what other people will say about you.’

I took that advice seriously. That was in 1973. And from then, I had no regret. I just closed my eyes and did my job.

But some people say the Customs Service deserves such bad publicity, as you call it, because of their activities – officers and men of the Service focus on what they can get and not really what the country gets.

That was really the problem with jobs like the Customs. Essentially, a Customs job is about tax administration and collection. There is no time a tax collector is popular. Every time, a tax collector is called names – he is blamed and never appreciated until he is out of the scene.

Right from biblical days, we read stories about Jesus and tax collectors. He said, ‘Give what belongs to Caesar to Caesar. And what belongs to God, give it to God.’ So naturally, the Customs job is never popular because nobody wants to pay tax.

Along the line, they blame you. I have been trying to cope, right from the time I retired till date. And I had every cause to thank God because I was getting job satisfaction, which is what is very important.

You mentioned your appointment as the village head of Hamcheta, Sarkin Fulani, then councillor (to the Emir). Are you a councillor by virtue of you being the Sarkin Fulani?

No. I think that in the emirate council, there are a group of councillors. Some are hereditary councillors, like the four king makers in the emirate council. But there are other six councillors that are usually appointed by any governor in power on the recommendation of the emir.

You served for a long time; is there no tenure?

There is no tenure; it is subject to the pleasure of the emir and the governor. I was appointed village head in 1999. In 2010 – 11 years later – I was given the councillorship of the emirate council, in addition to my substantive appointment as village head.

What do you do as a village head?

The moment you find yourself being a village head, you are a sort of community head of the lowest college that forms a district. So, in any district, you normally have village areas. Some of them get 10, some get 5, some less, depending on the village. In Mani we have up to 18 of them.

So you are technically the father and administrative head of the local administration system of that village. You are directly responsible to the district head for their welfare and whatever.

And you supervise very important jobs for the progress of your people, like education, health, security and other things. So, naturally, with my background, I find it very enjoyable and good. It is like a large laboratory experiment with my experience and what I learned all along.

Do you sit in court?

Of course. We have what you call alternative dispute resolution. So, all those petty complaints from your subjects, like marital and heritage complaints, other minor petitions, which somebody cannot easily go to the police, Alkali or higher authority, are easily solved by the village head. You sit in court and do that type of thing.

So, whenever I am around, especially on weekends, I always hear cases that will normally wait for me. I also have a wakili or somebody who represents me, who handles cases when I am not in. And those of them he finds difficult he refers to me, either on phone or he waits until I get to the village and handle them.

When people hear about rural Katsina they think of insecurity. Is it a problem you deal with in the Mani area?

Luckily, as God will have it, we don’t have such insecurity yet. But as the Hausa man would say, when the beard of your neighbour catches fire, you should try to douse your own with water or avoid getting into the fire line.

So definitely, we are learning from what is happening in our neighbourhood, especially the western part of Katsina. The eastern part is relatively safe, including Mani.

So you are able to go to Hamcheta and sleep comfortably without worrying about personal safety?

Based on my professional training and hobbies, I have always been adventurous. Right from childhood, as a Boys Scout, up to the level of scoutmaster, we could pick children and go to the bush and sleep; even as primary school children. From there, a sort of psyche sharpened.

Similarly, my type of job is paramilitary; we were trained to do all those types of things, from training for leadership etc. We had military training; we passed through all sorts of things.

Naturally, I feel quite comfortable. Somebody who can sleep alone in the bush will feel very comfortable when he is sleeping with all his subjects around him.

I am not very worried that I don’t have a policeman guarding me. I don’t have a Customs officer guarding me. I don’t have any special firearm to guard myself, except my personal firearm, which I still have, which I believe is purely cosmetic; not that it can do anything.

You described yourself as a courtier and counsellor to the emir. What does that mean? In real life, what do you do in the council or the emirate?

Well, in the council, as a courtier you are a member of the palace. Naturally, no king will simply sit alone; he will sit with courtiers and advisers and people to contribute to the management of his portfolio. That is basically what a courtier does. That is what we do on a day-to-day basis.

But principally, what we do is a sort of continuation of what I do in the village: settlement of disputes between people who will approach the emir palace or the emirate council for one grudge or another. Sometimes emanating from the districts when they are not satisfied with what happened to them at their district headquarters, they come to the palace.

Those are the cases we sit and decide on – what we call alternative dispute resolution – which is now adopted legally by the government. We have instructions on how to deal with such matters. That’s what we do on a daily basis.

We always attend meetings, sometimes with the state government, sometimes with the federal government, sometimes with non-governmental organisations, and sometimes as directed by His Royal Highness. Sometimes we meet up to regional level at Kaduna or Sokoto, or wherever, to discuss important issues like health.

For example, there was a time some epidemics became a problem. People were very reluctant or not willing to accept vaccinations, especially things like poliomyelitis; so it was referred to the emirate through his eminence, the sultan.

That was how we embarked on a campaign against polio. When we came in, because of the confidence people still have on emirs and other traditional rulers, they accepted these things. So, right now, they are under control.

It is the same thing with leprosy, which was so rampant that people were calling it Ciwon Muslimi (Muslim Disease). But now, leprosy is no more; it is very rare to see leprosy.

Those are the salient things that emirs still do. And they do it with the assistance of their council.

How do you see emirate politics when compared to the politics in service? Coming from a professional service background, is this something you easily deal with?

As I pointed out, my background from service as a paramilitary officer sort of assisted me, and is still assisting me in my present assignment or portfolio. Paramilitary service is essentially obedience to constitutional authorities.

Similarly, if you apply them to a situation like this, you won’t fail. You are expected to obey the government of the day, constitutional authorities and hands off partisan politics because your primary interest are your subjects – the generality of the people.

We have no problem with the government as they do in other places. When you confront a government you have problems, but if you obey constituted authorities, you will succeed. We have basic principles of Islam you are expected to apply.

Are you to obey, whether they are right or wrong?

No. When they are wrong, you advise them accordingly; and when they are right, you apply it with all your zeal. In most cases they respect our pieces of advice because we don’t give them wayward advice. In most cases, when we give such advice, they are well researched and presented; and people readily accept them.

Did you try politics after your retirement as most senior civil servants do?

I tried. As you saw in my curriculum vitae, I was appointed a caretaker chairman for the then Muduru Local Government – one of those local governments that were created and later disbanded by the federal government. I started politics from that point. I even attempted to contest for a seat in the Senate. I wanted to represent Katsina North senatorial district, which they called Daura zone, but the gatekeepers didn’t allow me to contest. I couldn’t succeed from there.

You couldn’t scale the party level?

I couldn’t even go through the primaries to defeat my friend and classmate, Senator Kanti Bello, who was more experienced. I wanted to contest against Kanti at the primary election, but the party and the then government and gatekeepers couldn’t allow me to scale beyond that point.

But I continued and tried to join other parties. I joined the Action Congress (AC), together with the present head of state (president Tinubu ), Alhaji Atiku( Abubakar) and others.

You wanted to become governor?

No. Even under the AC, I contested for a senatorial seat. After that, I realised there wasn’t much one could do in politics without being well grounded. In order not to throw away everything, I rather came back home. I was well advised to come back and settle for community job, which I did.

Do you mean you spent too much money and didn’t want to continue that adventure?

Really, I should say that money was one of them, but another more important thing was goodwill. You would end up losing your friends and goodwill, which you were able to gather for over 40 years. I weighed those options and felt it was better to round off and continue with home service.

Who were those people that determined Katsina politics as you said? You referred to them more than once. Is there a group we can call ‘the owners of Katsina’?

In what sense?

In the sense that they determine who becomes what in politics.

As I told you, in any setup you will usually have people who are playing the role of gatekeepers; who will really determine who would likely succeed in one thing or another. And naturally, they will make a choice.

So, if you were able to get your psychology right, it won’t bother you much because at that time they felt the late Kanti Bello was a better material because he had already been a senator for some time, so it was better to continue with him since he was still around and willing.

Tell us about the private Alhaji Lawal Bagiwa. How big is your family?

I would say that my private life is not much different from my official life, because my preoccupation, community life is basically private life.

I have a very successful family life. I have been married all my life. When I joined the Customs Service in 1965, I got married to my first wife in 1966, barely a year later. And since then, I have remained married and successfully have a number of children that I have succeeded in training, relatively very well, by the grace of God.

I can boast of my children – at least four of them are PhD holders. They are already lecturing in various universities. One is in the University of Abuja, one is in the Ahmadu Bello University and another one is in Katsina here.

I have two of them that are judges already: one in Katsina here and the other in Kaduna. She is in charge of Funtua zone. She always comes there for her cases and so on. I have a medical doctor here.

So I would thank God for giving me the opportunity to see the fruit of my labour because I singlehandedly trained those children. And by the grace of God, all of them have succeeded. At least I can boast of over 10 graduates.

You are still active, such that you drive and engage in farming, as you said; what is the secret?

That is the good thing. I have a reason to thank God that I am healthy. I still drive myself to Hamcheta. You can see my pickup truck there – a four-wheel drive. I drive all roads and have no problem.

Sometimes they ask why I still drive myself and I will say I am enjoying it because before now, they were always driving me about with sirens and flags, but now, I am incognito. I drive myself and enjoy everything.

I have a driver, but I use him when I want. I stop whenever I can’t do it. I enjoy it. It is part of the hobby I enjoy.

What other hobbies do you have? I noticed that in your curriculum vitae you mentioned game hunting.

Do people still do hunting?

That one is no more. In those days, I had a farmland around Safana district. I have a farm in the neighbourhood of Rugu forest, so I used to go and camp there and hunt.

You stayed there in the bush?

I have a cottage in that place.

When you were in service or after retirement?

After service. I would go there and camp and hunt. I still have my rifles and so on. But these days, they are no-go areas.

What else do you do for fun besides farming and your duties in the emirate council?

Tending my animals and fisheries. Sometimes I engage in small time buying and selling of grains, which I encourage members of my family to do. I give them small loans and small finance. Then they buy some produce like groundnuts.

Right there in the Mani area, I have a large plantation of gum Arabic, which I pioneered. Right now, I am also the chairman of Gum Arabic Producers of Nigeria. So we encourage the production and marketing of gum Arabic, which is an international product.

In terms of social life, do you still have friends and classmates you meet and socialise with?

Really, most of our classmates are gone.

Gone where?

Most of them are no more. We get together whenever there is a function. If you are engaged in my type of assignment you always go to the palace for one thing or another. You are not always available for social life. Over the weekends I go back to Hamcheta, where I handle local matters.

But there are still some friends we relate very well with, like some classmates, especially in secondary school, like Sani Daura in Abuja and Alhaji Lawal Sani. We still have very few of them around.

Inherently, old age is a lonely period for people; do you agree?

Well, it depends on the way you look at it. If you look at it from the perspective of socialising, like when you were younger, naturally you would feel that there are things you can no longer do. You can adopt the lifestyle of the aged and the elderly like engaging in small scholarly activities with your background. You can see my library. You always go to school to get yourself engaged. And when you come home, you have your grandchildren to always give you some comfort. When you go to the village, it is the same thing.

You have to change your approach and lifestyle to suit the circumstances you find yourself. So, definitely you have to adopt things your age. That’s what we are doing.

Are you able to exercise? Do you watch your diet or it is something that doesn’t bother you?

Of course farming gives you a lot of time to exercise. And sometimes I walk up to 5 kilometres; and it is a routine. I do this every weekend. Those are the types of exercise I engage in that suit my local circumstances, unlike before when one could start going about to jog or go to a stadium to start exercising. I can’t even do that kind of thing now because of the security situation in the state.

Look at what happened to another of our colleague recently, who is even an army General. They came all the way to his village and picked him.

Is the security situation in Katsina getting out of hand?

I wouldn’t say it is getting out of hand given the circumstances the country finds itself now, especially the North. The northern part of the country has been divided into three sections – North-East has their peculiar type of problems, North-West is here with its own problems, as well as the North-Central. So, given the setup, I wouldn’t say that Katsina is the worst.

I will say it is an average security-prone area. But the government is doing its best and the local people are doing their best. So, if at least we start sitting down and talking on the same page, I think we would make some progress.

Are you talking about peace deal with bandits? All the communities are now taking the initiative.

Essentially, people misunderstand it when they say you are making peace with the bandits. They feel that you are sort of bargaining and whatever. The basic problem of the bandits is exclusion; so if you try to bring in inclusion, you are solving the basic problem. You can build on the rest. These people are neglected.

Are you talking of the Fulani?

Not only the Fulani but the lower strata of the society. If you check, you will discover that it is the same people that have the highest number of out-of-school children; they have nothing to do with the government. For example, the schools and clinics of most of these nomadic people in the bush no longer operate. Nobody vaccinates their livestock. Nobody looks at where they are going to feed or water their livestock.

Is the peace deal a way of bringing them in?

Inclusion. The moment you realise that they have been out in the cold for long and tell them to come so that you listen to their problem, at least you are starting somewhere. It is better to start talking with them instead of fighting and following them to the bush to kill them.

But people are surprised that leaders of these bandits come to the so-called peace deal heavily armed with their guns. They also go back with those arms and nobody does anything. Why is it so?

As we pointed out, it starts with the condition of approach. You have to start from somewhere. If we are starting with a step, our main problem is excluding these people from the system. We want to bring them back, whether they are in the bush or town; wherever they are. How do we bring them in?

So inclusion is necessary. If you start giving them a cause to feel that you are trapping them, they won’t come or even talk to you. The first condition should not be for them to surrender their arms but talking and hearing their problems. Surrendering of arms can come later.

Even if it is livestock farming, we want to encourage and expand it to them. We even have a ministry for that now. So we will expand and make sure they are all incorporated into one useful thing or another. The moment they are included, I think we are solving most of the problems.

As a councillor in the emirate, are you involved in these peace deals?

No, we are not involved. We have been advising governments on the way to go about security matters but they are doing the implementation. There is a ministry through which they are implementing those recommendations we are rightly giving them. At least Katsina is getting somewhere now.

Are you happy with the performance of the government of Bola Tinubu, your former leader of the Action Congress?

Definitely; as a citizen because I left politics right from that time we were pushed out of it. I am doing something else and we can’t engage in partisan politics. As a citizen, I will say the present leadership is quite honest. He is quite experienced. But somebody may make some mistakes. For example, there are some policies or decisions that were rather hasty. I feel that on those decisions, we should have done more consultations rather than jumping into them. The Hausa man will say that it takes one leap to fall into a pit but you can make a hundred leaps without coming out.

But since the whole country is already in the pit, we have to try to come out together. Since they are making some efforts – giving some palliatives and making some consultations here and there to at least come out of the pit, we have not lost hope. As they rightly pointed out, it is a government of hope, so we are hoping that we shall come out of the pit. But definitely, by those hasty decisions, we are in a pit.

Being in Katsina here, you must have noticed the deep poverty level in the city and outside. Don’t you think this is a serious threat to democracy?

That’s the point I was making. It takes a leap to fall into a pit but many more leaps to come out.